In the middle of the game, the kurori stopped all together, the cries of the forest animals that she called upon earlier rang through the fields that bordered Westfall. Their cries echoed throughout as the horde broke over the horizon. "OH NO! THE HORDE!! WE HAVE TO WARN THE OTHERS, SERNA!"

"What?!" Serna stopped her attack on the Elven children and turned towards her friend, "Who do we have to warn?! Caliaphy, what is going on?!"

Horns blew throughout Westfall alerting everyone to the danger and threat of the horde now seen across fields to the south of Westfall. Arlhenwe and Idrial motioned all the children to followed them including Serna and Caliaphy. "Please come with us, you two can help us protect the children and aid us as we defend our city."

"Sure," Serna agreed, "But if I'm going to protect people, then I'm going to need my shield. Can I have it back please?"

Arlhenwe handed the shield back to Serna, "Come. Let us hurry to the upper walls!"

"Okay, lead the way," The Shield Maiden declared as she slipped her shield onto her arm, "This way, everybody, we're going to safety. Caliaphy, are you coming with us?"

Caliaphy was already buzzing around from the front to the middle to back, "Yup!"

"Great!" Serna smiled, "We've got a lot of people to protect. So let's get to it."

As they approached the inner high wall of the city, storm clouds formed in the sky. The temperature dropped from the air pressure. Flashes of lightning flickered through the night sky followed closely by the booms of thunder. Caliaphy shuddered, "Brrr! The Bronze Man and Alyson are summoning the storm, oh boy! Uh, we should be okay here but it could get reaaaaaaaaaaaally windy, so hang onto something!"

"Everyone! Hang on to something!" Serna found a piece of rope, tied one end of it to a metal loophole drilled into the wall itself and another end around her waist, "It's going to get REALLY windy REALLY fast! So HOLD ON!"

*******

Suddenly there was a flash of reddish light that interrupted their meal and out of the image came, Gruumasht.

"Apparently not much!" Irzen replied right on cue.

"HEHEHAHA! WHAT'S THIS? DIDN'T VENGER STAB YOU IN THE BACK, IRZEN LEAVING YOU TO ROT ON THE BATTLEFIELD? THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA? HERE? HAHAHA! WHERE'S THAT ACCURSED, GREAT WEAPONS FIGHTER, MADEOUS KHYNG TO WATCH YOUR BACK!?!?! SO, THE WAYWARD RUNT OF THE LITTER HAS FINALLY COME HOME, AND FOR WHAT, TO UNITE A SOON-TO-BE SHATTERED KINGDOM UNDER THE BOOT OF THE HORDE!! MWHAHAHAHA! SOON PRINCE YEW WILL BE BROUGHT TO ME IN CHAINS, A BROKEN AND PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR AN ELF!!!" The image faded from view as the city horns blew disrupting the evening. The sounds of panic filled the common folk scrambling for safety while as the military of Westfall braced for battle.

"WOW!" Lady Harlotta promptly pulled out her tome and began to feverishly write down everything that had not only transpired but also that was happening around her.

"Gruumasht always did know how to make an entrance," Irzen deadpanned as he rose to his feet and raced to the door, "Which way to the ramparts, Willow?"

"Down the hall, down the stairs, out the door, into the alcove, make a left and you will see a flight of stairs that will take you to the top of the northern rampart." The Prince quickly replied as he rose to his feet, "Liliandra, is there any way we can get the she-elves and children out of here without being seen by the horde?"

"Thanks!" The Swordsman disappeared from view as he ran down the corridor, "I need to get a first-hand view of what we are going up against."

"Westfall is an ancient city, Willow. There are caverns that run beneath the city itself all the way to the capital. With everything that has happened, I've already issued that order to have all the citizens who are not able to fight to leave. What you and your friends have seen so far, are those who have been in service to the throne here for generations. Westfall will not fall to the horde, not this day or any other day." Liliandra stood up waving over to the her handmaidens, "Bring me my armor!"

"Dragolem will stay with Captain Andaerean and his company while Mermidon and I will go with you." Alyson now stood as the gauntlets appeared, "Willow said you wanted to study them, your highness? I'm afraid it will have to wait but you may yet see what they're are capable of."

"I will stay with the princess," Lazheros rose up from his seat at the table, "I believe Serna is in capable hands with Caliaphy and the two loremasters they met earlier."

"No! Here is what I need each of you to do," The Prince declared rising from his chair, "Lili, while you don your armor I need you to send your servants to find every wizard, sorceror, loremaster, cleric and mage within these walls and gather them together in the inner courtyard."

Willow turned towards The Elementalist and The Cleric, "Alyson and Lazerhos, I need you two to go to that courtyard and start working on a spell together. What we need are three movable pillars of fire as wide as you can make them and as high as you can make them. With the combined powers of the other magic wielders, that should help you to create a formidable line of defense for Westfall. Keep Mermidon and Dragolem together with Captain Andaeran. They will serve him well together and they make a formidable team whether they wish to admit it or not."

"NO!" Alyson and Lazheros said in unison.

"Are you MAD, Willow? The ancient library of our people exists here! You would sacrifice our entire history just to resort to a SCORCHED EARTH solution??" Liliandra was shocked.

"Then give me a better idea, Lili," The Prince retorted at his sister-in-law's question, "Because right now, I am all out of ideas to confront this horde. Please give me a better idea and I will use it!"

"I'm with the princess on this one, Willow." The elementalist shook her head, "Lazheros and I will take out the bulk of the horde since they decided to march straight down the open fields. I'll drop an F5 tornado that will do less damage to the environment than what you're suggesting."

Willow turned to Liliandra with a quizzical look on his face before they both turned towards Alyson and asked, "F-5?!"

"You will see it in the fields beyond the wall of the city. Since returning to the Realm, I have not gone on the offensive, ever. It's always been assist, and defense but now you WILL see why not to get in my way!" Alyson's eyes turned solid red causing the heat index to rise instantly.

The Prince turned back to the Princess, "Also, send someone to find Serna. Caliaphy can stay and protect the children they were playing with. But we will need Serna to protect the mages while they are casting and maintaining their spell. Granted, they will be at their most powerful at that point, but they will be at their most vulnerable as well."

The Bronze Man scanned the surface thoughts of the ranger, he saw his intentions were to merely level the battle field but there was a hint of fear. He brought his hands together and spoke a prayer in draconic, blessing the entire party. "I will assist Alyson by summoning the Storm but this is your homeland, why would you see it razed to the ground? Did spending too much time elsewhere in the Realm facing Venger, harden your love for your kin?"

"I neither wish to see my homeland destroyed nor occupied by Orcs. And my battles against the Dark Lord and his minions did not harden my heart towards my kin!" Willow shot back, "But I am quickly running out of options--Wait a minute! I just had another idea. Lazheros, can you summon Caliaphy here? I would like the two of you to summon a swarm of bees large enough to blot out the sun and have them descend upon the horde after Alyson's tornado is through with them. Would you and Caliaphy be willing to do that?"

"It will be done when Alyson has done her part, Prince Willow." Lazheros wrapped his arms around the elementalist.

"Fair enough," The Prince responded evenly.

The princess looked right at the ranger, "Willow, your young friend is with the mages and loremasters of Westfall. Those children are our next generation of magic wielders and they are quite good, and lastly, some are Acolytes of Fenmarel Mestarine, to aid in healing."

"I understand. Serna can remain with the rest of the children. But if you need Caliaphy's aid, do not fail to call upon her, Lazheros. She is quite adept at summoning animals to her aid," Willow concluded, "I will be joining Irzen on the rampart to get a full assessment of the odds we face. Lili, once you have donned your armor, please join us there."

"And what would you like me to do, Prince Willow?" Lady Harlotta batted her eyelashes as she looked up from her tome and the words she was writing.

"Be yourself, War Scribe," The Prince declared, "The time for fun and games is over. Your disguise is no longer necessary."

"Oh! Alright!" In a brief flash of light, the green-clad beautiful She-Elf Bard from Macul became the smoking-hot Drowling Chronicler of Validor donned in tight black leather breeches, bodice and tunic, War Scribe declared in a huff, "Better now?!"

"Much!" The Ranger disappeared from view leaving War Scribe along with the Elementalist, the Cleric, the Princess and her Guards.

"Hey, Scribe we could use your help observing the enemy, say from the back of the horde where the big, bad orc and his elites are, and maybe give us a lead on where they're holding Prince Yew?" Alyson said before she and Lazheros teleported to the highest parapet tower on the wall facing the horde.

"Oh great! They just had to go! Excuse me, your Highness" War Scribe teleported next to The Elementalist and The Cleric on the parapet tower, "You left before I could give you an answer, Alyson. Remember, I am a Chronicler of Validor! I cannot interfere in events that are about to unfold. I can give you access to information about the past and information about the present but I cannot give you access to information about the future because it has not yet been written. And I can only aid you if you ask me a direct question pertaining to a particular topic. Beyond that, I am forbidden to interfere with the history of the Realm. Do you understand?"

*****

Collecting her words carefully in a calm but deadly tone, "Teleport, ease drop on the horde, report back. Can you do that? Let Willow or Irzen know because I will be busy with the F5."

"F-5?" The Drowling scratched her head in utter confusion, "What in The Realm is an F-5?"

She reached into a pouch and handed a piece of parchment to the chronicler, "Give this to Willow, it will point out what tactics that would benefit him. Melee, ranged, magic, healers. Not all spread out, or clustered together."

"Oh great!" War Scribe rolled her eyes as she took the parchment, "First, you want me to be a spy. Next, you want me to be a scout. Now, you want me to be your messenger girl. YAY!"

While the elementalist argued with the chronicler, the Bronze Man cleansed the area. Alyson stepped back from War Scribe and joined Lazheros calling the four watchtowers followed by the summoning of Thunderstorm.

"I'll leave you two to do the voodoo that you do OH so well!" The Drowlig cooed before she teleported away, "MUWHA! HA! HA! HA!"

+++++
=====
+++++

Irzen made it to the top rampart, pulled out his trusty pair of binoculars and studied the scene unfolding beyond the walls of Westfall.

******

The first wave of the horde marched down into the fields about one mile out. Their heavy armor and weapons clanged back and forth as they chanted their battle cry. Behind them was a phalanx of six ogres each accompanied with a giant. The line of orcs on worgs rode behind them occasionally riding outwards to the right and left flanks looking for stragglers who hadn't made it to safety. The line consisted of the elite orcs, fiercely loyal and deadly to Gruumasht himself.

*******

Willow made it up the rampart and to Irzen's side as he peered out on the horizon to see their enemy marching towards them, "Irzen, what do you see?"

"There's too many of them and too few of us!" The Swordsman replied without taking his eyes off of the army, "If we can't stop them or slow down their advance before they reach these gates, then we're going to catch nothing but pure unmitigated hell."

"Or not!" War Scribe appeared between the two Elves. Turning to The Prince, the Drowling shoved the parchment into his hands, "Here! A gift from your ex. Read it now if you want to live."

Willow quickly began to read the text as War Scribe turned towards Irzen, "So, ask me any question about the horde."

"What?"

"Go ahead," War Scribe encouraged Irzen, "Ask me any question about the horde and I will answer it--direct questions please."

"How many oxen do the Horde have?"

"Two thousand oxen," The Drowling flatly responded, "All of them are used to pull wagons and weapons from one battlefield to the next."

"Oh, my God!" Irzen gasped, "I forgot about your geas. You are compelled to tell the truth about a past or a present event."

War Scribe huffed half to herself, "And to think Alyson wanted me to ease drop on the Horde and their commanders by teleporting in and around their encampment. Which I don't need to do--"

"Because you know all present and past actions as they are or have happened," Irzen surmised with a smile, "All I have to do is ask for that information."

"Precisely!" War Scribe replied in exasperation, "Finally, somebody gets it! Why should I sneak around when all you have to do is ask? There! Was that so hard to figure out?"