Over at Staghorn, Lord de Winter was rallying his troops. His legion of
minotaur warriors were to be his main line of defence but even so, they
would still not be enough to halt the enemy once they crossed the chasm.
Even now the dwarves were using their powers to bring the two sides closer
together and soon they would be joined. When he was finished Jo took him to
one side.
"Why has the magic distributed itself like this?" she asked.
"Magic is a law unto itself," he answered. "The dwarves have always had
powers over rocks and gemstones and other elements. Their powers have
always been varied. Some could tell what the rock types were, some absorbed
strength from rocks, others could become one with rocks. From what I can
tell the magic has been so distributed that in a collective state the
dwarven people can completely control the rocks. However, it would require
all of them to have complete concentration and not let their minds wander
and dwarves are easily distracted. This would be very difficult to maintain
and this is why, I assume, it is taking them so long to breach the gap
between us."
"If this is true, then would the same ring true of all the races?"
"Definitely. The magic is equally distributed. The elves have powers over
the elements - mostly water and air but sometimes fire - but they are a
petty people. They used to be a proud and distinguished race but their love
of power, magic and gold set in and destroyed that. Now they live to regain
their former glory by any means, but because of all their in-fighting
between wood, mountain, sky, dark, water and fire sects it is virtually
impossible for them to unite their minds. They don't know who is to be the
true leader. The dark elves exploit this to their advantage, bullying the
other races in to their point of view. The others are so disorganised that
they hardly ever disagree, but they do not like it and do not follow
willingly. However, if they were to unite their minds, they would have
control over all the natural elements of the Stormm, these being the sky,
the air, the water, the fire and the light. They would not be able to
control the rocks and the earth because that is the province of the
dwarves, and they have only achieved what controls they have via
inter-racial breeding." He paused to take breath and sighed.
"The orcs will never unite their minds, but for the opposite reasons to
those of the other two races. They only trust their own peoples - be they
trolls, cyclops, whatever. These types of beings occur from their breeding
with the other races. Trolls, cyclops and giants result from breeding with
humans, goblins and such from elves, but they would never breed with the
dwarves, for reasons known only to themselves. It was suspected long ago
that the dwarves took over the underground kingdoms from the orcs, and that
is the reason between the two. However there is no proof of such things.
They only live for one thing - destruction, devastation and carnage. To
achieve their primary goal of destroying the peoples of the planet so they
can have it to themselves, they have developed powers such as bio-blasts
and energy beams which are shot from the eyes. These types of powers are
common amongst them. The one who leads is the one who can do the most
damage. However if they were to unite their minds and focus on one primary
task they would destroy Stormm, which would render their plan useless. I
can see a time when, if they are victorious, they will turn on their allies
and if they destroy them turn on their own peoples. They will eventually
cut themselves down to the last being and they will die out."
"If they do not trust other races why ally with them and interbreed?"
asked Jo.
"There is a great deal of difference between like and trust. I do not
particularly like you or your husband, but I trust you to set the wrongs
you have done right - or die trying. This is why I tell you the things you
ask. After this is over and we are still alive, perhaps I may like you
more, but we shall see."
"But what of the human element to theses powers?"
"The human powers have been strange. Like all of the races there are those
who do not possess powers but with the human race there is a lot of lesser
powers - translation, reading, leviataion, flight, acute senses. We have no
powers of mass destruction, no control over elements. What we do have is
knowledge. The only power we do not have is the mind speak. Only members of
the Five or their successors have those powers, the original Avatarr saw to
that with the help of the Gathering. How he did this I do not know, for it
is not written, and none but the original Avatarr has been able to reverse
it." He looked about his warriors. "I do not know what we could do when we
linked minds but it has something to do with knowledge."
"I once read that knowledge was power," said Jo. "Perhaps there is a
message in that."
"Perhaps," said de Winter. "Maybe we will find out what that message is."
"Maybe," said Jo, and she wondered what Dave was up to...
Dave had in fact come up with a plan and the swords that he held were the
key to it. He would use them as steps, levitating one whilst standing on
the other. All that was required was a good sense of balance. Dave went up
higher and higher until he reached the top of one of the castles. He jumped
over the ramparts and surveyed the area. The dwarven race was all huddled
together in a large group with their eyes closed in concentration. However
some were distracted by the noises around them and their concentration was
broken. Dave grinned at this. If he could start something big, as he had
planned, then the gap between the enemy and Staghorn would stay in place.
At the edge of the chasm the orcs were firing energy blasts across the
chasm and though Staghorn's armies were out of range, soon they wouldn't
be. It all came down to the plan. The only problem was the elves. They were
fragmented throughout the camp, watching the orcs, dwarves and each
other.They were being very cautious indeed, and that gave Dave cause for
concern. As the Chief of Operations he knew surveillance when he saw it.
But why were they keeping such a close eye on their allies?
It all said one thing to Dave - betrayal. As soon as this battle was
over, the elves would strike. In fact they might even strike in the battle.
The thought occurred to Dave that they were using the other races to gain
control of Stormm for themselves. Dave looked about to see if he could see
the eleven and orcish leaders - Darkfleet and Skurm. Skurm was directing
the blasts across the chasm and Darkfleet was watching the dwarves
intently. Dave decided on action and concentrated on the camp fires, which
were quite low, across the camp, especially those in the castles. They were
precisely what Dave wanted. He felt them in his minds eye and expanded
their heat across the area in which they were, preventing it from cooling
down at all. The heat crept around the camp. The dwarves were not fazed by
the heat that was being created, as they came from underground where lava
and molten earth was hotter there than in the camp. The elves however were
beginning to feel uncomfortable and the orcs were out of range of the heat.
It was time, thought Dave and upped the heat by over 80 degrees. The elves
started to panic and the castles began to burst in to flames. The various
elves tried to combat the fire with air to blow out the fires and water to
put them out, but the fires had been were magical, lit by the fire elves,
who had lost control over the fire to Dave, and were trying in vain to
regain control. The other elves could not help and began to panic. This
panic shattered the concentration of the dwarves, which stopped the chasm
from closing. The orcs could not reach the opposing armies with their
powers and did not realise that the chasm had stopped closing. However when
they realised the camp was burning they raced to put help put out the fires
with their energy blasts, which combated the flames to some degree. The
castle in which Dave stood was protected by Dave, and so was untouched by
the heat. With the flames burning without Dave's help, he had no
distractions to prevent the fire from even coming near him. It was a good
plan. It caused mass destruction and defended Staghorn. Then his castle was
hit by an energy blast, and fell to rubble.
"Whoa!" he cried as he fell to the floor. When he picked himself up he was
faced with Skurm and Darkfleet, their powers primed and ready and pointed
at him. :::Jo, a rescue, if you please:::
"She can't hear you," said Darkfleet. "I am a Dark Elf. My power is to
cloud the mind with darkness. It's how I defeated the previous leader of
Dark Elves. With your mind in darkness, you cannot call for help. Now call
off the fires, or Skurm will blast you in to your composite atoms. What's
it going to be, Commander Goldfish? It's make your mind up time." Dave
raced the options he had through his mind. There weren't many so he did the
one thing he thought best.
"You're gonna have to kill me," he said, as calmly as he could manage.
"Because I'm gonna let your camp burn to the ground."
"Your call, hero. Skurm, fry him."
"With pleasure," he said and fired at Dave who raised his arm in defence
at the blast of bio-plasmic energy that was fired at him. Just as the
blasts was about to hit him he expanded the adranium metal of the gauntlet
he wore to create a shield. The blast bounced off the shield, knocking Dave
back. The blast ricocheted off towards Skurm who moved out of its way. This
interested Dave as he realised that the orcs were not immune to the effects
of their own powers. That would come in handy later. However the blast did
hit someone. It hit Darkfleet, who was engulfed totally in the blast,
absorbing it all. He screamed out at then he was gone, not even his ashes
remained. Then a bolt of lightning hit the earth where he had been, and
then bounced up to hit Dave.
"Whoa!" said Dave, amazed that he had not only survived, but felt no ill
effects.
"Oops," said Skurm and made a quick retreat, distancing himself from what
had occurred. With Darkfleet gone, the darkness that clouded Dave's mind
evaporated.
:::Dave::: came Jo's voice :::What the hell is going on?:::
:::Erm, you remember the Hellfire Club incident?:::
:::Yes?:::
:::Well you were right, it happened again:::
:::When we get home, you're buying me dinner as an apology:::
:::Fine, but unless you get me back to Staghorn, I won't be able, due to being dead and all:::
:::You're on your way::: Dave was teleported over the chasm to Jo and de
Winter.
"So what happened?" asked Jo.
"Well, you know my main plan was to cause a distraction to create
confusion and fear throughout the enemy?"
"Yes?" they said, both in the same tone of voice. He put his hand on his cheek and sighed.
"I... sort of... changed it and trashed their camp completely. It should still
be burning. Oh and Darkfleet, the leader of the elves is dead as well. His
attempt to have me killed backfired."
"This sounds exactly like the Hellfire Club incident that Jo told me
about," said de Winter. Dave looked at daggers at her. Thanks Jo, he thought.
"Except this time the bad guys are not going to escape. Let's pool our
resources and see what we come up with," said Dave.
"How did Darkfleet die?" asked de Winter.
"He had the orcish leader Skurm fire an energy blast at me. I sent it back
at him, he moved at it got Darkfleet."
"So it came off you?" asked de Winter. Dave nodded. "Well, that makes you
leader of the elven race. You killed their leader. Whoever kills their
leader, takes over. You just became a member of the Five."
"What?" cried Dave and Jo.
"Succession by combat. The way it always has been for the elves. I saw the
lightning. Let me look in to your eyes." He did so. "As I suspected, the
magic of Stormm has made you the leader of the elves."
"So I can order them to withdraw?" asked Dave.
"Yes, if you live long enough to command them. A non-elven leader never
lasts long."
"Time to make a change. Jo, teleport all of the elven race to this side of
the chasm on my mark. De Winter, have your warriors train all their weapons
on them. I'm gonna make them listen to me," said Dave.
"How?" asked Jo
"With your help. They do'nt have access to the mind speak so this will be
my new plan..."
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