Alarick nodded slowly while Erriene trembled and tried to gather a little of his dignity. A troll invasion was more like a plague taking over than anything else. They were dumb, ugly,hairy creatures that moved around forests, and when they grouped together, usually to the command of a big leader, they went to the bigger cities to find food. That could be anything from bread to vegetables and meat. The more crazy ones would even eat humans, but it wasn’t their preference. Trolls could take over an entire country given the time and the right luck. They reproduced fast and the younger ones were ready to fight pretty quickly. It was unlucky that they caught the little villages because they couldn’t defend themselves. A city would handle it better. If the invasion of the land wasn’t contained fast, they would leak to other places and then it would be impossible to track them all. On the other hand, Alarick thought troll
Two YearsAgo… Alarick found a nymph on his garden. Or so he thought, at first glance. It had been a tough afternoon; his father hadn’t joined them at yet another hunt for a couple of ogres trespassing the forest ever since his mamkkadisappeared a couple months back. He was angry at the world and depressed. They both were. But instead of locking himself in one of the rooms in the fortress like his father, he was out there, raising his sword and killing everything in his way. They may be father and son and share the same blood, but right now, the both of them have different ways in coping up with the devastating loss. His clothes were damp, there was mud in them, and he’d been circling around the fortress trying to find anything he could show his wrath toso it wasn’t too far off to saythatstumbling acros
Back to the present… “Clay-brained orc,” Errienemurmured to the empty room. He closed his eyes and breathed one more time. Alarick’s scent was still in the room, making his head spin. A leathery smell, mixed with an animalistic scent. It had something to do with his confidence. Alarick had a presence that often muddled his string of thoughts. His figure much reminded him of Fourthly, the ogre that worked in the well who had a thick neck and broad shoulders like a bull. Alarick was built like a strong bull, but way taller than Fourthly. A giant. A young, reckless and inconsequential giant bull. It unnerved Erriene how tall he was, how strong he was, how he treated him like he owned him. Alarick wasn’t ugly exactly. Far from it actually. It shouldn’t matter to him but one may argue his strong jaw and straight nose were attractive, if one was slightly drunk. Or so he wan
Erriene stood in front of Alarick, hands firmly clasped behind his back as his soldiers stood outside ready to leave.“Is it done?” Alarick asked, watching the blue magic that surrounded them minutes ago disappearing.The words were a little tricky to say, unknown to him, and the thrill he felt at his guts when the magic circled him and Erriene was overwhelming, in a good way.Erriene had handed him the contract and he had dropped a little of blood on it, and it was a little unusual with land binding contracts. But he would send it to Maud, and it would be protected.“Yes, yes,” Erriene said with impatience. “Now tell me, why are there soldiers all over the temple?”Alarick had spent the last two days sending letters to Maud to let his father know of his plans, and waiting for a good amount of soldiers to travel to the Temple of Cyndel. He had sent some men around to find the trolls’ positions
Two days later, Alarick found himself riding his horse in a forgotten part of Kalise- the poor, unkind part of the land.It was said that Kalise was a holy ground, where supposed gods have been killed and born, but despite being pleasantly warm most of the year, it’s soil wasn’t good for growing.Thorne was making suggestions though, about some places that could be salvaged.Alarick circled the camp one more time. He had groups of men protecting the abandoned villages after making themselves the plague against trolls and killing anything they found in their way, and they were making camp after the archers took care of a large batch by the forest most of the trolls were coming from.It would take some time, letting the trolls regroup and then following the trails, but Alarick felt calm.Fighting in Kalise feels like protecting Erriene, and wherever Erriene was at, that was Alarick’s territory.Those were the th
It was done.And it was as easy as Alarick thought it would be. They had gathered their things first thing in the morning, and up on their horses as they were going back to the temple.The trolls were not all dead, but what was left of them could be dealt with by the men he assigned to take care of them, in different places.They were building posts, and there was a constant stream of food being delivered by his hunters to those posts.It would take some time to build a good watch, good fences and traps around Kalise, but the land wasn’t huge by any means, and they were all pretty used to the old routine they made in the villages of Maud.The villages were being reconstructed. Soon, the families that took refuge in the Temple of Cyndel would be going back to their homes.Alarick had fulfilled his promise. It was time to go back to Maud.Time to let Erriene go again, but not before collecting one more promise from t
One year ago…Alarick paced back and forth in his garden, raving mad.Randal watched his son with sorrow in his eyes. Alarick had never been denied of things before. Being the son of a warlord, and being a warlord himself, everything and anything that he wants was given to him with open palms.Rejection was something his son knew nothing about.Watching this for the first time without Aefstine by his side was frustrating.“Do you really want to declare a war? For a man?” Randal said, already knowing the answer.“Yes. Yes, I do,” Alarick said, but in his eyes, they both could see him accepting defeat. “But I don’t think I can handle to see him hating me more than he does now.”He let his sword fall to the floor and took off both his gloves, crumpling it in his hand.“What’s yours is yours, Alarick,” his father said, eyes distant. &l
“Y- You can’t... You can’t!” Erriene’s eyes went wide, and he took two steps back. “You’ve become insane. There are other ways to solve this!”“Then tell me, Erriene. Do I admit to Chevelle that you made a fool out of me? I might as well resign my inheritancebecause I am not worthy of my own name anymore.”Erriene’s hands clutch at the white fabric of his own clothes over his chest, and Alarick cursed the shakiness, and the desperation in his voice.He took a step closer to Erriene and held his cheek with one hand.“I amnot asking you to love me,Erriene,” Alarick said, even as the words seemed to cut deep into hisownchest. “I would never take from you what you won’t give to me willingly. I only ask for your company, and for you to recognize… recognize that you are m- mine.”The words seemed to not want t