Complete with every  !land mine! imaginable.

With all the actors on a different page. -Dan Delion

It’s grace.

His grace is what I need to show. His grace is what changes things. There is no other way to change the world than to let his light shine through.

“I don’t want anyone to walk in my shadow, I want them to walk in the pure light that is shining right through me. I want to be transparent.”

My ability to cope with life and change is dependant upon my desire to let God do with me what He wants. There is no grace without truth and there can be no peace without truth. In short, it is ‘untrue’ to God to not extend grace towards others and to live at war with them.

OUR FIGHT IS NOT WITH THEM. Some of them will be our dearest allies after they come face to face with Gods’ grace.

JK.

I took my car and now it’s clean! It’s awesomeness!

A man in a place none envy. 

PROLOGUE

The sun shone over the cliff like a beacon of happiness that was forever too far away. Caged, I looked out between the cold metal, past the trees and into the far reaches of the ocean.

“What are you doing up?” my sister mumbled groggily.

“Living.” I added mater-of-factly for I had had enough of the sleep of death. I had lived long enough to know that this was an illusion. I alone of my family could see the bars of the cage around our city…

Silence followed in the hours to come but I knew it wouldn’t last. Nothing I ever wanted lasted for long. I was strong once, I was brave once, and I was stupid once. Only once.

That had been a long time ago and in another lifetime. One in which I didn’t know what was going to happen and I didn’t have to live with that knowledge for the rest of my life. Ignorance is bliss but a rambling old man trapped in the body of a young man, is far from bliss as you might have been able to tell. I speak figuratively when I call myself old because I’m only 29 years old. The last 9 years have seemed more like 90.

Cold chills ran up my arm and back down again in a flash that reminded me of that day nine years ago…but that day was long past and I didn’t want to remember it anymore.

I began to sing “moia loaaaaa, moia loanatasheet, cuorna morata, limo troborna, moia loaaaaaaaaaa” in a slow way that always cheered me up and readied my mind for the battle to come. Mine was the never-ending battle to do more than just live but to live well and hope to escape into the world beyond what I should know.

Fall had crept into this city with a precision that would amaze anybody who bothered to notice such things. The trees held golden leaves and vibrant blossoms that persistently clung to the tree regardless of the time of year… and this was perfectly normal here. Anything and everything was normal here. The only thing that wasn’t seen as normal by the residents of this prison was the way I looked at life. Before that day, I had always been content to just live. Life had been good to me. I lived in a nice house, had a nice family, and had a nice job, until one day it was all gone; or at least it disappeared into the mist.

It was like waking in a vision…walking around my house and finding everything I had held dear all my life seem so wrong; so out of place. I was confused and disoriented for a moment and I felt like vomiting. I sat down to avoid falling. The world turned as if it was on a Lazy Susan and when it stopped, my heart almost stopped with it. Moments later, I was looking at what I instinctively knew was real…my life in another world. It all came at me so quickly that I almost forgot about the life I had experienced up to that point.

Somebody was talking about starting a fire…

CHAPTER ONE ~Tread lightly

 (Unfamiliar terms at bottom of story) 

“We could use some of the wood we found about the place. It’s all over this plateau.”

“I still don’t see why I cain’t use m’ gift for that. I luv fire!”

Yet a third voice replied in monotone. “That’s half the reason right there, you freak.”

At this point I interrupted the conversation to say “gremitosunul?”.

I can’t remember what that was supposed to be now but it evoked quite a good round of laughter from the group gathered in a circle.

“I thought you had had too much a full mug ago!”

“Well at least he hasn’t passed out yet.” The monotone woman voiced indifferently as she came into focus.

“I’m no sur I din’t.” I replied.

“There’s no use arguing about it. We need a fire and Taharan here is going to get the wood since he came up with the idea.” She stated matter-of-factly. The larger man looked as if he would argue, but after a moment thought better of it.

Taharan, a middle aged and rough man of average intelligence, grumbled as he roamed the plateau collecting wood that was rotten but not wet. This chore proved difficult as the fog had apparently been over this place for quite some time and had blanketed the thick grass and everything it touched with moisture. This was a fog that could almost be eaten…but it would have left the poor soul who tried to consume it wondering what had happened between his hand and his mouth. Fog never made the best meals.

A meal in general sounded like a great idea to me after the nausea had passed. Unfortunately, the only sensations it left were hunger and confusion.

Trying to not arouse too much suspicion, I asked the question that I thought would be most inconspicuous and forgivable. The fact that everybody thought I was drunk should cover up my lack of common knowledge.

“Where are we going?”

I didn’t get the reaction I was hoping.

Silence followed for the next three minutes until Taharan came back with the wood. Then the question was answered, but not in the way I was expecting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fire erupted from the stack of wood and a hand reached out of it. It was a normal hand, human in ever way I could tell, but it’s not often I see hands coming out of fires. I passed out just after he emerged from the fire and sat down next to me. Next thing I remember was hearing him say, “What in the name of…did you put something in his drink Cafin?”

“I didn’t put nuffin in his drink! If’n anybody did, it was…!“

“Whatever. Are you ok William?

“I’m not sure.”

“…Ok, well you are going to have to be up to the task soon. You will be seeing battle here in a day or so. I’ve spotted the Nill across the river and they are definitely headed this way.”

“That’s peachy.”

“That’s what? You have been acting very strangely…”

“I’m fine sir, just need to sleep it off sir.”

“That is, if you have enough time…with a hangover like you will have, it could take a while.”

“No worries.”

I have no idea where these terms came from. I never used them before, and I couldn’t rightly tell if it was a sir or a mam I was addressing. I would guess I was using what new information I was remembering of my life here. The influx of information was giving me a massive headache thus accounting for my blurred vision. The best I could tell, I was the leader of this group, but I remembered little else except that I had been called William.

“My head feels like I’ve been through a war”…

I suddenly remembered the gravity of this war as this thought occurred to me.

My fellow soldiers just looked at me with odd expressions.

The phantom cocked one eyebrow slightly but continued, “Daylight comes in three hours. You will need to rest during the day and attack in the darkness. The rest of the division will follow this same plan.”

“Aye sir, I will strike fear into their hearts tomorrow! I will drive the beasts from the face of the planet!”

“The what?”

“And I will get rid of this blasted hangover sir.”

He didn’t seem too convinced by this plea. ”I don’t think that will be possible.” He countered as he shifted slightly.

“Morowna, you are in charge of this unit until your captain is up to the task. Knowing him, he should be able to take back over when the fighting starts. He always seems to be able to lead best when in battle.”

“I, but, you…”

“Go to sleep William.”

“Aye sir, buretras.”

I fell to the ground again, completely drained due to the energy I had just expended in talking to this man. (By this point, I had decided that he must be a man, even though he was sort of pretty for a man.)

“What in blazes was he trying to say?”

“We have no idea sir.”

“Very well, I’ll take my leave and see how this little battle of yours goes. I don’t intend to use the defensive task force at all in this conflict.”

The figure walked into the mist and sort of sizzled as if he were made of some sort of hot metal. He stopped at a distance he assumed (incorrectly I might add) no one would observe his passage and dropped out of sight. Morona turned from watching him and stared at the man across from her.

“Taharan, we have our work cut out for us.”

“No arguments there M’lady.”

Chapter Two- Three hours later

Morowna slept by herself away from the others. Or at least she would have slept, if she had been able to sleep at all. She had the disadvantage of better sight and hearing than the others. I say disadvantage simply because she was barraged with the sound of Cafin sleeping and she couldn’t safely get away from it completely. She tossed and turned for more than one reason this night though. She believed she could lead them well enough, even without William… Not that she would seriously consider trying to take over his position. His command was amazing and she loved fighting beside him, but what was it about him that she didn’t like? Oh yes, it was his ego. He seemed to think that no matter what condition he and his comrades where in that he could lead them to victory. The fact that he had been right up to this point didn’t matter to her. This trend statistically couldn’t continue forever. She wanted him to take some precautions every now and then. Is that so much to ask? Apparently that was to him.

All this had gone through her mind while she was in between wakefulness and sleep. She was slowly waking up, but then she started wide awake and leapt to her feet.

 There was a noise in the distance. It was a sound she was quite familiar with.

“William, wake up!” she bellowed.

 That moment was easily the most emotional she had ever experienced. Unfortunately the emotion was panic.

Panic also filled his voice as he came to, then realized what he was hearing. “Are we ready to ride?”

“Ride what? The unicorns were requisitioned from our unit two days ago.” The monotone had inched back into her voice as she readied herself for conflict. She seemed to be getting used to him being out of the loop.

“Right. Where the heck are the other two?”

“Sir, the Heche was transferred to…”

“I know, three weeks ago. I meant to say Hehka.”

“Oh, the Hehka scouts are on the other side of the main defense force…and I wish you could have gotten more sleep. No one in this unit has ever been on the Hehka.”

A far off look came into Williams’ eyes as he looked into the smoke cloud that filled the sky. “It’s time to make our best speed.”

“I believe that’s the first sensible thing you’ve said since you took that second mug a while back.”
”Is that why I’ve had so many odd dreams lately? It has really felt as if I had lived another life and this was the dream.”

“How many dreams could you have had in two hours?”

Footsteps approached from behind them and they both turned to look at Cafin as he groggily asked, “What’s for breakfast?”

Chapter Three- Attack

William led his band of scouts back to the camp of the Virtulin Defense Force. Fire billowed out of the tents where the wounded had been cremated alive. The wails of warriors, both human and unicorn, were waking the birds and causing a major stir in the savanna. This massacre was close to home.

As Cafin gazed at the damage he mused to himself “I wonder how many of ‘em made it out live.”

Taharan overheard and answered, “By the look of it, the unicorns had the best chance, what little chance it be.”

“The Nill will pay for this!” William shouted defiantly.

His pronouncement was taken as a challenge by the Nill who had just come up over the crest of the hill behind them. All of the enemy party descended on the four as if they were linked to the same mind. Knowing the Nill, this was a possibility not to be overlooked. Devious arts were rumored to be the driving force behind the surge in numbers, power, and cooperation between the formerly impotent people.

Cafin murmured under his breath, “Now I can use my fire.” And rubbed his hands together. He lunged with his hands outstretched toward the raiding party of nearly fifty Nill and shot a flame out toward the group. It covered roughly a third of the group and the others were in such a state of shock that they were easily cut down by the four seasoned warriors.

“What you have in that gift, you pay for in intelligence!” William shouted to his friend. “You just gave away our position, and you used juice that we may very well need before we can get back to the source!”

“But, I…I was…” Silence followed as the other three waited for him to present his defense. “ William! You were s’posed to inte’rupt me so that I didn’t look like an idiot trying to defend ‘imself!”

William and Morowna both shook their heads and Taharan locked eyes with Cafin. Cafin swiftly broke the lock and headed down the hill into the former camp.

William looked after him and called out to his subordinate, but also his friend.

“Cafin, you are a skilled soldier and a blessing to this group. Don’t feel defeated or we all will be in the end. We are a unit and a unit sticks together or gets destroyed. Keep this in mind and you will go down in the annals. You can do this. Just stick with the fighting and wait for my command for a move of that size.”

“You’re right sir. I won’t go without thinkin’ again.”
”There is a reason you were chosen for this gift. You have wisdom that lays untapped.”

“Naw, I don’t see that sir. Mostly I just see wisdom commin’ from ye.”

William looked away. “I only wish I had enough.”

“You do sir” Came the not so emotionless voice. She had softened some this night. The destruction of the main kingdom defense force was enough to do that to anyone. Many of their friends, and practically family, had been laid to waist not half an hour ago.

William gazed over the runes of their camp and started to cry. The Parel, as his scouts were called joined him in his mourning. It was theirs as much as his but he was their leader and they wouldn’t cry without him. His leadership was what made them so human and also so strong. It was rumored that no one under his command had ever died, but when asked about such things he wouldn’t give any confirmation. He was generally quiet about his past, thus inviting more speculation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The entire scout was quiet as they raided the enemy’s supplies. The four Parel easily captured the supplies that their attackers had left on the other side of the hill since the remaining Nill had fled. Only two Nill had been left with the supplies. The other forty-eight had already perished in fire and their own blood. Perhaps the sights and smells of the Nill were a bit overpowering, but either way it was Morowna who spoke first as she reluctantly rummaged through a Nill bag.

“Perhaps we can find a Heche here sir?”

“No, they would have all been spirited into the desert as quickly as possible not left with a small band like these. They can’t make them on their own so they are twice as valuable to them as us…and I would give my sword for one about now.”

Taharan twisted his knife from its holster and threw it towards one of the dead Nill. The Nill body took the blade with no complaint, but the rest of the elite scouts turned to look at him with the question on the tip of their tounges. He decided to beat them to it.

“I could have sworn that he moved.”

“Well, go grab your blasted knife and we will be off to kill some live enemies.”

Morowna grasped her reins and prodded her horse into a trot as she shouted back at the only member of their party who wasn’t yet on horse back, “Wouldn’t that be a nice change?” Taharan quickly followed, but with a sour expression on his face.

Chapter Four- What odds?

William wasn’t about to lead his men into a trap. He had been warned that the Nill were moving faster than normal, and it would seem that this was an understatement. Unfortunately that wasn’t all that was abnormal. Their tactics had to have changed dramatically in order for them to win against the main force. The Nill had always had a larger army, but they had never routed more than a scout. This was nearly three quarters of the Virtulin army that lay wasted on the grasses of the vast savanna. Virtula had always concentrated on defense and left most offensive/tactical maneuvers to scout divisions. Williams’s scouts had previously been on a defensive mission protecting the rear of the defense force until they had been given orders to move ahead of the main defense force. The idea was to cover the main defense force with scout bands in order to give them early warning if the battle broke out unexpectedly and could not be handled by the scouts. The Nill had become far too much of a threat to let the scouts such as the Hehka handle the onslaughts without backup.

Perhaps they should have had the scout’s pull back to the main defense forces previous position instead of advancing the whole defense force, but who really knows these kinds of things before they happen?

Never had William seen a mistake of this size from his king before. Never had three quarters of the army been annihilated. Never had the Nill been this close to Virtula and with so little to stand in their way.

The Parel scout had been riding for seven hours with one very short stop to take care of the one thing that one cannot do on horseback. They were all very tired, but knew they must make it back to Virtula before the Nill attack. There was no longer a question of whether, only when.

Cafin shouted above the drone of galloping horses, “ What do ye think the odds to be sir?”

“What are odds?” came the rhetorical answer from the leader.

“Ye know, th’ magic numbers tha’ tell ye who will win.”

“There is no magic in numbers. There are no numbers in war. Either you win or you lose. As for me, I want to win. I want it badly. How ‘bout you?”

“Well, ye don’ see me leavin’ now do ya? Does that count?”

Taharan gave a slight smile and shouted toward Morowna, “He can’t leave numbers out of it.”

Morowna just rolled her eyes and looked ahead toward William.

“Will we make it before sundown?”

“Not without more juice.” Came his even reply.

“Oh, ye mean this juice?” Cafin added as he tossed a small pouch to William who opened it as a puzzled look graced his face.

“Why didn’t you tell me you stole more earlier?”

“Ye think me an idiot?”

Morowna exchanged glances with Taharan but decided not to speak her mind. William just laughed.  None of the group was sure whether it was a laugh of relief or if he was laughing at Cafin’s question. Cafin decided it must be a laugh of relief.

“Sometimes I wonder about your heritage.”

“My ‘eritage?”

“Yes, some of the time you are the village idiot, and other times you are a prince among men.” William said with a royal nod.

Chapter Five- The Grand Hall

They arrived just before sundown on tired horses. The horses panted and whined at the sight of fresh water as they neared the spring in the center of the city. They dismounted and let their horses have a rest and refreshments. Who’s to say how soon they would be driven hard again? The citizens of this lovely country had no idea what danger they were in or that many of their number had perished the night before. William hated to be the bearer of bad news, but as the leader of the only surviving advance scout of the Defense Force, he did have the obligation to bring the news. He decided to save it for the ears of the rulers instead of the common people. There was no need interrupting the lives of so many people with such bad news. Soon, with any luck, there would be news of the Attack Forces defeat of the Nill at Tarsk and that would at least make up for some of the humiliation of defeat outside of Virtula. Perhaps the Attack Force would be able to return before the Nill attacked and help defend the city.

William strode into the Grand Hall with swift strides. He held his hand to the hilt of his sword as was traditional for warriors entering the Hall. Faces on left and right looked on with interest as he walked, ever more warily, toward their leader.

“William, do you know the outcome of either battle?”

“I know what happened outside of Virtula sir, but I’ve not heard anything of the Attack Force sir.”
”They were routed.”

William stared for a second then stuttered, ”Our…sir this is awful.” The last part was solemn since William had reasons of his own to mourn the loss. His simple sentence was also a massive understatement.

“We have little defense left and it is unknown how many and what strength waits outside in the desert…” Some time passed, and a far away look came over the eyes of the leader. William thought it rude to interrupt the musings of this man, partially because of all the good ideas that started from these awkward moments.

“They are hiding themselves cleverly these days. Lord Li’ith, even with the strongest elven Heche, cannot penetrate.” And with that a sad expression crossed his face. William himself was about ready to cry again, but this wasn’t the place. He fixed the bravest face he could imagine to his face and made the boldest statement he had ever made to his king.

“My lord, what forces we have left will be enough to stem the tide. I will lead them by your guidance and we will survive, and also prosper. I know we can do it.”

“You don’t truly know what you can do William. You also seem to lack the knowledge of what I can do. I do have limitations and I fear that this task is beyond them…”

“A wise man once said, ‘You don’t know what you will do until you have done it.’ And I don’t doubt his wisdom. Do you?”

“Perhaps I taught you too well son.”
”Perhaps, but I doubt it father.”

A few more words were exchanged and William left the hall alone. His troops were outside waiting when he arrived at the stable near the fountain.

“So what happened at the raid on Tarsk?” Came the second in commands’ question.

“They were routed.”

Cafin retorted, “They were what? That’s impossible!”

“The Nill have accomplished the impossible this year. They have come hundreds of years in only thirteen months. Something evil is behind all this and I don’t think I can stop it. I don’t know that any one of us can.”

As the reality of the statement he had just made to them sunk in and buried itself deep in their emotions, a mockingbird called out its song. This bird was a vibrant yellow, deep as the sands of the great deserts beyond the savannah, with a black “v” on its wing. The birds of this world are on a whole, slightly larger than the birds of Earth, but they are all more shrill than their earthy counterparts.

“I doubt we will survive the week.” Droned the monotone of Morowna’s voice as William noted the sarcastic expression on her face and Cafin and Taharan obviously missed it.

“Yes my friends,” William joined in the fun, “We should probably pack only enough food for eight days. There would be no point in packing more than that.” William somehow managed to convince them, in spite of almost loosing his composure twice.

“But what ever happened to the idea of winning?”

“Oh, someone will win alright. Too bad it will be the enemy.” Morowna slipped this time. She was getting a little too much satisfaction from the looks of dismay on the faces of her friends to keep it up indefinitely.

William was the first one to laugh… mostly because he was the first one to notice the slip of tongue, but also because Taharan’s first reaction was mild anger accompanied by a scowl. He joined in, but not in a good mood.

“Yes, and the kingdom will be ruled by the savages of the north and King Tetresra will allow this all to happen since he obviously can’t stop it.”

“Heh, I dun’ think this is amuzing.” Cafin stated as he finally caught on to the prank.

“Ah, but winners must know how to loose as well.” William quipped.

The most baffled and dismayed look came over Cafin. “Aye, so ye didna mean it?”

Now it was everyone else’s turn to be confused. “Uhm, yes?” came Williams reply. “What did you just ask again?” Said Morowna.

The leader decided that this time he would save poor Cafin from having to explain. He interrupted just before Cafin would have tried to explain what had just gone on inside his head. “I’ve had the full spectrum of emotions today. I’d rather just leave the confusion alone instead of using the time to try to sort it all out. Shall we go buy some armor?”

“Where did we get the money to buy it?”

“I sold my house. I didn’t get a very good price for it, but I suppose that’s what happens when you abandon it for a month and don’t clean it before you sell it.”

“So where will ye stay af’er the war?” Cafin asked quite innocently.

“I will cross that bridge when I reach it.”
Taharan glanced up from the map he had been sketching, “Where is this bridge again?”

Chapter Six- The Great Stories of Long Ago

They were sitting on a wall, just waiting for the enemy to attack.

Sitting.

Waiting.

Not a thing enjoyable about that.

William started to whistle but he wasn’t very good at it so he decided to go back to singing. He could sing quite well and if he hadn’t been a solder and the son of the King, he might have been a minstrel. He opened his mouth and a song came out.

“I enter the place that I wanted to be,

I look in the face of the almighty.

I see what I never intended to see.

What is this love, that I know shouldn’t be?

Who am I that you see me at all?

Who am I that you wont let me fall?

I don’t know how to express but I confess that I love you.

Moiana moiilamanatosa, sholiinomana

Kiwana senala, gietosey.”

And with that he let his mind slip back into his past. A memory that had entered his mind many times since it’s occurrence came back in full color as he stared at a tree and let his mind recall…

“Dear children,” The voice of an old man said, “Things have not always been as they are now. Hundreds of years ago, men, elves, and unicorns lived in separate villages…some separated by hundreds of miles. There was rich land, giant groves of trees of all kinds, and dare I say it?

Yes, there were Orcs. This was a time when men weren’t in control, monsters such as dragons could still be found if one wasn’t looking.” and with that he winked at one of the children who had let his attention wander. A very young William elbowed the child who had been bird watching in the ribs.

William whispered to his friend, “Eliott, can’t you pay attention for one minute?”

“That was a cockatoo.” Came Eliott’s reply in a defensive tone as if this fact made up for his stray attention.

William just rolled his eyes.

The storyteller continued the legend. “Soft steps, steps like a unicorn makes in the dark. That is what a dragon makes. No one knows how such a big body can make such little noise.”

“And no one can believe it either.” Came the sharp reply from the father of one of the boys in the audience.

“I must go now master Vora. My father is here.”

“Yes child, I had noticed that.” The elderly man replied with kindness in his voice. “Perhaps your father will allow you to come to tomorrows history lesson?”

The ever so slightly perturbed younger man laughed slightly. “You mean story don’t you?”

“I did say what I meant, but you can believe what you want.”

And with that the knight left with his son.

That was actually the last time William had seen either of them…

Williams’s stomach hurt at the memory of how they had died, but nothing could bring them back. He tried to go on in his reverie and eventually succeeded.

After the Kings most trusted knight and his son had left, the elderly man continued. “My but we seem to be interrupted a lot today.” He said with a chuckle. “It seems history is in debate these days, but I do have it on very good sources. My fathers fathers, fathers, father was Moses of the Santioun, one of the largest tribes of men in the known world. He tried to thwart the “Great Mistake”.

Eliott was now paying attention.

“Swart?”

“It’s “Th”…”Thwart.”

“Sw.”

“You are very close young man. Keep trying though and you will get it yet. Thwart is to keep something from happening.”

“Like when I keep Daddy from burning the chicken?”

“Exactly. Moses tried to keep the Great Mistake from happening but he lost his life in the disaster along with his best friend. Anyone care to guess who was the best friend of Moses?”

 All eyes were fixated on Master Vora but no one had a guess as to who it might be.

“Evan the Great.”

With that, some of the boys and even the girls looked to their friends in wonder.

“Yes, Evan was the one who nearly destroyed the Orcs and foul men. Moses was right by his side.”
”But Master Vora, my daddy said it was Moses who nearly defeated King Rimromin.” Cafin said.

“Yes, and that is what all the humans around here but me and my fathers seem to think.”

“To continue, Moses and Evan had both been given special gifts by the Elvin Elders Circle. Up until that point, no one had ever dared to make weapons of the kind that were granted to Evan and Moses because no one could be sure that the people they were given to could be trusted to never misuse them. The elves had learned how to make the Heche almost intelligent. For Moses, they had made a sword that could cut through anything by amplifying the will with which its owner used it. A man with this sword would be nearly unstoppable, and as the elves didn’t trust men and didn’t like swords; they had planed to never make one. After Evan proved himself and asked that his best friend, even though he was a man, be given the sword, his request was granted. For Evan they made a gift that has never been matched and now that there is only one Elder, never can be duplicated. They made a bow that NEVER misses its target. At the time the string is released, it looks through the eyes of the user and creates a Heche of it’s own to make the arrow hit the target. It has never once failed to hit its mark. The reason you can’t find it today in the hands of a Great Elf Lord is that there were too many orcs and not enough projectiles. Rumor has it that Evan the Great was killing orcs with straw that he launched from his bow after he ran out of arrows.”

Master Vora looked over his audience and seemed to be remembering something, but William wasn’t sure at the time what it was. He now suspected that Master Vora was doing what he was doing right now; remembering his childhood.

Master Vora had invited them all back for a class the next day and all of the original class had showed along with the few children who hadn’t been there the day before. All wanted to find out about the way that King Rimron had made a pact with the Orcs and taken over the entire known world using the sword he had stolen from Moses and how the land tuned it’s back against him and become the great desert that surrounded Virtula. They Seemed eager also to learn about the Overthrow of that same king with his own stolen sword.

William had certainly taken it all to heart. All the rest of his life he had dreamed of being like Vincent the Overthrower and saving his people and all people from something…but there really hadn’t been something until these last few days.

Over the wall in the distance William spotted a camel without a rider.

Key information

Heche- is the seemingly magical tools that the elves were given the gift to make. These Heche were used in ancient times for such things as lights, imitation food, and tools. Heche can be made into many things after they are created by an elf and it doesn’t take an elf to form it, only to make it in the first place.

Hecka- is the half human, half elf scouts that became renown in their use of elf made Heche. When crossing these two species, you end up with a new species that can use Heche more powerfully, but are not as strong physically or as wise as either race.

Virtula- Is a small kingdom in a large desert. The population consists of a small population of unicorns and elves, but a large number of men. The ruling council consists of a representative of all three races and a presiding King. The area inside the boundary is conspicuously better than the surrounding Savanna and desert. Some of the land is even arable.

Nill- Is a generic name for the tribes of nomadic people who have surrounded Virtula for centuries and would kill a Virtulin citizen before talking to one.

The Great Mistake- This is what the take over by King Rimron became known during his reign. The men who remained and the orcs who were wiped out by Rimron both took to calling it that, but the orcs only got to use it for a while.

© Copyright MMVI Property of Dan Delion. All Rights Reserved.

[Verse 1]

We are here under the cloud, calling out to you aloud, “Lord help us.”

We know that we have sinned, but send your mercy once again and heal us.

For you are here among your people, saving recreating hearts to beat like yours.

Send your Holy word to guide us. Let your Spirit live inside us. You’re all we’re looking for.

[Chorus]

Let the peace of the Lord come to us.

Let the power of the spirit take over us.

Let the word go before us, into the glorious presence of our King.

[Repeat chorus]

[Bridge]

Glorious splendor, we lost all sight of everything untrue. Because oh Holy father, we’ve set our eyes on you.

[Chorus 2x]

[Verse 2]

Please don’t let us stray too far.

We can’t survive alone.

Don’t let us make our worst mistake.

We’ll never survive alone.

You promised you would hold us even after heaven fell to earth.

You and your name are to be praised. You rule the universe.

[final tag]

We are here under the cloud.

Now, I know it is hard to hear, but I have been working on putting it into several different forms. The form I see it being the most impressive in, believe it or not is acoustic. Perhaps a ten stringed harp and a fiddle…ya, that would be nice.

 Now where did I put that door again?…

They wait untill they are done with life to try to find out what it was supposed to be about.