“Who are you?” Thetra questioned the woman.
“You shall not have the knowledge of my identity, boy.”
Thetra reached for his sword, but just rested his palm on the hilt.
“Speak your business,” snapped Thetra.
“No.” The intruder cocked her head as if listening to something.
“What do you hear?” asked Thetra.
“A bird. A mockingbird...singing.”
“I hear nothing. Is it graceful?” Thetra’s plan was to distract the woman with as many questions as possible.
“Aye,” said the woman suspiciously.
“What race do you belong to?” wondered Thetra.
The woman paused before answering. “I am an ogre.”
Thetra was shocked. Then another question pounded on him. He asked, “What clan are you in?”
“The Royal Clan.”
Thetra gulped. He remembered the ogre Varick telling him about the Royal Clan. “How are you related to royalty?”
“My uncle is the king.” The woman’s bow was still drawn back. “Do you wish for me to shoot?”
“Of course not.” Thetra drew Slayer. “It wouldn’t be a fair fight.”
The woman let go of the string and the arrow was shot, sent whizzing past Thetra’s left ear and into the bushes beside him.
Thetra swiveled his head back to face the intruder but saw nothing. The woman was gone, her last attempt to kill Thetra done.
“Where is she?” asked Mordon.
“She has left us. Let us return to the camp in peace.”
The rest of the group nodded, and they returned to the army, Thetra still in shock.
TRAGEDY
As they walked back to the camp, they noticed a strange sight ahead of them.
There was a man of the Dark Destroyers waving a red flag with black stars on it.
“King Thetra! King Thetra!” the man yelled. “You must come quickly!”
Thetra and the rest of the pack started sprinting toward the scene, attempting to find out what was the big deal.
But as they drew near, Arek pointed to a bleeding soldier lying on the ground, helpless.
Then they found another.
Four more.
This is too many. We are getting destroyed by a mysterious attacker. It couldn’t possibly be the woman intruder, for she retreated.
Then another thought panged on Thetra.
Maybe she snuck back to the army camps.
They continued searching for the suspect, the dragons flying overhead while most of the men of the army were not only looking for the intruder, but also protecting themselves from anything that may be sneaking up on them.
Finally, they found her.
Arek and the others had been scaling all the walls in Destville, and Arek had spotted her on the roof of the training house. He had drawn Stabber, and immediately reported the news to Thetra and Mordon, just as he was commanded to by Thetra.
“Where is she?” asked Thetra.
“Follow me,” said Arek, and he lead them to the training building where he presented the lost warrior who was determined to kill off the entire population in Destville.
They arrived back at the training building with the woman still remaining on the roof, only now she was trapped by the Dark Destroyers.
“Lay thy sword down!” yelled Arek.
“I shall not!” responded the royal ogre.
Thetra eyed Valao, who was standing next to him, and gave him the signal. Valao flew up towards the intruder and knocked her off the building.
The soldiers who had climbed ladders to the top of the training building and surrounded the woman now jumped off to confront her, and they started chanting.
“You shall die! You shall die!”
But Arek was the loudest. He was yelling as loud as he could, probably losing his voice trying to make the woman hear him.
But Arek was getting trampled by the crowd. As if in response to this unacceptable behavior, he threw his sword as far as he possibly could.
Thetra saw the sword flying through the air, having no idea whose it was, nor who it would kill. But he knew who its target was, for there was only one.
Stabber met its target.
The woman was choked by the sword, and the thrower ran forward to claim his sword.
As Arek retrieved his sword from the woman’s throat, he was thanked by a loud round of applause that sounded like thunder.
“Thank you, Arek Ogrekiller!” shouted many warriors.
THE FINAL PREPARATION DAY
Thetra was well aware of the last day of training. He had been thinking about it for the past week, nothing else on his mind except the death of the ogre woman.
Thetra had been thinking about how the spies had all been rushing to see him the day before, reporting that Morchad’s army had started advancing, and how only Evil himself and his dragon had stayed behind. The evil lord had all of Stankl Maobn to himself, and none of his soldiers could return, except for the survivors.
Thetra decided to take the day off to rest. After all, the next morning he would be suiting up his armor to go and fight golems. He had to be ready for anything that would be thrown at him.
The day we be long, he knew that. He knew all the emotions he would feel as the day passed. Nervous, excited, scared, unsure, anxious. He did not know what to expect, as the only battle he had ever been in was the battle when he had first reached the army.
Because of this, he went to Mordon to ask a few questions.
When he arrived in Mordon’s quarters he was surprised to find a guard outside his door that told Thetra, “Why do you wish to speak to Mordon Teruisson?”
“I must ask him about the upcoming battle.”
“Guards are posted outside everyone on this list of names’ quarters.” The short, fat guard handed Thetra a list that read:
Thetra Eouhjasson
Mordon Teruisson
Arek Eouhjasson
Algonge Dercamsson
Undcund Koloarsson
Yalobregh Udergesson
Hortyun Baldusson
As Thetra finished reading the list, he recognized the last three names. He remembered Hortyun, who had made the announcement that the Dark Destroyers would travel from the island in the middle of the ocean back to Destville. He also remembered Undcund and Yalobregh, the soldiers who had flown with him on Valao back to Destville from the island.
Thetra’s thoughts were interrupted when a spy came rushing down the hall and spoke to Thetra, “I heard a voice. He said his name was Ingharr, and he wanted me to tell King Thetra that he has to use the Blade of Fire in the coming battle.”
Thetra remembered Ingharr telling him about this. He remembered Ingharr’s images of Morchad holding the blade. He remembered Ingharr telling him the sword was in Crater Pit on the earth’s moon.
But he didn’t live on the earth. He lived in a whole different solar system than Earth. How was he supposed to find Earth?
But then Ingharr’s voice spoke to him.
You do not travel there, but have an image of the sword in your mind. Then imagine grabbing the sword. Imagine pulling it out of the ground, and you will hold it in your hands when you come to.
Thetra was worried about what would happen to him once he completed this action, but he decided it was life or death.
Thetra took a deep breath and did what he was instructed. He closed his eyes and imagined himself on Earth’s moon. He did not know anything about the moon, nor Earth, but he kept imagining the moon was a pale thin pink layer of rock, and the earth was a giant yellow spinning sphere in the middle of space.
Then he thought of himself pulling Slayer out of the rock, only instead of the blade being green, it was orange with red flames.
He opened his eyes, and he saw in his hand the exact same sword he had been picturing only moments before.
He nearly screamed.
He was only half-expecting it to work, but he s
aw and felt the sword in his hands.
The guard at Mordon’s door looked frightened. He opened the door and let Thetra in Mordon’s quarters, most likely thinking that Thetra was threatening him with the Blade of Fire.
As Thetra stepped into Mordon’s quarters, Mordon was just getting ready to go down to the camp to train. But he now stared open-mouthed at Thetra, shocked at what he was holding.
“What, what is that?” he asked Thetra.
“I give it to you. It is known as the Blade of Fire, but you may name it otherwise.” Thetra handed the sword to Mordon.
“Where did you get it?” asked Mordon, still astonished.
Thetra smiled. “I shall tell you later.”
Mordon sighed. Then he asked, “Would you like to train with me on this last preparation day? After all, I did hear that Morchad’s army has started their march.”
“I have chosen to rest today. But I must ask you, why did Morchad choose today? Is it because of me? Because I joined?”
“I do not know. We may find out soon but for now I am just going to train with someone. Have an enjoyable resting day.”
With that, Mordon left his quarters and exited the building to practice, leaving Thetra.
“Valao!” yelled Thetra to his dragon as he approached him, having an idea.
“What do you need, Thetra?’
“I must practice fighting while I am riding you. Surely it will happen.” He drew Slayer.
“Alright. Get on me.” Valao waited for Thetra to climb onto him until abruptly taking flight.
“Valao!” scolded Thetra. “Do not do that! Do you want me killed?”
“No, Thetra.”
Valao can be very uncooperative at times, thought Thetra, sighing.
“Let us fly!” Valao soared over the ground, and Thetra couldn’t help but have the feeling of freedom he always had when he rode his dragon.
Thetra stood up on Valao, and while he was still flying low, Thetra held Slayer up and pretended to fight.
But then all of a sudden, there was a loud noise.
Boom.
It was the sound of a cannon.
Had the battle begun yet? wondered Thetra.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
“What is it?” asked Thetra.
Valao paused before answering his question. But he did answer it.
“Morchad’s Army has arrived.”
THE FIRST HOURS OF COMBAT
“They came early!” yelled Thetra above the chants of Morchad’s Army.
“You can never predict anything with Evil’s army,” responded Valao as they sped down to the ground.
Thetra kept his sword in his hand.
He saw a red flag being waived by a man in the front of the army, obviously an outrageous lunatic.
“Drop me down at the doors to the building so I may get my armor on,” said Thetra. “Surely the gates are locked, but they shall let me in once they realize who I am. But you have to hurry.”
Once Valao let him off, Thetra took off like a spell shooting at its victim. He bolted through the doors, which the guards let him through, and then took off down passageways, hallways, and lounges in the building.
Once he reached his quarters, he found a guard that must have been assigned to his door. He took no notice of the soldier, but pushed open the door and put on his full armor.
First he put the leg pads on, then the chest pad, and then the armguards. Finally, he put on his helmet, which he would not need the entire time.
After he had completely suited up, he jumped out of his window and onto Valao’s back, who was waiting for him. They then took off at a medium speed to meet Morchad’s Army.
“I believe that if they approached our camps from the north, then we have to battle against the northwestern winds if we want to reach them,” said Thetra.
“I agree. I must fly lower.” Valao then dipped lower in the air for the men quickly approaching.
“I have yet to see a golem,” Valao said as he flew over many heads in Morchad’s gigantic army.
“I haven’t either,” was Thetra’s only response.
As noon turned to afternoon, and afternoon turned to night, they still did not see one golem. Thetra figured the beasts were in the rear of the crowd, but they were only midway through the raging army by the time the sun reached the horizon.
“This is highly unusual. What is happening down there?” asked Valao as his wings flapped ever on.
A fight had broken out between two Entaraa creature that the Dark Destroyers had not been alerted would be coming. The bigger one was winning, but the smaller sized one was still punching the bully’s forehead with his tiny fists, as if it were afraid to give up. But what was most strange was that the whole army was just walking by as if they didn’t see either one of them.
“Why are they just ignoring them?” wondered Thetra. “Can they see them, or are we in a magical force field of some sort?”
“Morchad probably told them to ignore any fights that occurred in the march,” said Valao, still hovering. “He probably did that so that they could get to us as fast as possible.”
Thetra still had a doubt, but he listened to Valao’s thought.
The next morning about two hours after dawn Thetra saw a bleach-white animal.
“There they are,” muttered Thetra.
There were at least fifty of them. They all crowded around themselves, waiting for some sort of excitement.
“How do we kill them?” asked Valao.
“Smash them. Fall on them and crush them. Torture them in any way,” said Thetra.
Valao took a deep breath.
Then he dove into the crowd.
“No, not yet!” cried Thetra.
GOLEMS
It was too late. Valao had already driven himself and Thetra on a suicide mission into an army of golems. There was no escape. It was do or die.
“Valao,” muttered Thetra. “This is the end. Once we plunge into this army of golems we”
“Have positive feelings for once, Rider,” protested Valao.
“I do!” yelled Thetra.
“We must not fight, for if we do we will never win this battle,” growled Valao.
Thetra did not respond. All he could feel was his stomach lurching, the airborne feeling he always got when he was flying, only this time it was stronger than ever. He felt hunger in his stomach as well, for he had not eaten since the day before, and needed a proper meal.
“We must destroy them,” Thetra heard a golem say. “They cannot kill us. We must obey Lord Morchad’s commands.”
“Aye,” replied another golem, and he swept his fist at Valao, missing his tail by only a few feet.
“Kill them,” growled the first golem. He punched his wide knuckles in Valao’s direction, and he connected with his underside, knocking the wind out of him.
“Ah!” exclaimed Valao loudly. He toppled to the ground, landing on three large golems. They shook him off, angry that their enemy was falling on top of them from the sky.
Once Valao recovered from his belly injury, he had sustained a few more punches, which had left him so damaged he was just barely able to take flight and land behind the army of golems that was quickly approaching Destville.
“Valao!” screamed Thetra. “Dragon, are you alright?”
“I am fine, Thetra. Thank you.” Valao stood up again and said, “Though I do not think I can go fight them again right now.”
“Then rest. We can go fight again later.” Valao then fell asleep with a long sigh that took Thetra by surprise.
Not long after, Valao woke with a low growl that once again startled Thetra. He too, had fallen to sleep but now was wide awake, as Valao was alert, his eyes darting over Thetra’s field of vision.
> “What?” said Thetra.
“I heard something.” Valao stood up and then immediately fell back to the ground, realizing he had not fully recovered from his stomach injury.
“What did it sound like?” Thetra was not used to his dragon waking up so suddenly, so he was questioning him like a guard asking a townsman where direction a fugitive had gone.
“Heavy footsteps,” came Valao’s response.
Thetra frowned. He was about to ask Valao what kind of creature they sounded like when he said, “Go. Hide. I will be there in a second.”
“Valao”
“Just do it!” hushed Valao, and this time Thetra obeyed. He darted behind Valao’s tail to a cluster of pine trees on the outskirts of a small forest. He knelt down on a pile of pine needles that had fallen from the towering trees above. The foot of the thick trunk was occupied with many unique types of berries. There were berries of all sortsblue, red, poisonous, nonpoisonous. Thetra picked up a blue berry and cut into it with a sharp pine needle. The core was as dark black as the midnight sky.
Highly unusual, he thought with a hint of wonder. The berries back in Toage were all pink with a black core, but I have never seen a blue berry with a center the color of Entara fur.
Suddenly Valao came rustling through the pines, pushing Thetra deeper into the forest. Thetra dropped the berry, holding on to the thought he would find another.
He was correct. In fact, in the part of the forest he was located at, the blue and black berries were scattered over the entire forest floor as far as Thetra could see.
“Why are you acting so unusual?” Thetra asked Valao.
“Warvé is here,” replied Valao.
“Who?”
“Warvé. He is the golem that was talking about us when we flew through the golem army.”
“Did he see us?” asked Thetra.
“I suppose so if he is tracking us right now,” whispered Valao.
“Is he in this forest?”
“He most likely is now. Come, we must venture farther into the forest.”
They stopped at a tree with a symbol carved into the trunk that was what looked like a giant G. Immediately Thetra knew what it was.
Golems.
“Valao,” said Thetra. “Let us go deeper into the forest.”
“But...” Valao trailed off when he saw the tree. “Alright.”
They continued their escape from the monstrous golem chasing them through the forest, and Thetra began to feel like he was back in Toage as a little boy, sitting around the campfire and listening to Worgh tell stories about the monsters hiding in the forest, the storyteller’s job mainly to entertain the younglings.