"Get off your...!" Hanna was cut off by the crash of a battlewagon moving past her. Dust was whipping her in the face as her troops marched south. She had a piece of cloth wrapped around her head and covering her nose and mouth. She was determined to get her men moving.

"Sorry Lieutenant!" The young cadet barked timidly to Hanna as he stood at attention and rejoined his line. He was obviously one of the newer troops that werent aware that the wagons were for equipment storage, not naps for soldiers. Hanna grabbed the reins of her horse and pulled herself onto its back. The black horse was clad in black armor on various parts of its body, and it clanked as it trotted along with the soldiers. Hanna was wearing similar armor, black with a blue rune on the front, and a necklace made out of a strip of leather and six small bells. She jangled as the horse rode to the front of the lines. Within a week they would storm the gates of Rhotus, and she would siege the Tower of Biach for the Cypher staff, killing all in their way. Hanna was almost proud to be in charge of this mission, but she was also worried about Jester and Togo. She hoped she would be in time to bring them back.

A screech from above caught her attention. She pulled a small brass cylinder out of her pouch.

"Open." The cylinder quickly extended from both ends into a looking glass. She looked into it towards the mountain. Over the peak came a huge red bird.

"To arms!" Hanna shouted to her troops, and an officer rode up to her on a white horse. He was a birdman, with a long, curved beak. His man-sized body was covered in shimmering white feathers, and he was heavily armored.

"What is it lieutenant?"

"Lieutenant Kirtar, look in the sky above the mountains." Hanna offered him the looking glass, but he didnt need it. The birdmen have outstanding eyesight, Hanna thought. Feeling a little foolish she pulled her arm back.

"Ready the troops. A dragon approaches!" Kirtar said then drove his heels into his horse. It shot off and disappeared into the lines.

"Dragon?" She said, a little confused. She looked again through her looking glass. This time she saw not a birds red feathers, but hard glassy scales. It peaked in the air, then swooped down at her troops, its wings fleshy and full of tears.

"Archers!" Hanna shouted at her troops. A row of soldiers stepped back, and another row holding bows stepped forward.

"Ready!" Hannas officers shouted. The archers pulled an arrow out of their quivers and knocked it. "Take aim!" The archers aimed for the sky, directly at the dragon. A moment pasted, and all was silent. "Loose!" The archers loosed their arrows all at once. A silver tipped wall shot in the air at the dragon. The dragon half grinned, then let out a deep breath. A blazing inferno of flames shot out of the dragons mouth and engulfed the arrows. The shafts burned away, and the tips melted and fell from the sky, sending boiling hot liquid metal down upon the archers. They screamed as the metal seared their skin, faces dripping like wax. Hanna stared in horror as her troops died. The dragon circled around in the air, then went in a nosedive towards the troops.

"Javelins! Now!" she shouted, frustrated and scared. The soldiers carrying javelins hurled them in an arc at the oncoming beast. The dragon weaved and dipped to avoid the flying spears, and the ones it missed simply bounced off its scales like raindrops. The dragon roared and spit a stream of orange-red fire onto the first lines of troops. They screamed as their flesh boiled and eyes burst in their skulls. It roared again, and then dipped lower to smash a row of soldiers with its horned head. Hanna gritted her teeth and kicked her horse, and they bolted through the lines of troops towards the dragon, who continued to knock over troops. She kicked the horse again, sending it faster and faster through the parting troops. In full gallop, she put her hands on her horses back and hoisted herself to a standing position. With perfect balance she rode closer and closer to the dragon. It growled at her then flapped its wings, launching it in an upward arc, above her. Hannas hair blew wildly as she rode towards the rising dragon. She leapt sideways off of her horse, grabbing onto its spiny tail. Her armor crashed as she fell onto the hard red scales. The dragon continued to fly upwards, ignoring the arrows flying towards it.

Taking a few deep breaths, Hanna began to climb towards the dragons head, using the scales as hand holds. It arced again, readying to dive at the troops. Hanna unsheathed a curved short sword at her hip and stabbed the dragon underneath a huge scale. It roared and glared at her, gritting its saber-like teeth. An orange glow began in its nostril and continued out into a man-sized fireball, blazing towards her. She lifted up a scale, and in one quick swipe, severed it and held it in front of her. She closed her eyes as the huge fireball collided with the "scale shield". The forced of the blow nearly sent her plummeting to the ground, but she held her ground as the roaring flames and intense heat melted around the scale. She threw the charred scale away and stabbed the dragon again, this time deeper, twisting the sword. In a fit of aggravation, it began violently flipping its tail back and forth in the air. Hanna tried to lie down and hold on, but the dragon caught her off guard. She could hold on for no longer. It flipped her high into the air, and as she was desperately trying to gain a sense of what was going on, the dragon caught her in its jaws.

******

The Jester and Togo made their way across the Black Desert with little confrontation. During the night they had a small scorpion encounter, but the would-be invaders made for a tasty supper. While Togo slept, The Jester set up his laptop and decided to learn as much about the island he could. Apparently, it was the farthest possible point from any mainland... or any civilization, he thought to himself. He learned that long ago, Char used to be part of the mainland, and an important part, if what he read was true. The final battle was fought in front of the Caves of Kolios, for the leadership of a new nation. A massive magnetic wave produced by a machine held by one of the armies was used, and all computerized objects were disabled. In a desperate attempt to reestablish the technology, the other army built a grand machine, one that would restore all the technology on the planet. But it did much more than that.

In the middle of the final battle, the machine was set off in the Caves of Kolios, and all across the world the effects were felt. Technology melded with living tissue. Computers and machines melted into the ground and formed a new, shocking alternative. The force of the blast was so intense that it killed everyone near the caves, and a shock wave shook the grounds, separating the surrounding area from the mainland. Because there is so much electronic energy surrounding the island, it is impossible for ships to come anywhere near the island.

"Tricky..." He thought, again scratching his chin. He closed his laptop and went to sleep.

The next day, they made it out of the desert and made their way to a clear spring. They both greedily lapped up some water, and then filled up their canteens. The Jester stood, and admired the scenery. There was a large waterfall just above the spring, and the vegetation in the area was beautiful..., which reminded The Jester that he was hungry. He turned back to Togo, about to ask him if he was also hungry,

"Hey man, you wanna get some" He stopped to see him sitting there in the mud, feasting on the raw corpse of a dead bear. His bloody kitana was lying on the ground next to him. He looked up, blood all over his face and chunks of meat in each hand.

"What?" They finished their bear and began their trudge through the swamp. For any other two people, this would have been hell. But for these two fun loving orcs, it was sheer bliss. It started out with a mud-ball fight, which ended with The Jester getting carried away and stabbing Togo in the eye with a stick. Then came a race from tree to tree in the sticky marsh, which ended when The Jester got mad because he was losing, hit Togo in the head with a rock, and then stabbed him in the eye with a stick. While laughing and chatting of all the fine things in life (mostly booze and pork), they heard a noise coming from the mud. Togo quickly unsheathed his sword, and The Jester grabbed his club from his side, ignoring his shield. The mud in front of them bubbled. The Jester took a step forward, just in front of his friend. In a flash, a long pink tongue shot out of the mud and wrapped around his club. He struggled for a moment, and then the club was ripped from his hand and disappeared under the sludge.

"Son of a...!" He was cut off when the huge green creature leaped out of the mud and landed behind them. It landed in the muck with its back to them, club in its mouth. It turned slowly to reveal a huge frogman. Its huge head sat atop its shoulders due to its lack of neck, and it crouched down ready to leap again. Its eyes were on either side of its head and moved independently, surveying the intruders. Togo had his sword over his head in a samurai stance, and The Jester had his shield in front of him, right below his black eyes. He was angry.

"Give it back." He said calmly. The frogman growled and shot snot out of its nose. "Super..." He squeezed the handle of his shield and two six-inch blades flicked out of the end of it, in front of his face. He lowered his shield and advanced upon the creature. It made a clicking noise and leapt over him, towards Togo, who swung his sword sideways, trying to cut the creature in half. But it was faster than even him. It landed on a tree, and then jumped off, landing in the mud just left of him. Togo frowned and jumped at the creature, sword pointing down to spear it. It dropped the club, whipped out its long, snake like tongue, caught him in mid air and slammed him head first into a tree. The black bark exploded off the other side and dead leaves rained down upon them. It dropped him and recoiled its tongue, snarling and pleased with its work. It looked to its left to engage its other foe, but he was already on top of him. The Jester smashed into the frog creature, sending it face first into the mud. His right hand held its head and his other bashed the shield spikes into the creatures throat. Between slicing punches, he was shouting,

"Why... couldn't... you... just... give me... the club?!?" Raging now, his eyes were dark green. The creature coughed and kicked him over its head. The Jester roared and regained his balance. The frogman turned away from him to see Togo running at it, sword held overhead.

"You just don't learn..." Togo's permanent frown had just gotten bigger. He roared and charged at the creature, who casually grunted and spat a clod of green goo in his eyes. "Aw, piece of..." He said, then grabbed his face and fell to his knees. The creature laughed, then turned back to face The Jester. His black smile and the studded tip of his club were the last things it ever saw. He buried his club deep into the creatures skull, right between the eyes. It made a cracking noise followed by a squishing sound. Its eyes went crossed and it convulsed for a second, then he kicked it off his weapon. He wiped the mess off on his tunic, and then turned to Togo, who had red, swollen eyes and was eating the goo that it spat on his face.

"What are you doing?" The Jester asked.

"It tastes like... burning!" He said with a smile. After he was finished with his "meal", the two orcs cleaned up and made their way out of the swamp. The pass between the swamp and forest was gradual, and they first realized they were out when they Togo noticed the air smelled fresher. Orcs prefer dingy environments, and most hate the forest. But whether they liked the forest or not, they had to pass through it. The Jester stopped and pulled out his laptop.

"What are you doing?" Togo asked impatiently.

"I want to learn all I can about this forest before I go tromping through it." He said, pulling out the black cord.

"Look dude, how can I put this lightly?" He thought for a second. "Oh yeah! We don't have time for your stupid crap! Its just a stupid forest, with a bunch of moronic trees, and a bunch of ignorant tree folk. Put the toy away, and we'll just walk right through!" The Jester thought for a moment. He smiled.

"Yeah, your probably right." He put his things away and continued walking. Togo held up a tree vine and let him walk through. Being in the forest was as amazing as looking at it from a distance. The trees were old and wide, stretching high into the sky, farther than they could see. They seemed to be scared, their bark splitting and spiraling down towards the roots. The tops of the trees were like a blanket, and were the blanket had holes, beams of light shined down upon the forest floor. Fallen trees were covered with moss and puddles of water reflected only darkness. They walked quietly, keeping their eyes open for anything that may have been lurking in the endless rows of trees. The Jester stopped, and sniffed the air.

"What is it?" Togo whispered.

"I smell hippies." As he said this, something moved quickly in the trees. Then something else, and something else. Then ten things, twenty, nearly a hundred. He looked a little closer, and saw that the spiraling marks were not scars, but structures. Stairways and ladders leading to holes and connecting ramps. Elves appeared on these structures... more than either of them could count. Each had a bow, with an arrow knocked and aimed at their heads. They were surrounded. Togo growled. Out of the trees, something bigger moved. A shadow that climbed through the trees like fish swim in water. It was as big as an elephant, but as it got closer its shape was far different. It looked like a cross between an ape and a rhino, its armored body covered with fur. It leapt from the trees and landed on its feet, then dropped to its knuckles. It had armor of vines and bark up and down its shoulders and it snorted hot air at the orcs. It's face moved closer and it showed its teeth, blunt and round. For crushing, The Jester thought. Super. It leaned it to claim them as its meal, and then stopped. It leaned back and bowed its head. It was not wearing armor, but rider's straps. On its back it had what looked like a chair, or a podium. The woman sitting on its back rose. She was blonde like an elf but shorter, and her eyes were purple. Her face was stern.

"I am Orion, Empress of the Dark Clan. You have entered my forest. Now, you will die."

******

Kirtar watched as Hanna was snatched out of the air. He unsheathed his sword and rallied his men.

"Chase it down! Spill every drop of its blood!" Kirtar jumped off of his horse and into the air. He flapped his gigantic white wings and took off into the sky towards the dragon. A soldier on the ground called to him, and then threw him a javelin. Kirtar snatched it out of the air and headed for the dragons mouth. As he got closer, he saw that the dragons mouth was not quite closed. Rather, it kept yapping and snapping at something that it couldnt reach. Closer still, he noticed a spike coming out of the top of its mouth. It was shiningbut he couldnt quite make out what it was. It flashed again, this time coming out closer to its eye. It was a sword. Hanna was alive, and she was stabbing her way out of the dragons mouth. It yelped as she stabbed it again.

The inside of the beasts mouth was horrible. She had to fight with the slippery tongue and the excruciating heat, not to mention the razor sharp teeth the size of her arm, trying to crunch down on her. Luckily she had a retractable spear with her, and she was using that to keep the dragons mouth at least partially open. She could think of nothing else to do, so she started stabbing at the roof of its mouth. Eventually, she thought, she would punch a hole out of this mess. It shrieked again, stinging her ears. She jammed her sword into its gum again, twisting the blade.

"You like that?!" She laughed and stabbed it again. She stopped suddenly, feeling an intense heat coming from the back of its throat. That same orange-red light started glowing and heat ripples were moving closer and closer to her. She panicked, moving her eyes back and forth trying to think of something that would save her life. The heat moved swiftly up the dragons throat and into her face. She gasped for air, but none came to her. She could see the flames now. She gritted her teeth and pushed the purple emblem on her armor. A blue tinted transparent wall formed in front of her, touching all sides of its mouth. The flames shot at her at lightning speed. She closed her eyes and waited to be incinerated. Instead, the fire reflected off the wall, leaving Hanna unharmed. The dragons head and throat filled up with flames, yet no harm came to her.

Kirtar flew on towards the dragon. In a bright red flash, its head and neck exploded in a fiery orb. The fire traveled down its chest, over its arms and up its tail and its flaming body fell from the sky like a weight. The last remnants of its head burned away to reveal Hanna inside a blue sphere. It disappeared and she began to fall from the sky. She flailed in the air as she realized she was plummeting. Kirtar would not stand for this. We closed his wings and dove down towards her. Closer and closer they got to the ground, their troops staring in awe as their commanders fell. Hanna caught a glimpse of the ground and started wildly trying to slow herself. Feet from the spear tips of the soldiers below, Kirtar swooped under Hanna and caught her in his arms.

"Maybe youll think a little harder before you try a stunt like that again!" Kirtar said to her.

"Maybe youll get there a little faster next time!" She replied with a grin. They landed in the middle of their cheering troops. "Enough cheering! We still have a mission, and we just lost valuable troops! Your friends just died! Spend more time mourning our losses and less time praising foolish heroics!" The crowd went silent as she mounted her horse. "March!"

Her army continued south with little confrontation. Occasionally hippy scouts would spot them, then charge off in front of them to report them to Legolas. Hanna was sure that they would not be unopposed when they reached Rhotus. It was raining when they neared the gates of the city, and the soldiers were tiring of this mission. It seems all had lost interest in itall except Hanna. Her troops marched through the mud in their shining armor to the black gates of the city. The order for halt was called and troops stopped, silent. Hanna squinted, trying to make out the structure of the city through the downpour. Through the fog, she could see the hippy army. Hundreds of hippies stood outside the gates of the city, with various weapons and clad in armor. They stood silent and ready to attack. A voice boomed and echoed over the solders, obviously amplified in some way.

"Leave my city, putrid slime!" Legolas shouted at Hanna and her soldiers. "Leave now, and I will be gracious with my punishment! You will not enter Rhotus!" The voice was coming from one of the high tower, but she doubted that Legolas was there. He was always good at throwing his voice. The troops began to stir with Legolass shouts. Hanna noticed the apprehension in her troops, so she began to ride to the front of her lines. Glowing like an angel, as though she had not indeed been on a weeklong campaign, she trotted past her troops. Faces of sorrow changed to that of hope when soldiers gazed upon their majestic leader. Silently, the army waited for her.

"Children of the Order, hear me now! I know you are tired. I know you are weak. You have seen your friends die meaninglessly in a fight that seems equally meaningless. Many of you just want to quit. Many of you just want to go home." The crowd stared at her; their faces blackened and drooped. "But when you get home, and there is no meat on the table, and your children are speaking Elvish," Murmurs in the crowd could be heard, "and everything you know and love is gone. Your families separated and lost at the hands of Legolas!" The murmurs grew to a steady droning. "So now I leave you with a choice! Decide now, and let the fate of your life be decided! You can go home now, and this mission would be in vain! Or gather your pride! Conjure your faith! Pick up your strength, and follow me to victory!" She unsheathed her sword and held it high above her head as the army erupted in cheers.

"Charge!" Her horse reared up and her soldiers flooded past her towards the city. Through the fog, arrows rained down upon the unsuspecting soldiers. Some of the arrows were avoided, and some deflected off shields and armor. The rest buried themselves into the soldiers. Blood erupted from a soldiers neck as an arrow tore through him. Hanna rode with her soldiers, screaming shouts of support. The enemy line could be seen clearly now, a wall of tower shields. The Order army charged wildly, closer and closer until the lines smashed together. Black tower shields collided with shimmering white armor. Blades sliced through flesh. Skulls exploded and bones cracked. The hippy front lines were demolished, but the rest behind them fought on. Hannas horse trampled a hippy and she swung her sword down, cleaving an elfs skull. She looked to her right and saw Kirtar swinging his double headed flail around his head, then sharply down, taking a hippys head off.

Within an hour, the hippy army was gone, either because they fled or lay dead in the mud. Due to Hannas leadership and the intense fighting of her troops, they busted through the gates of the city and stormed through the streets towards the Tower of Biach. Arrows shot from rooftops towards the soldiers, but few found flesh. The tower was black, reaching high into the dark clouds. The fog surrounding the hid the surrounding dirt hills and endless pits that awaited the oncoming soldiers.

"Ram the gate!" A group of soldiers holding an uprooted tree advanced, charging at the gates. The ram collided with the wooded barricade, but only water seeped down. The soldiers reared back and struck the gate again. From the distant top of the structure, red-hot lava poured down upon the front ranks killing them instantly, leaving only the smoking liquid remains and an unmanned lance. "Man that log!" she shouted over the hysterics of the troops, yet no one moved. Arrows fell from the sky, skewering more men. The front lines began to give ground, taking a step away from the now burning tree-ram. Jumping off her horse, she ran to front of the log alone, and began pulling it back. A few of the soldiers saw her, and ran to her aid. More and more men saw her strength and manned the ram. The tower shook as the flaming tree crashed into it once more. The door split in two. One more, she thought. Rearing back once more, the ram burst through the door. Cheers went up as the troops poured in the tower. Hanna smiled and unsheathed her sword as she joined the crowd. Victory would be theres, she thought. Soon this would be over.

She had not noticed the archers when she entered the tower, and by then they had already fired their arrows. Straight at her face they came. Eyes covered with the blood of her soldiers; she waited blindly for her doom.

******