MysidiaDrakkenbane

Mysidia sat on a large hill watching the sunset in the distance. She had spent all day in the Plane of Growth, admiring the handy work of her patron Goddess. There wasn’t one thing that didn’t scream perfection. The beauty, in indulgence of the senses, wrapped around Mysidia like a comforting blanket.

She was half expecting to see one of her ancestors or even her mother. It would have been nice to have seen someone who was familiar to her. Instead, she was alone with the various thoughts running ramped through her mind.

Rydia, as far as Mysidia knew, was gone. There had been little talks of anything “familiar” of the old world, when Mysidia was in Qeynos. She had heard of stories of ships coming from the far off lands. She vaguely remembered one of them talking of the Sands of Ro, although she was too far away from them to be entirely sure she heard them correctly.

Rydia or Kunark, was gone. If anything of her home had stood the tests of The Shattering, they were probably long gone under hundreds of feet of water. She chuckled at the notion of “adapting”, as the Great Mother said. She would have to grow gills and flippers to complete her task.

She took in a long breath and watched the sky before her run with the colors of gold and pink that soon quickly bled into dark blues and purples. The whisper of a breeze came up behind her and she watched the invisible hand wave across the grass around her. If this is what was to become of her at the moment of her real passing, she was content in spending the rest of eternity in this place.

She heard a faint sound off to the side of her and when she looked over, a large and beautiful gray wolf looked back. Her eyes peered for a moment before she recognized the animal.

“Sabre??”, Mysidia asked, her purple eyes wide with excitement.

“Yes, your majesty.”, Sabre said and inclined his head with a deep respect.

“Your majesty? Oh, come on now. It’s me! Mysidia!”, Mysidia said getting up and walking over to him.

Sabre was a rather noble looking wolf. His muzzle was shot with gray, as any aged animal would have, and his coat was rich with black and grays in a marble pattern. Sabre was Mysidia’s animal companion, all of her life. He was the reason she chose to follow in the Druid path.

Mysidia hugged her beloved friend. Sabre closed his golden eyes feeling his best friend’s embrace. She looked at Sabre for a short while before asking, “Why are you here?”

“The Great Mother has asked me to show you the way.”, Sabre said cryptically.

“The way? What way?”, Mysidia asked confused.

Sabre, parting his mouth, gave her a wolven grin. “Shift and follow me.”

“Wha…What? Wait!”, Mysidia called out after her four legged friend. Sabre had bolted ahead of her and looked back.

Grumbling frustrated, Mysidia shifted her bipedal form and continued to follow Sabre. Sabre looked at Mysidia’s brilliant white coat and almost seemed to raise an eyebrow.

“Interesting.”, he said.

“It’s a new ability.”, Mysidia tried to explain.

Sabre continued to run ahead and Mysidia tried her best to keep up. They seemed to run for miles, jumping over fallen logs and crashing into various streams. With each rock that passed, Mysidia began to recognize some of the twists and turns. Sabre slowed his pace as they trotted up a rather large hill.

Mysidia asked, but in her heart of hearts, she already knew the answer to the question. “Sabre, where are you taking me?”

When she crested the hill, her breath was nearly knocked out of her. Before her very eyes, was Rydia. The castle stood tall and majestic in the distance and the land itself held no trace of battle anywhere. The fields were lush and green. The flowers dappled the country side like a watercolor painting. Everything was pristine, just like Mysidia remembered as a child.

“How…how can this be?”, Mysidia asked, nearly taken to tears. If she had the means to do so, in her wolf form, she probably would have.

“The Great Mother wanted you to see this.”, Sabre started.

“She didn’t need to show me what Rydia looks like. I remember.”, Mysidia said sad.

“Stop whining. It doesn’t become you.”, Sabre continued. Mysidia paused, realizing that her vocal chords were changed along with her form and certain vocalizations would come out differently than if she were in her usual form. Mysidia flattened her ears back in embarrassment.

Mysidia watched as various Rydians toiled about their day. Some were continuing down the road to the market. Several of the children were laughing playing in a field ahead of them. They were all chanting and holding hands, singing songs that Mysidia remembered as a child.

She heard the bards singing their songs of praise to Tunare and she watched warmly as several of the poets were jotting down random thoughts, thinking up their epic ballads to recite at dinner.

The sight of Rydia gave Mysidia such peace in her heart. She felt more attuned to the realm around her than she ever felt in her life. It was as if Rydia’s heart and hers beat at the same rhythm and the ebb and flow of their pride mingled within each other.

“Hard to believe it’s all gone.”, Mysidia mentioned.

“The land itself has changed, but not Her spirit, Mysidia. Rydia’s spirit lives in you and that is something no Rendering or Shattering can change.”, Sabre said looking at the land round them.

“Follow.”, Sabre said and got up to walk down the hill. Mysidia gave a final look and sighed, as she joined her furry friend.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The battle raged on. In the evening hours, the sun bled behind the horizon and gave way to the light of the fires that roared around them. The orcs put up a decent front, but the plan that Machene had put into effect was working.

The Guard Captain himself was rather impressed. The two warriors fought with such ferocity and accuracy, he considered asking them to join his ranks, after the fight was over.

Feja had joined them after the wounded slowed down to a trickle. She didn’t want to leave the few healers that were available, bogged down. And once Feja did join Austforbeer and his team, things were streamlining rather nicely.

Machene had made a startling discovery, however. He noticed two separate banners flying in the orc army and this worried him. Orcs, up until then, were separatists. They refused to mingle and blur the lines of their respected tribes. That is what kept them at bay. Each tribe could be monitored and learned of their tactics. A decent strategist could adjust accordingly. Blur the lines, however, and you have a new set of problems on your hands. New tactics to the tribes meant new methods in which to fight. This was not settling well with Machene. Not one bit.

“Two banners.”, Machene mentioned to Kryimsson. Kryimsson looked up, after withdrawing his two handed sword from a large orc’s backside. His dark blue eyes gleamed in the firelight.

“Aye.”, Kryimsson noted solemnly.

Machene watched with a heavy heart as he witnessed yet a stronger and thicker second wave approaching. After cleaving an orc through his skull, Machene picked up his battle axe and slung it over his shoulder.

“We do not have enough troops for this. One wave, yes…but two?”, Machene said and shook his head. The sooner they could fall back, the better. Why risk any more lives than need be?

Machene grabbed a soldier by his chainmail shirt and forced him to look into his face. “Take what troops you can and fall back towards the gate! Waste no time.”

“If they siege th’ gate, th’ port is doomed ta fall. We’ll all be captured or slain.”, Kryimsson noted.

“FALL BACK!!!”, Machene yelled to everyone around him. What little troops were left up, began to fall back towards the gate. Archers on the wall began to cover their comrades and the scouts that were in the woods all began to camouflage themselves in the shadows around them to sneak back into the stronghold.

Once the scouts had made it, several burly guards locked the gate down with large wooden barriers. Machene threw down his weapons and helped prop up several large beams to secure the gate and ensure its closure.

“We can still surround them with fire.”, Machene said and looked at Xerbius who also had helped prop the gate doors shut.

“I will gather the mages on the wall.”, Xerbius nodded and left.

A large thud cracked against the stone walls and dust and debris trickled down the cracks. Machene and Kryimsson looked up shocked, not entirely sure what it was they heard. Another thud crashed against the walls and the distinct sound of rock giving way was heard.

“Aust, climb up on the wall and tell me what you see!”, Machene shouted.

Aust grabbed his bow and Feja, who had been watching the entire time, used her mystic energy to cast a protecting ward over her husband.

“Catapults and battering rams.”, Aust called back. Machene raised an eyebrow, disbelieving his ears.

He had to see for himself. Machene braved the wall and shot up at the top where Aust had stood. He looked over and stared down in horror as he witnessed several large catapults wheeling into formation. There was a large troop of orcs, holding on to a battering ram, trying to bash down the gates. The orcs grunted in unison and two distinct and very different armor patterns were seen helping one another.

“That’s new.”, Aust noted. “Now they’re working together.”

“We need to get Mysidia out of here and fast. I don’t know how much longer those gates are going to hold.”, Machene said to his large Kerran friend.

“Where are we going to go?” Aust said and pointed the obvious behind him. “I don’t think you want to swim to Qeynos.”

Another thud crashed into the walls and this time, Machene had to steady himself as he felt the wall beneath him wobble.

“They won’t be able to hold forever.”, Aust noted.

A catapult launched a huge boulder at the stone wall they were on. The large rock smacked hard against the flat surface and caused large shattered debris to come up and explode outward. In the boulder’s wake, a smash mark could be seen as well as a splintering crack running up the wall.

Machene and Aust looked into the distance as they had seen a third wave coming down the mountainside. Machene shook his head. Things were looking bleak for the group.

“We need a miracle.”, Machene said somber.

“FIRE!”, Xerbius’ voice shouted and several mages all hurled their fireballs into the dry parched grass ahead of the stronghold. An engorging rush flashed through the battle trodden ground, and hundreds of orcs were thwarted off due to the intense magical flames.

The guards cheered as the tides started to turn in their favor. A new surgance of morale could be felt in the stronghold. The flames roared high enough to reach the tops of the stronghold towers, yet far enough so that nothing in the complex burned. The heat was intense, however, and caused several of the guards to throw their arms in front of their faces to protect them from the heat.

The fire did its intended job and the orcs began to fall back, rethinking their strategy. Machene observed them milling about through the flames and motioned for Kryimsson.

“They’re regrouping. Get Faid and Mysidia. We will start heading towards the docks.”, Machene said.

“And go where?”, Aust said looking at the large Barbarian.

“I’m not sure, yet.”, Machene said doubtful.

Aust and Machene both lowered themselves off the wall and began to make their way towards the docks. Machene could hear the distinct voice of Xerbius instructing the mages to unleash yet another onslaught of magical fireballs at the ground.

Machene could feel the choke of desperation on him. He was pushed as far back as he could go. In front of him were thousands of orcs thirsting for blood and behind him was a raging and unforgiving sea. He could have ran off into the mountains with his group, but Mysidia needed some place to rest and recuperate. Not to mention, Akahsha was somewhere in the midst of all that chaos. Taking her into the mountains was simply too risky. He saw little else for options, however.

“Gather your things. We’re heading into the mountains.”, Machene shouted to his group.

“Are ye mad? They’ll be a thousand orcs roamin’ ‘round huntin’ us down. We’ll be surrounded before dawn.”, Kryimsson said.

“What else can we do?”, Machene said desperate.

“AHOY!!!!”, a voice shouted behind them. Machene turned around and nearly fell to his knees with overwhelming joy and relief. A rather large ship approached with several heavy canvas sails open and accepting the full wind that sailed them. On the main sail was a large hand painted mermaid with beautiful golden hair.

“AHOY, MACHENE!”, the voice called out again. Machene peered further on the deck of the ship. Where his eyes deceiving him?? Was that…?

“RAEVENWOLF!!!”, Machene yelled back, waving his arms frantically. Feja and Aust looked up sharply from tending to Mysidia to see what the commotion was about. A large smile spread across Feja’s face.

Feja looked down onto Mysidia. “Tunare watches you still, my lady. Blessings on the Royal House. Blessings.”

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