David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation T.C. Crawford (icecream ebook reader txt) 📖

When they had all had their share of biscuits and tea, they packed up the rest of their belongings and set off into the darkness, each longing for the moment when they finally reached the end of what they hoped would be the darkest part of the journey to the Birthplace of the World and their magical Crystal Caverns.

Chapter VI

Octavian Krauss stood before his army of demons and undead soldiers at the edge of the Outer Woods, looking out across the fields that were once filled with the green pastures and farmlands leading up to the capital city of Eldergate.

Instead, he now stood before a desolate, war-ravaged landscape leading up to a great canyon of sheer cliffs and unfathomable drops into darkness, broken only by a stone bridge that connected to the jutting rock that now supported the Royal Palace.

The bridge spanned hundreds of feet across the chasm that fell into the Dark Abyss – a land of darkness and doom that had been the prison of the Mystic of Destruction and his army of demons for over a thousand years.

Now that rift was open, giving him access to an army so vast and powerful that all of the free world would soon be trembling before him and his mighty army, making him the most powerful ruler in all of Hurea.

He stood before his army of several hundred thousand demons and undead – all clad for war and ready for their coming march across the Great Plains to the foothills of the Draconian Mountains.

He had been tasked by the Defiant One to personally see to the destruction of the resistance taking shelter within the mountain valley of Ravenfell. With the massive army before him, he knew victory was all but certain. With the barbarians and remaining loyalists finally out of his way, he would be one step closer to his ultimate victory of absolute control of the whole of Hurea – a victory he had been dreaming about ever since he discovered his true heritage.

All that would remain are the wretched Elves and Dwarves – two races that he aimed to extinguish once and for all. None would survive the coming age except for the race of Man – a race he knew well enough were far easier to control, and far less of a threat to his long-term rule.

With the others out of the way, he would move his armies to the Southern Lowlands of his people and bring to them the wealth of the Northern Kingdom coupled with the strength and power of his new army. His people would no longer suffer at the expense of the Northern Kingdom and would instead be free to live as they please – after all, the world would be under his control, and therefore his protection. Any who refused to comply would be eliminated or forced into work camps for the betterment of society. There they would stay until they changed their views or died – either way, he would win.

Octavian Krauss looked out across his army and rose his hand high into the air, releasing a powerful blast of energy high into the sky, exploding in a brilliant display of fire and sparks that fell towards the ground around them. The time had come, they would begin their march towards the mountain.

Immediately, his army began its grueling march down the Great Road towards the Great Plains beyond. He watched as the endless lines of demons and undead stretched on for miles and miles. The ground shook beneath their feet and the air was filled with the booming clatter of endless marching and chanting as they made their way through the corridor of trees near the edge of the Outer Woods and began their long journey along the Great Road towards the foothills of the Draconian Mountains.

A smile stretched across his face as he considered how the barbarians and loyalists would be trembling with fear as they witnessed the largest army on earth march across the plains before them.

This would be an enjoyable victory, he thought. But then again, when was victory anything but sweet?

***

Far across the Great Plains, over the rolling foothills, and up the mountain pass, two men from Eldergate were standing watch for the night and had just started playing their third hand in cards. The cool night air was crisp, and the cold was already starting to seep through their thick outer coats and into their bones, forcing them to continuously breathe into their hands to keep their fingers from going numb.

When the towers and other fortifications had been completed just days ago, Fredrick and Christopher had volunteered to keep watch during the night shifts, a shift that had proven far more difficult than they had imagined. They were no warriors, neither of them had even been in a fight in their whole lives, but they each wanted to do their part, and so they agreed that watch duty played a vital role that they could manage without any prior experience, and they were mostly happy to do it.

The nights were long and often uneventful, the only thing keeping them awake was the bitter cold and the awful realization that if they were to fail in their duties, all of their friends and family, let alone themselves, would be put at risk and potentially die: a weight they did not want on their shoulders.

So instead, they spent their nights playing cards and making bets as to whether or not anything eventful would happen that night.  So far, nothing had ever happened, and because of this, they were much more surprised when something caught their attention in the far distance, forcing them to jump to their feet and rush to the edge of their watch tower at the northern edge of the mountain pass.

A bright light had flown high into the air in the distance just before the Royal Palace of Eldergate, it’s dreadful presence atop the mighty pillar of rock