Chapter Two
Finally, the time comes for Lorek and his followers to leave the camp and say goodbye to the Elders who have been paying tribute to them in their camp. The final goodbyes are said to family members and loved ones who cannot make the journey. Elder Mahtan silences everyone with his arrival.
“Lorek, you have taken mere Elves and turned them into a formidable army, one that will surely stand against the enemy you will find in the Kocari Wilds. I hereby dub you, and that of your followers, the Followers of Elgar’nan. May you triumph over all who stand in your way.”
Lorek bows to the Elders, thanking them for this chance. He turns around and begins marching South, into the unknown. The Elders and loved ones alike, stand silent and watch the warriors march, march to their death. The rumors are very well known to everyone. Darkspawn rule the land where they march, and chances are, they will never be seen again, but yet they march.
After many days of traveling, Elven scouts find a river, the first sign of sustainable life. They make camp there and have everything set up before nightfall. They draw out defensive lines and scouts roam the area beyond.
Suddenly, arrows wisps through the air, finding their targets with ease. The horns of battle sound off and Elves hustle to their positions. Archers on both side fill the air with arrows and warriors take cover behind their shields. Lorek makes his way to the front line with the Bow of the Elves in hand. He sees the first sight of the enemy, Darkspawn, but not ordinary Darkspawn. These beasts stand at least 8 feet tall and have the make of Qanari but yet, they’re not Qanari.
He sees a rather large one, screaming at the Darkspawn and takes aim for him, assuming he is their leader. His nerves take over and his hands start shaking, he cant aim properly. His Sergeant, Caranon notices this issue.
“Oh come on Lorek, scared already? Maybe I should take over!” Caranon laughs at his own twisted form of a joke.
Determined to not let his leadership get called into question by his fellow soldiers, he bucks up and calms down. He releases his arrow and it’s as if time itself slows down as he watches the arrow piece the neck of the beast. He falls to the ground only to be replaced by another one. The air grows quiet as arrows begin to cease on both sides. The beasts start to charge and without hesitation, Lorek charges after them. The Elves try to catch up but he is to fast. His arrows finding their mark every time he releases, even while running.
He turns and throws the Bow to some lucky Elf as he pulls out his sword and shield and smashes into the Darkspawn. Shields smash into swords, arrows penetrate armor and screams of pain fill the air.
Lorek sinks his blade into the nearest Darkspawn as he screams out like a mad man. He turns swiftly to catch a blow with his shield as an arrow is plunged deep into the chest of the Darkspawn just milliseconds after the blow hits. He doesn’t even look to see who killed it, he just pulls his blade out and continues onward. The Elves slowly gain ground until they reach the river.
There Lorek encounters another one of the Alpha Darkspawn. The beast’s armor glistens in the moonlit, his sword nearly twice that of Lorek’s and covered in the blood of his brothers. The Elves and Darkspawn alike stop fighting and encircle the two slowly.
Lorek and the beast walk in a circle before finally the beast runs forward, slashing at Lorek who quickly blocks it. Screams of joy shout out from both sides as the Elves cheer for Lorek and the Darkspawn cheer for their leader. Lorek slashes back at the beasts but he quickly ducks and slashes Lorek’s leg.
He falls to the ground and the Elves quickly stop cheering and fear for their leader. The freezing water flows over Lorek’s body, giving him goose bumps. He musters his strength and picks his sword up to make one last charge.
He stretches the length of his arm just to stab the beast in his thigh. But it didn’t work the way he planned. The beast just laughs and pulls the blade out. He slams both weapons down but Lorek rolls over just in time. He picks up a rock and throws it at the beast. While he is distracted, he tackles the beast and punches him reputably.
The beasts pushes him off but Lorek quickly recovers and picks his sword up. The adrenaline in his blood pushes all pain out of his mind. As the beast swings his sword, Lorek rolls and stabs him in the gut. The beast drops his weapon, but grabs Lorek by the neck. Lorek, with all his strength, pushes the blade deeper and deeper until the beast no longer fights back, and falls to his knees.
Lorek pulls the sword out and prepares for the final swing. He looks at Caranon and just nods.
“Archers at the ready!” Caranon screams.
Lorek, with one fluid motion slashes the beast’s head off and arrows fill the space next to him as they destroy the first ranks of the Darkspawn. The Darkspawn try to move forward but the arrows are too much for them. They eventually fall back and the battle finally ends. For now.
Morning comes and brings more surprises for the Followers. After the battle, it seems many of the Elves decided Lorek was asking to much of them and left camp to return back home. When Lorek asks for a head count, his second in command, Commander Tadon, reports back with dire news.
“Sir, it doesn’t look good. The count is currently under 3,000 men, but we only lost about 100 in the battle.” Tadon speaks with a very saddened voice and refuses to look Lorek in the eyes.
Lorek, sharing the same emotion paces back and forth in his tent, unsure on what to do next. Finally, he leaves the tent and casually glides through the camp, glancing at the soldiers he has left. Tadon follows him, knowing he will make a decision soon enough.
He makes it to the river where the battle happened. His wound barely bothering him now as there are more important matters at hand then feeling pain. The river still flows red in the sea of blood from the battle before. The Darkspawn bodies’ ashes on the other side still have their stench and chokes Lorek as he kneels down next to the river.
“3,000 men you say?” He says as he plays with the water with his right hand.
“Indeed sir. Do you want to start heading back?”
“No. we shall march on. Tell the mappers to mark this river down as Red River and make sure this battle and her casualties are not forgotten.”
Tadon leaves without another word as Caranon comes up to speak with Lorek.
“Sir, I know we have lost a lot of men, but I still feel our mission is just and I wish to lead a scouting party.”
“Who the hell in their right mind would join you on this?” Lorek says turning around to look at Caranon with a little smile on his face.
“I’m sure I can find a few willing.” Caranon says laughing.
“Very well, just be back by nightfall. We’ll be marching tomorrow morning.”
“Yes sir, thank you sir.”
Caranon marches off and comes back shortly after with a squad of Elven volunteers ready to go. They make their way through the river and disappear into the forest beyond. Lorek heads back to his tent to meet with Tadon.
“Assemble the men, I wish to speak with them right away.”
“Roger that sir.”
Lorek spends the next hour or so painfully trying to find out what to say to his men. Most of them are Dalish but some city Elves have stayed as well. Before Lorek can even muster together a decent speech, Tadon comes and tells him the men are assembled and waiting.
They both make their way out of the tent and onto a make swift stage made out of some chopped down wood. Lorek steps onto the stage first and takes his place in the middle as Tadon stands at his side, slightly farther back though. The stage itself is very ill made and barely high enough for Lorek to see all his soldiers, but it will manage.
“Men, I cannot stand here and tell you you will survive the coming battles. I cannot tell you we will make a nation for our people again, but I can tell you that no matter what happens, we will try. And it has been proven countless times again that if we put our strength together, we can accomplish anything!
“Those of you who have stayed behind are the true Elves of Thedas and I am proud to share the same ground as you, lead alone the same battlefield. I promise you, we will find the source of this creatures and we will destroy it and avenge our brothers’ deaths. We will stay here tonight and tomorrow morning we march out. If you do not wish to continue onward, I suggest you leave.”
Lorek walks off the stage in complete silence and only Tadon breaks it by screaming dismissed. The army, or what is left of the army, slowly walks back to their tents. Some still retain a smile while others still feel the pain of loosing their friends. Barely anyone still has the nerve to laugh about and enjoy life, but a couple do and it is refreshing to see, not only to Lorek and Tadon, but to all the soldiers staying.
Back at his tent, Lorek tells Tadon that the mappers must find a name for these beasts and record them down so that others my be warned before encountering them. Tadon comes back some time later with the head mapper, Amrod.
“Sir, my name is Amrod and I have decided we shall call these creatures Astaldo Maethor(
my-thore), valiant warrior.”
Lorek stares at the map he has of the surrounding area thanks to his scouts and mappers, thinking if this name really fits those…things.
“If that is what you think they should be called, so be it. Thank you Amrod.”
Meanwhile, Caranon and his men have made their way to a clearing in the forest where they see a fort of some kind patrolled by Darkspawn? These Darkspawn are indeed Maethors and they guard the entrance with huge axes while archers take up positions on the towers and surrounding catwalks.
They spend the next hour scouting the area surrounding the fort to try and find a fault in the making where they could take advantage of it. The 12 men find a half submerged tunnel, what looks to be regular water covering it. Caranon slowly walks up to the tunnel with a large stick to see how deep it is when one of his scouts signals that they’re not alone.
Caranon quickly hustles back to his squad in the forests to find about 7 Maethors walking back to the fort from patrol probably. For some reason, these Darkspawn have acquired basic intelligence and even speak their own language. Caranon signals for 7 archers to prepare themselves and quickly drops his hand. Arrows whistle by his head as all 7 arrows find their marks, directly in the heads of the Maethors. Caranon and 6 others rush to the bodies and drag them back into the woods.
“Sir, are you sure this is the right thing to do. I mean, what about the taint?” One of the privates asks with a concerned face.
“Whatever these things are, they don’t have the taint, that’s for sure. Look at them, they act as if we do. Patrolling an area, defending a fort, and even attacking an army all without a Blight coming. Something is up and we need to find out.”
Caranon starts taking the armor off the Maethors and orders the rest of his men to do. They do so, but the armor is bulky and very noticeable. He orders his men to bury the armor where it is and takes the bodies a few hundred feet away to bury them as well.
Once the deed is done, the men slowly make their way back to camp, remembering to mark down points of interest so that they remember how to get back to the armor.
They finally arrive at the camp where Lorek waits by the river for them.
“I am glad to see all of you returned safely.” He says, with a big smile on his face.
“We are glad to be back sir, but I bring bad news.”
Lorek’s face suddenly stops smiling and becomes very blank, emotionless.
“We found a fort of some kind, though I do not recognize the architecture and it was being patrolled by these beasts. We managed to kill 7 of them while they were out, but they do not seem to have the taint. They speak with their own tongues in their own language and act as we do sir.”
Lorek, now with a displeased face calmly stares into the river, now blue with water.
“The mappers have named these beasts Astaldo Maethor and I must agree with you, they are unlike any other Darkspawn Thedas has seen before. The only question is, how.”
“What do you expect us to do sir?” Caranon asks with a worried face, but his eyes clearer shows no sign of fear, rather, his eyes show determination to stop the Maethors.
“We will discuss this at a later time. For now, get some rest, you probably need it.”
Lorek gets up and quickly paces back to his tent to plan for the future assault on the fort.
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I will be leaving for vacation starting tomorrow and wont be back for two weeks so I wont be able to write anymore. After vacation however, I'll have Chapter 3 up which should be longer(sorry for the size of this one but I figured you would at least want to know what I have before I leave).
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