preparing to defend their camp against her intrusion. These creatures did not trust anyone; they even fought amongst themselves because of their ill temperament. Kana dived suddenly toward these stout defenders, which caught them completely off guard. She came up abruptly and lighted on the lake's shore. She walked resolutely toward the ores who had taken up their posts at the massive arrow launchers. They had trained the weapons on her but did not fire. They had changed their minds about killing the intruder once they had seen who it was. They instantly knew that it was an Elemental and that she was very powerful.
She had forced these thoughts into her would-be attackers' minds so that she would not have to kill them unnecessarily. She had no problem with this as ores do not know how to shield their minds. She smiled slyly at the small group of defenders and then came to a halt a dozen paces in front of the nearest defensive weapon that was aimed at her. She waited calmly for them to speak or to make some kind of indication as to what they were planning to do.
The ores looked at one another uneasily as silence enveloped the standoff. They were all thinking the same thing, and that was who had the great displeasure of reporting to their general that an Elemental had arrived. Their leader would not be happy that they had not even fired once at her, especially since she was one of the wretched guardians who had always kept their kind in check. Slowly one of them in the back of the formation slid down off his seat on his launcher and began to walk toward a small camp at the base of the mountain peak on the eastern side. Once he felt he was out of firing distance, he broke into a dead run. He began shouting something quite unintelligible in his native tongue as he ran toward the encampment.
As the orc neared the biggest tent in the camp, guards came out of nowhere and tackled the frantic messenger. They could tell by the color of his clothing that he was one of their tribe, but they did not know why he acting so crazy. As the guards wrestled with the poor soldier, the tent door swung open abruptly. General Akuji Tadok K'K stepped out into the sunlight with a look of suppressed rage at the sight of the fight taking place at his entry. He was a towering figure that was as tall as or taller than most elves. His long silver hair swayed in the breeze while the sun glistened off of his hard gray and black hide. He had a bulky muscular frame that made his stature overbearing to anyone who was in his presence. He was the leader of the largest and most feared orc army in Tuwa. His hard, cold, gray eyes fixed on the struggling figure that went still once he felt his leader's gaze.
'General Tadok K'K, you have an unexpected guest,' the messenger stuttered frantically. He was shaking all over as he spoke to his general.
'Stand up, you filthy scum!' blasted General Akuji. He looked even harder at the trembling orc. 'Who is it that you let live? This person had better be very important since you disobeyed my standing order to kill anyone or anything that nears our camp!' The threat sent chills down the spines of everyone that had gathered around this impromptu meeting.
'My lord, it is an Elemental. She … she did something to us in our minds so that we would not shoot her out of the sky. She is holding the others hostage and sent me to tell you that she has business to discuss with you,' the poor orc explained. He shuttered at the hard look General Akuji gave him. He was so scared that he soiled himself as he stood in front of his leader. The guards that had been holding him moved away from the shaking orc because they could sense that their general was about to do something to the messenger. The smell of feces and sweat filled the air around the antsy soldier as he shook uncontrollably in front of his general.
'I do not care if it were the guardian himself… you still try your best to kill him, you maggot!' yelled the general as he wrapped his hands around the messenger's head. In one swift motion, he ripped the poor creature's head clean off and threw it aside. He stormed off, screaming profanities in his own tongue into the air as he marched toward the shoreline. He would deal with this unwanted visitor himself.
As he neared the massive arrow launchers, he could see that the ores manning the weapons were in a transfixed state. This only enraged him more, and his cursing became even more offensive. He walked right up to the Elemental and drew his massive silver war hammer and swung it back for a deathblow on this intruder.
Kana smiled slightly at this gesture and allowed him to swing away. His blow missed the guardian somehow, and he went spinning past his target from the force of his errant attack. She immediately turned about and seized him with her mind. He rose slowly into the air as she approached him. His face was full of rage and disbelief as his struggled to break free of his invisible bounds.
'General Tadok K'K, it is a pleasure to meet you at last. I have heard stories of your power and greatness from the peoples ofTuwa. I must say that I am not at all impressed by what I see in front of me,' she said nastily. 'You were purported to be this fearsome leader that took no prisoners and that trusted no one. Yet, your guards did not kill me, as is your custom. Why is that?' She was taunting the captive general just to prove her superiority and power over him.
'Why are you here, you filthy witch? Why bother us when we have kept our pack with you and your wretched council?' queried the general hotly. He was trying his best to not be afraid, but that was rather difficult when a powerful being like Kana had you in her clutches. Still, he managed to give her baleful looks that clearly told her that she was not welcome in his camp.
'I am here on personal business, Akuji. I have need of you and your kind. I want you to join me in a cause that will cleanse Tuwa of lesser beings like the elves.' She was baiting him with what every orc wanted: revenge on their neighbor to the north. It was the residents of the Forest of Renshaw that had acted as the guardians' tool in punishing them so many years ago. Revenge would be sweet and was long overdue for the ores. General Akuji's fear subsided, and he looked hard at Kana as if trying to ascertain whether or not she was being truthful.
'You want us to attack the light footed elves? What's in it for us?'
'Your chance at revenge is one of the obvious benefits. The opportunity to help me take over the rest of the Tuwa is another reward. I plan on cleansing Tuwa of elves, men, and dwarves. Ores, goblins, and rock trolls will then rule these lands once again with me as your leader.'
'You plan to conquer Tuwa and make it your own? Why?' He knew that he was in no position to argue with the powerful guardian, so he decided to play along. Maybe there was something in her offer that would benefit him personally.
'The ultimate form of power is dominion over others, my witless general. The Elementals command the elements of this world in which you live, and I want to rule the people who live in Tuwa. To have control over the elements and the races would make me invincible.' She desired to have absolute power, and she was willing to do whatever it took to achieve this goal; even if it meant having to deal with these unintelligent brutes. She would be able to control them much easier than any of the other races because of their lusts for blood and revenge.
'As long as you share your power with those that help you capture it, we will work with you. Agreed?'
'You are very shrewd, general; we are agreed then.' She lowered him back to the ground slowly. As the general touched down, he quickly realized that she had risen slightly above the ground and was hovering a few feet in the air. It was clear that Kana wanted him to understand that she was in charge and that he was beneath her in every way. However, they would both benefit from this arrange ment and would tolerate the uneasy truce they had just established for the sake of exacting revenge and gaining power.
'What is it that you want us to do now?' General Akuji bowed slightly as he addressed Kana. The ores that were standing around this spectacle immediately bowed as well. They knew that if their leader bowed to someone else that it meant they were all in that person's service even if they all thought she was nothing more than filthy scum.
'I want you to get Generals Maurizio G'Dang, Nero Oggoa- mak, Synan Thrudak, and Tomo Bruguk Tak,' she listed off the other leaders of the orc tribes. 'They will be needed in order to win this war. I will be off to invite our little goblins friends next. Then I will visit the rock trolls to help shore up the weak parts of their armies. By that time, I expect you and the others to be ready to make war upon those accursed elves. Do not attack them before I return. I will need to split the army up so that we do not put all of our eggs into one basket. You will have help in your assault on the people of the Black Forest.'
'Who is it that will help us in our attack on the elves? Will it be the rock trolls or the goblins … or will it be both of them?' Not that we need help from scum like them.
'In order to answer your question effectively, I will need to explain what has happened to the nation of the elves. Many months ago the two daughters of the elven king fled with a third of the elven nation to escape their father's tyrannical rule. They now dwell in Mount Quang and Mount Konane in the north. They no longer associate with their fair brothers and sisters of the woodland. Their main army has already begun my campaign with an assault on your arch nemesis.'
'You mean to tell me that they are attacking those vile Nairians?' The elves had always gotten along
