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"Come in." he said.
Michael and Angie stepped over the threshold, and into the cosy cottage that Verin was brought up in. Gardar led the two into the living room, where a roaring fire kept not just the living room, but the whole cottage nice and warm.
Gardar went into the kitchen to make Michael and Angie a drink each, whilst the two waited patiently in the living room. They sat down on a comfortable sofa, as a Great Dane came bounding into the room. Because the giant dog got so excited about having some new company, it jumped on top of Michael and Angie almost instantly.
"Spot! Get off them!" Gardar bellowed, as he entered the room. Sport obeyed, and obeyed again when Gardar ordered it to sit. Even though Spot was shouted at, his tail was still wagging afterwards, showing that he was still happy.
Gardar placed two cups into the hands of Angie and Michael, and with the third, he sat down into his rocking chair in the corner. As Angie looked into her cup, she saw the greenish liquid in it, with indescribably disgusting bits in it. She reluctantly took a sip, but it actually tasted quite nice.
"Now then, why has Veringar sent you two down to Mertern then?"
"Well," Angie explained, "We are on our way to Lorgrin's castle, and we needed somewhere to stay for the night."
Gardar dropped his cup. "Lorgrin?! What the hell are you trying to kill him for?!"
"He killed my father." Michael replied, "And I want revenge."
"But you can't just go on your own! How are two kids going to defeat a whole army?"
"Well, that was something else we wanted to ask," Angie admitted, "Verin said that there were trained soldiers in the village.
"No, no, no, you're not using anyone from this damn village to storm the castle. Last time we tried that, people died! Trained or not, Lorgrin's castle is dangerous!"
"Please, we're begging you. We need some support with attacking the castle! And if you won't give us any soldiers, we'll have to go alone."
"I'm sorry, but the village can't risk deaths, not any more. I'll give you some food, and some weapons, and then you can go on your own, if you're stupid enough."
"Thanks a lot." Michael said gruffly, and stormed out of the room. Angie apologised to Gardar, and followed him out. She wrapped her arms around him, and gave him an assuring kiss on the cheek. Yes, a kiss. Michael then realised how much he and Angie had bonded in the space of a mere week.
They looked up into the skies to see, from nowhere, a dragon swooping down, and clawing Michael in the back. He cringed in pain, and dropped to his knees. It was the dragon that had brought them here in the first place. He stood up, and pulled out his sword.
The dragon came at Michael again, and strangely, it seemed very reluctant to attack. But it did anyway, and Michael received another swipe, this time to his stomach. The slashed with his sword though, and it hit the monster's head. It came back, and another claw to the back sent Michael to the floor.
Breathing heavily, Michael stood up. The dragon tried picking up Angie. Michael grabbed hold of her leg, and with all of his might, he pulled her back to the ground. With his sword, he then cut the dragon's leg off. It screamed in pain, and flew away suddenly.
He ran over to Angie, and checked to see if she was ok. He then turned around to see Gardar at the front door, staring absently at the dragon, flying off into the distance.
"You can have as many soldiers as you want."
"Thank you!" exclaimed Michael, "Thank you so much!"
Chapter 22 - The Mertern Warriors
Two hundred of the town's best warriors stood side by side in long line, whilst Gardar Glasuolli handed out their weapons. For the seventy five archers, a wooden bow with hundreds of bronze arrows a quiver. For the seventy five swordsman, a bronze sword and a bronze shield each. For the fifty magicians, all they had was their focus, and their skill.
Angie and Michael made the tally of soldiers to two hundred and two. Gardar had sharpened Michael's sword, and had made an extra hundred steel arrows each. They both nodded to him in thanks. Michael then stepped forward, and faced the long line of combatants.
"Who wants to get rid of Lorgrin once and for all!" He bellowed. The response was a huge uproar of cheering from the soldiers, "Who wants to get revenge for what he has done to every single one of us, our friends, and our families?!" The following response was even louder.
"Ok then, here's the plan. Once we get there, we will surround the castle completely, with an even number of swordsman, archers and magicians the whole way round. We'll start of with the swordsmen charging on the front line, with the magicians following for support. Then, we let the archers shoot from behind until the teams in front are inside the castle, and then we charge."
The crowd were uncontrollable at this time. They just managed to hear Michael shout, "Let's get this journey started!" Gardar took Michael to a fairly quiet area whilst the others made their way to the castle.
"As you know, Michael, I'm too old to come along with you, and I wasn't very good last time! But good luck, Michael, and be careful. Lorgrin's an extremely tough, if not near impossible person to beat."
"Thanks." Michael replied, with a smile, and ran to catch up with the hoard of fighters starting their long journey towards the castle of perhaps one of the most dangerous villains Lonagra's ever known.
*
"Oh deary, deary me. I sent you to bring me the boy. You've come back, and what? No boy? You do remember about what I said, didn't you? I said I'd kill your wife, didn't I?" Lorgrin laughed. A burst of rage filled Steve's body, but the chains he was held by stopped him from going anywhere.
"Don't worry. I haven't really killed your wife," Steve sighed in relief, "She's far too pretty for that, so I killed your little boy instead. He was very obedient when he came over to the castle. I wish you would be more obedient, otherwise next time, it will be your wife."
Six guards took Steve away to his prison cell. He didn't try to struggle. The man's dragon like face he had masked the tears he had inside. Lorgrin smiled briefly, before turning to another guard.
"I can sense that Michael Zephir has got together an army to try and storm the castle. Get one hundred orcs and send them to the desert, and give his little army a scare. And hurry."
*
It was the middle of the day, and the sun was at its highest, which made the Keekee desert almost unbearably hot. Michael wiped some sweat of his brow, and turned to one of the archers.
"So how long will this journey take?" he asked.
"Probably three days or more. It's a long way away if you don't have transport. We'll have to rest as soon as the sun sets," the man replied, "The name's Pisces by the way."
"Nice to meet you Pisces." Their conversation was soon interrupted by a loud call from a swordsman at the front.
"We're being attacked!" And it was true. As Michael squinted through the sunlight, he could see a hoard of ugly looking things charging across the barren wastelands.
"What are those things?" Michael asked.
"Orcs." Was Pisces' reply.
"Orcs?" Michael questioned, "What is this, Lord of the Rings or something?"
"Lord of the what?"
"Never mind." Michael cleared his throat, " Right everyone, get into your positions that we'll be using for the storming of the castle, just keep on the offensive, and we can kill these without taking some serious damage, now brace yourselves!" The yelling was so loud you could be sure that everyone had heard him.
"Lets get this show on the road!" Pisces exclaimed.
The hundred orcs came charging down the sandy dunes as the two hundred and two braced themselves. This was going to be tough, but a breeze compared to what was going to happen when they reached the castle.
The whole place was completely quiet for a few moments. Calm before the storm. You could hear the shouting just coming into earshot, and that's when the Mertern Mercenaries started to charge too, with Michael and Angie with them.
Chapter 23 - Invasion of the Castle
It was a bit like one of those fantasy or war films, but without the wide-angle lens, and slightly more one-sided. Michael used his newly acquired swordsmanship, and killed a good fifty or so orcs before they all were defeated. By the 40th orc, he felt a tingle, as he had gone to the third rank for a warrior.
With no deaths, and a few people injured, the Mertern Warriors soon brushed aside the pathetic numbers. Quality was certainly better than quantity in this case. They raised a cheer of triumph, and healed the injured quickly before continuing the journey towards the castle.
The brief battle certainly raised the morale of the troupe. They were singing songs together as they continued through the barren wasteland, laughing and joking all the way. But they certainly didn't drop their guard. Some wondered whether Lorgrin had sent such easy opponents to trick them into becoming less alert, where the better fighters of Lorgrin's disgraceful army would ambush when least expected. But, they didn't.
It took a good five hours more before they finally reached the outskirts of Lorgrin's castle, by which time everyone was extremely tired. They had a quick bite to eat from their bags, prepared their weapons, and proceeded.
It was about dark, but they could just about see the guards patrolling around the castle. Everyone surrounded the castle, and the bowmen prepared themselves. And when the signal was given, the guards outside were shot instantly. A few seconds afterwards, the warning bell sounded.
The magicians created a circular force field, so when the Mertern Warriors closed in on the castle, the wave of guards that rushed out to defend the castle couldn't do a thing. But, at the same time, the warriors inside the force field couldn't attack, so by the time they had closed in enough to enter the castle, they had hundreds of armoured, weapon-readied, well trained guards to face.
The magicians broke the force field, and the swordsmen took the front, slashing the guards like barbarians, fighting for their rights, fighting for their civilisations, fighting for those that they lost years ago. They fought with heart, passion, and the will to succeed, and with the help of the magicians, slowing the guards, and the archers(one of which was Michael), who were lowering the numbers from the back.
A few of the Mertern Warriors died, but apart from that, the opening part of the invasion was successful, and Michael felt a tingle, as he had now upped a rank in archery. The force of people that Michael had leaded were now inside the castle, but it was far from over yet.
"Magicians, go to the basement! Free any prisoners, kill any guards, and keep anything you find of interest. Archers, take the second floor, and destroy all of Lorgrin's workers. Warriors, stay on this floor, with me." Michael ordered, and everyone obeyed.
The magicians didn't have too much trouble down in the basements. There was only fifty or so guards, so they weren't too much trouble. Anyway, it gave the prisoners a good laugh to see the people they hated being levitated and thrown onto a pile.
The prisoners were then subsequently freed from their cages, and were told to wait with the magicians in the basement until further instructions. A protection spell was made so no-one could come down to harm them.
The archers had a funny time of it up on the second floor. They looked in ridiculous amounts of rooms, but couldn't actually find any guards whatsoever, although one guard found an interesting document in a large bedroom's drawer. They couldn't find any guards, that is, until they looked on the balcony.
The warriors had conquered all the rooms on the first floor apart from the main hall, where Michael had gone to confront Lorgrin on his own. Sure enough, Lorgrin was waiting for him, but there were no guards to be seen.
"Decided to come back, have we?" Lorgrin laughed, "I mean, come on, Michael, you don't really expect to be able to defeat me with some measly weapons and some 'top tips' from that good-for-nothing Bonver."
"To be honest," Michael admitted, "I'd have thought you'd have guards at the ready to attack me unexpectedly, but, there are none to be seen."
"Don't be so sure. Look above you." Lorgrin ordered. Michael saw at least a hundred archers with their bows at the ready, "After three, kill him. One, two..."
Lorgrin was interrupted by the sounds of shooting arrows. At first he thought that his guards had shot too early, but when he saw them collapsing, and falling off the balcony he realised what had happened.
"I'm afraid I have some back-up of my own," he remarked, "Come on, Lorgrin, me and you. One on one. Stop hiding behind your idiotic guards." Michael was trying to sound confident, but his hands were shaking. He was only on the third rank of archery and warrior, and only the second with magic. Hope had gone. He knew he was beaten, defeated. It would have to take a miracle to defeat Lorgrin.
Lorgrin was an amazing magician, and that was only what Michael had seen him do. Goodness knows what his swordsmanship and archery would be like. He gulped.
"One on one?" Lorgrin considered, "Fine, have it your way."
Chapter 24 - The Great Escape
It seemed to last a lifetime. What turned out to be just a few seconds seemed to last forever. Time had stopped. Everything else in the world was so unimportant for the few seconds that centred around the huge bolts of power, clashing in the middle of that great hall, being sent from both Lorgrin's and Michael's fingertips.
It all came flooding back to him. The strange dreams, the appointment with the hypnotist, being kidnapped by the dragon, and being thrust into this unknown world called Lonagra, which had many mysteries yet to be discovered.
Escaping Lorgrin's prison, the werewolf, finding the tribe, Verin, Bonver, and all the training. The horrendous discovery about the servants, nearly being killed by a stab wound, but miraculously reviving. The secrets about this 'prophecy', finding the way to Mertern, gathering up the army, and now, back in Lorgrin's castle.
It all seemed to have happened so fast. It seemed only yesterday when Michael shyly asked Angie if she wanted to go to the cinema with him. And now look how they were together. The events they endured had built a close bond between them.
And now it came down to this. Michael, with an incredibly solid blue bolt rushing through his veins and out of his fingertips, and Lorgrin, with a piercing red bolt shooting through his arteries and out of his fingertips. The two incredibly powerful bolts had met in the middle, creating a purple blast of power in the centre.
Michael didn't know where it had come from, but it was the same sensation he felt when he was attacked by the vultures. Up until now Michael had been able to fend off Lorgrin's attack, but slowly he began to falter, and could feel himself losing energy. Lorgrin's red bolt was creeping closer towards Michael's body, and there was nothing he could do about it. He could feel himself slowly getting weaker. He was losing power, and confidence within himself. And finally, with one final outburst, Lorgrin sent Michael to the floor, unconscious.
"You will join me eventually." Lorgrin stated confidently, before creating a big puff of smoke and disappearing out of his castle. The guards quickly fled.
"Magicians, use your powers to give him energy! Hurry!" Commanded Angie frantically.
The magicians quickly went into a healing state of mind, creating a red glow around Michael's lifeless body. The optimum word being lifeless, as it remained so after their attempts to revive him. Angie dropped to the floor, and just stared at him. All that had gone on, after all the blood, sweat and tears, it finally came down to just this?
No. It didn't come down to just this. Michael bolted upright with the sharpest intake of breath, shocking everyone out of their wits. He continued to breath heavily whilst Angie hugged him tighter than you would think was humanly possible.
"I thought you were dead!" she exclaimed.
"No, he wouldn't kill me," Michael stated calmly, although still breathing heavily, "For some reason he needs me for his horrendous plans. Now let's find the antidote for the servants at the tribe, and then we'll get out of here."
Pisces burst into the room, "I've found loads of people held captive in the dungeons downstairs!" he exclaimed, rushing into the great hall.
Michael took a deep breath. "Angie; you, the warriors and the archers need to look for this antidote. Magicians, come with me to the dungeons." And with that, the two groups dispersed.
*
The castle was so big that Angie soon found herself alone in a corridor. Suddenly everything seemed so creepy. She hadn't noticed the cobwebs before, or the strange candles. She hadn't noticed the creaky floorboards, or the weird paintings on the walls.
Then, she did notice something. She noticed a distant wailing, of someone, or something, in excruciating pain. She looked to the end of the corridor, where she saw flashes, like multicoloured bolts of lightning. And with it, more desperate screams.
She slowly stepped towards the end of the corridor, where the lights became brighter, and the screams of pain increased in volume. When she finally got there, and turned to see who was in the room being tortured, she stared in amazement at who she saw.
It was the dragon. The bloody dragon. The dragon who brought herself and Michael to this world. The dragon who had got them into all of this trouble, getting them nearly killed countless times. Angie was full of rage. Why should she help the monster who started all of this in the first place.
She actually wanted to do the opposite. She wanted to kill this beast. If it wasn't for this creature, she would have been happily continuing her life, without having to fight all the time. She looked for the biggest lever she could find on the machine. And she pulled it.
*
Down in the dungeons, things were worse than Michael had envisaged. There were hundreds of weary, hungry prisoners locked up in cells. All of their faces lit up as Michael and the magicians entered.
"Use your magic to melt the locks." Michael ordered. The magicians did as they were told and settled into a deep concentration. Within a few minutes all of the prisoners were free. "Now we need to help look for the antidotes."
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