The Battle of Ebulon (12 page)

He paused for a breath,
and Moriambra seemed ready with the obvious question, so Munda
continued, "The mages among you are all... exotic, at least to the
enemy mages. Your abilities and methods may well be novel, offering
you unforeseen advantages. And I'm given to understand that some of
the lesser mages will be assisting in the defence directly, when
the assault comes, for we are still able to defend against some of
the magical attacks that will come.

"You are not alone," he
said, raising his voice and addressing them all, "and we stand with
you. Even though I am not to stand at your side in the battle, I
still work with you and for you, in ways I cannot explain to you.
My fight will be just as dangerous as yours."

Moriambra cut to the
chase. "Will you return me to my proper place, along with anyone
else who wishes to return home?"

Munda nodded solemnly. "I
will do all I can."

Moriambra didn't think
that sounded very reassuring.

This Entry Point features
characters from:

The Kinnon Gate by Neil
Shooter

Now available.

These characters are also
from the upcoming series The Circles of Old beginning
with The Lay of Old Follies. 

Goodreads
profile:
 
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6879087.Neil_Shooter
Smashwords:
 
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/neilshooter
Facebook author page:
 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neil-Shooter/404715356282918?ref=hl

Entry Point 5 - By R.M.
McDaniel

Zelphan sat outside in the tall green grass.
His eyes were closed and he looked like he was meditating. Xazaz,
Zelphan’s phoenix friend knew better. “Have you heard anything?” He
asked and Zelphan opened an eye, and then closed it. “Nothing yet,
I don’t know what’s going on. It’s been days since the wind has
spoken to me.”

“
The wind will speak when it’s
ready.”

Zelphan didn’t say anything. He
knew from experience not to question the bird that has lived longer
than he can fathom. He sat there in the grass waiting, and finally
a subtle breeze caressed his face.
There
is trouble and your help is needed. In a land far away there is the
Kingdom of Ebulon. It is the last free stronghold and terrible Orcs
seek to destroy and kill all who inhabit it. You must go there and
help save the kingdom or all will be lost. Take your sword and
Xazaz and make haste.

Zelphan’s eyes flew open at the end of the
wind’s message. He hadn’t heard of the Kingdom of Ebulon or Orcs
before. He was going to need help with this one. He turned to
Xazaz, “What is the Kingdom of Ebulon?”

Xazaz cocked his head to the side, “Kingdom of
Ebulon? I don’t know, why?”

“
I’ve just been instructed to go
there, all will be lost if we don’t stand and fight against
something the wind called Orcs.”

“
Orcs?” Xazaz squawked with
surprise.

“
You know what they
are?”

“
A long, long time ago, before
Xazvin forged the sword, Orcs used to run rampant in Ellandra. They
were terrible creatures, ones that nightmares are made of. The
Creator banished them with the help of the dragons. I haven’t heard
of them since.”

“
We must go there; Xazaz or we may
face these creatures in our own land. The wind said to make
haste.”

“
Then make haste we will
do.”

With that Zelphan and Xazaz wasted no time
preparing a knapsack of food and setting off towards what Zelphan
hoped was Ebulon. He didn’t know how he was going to get there or
where he was going, but he knew that somehow his feet would lead
him where he needed to go. This wasn’t the first quest he had gone
on, and he learned a lot during that quest. His biggest lesson was
learning to trust. He had to trust the wind and his friends or he
would for sure fall into peril.

****

The pair traveled many miles through forests,
hills and valleys. From far off they heard a hum in the air.
Zelphan put his hand on the hilt of his sword and Xazaz flew ahead.
Zelphan nearly drew his sword when he heard a surprised squawk from
the bird. He herd an, “Oomph,” then, “I’m happy to see you too,
Xazaz.” Zelphan recognized the voice and ran to the weird man with
the thick bottle bottom glasses.

“
Petre!” Zelphan greeted with a
hug. “It feels like a life time since I last saw you!”

“
Hello there, chap it has been a
while hasn’t it.”

“
It has, we shouldn’t wait so long
to see each other.”

“
No, I don’t think we
should.”

“
What brings you to this area?”
Xazaz asked.

“
Well, it appears I am here to help
you.” Petre said with a smile.

“
Help us? How? Are you coming with
us?” Zelphan asked.

“
I’ll be coming with you for part
of your journey, in fact I’ll be leading you, but you must follow
my instructions carefully.” Petre instructed.

Zelphan nodded his head in response. He’s done
this before with Petre, and he knew how important it is to listen
to him. The old man with the thick glasses had a unique gift. He
could follow the line of time and bring you to new places. His home
exists in a line of time that is in the past, and it’s filled with
unusual items that Zelphan didn’t know how to describe or use. He
was there once, when Petre rescued him from a horrible place, those
were dark times and he didn’t want to think about that. Instead he
put his focus into following directly behind Petre so he would not
lose the way. He didn’t know what would happen if he mis-stepped,
but he didn’t want to find out.

They started in a circle, and then they
zigzagged and hopped. They walked 500 paces to their left, and then
they walked backwards for 600 paces. This was the weirdest pattern
Zelphan ever walked with Petre, but he did it even though he felt
silly. They continued the nonsense until Zelphan felt like he was
going to drop. “Close your eyes.” Petre instructed. Zelphan
squeezed his eyes shut, and Petre placed his hand on his shoulder.
Zelphan held on and stumbled forward. “You can open your eyes now,”
Petre said.

Zelphan gaped at the scene around him. He had
been here before. He was standing in the middle of dense forest
with trees so tall you couldn’t even see the sky above. All you
could see was a green glowing mist above. “Zelphan, are we?” Xazaz
started.

“
Yes we are.” Zelphan confirmed.
This forest was deadly and he and the phoenix were the only two
known to enter and come out alive. Petre whispered into the air,
and then sat down. “You might as well sit down with me, it may be a
while.” He said, and they both sat down.

Zelphan must have fallen asleep because he
woke up to a bright lime green light shining in his face. “Turn out
the light.” He mumbled, rubbed his eyes, and saw the lime green
butterfly fluttering in front of his face. “Rise and shine sleepy
head.” It said in a high pitch voice.

“
Smalls!” Zelphan
grinned.

“
You remember me well.” He
replied.

“
How could I ever forget
you?”

“
Stranger things have happed, for
all I know you could have fallen off the mountain and hit your head
so hard that you forgot who you were.”

“
It’s nice to see you’re still the
same optimistic butterfly that I knew before.”

“
Smalls, Zelphan, this is not the
time for this. We must go, our presence is known by creatures that
wish us harm.” Petre said.

Smalls landed on Zelphan’s shoulder, and once
again he followed Petre through a maze of moves. He was delighted
that smalls was coming with him. The butterfly was tiny, but he
could shine a light that was so bright it canceled out all
darkness. Smalls saved his life one day using that
skill.

After a while Zelphan was instructed to close
his eyes and when he opened them he stood on the side of a road.
The stone that was used in the road was the size of a house. The
buildings that stood on either side made Zelphan feel like an ant.
He was in the land of the giants, and he knew this time who they
were about to see. A giant by the name of Oren lived here, and
Zelphan was excited to see him.

The first time Zelphan came upon the city of
giants he was terrified. So scared, in fact, he avoided it all
together, and it was the exact place he needed to go. Oren
possessed the sword before Zelphan did, and he was taken aback at
how friendly the Giant was. He couldn’t imagine such a gentle
creature going to battle with him, but if that’s what the wind had
instructed Oren to do, then that’s what would happen.

When they reached the Giant’s home, Zelpahn
ran up and gave the giant a hug, wrapping his arms around his leg
as best as he could. The giant laughed a deep hearty laugh, nodded
at Petre and they were off again, traveling through the lines of
time.

The time came for Zelphan to close his eyes
and when he opened them he was in an unfamiliar place. Before him
he could see big ominous mountains, the sky around them was dark.
In fact the town itself had a darkness that seemed to loom over
it.

Townsfolk bustled in the street, carrying
piles of wooden boxes with food and other supplies inside. The word
siege hit Zelphan’s ears, and a phrase, “Ebulon is doomed.” Came
from somewhere in the crowd. He looked at Oren next to him, nodded
at Smalls, and shared a worried look with Xazaz. They seemed like a
misfit group, but they were summoned to fight for Ebulon. He knew
the wind made no mistakes, and he hoped that they all possessed the
skills to help the kingdom. He didn’t want to think about what it
would mean if they fail.

“
This is where I leave you.” Petre
said and gave them all a hug before he began walking in one of his
weird patterns. Soon he disappeared and Zelphan hoped he would see
him again. The foursome nodded at each other and set off into town
looking for a place to eat and sleep for the night.

Xazaz, Smalls, Oren and Zelphan went from
tavern to tavern looking for

accommodations. Mixed in with the fear and
darkness that loomed over Ebulon, there seemed to be an unusual
amount of outsiders. The foursome were not the only ones called to
Ebulon, there were many many more who answered the kingdom’s
desperate call. Zelphan, Xazaz and Smalls were able to stay in a
room together but there wasn’t a place for a giant to stay. Oren
was offered the back garden from a friendly Ebulonite by the name
of Tinzy. She apologized for not having anything more comfortable
for him, and explained that her husband has been busy in the armory
preparing for battle. She advised the crew to check in there so
that they could be properly suited, although she didn’t know what
they would do for the bird and butterfly. They thanked her and
worked their way to the gaurds keep.

“Please state your business” The armed guard
said.

“
We were called to defend Ebulon, I
was told an army of ocrs are on their way.” Zelphan
answered.

“
Yes, they are follow me and I will
take you to be fitted for protection, although it won’t help you
much if we face hand to hand combat.”

“
Thank you… I’m sorry I don’t know
your name.”

“
My name is Robert; these men in
here will help you find something that fits.”

The soldiers found suitable pieces of metal
and fur to help protect Zelphan, for Xazaz they found a metal
breast plate, and the giant there were scads of metal clumsily tied
to various parts of his body. Smalls was the only one who remained
unprotected, but he was okay with that. He was so tiny he was sure
that he would be able to flutter through battle virtually unharmed.
After all who would expect an insect to be the enemy?

The four left the armory and prepared for the
night. Zelphan was exhausted from the day’s events. They said
goodnight to Oren and left him in Tinzy’s backyard, then they
retired to their room in the tavern. Zelphan was looking forward to
a full night’s sleep full of what he hoped would be good dreams.
Xazaz sat next to him on the bed and sang to him a beautiful melody
until the boy was asleep. The three slept peacefully and dreamed of
good things. Xazaz about his long lost tropical island, Smalls of
the forest and Zelphan of home with his mother and father who were
lost to the dragons of Ellandra.

All four jolted awake, people were screaming,
horns were blowing and it appeared chaos was ensuing. Zelphan
looked out the window, grey blobs that were men ran about in the
street. “We’re under attack!” He heard someone yell. “Where are
they at?” Another one asked. “They’re attacking all sides, they
have us completely surrounded!” Someone answered. Zelphan felt his
heart drop into his stomach. He was hoping he would have more time
to explore Ebulon but that wasn’t the case now. He scrambled to put
on his armor and helped Xazaz with his and they were out the door.
Zelphan wanted to find Oren before they got overwhelmed by battle.
He looked at the sky, it was grey with a glimmer of dawn. He looked
towards the mountains and stopped in his tracks in surprised. It
was as if the mountains were alight with fire flies, but they
weren’t fire flies, he knew those dancing lights were torches held
by the Orcs. He knew there was an army coming, but he didn’t think
there would be this many. Judging by the size of the town Zelphan
felt almost certain that the Orcs outnumbered them and for a second
he began to doubt the success of Ebulon. Then he remembered that
the wind called him to the task and the wind hasn’t failed him yet.
He’s been in dark places before when he felt there was no hope only
for something to come through for him at the very last second. He
knew not to doubt his call and to trust the people of Ebulon. The
three found Oren, he wasn’t hard to spot since he was so tall. The
poor giant looked confused. “What do we do?” he asked.