Frontier Fortress was teetering on the brink of destruction. King Quaid ordered the last of his reserve archers and crossbowmen to the inner wall platforms.

He also sent the walking wounded, who could still shoot a weapon, onto the platforms. This gave him over a hundred men to hold those positions on the inner wall. He also had the sixty-two-year-old Lord Disroy, an extremely loyal and disciplined man, stationed with forty warriors in the inner courtyard. Finally, Lord Sibbs and twenty warriors were guarding the door into Hogarth Hall.

 Quaid himself retreated into Hogarth Hall because the brown dragon had cut him deep. His personal healer could not get the bleeding to stop, and they were out of the healing waters from Timber Lake. They had used every last drop on the steady stream of wounded who had been coming in over the past few days.

Quaid ran his fingers over the large worn “H” carved into the backrest of the stone throne in front of him. I’ve spent my entire life protecting the first high king’s throne, he thought as he took a seat. Now it will be destroyed. At least my people had been evacuated.

His gaze turned to the words chiseled onto the large flat stone above the throne. All twenty-one names of the high kings of the Glen had been immortalized there. They represented over a thousand years of royalty.

The first four, Hogarth, Hodar, Haldrin, and Achrin had all been known as very strong leaders who increased the territory of the kingdom. They were all first born sons to their predecessor.

Then the line split, because Achrin had no son, so his cousin Nogdar became king upon his death. High King Nogdar was very weak, and almost lost the kingdom to the Bloody Thrasher Tribe.

Nogdar was followed by High King Slinn, who had led several successful campaigns into Timber Lake Mountains, against the seven tribes of goblins. During his seventh year as high king, he had been ambushed on the eastern trail that led up into the mountains and was slain by Skin Peelers.

He was succeeded by his six-year-old son, Barlow, who was the longest reigning high king. His time was mostly peaceful, and he died at a hundred and two years old.

Next came Carbin and Nellon, both decent men, but mediocre kings who fought several skirmishes with the dwarves and elves when the men pushed further south into their lands.

They were followed by the mighty High King Dwain, who had built the Two Towers and moved the capital there. He felt that it was safer to have the capital kingdom south of Hogarth Hills after a Skin Peeler and Black Eye army had pushed all the way to Kaylor before being driven off.

High King Dwain also negotiated the first framework of treaties with the elves and dwarves. Towards the end of his reign, he cleared the lands of dangerous creatures all the way to the South Seas, starting many villages, including Port Turin and Keyorlork.

Dwain was followed by Mosharth, Bellishob, and Nedyshob. There wasn’t much known history on these three high kings, so it was widely accepted that they didn’t accomplish much and probably benefitted greatly from High King Dwain’s aggressive policies leading to peace.

The next two high kings in the line were Marcos and Podrias, both great warriors. They implemented many laws, civilizing the kingdom, and made stronger treaties with the elves and dwarves. They were so widely respected that parents still named their children after them.

Teebow, a very religious man, reigned for the next eighty-three years. He was followed by his nephew, Sordium, who was easily the worst high king to rule the Glen.

High King Sordium implemented heavy taxes, and ran the Glen as somewhat of a tyrant. He was also known to dabble in magic and considered himself a wizard, which caused the citizens in the Glen to have a lot of resentment towards any magic-users, that carried on to this day.

Sordium also had the dubious distinction of being the only high king to have been assassinated, which occurred in his twelfth year of rule. Someone had poisoned him with the venom of a South Sea snake, and the mystery of who had done it had never been solved.

The next three high kings were Archie, Archibald, and Cobb. These three lazy men had long reigns, which allowed the uprising of the pirates in the South Seas to go unchecked. They seemed content to deal with the pirates in a defensive manner, only responding when seriously provoked.

High King Tronin, the last name escribed on the stone, had changed all that. He built Port Turin up from a small harbor village into a defensible fortress, where he gathered intelligence on the pirate leader and his lair.

Next, he spent seven years fighting the pirates and sinking their ships, wiping them from the South Seas. After the war, he moved the capital to Port Turin. The Glen had not seen leadership like that since the days of Dwain and Hogarth.

The wounded King Quaid looked about the hall, counting his men. There were Lords Kell and Seth, three captains, twenty archers, and a hundred warriors standing solemnly nearby.

They were known as the Royal Hall Guards, and were all dressed impeccably in long flowing green robes, with four-foot green shields. Each shield was a foot longer than the normal kingdom shield, and bore the “H” symbol of the Hogarth family, instead of the red dragon, just as they had in the days of the first high king.

The Royal Hall Guards were a very elite unit of fighters. They were all volunteers, diligently accepting the lifelong task of maintaining and defending Hogarth Hall.

None of them were married and they carried out their duties religiously, taking an oath to die for the hall if need be. On this day, they would fulfill their oaths.

The sounds of boo gah drums once again signaled that the Skull Crushers were on the move outside of Hogarth Hall. Several hundred archers had returned and were exchanging arrows with the men on the wall platforms.

At the same time, goblins were once again battering the main gate that led into the interior courtyard. The wooden doors wouldn’t hold much longer. Once they fell, nothing would stand between the green menace and the hallowed hall.

The missile fire battle raged on, killing about seventy men, and more than double that in goblins. Then the main gate came crashing down, sending the Skull Crushers pouring into the inner courtyard.

The Skull Crushers battled with Lord Disroy and his men. They killed another seventy goblins, fighting to the last man, but the superior numbers simply overwhelmed them and Lord Disroy fell to a vicious head-butt.

The archery war continued while the green menace in the inner courtyard turned their attention on Lord Sibbs and his squad. The men were positioned on the stone stairs that led to the iron doors into Hogarth Hall.

The hefty Sibbs and his twenty men made a valiant defense at the door, killing another sixty Skull Crushers before they were overwhelmed. Sibbs himself fell from a black and red arrow, fired from the yorg with the deadly black bow.

After that, several hefty goblin underlings, led by an even heftier yorg, brought the ramming timber to the iron doors and began pounding them. Initially, the hits left only small dents. Then the iron began to fold inward. 

The archery battle outside came to an abrupt end, when Ladicrum the Brown flew in and launched his breath needles at the last main platform of men, clearing it.

The dragon followed up by clawing and chewing through the last few men on the inner wall. The brown dragon swung about, and came to a landing on top of the ancient hall, peering over the edge of the roof at the goblins assaulting the iron doors below.

The big iron doors gave way with a loud bang, and the first line of goblins fell at the hands of the Royal Hall Guard archers inside. A large horde of goblin archers engaged these men and quickly dispatched them, due to the range advantage of the human longbows being eliminated at this short of a distance.

A group of young muscle bound yorgs led the charge into Hogarth Hall. The remaining Royal Hall Guards were positioned in front of the throne platform with their swords drawn. The battle was brutal, covering the floor in a mosaic of red and green blood.

King Quaid watched his heavily outnumbered men push the goblins back three times, while falling one by one. One captain killed a yorg, only to fall to a head-butt from another. A second captain was cut down by goblin arrows. The third captain fell to a goblin axe.

Finally, the last handful of bloodied Royal Hall Guards fell back to the throne platform, fighting from the three large steps. They too, fell one by one. King Quaid very painfully strung an arrow on a longbow that he had picked up after losing the mighty Bow of Togra.

Four yorgs climbed the steps, with their goblin minions crowded close behind, advancing on the last two Royal Hall Guards, Lords Kell and Seth. The yorgs charged forward, shoving their spears into Lord Kell, killing him.

Lord Seth rushed towards the nearest yorg and chopped off its arm with his first blow. His follow-up swing slit the yorg’s throat. Lord Seth turned and shoved his sword through a second goblin leader’s belly, only to have a spear driven through his stomach by a different yorg.

Lord Seth shoved the limp yorg off his sword and swung his blade at the goblin leader that had speared him, removing his head. The grievously wounded Lord Seth staggered towards the fourth yorg, who was the mighty goblin leader with the black bow.

The bow yorg sent a black arrow with red feathers through Lord Seth’s chest. He let out a small sigh and fell to his knees, dying in that position. This brought out a low contented snarl from the big beast.

The big yorg strung another red and black arrow and climbed the throne platform steps towards the wounded king, when the creature noticed a black mist climbing up the stairs towards the throne and wrapping around its green feet.

The bow yorg snarled at King Quaid and turned away, walking back down the steps towards the growing shadows. The muscle-bound beast took one last look at the king and snorted at him, before taking up a guard position in the broken doorway.

Quaid was hoping to get a chance to kill the bow yorg that had killed his oldest son, but his attention shifted when a black shape passed up the stairs, forming into a short bald wizard in a black robe. His eyes were as black as midnight.

“Ah, the mighty hunter does not look so mighty.”, Daggart said, “Perhaps you are now the hunted?”

“Who are you that defiles the Hall of Hogarth?”, King Quaid asked, spitting up some blood, his undershirt soaked with even more blood from the dragon wound.

“I am Daggart, the new master of this hall.”, the dark wizard stated.

“Well then, I have a gift for you.”, King Quaid said and fired the arrow from the longbow straight at the wizard’s torso. The arrow passed clean through the magician, as if he were smoke. Daggart was unharmed by the direct hit.

“That may have worked, if you hadn’t allowed my dragon to take the Bow of Togra.”, Daggart made his creepy grin, “Your men are dead, your fortress is burnt. Your hallowed hall is defiled, and your son’s bodies are now feeding the crows, yet you are still defiant. I think it’s your turn to receive a gift.”

The dark wizard reached inside his robe and pulled out a black orb that was the size of his hand. Daggart casually tossed it at King Quaid. The explosion knocked both him and the stone thrown backwards, cracking off the top corner.

King Quaid rolled to his knees, and shaking his head, climbed to his feet. He pulled his sword from its sheath and rushed at the dark wizard. Each move causing the dragon wound to ache in excruciating pain.

Daggart the Dark waved his pale hand at the charging man and an invisible force sent him sprawling back onto the floor. King Quaid was slower to rise this time, and moved more cautiously towards the shadowy figure of the dark wizard.

Daggart waved his hand at the wounded king again, this time whispering some words in an unknown language. Quaid immediately froze in place, unable to move a muscle. The king struggled to release himself from the wizard’s dark spell, to no avail. He could only move his face.

“High King Tronin will kill you for this!”, Quaid spat out.

“I certainly hope that he tries harder than you did.” Daggart answered, “Or this whole endeavor might actually turn out to be quite a bore.”

“I swear under the sun of my ancestors that the Dragon Slayer will avenge me!”, Quaid promised.

“Take his head.”, the black wizard said to the shadows, in a calm voice, as if he had just asked for a meal.

The yorg that had retreated from the platform earlier, came back up the stairs, although now he carried a long axe instead of the black bow. The blade was jagged, but sharp.

The big yorg walked up to King Quaid, stopping merely inches from his face, and snorted. The creature had terrible breath. He knocked Quaid to his knees with a half strength head-butt.

The yorg brought the axe back and hesitated for a moment, hoping to enjoy some fear on the frozen king’s face. There was none. King Quaid merely winked at the muscular yorg and blew him a kiss.

The goblin leader growled and brought the cruel weapon down, biting into flesh and sending the man’s head bouncing to the floor, trailing the long brown-haired braid behind it. Quaid, King of the Frontier Fortress at Kaylor, was no more.

Several goblins up-righted the throne for King Gorpo of the Skull Crusher Tribe. The hideously fat goblin, with an incredibly broad forehead, climbed up the stairs onto the throne platform, and while steering well clear of the dark wizard, sat his grotesque butt upon the ancient great throne of Hogarth.

Daggart didn’t mind. He didn’t mind at all. My throne is waiting for me in Port Turin.