Chapter 2: To The Elves, We Come!

"You are Sir Moulder," Farador said, indicating the other mage-knight. Recalling the names, he turned to the others. "And you are Ken. And.. Sir Goven.. And..."

"Calm down friend," Hayden said. "You will remember us in time. We should prepare to set off now".

As the retinue made their final preparations, Sir Delyus instructed," Whitewoods is probably half a day's reach if we take the direct route, but the demons will spot us as well. We ought to choose an alternative path."

Sir Moulder cut in," At this point, we should not take more than a day to reach there. The Alliance Keepers have control over some routes, so we might be able to use them".

Sir Delyus finished," We received reports from Whitewoods that an invading force is rushing towards them, so we must complete the task quickly".

"So, which route do we take?"

"There's an underground passage routing from here to Evendar, the Dwarf Kingdom. We could seek the Dwarves' help to lead us to Whitewoods," Ken suggested.

"Does anyone have an alternative to offer?" Sir Delyus asked. Watching the others shake their heads, he declared formally," It's settled then. Let the journey begin!"

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Lord Edward stood erect on the castle wall as if he was a flag-pole. Watching over the crenellations, he looked for enemy movements.

Below the gates, Farador and his band of fighters rode away towards the entrance of the underground pass. Looking from above, the group appeared minute as they continued down the path.

"May the Gods guide you, my friend," he whispered.

"What the...?!" Someone shouted from behind. Running towards him, the other defenders followed his gaze.

The sky was darkening as thousands of flying imps approached the castle, blocking out the sun itself. Each one of them carried a large boulder.

Even through the distance, Lord Edward could hear the first imp shouting," Boulders away!" Like bombers releasing their volleys, the boulders came at the castle walls and knocked down portions of the wall and the men on it.

"Archers, up!" The garrison commander commanded. Defending missle troops raised their bows and aimed at the sky. "FIRE!"

With a joint effect from ballistae, the missles struck down the attackers. Lances shot from the ballistae and skewered tens of imps in a go.

Lord Edward quickly gathered some of the Holy Guards and faced the enemy. Looking at the imps, he spread his palms outwards. As the others did the same, they shouted in unison," Ki la taria!"

Blue streaks of lightning flashed from their palms, striking down multiple imps quickly. Caught in the magical lightning storm, the other imps routed and retreated hastily.

Lord Edward turned to the garrison commander and said," Report!"

"Several casualties and a portion of the wall are down, sir".

Looking back at the sky again, Lord Edward muttered," They are testing us".

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In the entrance of the underground pass, Ken whispered," Did you see that? Those imps?"

Sir Delyus answered softly," The demons are gathering their forces. Our quest will be a perilous one, so we must be swift. Those imps are tearing down parts of the wall, which probably mean that they will be deploying siege towers in later invasions. In that case, their army must be near the castle".

Farador shuddered and replied to the grim mage-knight," Then we must make haste, my friend."

Together, they descended into the pass, wandering through the underground halls. As there were few torches, the party had to conjure globes of bright light. Hayden readied his battle axe, while Ken nocked his arrow into a self-modified bow.

"This pass is a short journey. We should be able to reach Evendar as soon as possible," Sir Delyus informed.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a voice spoke," And what business does a group of Humans have to do in Evendar?"

Jumping out of his skin, Farador whirled about to find the speaker, but to no avail. He breathed hardly and asked," Whose voice was that?"

A stoic, short goblin approached them from a dark corner and said gruffly," Me. Well? What business do you all have there?"

Sir Delyus answered in a suspicious tone," Evendar is a land of Dwarves. Why are you, a goblin, here?"

The goblin shrugged and responded," Since the demon's invasion of Castle Rigwald, the Dwarf Lords of Evendar sent messengers to warn us of the threat, and persuaded our tribe leaders to form an alliance with them. This we agreed, and we have been trying to hold our lines against the demons ever since, but we failed to stop them. The demons have gathered hordes of orcs and minotaurs to besiege Evendar and laid waste to it. I escaped into this passage, and lucky for me, for it was caved in after that."

Farador brooded over the information and demanded," What of the Dwarves? The cave-end is caved in by what exactly?"

The goblin shook his head, flapping his ears at the same time," The outer defenders could not make it back into the city in time. Alliance Keepers had managed to hold them off before the city could evacuate into the capital of Cleremont. I do not know what happened after that, for I have been stuck here ever since. The end of the cave seems to be blocked by a huge boulder of some kind." "No human's strength could push it out," he added.

Farador answered swiftly," Let me be the judge of that. Lead us to Cleremont, will you?"

Again, the goblin shook his head. Farador began to look impatient as he thought the goblin was declining him. "Look, goblin. We have to go back there and..."

"I'm not refusing you! I'm just thinking you are too reckless".

Stumped by the awkward response, Farador simply looked away. Sir Delyus patted the goblin's shoulder and asked him to lead the way. With a soft snort, the goblin waddled like a duck and moved back into the darkness, with the group of humans behind.

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"Rise, Lord Edward," the king said.

Lord Edward, exhausted from the previous battle, rose slowly and fixed his gaze on his old friend. Without pausing to let him rest further, the king quickly enquired him of the battle and the status. Lord Edward answered it with a few short sentences.

"We are now trying to repair the wall, sir". Edward finished.

"Please, my friend. It's Bogard to you. You don't have to call me sir. Well, I've sent a messenger to the Eyries of Stormwind. The Windlord Alveen is an old ally of Rigwald. Hopefully, they may send some of their winged warriors to aid us".

A soldier hurried in and knelt beside Lord Edward to report.

"My liege. Evendar has fallen. The Dwarves retreated back into Cleremont and used a portal to escape into Whitewoods."

The king dismissed him with a wave, an act which seemed to age him a little. The messenger nodded, rose and turned back in one swift motion, then left.

"These are dark tidings, my friend".

"Do you think there is any hope?" Edward asked.

The king's response was a melancholy tone of despair. "None".