An Ashlanders Tale Chapter 3 Options

[jonajosa]

Some of you may have read my first two chapter in this little adventure and enjoyed it. Well i've got alittle twist for yall. Let me introduce to you another charcter that is very important to this story. Her name is Johannes.


Chapter 3

[size=18]Johannes's Story

Here we come to a part in this adventure when another character’s plot begins to unfold. This character’s name is Johannes. She is a young female nord who grew up in the new settlement of Dagon Fel. So far her life has been completely unscathed by the war that was going on right outside her small village. However, as we all know nobody can escape war when it is already at your own doorstep. Let us begin Johannes’s story.


“Father.” Johannes asked when she saw her family rushing past them in the streets of Dagon Fel.

“Father!” He turned to look to see who was calling. When he saw Johannes his face lit up and he hurried towards her.

“Hurry daughter. A army is marching this way and I fear they have death and destruction on their minds.”

“What army? Who would want to attack our village?”

All I know is I saw a large group of soldiers coming this way and that I need to get my family out of here before the reach us.” He said in a very urgent tone.

I stared at him in disbelief but his face should too much worry and strain for him to be lying. “Ok. I must get home to gather my stuff.” I started to walk off but he grabbed my arm.

“No there isn’t enough time for that. They will be upon us at any moment we must hurry.”

I nodded and began to follow him through the village. Several people stopped to watch us in our hurry to leave but nobody looked too suspicious of us. I wondered why my father was not telling the others about this approaching army. Thy must know about them. My father would not condemn them all… would he?

[jonajosa]

“We must evacuate the city general! The nord army is rebuilding up its strength and will soon launch an attack against us here at Sadrith Mora!” A lesser general shouted at the commanding general Galos. Galos however did not seem angered at the tone of voice the other general was using and just stood there staring right back at him with a stern face. The other captains stood to the sides waiting to be told what to do by one of the generals. Finally after a long pause between the commanding officers one of the captains spoke up.

“I believe that staying here and trying to fight off the nord attack would be the best thing to do.” He looked at the lesser general, “For if we retreat where will we go? There are no other armies for us to join with within several hundred leagues from here. My vote goes for the decision to fight.”

Another Captain walked up beside the first and laid his hand down on the map we were gathered around. “If we are going to fight then I suggest we build up the defenses at the northern and western ends of the island. Those are the areas that the nords will surely strike first. But we must leave room at the southern end of town for the women and children to escape.”

The lesser general stood up strait and his face reddened. “I will not be killed in this forsaken town. We will surely all die if we stay! We must fall back to this,” He slammed his finger down on a small group of islands south of Sadrith Mora, “group of islands. We could easily hold them off from there.”

“Yes but the nord army could always bypass us and strike at the other towns while we sat there waiting for them.” The first Captain said.

“They could also trap us there and starve us to death. I for one do not wish to die retreating but fighting. This town must be held! It is vital to the counter attack planned by the Nerevar to retake Tel Vos.” Another Captain shouted.

The Lesser general’s face grew so red I could have sworn it would have exploded if someone poked it. He jumped back from the table and stormed out of the planning room shouting, “You will all die! When I come back with more men do not expect any help from me!”

General Galos turned to the men in the room with the same expression he had when he entered the room and smiled. “Well then, It’s settled. We fight.”

When the others had left the room Galos turned to me and gestured for me to walk with him outside. When I got to him he immediately began talking about preparations for the battle. Much of which I wasn’t all that interested in but one thing he said I did hear clearly, “…When Marit and his men get here we should have enough to hold the eastern shore…” I stopped dead in my tracks and faced Galos.

“You have word of Marit? He is alive? How is he? Where is he? When will he get here?” So many questions came pouring out of my mouth at once I had trouble catching my breath when I was done. The general smiled and began to answer some of my questions.

“Marit will be here sometime tonight. From my understanding he made it out of Tel Vos alive and with men to spare. Quite a remarkable man he is. In fact when he gets here I was planning on making him my new Second in Command to replace that deserter we just saw in the Planning room.”

“I’m just glad he’s ok. I thought he was dead from the battle awhile back but it seems he still going strong. He seemed like the kind of person that would never give up.”

The general nodded and stopped at a section of the beach to watch the soldiers begin to build walls and trenches for the defense. He sighed and without facing me began to talk. “I feel that I made the right decision back in the room but… that decision might cost me many lives. Lives that I cannot replace. Tell me Johannes, Do you think I made the right decision today?”

“I feel that you did what was best for the safety and well being of your men and of the well being of the people that live here. I trust you and will fight with you to the end if I have to.” I felt a surge of pride for the words I had just spoken but deep down inside I doubted myself. Would I really fight till the end with this man? The answer would come soon enough for just then the first white sails of the Nordic fleet appeared over the horizon.

Galos saw them and began shouting, “Curses! Their here sooner than I expected. Send word to the Captains to ready their men and gather all the male men in the city to fight. This city will fight till the end.”