Silence falls over Valiant Hold. The grieving fires light up the night while everyone mourns the loss of their fallen heroes. Not a word spoken, yet final goodbye's are being said as the Elders open their doors for the valiant dead. Marius wraps his arm around Jess' shoulder, looking down at the fires below. It dawns on him how lucky they are to survive the onslaught while so many never returned from the field of battle. Looking at his little girl in his wife's arm, he can't help but think she is the reason he came back. Every opponent he faced, the image of Jess and Harleen crossed his mind, giving him a reason to fight on, to prevail. He leans towards Jess, pulling her head a little closer and kissing it on the side. "You have no idea how much I love both of you." He whispers. Jess remains silent as she rests her head upon his shoulder. He knew in his heart he was lucky, but not all shared in his fortune. As he looks around he see's the people he cares about in tears, grieving family and friends. Gwen, Galadrin and even Daliens stands beside them teary-eyed. The victory they celebrated now completely undone by hurting hearts and empty homes. Then there it was, the voice. The voice everyone hoped to never hear again.
"You so called victory is a hollow one. Your dead are merely fuel for my eternal army. So do not grief but rejoice, you to shall join my legion! Even you ... Cromwell."
Its words ignite fear among everyone present. Sending chills down the spines of the braves soldiers, including Marius himself. "Jess, take Harleen! Evacuate the city!" He shouts even though she stands right beside him.
"Bu ..." she stumbles.
"Now! Protect her! I will come find you after .... I will come back! Now go! Take as many as you can with you!" He shouts, quickly kissing both their heads.
She wants to protest but their daughter in her arms spurs her to action. She crawls down the nearest ladder and makes her way true the panicking masses in the streets. Marius meanwhile makes his way towards Dalien. "Dalien, can you do something?"
"I ... I can probably put a barrier up where the wall is breached but ..."
"It would trap everyone outside. No ... we have to stop who is behind this or undo ..."
"I'll find something, i ... i need my books." Dalien mumbles and scurries off, leaving Marius looking down at his panicking people. He takes a deep breath, knowing what is to come. Knowing another onslaught will be the last for Valiant Hold. But he was not going to give up so easily. As long as he draws breath he will fight for his people, his wife and his daughter. "Valiant Hold!" He unsheets his sword, holding it above his head. "Will you fight with me one more time!?" He shouts at the top of his lunges, making his soldiers snap out of the fear that gripped them. He makes his way down the ladder, but then he notices. The dead are standing up from atop their burning pyres, their bodies ablaze. Thousands of them, standing up at once, deprived of emotion, pain, fear. Only empty husks with one goal, more death. Before they move he reaches the courtyard with his sword still up in the air, as a beacon for his men. One by one they rally to his side. Gwen, Galadrin, Racnor, they turn up, soon becoming a wall of flesh and blood between the dead and the living. This time with no place to retreat, no hope of reinforcement, no hope for victory. Yet there they stand, filled with fear, prepared to die for their home. Soldiers true and true.
"Men! We are all that stand between dead and our families, our friends, Eldor itself! It has been the honor of my life being your warden!" His men respond with the clatter of sword and shields. "Valiant Hold! Valiant Hold!" They shout. Fear converted to bravery. Terror to anger.
"We stand with you warden! We fight till the last!" Gwen shouts, coming out above the clattering steel. The dead turn their heads, all at the same time. Their gaze fixed on the line of soldiers awaiting the burning clash that awaits them. Racnor motions his centaur cavalry out the gate, hoping to stop the flow of reinforcements once their onslaught begins.
"Valiant Hold will be mine." The voice speaks once more. This time the soldiers remain unfazed and determined.
"Bring your worst!" One shouts from in between the pack. The dead screech in reply as their burning bodies start to move towards the soldiers. Their advance slow, step by step dragging themselves towards the line. Screams start coming from behind the wall, the centaurs had engaged the dead.
"Fire!" Marius shouts and the line opens up to rangers with cocked bows taking aim. One by one the arrows loose and the dead start dropping where they stand. Before they clash with the soldiers the line opens up once more to a barrage of arrows. Before they can take aim again the burning dead clash with the wardens forces. Clawing and screaming they attack, the flames burning the men in the process and their screams drown out everything else. The first one reaches Marius, arms flailing frantically as it crashes into his shield. The heat of the flames turning the metal of shield red. "Hold the line!"
Meanwhile Jess rallies the citizens at the east gate atop Shadow and Harleen in her arm. "Double time people!" She shouts as they pour in from all corners of the hold. Some with nothing, others half their household strapped to their backs. All with the same hopeless look on their faces and their thoughts with the soldiers protecting their retreat. Lelah joins Jess atop Racnors war horse. "We leave for Rise?"
Jess looks at her, not having thought about a destination and only worrying for her husband until now. "Ye ... yes. If we are welcome there?"
Lelah offers a gentle smile. "Friends are always welcome."
"Don't ... don't you worry about Racnor?"
"No. Why?"
"What if he ..."
"If he falls? Then he would have fought his hardest for his clan, for his child and for me. And I will honor him for the rest of my days. But worry? No."
"I wish I could reason like you Lelah. I don't want to lose the man I love. I don't want Harleen to grow up fatherless."
"Your husband is a good man. If you are lucky the Elders will take pity and send him back to your arms."
"The elders are not know for their pity." Jess mumbles while spurring Shadow on and following the train of people leading out the gate. She throws back one more glance at the fires and smoke sticking out above the houses. "I love you." She whispers to herself as she turns forward and leaves Valiant Hold.
On the other side of Valiant Hold Marius' forces are already struggling and more and more suffer serious burns. When Dalien reappears and pushes his way true the soldiers "Marius!? Marius!?"
"Dalien!?" He replies swinging his sword at the burned corpse in front of him.
"Its not much but I found something, a spell. It should stop the fires!"
"What are you waiting for!?"
"I need to be up high, I need to get up the wall!"
"Are you kidding me!" Marius shouts frustrated. "How do you propose we get you up there!?"
"I ... I don't know ..."
Marius slays the next burning attacker. His left arm heavily burned from his glowing red shield. He screams almost as a wild beast, putting all his pain and anger into it. The next dead's head smashed in with the side of his shield. As he advances from the line his men formed. He turns his head back. "Come on then!" He shouts at Dalien who's looking uncharacteristically scared. "Stick close." Marius holds of a foe with his shield on his left while impaling another with his sword in front of him. On the right another comes running, an arrow stopping it dead in its tracks. He should have known. He looks back and there is Gwen and a few of the rangers on a rooftop.
"Go!" She shouts. "We got these bastards." Meanwhile down below a few dead take notice and try and scale the walls below her. Marius turning his attention back to the next creature running at him while the rangers try and take as many out as they can. In the mean time more and more rangers see Gwen's example and start climbing rooftops around the battlefield. The soldiers struggling but putting everything they got in this fight that would probably be their last. Not a single man seen fleeing, and even the badly wounded refusing to give up, instead trying to take at least one more down with them. A screeching, almost charred Orc, flanks Marius, throwing him to the ground. The fiery creature hanging above him and the flames brushing his face. His sword thrown from his hand and just inches out of reach. Dalien looks on as if frozen into place. The orc now snapping at his face with only his shield holding it at bay. Desperate he grabs the orc's neck, his hand on fire he pushes the creature off just enough and pulls back his hand and smashes its head with his shield. He looks at his hand, the flesh badly burned, the pain starts pouring in but the dead around him do not give him pause. He grabs his sword, the hilt touching his palm only intensifying the pain. On the roof Gwen is still firing arrow after arrow trying to protect Marius but more and more start to take notice of the pair making their way towards the wall. Then a hand appears from below and grips the roof tiles, and seconds later a charred head pops up. "They are climbing up!" Gwen shouts while shooting it true the head.
"Marius, we ... we are not going to make it!" Dalien shouts while ducking and dodging between Marius' sword swings and shield bashes.
"Yes we fucking will! The ladder is right there!"
"They know we are up to something, they won't let us ..."
"We run! Grab on to me, i'm breaking true!"
Dalien grabs the neck of Marius breastplate and braces himself. The moment he does Marius charges forwards with his shield held at chest height and his horizontally behind it for extra support. He bashes true corps after corps, each with more and more effort. "Almost there!" His arms and face being cut by the clawing creatures he is trying to hold off them both. When they finally reach the ladder he turns around throwing Dalien towards it. "Make this count!" He shouts while holding of their pursuers. Dalien starts climbing, his hands trembling more and more every step he takes while Marius is surrounded by a blazing army. The rangers on the rooftops meanwhile falling one by one as more and more manage to scale the rooftops. Gwen still holding her own but unable to aid Marius any future as she switches to her sword and dagger. The first one to reach her losing its head, bouncing of the roof before its body follows suit. One climbs up behind her and jumps her making her fall face down and sliding down with it atop her. She rolls over, its burning hand grabbing her face. She screams out and gets her feet in between, pushing it off just before she would fall over the edge and grabs the last tile just in time, hanging on with one hand with even more dead awaiting her below.
Dalien reaches the top of the wall. He looks over at the other side and cant believe his eyes. The army that retreated a day ago stood at the ready outside the breach and open gate. The centaurs send to hold the burners outside at bay all lay dead on a dimly lit field of blood and gore. There was no time to lose and Dalien looked up at the darkness above, his arms held open and murmuring words in elvish. A white aura starts appearing around him as clouds start to appear above Valiant Hold and moment later the first drops of rain start falling down, sizzling on the burners below.
"Yes!!! Dalien!!!" Marius cries out while struggling more and more with the burning corpses boxing him in. With the rain pouring down the flames to die down. The cold water more than welcome on the soldiers burned skins, invigorating them as they shout with renewed courage. "Get back down here!" Marius yells with the rain clattering on his armor. Dalien does not respond and does not appear atop the ladder.
"You!" Dalien yells and moments later the mage flies off the wall as if thrown. Marius looks on in horror.
"Dalien! Nooo!!" The mage fall a few feet away from Marius, the clash killing him instantly. His eyes and mouth bloodied before the charred dead attack his broken body. Marius looks on in horror as he tries to cut a path to his dead friend when in his grief claws scratch his neck. Blood dripping down his armor. He does not relent until he reaches what is left of his friend. A feeling of pure rage burning true him, clouding his mind as a vengeful demon taking over. "Kill them all!!!" He yells when suddenly the dead halt their attack. Standing there like statues while rain keeps pouring down. Then he notices a hooded figure in a black cloak appearing on the edge of the wall. Marius tries to get a look at the face underneath but the hood covers to much to make anything out in the dim light of the moon.
"You think you achieved something? You merely prolonged your inevitable demise! Valiant Hole will fall ... Baldrum will fall ... and then those beasts will follow!" The same voice as before now coming from the man atop the wall. "Even you ...Cromwell ... will not stand in my way!"
"You fucking bastard! I'm killing you, even if its the last thing i'll do!" Marius shouts up the wall pointing his sword at the man on the edge. The cloaked man slowly removes his hood, revealing his face as the clouds part way for the moon to shine true.
"Really? Your going to kill your friend? Your sergeant?"
"Galmeth!? Wha ... why!? We thought you fell during the battle of Rise!" Marius' heart raises and shock over takes him. This was the last man he would have expected to be behind all this. He knew him for years, took him under his wing in Baldrum, fought alongside him countless times.
Galmeth laughs maniacally. "That was the point warden. It took years of planning, luck and a lot of magic to get me here. But now revenge is finally in reach and I will not falter now!"
"But why!? You know a lot of these men! They where your friends Galmeth!" Tries to reason with him.
"Why!? You think you are the only one who suffered at the hands of those beasts in the Silver forest? I lived there with my parents and little sister when they attacked. They ripped true them all! I only survived because I was out in the forest gathering firewood. I came home to a slaughter! So I went to Baldrum seeking aid but you know what they did? Nothing! They knew full well I was telling the truth and still they did nothing but pat me on the back! So I traveled to the mages on the sinking Island, pleading with them for help but again I was turned down! Not their problem I was told, they had bigger worries ... So I sneaked into their library and learned of a hidden power here in Eldor and spend years looking for it. And when I found it ... the shear power it gave me! You would not believe Cromwell. Power to exact my revenge on those that turned that little boy away. On those beasts ..."
"You are doing all this because they turned you away!?"
"No! I am doing this because this land is selfish! Ratched! The people, the king, monsters in the forests ... it needs to be cleansed. A fresh start. And i'm giving Eldor just that."
"Then why wait? Why spend year in the military? Why let us go at Rise? And again in the deadsea? Why not just kill us and get it over with?"
"Honestly? Jessalie ... She treated me with kindness from the start. I let the king build Valiant Hold so my Victory would taste even sweeter. Letting him believe he was safe, his brilliant plan saving Eldor. Only to have it crumble around him. Sadly I did not anticipate you and Jess. I wanted to scare you off but since that was clearly not going to happen I went forward with my plan anyway and here we are ... your lives about to end and the great king of Baldrum within reach."
"You make me sick! You lost your family. That's tragic, I should know! But that does not condone any thing you have been doing! Yes people can be selfish, idiotic and horrible BUT there is so much good in the world! Love, honor, friendship ... How can you only focus on the bad when you experienced all of these things? I was you bloody friend! I mourned you!"
"A few good men does not redeem the whole rotten patch that is Eldor! It saddens me I will have to end your life, but I know you won't leave. Not even to be with your wife. So it ends here. This is where the cleanse begins, with the fall of the mighty warden!"
"There is no beginning here! Only the end of you!" Marius shouts igniting in anger and cutting true a few motionless dead before they start attacking once again. Behind him Gwen has taken command of the line of soldiers behind the warden and overheard most of the conversation.
"Your warden is going for that bastard! Lets help him! Push the bloody line!" She yells igniting the men as the line starts pushing forward cutting true the dead. Meanwhile the living dead seem to focus on Marius and he is struggling with the relentless onslaught but refuses to give in no mater how badly he is hurting. But then Gwen appears beside him, slaying on of his assailants. On the other side of him more and more soldiers linking together as the line reforms on both sides of him. "We are with you warden! That bastard is going to pay!"
As he turns towards his sergeant he notices her face, the skin seriously burned on her right side. "Gwen ... your... "
"Beauty mark warden. Not to worry." She says while not slowing down in her relentless assault on the dead. Then laughter starts filling the air around them.
"You moved a few inches and saved your warden?" The laughter continues. "More death!"
More dead start pouring in the hold both true the gate and true the breached wall until the space between them and the wall is filled with them. "You piece of filth!" Marius shouts at Galmeth who's still laughing like a mad man.
"Warden!? It ... it was an honor to serve under you. I ... " Gwen says with a little tremble in her voice now.
Marius takes a few steps back till he is clear from the rest of the soldiers and lets his head hang down. "When he falls, get them out of here Gwen." He says with a sad undertone to his usual voice.
"What are you doing?" Gwen asks while walking up to him. He remains silent and reaches for his necklace underneath his breastplate, holding it in his open hand.
"Please, give this to Jess. She will know what to do with it."
"No warden! Marius! I know what that does ... don't do it! We will fight our way true and ..."
"Tell them I love them. Both of them. And that i'm sorry i can not keep my promise. This has to end here."
"No! Don't!"
Marius pulls off the necklace and throws it at Gwen who catches it out of reflex. His blood starts boiling, his bones cracking, his body expanding. The armor cracking and tearing around him as the transformation nears completion. The beasts looks at Gwen. "Get ...everyone ... out." The beasts speaks in a growling voice as fangs spring out of its mouth.
"Warden? Can ... can you control it?"
"No ... aim ... it." The beast replies and she could swear it grinned at her for a split second before it howls at the moon. The wolf was back, this time without its leash and Galmeth facing the thing he dreads the most.