Ellor's Bane

By Seth Giolle

Grio.dyness drives his clan, The Wolf, head on into destiny. His goal is nothing less than the throne, but the True King Ellor stands in his way, and every time he's raised a large enough clan to seize the crown, they're slaughtered mercilessly. But Grio.dyness will not stop before he's crowned. A wizard has offered help, but he doesn't trust this one, this Auk Tria Yus. He's offered magical weapons, but he hasn't claimed a fee. Grio.dyness will be a dog to no master. This is the second book in my Prequel Stories series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365354755

Seth Giolle

Seth Giolle was born on a small, rural farm in southeast Ontario. After Travelling throughout Canada in all its splendour, he once again makes Ontario his home.

Book preview

Ellor’s Bane

Prequel Story 2

by Seth Giolle

0001

Prologue

History tells of an age when the world knew true calm. It was ruled by a good True King Ellor, and dragons filled the skies with all their colourful wonder. But darkness blossomed and flourished.

An evil wizard known as Auk Tria Yus is recorded as having spread potions and spells that turned friend against friend. The fiend crafted three magical blades and brought on the world’s first Darkening that burned the skies and spawned legions of dark wizard armies and bands of assassins that preyed on the innocent.

And Grio.dyness rose to power with his barbarian clan known as the Wolf. His barbarians met True King Ellor’s armies on the wasteland around what would later be his castle stronghold. They waged one final bloody battle, and he slew True King Ellor and took the throne to begin his equally dark rule.

There are other legends of those times: a man who could summon gold and built a city of wealth in the desert, what was then plains. There’s the tale of the fall of Sheava, a town and castle that equalled the True King’s castle. But fell nonetheless to unknown enemies.

These are the tales of those times.

These are the truths behind those tales.

Truth few have known before now.

Chapter One

Scars

Steel against bone - Grio.dyness grinned wide. The sounds of the kill caressed his ears. The screaming, the soldier’s dying wails, added so much to the moment. He withdrew his serrated blade. The sharp, jagged metal tore its way out, and he brought the blade around again, digging it deeper still and revelling in the spray it created. The soldier fell, his armour folding in on itself as the body drained. Needing more carnage, seven foot Grio.dyness barred his broken teeth and drove forward into the nearest man!

Ragged, bristling fur, roughly-carven masks, and strong, muscular arms drove through the bright armour. The soldiers fought with shields and swords, and they formed a solid line in most parts. When one man fell, another soldier came up from behind to take his place, but the Wolf used serrated blades and axes. Mauls were used to gouge and maim, then violently rip their enemies to pieces! Their attacks were unpredictable and untamed.

As such, the soldiers’ more traditional, defensive line folded in. Before the soldiers could regenerate the latest gap the wolf had forced open, Grio.dyness growled and called a charge. He ran his latest man through and waded into the approaching metal. His barbarian horde flowed around and behind him.

The soldier wall managed to reform at the last second, and three soldiers were cut down, but the others held strong. Two Wolf were killed as well with those barbarians falling to the ground underfoot. New scars showed above and across old ones, and their deaths brought on deep howls from their fighting kin.

Fighting where he was, Grio.dyness deflected a soldier’s sword down and brought his shoulder up into the young man’s face. The sharp tip projecting from behind his elbow struck through the soldier’s forehead with a decisive, splintering sound, and the man fell away. Grio.dyness licked his lips and tested the next man’s mettle.

There was always another soldier to kill, but the numbers were falling. In the last hour, they’d been cut down by half. Though the barbarians had lost their own number in the fighting, the greater number of dead that covered the muddy fields, bloodied grounds, and ruined homestead itself were King Ellor’s.

Grio.dyness studied his latest kill. The man had fallen with a frightened, panicked expression and an open side. Grio.dyness could see the King fighting on the far side. Facing a pair of soldiers this time, Grio.dyness nodded. Strong, swift movements forced one man down and dented his shield badly. His next swing lifted the other soldier’s shield up.

The plan had simply been to have some fun. They’d sought some random chaos. King Ellor and his Advanced Guard had shown up when they’d just started torturing the homesteaders, and for a time, they’d held the high ground, but things changed quickly when the homestead had fallen in and rocks and glass had pelted the cavalry. The horses had fallen soon thereafter.

It had become a ground battle, and the fighting had spread out across the fields. In the open, with the numbers Grio.dyness had brought with him, the barbarians, the Wolf as they’d taken to calling themselves, had the upper hand.

Grio.dyness almost laughed every time he thought about how the fighting was going. He couldn’t believe the King had ridden against him with so few. It would be a mistake Ellor wouldn’t live to make again.

Grio.dyness was savouring each kill, but nothing would satisfy his hunger more than knowing his blade was covered in Ellor’s blood.

The latest soldier fell, and Grio.dyness relished the sound of his blade digging through into the mail and flesh beneath. The poor whelp crumpled like a rag doll. The defensive line folded around him yet again, and the Wolf horde drove deeper in - like the serrated blades in hand. With every thrust, they cut further. Removing them would be more painful than was ever thought possible.

Grio.dyness didn’t plan on backing down.

This time, he’d have his crown!

The line fell back ten feet, and Grio.dyness jumped the fallen and met more steel. This time, his opponent didn’t shake. This soldier turned his attack aside, countering with his own. The man spun his rounded shield up as it went, nearly cutting Grio.dyness under the chin. The barbarian stepped back, his kin facing a strong line again beside him. Nearly breathing fire, Grio.dyness drove forward again.

Again, he was repulsed, his attacks hitting quick reflexes and an unwavering glare. The serrated blade was blocked, and a dagger cut along the soldier’s neck, but the soldier stopped the next two strikes. Both swords were locked until the soldier pushed him back and cut through Grio.dyness’ left side. He stood ready for more, teeth barred, that unwavering glare focused on Grio.dyness, and the barbarian glared back.

Ellor could wait. This one would certainly have to die first - many times over.

Grio.dyness hacked at the soldier’s defences and pounded the man into the ground, but the final attack missed. The serrated blade came down, but the soldier rolled left and swivelled his hips and upper body. Though bruised and dazed from the barrage of swings brought down upon him, the man brought his sword up and cut off some of Grio.dyness’ furs, nicking the lower portion of his wooden, wolf mask.

Still shaken, the soldier stood with his shield held steady before his dented, muddied armour. Grio.dyness growled again. Rage seeped from his pores, and he released his anger upon the man, but the soldier still refused to fall, sliding back against the continued onslaught, refusing to give more ground than was forced.

Horns broke over the fighting, and Wolf heads lifted. Confused eyes and bitter grimaces formed beneath the scars, blood, and grime. The royal soldiers pushed harder against the Wolf. Grio.dyness watched his horde fall back, and realization sunk in.

Advanced Guard.

In his vanity, his pride, he’d assumed there’d be none other. King Ellor had ridden with his Advanced Guard which he’d assumed meant no more to come. Clearly, that illusion had been planned. The Wolf had been set up! Instead of running, they’d stayed, and now, the Main Guard thundered into view.

A cavalry nearly two hundred strong.

More numbers rounded the hill behind them, shields bright in the suns’ light from above, and those archers fired. Bodies flipped over and sunk, red spraying those barbarians around them, and the horns blew again.

The soldiers who’d been fighting pushed harder still against the faltering Wolf, and the Main Guard came on with their own cries. Grio.dyness glared past the man before him to where King Ellor stood, calmly staring back. The barbarian nearly vaulted the stubborn soldier who’d opposed him for a run at the King - live or die.

But his revenge, his need for conquest could wait. He needed more men. He needed to regroup. He needed to live to see his time on the throne - a throne he’d take for his own.

The Wolf drew back at his signal, slashing and hacking their way through the rear guard that had taken up position.

The soldiers pursued them. Many fell. There were those who blocked their path over the fields and into the woods beyond, but those soldiers and horses fell, and the Wolf faded into the shadows. And the soldiers pursued deeper in.

Grio.dyness found an overturned tree and knelt inside its roots. Twenty soldiers raced past. He sneered after them, wanting to attack them from behind, but there were other sounds: men on foot, armour plating moving against hard leather. And there were sounds of wooden bows held at the ready. It wouldn’t do to die before seeing himself made king.

He eased further back into the roots, and the awkward soldiers moved past. Row upon row of metal and leather sunk deeper into the forest. Finally, fingers eager for the kill, heart longing for such violence, he couldn’t wait any longer, and he stepped out into the dense brush.

Removing his mask, he sheathed his sword and drew his curved dagger. And he found a practiced path back to camp, back to find those who’d survived in the retreat. While he made his way in the dim world of brown and green, he planned his next campaign.

0002

Over a hundred dead!

There were no swords or blades to stop intruders around camp. That had been troubling enough. The murmured sounds of agreement to those shouted words was downright infuriating, and it was already a bad day to start with.

How many more have to die for this ill-fated campaign?

Teeth were barred, and fingers found the handle of his blade, but Grio.dyness paused. He recognized Keshan’s voice, and the barbarian would die for his words, but there was more than one way to kill dissenters. And he needed to kill the barbarian’s ideas as well as the barbarian himself.

I tell you, Keshan shouted, standing tall with near a hundred standing or leaning around him, if we don’t stop now, we’ll all be dead at the end of one of Ellor’s blades. I for one don’t want to give him that satisfaction.

The assembled crowd grumbled and looked to those beside them. Quick words passed while wild watchful eyes surveyed everyone else for their reaction at the same time.

The furs were bloodied and cut. New scars had already been sewn up in places, small bone fragments sewn into the mix. Other wounds had been cauterized while some barbarians had left their cuts to bleed out. Thin red lines traced down cheeks and dripped, further marking their capes and vests. Jagged, yellow teeth were licked, and anxious hands twitched.

It’s time we give up this fight! Keshan pressed. Who cares about some damned throne? Our throne is the land beneath our feet and the path we’re set upon. We don’t need to face this constant death to have that.

Grio.dyness edged closer. He slipped out from the forest cover and in behind the first of many tents to come.

The crowd gathered at the other end of camp with the main bulk of the make-shift, pelt-and-bone tents around them. Keshan stood upon the central stone with his arms wide. They took up three quarters of the Council Circle.

Peering out from his current stalking place, Grio.dyness sneered. Where were the others? Surely they hadn’t lost that many in the retreat. He could figure that out later. For now, he had to curb this menace before too many heads nodded, before too many minds accepted the poison Keshan was spouting.

He crept on through the tents and in towards the gathering. He moved completely unseen and would remain that way until he wanted things otherwise.

Stand with me, Keshan growled, teeth barred, and we’ll return to where we’re strong.

Stand with you and die.

The nodding stopped, and the crowd parted. Hair matted with sweat and blood from the fighting and retreat, Grio.dyness stepped forward from the background. His eyes were locked on Keshan. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and his left hand played with the handle of his curved dagger. His movements were slow and deliberate; his voice, low; his breathing, sharp and bitter.

Stand by you, Grio.dyness growled, and die alone, powerless, a nothing.

The crowd parted further as he spat the final words. The Council Circle nearly emptied. Those that remained in place, six in all, drew weapons, and Grio.dyness paused, taking in the eyes of each barbarian who’d stand in his way. How many others would join this rebellion when the first six attacked him? Why should he care?

Grio.dyness smiled. Tell me, Keshan, he breathed, were you the first to run from battle? Or did you wait until enough people had run before you, so you could get past the Rear Guard and flee more safely?

Keshan’s mouth twitched, his eyes moving left and right. None of the barbarians who’d stood their ground moved on Grio.dyness. They just listened with steady, sour expressions.

Following you, Grio.dyness added with a sneer, would be following a coward - a barbarian whose claim to fame is based on a lack of honour, sense, and brains.

He’d have us all run into Ellor’s cavalry until we’re all dead! Keshan shouted, steeling his eyes and searching out the recoiled crowd. How many times do we need the men to kill us, cutting us down one by one, no, by the hundreds? How many deaths will it take before we can satisfy his ego?

My ego, Grio.dyness countered darkly, nearly jumping Keshan right there. He stopped himself, taking in some carefully measured breaths. My ego, he repeated, built this clan, this group that is strong enough to face Ellor’s Advanced Guard. My ego has made us strong enough to stand against any who oppose us.

Any but the rest of Ellor’s army, Keshan countered, eyes wide. The barbarians standing near, and some of those who’d stepped back, nodded once more.

So we get stronger. Grio.dyness goaded, nodding himself. He watched hands and weapons carefully, marking their positions, smelling their fear. Fear.

We were once one clan, he growled, stepping closer to Keshan, and we can be again. How many of us need to die? he mocked, slowly shaking his head. My Ego? Where would you run, Keshan? Where would you lead them? Back to that hole I found you in? Do you want to die running away or towards life, Keshan? Tell me, Grio.dyness shouted angrily, is fighting for your own place in history, your own mark on this world too much work? Or are you just scared to die?

I want my death to mean something, Keshan spat back. Though his tone was venomous, his expression had lost a share of its arrogance. I certainly don’t plan on dying behind a wooden mask.

Grio.dyness emitted a low, playful chuckle. Your death will mean many things. Those still carrying their Wolf masks were looking to the carven features carefully. Don’t be afraid of that.

Keshan looked around beseechingly, eyes spurning the others on, and one moved. Grio.dyness drew his blade and took the barbarian’s head before he’d made it a foot. The other five, and four more from the crowd, took to the charge.

Grio.dyness stood unmoving preparing for the fight. He timed the arms, weapons, and voices. He registered the steps and distance, and he readied his counter attacks.

It wasn’t to be.

Bolts took down three barbarians. Two dropped unceremoniously while the third barbarian simply stood there with a bolt shaft sticking through his forehead. He slowly fell to the ground beside his friends.