Minnesota Live Adventure

V - Uncharted Lands

Fred and Sach

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Fred Frederick Frederickson

King Fred was distraught about the bridge being built and now the grand opening was nigh. He had repeatedly warned the Duke that the river was the Truce Line between the Human, Ent, Gnome, Fae part of Pan-Tree and the Evil Ones. Further, that building the bridge was a violation of the truce and the Evil Ones would react violently. Just before the opening, trying to embarrass the Duke, he loudly asked the question, "How many scouts have failed to return from trying to explore the land of the Evil Ones?" Both he and the Duke knew that none had returned and all were missing and overdue. Only the Duke knew how many men he had sent to scout the land. The Duke refused to answer the old king whom he had dethroned.

Fred didn't mind being "dethroned" since he was never really a king. His men had named him that right after they had first driven the Evil Ones out of the land. Thinking back over the years, Fred remembered how it all started and the major events along the way.

Thirty-five years ago, my little army and I drove out the Evil Ones after fearsome battles. I lost about half of my men, but we prevailed. The small river (known as Plum Creek) became the Truce border between us and the Evil Ones. I knew that they would not be satisfied staying on their side and would try to retake the land. My Mage had cast long lasting spells that would prevent the Evil Ones from crossing the water if they got wet.

We were kind to the forest and its native inhabitants. It took us some time to get used to Ents, Gnomes, and Fairies. Soon, they declared that I was a Friend and relationships grew more positive. I remember that fantastic day just two years after the land was settled. I was walking in the woods, chatting with my men who had become foresters and farmers. I wandered into an area that had a pond of pure, clear water. I knelt down to take a drink. As I looked into the water, she appeared. At first, I thought I saw a Unicorn, but when I looked up at her, the most beautiful woman appeared.

I introduced myself, "I am Fred. My men have named me king."

She replied, "Yes, I know and I have been waiting for you to come to this pond."

We spent the hours talking about anything and everything. Her knowledge of the land was enormous and thorough. She told me that all the land needed was permanent human protectors. The land already some protectors in the form of the animal spirits but spirits could only do so much. It took real men with real weapons to keep out the Evil Ones.

As the sun set, she said, "I would like to see your home, if I may."

"Of course and will you stay for our evening dinner?" I asked.

She smiled in that special way that entranced me and nodded. We walked back to the tavern that served as both home and business.

"I had always promised myself that when I stopped being a warrior, I would open a tavern," I told her.

When we arrived at the building, she walked around it and the other buildings. We went inside; again, she walked around all of the rooms.

"It needs a woman's touch to make it both a home and a profitable tavern," she summarized. The next day, my mage friend married us.

A year later, the twin girls were born. It was then that I learned some of the truth of my Queen Silver. I had seen a Unicorn when I looked into the water. She transformed into a woman. The twins bore unicorn horns that they would learn to make invisible to all. They were a mixed breed between the unicorn and man, magic and the mundane. The mix didn't weaken their unicorn powers, it actually strengthen them. Silver trained her daughters in using and controlling their powers.

It was almost ten years in the land and the twins seventh birthday. Two evil, greedy mages struck in the middle of the night kidnapping the twins. The mages had made a bargain with the Lord of the Dead to turn the girls into stone images while they held them captive. The mages paid for their folly with their lives. We finally found the girls and the talisman that would change them back to living girls. But it was a struggle.

We had another five years of peace and prosperity. Some of my men had hired more people to help them work the land. We needed to expand the roads and allow more people to build new homes. We opened the land to strangers. It had been fifteen years since we had fought the Evil Ones and we had forgotten them. The Evil Ones had not forgotten us and the land that they wanted back. Our magical friends created a staff of power to prevent the Evil Ones from breaking the protective spells. They could not enter in body but they found a way to enter in spirit form. The Evil Ones had set up four portals in the land near the expanded roads. Then they struck. At first, I didn't realize what was happening. One of the road crews didn't come back to the tavern for the evening meal. I sent out a small troop to check on them. They didn't return either. A larger squad was sent and they found both the road crew and the soldiers dead, hacked to pieces. We sent another road crew out with guards the next day. Both failed to return. They, too, were later found hacked to pieces like the first group. Then the new people started to arrive eager to find the new land.

We learned later that the Evil Ones had set their portals as traps, luring one of the road crew or warriors into it. The spirit of the Evil Ones would overwhelm the victim, forcing him to attack and kill the rest of the party. We also learned that inside each portal had been placed a piece of the power staff to prevent the Evil Ones from physically crossing into the land. Those who could conquer the portal could remove the piece and lock the portal so that the Evil Ones could not use it to gain entrance to the land.

The heroes brought the four pieces of the staff to me. When I joined the four pieces together, I invoked the spell given to me by the great Ent, "Oakenbrokenbranch of the Longmossbeardgrowing clan." Even though we were all sitting at a table outside the tavern, we heard the four portals slammed shut. The sound was like thunder during a storm. In the morning some of the people who knew where the portals had been, reported that they had vanished, leaving a burned area where each portal had been.

Another five years passed with peace and happiness abounding. We soon forgot the dangers of the Evil Ones. But they were not our only danger. It seems that evil priest of the Fox had corrupted the priestess of the Rabbit. One of his assassins was gaining too much power and becoming a threat to the Fox Priest himself. He needed the power of the priestess to overcome his own assassin.

While we were away making trade agreements with our neighbors, the two, priest and priestess struck. Soon they gathered the power of all of the animal shrines. They cast a mighty spell that destroyed all of the shrines and invoked a new one-the dragon. Earlier we had had a dragon that was a friend of the Queen and helped care and protect the twins while they were growing up. The girls had been sent to other lands for schooling. When we returned home, we found a new priest in charge and he confined us to our tavern. But we had planned for such an event. We knew that the girls were not quite ready to break the spell of the dragon. We waited five years for them to finish their education.

We had given the girls a secret code in case we could no longer communicate directly with them. Finally, we announced the celebration of the Queen's Birthday. This was actually the message that all had been waiting for. The girls raised a small army of warriors to free us from the dragon. Little did either the girls or the Queen and I knew that some of the warriors had hidden agendas. The priest was killed but later spiritually bound to the dragon. Neither the dragon nor the unicorn was successful in taking the lead. Instead, a new animal was declared spiritual leader, the walrus!

Suddenly Duke Roland was in charge of the land. He "dethroned" me by declaring that he was now ruler of the land and his priest, Norion Tigersoul, stood for the walrus. I worried a bit even though peace again settled on the land. The prosperity soon settled into the coffers of the walrus and into the hands of the Duke. The population of the land grew almost to overcrowding. Duke Roland often looked across the southern river wondering and hoping of treasures on the other side. He was adamant about this bridge of his. I tried repeatedly to convince him not to build it. And having built it, not to use it, but to destroy it. I have told him about the Evil Ones. He just laughs and calls me an old fool who has too many night mares.

I fear the morrow. The bridge will be formally opened and a few will try to cross but they will be met by the Evil Ones and slain. When no more come, the Evil Ones will use the bridge to cross the water without getting wet, thus avoiding the protection spells. I know my death comes with the opening. Suddenly I feel peaceful and relaxed, the tension is gone and I am ready. I know the Evil Ones are long-lived and strong whereas I have grown old and weak. I will miss Silver and my girls. I fear the morrow, but I am ready.

The village is quiet and night has settled in. I try to sleep, but dreams of Death haunt me. I can almost smell Death as the dawn approaches. The air is filled with the tension one feels on the battlefield just before the battle begins.

Silver moves slowly and quietly, smelling my own fear and realizes that I have made my peace with the world, but not quite with her. We hug and kiss, "Good Morning," but it seems like good-bye.

We listen to the noise level rise as the people prepare to cross the bridge. Suddenly, silence! A servant comes to tell us that the priest of the Walrus has mounted the bridge to break some magical barrier.

I whisper to Silver, "The priest is a dead man; he just doesn't know it yet."

We hear chanting and his voice rises in pitch and volume as he invokes his god. His chanting is interrupted by screams of terror.

"Here they come," I commented.

Quiet spread out for a while. A few warriors, driven by greed, tried the bridge. Odors of freshly spilled blood and death screams filled the air. Some tried to attack the Evil Ones by crossing at a low point in the river. By their cries, we knew that they, too, met their end.

A longer period of quiet and calmness existed, followed by a different kind of screams. The servant returned to tell us that the Duke was dead and his followers were either dead or fleeing the land.

We shared a cup of tea and hugged. The stench of the Evil One nearly gagged us. As the leader of the Evil Ones entered our room, I said, "We have been expecting you, what took you so long?"

The Evil one sneered, "After 35 years, a few minutes more won't matter." Blood dripped from his spear and his chin.

"Too bad humans age faster than the elves," I retorted. "I hope you find me tough and hard to digest!"

The Evil One thrust his spear into my chest. As the spear started its penetration, Silver transformed into her unicorn shape. Her silver horn touched my brow. I no longer felt the pain of dying. My last vision was a tear starting to fall from her eye.


Thus, ended the life of King Fred Frederick Frederickson.

Sach

I am Sach, leader of the Dark Elves. I have been the leader of our people for thirty-five years ever since the human leader killed my father in battle. I have been waiting for my revenge. I have the power to restore life but it demands the life of another. We were driven back across the water into the barren woods. Yes, they were and still are barren. We had taken all from the Gnomes until nothing was left. The Fairies never had anything and who has time to listen to Ents? The damnable mage cast a curse on us making us vulnerable to water. It became a barrier to us. We had hoped that the death of the mage might break the curse but it was too strong. We gathered our best wizards and thinkers. Twenty years ago, we thought we had a way to pass the water without getting wet but the Ents found out about our plans and built the accursed staff of power. We could cast our spirits into the humans for a short distance and for a short while but it was not enough. Then that despicable Fred formed the power staff and closed our portals. Elves, both light and dark, are long lived. I am 350 years old and just entering my prime. I will have my revenge.

These last ten years Fred has lost his leadership to this new upstart, Roland. My group of wizards has been trying to influence his mind, by building a picture of great wealth in our land. We have hinted at the thought of a bridge to cross the water to make it easier to bring back the treasure. It took some time, but the fool has built the bridge. We ought to thank him for the tidbits he has sent to scout the land. My people have come to enjoy the taste of human flesh. I will have my revenge.

We set up a temporary barrier to stop the people from crossing the bridge. We set the trap requiring a priestly sacrifice. Did it mean that the priest had to sacrifice someone of the people or did it mean the priest had to be sacrificed? His choice! Ultimately, he chose to sacrifice himself. I am starting to have my revenge.

Some fools tried to cross to our side, but we killed them all. Since the curse did not apply to humans and others, some crossed the water further upstream and tried to attack us. We drove them back. I want more revenge.

We crossed the bridge and the curse was broken. We charged into the small village square but no warriors were present. The few who were there had protection spells that saved them from our wrath. We marched into the tavern and home of Fred and his enchanted wife, Silver. We know we couldn't kill her just as she couldn't harm us. But Fred, ah yes, Fred, he was something different. The two of them sat together waiting for us. They knew we were coming. He had neither armor nor weapons.

As we broke into his dining room, he looked at us and said, "We have been expecting you, what took you so long?"

"After 35 years, a few minutes more won't matter," I replied.

"Too bad humans age faster than elves. I hope you find me tough and hard to digest."

I stepped forward thrusting with my spear. As he died, Queen Silver transformed into her unicorn form. She touched him with her horn. Fred collapsed into a pile of dust, wetted by a tear from her and then she disappeared. The thrice-damned daughters also reverted into unicorns, vanishing with their mother. My revenge is almost complete.

My band and I started scouring the land looking for people to kill and eat. We were fairly successful until I felt the power of some kind of magic spell. Then land was empty of all humans and their ilk. We were successful! The Fairies, Gnomes and Ents viewed us with a rightful sense of fear. The land is mine!

My revenge is complete!

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