Chapter 20: Into The Mist

"General Stolks, how goes the preparations?"

The preparations for a new and better society are many, and the roads that need to be taken are treacherous and dangerous at times, but with courage and a correct understanding of our connection with nature and the universe, it is but an inconvenience on the way to glory and grandeur. Self-reliance and a good day's work are the keys to creation.

"Great, General Cantorso, and good to see you gentlemen again, Generals Banyon and Maze. The situation is this; the city of Minsk is guarded by maybe a hundred and fifty Clan Soldiers. We should attack immediately, because now that the storm is over it will not be long before the Masters and their Fire Dragons start attacking again. We must attack now, and then make our advance to the Rye Mountains under the stealth of the forest. Now that we are near three thousand foot of elevation, over halfway through the Foothills, the majority of trees are going to start to be pine trees, but there will still be enough area to hide our army from searching eyes, I hope. Also, now that we are in the Foothills Prime, we will be able to use the topography of the land to our benefit."

"How many civilians are in this city?"

"It is one of the larger cities. Only the capital city of Turlac and the dual city of Lancer are bigger. I guess there must be almost three thousand people left." "Then to avoid any civilian casualties we must strike hard, fast and without warning.

"General Banyon, take your Nomadic Clan Warriors to the east side and wait there for a soon to be specified amount of time, and then attack.

"General Stolks, take your Shadow Riders to the western side and do the same.

"General Maze, take your Stiefelian Foot Soldiers around to the southern side and attack from there.

"The Royal Guard will attack from here in full force at full speed in twenty minutes, so be in position and ready to attack. Now go, and may the Heavenly Gods smile upon us all. Colonel Frost, take a patrol of soldiers and circle the city continuously while the attack is under way, so that we do not get attacked from the rear by any roaming patrols of Marauders or Clan Soldiers."

"Captain of Arms, Sir! You say that enemy soldiers are heading this way? Do you have any idea how many of them there might be?"

"Not a clue, Corporal, but do not worry, I am sure there is not enough of them to be of any consequence to us. Just make sure that at least a hundred of our people are on guard at all times."

"Yes, Sir! Oh, and by the way, Sir, how did you get here so fast from the fortress?"

"Grand Master Zomaas surrounded my forty men and me into a sphere and sent us flying. Very odd sensation, but who am I to question the means of the Masters and our god Zarton."

"Captain, one of the guards just spotted some movement out in the forest. Should we send a patrol to investigate?"

"What kind of movement?"

"Just some rustling in the brush, Sir."

"No, do not waste the manpower. Now that the storm is over it is probably just some animal coming out of its hiding place looking for food."

The Captain of Arms barely gets that out of his mouth when all of a sudden a horn blows, and yelling and swearing comes from all sides of the city. The sounds of steel against steel ring out across the city, and screams of agony chill the bones. Before the Captain can regroup his senses and his retreating troops, it is too late, hundreds upon hundreds of enemy soldiers surround them. Knowing they do not have a chance, the Clan Soldiers drop their weapons and raise their arms in surrender. The Masters are going to be very angry that they could not even slow down the enemy for an hour. "General Cantorso, what should we do with them? Shall we kill them?"

By this time the civilian population is coming out to investigate what has just happened.

General Stolks yells out to the people, "People of Owen, you are now free from the evil oppression of the Masters." Cheers ring out across the city.

Seeing this gives Cantorso an idea, "We will leave them to the people of Minsk, for it is they who has had to suffer their rule."

The Captain of Arms yells out, "No, no." But to no avail, it is too late, General Cantorso has already given the order for all troops to pull out and advance towards the Rye Mountains. Which, if they ride steadily, they can make it there just in about seven days.

"Another four moons and we reach outskirts of the Rye Mountains. I have been away from my homeland far too long." You can see the longing in Maddox's eyes as he speaks those words.

"The Elders of old spoke of dreams that came to them during the Night of Wisdom. The dreams told them that the evil fortress was about another two days ride from the time you reach the edge of the Rye Mountains."

"That means we will have just enough time to make it there and engage them, in order to be ready for the Full Circle."

"I understand that we must be there for that time, but we are running our horses into the ground. We have been riding them for days on end without a break. We must stop soon and let them rest and eat, and we should do the same. We must be at our peak when the battle begins, for we are still outnumbered, and they have the advantage of knowing the land."

Maddox gives a fierce warrior's grunt when Kyle says that, and he simply replies "There are mystical places in my mountains that they can never find, for only true hearts and warrior pride can ever find the Takoh Valley."

"The Takoh Valley? I have heard the Elders speak of such a place, but I did not know it is in the Rye Mountains. I also thought it was folklore." "It not be folklore, my little friend. I know it exist because it is where I trained under the watchful eye of Rocuto himself."

"What is the Takoh Valley and who is Rocuto?" asks Tork, eagerly.

"I guess it is time that you learn about all of the kingdom of Owen, my young Mystic Wizard, since it is you who is probably destined to become savior and ruler of all. Takoh Valley is where true warriors trained to defend the honor of the Heavenly God Crystalline Tur, the god of honor and pride. Rocuto was my trainer who trained me in the art of Sustos."

"You are a Sustos Warrior? I have heard stories and legends."

"Yes, I am a full Sustos Warrior. Rocuto, who was rumored to be trained by Crystalline Tur himself, was my mentor. Of course he would never comment on it one way or another, and nobody ever pushed Rocuto too far, for he made me seem like a gentle kitten. It was not long after I was trained that Rocuto finally lay down and took leave to the Heavenly Gods of all. His last words were that I must carry on the Sustos tradition. Then it was shortly after that that the Masters attacked my people and killed all whom they came across. This is where it has lead to, where we are now."

"Why did you not mention this before?" asks Kyle.

"It was unimportant, why, I was doing what I was doing as long as I was doing it for the love of the kingdom and the resurrection of the Heavenly Gods into this holy kingdom of Owen."

"Then you knew from the very first time I met you back at the tavern in Turloc that we would be making this journey? That I was here for a specific purpose?"

"I felt you had a purpose in the coming revelation of the Full Circle, but I was not sure what purpose you held in that coming of age. It was not until we found the Lost Mystic Caverns that I understood your place in all this. If you remember when we were in the Lost Mystic Caverns, I left you all to go meditate with myself, but that is not what I did, I went and talked to Tork's grandfather.

"You, Kyle Whiteknight, are the fuel that makes our hearts pump once again. You will be remembered throughout the rest of history as the missing piece of the puzzle that brought about the Battle of Destiny. As it has been foretold for centuries."

"Then the Heavenly Gods are truly with each one of us in our own special way. Win or lose, we are truly blessed."

"Grand Master, Master Akmora is waiting to see you."

"Well, servant, send him in, never keep Master Akmora, the pristine, waiting. "Ah! Master Akmora, my good friend, I guess you have come to enlighten me that the storm has ceased and you are ready to venture out on more of your raids." "Yes, Grand Master. The time has truly come to end this once and for all. The Omega Clock is ticking. I will light up the countryside with the flesh of the rebellious traitors, my lord."

"Fine, fine, do what you must to bring down the inadequate and overconfident traitors. We here are just waiting with divine anticipation for the flies to fly into the spider's web." another blood curdling laugh echoes throughout the halls of the evil fortress. "Oh, and, Master Akmora, stop in at the city of Minsk and see if the Captain of Arms needs anything."

"Yes, Grand Master." He bows and backs out of the Grand Master's library of death.

"Generals, I feel it is important that we separate into smaller forces. The attacks will begin again soon, and such a large force such as ours will be easily spotted from the sky. Of course, the Shadow Riders will continue their own tactics and remain separated from the rest of the forces, well ahead of us. I now believe that the Nomadic Clan Warriors should do the same. Also the Stiefelian Foot Soldiers should allow themselves to progress at their own pace."

Some of the commanders then joke that they will probably be the first ones to reach the Rye Mountains, because they are so swift and silent on their feet.

"Anyhow, we the Royal Guard will also split up into smaller groups of a hundred or so. Then, as we all make progress at the fullest possible pace, we will meet and converge on the City of Death at the foot of the Rye Mountains. Does everybody know what and where the City of Death is?"

Nobody has to answer, the stories of hellish torture and the evil ways of that place have been spreading across the kingdom for nearly a century. It is the positioning of that city that made the Masters take the rest of the Rye Mountains for their main base.

All the commanders sit there in silence for a second staring into nothingness, until General Maze, commander of the Stiefel contingence, speaks out loud and says, "We leave immediately." He then bows in honor of his fellow commanders, turns around, and with a silent command he and his soldiers disappear into the forest without a trace.

It is not long before all the friendly forces are split up and moving under the stealth of the Blackheart Forest.

Another moon has passed; there is only three days to go before they reach the outskirts of the Rye Mountains.

"We are making good time. I think now would be an acceptable time to stop and feed the horses. Let them rest, and we can stretch our legs and reconnoiter." "Yes, Lynx, this is a fine place. One of the best I have seen for that purpose. We have been strangely lucky. There is plenty of grass and water for the steeds, and we can pick berries off the many bushes that line this area so we can re-supply our stores. That way, we will not have to stop once we start our final journey to the mountains." The trees are tall and thick, with a canopy that covers enough of the area that there will be no way, save for the use of powerful magic, they can be seen from above. Yet, at the same time, there are big enough openings that let plenty of sunlight through to warm the bones and refurbish the belief in the beauty of the kingdom for which they are risking their lives.

The area is quite beautiful if you take the time to notice, but that is true for so much of the world around one if you will just take the time. Time, a fleeting and mysterious concept, and yet without it our lives would be lost. All the colors in the forest are vibrant. Even the red and yellow flowers that grow from the sacred ground of mother Serene Minor, are hanging on tenaciously late into the passing season. There are one to two paces high bushes, aligned in what seems to be perfect unison, with delicious red and purple berries growing from them.

The Foursome take full advantage of the rest time, as they lay their bedrolls on the ground, even though it is still quite damp from the storm, and start daydreaming of better and happier times. After nearly two full hours of rest and relaxation they load up their new supplies, remount their horses, and head out for the final leg of their journey, always leading them to their destiny's destination.

"This time, Nogard, we will be omnipresent, and we shall never let them have a moment's rest in time." The huge leviathan nods his massive scaly horned head in anticipation of the coming slaughter.

But this time the world will learn the meaning of true horror, because there will not be just the normal two Fire Dragons and Master Akmora. For this time, Akmora and Nogard, the king of all the Fire Dragons, have arranged for six of the massive Fire Dragons and one other Master, Master Zoran, to help sweep the countryside clean of the worthless peasants and traitors. Both Master and beast look forward to watching the blood of the enemy boil.

"Master Zoran, are you ready to fly? You will be honored to fly Ross, Nogard's kin, his very own nephew. He is fast and will serve you well."

"Thank you, Akmora, I have full confidence in your ability to choose a worthy beast for a fellow Master of the darkness. Allow me to entwine one more spell into my staff that I have specially outfitted to carry on this mission. I want it to be beyond strong with destruction and death." The staff that Master Zoran holds is visibly vibrating from having so much power imbued into it. "Now, brother, I am ready to fly. This will be my first time on one of your intriguing Fire Dragons. I know I shall enjoy the experience." "Now, Nogard, now is the time. Fire beasts, take to the sky."