The Fire and the Storm - Metric Pro Edition: Fiction, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, Magic (2 page)

A summary of events in the previous volume; Blessings Of A Curse, Book One of The Nexus of Kellaran.  Excerpted from Chronicles by Grakonexikaldoron; Mightiest of Gold Dragons, Chronicler for The Ninety-Nine; Leaders of Xervian Draconia.

I
t sometimes happens that there are moments of upheaval in the history and development of a world, and during these rare and tumultuous times, persons of exceptional talent and ability sometimes rise quickly from obscurity to dominate great events.

Such was the case with one Markee Longstrider, who is one of the largest living humans, but who none-the-less began the events leading to the formation of The Just Alliance as just a human boy lost and alone, traumatized by horror and loss, possessing nothing but his towering potential and his superb lifelong training as a Ranger of the Kingdom of Finitra.

As to how this came to pass; his people had been destroyed to the last by magic most foul and mysterious, forcing him from his isolated alpine valley home, to trek for months through a vast and uncharted chain of mountains.  He chanced upon the border of The Nine Valleys of The High People, a nation of mountain elves led by Prince Yazadril, one of the most respected and formidable members of that race.  Prince Yazadril detected that Mark was possessed of unique magical properties, and he invited the young man within The Nine Valleys for the purpose of research, the first human to pass within that land in the history of the elves.

The elves who were privy to the next events have refused to reveal them in detail, none-the less it is known that Princess Dalia; Daughter of Prince Yazadril, and Prince Bezedil of The People of Life, the nation of the forest elves, were both apparently killed by a curse that made it appear that their deaths were the fault of Yazadril’s other twin daughter; Princess Talia of The High People.  Bezedil’s mother Princess Alilia, reigning monarch of The People of Life, was disconsolate and enraged by Bezedil’s death, and she cursed Talia to suffer until the end of days.  For reasons unrevealed by the elves, Mark was soon married to Princess Talia after he cleared her of fault in the recent deaths.  Their magnificent wedding was attended by the entirety of the elven race, and they received a substantial trove of wealth, possessions, and properties as wedding gifts.  Their guests including the rulers of the elven nations, and thus Mark was afforded access to the highest levels of their governments.  He quickly offered the first of his Suggestions; the advice he has given that has led to the formation of The Just Alliance, the definition of its character, and its victory over Serminak.  In his humble way, he continually insists that his breath-taking brilliance and wisdom is ‘Only Common Sense’, and we generally humor him on the subject.

He soon gained the sworn loyalty of some eighteen hundred elves, and formed The Six of Hilia as a military unit, which included Talia, his elven wizard wife, the mated dragons Kragorram and Povon, and the mated unicorns Silaran and Equemev.  Under their influence his unique and astounding but latent talent as a spell-caster was fanned from a spark to an inferno.

He then formed the Principality of Hilia, having successfully negotiated the sovereignty of the tiny island of Hilia from the elven nation The People of Rain.

Thus the newly ascended Prince and Princess and their new companions in the Six of Hilia were qualified and invited to attend the inaugural meeting of The Assembly of The Just Alliance of all the races and nations of Kellaran except those of Serminak.  And there, Mark’s brilliant and convincing speeches on the nature of their coalition and its laws established the spirit of The Just Alliance, and saw him proclaimed by acclamation as its informal leader.

The next day Mark and Talia were attacked by the forces of the same insidious conspiracy that was responsible for his people’s deaths, in an assassination attempt that they barely survived.  They later appeared back in The Nine Valleys, accompanied by some of the elite of The Just Alliance, where Mark revived his wife Talia’s twin sister Princess Dalia, and Prince Bezedil of The People of Life; son of reigning Princess Alilia.  This Healing was especially noteworthy, since both of those elves had been declared dead by a renowned Healer over four days previously.  Dalia later speculated that her Healing may have been a divine act, and that drew the attention of the gods to Hilia, where Mark’s party had secluded themselves after the Healing.  The gods declared that most of the mortals present were Candidates for Divinity, and the mortals were urged to realize that potential and become new gods as quickly as possible, though no instructions or reasons for achieving that were given.  This caused a confrontation between Mark and the gods that almost failed to end peacefully.

Two days later Mark and Talia and their companions in The Six of Hilia showed the world their spell-casting and battle prowess, when they defeated eighty-eight assassins in less than three seconds in a quick battle over the seat of government of the dwarves in Kletiuk.  That was Mark’s seventeenth birthday, and that night he met his estranged extended family from Finitra, and attended a great tournament held in his honor on Hilia, presented in gratitude of his having saved the life of Prince Bezedil.

Early the next morning the Assembly of The Just Alliance met again.  They attempted to initiate diplomatic contacts with Serminak; the continent of The Dark Dragons and of The Sylvan, who are great dark elves. The Alliance learned that the insidious conspiracy that had been causing havoc all over Kellaran was in fact the product of Zarkog; The Dragon Lord of Serminak.  They also learned that several small worlds were approaching Kellaran; one full of millions of demons, and the rest in a separate group filled with billions of unknown beings.  Zarkog declared that he would lead the defense of Kellaran against the demons, and further declared that in order to facilitate his leadership, the rest of the nations would surrender themselves up to him completely within the hour, or face annihilation from his vast forces.

The Just Alliance was unwilling to be dictated to by Zarkog in anything, so rather than wait the hour they had been given, they launched an immediate pre-emptive strike with all of their mobile forces.  Their only goal was the capture or death of Zarkog, sparing all others if possible.  They failed in that goal, and after the battle Zarkog directed his forces to capture Mark and Talia, who led them a merry chase all over Kellaran for many hours.

We later learned that after the chase, Mark was visited by a god of the Triax, the otherworldly race who inhabited the quickly-approaching sphere worlds. It revealed that they would assist the peoples of Kellaran in defeating the demons, if the Kellarani could achieve peace among themselves.  This prompted the gods of Kellaran to decide that Mark’s struggle with Zarkog would decide the future of the gods’ relations with the mortals of Kellaran;  If Zarkog won the gods would remain withdrawn from the world of mortals, intervening as little as possible to ensure their people’s survival.  If Mark won, the gods would rejoin the peoples of Kellaran as citizens with equal rights, and co-operatively assist in defending the world from the demons.

The next day the war continued with sporadic terror attacks by the Serminakis on the peoples of The Just Alliance, while The Six of Hilia spent the day training for war by sharing the dream of Quewanak; the eldest living dragon.  While twelve hours passed for the rest of us, The Six spent over seventy-eight years of subjective time learning how to defeat Zarkog by trial and error, in a perfectly realistic simulation of the entire world with everyone in it.

They then called a meeting of The Just Alliance.  They revealed what they had learned, then taught the others the spells they had developed, and Mark was given temporary command of the entire alliance for five days, or until he won the war, whichever came first.  They freed the captive nations of the trolls, the ogres, and the insect race called The Swarm, swore them all to justice with binding oaths, and added them to The Alliance’s forces.  They next forcefully ended Zarkog’s terror attacks, then infiltrated and turned many of his commanders.

Finally, assisted by the magic power of every spell-caster in The Just Alliance, Mark and Talia challenged Zarkog to personal combat.  Zarkog was aided by the magic of all his continent’s hordes of spell casters, and Talia was incapacitated halfway through the fight, but the awesome and incredible battle was eventually won by Mark.

With the defeat of Zarkog, the rest of the Serminakis were quickly defeated or surrendered, and all were forcibly sworn to justice.

During the global celebration for the victorious end to the war, many awards and medals were presented, and a grand time was had by all.  Mark assumed the Lordship of Serminak, then he and Prince Zwak Deathbringer of the Sylvan initiated The Game of Status; whereby the Sylvan and others who felt too constricted by their vow of justice could compete for status against other declared players through underhanded means, in order to maintain their sanity.

Then the gods appeared and declared that The Withdrawal was at an end, and that they would rejoin the affairs of mortals as citizens with equal rights, though they did form their own nations in order to have a say in The Assembly of The Just Alliance.

And just when it seemed that events could not possibly become the tiniest bit more incredible, they were joined by three gods of The Triax, and those strange beings soon formed accords with the gods and peoples of Kellaran.

So, in the scant seven days which culminated in the victory in war of The Just Alliance over The Dragonlord of Serminak, simple Markee Longstrider became Prince Markhan Reginus Longstrider of Hilia, Lord of Serminak, Key to The Just Alliance, Key to the Nexus of Kellaran, and Leader of the world.  Having won the war, as well as the hearts and loyalty of most of the populace, he promptly gave up his rule of Kellaran, or so he keeps insisting.

In the weeks after the war, Mark and Talia officially worked for twelve hours each workday, with three days off in every eightday, but their duties were not arduous.  During the first four hours and the last four hours of each workday they lazed around and played on their private beach, visiting with their many guests and engaging in informal discussions on every subject.  Monarchs came to discuss politics and administration, wizards came to share the latest spells, generals came to discuss battle strategy in the void, engineers came to show off and demonstrate the latest weapons and devices.  Tithian and Grakonexikaldoron kept them abreast of the latest magical and astronomical research. 

It was made clear to the Keys to The Just Alliance that these informal discussions were of great value to those they spoke with, and that their off-hand commentary on the things they learned consistently led to new breakthroughs and new directions of research, even if their discussions were conducted while enjoying archery practice on the beach or while paddling in the lagoon.

The gods had taken to using the subtlest of disguises.  While in their presence, most people forgot the fact that they were gods, even though everything else about them was easily recalled.  After they had left, it was remembered that they were divine.  The gods did this as part of their ongoing opposition to any form of religion on Kellaran.

But no disguising of any kind was used at Mark and Talia’s secluded beach, which was often visited by the gods of two pantheons.  They would sometimes drop by singly, and sometimes in small groups of no more than five.  A few of their discussions on morality and policy went on continuously for days.

The middle four hours of Mark and Talia’s workday were spent traveling and talking to people.  This involved anything from informal chats over tea with chance-met citizens in a hostelry they’d picked at random, to formal speeches delivered to vast multitudes.  They attended formal social occasions of every variety and every size with persons of note in every field, and often visited schools, Healers’ hospices, and public works sites.

When off duty, Mark and Talia enjoyed life to the fullest; attending the arts, participating in sports and games, and playing the tourist, and they routinely hid their identities when off-duty in public.  Often they selected a beautiful and isolated place in which to simply relax and enjoy each other’s company, and to let their love grow.

There came a particular sunny afternoon on their beach, five weeks after their victory over Zarkog.  One of the engineers who had been there that morning had demonstrated a device he had invented; two flat blades of wood with their ends twisted a bit that had been bound at their centers into a cross.  With a bit of practice at the throw, it could be made to fly in a perfect circle and return to the hand of the thrower, without using any magic whatsoever.  He had left several of them of various sizes, their blades ranging from fifteen centimeters to three meters in length, and now many in attendance were playing with them.  Most challenged themselves by playing catch with throws that made a circle and a half that ended at their partner.

There was a lull in the conversation as everyone practiced with the things, with occasional laughs at the results of poor throws.

Mark was struck with wonder yet again by the illustrious nature of his company, and found his new life delightfully impossible to get used to.

His nearly-constant psionic Link with his pretty elven wife Talia kept him constantly appraised of her mood and location, even when her tiny blond and blue-eyed beauty wasn’t in his view.  She was tossing in a group with her parents Prince Yazadril and Princess Nemia, their trio-mate the renowned Healer Hilsith of the polar elves, Talia’s twin sister Princess Dalia, Princess Alilia of The People of Life, and her son Prince Bezedil; Dalia’s fiancé.

Beyond the elves two pairs of dragons played knee deep in the surf; their companions Kragorram the scarlet tossed with his mate Povon the silver, and Somonik the white exchanged tosses with Grakonexikaldoron the gold.

Higher up the beach unicorns pranced as Silaran’s huge white and pink form exchanged tosses with his mate Equemev the black and silver.  Silaran caught and threw the wooden cross by delicately grasping one tip of it in his lips, and displayed amazing agility and dexterity as he did so.  Equemev thought it undignified to manipulate objects with her mouth, and was the only one guiding the flight of her cross with a spell of Movement when it came close enough to be ‘caught’.  Close to them Equemev’s mother Tithian was deep in conversation with Falgaroth, eight god of her people, who appeared as a colossal bright blue unicorn with an immense horn.