Songs of War

Chapter 2

"This is where I sent the scouts," Hawken said. "Right here, Thalleous!"

It had taken them a few weeks, but they had finally made it. They'd traveled from upper Northwind, down past the Heart of Ardonia, and all the way to the base of Mount Velgrin, where they had left their horses while they climbed to the top. Thalleous wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but this seemingly random obsidian arch was not it.

Thalleous stooped, looking at the snow, then over to an entrance to a cave carved into the side of the mountain. He entered it cautiously, leaving Hawken outside. In the cave was the remains of a campfire, with supplies, weapons, and armor scattered around it.

Thalleous picked up a shield near his feet and walked back outside, examining it closely before tossing it down near Hawken.

"Someone was here... recently," he told Hawken. "I found their supplies."

"How peculiar," Hawken mused in his scholarly way. "Why would they leave their belongings where others might find them?"

Thalleous flinched as he realised something. "Because," he paused grimly. "They are still here." He turned around slowly, and, sure enough, a group of Voltaris stood encircling the clearing. The glow marking them as Ardoni shone menancingly on the snow, bathing the clearing in their red light. Thalleous reached up and unsheathed his diamond sword that had been slung over his shoulder.

One of the Voltaris stepped forward and spoke in a raspy voice. "You must be Thalleous Sendaris. I've heard many things about you."

"And I have heard nothing about you," Thalleous responded dismissively.

"Oh, I know. I've made quite sure of that." The Voltaris stroked the blade of his sword menacingly. "So let me introduce myself. My name is Tygren Voltaris. As for you, Thalleous Sendaris, I know who you are, Champion, and I know what you've done to my clan. Your sword has slain many of my brothers, and once I kill you I will take it and slay twice as many of yours!" He spun and launched a ball of slow-moving energy from his Aggressium Song--the Song type that was used for attacks--at Thalleous.

Thalleous dove out of the way, as did Hawken, who had been standing behind him. Thalleous rolled to his feet and stood there as Tygren charged him.

Tygren launched himself into the air in a spinning strike, probably hoping to end the battle with one hit. Thalleous deflected it and stepped back, bringing his sword up in a diagonal slash at Tygren that would have slashed the Voltaris in half. Tygren easily sidestepped it and punched Thalleous in the side of the head with his free hand causing him to stumble a few steps back. Thalleous attempted to recover, but Tygren followed the punch with a kick to the face that knocked him further off balance.

Tygren stepped back and launched himself into the air, then kicked off a boulder next to where they were fighting. He came down in a spinning kick, but Thalleous managed to regain his balance just in time to jump back and avoid it. Tygren, who had landed facing away from Thalleous, followed up with a backward overhead slash that would have cut the Sendaris' head in two, but had miscalculated and didn't have the reach due to Thalleous' backwards jump.

The two kept exchanging blows, and Thalleous finally managed to land a cut on Tygren's side. Tygren stumbled back, and, regaining his balance, flourished his sword. Thalleous detected a bit of weakness in the movement, however, and used his Song's ability to speed forward, his movement a blur to Hawken's eyes.

Tygren managed to deflect the accompanying strike, though, and Thalleous followed the blow with a slash aimed at Tygren's leg. The Voltaris aggressor rolled over the blade and swung at Thalleous, but was blocked. Their swords locked, and Thalleous kicked kicked Tygren in the knee, forcing him to step back.

Tygren crouched in a defensive posture, switching to a backhand grip on his sword. Thalleous charged him, hoping for an end to the fight. Tygren feinted, then flipped over Thalleous' swing. As he passed over Thalleous, he flicked his sword and slashed Thalleous' chest.

Thalleous stumbled back, the pain almost enough to make him pass out. Hawken ran forward, thinking to help him, but Thalleous stopped him. "Run, Hawken," he quietly told the human, and turned, resuming his fight with Tygren.

After a few strikes, Thalleous twisted his blade, sending Tygren's sword flying point down into a snowbank. Tygren responded by ducking under Thalleous' guard and punching him in the gut. As he doubled over, Tygren launched himself upward and smashed his fist into Thalleous' face. Thalleous fell, and Tygren snatched up his sword and flipped at Thalleous as he regained his feet.

The yellow sparks caused by Thalleous' Song appeared around the Sendaris as he tried to teleport past the strike, but was a fraction of a second too late as Tygren's foot made contact with Thalleous' face. As he fell, the Song teleported him, speeding past Tygren to land on his back in the snow, his sword landing a few feet past him. Tygren turned to the fallen Ardoni, and began to glow a sinister red. He launched a ball of energy at Thalleous, who could not possibly have dodged.

It seemed to Hawken as if time itself slowed. Without thinking, he rushed forward, scooping up the shield Thalleous had discarded near him earlier. Holding it in front of himself, he skidded to a stop in between Thalleous and the ball of energy. It stuck his shield like lightning, pushing him several feet back and shattering the shield. Thankfully, however, this completely used up the energy, and he breathed a sigh of relief seeing that both he and Thalleous were still alive. He raised his sword as Tygren took a step towards him.

Thalleous crawled to his sword and stood, swaying on his feet. He turned to attack Tygren, but stopped in horror. Hawken's body slowly slid off of Tygren's sword, emitting a slight squelching sound as it came free of the iron blade.

Thalleous just stood there, overcome with shock. Why Hawken? The young scholar was no threat to anyone. The senseless killing was completely unnecessary; there was no chance Hawken could have harmed Tygren, so why would this monster just slaughter him like this?

Thalleous' face hardened. He no longer needed to fight Tygren to protect Hawken; he would  fight to avenge the human's death. He ran toward Tygren, nearly blinded with rage and sorrow, meaning to end the fight immediately.

Tygren sighed, dodging the blow with a small sidestep, and slashed his sword through Thalleous' path. The Sendaris crumpled to the ground, his light flickering weakly.

"So many years we have prepared for this, and you," Tygren paused to flip his sword over, point down above Thalleous' back "Are not about to interfere." He thrust his sword down to end Thalleous' life.

Thalleous shot forward to fast for the eye to see, having used his Song to teleport away. As Tygren's blade hit the ground, Thalleous stood shakily several yards away and stumbled down the hill.

Tygren didn't even need to give an order; his Ardoni were well-trained enough to know to follow. With only a small head start and his severe injuries, there was no way Thalleous would be able to outrun the Voltaris.

Turning a bend, Thalleous noted a large crack in the  mountain, probably caused by an earthquake. As he neared it, he could see that it was far too deep to jump into to hide, but too wide to jump. Yet, there seemed to be no other option. He manage to break into a limping run, and as he reached the edge of the canyon, he jumped.

The distance proved to be too great, and the wounded Sendaris fell short of the other side. As Thalleous plunged toward the bottom of the rift, he activated his Song.

He sped forward, clearing the remaining distance to the other side, and landed heavily on his side in the snow. Breathing a sigh of relief, he slowly and painfully climbed to his feet and turned to face the handful of Voltaris gathered on the other side.

From the fight and ensuing chase, it had seemed that none of the Voltaris possessed a Mobilium Song, the type of Song used to enhance one's movement. If they did, there was no hope for Thalleous to survive, as they could easily jump the gap.

Thankfully, it seemed as though the Voltaris only had Aggressium Songs, and none of them attempted to cross. The Voltaris gathered on the other side of the gap, but, unable to cross, had no way of following Thalleous on his painful trek down the mountain.