Free Elvenshore: 03 - Elf's Bane by Clark Graham Page B

reply.
    "Then what does it matter?"
    Darnic was satisfied with that. "You are right."
    Kolis sa w Armurous and the rest of the wounded off and then sat there to watch the wagons leave through the gate. He then met with the surviving officers of the battle of Morgus Tier. There was just one senior officer, a Captain, the others were Sub Captains and Leaders.
    Chancellor Kolis said to the Captain, “What is your name?”
    “Captain Verian.”
    “You are now Commander Varian as you are the only high ranking officer that has fought these beasts,” Kolis said.
    “Thank you, Sir,” replied Verian. He was tall like most of the Elves, with a strong jaw that gave him a look of determination. Blonde, shoulder length hair extended out from under his steel helmet.
    “Now, what do we need to win this war?”
    Verian was downhearted. “There is no way to win, the more men we put against them, the more they kill. We are just targets for their clubs.”
    “Then how do we delay the Trolls from attacking the sea coast before we can get people on the ships to Elvenshore?” The Chancellor was upset, but he would not show it because he wanted to hide the severity of the situation from his subordinates.
    “We only need enough men in the Capital to keep the walls shored up during the attacks. I suggest we send the bulk of the army to Vil Mawe. It has no wall, but if we dig a ditch and fill it full of oil, every time they come upon us we can light it up and have fire separate us from the monsters. It is th ere where we can make our stand. The monsters walk fast but they will only have a couple of hours to do their mischief. By the time they make it to the coast, at the Capital, they will have around four hours.”
    The Chancellor liked the idea. “Very well . Appoint an Under Commander and leave him in charge here at the capital, then take the bulk of the army with you and shore up the defenses around Vil Mawe. I want regular reports back so I will know what is going on at all times.”
    “ Yes, Sir,” Verian said. “I will appoint Istuin here as my Under Commander and I will take my leave.”
    “Very well,” said the Chancellor.
    Istuin was dismayed. To be declared as Under Commander was an honor, but in this case it looked more like a death sentence. It was not as though Verian and he got along; Verian could not stand him and Istuin knew it. To Istuin it looked like Verian had found the perfect way to get rid of his adversary.
     

A Meeting at South Fort
    Elvenshore  
     
    The third of the five Elf ships were unloading. Ermort and Sarchise watched them from on top the wall of the fortress city. They had two more in the harbor waiting to dock.
    “Tell me more about this Gilead ; what is he like?” Sarchise asked.
    “He is an Under Captain, which is a low officer in the Elf army. He was in the Calvary, but their Calvary got cut to pieces their first time out ,” Ermort answered.
    Sarchise was weary after his journey from the Mountains of Iron. His wife and he had ridden hard to get there, picking up Amlius on their way. It had been a long time since he had seen another Elf, other than Amlius. It seemed strange to watch shipload after shipload of them disembarking.  “Is there any further news from the new arrivals?”
    “We are getting reports from the Elves that one of their fortress cities is under attack, and that the Trolls have destroyed a village and massacred the inhabitants. There w ere only a very few survivors. There are also a lot of rumors about their Chancellor going missing. All of our information is over a week old before we get it however. By now they could have won the war and will be wanting their people back momentarily,” Ermort surmised.
    “By the description of these Trolls that we have heard, I doubt that.”
    Fawn joined the two men on the wall . Ermort gave her a respective bow, and Sarchise gave her a kiss. She put her arm around him as she looked out over the harbor. “Our ancient enemy returns.