Chronicles of the Undead War
Chapter 1 - The deep breath
The fields of Hollow were quiet and peaceful, growing wild flowers and shadowed by two forests on both sides. Once a great monastery stood in these fields but now all that could be seen were fallen grass covered pillars, worn down by age and rain. The ground was mainly flat but had small hills and high ground on the edge of the forests. A battle was about to take place on these grounds, but for now, it lay in peace. Little life was seen before the battle in which soldiers called "the Deep breath".
From the southern edge of the forest to the north side there was no life to be seen, all but one. On top of a fallen
monastery pillar stood a young women, average in height and weight to look upon. A trapped wind between the forests flowed
around her blowing a distinctive cape to one side.
The young women was little past twenty years of age, watching over the plains her armour sparkled in the patches of light
that shone through the cloudy sky. Thin but amazingly light it looked magnificent, decorated in red and silver plates she
turned heads where ever she went. To her side was a giant sage sword, oddly shaped it was impossible to fit into a scabbard.
On the other side was a heavy shield that held a soft glow, unknown powers of evil or good made it as light as a feather
when needed.
"Lyese" a voice spoke behind her. The warrior turned half way to find another, one of her friends in the great guard of the Droknars Arena Dogs. "What are you looking at? We have hours before their army arrives".
This warrior was called Elektra, one of the best warriors that Lyese knew, friendly and dedicated she was swift and deadly. They had fought many times together against the Kurzicks and even longer against the plague infested rats that were the undead. Since the earthquake she was a lot more serious but still as deadly as she would ever be. Her armour was a lot different to Lyese's, made out of thick fabrics it made her as agile as any warrior. Coloured a deep black, she wore a black bandana over her head. Why she wore it Lyese never knew, no head scarf would stop her loosing the half of her head.
"The army may be hours away but they are not just blood lusting undead. These ones are different, smarter. I count 13
scouts in the tree line"
Elektra climbed onto the bolder on which Nynaeve stood to take a look for herself. Spotting the shadows in the forest
Elektra nodded, "This is certainly different, have they found themselves a vampire with real fangs now? She joked
casually. We need to tell Uncle about this, they are not just a mindless horde anymore. "
"Let us show them that we are no peasants then" Another voice claimed behind them as a archer jumped onto the bolder along with them, a long bow in his hand and an arrow in the other. The archer stood tall and strong, a mask covered his mouth and a long cloak flowed around him in the wind. Behind him was one of his most loved possessions, a giant ball of hair, claws and fangs. Fluffy never left the archer's side after they befriended each other many years ago.
Draco swiftly placed the arrow notch into his bow string and brought it up to his aim. Quickly finding one of the many shadows between the trees he let go of the bow string sending the arrow high into the sky. The two warriors looked up as the arrow soared into the sky ignoring the wind that attempted to slow it. Shortly after, the arrow started to fall back down. With smiles on their faces the warriors followed the arrow in all its deadly glory. Expecting nothing more they didn't see Draco pulling back another arrow. Aiming straight across the plains he let his grip go and the perfectly aimed arrow flew straight towards the target. Spinning over the long grass and old stone it reflected sunlight around it as it approached the tree line. As it grew closer to the target the first arrow came crashing down through the trees striking the hunched shadow. A loud shriek echoed over the valley's fields and could even be heard on the sides of the snowy mountains. The monster slumped to the floor where the arrow could now be seen wedged in its shoulder. The cries of pain were cut short as the body was joined by the second arrow; the lifeless body was sent flying back down into the trench before the tree line and out of site.
Seconds later grunts and groans could be heard and the rest of the shadows quickly retreated out of sight. Fear or brains pulled them back out of harms way.
The ranger looked forward ignoring the warriors gaze upon him. Did he take any joy in being one of the best bowmen on the face of the earth? If he did he could sure hide it well, maybe after countless battles of war any man looses the joy of killing.
"Elektra is right." Draco said turning to her. "This battle will be long and it won't just be flesh and
blood that will harm you, take the rest you need".
Lyese never had that kind of problem in her many battles as a warrior, Draco was right though. Saved energy would give a
little more joy in the fury of battle.
"Come, its time to let the elementalists work their magic and clear up this cloudy sky for us."
The three soldiers of DAD jumped back down onto the floor and walked towards Denvour wood, applauding Draco's bow
mastery as they went deeper into the danger of the forest
As Draco, Fluffy, Lyese and Elektra walked through the thick forest of Denvour it became darker and darker. Before long the
DAD soldiers stopped as they came to face a wall of complete darkness. The sky above had grown thick with branches and the
last of the light was suffocated by the leaves of ancient trees. As always Lyese clipped her sword to her belt and rested
her shield on her leg. Holding her hands out in front of her she quietly mumbled. Soon her hands started to glow, at first
it was dim and seemed to generate very little light but grew in brightness every second. Lyese studied elemental powers
for earth magic to aid her thin armour, but it would never be as good as a dedicated elementalist. After several more
seconds her hands had become bright red and sparkled in all directions.
Lyese always enjoyed walking through this forest; it was the one place this power was any real good, keeping most of her
body warm as well it allowed her to walk around in the winter to find ruins of the past to explore. Not to mention the
adrenaline and enjoyment of coming to face a forest troll in almost pure darkness. More than once Lyese had stumbled out the
forest with a broken arm or rib cage, but always with a big grin on her face hidden under splattered red blood.
The soldiers carried on walking into the black forest, weaving and jumping over giant roots, tripping on the smaller hidden
roots and the occasional squashing of a misfortunate bug. They were heading towards an opening hidden in this forest.
Enchanted with powerful Mesmer powers it would make most dull witted creatures loose their way in the forest and end up
missing it. Being told to carry on no matter what distracts them they would find the clearing soon enough. So the soldiers
carried on, ignoring the need to go behind the tree to do their business, running from a loud growling ahead of them and
having to pull fluffy away from Skale tads in the trees.
Light started to come through heavy tree tops and the trees started to part again as the clearing came into view. Clapping
her hands the warm glow dispensed into the air and a light red smoke was left drifting away from them.
Tripping once again on a hidden root Elektra picked herself up and started to jog for the round clearing that figures could
now be seen in. Quickly following behind Draco, Fluffy and Lyese caught up with Elektra to find themselves facing a giant
warrior on the edge of the forest. Armour as Strong as Golem stone and as thick as a great termites shell. Sharp edges to
his armour and a daunting dark grey colour made it a fearful sight to any foe he will face. The Osbian Warrior known as
Bleeding came into their full view.
"Good morning everyone, had a good early jog did we?" Bleeding said smiling. "They found me some target
practice Bleeding, we have some bad news now though." Draco explained. "It looks like we can actually fight
something less stupid than a headless corpse. Where is Uncle?" Draco carried on.
"They have not been seen since the last sun down. We are about to send out a search party. Xandra claimed to see
visions of an army of undead attacking several members in the middle of the forest west of here. Since Uncle is the only one
not here now that your back it must be him"
"Sounds like we need to get moving!" Elektra stepped in.
"Lets make this a fast one" Nodding in agreement "We must leave now"
