THE DARK LORD COMES

After they had rested for a week, letting the wounded heal up before they moved out, Damien had the Uruks pack up camp and planned to march out to quickly take up the lords’ holdings before anyone else came. Damien and two hundred Uruks marched on Night’s castle as he sent the Witch-king with another hundred and fifty to Silver's castle, and lastly Khamoul, with the same amount as the Witch-king's force. The remaining force of Uruks was sent to capture nearby villages to secure the surrounding territory before meeting back up with Damien and his lieutenants’ forces. So far, they’d met little resistance from the nearby settlements as they marched on Weathertop; Lord Night's castle. They were nearly there, and already they could see the castle in the distance. From the look of it, Weathertop lived up to its name. It was built on a rock formation with a top that had been leveled out with a keep placed on top. It was a mix of classical and gothic design, and had a single path that wrapped around the rock formation with three gatehouses placed along it. The surrounding area was covered in farmland, with a small town at the base of the path with a six-foot high wall and a wooden gate house. The fields were empty, since the castle spotted their advance from a ways away and quickly readied their defenses. Damien sat at the head of the column of Uruks riding his chariot, with Song riding along with him. When they were 190 yards from the castle, Damien ordered the Uruks to halt as he road up with fifty Caragor riders to the town gate. Eight stallions, armed with crossbows and glaives, and wore chainmail with mail coif were stationed on the gatehouse. The flags along the wall showed Song's family crest; a black canvas with a white crescent moon and a blue harp next to it. As they got closer, Damien called up to the guards.

"I wish to parley with Lady Melody!" The guards looked at each other and talked for a moment before one left to fetch their liege’s wife. After twenty minutes of waiting, the gate opened, and a mare walked out with four guards behind her. Her fur was blue, with silver stripes, and her mane was white. Her eyes were bluish-green, and she wore a black silk dress with a brown belt and had various things of jewelry around her neck and on her arms. She stared for a moment, seeing her daughter next to Damien, and understood what was happening as she locked eyes with Damien and spoke. “What are your demands?"

"Surrender the castle, swear fealty to me and in return, you and your people will be spared."

"And Song?"

"She will be my concubine," Damien said plainly as he studied the mare’s features, looking for signs of aggression. But the Mare merely sighed and spoke.

"So be it. I will swear fealty." She said as she got closer to the chariot, to which Damien smiled and got down, walking in front of Melody as she got to her knees before him and spoke. “Jiak ukwear mausan ukoul agh mausan landuk avo lat avo avhiuk dautas agh avo mausan laukav dautas." Once she finished, Damien placed his hand on her face and branded her, as her eyes glowed a light amber before returning to normal as the mark faded. She then got up and turned to her guards. “Ready a room for Lord Damien," she ordered as the guards nodded before leaving.

Damien looked to an Uruk and ordered, "Have the Uruks set up camp outside, and have a Uruk bring Song and my things to our chamber. Follow the guards to it before gathering our things." The Uruk nodded and quickly got up, with the guards heading to the keep. He then looked at Melody and asked, "When will we be eating?"

She thought for a moment before speaking. "Around seven, my lord."

"Good, then I will leave you ‘till dinner." He turned to song and signaled for her to follow him. She nodded before saying goodbye and hugging her mother, then went to catch up with Damien. The two followed the guards until they reach their room and went inside, seeing a decent room big enough for the two of them. Damien looked to Song and gave her an order. “Sing me a song as I read," he said as went to a bookshelf and grabbed a book on the history of the Shadow Isles.

"Yes, master, as you wish." She paused for a moment before she started to sing ‘Edge of Night.’ As she sang, Damien read, listening to the song as he read. On occasion, he would have her change songs, and return to reading as time passed. The Uruk had returned with their things and quickly left to get ready for the night. Another hour passed before a knock sounded on the door. Song stopped singing and went to answer the door, as Damien placed his book down and joined her at the door as she opened it, revealing one of the castle’s female staff.

"Yes?" Song asked as the maid then bowed and spoke.

"Lady Melody has sent me to tell you that dinner is ready."

"Thank you, we will join them shortly," Damien said as he turned around; the maid bowing before leaving. Song quickly put a dress on as Damien used his power to change his appearance into a more formal look, as he waited for Song to finish. After another minute, she finished, no longer wearing the simple dress as before; now wearing a black dress which showed off her body well. Damien smiled as he and Song left, with her leading him to the dining hall, passing various servants and slaves who gave a quick bow as they passed. Soon they found themselves at the door to the dining hall, where two guards nodded, then opened the door as Damien and Song passed by them and entered the hall.

The hall was 15 feet long and 9 feet wide, with a long dining table and four Zestrals sitting around it. The design of the hall was gothic, with the chandeliers casting a white light over the room. The table had six seats, with Melody and her group sitting on the far end, leaving Damien and Song the chairs closest to the door.

"Ah, you're just in time. They’re about to bring out the food," said Melody before she gestured to the others at the table as she continued. "The stallion to my right is the captain of the guard; Iron Wall. He can help you with anything you need involving our personal forces." Turning his head, Damien took a look at the earth Zestral Iron Wall, who looked to be a middle-aged stallion with black fur and a short white mane and stripes he also had a short, well-trimmed beard that ended at a point. His eyes were a cold blue, with a scar on his right cheek. He wore a black gambeson, and his expression was cold and calculating as he sized up his liege's boss. “And the stallion to my left is our smith, Molten Craft." The stallion was an earth Zestral that looked to be elderly, yet still had a strong build. His fur was orange, and he had a yellow mane and silver stripes. He had a yellow bushy beard that was slightly singed at the ends. His eyes were fiery blue, and he wore a tanned tunic. His expression was of slight annoyance as Damien looked at him. “And finally, the mare here is Dark Spark. Ask her about anything in terms of magic and the library." Taking a look at the mare in question, Damien saw that she was a unicorn that was younger than the other three. She was somewhere around her late twenties. Her fur was white, with black stripes and grey mane done up in a french braid, with her eyes being a light lime green. Her dress was black with white accents, and she held an inquisitive expression. Taking a quick nod to all of them, Damien went to his seat and spoke.

"Thank you; now then, I believe we should get to business and start discussing how I'm going to run things, alright?”

"Alright then, let's hear it." Iron wall said in a gruff yet reserved tone.

"First will be the taxes. I suspect that at least 10% of all income and resources will be a fishnet." He said as he paused for a moment waiting for an objection when he heard none he smiled and continued. “Next, restrictions will be placed upon your forces and levies. So, can you tell me how many soldiers you can rally?”

"Currently we can only muster a force of three hundred militia and four hundred levies." Iron said.

"And at full strength?"

"At full strength, we would have had five hundred militia and seven hundred levies, with enough corsairs for three ships."

"And how many corsairs do you have now?"

"Enough for one ship and half a crew left over."

"Alright then, this will be simple then. Your numbers at your full strength will exclude levies. From now on you will only have corsairs and militias."

"Yes, sir. But how will we make up for the lost stallion power?"

"I'm sure you have seen the Uruk-Hai, am I right?"

"So that's what they are,” Dark piped up as inquisitive smile showed on her face.

"Yes, and as I have shown with your recent defeat, they can hold their own quite well and will be good main infantry before we finish reforming your own."

"Reform? But won't the militia be enough?" Melody said.

"For small lord-on-lord fighting; yes, they are equal to your foe. But I would like to turn these militias into a proper standing force; one that can do more than match their neighbors in battle."

"What you want is a standing army?" Molten said raising his eyebrow.

"Yes, the other nations have their own armies, right? Why wouldn’t we?"

"Hmm, the Idea is tempting, yet how would we pay for such a force?" Iron said as he fiddled with his fork.

"To start off with, we will have to keep militia and use the Uruks as the army ‘till we have enough territory for us to afford the army."

Before any more could be said, the doors to the Dining room opened and three servants marched in, placing trays of food onto the table before removing the lids and revealing a cooked boar, ribs, and an egg salad. The choice of food did not surprise Damien, as he knew that Zestrals; thanks to their Thestral ancestry were omnivorous, being able to eat many things unlike there zebra and pony counterparts. Then, glasses were brought over and filled with wine. Everyone started eating, with bits of conversation taking place among those seated. Then, Melody brought up a good question.

"Lord Damien?"

"Yes?”

"From what your scouts said, you had a much larger army. So, may I ask where they are?"

"Simple: I split the army among me and my lieutenants; I headed over here and the others headed off to take care both Grace's and Bitter's lands to quickly bring them under our command before other powers make their move."

"I wonder how that is going.”

[pov] Witch-king

To say that I was disappointed with my enemies is an understatement. After my battle with the coalition forces, I took my force and went to capture the rest of the fat oaf’s lands. And surprisingly, I found that instead of sparse resistance, I found our once-enemies’ forces flocking to me. Yes, it seemed that Lord Penny Bitter was not all that liked by his people seeing as how my force now numbered around eight hundred and some. Though I did not care to question it, and simply continued to on to the castle of the fool, which was built on top of a deep gold deposit; something that will prove useful later for my master's plans. The only real downside was that unlike his fellow lords, Bitter escaped and made it back to his castle with some eighty troops. What remained of his force had now joined up with the castle’s garrison and had prepared to fight to the last against my army.

Bitter's castle was nothing of note really. The keep and the main part of the fortifications were placed on top of a hill with five eight-foot stone walls and three stone towers not connected to either the keep, nor the gatehouse. The keep was a simple wide square building that was three stories tall. The gatehouse led to a ramp that went down into a small town with its best defense being a small wooden wall with no gates. I had no plan of assaulting the main keep and simply watched as the Uruks and rebels sacked the small town; enslaving the people still not in the keep from my vantage point on a hill to the south. I was planning to simply siege the castle until they surrendered. As my men set up the camp, I was in my tent sharpening my sword. When the tent flap opened, two Zestrals came to me carrying a villager as he gave little resistance. They stopped six feet from me, and as the two forced the prisoner to his knees, one barked to the prisoner, "Talk!"

"Why have you brought this prisoner to me?” I asked the two Zestrals. The prisoner waited a moment before speaking.

"I know another way into the castle,”

At this, I paused for a moment. “Where is it?"

"In a house, not far from here, it leads to the mines under the castle and then heads up into the keep."

"How many guards are there in the tunnel?"

"At best, maybe six. They wouldn’t have kept that many soldiers down there, since they’d probably expect you to be more likely to try to invade on the surface rather than from the mines."

I thought about this for a moment before I spoke. “Ready the Uruks, and have them prepare to use the tunnel to open the gate for the rest of our forces."

"Yes, sir."

There was still the issue of what to do with the prisoner, however. “Bring him with you, and have him lead our troops through the tunnel. If this plan succeeds, you may have your freedom." The stallion's eyes widened and a smile came to his face as I continued. “But if this fails, or we get lost, your head’s going on a pike. Understand?" The stallion frowned before nodding.

"Good. Cut his binds and get him some equipment and a club."

"Yes, sir." The stallions replied; one quickly cutting his binds before they left. Once the two were gone I took a good look at the stallion. He had brown fur with brash stripes and a dark brown mane with green eyes. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. “Tell me, what is your name?"

"Solid Strike, sir."

"Okay then, Strike, why do you know about the tunnel, and why would you help us?"

"I know because I worked in the mines; bringing up gold for Penny Biter for around three years as a slave."

"If you are an escaped slave, then why stay here?”

"To hide in plain sight: he couldn't tell me from a farmer."

"Interesting. But again, why help us?”

"My brother was enslaved with me. When I escaped, I promised I would find a way to free him one day."

"Good, and tell me, where are the slaves kept?"

"Near the mine."

"And how many do you think there are?"

"At least seventy, my lord."

"Alright. Now," I moved in front of the stallion and placed my hand on his face before yelling “Lat ukerve alnej," and placing a spell on the stallion to ensure his loyalty. We waited a moment before the two stallions returned with some leather armor and a spiked club, which were given to Solid before I looked over the stallion once more and said, “You will help us take the castle, and I will help you, understand?"

"Yes."

"Good, then prepare yourself; for tonight, the castle will fall." The stallion nodded in response before leaving. I left my tent and looked up at the keep, gripping my sword as I spoke to myself. “Soon, your keep will fall and be forgotten; but I will be remembered."