ground, with little fight or energy left in him. His anger and determination pushed him to get up, once he regained his footing he scoured the corpse strewn battlefield in search of that commanding Troll. Spotting the distinct Troll, Elis picks up a Hetheilian halberd and hurls it directly at him. Suddenly the voice of another Troll could be heard, shouting “Da’aska!” and on hearing that the Troll commander turned around and deflected the incoming halberd with his battle-axe. “Da’aska, so that’s the name of that beast, I will remember it” said Elis. Elis hurls another halberd into the face of another Troll rushing towards him. His arms were worn-out and he absolutely drenched in the blood of the Trolls. He looked around and saw that the Trolls were going to break through a small weak spot in the Unodite cavalry on the left flank of the encirclement, however the number of Trolls left was unbearably pathetic, the Trolls were not just decimated in this battle but they were virtually annihilated. Elis falls onto his back, hitting the ground due to exhaustion, not even able give commands or rally his exhausted troops. Finally, the Trolls broke through but with only some dozens remaining, what they did next was to route to the other side of the oasis where the Human camp was and Da’aska ordered the only thing the Trolls could do. “Raid the Human camp! Break away with whatever food and drink you can cease!” ordered Da’aska. The Trolls did just that and raided the Human camp on the other side of the oasis. Observing this, Elis ordered some of his men to the camp led by another of his companions while the rest would finish off the injured and dying Trolls still left on the battlefield and rest. “Take sixty men and go to the camp, kill all of them there and whatever happens don’t let them go further north, any survivors should be directed to the south, where they came from. Go now!” said Elis furiously to his companion. His companion hastily gathered together sixty men who were still able to fight and headed straight for the Human camp.
The Trolls ravaged the camp, attacked and killed injured Human soldiers and medics who had carried them from battle. Bent on revenge, the small band of tough survivors spared no one in the camp, till they noticed the Humans starting to enter from the northern most part of the camp. The Trolls bellowed a loud singular roar and now they knew who they were fighting, they charged the Humans who were just forming up in battle order. Now a second battle of the Calfus oasis erupted in the Human encampment. “Burn the tents! These Humans deserve no comfort after slaughtering so many of our kind!” shouted Da’aska as the two small forces clashed. After a quarter of an hour the sixty men sent to stop the breakaway Trolls were dropping like flies as the Trolls fought much harder and played to their strengths as they were fighting an enemy that didn’t catch them off-guard. Back in the oasis Elis and the rest of his exhausted army finished mopping up, as thirsty as they were they did not dare drink the water for it was stained with the blood of both man and beasts and corpses with hollowed out expressions floating at the surface of the body of water. Elis started walking back to camp, he then saw the Humans being pushed back by the Trolls in a burning camp. Elis picked up a sword and ordered “forward! And put out those fires!” All the infantrymen in the oasis rose up and charged at camp.
Noticing a storm of dust, kicked up by many angry soldiers, Da’aska and the other Trolls fled as fast as they could with whatever food and water they could carry. Too tired to run them down, the Humans and even their cavalry stopped and let them get away, anyway what such a small force could do was probably not to immediately worry about. Then the Human soldiers started cheering and raising their swords chanting “victory! We have victory!” while a very small minority could not help but feel this was no more a battle than a heartless butchery of countless innocent Trolls while others mourned the deaths of brothers and comrades. The companion Elis had sent to the camp earlier with sixty men, put his hand on Elis’s shoulder and said “we won the battle my friend and what a triumphant victory it was” Then Elis hit the face of his companion with the back of his hand, making his companion fall sideways and hit the ground. “You let them escape and let them burn the tents, you have nothing to be proud of, winning to me means nothing at all if some Trolls were able to get away and burn all of our tents” said Elis, breathing heavily. His companion did not say a word and just stood up but instead looked over to the other side of the oasis. Elis turned to see what his companion was staring at, he turned to see three figures standing over a dead body on the other side of the oasis. Without a sound, the companion in front of him started walking in that direction, towards the scene.
“Don’t just walk away” said Elis in a harsh tone. But his companion continued to walk away and towards the scene on the other side of the oasis. Elis rolled his eyes arrogantly and wiped the blood of his face. He too then walked towards the scene as well behind his companion. “Nobody walks away from me” said the angered Elis. “Get back here, get back here now!” shouted Elis. His companion then turned his head and said “You deal with me later, I need to see him, dead or alive”. “I will deal with you now. My soldiers defy me and now you do too, I have to give you a lesson” said Elis in his angered and disoriented sate from the battle. Before his companion knew it his neck was grabbed from the back by Elis who then said “You have always been the lowest amongst us, don’t think you will ever have the authority to challenge or defy me”. “So what if I am the lowest, I can still disobey you, no rules dictate me not even for you and the others or Lumbre” said the companion in retaliation, seeming now to truly hates Elis. Elis’s grip on his companion’s neck got tighter as Elis was incredibly angry at him. “Let go!” shouted Elis’s companion. “
After a few minutes to get to the other side, Elis and his companion approached three of their companions standing over their dead comrade. “We’ll miss the guy” said one of the companions. Suddenly Elis felt something very strange, a feeling he hasn’t felt since he was a young child. He looked around and saw that one of his companions was crying. “We will surely miss him” said a companion before another said “yes, a true brother in arms”. Elis went over to the tearing companion and put his hand on his shoulder and said “he fought bravely, training with him was an honour as well as fighting with him in battle. Do not remorse or wallow, build vengeance for we are nearly complete with our campaign” before he turned the man around and looked him dead in the eye and said “do not waste your tears, it was just the loss of one soldier, a soldier who did his part”. It was quiet for a moment. “Go back to the camp, try to get some sleep, we split the army tomorrow, the rest of us will pursue that small group of Trolls and reinforce the wall” said Elis, without any visible remorse though in his heart he was sorrowful. Of his four remaining companions, one was the saddest, as he was the closest to this dead companion, his name was Pavis, the man who had failed horribly in defending the camp and allowed the small band of remaining Trolls to escape.
Four of the men, including Elis left the scene in the hopes of a good night’s sleep. They walked past the blood soaked water that was once a crystal clear pond, ruined by the battle that was just raged. Only one man remained behind, Pavis. He bent down and took his fallen friend’s helmet and after tossing his own aside put his on instead. Then he took a sturdy axe that he looted from a Troll’s carcass and started digging a rectangular hole in the ground. Wiping the tears that rolled down his rough cheeks, he buried his comrade. “That Elis only cares about himself, I see it now, I see it all now, you know I’m starting to think he deserves to be second to his brother and neglected by his father” said Pavis to himself. He then started kicking the sand back into the hole to finish the burial and as he wiped away his final tear he said “I doubt he has any love, not even pity, just power hungry” said Pavis as he finished the burial. “You said build vengeance huh Elis? Is that what you said, but I don’t blame his death on that Troll, I blame it on you, Elis. You make us constantly heed your biddings and you give us warnings, even us, the men who have first pledged eternal loyalty to you have seen your cruelty and the hatred in your soul” said Pavis as he left the scene.
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Elis, while walking back to what was left of the camp, knew he owed his successes to Lumbre’s teachings. Those who had seen Elis fight were astounded at his prowess for war. “Elis you fought well out there, if your father had seen you fight, I think he would’ve been proud. So would Lumbre” said one Elis’s companion. Elis was unresponsive and just kept on walking, lost in thought the troubled man tried to rethink his future. He got to what was left of his burnt tent and sat down, the other soldiers were doing the same, so exhausted that many just fell asleep instantly after completing their tasks. Elis laid his head down on his damp clothing, he exhaled and spread his arms to stretch, for no reason a lonely tear ran down his cheek soon after and he didn’t know why. Then he began to reflect and started to get lost in thought once again. He has clearly gone against the law to side with Lumbre but this has brought him successes and he hasn’t faced any repercussions. The only people who knew of the whereabouts of Lumbre were Elis and the