Two days had passed, with only minor exchanges of arrows and bolts marking the days at Gilead. The Black Eyes seemed content to fortify the hard-fought buildings that they had captured and to tend to their wounded. On the third day, Ephraim the Black returned.

The dragon had grown bored and decided to get the battle between the green men and the half men going again. He swooped in fast, landing on the roof of the Ballista Tower located on the corner of the south wall. The dragon landed in the center of several dwarves, sending them scattering while he clawed through them.

The ballista crew that was positioned there, attempted to swing their weapon about, but they were too slow for the speedy beast. Ephraim was on them quick, smashing the big gun to pieces. Then he turned on the ballista crew and gobbled them up.

Slippery Tog, the tower commander, bravely led several warriors against the black dragon. The black beast swept most of them from the tower with his massive tail. Slippery Tog managed to get in close and cut the dragon’s underbelly.

Slippery Tog’s sword, having been forged with dwarf magic, penetrated the dragon’s scales and cut deep into the creature’s flesh. Ephraim turned on the dwarf commander, biting down and swallowing him whole.

This sent the few remaining dwarven defenders scurrying for cover into the two stairways that led down into the storage chambers inside of the tower. Now they were trapped inside.

Nearly forty crossbow warriors stationed on the nearby wall fled west, attempting to escape to the Command Tower. Ephraim let them go, and busied himself snapping his teeth at any dwarves that poked their heads out of the stairwells.

Ephraim scored a few lucky hits, resulting in the dragon pulling a screaming dwarf from one of the openings and gobbling him down. The black dragon was enjoying the game, and only stopped a couple of times to spew his acid down onto the south wall.

It didn’t take long for the expanding pools of steaming black acid to eat all the way around the Ballista Tower, completely separating it from both the south and east walls.

King Sturdy Axe watched Ephraim the Black settle in on his newly captured tower perch. The dwarf king stared at the strong, sleek, sinewy creature for a long time.

The dragon had been wounded several times, but hardly looked bothered. I have to find a way to destroy that black menace before it devours my entire kingdom, but how?

                                          *     *     *

Meanwhile, on Frontier Road, Lord Winston was not happy. He felt that the Yule Riders should never have retreated from the Upper Glen. Goblins are no match for us mounted warriors. We could have stopped the enemy in the Upper Glen!

The seven tribes never would have reached any of the kingdoms of men, if we had been reinforced in the Upper Glen, by warriors from the Lower Glen. Lord Winston’s yule let out an uneasy snort, pulling him from his thoughts.

He reached down and patted the animal’s thick neck. Lord Winston was a small man in stature, and the animal seemed huge to him, yet he stroked its neck lovingly. He had a strong bond with his mount and could not imagine riding another.

Lord Winston looked towards the young warrior in front of the patrol. He had halted them, just after the road started to bend into a wooded area, and appeared to be staring intently ahead.

Lord Winston ordered his four archers to hold back while he led his captain and five warriors to the man. He soon saw what the man was staring at. Lying in the middle of Frontier Road, about fifty feet away, was a skinny goblin.

The creature bore the tattooed markings of the Bloody Thrasher Tribe on its forehead, just below its bright red mohawk. The green creature was rolling around in circles and was waving its arms, all the while moaning.

Lord Winston was not sure what to make of it, when several of the yules snorted. The goblin looked towards the mounted men and stood up. The goblin blew a “raspberry” at them and ran into the nearby woods.

Boo gah drums began beating from everywhere, sounding so close that Winston could feel their vibrations. The goblin had distracted them from seeing the numerous Bloody Thrashers that were now chittering, and rushing headlong at them, thrusting their spears forward.

Lord Winston’s captain fell immediately, with two spears shoved through his stomach. He also saw the young warrior who had been in the front fall with his yule, but wasn’t sure where he had been hit.

Lord Winston blocked several spear thrusts with his sword, and then cut down the two nearest goblins, while urging his yule forward to trample a third. A spear pierced his mount in the side.

The small lord swung his sword at the offending goblin, slashing its throat. The bleeding goblin took two steps backwards and fell over dead. Still, the enemy kept coming.

 An arrow flew past Lord Winston’s head, striking a charging goblin in the forehead, sending it rolling off the road into the brush. Several more arrows flew past, with many finding goblin flesh. Lord Winston’s archers had joined the fray.

A very tall yorg ran from the woods, with three human heads bouncing on its belt. The horrible creature was swinging a large menacing spiked metal ball on the end of a chain.

The spiked ball whirled through the air over the yorg’s mohawk covered head and came crashing down on the skull of Lord Winston’s yule. The animal fell over dead, throwing the patrol leader into the dirt on Frontier Road, which knocked the wind out of him.

Two goblins rushed at the toppled lord, but were plowed over by a warrior charging by on his yule. They were trampled beneath the claws of the rampaging mount, which swung back around.

He was the only man still alive near Lord Winston, although he still had his four mounted archers firing from up the road. The tall goblin leader growled in anger at the mounted warrior, and swung the spiked ball hard, tearing flesh off the side of the man’s yule.

The spiked metal ball came around again and caved in the yule’s head, which sent it and the rider crashing to the ground. Several goblin underlings rushed at the dazed warrior and speared him.

Lord Winston, now back on his feet, sliced through the middle of the nearest goblin, causing it to spin around and fall. Winston quickly parried a spear thrust and stabbed the new attacker through the chest.

The tall yorg let out a howl and ran towards Lord Winston, swinging the deadly spiked ball. The creature bore down on the lord, when two arrows struck it in the left chest, followed by a third in the right side of its chest.

A fourth arrow hit the goblin leader in the throat, knocking it to its knees. The squad leader swung hard, removing the kneeling yorg’s head. Lord Winston’s archers had saved him.

A dozen goblin underlings, that had been racing towards the small lord, saw their own leader fall. They turned back, fleeing into the woods on the west side of the road. Soon, the chittering Bloody Thrashers disappeared from sight.

Lord Winston turned and gave his archers a thumbs up, happy that they had won! He did not see the wounded goblin on the ground in front of him grab a nearby spear and thrust it up. Lord Winston had thought that the creature was dead, which was a costly mistake. 

The green foe sent the spear through the surprised man’s abdomen. He brought his own weapon down, chopping the goblin’s head in half, right along its mohawk line.

Lord Winston staggered backwards, looking down at the spear stuck in his belly. This isn’t good, he thought, falling to the ground. “A goblin killed me?” he said with disbelief.  

The four remaining archers rode over to their fallen leader, but he was already dead. They sadly gathered the bodies of their eight dead companions and tied them over the supply yules.

Next, they piled over eighty Bloody Thrasher bodies onto Frontier Road and set them on fire. The gruesome task only fueled their anger at the loss of their leader and friends. This wasn’t over.

The archers tied the supply yules to some trees and set out after the group of goblins that had fled, intending to let none live. The green ambushers had over an hour head start on the riders, and it took the archers nearly four hours of following their tracks west to catch up to them.

The twelve surviving Bloody Thrashers, who apparently felt that they had travelled far enough away to be safe, stopped and made a campfire. They were wrong. When the archers spotted the fire, they dismounted and headed to a nearby hilltop.

Their arrows did not stop flying until their vengeance was spent and all twelve goblins were dead. The men finished the task by burning the enemy bodies in their own campfire.

The archers retraced their route, returning to their fallen companions. They would ride hard this night to get back to the base camp at Kokor Village. The only hint of their sorrow was the dark silence that accompanied them on the long journey.

                                                  *     *     *

Back at Kokor Village, Lord Fidium rode by his best friend Lord Duve, and asked, “Are you heading out?”

“Yes. Probably stay out for three or four days, unless we have trouble,” the man replied, cocking his large floppy hat towards Lord Fidium, causing the big yellow feather on top of it to point towards the sky.

"Good luck my friend,” Lord Fidium said, clasping Lord Duve by the wrist, “Watch yourself, it’s starting to get a bit more dangerous in the Lower Glen. I lost four men on my last patrol.”

Lord Duve gave his friend a wink and rode off. Fidium continued to watch the man in the purple fitted jacket, with the floppy feathered hat, until his patrol rode out of site.

The odd man had returned from his quest with a bear’s head, earning him much respect amongst his peers. Fidium and Duve got along very well, probably because they were the two most eccentric men amongst the Yule Riders.

The two were outsiders, Lord Fidium because of his strange Quest, and Lord Duve because of his eccentric style and dress. The fact that they both had unique Quests only added fuel to their loose bonds with the others.

The patrols sent out towards Hogarth Hills were now running into goblin hordes nearly every outing and Lord Fidium hoped that he would see his friend again. Speaking of danger, he had business to deal with.

Lord Fidium made his way to the Kokor Village Command Center, which was actually a small wooden house near the center of town. When Lord Fidium entered, King Darian looked up from a scroll that he was reading and gave him a warm smile. The king was very fond of Fidium.

Lord Prince Nehi stood at his father’s right-hand side. The prince nodded at Lord Fidium when he entered the room. To the left of the king was a man that Lord Fidium did not recognize.

The stranger wore a white sash around his waist, designating him as one of the personal messengers and guards of the high king. The man looked dirty and tired.

“Lord Fidium, it’s good to see you my old friend,” King Darian said and grasped his wrist. “Blessings on you and your house.”

“And on you and yours,” Lord Fidium gave the customary response, surprised by the formal greeting, which brought him to the realization that this was no strategy meeting, but something more important.

“Good then, we’re all here, so let’s get started,” King Darian began. “I’ve received orders from High King Tronin. He has requested that I send my two most trustworthy and capable lords on a special mission. I have chosen the two of you.”

Lord Fidium felt an immediate sense of extreme pride. It was a great honor for him to hear his king’s words. He looked at Lord Prince Nehi, wondering if the young man was feeling the same emotions, but could only see a hint of disappointment on his face.

“You’re ordered to leave for Port Turin tonight, with this White Sash Brigade messenger,” the king stated. “You must make haste. Leave as soon as this messenger can get a warm meal in his belly.”

“What is this all about father?” Lord Prince Nehi questioned, some distress in his voice. “I want to stay here and fight the goblin menace by your side.”

“Son, I know that you are eager to fight, but you must abide me in this,” King Darian answered, knowing that his boy thought that he was sending him away to protect him. “I don’t know anything about your mission, only that it’s extremely important, so much so, that no details were provided in this scroll in case it fell into the hands of the enemy.”

“Of course, father,” Nehi replied, unconvinced.

The prince wanted to kill goblins. He and his squad had found eight Skull Crushers that morning, while returning from patrol, but his archers had slain them all before he had been able to use his sword. It was so unfair!          

The entire war is going to be over before I can even get a kill! Nehi had been so angry with his squad, that he did not speak during the entire two-hour ride back to Kokor Village.

“You may take your squads with you, but only nine men each.” King Darian sighed, not wanting to lose any more fighters, because his forces were already stretched thin and were getting thinner by the day. “Any questions?”

“No questions father. I’ll go and choose the best in my squad,” Lord Prince Nehi replied, and after hugging his father, turned to High King Tronin’s messenger and said, “My men and I will meet you here in one hour.”

“I do have a request my king,” Lord Fidium said after the prince left. “I’d like to take Raider Togris with me, along with some of his warriors. I get along well enough with them, and that way you can use my men to reinforce your squads that have had high casualties.”

“Excellent Fidium! That will help me out immensely!” King Darian beamed. “You have my permission to take them, if they agree to go.”

Lord Fidium turned to leave, feeling extremely proud that his king thought so highly of him. No matter what lay ahead, he knew one thing. He would not let King Darian down.