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Kai Lord's Story Hour - Elijayess the Shadow Years [Dragonlance]
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<blockquote data-quote="Kai Lord" data-source="post: 398846" data-attributes="member: 3570"><p><strong>PART II</strong></p><p></p><p>With a ferocity much greater than Elijayess expected the human warrior swung his mace at the charging wild elf. Elijayess barely dodged to the side, but was clipped on the shoulder by the human’s mace, tearing a nasty gash in his skin. Reversing his blade in a swift stroke, Elijayess sliced the foot soldier’s stomach open as a mass of gore spilled out onto the street. Two more humans charged down the barricade; Elijayess shoved his blade into the base of the first warrior’s neck, then withdrew it and sliced open the throat of the second in a firm two-handed stroke.</p><p></p><p>* * * * *</p><p></p><p><em>A woman stood on a balcony. Directly below her she saw humans fighting with elves in the streets. To the south she could see the main army of the humans struggling in the sucking mud made just for them. It was the sight to the east, however, that filled her with dread. The barricades had been breached. A small branch of the human army had broken through, and all of Kishpa’s warnings to leave Ankatavaka came home to her. But she dismissed them now as she had dismissed them then. She would not flee her home, not while she still had the power to fight back. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The woman appeared fragile, but she was not; a great heart beat in her chest. Her exquisite face, however, belied the woman’s fighting spirit. She seemed eternally, mysteriously feminine, with shining blue eyes framed by improbably thick lashes. She had a strong, proud nose, a delicate, sensuous mouth, and thick, curly hair that spilled nearly to her waste. Each of her features, alone, was startling in it perfection. All her features, together, were breathtaking. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>She was Brandella.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>With a longbow in her hands and a pile of arrows beside her, Brandella took aim at a human climbing over the barricade and let loose of the bowstring. She didn’t see her target as a fellow human, but rather as an enemy. She had qualms about killing, certainly, but not about defending her home, her friends, and her life with Kishpa. Her arrow struck its mark, lodging deep in the human soldier’s left thigh. He fell backward, clutching his leg, then tumbled off the outer edge of the barricade and out of sight.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>It was then that Brandella saw the elven charge to retake the battlement. She estimated nearly one hundred humans were swarming over the barricades, yet only a force of a dozen or so villagers were attempting to retake it.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>With controlled fury, she began shooting her arrows at the enemy atop the barricades, trying desperately to buy a few moments more for the handful of elven martyrs. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Despite her barrage of arrows, she expected the charging elves to be quickly slaughtered by the far-superior human forces. Although some elves did fall, the rest still managed to fight on, driving the humans, step by step, back up toward the top of the battlements. Brandella looked closely and saw someone she’d never seen before. He was taller than the other elves, and he fought with a ferocity she’d never witnessed. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>He ranged in front of the others, muscular body lithe in tooled leather, urging the elven soldiers on, battling like a brave warrior she had dreamed about as a little girl, a man who would come to her from a mythical world and take her on a grand journey to eternity.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>With all her heart, she hoped he would not die.</em></p><p></p><p>* * * * *</p><p></p><p>The men Elijayess battled were burlier than those he had encountered in Kishpa’s memory, and it took all of his combat prowess to dispatch them as quickly as he needed to. There were barely a half dozen elves left above defending the 30 foot wide barricade erected between two solid buildings. Elijayess charged up to the top as an incredibly large human climbed the barricade from the other side. He was over six and a half feet tall and appeared to be comprised of solid muscle. He wore a heavy breastplate and was adorned in a great helm with two horns protruding from the sides. His massive fists clenched a giant double-bladed greataxe that Elijayess knew was thirsty for elven blood.</p><p></p><p>This was their champion, a barbaric warrior of enormous proportions. The great human roared in rage, and Elijayess could see the warrior’s physique bristle with adrenaline. Unmoved, Elijayess knew this was a fight he would win. Gripping his bastard sword tightly he moved toward the human champion as the barbarian swung his greataxe in a furious sideways stroke. With the quickness of a leopard Elijayess sprang backward as the barbarian completed his swing. The barbarian almost cleaved Elijayess in two.</p><p></p><p>As Elijayess leaped backward the axe cut so deep into the side of the wild elf’s abdomen that his splattering blood completely enveloped the face of another elf climbing the barricade. Elijayess stumbled backward, utterly stunned. He looked at his side half expecting his intestines to be dangling past his waste. Instead he saw just a massive gash through his leather armor and side. For a moment he became dizzy but suddenly the great human swung his axe again at Elijayess, this time ripping his armor and cutting flesh along the front of his torso.</p><p></p><p>Elijayess stumbled backward and tripped over the body of a fallen elf before collapsing onto his back. Elijayess’ mind reeled, how could this be happening? The human barbarian quickly took two steps and raised his axe to finish off the fallen wild elf. With his axe raised high above his head the warrior screamed a battle cry just as an arrow shattered against his great metal helm. This shook the human, though the arrow did not penetrate.</p><p></p><p>Elijayess’ eyes narrowed. The barbarian turned back upon him and swung his axe in a hearty downward stroke. The axe blade imbedded itself into the wood walkway on top of the barricade as Elijayess rolled to the side. Turning back, Elijayess slammed the human’s groin with a swift kick of his shin. As the human doubled over in pain Elijayess followed with a close-fisted club into the barbarian’s jaw. The human fell backward but managed to stand up straight as another arrow shattered against his solid breastplate. Adrenaline surged through Elijayess’ veins as his anger grew. In the blink of an eye the wild elf was on his feet and swung his blade across the human barbarian’s shoulder. The warrior growled and reversed his axe, aiming for Elijayess’ head. The wild elf ducked and shoved his sword into the human’s right thigh.</p><p></p><p>The great warrior roared in anger and swung his axe at Elijayess but again the wild elf dodged, withdrawing his blade from the imposing man’s leg and slicing open his belly just beneath his breast plate. This instinctively caused the human to momentarily lower his arms to cover his stomach and Elijayess immediately followed with a vigorous swing at the barbarian’s neck and chopped his head clean off, causing it to go bouncing down the other side of the barricade toward the oncoming human soldiers. </p><p></p><p>Two more burly barbarians immediately charged Elijayess, one sliced his arm with a battle axe. Still raging with adrenaline, Elijayess swung his bastard sword with such ferocity he literally cut the man in two. The other bull rushed Elijayess and sent him careening five feet backwards where he landed on his side. Eyes burning with hatred, Elijayess dropped his sword and pulled his massive longbow off his back in a split second maneuver. In another moment an arrow was notched and he drew the bowstring to his ear. The barbarian soldier charged and caused Elijayess to fold his arms in response to the impact and loose his arrow.</p><p></p><p>The human warrior raised his sword as Elijayess scrambled for another arrow while prone on top of the battlements. Before the warrior could swing, Elijayess had notched another arrow. The human’s blade came down but Elijayess kicked his attacker’s swordarm wide and fired an arrow straight through his left eye. As the man fell backward, Elijayess dropped his bow and scooped his blade as he rose to his feet.</p><p></p><p>Elijayess lifted his sword in the air and roared like a rabid grizzly bear. Seeing what the elven champion had done to their captain and his entourage, the humans turned and ran. It was at this time that Elijayess noticed that the small frame of his human friend, Scowarr, his head adorned in bandages to keep his human ears hidden from the elves, had been fighting at the other end of the barricade. Emulating Elijayess, Scowarr lifted his meager blade and howled as well.</p><p></p><p>“Ready your bows!” Elijayess commanded. Of the 21 combined elves that had joined for the defense, 15 remained. They raised there bows. Elijayess’ command was simple, “Shoot them down like dogs.” The elves loosed their bows and half a dozen men fell. Elijayess grabbed his own bow and contributed to the slaughter. “Keep shooting.” The elves fired two more volleys and killed another 20 men but then the humans reached the woods.</p><p></p><p>Breathing heavily, Elijayess suddenly felt a rush of fatigue and almost lost his balance as his vision grew blurry. His left leg was covered a dark, sappy red as his great wound continued to bleed. He clutched his side but blood flowed through his fingers. He lowered his head and began to cough but suddenly an elf shouted, “They’re coming back!”</p><p></p><p>Elijayess looked up and saw the ravenous humans had regrouped and were mounting one last charge. They knew how close they were to breaking through in full force, and they weren’t going to give up that easily. Almost 60 men charged the across the grass plain to the barricade. Elijayess and the elves began firing arrows feverishly as the men pressed on. The humans lost half their number before hitting the barricade and charging upward in an almost uniform rush.</p><p></p><p>Elijayess was weak, and had to make a focused effort to stay conscious as he continued to bleed. But he did not fall back. Instead he fought the humans off from the forefront of the elven defenders and together with his brave companions and cover fire from Brandella they killed every last man. 10 elves remained. </p><p></p><p>The end of the battle brought a surreal moment of pause. The elves looked at each other in disbelief. Twenty-one elven villagers had fought off a horde of almost a hundred bloodthirsty human warriors. Twenty-one villagers and Elijayess. As several of them collapsed in relief the rest turned to the blood stained wild elf, as Scowarr hollered a victory cry.</p><p></p><p>“Your bravery has saved the village,” Elijayess stated to his fellow warriors as he descended the barricade into the village. His body shivered with the loss of so much blood. Clutching his side as he hobbled away from the barricade, the elven soldiers could only look on in amazement.</p><p></p><p>In his weakened state, Elijayess wondered how he would protect Brandella from the dangers ahead...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kai Lord, post: 398846, member: 3570"] [b]PART II[/b] With a ferocity much greater than Elijayess expected the human warrior swung his mace at the charging wild elf. Elijayess barely dodged to the side, but was clipped on the shoulder by the human’s mace, tearing a nasty gash in his skin. Reversing his blade in a swift stroke, Elijayess sliced the foot soldier’s stomach open as a mass of gore spilled out onto the street. Two more humans charged down the barricade; Elijayess shoved his blade into the base of the first warrior’s neck, then withdrew it and sliced open the throat of the second in a firm two-handed stroke. * * * * * [i]A woman stood on a balcony. Directly below her she saw humans fighting with elves in the streets. To the south she could see the main army of the humans struggling in the sucking mud made just for them. It was the sight to the east, however, that filled her with dread. The barricades had been breached. A small branch of the human army had broken through, and all of Kishpa’s warnings to leave Ankatavaka came home to her. But she dismissed them now as she had dismissed them then. She would not flee her home, not while she still had the power to fight back. The woman appeared fragile, but she was not; a great heart beat in her chest. Her exquisite face, however, belied the woman’s fighting spirit. She seemed eternally, mysteriously feminine, with shining blue eyes framed by improbably thick lashes. She had a strong, proud nose, a delicate, sensuous mouth, and thick, curly hair that spilled nearly to her waste. Each of her features, alone, was startling in it perfection. All her features, together, were breathtaking. She was Brandella. With a longbow in her hands and a pile of arrows beside her, Brandella took aim at a human climbing over the barricade and let loose of the bowstring. She didn’t see her target as a fellow human, but rather as an enemy. She had qualms about killing, certainly, but not about defending her home, her friends, and her life with Kishpa. Her arrow struck its mark, lodging deep in the human soldier’s left thigh. He fell backward, clutching his leg, then tumbled off the outer edge of the barricade and out of sight. It was then that Brandella saw the elven charge to retake the battlement. She estimated nearly one hundred humans were swarming over the barricades, yet only a force of a dozen or so villagers were attempting to retake it. With controlled fury, she began shooting her arrows at the enemy atop the barricades, trying desperately to buy a few moments more for the handful of elven martyrs. Despite her barrage of arrows, she expected the charging elves to be quickly slaughtered by the far-superior human forces. Although some elves did fall, the rest still managed to fight on, driving the humans, step by step, back up toward the top of the battlements. Brandella looked closely and saw someone she’d never seen before. He was taller than the other elves, and he fought with a ferocity she’d never witnessed. He ranged in front of the others, muscular body lithe in tooled leather, urging the elven soldiers on, battling like a brave warrior she had dreamed about as a little girl, a man who would come to her from a mythical world and take her on a grand journey to eternity. With all her heart, she hoped he would not die.[/i] * * * * * The men Elijayess battled were burlier than those he had encountered in Kishpa’s memory, and it took all of his combat prowess to dispatch them as quickly as he needed to. There were barely a half dozen elves left above defending the 30 foot wide barricade erected between two solid buildings. Elijayess charged up to the top as an incredibly large human climbed the barricade from the other side. He was over six and a half feet tall and appeared to be comprised of solid muscle. He wore a heavy breastplate and was adorned in a great helm with two horns protruding from the sides. His massive fists clenched a giant double-bladed greataxe that Elijayess knew was thirsty for elven blood. This was their champion, a barbaric warrior of enormous proportions. The great human roared in rage, and Elijayess could see the warrior’s physique bristle with adrenaline. Unmoved, Elijayess knew this was a fight he would win. Gripping his bastard sword tightly he moved toward the human champion as the barbarian swung his greataxe in a furious sideways stroke. With the quickness of a leopard Elijayess sprang backward as the barbarian completed his swing. The barbarian almost cleaved Elijayess in two. As Elijayess leaped backward the axe cut so deep into the side of the wild elf’s abdomen that his splattering blood completely enveloped the face of another elf climbing the barricade. Elijayess stumbled backward, utterly stunned. He looked at his side half expecting his intestines to be dangling past his waste. Instead he saw just a massive gash through his leather armor and side. For a moment he became dizzy but suddenly the great human swung his axe again at Elijayess, this time ripping his armor and cutting flesh along the front of his torso. Elijayess stumbled backward and tripped over the body of a fallen elf before collapsing onto his back. Elijayess’ mind reeled, how could this be happening? The human barbarian quickly took two steps and raised his axe to finish off the fallen wild elf. With his axe raised high above his head the warrior screamed a battle cry just as an arrow shattered against his great metal helm. This shook the human, though the arrow did not penetrate. Elijayess’ eyes narrowed. The barbarian turned back upon him and swung his axe in a hearty downward stroke. The axe blade imbedded itself into the wood walkway on top of the barricade as Elijayess rolled to the side. Turning back, Elijayess slammed the human’s groin with a swift kick of his shin. As the human doubled over in pain Elijayess followed with a close-fisted club into the barbarian’s jaw. The human fell backward but managed to stand up straight as another arrow shattered against his solid breastplate. Adrenaline surged through Elijayess’ veins as his anger grew. In the blink of an eye the wild elf was on his feet and swung his blade across the human barbarian’s shoulder. The warrior growled and reversed his axe, aiming for Elijayess’ head. The wild elf ducked and shoved his sword into the human’s right thigh. The great warrior roared in anger and swung his axe at Elijayess but again the wild elf dodged, withdrawing his blade from the imposing man’s leg and slicing open his belly just beneath his breast plate. This instinctively caused the human to momentarily lower his arms to cover his stomach and Elijayess immediately followed with a vigorous swing at the barbarian’s neck and chopped his head clean off, causing it to go bouncing down the other side of the barricade toward the oncoming human soldiers. Two more burly barbarians immediately charged Elijayess, one sliced his arm with a battle axe. Still raging with adrenaline, Elijayess swung his bastard sword with such ferocity he literally cut the man in two. The other bull rushed Elijayess and sent him careening five feet backwards where he landed on his side. Eyes burning with hatred, Elijayess dropped his sword and pulled his massive longbow off his back in a split second maneuver. In another moment an arrow was notched and he drew the bowstring to his ear. The barbarian soldier charged and caused Elijayess to fold his arms in response to the impact and loose his arrow. The human warrior raised his sword as Elijayess scrambled for another arrow while prone on top of the battlements. Before the warrior could swing, Elijayess had notched another arrow. The human’s blade came down but Elijayess kicked his attacker’s swordarm wide and fired an arrow straight through his left eye. As the man fell backward, Elijayess dropped his bow and scooped his blade as he rose to his feet. Elijayess lifted his sword in the air and roared like a rabid grizzly bear. Seeing what the elven champion had done to their captain and his entourage, the humans turned and ran. It was at this time that Elijayess noticed that the small frame of his human friend, Scowarr, his head adorned in bandages to keep his human ears hidden from the elves, had been fighting at the other end of the barricade. Emulating Elijayess, Scowarr lifted his meager blade and howled as well. “Ready your bows!” Elijayess commanded. Of the 21 combined elves that had joined for the defense, 15 remained. They raised there bows. Elijayess’ command was simple, “Shoot them down like dogs.” The elves loosed their bows and half a dozen men fell. Elijayess grabbed his own bow and contributed to the slaughter. “Keep shooting.” The elves fired two more volleys and killed another 20 men but then the humans reached the woods. Breathing heavily, Elijayess suddenly felt a rush of fatigue and almost lost his balance as his vision grew blurry. His left leg was covered a dark, sappy red as his great wound continued to bleed. He clutched his side but blood flowed through his fingers. He lowered his head and began to cough but suddenly an elf shouted, “They’re coming back!” Elijayess looked up and saw the ravenous humans had regrouped and were mounting one last charge. They knew how close they were to breaking through in full force, and they weren’t going to give up that easily. Almost 60 men charged the across the grass plain to the barricade. Elijayess and the elves began firing arrows feverishly as the men pressed on. The humans lost half their number before hitting the barricade and charging upward in an almost uniform rush. Elijayess was weak, and had to make a focused effort to stay conscious as he continued to bleed. But he did not fall back. Instead he fought the humans off from the forefront of the elven defenders and together with his brave companions and cover fire from Brandella they killed every last man. 10 elves remained. The end of the battle brought a surreal moment of pause. The elves looked at each other in disbelief. Twenty-one elven villagers had fought off a horde of almost a hundred bloodthirsty human warriors. Twenty-one villagers and Elijayess. As several of them collapsed in relief the rest turned to the blood stained wild elf, as Scowarr hollered a victory cry. “Your bravery has saved the village,” Elijayess stated to his fellow warriors as he descended the barricade into the village. His body shivered with the loss of so much blood. Clutching his side as he hobbled away from the barricade, the elven soldiers could only look on in amazement. In his weakened state, Elijayess wondered how he would protect Brandella from the dangers ahead... [/QUOTE]
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Kai Lord's Story Hour - Elijayess the Shadow Years [Dragonlance]
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