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[Cal Hurst]

---

"Dragons! Coming from the east!"

"Sir, we have an army of orcs marching from the south, what do we do?!"

"Terathans from the northwest, sir! Many of them!"

Vaen grabbed his head as he listened to the cries of the men. He grabbed a nearby spyglass and climbed to the top of a nearby watch tower. Extending it, he pointed it in each direction. Observing the incoming armies.

"Damnit..." he said to himself. "There's nearly hundreds of dragons over there..." He turned to towards the invading Orc army. "Thousands of Orcs..." Finally he turned towards the Terathan army. "And thousands of Terathans."

Biting his bottom lip, he looked down at the remainder of his encampment. Only about fifty strong. He sighed deeply as he looked back towards the invading armies. "This could be it."

* * * *

Vaen paced around Umbra. Whatever was clouding his mind, whatever was controlling him, seemed to have disappeared. What did it want with him? Did it just want to push him further and further away from that which he cares about? If so, then it did a good job. All of his friends either hate him now, or are missing. The Legion has crumbled. His love wants nothing to do with him. All because of his actions.

"What is there left for me here now, anyway? What... really... is there for me to do?" Vaen said to himself. There really was not much for him here. Nothing more of a life. He has no where to go, less he wishes to join with the Ebon SKull. They would gladly take him. But it just wouldn't feel right.

He then watched as a group of men started patrolling Umbra. Noting that they were not from around the area, he walked up to the, what appeared to be, leader, of the men.

"Excuse me, may I ask... what this parade is about?" Vaen smirked

"This is no parade, citizen. We are in need of supplies. We are waging a war to save our city."

"War? City? Eh... Who is fighting this war?"

"Humans and elves... on one side. Then... dragons, terathans, orcs, ophidians, undead, and everything else on the other."

Vaen's eyes widened. Never had he heard of such an alliance between different beasts. He nodded slowly to the group. "Need another amongst your ranks?"

The captain smiled. "Aye. Your name?"

"Vaen Swiftar"

"Swiftar... mmm. Fall in line. We're getting supplies and then heading back to the front."

* * * *

Vaen slid down the watchtower to the ground level and ran over to the remaining men.

"LISTEN UP! This is it. This is the last stance." The dragons' roars could be heard far off, as well as the chanting of the orcs and the screaming of the terathans. The men obviously nervous and scared as they look to Vaen. "Give it your damned all. We did not come this far to lose. We did not shed all of our blood, our comrades did not end their lives, for us to lose at this point. Now get your weapons, prepare your spells, and give 'em hell!"

The men then nodded towards Vaen. Still very nervous, they picked up their weapons and collected the necessary reagents, and all took positions around the encampment.

* * * *

"Now this is a simple training exercise, Vaen. We have a dragon here, and we want you to kill it," said the captain.

Vaen chuckled. "Right. Let's just see it."

The captain opened the gate and sure enough a large, red dragon came charging towards Vaen. A smirk on his face, Vaen dodged the dragon as it flew by him. He then sent a wave of freezing spells towards it, freezing the dragon in place. Afterwards, Vaen sent a bombardment of electrical spells towards the dragon, frying it, and killing it. He turned back to the captain.

"Eh, done." Vaen said

The captain looked at him with a wide smile. "Understatement. Now let's---"

The captains words were cut off by a loud crash behind him. It seems three drakes heard the call of the other from a distance, and charged in. They quickly trambled the captain to death, the cracking of his bones echoing the area. Vaen narrowed his eyes at the three drakes as they charged towards him.

Quickly, Vaen casted a variety of spells that had a wide target area, inflicting heavy damage upon all three drakes. Angered, they all began to breath fire at Vaen, sending him to the ground quickly, heavily weakened. He then prepared a final spell, sending another wide ranged spell towards the three drakes, killing them instantly.

Just after the three drakes fell lifelessly, a group of men came rushing in to find their captain dead, Vaen injured, and three drakes and a dragon laying lifeless on the ground. They quickly ran to Vaen and the captain and began checking Vaen for wounds, and a pulse on the captain.

"No use.. he's dead.." said one of the men.

The men then removed their helmets out of respect as they finished their healing spells on Vaen.

"You... killed these four beasts?" one of the men asked Vaen

Vaen nodded

"Then... you know more about them then we do. We need a leader, Vaen, and though you just joined us, you seem to have the power to do such."

Vaen shook his head. He knew that any one of his old friends could have done as he did. Mave... Beowulf... even Max. But they needed a leader.

"All right, all right. I'll do it."

The men nodded to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Then get us prepared. We have a long march ahead of us."

The next day, Vaen read over the map that the previous captain had outlined. It was a long journey they were planning. A good month's worth of travelling. He knew he would need to inform those who may still have a shred of care for him that he would be gone for some time. He then grabbed for some paper and a pen.

===
Dear Brianha,

It has been a great deal of time since we have spoken. Or even communicated with pen and paper. But I write to you now not because I miss you, but to inform you of my absence.

You see, by the time you get this letter, I will be at a place called Karnoguff Encampment. This may be a bit much and you may be confused, but know that I'm doing this for a good cause. I am once again in charge of a legion of men who are fighting for a cause. And I'm looking at a map here that the previous captain had, and it has two very large red circles around this encampment. The men here tell me that its a very dangerous place to be. Regardless, I will stop ranting about it... and know that I will be gone for some time.

And I was going to write a few more letters, but it se-m- that I am runni-- o-t o- ink. So... if y-- c-uld ple-se t-ll ev-r--ne wh--e I a- so th-- they don't wo--- ab--t m- to- -uch.. I wou-- b- gr---ful.

I s--l l--- -ou...

Va-- S----a-
====

Vaen grumbled at the legibility of the end of the letter, but sent it off with a messenger anyway. He tore off a piece of his robe and gave it to the messenger to give to Brianha. Whether she would burn it or keep it, he did not know.

Vaen stepped out of his tent and nodded to the men. "We're heading for Karnoguff."

The men froze and looked at Vaen. But then nodded slowly as if they were expecting such a trip for some time.

"We leave in the morning."

* * * *

After a very long trip, they finally arrived in Karnoguff. An encampment surrounded by open field, except to the east, where there were to mountain ranges with a path dividing them. They quickly got to work on repairing the cannons, balistas, and catapults that were already there.

After a few hours of setting up, a large dragon flew over head. The men all looked up as it didn't seem intent on harming, but more of a scout. They watched it as it circled the encampment, and then headed back over the nearby mountains. They all began working faster on the sentry weapons.

A few more hours later, it all began...

"Dragons! Coming from the east!"

"Sir, we have an army of orcs marching from the south, what do we do?!"

"Terathans from the northwest, sir! Many of them!"

Vaen grabbed his head as he listened to the cries of the men. He grabbed a nearby spyglass and climbed to the top of a nearby watch tower. Extending it, he pointed it in each direction. Observing the incoming armies.

"Damnit..." he said to himself. "There's nearly hundreds of dragons over there..." He turned to towards the invading Orc army. "Thousands of Orcs..." Finally he turned towards the Terathan army. "And thousands of Terathans."

Biting his bottom lip, he looked down at the remainder of his encampment. Only about fifty strong. He sighed deeply as he looked back towards the invading armies. "This could be it."

Vaen slid down the watchtower to the ground level and ran over to the remaining men.

"LISTEN UP! This is it. This is the last stance." The dragons' roars could be heard far off, as well as the chanting of the orcs and the screaming of the terathans. The men obviously nervous and scared as they look to Vaen. "Give it your damned all. We did not come this far to lose. We did not shed all of our blood, our comrades did not end their lives, for us to lose at this point. Now get your weapons, prepare your spells, and give 'em hell!"

The men then nodded towards Vaen. Still very nervous, they picked up their weapons and collected the necessary reagents, and all took positions around the encampment.

Vaen grabbed for his warfork and for some reagents, standing ontop of the watch tower as the armies kept getting closer and closer to them from all sides. He gripped his blade hard as he yelled, "Fire!!"

At his yell, missiles swarmed in the air. The balistas, the cannons, the catapults, all began firing their weapons at the invading armies. Death cries from each race filled the air as blood spilled from each direction.

"RELOAD!!" Vaen screamed down to them, as the men rushed to reload their sentries.

The missiles seemed to anger each race, as they all broke formation and began charging at full speed towards the encampment. Vaen bit his lower lip and then closed his eyes.

"RELOADED SIR!!" the men screamed up at him. He shot his head down to the men and nodded.

"FIRE!!!"

Again, missiles swarmed through the air as they took out a number of targets. But they simply weren't taking down enough. The time it took to reload the weapons, was too long, as the armies just kept getting closer and closer, sending chills up the spine of even the bravest of men. Vaen quickly went to the center of the camp and called his men to him.

"All right, this is it. This is where you prove yourselves and your training. No more sentries. Everyone, hold tight to your blades and memorize your chants. What we're going to do... is run right into the middle of all of them."

"WHAT?! You have to be absolutely out of your mind.." one of the men said.

"Trust me on this..."

"Grrr. Fine." The man nodded to Vaen, knowing that it was his duty to obey.

"Good. Then.. follow me!!"

Vaen raised his weapon high as he charged out of the base, haded directly towards the center of the field where the terathans, orcs, and dragons would merge. The men following shortly behind him, as they grouped up in a small circle in the middle of this large field. All armies closing in from all sides.

"Stay together... stay together..."

Each army was now maybe 100 yards away, hundred... thousands of them in each group... getting closer and closer.

"Stay... stay..." Vaen kept beckoning

50 yards. 40 yards.... 30 yards, they could feel the vibrations of the dragon roars and smell the stink of their breath. They could hear the orcs chant... "kill... kill... kill..." and the laughter of the terathans.

20 yards....

10 yards...

"CHARGE!" Vaen yelled

Each of the men charged towards the dragons and slid out of their way. The dragons tried to stop short, but their movements would not them as they tripped over the smaller orcs and terathans, crashing down on some of them. Blood splattering all over the place, the death cries of orcs and terathans. The orcs then began attacking the dragons for the damage they did to their army, as did the terathans. In retaliation, the dragons began focusing their attacks on the other two races.

"PICK AND CHOOSE!" Vaen yelled to the men, as they ran around the battlefield and struck down random targets.

The cries of pain from all races... Orcs, terathans, dragons, and humans, filled the air, as the field became a massive pool of blood and corpses. Littered with dragons, terathans, orcs, and humans. The numbers quickly dwindled, as it seemed to be every race for themselves. A free for all.

Vaen manuevered his way through the onslaught and casted bolts of energy random to each creature that looked at him the wrong way. His entire body being covered with the blood of dragons, orcs, and terathans, and even some human blood of his own and his men.

"OUT!! OUT!!!" Vaen screamed to his remaining men, as he ran out of the massacre of races. Following him were the only men left alive. Three soldiers, as they raced back to the base. Vaen took charge of one of the cannons as he motioned for the other man to take charge of the other weapons. Reloading them as fast as possible, they all fired as will, and began killing off all of the remaining hostiles in the field. Upon the last bloody death cry, they all collapsed to their backs, breathing heavily.

"We... we... did it..." one of the men said

"Aye... we... did" Vaen replied

They all remained silent as they just looked up to the now night sky. The horrifying smell of death filling the air as the nearby field was still covered in masses of blood and bodies.

Vaen sat up slowly and looked at all of the men.

"We... I'm... I'm sure you... all have families... you.. you want to go see... back at your city..."

The men slowly nodded as his words.

"Then... tomorrow... we head back home... as will I. Spend time... with your families... and should... I be needed again... you know where to find me..."

Vaen then collapsed back to his back, looking up at the sky. They would all fall asleep that night, staring at the dark sky, breathing heavy from a vicious battle that took place that day. A battle that they would never forget.

Upon returning home within a month's time, they would be reunited with their family's within their now safe homes. The alliance of races no longer threatening their security. Vaen smiled softly to himself as he watched the soldiers who survived hug their wives and children... and he then looked towards the expected wives waiting for their husbands, only to find out that they would now be widowed. Vaen went to each and every one and gave them the story of the final battle. They looked up at him with pain, as though it were his fault. Each and every one of them.

He then walked over to the soldiers that were left alive and shook their hands invidually, letting them know of their bravery that allowed them to be victorious, and to never forget the lives that were lost during the great battle.

They shook his hand back and thanked him for his leadership. He forced a smile back at them, then promptly turned and headed his way back home. To do what, he wasn't sure. To see who, he wasn't sure. But something beckoned him back to Britannia. And he wasn't going to ignore it.
_________________

[Nadia Swiftar]

---

Returning very early in the morning after a long walk last eve Bri found a letter left in between the slats of her door. Curiously she took it and made her way inside for better light to read it. Once she looked down and realized who’s handwriting it was a surge of emotions went through her.. first she was anxious to see what he wrote, and then it turned to anger wondering what had taken so long for him to send her word.. the last communication she had with him was her letter to him in which he never responded.

Sitting back in her reading chair she sighed and closed her eyes leaving the letter unopened on her lap. Memories of what had been between them flooded her mind.. the happy times and the bad times.. she allowed the tears to fall down her cheeks all the while keeping her eyes closed.. no matter what he said in this letter they could never be together again., she thought to herself.. Her heart was far beyond bruised and broken because of him. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and opened the letter wondering how much more pain he was going to give her.

As she read she felt relieved that he seemed to have found himself again, he seemed to have had a purpose again. She had to piece together the words near the end and let a small cry escape as she read “I still love you”. Folding the letter and taking the piece of cloth that was enclosed with it she slowly made her way to her bedroom. There in one of her chests was a small box of letters from him and she carefully placed the letter within along with the piece of cloth. With a sad smile she took the bandana out of the box and held it close for a moment. Without even looking at the inside she recited what it said “I lost a tear in the ocean… The day I find it is the day I stop loving you” and then she carefully placed it back in the box. “It is over for us love… in this box I shall lock away my love for you forever.” Slowly she turned away from the box and left her room. With a heavy heart she sat on her bench outside trying to find the words to send him.

After many failed attempts she threw her quill letting it fall down to the ground in anger. “I just can’t do it.. I just don’t know what to say” It was frustrating to her that she was unable to say anything to him.. it had never happened…they had always had an easy time conveying their feelings. She stood and paced thinking of what to do.

Finally after some time she realized there were no words and took the quill and wrote the only thing she could.

Vaen,
I have received your letter and am relieved to know you are well. I shall inform all those you hold close to your heart of your whereabouts. Be safe in your travels.
Bri

Not even looking at it twice for it pained her that she was unable to sign her name with affection, she sent the message along with a pigion and then decided it was time to take care of her own future and so headed to the Temple to find Lord Norture.