Author: PepsiE
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Ascalon. How could such a powerful yet beautiful nation be reduced to such a hellhole? Wiped out without out a trace. So many hopes and dreams that had been smashed a broken by the hateful Charr. King Adelbern and the remnants of his once great army had run from the battle and away from Ascalon City, saving as many civilians as possible. He knew that Mhenlo, Cynn, Devona and Aidan would catch up no matter how many Charr they had to defeat.
Fort Ranik had become the new capital of Ascalon with the old city overrun with Charr, but everyone knew that soon, they would have to leave the Fort behind as the Charr headed further south, Regent Valley was already occupied by the Charr, so that time would be soon.
But they had nowhere to go. No-one was prepared for the bitterly cold of the Shiverpeaks or the boiling heat of the Amnoon Desert. They could not head north because of the Charr, what could they do?
Mhenlo, Cynn and Devona were sprinting towards Fort Ranik as fast as they could. They had been overwhelmed by the Charr and were now fleeing for their lives. Devona looked behind them and saw that only 2 Charr were following them now. “Stop!” she yelled. Mhenlo stopped and they defeated the 2 Charr with ease.
Aidan was at Piken Square. Few people were still there, as they were afraid of the Charr breaking through, but the Charr had already robbed everything of value from the square and were not bright enough to realize that if they just left it alone then the humans would take refuge there, because of this, it was safest place in all of north Ascalon. Aidan knew what he had to do and he knew the price Ascalon would pay if he failed. He was now Ascalon’s only hope. Adelbern saw Devona, Cynn and Mhenlo approaching the gates of Fort Ranik and had them lowered. His first words were: “Where’s Aidan” he had already lost his son, he didn’t intend on losing another of Ascalon’s best men.
“He’s headed north,” replied Mhenlo, “he blurted something about going north and saving Ascalon.”
“But he’ll surely be killed!” exclaimed Adelbern “And there is no way we can save him.”
“Don’t give up hope yet, my lord” The scribe tried to comfort the monarch “Aidan is highly skilled, especially when it comes to Wilderness Survival.”
“Aye,” agreed Devona “but even if he does survive, we have nowhere to go, North and Western Ascalon are Charr infested and Eastern and Southern Ascalon are infested with pests, our army is now very few and we’re running out of supplies so we can’t keep the remaining civilians alive for long.”
“We will have to battle train them, it’s our only hope.” said Cynn
Then, Captain Osric came in. “Good news your majesty, we have received word from in Dwarves, they are sending 200 soldiers, who should be here soon.”
“I thought we already received word from the Dwarves?” Adelbern puzzled.
“That must’ve been the time that you passed out sir.” Replied Osric
“Ah, yes, now you mention it, I do remember that” said Adelbern sheepishly, his face going the slightest shade of red, “Very well, Captain, assemble your best men and train any civilian who has national pride, inform them that although the dwarves are coming there is no guarantee they will be safe, so a little military training wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Yes my lord, right away.” Osric went to rally his remaining troops.
“Mhenlo, Cynn and Devona stay here, I need your help with a strategy, scribe you are dismissed.”
“Yes my lord.” replied the scribe.
The Ascalonians weren’t too happy with what Osric had to say about combat training and many were trying to argue with him at the same time.
“Why should we fight, isn’t that your job?” said a particularly annoying man.
Osric sighed. This had not been a good day and it didn’t look like it was going to get any better. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen,” he shouted above the noise “please quiet down while I explain what is going on now, the dwarves are coming to try and help…”
“So why do we need combat training if they’re coming to help us?” the man interrupted.
“Sir, please...” Osric started.
“Don’t sir me, I’m not taking it, my name is Marshall”
“OK, Marshall,” Osric replied “as I was saying the Dwarves are coming but there is no guarantee that they will get here before the next Charr attack and they will be sure to outnumber us especially as our army is so depleted, and even if the dwarves get here in time, there is no way of guaranteeing your safety, who knows what dangers you will face?” The crowd cheered half-heartedly, Marshall didn’t, and he was still sulking when he went to sleep hours after the day’s training session.
The next day, Adelbern himself announced to everyone that the Dwarves were nearing Regent Valley and should be at Fort Ranik very, very soon, that raised morale in the camp incredibly and everyone was eager for the morning training, by then hopefully everyone would find out which profession and weapon suited them best. Marshall was still sulking. “A bit sour are we Marshall?” chuckled one of the guards, “You needn’t worry, Osric there has been in the business for a long time and has a way of motivating people.”
“Yeah, motivating, right.” Marshall muttered, “I’ll motivate him, right up his…”
“Did you say something Marshall?” asked the guard.
“No, I didn’t say anything” Marshall replied.
“Good, good, on your way” Marshall mooched off.
“He’s trouble sir,” the guard said to Osric, “There is something about him I don’t like.”
“Yes,” replied Osric thoughtfully, “I agree. Keep an eye on him won’t you Holsley? Keep him on the straight and narrow.”
“Yes sir, I’ll keep my beady eyes on him” replied Holsley.
“Yes I’m sure you will, on your way, you’ve got someone to watch”
True to his word, Holsley kept his eye on Marshall for two days and by then the dwarves had arrived but then Marshall had noticed Holsley kept watching him.
“Do you mind?” Marshall remarked “I know I’m good looking, something you aren’t, but do you have to stand there gawping?”
“Why you cheeky little…” Holsley began.
“Problem?” asked Osric.
“Oh, no sir” said Marshall as he scurried off.
“He seems to have discovered your little plan sir” Holsley explained “On top of that, he was rather cheeky to me.”
“Oh he was, was he?” replied Osric “I’ll take this to Adelbern, if he thinks he’s getting away without respecting his superior officers then others might think they can as well.”
Adelbern was not pleased. “That cheeky fool, why does he think that we have any time for his ridiculous shenanigans in these times? We’ll discipline when we’re at a safe distance from the Charr, for now, pay him no never mind and concentrate on the other recruits, clear?”
“Yes sir” replied Osric and Holsley in unison.
“Oh yes and before I forget, when do we start moving captain?”
“Anywhere between…” Osric trailed off “My apologies Captain, I have a tendency to forget that I’m the Commander now.”
“Apology accepted sir” Holsley replied, “Now as the commander here was saying, we leave anywhere between tomorrow and the end of the week.”
“Excellent,” Adelbern grinned “I just hope that my old friend Jalis is the master strategist that he used to be”
“Oh don’t worry your majesty,” said a dwarf who had just poked his head into the room, “He still is.”
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