Soon after Orophin's hasty retreat, a small contingent of five elves made their way along the main street to the castle. The gates had been opened and a ceremonial guard posted either side of the entrance, all wearing their finest dress uniforms. At a glance it all looked very impressive but with closer inspection the suits were ill fitting, crumpled and dusty. In reality most of the regalia had been quickly dragged from long forgotten chests and hurriedly attached to the first soldier that happened to walk by. Caden wasn't a King for pomp and ceremony.
Egrinlast rode at the head of the group, trying not to wince every time his horse rose and fell, rubbing at his blister further. Orophin was to one side, trying not to laugh at his friends plight.
"Locals don't seem so aggressive this time, Sire," Orophin pointed out. Most were now waving with smiles on their face.
"They have worked out that an Elven army has arrived at their doorstep, an army that needs provisions. You can bet the prices have doubled in the time it's taken us to ride from one end of this street to the other," Egrinlast said.
They passed through the castle gates into the heavily fortified courtyard beyond, the Castle Guard eyeing them warily from the battlements.
"They don't look as friendly in here," Orophin said, nervously rubbing the pommel of his sword.
"You really need to learn to relax more, Orophin. Nothing is going to happen," Egrinlast said, trying to reassure his second in command.
They continued following the road, passing through several more courtyards containing smithies, stables and warehouses. All those the Elves rode by stopped whatever task they were set to; smiths pausing mid swing and stable boys forgetting their work. All the while the Guard kept their attentive watch from above.
Eventually, after traversing round almost the whole perimeter of the Keep, they reached the inner courtyard. Caden, Ordwin and Keria stood waiting at the top of the main staircase into the castle as the Elves entered, an appalling fanfare blaring out from five heralds standing on the ramparts above. The two men could barely stifle their laughter at the din, both nudging each other like naughty, excited school boys; Keria felt more embarrassed at the antics of her elders than that of the pathetic attempts at regal ceremony. The King still hadn't put his crown on, the main reason being he couldn't remember where he had it last. Several squires were now scurrying about his private quarters looking for the circlet.
The Elves trotted slowly up to the bottom staircase, passing a line ceremonial Guard that stood to attention as they neared. Egrinlast shifted on his saddle, wincing slightly as his blister stung his rear yet again. To those around it must have seemed like a face of disdain from the Elf, rather than one of discomfort. He dismounted, his guard following suit, stable boys appearing to lead away their horses.
"A stirring welcome your Highness, if ever I have heard one," Egrinlast called to Caden. "Maybe next time though, you could give me some warning and I will stuff my ears with cotton."
Keria was shocked, she didn't expect the meeting to be more than formal but right from the off it looked as if it was going to be downright hostile. She looked at Ordwin but he just smirked.
"Forgive me Egrinlast, I have heard the music of Elves and thought it quite on par with your finest minstrels," Caden retorted.
Keria noticed that a couple of the Elven guard accompanying their leader seemed to be quietly laughing, though Orophin, the messenger from earlier, looked openly angry. Something was going on but Orophin was in the dark as much as Keria.
"Forgive me your Majesty," Egrinlast continued. "But we have travelled many leagues today and are in need of refreshment. Am I to be left standing out here like a dog or are we to be invited into your hovel?"
Caden made his way down the staircase. "My hovel, if you recall, was built by Elves and if anything, we humans have improved it ten fold since making it our home those hundreds of years ago. Though, try as we might we still cannot get that perfumed Elvish stench to leave the halls."
Keria was watching Orophin carefully, the knight was visibly enraged and she had notice him slightly changed his stance into a more offensive position as the king approached. But just as she was about to move after Caden one of the Elven Guard gently laid a hand on Orophin's shoulder, slowly shaking his head as the young elf turned. This seemed to relax him. Egrinlast removed his helmet and handed it to one of the knights. He had a lean pale face with no hair whatsoever, his scalp though, was a mass of intricate black tattoos.
The two leaders were now face to face, Caden had stopped a couple of steps from the bottom so he could look Egrinlast in the eye.
"The years have not been kind to you old man," Egrinlast continued with his insults. "I've seen smoother skin on the arse of an ogre."
"Aye, but at least I was handsome once, you've had to live with that face for over a hundred years. Quite frankly, you're braver than I thought."
Both men were smiling now.
"How are you, old friend?" Caden asked quietly.
"Better for seeing you, Caden"
With that they embraced, roughly hugging each other, laughing.
"Come, I've already set the kitchens about preparing a feast for tonight," Caden boomed to everyone gathered in the courtyard. "Let us show our guests how we entertain."
Caden and Egrinlast started climbing the stair together, his entourage following closely behind. Egrinlast leaned in to his friend.
"We need to talk urgently," he said. "You may not be in a feasting mood after you've heard what I have to say."
"I have to admit," answered Caden, "I didn't think this was a social call, the army kind of gave that away. We will retire to my chambers first then."
Caden gestured to Ordwin and Keria to follow, as did Egrinlast to Orophin.
"It's good to see you again, Egi," Caden slapped the Elf on the back as they walked through the sculpted corridors. "It's been far too long."
"That it has," he replied, "but just seeing you has brought back some very happy memories." He turned to Orophin. "Do you know this man once took down a dragon single handedly."
"If that is indeed the case, sire, it is a very impressive feat," Orophin replied.
"Very impressive," Keria added cocking her head at Caden. "How come we've never heard about this?"
"Believe me my Lady," Egrinlast continued. "There are many stories I could tell."
"And many more you can't," Caden declared. "Remember, I have just as many tales of your exploits as you do of mine. In any case, it wasn't a dragon, it was a wyvern, much smaller."
"You two seem to know each other very well, would you like to enlighten the rest of us," asked Keria. "Though, I think Ordwin is in on this little secret as well."
"My lips will remain tightly shut," said Ordwin. "I have a reputation to uphold and these two have more on me than I care to admit."
"We'll get to it later, Keria, but for now I think Egrinlast has some news," Caden pushed open the thick carved door to the council chambers and they followed him in.
The relatively small room was sparsely adorned with nothing more than a map on the wall. In the middle stood a large, plain oak table, surrounded by chunky wooden chairs.
"Please sit," he gestured to the group.
They all took a seat while Caden poured them wine from a tall silver jug, the only other thing in the room.
"First, for the benefit of, Orophin, wasn't it?" Caden continued. "Let me introduce, Ordwin, my Master of the Guard and this is Lady Keria, Commander of the Outriders."
"A pleasure and an honour," Orophin replied. "I am Orophin, Herald of the Sovereign, Champion of Alaxtria, Son of Ansion, Brother to ..."
"In the name of the Gods, enough Orophin," Egrinlast cut in. "We do not need to hear your life story."
Caden and Ordwin gave each other a glance.
"Bit tetchy there, Egrinlast," commented Caden.
"Forgive my Lord," Orophin said. "He has a riding sore which makes him a bit of a pain in the ..."
"All right, Orophin, enough. I apologise," said Egrinlast."Tell me, Caden, do you have a healer in your service?"
"I do indeed, I shall send for them after our conversation. Now tell me, what's so urgent that it's made an Elven army leave it's beloved forest?" Caden asked.
Egrinlast took a large gulp of the wine before speaking. "We have had some disturbing news," he paused."The Darnach Sor have returned."
Caden raised an eyebrow and stared at Ordwin, confused expressions on their faces. "The Darnach Sor you say," queried Caden. "The same Darnach Sor that disappeared hundreds of years ago never to be seen again? Do you wish to elaborate?"
"A group of our rangers spotted camp fires in a cave in Surgaret Orod, they went to investigate and barely escaped with their lives. They were definitely Darnach," Egrinlast continued.
"And where have these Darnach been for all these years?" asked Ordwin.
"We believe in the Dwarven citadel under Surgaret Orod," answered Orophin.
Caden and Ordwin exchanged looks; Ordwin was smiling.
Caden started to laugh. "You always were a joker, Egi, but this one's a bit much even for you, the army's a nice touch though."
Egrinlast slammed his goblet on the table, red liquid spraying over it's surface. "This is no joke, you old fool," he screamed. "We have one of them and do you know what they want? They want there fortress back."
Caden had stopped laughing, looking at the faces round the table. "You're serious, the Darnach Sor." He sat shaking his head.
Of course Keria had heard of the fabled Darnach Sor. They had built the original Darkspur hundreds of years earlier, before humans made it their home. The Darnach were a faction of Elves, a sadistic, evil sect that ruled by fear and intimidation who one day just up and left. No-one knew, or perhaps remembered, why but they vanished, never to be heard of again. Many thought plague had forced them from Darkspur and they had left by sea for a distant land but, even so, historians could find no record anywhere. Now, Egrinlast was saying they hadn't left at all, that the Darnach had been in exile under the huge Surgaret mountain range, living deep in the lost Dwarven citadel. This was all a bit much to take in.
"Our scouts have reported troops coming in from the north west, we have no precise numbers yet but we think it could just be a reconnaissance party," said Orophin.
"You say you have one?" asked Caden.
"Yes, we caught one of their scouts last month. He gave us a hell of a fight, killed six men before we subdued him. He used magic and he was highly skilled in combat. If they are all like this, we have a very big problem," answered Egrinlast.
"You get any information out of him?" asked Ordwin.
"We didn't get much, he seems to be..." Egrinlast paused searching for the right words, "well, quite frankly, mad. He just kept repeating that the earth will swallow the heretic and he was an acolyte of the great truth that will unfold when the believers returned home. As you know, Caden, this was their home, that's why I'm here to warn you."
Caden sat in silence, slowly turning his goblet as if intently studying the engravings. The silence started to become uncomfortable and those in the room exchanged awkward looks. Then Caden started laughing.
"In all my time as King, I never really been tested. To tell you the truth, it's been quite easy. True, we've had our skirmishes with the Hillmen and battled marauders from the East but this is something different." He shook his head, still chuckling to himself. "I thought I was going to get away with it too, such an old fool. Good King Caden Indridan: ruler of the safest and most prosperous era the kingdom of Carithia has ever seen. Well, that's not to be; the retirement will have to wait, for it seems for one last time, this old man will have to go to war."