MP Game - Newbie Game (by Aku)

[Lex]

As the army of Commander Hymer disappeared beyond the horizon to burn down the Abysian temple and signal war with this demon race, Gylaug, servant of Lex, and commander of half as many men as Hymer, broke camp and instructed his troops to make for the shores.

"But sir, shouldn't we follow our brothers into battle? The war has just begun! Hymer's men have destroyed a Abysian temple, we would be fools to think that Abysia would not strike back with full force! Commander, I think they need our help!" cried a second lieutenant to Gylaug.

"Do not question the wisdom of our God. We've received orders to make sail with the quickest haste! Our enemy is gifted with flight, and will surely attempt to counter our advance into their land. Hymer knows this as well, but it is his task to draw the Abysian's attention while we make to the seas and attack several provinces away on their flank, where their defenses are weak."

At that moment, a scout rushes into the war-room shouting "Commander! We are under attack!! Huge black hawks have been seen circling our location!"

"Calm down kiddo. Our boys will deal with them." And no sooner, a huge black hawk comes crashing through the roof of the tent, smashing the tables and throwing the gathered personel to the ground. In a rush, they all get up, brushing the large oily feathers from their shimmering armor. The bloody bird lay dead at their feet, an Axe lodged firmly in its skull. An Einhere beserker soon comes rushing into the broken tent, filled with rage in his fanatical eyes.

"I believe this is yours" says Gylaug, handing the axe back to the soldier, and stepping past him into the open field, where 20 other hawks lay dead. "This ambush has costed Abysia very little, and luckily, it has costed us nothing as well. I do not want this attack to slow our plans!"

And with that, the men brough the remaining supplies back onto their ships. As they sailed away from Lish (115), heading towards Knightmarsh (138), they looked back at the Dead Marshes (104) where Hymer's army had attacked, and could see the black smoke still rising to the sky. And just coming over the hill, was Hymer, followed by a handfull of soldiers, badly wounded, and running away from two towering Queen Air Elementals and a Pheonix. No other enemies where present.

Bowing his head in memory of the 50 soldiers that must have lost their lives against these three powerful foes, Gylaug tries to turn away, but in his mind can't stop thinking of the massacre. There wasn't anything they could have done. Equiped with Hell Swords, as the Queens must have been, the normal Vanheim skinshifters and berserkers could not hope to kill them. The only thing that could defeat such things would be undead creatures, from which their swords could suck no life from. But those are thoughts for another time. Without a lab, those foes cannot use magic to move between provinces, and thus Gylaug and his men would be safe from surprise attacks, at least for a few months. With that Last thought, he finally turns away from the survivors far off on the horizon.

"Aren't we gonna go back for them, sir?!"

"No, kiddo, we have our mission, and they have theirs. Such is the way of war. Now get back to your post."

As the young scout turned his eyes away from the coast of Abysia, he could swear that he saw a glimmer inside a storm cloud, quickly moving accross the mainland, crossing the lands seperating Vanheim from Abysia. As he squinted to see more clearly, he could almost make out the face of a woman. Could it be that Vanheim has secured the services of the third and Last Queen Air Elemental? If so, she could strike anywhere inside Abysian land, and then vanish just as quickly. The young scout smiled broadly, but the smile was soon extinguished by the thought of Abysian forces invading the beautiful Vanheim countryside, a reality that could hardly be avoided now that the wrath of Aku was invoked. And so, the young scout thought, that the nation that losts its Pretender early on, and struggled for so long at the mercy of its neighbours, would now finally make a stand in the world. And should the Vanheim not survive, at least its glory would live on.