1/25/2008

We began our approach to Redwing and within a few minutes noticed the dust kicking up several hundred yards out, signs of rapidly approaching cavalry.  We continued our approach and as the men neared, I noted that they were equipped in much the same garb as I, in the guise of Edward, was equipped.  They stopped some 10 yards out and hailed us, to which I replied as Edward.  Of the four riders, the one speaking was named Carter, their captain.  He informed us that he was to escort us back to Aerith.

Continuing our march, we entered Redwing and decided to spend the night there.  Not surprisingly Nim opted to stay at the small church whilst the rest of us stayed at the small inn.  I inspected the town and conversed with some of the townspeople, trying to determine the defensibility of the town, knowing that they would be in the path of destruction some nine months from now.

Early the next morning we retook our march and spent the next couple days heading towards Aerith.  The march was uneventful, if not insightful.  I spoke at length with Carter and learned the full extent of things from his perspective.  He was an interesting man and had some strategic perspective about the city of Aerith that I filed away in my minds (I say minds mainly because I am sharing a body with Edward and he is able to hear and comprehend everything I hear).

Upon arriving to Aerith I was in awe of it’s splendor and beauty, yet at the same time my heart sunk knowing the fate that will befall it at my hands.  As we marched towards the palace barracks we passed the large fountain that still exists in my time, the fountain from which Lizzy was resummoned to our plane of existence.  As we passed through sections of city I took note of them and tried to keep images of their later fate from my mind.  It was almost too much to bear knowing that I held the fate of so many thousands of people in my hands and that there was nothing I could do to change the weave of time and prevent that from happening.  No, the reason I was here was to make sure it DID happen, and to prevent the Varu from our time from changing the fabric of time and the reality we all know.

As breathtaking as the city was, the palace was phenomenal.  The history books do no justice to the grandeur of the Imperial Palace, nor does the palace in Pangoria in our own time dare to compare.  Once more my heart sunk as I thought of the weight on my shoulders and how I must be responsible for the utter destruction of this palace.  A flash of an earlier dream hit my mind as I struggled to subdue it so as not to let Edward view it – I saw myself once again standing there in the palace courtyard, weaving the threads of magic into a massive spell to protect the city and, at some point, failing, causing the city’s destruction.  The palace was rent in twain, leaving not even a single stone standing.  Edward didn’t say anything to me so I trust he didn’t see the image in my mind… I need to keep it that way.

We were taken to the barracks where Ella, captain of the Imperial Palace guard stood and bowed, introducing herself after Carter introduced my comrades and me.  Her beauty was striking, unable to conjure words to describe it.  Noticing my admiration for her, she turned abruptly and led Mort and I to a back room where several men were sat at a table, intently discussing a map laid out before them.  The rest of my comrades were asked to wait in the sitting area.

The man at the center of the table, introduced to me as Derek, head General of the Imperial Army, stood and beckoned for me to approach.  He introduced the man at his right as Byron, his right hand man and our liaison with the General.  We were given a small gemstone called a Seraphin.  He explained that through it we will be able to maintain direct and constant contact with Byron and be able to report on our doings.  Our first assignment came directly on the heels of the gift of the Seraphin – we were to locate the portals through which the Suul invaders were coming and pestering our borders.  Mort suggested we acquire some soldiers to act as liaisons in the area, to which I agreed and requested.  I asked for Carter and his small company, having warmed up to him and his comrades, unfortunately they had other work for Carter and our request was denied.  Instead we were to be given two soldiers whom would be introduced the next day before we set out.

Gathering copies of all the maps and materials detailing the reports of the Suul attacks, I set back to the inn where I spent the night studying and triangulating.  It didn’t hurt that, based on history, I already knew approximately where to look for the portal, but some strategy and certainly a portion of work was required to prevent onlookers from thinking I already knew (and was potentially in league with them).

We set out early the next morning after gathering our provisions, eager to get our mission started.  The soldiers put in my charge were Wesley and Gail.  It was strange to me seeing so many female soldiers in this time, where in my own time there are very few.  Gail, from what I was told, was a superior fighter and would definitely hold her own.  I didn’t question that having been around soldiers nearly my whole life; she had the look of a veteran soldier, the way she carried herself.

We set out South, directly towards the location where I had decided the first portal would be.  The next two weeks were spent tracking and triangulating until we finally came upon the location of a portal.  We spent the next several days watching it to track its pattern and determined that it opened every three days, starting at high-sun, for 15 minute increments every two hours until its last opening at sundown.  We communicated our findings to Byron and set out to find the next portal, based on my maps.  It took another week of intense tracking but we were able to locate it and spent the next few days tracking it to determine its pattern.  This portal opened every other evening from dusk until dawn.

Now aware of the locations of the portal but still unsure if it was the same portal, we arranged with Byron to get some soldiers up here to secure the area.  After several days of waiting and preparation, a small raiding party was sent out from one of the portals and was massacred by our company.  Several of the raiding party escaped but, according to our scouts, never went back to the portal.  We did manage to capture one enemy soldier and between Vance and I, we interrogated him heavily to learn the size and nature of the army inside.  He lied at first, until I began torturing him, at which point we learned that there were roughly 500 people inside the portal and that it was indeed the same portal.  Knowing we were unmatched for a battle inside the portal, we opted to build up heavy fortifications outside the portal including digging a deep hole under the portal, forcing it to open at a much lower level, thus creating a kill-zone.

The moment we had prepared for finally arrived.  The portal opened on our side where we had 160 soldiers, plus the eight in our small company (Nim, Mort, Arden, Vance, Cole, myself, Wesley, and Gail).  A scout stepped out of the portal to a rain of arrows and magic, and quickly jumped back into the portal.  We all prepared for the major battle to come and were not disappointed to find the battle matched several moments later as Suul poured from the portal.

The hole we had dug for the Suul became a bloodbath as they struggled to fight their way up the ramp.  Suul fell to the fury of my Celestine comrades, arrows piercing their bodies, blades severing their ties to this life they held so dear.  Mort stood strong, a beast of a man, and tore through the ranks of Suul.  Cole, his fire blazing hot and wild, torched their ranks and blasted their morale.  Arden, Vance, and Nim all performed admirably as well, pushing the attackers back into a full-on retreat.

Perhaps the excitement of battle overcame me, perhaps fate or destiny pushed me, but at the break of their ranks I ordered our soldiers to pursue.  We poured into the portal and were met by strong resistance, slowing our advance to a standstill.  The battle raged for hours, our side realizing that we were trapped in the portal and could not retreat, their side fighting to hold their fortifications.

Here we stood, 168 strong, battling against a superior force with now superior defenses.  Our morale was strong, our determination grim.  We fought with the fury of hell for the defense of our country, our friends, our family.  If I were not present myself I would not have believed what I experienced – Danica herself extended her assistance to our battle and caused the blows to soften against our bodies, our blows to strike hard and deep into the flesh of our foes.  We pushed the Suul back and caused their retreat, reducing their original numbers of roughly 600 down to a soft 50.  Those who fell injured, we immediately dispatched, removing them from the land of the living.  We overtook the fortification and holed up there, exhausted.

Evening arrived and we left the portal (sending Mort out first, protected by magic) to the other 200 soldiers of our army waiting.  We made exchanges and destroyed the Suul fortifications inside, using the stones, supplies, and other implements to increase fortifications outside.

This day marked the beginning of an era… history dictates that Edward became a major general in this war, now I know why.  We were called back to Aerith having completed our assignment.

4/4/2008

Thankfully Mort’s marriage to Walks in Shadows was exactly what we needed to accomplish our mission.  The council of the tribes was convened the week following his marriage and we managed to recruit twenty Trevinici warriors from Mort’s tribe initially with the possibility that more would join us from other tribes as negotiations were made.  We set off with the intention of rounding up more troops from the other tribes shortly after the close of the council.

A day’s journey into our recruiting march, late at night, we were awoken to a huge flash of light far in the distance appearing as if a star crashed down from the heavens.  The glow of fire in the distance continued throughout the night and, although some of the men wished to investigate, I stated that if the fire was that large it’d still be there in the morning so there was no reason for us to rush towards it that night.  Mort agreed with my reasoning and except for the watch, we all returned to our bedrolls.

The next day Vance and Walks in Shadows took off to scout ahead and learn what they could of the fallen star while we approached at a slower pace.  About midway through the day Vance returned with a gruesome tale—the star had fallen almost near the center of Gate’s Head, a city of some size, and completely obliterated it.  The forest all around the city was in flames and most of the buildings within the city were completely leveled.  Vance didn’t investigate more closely, I suspect because of other scouting missions he has undertaken and because of his curiosity almost made his last mission.

Some of the men were chattering by this point and one of the Trevinici who spoke Celestine conversed with Mort, informing him that this was a sign from the heavens and answered a Trevinici prophecy that bespoke doom and the end of the world unless all the tribes would unite against the coming tide.  Whether this was truly fulfilling prophecy or not, both Mort and I saw this as a great opportunity to bolster our ranks thus he sent a few fast Trevinici back to Stoneheath to inform the tribes of the fulfillment.  The rest of us continued on to Gates Head.

What met our eyes upon reaching Gates Head was indeed as Vance had described.  Carnage.  We investigated more closely and found some charred bodies, most of them in a formation that led to believe they tried to fight off something other than the fire.  Large oval tracks leading from the crater into the city and then back out the city.  In the center of the crater was a large metallic boulder exuding some essence of magic.  Mort attempted to break a piece of it off by bludgeoning it with a large hammer from the smithy only to swear he heard the rock groan.  I suspect this rock is actually a beast of some sort that destroyed the city and if what the Trevinici say is true, this is only the first of many.

I reported our findings through the Seraphin to Byron.  He was more than surprised to hear that the entire city of Gates Head was completely gone, no trace of an army or anything else around.  I told him about the boulder and the possibility that it is alive and the source of the large tracks leading through town.  He asked us to wait for the arrival of an army to investigate and then, at that time, to leave it in their hands. 

The army travelled fast and were upon us the next day.  We had no choice but to take our leave which we did, leaving Burt behind to act as a liaison once the Trevinici reinforcements arrived.  The premise was that we were searching for any more of the beasts in the area so the Trevinici did not feel we were fleeing a battle.

The Trevinici reinforcements arrived shortly with Burt at their head (appearing quite proud of himself), bolstering our numbers to roughly 160.  We continued making our rounds before returning to Aerith.  To keep up appearances, we had the Trevinici warriors paint themselves in their war paint before marching in, hoping to impress all who beheld them.  It worked.

Byron met us and took Mort, Vance, and I for debriefing.  He asked me about my other army, something I was caught off guard at and was suspicious.  I asked Edward about it and learned that before leaving for Aerith his friend Jane had stated that he would attempt to raise more soldiers from the Academy and bring them to the fight.  Apparently he succeeded, bringing an additional 250 soldiers which included scouts, footmen, cavalry, archers, and mages.

We have now spent the last two months working on integrating our troops and training them to work together, feeding off the strengths of one another and thus reducing their weaknesses.  The integration worked well and we have a very formidable force at our hands now, eager and ready for the battles to come.  In a way I am uneasy with the results… knowing what cataclysm awaits my army.  I have tried not to be too personable with the troops but over the last couple months have grown to like the men and women I work with, even coming to respect several of them.  Jane is a champion in and of himself, a strong warrior with good leadership ability.  His chief lieutenant, Tara, is a brilliant swordsman and master archer.  Those aside, she has the knack to keep her troops in line with nothing more than a stare their way, their fear and respect for her so great.

And then there is Annette.  Edward’s lover.  He was so caught up in the events happening around us that he seemed surprised when we met up with her, she being another one of the professors from the Academy.  In between training Edward and Annette met up at every opportunity they got, courting into marriage.  Rather than act as mediator between them I relinquished control of Edward’s body to his mind and sat back to let them work their love.  Edward and Annette were married and conceived a child.  Rather than have her stay here where the war will soon reach and ravage, Edward sent Annette to live in Redcliffe (or rather, what will one day be Redcliffe) under the care and protection of Ellisar.  Now our line will persist.