|
|
Chapter 25
Ala-Batkulad ala-Glimi
Which is:
|
I |
n the time after the blood wars had ended, things remained quiet in the north for some years. Raids upon Dinear and Arakline were frequent, but the full force of Arillirus’ armies did not show themselves beyond Zandline in mass, and left the raiders to do their very worst. But the Ezleg were well prepared to fend off any such troops. But his threat was ever there, and the Ezleg could not dislodge it. Thus the fear of defeat was so great that around the one thousand one hundred and fiftieth year, small parties of Ezleg began to abandon their ancient homes and migrate westward, away from the war and grief. At first they were only a few indeed, and they at first settled down in Nueline and Maitherel, where they were still in touch with others. But the great majority were ever willing to fight for their homes until there was no more hope, and while the Ezleg lived, there was still hope.
But all knew that Arillirus would not remain quiet indefinitely for he never did, waiting only until he believed himself ready, and he proved this again before long, and although the Ezleg did the best to hinder him, in early Elmëgezar of the one thousand one hundred and seventy first year, he set off the greatest conflict that had been waged since he had invaded Barline. Thus he began the War of the Jewels, one of the most memorable conflicts of our history, and one of the most tragic.
All in Bairgarand knew that he would strike, but where and when was ever debatable. Thus when he forced his way through Glimer Baraz with nigh half a million troops, the frontline forces were scarcely enough to even delay him. He forced the defenders out of all their defences nigh the pass and drove them back thirty miles on the first day alone, sending some fleeing unto Glimer, others through Glimline on the rode to Var’narth. But instead of routing these forces to their deaths, he through the great majority of his forces around the walls of Glimer. In less than five days the city was utterly cut off and undersiege, and Arillirus was planning now to test the defences of that place to the full. Within a few days more, Glimer lay over fifty miles behind the Orglag lines, with the distance growing daily.
The response of the Ezleg to this new invasion was one of the most sure that could have come from them. Within days of hearing of the attacks every province of the Ezleg was sending troops to save Glimer. Within a mere five days, Var’narth, Maren, Var’nue, Nivan and Oralath had all send troops to fight, as well as many minor towns throughout the north. As soon as the new, conveyed by the Minare, reach Barline, Glimlith and Glimlad sent over eighty thousand troops at once, while even the Seldar sent half that number. But beyond all the forces sent to the aid of the city of jewels, one sight was worth them all to the beleaguered cities of Dinear, and that was the coming of Hiare Minabair.
Hiare, having not left Barline since her madness, was not believed by some to be hale enough to head north and fight, but when she decided to go, none could stop her. Her will was still as strong as ever, but her confidence had faltered in her dark days, and some wondered if she could stand another combat with Arillirus. But in all these counts they were wrong, for though the scars of her ordeal would ever be there, they were healed as they would, and she was determined now to fight.
Thus she came with the forces of Barline, and with her came all the Minabair who were to play a crucial part in the war. The force of the Elybylar swelled as it marched from Var’bylar, so that by the time they were crossing the Veinaro, over a hundred thousand Ezleg had gathered to fight. The first sight of Hiare in the north for over eighty years kindled the hearts of the Ezleg people, there and then ending rumours that the Ezleg’s greatest ally had been maimed forever. The force of the Elybylar spread out to join other forces, so that Hiare marched to Narlim at the head of thirty thousand. There she quickly met the commander of the forces there, who was Neldaril of Oralath, who had marched at the head of twenty thousand from Oralath, covering the great distance in a mere ten days. Hiare may have been the most eligible to command, and Neldaril offered it to her at once. Hiare however refused, saying that she would share in the command and no more. Then they quickly prepared the assembled force of some one hundred thousand troops for battle.
Already the Orglag, in a mere thirty days of war, had pushed the scanty Ezleg forces back from the city of jewels some two hundred miles to Hwëvi Vinotz. Some of the front line forces were holding the Orglag on the road to Var’narth some two hundred miles north of Glimer, and in Hwëvi Vinotz, after reaching cover, the Ezleg had dug in, holding the enemy back for a time. But seemingly the largest Orglag force was marching down the road to Narlim, with only some ten thousand Ezleg holding them back whilst the reserves formed up in the rear. The same was true of all three fronts, where reserves were quickly being gathered together behind the front, but it waited to be seen whether the Ezleg could concentrate all their forces in time.
At Narlim Hiare and Neldaril both decided that to delay would harm the cause rather than save it, and with reinforcements from the south still not all present. Indeed it was that day that Arillirus launched his first assault on Glimer. His forces assaulted the place with little advance work, and when his attacking force of twenty thousand Orglag returned in rout having lost some six thousand, Arillirus knew that it would take a long time for him to take this city. Nor were Hoek’s people in any danger of being starved to submission either, for every day vast amounts of supplies were brought in through the mountain paths. Thus with no true hope of ever taking the place as yet, he none the less persevered for a time, never with any real success.
Thus when Glimer had been thirty five days
undersiege, the forces assembled at Narlim began their drive towards Glimer,
while at the same time the forces of Maren and Var’narth were loosed also. At
first none of these drives met strong resistance, but that was not to last
long. For Hiare and Neldaril, knowing that the forces marching against them
were following the road south, proposed to sweep round and surround the enemy.
But the march of the Orglag was so sudden that Hiare with some sixty thousand
troops was to hold the road while Neldaril alone marched round the enemy flank
to rout them. the Orglag forces however were both far stronger and much further
south than either commander had believed. Thus Hiare had to fight a very fierce
battle against nigh three times her number for several hours until Neldaril
came round and turned their flank. The battle was almost a disaster for the
Ezleg. Hiare soon lost most of her control as the fight descended into a fierce
melee. Hiare herself marched into the
To the west, the forces of Maren, lead by the cities commander, a lord Palanar, had just launched an attack through Hwëvi Vinotz. His force numbered barely fifty thousand, though twice that number were still assembling at the city. He did not at first know however that the Orglag within Hwëvi Vinotz outnumbered him by two to one. At first the Orglag, taken aback by a counter attack in such haste, fell in droves, some ten thousand being killed in the first few days. But when they began to gather, resistance grew sharply, and Palanar, knowing now that he faced potentially overwhelming forces, fell back to a ridgeline within the forest itself. Two days later the Orglag launched three days of massive attacks against their heavily outnumbered opponents. Several times the Ezleg were on the edge of flight, but after the three days they still held their ridge, and the Orglag had retreated northward, leaving perhaps thirty thousand dead around the ridge. Palanar had lost but eight thousand troops, and when he was joined by a further thirty thousand troops a few days later, he too resumed his drive towards Glimer.
To the north however, the forces of Var’narth, commanded by the veteran Retnar, had a much more difficult task. The forces he had assembled, some sixty thousand troops with the same again assembling, faced nearly three times their number who had pushed so far into Batzul Dinea that many of Retnar’s forward units had been swept into the battle. Thus he had only about thirty five thousand troops to strike with. Even many of these would have to be used to hold the flanks during any offensive, so that Retnar had only ten thousand troops at most to face nigh eighteen times that. But Retnar was a superb commander, and launched an offensive that showed it. Pivoting his force on his northern flank, he swung all his reserves scrambling through the northern reaches of Hwëvi Vinotz. With great efforts they poured out into the rear and flank of the Orglag. Retnar then proceeded to trap twenty thousand Orglag with only a quarter that number of troops, in a stroke breaking the southern flank of the Orglag. The Ezleg cavalry then proceeded to roll up formation after formation from the flank. The Orglag thus broke and fled, perhaps one hundred and thirty thousand got away, leaving over fifty thousand dead. But Retnar’s forces had also lost nigh fifteen thousand, a high price to pay, but none the less with the Orglag now in flight, Retnar could resume his march on Glimer.
Their early efforts successful, the Ezleg believed that one more battle would decide the campaign. That was not utterly true, but one more victory would put them in a commanding position. Thus in the late days of Elmëgezar, with the war having raged for only four score days, Hiare and Neldaril launched a massive drive on Glimer, and a few days after Palanar joined them from the Maren front, so that their combined forces numbered nigh three hundred thousand. A large Orglag force of some two hundred thousand had dug in on the Glimer road, and was barring the passage. What followed was one of the most bloody battles for many years. For there was fought the first battle of Glimer. The superior Ezleg forces, hampered by Nikarin and the terrain, failed several times to forces the Orglag lines, thrice being driven off in rout. In reply the Orglag attacked, they too being slaughtered. Such attacks continued for two days, by which time however, the numbers of the Ezleg had began to tell. Hence the Orglag began to draw off, leaving nigh a third their number dead on the field. The Ezleg, who had suffered some fifty thousand killed and wounded, were too exhausted to pursue, and let then go. It had been one of the most bloody battles in many years.
The next day, Arillirus, knowing of the defeat to the south and the rapidly converging Ezleg forces, resolved to raise the siege of Glimer. He now knew that he had far too little means to take the place, and that he would need greater forces and weapons of siege. Thus on the last days of Elmëgezar, Arillirus’ forces abandoned the siege, and marched north into the sanctuary of Zandline. A few days later, on the first day of Arinizar, Hiare, Palanar and Neldaril relieved Glimer. Driving away Arillirus’ rearguard who watched them a mile north of the city, their forces stood watch and gained some well needed rest. A few days later, Retnar arrived with his forces to complete the victory. So seemingly Arillirus had been defeated, but that was far from true. If he had fought for Glimer perhaps it would have been so, but he had escaped with most of his army and waited while he rebuilt it the more so. He knew that it would take several years to take Glimer at the very least. Thus for once he took his time, and prepared for a long war, for he was now determined to take the greatest fortress of Glimer once and for all.
Once the city was relieved, the commanders of the Armies ascended the great defences of Glimer to hold council with Hoek. They had many worries that they had to discuss, and few plans to remedy them. thus, when this improvised council finally met, nerves were certainly on edge. When they met at the great tower, Hoek was the first to speak.
“Firstly,” he said, “I must thank you all for coming to aid us, and secondly I thank you from coming to his meeting.”
“It was the least we could do my friend,” said Neldaril graciously.
“From what we have seen from the tower,” said Hoek, “It appears that Arillirus is trying to regroup up north in Glimer Baraz, but we have suffered greatly of late, our forces will need rest before we can continue on an offensive.”
“That I would agree for my force,” said Palanar, “We have lost many, our armies will collapse under the pressure of another offensive.” Retnar too nodded at these words.
But Hiare and Neldaril were up in arms against them, “Nay, that we must avoid at all cost,” cried Neldaril, “any delay will be fatal to us, for Arillirus can replace his armies many times faster than we can, so our hope for victory remains in defeating him in haste.”
“Such a plan is impossible Neldaril,” said Heok, “Our armies are depleted by battle, more forced marches will leave troops falling dead with exhaustion.”
“Hifylar and my late grandchild lead a great force back over four thousand miles with the enemy pursuing in their wake, and made it to safety,” said Hiare.
“That is true Hiare,” said Palanar, “For I was in that retreat. But we were merely trying to escape destruction by flight, now we face the need to attack, and less motivation for that will there be.”
Hiare shook her head, but knew that to continue on at once would leave many more dead, and thus she relented her opinion, hoping to continue onward in perhaps ten days. Neldaril still wished to continue on at once, but even she knew that such a march would be dangerous in the extreme. Thus the decision was silently made not to advance until the forces were replenished.
But because of that halt, throughout the remainder of the one thousand one hundred and seventy first year, the north remained strangely quiet. The shattered Ezleg armies rested and few of their commanders wished to hurry the attack. Thus it was not until the very end of the year that a limited attack was launched. Some limited success was achieved by Neldaril’s forces, and for a times they managed to force across to the far side of the pass, slaying over five thousand Orglag who tried to block them, but in the end, with pressure mounting upon the flanks, Neldaril was forced to withdraw, and the offensive was not to begin again. The only battles that continued were those up in the mountains of the Avin Zandlear, where the Glimer mountain guards were struggling to fight off increasing waves of Nikarin, which they did so time and time again, but the pressure was slowly mounting, and how long the Ezleg were to stand against such pressure there was open to question.
Over the year more armies arrived from elsewhere, so that the Armies assembled at Glimer rose to be three times stronger than in the previous campaign. Nearly half a million Ezleg, together with vast forces of Kalrathen and Seldar, as well as the armies of Glimer were assembled in the north. With such an increase in numbers Hiare hoped to launch an offensive, but harsh weather in Vrozar soon ended any plans of doing so, and Hiare knew that soon Arillirus would be completely ready to meet them. thus as the time passed on to the one thousand one hundred and seventy second year, the situation in the north, though apparently strong, was weakening by the day as their commanders delayed. Many remembered the slaughter at Valdarmare, and were unwilling to commit themselves to what could well become another slaughter as the previous campaign so nearly had. Thus the armies tried to dig themselves in for a long war, perhaps their greatest error.
Thus when Arillirus did finally attack, he had been given the best part of a year to muster his forces, which were by then far greater than those which the allies could muster against him. He thus poured his forces through Glimer Baraz in mass in late Elmëgezar, taking the defenders by surprise. His army all told numbered over a million, and was growing by the day. His forces thus forced Glimer Baraz, driving the defenders away in disarray, and he launched his massive forces westward against Var’narth. Retnar’s command blocked his path, his forces numbered one hundred and twenty thousand troops, but he now faced over five times that number, with many Nikarin already infesting his supply lines. It was the pressure on his supplies that compelled him to give up his defence, and he gave orders for a retreat after only three days sporadic fighting in which his forces had only brushed against Arillirus’ main forces, but in that time he had lost some six thousand killed and wounded, and many of his units had been without food for all that time. Thus he fell back west, leaving his old subordinate, Redeln, now the commander of the cavalry, to hold the rearguard with three thousand horse. But though she fought with great skill, there was little that she could do now that the Orglag had broken free into Glimline, for she faced being surrounded. As it was, she managed to pull out at the last moment, avoiding two converging forces. But then her forces were mercilessly pursued by Nikarin for thirty miles. Less than half her force got away safely, leaving one and a half thousand behind.
With Arillirus having pushed Retnar away to the west, Glimer was in great danger of being encircled, and with it the armies of Palanar and Neldaril. These armies now contained over three hundred and fifty thousand troops, many of who were Elybylar and Seldar, and all were about to be either crushed or trapped within the walls of Glimer. At once Hiare and Hoek ordered all supplies to be brought within the city, and handing the command of the army utterly to Neldaril, Hiare took her stand within Glimer. She was followed by Vronar, who had been given leave by his mother to do so. Then the two armies, that of Maren and that of Nivan, began to withdraw to the south to avoid destruction.
On the fifth day of the renewed war, Arillirus struck south, hoping to surround and crush the southern armies and Glimer. Thus leaving two hundred thousand troops under Drosarn to persecute the war against Var’narth, he struck south, unaware that the two armies had began their withdraw the day before. It was not until the tenth day of the war that he realised that they had escaped away to the south. Undeterred he quickly surrounded Glimer and began laying down siegelines and fortifications. The very first day of the siege his catapults began firing upon the walls of that place, but at first seemingly to no effect. It would take years to destroy those defences.
Retnar began to regroup his forces some three hundred and fifty miles west of Glimer, where he was for the time at least, safe from the Nikarin. Despite his losses and the breakdown of his supplies, he could still put a hundred and sixty thousand troops into battle, and after a short period of rest and resupply, he began his counter march with the aim of relieving some of the mounting pressure on the southern armies.
In the meantime those very armies, despite escaping the initial threat of encirclement, were now being much harder pressed. For after Arillirus had discovered that they had escaped, he sent a massive force of well over half a million Orglag and Nikarin in pursuit, and with them went many Ukarak. Neldaril was almost cut off leading the rearguard of her forces and only escaped due to the doggedness of her troops, who despite loosing half their number, managed to fight off five times their number of Nikarin. Other forces however were not so lucky, especially parts of Palanar’s force. It was not his direct mistake, but nigh on twenty thousand Nikarin ambushed a division at night, killing every last soldier. The rest of his force was hounded time and time again, until, after an agonising flight, reached the sanctuary of Hwëvi Vinotz. Palanar thought himself to blame and offered to cede his command, but the council of Maren, knowing of his other great victories, would not hear of it. Thus he and his forces had no choice but to build defences in which to hold Hwëvi Vinotz against an inevitable onslaught.
With the two southern armies having withdrawn, the Orglag ran free through almost all of Glimline and parts of Narline. The Nikarin reached lands mere miles from Narlim, which were almost undefended, and the vanguard of the Orglag managed to advance to the shores of Glimarel almost unchecked. Others caused great strain on the Ezleg defenders who patrolled the Avin Zandlear, who now were cut off in both the north and the south. Worst of all, Every day Nikarin fell upon both the mountains and the heights of Glimer, and despite the constant rain of arrows from the city, some managed to reach the city and reign havoc. Finally every day the lower defences of Glimer were being battered mercilessly. Hiare, looking out from the city atop the mountains, could see no hope of relief as that year came to an end.
The one thousand one hundred and seventy third year began with Arillirus’ first assault on Glimer. Many weeks of bombardment had reduced the lower levels of defences to ruin, but the Ezleg had merely used the ruins as their new defence, which though not as strong as before, could cost Arillirus dear. Arillirus, believing and assault on the lower levels practical, ordered forward fifty thousand Orglag, they faced a mere thousand Ezleg at the very lowest gate, and victory seemed likely. The Orglag however charged into a hail of flame, bowshot, and catapult fire that utterly decimated their ranks. Those few that managed to gain through the broken gates and into the long level of defences behind faced many heavily entrenched archers, which with the aid of a sword charge, quickly saw off. after a long and bitter fight, five hundred Ezleg managed to chase off over sixty times their number, two in five Orglag had died, twenty thousand. The Ezleg had lost only a few dozen troops. Elsewhere, the smaller breaches made by the catapults were easily held. Arillirus was now forced to stand back and bombard that place endlessly, a task which he never relished.
Some distance to the west, Retnar was leading his army through a blizzard on the edge of Glimline. He had played with the idea of striking at Glimer itself, but such a plan would have left his force exposed to every single Orglag Arillirus had, and would inevitably end in a crushing defeat. His plan thus meant marching along the north of Hwëvi Vinotz and falling upon the rear of the troops fighting Palanar. This was also risky, as it still left up to half a million troops poised to fall upon his rear, and on top of that he had to evade the forces watching him, at least fifty thousand Orglag in northern Glimline. But this was achieved by the weather, none of that force ever knew that he had marched past them, and having left twenty thousand troops to the north, he hoped that even if they were alerted, that they could be held off long enough for Retnar to return. There was also the simple fact that a victory was rapidly needed to stabilise the situation in Dinear.
Thus he committed this daring manoeuvre, even though he could have been crushed at any moment. But they did not do so, for the fog shielded his advance, and he thus managed to get his troops into the battle for Hwëvi Vinotz without a single loss. His arrival was none too soon, for Palanar had been hard assailed of late. His attack took the attacking forces utterly by surprise, and much of the northern Orglag forces were destroyed. Pressing his advance, Retnar proceeded to clear the enemy from almost all of Hwëvi Vinotz, for realising that they would be cut off, most gave up the battle and fled back north. Soon both commanders met and their forces emerged utterly victorious from the battle. Over thirty thousand Orglag had fallen, and the commanders had wanted to press their advantage by launching a joint attack against Glimer. But a few days after the victory, Retnar heard that the small defence guard he had left in the north had been attacked by one hundred thousand troops, and five to one odds could not be stemmed, and Retnar was thus forced to abandon the offensive and march north to save the only forces blacking the rout to Var’narth. Palanar was thus left only to consolidate his position in Hwëvi Vinotz in case of another attack against the place.
At Narlim Neldaril was gathering every single soldier together while her rearguard of some eight thousand held off the foe some ninety miles to the north at the crossroads. More troops continued to arrive, but never enough for her to be able to launch an offensive as yet. Thus she would be forced to fight a defensive battle somewhere on the road to the city, and the best natural place to do so would be by joining the rearguard at the crossroads. Thus leading one hundred thousand troops, she marched north, leaving some thirty thousand to fortify Narlim and clear the Orglag from Glimarel.
But as she marched north, the situation changed completely. She met her rearguard fleeing south some fifteen miles from the battlefield, having been over run by over ten times their number. Thus faced with being overwhelmed in open country, she was forced to fall back to a ridge some miles behind them. she had just over a hundred thousand all told, but she did not know that the Orglag approached nearly twice that number. Thus having pulled back over night, she waited for battle. It was not long in the coming. For the Orglag were soon seen pressing down the Narlim road. Neldaril too late realised the odds she faced, and thus caught between the choices of standing or withdraw, neither choice was made, and Neldaril suffered a massive defeat. The Orglag, using their overwhelming numbers, pressed all of Neldaril’s line relentlessly, thus meaning her reserves were unable to make a difference anywhere. The Nikarin attacked relentlessly also, and after only a few hours battle, her force was driven from the ridge in rout, only the staunch defence of a few troops saved them from annihilation. Neldaril herself nearly fell to the hand of a Nikarin, but survived only never to forgive herself for such and error of judgement. When the forces pulled together the next day, some twenty five thousand were missing, and a further fifteen thousand were seriously wounded and being aided only by their companions. Her force managed however to outpace most of the foe, save only the Nikarin, and managed to press on to Narlim some time ahead of them. Neldaril left five thousand troops to aid the defenders of the city, and then, reluctantly, pulled back her remaining seventy thousand able troops down the road to Nivan.
Palanar had been warned of Neldaril’s defeat by Avaner, who had arrived to give him news of the disaster. He saw that thanks to his and Retnar’s defeat of the Orglag, he was now given room to manoeuvre. Thus he gathered eighty thousand troops, all that could be spared, and leaving the rest to defend the forest, he marched south through the glades of Hwëvi Vinotz to Neldaril’s aid, and sending Avaner ahead with a letter, he planned for their two armies to crush the Orglag on the very same day.
The siege which had fallen on Narlim soon became very difficult for the defenders, for the garrison were constantly assailed by Nikarin who ever prowled the skies above, which sapped both the moral and strength of the defenders. But the Orglag had no siege equipment, and thus they could find no way into the city unless the Nikarin could gain a passage for them. thus those that remained outside the city had no choice but to stand and starve the city out.
Neldaril’s forces, though in dire straits due to their defeats and withdraws, were slowly being rebuilt as a fighting force. Neldaril resupplied them, and gained such reinforcements as she could from Nivan. Thus by the time Avaner arrived with Palanar’s message, her force was nearly ready, and the few remaining days were enough for her to make the force battleworthy. She had eighty thousand troops ready for the coming battle, and though many were inexperienced, she believed herself ready.
Thus, on the appointed day, as Neldaril began the battle, Palanar’s forces were concealed in Hwëvi Vinotz some twenty miles north of Narlim. Thus when he heard that Neldaril had broken through the first lines of Orglag who were blocking the city, he marched too. Neldaril however was running into difficulties. After her early victories, the force facing her increased at a massive rate, so that some three miles south of the city, after an hours fighting, she faced some sixty thousand Orglag with more joining the battle at every moment. She struggled on for several more hours, until she heard of Palanar’s attack which was pressing from the north. For Palanar had taken the Orglag utterly by surprise, and had at a massive march, broken the siege of Narlim, and was pressing on against the remainder. The Orglag, trapped between these two forces, quickly began to flee. Many, including most of those who were to the east of the city, managed to escape, but most, some eighty thousand in all, were crushed between the two armies and slaughtered. Despite the loss of some sixteen thousand Ezleg, it was the greatest victory in the entire war of the jewels so far.
The victory at Narlim finally managed to stabilise the front, though it did not help relieve Glimer, and that could not yet be attempted. Two of the three Ezleg armies were in dreadful states, having been badly defeated, and suffering heavy losses even in their victory. More so Arillirus still had massive forces in Glimline, and any single drive on the city would as yet result in a massive defeat.
Meanwhile Retnar had pressed on his forces to Var’narth, and managed to catch the Orglag by surprise in the flank. The Orglag casualties in this battle were not severe, for the Orglag, surprised at such a counter attack, suddenly gave up their march on Var’narth, and fled westward, leaving seven thousand dead. Though only a minor victory for Retnar, it now meant that every Orglag force outside Glimer had been defeated, and that Retnar could rest easy knowing that the condition of the Ezleg armies was now very good.
Within Glimer itself the condition was deteriorating rapidly. There was no lack of food or weapons, but the massive bombardment of that place was taking a massive toll on the defences. After a year of merciless attacks, the lower defences of that place were rapidly being reduce to rubble, indeed the main gate ceased to exist after having many thousands of stones hurled against it, and the condition of the lower four levels was little better, massive gaps had been torn everywhere and all the gates were broken. Both Hiare and Hoek knew that unless aid came to them, there was a great danger that Glimer, the unassailable city, may well fall.
As the one thousand one hundred and seventy fourth year began for the Ezleg, the position was tenuous for the Ezleg despite their victory. Indeed the situation quickly became more so because the first act of that year was for Arillirus to renew his assault on Glimer. A hundred thousand Orglag took the Ezleg in defence utterly unawares and managed to secure a foothold in the defences before all were aware of the battle. What followed was fifteen days of brutally hard fighting in which the massed Orglag slowly forced the Ezleg back through the lower defences of Glimer, the ruins no longer being such a stern defence as the once had. The gate way to the second level fell, and through passed the Orglag almost unchecked. But by now, with massive reserves having been sent down from the city, resistance stiffened, and even in their advance, the Orglag losses had been utterly horrendous. Despite this, the broken defences gate the Ezleg nowhere in which to hold on, so that a mere few days later, the gate to the third level had been taken. Now Hiare herself, with Olora and Kalure at her side, had come down from the city and their power aided greatly in the defence, but it was not until the Orglag reached the fourth gate that they were finally halted, for though that gate had been broken, the defence around it were largely intact, and the Exhausted and massively depleted Orglag ranks could not face the great fire throwers that were there, and a uneasy stalemate ensued. This disaster was bad enough, but instead of risking all continuing the assault against strong defences, Arillirus halted his forces and once more began bombarding the place, slowly reducing more of the city too rubble. What the Ezleg later found out was that the assault had cost over forty thousand dead Orglag, with the loss of only three thousand Ezleg. But it was still a grave defeat for the Ezleg.
Arillirus, while his forces continued their bombardment within, sought to aid his force outside the city. For despite some massive successes, all of his armies outside had been defeated, and many put to rout. Gathering many of the remnants together, Arillirus appointed DroZarin to assault and capture Hwëvi Vinotz, which would prevent any strike at Glimer, such a plan was foolish in the extreme, but then Arillirus was never a good general. Thus this attack was launched in mid Almazar of that year, and the greatly outnumbered forces of Palanar in the forest were the target. Palanar’s defences held back the onslaught for a time, but after two days of serious fighting, his troops were overborne. Palanar lead his surviving forces back from the defences down to the Maren road, leaving perhaps ten thousand dead. He was doggedly pursued by the Orglag, but that just weakened their own predicament, for Retnar and Neldaril were quickly gathering to crush the Orglag between the hammer and the anvil. Only the tailing units of the Orglag realised the danger and managed to escape before the two forces converged on them. most of the Orglag quickly found themselves assailed on three sides and completely surrounded. For three further days battle raged within Hwëvi Vinotz, and twice the Orglag nearly succeeded in breaking out, but both times the Ezleg managed to throw in their reserves and stop them. slowly the Ezleg pressed inward, slowly suffocating the Orglag defence, which rapidly crumbled. The Ezleg too suffered massively against such forces, but their position was such that they could not fail. After four days, all was over. Within Hwëvi Vinotz, over one hundred and fifty thousand Orglag lay dead, barely ten thousand of those trapped managed to escape. The Ezleg were also savaged by the battle, having lost thirty thousand killed and the same again wounded. It was the bloodiest battle since Valdarmare, and the greatest Ezleg success since that battle, though its results were not so great. Such was the battle of the four armies within the forest of Hwëvi Vinotz.
The defeat of the Orglag there finally gave the Ezleg a chance to relieve Glimer, though there were still strong forces protecting that city. Arillirus could marshal perhaps three quarters of a million troops to face their forces of under half a million, but as had been proven so often, the Ezleg were superior in a pitched battle. Arillirus however, learning of his dreadful mistake, quickly planned to halt the coming offensive. He moved most of his siege machines to safety, and planned to dig in around the city until it was safe to continue the siege.
When the Ezleg launched their offensive against Glimer, the plan was that Neldaril would assault from the south, Palanar from the south west, and Retnar from the west. but Retnar and Neldaril, realising that such an attack could be held, had sent more forces to Palanar, who was to lead the assault with nearly two hundred thousand troops. His attack struck hard, and he managed to prise open a gap in the Orglag lines. Arillirus tried desperately to fill that gap, but Palanar was rapidly breaking through and reaching the last line of Orglag, some ten thousand, proceeded to annihilate them almost utterly. Thus the road to Glimer was clear, and he pressed on with his forces, in the meantime Neldaril and Retnar had attacked the flanks, and had proceded, as it seemed, to pin down all the forces against them, and Neldaril had managed to gain a sharp victory over one formation, so that she too managed to sever the lines and a few divisions pressed on to secure the crossroads. All looked good, but Palanar’s force was now merely strung out in a long salient, open to attack on both flanks, and Arillirus was rapidly gathering forces to crush him. But they had at least a few days respite, and the day after his victory in breaking through, Palanar reached Glimer.
The sight of that city was dreadful to behold. Much of the great Talgul was utterly broken, especially in the lower levels. Despite their victory in driving the Orglag away, some twenty thousand of them remained entrenched in the western side of the defences which they had taken, and with the respite of the ceased catapults, the defenders of that city were trying desperately to drive them out, but they were making progress only slowly, and it would take some time for the defenders to drive them out. Retnar, denied the use of the normal route up because of this, ascended the ladders that had been set up on the south side of the Talgul. When he did reach the top, he met with Hiare and Hoek, neither of whom were so sure of the cities defences now, and Palanar, though he had broken through, saw only an eventual repulse of his army now strung out along a two hundred mile corridor. Hoek thus wanted to evacuate the people of the city lest defeat did happen and ushered Hiare to leave also. But neither Hiare nor the people would yet do so, for most would not leave unless the city itself fell. Thus in the few days of respite, the defenders tried to rebuild what they could of their defences, and they continued to try and dislodge the Orglag from their defences. But despite progress, many of the Orglag hung, though if they were given time they may well have been destroyed. But that time was not given.
Six days after Palanar reached Glimer, the Orglag launched a violent attack against Retnar in the west. though Retnar put up a stubborn defence, he could not hold on indefinitely with large parts of his forces with Palanar, and sending word that he was forced to abandon his pinning movements against Arillirus, he pulled back thirty miles westward. Such a move, though inevitable, left perhaps three hundred thousand Orglag ready to crush Palanar’s overstreched and outnumbered forces. But instead of waiting until all his forces were ready, Arillirus began attacking even though not all his forces were ready, and thus saved Palanar from destruction, for a sudden offensive would of shattered his troops at once, but as it stood, the pressure against him began to mount only over the course of a few days, and thus gave him time to make plans.
Palanar quickly took steps to act. Knowing that he could not stand idle, he evacuated all the wounded, and fed supplies into the city in haste. Some fifty thousand soldiers left the city to fight on the outside, and wishing Hoek good luck, began to fall back on the ninth day after he reached the city. He would never see Hoek again, but as he pulled back and gathered his forces, he planned a quick strike against the Orglag, for though the corridor began closing behind him, he now had about a hundred thousand troops to hand, and aiming north westward, managed to slice right through many of the attacking troops, and taking them by surprise. Some twenty thousand Orglag died in that attack, and Palanar, his forces continuing to withdraw from the corridor, reached Hwëvi Vinotz. His force assembled there over the next few days. He had lost only a few thousand troops and had himself destroyed over forty thousand enemy troops, but strategically, it was all for naught, Arillirus resumed his siege of the city, and even if they broke through again, it would merely happen all over again, and Palanar was the first to realise this.
Neldaril escaped her entanglements cleanly also, and her forces, tired, and with the colds coming on withdrew to Narlim. The entire plan, though physically successful and with little loss, had merely handed the initiative back to Arillirus, a gain which he did not easily give away again in that war.
The rest of that year was quiet indeed. All forces prepared to renew the struggle in the new year. The Ezleg had hoped to gain enough forces over Vrozar to go back on the offensive, but though many flocked to the banners, they could never match the forces of Arillirus which were added to the battle every day, and all knew that the next year was going to be one of the hardest for the Ezleg to stand.
The one thousand one hundred and seventy fifth year began quiet enough outside Glimer, for Arillirus was busy within continuing his massive bombardment of the city. The foothold his troops had gained had held out against the Ezleg, and sending more troops in he reinforced their position so that they could not be driven from the place. But as time moved on to mid Almazar, and the weather began to improve, Arillirus launched an offensive which nearly broke the back of the allied armies.
At that time, Retnar, who forces numbered around a hundred and forty thousand in number, held the road to Var’narth some three hundred miles from Glimer. Then, without warning, his force was assailed by twice their number at the crossroads. Retnar’s troops put up a massive fight, contesting the crossroads with all their strength, twice routing the attacking troops, but before the inevitable killer blow fell upon him, he tried to withdraw. But at that moment several thousand Nikarin fell upon his disordered ranks. And though the Ezleg outpaced the Orglag, over fifteen thousand troops were lost in all, most falling to the Nikarin in the two hundred mile retreat, but worse was still to follow.
ON that same day, Neldaril’s forces, which were encamped a few miles north of Narlim on a broard front, were asailed by overwhelming numbers in the middle of a night. Her one hundred and eighty thousand troops were torn apart by the surprise attack which they were utterly unprepared to stop. The worst hit was the Seldarin army, encamped some forty miles away on her eastern flank. This forty thousand strong force were utterly cut off from any aid, and the Nikarin fell upon that force at night, giving them no chance at all. The obcenities that followed were horrendious, thousands killed, many women raped, all defeated. It is said that fron that act came the first of the Romine, as are later told. But of that forty thousand strong army, less than eight thousand escaped away to the south.
Neldaril’s remaining forces were also assailed by such numbers, but not all were so isolated as the Seldar. Neldaril tried to retreat her forces past Narlim and use the city as a safeguard, but the Romine had fallen upon that city, driving most of the defenders from the walls, and leaving the place almost no obstacle to the invaders. As she fell back only a few Orglag stopped to destroy that city, most of which inhabitants had fled already, and butcher those that remained. Neldaril’s forces were thus torn in two by the city. She lead the western force away south in what became a three day pursuit. The eastern force, already the most crippled due to the Seldarin disaster, was hounded for several days more before they could allude the pursuers and unite with Neldaril’s command. But even then it was not over, for as her forces were regrouping, another attack by the Nikarin caused more great loss, forcing Neldaril to retreat all the way to Nivan. When she reached that city, of her hundred and eighty thousand troops she had twelve days before, scarcely a hundred thousand reached Nivan. It was the greatest defeat inflicted that millennium so far.
Palanar, now cut off with his forces in Hwëvi Vinotz, faced a grim battle ahead. But he had the blessing of knowing that he was safe from the Nikarin, who could not fly under the trees. None the less, when the Orglag gathered from the other assaults, he was assailed heavily. The battle for Hwëvi Vinotz lasted thirteen days, in which time over eighty thousand Orglag had been killed. But Palanar, having lost twenty thousand troops himself, had been driven back so far that he was on the edge of being driven into the Tabena Lmore, and remembering the fate of the Orglag to Nomleagth in there all those years before, was forced to cut across west to escape annihilation. That he did with little difficulty, reaching the Maren road with ease. But he had lost Hwëvi Vinotz, a major blow. And now, he was free to be the pray of the ruthless Nikarin.
To the north, Retnar’s forces, having fallen back towards Var’narth, had begun to entrench themselves some two hundred miles to the west of the city. Retnar knew that I he could not hold the foe there, only the walls of his city would be able to stand against the enemy. His position in Batzul Dinea remained prcarious, but he did not wish to see his home once more become a city under siege. But little did he realise that his one hundred and twenty five thousand troops were no match for the forces coming against him. Still he proceeded to give battle, and despite inflicting twice as many casualties on his foes, but the end of the day he had suffered yet another severe defeat, loosing another ten thousand troops, and was there after forced to flee back to Var’narth in any case. There after a ten day march, he reached the city, and prepared yet another battle to defend it.
Palanar, having fallen back to the Maren road, faced the grim prospect of having to fight against superior forces in open plains. He was some three hundred miles north of Maren, and about the same distance south of Var’narth. A retreat on Maren would have been the right thing to do, but he was not being pursued and he had just received word of Retnar’s reverses. He knew that while Retnar faced increasingly great numbers of hostile forces, that he himself faced a battered and disorganised remnant that could be contained for a time by a token force. Thus Palanar, leaving twenty thousand troops to cover Hwëvi Vinotz, took the massive gamble of leading ninety thousand troops on a forced march to Var’narth. His battered and defeated forces performed miracles by marching three hundred miles in only seven days, a suicidal pace even for the strongest and most battle hardened Ezleg soldiers. But in doing so they succeeded in reaching the city before the coming battle, and joined with Retnar’s force mere hours before the Orglag came there.
At Var’narth the Ezleg took up position where Ethdaril had fought all those years before. With fresh troops from Var’narth to aid the two Ezleg armies, the Ezleg force was over two hundred and thirty thousand strong. They were to face an enemy force of over three hundred and fifty thousand troops, but now the Ezleg were in an almost impregnable position that even the Nikarin would struggle to break. Neither Palanar nor Retnar had any illusions about the coming battle. Defeat would mean the almost certain loss of Var’narth and the collapse of the northern flank. A titanic struggle was about to begin.
The first day of that battle opened with a massive attack by the Orglag against the tired and worn out Ezleg forces. Three massive attacks, despite the strength of the position, almost forced the Ezleg lines, while the forth for a few moments did so, until Palanar lead a massive counter attack, in which he lost a hand, but proceeded to rout the attackers. By the end of the day the Ezleg still clung to their ridge, but losses on both sides had been heavy, though that of the Orglag far the heavier. The second day began with another massive attack by the Orglag, this time supported by several thousand Nikarin, which were contained only with great difficulty. But a sharp thrust from a force lead by Retnar trapped and crushed the leading Orglag masses, and then he proceeded to roll up several columns in turn. And although he received a sharp repulse at the end of the attack, the days fighting left up to seventy thousand Orglag dead, leaving barely two hundred thousand still fighting. There after the Ezleg were on the rise. The second night passed this out, for several Orglag attacks were easily broken up. The Third day opened with another massive Orglag attack, which was hit by great swathes of bowshot and utterly crushed. Encouraged by this, the Ezleg, using their fifty thousand utterly fresh reserves, launched two massive attacks which broke apart the exhausted Orglag ranks, and soon defeat began to turn into rout. The attack proceeded to trap several Orglag formations and the entire battle ended in a scene of apocalypse worthy of any disaster. The pursuit continued on three days hence, decimating the Orglag ranks and leaving little of that army left to fight. The Orglag had lost over two hundred thousand troops and the survivors were so scattered around Batzul Dinea that any hope of reforming them was lost utterly. Fifty thousand Ezleg had died, but they had reversed the defeat of Neldaril. Seemingly the Ezleg had regained the initiative, but that was not to be so.
Neldaril too was in action at that time. Her battered forces had been reinforced somewhat, up to one hundred and ten thousand troops, and had dug in across the Nivan road. The Orglag, goaded on by their great victory over her earlier in the year, were only to willing to come to battle. They marched from Hwëvi Vinotz and Narlim, thus almost surrounding Neldaril before the battle began. In defeat she would have been utterly lost. thus she held tight to her ridge, determined not to be defeated in manoeuvre battle which she could not win. The Orglag were denied the sight of her army, which dug in behind the crest of the ridge.
The Orglag, numbering perhaps two hundred thousand, thus assaulted her line at the two flanks, hoping to surround her and crush her utterly no doubt. But the Orglag, believing that the battle would be a certain victory, had not the commitment of their normal battles. But slowly, her northern wind began to be driven back, if only by shear weight of numbers. Thus she threw in her reserve, and the Orglag, not prepared for strong resistance, suddenly panicked, and were soon driven off in rout. The eastern flank, now isolated, quickly gave way. The entire escapade had cost them fifteen thousand dead, and their humiliation was further confounded by the fact that that they were near Narlim before their forces gathered together once more. Neldaril declined to pursue beyond a mile or so. Her own force was still heavily outnumbered and was still in poor shape. Thus she waited for news from the north as the new year dawned.
The one thousand one hundred and seventy sixth year was a grave time for the Ezleg in the north, for despite the victories of late, Glimer was still surrounded and after the best part of a year of bombardment, Arillirus launched another assault. Again surprise overtook the Ezleg, though not so great as the last time. Nonetheless the ruined defences were no match for the overwhelming numbers of Orglag. The fourth gate fell in minutes, and though the fifth gate held for a time, by the end of that year, the fifth and sixth gate had fallen, the first taken by Nikarin ahead of the Orglag, the second merely pulverised until the Ezleg could defend it no longer. Now the End appeared to be near for the city of jewels. Hiare and Hoek looked out for aid, but saw none, and their hope began slowly to die, while the people of that city, still believing in their defences, waited still, when the chance of escape was easily accomplished.
Outside the city however, the situation was a little better. The repulse of the Orglag had prevented the destruction the Ezleg armies, though the campaign to do so had cost them dear. Thus, with the Orglag once more reeling, they planned once again to relieve Glimer, though Palanar, who knew the fruitlessness of such an act until the Orglag were once again decisively defeated, had many objections. This time Retnar and Palanar were to march on the city from the north, defeating the broken Orglag forces once more, while Neldaril merely held the remainder in check while the northern forces curled over and crushed them from the north. In the meantime, a new force of some fifty thousand troops was assembled in Maren and was to retake Hwëvi Vinotz under the command of one lady Elnaril.
This plan began in early Elmëgezar. Retnar and Palanar with two hundred and thirty thousand troops struck against little over half that number which barred their path to Glimer. They were entrenched over the Glimer road, and despite their defences and some stubborn fighting, they were utterly routed, leaving forty thousand dead. The remnant fled back towards Glimer with the Ezleg in pursuit, but without much indication of what lay ahead.
That day Neldaril too began her offensive. She faced Orglag to both the north and east, but knowing that the northern force was unlikely to give her many problems after the mauling she had given it before. thus she lunged in complete surprise against the forces in the east which were blocking the road to Tal Baraz. The foe, taken by surprise by a superior force, was quickly put to rout, and fled north towards Narlim, leaving some twenty thousand dead. Neldaril thus pressed on towards Narlim, fearing not any flank attack due to the planned attack into Hwëvi Vinotz.
In fact the result of these victories was that Arillirus withdrew many of his troops from Hwëvi Vinotz, meaning that the force facing Neldaril was utterly incapable of offensive in any case. By the time Elnaril launched her offensive, only some forty thousand Orglag remained within the forest, and were thus outnumbered by Elnaril’s fifty thousand. She herself was a young and inexperienced commander of only forty three years, but having long served under Palanar, she had learned much, and her invasion of Hwëvi Vinotz was both well planned and well executed. In a mere six days all the western reaches of the forest had been regained and over half the Orglag forces had been slain, and the remaining enemy were rapidly fleeing from the Glades. Hwëvi Vinotz was as good as recaptured.
With this good news in hand, Neldaril struck her forces for Narlim. She defeated three small forces that tried to delay her and after some day of manoeuvring, had managed to drive the Orglag out of the edge of Hwëvi Vinotz. Then, aiming for the city, she defeated a column which was still in the midst of withdraw, and recaptured the city without having to fight for a single building. This short campaign had been an unrivalled triumph. For the loss of only three thousand troops, he had killed over fifty thousand Orglag and recaptured Narlim. But with her forces exhausted and many more Orglag on the way, she was forced to wait, while another army gathered against her at the crossroads to the north. She would go to fight them, but it would take some time before that was possible.
Retnar and Palanar had pressed on in the days after their victory, but despite catching stragglers in their thousands, they did not find a single substantial force until they were over four hundred miles into their advance. There, on the crossroads of northern Glimline, they found some one hundred and eighty thousand Orglag digging in to meet them. these, the single concentrated force between them and Glimer, was slowly being reinforced by more and more troops from the south, and the Ezleg knew that they must win quickly. Thus began yet another great battle.
Retnar and his companion did all they could to break the Orglag defences. Twice they shattered the northern Orglag flank only to be pushed back by massed reserves. Nikarin quickly began to break up their attacks, meaning that their force was being quickly diminished. As a last chance the two commanders launched all they could at the enemy centre, and although the Orglag centre began to break, the flanks quickly moved in to close the gap, driving the Ezleg back in disarray. Retnar and Palanar had failed. They had lost some eighty thousand dead as opposed to a hundred thousand Orglag losses, but the Orglag were being steadily reinforced, and with the Nikarin continuing to gather in greater numbers, they had no choice to pull back to the old defences some miles back. Their chance of saving Glimer had thus failed.
Neldaril that day launched her attack on the southern crossroads. She had a hundred and ten thousand troops to hand, and faced a similar number of foes. But she too was confounded by the Orglag in strong defensive positions. She tried all she could to break through, but by the end of the day her forces, exhausted and unsuccessful, had no choice but to fall back south towards Narlim. Glimer’s very last hope had thus gone.
From the heights of Glimer both Hoek and Hiare had seen both armies falter, and with it they knew that their chances of now being relieved were now very small. Hoek was adamant that the people should escape over the mountains while the city still held, and while the mountain guards still kept the Nikarin at bay. But still the people of that city did not do so, for they still believed that their city was unassailable, not realising the danger that they were actually in, for every day the walls slowly faltered against Arillirus’ slow and merciless bombardment. That whole year passed on and the armies outside, shattered by defeats could do naught. Neldaril fortified Narlim anew, while Retnar and Palanar worked on defending the edge of Glimline. Arillirus’ bombardment now shattered even the highest levels of the defences, reducing them to rubble over time. It was soon to be all over.
Thus time went on to the fateful one thousand one hundred and seventy seventh year. Arillirus in the first days of that year launched a massive assault on the remaining defences of Glimer, and on the very first day proceeded to seize the seventh gate. The Ezleg once more put up a determined fight, but with their defences in ruins there was only so much that they could do. The eighth gate was seized a mere twelve days later after truly bitter fighting. Then, a mere fifteen days after that, the Orglag attacked the ninth gate, which soon fell into their hands. Now they had reached the plateau atop of which Glimer was built, and they now faced only the city walls itself. Those walls, though badly damaged, were still a very formidable obstacle, but they would not last long against determined or numerous troops. But none the less within the city there were still several hundred thousand people, all of which would fight for their city even if not trained to do so. Thus Arillirus gathered a great army with which to force the final barrier and sack the city of jewels. Nearly half a million Orglag were gathered to crush that place, and thousands of Nikarin were gathered to crush any that tried to escape that place. Thus they filtered into that place day by day, until at last, when twenty five days had passed since the fall of the ninth gate, the Orglag battered down the final gate of Glimer, and pressed on into the city of jewels.
Though some of the people of that place had seen sense and had fled down the mountain paths in those twenty five day, many of the proud city elected to stay and defend it unto the last, while others still believed in their now broken defences. But what ever happened all that could fought to defend that place, and at first the Orglag were contained near the gates of Glimer. But the massed Orglag quickly began to break out, and the city in its sack, was largely put to torch. Everywhere scattered forces of Ezleg tried to stem the tide, but there was no hope at all, though through out the city the Orglag often had to fight for every single house, and their losses were great. Meanwhile, in the tower of Narth Nain, Hiare and Hoek spoke still.
“It is over now Hiare,” he said, “It is time for you to leave and save what you can,”
“I will not leave without you my friend,” she replied.
“Yes you will Hiare, or else I shall make my soldiers take you out. As for me I will not leave, I must defend my home to the last, and you are after all far to important to fall here.”
Hiare was about to object, but faced with the sharp stare of the smith of Glimer, knew that he would never leave.
“Go now, gather those who you can, and lead them from this place down the tunnels unto the mountains. You must move fast Hiare, for you have little time. You should find my son guarding the gate. You must tell him to go down into the tunnels and destroy this place, for I will not have Arillirus sat on the throne of my ancestors. My son will know how. But you must hurry, for your life means so much more than mine, and it is not your place to die here.”
“That is not so my friend,” she replied, “My life means no more than any upon this world, but for your sake I will obey your command and leave this place.” Then she kissed his hand, and said “Farewell my friend, may we meet again where we can enjoy the splendours of your city in peace.” Then she left the tower, and meeting Vronar at the tower gate, they both fled the tower for the tunnels, gathering all those who they passed.
The city was in utter anarchy. People fled hither and thither, with Nikarin prowling above every street and Orglag rapidly progressing through the city despite the gallant defence. Hiare and Vronar gathered to them many stricken people of that city and lead them all towards the mountain gates. More and more gathered to them, perhaps a few thousand all told and there were man others who knew the way on their own, but a great many were to be left behind. Hiare, as she ran through the streets, felt behind her the malignant presence of Arillirus entering the city, and she let out a silent pray for Hoek her friend.
Arillirus had indeed come with his army to see the end of the city that had defied him so long. The tall being in a dark robe was unmistakable for what he was and many brave souls tried to take his life, but the masses of Nikarin and Orglag protected him as he destroyed any that came across his path. For some time her marched through the stricken city, until he came to the Narth Nain, which was now sealed and defended by Hoek and a few soldiers, and undersige by the Orglag. Arillirus tore the metal gate apart with the mere wave of his hands. He then marched in up the tower, slaying all who tried to bar his path. At the top, after all the soldiers were slain, he found Hoek, who held a great axe and was ready to face him.
“Arbylar the fallen, at least you come,” said Hoek, “I have waited long.”
“Yes indeed you have waited long smith, waited long while your city was being destroyed and your people conquered and enslaved.”
“My people will never be conquered, will never be slaves, and will never submit to you Arillirus!” cried Hoek, and he swung for the fallen.
Arillirus however, wasted little time. After a single stroke he battered down Hoek, and taking up the Ezlag’s axe, Arillirus struck its owner down. Thus died Hoek, the last of the smiths of Glimer who was to rule that city, though not the last of that line. A fine leader, scholar, and soldier. But from the body Arillirus took the helm of Glimer, a great trophy indeed, but never did he ware it but once, for it ever haunted him with Hoek’s last words, “My people will never be conquered, will never be slaves, and never submit to you” which ever feared him, the more so for what soon happened.
Hiare and Vronar continued to lead the fugitives back towards the tunnels, gathering more and more as they went. When they came to the tunnel gate, the fugitives, now in their many hundreds fled on, but Hiare halted, for guarding the gate was Darilan, Hoek’s son.
“Darilan!,” cried Hiare under the roar of battle, “your father wished you to destroy this place, do you know what he means for you to do?”
Darilan’s face sunk at those words into gloom, he wearily asked, “where is he Hiare?”
“He remains in the tower, and by doing so, he gives us time to get as many people as we can away from here, thus you must hurry and fulfil his wish, I will wait for you.”
Darilan thus departed down a ladder into the mines that littered the mountain upon which Glimer was built. Hiare directed all the people that she could into the tunnels, but the numbers fleeing were becoming less, and time was faiding. Darilan however ran throug the tunnels beneath the mountain until he came to a collection of fuses. There he stuck flint and lit them all, and he said unto himself, “Farewell Glimer, for jewels will be found here no longer” and then he fled back the way he came.
When he returned to the gate, Hiare was alone, and no more fugitives fled their way. Thus they closed the gate there, and thought silently of those who remained alive within the burning ruins of Glimer, and then they both fled down the mountain path and hastily rejoined the tail end of the fugitive fleeing across the Avin Zandlear.
Across those mountains descended the fugitives, perhaps fifty thousand stricken and defeated Ezleg who had lost everything who were spread out over fifteen miles of mountains. Behind them they had left some hundred thousand or more who fought until the very end, though some had left the city before the end. There with the fugitives Hiare was joined by all the Minabair, Hifylar, and several of her family. Together they lead the fugitives away from the city, but soon they were assailed by masses of Nikarin who Arillirus had sent to stop their escape, and they were joined by several Ukarak, all of whom managed to drag many Ezleg to their deaths before the spirits managed though hard fighting to drive off. but still a greater event was to come.
For even as the Orglag destroyed the last resistance in the city and the fugitives were some twelve miles gone, and Arillirus had left the smouldering ruins, there came an almighty explosion from below. The city rocked and shook, and Arillirus, probably alone among the Evils knew of what was to happen. Then, mere moments after the city slid down the mountain into ruin as the mines beneath collapsed one by one until none were left. The city of Glimer and all its riches were lost in the ruin. Great plumes of smoke rose up and covered much of Dinear for many days, so that it was some time before any could come and see the city of Glimer buried amidst great hills of rock. Arillirus was lucky to survive the destruction, but his army was not so lucky, for the four hundred thousand or so Orglag that had survived the storming of the city all perished, thus at a stroke destroying Arillirus’ great armies which were to destroy Dinear, leaving all his plans in tatters. It would be now many years before Arillirus could even essay to take Dinear, and thus by the sacrifice of one city, were many given more time to survive.
As for the fugitives even from fifteen miles away the mountains shook and heave so that many thought the end was nigh. All of the fugitives survived the destruction of their home, but it was some sixteen days until they finally managed to escape the mountains near Tal Baraz. With the Minare were but thousands of now homeless fugitives who coupled with those who had fled before the fall of the city, numbered around a hundred and fifty thousand. Thus some three hundred thousand had been lost in the fall of Glimer which ended the war of the jewels in a great successes, and yet a great defeat for the Ezleg. Almost all of that people were to leave Dinear, and head on to the eastern land of Maitherel, where many Ezleg were now gathering to escape the war. But not Darilan, who remained and came to Var’narth, where he persecuted his own war against Arillirus, seeking to recover the crown of Glimer, which rumour rightly told, had been taken from his father by Arillirus, and would later be returned to him by the hand of another race.
Chapter 26
Ala-Zeldarad Aigaz Ala-Landruli
Which is:
|
T |
he massive defeat that Arillirus suffered in the very last moments of the war of the jewels saved the Ezleg realms as yet. That is not to say that he had not won the war, only that for now it was meaningless strategically. For if his forces had emerged from the city of jewels reasonably intact, he would have been able to bring utterly overwhelming forces against the Ezleg armies, but now he could meet them only with numbers that were of similar size to their own, so that what would have become a quick victory was now going to drag on for many more years. But that is not to say that his victories were utterly meaningless. The Ezleg had suffered massive losses that could never truly be replaced, and more than that they had broken the confidence of many. Daily by this time several hundred Vrolevili were abandoning the northern war and heading westward away from the fighting. They were taking home in Nueline and most were moving on to Maitherel, and a very few went on beyond, passing into the Land of Galniva, which they failed to realise was the southernmost land of their ancient home of Zand Zlavind. But though many Vrolevili were abandoning the war, the Elybylar were fleeing faster to the westward lands also. Some took up home in Kalmaren with the Seldar, others went to Alakline, on the borders of Minarand. But most were beginning to reach Daraliline around Tal Nomoth, where they knew that they had the protection of the Minare. These new settlements were still quiet few, but were growing day by day, and it was largely because of them that the Ezleg in the end survived.
The Seldar had so far played only a small part in the history of Bair. They had aided in the destruction of Doroline, and had sent an army to fight in the war of the jewels, but no else, and the fate of that army was the first true Seldarin disaster. As old the Nikarin had savaged that force and done many unspeakable acts, so that there was never again any sign of those who had failed to escape. But not all of that force was lost, for of that army, some eight thousand managed to escape the disaster, and of them perhaps three thousand survived past the end of the war. Of these a great many buried their grief and returned back to Kalmaren. But some continued the fight in the north, often in very small groups. One such group was comprised from the remnants of two clans, a mere thirty Seldar in all. They were lead by their two elders, Senwa and Waelis, husband and wife that had been joined in marriage over three hundred years before. with them were their five children, two daughters, Wiel and Wielin, and three sons Sen, Senba, and Sbar. With them were other relatives of their clan, together a Few Seldar from an otherwise broken clan who now followed them. In fact their two clans had once numbered over three hundred, and most had come north, and now those thirty warriors were all that now remained, all of whom had once sworn revenge forever, foreseeing their doom in battle perhaps. But many saw that there was something deeper than that in their convictions, for rare indeed was it for a Seldan to swear revenge unto death less their doom foretold that it was so.
During the later years of the war of the jewels, the Seldar had aided in keeping Narline free of the enemy by defending the crossings of the Glime. In this they had failed against large armies, but against smaller forces they had proceeded to decimate the foe. When the war ended however, and the expected Orglag attack into Dinear did not come, The Seldarin band had decided to take Elnmil’s example and to take the war to the enemy, and they thus took it upon themselves to persecute the war of partisans, and to that end they took residence in the Avin Zandlear, and were soon known to be a formidable foe for the evils, this was confirmed when the thirty Seldar, accompanied with a small company of others, ambushed an Orglag force in Glimer Baraz. They inflicted several thousand casualties before bolting back to the mountains, and had lost none of their number in the battle. In this war they were joined by many others, Seldan, Ezlag, Kalrathen, all took part in this war of ambush, so much so that by the turn of the century, over fifteen thousand partisans were fighting in the mountains, a number that increased at such a rate that by the middle of the next century, well over fifty thousand were fighting there. In this war Senwa and Waelis’s clan took a strong role. They were the first to try renter the ruins of Glimer after its fall, and though much of the mines had ceased to be in the collapse, those in the lowest levels survived largely intact, and here the Seldar found great treasures, forgotten jewels that had been lost in the cities fall were strewn everywhere. Those that they could find they sent to Darilan, the kind of Glimer in exile, who was in Var’narth. But they were not alone in those ruins, for the Orglag had long since broken in, and had prowled that now dark and mysterious place, and the Seldar often came to battle within. But they later left that place to the Ezleg, and themselves continued the war outside in the light.
Indeed often the Seldar had the Ezleg to help them. once, early in their campaigns, they and five hundred Ezleg raided Zandline and killed a thousand Orglag and put several times that number to flight and fled back to the mountains before any could stop them. another time they travelled east, and with the aid of the Ezleg, they managed to collapse the side of Dar Baraz, blocking the entrance to Zandline for months and preventing all but token forces from getting in. through all these years of fighting, a mere nine of their number had died, including Waelis’ daughter Wiel. But by the one thousand one hundred and ninety fifth year, some twenty years since they had begun their personal war, twenty one of their number still lived and fought in the Avin Zandlear, ever being a greater threat to a single Orglag than the massed Ezleg armies that fought outside.
In those twenty years Dinear had been remarkable quiet. When the Ezleg heard of Arillirus’ disaster in Glimer, they had attacked his forces and had for a time driven them back to Glimer Baraz. But a sharp counter attack pushed them back onto Glimline, and for a very long time there was fought a strange war where both sides were almost constantly driven back and forth. So that by this time, little progress had been made. At that time however Neldaril and her companions were planning to launch and attack to free Dinear of the Orglag. Their forces had swelled from reserves, and Arillirus needed every Orglag he could gather to keep the Ezleg at bay, for he was still far from recovered from the Glimer disaster. Hence Arakline was virtually emptied of troops, and thus the partisans in the mountains were given almost free reign. Thus Senwa and Waelis had a brave plan indeed. They had been joined by several Seldarin forces from the south who wished to serve under the two leaders. Now, with a thousand Seldar and five hundred Ezleg at hand, all of whom were well armed and veteran fighters, they contemplated once more an incursion into Arakline, though this time both further and with a greater objective, for the enemy were spread so thinly. A raid on Zavaner Zar was their plan. The fortress itself was indeed formidable and could never bee truly captured, but Arillirus had based his defence of the place on the pretence that it was so deep into Zandline that the partisans would not dare attack it. The fortress could hold many thousands of troops, but less than five thousand Orglag were gathered around the place. Such a target was incredibly dangerous, but was none the less a partisans dream, with luck they could sack the place and destroy the garrison before any were truly ready to resist. And even if they failed to succeed, it was believed that it would aid the war as a whole in that Arillirus would have to send further troops to secure the place. Thus they were to do what whole armies had struggled to do before, to enter and sack Zavaner Zar.
They began this enterprise in mid Vrozar, when thick mists were gathering on the mountain slopes which would shield their decent. Though the Ezleg were generally much faster on foot than the Seldar, they were greatly hindered by the stony ground, so much so that in that first day there was bitterly hard marching by the force, but by the end of it they had covered only twenty miles, a reasonable distance for the Seldar, a very poor one for the Ezleg. But their march from the tip of the Avin Zandlear nearest the fortress had gone well. For aside from a few Nikarin, no enemy were seen, and they were a mere thirty miles from the fortress. That night however was tense for all. None of that force had ever had to sleep in the shadow land, and the intense cold, the barren stony ground, and there mere sense of evil meant that none slept well at all in that place. The next morning they pressed on, still covered by the mist, and with more level ground both parties made better speed that day. Only seven Orglag were seen all day, and they were dispatched with both ease and silence. By the time night finally came, they were a mere five miles from the fortress, and despite the mist, the outline of the great tower could now be seen through it. Another sleepless night followed, but again all was clear, so that, by the dawn of the third day, they were ready to march on the fortress and do what was seemingly impossible.
They certainly took the place by surprise that day. They burst into the tower completely unnoticed, and no warning ever made it up that spire so that all were caught by surprise. Lead by Senwa they spent an hour marching up that tower, in which time several hundred Orglag and Nikarin were slain, and by the time that hour was up they had made real progress. In the mean time, Waelis and eight hundred soldiers burst into the leadeing caverns of the pits that lay beneath. They slew over five hundred Orglag in minutes, and blew in many of the cave entrances at once. Having lost only twenty of their number doing this, Waelis pulled back towards the entrance and prepared to defend against any more who dared come at them.
As Waelis pulled back, Senwa was continuing his assent of the spire. The mere sight of the place was a horror to behold, half eaten or decayed bodies were everywhere, but every living creature was quickly cut down. And by this time, they were a good distance up the spire, when they reached a large cavernous room, and thus they met a grave foe. For in that room stood Ravik, who had not realised the predicament the great tower was in, for he was clamouring over an object upon a table. Thus Senwa, knowing at once what, if not who the being was, swung at it with his axe. The fiend noticed only at the very last moment what was happening and turned to face Senwa. He managed to avoid the fatal blow, but the great axe was not utterly wide, and it struck Ravik’s black arm, which was instantly severed. Ravik, terrified and in agony, fled from the tower out the window, leaving the Seldan in possession of the room. Senwa’s eyes however quickly came to see the object that Ravik had been espying upon the table, for it was not any normal object.
“My elders protect me!” he exclaimed, “That is one of the bracelets of the Queen herself!”
Indeed it was one of the Landruli, the one which Arillirus had before taken from Hiare a hundred years before. He had given it to Ravik, having no need for the thing himself save only as his last gain over Hiare, and now it had been found by Senwa.
The Seldan picked up the bracelet. It did not hurt him, but he realised at once that this was more important than the lives of ten thousand Orglag, and this he is said to have spoken to those with him: “People, this is a great prize for us to recover here, and it must be taken from this land in haste. Thus we will be gone from this place by night fall. I wish you to do what you can, but if you are not with us by darkness, we must go without you, for to return this to Hiare is a task worth more than all our lives put together.”
With this in mind, the Ezleg took the lead in the pursuit, and the Seldar now followed behind as Senwa descended the tower with his precious prize. But before he could leave the room, he saw a sight that is said to have puzzled him for the rest of his day, for a creature caught his eye outside one of the tower openings. It appeared small and youthful like a Seldan, but had the wings of a Nikarin. Looking again in amazement and the creature was gone. That sight indeed puzzled him for a long time, for he could not think of what it was that he saw. Little did he know that he was the first who was ever to see a Romin, but he would certainly not be the last.
As Senwa descended the tower, the battle at the foot of the place was beginning to gather pace, for Many Orglag were now pouring from the tunnels against Waelis’ forces. They had utterly routed the first few such attempts the Orglag made to escape unto the surface, but by now they were attacking in greater number and the fighting was becoming very bitter. Senwa quickly told Waelis of what he had found and aided in the battle. The fighting continued on for much of the day, and slowly, even the veteran warriors of the Seldar and the Ezleg could not hold back five times their number forever. But just as the Seldar were beginning to buckle, the other force began to issue from the tower. They were less in number than when they had gone in, but looked satisfied. These extra troops, though tired from ascending stairs all day themselves, worried not and quickly came to the aid of the others, and soon, thanks to this arrival of extra troops, the Orglag were driven back down the tunnels once more. Then the Ezleg lit their long fuse and the entire force fled. Within minutes the entire tower was aflame, burning brighter than any other thing in all the night sky. And when Arillirus, who was far to the west, saw the light beyond the mountains, he feared for the worst, and was soon crying in anger at the humiliation, for not only had his fortress been sacked and burnt, he had also lost Hiare’s bracelet, and thus all that he had achieved by capturing her was now lost utterly. His failure was complete.
The Seldar and the Ezleg raced away to the south as fast as they could, but this time their escape was not hidden by mist, and even in that night they were not to be safe for the fire meant that much of Zandline was illuminated. The Orglag that had been long held in the caves pursued them vigorously, but numbered barely over two thousand while the Seldar and Ezleg still numbered one thousand two hundred in number. None the less the allies did not get much sleep in the next few days, for the Orglag were always out there. But their main fear of another force coming to crush them was unfounded. As they had known there was barely an Orglag in all of Zandline, for most were out west in Glimer Baraz. Thus, by the means of supreme efforts, the allies covered the fifty miles in only two days. By then a few Nikarin were on their tails, but the mountains were to give the Seldar safety. Nonetheless, it was a further four days until they reached Dinear, In which time a few more of their number succumbed. So that when they reached Dinear, of the one thousand five hundred who had entered Zandline, one thousand one hundred and fifty returned. Among the dead was Senwa and Waelis’ youngest son, Sen, three others of their own clan had fallen, so that a mere seventeen had survived the battle. but it cannot be denied that their victory was one of the greatest ever accomplished by such a small force, a marvel of command and generalship.
After escaping back into Dinear, Senwa and Waelis left those that had joined their clan to watch the mountains while they were to lead their own on the long road to Maren, where Hiare was said to be. It was a long journey for a Seldan, and seventy two days it took them to cross the thousand or so miles and by the time they got there they were exhausted. Senwa however would not wait, and thus his clan crossed the lake into Maren, a place none of them had ever been before. One they had come to the council chambers, Senwa asked to see Hiare, and after a short while he was taken to her. She was then in fact living with the Minabair in Almagarin’s old house in the city. She received the Seldan on a cold Almazar day in the one thousand one hundred and ninety seventh year. She was in fact surprised that any Seldan would wish to see her there in the north, but she nonetheless came and addressed him.
“Good day friend Seldan,” she said, “It is a surprise to see any of you race this far north indeed. But how may o be off assistance?”
“I need no assistance my lady,” Senwa replied, “I have come merely to return this, for I believe that it belongs to you.”
The Seldan took out as small cloth in which he had rapped the bracelet and handed it to Hiare. The Mina opened up the cloth and stared in wonder at the Bracelet. “Where upon Bair did you find this?” she asked in amazement.
Thus Senwa told her of their incursion into Zandline, of their surprising of Zavaner Zar, of his wounding of Ravik and finally of their escape. Hiare would not have believed it had not the bracelet not now been before her, and object she had believe lost for ever over a hundred years ago. She was utterly amazed at their bravery and skill, for the Seldar are not a race to tell untruths in such important matters such as this.
“I do not know how to thank you for this,” she said after he had finished, “I would bid you keep the bracelet, but I would be of no use to you. But then I still know not what else to do for you.”
Senwa shrugged, “we do not need any help or gifts my lady, save perhaps some food and new shoes which will get us back to the mountains.”
“That I will do,” she replied, “But surely there is more I can do for you than that, you have lost a son on saving this bracelet, I for one know how it is to lose a son, can I not do something to repay you?”
Senwa sighed, “If you really wish to do something Hiare, give us a promise that you will do all you can to save out people if this war is lost, that is worth more than any other gift you could give.”
Hiare bowed, “that I do swear,” she said, and kissed his hand in gratitude.
A few days later Senwa, Waelis and their companions left Maren, and were never to return there. Hiare never saw them again, but remembered what Senwa had told of their tale, and passed it on in time, and she never let it be forgotten among the Ezleg or the Seldar. But of Senwa and his people’s fate no tale tells. For many years more his people were said to have fought in the mountains, until at last, their names were spoken no more, but their deeds were spoken on and on, and neither did their legacy to Hiare, for that can never end.
Chapter 27
Ala-Narthad Batkul
Which is:
As has been told, following his devastating reversal in the fall of Glimer, Arillirus had no choice but to be content if he could only hold his gains in Dinear. With his forces on the defensive, and the Ezleg armies utterly exhausted from their many defeats during the war of the jewels, a series of small battles began, and continued for the next twenty year, for neither side was ready to commit themselves to a serious attack. Thrice the Ezleg troops came close to breaking through Arillirus’ forces, but thrice they were driven off. that stalemate could not falter while the only troops available to the Ezleg commanders were those at hand. but by the one thousand one hundred and ninety seventh year, twenty years since the fall of Glimer, the Ezleg forces, having been heavily reinforced, prepared to at last launch a great offensive to drive Arillirus from Dinear. Though this was planned before, the Ezleg commanders finally began the offensive after hearing of the heroics of Senwa and Waelis, for despite what truly happened there, their original modest intentions were completed when Arillirus, fearing a massive incursion into Zandline from the south, sent over thirty thousand troops to retake Zavaner Zar, a needlessly large amount as it turned out, for the remnants of the garrison alone had recovered the place intact. But it meant that when Neldaril and her fellow commanders began their attack, they faced an already badly weakened fore that had been maimed by the departure of a large part of their army.
Thus in the early days of Elmëgazar in the one thousand one hundred and ninety seventh year, the Ezleg armies, having been rested and reinforced, began their offensive. Retnar, who commanded the most northerly forces struck first, and falling upon Arillurus’ flank stretched the fallen’s hard pressed army still further. Retnar at first faced only twenty thousand troops, whom he outnumbered five to one, and quickly were they defeated, and they hurriedly fell back into Glimer Baraz. It was then that Neldaril and Palanar struck, and in but two days fighting Arilliurs’ southern forces were also driven back towards Glimer Baraz in great confusion. The ease of these victories were very welcome to the Ezleg, who had over the previous twenty years struggled to gain and hold more than a few miles. Soon they discovered why however, for the enemy had given way to converge within Glimer Baraz and offer battle to Ezleg forces.
The Orglag rallied around fifty miles to the north of the ruins of Glimer, in the western most reaches of Glimer Baraz, where though the defences were strong after long years of toil, their retreat had to cross the Vrod River, and that would cause only disaster. Their lines were severed also by that very river so that it was in effect two battles that were to be fought. The southern side was stronger, and with a line only a few miles long, while the northern line was longer and less rugged. The whole front, some ten miles long, was quite easy to defend in Vrozar, for the hills at the side of the pass were impassable, but in Elmëgazar, the entire line could be encircled, and Arillirus did not know this, and instead of falling back to defend the river, fought a hopeless battle where he could not win. The Ezleg easily saw this, and having gathered every single solider they could, mustered nigh four hundred thousand troops, a grand army indeed, with which they faced only three hundred thousand of the enemy. Neldaril and her companions quickly decided to pin down Arillirus forces with a frontal strike, and crush his armies flanks over the sides of the pass. With any luck Arillirus’ army would be surrounded and destroyed. And thus began that battle, remembered as Batzul Glimbaraz.
That day showed Arillirus at his worst as a commander, when Palanar opened the attack against his centre, he quickly committed all his forces against them. it was only the difficulty of crossing over the flanks of the pass that saved Arillirus from immediate and crushing defeat., for the flank attacks by Retnar and Neldaril took some time. But when they broke out into the rear of Arillirus’ forces, the battle was won, and within moments, his great army began to flee, and many thousands fell as they tried to gain back across the Vrod river into Zandline. Neldaril’s cavalry pursued the Orglag for three days, and by the time the pursuit east had ended, over a hundred and eighty thousand Orglag had fallen, thus making that battle the greatest those commanders had ever won, and not only had they freed Dinear of the foe, they had pursued the evils back into Zandline. Seeking to destroy what remained of Arillirus’ army, they set off in pursuit into Zandline, the first Ezleg army to stand there in many years, and sought for a final great victory.
However, from the very first moments of the invasion of Zandline, many things began to go wrong. Upon entering that land the supply lines of the Ezleg armies were hopelessly stretched, and pushing onward into barren Zandline was a devastatingly foolish thing to do in that respect. If Glimer remained it would have halved the distance supplies came from, but as it did not, the supply lines stretched back to Maren and Var’narth, a hopelessly long distance for such massive armies to be supplied from. Then there was the weather in Zandline, which was ever drab and cold, but now the cold’s were far greater than ever seen in that land, hampering all that was done there and leaving many to die of exposure over the long campaign. The Ezleg cavalry had to be left behind, lest the horses die in the cold, and all supplies thus had to be hauled in by the Ezleg themselves, causing even greater problems. This, combined with the natural hazards of fighting Arillirus’ armies, were to make the campaign a grave mistake for the Ezleg.
But despite all these problems, the first days of the renewed campaign went comparatively well for the Ezleg. The allied forces pressed on through the barren wastes, destroying easily all resistance they faced. Neldaril’s force managed to trap fifteen thousand Orglag against the Avin Zandlear, and they were completely destroyed by Neldaril’s forces and the partisans. Then their forces pressed forth deep into Zandline. Ekwe Nomleagth fell in the weeks following, and the united force, despite their deepening struggles with supply, soon came nigh to the Lmorarini. Neldaril had hoped that Zavaner Zar would be abandoned to their overwhelming numbers, but Arillirus, seeing that his forces could not hold back the Ezleg in open country, fell back over the Lmorarini and left a large garrison in that place commanded by Ravik. Neldaril soon reached that place and surrounded it. But she had no catapults with her with which to batter that place, and thus could do naught else but blockade it as yet. But Neldaril was not the only commander being slowed down. Palanar’s force in the north was being swept away by the climate alone. He had reached the shores of the Vrolmore at the estuary of the Lmorarini, but could go no further, and his army encamped at the shores of that strange and eerie sea. Retnar fared little better, for his army which was in the centre of the others, nigh collapsed with exhaustion as soon as it reached the Lmorarini. This was not only the weather’s fault alone, it was those commanders fault in not preparing for a long war as had the Ezleg commanders such as Avternain and Nomleagth who had before taken that land, and thus later Neldaril rightly put herself to blame.
With this lull in the fighting other battles were being fought. With the full mass of the Orglag now back in Zandline, they took it upon themselves to try and crush the partisans in the eastern reaches of the Avin Zandlear. Though the Orglag were not yet successful, they did keep those desperate bands contained, and the rest of the Orglag waited on the east of the Lmorarini. But the Nikarin were not so idle. They began to raid the Ezleg camps by night in massive numbers, a few hundred causing more damage than ten thousand Orglag. Soon those who did bring supplies into that land found themselves attacked by the Nikarin and the Ezleg armies soon became so incapacitated that they could do very little. They should have perhaps swallowed their pride there and then and retreated, but they could not see themselves fail, and remained in that desolate place slowly suffocating away.
Neldaril’s forces waited in vain for aid with which to destroy Zavaner Zar, but the unprepared Ezleg could bring only a few catapults with little ammunition. Thus it was nigh a year later before Neldaril had begun a bombardment of that place, and though it began to cause damage. But such was the condition of her army that it could never be much more than a blockade. But her fellow commanders were not so idle. It took much time, but Palanar and Retnar finally began to cross the Lmorarini by pontoon bridges. By day alone did their forces begin to cross, for it was too cold and slippery at night.
There, after three days, with only fifty thousand of their troops having crossed the Lmorarini, Arillirus’ forces, waiting patiently several miles back, struck forth in massive strength of over one hundred and eighty thousand troops. There followed a scrambling battle in which the Ezleg, outnumbered heavily and taken by surprise, were driven back towards the bridge in chaos. In the confusion order broke down as the forces tried in vain to gain back across the bridge. The bridge was broken by the weight of those crossing it, and many drowned in that foul river. Thousands had fallen in that foolish battle, though the Orglag had luckily not gained across the river. Retnar was utterly furious at himself and Palanar was little better. More than anything else it revealed to the commanders that the struggle for that land would be difficult indeed and that it was likely that they may well lose.
Following that defeat, the position of the Ezleg troops within Zandline became progressively worse as the years passed. Supplies of all things, never easy to get through the barren wastes, became almost impossible to obtain as the Nikarin slowly gained a strangle hold over all of Zandline once more. Palanar had some success when he attacked many Nikarin in their caves in the Avin Zlavind, but as most came from beyond the river, there was nothing they could do to truly stop them. Raids began to come from across the river as time passed, for even the Ezleg forces of over three hundred thousand troops were not enough to guard the supply lines and hold the four hundred miles of river line. But despite all this none of the Ezleg commanders could bring themselves to fall back, and thus this war of attrition continued.
Neldaril’s siege of Zavaner Zar slowly began to build up over the years as supplies of weapons were agonisingly brought forward from Dinear and Arakline. but it still took her five years of painstaking work against all the odds to begin what amounted to even a weak bombardment. Sallies by the defenders had wrecked havoc with that which she had and so worried was she that another attack may destroy all her artillery that she was often too wary of using it in great numbers. Even when the five years had passed the bombardment was nothing like a true strike, but it did slowly make progress, smashing several breaches in the walls. Thus, after a hundred days of this she elected to attack. It proved a major folly for the fortress was far from crippled while her forces certainly were. Though they gained some initial success and breached the fortress at several points and drove into the tunnels beneath, within several hours all her forces had been driven out of the place. She knew now that it was utterly hopeless. She said to her fellow commanders that they should pull back, and though they agreed they first needed supplies to march with to avoid disaster on the retreat, thus proving right the entire folly of the invasion at a stroke.
Later that year, when the Ezleg had only just began to prepare their retreat, Arillirus’ forces launched a massive raid across the river and assailed Palanar’s forces on the northern coast. Palanar had only thirty thousand troops at hand to defend against the attack, and he faced nigh twice that number. He made his stand as best as he could, but could not prevent the Orglag pushing his forces back. With no defences behind him, he lost thirty miles in two days, and soon his retreat was becoming a rout. Eight thousand of his troops had fallen, and it was only after five days that Palanar had most of his forces to hand with which to counter the blow. The Orglag fell back, but even then all went wrong when one formation was trapped and destroyed. Palanar’s troops, recovered the river line several days later, but his troops, after five year with scarce little food were at their end, and he hoped to be able to pull back in Almazar, but he was not given that luxury.
That year Vrozar was especially bleak, and much of Zandline was shrouded in impenetrable frozen fog which caused untold damage to the Ezleg and to Neldaril’s siege machines. The Orglag used this to their advantage, and launched yet another series of raids across the river. Retnar’s forces were torn in two and forced back, but Neldaril suffered the most damage. The Orglag crossed the river and breached her siege lines, and many thousands of them poured into Zavaner Zar. Seeing that the situation was now utterly hopeless, the Ezl;eg commanders ordered a retreat westward. But such was the situation that all of Neldaril’s catapults, which she had waited five years for, fell in a mere five minutes. Neldaril cured the day she had invaded that land.
With the situation utterly hopeless the other forces fell back quickly also. But before long what was planned as a retreat for only fifty miles to regroup soon became a mad scramble to escape the horrors of Zandline. They were barely pursued, but through the fog they could not be expected to. But the freezing fog did more damage than a whole year of Nikarin raids. Thousands fell, from either exposure or from lack of food. The only salvation was Dinear, and no matter how their commanders tried, they could not retain their troops in Zandline. It was perhaps the only time an Ezleg army had ever lost control in such a way. No orders to stand were listened to despite the fact they were not perused. The troops had merely had enough, and could stand no more. The retreat, without food nor shelter was far worse than that which Iviseal had conducted over many times the distance all those years before. five and a half years had passed since they had invaded that land, and for all their plans, they had only crippled their armies, and had won only a few minor victories within Zandline. Eventually, in the first days of the two hundred and fifth year, the remnant of the Ezleg armies staggered back into Dinear, and if Arillirus attacked them that day with half their number, he would most likely have swept them from the field, such was the condition that their commanders had reduced then too.
But Arillirus did not have all things his own way. After his force reached Glimer Baraz some twenty days after the Ezleg, his forces were once again assailed in mass by the partisans. For those desperate fighters, after being contained for five year, now had twice the front to fight on, and they took full advantage of that. For the next two years Arillirus forces suffered greatly as the partisans once more became rampant and unchecked. Yearly the total of his losses grew, and it was because of those brave souls that it took him thirty four years until he had the forces to attack Dinear in strength, and thus preventing what would have certainly been the defeat of the Ezleg peoples.
In that respite the Ezleg were quickly repairing and strengthening the ageing defences of Glimer Baraz for the attack that would eventually come. after a few weeks respite the Ezleg forces regained their composure and health, if not their strength, for many thousands had been lost within Zandline, heavily weakening their defences. But though the defences were heavily strengthened and held with seemingly enough troops, Arillirus wasted little time in trying to drive the Ezleg back, for only two years after they had fled Zandline, his forces poured into the pass and over the mountains around it. The Ezleg held firm in the pass, their stubbornness undaunted, but the Orglag captured many small forts in the north of Narline, and held them strong. It took the Ezleg the best part of a year and three thousand dead to recapture them. but they still held as yet the gateway to Dinear.
But though they had held the enemy off once, it did not mean that they would again. But the Ezleg defenders of Glimer Baraz, knowing it as the last secure place before the open plains of Dinear, tried with all their strength to hold it. But though they repulsed three more attacks of that nature in the next decade, they would not be able to hold on forever, and so it proved, for in the one thousand two hundred and fifteenth year, the Orglag launched a truly massive strike against the pass, with thousands of Nikarin descending from above. The pass was quickly forced and the Ezleg pulled back away from the ruins of Glimer. They had lost many thousands of troops in the battles for the pass, and feared now an immediate assault against them. but that did not come, for Arillirus was for a time satisfied by merely having taken the pass, had once more to suppress the partisans, who were constantly sapping his forces. In the years after he forced Glimer Baraz he sent forth over two hundred thousand Orglag into those mountains, and slowly the partisans were suppressed, but never wholly defeated. By the time he was finally ready to begin his next attack, the position in those mountains, though still poor, was finally improving for his forces, but that had taken him twenty four years of hard fighting to achieve only that.
When Arillirus lauhced his next attack against the Ezleg, his forces were much stronger than any of them expected, and in the one thousand two hundred and thirty ninth year, he attacked into Dinear in force, setting off over a hundred years of warfare for control of that land. The very first days of this new war went badly for the Ezleg, and they suffered heavily. Palanar was the worst hit, his forces were overwhelmed by twice their number trying to defend the Maren road, and he had to tare his way out westward to escape the Nikarin, losing fifty thousand troops all told. The pursuit of his force was devastating, the entire army nigh on fell apart in rout, and was only finally rallied near to Maren itself, and was unable to fight for many weeks. Retnar was the next to suffer, His army in the north came under attack from the victory of the battle with Palanar, and yet was skilful enough to know a hopeless battle when he saw one, and cutting across the vanguard of this force he escaped westward having suffered only a few thousand casualties. Neldaril escaped away from Glimline without a battle, for she heard quickly of her companions retreat, and soon entrenched her army to the south at Narlim. Such was the strength of Arillirus’ attacks that even Arakline, for long seen by him as only a minor threat, was raided heavily by the Orglag, forcing Telear, Neldaril’s husband, to fight them off with most of Oralath’s army but Dinear was as yet the key to this war, and Arillirus tried desperately to unlock it.
But despite his apparent success in the first days of that war, Arillirus had not won this new war in a single throw, and was forced to fight on for many long years. In that time, though he was certainly wining the war there and then, he was to both suffer heavily and benefit from a new foe, a foe by the name of Harien Kaldar, the speaker of doom.
Chapter 28
Harien Kaldarad
Which is:
|
A |
s the forces of the Ezleg and the Orglag clashed in minor battles across all of Dinear, the partisan war in the mountains of the Avin Zandlear continued utterly unabated. Arillirus had tried all he could to suppress the partisans, but as yet to no avail. They were many thousands in number, and Arillirus had once again made a great error in attacking into Dinear whilst he still had the many partisans fighting him. When he invaded Dinear there were over a hundred thousand Orglag fighting in the mountains, but they were no match to the veteran warriors who ever sapped the strength of his forces. There are many tales told of those partisans, most of them of valour against massive odds, and of great victories like those of Senwa and Waelis. But one of those tales is much darker, that tale was of a Seldan, who is remembered as Harien Kaldar, the speaker of doom.
Harien first came into the history of Bair during the late days of the one thousand two hundred and forty first year. It was a very harsh Vrozar that year, and those were dark days indeed. With the Orglag trying to both oust the partisans from the Avin Zandlear and consolidate their hold in northern Dinear. Many believed that the war was going to be lost, and in recent years the Ezleg generals did little to change that opinion. The only gains were by the partisans, who were continuing to wreck havoc amongst the Orglag from Dar Baraz to Glimer. Such was their success that the Orglag that Vrozar were forced to pull back from the mountains to the south of Glimer, and hold nigh to the city. One group of partisans, came down from the mountains in their wake, hoping perhaps to find food and supplies. Instead they found the Seldan Harien. It is said she was then still in her youth, perhaps only thirty years of age, and that she was wrapped in a blanket beside some rocks on the southern slopes of the mountains. Her clothes contained no weapon nor any clue to who she was. The only belonging she had was a shattered half of a silver bracelet that was tied with string around her neck. The Ezleg, upon finding her, and discovering a dangerous wound to her chest, quickly took her away to safety.
With care Harien survived this, and came round a few days later in the Ezleg camp in the mountains. Upon being asked her name she replied “Harien” but there was scarce little else she could tell them, for some reason unknown she knew very little. She remembered that she was searching for her mother, though she could not remember why. She knew that her mother had the other half of the bracelet that was tied around her neck, but again did not know why. And though she did not tell it to those around her that day, she differed from all other Seldar that she did not know her own doom, but as it turned out, she may have well known that of other people.
Harien was once again mobile after a few days, and with out knowledge of where she came from or where to go, she remained with the partisans. She knew the sword and spear with ease, and there were few who were a better shot than her with the bow, but more than just being handy with weapons themselves, she showed herself in the days ahead, that she was an able commander. She thrice managed to surprise Orglag who hid in the mountains by ordering her companions to surround them instead of attack full on. Her companions were then only a few dozen young Ezleg and a two Seldar, and none of then had true knowledge of command. They said that their old commander had died a few days before they had found her. Such was her success that within the year she had risen to be the second in command of that group. The leader of that small group was an Ezleg named Zermten, and though he liked Harien in that he knew that she was able, he quickly discovered her hidden rage, for while one day she would be utterly calm, the next she would go through a fit of rage. Ever was she easy to anger, and none ever knew why this was. As for Harien herself she refrained from forming a true friendship with Zermten, perhaps she knew something about him that made her refrain from it.
Three years passed, and that small group continued to fight on in the mountains, rarely even coming down into Dinear. They ambushed a great many Orglag, and caused untold damage to their armies in the mountains, never hearing of the greater war beyond the mountains. But the Orglag, knowing by bitter experience, that they were to fight only when they were certain of victory, and with Zernten’s partisans, they soon found their way to do just that, for Zermten had prepared to go forward and attack an Orglag camp on the northern side of the mountains. This in itself was not unusual, they had done it a dozen times or more in the past. But this time they had to travel down a single steep and straight path where at places it was like a canyon, a perfect place for the Orglag to fall upon them, Harien voiced her opinions, but Zermten disregarded her warnings. It was to prove a tragic mistake, and Harien, as she ever did, prepared for the worst.
The Orglag caught them nigh the head of the track, and those at the head of the column were overwhelmed, and Zermten fell in the first few moments. Harien had been watching the rear of the party, and at once tore her forces back, and saving as many as she could, fled back up the track to safety. The Orglag pursued, but against the agile partisans, were soon left far behind, and by nightfall the pursuit had failed. None the less thirteen people had died, Zermten among them, leaving only thirty in their group. Harien was now almost by all choices their leader, and despite her young age, soon began to make a name for herself that passed across all the mountains.
In the five years that followed, Harien and her companions went from being one of hundreds of small partisan bands roaming the Avin Zandlear, to the most well known since Senwa and Waelis’ group fifty years before. it is said that in the first days after the loss of Zermten, she and her group killed over five hundred Orglag in ambushes across the mountains. Her ability to command was nigh flawless, and in defeating all those Orglag she had not lost a single soldier. But her small group did not long remain small, for as her achievements spread, so did the wish to follow her. Soon survivors from small and broken Partisan bands joined her in her fight, and later whole forces who had lost their leaders came to her. She showed the same skill commanding thousands as she did dozens, and soon her force was easily the most feared of all the partisan bands. In those five years she went from commanding thirty soldiers, to commanding over ten thousand. She had not done it by privilege or right, but by ability alone, and in Ezleg eyes, that is the greatest virtue that any could have.
In the one thousand two hundred and forty ninth year, Arillirus’ troops launched an attack against Neldaril’s forward troops in northern Narline nigh to the mountains, and nearly caused a severe defeat. Neldaril herself was at hand to control the situation, but she had only ten thousand troops to face twice that number. She was preparing to abandon the forward posts and try and fall back towards Narlim, even though the retreat would have cost her hard, when from the mountains aside the Orglag flank came several thousand ragged troops crashing into the flank of the enemy. Making use of this, Neldaril led her froces forth, and between her troops and the others, the Orglag, surprised and taken aback, quickly fled away to the north. Neldaril was much relieved, but also intrigued at who would have the daring to lead the partisans out of the mountains to save her forces. The answer was of course Harien, who had, as always, led her troops from the front. After that short battle, Neldaril came and met Harien, and she spoke thus;
“I thank you my friend, I fear that without your aid we would have found ourselves in dire straits out here.”
“There is no need for thanks my fellow warrior, to us partisans, it was just another battle.” said Harien.
Neldaril bowed, and said, “Neldaril of Oralath I am, and this day I owe you my life.”
“And I, Harien of the partisans, thank you for that honour. But we cannot remain here, many Orglag come from the north, and we cannot hope to fight them all.”
To this Neldaril agreed, and giving up the forts nigh to the mountains, her force, together with that of Harien, fell back southwards to the safety of Narlim. The march was without pursuit by the Orglag, they were too far distant to pursue, and without this hindrance they took their time gaining back south to Narlim, it being six days before they reached that city. On that march Harien and Neldaril cemented a bond between each other to such an extent that Harien never had a greater friend than Neldaril in her whole life, and despite all that happened between them, this friendship ever survived on Neldaril’s part.
Upon arriving at Narlim, Harien’s partisans were given as much supplies as they could carry, and Harien, in honour of saving Neldaril’s life, was given the rank of general in the army of southern Dinear. Harien accepted this rank, but not a position to remain. Her forces stayed at the city for sometime, having their first night of unguarded sleep in many years, but all wished then to return to the mountains and after a few weeks of rest, Harien and her forces set out once more for the Avin Zandlear. Neldaril and indeed Harien herself were to miss each other in the days ahead, but through it all they remained in contact by letter. But there and then, Harien’s partisans disappeared into the mountains to continue their fight against the evils.
In the days ahead Harien’s partisans again wrecked havoc upon Arillirus’ troops in the mountains. One time she and her troops destroyed over ten thousand Orglag in a single days fighting in which cost her only a handful of troops and proceeded to make the Orglag give up over two hundred miles of the mountains before any aid could be sent. So great were her exploits in those days that Arillirus sent nigh fifty thousand Orglag that he could ill spare from Dinear, to deal with her force. Harien was a great partisan fighter, but against that number of foes she could not hope to win, and soon, with them trying to encircle her force from all sides, she was forced back further and further. With no other choice, her entire force fled the mountains in the one thousand two hundred and fifty seventh year. With no other place to go, Harien and her fifteen thousand troops went south to Narlim. Neldaril was glad to see her friend, who was now grown to full age. Harien told Neldaril of what had befallen, and that there was no chance of quickly returning to the mountains. Thus, using her rank as general, she elected to stay, and her partisans remained under her command. There also began Neldaril and Harien’s closest time of friendship. Neldaril was to Harien in many ways the mother she could not remember but ever sought for. She was her mentor, and she did indeed need a mentor. As for Neldaril Harien was almost like the daughter she never had, and indeed her son also became friends with Harien. But Neldaril quickly noticed that other side of Harien, the side of rashness and anger, and she was ever wary that it may explode out and have grave consequences, as it indeed would have.
Soon after Harien and her troops came south, Neldaril and Harien prepared to retake the very forts that had been lost when Harien first saved Neldaril. Harien’s forces were apt to lead the attack north, and between Neldaril’s sight of the wider strategy and Harien’s close battle mastery, they retook the forts in only a few days, and more so, trapped and destroyed the Orglag forces there, all with minimal loss. It was a great victory that for long held back Arillirus’ forces from advancing towards Narlim. There after Harien’s troops commanded the forward posts at those forts, and it was a command she was apt to do. For twelve years she kept all Orglag forces in southern Glimline wary, and at times, she launched raids against them which caused untold damage. Through all of this Neldaril and Harien’s friendship flourished, and for both, but especially for Harien, it was the best time of her life.
But that time was all too short. for Arillirus’ forces were finally gaining the upper hand over the partisans in the mountains without Harien, and he wished now to press south once more. Thus, in the early days of the one thousand two hundred and sixty ninth year, he struck south into the eastern reaches of Hwëvi Vinotz, coming perilously near to Harien’s forward forces. Harien felt the need to attack at once to stop them breaking south into the forest, but Neldaril quickly sent her orders saying that she was to hold her position while she herself rallied the troops to come to Harien’s aid. Harien however, being a field commander of reasonably small forces, flagrantly disobeyed the Order, and with half her force, she swung into the flank of the Orglag. Initially all went well, her force sliced through the attacking Orglag, over throwing several thousand easily. But then more Orglag swamped her force, and across her rear, fell into Neldaril’s main army, which would have been protected had Harien obeyed her orders and remained still. Several thousand Ezleg fell before Neldaril’s troops rallied and drove them off. but Harien’s troops were not so lucky. Utterly surrounded, they flung themselves southward, and had to fight their way through the enemy lines to reach Neldaril’s troops. But such was the forces that they faced, that only three hundred of Harien’s veteran troops made it to Neldaril’s lines, in all over ten thousand troops had died because Harien disobeyed an order in her rashness.
Neldaril was utterly furious, and when she found Harien, far from being relieved that she had survived the battle, gave her a truly massive scorning for what she had done, and considering it is rare indeed for an Ezlag to ever loose their temper in such a way, it comes out as even more fierce. Neldaril repeated again and again that such actions were utterly foolish and that she now had to cope with the fact that a bout of foolishness had cost ten thousand lives, and could lead to the deaths of thousands more. Neldaril was perhaps too harsh, Harien was struggling with the facts herself, but despite the grief at what she had done, she was not adverse to speaking back, and a war of words erupted between the two of them, but few can ever get the better of an Ezleg in such a contest, and Harien, filled with grief and believing that she had lost her one true friend, fled away, and disappeared from her friend for many years. This was all the more distressing as Neldaril felt horrified at what she had said herself, and hoped beyond hope that Harien would return, though she did not. It was even more foolish as in the days that followed, Neldaril’s army regrouped and quickly drove the Orglag from their positions back into the north. Thus much of Neldaril’s words did not come to pass. But Harien was not to return by her own will, and not for many years.
Harien fled away back to the mountains where she had spent many years before. she plunged into them without any direction, and without hope. She is said to have been in such a state that she mumbled only for her mother, crying “where are you?” as if someone would reply. In truth she had never stopped hoping to find her, as she had told Neldaril, but in times of grief she could think of little else.
She eventually found her way to a small group of partisans. When she found them she was half starved and her silver hair was black with dirt. This small band did not know her as Harien, and she sought to keep it that way. When she came to them, she gave her name as Kaldar, the speaker of doom, and told no other. She was accepted among the group, though since several of them were Kalrathen, her welcome was not all wanted. As it turned out she soon found herself in a battle of wills with the leader of the group, and both started their own war of words. Harien’s stubbornness and fiery temper soon grew so great that the leader wished her to leave, though she never said so to Harien’s face, and with their whole group being only two dozen strong, all hands were needed.
But though Harien soon proved herself in battle with these partisans, as she did before, her battle with the leader soon reached its end. She questioned everything that the leader did, and thus came under her wrath. There, less than a year after she first came to them, the leader asked her finally to go, Harien however cried out against this, but the leaders stance was set. Thus Harien said to her at the end. “Fine, I shall leave, but safer out there shall I be, for this very day all of you shall be dead, that I foresee.” Then the leader called her to retake those words, but Harien refused, and the leader drew her spear out and faced Harien. Harien however was far too quick, and brought out her dagger and slew the Ezleg instantly. She fled away pursued by arrows, but made it away due to her experience alone, and less than a hour later, as she was walking in the evening light, a flight of Nikarin passed her, scouring the mountains. Harien, still fearing for the group rushed back, but a Seldan on foot in the mountains is never to be as fast as a Nikarin. And when she found her way back to the camp, it was all over. All had been slaughtered, save only one of that band who escaped the fighting to tell of this to others, to tell that Harien called the Nikarin upon them by foretelling their death.
As for Harien herself, faced with her very words coming true about their death, she fled out into the mountains screaming, and was not seen again for many years. What ever happened to her in those lost years of her life none can tell, and she certainly said little after. Some say she sought for her mother, others say she stayed with other Partisans, though none can now tell. But what ever she did, she disappeared from the world for thirteen years, and what she did in that time is a true mystery indeed.
In the early days of the one thousand two hundred and eighty third year, a part of Ezleg from the forts in the north of Narline, who were originally from Harien’s command, were scouting along the slopes of the Avin Zandlear, when they found what seemed at first like a body in the rocks at the foot of the mountains. What they found was their old commander Harien, though it was almost a shadow of her. She was covered in scars and in some cases wounds still fresh. Her clothes were ragged and torn, he dagger was broken in its pouch, and she had not eaten for a long time for she was dangerously thin. She seemed to be in a coma, but as she was moved, she cried out “Ën lilath Kaldarad!” which meant “I am the speaker of doom!” them she would fall back into her coma, but now and then, without warning, she would cry out the very same words again, and again, without warning. Her old soldiers merely hoped that she could be saved.
Harien was returned to Narlim and was put into the care of Neldaril. Neldaril, who had long thought that she would never see Harien again, was amazed when a message reached her telling her that Harien had been found, and she readily gave her all the aid she could. When Harien was brought to her home within Narlim, Neldaril was distressed to see her old friend in such a state. It was over a week until Harien finally came round, and upon seeing Neldaril by her bedside, she nearly fled out the door at once, save only that she could barely walk. Neldaril first said her apologies for what had happened all those years ago, which calmed Harien down somewhat, and then she asked about what had happened to her. She told of her time with the other partisans when pushed by her friend, but would say almost nothing of what happened after that time, and Neldaril was not going to force her to speak. All Harien did say was that she was looking for her mother, but could not find her, but would say no more.
After a few weeks of rest, Harien was reunited with many of her old companions from her first days in the mountains. Neldaril, despite what had happened before, was forgiving enough to give Harien a second chance, for she knew full well that she had made many more grave mistakes than Harien had. Thus Harien was once again given command of her old forces. they had been commanded by Neldaril’s son Vronar. But he willingly gave the command back to her and he in turn went on to aid Palanar to the west. But Harien’s troops were no longer to the north of Narlim, but to the west. for in the time she had been away, Arillirus’ troops had made inroads into Hwëvi Vinotz, and Neldaril had been forced to send in troops to aid in the defence, and thus Harien was in command not only of her old forces, but of twenty thousand more, thirty thousand troops all told. She relished this new command, and poured her heart and soul into it, in the first days gaining great victories within the forest, the only possible danger were two thousand Kalrathen who served under her, and they did not relish being commanded by a Seldan, and only her victories silenced them. Only Neldaril saw that she still was as easily angered as before, or, as Neldaril believed, even more so.
But for two years her command went well indeed. She managed to make great inroads against the foe, and before long all the Orglag kept well clear of her front. In those two years Harien recaptured all of the eastern parts of the forest, and threw the Orglag off balance to such an extent that in places her troops were holding the old defences to the north of the forest. Palanar was as amazed as any, and he asked her if she would command his forces in the forest. There was no doubt that she would have been able, but she feared to command many troops, and knew that she was a field commander alone, and thus declined. But soon her run of victorious was soon to end.
In the early days of the one thousand two hundred and eighty fifth year, Glimlith and Glimlad, the two rulers of Barline, arrived from the south with a large army to try and save the Vrolevili. And while the northern generals saw this as a blessing, they had often said that Barline was not committing themselves to helping their allies in the north, and Harien certainly believed this. And when Glimlith took part of these new forces and moved them into Hwëvi Vinotz to aid in the defence of the forest, Glimlith and Harien had to co-operate, and that was far from easy. Harien despised Glimlith, whom she thought as insular and domineering. Glimlith found Harien young and fiery, with great talent but little control, and did not like her either. What was worse for Harien was that she was technically under Glimlith’s control. But in the two hundred days they were to serve like that Harien did not obey a single order Glimlith gave her willingly.
None the less, despite these bickering, the coming of the extra forces changed the battles in the forest. By the end of Elmëgazar few Orglag remained in Hwëvi Vinotz, with Harein’s forces pursuing them as far as thirty miles north of the forest in places. But despite their apparent success, Arillirus had not been waiting idle for decades, and was preparing to strike south in massive force to crush the Ezleg once and for all.
Thus in Arinizar of that year, Arillirus’ forces struck the Ezleg forces about Hwëvi Vinotz in massive numbers, shattering the defending forces, especially those of Glimlith’s army. Harien’s troops were hit hard, but survived intact. Glimlith quickly ordered a withdraw, but Harien was going to remain, after she was a partisan at heart. But when Neldaril sent her orders to fall back, this time she obeyed, and quickly abandoned her position in the northern forest, and was to fall back to Neldaril. But with Nikarin blocking her path, she had no choice but to fall back with Glimlith’s troops. Thus she fell back towards Nivan to where Glimlith hoped to make a stand. Harien’s troops, being the last to fall back, took their place as the rearguard, and after their long retreat, they took their place in the battle line before Nivan.
The battle for Nivan was a desperate enterprise from the very start, with the tried out Ezleg troops having to fight against vastly superior enemy forces. But Glimlith was determined not to lose Nivan if she could, even though if it was symbolic. Most of the cities inhabitants had fled to Maren already, where it was safer, but the city of Elnue was symbolic, and Glimlith was determined to put battle to the test. She was again struggling with Harien however, whose forces had taken up position on the right flank of the city. Then the pursuing Orglag arrived, and the battle for Nivan began.
That battle was very short and very deadly, largely due to Harien herself. Arillirus’ troops fell upon the centre of the allied line, but left the flanks open. Glimlith, In an echo of Neldaril’s order long before, sent an order to Harein to remain still and protect the flank. But Harien again disobeyed her order, and as she saw no foe ahead of her, she turned her forces into the flank of the enemy attack, and this brought chaos into the Orglag ranks. But again the Orglag used this to their advantage, and reserves hidden far off quickly poured into the gap left by Harien’s troops, poured around the flank and rear of the army. Harien saw her mistake, and turned her forces about to block the gap. Although this saved her forces from being surrounded and defeated, it did not change the fact that she had wrecked the battle already. The Orglag were tearing Glimlith’s troops to pieces from the rear, and Harien could no longer stop the Orglag getting past her troops. Within minutes the army had descended into chaos, and Glimlith, incensed at Harien’s mistake, gave the order to withdraw, and her forces quickly began to fall back south. Harien’s troops regained her much credit for holding off the bulk of the enemy forces, but she too had no choice but to withdraw. Even as she did she watched the Orglag strom Nivan, which there after was no longer a city, but only a fortress. Elnue’s people had fled the place forever.
There was a confused scramble to get south to the bridge over the Veinaro. It was only ten or so miles, but distance was the Ezleg’s enemy now. Glimlith lost several divisions who found themselves trapped, as well as two that were cut off to the west and had to find their own way back to Glimlad’s forces which were nigh to Maren. She was left with some fifty thousand troops who managed to gain back across the river, but knowing of the Orglag strength, she pushed them further, for the next true defence line could not be reached until they came to Barline, four hundred miles south. She bore little thought to Harien, she had brought on this defeat, and if she fell her punishment could be said to be just.
Harien was guilt of the defeat and she knew it. But she was not going to die, not yet. Her force reached the river several hours after the last of Glimlith’s forces had go across, and some five thousand Orglag who had got past her blocked the crossing, with ten times that number mere miles behind. Harien put herself at the head of her troops, and they managed to fight their way through the Orglag and scatter them just as their pursuers came upon them. Harien again held the rearguard, and her force made it across intact, though with many dead. Harien herself was wounded, but made it away with her force, the Orglag not pursuing them much further than the river.
Neldaril had not been idle while all this was going on. As soon as she knew that Glimlith’s line had gave way, she abandoned Narlim and retreated south, hoping to reach Glimlith and aid her in the inevitible battle nigh to Nivan. She reached the Veinaro nigh to the mountains even as the battle was being lost, and looking from the hills over the hundred mile distance, she new that to go to Glimlith was hopeless. She was more worried that the Orglag would pour across the Veinaro and then head south and threaten Arakline. thus she began to cross her forces across the river at the fords nigh to the hills where the water was shallow. By the next day her forces were across, and they went at full speed for the crossings of Veinar. She was not to know of Harien’s forces until she had reached the river
Harien, having managed to get her troops across the river, could see that Glimlith had headed south back towards Barline, but she was not going to go that way, she instead headed to the south east to escape across the Veinar to where Neldaril’s forces would likely assemble. She still had twenty two thousand troops to hand, half of them her old partisans who were truly loyal to her. But there were the Kalrathen, who were never on good terms with the Seldar, and Harien commanded two thousand of them, and her technical second in command, Igrater, was one of them. he knew that she had disobeyed orders, and he did not refrain from telling his forces that Harien had caused the death of hundreds of their number and lost the battle for all those engaged. Soon Harien had a small rebellion in her hands, but neither said nor did anything until they neared the Veinar, and met the first scouts of Neldaril’s troops who were just to the north of them. then Igrater spoke up against the Seldan, denouncing her as all their woes, and saying that she should give up her command at once. Harien could not have been outraged. She drew her sword, and he took his spear, and they fought. Harien won this fight, slaying Igrater, but getting badly wounded herself. The Kalrathen had to be restrained by those loyal to Harien, or else they would have indeed killed her. Moments later Neldaril arived with guards to find out what had happened at the battle. hat she found was a wounded Seldan and a dead Kalrathen. Harien’s followers told Neldaril that the Kalrathen had tired to denounce her, Neldaril was gravely concrined, but knew not who was right in the matter, the Kalrathen, or Harein. She spoke to Harein for a few moments, and she said. “Not again shall I serve on a battlefield my friend, everything comes against me on a battlefield. I will stay to the mountains or the forests now.”
“You will wait here Harien,” said Neldaril, “the truth of this matter must be known”
“It is known,” Harien replied, “I made a mistake, and the Kalrathen tried to kill me for it. Well I have had enough of them, I have had enough of it all, I foresaw such happenings long a go. I see now you want me goe again. So be it.”
Neldaril was stunnded. “wait here my friend, we shall find answers.” And then Neldaril quickly rode back to her own force to the north. But Harien was not to remain, she had made up her mind. Despite her wounds, she picked up her pack, and started to walk westward. Her old followers quickly asekd where she was going. “To Ager, there will be fighting for partisans there in a few days, but not if I don’t leave now.”
They asked her how she knew that the Orglag would attack Ager, a foolish and most improbible action indeed. She merely replied, “I can see it coming.”
Her old followers however would not let her leave them again. And thus the nine thousand or so survivors of her old partisan force left the ranks of the army, and followed Harien westward. When Neldaril returned to Harien’s force the next day, she found only those who were not of her partisans, and they told Neldaril of what she had said. Neldaril was angry, but more worried about what Harien had said about the Orglag attacking Ager. Surely they would destroy Dinear first?
As it was Harien was correct. That very day she left for Ager, massive Orglag forces poured over the Veinaro into Ager, and Neldaril was amazaed that Harien could have predicted this couirese of action. In truth it was a foolish thing for Arillirus to do. He still fought in both the Avin Zandlear and in Dinear. But the Agerians were a secret people, and what Arillirus did not understand he wanted destroyed, and thus sent his armies into Ager. Within days the Orglag had reached along the bans of the veinar as far north as Nitlen, and it was Neldaril and Glimlith’s forces that had to stop them spilling into Arakline or Barline. Neldaril never learned how Harien knew of the invasion, but ever wondered it.
Hariens troops reached Ager just before the Orglag reached the northern borders. The Agerians asked her what she wanted there, and she told them her name and that they wished to aid them in their fight. The Agerians had heard of her, though how is open to question, and though they rarely did to anyone, they let her forces within the forests. There she was never to serve under any Agerian, and was only told not to use fire, and not to kill any by the foe, and the Agerians did the best thing and let her do what she did best, fight, and Harien’s name was resurrected in the fight fir Ager, though most of her exploits are forgotten.
The war for Ager was a grand conflict of partisan war which lasted nearly fifty years. Aside from Harien’s force, all the Agerian people fought also in a tremendous show of defiance. Arillirus suffered more in those fifty years it is said than he did in the battle of Valdarmare. It was only because the other Ezleg forces were so weak that he ever had a chance of victory there, and then it was hard won indeed. Behind every tree was peril for his forces, and the Orglag rarely hunted the Agerians, it was the Agerians who hunted them. only sheer numbers came in time to ware down the massively outnumbered Agerians. But they fought on for many years unabated, never giving ground in anything less than life itself. But after thirty years of war, the Agerians were finally weakening, and in all that time the other Ezleg armies had been pinned down and had done nothing. But when the one thousand three hundred and twenty first year came, the forces of Neldaril and Glimlith tried to intervene in a large way for the first and final time.
Their combined plan was to gather their forces in northern Barline and strike across into Ager by a pontoon bridge, and hopefully draw out as many Orglag as possible and defeat them in battle. both knew this would be dangerous indeed, but knew that Ager would not survive the onslaughts much longer, were resolved to act, and thus they massed their troops, nigh a hundred thousand all told, mostly Elybylar, with parts of Neldaril’s forces who had come with her into Barline. Then, in the deep of Vrozar, they struck across into Ager.
At first they made great success as they crossed the lands to the nigh of the Avin Vinotz, where many Agerians had taken refuge. But after several days of sporadic fighting, they began to fight their way into the thick of the forests themselves, and then they got into dreadful trouble. Their entire column was stretched out over many miles with Neldaril at its head, the perfect target for an Orglag attack. Such an attack was not long in the coming. Neldaril’s forces were attacked by several times their number, and this time it seemed certain that she would die, but again it was not to be. For again it is said that Harien’s troops came to her aid. They fought off the Orglag as best they could as the battered Ezleg column escaped westward to comparative safety. Yet again Neldaril found herself with her friend, and Harien seemed glad to see her. She said that her forces could not aid them there, and that they should escape away south at once or else be destroyed. But Harien’s own forces were in no great shape either. Of the nine thousand who had come with her to Ager all those years ago, only eight hundred remained, for there in those forests they had found a partisan war much more brutal and uncompromising than in the mountains, and many could not stand it, while others were lost merely to the massive Orglag forces. They spoke a few moments, and Harien said at last. “I fear I am loosing my heart for this my friend, though everything I have hoped beyond hope to find my mother again, but darkness follows me that I have not told. I see a face, and I see things I cannot speak, deaths untold, but I see not my own, and thus I fear that only my death will stop these horrors.”
Neldaril was taken aback by all that her friend then revealed, but had kept hidden all those years. But before she could reply there was a cry, and masses of Orglag poured into the glade. Harien drew sword and Neldaril her spear, and they will the other warriors fought them back in a great melee. Harien fought like madness itself, and Neldaril new at last why it was so, she had long sought her own death, not that of others that she so feared. But fight like a great warrior she did, slaying many Orglag. Then, in the melee, she fell against another from behind, and fearing Orglag, she turned and ran the creature through. But it was no Orglag. It was a Seldan, and Harien dropped her sword in shock, staring strongly at the wounded female’s face. The dying Seldan cried out “No, it cannot be you!” and she collapsed unto the ground and died.
Around her the battle died down as the Orglag were driven from the glade. Neldaril was leading against a tree. But Harien was beside the dead Seldan. It was kinslaying, which in itself was an offence unto death for the Seldar, though Harien did no longer fear that. But remembering the Seldan’s final words, she looked at her, and then she noticed a necklace upon her. Harien took out the necklace from under the warrior’s cloak. It was but string, and tied to it, was a half of a broken bracelet. Harien solemnly took out her own bracelet, and matched it to that of the dead Seldan. They were the same. And then Harien remembered all, all that was lost from her first years, of her parents, her sister, her brother. She remembered how she said that her father should not go hunting, and when he did he died. She remembered when her brother was learning swords that she said he would end up stabbing himself, which he did, she remembered her sister falling from a mountain after she so said she would. And she remembered her mother, and of the words she had said to her. “mother, I do not what you to die.”
“why say that my dear?” asked her mother.
“Because I fear that I am going to kill you.” She said, and broke down crying.
Her mother, remembering the fate of her whole family and Harien’s words, fled away. The bracelet was separated that day and now at last reunited.
Neldaril came to her friend. “Harien?” she asked, “are you hurt?”
Harien did not mover, but merely started laughing.
“Hurt? Of course I’m hurt. I have just killed my mother!”
Neldaril looked on In horror.
“I do not want to hurt anyone else,” she said, “I shall kill no one else.”
Then without warning, she picked up her sword, and defying Neldaril’s scream, she ran herself through, and fell to the ground. Neldaril collapsed beside her, crying at the loss of her friend. After a short while she said only. “Well Harien, at least you shall finally rest beside your mother.”
The next day, Neldaril’s forces pulled out of Ager, leaving behind thousands lost and Ager’s fate sealed. Though the realm of the forest people would live on for thirteen years more, all hope of victory was lost that day. There, amidst the burnt trees and unburied bodies, stands a single gravestone, upon which is carved
HARIEN KALDAR
ALA-KALAD DAR, ALA-DAR DELKALATH
Which means
HARIEN KALDAR
THE SPEAKER OF DOOM, THE DOOM SPOKEN