After requesting an audience with the King, the Siblings of Saironellotoron II were told they would have to wait one hour to exact their revenge. When that hour had come to pass, Bortoron, Belegondo, Estelnar, Estelellomenel, Arinndil, Nimloth II, Vistanasehí, and Hinaevailluvitar all marched into the throne room, fully dressed in their apparel for what was to come.
Bortoron drew his sword, its blade catching the light through the window across its silvery titanium surface. "In the name of the Line of Estelondo, heirs of the King Saironellotoron II of Meneltarma, and Lady Morelanor of Elorean, you are under arrest for the nonconsensual violation of his daughter, Faramaureä. Surrender!"
The False King sat on his throne and smiled. "That name bears no power here, Bortoron the Conjurer, so watch your tongue. What you speak is treason, and treason must be punished." He gestured, and the guards to each side of his throne lowered their glaives.
Estelnar openly laughed. "There are two of them, and eight of us. What do you hope to accomplish?"
Gygax grinned and pointed behind them. "I think your arithmetic is slightly off, Arinndil." Positioned above them on a balcony were ten guards, all armed with swords and crossbows, which were trained on the family. At that exact moment, twelve more guards marched through the doors, the last two of which held a gagged pregnant woman.
"Evinyantandil!" Hinaevailluvitar exclaimed, stepping toward her, but Bortoron held her back, knowing how bad of a spot they were in.
Gygax continued, "It seems to me, like your odds are now 24 to 9. Perhaps you should consider your next words very carefully, Bortoron."
Bortoron turned back toward his family, his sword limp in his hand, and his shoulders slumped forward in a dejected position, but his eyes told another story, one of defiance, and courage. "To death, and Mandos, Toronarorónënya." With a nod, he whipped around and dove at the two guards holding Evinyantandil.
Within the blink of an eye, the siblings moved into action, each seeking out their own targets.
Estelnar The Evoker, turned towards two of the twenty-four, and, drawing his sword, cast "narmacil!" The fire spread up his hands, onto the platinum blade of his sword, as the fire sword spell took effect.
Estelellomenel drew his sword, and dove toward the throne, but was stopped from reaching Gygax by the two guards who stood near him.
Nimloth II turned toward the balcony and cast "ealombe!" rendering them all blind. They wildly released their crossbows, striking two guards, killing one, and deflecting off of the armour of the other. However, one of the crossbow bolts struck her in the right hip, piercing fabric and flesh. As the dart hit, she shrieked, and then cast "vanta!" She turned invisible, the bolt hitting the ground, and was gone from sight.
Arinndil turned toward three guards, each of whom had a longsword out. He began to duel them all, his potassium rapier moving much faster than their steel longswords. He quickly cast an illusion that there were five of him duelling the guards, but that was quickly discovered.
Hinaevailluvitar began by casting a prestidigitation spell of a sparking ball of light in the centre of the room, which blinded the guards, causing them to rear back in surprise. She then cast a divination spell, to see if she could determine Gygax's plan, but her concentration was broken as 26 more guards entered the room, and she had to draw her quarterstaff to defend herself.
Vistanasehí attacked three guards, and immediately cast "nenmacil!" He killed the three guards whose swords had turned to water, before attacking three more.
A guard on the balcony, specifically an elf-maiden with fiery red hair used one of her paladin spells to cure her blindness. When her eyes cleared, she drew her longsword out and began attacking the other nine balcony guards, who were finally shaking free of their blindness. As she attacked, she shouted, "For Estelondo!"
The battle had raged all of twenty seconds, at this point, and they had killed in total maybe twenty guards when twenty-five more entered the room. Hinaevailluvitar heard this and lost focus from duelling six guards, and a sword pierced her abdomen. And even as far away as the children were, they felt it; the Line of Estelondo
She looked down at it for a moment in confusion, not feeling any pain, oblivious to the sword coming down behind her...
Estelnar, who was now duelling five guards, saw her fall. He screamed a vocalization of pure magic, sending all of his opponents flying through the air, some going out windows, and others being thrown at walls and shattered. But just as quickly, ten more swooped in to surround him...
Estelellomenel and Bortoron heard this, and felt their deaths, as siblings sense one another's souls. Enraged, Bortoron struck down five more, in as many seconds, but Estelellomenel was distracted by it and lowered his guard for a second. It was Gary Gygax himself, who thrust his blade through Estelellomenel, and then pulled it out, leaving him dead on the throne pedestal.
Arinndil's rapier flashed in and out, but he was slowly being crowded in, thus losing the mobility and speed that the rapier granted him. A greatsword came down hard on his rapier, cutting through the potassium blade, and knocking him down, but he still killed three more guards, and maimed a fourth, before his head rolled in the floor.
The female guard on the balcony killed three of her fellow guards, before she fell over the side, and was cut down by the mass of swords owned by her former allies...
Belegondo felt the death of all of his siblings, and threw his now broken sword to the side, as he dove at a guard, and smashed his head into a pile of red goo, before succumbing to the wounds of eight swords in his body...
Vistanasehí was finally trapped in a corner and was running out of hope, as his sword was flung out of his hand, and he was stabbed in the lower abdomen. "Do not lose hope, Toronnya! Fight!" He raised his hands above his head losing one in the process, as he cast "sírimanar," onto the ceiling above him and the ceiling above turned to lava, and came crashing down onto him and fifteen guards near him...
Bortoron heard his brother's shout, but kept fighting, until Gygax shouted out, "Enough!" The guards all lowered their swords, and stepped back, creating a row down the middle for Gygax to walk through. Bortoron collapsed to his knees, dropping his sword in exhaustion, but he swivelled his head around, looking for Evinyantandil and Nimloth II, because he had not felt them die.
The lava in the room gradually cooled, as Gygax gestured to his guards, and ordered, "All but ten of you, and the guards on the balcony, leave. I have some business to discuss with Bortoron." The guards cleared out, leaving only corpses in their wake.
Gygax picked up Bortoron's sword and knelt down by him. Two guards still held onto the now unconscious, and bloody, Evinyantandil. "You know, Bortoron, I have great respect for you. Do you know why?" Bortoron shook his head, too tired to speak, so the King continued. "You, during the heat of a battle, did not allow your emotions to distract you. Many of your siblings fell, for that reason, but you fought on, which in truth, is why you are still here."
Gygax threw the sword in the now cooling lava and drew out a long straight-bladed dagger. "How about we make a deal? If you swear fealty to me, I will spare Saironellotoron II's children. After all, I have no desire to kill my wife."
Bortoron managed to spit out, "She... Is not... Your wife!"
Gygax smiled maliciously. "Oh no, Bortoron, that is where you are wrong. You see, according to a law laid down by your father, back when he was part of the Council of Meneltarma, if an unmarried citizen of Meneltarma takes the virginity of another unmarried citizen, then they are married in the eyes of the Government. Granted, his reason for this was to prevent orphans and to cause the people to accept responsibility for their actions but I have no issue exploiting it. Furthermore, I filled the paperwork this morning, and now, legally, Faramaureä is my wife, and the Queen of Meneltarma. Speaking of which, where is my wife?"
Bortoron shook his head, and refused him. "I will never tell you where they were, and with luck, they are already out of the city."
Gary Gygax clicked his tongue condescendingly and sighed. "Tsk,tsk,tsk, Bortoron, that answer is not the one I sought. I did not want to have to do this, but you have left me no choice."
Gygax turned around, and began walking toward the awakened Evinyantandil, who tried to back away in fear, but was held firm by the guards. "No! Please, No! I am begging you, please do not kill me! My baby does not deserve to die! It did not do anything wrong!"
But Gygax answered her, "I am afraid that is just out of the question." With that, he slashed his dagger across her belly, ignoring her shrieks of pain, and horror, as he reached into her open belly, and spiked her unborn child at the ground, as it splattered against the stonework. One of the nearby guards threw up, as Evinyantandil's kicking stopped and Bortoron knew that she was dead.
Nimloth II barely managed to stifle a scream, as she watched Gygax kill her pregnant sister in law, and her unborn child, from her vigil near the now open door.
"I will never help you, you psychopathic child murdering, swine! We should have killed you when you entered the city, two and a half years ago!" Bortoron spat out, his words bitter and full of heartbreak, as Gygax walked back toward him.
"Yes, you probably should have, Bortoron," Gygax studied his now blood covered hands and dagger before he concluded, "and unfortunately for you, I believe you." The King threw his dagger with a flick of the wrist, and it embedded itself in Bortoron's brain, killing him instantly.
This time, Nimloth II failed to hold back her outrage, as she screamed, "No!" Her invisibility spell faded, and she turned to run outside of the door, but as she did, two arrows struck her through the back, piercing through her chest. Her adrenaline was pumping so fast, that she ignored it, and began sprinting down the hallway towards the Council Chamber.
"Follow her!" Gygax ordered, and two guards began to chase after her. "I want those children found!" He turned to the other guards and commanded them. "I want this room cleaned up within the hour."
Nimloth II continued down the hallway, but she grew aware of the approaching guards and hid in a doorway. When they ran by, she jumped out behind them, and stabbed one in the back of the throat, then touched the forehead of the other one, and cast, "lorlmë," causing the guard to fall into a deep sleep. Taking her dagger, she then apologised, and slit the sleeping guard's throat.
. . .
During the course of the battle, the four children sat in the council chambers, Orónëminya holding Metimafoa, the youngest, because he was scared, and Percival grasping Faramaureä in a comforting embrace, as she cried on his shoulder, mentally traumatized by all that she had experienced with her legally wedded husband. Percival glanced at Orónëminya, as he always looked to her for advice, but she was busy whispering comfortingly to Metimafoa. He continued to hold the weeping Faramaureä until there were two slow, weak knocks against the door.
Percival was nervous as he stood up and reached for the door handle and slowly opened the tall wooden door only to see his Aunt Nimloth II, bleeding out by the door.
She looked up at him, and as her eyes met his they flared with hope, not for herself, but for the Kingdom of Meneltarma, and the Line of Estelondo. She, with her last breath, squeezed out, "Run... Gygax... Murderer... To... The stables... Go!" With that, she collapsed, dead, and Percival turned away and closed the door, horrified by what he had just seen.
Then he slapped himself, hard, across the face.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to his siblings, and bid them to gather the stuff they had in this room, and flee to the stables. Orónëminya nodded and grabbed both her's and Metimafoa's bags, while Percival grabbed his, and Faramaureä's bags. Walking out of the door, Percival took Faramaureä's hand and together the four of them ran to the stables.
. . .
Although there had been some close encounters, they avoided the guards largely due to the fact that the guards were heading to their rooms, on the far side of the complex. As they saddled the horses, Orónëminya whispered, "Percival?"
"Yes, Orónënya?" Percival whispered back, trying to fasten the clasp on the saddle, and finally getting it.
"We need to split up, but I am scared to."
Percival stepped over to his sister and took her hands in his, their foreheads touching. "So am I, Orónëminya, but we have no choice. We have orders to divide the family if something went wrong which it did, and both Faramaureä and Metimafoa are too young to leave paired together." Percival helped her up onto the horse, and attached her and Metimafoa's bags to the horse, before handing her Metimafoa. He walked over to his own horse, attached the bags, and after helping Faramaureä onto the horse, led both animals out of the stables.
As he mounted the horse, and they rode out of the front gate, he steered the horse over toward Orónëminya's horse, and firmly grasped her wrist, in a common Elvish sign of affection, before saying, "I will see you again, Orónëminya..."
She nodded, and finished the saying, "In this life, or the next."
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading this first Expologue. Reminder: Expologue's expand the story but don't count for the one section every Four to five days, so there will be another chapter in the next three days. The first three sections of this book, are the prologue, so in truth, the novel has not started yet. The next thing I post in this book will be Chapter 1: Percival's Choice, so stay tuned for that. Either way, I hope you enjoy and will continue on this quest with me, and The Line of Estelondo.
Sincerely,
Isaiah Joel Oakley Le Istya.