Aldar motioned his team to get ready for the next round while he lead Serna and Caliaphy to where the flag was on a small hill surrounded by random barricades. "Okay. You and your friend will stay with me this round. Our job is to protect the flag from the rival team. We have these water skins to make the ground slick in case they get too close. If they succeed and get the flag, we have to tag them forcing them to retreat to their side of the gardens and start over, got it?"

"I got it!" Serna confirmed as she took a defensive stance, "This kind of reminds me of what I do with my shield. Mostly keeping our enemies from getting to me or my friends. What do you think, Caliaphy, is this going to be fun or what?"

"LOTS OF FUN!!" The kurori squealed with delight as the game began with the rival team clashing with Aldar's team in the middle. There was a kid on either side that went wide and came around the main group in an attempt to side step them and head straight for the flag with Aldar, Serna, and Caliaphy guarding it.

"You want this flag so badly? Come and get it!" Serna dropped into a defensive stance getting ready for one of them to attack, "If you can!"

The two kids glanced across the gardens at each other briefly with one nodding and the other signaling in return as they charged up the hill to the flag. The one that nodded bull rushed Aldar, while the other jumped over him reaching out to the flag behind everyone.

Serna caught the move of the Elven child out of the corner of her eye, spun around and tackled the second Elven girl before she could reach the flag. As the Shield Maiden and the Elven girl rolled down the hill together, Serna laughed, "Wee! It's up to you, Caliaphy! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

The kurori grabbed the water skin and poured the liquid on the ground just as Aldar suggested with a sploosh soaking the hill a bit too much as Caliaphy slipped on the muddy ground as well. Her small size sent her reeling head over heels past Serna and stopped facing another oncoming boy who tried to stop but ended up colliding with the fairy. "WHOA!! HEY! OOOF! OW!! HAHAHAHA! ARE YOU ARE OKAY??!"

Serna landed on top of the Elven girl, laughed as she got to her feet and offered her hand to the girl to help her up, "Are you alright? I hope I didn't tackle you too hard."

The one that Serna blocked rolled out from underneath her laughing hard, "I'm alright. I've been hit harder. Not bad for a human."

"You should see how hard I hit when I have my shield," Serna laughed, "My name's Serna. What's your name?"

"Mallorie is my name," said the ginger-haired Elven girl as she kept Serna distracted.

The other one that collided with the kurori kept slipping on the ground making it very hard for any other of his teammates to get past him. "Ooohh! Go around! Around and Get the Flag! We're gonna win this one!"

"Oh no you don't!" The Shield Maiden turned and proceeded to run back up the hill, "No one is going to take our flag from our team."

Aldar ducked down and braced himself against the flag pole to intercept a third half elf who jumped over the mud puddle. The boys wrestled with Aldar pushing the half elf back down the slick muddy hill and sending him back to the starting point.

Serna charged back up the top of the hill and did her best to try and push the other elves back away from the flag. Though she was outnumbered she did put up a fierce struggle as she wrestled with the other two boys to keep them from getting the flag.

**********

Princess Liliandra listen for a bit more until she cut the conversation short, "My lords and ladies, you came here seeking to aid Prince Willow's people and that of my own people of Westfall. We are here to discuss and come up with a strategy to find the whereabouts of my husband, Prince Yew, and prevent the horde from advancing any further. I prefer a tactical approach when it comes to battle than an all out confrontation. Still, I suppose its good that we're dealing with Gruumasht and not Venger."

"Trust me, you want to deal with Venger rather than Gruumasht!" Irzen corrected Princess Liliandra, "Venger is an archmage. He is no battle commander. And he tends to make mistakes when he takes personal charge of his armies. Gruumasht is both a seasoned warrior and a charismatic war leader. There are no war tricks we can use that he would not already know or have used himself. When it comes to the art of war, Gruumasht is a formidable opponent and Venger is more of an incompetent one."

"I have a suggestion for you to find your husband, Princess Liliandra," Lady Harlotta offered, "Judging by his trappings, you have a Cleric of Bahamut in your midst. Why not ask him to use a divination spell to find Prince Yew? Like any good bloodhound, all he would need is a personal item belonging to your husband and I am certain that he could locate him in no time."

As much as the Bronze Man despised this particular Chronicler, she had a very good point, "Yes, I could Scry to learn the whereabouts of Prince Yew. Do you have something that only you personally have of his? Something dear to him?"

Princess Liliandra closed her eyes for a moment then opened them, "I do, however, I will give it to you when talks have concluded and your appetites are sated."

"That's very generous of you, Princess, to think of our stomachs first," Irzen offered, "I promise you that we will find your husband and return him to you."

The elementalist spoke up after taking a sip of her tea, "You're forgetting something else about Venger, Irzen, he's not just an Arch-mage, or sorcerer, he's got some levels of Warlock in him with his patron being the Nameless One. Two, the stories that my uncle told me growing up, speak of Venger in a far more dangerous, and deadlier nature than you're letting on. Yes, he built his armies of orcs, lizardmen, bullywugs, and random other minions to feed his war machine throughout his reign but he did hone the skills of Gruumasht to the point of a ballista when its comes to conquering enemy territories. Besides, acting as a scouting force back then, what else can you tell the princess what to expect if Gruumasht succeeds?"

"Ash and Death!" Irzen replied simply, "Gruumasht believes in total war. He asks for no quarter and he gives none. If he succeeds in conquering your people, he will take every scrap of food and water you have to feed his army. Then he will put your forests, your fields and your farmlands to the torch until they become a smoldering cinder. And to make sure no living soul ever occupies the land again, he will order his troops to pour salt into the earth to make sure nothing grows again."

Princess Liliandra was a strong elven woman but the grisly details of what her people faced began to take its toll on her.

The Swordsman continued, "And then he will start on your cities, your towns and your villages. He will loot, sack and burn them one-by-one until they are a smoldering ruin. He will kill your males and your children in front of your eyes. And he will spare your females only so he can enjoy their lamentations before he gives each and every last one of them over to his Orcs as sex slaves."

The princess went pale now, staring wordlessly at the swordsman.

Willow took Liliandra's hand into his own to comfort her as she listened.

Lazheros spoke up, "Orcs do NOT mingle with elves of any kind, Lord Irzen with the reason that they can not procreate with them. Elves in the eyes of that orc are just pawns to used in his game of war."

"You are right, Lazheros," Irzen admitted calmly but coldly, "Orcs do NOT mingle with she-elves for the sake of procreation. This has nothing to do with sex or lust or love. They rape and defile females of any species--NOT their own--for sport! In much the same way as a cat plays with a mouse before it kills it, so the Orcs of Gruumasht's army will do the same to any she-elves they come across."

"This will be the fate of your land and the fate of your people if he succeeds," Irzen concluded honestly, "I know this because I have seen all of this happen before. Let the tragic fall of Autumn's Tears serve as an example of what Gruumasht will do to your people and your land if he is victorious."

"Well, thanks for the latest version of 'Gruumasht on the War Path,' Irzen." The elementalist nearly spit out her wine but caught herself with a napkin. "I have officially lost my appetite! Talks of war and death do not make good conversations at the dinner table, ever! Etiquette is not your strong suit, is it?"

"Never ask me a question, Alyson, if you do not wish to know the answer," The Swordsman replied calmly before he turned to Prince Willow and Princess Liliandra, "Your Highnesses, I may be a Drow and I may be a military man but I am no liar! I have no reason to deceive you nor anyone seated at this table. Like it or not, Gruumasht is coming for you and your people. Unless he is stopped, his army will slaughter your subjects down to the last child."

"Thank you, Lord Irzen, for your candor," Prince Willow spoke in a commanding yet clear voice, "Your clarity on the threat we face is most welcome. And now that we clearly know what is at stake, mayhap we can turn the topic of our conversation to other news or events of a lighter tone."