Pangaea

Chapter 4

Vikings

The discord grew.

The kingdom's gate began to shake.

The curtain wall rumbled.

Everything below became oppressed by an ominous black, cementing the dismal reality of this morose day. High in the sky were these colossal figures which flew down past the raining azure, eclipsing the little sunshine that still lingered. All the while, those mysterious thuds in the distance grew more and more loud and intimidating. Tenniss could hardly see past the hole. He rushed out of the room and looked up at the sky. His eyes widened and his jaw stretched agape in astonishment along with this unshakable and dominating sense of dismay that constricted him.

"Shadowbirds!" Tenniss shrieked with dismay, his dry bones vibrating underneath his numbed flesh. He had thought his vision was deceiving him, due to his age but they had not and he knew it. What he was witnessing now was fleets of enormous Shadowbirds that appeared to him almost as a sea of monotonous black.

The other Gate Bearers wailed as Tenniss lost the faith he had in thinking they could win this battle. He witnessed their grand statures. They were so large and so lengthy, flowing in a smooth and undisturbed manner that mirrored a placid body of water. There were far too many, too many for the drained Gate Bearers and soldiers to bear. The Gate Bearers peeked upwards from out their ramparts as they endured the hail of arrows shot by the Deathknights below.

The men all gasped in fear like a chant to which they all shared in unison. The Shadowbirds let out deafening squawks and cries. Then some of the men cowered out of the curtain wall, out down the belfry and then they were on quickly ground level in haste retreat.

They ran for their lives in a frenzy, losing all sense of training and discipline that they had been hardened into them over the years. Not the Ereignfall soldiers, they stayed and fought bravely, no matter how futile. The look on all their faces was that of tangible hysteria. All they knew was to run far away. Where? That did not matter.

Only Tenniss and a few willing Gate Bears stayed to fight this wrathful battle. The mere sight of them was enough to drive the majority away. Little by little the curtain walls became barren. Those creatures in the sky boasted sizes so horrifying, some even bearing wingspans that stretched nearly thirty meters across. There was no visible end to them from where Tenniss could see.

Their squawks boomed out like thunder. The kingdom blackened as more Shadowbirds drowned the sky. The Deathknights paraded around in their coordinates. The sounds from the forest grew more intimidating and menacing with every passing moment, he felt the stone floor start to quiver below his feet. The trees in the woods of the Colossal Snowpeak Woods rustled and blew radically. Progressively it became clear to Tenniss what those distant sounds could be. To Tenniss, the thuds began to be sound more and more like footsteps. The sounds of the footsteps were massive and traveled far.

During the disaster, three men ran toward the eastern stretch of the wall. They saw Tenniss as he ran into the main room. They quickly called out to him but it was too loud for the seasoned commander to hear their calls. The men dropped to the floor and crawled on their knees and di not stop until they were in front of the main room. Tenniss eventually noticed and looked over to his right, his distressed eyes meeting each of theirs.

One man among the three was Everwood's nephew, Darian Everwood. Darian was to go to the capital for the Survivor's Day memorial. His shift had ended seven hours ago, and he was packing up to travel into the capital to enjoy the festival. But, he was among the Gate Bearers who heard the war bell and so he came.

"Uncle Tenniss," Darian yelled out.

Tenniss screeched, "Darian? I thought you'd be in the capital already! Nevermind that now...Darian and two! I'm going to need you to ring the retreat bell."

"What? Damn it, uncle. It hasn't come to that yet. We can sti-!" Darian was not able to complete his sentence due to his uncle cutting his words off with a fit of anger.

"Look the fuck around you, nephew! We've lost! We have proven to our people that we can no longer protect them! We've lost it all! We won't win this battle but I'd be damned as a commander and as a human being if I give these things a free pass into our nation," Tenniss yelled furiously as more falling debris fell around them.

"Gods...Where is Sebasti-" Darian stopped as he read his uncle's morose eyes.

Tenniss's pupils dilated and his vocals deepened, "It doesn't matter anymore...we can't win against them. We're outnumbered and overpowered.

Right now at least..."

He drooped his head down and his eyes became teary.

"I'm going to cut the rope. Darian, just lead the surviving men into the floor levels and out into the shire to pass along what has happened here," he announced, again not giving his nephew the chance to speak. His voice abruptly sank into a depression, "Warn everyone you can. And if you ever get the chance please try to bring the Rare Men into this."

He then grabbed Darian by the nape. Pulling him close, he whispered words into his ears for what felt like an eternity. Looking deeply into one another's eyes, he released Darian who backed away with a look of puzzlement. Tenniss then sadly turned away. The two other men were shooting arrows at Shadowbirds who were soaring close to the wall.

As his nephew turned to do as his uncle instructed, Tennis grabbed his wrist which trembled with fervor, "Ring the Deathbell..."

His nephew's eyes grew teary and his pale face was flushed red.

I. Maddened, Far In The Freelands Of Sindirin, South of the Mesfirian Kingdom

Faint tumults resounded from the neighboring forest, causing a disturbance to the serene brook. The water flowing in the brook began rippling more as the thuds grew more aggressive and close. Across this brook lied an outlying homestead, both co-existing on a serene pasture. The beautiful, yet receding shafts of sunshine above the home caused the roof of this wet, stone home to glimmer. Behind the home was a herd of livestock pressed together by a rectangular fence.

Hazel eyes covered slightly with dark, cinnamon brown hair peered outside through the window of the home.

It was a man. He appeared startled and nervous. A small woman who latched worriedly onto his shoulders, was looking through the window too. Her bright amber eyes and pale eyelids enlarged at the sight of the hundreds of flocks of small birds flying away. They watched the rainfall, believing it to be a storm outside. But the weather was not so violent beyond the pelting raindrops, so still they could not comprehend what had the source of the overwhelming tumult was. The furniture of their homes was rattling, with some objects smashing against the stone floor. The man gestured his hands over the window and smeared the condensation off the window in order to catch a clearer glimpse outside; meanwhile, the woman held tighter onto to his shoulder with both of arms.

From within the home, he moved from the sight of the window while he weakly removed her hands from his shoulder. He held her hand, speaking soothing words to her while motioning towards the stone door. He unlatched it and pushed it open, inadvertently inviting the inclement weather inside of their home.

Alarmed by the heavy rainfall and powerful gust, he expeditiously thrust his arms to shield his face. He took harsh breaths and now saturated in water, he shivered vehemently.

"Close the door, Maddard," she shouted. He rushed back and shut the door.

She pulled him towards the basement door and then ran inside. They held each other in the dark of the underground room panicking.

Their voices grew more distressed as their little stone home began shook more belligerently.

Noticing he began moving walking back up the stairs, she cried out, "What are you doing!"

He turned and said, "Stay here, Emis."

"NO! Stay with me! You are not going out there," Emis, with thick tears welling in her eyes, cried while clenching miserably onto his left arm. He looked back at her and kissed her cold forehead before reassuring her that he would return.

"I need to herd the animals back inside. I will be back soon after. I promise, love."

After seeing that she had given up trying to convince him to stay, he proceeded up the stairs and then into the living room.

He heard the animals' cries through the glass windows. Heavy winds brushed heavily past the fences. He left the home, closing the door behind him. Rushing behind the home where the animals were kept, he saw how completely entrenched in darkness the area was. It was dawn but if he did not know better, he would have believed it was the middle of the night.

So he glared up and stared at what he believed to be dark storm clouds. But something seemed odd about these clouds. He kept staring while pacing himself towards the animals. He did not understand what he was seeing.

Surely those are clouds, he thought.

But the longer he looked, the more he thought otherwise.

"What in the hell," he questioned quietly. It was hard to see past the rain and darkness.

He looked longer. Suddenly one of the clouds made an abrupt turn. Then the revelation that those were not storm clouds struck his chest, leaving a very sour feeling swirling in the pit of his belly.

Suddenly, the animals scurried over the toppled fence and towards the front of the home, attempting to flee from the unknown and looming force that felt soon to come. His eyes began to widen and a frown formed as he watched the animals scurry away. His heart was now quivering at such an impractical pace. The loud thuds sounded closer than it had before. He saw the trees in the distance shaking and falling over.

It was so forceful it overwhelmed his balance and sent him falling to the floor. He moved his hair off from over his face while he attempted to rise to his still shaky feet. He now felt the direct force of the obscure pounding. He did not know what was happening. He thought there was possibly a magnitude.

He suddenly heard his wife calling out to him from outside.

"Maddard, what's happening!" She was staring at him.

Maddard thrust his hand towards her, signaling for her to go away. "Go back down to the basement now!"

He turned back around in rage and he could see the animals scurrying off far into the land. He looked back at her with a flustered expression until she went back down and closed the door behind her. He struggled to maintain his balance under the severe maelstrom.

Upset that his livestock, which was a necessary asset to his and his wife's livelihood, he huffed angrily.

Directing his attention back to the sky, it was more than clear to him that those were giant black birds flying northwest. He could not fathom it but it demanded his attention all the more. But then he looked back at the trees. He found himself standing still waiting for something he knew nothing of. Still, something was to come and he knew it to be true. He suddenly began to sneeze.

Whatever that was causing this tremor was surely close, he believed.