There have been battles and there have been wars, great wars. Gods have fought jealously among themselves for eons and nothing has been proven.
Men feel, for some vague reason, there was justification for taking other lives and for destroying entire civilization.
Unknown to our young friends, their entire world is one of a thousand such in this cycle of the universe, and they are unaware of what war is.
Now, there is yet again more anger among the gods and great sorrow will come from this new confrontation, for there is to be another Great War.
The fates are met and the issue is settled, but these three may be able to spare this civilization from utter chaos and despair.
But a war is inevitable; the forces are drawing the battle lines, evil against the good once again.
Battles are fought among those on each side; evil always seems victorious in the beginning.
The sorrow and plight of mankind seems beyond the capacity of such a frail entity to survive, but man has always endured.
For the thousands of civilizations fallen there has always been another.
So let us observe the beginning of this disruption of all things, let us go to the scene to begin the tales of the Guardian of the Ahar'n and reveal what malicious desire can do to men and gods . . .
Jond'r rode his horse into the encampment, dismounted near Rab'k's tent, and entered.
Rab'k sat on a large pile of camp gear near the corner of the tent. He was looking at the entrance of the tent with immense intensity.
Jond'r's entry did not disturb his gaze; Rab'k seemed to be staring into an unknown place. Jond'r stopped, came to attention and stood patiently waiting for recognition.
"What are they doing?" Rab'k asked without changing his stare, "Have they departed yet?"
"Yes, sire. They have broken camp and are headed our way," Jond'r answered, not breaking his stance, "For your information, sire, it seems Garv’n and his men caught Vil’n's group and have joined him."
Rab'k broke his gaze at that information. He looked around slowly at Jond'r. He knew Jond'r had long been a loyal soldier for Garv’n and probably had never changed his allegiance.
Rab'k wondered briefly if Jond'r was to be a problem, for what was about to occur was probably going against all such loyalty, but he said nothing.
"Are we prepared to break camp?" Rab'k asked, turning back to some documents he was holding when Jond'r walked in.
"Yes, sire. We should be on the road before Garv’n's group reaches us," Jond'r added, not changing his features, "do we ride to avoid confronting them, sire?"
Rab'k grinned slightly, turned back to look at Jond'r. "No, we should not make too much haste. Have the men begin preparing for our journey though; we shall be leaving within a few horas," Rab'k spoke slowly, pushing the forms on his field desk to one side then the other with his finger.
He was amused with this small game he was playing. "Oh yes, Jond'r. Have them battle ready in case we meet some of Voravia's forces along the way."
"Yes, sire. If you will excuse me then, I'll go see to the preparations and will report back to you when we're ready," Jond'r spoke deliberately, not surprised at all at Rab'k's orders, saluted, turned and left the tent.
Rab'k's gaze followed the soldier.
Your allegiance will be tested today, my young lieutenant. He smiled at about what he was intending to ask these men to do. I can only assume you will indeed be an obedient soldier.
Rab'k was aware all of these men knew each other; they was trained by Garv’n's officers and once held allegiance to Garv’n and his staff. They all helped Garv’n police the ever-widening territory his wealth, and Rab'k's pervasive persuasion tactics, had established.
These men had performed their tasks well; the land was well secured and generally peaceful.
Places like Varspree were allowed to continue as small cells around the region so those foul elements existing could be controlled more easily than if they roamed freely about the country.
There, of course, could never be complete control of the bands of thieves riding the prairies, but then these were considered more a nuisance than a danger and were dealt with severely whenever there were signs any danger was real.
Several horas passed before Jond'r returned. Rab'k sat in his tent planning his strategy for not only the battle soon to be, but for any attack from Voravia and some of the wilder bands in the mountain passes.
The first would be a new experience for Rab'k; the latter he was thoroughly familiar with, so familiar he knew some of the leaders of those bands by name.
He had avoided Voravia's land when he first entered the lowlands largely because he had entered from the east. He was aware of those raving bands of ghouls and monsters and of the fanatic delirium with which they fought, if encountered.
He was attempting to estimate the number of his own band that would survive the attack against Garv’n and trying to ascertain his ability to fend off any attacks afterward.
"Sire, may I enter," Jond'r asked. He stood outside waiting for Rab'k to recognize him.
"Yes, come in," Rab'k answered, clearing his thoughts to concentrate on the moment.
"Are there any problems?" he questioned Jond'r, actually knowing from experience Jond'r prided himself on his abilities to organize and direct the men.
Jond'r's self-appreciation was warranted.
"No problems, sire. We are ready to depart at your command," Jond'r answered, standing at attention.
"What are the reports from scouts about Garv’n's troops?" Rab'k asked, making his questions seem nonchalant as though he was only curious.
"They have been on the move for a while, but they are yet two to three horas away." Jond'r answered, curious about whether Rab'k was actually planning to attack Garv’n's band.
"I believe, sire, we won't been seen by them if we leave soon. I suspect their scouts, knowing we passed them by, were not too concerned with us once we went beyond the perimeter of their area.”
“We have seen no evidence they followed us very far, nor are they aware we are still in the vicinity. I think they would believe, since we flew no banner, we were probably a band of thieves and no great cause for concern," Jond'r finished.
The bands of thieves who occasionally crossed paths with any of Garv’n's troops usually fled very quickly to avoid any contact, if possible. Garv’n's name was well known, and the fame of his police groups always preceded them.
"Then let's be on our way." Rab'k said, standing, "have someone break my tent down, if you will. I'll wait on the bluff overlooking the road. Come and inform me when we are ready to depart."
He strode out of the tent and headed for the overlook. He had personally chosen this high elevation so he could observe what was happening in both directions without exposing himself.
He was attempting to infuse some delaying tactics into his plan as things progressed, but he also needed personal assurance things were going as he hoped.
To the south, he could see the dust rising, revealing a group of men traveling. He could envision the movement up and down the lines of soldiers as they trotted along, and probably in formation because they were Vil'n's men.
Corporals rode up and down the lines reprimanding the men to maintain the pace and pushing ahead certain groups who lagged.
Rab'k could almost see Garv’n's banners flying above all this.
Jond'r walked up behind him, "We are ready, sire."
Rab'k turned to his lieutenant, looked into his face, smiled and walked toward the horses without comment. Jond'r followed closely behind.
They mounted and began their own march along a parallel route to the road the Garv’n's men would soon be traveling.
Rab'k had decided on this maneuver at the last moment; he gave his reason as one of avoidance.
This path lay along a roadbed rarely traveled, as though long forgotten. More importantly, being grassy, it prevented entirely t
he clouds of dust Garv’n's troops were causing.
Rab'k intended to use stealth and cunning to place himself near enough to Garv’n and Vil’n without being detected until the moment he would call the attack. Great columns of trees on each side would shield them from view.
Rab'k was pleased with how well his plan was proceeding, employing an element of surprise would offset many discrepancies existing because of the hesitancy of his own men and the numbers of the contending troops.
His men were outnumbered but he suspected more involved in the process than Garv’n's would be. Garv’n made many assumptions inherent with complacency and self-assurance; the most significant -- he felt he was in control.
Vil’n, on the other hand, was dangerous and naturally suspicious; he would be a force to contend with when the time came.
CONFRONTATION WITH EVIL