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84.61% Tales of Tomorrow / Chapter 54: Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Chapter 54

Letting his eyes rest on his teacher's face Alvar wondered why he had been separated from the crowd behind him. But before he could continue his contemplations he was pushed further forwards, away from the crowd, while another child around his age was pulled from the crowd and lead the same way as Alvar was.

Only then, when he watched the child get pulled away from the crowd, did Alvar realise that his grandparents, just like the parents of the child after him, remained standing in the crowd and watched all the children being moved away.

As he was watching this scene play out on different parts all over the crowd a growing sense of dread and horror made itself home inside his guts. Hoping beyond all else Alvar made to turn around and return to his grandparents but the steel like arms from his teacher kept Alvar from doing so.

With the sinking feeling in his stomach growing with every second Alvar began to struggle more and more until he was about ready to drive his shield on his left arm into his teachers guts and rush back to his grandparents when Sjorn drove an all too familiar fist into Alvar's guts that robbed the lad of his breath and was promptly afterwards lifted off his feet and carried forwards, away from the crowd.

Still groaning while Alvar was being carried on Sjorn's shoulder the boy could only watch in despair as his grandparents, who tried to keep their faces as blank as possible but failed miserably which was only too apparent by the trembling hands or his grandmother's tear filled eyes that threatened to overflow any second, grew further and further into the distance until Sjorn and Alvar rounded a corner and with it cut of any vision he had had of his remaining family. Only later would he realise that this was the last time he saw his grandparents alive…

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sjorn knew what he was doing was heartless and cruel but he saw no other way. He knew his student, better than most actually, and was sure that the boy would fight tooth and nail in order to not get separated from his remaining family. Thus, a few weeks ago when the leaders of the Norn had convened, it had been decided that the parents or those charged with looking after the new generations would be informed about the emergency protocol. The protocol stated to protect the next generation at all costs and with it secure the survival of the Norn, should the worst-case scenario come to pass.

Of course when the leaders had created the protocol they hadn't actually believed that it would ever come to pass as the preparations for the relocation of the Norn was going very smooth so far. But, as luck would have it, the worst-case scenario became reality and thus the emergency protocol was activated.

Now here he was. Walking through the wooden corridors of the great hall, his student gasping for air laid over his shoulder and probably having figured the situation out by now, to a certain degree only of course. Behind the pair of student and teacher many more children with their small bundles hung over their torso fearfully and downtrodden followed after their teachers, none knowing that they would possibly never see their families again and Sjorn was rather happy, if he were to put some word as description of his current emotions, that such was the case.

With a grunt Sjorn marched forwards and soon entered the small hall that was their first destination. As the old man was letting his gaze roam over the ones waiting there already he was glad that none was missing. For one there was the old necromancer that would make sure the group of escapees would not run into any ambushes through the advice of the spirits of the dead. Then there was the small contingent of Mesmers that would hide the children under a shroud of invisibility while they all escaped Hoelbrak and made a beeline towards the south of the Shiverpeak mountains.

Last but not least there was the Havroune along with the last members of the mist guard who would look after the children and act as leaders once they entered the territory south of the mountains and could hopefully arrange for some living quarters in one of the capitals belonging to the other races.

Walking inside the hall all the children threw apprehensive glances around while the Mesmers who often possessed kind and cheerful personalities greeted them and told them to group together for a bit which in turn lightened the heavy mood that weighed down on all the children for a little bit.

Sjorn though had long since removed his attention from the group of children being gathered and looked after by the Mesmers and put his focus on his student whom he had softly put down on the ground.

Though once he saw the look in his student's eyes Sjorn wished he hadn't as he was greeted by burning anger and fear, emotions he knew only all too well and was loath to admit that he played no small role in causing such tormenting feelings for the boy before him…

"Why? What is going on here?!" Alvar snarled in anger and confusion while Sjorn braced himself for the repercussions his words would inevitably summon and told his disciple.

"A few weeks ago an emergency protocol was put into place to secure the survival of our race should the worst case come to pass. It did. Tonight. Thus, your grandparents, just like all the other parents and guardians who looked after the future of our race, knew what needed to be done and did so without fail. They were to lead their children to the great hall where they would be escorted without exception into a separate room from where they would be lead out of Hoelbrak and down south, out of the Shiverpeak mountains. I, as your teacher, was asked to bring you as all the other teachers had to bring their students as well." Sjorn spoke while Alvar's eyes grew wider and wider the more he spoke until the boy just couldn't contain his anger and fear anymore and tried to move his teacher by brute force in order to return to his family as he knew with certainty what would happen to them while he ran like a coward…!

Unfortunately, as much as Alvar had learned in the last months under Sjorn, he was nowhere near a match for the man and was without hesitation punched a second time, just as hard and mercilessly as the last time which robbed the boy his breath once again.

"I know you are angry Alvar but you have to understand that we had no choice in the matter! Do you understand my words? The survival of our race is at stake! Neither you nor I have the room to act on emotions right now!" Sjorn grit out in order not to let his words be heard by the other children in the room though his voice had lost none of its intensity in doing so.

Letting out a sigh after making some of the bottled up emotions in his guts come out Sjorn kneeled down before the kneeling boy who tried his best to keep his emotions contained but looked so frail compared to normal days in the process that it nearly broke Sjorn's old hardened heart in two at the sight.

"Listen Alvar. I know you are angry and afraid. Angry at me, at the enemies, angry at the whole unfairness of the situation, afraid what will happen to your grandparents, to your friends and to you but there is a time and a place to let those emotions rule you. You are a warrior! Do what we do best and fight! Fight your fear, your anger and your enemies but never let them decide your fate for you!

I wish you all the best Alvar and I'm proud that you are my student, even though you can be such a damn hard head sometimes, hehehe... Look after those children for me, will you? After all, they are all that is left of our people after tonight…" After saying his piece with a little mirth tinging his words towards the end Sjorn put his hand onto Alvar's head once more and stood up. Leaving Alvar to himself Sjorn moved over towards the other adults that would be in charge of the children.

Once he had informed the leaders of Alvar Sjorn turned around and left the great hall to join his troops in defending the city he had always called home and would continue to do so till the end.

With confident steps Sjorn disappeared into the wooden corridors of the great hall and soon joined his men and women at the gates of Hoelbrak. He had a war to fight after all, just like he had always done...


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
bobbarker12 bobbarker12

Puuh, I think that was by far the hardest chapter I had to write so far. I hope I didn't go overboard with the depressing mood but it is a rather abrupt seperation depicted.

I may rewrite the chapter some time later but I'm not sure yet.

Do me the favor and leave a comment below what you think of the chapter as I'm really not sure if it is any good.

Until then, see y'all around^^

Chapter 55: Chapter 55

Together they stood as one, united against their nemesis and his forsaken troops. Up on the wall that protected the city they all had called home for over 200 years they gazed out into the freezing night that seemed to swallow all the faintly flickering light of the torches that burned amongst the warriors up on the wall.

Together they stood as one and remain united they would stay until even the last one of them fell to the enemy. The first few rows were made up of warriors and guardians, all decked in thick metal armour tightened over thick furs held by leather with various weapons at their disposal.

The next rows after that were made of siege weapons build from the engineers and their superb craftsmanship. Each of these various siege weapons were build to cause as much collateral damage to the opponent as possible, some exploding into an ocean of burning oil on impact while others would simply burry and crush the targets under a rain of stone and sharpened metal spikes that would fall like hail from the skies.

The last row was made up of hunters with their bows in hand and arrows being carried back and forth so their supply would not run out in the middle of the fight, already having built a sizable mountain of them at the side of each hunter platoon. Behind the hunters the mages stood, in groups of three to cause as much damage on a large group of enemies or just to manipulate the surroundings to either make it harder for the enemy to climb the walls or breach the gates all together.

Standing before the rows of warriors stood Sjorn, decked in thick metal just as his fellow brothers and sisters while also wearing a helmet that had a sharp horn protrude from each side of it, giving the man a menacing appearance next to his already towering form with an axe in each hand that glinted dangerously.

There they all stood and waited for the enemies to finally show their faces, out in the night, their breaths flowing like thick smoke through their helmets due to the harsh cold of the December night.

They waited and waited and once the enemy actually appeared it came faster than any of them had thought. The first warning sign they got was the sharp drop in temperature which caused Sjorn to squint his eyes and began to speak in a loud and clear voice.

"Brothers and sister! For years I have fought side by side with many of you! Together we have shed tears and blood to defend our people! Never faltering, with courage weathering every challenge and overcoming it in the end! You are NORN! Not one of those sissy's that ran in fear and hid under Jormag's wings like the cowards they are! A true Norn never bows and never surrenders!

A TRUE Norn would never join Jormag but rather die with his back straight and his head held high! Let this be a night these fuckers will never forget for we will NEVER SURRENDER!"

The pure determination and conviction in Sjorn's words ignited a flame inside even the most fearful of Norn until it burst forth in on unified roar that shook even the very foundations of Hoelbrak under its volume, its fierceness piercing the freezing coldness of the night like an arrow made of pure fire that soon illuminated the marching enemies that spanned as far as the eye could see, and yet none of the Norn up on the wall cowered in fear but faced their last day on earth like they always had, with their back's straight and their head's held high…

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alvar was lost. Sitting on the ground lost in his thoughts he felt simply numb, having buried all hurtful feelings behind the strongest mental shields he could currently produce, even though he knew exactly that his actions were everything but healthy. But he just did not care. All he wanted was for those feelings to go away and leave him alone with his thoughts.

In his mind he turned the events of the last months over and over to find out if he could have done something, anything really, to have prevented the events of today but his attempts to find a fault with himself and his actions to find some kind of scapegoat were in vain in the end.

Standing up with his spear clasped in his right hand, shield in his left and his sword, the one given to him by his grandparents, slung over his shoulders in a leather strap Alvar began to make his way over to the group of children and caretakers just moments after Sjorn had left the room.

In his wake the children stepped aside nearly fearful as Alvar seemed to radiate an anger and sorrow that was nearly touchable by those that felt it. One of the adults tried to talk to Alvar but the boy just looked at the woman who began to squirm under his gaze after a while before she turned away and left him to his own.

While Alvar was standing there lost in his mind, trying to hold back the flood of emotions he had buried away, another group of children, the last one he faintly heard one of the Havroune say to another who nodded in understanding, walked into the room.

Turning around slowly Alvar took in the children who all looked so innocent and scared in his eyes until he came upon a strangely familiar form that caused Alvar's emotions to nearly overwhelm him as they slowly managed to escape the tightly held ropes that had bound them.

There, standing just as confused and fearful stood none other than Veli with Gerdi coming in right behind the small group of children and before he registered what his body was doing Alvar had rushed over, dropped his spear and shield and crashed into Veli like a sailor who had gone overboard and found a rock in a wild storm that saved him from drowning.

At first his friend seemed shocked but once he registered who had crashed into him he equally as fiercely returned the hug. There they both stood amongst many scared children, not being much else really, both finding comfort in the others presence while silent tears ran down their cheeks, finally managing to let out some of the sorrow they both had bottled up after the events of tonight.

After a few minutes of familiar warmth and company they separated and sat down next to each other, both tired and drained from the upheavals of the day.

"It is good to see you Veli." Alvar began after he had regained some semblance of control over himself once again and smiled faintly at the fact that he had in fact not lost everyone tonight.

"Likewise Alvar. When I was separated from my parents I thought that I…--pffuu, never mind. What do you think is going to happen to us now? The attack must be about to begin very soon…" Veli replied and as he did so nearly began to suffocate on his rising emotions once again but managed to calm himself after taking in a deep breath, at least for now.

"Sjorn told me that the leaders of our people created an emergency protocol that made sure the survival of our people would be guaranteed in case of well, something like tonight. I think they will have created some way out of Hoelbrak through which we will escape but I don't know anything further…" Alvar replied back to Veli's question, relaying what Sjorn had told Alvar.

Now that Alvar thought about it he couldn't really be mad at his teacher. The man had done what was necessary and it mustn't have been easy for the man to do what he did. Sjorn had been right as well in his assessment that Alvar couldn't let himself be ruled by his emotions in a situation like this, even though it was extremely hard to see clearly through the veil of anger, fear and sorrow. Even in a semi clear-headed state that a good cry had provided him.

Firming his mental control Alvar took in a long and slow breath and after letting it out he gripped the spear and shield at his side and with determination on his face stood up in one motion. Handing his spear over into the hand holding his shield Alvar stretched out his now empty right hand for his friend to help him up and after looking up in a bout of short confusion Veli gripped it and was promptly lifted to his feet.

Keeping his friends lower arm clasped tightly in his hand Alvar looked his friend into the eyes and said: "Lets keep them safe, until we reach our destination. That's the least we can do for those fighting for us right now. We owe them that much!" Which caused Veli to firm his expression as well after which the boy nodded and after clutching Alvar's forearm tightly once more as well separated from Alvar.

Both turning around they marched to the front of the group of children, just as the Havroune and other leaders began to shepherd all the children into a narrow and dark corridor, the two of them now having found a new purpose. They would ensure their people would survive and wipe away any hindrance that stepped into their path to do so…!


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
bobbarker12 bobbarker12

There you go^^

Hope you liked it :-)

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