Chapter IX:
The Longer Road
The Army In Sunlan
Pelas and his army left a trail of burning villages as it marched through northern Sunlan. The Essenes, knowing their purpose, had come out in force to challenge the elves. But they could not stand before him. Seven villages they destroyed utterly, slaying every man, woman and child, and carrying away their gold and silver.
'Prepare yourselves,' Pelas ordered his captains, 'For we shall battle elves ere the week is through. Ghestus is a day's march to our south, and then Lubine. They are in elven lands, and they will not fall easily. Be courageous! We shall have the Palace ere the autumn leaves descend.'
His captains cheered and his army followed their lead.
Amro and Ghastin marched among them, though they had not, as yet, made any use of their weapons. 'Shall we not partake in these battles?' Ghastin asked.
'No, let them do it themselves,' Amro replied. 'These lands were once our home, and the people therein have done nothing to us. Fate has led us to this place, but Fate cannot force my hand.'
'But how shall we ever gain the trust of our master?' Ghastin queried.
Amro looked at him with sadness, 'Ghastin, you are my younger brother, and you once counseled me. We would have died had it not been for those strange doctrines you learned from the Essenes. For I would have fought to the death to preserve our freedom. Have you forgotten them already?'
'I have told you before,' Ghastin affirmed, 'I remember nothing of our life in Lubine, save for the heat of the furnace.'
'But you trust me, brother?' Amro asked.
'Of course,' he replied.
'The know this: You cannot trust these men. They will turn against us the moment it suits them. Serve them, as they give us our bread. But do not work evil for their sakes – not more than you must.'
Ghastin said nothing, and the two let the matter rest for a time. 'Very well,' Ghastin nodded. 'I won't exhaust myself for the sake of Pelas. But any danger comes to Ele, Dalia or yourself, I shall not hesitate to paint the world red with blood.'
'You were not always a vengeful person, brother,' Amro sighed.
When the army at last came within sight of Ghestus, they could see a great force approaching them from the south. 'How could they have been apprised of our coming?' Pelas marveled, his voice betraying his fears.
'I do not know, my lord,' Bralohi said. 'I cannot imagine that any would dare betray the son of Parganas.'
Even as they stood pondering, an envoy of Sunlan came riding out to them. At first Pelas thought that the man at their lead wore a helm with a black plume, but as the rider approached, he realized that it was the long dark hair of the envoy that was flying about in the wind. For a moment, Pelas thought that it was his brother riding toward the army of Ilvas, but he soon mastered his intuition and laughed at himself. In this way, Pelas was doubly surprised, having fully convinced himself that he was mistaken. But when the rider came fully within view he realized, this time for certain, that the envoy truly was his brother Agonas.
'Wha-?' was all that he could say.
'Pelas!' Agonas shouted. 'I would speak to you, brother.'
'You would betray us? After all that has transpired?' Pelas whimpered.
Agonas laughed with a cruel and injured voice. 'You speak of betrayal, brother, and how can I doubt but that you know betrayal when you see it? For was it any less of a betrayal for you to leave me bound behind iron in Ilvas while you brought glory to yourself. Or so you thought. I have seen the army of Sunlan, and it is not to glory that you bring your people.'
'What would you have us do? Cower and beg at the table of Ijjan, even as you have done?'
'We have only ever had one choice, brother. Parganas will not have us, and Sunlan will not fall to our pitiful force. The road to life, be it glorious or not, is through submission.'
'I will not allow it,' Pelas said, incredulously.
'Brother!' Agonas pleaded. 'Listen to me, even as I speak the army of Sunlan prepares to welcome you to their nation as allies. They believe that you come in flight from our father, and not in conquest. They will forget what you have done to the mortals, but they will never forgive our people if we harm the elves.'
'This is foolishness,' Pelas said. 'You have turned your back on Ilvas.'
'Pelas, they have forty-thousand warriors, armed in steel, that may be summoned from their towers and fortresses within a week's time. Moreover, they have, I understand, some eighty-thousand mortal warriors, armed in leather and iron, but armed nonetheless. What is our tally, with the women and children, mortals and sickly?'
'Forty-thousand!' Pelas said, with fear escaping the careful control he normally exercised over his tone of voice. His servants began to look fearful, but none dared to interfere.
'See brother? We cannot defeat them.'
'You speak like a coward,' Pelas grunted and he turned as if he would command his army to attack.
At that moment Agonas leaped from his steed and knocked Pelas from his own horse. The two began to struggle, their armor clanging against the rocks on the ground. Pelas struck Agonas in the nose, pouring blood down his face. Agonas knocked a tooth from his brother's jaw. They went in turns, one landing a blow and then the other, until it seemed that in the end they would make an end of each other. No struggle can last forever, and in the end it was Agonas that was fated to win this match of equals, if for no other reason than that at last Pelas seemed to accept that the conquest of Sunlan was not yet within their grasp.
Through a bloodied face he panted, 'Agonas, you would have us turn against our father?'
'No, brother. But insofar as he has turned against us and made himself our enemy, it is all we can do to survive. Do not fear, brother, we are not mortal men, nor shall we ever truly be servants of Sunlan.'
'Survive?' Pelas scoffed. 'Where is the glory in that?' He smiled slightly as he said this, understand for a moment at least, how absurd his expectations had been. But this sensibility quickly passed and he brought himself to accept the lot that had fallen to him. He washed his face and rode out with his brother to Unijan, where the two of them bowed themselves low to the ground and vowed to serve Sunlan with all their might.
Unijan, now dressed in his dwarf-steel armor, held his blade over their heads and spoke in a firm voice. 'Will you now swear, by the ancient powers of the world, that you will have no power over our goddess Evnai, who rules over us with wisdom. Agonas and Pelas looked to one another from the corner of their eyes, and swore, their hearts filling to the brim with amusement. For they understood that their oath meant only that they would not act against the goddess, who had left Sunlan ages ago. They did not, however, swear anything at all concerning Sunlan, though, in swearing to Evnai, the men of Sunlan believed that they had truly bound themselves to their service.
Ijjan's Servants
So it was that the sons of Parganas became, for a time, vassals of King Ijjan, lord of Sunlan. The mortals who had served them were quickly lost among the Essenes of Northern Sunlan, and many of their elvish servants, also, mixed with the people of Sunlan. The greater part of them, however, remembered their old allegiances and remained loyal first and foremost to Pelas and Agonas.
The lords of Ilvas were given lands to govern and every pleasure they might require. They learned every art and every trade from the people of Sunlan, and surpassed them in many. Amro returned, for a brief while, to the public trade of a smith, making weapons for the army of Sunlan as he had before.
Dalta soon rose to prominence in the military, being named captain of Centan, a city built along the Midthalon River. Kolohi traveled the land, gathering what wisdom he could from both the mortals and immortals alike. Bralohi remained ever at Lord Pelas' side, ensuring that he was paid every respect that was due to one of his heritage. His sons traveled about the land, serving Ijjan in whatever way he deemed appropriate. Sol was given lordship over the barren stretch of shore that separated the Talon Mou
ntains from the Great Waters.
Falruvis never fully accepted Agonas' tale concerning his father's death. He was told that Ruvis had released Pelas' brother, fearing for the safety of the army, but had perished in the crossing of the Esse River as the two rushed to Sunlan Palace. He knew that he could not contradict him, for no one could go to Ilvas to discover the truth of the matter. But within himself and to Oblis and Cheru he grumbled, 'How could Agonas survive what my own mighty father could not?'
Though his intuitions were correct, everyone knew that this was a hollow complaint. He could press the matter no further without incurring the wrath of Agonas, to whom he was yet subject.
Pelas, though he was grieved over the loss of his servant, knew without hearing the true tale that Agonas had killed Ruvis, and that his story was a fabrication. But he realized, upon seeing the full size and might of Sunlan's army, that Agonas had done so to save his own life. This brief time, as a result, was the most peaceful time the brothers enjoyed. Having no immediate hope of supplanting the lord of Sunlan, they were no longer rivals, and they could extend their hands in friendship without fear or enmity.
Cheru, Oblis and Ginat, those warriors whose might in arms served to counterbalance their simplicity in mind, stayed ever in the sight of Pelas, doing whatever they were asked without question and, generally, without understanding. This blind devotion won for them an appreciation that Pelas did not bear toward any other soul. For even Bralohi, though he served Pelas honorable, did not do so without at least bearing within himself some doubt or some critical thoughts. Such things were, Pelas thought, quite beyond these three servants, however, and where Bralohi might question his judgment, even if subtly and respectfully, these three could be relied upon to act decisively and immediately.
Parganas
When the report was brought back to Alwan, that the sons of Parganas had crossed into Sunlan, his fury was such that even his captains fled from his presence. He thrust a spear through the belly of the messenger, and watched him bleed to death on the stone floor of his hall. 'I defeated the gods!' he shouted in anger, 'And they betray me to serve the peacock-king Ijjan, decked in gold and purple like a concubine.' It mattered not to him that he had given orders to his captains to plunder Ilvas, and to slay any who remained within its walls. Moreover, he had commanded that, if his sons remained within his borders, they should be taken as traitors and beheaded. No Doom Path had ever taken so long, although, neither had any Doom Path been as grand as that upon which the sons of Parganas had been sent. Many noble elf sons had perished in desperate wars and vanished on hunts for gold and wealth, some perishing and some fleeing Bel Albor forever. But none had been commanded to seize an elvish kingdom by force.
Lady Aedanla was summoned to his palace, but she refused. In anger, he banished her from the north, stripping her of all wealth and honor, sending her across the Great Lake upon a merchant's ship, from whence she is lost to history.
Lord Parganas, in the years following the departure of his sons into Sunlan, sent messengers to all those who remained who had fought against the army of Vitiai. Those who were still living he set over great multitudes of mortal men. Those men who refused to fight for him were condemned and punished by the cruelest means. In this way he brought the whole land into submission and gathered greater tribute than he had ever done before, every penny of which was used for the enlargement of his military power. He did not dream that Pelas would ever join with Sunlan, for he knew his son's pride. He thought at the very least that Pelas and his brother would wound Sunlan so that, while its head turned to its bleeding northern fortresses, Parganas would cross the Esse and thrust a blade into the back of the nation, taking Sunlan Palace itself. At it stood, however, Parganas came to understand that if he was ever to truly rule in Bel Albor, he must take possession of Sunlan by his own power.
'Even as it was when I made an end of the gods upon Vitiai,' he said to himself. His false history still maintained that Vitiai was once the home of the elves, though ruined by jealous mortals. 'I must bring an end to Sunlan's pretenses myself.'
Foreseeing his preparations, Agonas prepared the land of Sunlan to welcome those of Alwan who were loyal to Pelas and his brother. Bralohi's father Lohi, the lord of Lushlin, and his entire house, and many other noble families with him set aside their estates and their possessions and came across the Esse to serve the King of Sunlan. Every elf who crossed the river to Ijjan was stricken from Lord Parganas' records and declared enemies of Bel Albor.
The Beasts and the Beauty
During those years, the number of which is lost to history, Pelas dwelt mostly in Evnai, the great port that guarded the eastern shores of Sunlan. There he soon rose to prominence and was given command over the tradesmen of the city. It was he that oversaw the receipt of custom and who ensured that nothing contraband was carried from the land of Sunlan. In due course he himself took to the sea, being given command over a great warship. Upon this vessel he rid the coast of Sunlan of pirates, and thereby won great favor in the eyes of Ijjan. Also, he for the first time began to open his eyes to the vast world that lay beyond Bel Albor, hearing tales of strange tribes of men and elves, dwarf kingdoms, and mysterious creatures. With all the tales and fables he heard in those days he scarcely held on to the philosophy of his mother, who had, all those years ago, instilled within him the doctrine that he was the axle around which the world turned. But if ever there was a soul that could see his own insignificance yet retain his full measure of pride, it was Lord Pelas Parganascon.
Agonas was made a marshall of the army of Sunlan, and he soon proved his strength in the north by driving several tribes of goblins to extinction. Unijan would have made him a captain in the city, but his father was reluctant. 'We do not yet know whether their hearts be true or not,' he insisted. But Unijan did not doubt Agonas in the least. 'He has proven himself our ally insofar as he has put his very life in danger against the goblins of the north.'
'For a man of his strength, the goblins that vexed us are not a danger,' Ijjan answered.
'But surely Sunlan is mightier than was Ilvas?' Unijan asked in surprise.
'Indeed, but are the people of Sunlan mightier than the sons of Parganas?' Ijjan replied.
Unijan looked at his father with a puzzled face.
Ijjan sighed. 'I am not ready to trust them so fully.'
'What would you have of them?' his son asked, 'Would you send them on a Doom Path, though they are not your sons?'
'I will not send them anywhere.'
'But what will you do, my lord?'
'You shall see; and then we shall see if their hearts are with Sunlan or not.'
On the first day of Spring, the sons of Parganas were summoned to Sunlan Palace to appear together before the King. That day marked the holiest of the sacred feasts the elves of Sunlan celebrated. The priests of Sunlan had a saying, 'Summer is false. Autumn is empty. Winter is barren, but Spring is beauty.' This little rhyme was meant to unite within the minds of the people the beauty of their goddess, who was deceived, betrayed and abandoned, with the changing seasons. In this way what was a sorry tale of a lover forsaken became a cosmic epic, celebrated by mortal and immortal alike. The elves took every advantage over the mortals who could not uncover the falsities by which the elves maintained their ascendance.
On this holy day the elves gathered in great numbers. The Guests, as the elves of Ilvas and Lushlin had come to be called, were present in great numbers, almost matching the number of noble-born lords of Sunlan. With all their old servants gathered from the furthest reaches of Sunlan, Agonas and Pelas drank and celebrated freely, enjoying the company of their old companions. Lohi was present also, and he sat with Bralohi and Kolohi, along with their children. Kolohi's sons, who he had left as children, had followed their grandfather when he fled from Alwan. Their mother, Wellin, came also, but she refused to so much as speak to Kolohi, having been abandoned by him when the elves first fled to Ilvas. These
two, Kollorn the elder and Kuxni the younger, were not trained in war at all, much to the amusement of their cousins, the sons of Bralohi, who had all attained perfection in the military arts. They were learned men, and they took to the libraries and archives of Sunlan, drawing much wisdom from the eastern elves of Bel Albor.
As the feast drew to an end, Ijjan rose from his seat, which was generally understood to mark the end of the holiday. But he did not retire to his quarters; turning toward the Guests, he said, 'Four days ago, I was tormented by a dream, or a vision - I know not which. But there was, in this dream, a beast of immense size. It's skin was armor, its claws - steel. No mortal or immortal dared face it. And it consumed the land until naught but desert remained. Likewise, there was a great fish of the sea - nay it was like an eel, but was larger than a warship. This beast emptied the waters so that there remained nothing alive therein. So also was there a bird of flame, scorching the air so that it could not be breathed. I am undone!' he lamented as he finished describing these monsters. 'This shall be my last feast, for I cannot fill my own belly while this dread terror consumes the very soul of the earth. I shall celebrate no more while these terrors devour life, land and future alike.'
The whole assembly fell into absolute silence. One man coughed, and another pushed his chair away from the table, but nothing more disturbed the quiet. Agonas and Pelas looked at one another with great surprise.
'Whosoever shall deliver me from these terrors, or prove them to be dreams only, him shall I reward with greater honors than I have hitherto given to man or elf.'
Later, Unijan came to him and asked, 'Father, is this so? Are you truly thus vexed? Why have you not spoken to me, your eldest son?'
Ijjan looked at him with disappointment. 'You insult me, Unijan, if you believe that I would reward another what I withheld from my own son.'
Unijan bowed low, touching his forehead to his father's hands.
'The hand of fair Indra is that of which I speak,' he said. 'And I would have you handle this danger, Unijan - you of all men, mortal and immortal alike, are most capable of the task. But I wish to see what these brave men of Ilvas are capable of accomplishing. And if they fail, then we need not worry about them. But to whomsoever I give the beautiful Indra, I shall receive therefrom eternal loyalty. For there is no man alive that could bear to see her weep.'
Departure
The oldest known calendar, either of elvish or mortal fabrication, begins on the day that Pelas and Agonas set out from Sunlan on a great warship. They sailed at dawn, gliding over the waves into the rising sun. Pelas said to his brother, 'Do you not feel like a god?'
Agonas laughed, and then agreed. 'It is a good day to be a god.'
As their ship moved away from the docks they looked behind them to see a great host of vessels following after, some to accompany them, and others just to bid them farewell. The high elves of Ilvas sailed along with them, with many others beside them. There were elves of Lushlin and of Sunlan, and even a few mortals of the Knariss, who proved to be greater mariners than even the elves.
A great celebration had been enjoyed on the eve of their departure, and many gifts were given to them. Pelas was given, by Ijjan himself, a golden helm with wings like an eagle's and a large plume of white feathers. Unijan gave Agonas an ashen spear with a dwarf-steel spearhead, forged to look like a serpent's head. One-hundred ships sailed that day, and two-hundred more would sail on the morrow, to join them on the northern coast of Tel Arie, in the land that would eventually be called Olgrost. There were several human settlements in that region, and it was there that the sons of Parganas would begin their search for the Beasts of the Earth, Sea and Wind.
They did not return to Sunlan for nearly three years.
End of Book I
Book II:
Dalia the Mariner