Cover made by Carol’s son. Book available here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Making-Danovian-Great-Necro-ebook/dp/B00IO0QPHU/

The Great Archer Army!

“Line Up! Nodrog boomed.

Sargeant Sej watched his favorite archer line his men up in perfect order.  Booming out orders seemed to be his specialty. As he watched, he thought back to the years of service Nodrog had diligently put in.  Always there, never complaining, perfect aim, and the men paid attention to that booming voice of his.  He was drawn back to the here and now, when Nodrog boomed out “Fire!”  The twang from thousands of bows announced the release of a swarm of arrows.

“Very good!” Nodrog complimented the men, as he paced the line of archers in front of him.

“Archers dismissed!”  His arm wave meant, go home, come back tomorrow. Little did sargeant Sej realise that Nodrog’s mastery of the bow would be crucial in the Great Necro War in both their futures….

——-

Danovian was a peaceful land, aside from an occasional vampire attack, and the odd traveler causing mischief.  Normal day-to-day squabbles were a minimal occurrence.

A line of mountains divided Danovian, with the largest of them being called Dark Mountain.  Great forests on either side of the mountain accented the land, and seemed to provide a natural barrier between the inhabitants of Danovian.

Ydrog, King of the southern elves, was also the father of Prince Brodock, and Prince Eibwerd.  Ydrog was ruler of Dark Forest.  The elves had a knack for beautiful things, and were very much considered perfectionists.  Everything in the elf kingdom was useful for something.

Humans lived in homes, scattered all over Danovian.  Farming, mining, hunting, and fishing were the main human trades.  Of course there were small shops in every village and town, which specialized in clothing, weapons, prepared meats, and other specialty shops.

Vampires lived in caves on the northern side of Dark Mountain.  Dark elves ruled the Northern Forest.  A small group of Rangers lived in scattered homes on the northern plains.

The Espus market square brought prosperity to all who sold from there.  The market also provided buyers with some of life’s necessities, as well as the occasional luxury.  This market town was “the” place to go to buy, sell, and barter.  However at dusk every day, shop owners’ stalls would be packed into their wagons, and they would head for home, weary from their long busy day, and watchful of every wagon that crossed their path.

Sparevene, home of the so called “River People”, was a sleepy village, with only a few specialty shops, but mainly villagers who would make items to take to Espus to sell at market.  A few farmers, a lot of fishermen, because of the river port, and some of the best warriors around, lived in Sparevene.  A young man named Dranreb, who few knew anything about, just happened to be one of the best skilled warriors in Danovian.  His wife Ecila, who was pregnant with their first child, was well known for her fresh breads, that she sold at Espus market.

Sparevene was also well-known for the very large, very heavy alarm bell.  The bell had been gifted to the villagers by a stranger who traveled through.  The villagers had traveled to the base of Dark Mountain with wagons to bring enough rock back to encircle the bell thus building a house for it.  A bell ringer was appointed every few months, by the village warriors.  The same person was never to be bell ringer twice, until all villagers had a chance to ring the giant bell.

Darnok. a young wizard, had decided to leave his home town of Espus.  He found his calling at a very young age.  Now he was ready to find a quiet place to build himself a wizard castle.  In Danovian if the land was not already taken it was your land.  If you took the land you had to take care of it.  The mountains, and the forest were Danovian’s prized areas.  Mining was allowed only in designated areas.  As for the forest, there was no clearing of trees without the planting of two to replace the one taken.

Darnok’s bit of land was far to the east of Danovian, where the mountains met the forest.  It was near an old mining area, which made it easy to collect rock for his castle.  After clearing an area, he had enough trees to also help in the building of his castle. Because his castle was being built where he cleared, and only there, he did not have to plant two for one trees.  Darnok used his magic to infuse the rock, with the trees, to build strong sturdy walls.  Once a wall was finished, he cast a spell to seal the wall with his magic.  The result of this was a castle that looked like forest littered with fallen rock.

After he had finished off his wizard wonderland, he started magically cutting doors.  He had just made his first doorway, stepped through it, and there in front of him was a very small tree-rock.  He picked it up thinking this was just a bit that had fallen off, when it moved in his hand.  He brought the little rock closer to his face for a better view of it.  It was a tiny rock-tree creature.  His magic must have gone awry, producing a living thing.  “I will call  you Troxee,”  Darnok whispered, as if someone might hear him talking to a rock.

To the south of Sparevene, on the Great Danov river, was Pontus Port, a day’s trip by horse from Sparevene’s port.  Pontus Port lay nestled in a valley, with the Wild Lorgon Hills to the north, and Dark Sea to the south.  The Great Danov River crossed into the borders of Pontus Port, to drain into the Dark Sea, home of the Mish people.  Some say that in the days of old, Pontus Port had been hit by a huge tidal wave that swept up the whole valley.  A wave so great that it washed all inhabitants of Pontus Port into the Dark Sea, turning them into Mish people.

Nowadays, Pontus Port was a thriving city.  The first city in fact, to have a learning center, as well as a building for the preservation of history.  Scholarly wizards from nearby lands could often be found in Pontus Port’s learning center.  The learning center was also a place for young minds.  A time had been set aside every day for children to come listen to great stories, that were read to them from hand written books and scrolls.

The Pontus Port learning center also had a secret room.  This room was reserved for the Necromancers.  Access to the Necromancer room was not easy to find.  A young Necromancer would be given a gem that he or she would use to enter a tunnel that would then lead them to the secret Necromancer room.  There they could learn their magic, as well as the Necromancer ways.

Where Earth Necromancers care for all that is earthly, Fire Necromancers control fire, including the great Lorgon.  Water Necromancers control the waters, and kept the Mish people under control, and Air Necromancers control air movement.  Queen Alatli, and King Zonald, being earth Necromancers, and having an Earth Necromancer as a daughter, went beyond their earthliness by arranging the union of their daughter with Hayazi, prince of fire.  Their thoughts to this was that the offspring would create a new breed of Necromancer.

Necromancers of all element types are part human, part wizard.  They are supernatural beings, that have the ability to raise armies of the dead.  In their human form, they appear as pale elves. A beautiful race indeed.  Some have white hair as pure as fresh fallen snow, while others have hair as black as the darkest night.  To be able to join all the elements, the necromancers would eventually breed a super necromancer.  That would take time, and all necromancers would have to be in agreement.

Lord Stelau was a dark necromancer, a very rare form of Necromancer.  His children should have been water, and air elements.  However, they too were dark necromancers.  His Lady was a water necromancer.  Lord Stelau was not always dark, he was born an air necromancer.  He had learned his skills quite quickly, as a young necromancer.  Lord Stelau became a master of the air.  The light heart he had been born with, somehow grew cold, and dark.  Darkness filled the once great necromancer, not even Lady Unduria could get through to her husband.

Lord Stelau’s children soon followed after their father.  Lord Wuugan, and Lady Nerak, had both been born dark necromancers.  This was a rare occurrence, that the elder necromancers hoped the children of Lord Stelau would outgrow.  As the children grew so did the darkness.  Lord Stelau took great pride in teaching his children the ways of the darkness.  From his tower on the far northwestern slopes of the Dark Mountain range, he would practice his evil spells, with his children by his side.

Lady Unduria did not approve of Lord Stelau’s ways, but she had no hope of changing him.  She tried on several occasions to trick Lord Stelau into going to their old favorite island spot in the Dark Sea.  The island was where the pair had met as young necromancers.  They practiced their magic there, and they were presumed to be the cause of the Mish people.

The young necromancer couple had been on an outing one beautiful spring day.  Lord Stelau conjured and controlled the air, while Lady Unduria conjured a wave.  The couple got so wrapped up in their masterpiece that they did not realize how big it had gotten, until it was out of their control.

Pontus Port was right in the mega tsunami’s way.  Lord Stelau blinked ahead of it, while Lady Unduria attempted to circle it back to the sea.  As hard as the couple had tried, they could not get the giant wave turned.  It hit Pontus Port with a wave that covered the entire valley.  When the water receded it took everything in the valley with it.  Pontus Port became a valley once again.  There were no signs that there had ever been people there.  The people who had resided in Pontus Port at the time of the mega tsunami, had all been assumed to be claimed by the sea.

Those who had been away from Pontus Port for the day, came home to nothing.  No houses, no shops, no sign that a town had ever been there.  Lord Stelau and Lady Unduria continued practicing their magic on the island, however they never again lost control.  The remaining Pontus Port residents rebuilt, and restarted the town.  A vast monument was built to honor those who had lost their lives.  The necromancers were never openly blamed for the mega tsunami, but the Mish people knew how they had died.  They blamed the necromancers, and they vowed their revenge.

Hundreds of men, women, and children drowned in the Dark Sea that fateful day.  When the sea water receded, it took with it all of Pontus Port’s residents.  The people of Pontus Port mixed with the water that had been mixed with the necromancer magic.  Creatures of the Dark Sea consumed the dead, as is the way of life’s cycle.  Necromancer magic changed the creatures into Mish people.  Smaller sea creatures consumed smaller land creatures that had also died.  Sea turtles turned into Durkles, small fish turned into dogfish, and catfish, the effects of the necromancer’s magic became wide spread, creating an undersea world of amazing new creatures.

The Mish people could walk on land for short periods of time, but were thereafter doomed to live in the darkest waters of the sea.  A vast underwater city was built by the Mish.  Areav was built far beneath the island that Lord Stelau, and Lady Unduria had claimed as their own special magic practice hideaway.  It was amazingly similar to Pontus Port, with the exception that it was built on the floor of the sea.

Tiny islands began to form around Lord Stelau’s and Lady Unduria’s practice island.  At times, after the mega tsunami, when the couple went to practice on their island, they would notice the Mish watching them from a safe distance.  Eventually the necromancer couple stopped going to the island.  Lord Stelau and Lady Unduria had no idea that these creatures had been created by their practice gone awry.

Once the necromancers failed to return to the island, the Mish took it over, claiming it as their own.  They forged rivers through the island, making it more accessible. That island became the Mish people’s above water sunning area, that they named Sindel.  A monument of a great wave swallowing a crowd of people was built in the center of the island.  They constructed Mish-made waterfalls, providing eye-appealing areas for the young to safely play.  The island of Sindel was the Mish people’s attempt to some day return themselves to humans.  They thought that eventually their children would outgrow their fate, and become as they had once been.

The smaller islands that had appeared around the island of Sindel had huge waterfalls.  At the top of every waterfall well trained Mish guards waited for any attack that may come their way.

The Lorgons were another necromancer magic mixup.  In Danovian’s beginning the Dark Mountains were over-run with lions.  Wild horses roamed the valleys below the mountains.  Danovian’s only dragon lived in a volcano in the Dark Mountains.

A young fire necromancer princess named Aedai, had been practicing her fire skills in Danovian’s volcano.  The massive fire explosion she had created caused the old volcano to erupt.  Her accident destroyed Danovian’s only dragon.  It is said that the remains of the dragon could be found all over the mountains, and even into the valley below.  Some of the horses ate grass that had been splattered with dragon’s blood, and in turn, the lions ate those horses and also the remains of the dragon, turning many lions into lorgons.

Lorgons are as big as a dragon.  They have the head of a lion, the body of a horse, with the massive wings of the dragon.  They are able to breath fire, as a dragon would.  Their tail is that of a dragon.  Lorgons are very ferocious creatures.  All nearby villages feared and respected the Lorgons, learning to keep a great distance away from them.

The remaining lions migrated to the Wild Lorgon Hills overlooking Pontus Port.  The lorgons, being part lions, migrated with them.

After Lord Stelau, and Lady Unduria’s second child was born, Lord Stelau began to separate himself from everything.  He simply stopped doing anything good.  He built a tower to practice his magic in solitude, until his children were old enough to start learning beside him.  The necromancer realm was full of rumors of how Lord Stelau had lost himself, and had become a dark necromancer.  His children were soon to follow.

Rumor was that Lady Unduria died from a broken heart, long before her husband started the Great Necromancer War.  The truth was, the Elders sent her to a part of the necromancer realm where she could rest peacefully.  They stripped her of her magic, and most of her memories.  Because Lady Unduria was innocent to Lord Stelau’s dark ways, the elders did not see a need for her to suffer, by watching her partner and children turn the world around her dark and sinister.

Lady Unduria was given a home, a care-giver, and everything she could possibly need, or want.  She was as close to human as possible for a necromancer.  Her first season of moons at her new home, she built a beautiful garden.  In the center of her garden there was placed a statue of a mother with two young children.  The Elders wondered if she could ever completely forget her past life.  They watched her cautiously, in case she snapped, however she seemed happy enough.

Lord Stelau and his offspring did not seem to notice Lady Unduria’s absence.  Their home became a dark eerie place.  Brambles began to grow up the walls of their once magnificent home.  The servants, who had at one time been eager to work, rarely came around.  Lord Stelau spent the majority of his time in his magic tower.  The children had free reign of the rest of the family home.

The necromancer elders had discussed on many occasions taking the children from Lord Stelau, as they had Lady Unduria.  Instead they watched, and waited to see what would happen.  The few servants that dared stick around, did so for the children.  Once the children grew to be too much for even the bravest, those  servants left as well.  Lord Stelau was left totally alone with his dark children.  By this time, Stelau’s dark magic had ventured far beyond his home.  The people on the northern side of Dark Mountain began experiencing the effects of Lord Stelau.  It was such a gradual occurrence that nobody really knew why things had changed, they just had.

An evil haze spread from the west and seemed to have enveloped the entire northern side of the Dark Mountain.  Even in the daylight it looked like dusk.  Wild animals frequently attacked people at their homes.  They feared nothing.  Neighbors became enemies.  The rangers had even become twisted in their beliefs.  Every form of evil lived on the northern side of the mountain, with the vampires living in caves on the northern mountain side, and caverns built under the mountains.

Lord Giarc was a young boy who had lost his parents in a vampire raid many moons past.  He became a favorite of Lord Caiv, leader of the vampires, who thought of him as the son he never would have.  He even had gone so far as to tell the boy Giarc that he had always been his father.  Lord Stelau knew much about the vampires, as he had studied them as a young necromancer.  After Lord

Stelau’s transformation to darkness, he would often be found doing dealings with the vampires.

As darkness grew across the northern side of the Dark Mountain, spilling into the plains and forest, the Elders knew a war was inevitable.  The Elders first tried to reason with Lord Stelau, but to no avail.  Lord Stelau ignored all attempts of reasoning.  As his dark power grew, so did his arrogance.

On one of Lord Stelau’s rare trips to Pontus Port for supplies, he came across a young boy named Zakir Lustroussea.  The boy had been working for his elderly father the whole day, and looked exhausted.  Lord Stelau went to him with an offer.  He explained his evil plan in a way that did not seem evil at all.  He offered the boy a way to help his father with less effort from himself.  All Zakir had to do was stand on the Pontus Port bridge, and collect from travelers, then bring what he collected to Lord Stelau.

Because Zakir was young, he knew nothing of people who would take advantage of desperate situations.  He did Lord Stelau’s bidding, helping Lord Stelau proceed with his evil deeds.  Lord Stelau began teaching young Zakir necromancer ways, even though Zakir was a human.  This was totally against the necromancer rules.  The Elders were infuriated, humans could not be trusted with such power!    Once again the necromancer realm buzzed over what Lord Stelau was up to, and what could happen to him because of what he was doing.

Before the seasons of the moons the elders called all elementals to the realm.  Of course Lord Stelau ignored his call to order.  Queen Alatli, and King Zonald proceeded with the call to order, because they had been around the longest, and were the closest to earning elder rank.  Something had to be done to stop the evil darkness from spreading to the rest of necromancer world.  Danovian was not the only area affected now.

King Zonald suggested that he and Queen Alatli give up themselves in order to save Danovian, and the entire necromancer world, including all that lived there.

Poor Zakir had no idea what Lord Stelau was using the items he collected every day for.  If the bridge was crossed, Zakir was to collect one item from every person, no matter who that person was.  In return for his service his family would never want for anything, and Zakir would be taught necromancer magic.  That was something young Zakir would learn to regret in the future.

Danovian grew dark, and dismal.  Creatures of the wild began to behave oddly.  The many different inhabitants of the necromancer world, especially Danovian, began fighting amongst themselves.

Lord Stelau and his children also grew darker by the day.  The items Zakir brought to Stelau were taken to a great room, examined by Lord Stelau, then tossed into a great magic pot.  The items would later be melted down, and turned into a giant staff that the dark lord would use to control every person who had crossed the bridge.  King Ydrog of the southern elves was one of those people.

King Ydrog was accustomed to making trips to Pontus Port, he enjoyed visiting the many specialty shops the port town had to offer.  However after a few times of crossing the Great Danov bridge, he began to change.  The items Zakir collected from the king’s brocade had been taken to Lord Stelau.  The now evil dark lord used those items to gain control of the elf king’s mind.

Prince Brodock desperately tried to sway his brother’s love of humans.  It was against elf law to become one with a human.  To fall in love with a human was considered treason, punishable by death. Yet here Eibwerd was secretly seeing a human.  Prince Brodock loved his brother, and wanted nothing bad for him, so he protected him, as much as he could.

King Ydrog had heard rumors that one of his sons might be dabbling in human affairs.  He called both his sons to him.  They both denied the accusations.  He knew Eibwerd was not being truthful with him, but he let it slide until he had proof.  King Ydrog started having a guard follow his son, to gather proof.  He had hoped Eibwerd would stop his affair, but he did not.

As Ydrog’s mind grew burdened with darkness, his actions became chaotic.  Instead of separating his son from the human, as a sane elf would, he began to sneak around, following Eibwerd on his own.  Hidden in shadows, he overheard the exciting news that Eibwerd’s human girl was with child.

Ydrog watched in silence as the happy young couple celebrated the joy of their secret child.  The king followed Eibwerd back to the castle, and overheard him tell his brother Brodock the news.  Though his heart was happy to hear such news, his mind was clouded by Lord Stelau’s whispers.  Lord Stelau knew he could overthrow the elf kingdom, if he could cause the great King Ydrog to go insane.

The dark lord worked on the king’s mind from his tower.  Lord Stelau persuaded King Ydrog to wait until the child was born, before inflicting punishment on Eibwerd.  The child would be more than sufficient proof that Eibwerd had indeed committed treason under elf law.  On more than one occasion, Prince Brodock attempted to persuade his father to change several elf laws.  The prince’s attempts were all denied.

Lord Stelau had indeed planted a seed of destruction in King Ydrog’s mind.  To keep control of the king’s mind he had to follow through to the end.  While working on controlling King Ydrog’s mind, Stelau developed yet another plan.  The Mish people, who now had the island where he and Lady Unduria used to practice, were next.  Lord Stelau could feed off the revenge the Mish felt for the necromancers.

Stelau went to the island with his son, Lord Wuugan.  They pretended to be there to reminisce over Lady Unduria.  The two had no idea what had happened to Lady Unduria, and they did not really care.  The darkness had set into their own minds to the point of no return.  Stelau instructed his son to gather as many Mish articles as he could find, while he spoke to the people.  After returning to his tower, he examined each article Lord Wuugan had confiscated, then tossed into his giant magic pot.  The result, the darkness spread to the island of Sindel.  Lord Stelau now had control over many Mish people’s minds.

The birth of Prince Eibwerd’s only child was drawing near.  The prince went to his father with one final attempt at changing the elf law.  Eibwerd knew if this attempt failed he would be charged with treason the day his child was born.  Prince Eibwerd told his father that if he did not change the law he would leave the elves, and live amongst the humans to raise his child, thus giving up his crown.  When his father laughed at him, he attempted to enter his father’s mind.  Eibwerd found out then and there, that King Ydrog’s mind had been taken over by some dark power.

Prince Eibwerd went to his brother with this terrible news.  Prince Brodock also attempted to enter his father’s mind.  He too found King Ydrog’s mind otherwise occupied by something, or someone else.  The brothers contacted King Zonald, and were told of Lord Stelau’s insubordination.  The brothers gathered the elf counsel to removed King Ydrog from his rule, on the grounds that he was being driven mad.  However it was too late.

While the elf counsel was meeting, Eibwerd’s son was being born.  At the request of King Ydrog, the human mother was allowed to have the child at Castle Donishnia.  Eibwerd was not at all comfortable with this decision, but he had no choice.  No laws could be changed until it was proven that King Ydrog was being driven mad against his will.

Prince Eibwerd held his son one time only.  After the baby’s birth, King Ydrog summoned Eibwerd to his chambers.  Eibwerd’s heart was heavy, as a guard escorted him on his way to his father’s chambers.  He knew this was his end.  Prince Brodock went with him, but was denied entry into his father’s chambers.

King Ydrog motioned Eibwerd to draw nearer.  Eibwerd went to his father, then while his father hugged him, Eibwerd felt the dagger penetrate into his heart.  His blood spilled onto his father’s robes.  It was then Lord Stelau knew his evil deed was finished, and he left King Ydrog’s mind.  King Ydrog had executed his son for treason.  He changed his robes, and ordered the girl be banished from the castle.  When the guard came out of his father’s chambers, Prince Brodock saw the horror in the guards’s face.  Prince Brodock knew what had happened in there.

Prince Brodock opened the door to his father’s chambers, to see Eibwerd’s lifeless body on the floor.  His father turned to look at him, his face streaked with tears, the bloody dagger still in his hands.  Prince Brodock knew this was now once again their father.  He entered his mind, trying to comfort him.  King Ydrog was so much in despair over killing his son, that he turned the dagger, stained with his son’s blood, on himself.  In one swift movement he thrust the dagger deep into his own heart, falling to the floor.

By the time Prince Brodock pulled himself together enough to go see the girl and child, they were already gone.  Acting as the new King of Donishnia, he sent guards out to find the girl and baby.  Later that same day, King Zonald contacted the now King Brodock, to let him know that the girl and child were safe at the Necromancer Castle.  They would care for them.  King Brodock left it at that, while he buried his father and brother.

King Brodock’s coronation was short-lived.  The threat of war was far too great at this point to take the time to celebrate.  Brodock’s first call to action as king was to wage a war against Lord Stelau.  King Brodock explained to the elf counsel what had happened with his father.  The elf counsel contacted other elf kingdoms in the necromancer world. Full out war was declared against Lord Stelau, by the elves.

The Mish people were convinced that the necromancers were the cause of their misfortune in being mutated from humans into the Mish.  They declared war against all necromancers.  Humans caught drift of war, declaring war against Lord Stelau, on behalf of the elves who were their allies.

Lord Stelau was proud of his accomplishment.  He started summoning the dead to fight his battle.  The vampires joined Lord Stelau in his attempt to rule Danovian.The Dark Elves, and Rangers also joined the dark lord.  The mighty Lorgons grew restless, randomly attacking villages, making the entire situation much more chaotic.

The sand people of the desert regions joined in the war, as did the people of the far north.  The Great Necromancer War was in full swing.  Vampire attacks became a common nightly occurrence.  Those attacks became the sole reason for secret under-houses.  A law was also created that no under-houses could be connected at any time, even if you were family.

In the mist of The Great Necromancer War, Queen Alatli gave birth to Princess Alleb.  Lord Stelau caught wind of this special occurrence, and thought he could use that against them.  King Zonald, however foresaw the dark lord’s plans, and protected his castle.  Zonald released waves of dead armies to attack Lord Stelau’s home in the mountains.  A constant army of dead were battling against each other daily.  News leaked to Lord Stelau that a young necromancer prince had also been born, and that this prince had been promised to King Zonald’s daughter.

Queen Aedai, a fire necromancer, had promised her son Prince Hayazi to Queen Alatli’s daughter, Princess Alleb.  This union was thought to bring about an offspring of lava elements.  Lord Stelau had different plans for the children of Queen Alatli, and Queen Aedai. The dark lord instructed his children, Lord Wuugan and Lady Nerak, to capture the children and enslave them in Dark Mountain.

Queen Alatli, who had been raising the human-elf child, Dranreb, since the sad death of his parents, knew he would be leaving her soon.  King Zonald had taught young Dranreb warrior skills as he was growing up in the necromancer castle.  Dranreb only knew Alatli and Zonald to be his parents, at that point.  Queen Alatli,  in her attempts at protecting Dranreb, designed a medallion for him.  The medallion was created using Dark Mountain emerald, and necromancer protection magic.  That medallion changed his memories, and protected him throughout his life.

Queen Alatli and King Zonald set Dranreb up in Sparevene, where he met and fell in love with Ecila, a local of Sparevene.  The necromancers had implanted memories of  human parents into Dranreb’s mind.  Dranreb became the best warrior in Danovian, fighting alongside of Danovian’s best warriors during The Great Necromancer War.

Lord Stelau’s arrogance became his demise.  Many times during the war, blue, and then green lightning could be seen crossing the mountains.  That was King Zonald and Lord Stelau attacking each other.  At the peak of The Great Necromancer War, King Zonald and Queen Alatli had asked King Brodock to keep Princess Alleb at Castle Donishnia.  King Brodock agreed, but during the transportation of the princess, Lord Wuugan intercepted, thus kidnaping Princess Alleb.  At the same time Lady Nerak kidnaped Prince Hayazi, while pretending to be a necromancer child-sitter.

The Elders waited for just the right time to hijack Lord Stelau.  A young necromancer being trained as a thief, snuck into the dark lord’s tower.  He replaced Stelau’s  staff with a replica that had been designed to banish the dark lord when he used it.  All of the necromancers put their magic into that staff.  King Zonald fired a blast at Lord Stelau’s home, then when Lord Stelau grabbed his staff, and went to fire back, the staff exploded.  That many elements put into one staff, and the attempted use of dark magic added to it, caused such an explosion, that it killed Lord Stelau instantly.  The explosion also killed Queen Alatli, and King Zonald, which turned them into elders.

The staff had been meant to banish, not kill.  The elders had no idea what the effects of dark magic would have on it.  Lord Stelau’s children were so grief-stricken, that they enslaved the toddler necromancers in orbs, then placed them in a cave in Dark Mountain.  Before being banished to the outer necromancer realm, they managed to seal the cave with resistance magic, and craft an image of their father out of the mountain itself.

On either side of the sealed cave door waited two necromancer steeds.  King Zonald, and King Hyadai buried them into the outer cave wall.  Those would be the children’s steeds when they reached necromancer age.  Until then they merely looked like carvings………