Day 53 of the 397th Year of the Second Age

There are few things as great as riding a beast as it soars high above the trees and mountains. The winged people of Valkyrie City know it, my father new it when he would ride his griffin into battle, Queen Reva knew it when she befriended the dragon Ska’baath. Yet riding on a wyvern is always a risk that robs you of the joy of flight. They can be “tamed”, but they are headstrong and easily angered and have been known to eat their riders if provoked.
Our plan was to first visit the hunting forest near Nah. It is home to a few large nests of wyverns. An odd thing to see, large beasts with massive bat-like wings, scaled skin, a serpents neck and a monsters mouth with far too many teeth nesting in large communities. They are like birds in that they only have wings and a pair of talons that they can use to grab their prey, be it a man or a cow. Their tails double the length of their bodies and end with a poisonous stinger that would kill you instantly if the stinger wasn’t already as large as a sword. These were Nah’s faithful steeds of the skies, when they decided to behave.
Our master handler was already gathering as many wyverns’ as he could and we would need every one that we could get. As we gathered outside the forest there were twenty wyverns of various size being fitted with specially designed saddles. It was the most I had ever seen gathered at once and I wondered if they knew their home was under attack. They kept looking towards the forest as if they were expecting something.
A loud crash followed by shouts came from within the forest and startled the wyverns that were assembled. A few handlers were slowly backing out of the forest as a large wyvern made its way into the open. By no means was it the largest of the wyverns assembled, but it did look the meanest. A scar from a battle gave it a very distinct face and eye. Despite the slash it seemed as if it could see very clearly from it’s left eye. It glared at any who dared approach it and knocked a few handlers down with it’s tail. A few more handlers came in to calm it and I marveled at the way it moved and constantly repositioned itself in case it wanted to take on all the handlers.
I felt compelled to move towards it, to challenge its authority. Dittroth tried to follow by my side but I’d have none of it. I knew the beast needed to see strength and after my battles and the sense of urgency I was feeling much less fear and much more hunger for the battle ahead. It fixed its eyes on me and moved towards me with its teeth flashing. I pushed a few objecting handlers out of the way and continued to try and stare down the wyvern. It moved in to smell me and paused within arms reach. It took me a moment to realize it was waiting for me to pet it. I realized then that my steed had chosen me and I’d be flying into battle.
The strategy itself was simple, use the wyvern’s to panic and dismantle the enemy battle formations. This would allow our ground forces to take their time when attacking as they avoid any potential traps set by the burrow beasts. My biggest concern now was what they had planned for our wyvern attacks. I had some experience riding through the air, but never in combat. I trusted my wyvern but was worried that I would not be able to stay on if it took a sudden turn to avoid an arrow or spell. I knew that this battle would define my reign as king. Win and I would be championed as a strong ruler. Lose and it would be my death.
My army was about an hour away from Nah and we could see the plumes of smoke from the battle. My troops presented themselves for inspection with their captains in front of each squad. I walked by each group nodding and saluting, making sure they could see the courage and pride in my eyes. They looked as if they needed me to boost their morale. They hadn’t been able to breach the lines as Nah burned and their pride was under assault as much as Nah was under attack.
“Warriors of Nah, today we head into battle to save our kingdom from a cowardly force that attacked without warning, without provocation. But we must not fear for they are merely soldiers, they take their orders and do as they’re told without a second thought. We are warriors of the great Kingdom of Nah. We fight with honor, we are cunning, strong, and never without compassion. When we fight it is with a righteous fury as if unleashed by the gods themselves. Today, for their crimes against our kingdom, we will fight with honor, we will fight with passion, and we will show them the gods fury for what they have tried to do to Nah!” My passion and rage poured through my voice and my army felt it as they let out cheers and raised their weapons to salute me. We had been betrayed by our neighbors, they had invaded our home and tried to steal everything that was and is precious to us.
I turned back to my personal guard and went over the strategy with them again. Captain Engus was to lead a detachment of troops around our flank to the north to keep any reinforcements from arriving and to apply pressure on their line. Dittroth was to head the foot assault while I put O’Har in charge of the cavalry that was going to act as the spear tip. I pitied the Rangers and the armies of Elstat for they would be crushed by O’Har and any that survived would have to face Dittroth. Slate was going to maneuver the archers constantly to ensure they always had the proper distance. Jounas and Faye were to stay close to the archers and act as the commanding officers. I had no real idea what to do with Leslie and Siobhan, a dual personality does not help one plan a strategy when you don’t know which one is going to show up. She made the decision for us when she summoned a Krat, an animal that was a kitten with the wings of a bird and about the same size as a griffin. It was a legendary creature used in children’s stories that most believed didn’t exist. I wondered if she could simply summon anything from her mind.
I moved back to the wyvern riders and mounted my steed, whom I had named Rait which meant “rage” in the old language. He lowered his body so I could mount him properly. I handler gave me a long spear that could be called a lance if one didn’t know any better. We watched as the column of soldiers made their way towards Nah. They would need a head start but we would start be the first to battle. I felt calm, but the anxiety was growing and Rait could feel it. I kept him calm but was forced to let him stretch his wings and fly above the forest. The other wyverns followed suit and flew in a “w” formation as we circled the forest top. A tug of the reins and Rait climbed high into the sky. We would dive and attack, hopefully catching our enemy off guard and making for some easy kills.
As we headed towards Nah we could see our army lining up, preparing for the battle. We were too high up, the archers from the Rangers never saw us until it was too late. Rait dove and we accelerated at speeds I don’t see outside of nightmares. I was scared but also excited, I had never felt such a rush. Rait bowled through a squad of archers and I drove my spear into the head of one. Their archers and mages were focused on me and Rait and could not react in time to fend off the other wyverns. Rait had somehow managed to stab an archer clean through and as we climbed again he carried the body with us for a moment before dropping it on the Ranger’s scattering forces.
A few arrows whizzed past us before we were out of range again. I could see the battle beginning below. As the wyverns climbed Slate launched a volley of arrows to finish off the archers and even a few mages. Siobhan was no longer wearing her hat as she circled the battlefield- Leslie had decided to take over the battle. As my army advanced she cast a spell from her Krat that shook the ground violently. Dittroth struggled to control the troops who thought the world was ending. At first I didn’t understand what she was doing, but when I saw pockets of the earth collapse in upon themselves I understood. Leslie had exposed the traps and now the troops could charge without fear.
I watched from high up, the unmistakable form of O’Har and his black wolf leading the charging cavalry with Dittroth surging shortly behind, the infantry struggling to keep up. A few battle mages tried to throw lightning and fire at O’Har, but his wolf darted and leapt over the attacks, jumping past the trenches as he bellowed a challenge at the infantry in his path. They held, but even from my vantage point I could see their fear at such a terrible charge. The cavalry was well trained, leaping over the trenches of spikes and avoiding the burrow beasts the waited to ambush them.
O’Har’s strategy had worked and it was one I didn’t understand until I saw the effects of his charge. With a command his wolf jumped over the spears of the front line and he crashed into the second line slicing huge chunks of flesh with his axes. The front line surprised and now frightened gave way just a little and that was all the cavalry of Nah needed to begin the slaughter. Their enemy’s spears no longer in proper position was a mistake they would never have a chance to make as lances slammed into their chests and helmets. My cavalry rode through their enemies with a passion and fury not seen on Rybia in many centuries.
The trenches that the burrow beast had dug quickly became their graves. With no prey falling into the pits with them they were easy targets for foot soldiers with spears and halberds. Some tried to flee but I watched as they were slaughtered as they dug deeper into the ground. Again, one spell from Leslie the storm mage had completely altered the course of a battle, this time turning it into a route. Rait suddenly became uneasy, shaking me from watching the battle below to see the one developing in front of me.
A couple of flocks of griffins were headed towards me and Rait was eager to meet the challenge. I raised my spear and the other wyvern riders formed into our attack formation. Foolishly I led the charge thinking I can handle an aerial battle during my first fight in the skies. As Rait climbed I noticed that they had two lines of griffins, only too late did I realize they had archers in the as well as those with similar long spears. Rait’s powerful wings gave us altitude, but we quickly had to drop to avoid a volley of arrows. I heard a scream that was quickly fading and couldn’t look knowing one of my riders had lost control of his wyvern and fallen to his demise.
Rait’s speed forced me to lower my spear to make sure I could hold onto the saddle. Unable to properly defend myself I saw two griffin riders dive after us. The griffins were fast but could not keep up as I summoned my courage once more and pulled back on Rait causing him to climb. We ended up catching an updraft and surging towards the backline of archers. They noticed and launched a few arrows but couldn’t unload as two of their own griffins were in the firing line. We rose up just as they were drawing long swords. Rait’s long neck made quick strikes, catching hold of one griffin’s wing and tearing it off in a show of power. Another griffin close be caught Rait’s neck with it’s beak but a few strong thrusts from my spear sent that griffin back down to Rybia.
We found ourselves being slowly overwhelmed as we were outnumbered and the other wyvern riders had not yet been able to break thru the line of griffins. Before we could dive or climb the two riders had caught up with us from behind and two more archers had put away their bows and were urging their griffins forward to aid in the attack. Rait’s tail was raised like a scorpion’s, but our escape was cut off and our foes knew that as soon as he struck with the tail they could move in for the kill. Rait took the initiative and struck one of the archers in front of us. I took my spear and threw it with all my might at one of our pursuers who were now behind us. It was an awkward throw, but it found its mark in the shoulder of one of the riders with spears. He seemed to take the spear wound intentionally, as if he wasn’t about to give up the position he had earned.
They struck with their spears and Rait let out a screech as I tried to force him down so we could try to outrun them again. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Leslie approaching us, her hands moving and creating an arc of energy in the air just above her. With a gesture she flung lightning at the group of warriors in front of her. She knew that wyverns had a high tolerance for lightning and that griffins didn’t possess such natural resistance. A few of the archer griffins felt a little of the effects too, but so did I and I lost control of the reins. The one I had wounded slashed with his spear and I was ready with my shield. It was unfortunate that this was my first battle, I might have known better than to forget about protecting the saddle. It was a glancing blow for Rait but the main strap of the saddle was broke. He smiled and waved goodbye as the strap broke and fell off as Rait fought off three attackers.
“Rait!” I yelled hoping that he suddenly spoke my language. The spin of my body forced me to look down as I sped towards oblivion. I prayed to Queen Reva, I prayed to the Old Gods: Alta the Creator and Lotha the Healer. I watched the ground coming closer and realized we had drifted and now I was falling over the palace walls. I could see Sethral on the battlements launching spells and shouting orders as I sped towards him. He looked up just as I was about to yell to him but I never got out a word. I felt powerful talons grab my torso, crushing a couple of ribs as my body once again found a center of gravity. Rait had saved me and my Kingdom from doom but I was finished for the rest of the battle.
Rait seemed to know where to take me as he brought me inside the palace walls and dropped me into the hands of some guards before coming to a rest in the courtyard. The battle above was dissipating as the wyvern’s slowly overpowered their griffin counterparts. A royal healer rushed to aid me as a few battle weary guards smiled and saluted. Many heroes were made this day as the forces sieging my Kingdom withdrew to regroup. They still had the upper hand but they had suffered a huge setback by allowing Nah’s main force to reunite with the city’s defenders. They knew they were running out of time before reinforcements from Granic arrived and attacked their flank.
“I was beginning to worry that you were dead,” Sethral limped down the stairs from the palace walls. He was smiling and I caught an air of pride in his sentiment. I didn’t think about it then but writing in my diary makes me realize that I had made him proud by leading a force to rescue the city. “Welcome back my liege.”
“It is good to be home,” I said as we shook hands and the guards cheered. Though none doubted my lineage most thought I was too young and inexperienced to handle a task such as this war. “Are you hurt badly?”
“I am fine, tired and I caught an errant arrow but I am mostly uninjured. And yourself? Did you break a rib with your fall?”
“A few, I think,” I looked up again and shuddered as I thought about my good fortune. I looked around at the guards and took stock of the garrison. It took a few moments before I realized what was out of place. “Where’s General Traich? Why wasn’t he organizing the defenses?”
“He fell yesterday,” Sethral and a few of the guards lowered their heads as the rest of those within hearing distance found their faces turn sullen. “He saved the palace walls but it cost him his life. They were poised to take the palace with their push today but your arrival has stopped that.”
“Traich…” I could not imagine Nah without him. He was like an uncle to me, teaching me many things about combat and about life. I held my emotions firm, but Sethral saw the pain in my eyes. “We will honor him and all people of Nah by breaking this siege and making those who attacked us regret their foolish decision.”
The guards cheered and raised their weapons and Sethral was taken aback by the fire in my eyes. Siobhan floated down on her Krat and landed close to Rait. She stroked his cheek and I saw her whisper into his ear. Then she bounded over to me and threw her arms around my neck. Sethral smiled and shook his head, I didn’t notice the recognition in his eyes.
“Hello Siobhan, how are you?” She turned to him and screamed as she ran and gave him a hug. “What kind of trouble have you gotten my king in to?”
“I might have saved his life a time or two,” she replied as she returned to give me a painful hug. I groaned a little and she realized her folly. “I’m sorry Tritus! Let me take care of that.”
“No wait!...” Siobhan didn’t skip a beat as she kissed my ribs and suddenly they felt better, although they were still broken. I’m still not sure if she cast an enchantment that caused me to forget the pain or if it was just a nice feeling I was having. “Thank you. How are the defenses?”
“They hold, but we need to develop a new strategy now that you are here.” Sethral was taken aback but my abrupt changing of topics, but I had no time to waste and although I liked Siobhan’s company I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted. “Why don’t you return to your quarters, the healers can fix your ribs there and then we can discuss our strategy.”
“I could use some rest,” I suddenly felt very weary as all the riding and fighting finally caught up with me. As we passed the Krat I reached out to touch it only to watch it disappear. I do not think I will ever know the depths of Leslie and Siobhan’s power, but I will always be grateful she is on the side of light. We made our way to my chambers where the royal healer did what he could to heal my ribs as Siobhan sang an elfish song. I slept briefly before Jounas and Sethral entered my chambers to rouse me.
“We hope we’re not interrupting anything.” Both men had smiles on their faces as Jounas spoke. Sometime between me being healed and falling asleep Siobhan had managed to undress me completely. She was naked as well, never bothering to cover up even though she was no longer decent. “Your war room is ready and we need to talk about the upcoming battle.”
“Ok, give me a moment.” They nodded and left the room trying their best to hold in their laughter. Siobhan giggled and I tried to give her a scolding look but my body felt great and so I didn’t really have any problems with waking up naked. I put on my robe and headed out, pausing only to give Siobhan a kiss. I made my way to the war room and saw the serious look on everyone’s face. O’Har had a few wounds that needed to be healed, although it is minotaur custom to leave wounds open until the battle is done. What is amazing is how good minotaurs are at sieging, they can last for day with simple bandages until a siege is complete one way or another. Slate kept rearranging the archer figures on the walls as he tried to find the perfect formation.
“We will need reinforcements,” Dittroth spoke, not taking his eyes off the map of Nah. He had a fresh scar on his right arm but was otherwise unharmed. I’m sure many of my warriors found their skin a little thicker today. He looked up and smiled when he saw me enter. “I saw two of our riders fall, one to his death, the other survived by the grace of Lotha. I’m glad to see it was you who made it safely.”
“As we all are,” I said knowing what would have happened had I perished. “I’d say I won’t do that again but I don’t think my wyvern, Rait, will let anyone else ride him.”
“Well we’ll have to make sure we construct you a stronger saddle then,” Jounas spoke as we all eyed the map. “But we don’t need reinforcements. If we hold tonight and tomorrow they’ll be forced to retreat as our allies from the east marshal their armies and make their way towards here.”
“Agreed, sometime between now and tomorrow they’ll throw everything they have against us.” Sethral was eyeing the map intently, hoping to spot our enemies strategy before they attacked. “Even with our route today we are still outnumbered three to one. Not terrible odds but it means they have distinct advantages. They may have foreseen a long siege so we should think about what happens if the Kingdom of Elstat uses their burrow beasts to dig underneath our walls. They’ve used that strategy before.”
“We’ll have to keep the archers spread out then, so we don’t lose a block of our range attack if they finally do come up under the walls.” Slate was examining the battle map and shook his head. “When they come up under the walls we’ll lose almost all our range capabilities.”
“Archers aren’t useful in this fight anyways except in their attacks on diving griffins.” I circled around to stand next to him as I spoke. “I can’t have a flurry of errant arrows falling into my city. Many citizens are still hiding in their homes. We have to protect them not force them to choose between our enemies swords or our arrows.”
“He’s right Slate, we need to keep the griffins at bay and that way we can concentrate our defenses on the invading forces. Still, I have another idea.” The men at the table looked at Jounas as he spoke. He smiled and simply shook his head as he tried to build a little suspense. Dittroth’s stoic face slowly hardened and Jounas knew better than to push it any further. “Have you all forgotten that we’re in Nah?”
“Of course not! It is our birth home except for a few of our comrades! What do you mean by this!?” Dittroth was restrained but his outburst made the tension in the air thick as he reminded Jounas that there was nothing funny about the war and it’s casualties.
“It’s simple. We break our fastest warriors into small groups and create a maze of Nah. As their man forces enter the city we attack in small numbers drawing their forces in different directions. Once a group of attackers is drawn through the city in pursuit we can lead them down and alley and ambush them.”
“That may whittle down the force a little but it will hardly defeat the force we are up against.” Sethral interjected, his face grim with knowledge. I knew watching him that he hadn’t spoken of everything that had happened during the attack. “We still have much to deal with.”
“I’ve never known you to keep anything from my father Sethral, so what is it you are keeping from me?” I spoke with an increasing air of authority. Sethral smiled as he looked at me, and for a moment I saw nostalgia in his eyes.
“You are like your father in more ways than you realize. He never backed down from a good fight or a tough choice.” Sethral moved towards my side and looked at me hard before turning to the table again. “What I have left out is what we all dread. They have a High Summoner with them. I do not know his name yet, but it was a beast that he summoned initially that sent the city’s defenses into a panic before it returned to the Abyss.”
“Summoner’s…” O’Har had been waiting outside of the room and spat as he walked in to join the council. Minotaurs didn’t believe in their use as they saw no beast as strong as them. Summoner’s were common, even on the battlefield. They could create beasts out of midair to do the bidding of their masters. High Summoners were different, they had transcended life and death and become one with the outer planes where Gods, demons and angels play. They could summons monsters of mythic legend to fight a battle for them. Although it was often for no more than one battle, for the beasts who reside on those planes one battle could decide a war. They had to have the beasts permission, but most agreed to the thought of fighting on a lesser plane of existence. Few chose to stay on Rybia once they had achieved such power, and part of me had wondered if Siobhan was actually a High Summoner.
“Well we have no choice but to use this strategy and strike at the High Summoner if he decides to make an appearance.” Dittroth spoke as he repositioned the wall guards and the cavalry who were placed along the outskirts of the palace walls. They were to protect the flanks and force the main force into a bottle neck towards the main gate. “I don’t like the idea of forcing all of their forces towards the main gate. It’s the easiest place to defend, and considering our options it’s our best and most likely strategy for defense.”
“Agreed, there is some risk to that, but it is also our best option.” Jounas said as he looked over the city. I watched him instead of the city and as I did something changed in his eyes, an idea was forming. “Maybe we can use that to our advantage. With General Traich gone maybe they will assume that is our strategy and force us into such a defense. However, we can plan a counterattack that they will not expect.”
“What did you have in mind?” Sethral moved closer, wondering what he could have missed.
“We know they will use their burrow beasts to try and dig under our walls. And the High Summoner will probably call upon a great beast or demigod to wreak havoc and shock us. What if we concentrated our attack on blasting through the tunnels they’ve created and strike at their commanders on the other end?”
“Yes! Leading that charge would be a great honor!” O’Har volunteered his services and we all knew there was no one better than a wolf-riding minotaur to wreck havoc through their lines.
“Agreed O’Har, that’s your part to play.” Jounas said as the strategy came together. Sethral looked a little uneasy until he snapped his fingers with a thought.
“With our wyverns we’ll have air superiority, barely, but we’ll need to bring the fight to their beast and send a few towards their command. If we take out the High Summoner, or force him into retreat, the beast goes away and their forces take a huge loss.”
“We’ll still have the palace to defend but I think we’ll take them by surprise.” Dittroth looked up and stared at me, knowing what he had to ask but didn’t want to push me too much despite the necessity of the situation.
“I’ll lead the attack against the beast and break off with a couple of wyverns to strike their leaders.” I didn’t give Dittroth a chance to ask and he was happy with my choice. “We can break the siege in one swift counterattack and once they’ve been broken, I’m sure our allies will arrive and then the rout will be on.”
“Agreed, so get some rest my liege, I’ll inform the captains of their duties.” Dittroth was used to short nights and a quick turnaround of command, I am not. We adjourned the meeting and I headed back towards my room, suddenly very weary and aware of how much I needed sleep. I arrived at my chambers to find them empty and in all of a few minutes I will be asleep. I hope my father is watching over us and is proud of our honor, of our defense of Nah. I will seek his guidance later as I’m certain this war is just beginning.