TALES.TXT for RAIDER.EXE (tm) By Patrick Ryan
             Copyright (c) Chris Forgeron 1989,1990,1991,1992
                          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
                               ==========

 (I'm not a F. Scott Fitzgerald or a Stephen King, so give me a break.. :-) )

 The sound of thundering hooves broke the dead silence of the cool night. A
lone stead and it's master tore across the grassy plain at a breakneck speed,
shredding the ground with the massive hooves of the coal black horse.
The rider stroked, and urged the horse on further, knowing that it wouldn't
survive much longer at this pace, but he could not slow the stead, too many
lives were resting upon the immediate delivery of this information. He scanned
the field that they were passing through with his ElvenSight. Nothing other
than small creatures resided here. His mind rested easy knowing that his flight
would not be delayed by attackers. He turned his attention back to the horse,
who was beginning to stumble on the lumpy frozen ground.
 "Kah nor semah pakas non eveanare" he spoke gently to his faithful steed in
elven, while stroking it's long, billowing mane. He could see the far off
luminescence of Montor East in the cold, crisp air.
 How will I ever explain this to them, thought Lomiarnathin. How do you tell
someone of such impending doom.
 But his thoughts were interupted by his mount, who stumbled and fell to the
ground in mid-step, hurling it's rider to the frozen ground. Lomiar hit the
ground with a sickening crunch, and pain washed over his body. Inviting
darkness hovered over him, tantalizing him before it rushed in to claim him.
 Lomiar awoke with the taste of blood and dirt in his mouth. He spat the foul
substance out and attempted to stand, but a sharp pain in his left leg caused
him to collapse on to the hard ground. He cursed under his breath in elven, and
took a look around him. It was still night out, but he could see Kisnar, one of
the moons rising, meaning dawn was only hours off. He then glanced over at his
mount, and only saw a slim glow from the body. The horse died a long time ago,
as it's body was cold.
 Lomiar lay back down on the turf, and braced himself for the upcoming ordeal.
After a short while, he began to drag himself over to the body of the horse
with his arms, and one good leg. The pain was great as he inched himself over
to the saddlebags, but tolerable. He opened the flap on the saddlebag, and
prayed that it's contents were unharmed. He delicately reached in with one
hand, and retrieved a cool object. He held it up to the light of the moon, and
breathed easy. The bottle still had it's precious liquid. His trembling hand
brought the vial to his blood-stained lips. He paused for a second, then
tipped the flask, letting the liquid pour into his mouth. He felt the warmth
pass through his body immediately, it's mystical healing powers repairing all
damage to his person. He slowly rose, a little doubtful as to the power of the
potion, but all seemed to be fine, except for a little twinge in his once
injured leg.
 Lomiar orientated himself, and began a slow jog to Montor East. After a few
steps, he paused in after-thought, and turned to look at the saddlebags. They
also contained a wealth in precious gems, and valuable jewelry in addition to
the miraculous healing potion. But he did not let his greed turn him. He could
never make it to Montor East with all that gold weighing him down. He resumed
his jog to Montor, but at a faster pace, hoping he would make it to his
destination before dawn.

                          --- --- --- ---

 Lord Alfred was sitting quietly in his study stroking his grey-white beard
while pondering the fate of the city against an attack by Frost Elf. He had
many un-answered questions mulling about in his head concerning the war, and
was glad to have some time to his self to try and reason with the insane events
taking place. He was torn from his thoughts by a quick knock on his door.
Before Lord Alfred could even utter a word of complaint due to the interuption,
the door burst open to reveal Lord Alfred's Aide-de-camp, Javan standing in the
doorway, with a look of disgust on his face. He could see a figure standing
behind Javan, though Lord Alfred's view was obstructed so that he could not
make out who it was.
 "This _elf_ brings important information about the location of Frost Elf's
army. It says it's of utmost importance."
 Lord Alfred hid his smile by twisting his moustache. Elves were never liked
much by humans since they acted very aloof from the mortals that they
considered to be dangerous children. The dis-like had grown to hatred with the
coming of Frost Elf, a coming the humans blamed upon the Elves for not stopping
him while he was still weak. He was just about to invite them in, when Javan
continued to speak
 ".. I don't know why they sent a bloody Elf to do a man's work. What do they
care about the humans anyways? They probably reared Frost Elf to take care of
the human..."
 "That is enough!" roared Lord Alfred. "I will not have my men subject to
childish prejudice. Now show our honoured guest inside, and leave us be."
 With a quick snap, Javan turned, and stiffly admitted the Elf into Alfred's
Study. He then left the room, red-faced from anger. Lomiar's sensitive ears
caught him muttering something about 'elf lover'
 "You must forgive Javan. The tensions the war generates are often taken out on
the innocent." soothed Alfred, while gesturing for Lomiar to sit down in a
stately chair in front of the hearth, which contained a small fire..
 "Understandably, Lord Alfred." said Lomiar while glancing around the cozy
study. Lord Alfred's desk was just in front of a large window, out of which the
rising suns could be seen. Lomiar wondered how many more sun rises he would
live to see. The stone floor was carpeted in a lush red, no doubt won upon one
of Alfred's campaigns. The walls were lined with tall bookshelves which were
filled with tomes of every sort of color and size.Two chairs facing each other,
sat by the fireplace. Lomiar sat down in one of the chair, Alfred in the other.
 "Can I offer you some wine? Dwarven Brandy? Ale?" prompted Alfred, reaching
over to a small table by his chair, and pouring himself some yellowish liquid
into a crystal goblet.
 Lomiar nearly laughed, thinking to himself. 'Montor East's fate lies in the
hands of an army two days march from here, and he is offering me wine'
 "No, I must decline your offer" replied Lomiar, in a serious tone "much more
important items must be discused and acted upon in a short time." he took a
breath, and tried to word his next statement properly for the occasion. But he
was no orator, words were not his game. Steeling himself for lord Alfred's
reaction, he blurted "Castle Quasilon has been destroyed." and sunk down into
his, chair, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from him.
 Lord Alfred's face lost all colour, and he stared blankly at Lomiar.
 "It can't be true...the castle was the most powerful Soslania has ever
produced, it had walls 12 feet thick, and tens of thousands of highly trained
fighters." he said weakly.
 "It is true. When the morning suns Lantri and Lorinth are fully up," lomiar
gestured to the still dark window " you will be able to see the smoke from
your once great Capitol. Nothing is left."
 "But how could such a powerful Castle fall?"
 "Obviously we have underestimates the Dark Elf's powers. He can control the
climate, sucking the heat out of the air, and the body. The men were no match
for the undead warriors under those conditions. Then his Mages, all who wear
the black robes, slowly demolished the Castle with bolts of lightning from
their fingertips, and exploding balls of flame." Lomiar paused, wishing he has
accepted the brandy. He wanted to forget this holocaust. But he told himself
that he must remember, so that future generations will not forget. With a
shudder, he continued "I was in the woods at the time of the attack, waiting
for a friend to show up. When I heard the sounds of war, I investigated, and
saw first hand, the one-sided battle." Within an hour it was over. Thousands
of men lay were they fell to the poison tipped sword of their attacker."
Lomiar's voice trickled off, then became urgent as he leaned forward in his
chair "You must evacuate the city. You are no match for his forces. He will
arrive here in two days, mabye less. They slaughtered every living thing in
that city. Men, women, Children, dogs running loose in the street. Everything!
You have to get the people out of here, and to safety now."
 Lord Alfred's face was sullen. He sat in silence for a while, then softly
spoke "You are right. I shall evacuate the city at once. The men will have to
stay behind, to buy time for the escaping citizens. I'm afraid the price will
be their life." Before Lomiar could speak, Alfred was on his feet, and strode
to his his desk, where he hurriedly began writing on a piece of parchment with
a quill.
 "Lord Alfred.."
 "Hush, Elf. I have much to do. You best be going, the scene around this city
in the next few hours will not be pretty." Alfred then affixed the parchment
with his seal, and rolled it into a cylinder. he looked up, and was suprised to
see Lomiar still there. "Go on, save yourself. You have done more than enough
as it is. I didn't expect an elf to stay this long, this close to such
impending doom"
 "Lord Alfred.." Lomiar continued. his speech was slow, and he was looking out
the window "I wish to stay, and help buy time for the families to escape. You
will need my experience, and you are low on weapons"
 Alfred looked dumfounded at Lomiar
 "My armour is back at my stead, a half day walk from here. if I leave now, I
shall be back by midnight."
 "But you are an elf, why are you helping us humans? You elves have never
helped humans before, you all just sit in trees not wanting to get your hands
dirty." Alfred was a little shocked at what he just said, but continued on
"What do you want from us? You can't gain from this, you are going to loose
your life like the rest of us"
 Lomiar looked at him, eyes cold "The Elves have always been there, ready to
help, but human prejudice hampered any attempt to the point where we gave up on
you humans. But we did not turn out backs. I will be back." With this Lomiar
swiftly turned, and left the room.
 Alfred stood, lost in thought, gazing at the parchment. Then he slowly turned
and looked out the window. The twin suns provided just enough light for Alfred
to see black smoke snaking up from the ground where the Capitol of Soslania
used to be. A small tear wet his cheek, as he thought of his brother, a Captain
of the Guard for the now destroyed city.