Elvenshore: 03 - Elf's Bane (16 page)

The
wooded drawbridge was lowered and the Elf army surged forward. The ferocity of the Dwarves in battle had both amazed and pleased them. They wanted to help with the wounded.

The Elves
picked up all the dead and wounded Dwarves and Humans and brought them all back across the moat. The healers of both the Elves and Dwarves were plying their trade.

Sarchise walked
back across the drawbridge ramp, he just happy to be alive after the intense battle. He was suddenly exhausted and could only think of sleep. Verian, Istuin and Aron were all ecstatic about the battle.

"Victory, we have finally won a victory!" Verian said as
he smacked Sarchise's back. To Sarchise it didn't seem like a victory with only one enemy killed and around a hundred of his men down. Sarchise just smiled wearily at them as he made his way to his bedroll and the sweet forgetfulness of sleep.

 That afternoon when the counsel of war was to be held, they had to wake Sarchise as he was still fast asleep. He had the hardest time waking up. The nightly attacks by the Trolls were taking a toll on him. When he arrived at the meeting, all of the leaders were already there.

Aron started out by reporting, “
all of the Elves that headed to Bon Jul arrived there in safety, my men tell me. I have other men shadowing the monsters’ retreat back to the mountain. I should find out if any of the beasts didn't make it by tomorrow.”  

Verian was still all smiles, “I think the maneuver by the Humans and the Dwarves was a brilliant success.”

“I am not so sure,” Sarchise said. “We lost a lot of warriors in the process. I cannot afford to take more losses such as that.”

“You defeated a foe that was thought to be invincible. It was a major victory, you should be pleased with yourself,” Verian replied
with a smile.

“Never the less, I think I will keep my Dwarves on this side of the moat tonight. It will be easier to dodge rocks than to dodge clubs.”

“I understand,” was Verian’s response.

The meeting
adjourned without any new strategies coming forward. Sarchise went back to lie down with instructions to be awakened when darkness fell. He woke up on his own a few hours later. The Dwarf commanders had a table and were gathered around a map studying the Far Shore Sarchise had never seen a map of the whole land before and looked over it.

“The mountain is here, it is about a three or four day walk for a Dwarf, but these creatures make it there and back again in one night ” Hemlot was saying.

“Yes,” Sarchise replied. “They do not follow the road, but go straight at the mountain through forest and dale. That would save some time, and they have a very long stride.”

"True," Hemlot said.

While looking at the map it was amazing to Sarchise that the Humans and the Elves were cohabiting so well. On Elvenshore, the Elves lived in the forests, the Humans on the plains, and the Dwarves lived in the mountains; here there were no visible separation between the two races. There were Elf villages that were between two Human villages.

 
When darkness fell, the Dwarves manned their position by the wall. The Humans were stationed in the middle to respond to whatever side needed them more. The Elves had arrows ready to light on fire if the Trolls tried to bridge the moat.

The time for the enemy to arrive came
and went without any sign of the beasts. All of the races could not figure out what it meant. The ramp was lowered and the horsemen of the Humans went out to scout the area and see if there was somewhere else the monsters had gone. Were they attacking the Human villages closer to home?

Verian and Istuin came up to Sarchise, "I guess we can only sit and wait for any news, "Verian said
.

"
The only time they did not attack was when it was raining, while I have been here. Have there been any other times when they have not attacked?" Sarchise asked.

"They have attacked every day without fail, except for the rainy days," Verian replied.

"They could be regrouping, getting ready for an all-out push to the coast." Sarchise said.

"I don't want to cross the moat in large numbers until I can get more information from the riders." Verian was worried about an attack over the moat with less
than the full strength of all that the armies that were there. Dwarves had been a huge help. Captain Fannor had been right to send them and not Humans. Although, Verian would never admit that fact to Sarchise or his Dwarves.

They had no war counsel that night because nothing had changed and no attack had come
, but the commanders still talked about the situation one on one. Again that night the Elves and Dwarves were in position awaiting an attack. 

Darkness came and there was still no attack. The armies stood down and went back to their camps.

Later that day, messengers from Aron's horsemen came across the plank over the moat to report that three of the monsters had not made it back after the last battle. All three had turned to stone when the sun hit them. Verian was ecstatic at the news. He again congratulated Sarchise on his major victory.

For a third night, all the races were in battle array. When the time came that the monsters should have been there, nothing
came. When the armies were started to go back to their camps, hoof beats were heard in the distance. Aron and five of his men were approaching the moat. Quickly the ramp was lowered into place allowing the men to ride across.

The leaders gathered to see what the Humans had found out.

Aron dismounted his horse and went to report to the group. "The doors of the mountain have closed. We were scouting out around the area of Bon Jul when we felt the rumbling of the ground around us. It was the same rumbling as the first time when the mountain opened up."

The leaders looked around to each other wondering what the implications of the doors closing were. Finally Verian spoke, "I guess that is the end of the war?"

Sarchise shook his head, "We take the fight to the enemy. He has destroyed almost everything in this land. You must know what is going to happen in the future. Are the Trolls going to attack again when you start to rebuild? An enemy just does not just go away he must be defeated once and for all."

"We know so little of this enemy, how many Trolls there are, what
are the conditions under the mountain.We could be walking into a trap. There might be hundreds of them down there." Verian responded
.

"Now is the time to find the answers for those questions
, while you still have an army in place. I say we dig a hole in the mountainside and see the home of the enemy." Sarchise was adamant.

"I agree," Istuin said
with conviction. "We have lost almost everything. We need to end this war on our terms."

Verian looked around the room to see the faces of the other leaders were in agreement with Sarchise.
The decision was ultimately his, but he knew to listen to the wise advice from the others. He thought of all that had been lost. His people would not rebuild here if they thought that there was a possibility that the Trolls would return. "It looks like it is time to go and explore the inside of the mountain."

A
cheer went up from the other leaders.

Elvenshore

Fannor
’s wounds were starting to mend. He was able to do more and more to get himself around. The people had cleaned out the houses of Santera and fixed the leaks and damages. The Elves there were even starting to plant the seeds that the Humans had given them. More Elves were coming over the sea and then taking the long journey to the city.

The Elves
of the land had elected Fannor as the Chancellor of the Elves of Elvenshore. When most of them had said that they were staying, they had decided to form a government. It was a position that he had not aspired to. Gilead would the head of the army until someone came over who outranked him, then he would become an advisor to the Chancellor.

Armurous was still having pain
from his broken legs, when the ship finally docked in Elvenshore. He had no idea what to expect upon his arrival. There were still some Elves in the tent city. Those were the Elves that were waiting to heal a little better before they took up their journey. 

As Armurous
had watched the city of South Fort come into view, he marveled at the massive walls that surrounded the city. He had forgotten the strength of South Fort. There was nothing like it in the Far Shore. He had left from there a young Captain when he immigrated across the sea, but now as a Commander, he appreciated the strength of a good fort. He thought to himself that if he would have had this fort in the Far Shore, the Trolls would have never breached the walls.

Ives was down at the docks to greet this group of new arrivals. He helped the
sailors get Armurous off the ship and then wheel him in a cart towards the tent city. The Elf commander saw something in the Human commander's face that he recognized.

"You are Elf kin."

Ives smiled, "A very long time ago, that was true."

"
Are there any more like you here, besides the ones that came back?"

"There is Amlius, he is all Elf," replied Ives.

"Amlius the Elf Slayer?" Armurous asked.

"I would not call him that. He has been pardoned by the Fannor, your new Chancellor in this land. Besides, he is
a hero on this side of the sea."

"Why have they created a Chancellor over here
? We will have to redo everything when we return to the Far Shore.
"
Armurous was upset.

Ives smiled again, "I don't think that most of the Elves are going to want to return. They are rebuilding their lives as well as the city of Santera. From what I hear, your Far Shore is being destroyed piece by piece."

It was disturbing news to Armurous. He had in his mind that they would all return someday. He watched as ranks and ranks of Dwarves marched past him on their way to board the ships. "It is strange to me that the Dwarves are willing to help us after the wars that we had with them."

Ives looked down at the wounded commander and replied, "They sat out the first Gremlin war and they made that up to the Humans by saving Elvenshore during the second Gremlin war. Now they are making it up to you by saving your Far Shore."

It was all too much for Armurous to take in. His world had just been torn apart. He was badly wounded; he had seen a lot of those he commanded die. He left leadership of his country to a teamster, and now he was finding out that the people he had sent over here were not planning on going back. He lay back in the cart and closed his eyes. When they arrived at the tent city the Humans helped him into one of the tents.

When Armurous awoke
, the Governor of South Fort was standing by his bedside. "Good morning, they said that the commander of the Elves had arrived and I wanted to great you personally."

"Thank you, I would get up and shake your hand
, but under the circumstances, I will just greet you from here." Armurous said.

The Governor nodded his head, "I understand. We will get you mostly healed up and ship you off the Santera. I hear t
hey are doing a wonderful job in the old city."

"It has been a day of enlightenment to me; I have found out that some of my people don't want to go home.
And that the most evil Elf that has ever lived is now pardoned. Now I hear that the Dwarves, my ancient enemy, are saving my land from destruction. Do you have anything else to add to this?"

"I can add to that. The Valkyrie
are still alive and now have moved back to the Lost City. Dwarves now occupy the Mountains of Iron again and they have a friend of mine as their Prince. He is a Human. The most marvelous thing though is that Vil Loree has been found."

Armurous just lay
there trying to take it all in. He finally said, "The Golden City has been found. Do you think that the Dwarves would let me see it someday?" He was hopefull.

"It has been declared an open city for all of Elvenshore.
Everyone is allowed to visit it."

Armurous had a big smile on his face. "You have just given this tired, wounded and disillusioned Elf a reason to get better."

"Glad I could be of service. Now tell me, how is the war in the Far Shore going?"

Armurous took his time explaining everything that had happened up till the time he was evacuated.
The war against the Trolls seemed impossible to win. More and more of the Elves were getting killed. It was not going well.

Fawn had only wanted to be a few days in the Hidden City, but when she saw how frail her mother was, she decided to stay and take care of her. Some of the Queen's advisors secretly told Fawn that the only thing that had kept her mother alive was her desire to see her daughter and to apologize to her for having her shunned. The old ways were no longer working and the Valkyrie had even made enemies with the Elf. It was time for a new era to be ushered in, and the old Queen knew that it was up to the next generation to do so. She had resisted Fawn's way of doing things, and now she was embracing them.