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Epilogue

Vil played with the coated obsidian teardrop that hung from his neck, a habit
whenever he was nervous. The view from the cliff side was excellent, and it was a fogless
twilight. Below laid the castle of Mevdis, the capital of the Mevdis empire. Thousands of
soldiers were situated either inside or outside the castle. Vil could also pick out the
basic magi, who would be a problem if so many orkish clerics would oppose them. He saw the
poets who possessed incredible curative powers, but few or them had been in a battle before,
and their techniques were seriously hampered when they couldn't concentrate. There were also
proud knights in elaborate armor, some no-doubt magical, but the Orkish archers that would
attack possessed the finest arrows non-humans could provide. It was rumored that a black
dragon had enchanted several thousand of the ones they were using.

"How are you, Elf?" Vil turned around to see Grorg coming up to the cliff edge. Vil
smiled, looking back at the castle.

"They sure have brought together a huge force...So, who do they have?"

"A bunch of small fries and, from what we can tell, 5 'heroes.' Glav, a Dwarven
warrior, possessing what seems to be impenetrable armor, Lamis, a powerful Dwarven poet. I
personally saw his skill before. What's worse is he wears commoner clothing, so it's hard
to pick him out. It's rumored he can raise people from the dead, given a lengthy amount of
time. Omlo, an elderly human mage. He was trained by the last mage to come out of your
village, and while nowhere as powerful, he's still too much for our shaman. Then there's
Turbus, a human archer. Or should I say, assassin. He's one we have to worry about. If he
gets a line of sight on you up here, you're dead. I've dropped a cloak of invisibility spell
about us, but only a fool would consider themselves safe at any time around that guy...And
then...erm....Do'Ellis, an Elven mage-"

"You know I won't-!"

"Yes yes...I know. We got some ogre-magi under strict instructions only to restrain
his power. After the occupation, he'll be released to go home."

"....thank you, Grorg"

"Unless of course you want to talk to him before he leaves."

"You already know the answer to that question, my friend...None of my people could
ever understand why I'm doing this. I tried once, remember? My heart can't stand my being
called a traitor to our people again..."

"I'm sorry, Vil...Let me show you where Lamis is. I assume once you see him once,
you can find him at any time during the battle?" Grorg extracted a runed spyglass from his
robes and began looking down at the army below.

"Yes...Grorg?"

"Yeah?" Grorg finally found the poet, healing some of the wounded from a previous
battle, and pointed him out to Vil.

"How did you know you could trust me after Tal' Dyim?"

"You just had that look...Besides, after what I had done, you had every right to
kill me if you wanted to. Though I can't begin to express my gratitude at how much you've
contributed to the cause. Orks might be a memory if you hadn't helped us. And my beloved
clan might have been cast out as well. The council called us too civilized...heh" Grorg smiled,
then sat down, thrusting his engraved fetish into the ground. "I have to start preparing a
more complicated field in case that assassin spots you. The commander will be beginning the
attack any moment now. Enter into it at the best time you see fit."

Grorg began muttering a chant that soon died down to a whisper, and then mere lip
movements, while Vil sat into a lotus position he found quite useful for invoking his
abilities. Closing the lids over his pupils, he let his mind's eye extend out over what
would soon be a battlefield. He picked out the poet, the warrior, the old mage, and the
Elven mage.

To Vil's dismay, there was no sign of the assassin...He saw a bunch of humans
at the arrow slits in the towers, but few using enchanted items, and those items weren't
particularly powerful. The entire castle was laced with protective glyphs and the like, so
discerning a magical field hiding the assassin would be nearly impossible. Vil sighed, and
just hoped that he would show during the battle. Behind them, patrolling the woods leading
to the cliff, were afew trustworthy kobolds, so Vil didn't have to worry about being snuck
up on.

With thousands of orkish voices singing out the war cry, "zug-zug," the battle began.
Shamans and mages met eachothers magics, while orkish soldiers rushed, and clan Korat's
archers let loose arrows over the enemy forces. Vil waited until the confusion of battle
set in, until the orkish warriors had cut deep enough into the human ranks to get them
focused completely on the battle, and then focused on the Dwarven fighter.

A purplish mist appeared as Vil brought his telekinetic abilities to bear on the
Dwarf. The fighter was thrown clear off the ground, and went flying downward, falling on
the sharp edge of his axe, but sure enough, the armor didn't break. With a sigh, Vil
focused on the ground below him, causing the entire battlefield to quake. But the center
in particular formed a narrow fissure into which the Dwarf fell. The intensity of his
power produced much of the byproduct gel, and soon the Dwarf was covered up to the head, and
still the fissure continued to fill with it. Heavy armor and the gel prevented the Dwarf
from digging himself out, and deprived of air, he soon became very still...

Many a knight who fell off their horses didn't get up again, but reinforcements
failed as Vil saw a flanking army approaching in the distance. Vil shook battlefield tactics
out of his head and brought his mind's eye around to see the poet running around curing what
should've been debilitating injuries. Vil decided to apply pressure to one of the poet's
feet when it went up while he was running. Sure enough, the poet tripped on the invisible
force, and with a groan, began to pick himself up. He got up just in time to see the
blade of the man he was rushing to aid, flying towards him as if by its own will.

Two down, two to go, Vil had no choice but to rest for a moment. He opened his eyes
and cleared his mind's image. The battlefield in front of the castle was thinning. The Korat
archers had done a good job, but now most of the army was focusing on the enemies'
reinforcements. Vil smiled as he saw a frustrated Elven mage in a ring of ogre-magi with
crossed arms. Sure enough, they weren't killing him, though he lashed out at them with every
spell and weapon at his disposal (including throwing his weight against them.)

Rested up, Vil closed his eyes and turned his mental eye to the old human mage.
Two of the stronger Orks one apparently a powerful druid, and the other a favored dark
cleric, had him pinned down. It was obvious that he couldn't last against them much longer,
or so it seemed until a brilliant streak of light ripped through the druid, missing the
cleric by mere millimeters. Vil immediately guided the shot back to where it originated,
which appeared to be a mountain wall on the opposite side of the canyon.

"I see it." Grorg whispered, startling Vil a bit, "There's an enchantment there...
putting a wall where there is no wall. I'll adjust the field so you can see him through it.
You'll have to use your eyes though, since it's the field that's doing the work..." Vil
opened his eyes to see part of the mountain face changing colors and flickering. Finally a
piece of it disappeared to reveal a moderately sized room. A tall man with arm mounted
crossbow and glowing goggles stood at the edge of the room. He loosed another arrow at the
cleric, but the powerful charge hit the armor just the wrong way, and proved rather
ineffective. He loaded another arrow and waited as it was magically infused.

Vil had seen weapons like this in a museum trip he took as a kid, no older then 25.
He was also showed how they worked, and Vil had an idea how to sabotage it. Suddenly the
assassin tilted his head slightly as if straining to hear something. Then he turned
towards Grorg's field, and shocked Vil with a tiny red dot appearing on the area of the
shield between them. With his mind, Vil set into motion the sabotage, but an
arrow was let go right before it was completed. It flew towards Vil at a high speed
impossible to dodge. Vil's instincts told him he was finished, but Grorg chuckled, and when
the arrow came close enough, it smashed into the field, blowing it away and forcing Vil and
Grorg to the ground.

Grorg muttered another curse, then tried to get up, "We have to get out of here!"
But Vil shook his head, "Don't worry, chief. It's over." The mountain side lit up in a
huge explosion as the assassin attempted to fire the sabotaged crossbow. Grorg dropped to the ground,
covering his head at first, but then shared in Vil's laughter. Vil looked down at where the
cleric and the old mage were still fighting. A small psionic trip of the human mage allotted
the advantage the cleric needed to win.

"That Cleric really is blessed..." Grorg chuckled.

* * * * * * * * * *

Epilogue 2, the real one!

Vil stood on the Mevdis castle wall, watching as the Elven mage began his long trip
back home. He was probably wondering why he was spared...Maybe he intended to get
reinforcements. Maybe he intended to...

Suddenly the mage turned and scanned the walls for a moment before finding Vil. They
stared for a while, relaying more without words then they could have with. The mage nodded
solemnly, and then continued on his journey home. Vil wanted to join him, but he wasn't
about to leave the Orks...

And so Mevdis was the first of the many kingdoms to fall to the Orkish invasion. Two
continents the Orks took before settling down to rebuild the world in their image. Vil
stayed with them for over 200 years...ten Orkish generations. Then, as he neared 300, he
felt the need to go to his own people...And so he bid good-bye to his best friend, Rorg, son
of Gorg, son of Rog, son of Org, son of Gorr, son of Rogg, son of Grog, son of Ogg, son of
Rorgg, son of Grorg.

-The End-

What happened next...Well. Let's just say I made it home. Not a day passed or passes now that I don't think of Sei...She's the driving force for my mental abilities. Many people can relate something to a song or smell or person, so when they hear that song or think about it, it'll serve as a bridge to that other thing. When I think about Sei, I realize deeper truths to my abilities then if I thought directly of them. I use this gift of mine more then you'd think, given that I went to a peaceful Elven kingdom...Well. Till next time.