((Please note, from now on, the Atlovan Battlemaster Gherhaert Voldhern will now be know as Gerrart Volden. And Dore-wiin Few-dhorwil Will be known as Dorwin Few-dhorhil.))
The Wondrous Continent of Feritul, by Andarius Quate
Chapter 13: Famous Duels
The stories of old tell that the Battlemaster was the first to initiate the battle, by barreling forward, swinging his axe mercilessly at the elf. His opponent, however, was no newcomer to a fight, easily dodging and parrying the attack whilst acrobatically dancing away in the style of his people.
Both participants in the following period described their first fight in great detail. We know that the acrobatic, agile elf was able to dance his way around the clearing, peppering the Atlovan with magic, arrows and even the odd bite from his weapons blades every so often. Likewise, the Atlovan professed his admiration for the elf's skill, however he usually insisted that he got several good hits in on the elf with both his axe and his war magic.
Witnesses, of which there were admittedly few and who were unanimously from the Atlovans own band of marauders, provided a bit more detail into the battle. The clash of blade on blade, and blade on shaft, rang through the forest, punctuated almost continuously by the tell tale signs of magic such as explosions and pops. Some could even identify the types of magic used, however this old historian was not privy to that information unfortunately, the finer details lost to time.
Another thing lost to the sands of time are the words passed between the two during the fight. There were many, as was testified by the participants themselves. As the initial engagement stretched on for hours, they said, they learnt much about each other from the taunts and leading conversations they held, both trying to distract the other from the fight.
What we do know is that as the fight drew to a close, ended by exhaustion on both sides, they swore to one another they would meet again, their pride and honour compelling them to complete a task only partially done.
***
Their next engagement was far further south, in the Yellow Banner Republic. Dorwin Few-dhorhil had been tracking the Atlovan with a troop of other elves as part of an investigation into the death of the great princess Velandra from the lands of the Goltein Elves. He professed that it was not hard to follow, due to the trail of destruction and dead Battlemaster Gerrart Volden left behind him.
This second fight took place on one of the many plains in the Republic. Gerrarts troops had camped by a copse of trees, feasting on their newly stolen stocks. Gerrart himself was prowling the perimeter hoping to find an unlucky local to shred with his axe. From what we know, this duel was initiated by Dorwin as he shot a charged arrow at the Atlovan. He saw it coming, however, and managed to dive out of the way as the arrow sped past, burying itself in a thick oak tree, which was promptly shattered by the magical explosion.
As you, my readers, would expect, this caused quite a stir within the Battlemasters camp. His troops swarmed out of their camp. Fortunately for the elves, though, is that they were far fewer in number than they had been, due to their defeat soon after Gerrarts first duel against Dorwin, which forced them south originally. Modern estimates put the Battlemasters forces as little more than 500, with few beings approaching the power of a Faradunian elf, let alone an Atlovan.
The troops of elves, roughly 60 in total by records from the period, let loose their arrows and magic into the charging troops, killing many and forcing Gerrart back into the copse. Leaving the Battlemasters troops to the Elven troop, Dorwin chased after Gerrart, his feet a blur as he dodged and weaved through the enemy forces, avoiding their wildly swinging weapons.
Now, I suspect you are wondering what occurred between the two inside that small copse of trees?
I know, and I will tell you. A battle that shook the earth itself. Witnesses report that there were bright flashed of light, trees being torn from the ground, roots and all, only to be flung away into the far distance and even great cracks and chasms riddling the ground. Fighting between the two forces ceased as they were mesmerized, paralyzed by the spectacle before them.
Like the previous engagement, this carried on for hours. Few details are known about what happened within, as few dared approach and those that did were quickly dispatched by wild magic and wayward bolts of energy. The participants never talked about it either. However there was one main difference between this fight and their first, that being that this fight became more and more wild and destructive as time went past.
By the time the lights and thunder of battle died down, the once fertile, verdant plain was a complex patchwork of chasms, cracks and muddied land, resembling more the pits of the underworld that the lands of Man, the troops of elves and the battlemasters army long fled.
***
And so this pattern continued for almost 4 years, with each fight becoming larger and larger in scale and destructive power. The Long Reach City of Volopolis was flattened, several mountains were turned to little more than dust, an entire mountain range was heavily scarred, forests were cleared, armies clashed and died.
Eventually there were few places in the central areas of Feritul that had not received scars from the grand duel between the Elf and the Atlovan. Even villages of the smallest scale bore some markings, from the travels of the Two across the land during their intermittent rest periods.
Both were feared, and both were respected. Adventurers and sellswords from as far away as the Deserent arrived to try and sell their services to either side. They were always accepted on, and the always ended up dying slow and painful deaths of a wide and exotic variety.
***
When it came to their last battle, though, they knew that their battle between good and evil had to be concluded. For the Elf, it had taken more than enough lives, and for the Battlemaster, he had not taken enough.....
((I hope this can put you on until tomorrow. I have come down with the flu, and using the computer gives me a massive headache so copy-pasting this from Word into this page, and further tweaking it a bit was enough to set off a minor migraine......
I will try and get a real update out tomorrow.))
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