4th day of the 9th month 580th year of the 8th era The morning dawned over the farm, Akuchi and Aife rose from their bed and headed outside to begin making breakfast. Aife started with making a fire as Akuchi headed down to the well to get water for cooking. On his way back, a loud horn reverberated across the farm coming from the fort. He rushed to the house and set the water pail down next to the fire. Aife looked up at him. “The fort is under siege,” he said. “Should we go help?” she asked. “We could at least go look,” he suggested. “Are they still the trolls from the north?” she asked. “Yeah,” he answered. “They are still there.” Akuchi stepped into the house and came out with their trousers and his sword. He handed her a pair and they both donned the trousers. Akuchi slipped the strap for the sword over his head. Aife looked at him and then turned to the firewood that was stacked against the newly- made house and hefted a log. She closed her eyes and started muttering under her breath. The log morphed and changed shape. It became a long black spear with a wicked looking point at the end. Next, the spear grew a metre long, the point shifted and became flat and curved slightly, and one end developed a nasty serration. She opened her eyes and looked at Akuchi. A small sheen of perspiration covered her forehead. “A glaive,” she smiled. “Perfect for siege fighting.” “Come,” Akuchi instructed. They both broke out into a trot and ran up the soft path to the fortress. As they approached, the door in the gate opened and they ran though. Lief Gunder closed the door behind them, and they all headed to the far wall. They crossed the marshalling field, headed into the door at the base of a tower, and ascended the stairs to the wall’s ramparts. At the top, they met Commander Oghenekaro, looking out over the battlements towards the oncoming troll army. The troll army spanned the width of the fort from the mountain cliff face to the ocean. A sea of different coloured fur and an assortment of weapons and helmets glittered in the morning sun. Oghenekaro turned as they ascended the stairs, took one look at them and nodded. “More defenders. Good,” he said and then turned back to the invaders. “What is your plan?” Aife asked. “I am not sure,” replied Oghenekaro. “They seem ready to drive us back into the forest.” “They are packed in pretty thickly,” observed Akuchi. “Have you tried to use fire on them?” “I have. The funny thing is that the fire goes out as it descends to them.” “That is most unusual,” Akuchi answered. Another flight of burning arrows fired off from the next battlement over. As the arrows descended, the fires died and ice formed on the heads as they fell to the ground harmlessly. “Cease firing!” Oghenekaro bellowed. The air cooled and an ice shard sailed up and impacted on the outside crenellations followed by several more impacts that echoed across the wall. The sound of shattering glass deafened the defenders. “Ice!” exclaimed Akuchi. “How could they be shooting ice?” “You have not encountered this before?” asked Aife. “This is new to us all,” replied Oghenekaro. “Hmm … most interesting,” Aife said. “The earliest stories the dark elves tell are about troll and orcs. They are told to scare our children …” “I am sure all very interesting,” interrupted Oghenekaro, “but what do children’s stories have to do with us?” “They tell of orcs and trolls bringing forth the very elements to fight for them,” finished Aife patiently. “We only have trolls here,” Oghenekaro said as another barrage of ice shards crashed into the battlements. A scream emitted from down the wall. “Maybe the trolls can use ice while the orcs can control fire,” suggested Aife. “If they could do this, then why haven’t they used it before?” demanded Oghenekaro. “That might be the better question.” “How do the stories say they are to be beaten?” asked Akuchi. “The story only says that we are to confront your fears and look them in the eyes,” answered Aife. Goose flesh spread across her arms and chest from the mounting ice on the wall. “It might work,” Akuchi said. “If we got in close, then they wouldn’t cast ice at us and our weapons would still be able to cut them.” “It will be cold work,” said Oghenekaro. “Go and get some armour the two of you, while I organise a strike force.” “You want us to go with you?” asked Akuchi. “Your idea,” Oghenekaro smirked, “your command. Now go to Zizia and get ready. I will have a force ready for you.” *** Akuchi and Aife entered the storeroom to find Zizia zipping around commanding her staff in the handing out of winter clothing and appropriate armour to the soldiers. “Let me guess, you guys need winter armour, too?” she said as she buzzed past. Her billowing hair was down, and her normal form was visible. A small dagger was strapped to her waist like a sword. “Yes,” answered Aife. “We are going to lead the attack.” Zizia stopped and turned to face them. “You’re serious?” “Yes,” replied Aife, a huge toothy grin spread on her brown face. “Oggy gave us the command.” “Do you have any command experience?” Zizia asked. “I do,” Aife affirmed. “When?” “Well it’s more theoretical,” Aife admitted. “I have read every book my people have on command.” “Okay,” Zizia answered, “follow me.” She turned and flew down the corridor towards the back. Aife and Akuchi had to walk quickly to keep up. *** Aife and Akuchi stepped out of the stores in new leather armour with fur trimming, and into the muster yard where twenty assorted men and women, dressed in an assortment or leather armour, chain mail, and steel plate. Each soldier had a unique weapon. Akuchi spied Aquillia in a light-padded vest and trousers with her double-bladed sword strapped to her back, Nurarfed with his full plate and his great axe, Yokoyama in leather armour and her short swords hanging on either side, Retha with a long knee-length robe and a pike in hand and a couple of throwing spears on her back, Kono in leather armour and her pair of short swords on her hips. Oghenekaro stepped up beside them to the front of the group. He raised his hands above his head for quiet. “Most of you know Akuchi.” He gestured. “It was his idea for this attack, so he will be leading you.” Akuchi stepped forward. “As you know the trolls have started using magic to attack us,” he began. “Our information tells us that the best way to stop them is to get in close and engage them in close combat fighting.” “So, we are going to go in hard and kick some troll butt!” Aife yelled. The assembled soldiers roared their eagerness, raising their weapons above them. The fort’s gate opened and, they rushed out after Akuchi and Aife. Their boots crunched the ice underfoot as they raced across the intervening space towards the trolls. Akuchi drew his falchion off his back and brought the blade down in a swift motion on the head of the first troll. Another troll side-stepped and the falchion came down on his shoulder. A sickening snap sounded as the blade cut through his shoulder. He then stepped forward, pushing the blade forward into the troll behind. The first troll collapsed in shock and was stabbed through the heart with a short sword. Yokoyama leaned over the dead troll and sliced the neck of another troll. The soldiers rushed past Akuchi. Time seemed to slow down. His sword glowed faintly as he saw the other soldiers slow down as they moved past him. He stepped calmly out of the way of a troll’s blade. He sliced into the troll’s stomach and then dragged the blade across his chest. He stepped forward and decapitated another troll. He saw Aife with her glaive out in front of her. She was holding off three trolls by swinging the blade at them and stabbing them as they got closer to her. He stepped over and brought his falchion down on one of the trolls facing her. She caught up and ran through a troll in the stomach. A black energy swirled around Aife as she swirled the glaive around, killing trolls with each slice. A troll stepped past her whirling defence. A beam black energy shot out and a troll dropped to the ground, dead. Another troll doubled over and fell to the ground as Aife pulled out her glaive out of its stomach, then sliced through the neck of the last troll. Blood spurted and sprayed over her new leather armour. Nurarfed rushed past, his metal armour clanging with each step as he barrelled into the trolls, knocking them over then bringing down his great axe, splitting a troll down the middle. He then lifted the axe and swung it in an arc in front of him, catching three trolls in the stomach. They doubled over and fell to the ground. A loud roar stopped them all. The trolls pulled back and a large blue troll pushed through the assembled trolls, pushing many back. The large troll carried two large falchions in each hand, standing three metres tall. He swung both blades at them. Aife blocked one sword with her glaive and she still skidded back half a metre. Akuchi blocked the other and skidded back alongside Aife. Aquillia came in from the side and stabbed the large troll in the side just under its left arm. The blue troll roared, dropped the falchion in its left hand and batted her aside with his arm. She sailed back along the line. Yokoyama rushed forward and slid under the troll’s legs, and with both of her swords tried to cut its legs out from underneath it. After sailing under the troll, she stopped in front of the troll army. The troll in front of her brought down its mace. Her skull cracked. Mud and ice were mixed with her brain. Kono let out a heart-wrenching cry and rushed in to the massed ranks of trolls. She killed a few trolls, carving a path across their ranks. The trolls reformed up behind her. Another scream of rage from Kono was cut off. The blue troll lifted its falchion and brought it down again. It was blocked by Retha and her pike. Akuchi reached across with his sword and brought it down on the troll’s thick arm, severing it. The troll recoiled in pain, dropping his last weapon. He stumbled back and fell into the trolls behind him. The smaller trolls began to chop him up and then fight each other. They scattered into smaller groups fighting each other. They are fighting each other for control of the pack. “Pull back!” he bellowed. The soldiers started to disengage with the trolls they were fighting. As they withdrew, the trolls started leaving them alone and continued to fight each other. Akuchi led the men back through the gate and into the fort. Oghenekaro was there waiting for them. “What was that thing you guys fought?” he asked as the gates to the fort were closed and the brace beam was set back into place. “I am not certain,” Akuchi said, “but whatever it was it was this group's chieftain.” “It was a giant troll,” Aife stated placing the hilt of her glaive on the ground beside her. “A giant troll?” asked Oghenekaro. “Why have we not seen one before?” “I don’t know,” answered Aife. “It stands to reason that a giant troll would be able to field such a large force,” mused Akuchi. “They are led by the strongest, so a giant troll would have an advantage against other trolls,” said Oghenekaro. Two loud blasts from the fort’s warning horn rang out. Oghenekaro, Akuchi, and Aife all broke into a run and dashed back up to the battlements. At the top, the sentry pointed out to the grasslands to the north and then up into the sky. “What is that?” called Aife, pointing out beyond the troll army. A large shape was flying low over the grasslands, closing the distance rapidly. As it came closer it became clearer. A large reptile with leather wings and a wingspan larger than a clipper ship sailed into view. It was black and reflected an iridescent blue in the early morning sunlight. It had a large black head at the top of a long neck. The head was flat and streamlined for flight. It was covered in interlocking scales, the largest ones as big as a large shield. It had a large jaw with several teeth protruding out from the jaw. It hovered over the large mass of trolls, landing on four large thick legs. It folded its huge wings back to its frame. Despite their distance from the dragon, they could see it was huge. A large tail whipped out and sent hundreds of trolls flying into the sky and back. The creature opened its mouth and breathed a plume of air on the trolls that was white and filled with large crystal ice pieces. Some trolls transformed into solid ice statues; many more were skewered or crushed by the large ice crystals. The trolls stopped fighting each other and took a knee in front of the dragon. It opened its mouth, roared, and then began to speak. Aife’s eyes widened and she looked around at the others. “What is it?” Akuchi and Oghenekaro asked at the same time. “You can’t understand it?” asked Aife. “No,” they replied. “It said 'bow down and worship me',” she translated. “It called itself Qymrienteos. It is ordering them to leave.” The trolls got up off their knees and began to file past Qymrienteos. Once the trolls were all past, the dragon stretched out its huge black leathery wings and jumped off its huge four legs, into the sky. As the dragon flapped its wings, they pushed down the air and grazed the ground. Next, it lifted the wings and soared high into the sky. It circled over the fort a few times and then came down, landing on the roof of one of the towers. The force of its landing destroyed the catapult and killed all on the roof. Oghenekaro ran up the stairs, closely followed by Akuchi and Aife. On the roof was a large pot of oil beside a pile of rounded boulders. Scattered around the tower were large beams of wood and the bodies of three men dressed in chain shirts and padded vests, one with a large beam through his chest. The dragon opened its mouth and spoke again, a loud thunderous sound that shook the masonry of the fort. “We can’t speak your language,” Akuchi said. “Then I will speak your tongue,” the dragon rumbled. “The seals prevent me from attacking you directly.” “What do you mean?” asked Oghenekaro. “Eight seals guard the realms of men,” informed the dragon, “preventing magical creatures from entering.” “You are here,” Aife called out. “Yes, and so are you,” replied the dragon. “When the eight seals have been broken I will lead my army south and crush the realms of men, starting with this fort.” The dragon flapped and jumped off the tower, sending a shower of rubble to the ground. “You have been warned,” the dragon boomed, flapping his wings and flying off.