The Heir

Summary: A young man, Ezra, finds out that he is the son of the lost king Elias and therefore the heir to the throne of the kingdom of Armesia, and sets out from his quest to destroy the evil usurper, Nardek, a servant of Zamroth himself. But he must face armies of goblins and undead before facing off with the king himself...

(For a list of characters and history, see the discussion page.)

Prologue
In the throne room of Karouk, capital of Armesia, sat the monarch of the land, King Nardek. Nardek was not the true king; he was but the adopted son of the last king, Elias. Elias had found the boy outside the gates of Karouk after Nardek had been orphaned and abandoned by a mob of undead. As he had grown, he had become jealous of the king and his sons, totally ungrateful for Elias's kind treatment of him. Eventually, he had dared to ask the king for dominion of the land.

"The kingdom shall pass to my eldest son, Zake," Elias had answered. "You shall be a duke in the northern division." Most young men would have been quite satisfied with that reply, but Nardek, filled with anger, drove himself to murder the king and his sons that very night. But then the strangest thing happened; an army of goblins from the east appeared at the gates of the capital city the next morning and swore allegiance to Nardek. Drunk with his newfound power (and a good amount of wine), the youth took the throne that day.

Now, as he sat on his throne, the great euphoria of his victory decades ago had left him. He was worried, for he had heard rumors of an uprising in the north. The northern division of the kingdom, Galantan, had remained loyal to King Elias and his family, and so they housed a rebellion, known as the Eastern Resistance (the name was meant purely to fool Nardek, but it hadn't worked very well). Many of the members of this rebel group had been prominent officials in Elias's service. The leader, Suluth, had been Elias's head advisor. He, through some mysterious power, had sensed the evil in Nardek's heart and foreseen his murder of the king. Therefore, they took Elias's youngest child, and hid him in the capital of Galantan for a time.

Through the years, Nardek had grown in his terrible powers, even being able to sense the minds of others; it was all fueled by the Darkforce, black magic which flowed from the Shadow, an evil entity that lay in the east. But becuase of this his body was deteriorating. Now it had gotten so bad, that he had donned a hooded robe which concealed his features. His face could no longer be seen under it. He wore black boots and a pair of spiked metal gloves. It was known to the members of the Eastern Resistance that he was possessed by the Shadow.

Chapter One
Dawn was coming. The sun was rising on the eastern horizon, sending its golden rays out across the great isle of Shiorta. On the western coast of the island, the Brama mountains stood tall and proud, their peaks capped with glistening snow. Winter was coming, and as the island was in the northern regions it would be quite cold. The village of Cirta, located in a small valley surrounded by the Bramans, was getting ready for the onset of the cold season.

The rays of the sun finally peeked over the edges of the mountains and into the window of a small farmhouse not far from the village and touched the back of a seventeen-year-old who was getting ready to go into the foothills to hunt. Opening the door of his bedroom, Ezra slipped past his father's door and hurried downstairs. In the kitchen, he took a satchel and packed some meat and biscuits. Then he went back upstairs and roused his eighteen-year-old brother. "Come on, Silas," he said, shaking him, "Let's get out as early as possible!"

Silas slowly sat up and stretched. "Is everything ready?" he asked. "We should get going quickly."

"I've got our food packed," Ezra replied. "Now let's go!"

Soon the two of them were out the door and heading toward the forest. The sun was shining brightly, and a frost was on the ground. "Good thing we got the crops in early," remarked Ezra. "Now all we have to do is get some meat to store, and we're set." Neither of them realized that danger was coming close to their small valley.

As the ground began to ascend, Ezra looked back at the farmhouse. Smoke was rising from the chimney, and he could see the figure of his father Jonas going outside to hitch up the wagon. He would be taking their two sows into the village to sell. Jonas and his sons had worked their small farm as serfs for pretty much all their lives. They served the lord Ceeziak, who lived in Cirta. Ceeziak was a great warrior, who had served many years ago in the service of the King Elias. Now he had retired from being a knight and had turned to being the lord of the Valley of Brama.

After travelling about two hours, the two hunters finally reached a good hunting spot. A fairly large clearing was in sight, surrounded by the pine woods. There was a pool of water in the center, and there was a herd of deer there. "What luck!" said Ezra in delight. "C'mon, I see a nice buck. Let's get him!" Silas nodded and the two split up. Silas went to the other side of the clearing, while Ezra stayed here. This way, they had a better chance of getting a deer.

Suddenly the buck looked up, as if sensing danger. "Great," said Ezra, annoyed. "How could he have sensed us so soon? We're downwind!" All of a sudden, the buck took off, with the rest of the herd following suit. Ezra swore, then suddenly an arrow embedded itself in a tree right next to his head. He examined it; it hadn't come from Silas. Not only was it not one of his brother's arrows, but it had come from the north edge of the clearing. It was a goblin arrow.

He whirled around to see where it had come from, and saw one of the filthy devils deeper in the woods, notching another arrow to its bow. It growled at him, showing its filthy brownish teeth. It seemed about to say, "I've got you now; you're dead!".

Quick as greased lightning, Ezra fitted an arrow to his bow and let it loose.

It shot out straight at its target, that vile creature, whooshing past Ezra's ear as the bowstring gave a resounding bounce.

A fulfilling spanking sound, and the goblin's arm stopped midway from releasing his bow. His eyes seemed almost to bulge out; his cry of pain was silent; his nerves, stricken and overridden by the force of the signals of pain that they were sending, could process nothing else.

Then, after two or three seconds, it finally, slowly toppled down into the blood-stained grass.

Ezra stood stock still for a moment, unsure of what to do next. If there were more, then he and Silas should run to the valley and alert the villagers of the danger.

Ezra felt a tingling sensation behind him, and paused, not knowing if he should turn around. The next moment he heart a gasping sound behind him, a gasp that was cut short.

He whirled around. Behind him was another goblin, eyes staring at him but with the specter of death hidden inside, of extreme torment. It stood motionless, both hands raised above him holding a scimitar ready to strike, and tumbled forward. Ezra leaped back a step, just in time to avoid the collapsing weapon. The goblin fell on its face, a solitary quivering arrow protruding from its back, all painted with a foul black liquid oozing out from the wound.

Ezra looked up, and saw Silas, his brother, lowering an empty bow, smiling back. He then walked up beside him, after taking a furtive glance on both sides to check for more goblins. Satisfied, he told Ezra, "There's a cave further up the mountain. Those devils had infested it, and now we've got them stirred up." Ezra shook his head in disgust. "How'd they find the valley anyway?"

"I get the feeling that they've been here for a while," replied his brother. "Though how they got here I have no clue."

"I do!" said a voice behind. Whirling around, they found themselves face to face with a strange old man. He had a long, white beard that was tucked neatly into his tunic. His white hair was long and went past his shoulders. However, his eyebrows were dark gray. He carried a long, stout ash staff and a sheath which housed a long-bladed sword.

Ezra stood in shock for a minute. Finally he asked, "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" the stranger asked with incredulosity. "I have many names wherever I go. You can call me Kyle, though," he said. "At any rate, you wanted to know about the goblins?" The two brothers looked at each other. "What do you know of them?" asked Silas.

"They arrived here just two days ago," said Kyle, matter-of-factly. Then he seemed to be talking about another matter entirely. "Well, since I've found you two, strong fellows, I guess the three of us make a good hunting team."

"What? All the game will have long been gone by now," replied Silas.

"Oh no," Kyle challenged. "I mean we go hunt for goblins--in the cave." He said it with a stiff resolve: he meant it.

Ezra smiled half-heartedly. He had never been a warrior. He tried to back away from Kyle.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a few goblins who are out for your head? Oh come on now, they're just goblins, right?"

"What makes you think they're just goblins? There could be a werewolf there too!"

Kyle became almost exasperated. "Watch this," he told the two. He turned around to a nearby tree, sucked in as much air as he could, and then breathed out--and from his mouth came a tremendous gout of fire--the very air had ignited. Like the breath of a dragon, Kyle's breath swirled around the tree, burning it to a crisp within moments.

"That's why," Kyle said at last. The other two just stood in amazement.

"So, are you fellows behind me, or not?" Kyle asked after a pause. Then he began walking up the mountain, all by himself.

The two brothers followed, afraid to disobey his invitation. Ezra added, "Yes we are behind you--way behind you."

Kyle didn't seem to note the irony of that reply.

Chapter Two
Kyle was the first to reach the entrance to the cave in the mountains where, he said, some goblins were waiting. Then Silas and his brother Ezra came in.

At the edge of the cave, Kyle beckoned them to come closer, and whispered to them. "Okay, they're in there somewhere, but where exactly is hard to say. That cave is quite large, and there are plenty of passageways, plenty of places to hide behind and launch an arrow."

The others nodded. They were frankly worried about the prospect of challenging a gang of goblins, but Kyle seemed to know what they were doing, and after all, if they didn't kill the goblins now when the goblins might be sleeping, they would have to defend the village below from them when they were wide awake, eventually.

Kyle continued: "So here's the plan: we sneak in silently, and assume that they're asleep. We go all the way inside the cave to where it's dark, and where we have a good view of the cave entrance. Then any goblins trying to escape, we'll get them as they're fleeing. Every now and then I'll use my flame breath spell, and when the place lights up that's your chance to see and shoot at the goblins. Got it?"

"Yeah, I guess so," replied Ezra, still not sure if this was going to work.

They snuck into the cave, silently but not too slowly either. The interior was moist, and dark. The gloomy air hung about, unwilling to wake up. Silas found a niche in the cavern right next to the cave exit, readied a bow, and sat so that he would have a good aim to the target. The other three ventured forth, deeper and deeper along one path, then another. In each case they got to a dead end without encountering any evidence of the goblins. But the goblins were definitely in the cave, because the entire place had their stench. The twosome soon came to breathing through their mouth rather than their nose, just to avoid that smell.

Then they came upon a cavern where they found the first two goblins in the mountain. All was quiet now. The goblins were fast asleep, and the two adventurers dared not make a sound. They both readied their bows so that they could fire at once. Though they were grappling around, they could make out in the dim torchlight where the goblins rested... and then they fired.

There was a mild groan from one, and a soft grunt from another. Both goblins in the first chamber had been hit in the heart, and they remained on the ground, dead, not making a sound.

Then the two proceeded to the next room, where the vast majority of the goblins were, it seemed. Almost fifty goblins were lying asleep, and about five were standing guard.

And they saw the newcomers immediately.

Immediately Ezra let his arrow fly, and it hit the first guard goblin. The goblin toppled over, its nerves fried by the pain of the arrow searing into its flesh. Right beside him, Kyle let out a burst of flame into two other guards who had rushed up to challenge them. Both goblins were incinerated within seconds, and their fried remains fell to the ground.

The alarm was sounded, and the goblins were stirring awake. Ezra fired another shot, while Kyle incinerated several more goblins while they were still attempting to get up. "Okay, time to back up," Kyle declared. The two retreated out of the inmost cavern, the first goblins hot on their track, their spears and swords raised. Primordial screams issued from the depths of the chamber, and clanging sounds could be heard: weapons were being brandished.

Ezra ran past the lit torch in the atrium, then returned to seize it. The goblins were fast approaching, so he brandished the torch as a weapon, against the onslaught of the goblins.

"NO!" shouted Kyle, but to no avail. Ezra was going to fend off the goblins now. He stabbed at the first one with the burning embers, forcing the goblins back; then another strike came in and slashed the torch in two. Charged with anger, Ezra picked up the two halves of the torches and flung them back at the charging goblins, but they did almost nothing. Meanwhile, another bow was flexed, and the whizzing of an arrow marked the coming of Silas to the atrium.

Ezra realized that his time was running out, so he dashed for the exit paths. On and on the three ran, turning occasionally to shoot their arrows at the enemies. All too soon, they had arrived at the entrance to the cave, and were about to rush out. "No, wait here, it's dark," Kyle told the other two, and pulled them into the shadows. "They won't see us," he whispered to them, as the goblins entered the cavern.

"What about the villagers?"

"They'll be able to fend for themselves. We've got to do this, though." The others waited for an explanation.

The goblins roared past: fully thirty of them, trampling their vile feet over the cavern and spreading the nasty smell of whatever it was they carried with them.

"Okay, now let's go back."

"Huh?" Ezra couldn't believe Kyle's suggestion.

The trio walked back into the depths of the cave, still silently. Every few feet they encountered another goblin; they finished off those who had been wounded. It was common practice in these parts not to leave wounded enemies alive; there were enough here as it were. So amidst all the wails of the goblins in pain, the trio trodded forth.

They returned to the ventricle--that last room where the goblins had been sleeping--and there they found the remaining five guards, resting, not expecting anything to happen. So of course it didn't take much time for Kyle, Ezra, and Silas to finish them all off. The place was reeking with blood by now.

"All right, I think it's time we go back and save the village," said Kyle. "There'll be only thirty left to face, and not fifty-seven."

"Yeah, well, that's if the villagers are still left alive. They had no warning," muttered Ezra.

"Wrong! Your father Jonas must have told them all about it."

"Oh? At least I hope we don't have to worry about the goblins when we get back down there."

But when they finally came within view of the village, they were stunned. They had seen some thirty goblins rush past them toward the village to kill Kyle, Ezra and Silas, but now what they were seeing astounded them. Most of the village was burning, except for the lord's castle, surrounded by a strong wall, which the goblins were trying to scale. Some of the fortunate villagers had managed to take refuge within the castle walls, although many lay dead in the burning barns and houses.

"Oh Zamn," Ezra said after a moment. It was meant as a curse-word against adversity, and was a reference to the god of justice and the Midworld, Zamn.

And that was all that he could bring himself to say.

Kyle looked down on the devastated village and muttered, "I doubt if Jonas is still alive."

"You knew our father?"

"Aye, when we both worked for King Elias. I've only recently been able to contact him, which is what I'm doing here!"

Suddenly, from Lord Ceekiaz's castle, there came the bellow of a horn. Ezra turned exitedly to Silas. "They never use that horn unless summoning an ally! I wonder who'll answer?"

As if in answer, another horn, unfamiliar to Ezra's ears, blew from the north. "I've never heard that one before!" he said.

"I have," observed Kyle. "That is a Dwarf-horn! The last time I heard that horn was during the battle for Carabac in the far north, over a thousand years ago. Seems the Dwarves dwell here too!" The three watched as the goblins surrounded the Ceeziak's castle in an attempt to burn it. Arrows flew from the walls, mowing down the first line of monsters.

Suddenly Kyle burst out, "What're we doin', standing up here watching?! Let's go join them! CHAAAAAAARRGE!" he shouted, running down the mountain.

The brothers looked at him running down the mountain, and shook their heads sorrowfully. "He's going to get himself killed," they said to each other. "Maybe we ought to find Jonas."

Ezra stopped, pondering. "Maybe Kyle is right," he said. "It doesn't look like Jonas could have survived an attack by the goblin army. And if he's dead, and Kyle knew him as a child, then what we ought to be doing is protecting Kyle."

"How do you know that what he's saying is the truth? I mean, he said he fought in a battle a thousand years ago! I've never heard of anyone except Elves living that long!"

"Maybe he's a little crazy, but he does have magical powers. And how else would he have known Jonas's name? And besides, I trust the fellow."

Silas looked at his brother. "It must have been that foray into the cave, I'll wager." Then they headed down the mountain.

Chapter Three
Jonas took the two sows to Selom's butcher shop in the village square. "Them's the finest swine I ever did see!" the muscular butcher complimented. "Jonas, I'd say these swine is worth about seventy-five crescents!" Jonas' eyes bulged.

"That's too generous!" he said. "I couldn't accept that much!"

"I won't settle for any less," said Selom. "And if you persist, I'll raise it more."

"Done!" said Jonas. "You might as well have my wagon, too, at that price!" The two men laughed.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the middle of the square. Four knights on horses came galloping to the fountain in the center. "There's an emergency," one shouted. "An army of goblins has been seen coming through the Brama Pass! Drop what you are doing and head to the castle immediately. There are no defenses outside." With that, the four scattered to warn the farther reaches of the village.

A panic immediately broke out among the villagers. People ran two and fro, all trying to reach the castle at once. Selom growled and wielded his knife. "I'll chop them demons up if'n they try to burn my shop!"

"C'mon," urged Jonas, "There's nothing you could do against a whole army of goblins! Let's get to the castle!"

"Oh, all right," Selom muttered, and grudingly went off with him. Then it seemed that the full gravity of the situation finally caught up with him, and he awkwardly picked up his pace. They and practically everyone else there were rushing frantically uphill toward the hill sitting on the side of the village and the majestic castle standing on it. Meanwhile, the smell of refuse--that detestable smell characteristic of the goblins--began to permeate through the alleys of Cirta.

(unfinished chapter)

Chapter Four
Lord Ceeziak strode to the window of the main wall, his bow tucked under his arm and a quiver of arrows strapped around his broad shoulders. He was a powerfully built man, having served thirty years as a knight in the service of King Elias. When Nardek took over the throne, he had helped to lead the Eastern Resistance in an assault on the capital, which failed. After that he had retired as a knight and became lord of the small valley.

Ceeziak gazed out the window at the army of goblins, and past them at the burning village of Cirta. He cursed them under his breath, then composing himself, prepared to try to negotiate.

"What do you want? You've destroyed our village. We require no more reasons to destroy you instantly, but we are prepared to negotiate reasonably for you to leave our valley peaceably."

For a minute, the air was filled with a horrible guffawing, as the goblins mocked his attempts. Then, they parted ranks to allow a particularly large goblin riding a monstrous wolf-like creature through. He stopped before the gates of the wall.

"We demand that you surrender the castle to us, as well as telling us where we might find&mdash;Elias's son. Do so, and we will spare you and take you as prisoners to serve in Nardek's army."

"We will not surrender to you," replied Ceeziak. "As for this lost son you speak of, we do not know where he is. As far as we're concerned, Elias and all of his sons were killed by Nardek. Now leave, before we are provoked to fire upon you! Look at those we have already killed." He pointed to the line of dead goblins lying on the ground surrounding the wall.

"Your insolence has sealed your fate," replied the goblin leader viciously. "Now you shall all die in your miserable little&mdash;" He was unable to finish his speech, as Ceeziak's arrow found its mark between his eyes.

Ceeziak signaled to his archers on the wall, and another volley of arrows flew into the front lines. The rank of goblins closest to the castle fell down uniformly, and fiendish cries of pain came calling out from the battle front. The goblins had brought up their siege engines, and were planning to take the castle: they brought up the battering ram, scaled the walls with siege towers, positioned trebuchets, and launched ballistas. Under the barrage of the goblin attacks, the very walls of the fortification shook.

Then another volley of arrows rained down on the besieging army, this time brilliant with fire. They landed on the wooden ramparts, blazed red and yellow on the siege engines, and encompassed the ballistas. Amidst yells of horror, the goblins saw their only hope of taking down the castle fall to ruins around them. The scorched remains of the siege engines, burned and twisted, collapsed onto the ground in heaps.

The goblins blasted at the walls of the fortress, creating such a loud boom that made the tingling sensation travel up Ezra's spines. Goblin archers fired up at the walls, taking down several of the knights on the walls. However, the walls were too strong for the ram to break easily. And it wasn't going to happen.

Another array of arrows, this time aimed at the battering ram. The goblins pushing the ram forward freezed their movement in pain, tossed backward, and flopped onto the ground, whole groups of them at a time. Meanwhile, the blazing fires below had darkened the visibility of the slopes.

The goblins began their retreat half-heartedly, but more arrows rained down, scattering the retreaters. The whistling noise of the volley was incredible; a beautiful, slithering music it was to Ezra's ear. The siege was broken; the goblins in full retreat; even yet more and more of their number fell, and now battle was joined by the dwaven knights, their avatars blazing, spinning in the air, paving the field with destruction. Standard after standard was pierced, fell, amidst the turmoil of the new strike, the shocked agony of the unfortunate; the horn sounded once again, scratching noises were all that could be heard now, very loud ones; the smoke of the flames drifted across the fields as the guards above threw their pails of water onto the roiling scene below.

By the time Kyle, Ezra, and Silas had gotten to the hill of the fortress, all was silent, and the battle over. Disfigured, tortured corpses of the goblins rose everywhere, arrows sticking out of their chests or backs; broken fragments of war materiel lay everywhere, astrewn beside the dirt road which was now muddied with a river of black, foul-smelling blood.

Jonas looked down at the scene below, and gave a yell of joy when he saw his two sons approaching the castle. He had been afraid they were dead. His joy was heightened by the sight of the old warrior in front of them. "Sarouk!" he shouted. "What're you doing here?"

"It took me a long time to find this place," called the old man from the ground. "I had to follow those goblins over here!"

A large raven had been perched atop the roof of one of the towers, observing the battle and listening to the conversation. Satisfied, it prepared to fly off east, toward Carouk, when Kyle spotted it out of the side of his eye, noticed that something unusual was with this raven, raised his bow at it, and shot an arrow.

Fzzt--and a cloud of red blood spurted into the air, the raven split into two halves, the pieces falling toward the ground.

Jonas turned toward his old friend. "What was that?"

"A messenger. But he's dead now." As the others watched, Kyle ran off toward where the raven had fallen, in the middle of the village commons, made sure that it was dead, then blew an immense stream of flame over it, as the corpse gave way to nothing but ashes. Then he returned. "That raven was sent by the Black King Nardek," he told them, as their mouths fell open in astonishment. "He called the goblins here, and had his raven report the aftermath of the battle. But we'll have that raven tell him that the goblins won, and that they had crushed all resistance.

Kyle nodded over to the pile of smouldering ashes. As the others watched, it seemed to come back to life--phoenix-like--and a black raven soared into the air, ready to report the lie to the Black King.

Chapter Five
Ceeziak observed the charred remains of the village. Then he turned to Ezra. "Those goblins came from the same general direction that you three came from. Tell me, did you happen to see any up in the foothills at all?"

"We stirred up an entire cave of them," Ezra answered. "We killed quite a few beforehand, but obviously it wasn't enough." His head bent. "It's our fault the goblins destroyed our home!"

"No, it wasn't entirely ours," Kyle answered. "You see, they were just a scouting party, the ones in the mountains. As soon as we attacked them, they sent a message down to the ones at the entrance to the pass. Then the army came through the pass and attacked the village. Of course, they weren't prepared for the military strength here! And those seige towers were pretty pitiful." He looked at the charred remains of the structures, lying at the foot of the wall. "A few blasts of my flame breath would have blown those flimsy things away! The real armies' siege engines have fireproofing on them. Of course, Nardek underestimated us."

Jonas looked at Ezra. "Son, I think it's time that I tell you the truth." Turning to Kyle, he asked, "Do you think he's ready to hear it, Sarouk?"

"He's seventeen. It's about time," answered the warrior.