Tender Mercies

*****

"Lord Kelnozz, a band of trolls is holding a section of the valley. We tried to fight them, but they keep knocking us back. We tried fire and magic, and that caused them to howl at us in their language, but brought no return attack. One of them came out and called for Nordan, saying they were friends?"

Kelnozz listened to the messenger's story, at first incredulous, then laughing. Turning to Nordan he raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Aye, that's Grabbil's company of trolls. They turned on the enemy. I guaranteed them safe passage away from us if they aided us," Nordan said, grinning at the strange moment in battle.

Kelnozz laughed again. "Carry word, the trolls are to be let go," Kelnozz told the messenger. When the messenger stood there for a moment, surprise on his face, Kelnozz shooed him off with his hand and turned back to Nordan. "The same Grabbil from our trip into the Lost Lands?"

"Aye, one and the same!" Nordan said, still chuckling.

"My Lords!" Another messenger burst into the camp, sweat streaming from his face. "The light elves, they're up to something! The ravine has been hidden by great clouds of darkness! We can hear noises, but they're not human!"

"What are they up to?" Vallanius asked, stepping forward. He had a bandage across his forehead from where he had been wounded, and another on his forearm.

"Another battle," Kelnozz said, looking at Nordan incredulously. Nordan grinned back him smugly.

"We're hardly ready for another fight!" Vallanius said, not daring to believe that what Kelnozz said was true.

"Bah, sit on yer arse, elf, me boys will take care of them fer ye!" Throin said, hopping to his feet from where he had been sitting on a log, sharpening his axe.

Vallanius was momentarily cowed by the courageous dwarf. While the elf had two wounds, the dwarf was nicked and bandaged in numerous places. Still, he was ready to fight.

"But how will they come at us? We destroyed their bridge!" Vallanius said.

"Magic," Kelnozz said. "They use it to hide whatever they are doing at the chasm. Get our own spellcasters over there to counter it. Nordan, you may want to return to your people for this."

Nordan thought for a moment then said, "No, this is a different battle. Let us go to the dragons."

Kelnozz stared at him for a moment curiously. Then he shrugged and nodded. "Vallanius and Throin, I leave the army in your care, come Nordan, let us head for the skies."

Leaving the tent they encountered a somber faced Martin. "Have you been told?" He asked, pointing towards the far end of the valley.

"Aye, we're going to check it out now from dragonback," Nordan said, grinning at the ranger and punching him lightly in the arm.

Martin fell into step beside them, limping slightly from a gash in his calf and rubbing his now bruised shoulder. A few minutes later and they stood before the resting dragons. Many were wounded, and many more looked very weak.

"What's the matter?" Kelnozz asked Fyrentennimer.

"The Forbidding," He explained. "Its pull is very strong and the more wounded and tired of my kin are finding it to strong to ignore."

"To return is more then a week of flight from here! If they are so weary, can they not wait until they have rested?" Martin asked, surprised.

"This is but a part of the price of this war," Kelnozz said, understanding reaching him. "The forbidding will force them to return, even if it means death trying to get there."

"What can we do?" Martin asked, shocked to see the metallic dragons willing to make such a sacrifice.

"Little," Fyrentennimer responded, watching sadly as a bronze dragon with a terrible gashes in its side leapt into the air and headed south and west on unsteady wings.

"My friend, another battle approaches us, we need your help again or all of this will be for naught." Kelnozz said, reminding himself of why they had come.

Fyrentennimer gazed towards the end of the valley. Seeing the darkness with his keen vision, he nodded. "I sense something powerful is nigh to happening."

Kelnozz glanced to Nordan, who had that smug look on his face again. Kelnozz chuckled in spite of himself. He opened his mouth to say something more when all of them heard a distant roar. It grew more and more powerful, then trailed off. They all turned and looked towards the clouds of darkness obscuring their view.

Difficult to see at first, then becoming more obvious, several figures stumbled forward from the darkness. Some lumbering along, other running almost smoothly. Then, from above the darkness a shape detached itself. It was clearly a dragon, though even from the distance they were, it was plain to see that this dragon was huge. Dwarfing any of the other dragons they had seen thus far, it sailed over the valley quickly, heading towards the army of dwarves, humans, and elves.

"Ancaruin," Fyrentennimer growled. "Come, we must slay him!"

Martin found himself nodding agreement. Still over a mile away, he believed he could feel the evil of the red dragon reaching him. His skin was crawling and something inside of him screamed that he should run away. He overrode it and looked about. Nordan was on Fyrentennimer's back already, and Kelnozz a few moments from Luingirth. Nearby a silver dragon was preparing to take flight as well. Martin waved his arms and called out to it, gaining it's attention and allowing him to talk the dragon into letting him aboard its back.

The three heroes lifted into the sky and fell in near each other. They closed rapidly with Ancaruin, and other dragons joined in with them. Soon nearly two dozen metallic dragons flew through the air, aimed at Ancaruin. Not a one of them came close to the red dragons size or strength. Below the army of Belurian had come together and stood ready to defend the latest attack. As the charge grew closer, the smell preceded it. Using unholy magic, the dead had been risen from the grave to fight again.

*****

Alesha awoke from a dream she had been having. In the dream she had been riding her nightmare steed through a town that was once Mezarbolle, but now was laid to ruin. An army surrounded it. A conquering army. She saw corpses all around her, and one of them moved.

Leaping off her saddle, she had approached the body and found it to be a human. She stared at it for a moment, something familiar in its features. The eyes opened then, and they stared at her. "He'll come for you!"

Alesha dropped the body and backed away, the eyes staring sightlessly past her now. She hopped back on her nightmare and turned away. She remembered who the body was now, it was Nordan's and Kelnozz's companion before she had met them. The human Pompey. She had seen him only briefly, and even that was after he had been killed.

Shrugging away the strange dream, Alesha sensed that she needed to hurry. Her followers had grown quickly. Nightly orgies were now being held in the club she had acquired, ending in a ritual sacrifice that fed her energies. Several times the law had come looking, but no amount of technology or investigative experience was a match for her magic.

"Soon, Talifernon, soon we will be free of this world and back where we belong!" Alesha said, striking the hilt of her short sword fondly. Brian murmured in his sleep beside her. She had taken to instructing him nightly, after she returned from the club. Magic ran strongly through him as well, and with Alesha's tutelage, he would be very powerful in his own right.

Alesha turned to him and smiled. Still asleep, his dreams began to take on an erotic twist as Alesha's mouth enveloped his manhood.

Chapter 17

Flies buzzed loudly enough to be heard scores of feet away. Vultures and crows squawked and battled with each other over the choicest morsels. Here a plucked eyeball, there a juicy piece of liver. Some distance away, easily a hundred yards, the allied army had dug in and their archers watched impassively as the carrion was feasted upon. On the other side lay the great chasm that had made the massacre possible. Over it lay another army, greater then the first one, though clearly not so organized.

Some of the more attuned birds sensed something coming, and quickly took to the air seeking escape. A low hum that could be sensed and felt more then heard began to grow. More birds flew, leaving only the most resilient behind to feast unhindered. Soon came the blackness, rolling across the chasm like great storm clouds, yet low to the ground and filled with a malign purpose.

A single bird remained as the darkness overtook it. It looked about, startled suddenly, but unable to see anything in the impenetrable murk. A great roar then built, coming from far off but growing louder and louder. Seeking safety at last, it flapped its wings and took to the air. To late. An arm shot towards it, grabbing its legs. The vulture squawked and tore at the arm with its beak, adding to the missing flesh and blood already present. The vulture was pulled back down then, and the other arm came across to tear its head off in a flutter of feathers.

Rising from its resting place, the light elven corpse stared through the murk with a baleful red light in its empty eye sockets. Taking one shuddering step, then another, it advanced towards the allied army. All around it, similar scenes were taking place. Already slain once, the dead were rising to fight again.

*****

Signaling, Nordan directed several dragons to break off and flank. As they closed with Ancaruin, the fear and awe washed over them. Had it not been for the incredible hatred the metallic dragons bore for Ancaruin, his mere presence alone may have defeated them. As it was, Nordan alone was on Fyrentennimer's back, leading the charge at the dragon.

"It is a good day to die, eh dragon?" Nordan cried out happily. Wind ripping through his long unkempt hair, one hand bracing him upon Fyrentennimer's back and the other holding his hammer cocked back to throw. Fyrentennimer snorted and climbed higher, trying to gain altitude on Ancaruin.

Ancaruin bellowed a challenge then, and had it returned by the good dragons racing to confront him. He eyed the gold dragon with the human on its back with contempt, and considered dispatching them first. It changed its target then, however, and exhaled a mighty cone of flames. The fire swept over 3 dragons below and behind Fyrentennimer, two copper ones and one silver, and consumed them wholly. Already dead, their flaming corpses fell lifelessly from the sky to crash amidst the raging battle below.

Battle was joined, with Fyrentennimer cutting loose with its own fiery breath and Nordan hurtling his hammer with a deadly accuracy. The flames washed over Ancaruin, but left him uninjured. The hammer struck true as well, the resonating thunder from the strike spreading rapidly. Ancaruin appeared unaffected by the hammer strike as well, however, in spite of it smiting him soundly upon the back of the neck.

Luingirth and Kelnozz struck then, with Luingirth's electrically charged breath blackening the scales upon Ancaruin's side, then closing enough for Kelnozz to leap free from the blue dragon's back onto Ancaruin's. Moving quickly to a place where he could grab on should Ancaruin decide to flip, Kelnozz lashed out with his longswords. His older blade, while still sharp enough to sever a man's head with a flick of his wrist, did little damage to the mighty wyrm. His newer longsword had an easier job of it, powered by the lost elven magics of long ago.

Joining the fray late, Martin fired arrows from his bow so rapidly it seemed a solid line of them. The silver dragon he rode upon supplemented his missile fire with its own brand of breath weapon, which was a cone of frost very similar to that employed by white dragons. Other dragons charged in, using their impressive breath weapons on Ancaruin, hoping that each of theirs would be the one to strike that critical injury.

When the first barrage of attacks was done, Ancaruin still flew. More, he seemed barely fazed by the powerful assaults against him. Twisting in mid air, Ancaruin grappled with a gold dragon and tore great wounds in it with his claws. He roared in annoyance at the incessant stream of arrows from Martin's bow that bounced harmlessly off of the armored scales about its head. Kelnozz left his less powerful sword sticking in the chink between the scales he had found and clutched with his right hand to the spines upon Ancaruin's back to keep from falling off.

The battle raged on both above and below. The gold dragon Ancaruin had seized fell lifeless from his claws only moments later, yet the metallic dragons attacked again and again. Careful of Kelnozz on Ancaruin's back, they struck out with tooth and claw more often then with magic. Martin's arrows continued to be useless, though they did serve as a minor distraction and annoyance. It was that annoyance, however, that soon got the dragon he rode killed, its chest slashed open in a single mighty blow from Ancaruin's talons. Leaping desperately, Martin managed to catch Ancaruin's wing and take two desperate steps to its back, to crouch alongside Kelnozz.

"Better hold on!" Kelnozz shouted over the din of battle. Just in time, for Ancaruin twisted again, trying to dislodge them as well as close on a brass dragon that had just struck out at it.

A few more tense minutes of battle passed, with dragons weaving in and out of the skies, fighting for altitude, advantage, and an opening to strike. Nordan's hammer continued to strike home, blasting into Ancaruin's flesh time and again. Likewise, good dragons continued to fall to their deaths below. The count was soon up to eight good dragons slain by the powerful red, with Ancaruin only beginning to show signs of being injured.

*****

"Watch where yer aiming those things!" Throin yelled towards the battle above. A copper dragon had fallen nearby, sending nearly a score of dwarves to their deaths. It had also crushed a good number of the undead that fought against them, but that was little consolation to the dwarven king.

Studying the battle in the skies for a few moments, Throin felt himself grow amazed. An old dwarf by any standard, he thought he had seen it all. From wars to veins of pure mithril, nothing put him in awe anymore. Nevertheless, he had to admit that the beauty of all the metallic dragons flying through the air above was a sight he was glad to behold. He was not glad when one fell from the sky, however, for it meant that Ancaruin had killed again. He frowned as a silver dragon fell from the sky, angling into the undead to take as many with it as possible in its last few moments of life.

Nodding his head respectfully, Throin spit in his hands and grabbed up a hand axe in each hand. Crying out in the dwarven tongue, he rallied his men yet again, hacking away at the mindless undead before them. Undead were funny things to fight. They did not know fear or pain, nor did they lust for life and survival. Instead they sought only to kill time and again, depriving what was still alive from that very thing. Hacking the leg off a zombie meant little to the zombie, for it still had hands to claw with and a mouth to bite. Only by chopping them into ineffective pieces could the problem be solved, and so few of the younger dwarves and elves understood that. Let alone the humans, they were truly terrified!

"Bring the oil!" Throin called out, hacking the head from a zombie with half the flesh missing from its face. Behind him, dwarves hurried to load the catapults that had moved up with the army with the oil. In a few moments they were ready, and the call came through the ranks to that effect. "Fire the damned things!" Throin ordered finishing off the dismembering of another zombie.

Six catapults fired. Kegs of oil flew through the air and crashed into the rear ranks of the undead. Burning pitch followed moments later, and the oil was soon ablaze. The undead caught in it followed suit, burning so fiercely that they crumpled to the ground in seconds.

"Charge!" Throin called out, running forward with both axes raised. The dwarves nearest him followed their leader into battle, and moments later, those further out did as well. The elves and humans followed suit after a few moments, realizing what it was that the dwarf meant to do.

Slowly, the undead were pushed back. The loss of life was great, but greater was the number of undead destroyed. Caught between the hammer of the Belurian army and the anvil of the growing flames, the undead were quickly being destroyed. Casks of oil continued to be fed into the flames as well, increasing the heat and the damage they inflicted.

All to soon it was over. Throin glanced about, looking for a new target for his hand axes, and was almost disappointed to not find any. Looking at himself, he was covered in gore. He grimaced in disgust when he saw the severed hand stuck in his side, still trying to dig at him. He grabbed it and threw it into the flames, then called for a retreat to let the fire do its work.

*****

With the defeat of the undead on the valley floor below, something seemed to happen above as well. A full 16 metallic dragons slain, nevertheless Ancaruin was showing signs of weariness. Nordan's hammer continued to pound away at him, as did both Martin and Kelnozz when opportunity allowed them to strike out. Reacting slower and his strikes weaker, Ancaruin began to realize that he may not win the day. Outraged at the outcome of the battle, he nevertheless had not grown to be over 10,000 years old by acting foolishly. He turned and began to retreat then, taking both Kelnozz and Martin with him as unwilling passengers.

As soon as it became obvious that Ancaruin meant to return to his army, Kelnozz and Martin both began attacking feverishly. Annoyed to the last by them, Ancaruin's head turned on his sinuous neck and he opened his mouth so that he could cleanse his back of them once and for all with mighty flames.

"Jump!" Nordan screamed at them from a nearby Fyrentennimer's back. He threw his hammer as well as following his own advice. Kelnozz and Martin looked up and saw what was about to happen, and followed suit as well.

Fyrentennimer's flames washed over Ancaruin's head, blinding him temporarily. Nordan's hammer had already disappeared after it had struck the mighty dragon in the snout to reappear in Nordan's hand. The gold dragon then latched onto Ancaruin's back, seizing his wings in his hands and biting down cruelly on Ancaruin's neck.

No match for Ancaruin physically, Fyrentennimer nevertheless held on. The mighty red strove to throw the gold dragon from his back, but found his weakening body unable to do the task. He did manage to tear its neck away from Fyrentennimer's maw, and return the bite, but the more immediate danger had escaped him.

Feeling his lifeblood leaking into Ancaruin's mouth, Fyrentennimer nevertheless felt glad to know that he had played an important part in the battle. Ancaruin wondered why his foe was not struggling, and realized to late what it had been doing all along. Ancaruin struggled anew to free itself, but even had it been able to do so, it would have been to late. The ground rushed up at the plummeting dragons, for with Ancaruin's wings bound up in Fyrentennimer's hands and Fyrentennimer intent upon driving the larger red to the ground, gravity was an undeniable force.

*****

The sound of Ancaruin and Fyrentennimer crashing into the valley floor was loud enough to be heard for miles around. The mere force of the impact sent men stumbling to their knees throughout the valley. The crater it left was great as well, and from it, nothing could have survived. In spite of that, a great red scaly claw reached up and over the edge. It rested upon the edge and strove to get a purchase. Then it relaxed, sliding back into the newly formed crater.