From the Gates of Everspring to the Great City of Winterghast in the north and further on, this is the land of Eldelith.

Warlords - Friends Forever Undertitle: The rather too long tale about the ineffability of orcs being wickedly cool, relatively good versus questionable evil and, very briefly, about a dog named Esh

Part One
– “Goodbye, Kyrian.” His voice was soft like velvet, yet clearly audible.
– “What? What do you mean? I can’t climb on my own, my leg is broken. Help me.”
– “I simply don’t have the time. I’m terribly sorry.” He looked down the hole at Kyrian’s handsome face, now covered in dirt.
– “But you promised!”
– “Well, I had my fingers crossed.”
– “What?! Promise is a promise, regardless of physical composure! A promise is a promise–“
– “Is a promise!! Yes, I get it, but I must leave immediately. The crawlers will be coming any moment now. Goodbye Kyrian.” he said as he walked away from the hole, his footsteps sounding softly on the hard-packed mud.
– “You heartless, selfish bastard!” The cave echoed her screams. “I hope you die a slow, agonizing death! I’ll kill you. I’ll kill every last crawler and get out and kill you myself! You w– “
A sound caught her attention. It was a low clicking sound that she knew as well as her own voice by now. She started shivering with fear. “Oh no,” she whispered, her voice shaking, “they’re coming.”
...Fear? It had been a long time since she had felt real fear but now it poured over her in waves. The clicking was echoed both by the hard walls of the cave and more clicking. Kyrian thought she counted six different creatures before the sounds all ran together. They were getting closer. “How did I get myself into this,” she wondered, “this was none of my business. What am I doing here?”

---

It was a beautiful dawning. Kyrian was sitting on the top of the highest rock on a mountain she didn’t know the name of, her legs pulled up against her chest, her chin resting on the palm of her hand. All around her she could see as the sunlight slowly crawled down hills and mountaintops, and it seemed like nature woke as the shadows receded. Small flowers, tired of waiting almost invisible in the dark, beamed and glimmered in all colors as they caught the rays of the sun. Small animals scurried between tree-trunks through the undergrowth, some seeking refuge after a long night’s work, others merrily saluting a new day. Birds started singing and playing in the sun. Not a single cloud could be spotted. “This is going to be a beautiful day, I think.” Kyrian said softly as she stood up and stretched like a cat. Kyrian was slender and muscular for a human and liked to show both, dressed in a top, a sleeveless jacket and tight low-cut pants that widened from the knees down. Between the pant-legs, from the thighs to ankles, was attached a piece of cloth made from a strange web-like material. A sword was strapped on her back and a backpack was designed to fit over it. A small crossbow hung from her belt on one side and a quiver of bolts on the other. To her belt were also attached several other items, such as clips, each holding five bolts. On her shoulders were strange metallic clasps connected to each other across her back and fastened by leather straps that formed an ‘X’ over her chest. On the ground beside her were what looked like dragonwings, only smaller, made from the same material as the cloth attached to her pants. She had started this journey two weeks ago, leaving the hunting village of Ulymn. She was going to the city of Greygate, to meet up with some of her old companions, which she had not seen in two years. Only having three more days to travel until they would meet, she was in good spirits. A village in the valley below her started to wake from it’s slumber, with the sound of people, barely audible in the distance, and smoke rising here and there. So this is Redcreek, she thought. It was in this village that she was going to meet the first two of her old party, Seth, the usually mysterious elf from the plains, and Dade, the happy-go forest elf. They were going to travel the last miles to the great city together. Kyrian had always felt closest to these two, of all the party, especially Dade, with whom she was hoping to rekindle some old passion. Seth had always been able to charm any woman he wanted but then Dade had always made her laugh, and even if he probably didn’t know it, one look from those blue, blue eyes of his had always been enough to melt her heart. “Well what am I waiting for, she thought. They should be in the village by now.” She smiled and pulled her shades over her eyes. The ‘shades’ were two pieces of thin red crystal in a silver frame, an elvish design. The crystal could only be destroyed by dragonfire, thanks to elven magic. Although being human, Kyrian had always associated a lot with elves. She then strapped the wings to her shoulders, pushed off the rock and glided down to the valley below.

...so, how do you like it so far?

--Drekafluga, an amateur in writing--