Warring Kingdoms: Birth Of The Dark Elves

Leaving the burning wreck of the town, Alex regrouped with everyone but Ajax who was already waiting in the forest with whatever supplies he managed to steal. He turned to those around him and said" You have all done well in this fight, I will be making you the captains of my armies as well army personal guard. Clara you will train our archers, Phoebe and Ajax with train infiltration and assassination specialists. Marcus you will train mages while Gwen will train heavy infantry, you might think this is random however there maybe Elves waiting to join our Mercenary group on the other side of the wall. Marcus will have first pick of the Elves, only take those with magical talent, then Phoebe and Ajax, with Clara finishing last and Gwen just before her."

They all looked at Alex as if he was insane, a long period of silence carried over the group until Phoebe asked"Master how do you even know if there will be Elves in the first place? Even if there are Elves there, why do you think that they will join us?"

Alex smiled at her and responded with" The Elves will be there because they have no other choice, they added me to their Heroes pavilion and their shrine maiden has been possessed by an ancient witch. They either stay in the forest and die or join us and become part of our growing group. I know you think I have gone insane but you will see soon enough."

As they cleared the walls of the smouldering town, they were greeted by a group of nearly 60 Elves all bowing towards Alex as he appeared. Alex approached the Elves and said" A spokesperson for your people come and speak to me now, we will need to be quick. I feel like the the kingdom will not forgive me razing a town that easily."

An old Elf in sage like clothes made his way towards Alex and bowed in front of him and said" I'm the only surviving elder from our tribe, the mad witch Morrigan butchered the rest of our tribe. We have come to ask our Wrath for help."

Alex's response was to kick out the knee he was kneeling on and grab him, by his head. He shouted "The tribe of the Southern Elves no longer exists, it is long dead. Those who join our group will need to earn their keep by either fighting alongside us or acting as servants, cleaning and cooking. Once you join 'The Silence' the only way out is by death, I will give you 5 minutes to make your choice."

He then walked past the group of Elves like they weren't there and made his way to where Ajax was meant to be waiting with the spoils of war. As he approached the location he noticed two distinctive carriages waiting there for him. As he approached Ajax attempted to surprise attack Alex which caused Alex to smile and quickly move to the side and place his daggers and the throat of Ajax. Alex laughed and said" You seem to have done really well, why don't you take me through what you managed to take before the town burned down."

Ajax smiled and brought Alex to the first of the carriages, he proudly stated" I have managed to fill this caravan with the entire contents of the granary in the town, we have enough grain to feed a thousand strong army for 12 years. The second carriage is filled with about 2/3 of the barracks, I could have gotten more but two Alce began to destroy the area quicker than I could take the items. I assume that was you and Bucephalus competing with one another for kills?"

Alex Laughed and said" I have no idea what you are talking about, me compete for kills? Never. Anyway you have done extremely well considering it was just you moving all of this stuff, here."

Alex threw some gold at him and said" spend it when we get to the next kingdom, we will be going to the Elven kingdom known as the Aneoca Dynasty. Would you mind bringing the loot around to where the rest of the group is, I assume you kept the horses need to pull the carriage?"

Ajax nodded his head and began to prepare to move the carriages around to the group. Alex walked back and appeared in front of the Elves once more before saying" Those of you willing to join us and serve alongside us please step forwards. Those who are unwilling please move out of the way or leave." 40 of the Elves stepped forwards, including a group of 10 children and elders, leaving 30 fighting fit troops.

Alex nodded his head and said" The elderly and the children will serve as servants until the children are old enough to fight, they will then be assessed and assigned to a combat group. Would the elderly and children go over to stand by Bucephalus, he doesn't bite unless I tell him too. Now any of the 30 remaining who don't want to fight go next to Bucephalus, no one? Good, Marcus if you would."

Marcus stepped forward and began assessing the men and women in fronty of him, he selected 3 from the crowd and said" These three are the only ones able to learn rune magic from me. I will happily take them in as apprentices if that is ok with you my lord?" Alex nodded his head and the four of them went and stood behind him, he then looked at Phoebe and gestured for her to take her pick.

Phoebe walked along the first line and then suddenly attempted to attack one of the Elves who just barely dodged her attack. Phoebe smiled and said" You are quick enough, go and wait over there." Phoebe repeated this process a few times until she had collected 5 Elves, she then looked at Alex and said "These are my selections, they will be trained to become your eyes and ears my lord"

Alex nodded his head and let Gwen make her choices, Gwen made each hold a sword and shield, then told them to attack her and then defend her attacks. 10 of the Elves managed to stand their ground when Gwen attacked them, she turned to Alex and said" These ten will become the wall that holds the enemy back, we will protect our own my Lord".

Clara then assessed the remaining 12, she turned to Alex and said" All of them will be able to use bows effectively except her, she isn't able to hold the bow properly and it may get someone killed."Alex nodded his head and said" Take your eleven, I want to assess the woman myself, I see the same traits that I had in her. She maybe able to become my apprentice."

Alex approached the woman and picked her up by the throat and threw her on the floor, he threw a dagger next to her and said" You are to weak to fit into any groups, let us see if you are worth dragging along with us." Alex then took out his other dagger and launched himself at the woman, she was barely able to dodge and the blade cut along her cheek causing blood to drip down it.

Alex then slowly approached her once more, closing the distance he decided to test her reflexes once more, he threw his throwing knives at the woman and then launched himself at her from a different angle. She managed to dodge the knives easily however her attempted parry of Alex's dagger completely failed and the dagger was forced from her hand and it landed on the floor.

Alex simply said "Adequate" before the knives and his dagger returned to his hands, he sheathed them and walked towards the woman. He patted her on the back and said" You were abandoned like me weren't you, I can feel the hatred deep within you looking for a way out. It blocks your magic potential which is why Marcus couldn't see it and it weakens your body which is why you failed the other tests. Tell me your name"

Shocked that Alex had seen through her being instantly the woman tried to run, which made Alex laugh. He closed down the distance and grabbed her by the arm and said" Your name,m what is it?"Looking at Alex like a deer caught in the headlights she managed to force out" Mmmmy Name is Eva" Alex nodded his name and said" Eva you will become my apprentice, I will teach you a type of magic that lets you release that hatred, I will teach you how to become a monster tamer like myself."

Alex then walked back in front of the group of Elves and said" I now have some ground rules for you to follow, each rule has its own punishment so b.a.r.e with me." Alex cast a spell that summoned a wall of darkness above him, the wall displayed the rules and there punishments.

Some of the Rules and Punishments

Do not force yourself on a Woman in the group- punishment = Castration and then being fed your genitalia.

Desertion = Death

Failing in training - No food for your group for the day.

Do not murder someone in the group- Slow and painful death.

Stealing loot from the group- broken limbs and left in the forest alone.

Disobeying an order from a commander- Death

Leaking group secrets = Tongue cut out and ears cut off.

Acting against the groups interests - Death.

Abusing command = Death

Alex then looked at the group and said" If you think I won't enforce these rules look at the burning wreck of a town behind you and ask yourself again if its worth the risk. We will move out shortly, report to your new commanders before then." Alex then left the group to check his status, he had levelled up to level 7 in the attack on the town and wanted to assess his new strength before he moved on...