Vaoklin's Rise (Part 1) (standard:fantasy, 27859 words)
Author: Neilson	Added: Oct 15 2007	Views/Reads: 2969/2511	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Vaoklin Aridene takes power of the neighboring country of Fandaria and begins his rise of conquering the island of Drakolva.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

And so, the army and I marched into Fandaria. We terrorized villages and
destroyed militia men, and soon, we arrived at the capital city. The 
city was called Faln. Or siege weapons were in siege mode, and my 
knights were to stay put. The siege weapons were trebuchets and 
onagers. Such weapons will destroy a weak capital like that. Why is it 
weak you ask? Fandaria was warring with Densai about a year before¡­ 
and lost so their defensive force also fought will be tired and 
injured. 

The Fandarian defending troops marched out and fought us. The onagers
launched many stones right at those troops, and many fell apart. So, 
the Fandarian King ceased in the fight. He was called Lord Ravin the 
Dark One. But suddenly, many other troops from the nearby villages that 
we DID NOT invade ran into the walled town. They fought us with swords, 
axes and bows. The attack made us lose many soldiers. 

Later that day, the King himself showed up in front of me. ¡°Lord
Vaoklin Aridene, I beg you to cease. This fighting is pointless,¡± said 
the young King. He was tall, with short black hair, and red eyed. I 
noticed that he was about 10 years older than me. I wasn¡¯t as tall as 
him, but I had brown hair and green eyes. I looked at him straight in 
the eye and chuckled. 

¡°I agree. We should stop this before both our armies fall apart. But I
will only cease if you agree under this condition: we merge nations. We 
have about the same amount of troops in other areas and the same power. 
Our soldiers both have the will and strength to fight each other and 
other races as well. We should merge into one nation!¡± I said. Merging 
into one nation would make us, indeed, powerful. 

¡°Alright then, we shall merge. But! Our nation will still be known as
Fandaria and the capital will still be Faln. Lenos will be our other 
commercial city, and we will take over Drakolva!¡± exclaimed the king. 
We both nodded and shook each other¡¯s hand. He could no longer be a 
king, but a leader of Fandaria. I was the leader as well, but known as 
the F¨¹hrer of Fandaria! And now, we shall take over the world. 

Learning New Spells 

¡°I, Vaoklin Aridene the F¨¹hrer of the Human Empire, declare war on
Tarka and Densai. For those of you that wish to fight the reptilian 
empire the Tragans of Densai please join Lord Ravin¡¯s army. For those 
of you that wish to fight the fair skinned elves, join my army. Please 
join quickly, for we have little time to spare! The deadline is next 
week, so hurry! Once we reach the deadline, we shall march through the 
Black Forest, and we shall split our armies and we will take Tarka and 
Densai! Hail me!¡± I announced at Falnd�0è1e square the next day. A 
notice was posted at every house of every village in the new Empire. 
For the next 24 hours, people were signing in the army, serving their 
race, and earning eternal glory into their family name. This was 
certainly an excellent opportunity to create an army so powerful; the 
demon himself would be scared. 

The Densai has a large army of 950,000 and so Densai should be a little
tough to conquer. Destroying Tarka might be a little easier. Most of 
their soldiers are female archers and male swordsmen. They have about 
400,000 soldiers in total and so far, we have about 800,000 soldiers. 
We even think of women as capable troops so we allow them to fight for 
our glorious army. Many people are joining the army everyday and our 
army is growing larger and stronger. 

It was finally the day of the deadline, and we have a total of about a
million soldiers. I am thankful for each soldier I have, and Lord Ravin 
is rallying his Elite Forces of Fandaria. The new troops were ordered 
to go to Faln¡¯s Barracks and begin their training there. Fandaria and 
Lerona¡¯s Lands¡¯ greatest officers would be training them to fight and 
survive out there on the battlefield. As I said, Faln¡¯s Barracks is a 
heavily fortified fortress on top of a large hill. It is protected by 
steel walls and it is also indeed very big. I went inside and stood on 
the top of one of the great guard towers protecting it. As I stood, the 
soldiers in training gazed up at me and shouted ¡°Hail my F¨¹hrer!¡± 

I smiled at them and waved and they quickly went back to training. I saw
archers firing arrows at their targets, knights fighting in a mock 
battle, and calvary jousting. Warriors from all over gathered at this 
very barracks just to learn how to become a warrior of Lerona and 
Fandaria themselves! As they trained, something down there caught my 
eye. Ah, it was Ravin! I went down the tower and looked for him. He was 
sparring his men in a mock battle preparing for the Great War that will 
be held very soon. He spotted me as I looked for him. ¡°Lord Vaoklin! 
Hallo!¡± 

I waved at him. ¡°Hello, Lord Ravin! I see you spar your men. How goes
it?¡± I asked as he sheathed his sword with a loud CHING! Sound 

¡°Well, it is going pretty well. My men are fighting exceptionally and
my magic is improving.¡± He looked at his men, which were standing 
perfectly still with their swords sheathed and shields at front. 

¡°Your men are very well trained. How about a spar? I have my sword.¡±
From that point, we both drew swords and began a ¡°harmless¡± fight. He 
charged at me, both hands on his sword, and swung in a horizontal 
direction towards my head. I ducked just in time and I lunge my blade 
into his torso area and then he swung his sword right at my sword, 
probably hoping to disarm me. 

That¡¯s when he got very angry and enhanced his sword with some sort of
dark energy. I can tell because of a sudden dark glow in his shining 
sword. He twisted his entire body and then swung at me again. I blocked 
that attack with my defensive strike, and guess what happened? That 
scratched his chest! He backed away for a second, and then looked at 
his bleeding chest, putting a hand on it, and then suddenly full of 
rage. His arms became blue and thunderous, then his legs, his chest, 
and then finally his head. He grew taller and taller until he became 
the lightning elemental warrior. His body was completely in the shade 
of navy while his red eyes glow. He was in his lightning form. 

He zapped a thunder bolt at me, and I jumped away just in time. I was
scared, of course, and I thought he was going to kill me! I suddenly 
felt a burst of energy and charisma in me and my sword became a little 
red and hot. Then, it became redder and redder, and hotter and hotter 
until it became on fire! My sword was literally burning! I swung my 
sword with all the might I had at him and he blocked it with his blade. 
From the burning sensation of my sword, it broke his sword. Alas, he 
got angrier and angrier from that. He raised both his arms and a ring 
of lightning burst right out of him. I fell down just in time so the 
ring missed me. The ring was called ¡°Lightning Nova¡± and it was 
indeed powerful. 

Nearby soldiers became frightened and went to the upper part of the
barracks and watched us fight. Ravin then zapped another bolt of 
lightning at me, with much power. The bolt of lightning hit my blade, 
and it did no effect at all. I became hot then, feeling a burning in my 
heart, and before I knew it, I grew into the fire elemental warrior. My 
entire body was on fire and I grew. I looked like a burning man with a 
burning sword. 

In a monstrous voice, Ravin cried out ¡°WHAT?!?!?!?¡± He zapped a bolt
of lightning at me again, and I rolled to the side, avoiding it. He 
then ran to my side in the speed of lightning, and then struck me with 
his fist. I was hit, and was in pain right after. I dropped my sword, 
and then it instantly stopped burning. I aimed my hand at Ravin, and 
out came a fire ball going right at him. He dodged it, and sent another 
Lightning Nova attack around him. That struck me too, and my life then 
flashed before my eyes. After that, I learned that there were spirit 
warriors of six elements; fire, lightning, water, wind, earth, and 
poison. 

The spells suddenly popped into my head as well. 

Fire: 

1.	Fire Nova ¨C Ring of flame attack 2.	Fire ball ¨C A ball of flame
attack 3.	Fire wall ¨C A wall of fire 4.	Flamethrower ¨C A blast of 
flame 

Lightning: 

1.    Lightning Nova ¨C Ring of lightning attack 2.   Lightning bolt ¨C
A bolt of lightning attack 3.   Lightning storm ¨C Lightning bolts 
raining from the sky 4.   Lightning speed ¨C Attacking or running in 
the speed of lightning 

Water: 

1.	Tidal Wave ¨C A large wave of water striking the foe 2.	Pump of Water
¨C A jet stream of water striking its target 3.	Flood ¨C Floods the 
area 4.	Whirlpool ¨C A vortex of water attack 

Wind: 

1.	Gusty winds ¨C A large gust of wind 2.	Tornado ¨C A swirling vortex
of winds 3.	Hurricane ¨C A large hurricane swirling around the user 
4.	Twister ¨C Several mini tornadoes stunning the foe 

Earth: 

1.	Earthquake ¨C A 9.5 rating earthquake attack 2.	Volcano ¨C Summons an
erupting volcano 3.	Nature¡¯s defense ¨C Surroundings defend the user 
4.	Tomb ¨C Traps the user with natural earth 

Poison: 

1.	Poison nova ¨C A ring of poisonous attacks 2.	Acid ¨C Melts a
specific part of something 3.	Deadly touch ¨C A touch that severely 
poisons the enemy 4.	Poison gases ¨C Gases that poison the surrounding 

Learning this was useless, but at least I know my new spells of fire and
I solved the mystery of the Desert of Handun. Handun the elf mage was a 
poisonous mage and he used a major spell of poison gasses and it killed 
the enemy and everything in the forest making it very dry and turning 
it into a desert. Very interesting indeed, but why did a Lightning nova 
attack make me learn all this? 

I came to and saw Ravin  right in front of me with a new sword. The
sword was dark and full of static and I swear he was about to kill me. 
When he lifted his sword, I quickly cast a fire ball spell and sent a 
fire ball right at him. The fire ball was a direct hit and it pushed 
him into a wall. He was burned and knocked out, and then I was no 
longer on fire. I lifted my sword and walked towards my opponent and 
tapped his shoulder with my sword. He was no longer in elemental 
warrior formation and he looked injured. When he opened his eyes, I 
smiled and said ¡°You lose, Ravin.¡± 

He was shocked of course but he wasn¡¯t mad. In fact, he was very happy.
I held out a hand and he grabbed it and got up and said ¡°Good match, 
Vaoklin Aridene. You are truly one skilled warrior and the true F¨¹hrer 
of the Empire. I may be also in command, but we all know that you are 
the one true leader here. Hail my F¨¹hrer!¡± 

He then lifted his arm straightly and upwardly in front of him and so
did everyone else in the barracks. ¡°Heil mein F¨¹hrer!¡± Everyone 
cried out and saluted me. I smiled and lifted my hand in appreciation 
or my appreciation salute. I am now the Elemental Warrior of Fire, one 
of the six elemental warriors. 

The Elemental Warriors are known as the Elemmenta W�0è1mffers in
Drakolvan, so basically, I am the Elemmenta W�0è1mffer of dop Firae, 
and Ravin is the Elemmenta W�0è1mffer of dop Blitz. 

Ever since then, I¡¯ve detected a fear in Lord Ravin Drox that I¡¯ve
never felt before. He fears me now; he fears that I¡¯ll kill him 
someday. 

Building Drakolva¡¯s Most Feared Army 

After that fierce mock battle, Lord Ravin the Dark One and I, Vaoklin
Aridene went to the Falnd�0è1e Barracks Blacksmith, where they build 
and hold all the weapons of olde Fandaria¡¯s army. I went into the 
large building and Ravin lead me and held out his arm and said 
¡°Presenting, the Fandarian armoury. There are much here, and you can 
do whatever you like with it. Armour is made of steel, swords are 
forged from the finest metal, and bows are equipped with the finest 
quivers of arrows. You can almost find any weapon here!¡± 

¡°Hmm, how about armour? Our army is going to need the finest and
strongest armour of Drakolva, so you¡¯re going to need it. Fetch me a 
full plate mail, an elite helm, and an azure coloured cape!¡± I said. 
Right away, the workers of the Blacksmith ran to get the parts. After 
about five minutes, the workers were back with all the parts for this 
armour. 

Slowly, they dressed me into the armour. As they dressed me, my body
became heavier and heavier. The armour was pretty heavy, and I thought 
for a moment then. For armour so strong, you¡¯re going to need it to be 
much lighter, no? This metal was light yes, but it has to be lighter 
for the best movement. Once they finished, I looked into the mirror and 
saw myself; a powerful looking young man. Fearless, intimidating, 
Herculean, and handsome as women say. I drew my blade, which was still 
red from the fight. A worker fetched me a large shield for my left arm. 
Finally, I did look like a knight. I quickly ran around, having some 
trouble with my movement because of the weight of all of this. I was 
satisfied because I knew the protection of the armour is high, but the 
weight does not help. 

Later that day, I left the Faln palace and I went to the Royal Chemists.
I ordered them to forge a metal powerful as steel, but as light as a 
feather. They said to do this, there must be a lot of time, and I said 
that we do have a lot of time. They quickly started to work, mixing 
together formulas, engineering the most powerful metal this world has 
ever seen! I knew it was going to be hard, so may the God watch over 
them as they work. 

A few weeks later, my Chemists reported back to me as I sat on the
Throne of Humanity. They ran to me and cried ¡°Sir! We¡¯ve done it! The 
most beautiful and most powerful and most light metal in the world is 
in our hands!¡± He held out a sample bar for me. 

I reached out and grabbed it and indeed, it was very light. ¡°What do
you call this metal, Alchemist?¡± 

¡°We,¡± he announced, ¡°call it Liasten metal, meaning the impossible
metal in the language of the Tragans. This is as powerful as the metal 
¡®Tungsten¡¯ and as light as a feather. We¡¯ve done it!¡± 

¡°Congratulations Chemist. A special ceremony will be held in your
honour. Everyone in the world shall know about the new element of 
Liasten!¡± I got up and told my advisors and Lord Ravin about the 
metal. They were hesitant but when I gave them a bar of Liasten, they 
were stunned. 

¡°Impossible metal, certainly impressive,¡± said Ravin. He threw it up
in the air and caught it. ¡°Indeed, a ceremony for Liesten or Leesten 
must be held.¡± He threw it on the floor, hard. The metal bounced? And 
then it landed on the hard floor, nothing happened. 

¡°Liasten, Ravin.  Although the metal is powerful and light, we never
actually tested it out with weapons. We¡¯ll do this in front of 
everyone of the Human Empire, and they¡¯ll see the surprise of a 
lifetime!¡± 

¡°Will do, my F¨¹hrer,¡± he said. With that, he walked away from the
Throne room. Hmm, I thought. Could this really be the most precious new 
substance on this world? Nein, it couldn¡¯t be. I¡¯ve just got to see 
to believe. 

After waiting a few minutes, I got up from my throne and walked across
the carpeting slowly. I went to my balcony and I saw the faces of many 
citizens of Falnd�0è1e. They were cheering and cheering and I waved to 
them. Ravin, made this happen so quickly? There was a stage set up 
right by the palace and there was Ravin and his council. Ravin walked 
up to the podium and said ¡°Citizens of Falnd�0è1e and all of the 
Empire! Witness the birth of a new nation and new armoury!¡± He held up 
a bar of Liasten. ¡°Liasten is what this is called! Liasten is a word 
from a mixture of languages; the Densai language of the Tarkans and the 
Present Language. It means Impossible Metal because of its features; 
light as a feather and as powerful as a mountain.¡± 

Then, a powerful looking man entered the stage with a sword most likely
forged from Liasten metal. ¡°This,¡± said Ravin ¡°is a sword made from 
Liasten. Now, let¡¯s test it out, shall we?¡± He drew his sword made of 
steel and the man held up the Liasten sword. Ravin swung his sword with 
as much power as he had at the other sword and what a shock! His sword 
broke! The man with the sword pointed it at Lord Ravin. ¡°See this 
citizen? This is the metal of the God himself. Now, let¡¯s test its 
performance as armour.¡± 

An armoured knight and another armoured knight entered the large stage.
They drew their swords and fought each other. The first knight swung 
his sword at the second knight, and the second¡¯s knight sword broke! 
The second knight took of his helmet and I could tell that he was 
stunned. The first knight also took off his helmet and threw it on the 
ground and then stabbed his sword at the second knight¡¯s cuirass. His 
sword went right through the second knight¡¯s chest and the second 
knight fell onto his back, most reluctantly dead. 

People gasped in shock! The first knight pulled the sword from the
second knight¡¯s chest and held it up in the air. Ravin smiled and 
pointed at the first knight. ¡°This is what I call a Human Knight!¡± He 
looked at the young knight and asked him ¡°What¡¯s your name, son?¡± 

The young knight replied, ¡°My name is Beokaw Devan Shadowstalker, and I
am currently 14 years old.¡± 

Ravin smiled and said ¡°14 years old people! Fighting like a God, and as
young as that, all because of Liasten! There are some downs on the 
metal; although the metal can deflect ordinary swords and arrows, its 
weaknesses are great axes, magick, and hammers. But, the only ones who 
use great axes are Tragans and Dwarves. Magick and hammers are used by 
everyone but other than those flaws, Liasten armoury will make you 
powerful.¡± 

With that, the crowd roared with applause. After the ceremony, the
royals and I dined in the great hall. We had beef, and roasted chicken 
with many side dishes. As Ravin munched on his chicken thigh, he said 
¡°So Vaoklin, with this surplus of ¡®Liasten,¡¯ what shall we do with 
it other than armoury?¡± A few chicken bits fell out of his mouth as he 
spoke. Disgusted by his table manners, I coughed a little. 

¡°Well, my friend, we will make a great wall around the Empire to
protect our homeland. The labour will be required many citizens, but 
it¡¯s the only way we can build this wall to protect this area. With 
armoury, the elven swords and bows won¡¯t hurt us but their magick will 
be a bit of a bug, and the great axes of the Tragan-Densai will be a 
threat to us. Other tribes like the mountainous dwarves with their axes 
won¡¯t be a threat, and black-trolls won¡¯t be a threat either. We 
wouldn¡¯t have much to worry, my friend.¡± I took a big bite out of my 
chicken breast. If only I could¡¯ve tasted this when I was a simple 
mayor! Food like this is delicious among many ways and I savoured all 
the taste. The council ate and discussed military strategies and Ravin 
and I discussed our own strategies. ¡°Since we both are elemental 
skilled, would we use our skill in battle or do we keep this 
confidential?¡± 

¡°We should keep our skills secret until it is extremely necessary. I
heard that Kaiser Alfonso is also elemental skilled so we should keep 
our eye out for him.¡± He took another bite out of his chicken thigh 
and a piece of bone on the chicken fell onto his plate. 

¡°And remember when we discussed the pipe, powder and balls? My council
have talked about it and told me that it is indeed an excellent weapon. 
It is called a harquebus and it is very powerful and precise. The only 
cons about this weapon are that it can¡¯t fire in rain and it takes 
very long in reloading, perhaps that we should only replace some 
crossbowmen until the harquebus can fire in rain and is easier to 
reload.¡± I imagined the weapon. A man would carry the long handgun and 
pour in powder, slide a lead bullet down the barrel, pull the hammer, 
and fire the gun at his target. Oh God would that be smashing! 

I ordered the workers to mass produce Liasten materials and they obeyed.
Within a few months, the army were all fully armoured and lined up. Men 
and women alike were ready for battle and waiting for the General and 
my orders. My steed, Geiwetter, which means Thunder, who rode with me 
from the beginning Battle will ride with me today. This white steed is 
the fastest horse in the humanic area. I grabbed his reins and jumped 
on him. The powerful steed stood on two legs with his front two legs 
moving around as he growled. I drew mein new sword and held it up. On 
the sword, it says Vaoklin Aridene, F¨¹hrer of Humans in the old tribes 
writing. The soldiers also raised their weapons and did their own 
battle cry, along with the Lord Ravin armoured in black screaming like 
a Wildman on his black horse, Dunkel, which means Black. I rode 
Geiwetter to the highest point of the army rallying zone and yelled 
¡°Welcome to the army of the humans, my brethren! We will begin our 
long march to Tarka and Densai! We¡¯ve changed our plan; we will be 
attacking one area at a time. We will first go conquer Tarka and then 
carry on back to the forest and North to Densai. Beware of magick, 
great axes, and hammers! They will hurt! Begin marching!¡± With that, 
the large army of millions began marching West in ranks. 

I kept yelling out things as they marched to urge the army to fight,
fight, and fight! Ravin was experienced and he led the army into the 
great forest. I continued cheering the army on as they marched, and 
after a long time, the last row of soldiers marched into the forest and 
I quickly rode Geiwetter to the front of the line to catch up to Ravin. 
I thought of the young lad I remembered earlier as I rode. Will he be 
fighting with us or will he be here with his family? 

Welcome to the Black Forest of Drakolva 

Our large army marched through many small forests, some with creatures
called Faambees which are these strange birds with the colour of bees. 
They fluttered around us as we traveled through these small forests; 
North of the Lake of Strength. The lake itself was a crystal clear 
large body of water with fish, turtles, bugs, frogs, and menases. 
Menases were animals that have eight legs and are also known as the 
¡°water spider.¡± It eats fish, bugs, and frogs and its fangs are 
extremely dangerous to us humans. Behind us were the newly constructed 
bombards, which were cannons. We¡¯ve tested them and they worked fine; 
precision and power. 

We finally marched past the Lake of Strength and we rested for awhile
there. Before us, about three miles away was the beautiful Lake of 
Honour. We ate sandwiches composed of wheat bread, ham, and Fandarian 
chesses. For a food so simple, it is so delicious for a journey. A 
single bird flew above us and we knew it was time to keep going. Lord 
Ravin the Dark One climbed onto his steed and shouted ¡°It¡¯s time! We 
must march by Lake of Honour and to the village of Vanaese. There, we 
will rest until the next day and follow Honour River into the Black 
Forest of Drakolva.¡± 

Everyone became ready, all of the millions of troops. This place was¡­
so crowded while we ate but I still enjoyed the meal and the scenery. 
To the North of us was the great Sentinel Mountain. I always wanted to 
go there, and I know I will someday. So then, everyone got up and went 
into the long march line. We marched West and followed the Lake of 
Honour, similar to the Lake of Strength, but much more beautiful in a 
way that I can¡¯t say. We marched for hours, with the foot soldiers 
going ¡®left, right, left, right¡¯ and the steed¡¯s footsteps tapping. 
I was bored so I drew my harquebus, loaded it with the new gunpowder, 
loaded in a round bullet, pulled the hammer, and then shot it into the 
air with a loud BANG sound. Everyone drew their weapons shouting. But 
when the frontal troops saw the smoke coming from my gun, they were 
relieved. Lord Ravin stared at me with disgust and then we continued 
marching. I smiled innocently and blew the smoke out of the gun. 

We marched and marched until we finally crossed a large bridge and set
up camp by Vanaese. The villagers greeted us with food and we of 
course, said ¡°thank you.¡± The villagers of Vanaese set up tables and 
chairs into the field but they don¡¯t have enough food for everyone. 
Since our army was about a million soldiers, most of the people had to 
share. The villagers made as much food as they can; each house in the 
village making meals for at least ten. Eventually, the meals were 
cooked and the soldiers ate. 

We slept in pavilions that very night. Some slept in the local inns.
There were hundreds of thousands of pavilions set up around the lake. 
Most of the soldiers slept gracefully and I had trouble sleeping. Next 
to my cot was Lord Ravin¡¯s cot. He slept with thunderous snores and he 
tossed a lot. Well, our pavilion was large enough for a decent amount 
of folks but only Ravin and I slept in it. I kept thinking that night; 
what will happen to the soldiers? Would Liasten metal really work? Are 
we ready for this war? Questions and questions kept coming into my 
head. Maybe the soldiers were ready to fight, even the female ones, but 
I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready for a battle. After all, I was a simple mayor 
of a city not too long ago. 

The next day, the soldiers got up at the dawn. We put on our armours,
loaded our guns, and whetstone our swords. The millions of soldiers 
ranked up into lines and I got upon my Ro�0ë8, Geiwetter and Ravin got 
on his, Dunkel. After a short brief of time, the lines were finally 
formed and I drew my sword and pointed it in front of me and shouted 
¡°Forward!¡± 

With that, the soldiers saluted and yelled out ¡°Hail my F¨¹hrer!¡± and
then began marching. ¡°Thump, thump, thump!¡± the soldiers feet go. I 
grinned and Ravin ignored but continued to lead. Perhaps he was still 
angry that an army of peasants, merchants, and farmers destroyed his 
once glory of a kingdom, Fandaria. I of course was very proud that day 
and will never forget it. But, forget that for now and get back to this 
story. I was leading a powerful army! 

We marched and marched that day. Birds flew above us, deer staring at us
and then hopping away, the wind blew along side us, many glorious 
things of our powerful new empire. We slowly approached the great 
forest; a forest full of wild animals, great trees, and much, much 
more! Finally, we were at the border of our home and the great forest. 
The army stopped marching and stood before the Forest of Drakolva. 
Before us was the construction site of the new Serpent Wall that will 
be made from Liasten. This wall will defend us from intruders and is 
guaranteed to last in battles. It is expected to be finished when we 
come back from the war. Ravin shouted ¡°Move forward!¡± 

And so, we went into the forest. After about a mile into the forest, it
became dark. Now we know how it got its name the Black Forest! We 
traveled along the river as we went deeper and deeper into the forest. 
The trail of the river finally ended and then we were in the middle of 
the Black Forest of Drakolva. Suddenly, we heard some kind of laughing 
nearby; deep laughing, like from a forest beast of some sort. The laugh 
was loud and intimidating; the soldiers trembled. Faambees flying by us 
suddenly disappeared. The laughing was getting closer and closer. 

Thump. 

We stood there. Some soldiers readied their guns. 

Thump. 

The ground started to shake. The laughing was unbearable now! Even I
started to shake. I took out my harquebus, poured gunpowder down the 
barrel, loaded the cartridge and prepared to fire. Crossbowmen readied 
their crossbows and doppelsoldners drew their zweihanders. 

Thump. 

A nearby tree collapsed. I suddenly knew what was coming; a forest
giant. Usually, these creatures are friendly but they get frightened 
when a crowd of this many comes into its territory. 

Thump. 

The laughing was loud and ear piercing. We stood there as the giant
arrived at the scene. The giant was enormous! He towered above us with 
a large log of a fallen tree in his right hand as a club. He stopped 
laughing and roared! 

Thump. It seems like his friends came with him. Two more giants holding
their own clubs stomped towards us. The first giant grunted and the 
giants attacked us! One swung his club right at the first ten rows of 
the army! The soldiers ran for their dear lives. Some fired their 
crossbows; it pierced the hide of the giants but it just made them 
angrier. They slammed their clubs at the army and I caught Ravin nearby 
screaming ¡°Idjits! Use the cannon! Do it before we are all killed!¡± 

The men and women of the army screamed. The gunners loaded the cannon
and prepared to fire. ¡°Hurry, hurry!¡± shouted Ravin as he fired his 
gun at the giants. The giants somehow were afraid of the loud noise of 
his gun. They screamed in horror and swung their clubs wildly. This 
killed many; soldiers were on the floor, some were crushed, some were 
split in two by the clubs. 

The cannons were finally ready to fire. They aimed the cannon right at
one of the giant¡¯s head. ¡°Ready, aim, fire!!¡± and the cannons went 
off. The cannon balls flew with a bang. One hit a giant at the abdomen 
and he screamed in pain. The cannon ball went right into him. He 
dropped his club and the earth shook. This killed a few more of our 
fellow comrades. The giant then tipped over and fell on a crowd of 
soldiers that quickly scattered before he landed on them. 

I rode Geiwetter as quickly as possible to another giant that was
retreating from die Kanonenkugel which is a cannon ball. As Geiwetter 
approached the running giant, I jumped onto his arm, clinging on the 
thumb. He saw me and shook his arm with force and I fought to stay on. 
Seeing that this is useless, he swung his hand at a tree. The tree 
split in half and I of course was hit. I howled in pain but I hung on 
to the giant. I slowly climbed up his arm and up his shoulder. I stood 
up and drew my gun and quickly loaded it before the giant did anything 
else for me to fall off and break my back. I then pulled the hammer and 
aimed it at the giant¡¯s ear. I pulled the trigger and ¡°Blam!¡± 

The bullet hit his ear and the giant roared in pain. I withdrew my gun
and slid down the giant¡¯s arm and onto Geiwetter. I rode a few yards 
away and watched the giant as he covered the ear I hit and hearing his 
ear piercing screams. He wobbled for a moment and collapsed. The earth 
shook and I fell off Geiwetter. I quickly recovered and looked at my 
soldiers around me. I pointed at the giant and they charged fiercely 
stabbing at the giant. That giant was dead. 

I climbed up Geiwetter and looked for Ravin. He and several other
soldiers threw a net at the last giant which seized him completely. The 
giant then fell as the soldiers pulled on the net. They quickly fired 
their guns at the giant and the giant became unconscious. The soldiers 
then drew their s�0è1bels and stabbed the giant. I know the barbarian 
words make the story confusing but you¡¯ll get it. 

Anyways, the giant gave one final scream and died. Ravin took off his
helmet and wiped his sweaty forehead. ¡°Whew!¡± he said. ¡°That was 
Hell of a fight, don¡¯t you agree soldiers?¡± 

¡°Yes my leader!¡± said the soldiers. The voices consisted of male and
female voices. They raised their swords and cheered. Ravin smiled and 
joined them. I voluntarily did the same. Although we lost about thirty 
soldiers, we still have hundreds of thousands more. Our cheers made 
echoes throughout the entire forest. 

That night, we held a funeral service for the dearly departed soldiers
that were killed during the situation that happened that day. Their 
corpses were put into sargs and a few soldiers were ordered to take 
them to Faln and bury them. On a large wagon, they placed the caskets 
on it and off they went. We held our helmets, closed our eyes, and had 
a moment of silence for the soldiers. ¡°May the God watch over their 
souls,¡± I said. Today was the sight of horror. I knew the message sent 
to me by the demon of the dead. ¡°Welcome to the Black Forest of 
Drakolva.¡± 

Into the Ruins of Thracks 

We continued our march to Tarka. They are yet to know that we will
attack them and Densai¡¯s Tragans won¡¯t know what happened after our 
next attack. The marching now seemed quicker than the marching before. 
Losing soldiers was hard enough but continuing this march? I just 
couldn¡¯t stand that much marching. Ravin told me that we are going to 
the Ruins of Thracks in the South of the forest to pay our respects, 
and to take camp there. The Ruins were beautiful but there are still 
many skeletons there that laid there for a long time. 

So, we were marching and marching and then an arrow flies at us out of
nowhere! ¡°Shield Wall formation!¡± shouts Ravin while raising a sword. 
The arrow hit a soldier but she, yes she, was unharmed from the power 
of her armour. The formation came and the lines closed with a fortress 
of large tower shields with the weapons pointing forward. Now more and 
more arrows flew at us and most of the arrows were useless. From loud 
annoyed cries in the distance, fire arrows started to rain upon us! Now 
we were in trouble. Although the arrows didn¡¯t harm the soldiers, the 
fire did. One arrow flew at me but I deflected it with my round shield. 


¡°I see a ranger!¡± shouts a soldier as he pointed at someone in green
with a bow and a quiver of arrows. 

¡°Attack!¡± I shout and the soldiers spread out to hunt down the
ambushers. Apparently, these ambushers didn¡¯t know that our army was 
very big. They thought that we were just a single platoon since we 
divided our army when we marched. The other platoon right behind us 
marched and the Lieutenant in control of the platoon stopped it and 
ordered an attack as well. The soldiers went to go hunt down these 
soldiers and a fight began. Arrows were flying, guns were going off, 
but not the cannons. Using the cannons would be too dangerous with the 
soldiers scattering. 

Ravin dismounted and charged towards the enemies who were either in
trees or hiding somewhere in the forest. I drew my harquebus and loaded 
it with the powder and the ball. Once the entire process was finished, 
I fired it at one of the enemies. The fire nearly scared him to death 
and the bullet nearly killed him. Then I withdrew my gun and dismounted 
Geiwetter and drew my sword and officially joined the fight. I ran 
quickly since my armour is very light but very powerful. I caught one 
of the enemies retreating with a bow in his right hand and a hatchet in 
his left. He was not armoured and so he was vulnerable especially with 
my Liasten sword. I swung my sword at his hip and it literally sliced 
him in two. With a cry of agony, he died and the blood stained my 
armour. 

¡°These archers apparently did not know the size of our army. Once they
saw more platoons coming in, they began their retreat. We will find 
them and execute them all. We lost a few but still in single digits, 
but they are still precious soldiers and we will mourn them. We will 
bury them here in this sacred forest ground and may the spirits of the 
Forest of Drakolva watch them for all eternity. Rausnt ene Paeca.¡± 
Rausnt ene Paeca meant rest in peace in Drakolvan. 

The men and women who died were buried and honoured by the platoon. We
rested the whole day with the pavilions set up. The entire army of a 
large number rested with food and water. We camped at the Ruins of 
Thracks; the beautiful ruins of the great city that was conquered. Many 
buildings were ruined and only one remained standing. That building was 
the Temple of Gods. The Temple of Gods could easily be spotted; it was 
to the side of the former palace which completely crumbled. The temple 
had a great dome on the top of it with stained glass windows. Each wall 
also had a few stain glassed windows with heavenly figures on it. I 
opened the double-doors in front of the temple and went inside. The 
interior of the temple was eerily silent and very dark. Then, a voice 
startled me. ¡°Aridene!¡± 

I looked over my shoulder. It was Lord Ravin Drox. He had his helmet off
and it showed his sweaty face. ¡°What are you doing here in the Temple 
of Gods?¡± 

¡°Well, nothing. I haven¡¯t been here in ages and the last time I was
here, I never came into the great Temple of Gods. So, I take it that I 
should come here for a visit.¡± 

¡°I seriously think that you should reconsider. The temple is a very
dangerous place and I hear it¡¯s haunted. The skeletons and the spirits 
of the people inside the temple still haunt this place after they died 
during the fall of Thracks. They say that the temple was destroyed 
before and it somehow rebuilt itself. So, I suggest you go back to 
camp,¡± he said. He looked serious and scared simultaneously. 

¡°Oh, I believe I will. You see, I don¡¯t believe in ghosts or zombies.
I¡¯m just going to head in with a torch and explore the recesses of the 
temple. So if you don¡¯t like it, then to hell with you. But if you¡¯re 
worried about my safety, you might as well just come with me.¡± 

He looked nervous. ¡°Um, I, uh, guess I will, um, come with you. Let me,
uh, get a torch. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± 

Ravin came back a moment later with a lit torch. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±
So in we went, and the torch barely lit up the room. The room was a 
very large as a matter of fact and there was some kind of chandelier on 
the floor of the room that could be raised by a chain. Ravin shrugged 
and lit the chandelier and I pulled the chain hard and the chandelier 
went up and up. Now, the room looked clear. There were paintings of 
Gods and there was a sacred altar at the end of the room. It looked a 
lot like a church. 

Suddenly, the room shook and there were sounds of some sort of great
evil in the room. From the benches of this room, the seats opened up 
and revealed several bodies of the former civilians of Thracks. They 
got up and started walking toward us. They were undead! ¡°Run for it!¡± 
I shouted at Ravin and he nodded. 

We ran towards the door but it was shut tight! It looked like we were
going to die. So then, I drew my sword and prepared for battle and 
Ravin did the same. ¡°This is for the spirits of our fallen!¡± Ravin 
shouted and charged at the zombies. There were about 50 but I knew that 
there were a lot more than that. The zombies proved to show no 
potential threat to us; since they barely hurt us, but they were hard 
to kill, or re-kill. I slashed and stabbed at the zombies. Most lost 
their limbs but got up and continued attacking us. Ravin collapsed at 
the flood of the many zombies and dropped his sword so then his energy 
rose and he became a great ball of blue energy surrounded by sparks of 
lightning. 

He was in his elemental form. Instantly, the zombies fell down and
probably were re-killed. I watched in shock as Ravin expressed his 
power at the zombies. After another moment, the zombies were all 
destroyed and the great door instantly opened. He went back to his 
normal form and was panting. ¡°I say¡­ We get out of here and never 
return.¡± 

We went out of the temple and looked back. The temple was still in its
great shape. We turned and headed back to camp. In camp, most were 
eating and some were just relaxing under a few trees. We sat down on 
the seats by the main table and began eating. ¡°We still have a large 
army, Ravin. We can get to Tarka and conquer it. All we need is a good 
rest, and great strategy and we will take over great Tarka. I¡¯ve an 
idea after we take over Tarka. We should put the elves there into 
internment camps or better yet¡­ death camps! These petty elves won¡¯t 
be any use to us for we shall make this creature infested Drakolva into 
a human Drakolva! We are the master race!¡± 

¡°Your will be done, my F¨¹hrer. Anything you say will be done even if
we have to move Heaven and Earth,¡± said Ravin. He then picked up his 
mug and stood up. With a spoon, he tapped his mug and you should 
believe me, it was loud. The sound of the mug literally got everyone¡¯s 
attention and Ravin cleared his throat and began. ¡°The might of the 
Human army is powerful! We are Lerona¡¯s Fandarian army and we will, 
and I mean we will conquer Drakolva! This will be the Human races 
greatest year and the brightest generation! We are the Humans! We have 
the superior minds, the more powerful weapons, and the strongest will. 
We will succeed! And now, here is your F¨¹hrer, Vaoklin Aridene!¡± 

I smiled at the army and breathed the air of its glory. ¡°Good day to
you soldiers! Today is the day where we officially begin the Great War! 
When we succeed in conquering Tarka, we shall enslave their elves if 
necessary and maybe use some of them as guidance to our enemies in the 
Densai lands of the Tragans. We humans emigrated from far away lands 
long ago and when we immigrated here, we were total strangers to the 
races that lived here. Then, later, elves came to this land. Although 
some humans and elves got along, most hated each other. We speak the 
same language now but we are enemies. The Tarkan lands shall fall to us 
and we will then expand the empire even more by destroying the Densai 
Tragans. We will then explore the new lands discovered by an anonymous 
navigator and then once again expand our empire. Prepare for the 
greatest empire ever come forth to any lands!¡± 

The soldiers cheered and soon enough after they finished eating, they
went to their tents to rest. 

The next day, we awoke early in the morning. We marched away from
Thracks. I looked back at the ruins and the temple gave me a shiver in 
my spine. Then suddenly, we heard a horn. A rain of arrows came from a 
distance ahead. ¡°Shields up!¡± shouted a lieutenant and everyone 
raised their shields. After about a minute after the arrows were 
bouncing off our shields, we saw an army ahead¡­ And they were using 
magic. 

The First Battle at the Hills of Thracks 

A shout from Ravin announced our battle formation of the ¡°Foot soldiers
first, then missile, then cavalry.¡± It was quickly performed by the 
first division but the second division was still behind. I took off my 
helmet and looked ahead. Their army; probably about an army of 6,000 
stood in battle ready formations. ¡°How did they know where to find 
us?¡± I asked. 

Ravin looked ahead. ¡°I believe we have a spy in our lines who warned
one of the villages while we were still in the ruins of Thracks. Now we 
are at the hills erecting the first battle of the war. But, remember 
our Liasten technology. The arrows hardly made a dent. We only lost a 
few because of their carelessness of looking ahead and getting shot in 
the eyes. But no worries, we will win this battle.¡± He smirked. ¡°I 
wonder how the King of Tarka would look after we destroy one of his 
legions! This will be quite a fight that I will enjoy and I hope you 
will too.¡± 

I laughed. ¡°I hope that I score more kills than you, Ravin.¡± I drew my
sword and he did the same. ¡°Alas, we will play our game of kills. The 
more you kill the better. Onwards to battle my friend, let¡¯s charge!¡± 


¡°All right, to battle Comrades!¡± shouted Ravin as he raced towards the
enemy on Dunkel and I followed with my horse Geiwetter. We charge to 
battle and our army followed. As we charged, we saw that there were 
many archers. That was their strategy; destroy us with rains of arrows! 
But, that won¡¯t work. Then we soon realized that they had ballista 
weapons with them! Those giant crossbows will give us some trouble and 
we might suffer some casualties. 

I heard a male voice and soon another storm of arrows came showering
upon us. I covered my face with my shield so no arrows could go through 
the vision area. The other arrows were just ricocheting off my armour 
and the horse¡¯s armour as well. This brought a shock to the elves. But 
they¡¯re imbeciles who actually think they could win and so they 
charged at us with war cries from men and women. I raised an arm and 
signaled the missile weapons to come forth. Within seconds, gunmen and 
crossbowmen formed lines. The hand to hand melee soldiers stopped and 
marched back in line. Ravin blew a horn and hell unleashed. BLAM! 
Blasted the guns¡­. WHOOSH! Whistled from the bolts and soon, the 
Tarkan army fell row by row. Then, one of the lesser generals arrived 
with crews of cannon and grenadiers. The grenadiers threw explosives 
far into the air towards the enemy as the cannons blasted the 
projectiles and sent elves flying. 

Soon enough, the hand to hand combat melee soldiers got some action in
charging. I dismounted Geiwetter and looked at a young elf staring at 
me with his green eyes pointing his sharp elfin blade at me. He swung 
his sword at my neck and it literally cracked. His green eyes widened 
as he looked at his blade in horror and I smiled and lunged my sword 
into his abdomen. He fell down in pain as I pulled the sword out of 
him. Ravin was next to me as he destroyed enemies with a simple swing 
of his own shield which knocked them out and then cutting their neck 
right after. I then continued fighting; slashing, lunging, bathing in 
the blood of the enemy. Non humans, I thought. More fun to kill 
although not really a challenge. 

Everywhere, cries of agony and dying groan sounds. Elves were
dismembered, decapitated, or just stabbed as they died. As we barely 
destroyed the first legion that came upon us, there was the Tarkan flag 
being waved ahead at these Hills of Thracks. There was a sign with them 
as well which said the Fourth Legion. I knew this army belonged to an 
elfin general named Frances¡­ something that I cannot recall. This was 
one of the most famous legions of the Tarkan army; one of the ones who 
used magic to destroy the enemies. 

As they marched towards us, we finished off the first legion. A familiar
horn blew and a rain of arrows came upon us; barely scratching our 
armour. Cannon blasted the projectiles towards them which made holes in 
their army. Explosives sent the legion with fear of death and loud 
noise. Certainly they don¡¯t fear losing a limb or two, do they? 
Anyhow, the sorceresses arrived along with mages and priests. The elfin 
priests healed injured soldiers while the sorceresses and mages sent 
magical energy waves to attack. ¡°Alright soldiers. Prepare to fight 
the Fourth Legion; one of the most feared legions in all of the Tarkan 
army! General Frances will be waiting for us shortly as we fight his 
army. Their weapons may not harm you but their magic will! There is no 
way for you to protect yourself against the magic but hurry and charge 
before they start. There magic has a splash effect which harms everyone 
within range so if we get close, it will hurt their own soldiers as 
well.¡± I said. ¡°Now, charge quickly before they actually do some 
damage to our glorious army!¡± 

The army was like a tidal wave which quickly reached the Fourth Legion.
Their shields cracked as our army jumped at them. The swords clashed as 
they fought. Then, the magic attacks came from the mages and the 
sorceresses. VHOOM! The sounds of their coloured energy attacks went. 
Blue energy attacks came from mages as green ones came from the 
sorceresses. That almost destroyed the entire battalion as Ravin¡¯s 
regiment came marching in behind us. Then they charge at us as Ravin 
stayed behind and watched. Ravin grew huger and began glowing. He was 
becoming his elemental stage of lightning. He became a great elemental 
monster and charged at the enemies, zapping them to death. They 
exploded right after they were struck and I knew I should do the same. 
As charisma built in my body, I began transforming into my fiery 
elemental stage. And soon I was hurling fire balls at enemy spell 
casters and trapping them in fire walls like a jail. 

Ravin became trapped as he fought deeper into the large legion. His
energy covered sword sparked as he swung it into his enemies causing a 
shocking death. Then, more and more came upon him. He roared in fury 
and raised his arms and a ring of lightning came out of him destroying 
everyone around him. Flames came from my mouth which was my 
flamethrower attack which melted my enemies into a pool of death, 
sending them into the world beneath. Many of our soldiers just watched 
and admired our powers to destroy the enemies as we did¡­ a dark and 
eerie pleasure we received from all this. Ravin shows his darkness as 
he destroyed his enemies with no mercy. ¡°How many did you kill?¡± I 
asked Ravin. I noticed my voice was very low and godlike. 

His voice was similar to mine,¡° I killed about six hundred fifty-three.
What about you?¡± 

¡°Ah, I killed too many that I didn¡¯t even count. I¡¯ll just count this
as a draw,¡± I said. He smirked and continued fighting. 

The spell casters slew many of our fine soldiers; some who were going to
go home to their family and some with no family. I was angry and I 
shown no mercy. I killed any one who surrendered right away and fought 
with such rage that even Ravin became a little nervous. One of my most 
famous attacks during this battle was my fire nova which was the ring 
of fire which burned my enemies to death. Eventually we came across 
General Frances. The General was a tall and handsome elf with long 
blonde hair, blue eyes, and a goatee. I couldn¡¯t tell how old he was 
since these kinds of elves do live forever if they were healthy. They 
could only die if it is a severe disease, thirst, hunger, or combat.  
He bowed down to me. ¡°Vaoklin Aridene¡­¡± Then he was kicked onto the 
floor by one of my elites. 

¡°That¡¯s ¡®my F¨¹hrer¡¯ or sir to you, elfin scum! Never speak of the
F¨¹hrer as his name unless you are a high ranking official or a close 
friend or relative of him,¡± snarled the Elite. 

The elf coughed and got up. ¡°Sir, have you no shame? What did we do to
deserve this slaughter? We Tarkan elves never did anything wrong to 
offend you. My brethren have always been kind and loyal and we get 
repaid like this.¡± He coughed again. ¡°Please, stop this madness and 
return home. His majesty King Alfonso Windstorm will deal with you if 
you continue this. If you continue fighting, you will pray to have the 
mercy of the King, as he is very merciful. I¡¯ve nothing against the 
humans, nothing at all. I have many children, all girls. Please don¡¯t 
do anything evil and cruel.¡± 

Ravin slapped him right in the face. ¡°This is our will, our destiny,
our new empire. Since you are begging us to surrender, you will die!¡± 
He drew his sword. 

¡°Stop!¡± I cried and grabbed his arm. ¡°We could use him to guide us
around Tarka. We might need him to help us get to the capital.¡± 

He nodded. ¡°Good idea, Vaoklin. Alright, you will be our guide. And if
you do not help us, we will slay your soldiers; each order you defy 
means another soldier dead.¡± The elf nodded in shame. 

Later that day, we counted our casualties: about four hundred dead. We
still have hundreds of thousands more and more elves to slay. I took a 
nice piece of wood by a tree in one of the hills and wrote Thracks 
Internment Camp. We made poor shelters out of wood for the captured 
elves and the villagers in a nearby village. With sharp wires, the 
workers sealed in the camp so that no elves could escape. We called it 
barbaned waere or barbed wire. We shaved the heads of all the captured 
elves each with knives. We thought that was too tiring so we connected 
to knives together with a screw and two circular areas where are 
fingers could go through and each time we opened and closed it, it made 
a SNIP sound. So we used that to shave the elf heads whom each had long 
brown, red, or blonde hair. 

After a fortnight, there were piles of silky elfin hair and many hungry
elves. I don¡¯t know what they eat but we gave them what they had in 
the villages and they quickly devoured it. I think we fed them odd 
varieties of fruit and meat from animals I haven¡¯t even heard of. We 
forged new helmets out of Liasten which only covered the top part of 
the head, the back, and the sides of the head. It looked very strange 
indeed, like some kind of futuristic soldier¡¯s helmet. We called it 
the guard¡¯s helm since only the internment guards used them. 

Since our technology was developing fast, while we were still in
Thracks, we retired the old harquebuses and began using the newly 
invented musket after one of the soldiers said that the gun was too 
inaccurate and used too much powder. With the musket, it was a lot more 
accurate and used only a little less powder. We gave the internment 
guards to use muskets with another new weapon attached to it known as 
the ¡®bayonet.¡¯ It was a long knife attached at the end of the musket. 
The gun sounds always gave fear to the elves and that¡¯s what we 
wanted: fear. Now the first internment camp has been created and more 
and more will be created. This was the era of us; the humans. 

Waging Total War 

Now, remember I said that all the elves in Tarka had long hair? Well,
that won¡¯t be true later on. We gathered the former General Frances¡¯s 
hair and we cut it off with a standard issued knife. I watched as Ravin 
cut it off. The elf was screaming in pain and soon, the twenty-five 
inch ponytail was off. It was then burned after I snapped my fingers 
and fire appeared on my hand. Then we shaved his head with scissors. 
Piles of hair fell to the ground and then it was burned. This showed 
that Frances was no longer a free elf. With him now bald, we marched 
into villages and the elves looked at him in horror; seeing that one of 
the most respected generals was now a slave among humans. Well, we did 
the same to those villagers and sent them into internment camps. 

We took the food and supplies from the towns, imprisoned the elves and
burned the town. This is what we called ¡®Total War¡¯ since we 
destroyed everything the towns once owned. Ravin always despised elves 
and so I gave him complete control of the tortures of the elves. 
Torture always gave him sick pleasure. Soon we built more internment 
camps with their own unique names: Ravin¡¯s Hate, Vaoklin¡¯s Will, 
Elfin Fate, and many others. Now all elves feared us as we went our way 
towards the Capital. What was the name? Tarkai was it? I don¡¯t really 
care, but soon, it shall be ashes. 

We came across another elfin town but this one was bigger. A bell rang
and the town¡¯s legion came forth to challenge us. I sat back and 
relaxed as this was another pathetic attempt with few magic and mostly 
physical damage. A general whistled and the elves charged. The 
musketeers; soldiers that we called who used muskets, went into a new 
formation of lines. These formations meant the first two rows fires and 
then goes to the back and then next two rows fire and then so on and so 
forth. I thought that these formations wouldn¡¯t be very successful, 
but these rapidly produced musket and the musketeer themselves proved 
this to be a great formation. It quickly destroyed the elves. 

As I watched, the field began to be drenched in blood. There were few
elves left in the militia, and the general surrendered. My army showed 
no mercy; my general¡¯s musketeers shot them all. They fell down and 
instantly died. ¡°My F¨¹hrer, the battle is won. Now we shall go 
ransack the villages and burn it. Oh yes, I almost forgot, sir, a boy 
is here to see you,¡± said the general. 

A teenaged boy showed up in my pavilion. ¡°Sir, remember me from the
tests of the Liasten impossible metal?¡± 

I stared at him blankly, studying him. He had dirty blonde hair, gray
eyes, tall for his age, and he looked pretty tough. He would be a great 
soldier some day. ¡°Sir?¡± asked he. 

¡°Oh! Yes, I remember you. You are Devan Shadowstalker aren¡¯t you?¡± 

¡°Yes, sir, I am. I am your new messenger boy! I will deliver messages
for you from town to town and I even deliver them to the Empire itself. 
This should exercise me for when I become a soldier.¡± 

¡°You will make a fine soldier, young lad. Keep training and soon you
can fight along side us. In one year, you can join the army by either 
being in the new musketeer corps, the melee madness, the courageous 
cavalry, or the great navy. Which would you prefer?¡± 

¡°I prefer the new musketeer corps. I saw them fight today; so fast and
so powerful. I¡¯m even afraid that they will replace the entire army!¡± 
exclaimed Devan. 

¡°Ah, even I¡¯m afraid that could be. Ravin prefers them over our other
soldiers and I too, prefer them. Now, my boy, please deliver this 
message to the lands of Lerona, my ancestor¡¯s lands. Please tell them 
to send the blackbirds, and quickly arm them. That will be our new air 
force. An air force is the army in the air, and to combat the elves, we 
will use blackbirds. I know that elves also have an air fleet of some 
kind of two headed flying drake that breathes fire. Kind of like a 
lizard version of me. Go now, lad. Make me proud.¡± I gave him a note. 

¡°Yes sir,¡± said Devan and he ran off. I got up and watched him mount
on his horse and away he rode. 

The blackbird project will be one of my finest achievements. The weapons
are the new organ guns; weapons that hold many muskets. One person 
pilots the bird while the other shoots. One can do both but that is 
very challenging. I just hope that the birds won¡¯t be clumsy. 

The next day, we got up early in the morning. We were following along
side the ¡°X Marks the Spot¡± river. Its namesake doesn¡¯t mean 
anything but that the river is in a shape of an ¡°X.¡± We marched, 
burned towns, shaved heads, built internment camps, and destroyed 
militia. ¡°After we get to the centre of the ¡®X river¡¯, we will march 
north past the ¡®Great River¡¯ to an area where we will build a fort, a 
safe distance away from Tarkai, the capital, and a good place to 
receive supplies and reinforcements,¡± announced Ravin as we looked up 
at the highest point of a village. ¡°I believe our F¨¹hrer has 
something to say as well.¡± 

I certainly did. ¡°I am very proud of all of you soldiers. We may still
have a large army, but do not underestimate the capital city. They have 
Drakolva¡¯s best spell casters and a great leader. We must not falter 
as we are getting closer to Tarkai. They have an army as the same size 
as ours, but we have the greater weaponry! Our Liasten metal is greater 
than their iron or steel, so remember to not fear the physical damage 
elves. Just watch out for the spell casters. And once we arrive in 
Tarkai, I have a little surprise waiting for them.¡± 

Applause from the soldiers and then we got back in line to march to the
area of a new fortification. I looked in my map of Drakolva and saw 
that there was a great city that was pretty close to our area for a 
fort. It was Agasa, which held the Second Legion; the greatest of all 
legions and second to the King¡¯s Legion. I hear that legion has the 
brightest soldiers and use a metal that was very similar to ours, but 
much heavier. But, I¡¯m not worried. Unless they have an elemental 
warrior such as Ravin and I, there was really nothing to worry about. 

Soon, we crossed the Great River. It was known as the Great River
because it covered a great distance and was the longest river in 
Drakolva and maybe the world itself. It was also very wide, but we were 
lucky to find a bridge. Then, the ground shook. 

Battles to Agasa 

There were four flying lizard drakes or known as the drakulans of
different colours. Drakulans were similar to dragons but they were much 
smaller. And now, we combat them for the very first time. 

¡°Lord Ravin!¡± I shouted. 

¡°I¡¯m right here, Vaoklin!¡± came the voice of Ravin. He had a
bayoneted musket in his hands. Next to him were unarmed cannons. ¡°Arm 
the cannons! Get the powder and the cannon balls! We have ourselves a 
hot situation and we need your cooperation!¡± 

Quickly, the gun crew deployed the cannons, sponged the large barrels,
powdered and loaded it, burned the fuse and the projectiles soared with 
a bang. Unfortunately, only one hit. The cannon hit one of the 
drakulans in the chest and it went straight through! It roared in pain 
and the Tarkan elf who piloted it fell down, dead. The drakulan coughed 
and closed its eyes and fell down, also dead. 

¡°Use the cannons and the other powdered weapons! Crossbowmen, fire your
crossbows! Musketeers, your muskets! Gun crew, cannons! Everyone else 
stay back or find a missile weapon and help us destroy these beasts!¡± 
shouted Ravin. He then pulled the hammer of his musket, aimed at one of 
the drakulans, and fired. It hit the drakulan and it grunted in agony. 
The musketeers did the same and aimed for the wings. Immediately, there 
were holes all over the leathery wings. These elves don¡¯t know the 
meaning of hauberk do they? 

The drakulan blew fire at the soldiers and I quickly got the burst of
charisma I needed to get into my elemental stage. I shielded the fire 
away from my soldiers as the missile soldiers attacked these drakulans. 
One musketeer hit the pilot of one of the drakulans and he fell down. 
He was injured so the other musketeers ran towards him and stabbed him 
with their bayonets. 

Soon after, all the drakulans and their riders were killed. One of my
lieutenants told me why they weren¡¯t fully armed. ¡°You see, my 
F¨¹hrer that these riders are just beginners. Look at that elf, he 
certainly is very young. I don¡¯t think any of the drakulan riders know 
about our invasion yet, but we must be careful. I know of your 
surprise, sir, and I do think that it would work. There¡¯s one thing 
you should know about the blackbirds: they can spit out acid. The acid 
will bring a painful help to us and will destroy the enemy towns and 
the enemy very quickly.¡± 

¡°Yes, lieutenant, I do know that they can do that. But combat between
these drakulans and our blackbirds would be hard too. The rear gunner 
would obviously protect the rear while the front will control where the 
bird will go and where to spit acid. The acid they spit isn¡¯t as 
accurate as fire balls, so it would be a challenge to defeat these 
drakulans.¡± 

¡°Then the best of luck to all of us,¡± said the lieutenant. He walked
away to the other officers and began talking to them, probably about my 
plan. 

We buried the fallen and honoured them. However, few died but it was
more of a tragedy. More deaths meant a statistic to me but when only a 
few to one dies, I feel saddened. But they were soldiers, and they need 
to fight to the death if necessary for our cause of building a powerful 
empire. 

So then we continued our journey to the area that we will settle and
plan the siege of the capital. After a long day¡¯s march, we were here. 
I see why Ravin chose this spot to build a fort. It was surrounded by 
woods where we can chop¡­ wood, animals what we could and elves for 
prisoners and guidance. We chopped wood to build a wall to surround the 
area and buildings where we could store things and dorms where soldiers 
can sleep. Fort Tarkai, the first fort of the Human Empire, which was 
true. Suddenly, as we were continuing construction of the fort, fire 
arrows came out of nowhere and shot the wood which burned it. Then they 
came burning the soldiers in their hot hauberks which they would just 
burn to death or take off the armour and then still die from the 
arrows. 

¡°To arms!¡± I shouted as I grabbed a musket, my sword and my shield.
The arrows were coming from the woods surrounding us and since it was 
their land, they knew just where to hide. ¡°Tight formation, boys and 
girls! No openings and make it tight like the namesake!¡± 

The formation meant that all the shield wielders will close together and
form a small fortress of shields so no arrows could get through. 
Finally, after the raining of hundreds of fire arrows, it was eerily 
silent. Then, from the sky, a burning stone crashed down upon our 
unfinished fortress like a meteor, which burned the area of the new 
dorms. ¡°Loose formation!¡± shouted Ravin. The soldiers then spread 
apart so that if any stone crushes a soldier, it will just be one and 
not a handful of fine soldiers. 

¡°Into the woods!¡± shouted a general and the soldiers charged into the
surrounding areas of trees and animals. They were wearing green; green 
armour, tunics, etcetera. There were also many women who were usually 
archers. 

¡°Loose!¡± shouted a female voice and it made the woods begin to burn.
Of course, they were in the area in the back as their bows have great 
range. 

¡°Forward! We aren¡¯t getting any closer standing here. Charge!¡± I
shouted. 

¡°No!¡± hollered Ravin. ¡°Soldiers, back away! We will use cannon on
them!¡± I then knew what he wanted. Either the projectiles of the 
cannon will frighten the elves or will send them flying to a bloody 
death. 

BOOM! The cannons roared in fury which made the ground shake from each
explosion. Screams from the elves were heard and then we chased them. 
We knew that they were really fast runners so we sent the musketeer 
corps after them, since they were the least armoured and the most 
armed. BLAM! The blasts from the muskets killed many elves, and they 
killed more until the surviving elves were out of sight. 

¡°Just great,¡± I snorted. ¡°This will take us a while to fix. General
Octavius!¡± One of the generals came running to me. 

¡°Yes sir!¡± ¡°You are now in charge of this project of building a
successful and powerful fortress. Ravin and I will be going to Agasa 
with three quarters of the soldiers while the remaining soldiers will 
be with you as they build the fortress. If the fortress is not finished 
by the time we come back, you will lose your position, your family, and 
your head. Is that understood, general?¡± 

¡°Yes sir! I will do my best to please my F¨¹hrer!¡± 

¡°Good then, carry on.¡± And so he did. He ordered the lumberjacks to
cut more wood, the hunters to gather more food, and the builders to 
build faster increasing labour and pay. Octavius was a bright general 
and a leader. He was once a mayor of a city in Fandaria, and now one of 
my best generals. 

¡°Vaoklin!¡± said Ravin. ¡°I hear that we will plan an attack on the
city of Agasa, is that correct?¡± 

¡°Aye, it is. We must take that city. The strategists in there will be
our major captives but we will kill every soldier that they have. 
Citizens will be in the new internment camp. Once we take that city, 
our only threat in Tarka will be the King¡¯s Legion. 

The next morning, we began marching to Agasa. Many skirmishes were held.
And so we heard that damned familiar horn. ¡°Raise your shields, boys 
and girls. Arrows will rain from the sky,¡± said a lieutenant. 

But he was wrong! This horn meant the airbourne division has arrived. In
the skies rained giant bolts from there giant crossbows. That brought 
the end to the lives of many fine soldiers and then we sighted them. 
There were a handful of giant crossbows and many melee soldiers. The 
melee soldiers charged and the musketeers lined up and fired. That 
killed many and sent the rest retreating. ¡°Ready the cannons and 
fire!¡± shouted Ravin as he drew his sword. ¡°Cavalry and foot 
soldiers, charge! Missile, fire at will!¡± 

We then charged towards the enemy. There infantry weapons did nothing to
us but there giant crossbows were a real bug. BOOM! Projectiles were 
soaring in the air and sent many elfin soldiers flying. I noticed the 
sign was not the Second Legion but the Fourth Legion, one of the 
smaller legions. Hell rained and killed some of our soldiers. ¡°Push 
forward, lads and lasses!¡± 

The armies clashed and slashed. Blood was like water and the water was
in a lake. A bloodbath of elfin blood was present and nothing more¡­ 
The Fourth Legion fell to us within minutes. The survivors, well you 
know what happened. We either just killed them or sent them into camps. 


I looked at the field; it was red and piled with bodies of elves and
some of our brethren. Battles will continue to be fought and there¡¯s 
no end in sight of this war. For glory, we march. For power, we fight. 
For valour, we succeed. 

Soon after, we continued our march to Agasa. I received word from Devan
that the construction of a new wall had almost finished. The serpent 
wall made of great materials such as Liasten, steel, iron, and other 
metals. 

We finally marched until we climbed up a hill. The city was there
waiting for us to burn. There was a huge castle standing before us with 
many towers and fortified walls. It was a walled town with a castle, 
how hard could that be? We marched closer and armed the cannons. They 
fired and damaged the walls. Then, the war bell sounded and the 
infamous Second Legion showed up from the gates. 

The melee madness division charged as the spell casters of the Second
Legion attacked us with their magical attacks. That hit and hurt our 
army. The musketeer corps fired as the courageous cavalry charged along 
side the melee madness division. The loud sound of sword clashing and 
armour bashing was everywhere. 

The sounds of the muskets brought fear to the Second Legion. Then
suddenly, at our rear flank, another legion attacked us! I battered 
back and forth with them and called for Ravin¡¯s army. ¡°Alright men, 
assist your F¨¹hrer and the Empire!¡± he shouted. They ran towards us, 
the musketeers fired, the melee soldiers swung their blades, and the 
crossbowmen fired bolts at the enemy. 

¡°Seventh Legion at the rear led by General Marissa Windwhistle,
they¡¯re coming towards us really fast!¡± shouted a lieutenant. General 
Windwhistle was one of the most famous female archers of Tarka, and I 
always wanted her head as a trophy. 

¡°Come forth my brethren! These humans must be corrupted by demons! We
must liberate their souls to defend Tarka!¡± said the female General. 
She appeared; lightly armoured, wearing a crimson coloured hood and had 
auburn hair. She held a bow in her left hand and an arrow in the right. 


¡°Archers! Loose!¡± Then the rain of arrows showered upon the earth.
Many were unprepared for those arrows. The soldiers heard the sounds of 
the bows and they just looked up and got an arrow or two stuck in their 
eyes and they would just fall down, dead. 

¡°Get that elfin scum if it¡¯s the last thing you do!¡± ordered Ravin.
His cavalry charged at the Seventh Legion and his foot soldiers went 
for the Second Legion. The armies went back and forth, with us 
suffering very few casualties and theirs suffering many. We only suffer 
casualties from spell casters or an attack at the eye. 

Then drums were heard. It was the new musketeer corps who marched behind
the Seventh Legion. The first musketeer division of our army has come 
at last! They were armoured with Liasten helmets and hauberks and armed 
with a musket with a bayonet. Mass producing was my favourite thing in 
the world. The group was disorganized since it received very few 
training with the first guns that we had. ¡°Left right, left right, 
coming in!¡± shouted the lieutenant. 

¡°Fire!¡± he shouted. BLAM! Instantly, many elves collapsed to their
death. ¡°Third and fourth lines, move in! First two lines to the rear 
and load!¡± he shouted once more. 

¡°Fire!¡± he ordered. Once again, many elves fell to their death after
the shots were fired. 

The Second Legion was finally destroyed after hours of non stop
fighting. We lost hundreds, but we were still fighting the Seventh 
Legion. ¡°Hand to Hand Combat Melee Madness Division!¡± yelled it¡¯s 
general. ¡°March back to the fort. The cavalry and the new musketeer 
corps will continue fighting. Now, my soldiers march!¡± The soldiers 
went into an orderly fashion and marched away from the battle. The only 
ones left now remained the missile soldiers, the musketeer corps, the 
cavalry, and Ravin and I. 

¡°Fire!¡± shouted the lieutenant. Finally, the last amount of elves had
no choice but to surrender to us. 

¡°Scum, the King himself will have mercy on your souls once you are
defeated,¡± grunted the female general. Ravin slapped her. She fell to 
the ground in agony and slowly got up. He told the soldiers to shave 
every elf¡¯s head and give them the camp clothes and then send them to 
the internment camps. 

¡°Now, the great city of Agasa is defenseless. Messenger Devan!¡± I
said. Devan Shadowstalker ran towards me. ¡°Tell them to bring in the 
melee madness division back. We will prepare a siege tomorrow!¡± He 
nodded and ran to his horse and rode off. 

The Siege of Agasa 

After camping out for a while waiting for the legion to come back, we
rested and made sure that no word gets out of Agasa to alert the 
capital to send the King¡¯s Legion. Messengers went out here and there, 
but they were just simple horse riders who were captured and sent into 
the newly constructed internment camp known as Agasa¡¯s Soul. 

Soon, the division finally arrived and we prepared our siege. There were
many cannons read to fire. ¡°Alright men, this will be one of our most 
glorious moments. Cherish it, and do not forget it. Fire the cannons!¡± 
ordered Ravin and the projectiles went flying at the walls. Gun crew 
loaded, cannon fired, and so on and so forth. Finally, the wall 
crumbled and the army charged into the city. 

I threw a torch at the market after they ransacked and took everything
they had. The market became a burning flame. Elves were killed or 
captured then sent into the internment camp. 

Suddenly, a rain of burning arrows scattered at us. Many were burning
and crying in agony. Some took off their hauberk, only to be killed by 
the next wave of arrows. I raised my shield to block every one of them. 
Ravin was hit and he grunted in pain. He roared and instantly 
transformed into his lightning elemental form. He raised his arm and 
sent a lightning bolt into the air. The sky suddenly became dark and 
there was a thunderstorm. He controlled the lightning bolts raining 
down; to hit any specific unit as he pleases. 

The ambush of the elves was surprising and did harm. ¡°Fall back lads
and lasses! Ravin and I will handle this situation with every 
precaution. General, lead them to a safe distance; at the top of the 
hill we were at last time.¡± 

He nodded. ¡°You heard him boys and girls! Now, let¡¯s get the hell out
of here before we are tomorrow¡¯s fried specials!¡± The soldiers fled. 

As I burned each house, my charisma raised and soon, I was in my
elemental form. With a godlike yell, I sent a fiery nova throughout the 
city, burning each building which made the elves scream. Ravin ran to 
the castle in lightning speed and was instantly in. The thunderstorm 
was still going on and Tarkan archers were each getting zapped and¡­ 
killed. I then raced towards the castle and burned everything inside, 
but the treasure room. I gradually became tired and was restored into 
my human self. 

¡°Noooo!¡± cried an elf. I could tell that he was the Lord of Agasa. He
wore a black robe, had long gray hair and had a bushy moustache and a 
long beard. ¡°What have you done, boy? You destroyed this town!¡± 

¡°And I will destroy you too. Catch, old man.¡± I sent a fire ball at
him and it pierced through him like an arrow. He instantly fell down 
and died. 

Later, the soldiers returned to take the supplies and treasures back to
the fort. It has been almost a week here so I wonder, is the fort 
completed or not? 

I left Agasa on my horse, Geiwetter. I looked back at the area of the
once glorious Agasa. It was a smoking ruin. Beside it was the new 
internment camp, Agasa¡¯s Soul. There were many guards there and I 
personally think that that will be my personal favourite internment 
camp. 

Fort Tarkai 

We had a long march to the area of the fort. We marched for a long time
until we looked at a huge walled area, about two miles long, protected 
with musketeer and crossbowmen sentries. I looked at the name of the 
area. Which had writing that meant Fort Tarkai, as the F¨¹hrer Vaoklin 
Wishes. Great job, I thought. I guess he gets to keep his personal 
belongings. ¡°General Octavius!¡± I shouted. 

¡°Yes, hail my F¨¹hrer,¡± he said. ¡°Open the gates! It¡¯s the F¨¹hrer
and the Leader Ravin!¡± 

The gates immediately opened revealing the open area, the dorms, the
stables, storages, and other great things that we needed for the fort. 
When I went inside the fort, I looked back at the walls. There were 
steps to go up on the walls to defend when necessary and to gaze at the 
woods. There were also soldiers having mock battles, cavaliers 
jousting, and musketeers practicing their aim. Basically, this was like 
an entire town. 

We had roasted boar that night along side with some corn on the cob,
potatoes, and some other vegetables that we stole from the elfin 
gardens. The boar was so tender and juicy that I thought I haven¡¯t 
eaten such a good meal in a lifetime. ¡°How did you complete the fort 
so quickly, general?¡± 

The general smiled. ¡°Lots of labour meant lots of progress, sir. We
were never attacked but there were reports of elves passing by. I¡¯m 
not sure now whether to worry about the safety of this fort or to enjoy 
this nice hot meal.¡± 

¡°Mm¡­¡± I was too busy ripping the flesh off the boar than listening to
Octavius. Ravin sat next to me, buttering his corn. He ate just like a 
pig, as did I. I took an ear of corn and buttered it myself. I took a 
bite and loved it. I grabbed another, and another, and another. Soon 
there were no corn left and by that time, I was full. 

General Octavius led me to my room where I will rest. It was on the
second level in the middle of all the other rooms. There were two 
swordsmen sentries right next to the door. I opened it and looked 
inside. There were about three candles lit, a wooden table, two chairs 
and a single cot with a pillow. There was also a window to look 
outside. Next to my room was Lord Ravin¡¯s room, which was practically 
the same thing. ¡°Soon, you will have a nice bed in here instead of a 
cot, but that time is not now, my F¨¹hrer. ¡° 

¡°It was more than I could ask for, general.¡± I yawned and stretched. 

¡°Good night, sir,¡± he said. With that, he left and closed the door
behind him. I lay on the couch thinking about the future. What will 
happen to me? How will I die? Will the empire still live after I die? I 
didn¡¯t want to know the answers yet, but I know that I will learn soon 
enough. 

I got up once more and looked outside my window. I saw Devan
Shadowstalker talking to a girl. She was pretty and young. Maybe she 
was a soldier, or maybe she was one of the female workers. I wasn¡¯t 
sure, but when they looked over at me, I turned away, pretending to 
stretch. I then lay down on my bed once more and slowly fell asleep. 

A sudden explosion woke me up. I looked out my window and saw the sun
shining. Its rays almost blinded me. There was a hard knocking on the 
door that sounded urgent. ¡°Sir!¡± shouted a female voice. ¡°We are 
being attacked by an unidentified legion! There was no sign to identify 
them but they are attacking us with giant crossbows and catapults! They 
are also using magic!¡± 

I opened the door to see a female musketeer sentry. She was shorter than
me and about in her late teens, which was a little bit younger than me. 
I looked around to see the fort being surrounded. Musketeers and 
crossbowmen fired, killing soldiers. Ravin was outside the fort, 
fighting hard. BOOM! The ground shook and part of the wooden wall fell 
apart. I raced towards the walls climbed up the steps. I took a musket, 
loaded it with powder and the round lead bullet, jammed it in with the 
rod, pulled the hammer, aimed, and fired! You need to repeat the 
process every time you fire, so I did. 

I soon ran out of powder and I drew my sword and shield. Almost every
soldier was unarmoured. Ravin was armoured as usual, and he was 
fighting hard. He then turned into his elemental stage and sent a 
lightning nova attack which killed many elves. I blew flames from the 
walls and created a fire wall to stop more elfin soldiers to come. I 
sent fire balls at the catapults to make them lose any more hopes to 
destroy the walls. They instantly collapsed. 

The legion quickly charged forward into our fort from the little area
that they had destroyed. We were mostly unarmoured so our army didn¡¯t 
do as well as they did in the battlefield. With my element, I created a 
fire wall which blocked the way in and burned the soldiers in that 
little space. The only way in is to go through the flames or destroy 
another part of the wall, and that is now impossible. 

¡°Ready the cannons and prepare to fire!¡± I shouted. They quickly
pushed the cannons forward, powdered it, inserted the projectile, lit 
the fuse and they fired. Projectiles went soaring in the air, sending 
legionaries, the soldiers of the legions, flying. 

A horn sounded and the legion retreated. ¡°Armour up, soldiers! We are
going to hunt this legion down and destroy every single one of them! 
This is the first time we suffered many, since we were unready. Now we 
will be, and we will spare none of them! Now, my fortress sentries cut 
off the ears of every fallen elf and make them hang on a string. The 
string of ears will be hanging on the walls to send every legion a 
warning,¡± said Ravin. 

¡°Devan!¡± I called. He quickly ran to me and saluted. ¡°Give word to
every internment camp to kill half the captured elves. This will be our 
revenge for our losses. Now, go do it!¡± He then ran off. 

I watched the sentries slice off ears with knives. Ears were gathered
and then the females pierced them and with a very long thread and a 
needle, they tied the ears together in the string. The soldiers then 
hung the ears on the walls. The walls had blood dripping down onto the 
floor, and soon a next string of ears, then another, all the way until 
there were no more ears left to tie on. 

I stepped out of the fort and looked at the walls. They were drenched
with blood. The wall was literally covered in ears and blood¡­ I was 
intimidated of my own army for doing this. Ravin looked at me. ¡°Are 
you ready, Vaoklin? The entire army is ready, cannons are packed, and 
now we¡¯ve retired the crossbow. Every missile unit is now using a 
musket.¡± ¡°I am ready. We shall go pursuit this army, but with only 
cavalry. We would never catch up to these elves by foot. Courageous 
Cavalry division, armed with the mini musket, or the flintlock. It¡¯s 
more convenient for the cavalry to use this along with the sabre. But 
that will be later. They will just be using bows and sabres.¡± 

The cavalry raced out of the fort, fully armed and prepared. I looked
back, the town-like fort with ears hanging on strings. Anyone who 
encounters this fort will be intimidated. 

No Mercy 

We caught up to the unknown legion before an hour even passed.
Recklessly, like a butcher, we cut off limbs of these elves. We 
surrounded the survivors and trapped them. There were arms, legs, and 
heads all over the area. ¡°Please stop!¡± cried an archer. ¡°This is 
blasphemy! You cannot do this!¡± 

I approached her, dismounted, and drew my sword. ¡°Just watch me, elf.¡±
I slashed at her and she fell down, dead. ¡°Oops, I guess you can¡¯t 
because you¡¯re dead!¡± 

¡°Keep killing! These pointed ear freaks killed many of our friends!¡±
yelled Ravin as he cut off the head of one elf. 

Blood soaked the earth, limbs scattered about, and our soldiers watched
the agony of these elves. ¡°Don¡¯t go soft on them! They are inferior 
to us and the world! No one needs them! They deserve to die!¡± shouted 
one of my generals. 

Suddenly the ground shook. The earth grew and soon we were staring upon
the eyes of a giant monster. It was surrounded by plants and some of 
the scattered limbs of elves. In the heart of this giant was an elf, 
and he was probably a mage. Then, that spot that showed the elf was 
covered by a trunk of a tree. 

Within minutes, we were in a crater and standing before a giant covered
with forest. ¡°We have no cannon or any gunpowder weapons. We must 
retreat, my F¨¹hrer,¡± said the general. 

¡°Ravin and I will not retreat but the division may if they choose.
Since we are elemental warriors, we will challenge this monster and 
destroy it,¡± I said. We dismounted and transformed into our elemental 
stages, the ball of fire and the orb of lightning as people called us. 

Ravin created a thunderstorm. The sky became dark and there were
lightning bolts hitting the ground. Some hit the beast, and that caused 
a few bits of dirt to fall off but the beast did not seemed harmed. 

I blew fire at its legs which of course caused it to burn. The monster
roared and reached for the fire, patting it out. 

¡°Oh my¡­ It¡¯s been nice fighting alongside you, Ravin.¡± 

¡°Yes, sir, same here,¡± he said. 

We hugged and cried like a women and her husband being reunited. Then
suddenly, the monster began roaring in pain. We looked at him, and he 
was dissolving from a violet coloured liquid, which looked acidic. 

A bird grunted and so we looked up in the sky. It was the Blackbirds!
They¡¯ve come early from Lerona¡¯s Lands, and they will be our finest 
divisions. One of the blackbirds blew acid at the monster again, and it 
slowly began to fall apart. Then, cannon shots. The gunners of the 
birds with their organ guns fired at the beast. The beast slowly 
wobbled and then collapsed, causing a short earthquake. 

The Blackbirds flew down and the fighters dismounted. There were about
ten birds right now with twenty fighters. The group leader approached 
and saluted. He was wearing a leather coat and his face was wrapped 
with a scarf. He was also wearing a helmet similar to the guards of 
camps and some sort of eye protection. ¡°You are early, master!¡± I 
exclaimed. 

¡°Yes, sir, we are.¡± His voice was soft. I guess he is a woman. ¡°A
messenger boy came to us telling us that the army will need us very 
soon. We decided to come early but this is just one of the ten groups. 
We still have many blackbirds back home, but we only have one hundred 
fighting birds with organ guns as you said. These are easy to pilot and 
to tame. These birds are very friendly.¡± 

She took off her helmet and her scarf. Not only was she a woman, but a
beautiful woman; brown haired tied back with brown eyes with a pretty 
face. She looked about my age, about 18. She held the eye protection in 
her hand. ¡°These goggles are very bothersome sometimes, but they 
protect us. My name is Sara Volkosgran, and I am one of the finest 
pilots around.¡± 

¡°I will call you Master Volkosgran,¡± I said. 

¡°No, no! Please call me Sara. I prefer that over Master Volkosgran from
anyone, especially my students!¡± I looked at her bird, which was 
really big. ¡°My bird¡¯s name is Elaine. Isn¡¯t she a fine bird?¡± 
Vaoklin, let¡¯s go back.¡± 

¡°Alright, Ravin, we¡¯ll go back now.¡± I whistled and he clapped.
Geiwetter and Dunkel raced towards us. We mounted and rode away. I 
looked over my shoulder and saw the ¡°Fine, yes. Now, we must go back 
to Fort Tarkai. Introduce yourself to my soldiers, and¡­¡± 

Ravin walked towards me slowly. He groaned. ¡°Ravin, this is Sara
Volkosgran, a master in piloting blackbirds.¡± 

He rubbed his head. ¡°Ugh¡­ It is nice to meet you, miss.¡± 

¡°Please, Sara,¡± she said. 

¡°Of course, Sara,¡± he spit out a mouthful of blood. ¡°I¡¯m winded,
birds taking off. They followed us all the way back to camp. 

To Tarkai, We march! 

We went back to the fort, rallied the army, and readied for the march to
Tarkai, the capital city of Tarka. We formed a very long line, along 
with the Blackbirds who marched with us. The blackbirds themselves 
walked while the fighters rode them. Sentries remained at the fort but 
the only imminent threat was the King¡¯s Legion. Miss Volkosgran and 
her bird Elaine marched right in between Ravin and I, which was in the 
middle of the entire line. 

¡°Vaoklin, can I call you that?¡± she asked. 

¡°Er¡­ Sure, lass,¡± I replied. 

¡°Lass, you say? I am about your age!¡± she laughed. I didn¡¯t see what
was so funny, but I laughed anyway. 

¡°Quiet you two, I¡¯m trying to plan a way to destroy the capital city
of Tarkai,¡± snarled Ravin. 

¡°Alright, old coot, we¡¯ll be quiet. I just hope to see victory over
Tarka soon,¡± said Sara. 

¡°As I, but then the King¡¯s Legion might be the most challenging
obstacle that we¡¯ll have in conquering Tarka. Their material is just 
as great as ours and they fight in a formation called the ¡®Phalanx.¡¯ 
It means that they fight in a tightly closed formation which protects 
each soldier. Our infantry and cavalry might not do much effect but our 
musketeers will surprise them. The King himself is the general of the 
Legion, and I can¡¯t wait to get my blade in his eye. He will be fun to 
torture,¡± I said. 

¡°Don¡¯t think of ways to torture him yet, young F¨¹hrer. We might need
him in guidance to destroy the Densai area. Our main army in this 
battle will be the musketeer division.¡± He turned to a messenger boy. 
¡°Give word to the generals to produce as much black powder and musket 
rounds as fast as they can for the entire musketeer division.¡± 

¡°Yes my lord,¡± said the boy and he raced telling the generals the
information that was required for the battle. 

Soon enough, we reached the grand city of Tarkai. It was a golden city,
literally, which sparkled in the distance. The gleam of the gold and 
its shine hurt my eyes so I had to turn away. Then, a horn sounded¡­ it 
was the King¡¯s Legion! The legionaries of the army lined up in their 
formation; tight packed with long spears pointing out. In the back of 
the formation were the archers, but they had no mounted warriors other 
than the flying drakulans. The blackbirds will have to handle them, but 
our main focus is destroying the legion and capturing King Alfonso 
himself. Elves¡­ why do they have to be in this land instead of their 
homeland? Their time will end! 

The Battle of Tarkai 

¡°Forward, march!¡± shouted an officer. The musketeers moved forward
slowly. ¡°Halt!¡± shouted the officer. 

There were about 60,000 musketeers each with their own supplies and a
bayonet attached to the musket. They were in the musketeer formation 
where first two rows shoot and then next two rows and so on and so 
forth. ¡°Make ready!¡± The soldiers loaded their muskets by completing 
the entire, slow process. 

¡°Aim!¡± shouted the officer. The soldiers looked for their targets. The
legionaries were still in the tight phalanx formation with the spears 
sticking out, expecting a charge or something. 

¡°FIRE!¡± shouted the officer. BANG! The first two lines fired creating
a thick fog of smoke. Many legionaries fell down from the shot. ¡°Load 
cannons!¡± shouted the officer. 

The gun crews loaded their cannons by completing the stupid long
process. ¡°Aim the cannons!¡± The crews did so by either raising the 
cannon or lowering it. ¡°Fire!¡± shouted the officer. The crew lit the 
fuse and the projectiles shot out of the cannons. Some cannonballs 
missed while some sent legionaries flying. 

The elves shot their arrows at us but their arrows were still no use.
All they did was dent our armours. Then, the legionaries opened up 
their formation and charged at us. They approached really quickly so 
the musketeers kept firing and loading but when the legionaries got too 
close, the musketeers withdrew. ¡°Cavalry, move forward! Give word to 
the infantry to assist right away!¡± I shouted. 

The cavalry charged towards the enemy and entered battle. Then a moment
later, the infantry charged in. ¡°Look up in the air!¡± shouted a 
soldier. 	 Drakulans! Much like dragons, they breathe fire and they 
ended the lives of many soldiers. 

¡°Blackbird division, move in!¡± shouted the familiar female voice. Sara
and her fellow blackbirds moved in. The birds themselves blew out 
acidic material while the rear gunners and their organ guns fired at 
the drakulans, quickly bringing them down. The bodies of the drakulan 
fell and crushed many soldiers, including ours. 

¡°F¨¹hrer! We are losing the battle!¡± shouted a lieutenant. 

¡°WHAT? This cannot be possible! Our undefeatable army is losing?¡± I
became furious, was boiling red and then, burning. I was in my 
elemental stage. I was blowing flames everywhere and destroying every 
elf I see. 

While I was massacring elfin soldiers, a gust of wind shot at me and I
collapsed. That attack came straight from the King himself. 

I looked at him; his golden crown shining in the distance, the glowing
eerie blue eyes while my eyes glow green. He was completely gray in his 
formation and his pointed ears stood out. Around him was a swirling, 
spiraling wind¡­ his very own hurricane attack. It prevented me to get 
even close to him. Then, he sent a twisting tornado right at me and I 
got sucked in. 

The tornado winded me and I couldn¡¯t get up. I couldn¡¯t move either; I
was completely paralyzed. ¡°Vaoklin Aridene of Lerona¡¯s Lands, I 
presume,¡± he said. His voice was deep and godlike. ¡°Since you have 
taken most of our lands, I shall kill you myself. You¡¯re cruel deeds 
to my brethren will not be tolerated by me. Vaoklin Aridene, die!¡± He 
approached me and began to cast some kind of spell. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck the King and he
collapsed. I looked over and saw the familiar glowing red eyes of 
Ravin. ¡°You wasteful puny little creature that you call yourself a 
king, you think you can actually defeat the humans in a battle? I 
don¡¯t think so, but you may continue thinking that way when you are in 
the underworld!¡± He sent another bolt of lightning at him. 

In time, the King rolled over and dodged the bolt of lightning. He sent
several small twisters at Ravin, immobilizing him. I slowly got my 
energy back and got up and blew an inferno of flames at the king. I 
kept up this flamethrower as he screamed in pain and then Ravin joined 
in at the attack. He created a lightning storm where the bolts strike 
from above. After a few seconds, the pathetic, worthless dog of a king 
begged for mercy. 

He became his normal elfin form. He had long brown hair and a short
beard. Although he didn¡¯t look very old, I knew he was since these 
kinds of elves can live for a very long time and still remain young 
near the end of their lives. But these elves can die really easily if 
they starve, dehydrate, sickness, etc. He opened his mouth and spoke 
very slowly. ¡°Have¡­ mercy¡­ on¡­ me¡­ my¡­ lords¡­¡± 

¡°Alright, but you will help us destroy the Densai territories. We take
all of your lands and receive service from the entire army. We will 
also increase the space of the internment camps so that they can farm 
and survive but we will not let them leave the camps. The camps will be 
heavily guarded so do not even think about freeing them,¡± said Ravin. 

¡°Alright¡­ my lords¡­ But¡­ we¡­ require¡­ you¡­ to learn¡­ our way¡­
of writing. It¡­ is fairly¡­ simple¡­ and¡­ much¡­ easier to¡­ write. 
You will¡­also¡­ need to¡­ teach us¡­ the way of your¡­ metal¡­ and 
your¡­ firearm¡­ ways,¡± croaked the former king. 

¡°Agreed, you are officially my personal slave,¡± I said.. I looked up
at the battlefield. The battle was over. The King¡¯s Legion had 
surrendered and both sides suffered many casualties. I waved at a 
couple of soldiers. ¡°Give him a special haircut, destroy his crown, 
and give him our type of armour. Make sure he looks like one of us.¡± 

¡°Yes, sir,¡± said the soldiers. They took the injured Alfonso away into
the city and we followed. Learning the Tarkan Ways 

We took Alfonso Windstorm into his palace in Tarkai. Our soldiers
destroyed the paintings and sculptures inside and ¡°Vaoklinizing and 
Ravinizing¡± it by putting our own paintings and sculptures for 
display. The soldiers cut Alfonso¡¯s waist length hair off and it 
became shoulder length like mine. He uttered cries as the soldiers cut 
his hair. His golden crown was destroyed by a hammer and then I burned 
the remnants of it. We gave him our own kind of armour and helmet with 
an opening, designed for elfin slave guards so his ears would stick 
out. His hair was put into a tail which rested at his shoulder, much 
like mine but only a little shorter. His facial hairs were shaven off 
as well, so his face was clean. 

Finally, he looked like a human with pointed ears. We made him stand out
so people will know that he follows me. 

We learned how to write in the Tarkan form of handwriting, which looks
like what I am writing right now. It took me a long time to master it. 
The officers of the army taught the new recruited elves how to use 
firearms and they were not very good, but they eventually mastered it. 

Sara Volkosgran and I kept talking and we fell in love. Months later,
while we were still learning the Tarkan ways, I proposed. I gave her a 
beautiful ring with a precious and rare stone only found in the Tarkan 
area. The wedding was beautiful but not as beautiful as her. Guns 
sounded as the wedding finished, we had a feast with the elves as our 
cooks, waiters, and dishwashers. That was a wonderful day that I will 
cherish for the rest of my life. 

Now that we learned many ways of the Tarkans, we can communicate with
words effectively but we still did not get along. Alfonso greatly 
respected both me and Ravin and we still treated him like dirt, but he 
did not mind. 

He told me about the lands of the Nagi, a reptilian Drakolvan species
found in an island by Drakolva. That will be my next target for 
expanding my empire. Learning these Tarkan Ways took a few months, but 
it was worth it for rebuilding the army and forging more weapons. Now, 
onwards to the island and form new colonies there for a great new place 
to live. 

An Unsuspected Occurrence 

We built a great navy while we were learning the Tarkan ways. We had
many galleons, ten monitors, hundreds of caravels, and some large 
frigates. I was in the ship called ¡°The Drakolvan Journey,¡± alongside 
with Alfonso, Ravin and Sara. It was a beautiful ship, a monitor with a 
mortar at the tip of the ship. It had many sails, many guns, and a 
great cabin made just for me and Sara. 

I didn¡¯t know how many crew members were aboard the ship because there
were just too many to count. When our navy sailed, I saw that there 
were hundreds of ships leaving Tarka to this Nagi Island. I knew that a 
female elf known as Alica the Seawoman lived there and was in charge of 
the Nagi species. I had to destroy her, no matter how tough she is. Our 
ship sailed and sailed until it became wobbling. Then, in the distance, 
one of our own ships tipped over! Some kind of large reptilian 
serpent-like creature ate the entire crew! I realized that these were 
the large Nagi species. So then, came the smaller ones, the ones that 
had claws to dig in to our flesh. They looked like giant alligators! 

Our guns attacked these Nagi creatures and most of them were killed from
the shells. And then came some unknown ships in the distance. They 
weren¡¯t very long, maybe about 200 ft, but they looked powerful enough 
to sink a frigate. That must be Alica the Seawoman and her followers. 
The followers were also elves! But how did they get to the isolated 
island and why are they following that bitch? Since they sail against 
us, they will go down as well. 

Suddenly our ship shook. We were hit by some kind of giant bolt from one
of their ships. ¡°Do not come any closer to my island, or there will be 
plenty more where that came from, human!¡± shouted the woman. ¡°You may 
have killed my pets, but here comes the real pain in these waters. The 
Nagi aren¡¯t very powerful but they are just used to scare my enemies. 
I am the real fear, here. As for now, attack, my minions!¡± 

Another giant bolt struck our ship. Our ships in the rear began to get
into battle position with the Nagi ship. ¡°Fire!¡± shouted the voice of 
an officer. 

BOOM! Many cannonballs soared and struck the Nagi ship. Other Nagi ships
quickly followed and attacked ours with their bolts. ¡°Abandon ship!¡± 
shouted Ravin. I looked back, and saw that our ship was torn apart. 
Ravin, Sara, Alfonso and the rest of the crew prepared to board the 
launch, as I was about to follow, our ship began to wobble faster and 
faster. Before I knew it, my body lost its balance and I fell 
overboard. The last thing I heard was ¡°My F¨¹hrer!¡± 

And then, complete blackness. 

When I woke up, I felt something pinch me again and again. I opened my
eyes and saw some kind of crab, curiously shifting its eyes and 
pinching me. I grabbed my dagger and plunged it through the crab, 
causing instant death to the crab which could serve me as a meal. I got 
up, wiped sand off of my armour, and looked around. I was on a beach 
some kind of island. I didn¡¯t feel very well, I couldn¡¯t stand up 
straight, and I felt like I could vomit any moment now. I looked at my 
armour and noticed no rust. Quality stainless metal is the way to go. 

I turned around and gazed at the wide open sea. It felt like morning as
the eternal star was shining in the horizon, shining a new day to this 
earth. I saw no ship in sight, so I wondered what island I could¡¯ve 
drifted upon to. Was this the Nagi island with the extinct Nagi 
species? I didn¡¯t know and I didn¡¯t care. I was tired and hungry. I 
looked down and saw the dead crab. I cracked the shell open and I 
helped myself to the internals of the crab. Never before have I tasted 
anything so raw and so terrible. I instantly vomited after the meat 
went down my throat. But of course, it is the only food I had. I could 
try and hunt since I have my flintlock pistol and I knew how to make 
bullets and powder, but I was too tired. 

I knew I couldn¡¯t just sleep on the beach, and I knew that I had to
stay alert. Do my people think that I am dead? What happened to the 
crew of my ship?  Did we win the naval battle? Too many questions 
filled up my head. I looked straight ahead and noticed a cliff and some 
kind of stairway made out of stone. I shrugged and climbed the 
stairway. Once I climbed all the way up, I noticed a sign written in 
this handwriting in which I am writing right now, the Britonian 
handwriting that the elves learned. 

¡°The Jungle of Nagi Island,¡± it said. ¡°Once you get through this
jungle of wild beast and others, you will¡­¡± the rest of the sign was 
scratched off. I gazed down and noticed a pathway probably leading the 
way out of the jungle. I loaded my flintlock pistol and with one hand 
holding it, I cautiously went deeper and deeper within the forest. 

There were a lot of noises from creatures which would scare me a little,
but nothing too much. I was still following the path, and I was getting 
very hungry. I then heard a movement in the bushes of this jungle and 
shot a ball at the bush. There was a loud, birdlike squawk and the 
creature then collapsed. I approached the bushes and saw the dead 
feathered creature. It was a turkey¡­ plump and savory. I couldn¡¯t 
wait to eat it. 

I plucked the feathers off, chopped off the head, and roasted it after
setting a fire with a snap of my fingers. Although it wasn¡¯t as tasty 
or flavourful, it was still a fine meal. With a canteen that I always 
carried with me, I drank from it.  It was some kind of juice from a 
fruit in Tarka which I never heard of but it was sweet and quenched my 
thirst. I was still slightly suffering from hunger, but I was relieved 
that I didn¡¯t starve that day. 

I created a bed from many leaves but I had no pillow. I slept but it was
very uncomfortable. I was rested and rejuvenated by the eve of morning. 
I was awake, rested, but still hungry. I got up, loaded my pistol and 
continued the path. As I walked, I heard something growl. Something 
just jumped at me¡­ a jaguar! I instantly fell once the jaguar pounced 
on me. The creature was trying to rip my flesh apart, but my armour 
prevented it from even getting close to my skin. Fortunately for me, it 
didn¡¯t even touch my head. I pushed it off and the creature pounced on 
me again. As it jumped, I quickly drew my sword and lunged forward. The 
animal drove me to the earth and the blade pierced its tender flesh. 

I was shaking from the fall and the loud CLANG sound from my armour made
me temporarily lose my hearing. I saw the look on the jaguar¡¯s face, 
the sharp teeth pointing at me from the cat¡¯s mouth, and the sudden 
shocked expression on its face. I got up and the jaguar slid off my 
blade. I then skinned the beast and took the skin with me as a prize 
and as a blanket. It was mildly better but I still thought that the 
jaguar skin would be a good prize for a rug. 

There were a lot of animals for me to eat so I didn¡¯t need to worry
about food. There were lots of plump turkey and wild boar for me to 
eat. I encountered many insects and a very large spider known as the 
¡®King Legged Spider¡¯ for its monstrous sized legs. I had to run from 
that creature, the creature was much too quick for me to handle. I¡¯ve 
been through a lot these past days, but it did increase my outdoorsman 
skill. 

The jungle adventure ended at a day where I encountered an eagle. It was
circling around me and it became quite frustrating. I loaded my 
flintlock pistol with the last amount of powder shot it. A loud cry 
came from the ¡®beautiful¡¯ bird and it fell. I quickly drew my sword 
and ran towards the fallen bird. But when I got to the bird, it was not 
a bird at all, but Alfonso Windstorm! He was groaning in agony as his 
hand was on his bleeding wound. I shot his arm but when he looked up, 
his agonizing face turned into shock. ¡°My¡­ F¨¹hrer¡­¡± he said 
quietly. 

¡°Hush, my pet. You¡¯ll get through this,¡± I whispered. 

¡°Ha ha, I¡¯ve been through worse,¡± he laughed. He wore identical
armour to me, an identical hairstyle, but a different helmet. His 
helmet was a morion comb helm while mine was a great helm which 
protected my entire face. ¡°We¡­ no, I¡­ must get you back to camp! The 
acting F¨¹hrer and your second, Ravin will be waiting. It took us 
months to get this island because there were many elves here. We now 
know that a spy told Alica herself. The woman then recruited a band of 
followers preparing for an invasion. We lost thousands, sir, from the 
attack. We had to get our entire army to invade until they just finally 
surrendered. You look terrible, my F¨¹hrer. Let¡¯s get you some food, 
your armour shined, and a shave.¡± 

The Birth of Nagiana 

It had been many weeks when I was still exploring the jungles of the
island of the Nagi. Apparently, the creatures we fought weren¡¯t Nagi; 
they were just destroyers that the elves raised; a creature that is a 
cousin to the Nagi. The Nagi had been extinct for forty years; Alica 
killed all of them herself. When a spy told her about an imminent 
invasion, she recruited thousands of elves to defend her island. We 
lost thousands ourselves because most of the elves she recruited were 
spell casters and that was our weakness. 

I was a mess; I haven¡¯t bathed in a while, I stank, my hair was a mess
and my face feels prickly from the facial hairs that sprouted. Groomers 
shaved me so my face was smooth once more, my hair was trimmed to the 
shoulder area (it grew a little past that), and I had a good bath so 
the dead animal smell from the jungle was gone. I went to the main 
pavilion of camp at the beaches of the Nagi Island and met Ravin and 
Alfonso there. ¡°Hello, Vaoklin! I see you are looking quite fresh and 
ready to explore these jungles?¡± said Ravin. 

¡°No, no. I¡¯ve already done that,¡± I chuckled. ¡°What happened after
our ship sank?¡± 

¡°Oh, that incident a few weeks ago; I remember as if it were yesterday.
When that giant bolt from the enemy ship¡¯s crossbow shot at our ship, 
it tore a hole right through the entire ship. We realized our mistake 
there, our ships too weak. When the ship was rocking back and forth, 
you fell overboard while we were boarding the launch of the ship. We 
successfully retreated and sailed back and we presumed that you were 
deceased. Many of our ships survived and few were sunk. We had to 
upgrade our ships by putting Liasten parts into it to make it stronger. 
We covered the ship in Liasten; expensive, but it worked. Elves produce 
Liasten twice as fast as us humans! 

¡°So once we finished upgrading our entire navy, we were extremely low
on funds and supplies. With the last amount of Liasten, we made 
projectiles for our cannons. Of course, powder was easy to produce, so 
that wasn¡¯t a problem at all. Once we did all that, we launched our 
ships to the Nagi Island once more. Our ships were metal sea monsters 
and once we received contact with the Nagi navy, we destroyed them. 
Their bolts could hardly make a dent in our shells and our cannons 
easily sunk their ships. Then, we quickly left our ships and into the 
boats and stormed the beaches. Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t expect them to 
build a fortress and lay explosives in the beach. They had many elves 
defending it! 

¡°What really was unfortunate was most of them were spell casters; our
greatest weakness! They were in little bunkers while casting spells to 
kill our soldiers. Luckily, the Airbourne Division (combining the 
drakulans with the blackbirds) destroyed the fortress from above. They 
arrived about an hour after we stormed the beachhead. Now, even the 
drakulans have two riders with one as a rear gunner; just as ours! The 
inferior rats learn from us, dear Vaoklin. The elves then surrendered, 
but we still killed many. Alica was killed during the battle; I killed 
her myself with a blade to her throat. Her elemental form wasn¡¯t quite 
impressive either. Just a giant creature covered with roaring white 
water, only killed few but I quickly got to her and stabbed her right 
in the throat. 

¡°Once we captured this island, we wanted to build new colonies here for
our citizens to live. A nice place, so I decided to explore the 
jungles. I didn¡¯t actually have time so I sent Alfonso. He told me he 
was also a Druid, someone who can shape shift, so he turned into some 
sort of bird and flew off, exploring the jungle. He then got shot down, 
by you, in the arm.¡± Alfonso looked at me, then at his wound and 
smiled. 

Ravin gave him some sort of bottle with a red liquid inside. ¡°Rub some
of this on your wound, your kind made it yourself.¡± 

¡°Thank you, my lord,¡± said Alfonso. He twisted off the cork covering
the bottle, poured some onto his hand and rubbed it onto his gunshot 
wound. He then bandaged it and waited for it to heal. 

¡°We were going to give you an elaborate funeral, next to your ancestor,
Lerona Aridene. Now, you show up, perfectly healthy, so now, we don¡¯t 
have to worry about your fate and looking for¡­ your body,¡± he 
chuckled again. ¡°We need a proper name for this island.¡± 

¡°I say it should be Nagiana. I can¡¯t think of a better name, but it
still has the term ¡®Nagi¡¯ in it,¡± I said. 

¡°Nagiana, it is then!¡± shouted a female. It was Sara Volkosgran
Aridene, my love. She had a shocked expression when she saw my face. 
¡°Hello, my love¡­¡± She ran towards me and hugged me and began crying. 
¡°I¡­ thought¡­ you were dead!¡± 

¡°No, my dear; I think I¡¯m quite healthy. I¡¯ve been through the
jungles, hunted wild animals and slept like a beast!¡± I smiled. 

She sniffed. ¡°I missed you! I almost fell off Elaine when I was trying
to destroy the Nagi fortress! I can¡¯t live without you¡­¡± 

¡°There, there, Sara. I am here, I love you for always, and never again
shall I be separated from you,¡± I whispered. 

¡°Do¡­ you swear?¡± she asked. 

¡°Yes, my love.¡± 

Tomb of Handun 

We¡¯ve taken the Nagi Island, and now we call it Nagiana. We now journey
to Densai and we shall kill the Tragans¡­ the reptilian people. Their 
skin is either brown or green¡­ body of humans, head of a reptile; and 
they also have a tail and claws. They are beasts; a barbaric and 
worthless race that we will destroy. 

Right now, we will march to Densai. Well, not really. We will go to the
Densai area in our navy which is a lot safer than traveling through the 
Desert of Handun. We will also visit Handun¡¯s tomb, which is at the 
tip of the desert. We have a large army right now with many divisions: 
The Blackbird Division, the Drakulan Division, The Legionaries of Tarka 
Division, The Grand Army of Fandaria division, Lerona¡¯s Division, The 
Musketeer corps, and many more. 

I¡¯ve seen the legionaries of Tarka fight: they fight in a phalanx
formation, similar to our old ways. Their tower shields make an 
impenetrable fortress and they have eight foot spears sticking out so 
they have a defensive/offensive formation. We used that formation a few 
years ago before we began using the guns. The legionaries wear armour 
representing a muscular chest and a legionary¡¯s helmet which protects 
the head and the ears stick out of it so they can hear orders and the 
battle. The soldier¡¯s armour is gold and they also wore a crimson 
coloured cape. They fought in many wars and most of the time they 
succeeded. Now they faced defeat and humiliation; fighting for a cause 
they are against, fighting for me, the F¨¹hrer of the Empire, and many 
other things that they really do not want to do. 

We sailed right beside the Drakolvan Island and watched the breathtaking
landscape pass by. From a beautiful green area to a hot dead desert 
created by Handun himself. Now we landed at the Tomb of Handun bay area 
and this area actually had a small town of elves. My guards, the 
grenadiers famous for using their explosives in battle, marched out of 
the ship first. They wore their guard helmets, known as the schtalhelm 
in the Drakolvan language which is in the ¡®coal scuttle¡¯ shape. The 
grenadiers then formed a line similar to the formation of the 
musketeers that they use in combat. 

Elfin guards moved forward and prepared for a fight seeing a hostile
faction. The grenadiers aimed their muskets at the elves and the 
commander stepped forward. ¡°Elves of the Tomb of Handum keepers¡­ the 
F¨¹hrer, the Dark One, and the former King of Tarka ask of thee to join 
the army of the Empire. They also request to visit the tomb and pay 
their respects to the great one. If you do not permit this, your 
village and your people will be terminated immediately. Drop your 
weapons, elves. This is not your war. We are on your side, elves.¡± 

¡°Inporsbia! Vie eleves aon a praun race und we aon naot parta os Tarka.
Leave theez placa und nevah coom backa,¡± said an elf. They were 
probably speaking the elfin language or the Drakolvan language. 

Alfonso translated this. ¡°Impossible! We elves are a proud race and we
are not part of Tarka. Leave this place and never come back.¡± 

¡°You defy the elite three¡¯s will and you will be destroyed. Ready,
aim, fire!¡± shouted the commander. The muskets sounded and many elves 
dropped to the floor. 

¡°Attacka!¡± shouted an elf and arrows showered down to the troops which
did nothing more but bounce off the armour of our soldiers. Some arrows 
hit the face of the grenadiers and they died from it, but that didn¡¯t 
matter much. They died for our cause and it is an honourable death. 

¡°Fire at will!¡± shouted the commander and row by row the muskets
sounded and after a few minutes, the elfin soldiers died. ¡°Burn the 
town and take the food and supplies. They are no use for us now.¡± 

The grenadiers charged into the town and began shooting at the elves and
burned the buildings. Alfonso couldn¡¯t bear to watch, and Ravin had a 
smirk on his face as he witnessed this event. 

We went to the Tomb of Handun right after the town was burned. The tomb
had a sixteen foot statue of Handun right outside the room of Handun¡¯s 
burial which was made entirely out of gold. The room was elaborately 
decourated with paintings, sculptures, gold, and many other treasures. 
Of course, there was the sarcophagus itself. It had many marks on it 
and inside of it laid the body of Handun the Great. Alfonso said his 
prayers and we left the tomb. 

We then explored the desert of this land. It looked endless¡­ with sand,
cacti and many mountainous ranges. One could not survive in the desert 
with limited supplies. We looked back and there was the Great Waters; 
the ocean. There was our navy; the great armada with many, many ships. 

Storming ¡®Lenos¡¯ Beach 

After a few weeks of sailing, we were at the north of the Drakolvan
Island. I looked through my spyglass and saw a stronghold on top of a 
hill. I knew immediately what the stronghold was: Densenia. It is 
famous for successfully defending against four hundred attacks and 
counting, but not this time. 

While the main human army remained aboard the ships, the elfin army, the
musketeers and the cannons stormed the beach with the code name 
¡°Lenos¡± beach. Since the elves also used Liasten now, they are equal 
to our strength. I was among the soldiers who stormed the beaches. 
Ravin was too, but he was one of the first. Sara was with her bird, 
Elaine and the airbourne division of drakulans and blackbirds. I 
quickly leaped out of the boat that took us to the beach and ran 
towards the fortress, shouting orders. Suddenly, there was an 
explosion. The clever tragans placed mines in the ground so it would 
slow us down. 

The explosion killed a few soldiers and then another explosion. I
signaled the airbourne division with a warning shot into the sky. Then, 
many flying creatures flew overhead and began attacking the fortress. 
The acidic material of the blackbirds easily tore a hole into the 
walls. Suddenly, the tragans started going on their own drakulans. But, 
there was something wrong with theirs. They had two heads. The soldiers 
and I watched the dogfights above until we suddenly noticed some 
burning rolling stones coming down the hill to the beach! I jumped out 
of the way just in time once a stone was heading to my direction. I 
looked back and the stone was following me! I blew fire at it so it 
pushed back and then it suddenly exploded, killing an amount of 
soldiers. 

Then, the tragans themselves began charging towards the beach. The
musketeers fired and many died. When they charged, there were more 
explosions. They forgot about their own mines! ¡°Come, boys and girls! 
We will go the long way to the fortress!¡± shouted a commander. 

The soldiers then went all regrouped and went a way around the beach to
an unprotected part of the fortress. ¡°I need air support!¡± yelled out 
the commander and a blackbird soon tore a hole into a wall and the 
soldiers stormed into the fortress. I followed the soldiers as did 
Ravin. The fight inside the fortress was bloody; elves and human alike 
were fighting these lizard head human body people. They were excellent 
fighters and they were hard to kill in melee combat. One soldier was 
having a hand to hand fight with a tragan and the tragan picked him up 
and broke his neck. Although their weapons weren¡¯t as good as ours, 
the way they use it is impressive. They can make their ordinary axes 
crush our Liasten based armour, but not to worry. They have no 
gunpowder technology and they are easily killed by gunshots. 

¡°Fire at will, do not spare anyone! We do not take tragan prisoners!¡±
shouted Ravin. He took his musket as did all the musketeers and fired 
at the tragans. The tragans were lightly armoured; they only wore a 
helmet, armour at the waist area, and a shield, so they were easy to 
kill from ranged weapons but harder when your fighting them hand to 
hand. 

¡°Vie surannde!¡± shouted a tragan holding its hands up. 

¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying!¡± said a soldier. The tragan
kept speaking and the soldier became irritated and fired his musket. 
The bullet pierced the tragans head and instantly caused death. Many 
occasions of this happened in this battle, so eventually all the 
tragans were killed. 

¡°I¡¯ve calculated our casualties: 200 legionaries dead, 130 infantry
dead, 20 musketeers dead, and 5 cavalry dead. Many and many are injured 
from the explosions or in the fortress battle. Most are melee soldiers, 
sirs,¡± said an officer. 

¡°Alright, carry on, son. Give all of these soldiers a proper burial,¡±
I said. ¡°Shadowstalker!¡± 

The messenger boy ran towards me. ¡°Yes sir?¡± 

¡°Go to Tarka from the caravel called ¡®Agasa¡¯s fate¡¯ and tell them to
bring fifty thousand soldiers.¡± 

¡°Yes, sir, right away. Oh yes, I¡¯m also old enough to be a soldier
now, is that okay?¡± he asked. 

¡°Fine, you may serve as a soldier but you are also still my messenger,
understood?¡± 

¡°Yes sir,¡± he said quietly. 

¡°Alright, carry on, my boy.¡± I said. I knew he wasn¡¯t old enough but
I saw in his eyes that he wanted to fight. I normally don¡¯t let 
younglings serve, but I sensed an unusual amount of potential. I think 
he would make an excellent soldier. 

¡°Vaoklin,¡± I turned around and saw Ravin. ¡°We must go to the capital
now. Densai was just in a civil war and now they are greatly weakened 
economically and their military. The sooner, the better.¡± 

Two Weeks of Battles 

I remembered a series of battle during that two weeks going to the
capital of the Densai area. One battle was crossing the Red River¡¯s 
bridge, basically trying to cross the great bridge of the Red River. 
The river lived up to its namesake; as red as the blood of the humans. 
There was a force there waiting for us there. There were many 
bloodthirsty tragans waiting for a meal right after they ¡®kill¡¯ us. I 
laughed aloud from that thought and my soldiers stared at me after 
hearing my laugh. I wiped a tear off my eye and then looked into my 
spyglass. 

¡°Deansa¡¯s Tragana Skadaer IV¡­ hmm, that¡¯s what the banner says,¡± I
said. 

¡°It means Densai¡¯s Tragan Force IV Legion. I believe that is one of
their divisions,¡± said Alfonso. ¡°Hand me the spyglass, please.¡± I 
did so and he looked into it. 

¡°An impressive size for a force, my F¨¹hrer, but my legionaries can
handle them. Here¡¯s the plan, sir.¡± Alfonso told me the plan and I 
nodded in agreement. We had an advantage in this battle; we were on a 
hill. The rest of the army was with Ravin, creating a new fortification 
called ¡°Ft. Han.¡± 

¡°Empire¡¯s Legion, forward!¡± shouted Alfonso. ¡°Musketeers, forward
ten steps and halt!¡± 

A formation was created with the musketeers standing on the hill in
descending elevation while the legionaries were at the bottom of the 
hill, blocking the bridge which prevented any way to get to the 
musketeers. The tragans charged across the bridge and the legionaries 
formed some kind of ¡®scutum¡¯ which meant their shield created wall. 
Their helmet was called a ¡®galea¡¯ and their armour was called a 
¡®lorica segmentata.¡¯ They had many other unusual names too, probably 
names from their old dead language. But, their ¡®scutum wall¡¯ created 
a barrier that prevented anything to pass the bridge. The tragans 
pushed and the elfin legionaries struggled to push back. 

¡°Push harder!¡± shouted a centurion (the elfin officer.) The centurion
had a soft voice so she¡¯s a female officer. ¡°Do not let any tragan 
pass!¡± 

The musketeers fired at the tragans while they pushed. Every single
musket of the regiment was shot and many, many tragans were instantly 
killed. The surviving ones began to retreat. 

¡°Forward, lads¡­ let¡¯s get on with it! No survivors, no prisoners! Do
not fail Lord Alfonso or our new F¨¹hrer!¡± shouted the centurion. The 
legionaries began running across the bridge, slaughtering the 
retreating tragans. Our reinforcements arrived with one thousand human 
infantry who wielded swords and shields; two hundred human cavalry 
consisting of the lancers who obviously used lances and the dragoons 
who used flintlock pistols and sabres. The musketeers also charged 
followed by the reinforcements along with Alfonso and me. We shouted 
and cursed while bathing in the cold blood of the tragans and soon the 
day was won. 

We dumped the bodies of the tragans in the Red River. Once we did that,
there were many floating bodies and limbs of these lizard people. We 
counted our casualties¡­ one musketeer whose rifle misfired into her 
face and died from it. That was just one battle of the series¡­ 

The next battle was called the ¡®The Mother of All Battles,¡¯ the
longest battle that we had which lasted six entire days. The soldiers 
had to take shifts so we had a continuous fighting force while the 
massive Densai Tragan Army or as known as the ¡®DTA¡¯ fought hard but 
were eventually destroyed. It all started at an early morning when 
Alfonso and I were sparring. He told me my form looked like I was a 
large blade of fire with a shadow of a man inside with two glowing 
green eyes which was very intimidating while he was a dark figure 
surrounded by his winds with glowing blue eyes which was also very 
intimidating. We practiced our powers and figured out advantages and 
weaknesses of each other. 

Then, from nowhere came large burning stones which were launched by
trebuchets. It sent soldiers flying and so the centurion told every 
soldier to get into the formation. Ravin was still absent; he was 
building another fort called ¡®Fort Densi,¡¯ but this time we had �0†6 
of the army. ¡°Musketeers move back! Legionaries and infantry forward 
with legionaries in front! Loose formation so we won¡¯t take as many 
casualties. Good luck soldiers! The tragans are charging now,¡± said 
the centurion. 

¡°Airbourne assault¡­ now!¡± I called out and the airbourne division
soon was soaring above our heads. The two headed drakulans of the 
tragans also appeared and they were fighting with no stop. Some tragans 
were killed or injured during the airbourne assault and the dogfight 
but they continued to charge. These tragans were a lot fiercer and they 
broke the barrier that the legionaries created and with their axes, 
they wounded and killed many soldiers. 

¡°Infantry and legionaries, move away from each other and let the
musketeers do their work!¡± I ordered. The musketeers positioned 
themselves and fired. It created a thick cloud of smoke so I couldn¡¯t 
see anything through. All I heard were grunts and things hitting the 
floor. When the smoke disappeared, there were many tragans charging at 
us again and many dead tragans and our own soldiers. Sara fell down 
Elaine after being hit by a fireball and I quickly went to fetch her 
right before the tragans got to us. 

¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked while I was holding her. 

¡°I¡¯m fine. Please put me down right now. I have to go find Elaine and
bring her back to camp before the God knows what will happen to her,¡± 
she said. I put her down and she ran to find her injured bird. I 
watched as she disappeared. 

¡°F¨¹hrer Aridene! Look out behind you!¡± shouted the centurion. I
turned around and a tragan, who was ahead of every other tragan, swung 
his axe at my head. I ducked just in time and drew my sword and stabbed 
the beast in the chest. I pulled the blade out to see that it was 
covered in blood. The tragan looked down slowly and then looked up. 
When he looked up, I quickly swung my sword at his neck and decapitated 
him. ¡°Get back, sir!¡± shouted the centurion. 

I ran towards the back of the line and got on my horse Geiwetter and
watched the tragans approach. ¡°Fire!¡± shouted a musketeer captain. 
They did and many in the first rows of the tragan wave fell down. 

¡°Charge!¡± shouted the centurion and so everyone did. The musketeers
charged with their muskets pointed out with the bayonet out so it was 
like a spear. I charged with my blade out alongside Alfonso who was 
also using his blade. Geiwetter was stabbed in the neck during the 
battle. He quickly fell down with a cry of agony and slowly died. I pet 
his head at his last minutes and gave a little prayer to send him to 
the Heavens. I then quickly got up and began fighting. I used my kite 
shield and my blade the entire fight. I was armoured with full plate 
armour and a full helmet with wings at the side which protected my head 
greatly with a few air holes so I can breathe. My shield was silver 
with a blackbird painted on it. Pretty plain and simple but they do the 
job. But I might change my helmet to a grenadier¡¯s coal scuttle shaped 
helmet, but I still wanted to protect my face. 

Now, as we continued fighting, more and more tragans charged. I
remembered in my lessons that all tragans are soldiers and they all 
fight so we are in for a hell of a fight. In the middle of the battle, 
an axe struck me hard in the chest and I quickly collapsed onto the 
green grassy earth. The tragan who carried the axe immediately saw an 
opportunity to kill me so it quickly swung his axe at my body. Luckily, 
I still had the energy to block the attack and stab the beast in the 
neck, killing it. I then dropped my blade and laid there. I wasn¡¯t 
unconscious or anything but I didn¡¯t have the energy to get up. 

I saw the faces of the soldiers when they looked at my body when they
fought. One person tried to retrieve me and a tragan was fighting him 
or her (I didn¡¯t know who) for my body. Soon, the field cleared and I 
turned my head both ways and saw lines of soldiers and tragans, facing 
against each other for a standoff for my body. The two groups charged 
into a clash and I watched and heard metal clashes and screams. 
Apparently, the group on my side lost the fight and the tragans began 
dragging me away. I looked up and saw my army; exhausted and wounded. 

Then I saw the colours of the blackbird and the four swords of Fandaria.
It was the black flag so it was Ravin¡¯s army! They sprung into battle 
with the musketeers in the back, the cannon crew loading the cannons 
and preparing for fire. When Ravin saw me being dragged away, he used 
his lightning element powers and ran towards me in lightning speed as 
it is one of his powers. He threw me into his back and created a ring 
of lightning which paralyzed the entire platoon of tragans! 

¡°Slaughter them,¡± said Ravin to his soldiers and the soldiers killed
every paralyzed tragan. There were still many more but I was still 
wounded and needed healing. Ravin then took me back to camp into a tent 
and an army medic was there to treat me. 

¡°Take good care of your F¨¹hrer. I¡¯ll be back later,¡± said Ravin as
he left the medical tent. 

My armour was removed and my blood-stained shirt was removed. The
scratch was a nasty one, and I need immediate healing. All the healing 
potions were gone and the elves who once made them are long-dead. 
First, the healer was using some kind of disinfectant for the wound. 
When she rubbed it on, it burned but I held the pain in. I didn¡¯t know 
what the medic did next, but soon I was bandaged and moved to my own 
pavilion. Sara was there, sleeping in her own cot. I was laying on my 
cot thinking about the battle. I stopped thinking about it and fell 
asleep, dreaming of a utopian empire of humans only while the elves 
were in a different, poorer side of the empire. Then, a shadow with 
many horns came out of nowhere and completely destroyed my empire. I 
then woke up, sweating and breathing hard. 

I looked down and saw my bandaged body. It still hurt a lot, but it was
much better than before. I heard gunshots, shouts, and metal clashing 
still. The battle was still going on? I wanted to get up and fight, but 
I couldn¡¯t as I was still wounded. I looked around the pavilion and 
noticed Sara was gone. She was probably on her blackbird and fighting 
bravely against the tragans airbourne. A loud and irritating horn blew 
and soldiers rushed out of their tents and went into battle. Another 
group of soldiers returned from battle, probably changing shifts. I 
couldn¡¯t sleep anymore from the noise, so I just lay there; eyes wide 
open the entire night. 

In the morning, the battle was still going on. I had enough energy to
get up now, but I still couldn¡¯t fight. I got up and suited up and 
grabbed and loaded my flintlock. I walked out slowly and watched the 
battle in the distance. I may have had the energy to fight, but I can 
still be far away and shoot my gun. I looked back at my pavilion and 
saw my wife, Sara, sleeping in her cot. I smiled and walked to the 
battlefield. I looked into my spyglass and watched the battle. I saw 
Ravin and Alfonso, in their elemental form. Ravin was the one with the 
black aura surrounding him with the shadow of the man with glowing red 
eyes, and I already told you what Alfonso looked like. 

They were killing tragan after tragan after tragan with no trouble at
all. ¡°Hello my F¨¹hrer!¡± said a voice. I turned around and saw Devan 
Shadowstalker and many soldiers in the back of him. Devan himself was 
armoured with a full plate mail and a schtalhelm. He was also holding a 
musket so he probably joined the musketeer corps under the permission 
of me. ¡°I am ready for battle, sir.¡± 

¡°Go then, I will watch you perform,¡± I said so he and the soldiers
went off to fight. I watched them fight and fight and they performed 
flawlessly. Devan was quite a sharpshooter and fencer. He killed many 
with his musket and with his sword and didn¡¯t stop. I suddenly got the 
urge and energy to fight so I ran towards the battlefield. All of a 
sudden, I stopped and ran back to my pavilion and grabbed my sword and 
shield and then ran towards the battlefield. 

When I got there, Alfonso found me and went back into his normal form.
¡°Sir¡­ you¡¯ve been asleep for three days. It is day four of the 
battle! I hope you perform as well as you always do!¡± 

I nodded and began fighting. The hours of sword swinging and flintlock
firing certainly made me hungry and it was about the end of my shift. 
When I ate, I learned a couple of things from Ravin. 

1.	The tragans live in the millions. 2.	The tragans reproduce very
quickly and when they do, they produce an average of twenty younglings 
each time. 3.	The tragans mature very quickly. 

I thought this was very useful information for our battle against the
tragans/Densai. We had to kill every tragan alive so they will not grow 
up to try and rebel against us, so I told Ravin and Alfonso that plan. 
They reluctantly agreed and we discussed our plans with the tragans 
when we destroy the ¡®capital.¡¯ 

After the meal, our group of soldiers rested as the other group fought
the restless tragans. I sat on a bench and looked into the spyglass and 
watched without ease. It was night time right now, but it seemed like 
day from the flashes of cannon and the firing of rifles. 

The fighting seemed endless but after 36 hours, it was all finished. The
fields that stretched for miles were filled with bodies of mainly 
tragans along with many humans and elves. This was the bloodiest battle 
I¡¯ve seen in my entire life and looking at the expression of Ravin, it 
was probably the bloodiest he¡¯s ever seen too. Right now, I can fight 
as I¡¯ve recovered and I¡¯ve had a burst of energy that encourages me 
to fight. 

There were also many other battles and skirmishes to the journey to the
capital, but I won¡¯t get into details on those. The last great battle 
to the capital was called ¡®Thog¡¯s Legion Madness.¡¯ Thog was the king 
of Densai and the leader of the tragans and this is when we were in 
front of the capital en route to destroy it when we encountered his 
legion. It was a massive force, not as large as the one in the ¡®Mother 
of All Battles¡¯ but pretty close to that. 

Ravin, Alfonso, and I engaged to become our elemental forms to fight. We
didn¡¯t want a long battle or to suffer heavy casualties but we knew 
that we needed to defeat these tragans. We engaged, and the tragans 
surrounded us. We began using our elemental power attacks recklessly 
and restlessly. Tragan after tragan after tragan were killed when 
trying to engage. The soldiers behind us watched in awe. We kept 
fighting and fighting and fighting until there were no tragans left to 
fight. 

I looked around and to my surprise, there were no tragans left alive in
sight! The field was bloody with tragan flesh and behind us were our 
soldiers who were silent in awe. We went back into our normal form. 
¡°Good practice, mates,¡± said Alfonso. We laughed and the day was 
done. 

We marched and marched to the capital. It was standing before us. A
natural wall of jagged mountains prevented us from any entrance but a 
little cave that leads to the interior of the capital. Behind it was 
the vast desert of Handun. The siege is on. 

Densai¡¯s End 

There was a little passageway from the outside of the natural mountain
wall into the capital of Dragulsin. I pictured the inside of this 
natural fortress were just burrows and few buildings, since tragans are 
reptilian natives of Drakolva. A general told me his plans to get into 
the fortress. He needed the elemental warriors; Ravin, Alfonso, and I 
to attack the inside of the passage to expand it. The passage right now 
was only 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The soldiers will then storm in 
the expanded passage into an attack. I noticed the general had dark 
brown skin. He was from the South Drakolvan area; black skinned and 
brown eyed. They usually were soldiers or farmers, and this talented 
one is unique. I smiled and nodded at his plan. 

Ravin, Alfonso, and I lined up in front of the passage and we turned
into our elemental form. We each attacked the inside and we heard loud 
explosions and rock tumbling. With a huge amount of energy, I melted 
the tumbled rocks and to my surprise, the whole mountain collapsed. I 
had to slowly destroy the rocks so the soldiers can storm in for an 
attack. I heard screams of ¡®Elemmenta W�0è1mffers!¡¯ or Elemental 
Warriors. 

The rocks tuned into a hot liquid and quickly cooled. ¡°Get into the
city and create chaos!¡± ordered the Southern general. The soldiers 
stormed in and began the battle. The cavalry charged first followed by 
the infantry and then the musketeers/grenadiers. Blam! Clang! Boom! 
Noises of the battle echoed in the valley capital called Dragulsin. 

The great chief was easy to spot. He was a lot bigger than the other
tragans and he wore an odd looking crown on his head. He used a great 
maul to fight and killed many of our comrades with it. He spotted me 
and ran towards me roaring like a monster. He swung his maul and I 
blocked with my shield. The collision of the maul and the shield hurt! 
My eyes widened as he was about to attack again and then his eye 
widened in surprise and looked back. It was Ravin! He was in his 
elemental form and he just zapped Thog with a lightning bolt. I jumped 
back and watched the fight. The chief, Thog Chaosnought, then became 
furious and swung his maul at Ravin. Ravin was hit and he instantly 
went back into his normal form and he was knocked out. 

¡°My lord!¡± shouted a gray figure with glowing blue eyes. Alfonso! He
sent a powerful gust of wind which was like a hit from a very powerful 
monster and to our surprise, it just made Thog scream in pain and made 
him even angrier. He then swung his maul at Alfonso and it was a direct 
hit. Alfonso screamed in agony and collapsed into his normal form, 
knocked out. 

Now the monster chief eyed me once more and he was about to finish me
off until I quickly grabbed my blade and lunged it at his neck. My 
helmet fell off revealing my young clean face and the Densai chief 
stared into my eyes in horror. I got up and swung my blade at his neck, 
decapitating him. The chief collapsed and it was over. The great tragan 
has fallen. 

With Thog dead, the rest of the tragans were looking at his body in
horror. While they were staring at his body, the soldiers killed the 
tragans quickly before they can react. Eventually, every tragan was 
killed. Their bodies were burned by me and their ashes were thrown into 
the Red River. The capital, Dragulsin was pretty much what I was 
expecting; few buildings and many burrows. The burrows were filled in 
and the buildings were demolished. This area will have a new city and 
the human lands will no longer be over-populated by the old Britonian 
humans. Britonian Englisch will be Drakolva¡¯s primary language 
(Englisch was the Britonian tribe that migrated to this land.) 

All hail the glory to my empire. 

A United Drakolva 

We went through the Black Forest to go back to our homelands. The
Serpent Wall that defended the homelands was constructed and was made 
of Liasten. We rode through many cities and the civilians saluted. 

A salute of raising an arm diagonal to the person is our salute. I was
back at the Lerona¡¯s Land area and going to my new palace, the 
F¨¹hrerpalace. I rode to the palace from a carriage with my wife, Sara. 
We rode through the newly constructed streets of Lenos and civilians 
were saluting and cheering. Ahead was my new palace; a great white dome 
with many windows and also many sentry towers. The entrance was a great 
door behind many great pillars. We entered and looked around the hall. 
It was fit for a great king. There were many treasures that we stole 
during the war being displayed. We went up the grand staircase into our 
bedroom. 

Although I wasn¡¯t a king, I was treated like one. I did not want many
wives; I only wanted one, my Sara. We went into our bedroom and did 
adultery and I don¡¯t want to get into detail¨¹hs in that. Ravin 
knocked on my door and I shouted ¡°Do not come in!¡± 

He probably heard the bed shaking and he chuckled and heard his
footsteps. The night was amazing and the best night of my F¨¹hrership. 

The next week, we held our great banquet of celebrating our victory in
the war. It was held in the great dining hall of my palace. The hall 
was crowded with soldiers and royalty. It was decorated with paintings 
of me and many others and banners of the blackbird with the four swords 
of Fandaria. Generals and other officers sat in the officer¡¯s table 
and the soldiers were sitting in rows of tables. It was crowded and 
hot, but I didn¡¯t mind. I was very happy. 

Ravin sat to the left of me and Sara sat to the right. Ravin was wearing
his old king uniform, black clothes and a black cape but he didn¡¯t 
have a crown. Alfonso was also wearing his old king uniform except his 
had many colours. He looked noble as did I. I wore my hauberk and a 
long sleeved shirt underneath it. My cape was a great scarlet colour 
and my trousers were tan. Sara wore a velvet violet gown and her brown 
hair was curled and it fell back to her knee. 

¡°Give thanks to your F¨¹hrer, Vaoklin Aridene!¡± yelled Ravin, saluting
after he stood up. 

¡°Hail!¡± shouted the guests. 

¡°About a few years ago, this young man attacked my old kingdom,
Fandaria. He was about 16 or 17 then, but he commanded an excellent 
force. I was about to lose but he agreed to cease fighting if I did. I 
was praying for mercy but he didn¡¯t know. We agreed to merge our 
countries together and form a new empire, and we did. He became the 
F¨¹hrer and I became his second. I feared him so, ever since he gained 
his new elemental powers. I thought he was going to kill me!¡± Everyone 
laughed, including me. 

¡°But, as we fought together, I began to trust him. We became good
friends, and excellent soldiers. We fought together, ate together, and 
laughed together. After the naval battle in the Great Waters, and he 
fell overboard, I, along with many, many others were shocked. We 
searched and searched and we gave up hope. When we attacked the Nagi 
Island Nagiana, we had to do a scout mission. Luckily, Alfonso was a 
shape shifter and he was scouting for rogue elves, he found our 
F¨¹hrer, Vaoklin!¡± 

¡°Hail!¡± saluted the guests. 

¡°Now, we were very happy to see our F¨¹hrer alive. We wouldn¡¯t know
what would happen if he died. He is our leader of this war and this 
empire and I believe he has a few words to say.¡± Ravin sat down and I 
stood up. 

¡°Comrades, this certainly is a glorious day indeed. Our empire is
complete and I¡¯ve united Drakolva into one great nation. We now have 
more land to farm on and live on and we no longer need to be stuffed 
together in this area. I have to give the Tragans props for fighting so 
hard. They were natives and we were immigrants but we took the lands 
away from them and now they are extinct. But the Tragans are all 
warriors and if we didn¡¯t kill them all, many of us will be killed. I 
had no choice, comrades. 

¡°It has been a great war and a pleasure fighting alongside all of you,
my friends, especially the elves. At first, I had no respect for the 
elves at all until I met Alfonso. He is a great soldier and a great 
leader and we grew to become friends. From this day on, no elves will 
live in internment camps and all elves will have the same freedom as 
all the other civilians in all of Drakolva!¡± 

¡°Hail!¡± saluted the guests. 

¡°This war lasted a while and I want every soldier to relax and spend
time with their families. We¡¯ve went through a lot together and I want 
to thank each and every one of you for fighting so hard. We¡¯ve grown a 
technological level by learning how to make muskets after harquebus and 
learning the Liasten metal technology. As a gift from me to you, each 
person here will be awarded the Honour of Lerona, the greatest 
achievement a soldier will ever get awarded. I am a generous leader, 
maybe too generous.¡± Everyone laughed. ¡°And now I have an 
announcement. Sara is pregnant and we will be expecting in a couple of 
months.¡± 

Cheers and applause came from the entire hall and I smiled and raised my
arm diagonally forward in a salute. They hailed and saluted. ¡°Everyone 
enjoy this evening with excellent food, dance, and music. Thank you for 
coming!¡± 

We lined up at the buffet area and helped ourselves to excellent food.
Our small table consisting of Sara, Alfonso, Ravin, and I were talking 
about the future of the empire. I was talking about naming the child 
with Sara and how I will treat him or her. I wanted the best for my 
child and the best education he or she can receive. To become F¨¹hrer, 
they need to learn politics and military and become the best of the 
best with it. Although I am the self proclaimed F¨¹hrer, I would have 
to pick the next and they do the same and so on and so forth so I hope 
that my child will have the great honour of becoming one, male or 
female. That¡¯s what I said. 

A few months later, Sara gave birth to twins; one girl and one boy. The
girl had my green eyes and the boy had Sara¡¯s brown eyes. We named the 
girl Eva and the boy Wilhelm. I hope the best for them and the future 
of my empire. 

Five Years Later¡­ Rebellion! 

It has been five years since the end of the war. Sara and I were 24
years old. I met my friends and my best officers, Ravin and Alfonso 
once again. Ravin looked exactly the same and he had a son named 
Joseph. Since I gave elves their freedom, Alfonso grew his hair back. 
¡°The reason I called you here, Vaoklin, is that there is a rebellion 
going on. Some southerners, citizens and elfin civilians banded up with 
old weapons to a rebellion. I do not know their exact location but we 
will need to set up arms and fight them. We created the rifle that did 
not require us to pour powder in but we need to load a bullet in every 
time we fire but it is much faster, so that will be our primary source 
to destroy these rebels,¡± said Ravin. 

¡°Do you know the leader of this rebellion?¡± I asked. 

¡°Not quite, but we do know that he has black skin and a scar down his
right eye. We don¡¯t know his name but we¡¯ve seen him before,¡± said 
Alfonso. 

¡°Send the grenadiers. They will handle them quite nicely,¡± I said. 

¡°We tried to, but we can¡¯t find them. They burn village after village
after village. Now they are in the Black Forest somewhere,¡± said 
Ravin. 

¡°Alright then, triple the wall patrols! I won¡¯t jeopardize the
Drakolvan republic from a simple rebellion,¡± I said. ¡°No surviving 
rebels shall live. I wanted a utopia with no tragans and I will keep it 
that way.¡± 

¡°They shouldn¡¯t be much of a problem other than burning towns. They
are quite behind in technology; still using crossbows and other 
inferior and obsolete items,¡± said Alfonso. ¡°It¡¯s their will that¡¯s 
strong; a will to overthrow the dictatorship that you¡¯ve entrusted 
onto this land. They don¡¯t want any more wars.¡± 

¡°So all this time while we were fighting, they were setting up an army
to overthrow me?¡± I laughed hard. ¡°Just follow the trail with 
dragoons. The new pistols that you made should handle them easily.¡± 

¡°Done but you¡¯ll have to come with us,¡± said Ravin. ¡°Enjoy the
slaughter of the rebel scum.¡± 

¡°Easy there, Ravin. We¡¯ll have the pleasure of destroying them real
soon,¡± said Alfonso. ¡°Since I am a shape shifter, I¡¯ll take form of 
an animal to track them down. As soon as I do, unleash hell onto 
them.¡± 

The next week, Alfonso returned to Lenos. He said that he had found the
rebels! They were by the capital, Faln. ¡°Maybe we should take the 
flying corps to them. After all, they can¡¯t fly. We should call this 
¡®Death From Above,¡¯¡± joked Alfonso. ¡°Send them already then! 
Although Sara is the leader of the squadron, she will not be leading 
them. My two kids, Wilhelm and Eva are in that area; and I haven¡¯t 
seen them in a year. Whatever you do, do not let my children or any 
civilians get harmed!¡± I was furious and worried that my children are 
endangered. 

¡°Will do, Vaoklin, but do you know how to ride a blackbird or a
drakulan?¡± asked Alfonso. 

¡°I know how to ride a blackbird, but I¡¯ll need a rear gunner,¡± I
replied. 

¡°I¡¯ll be your rear gunner,¡± said a voice. It was Ravin, and he was
fully armoured in his famous black plate mail. He changed his helmet to 
the guard¡¯s helmet and wore a mask for protection and intimidation. 

¡°Alright, then let¡¯s go. This will be fun,¡± I said. <to be
continued?> 


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