The History of the Domini: Part IV
The Rest of the Story: The rest of The History of the Domini can be found here.
This is the fourth part of Randall Aurelius's unpublished draft of The History of the Domini.
The History of the Domini
by Randall Aurelius
Part IV: The First Legion
The details of the magic involved in the calling of the First Legion are long forgotten. We do know that it was the first of only two times that the disparate magics of the Shades and the Amaranthine were combined. The Circuit involved hundreds of magic-users, and many of them died in the effort. But when it was done, an army had been summoned to our aid.
From where they were summoned is still a mystery. The First Legion neither spoke our language, nor understood what we wanted from them. They were angry at being ripped from their own land, but terrified of the magic we wielded. With great difficulty, we found a way to communicate. From what we were able to learn, they came from a land similar to ours in many ways, but there they had no contact with Orcs or Goblins or Malwer. Instead humans warred upon each other for control of the land and the sea. It is difficult to understand now how strange that was to us then, humans fighting wars against each other. We were far from a peaceful people even then, but we had no understanding of conflict on such a scale. The First Legion did, and we needed that understanding. After a great deal of bargaining, with threats on both sides, we were able to reach an agreement.
The numbers which the First Legion added to humanity’s beleaguered forces were small, but the expertise was considerable. They were among the best trained and most disciplined soldiers in their land, and they shared their training and experience with us, first strengthening our defenses against the Orcs and Goblins, and then leading the assault to drive back the invaders. Unprepared as they were to face competent warriors, the Orcish advance faltered and then collapsed, and their conquests were quickly retaken. Emboldened by our successes, we pursued the Orcs and Goblins as they retreated, and may have succeeded in eliminating both races entirely, had not the Malwer themselves taken the field.
This is the latest 336 words of a 2,531 word short story in progress.
This is the fourth part of Randall Aurelius's unpublished draft of The History of the Domini.
by Randall Aurelius
Part IV: The First Legion
The details of the magic involved in the calling of the First Legion are long forgotten. We do know that it was the first of only two times that the disparate magics of the Shades and the Amaranthine were combined. The Circuit involved hundreds of magic-users, and many of them died in the effort. But when it was done, an army had been summoned to our aid.
From where they were summoned is still a mystery. The First Legion neither spoke our language, nor understood what we wanted from them. They were angry at being ripped from their own land, but terrified of the magic we wielded. With great difficulty, we found a way to communicate. From what we were able to learn, they came from a land similar to ours in many ways, but there they had no contact with Orcs or Goblins or Malwer. Instead humans warred upon each other for control of the land and the sea. It is difficult to understand now how strange that was to us then, humans fighting wars against each other. We were far from a peaceful people even then, but we had no understanding of conflict on such a scale. The First Legion did, and we needed that understanding. After a great deal of bargaining, with threats on both sides, we were able to reach an agreement.
The numbers which the First Legion added to humanity’s beleaguered forces were small, but the expertise was considerable. They were among the best trained and most disciplined soldiers in their land, and they shared their training and experience with us, first strengthening our defenses against the Orcs and Goblins, and then leading the assault to drive back the invaders. Unprepared as they were to face competent warriors, the Orcish advance faltered and then collapsed, and their conquests were quickly retaken. Emboldened by our successes, we pursued the Orcs and Goblins as they retreated, and may have succeeded in eliminating both races entirely, had not the Malwer themselves taken the field.
This is the latest 336 words of a 2,531 word short story in progress.
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