The storm had broken during the night and now the clouds were slowly dissipating letting in some of the suns morning rays. Richar lifted his coat from under a tree speaking softly as he cradled it in his arms. Slowly he unraveled his coat and a large Desert Hawk squawked franticly as it shook its head. "Easy now Ebra, you will be soaring soon." Richar said as he stoked her head feathers gently. Hopping onto his arm Ebra ruffled her feathers and spread her wings. For the past three days since finding Richar and his group in the storm she had been bundled up in Richar's coat. She had flown through the storm to bring Richar a note from his comrade and close friend Cory, she had taken a beating. Now that the storm was over she was eager to find her owner and to see how he was. Richar smiled at her and held his arm out in front of him Ebra looked at him and spread her wings feeling the cool morning breeze. She leapt from his arm taking flight; she climbed high into the sky. Ebra circled the small wooded area that the group had use for shelter that night then flew off.

The Royal Guard and Alex watched the thick black smoke off in the distance rise high into the sky; the smoke that came from the city of Altrista that was still a good two days ride away. Alex called four of the guards to him and dispatched them, two were sent back to Lamimbia to inform them of the fall of Altrista and the other two were sent ahead to Quenilla to warn them of this Dark Force. Walking over to his cousin Richar who was saddling his horse Alex noted how muddy the ground had become. "This mud is going to slow us down and I think that we should pass a safe distance away from the city. We will need to send someone to check on this army that holds Altrista to see what their size is and what they are up to. By the way it looks we do not want to run into them with such a small force." Alex told him as they all readied themselves to ride on.

"Yes cousin, you are right that we need to gather as much information on this army as we can. Our force is too small for an attack, so we will travel throughout this day and the better part of the night. We can rest through the next day and start off again at dusk this should let us pass without being noticed. I will take two of your guards with me after the sun sets and check on the enemy and catch up to you later." Richar said looking at Alex whose face darkened at his words. "We can send a small party to see what they can find out, my guards will not be seen and your friend is expecting you at the Keep." Alex replied with some concern. "We can discuss this as we ride." Richar told Alex mounting his horse.

Cory and the knights helped the mages troche through the muddy fields avoiding the roads. They followed the paths of others that had left before them for Burns Keep. They hurried as fast as they could through the mess the storm had left stopping only to rest when they had too. They had a good twenty days of travel on horse back that they had to do on foot with an enemy that might find them at any moment. They had no provisions and had to live off what they could find and when they did stop they made no fires. At night they would rest for four hours then push on for two more hours before resting for the rest of the night and were off again before sun up.

The knights being somewhat accustomed to this type of conditioning helped the mages immensely and Kris stayed close to ReBeckah's side helping her when she needed. The mages were tired, sore and worn down, but still they moved on with minimal grumbling. Their feet were blistered and hurt, and now they were soaked to the skin from the storm. ReBeckah told Kris the tale of Satar the Dragon Sword as they traveled. Hillary and Cory watched as these two became familiar and accustomed to each other.

At dusk the next day, Richar accompanied by six Royal Guards and his cousin Alex moved out for Altrista. This was the only way Alex would except his going to the city to check out the Dark Army that now occupied Altrista. The rest of the Royal Guards were to wait for half the night before heading onto Burns Keep to join what forces that were there. As they slowly crossed the devastated fields that surrounded the city the group found no signs that the enemy was still outside the city. They did however find three distinct groups of tracks leading away from Altrista, each following a different direction. Two of these groups appeared to be large groups close to fifty thousand strong had headed off towards the Elven Nations. The third was much smaller maybe about a thousand or two heading across the fields towards Burns Keep, but still it was hard to tell with all the crisscrossing of tracks and the rain.

Outside the city walls they could hear shouts and screams from the rabble within, giving the impression that this rabble was fighting amongst themselves. Alex instructed the others elves to guard where they would enter and if he and Richar were not back by the suns glow that they were to leave and rejoin the others.

Venturing slightly into the city Richar and Alex came across the gruesome sight, the dead lay in the streets stripped of the clothing and armor as wild dogs chewed on their bodies. Keeping to the alleyways they found that the dark forces were having their sport with the wounded and those that they had captured. Knights hung from lamp posts having been used as practice targets while others had been burned, their charred armored remains lay horribly twisted in agony. The screams of women being hideously taken by their captors rang out around the city.

Hearing these ghastly screams Richar's mind blurred and his heart pounded, all he could see was the horrid image of his mother and sister lying exposed in the dirt by the burnt remains of his father's manor. His stomach tightened, his heart felt like it was going burst from his chest and his face turned red with fury as these memories filled his mind.

He started to step out of the cover they had when Alex grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "What are you doing?" Alex asked staring at his face, a face hardened with hate and eyes burning with a lust for blood. Yanking away from Alex and blinking several times Richar realized where he was and who was standing in front of him. The blood lust that had seized him eased some and the memories grayed as his breathing slowed. "Uh ... I am sorry, memories of what happened to my mother and sister clouded my thinking. I wanted to kill them." Richar said as he loosened his grip on his sword and looked down in shame. "I understand, I once had those feeling for my cousin." Alex said with a smile. "But I think we should be going, we need to return to the others and leave this place. Dawn is not far from us." He added more seriously. Richar nodded his agreement and they backed up into the alleyway and headed for its other end.

The two hurried through the alleys turning this corner and that corner keeping an eye out for the enemy. They moved swiftly and as silently as they could to exit the city and rejoin their comrades.

Turning one of the corners inside the alley Alex and Richar came to a sudden skidding stop as they seized their weapons. There leaning with his right hand against a charred section of what was left of a burnt out building was an ogre relieving himself, strapped on its back was a huge battle axe. Hearing a noise behind him in the alley the ogre looked up wobbly then sluggishly straightened reaching for his axe with his left hand and pissing on his right...