this madness.'
Shindar turned with eyes that pierced through the soul. 'How dare you tell me what to do?!'
As he was about to kill the monk, he dropped his sword and came face to face with him. 'I sense that you have good news, so tell me… now.'
The monk dropped his shaking hands and his voice wavered as he answered. 'We detected the use of one of our forbidden spells, and the energy originates from Greenhaven. Queen Kassina may still be alive.'
The queen growled with annoyance as she caught up to a busy Dryden and began tending to a young elf’s bleeding wounds. She muttered something in Elven under her breath and Dryden heard her mention the Elven word for moon, which he had learned in his time at Veldrenn.
“My Queen, what does this new moon mean?” asked Dryden.
Queen Andrielle sighed loudly and stared up at the moon with narrowed eyes. “It means that this war is far from over,” she said. “Vartan may already be dead, and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us to prepare for who is coming. This is not the end of anything, but the beginning of everything.'
Epilogue: The Blood Red Moon
“One universal lesson can be learned from any world among the stars. True evil can indeed be defeated, but it can never be completely eradicated. Even if you destroy every dark soul that comes your way, others will rise up to replace them.
The passage of time does deliver us surprises, but also repeats itself as events tumble together to lead down the same road. Then again, we hold the power to change the path that lies ahead of us, and find new alternate realities for the future.”
Dark clouds gathered in the purple sky blanketing Greenhaven, and the sun began to disappear into the horizon as the red moon rose higher in the distance. The people of the city fled for shelter as heavy rain plummeted from above and lightning crashed violently onto the lands. Scattered trees surrounding the restored fort were set alight by the lightning strikes, and the forest was wildly shaken by the winds.
A knight smashed his fist into the wall as he leaned his face up against it, dust exploding from the wall’s surface. He slid his helm onto the rough skin on his weary head so that only the fury in his eyes were visible beneath the armour and drew a deep dusty breath into his lungs.
He marched out to the city’s defensive wall to look over the lands and called out in a gruff voice, “Mount up! The time we were waiting for has come.'
The city’s knights had already suited up in full armour and proudly wore Greenhaven’s new colours: green, red and blue interwoven patches, representing human, elf and dragon united. They waited behind the lowered main gate for orders, ready for battle.
Andrielle approached the knight, already in her own suit of armour and holding her helm close to her side. She bore a nasty battle scar down the side of her face and a few grey hairs shone through. She stood straight, in a display of strength, to prove that her age was not going to stop her from engaging in battle.
“How dare any of you stand in my way? Bow to me as your new god!” boomed a dark voice from the distant forest, sending birds scattering from Greenhaven’s surrounding lands.
Queen Andrielle grimaced and growled, “Raise the bridge and ready the archers!”
“Of course, my Queen,” answered the knight. He turned to approach the many groups of archers and ordered them to ready themselves. Thousands of men and elves ran to the walls of the great city and got into their firing positions.
He moved toward Greenhaven's gate and shouted, “Raise the bridge!”
The mechanical, rhythmic melody of metal chains escaped the city as the bridge was raised. A heavy shudder ran through the city to accompany the finality of the gate being lowered.
“And what of the dragons?” asked the knight.
Andrielle raised her face to the skies and breathed, “They are already here.'
Lightning struck the walls of Greenhaven and a few elven archers were set on fire. They screamed as they rolled on the ground.
“Use the water, quickly!” ordered Helenia from the eastern wall.
Andrielle leaned down from the catapult and shouted, “Catapult crew?”
“Ready!” came the response.
Karven and Finn landed atop two of Greenhaven’s tallest turrets with a loud tremor, while the other dragons circled above the clouds. The dragons’ eyes narrowed as they stared straight ahead at the monumental figure of Shindar marching into the open from the trail leading through the forest.
Shindar grimaced through the black mouthpiece of his helm and spat on the ground in their direction before turning back and raising a fist high. The sound of horns filled the air, and battle drums beat in unison. The city rumbled with the sounds of the Forces of Darkness approaching through the forest path.
“Steady! Not yet!” ordered Andrielle, her hand raised up, signalling for the archers and catapults to hold their fire.
“Karven! You cowardly reptile, it appears that we meet once again,” boomed Shindar’s voice over the lands. “I promise you, this time you will not catch me unawares. You might have destroyed my greatest creation, but do not mistake your little victory for what it is not. Kassina’s death brought me back into this world, and set the wheels of the prophecy in motion. This world will still be mine!”
“Hold!” cried Andrielle again.
The vast Dark Army entered their view as if a new horizon was created.
“By the gods!” exclaimed Andrielle under her breath, as the front ranks of armoured skeleton warriors filled the surrounding land as far as the eye could see.
Shindar stopped and shook his fist. The army ceased their advance and remained still as they awaited Shindar’s orders.
“This is your last chance. Lower your gate, bow at my feet and swear allegiance to me. Then you all shall live!” yelled Shindar. He drew his black sword and held it ready at his side. “Or prepare to die!”
A few quiet moments passed as the gods above observed the events below with great anticipation. Only the sound of rain and the rumbles of the thunderstorm were heard.
“We will send you back to the darkness from which you came!” responded Andrielle. “All forces — fire!”
Karven and Finn breathed out a steady stream of fire that created a tunnel of flames. Thousands of arrows and catapult missiles were launched into the air and caught fire as they passed through the dragons’ combined breath. The weapons flew through the rain-speckled air, lighting up the darkened skies.
Shindar stood his ground and withdrew an intimidating shield from his back, which bore metallic fangs in a skull on its surface. His voice bellowed, “Shields!”, as he knelt and dug the bottom of his shield into the ground. His front lines followed suit and a red glow emanated from the Dark Lord’s fist, before he twisted to his side and howled with the release of his power. The red orb of light erupted in a short distance on front of him before bursting into a glowing net that covered his entire front lines. Catapult missiles were caught in the net and fell uselessly to the ground, whilst many of the arrows rained down on their shields, very few managed to dispatch a small number of his warriors.
Rising to his feet, Shindar pointed toward Greenhaven and yelled, “Prepare to die!”
Vartan stirred and cried out, “Shindar!”, startling a sleeping Finn and Trisa before his body calmed again. Finn breathed loudly and frowned as he realised that his brother was not awake.
“What do you think they are? Nightmares? I haven’t seen his body react like that before,” asked Trisa.
Finn shook his head and sighed, “A reaction like that is usually from a vision.”
To Be Continued
Peter Koevari
Legends of Marithia: Book 1 — Prophecies Awakening: Uncut and Exte nded Second Edition
