Aiclath stooped as he stepped into his small house, taking in the rough wooden walls and floor, the large fireplace surrounded by stones, the three small beds. His mother was awake, and so was his sister, Asesi, curled up in the warmth of the blankets.

Silently, Aiclath handed over the venison to his mother. She spitted them and cooked them over the fire.

Around noon, they were eating on their beds when a trumpet sounded, calling the village to the common for a meeting. Two members of the militia dragged a dead man, shot in the back with an arrow, onto a raised dais, where the magistrate, a pompous ancient dwarf, surveyed the people. Aiclath’s heart jumped to his mouth when he saw the man. Next to him, he heard his mother’s sharp intake of breath as she recognized the arrow. She turned.

“Get in the house. Don’t let Asesi see.” Aiclath turned to obey her as the magistrate began to speak.

“This victim was found today, murdered in the forest by a very familiar arrow…”

Aiclath seized the remaining venison, stuffed two pieces in his mouth, flung two at Asesi, and threw the rest into the flames. He unstrung his bow and slid it into the rafters before taking off his leather armor and tunic, sliding into his bed. Asesi had finished the meat now.

“Aiclath, what’s wrong?” she asked. He looked at her.

“Pretend you’re asleep. They found a dead man in the forest and they think it was us.” Worry flooded Asesi’s face, but she turned over and pretended to sleep. Aiclath closed his eyes and listened to the magistrate.

“We’ve all seen this type of arrow before. It belongs to one creature…”

A few moments later, his mother was in her bed and a mob was at their door. Shouts of “Get the murderin’ beast!” rang out. After a few seconds, the villagers knocked the door off it’s hinges. They grabbed Aiclath, Asesi, and their mother and dragged them off to the jail. It was little more than a wooden cage with guards posted by it.

That night, they were rudely awakened and dragged to the village green. Three large tree trunks had been set there, and at the foot of each was a pile of wood and straw. A burly Pranar stood with a flaming brand in his fist, taking care not to set his fur alight. His cat-like eyes gleamed in the blackness.

Aiclath whispered some Elvish words to his mother, and she nodded. They were dragged to the stakes and bound there with iron chains, blackened by years of use. The Pranar walked forward and held his torch to the wooden piles. Soaked with oil, they instantly caught fire.

Aiclath concentrated, and screamed out in the language of Dark Magic. “Heka-kewq!” Instantly, he gleamed with purple, and melted into blackness. He appeared behind a house, not far from the stakes, and peeked from around the side of the building. The chains hung limp, and pandemonium raised its’ head. 

He saw his mother vanish, reappear next to Asesi, grab her hand, and vanish again. A moment later, she melted out of the shadows next to him. They turned and fled into the forest, running through the undergrowth as fast as possible. As they ran, Aiclath called out, spreading a mental call to all creatures of darkness that could hear. He felt the lesser ones, with weaker wills, coming. And there were greater creatures that heard his call but did not respond. Suddenly, his feet left the ground, and phantoms, glowing green as they soared through the air. A small army of trolls and goblins ran underneath him. Aiclath looked around.

Phantoms filled the air, their ghostly bodies filling battered suits of armor. Hukers, the small fiends of plague, swung through the trees or rode on the shoulders and backs or trolls. Many zombies in varying states of decay lumbered along. He saw a dozen velflings, and even a giant, his clay body thundering along, clutching a great stone sword in one hand. Ierives flew alongside the phantoms, their flaming legs showing off the wolf heads and bat wings of the fiends.

Two more phantoms swooped near, and Aiclath saw his mother and Asesi clutched in their arms.

“Is this necessary?” cried his mother. Aiclath nodded.

“In the short run. We need protection. We can release them once we get to the Sea Kingdom.” His mother nodded, approving the plan.

They finally broke through the treeline and touched down on a hill a few dozen meters high. Nearby the hills climbed into the Arlaboss Mountains.

As Asesi and his mother rested, Aiclath closed his eyes and reached out further, calling everything within fifteen kilometers. He sensed something. A large group of dark creatures was nearby. That wasn’t so strange, not here. What was strange was the fact that the group was moving. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, reaching out further. Some other force held the group. A will stronger than his. And it was…behind them.

He swung around instantly, but it was too late. Many creatures, trolls and witches and goblins, crashed into his left flank. Many of his army were instantly killed, or attacked their own comrades as the stronger will seized their mindless souls. Aiclath could sense the controller of the army approaching. When he rounded the corner, Aiclath gasped.

It was a giant, his body formed of clay and wood and dead bodies. But that wasn’t what shocked Aiclath.

It was the weapons the giant wielded. He wore armor that swirled like rain. A cloud draped from his shoulder, and the giant held a sword with a blade made of lightning. The giant had the spirit of a Sky Titan.

So focused was he on the giant that when one of the orcs approached him from behind with a heavy warhammer, he didn’t notice until the head of the weapon smashed into his skull.

He wobbled and collapsed. As a black haze overtook him, he faintly saw a goblin stab at Asesi with a spear. She fell, her blood staining the ground.

Then there was nothing except darkness.