Authors: Stephen Zimmer
With the advantage of having existed long before Trogens or Gigans had taken a single step upon the face of the world, the Northern Elves possessed the luxury of abundant time. It had allowed them to develop advancements in fortification that tremendously augmented their predominance.
When the discovery of great iron deposits, veins of silver, and some particularly bountiful coastal areas, teeming with many kinds of fish, occurred centuries after the Trogen and Gigan Clans had come into existence, the Northern Elves had moved with self-annointed impunity. They had conducted a huge campaign to occupy and fortify the portion of mainland necessary to secure the valuable resources.
Once considerable fortifications had been erected to shield the newly-acquired areas, the Elves had used them as bases for sending raiding parties deeper into Trogen and Gigan lands. They culled meat and furs from the wild herds of animals that the Trogens and Gigans relied upon, as well as levying destruction upon any cropland areas or dwelling sites that they could reach.
The intention was unmistakably punitive, calculated to create hardship and suffering among the other two races, and keep them in a perpetually weakened state. Withdrawing behind their massive fortifications, or retreating to their sleek war galleys, safely beyond the shoreline, the Elves had never been made to feel the pain that they delivered so regularly to others.
Elvish raids had occasionally brought about a few desperate incidents that had temporarily bonded Trogens and Gigans in a united cause. In an hour of common affliction, the two races had reached a higher level of solidarity, gained through the necessity of fighting side by side against a mutual adversary.
If used appropriately within the forests, the Gigans would be immensely effective warriors, able to batter and break through any defenses that the invaders might encounter, or reduce any obstructions erected to slow advances through the forest. The stomping approach of bellowing Gigans, battle-maddened and swinging great war-axes and maces, would challenge the resolve of even the most hardened veteran among human warriors. Dragol conceded that such a sight was unsettling enough to a battle-seasoned Trogen.
The full assault would be foreshadowed by a massive bombardment of great stones loosed from the backs of the Darroks. The monstrous hailstorm would be levied upon the areas around the invaders’ planned routes, allowing for a swifter initial surge into the forest.
Dragol and Tirok’s charge during that time would be very straightforward. They had been ordered to see to the protection of the Darroks, to scout for enemy movements, and to provide regular reports on anything of interest sighted from the higher skies.
Dragol could only hope that the attack proceeded quickly enough to subdue resistance, reducing it to such a miniscule level that the occupation of the Five Realms did not require the sustained involvement of large, concentrated forces. He wished that he and the other Trogens would somehow be called away to the battle marshalling far to the south, out on the Plains of Athelney.
Yet Dragol was only one Trogen, standing alone on a swathe of windswept grasses just outside of his encampment. He could not begin to see how he could possibly tilt the course of things to a better direction. Everything already seemed to be so heavily weighed against his most deeply held desires. The feeling of helplessness was becoming more overwhelming with each passing day.
His focus was slowly drawn upward, to the moons high above. Dragol took up a familiar stone disc in the palm of his right hand. Suspended from the long, leather thong around his neck, the pendant was caressed gently by the silvery light.
He peered intently at the distinct profile of a wolf’s head, carved into its surface. A singular, large tooth, taken from the skull of a long-dead Thunder Wolf, was set in place across the middle of the stone disc, the sharp fang aligned with the thick neck of the wolf image. The pendant honored the apex of the moons’ cycles, when both orbs were manifested in their fullness within the night skies, while also cradling the sacred image and relic of the Thunder Wolves within its circumference.
The moons were a very special part of his clan’s symbolism, as were the great Thunder Wolves of old. For many ages, the Thunder Wolves had howled vigorously towards the moons when they had reached their zeniths, extending the radiant orbs hailing tributes of timeless reverence.
Dragol clenched the sacred pendant tightly in his balled fist. He closed his eyes, feeling the ache that welled up inside as he realized once again that he had never heard that sound with his own ears. Nor had he ever set his eyes, for even a moment, upon the very creature that his own clan was a living, proud homage to. Theirs was the only Trogen clan to carry such a terrible burden.
The Thunder Wolves had long ago been driven into extinction by the Northern Elves, one of the greatest travesties ever visited upon the Trogen race by their longtime tormentors. The Thunder Wolf clan had carried on ever since, refusing to choose a new clan symbol, even though the noble creatures had vanished from their lands.
Dragol slowly looked back up to the larger of the two moons, musing for a few moments that Goras and his other Thunder Wolf brethren in Saxany might well be looking up towards it at that very moment. If the Thunder Wolves could no longer gaze upon that silvered moon, then the Trogens of the clan honoring the legendary creatures still could; and always would, as long as even one of them drew breath.
The large, glowing night traveler and its smaller companion had not been stopped by the Elves. The luminous orbs would continue on their ancient journey over both Saxany and the borderlands between Gallea and the Five Realms, as they would also over Trogen lands. The celestial bodies would remain firmly in place, no matter what the Elves might otherwise wish. That thought, at the very least, was a source of comfort.
For the moment, Dragol pushed back the rancorous thoughts of the Northern Elves from his mind. He tried to replace them with thoughts of the more positive things that the sight of the moons evoked, bringing to the fore the idea that Goras and his fellow Thunder Wolf clan brethren were even now gazing upon its sylvan luminance.
Dragol reflected that both the Trogens and the moons were engaged in a timeless natural procession. While the moons already possessed an ancient legacy, the current generation of Trogens was just about to begin their own journey across the skies of the life cycle.
As the moons fulfilled their determined part in the natural order, so would the Trogens, fueled by the fires of spirit that burned fiercely within them. The blazing spirit of their kind would drive them to meet their challenges directly, to face all fears with their utmost courage and skill, and to find their measure within the enduring, growing legacy of their race.
That was the true way of a Trogen warrior, and whether the Unifier wanted to recognize that or not, Dragol did not entirely care. It was a special inheritance reserved for his own kind, to be honored and continued, and he only hoped that he would not be denied his own chance to see where his individual place stood among his peers and ancestors.
That hope was the greatest reason why he felt disconcerted as he ruminated in silence, staring up at the skies that he would fly across the very next day. His slow exhalations merged with the soft breezes, as if the winds themselves would carry his worries to the ears of some greater power that might listen, and address his inward anxieties.
Dragol knew that he could watch a thousand Darroks drop a torrential cascade of stones for days on end, and he would come no closer to knowing his own measure. He had to be given the chance to fight a worthy adversary, blade to blade, in the skies or upon the ground. It was truly that simple, though the realization of it seemed so maddeningly elusive.
Another faint, dark thought continued to nag at the fringes of his conscience, even in the face of his incessant worrying over being able to take measure of himself in combat. It was a troubling thought, one that he dare not voice to other Trogens, as everything that they did in service of the Unifier’s forces hinged solely upon the promises that had been made to their kind.
Rising doubts had taken firmer root, revealing themselves to Dragol with greater frequency. The meddlesome concerns nonetheless had momentous implications: If the Unifier did not fulfill His promises to the Trogens, then the war that they were fighting would become unjustifiable.
The terrible prospect represented a conundrum for Dragol, as it acknowledged the possibility that all of the Trogens’ combined involvement could ultimately be for naught. The possibility loomed that every Trogen fighting in this war could return to their homelands tainted with disgrace, having participated in a baseless war that carried no legitimacy under a Trogen warrior’s code of honor.
With a low, audible growl of frustration, the Trogen shut his eyes once again, laboring to chase the new swarm of worrying thoughts out of his head.
There was only one thing to think about, in light of what Dragol could, and could not, control. He was on the threshold of a new era. While not denying the uncertainty encompassing him, the Trogen chieftain had to believe that somehow great honor would be gained, both for his race and for himself. It was the only way that he could go forward, with all of his strength and conviction intact.
He needed only to concentrate upon the charges that he and his warriors had been given, and to execute them flawlessly, helping to conclude the battle for the Five Realms swiftly. Everything beyond those imminent tasks was well out of his control.
There was also the possibility that welcome surprises could emerge within the course of the approaching battle. The full nature of the tribesemen was still to be revealed, and if the daring resistance displayed in the first Darrok raid was any indication, then the invaders would be well advised not to underestimate their opponent.
As the main attack would be launched with overwhelming force, a part of Dragol could not help but wonder why the tribesmen did not surrender, or at least parley. But the fact that they had not elevated his respect for them even more.
The tribes lacked the numbers and quality of weapons and armor that the invadors would bring to bear. Yet like a proud black tiger from the Trogen homelands, when cornered, the tribal warriors would undoubtedly fight back with fury. Dragol’s instincts told him that the overly confident Galleans were going to be in for much more than they expected, at the very least.
Dragol’s attention returned back to the present, as he opened his eyes with a markedly calmer mind. The stone disc pendant was still clutched within his hand, he suddenly realized. Gently, he lowered his right hand, letting the symbol of his clan come to rest against his muscular chest. He knew that when the new day rose, he would face the enemy as a Trogen warrior of the Thunder Wolf clan, come whatever may.
He then looked off in the direction of the dark outlines that indicated the forest’s outer boundary, well off in the distance. He was not altogether certain what it was that he was looking for, but he scanned the boundary from horizon to horizon nonetheless. It was a tense stillness that met his rigid gaze, and in that moment he felt in his gut that the fight on the coming day would not be easy.
The dark, shrouded forest revealed nothing of what the future would be, yet, in a way, it represented the gateway to everything that he would become in the future. One way or another, the answers that addressed the innermost core of his being would be found somewhere within that impenetrable line of shadow spread before him.
Turning away from the concealed boundary region, Dragol strode calmly back towards the encampment. The night had not yet aged to where he needed to turn in to his tent, and take some rest. There was still time enough to join with some of the other Trogens for some meat and drink. Perhaps, if he were fortunate, there would even be time to engage in further conversation with Tirok.
Most of the other Trogens not assigned to patrol or sentry duty would likely be settling in for the night. There was always a chance during such a period to hear some good tales from members of other clans. It was an opportunity not often afforded when Dragol was back in his own clan’s territory.
The legacies of the Thunder Wolf clan, and all of the clans, were like the iron ingots worked by Trogen artisans to fashion one singular Trogen longblade. That collective blade was about to be labored upon further, in the coming days and weeks.
Dragol’s heart was lifted as he gazed upon three Trogen warriors immersed in conversation, relaxed and confident in their demeanor as they sat around a blazing campfire. Seeing him, the warriors called for him to join them, offering him cooked meat and ale without hesitation. As he drew closer, Dragol saw that they were of three different clans, but the bonds of a warrior brotherhood flowed among all of them.
The sight filled him with confidence, as he took a place with them, representing a fourth clan in their ongoing discussion. Trials lay ahead, of that he was certain. Yet when all was finished, and no matter what it took, Dragol believed fervently that the blade of the Trogens’ spirit would ultimately come out sharper, and more robust, than ever before.
*
Framorg
*
Far, far away from the encampments poised on the eastern edge of Gallea, a couple of hours after the two moons of Ave had drawn to the culmination of their nightly sojourn, a mass of Trogens were soaring high through the Saxan skies, upon stout Harrak steeds. The sun now reigned fully within the skies of the new day, casting its golden luminance all across the Saxan lands.
Just beyond daybreak, the contingent of Trogen warriors had mounted their steeds and taken flight. They were a potent war band, comprised of many renowned fighters that had been carefully selected from the various clans. The prominent force was dutifully escorting a hulking warrior in their midst, the supreme Trogen war chieftain, Framorg, the most eminent member of the revered Mountain Bear clan.