The Paladins of Naretia

  *

  Ol?rin had never liked the Stonyfields. In his opinion there were far too many bridges to cross over the ravines that were far too high. Of course, he also knew that his distaste for the place might have more to do with the gulches and his fear of heights, than anything else. Riding on the back of a weighty beasty as they crossed the first few overpasses didn't help matters either, and Ol?rin couldn't help but remember the reason for his fear. Being repeatedly dangled by your ankles off the tall wizard tower in Lothangard for being "different", was bound to have a negative effect on a young apprentice. But that was many centuries ago, back when he was just a boy, and public perception of all things "different" was less tolerant than it appeared to be now. Still, he couldn't help but feel as though he had been cheated because of the era he was born into.

  Ol?rin had never been a popular apprentice wizard, but a potion of anti-gravity, or a curse of month-long incurable hiccups, was nothing compared to what Angus must have endured. Dwarfs were not the gentle kind, and embraced change slowly. Ol?rin's unpopularity had changed when his visions came, and for a while he was grateful for the reverence it gave him. Now, however, he wasn't quite as grateful as the weight of it all rested on his old shoulders.

  Ol?rin could feel that they were nearing a point, a point so small and indiscernible in the long linage of time, that it would have been insignificant if it weren't for the sharp turn it was about to take. And it was going to take a sharp turn. But which direction was becoming more unclear as the darkness waded in to influence the outcome.

  "Whot in the name of all things hairy is that?" Bernard shouted.

  Ol?rin followed the direction that the tufty dwarf's thick finger was pointing. From some way off he could make out the shapes of Aramus and Aria returning. But something wasn't quite right. Aramus's wings were flapping much faster than Ol?rin had ever seen them before. In the canyon beneath them, something black followed, bubbling like a potion in a cauldron. Ol?rin heard Aria scream the name of the creatures before he could see them, and it made his insides go cold.

  "Trolls!" she bellowed time and time again.

  Almost as stupid as ogres, but twice as deadly, trolls were the last thing that Ol?rin was expecting to see emerge from the dark canyon below. But emerge they did. Rows and rows of tusky, savage beasts spilled over both edges of the ravine and made their way toward Ol?rin; each one of them tall enough to reach the Beasties shoulders. There were thousands of them, all recent escapees from Balbuldor, no doubt.

  "Move!" Sudia yelled, kicking the sides of her beasty urgently.

  Without warning, Ol?rin felt the creature beneath him take off at a fierce pace, quicker than he would have given the mammoth beast credit for. His mind raced as the reality of what he had just seen finally hit him. 'Dantet's strength is growing. The long forgotten monsters of his world are returning, and my time is running out.' Aramus caught up with the galloping Beasties and carefully lowered Aria onto its back again. For the first time in the young man's life, Ol?rin saw panic and fear in the glances he took behind him, and in the wideness of his amber eyes. It terrified Ol?rin to know that his friend, his son, knew the end was coming. And Ol?rin could do nothing about it.

  "What do we do, Ol?rin?" Aramus shouted, struggling to keep up with the Beasties pace.

  Ol?rin looked behind him to see a wave of grey creatures with green eyes, engulf one of the Beasties that was lagging behind in a wave of claws, riders and all. Although the open maw of the Beastie made easy work of a few trolls who were unfortunate enough to find themselves serrated by its teeth, there were just too many of them to fend off. Despite their fast pace, the rest of the trolls were still able to keep up with them, even managing to catch up to another Beastie, and dig sharpened talons into its hide to slow it down.

  Sudia stood up on the back of her mount and faced the rear. She fired arrow, after arrow, over Ol?rin's head and into the pursuing monsters. Two of her projectiles found their way through green eyes, while one made its way down the gullet of a roaring troll. But there weren't enough arrows in Naretia to kill all the trolls, and Ol?rin couldn't think straight because of the fear he felt for Aramus.

  "Ol?rin, what do we do?" Aramus shouted again.

  "All is lost," Ol?rin whispered. "This was never supposed to happen."

  "Speak up, old man, I can't hear you," Aramus said, drawing his sword from his belt and flying back momentarily to dislodge the nearest troll's head from its body.

  "He said we should run, as fast as we can," Aria shouted over the chaos that was thundering up behind them.

  Ol?rin glanced at the young queen. A determined look in her blue eyes told him this was not a time to wrestle with doubt. She was right, and Ol?rin knew it. Now was not the time to lose faith. The Goddess Edwina herself had come to him and told him he was on the correct path. Now more than ever, he needed to believe that and must not deviate from his quest. But with the trolls loose in this world, Ol?rin was expecting there were a great deal of dark things making their way into Naretia. Perhaps they were already there, hunting for them, waiting for them at Lothangard: Things he knew he could not defeat.

  "We will need an army," Aria said. "Sudia, do you think you can get a message to the elves and ask them to come to Lothangard?"

  "I can ask," she said, shooting another troll in the chest. "But they will not come. Elwood has closed itself off to the world, and the elves will respect the forest's decision. The balance has been tipped far beyond what they can repair. They will remain in the safety that it provides while the rest of Naretia burns, and wait for the day that the darkness weakens."

  "I knew I dinnae like those pointy-eared bampots fer a reason," Bernard spat. Sudia shot him a pointed look. "Dinnae worry about having an army, Aria. The dwarfs will defend Lothangard."

  "And the King's Guard too," Ol?rin said, finally able to speak again. "When we reach the ramparts of Lothangard I will send word that they are to, once again, obey your command, My Queen. Together, with the dwarven army you shall have a legion to defend your people."

  Ol?rin saw a slight quiver in Aria's bottom lip as she acknowledged his words with a small incline of her head. 'How things have changed,' he thought. 'Once this girl was our enemy, too impetuous to command her subjects. But now, as the wick burns close to the end of the candle, she has become wiser, more tempered than I. A true leader and queen.' Ol?rin smiled as he looked over the young girl with curly red hair who, in the face of a battle that whispered promises of defeat, appeared fearless.

  "So the plan fer now is whot, run?" Bernard said, taking a swipe at a troll that had come too close to his mount with his broadaxe. The troll lost an arm for its troubles.

  "Yes," Aria replied, "run!"