Chapter Three-- The King of Roars

 

Chapter Three – The King of Roars

Arc 1 – The King of Roars
Location: The Forbidden Forest of Aerion

Below the poisonous grass, deep in the Forbidden Forest of Aerion, hid King Ellion, General Thorne, and Captain Rethos with the formidable men of ten thousand. The moon glowed her baneful eyes, and the twigs of the forest erupted from beneath, laughing at them all.

King Ellion:
The kingdom of Elves! Today shall we march down and shackle their freedom!

General Thorne:
My Liege! Our enemies hath shown forth no sign of war!
Shall I take to their heart, spears and arrows as our standard?

Captain Rethos:
Dost not such! The creatures of the forest shall hunt thee and take thee from the surface of Aerion.

General Thorne:
Yet we sit on the rusted twigs of Aerion; our men grow hungry, their steel grows thirsty!

As the General spoke like a leader of heart, a certain knight who sat close to King Ellion heard their words and saw their minds. Now he wished to give wisdom — a man whose name was Tolien Moss.

Tolien Moss:
Pardon I thy servant, My Liege!
For knowledge I wish to share.

King Ellion:
If thou hast a knowledge to share with I, thy knowledge shall I hear.
Howbeit, if thy knowledge gives not mouth, to the forest shalt I send thee forth.

General Thorne:
Speak forth, knight of Artha, let thy voice beest heard.

Tolien Moss:
My Liege, what if thou wert to send forth a quarter of thy force to Menlo?
A claim of victory shalt Artha begot.

King Ellion:
The law of surprise!
Indeed thou hast shown thy wisdom.
And by thy eyes, shalt we bring to ashes our enemies’ kingdom.
My General and my Captain Rethos shall split their armies, and one shall lead forth a quarter of our strength.

General Thorne:
Sire, thou hast spoken well!
I, Thorne Ravel, shalt lead forth the army
To Menlo! And I shall send Velmira to hell,
To drought and to dust, to death and to famine
Shalt I send Menlo unto.

King Ellion:
Very well. We shall proceed with the plan!

---

Location: The Dark Witches’ Forest, Menlo

Meanwhile in the heart of the Dark Forest — the Wailing Earth — a deep forest where animals of mist and blood swarm. A swamp of blood-seeking creatures, in a land where the spirits of witches berth. There, in the center of it all, stood Lunath, a dark elf who wielded the Cave of Moonlight — a cave so dark, one could perish in a twinkle. Opposite the twirling twigs of the forest stood Soviel Duskhand, a fierce assassin born of soil and blade. Together came the two, in might and flame.

Lunath:
My brother in blood, wolf of death!
Let us walk together, upon the Wailing Earth,
And bring to our feet the kingdom of Artha.

Soviel:
Lunath of the Moonlight! Why shouldst thou waste the day?
Let us go and waste Ellion and his troops!
Yet, we know not where they hid!

Lunath:
Speak not of that, blood Soviel,
For we shall locate the land of our enemies.
By sunfall, we shall take victory over.

Soviel:
Then if so, my brother, let us wait not and strike now.
Can a chick father a cock?
Let us bring down our enemies!

From the tiniest creatures to the largest bird, silence covered all. But a creeping noise emerged — a distant howl, a play of horns from the shadows of the forest.

Soviel:
Ssh… didst thou hear a noise of silence from the shadows?

Lunath:
Aye! Surely I heard. I shalt go and see.
And if a beast, I shall slay it to the witches
If only thou choosest to follow!

Soviel:
And to the forest, we shall!

To the depth of the noise they moved, step by step, knives sharpened like the husks of an elephant. And they moved more with each breath. Behold — they arrived, and an army did they encounter. A force of death, one which Thorne Ravel led to Menlo. A rise in adrenaline, a fall of hope, and a sense of defeat crawled its path in Lunath and Soviel.

Thorne:
Halt! Drop thy blade and come out!
Make no move or die by arrows and flame!

Lunath:
Artha! A brave step ye hast taken.
Ellion — a lion and king of roar!

Thorne:
Speak nothing, thou forest beast!

And a punch to Lunath’s face did Thorne hold, a breath taken, and freedom captured.

Soviel:
Speak not, Lunath, or thou shalt suffer.
Let the dogs bark — Menlo shall soon victor over their predator!

Thorne:
Arrest them and bind their bodies of dirt in chains!
To Ellion shall we take them.

Knight 42:
Yes, my Lord!

Lo — they bound Lunath and Soviel to the chains of shame, side by side with Thorne's horse. And so began the journey back to Aerion.

---

Location: The Palace Hut of Velmira Althorin, Menlo

Meanwhile, Menlo became bitter and fierce. Elves turned warriors, and wolves turned guard dogs. In the mid-center walked Queen Velmira Althorin, alongside her son, Prince Elandriel Althorin.

Queen Velmira:
Behold I say unto you, O Elves!
Turn your tricks to swords and your sticks to knives!
Artha hath begun a war — a war on Menlo!
Like soldiers shall we fight!
Like the wind shall we move!
To the kingdom of Artha — to slay not one but all!
To his command I leave you — Eight hundred and twenty elves, for the doom of Artha!

Prince Elandriel:
I and Kaelor Varn shall lead ye
And march to the gates of Artha to wreak havoc!
May the dark witches be our guide!

Against the walls of Menlo, all living and breathing creatures moved forth to Artha for war and for victory.

---

Location: The Forbidden Forest of Aerion

While Menlo progressed, King Ellion stood forth with his mighty knights of ten thousand. And came forth General Thorne and the knights — and two prisoners.

King Ellion:
Mighty Thorne, to thy king, what hast thou brought?

Thorne:
To my Liege and my brothers of blood,
I, Thorne Ravel, hast brought two elves of Menlo in chains.
To thee, King Ellion, they art.

Captain Rethos:
And what use shall two filthy elves of Menlo beest to Artha, besides meat?

King Ellion:
One must think like a warrior in a period of war, not like a butcher!
To our feet they bow as prisoners and fugitives —
Yet warriors to Velmira!
We shall use them to our advantage —
A bait to Menlo.
For they shall arrive at Artha soon...
Then shall we strike!