The Fort

The exiled Minotaur walked around in the study room mumbling and speaking in a low voice, his plan to take over the small mountain region of the great forest of Edelweiss has gone up in a direction that he didn’t intend but despise his little mistakes he could still continue with his work . When he first met his master in the forgotten lands that his clan called the Wastelands, he could have never believed the amount of magical knowledge he had been shown when this newly met “warlock” appeared , promising not only return to his clan as a new powerful warrior but to reclaim it and lead it towards the known civilized kingdoms to ravage them of their wealth and power.

His race was once a proud and emblematic as the rest of the species that roamed the world. Their land, their kingdom and their culture was on par with the rest of the world during their golden age a couple thousands years ago. But when interests and corruption between other nations began to slither in the minds of their leaders, a civil war erupted leaving nothing but scattered clans all around on what they used to call the kingdom of Minos.

That war and many other calamities that ravaged their lands through the ages was more than enough to reduce their population to nearly nothingness, leaving only a handful of separated clans and groups scattered in the far corners of their ruined kingdom. They either lived and prospered in the tranquility of their nomadic ways or lived in the tumultuous life of the few coastal cities that survived the End of their country.
In the tribes only a handful of individuals managed to get out of their ignorant and tribalism way of life. To go against the will of the elders and the chiefs is like to be against your identity. your place was determined in how the clan can benefit from you, whether you are a warrior or a shaman or anything else that could bring honor or to safeguard the future of your clan. The leaders of the clans were afraid that if the members of their kind were to have the same amount of pride and greed as those in the past, they could bring ruin back to their homes and restart the same vicious cycle that brought misery and death thousands of years ago. So it was normal that as the old saying goes ” the nail that stands out, must be hammered”.

Still there were a couple of individuals that tried to better their quality of life by questioning their will, every now and then a single young and naive child will began pestering and try to improve in some way their repetitive tasks and chores during their life. With time those thoughts could easily fade away and the growing child would assume a new interest or purpose, but there were examples in which one of their kind couldn’t just keep thing the way there were and either abandon their clan to seek fortune and glory outside, or simply be cast out and marked as an exiled. In most cases those who were exiled took the work of common mercenaries or venture into dangerous places and never return, their fates were unknown.

Such was the fate of Adrix, once the son of a proud warrior in his clan, now just another name to added to those who decided to change their fate, he tried to explore the ancient ruins of a temple close to their home, defiling their ancestral tombs and finding different tomes in which could grant him the ability to become a conduit of magic and unleash his rage towards the other clans in other to finally fulfill his dream of rebuilding Minos once again. It was like a prophesied weapon delivered to him in order to protect his home from from the dangers that apparently were getting closer and closer to his family. For this sin alone the shamans and the chiefs chastised him and gave him the option of either surrender this rebellious path or become an exiled and seek his vision somewhere else, his choice was easier than he ever imagined the freedom of knowledge or the slavery bliss of ignorance? he felt a smile forming on his face the moment he began wandering out of his country, some how he knew he would find a way to bring back Minos from the ashes and show those old cows the true way of the Minotaur.

On his journey he met with a wanderer who was heading the same way, their path crossed and the moment they shared their tales, they began to form a bond of student and teacher. His new master was in all words a ram, a simple goat, at least that’s what his appearance looked like when he met him.
Grogar “The Father of Monsters” was nothing but a 4 legged weak little creature that couldn’t even look menacing even if he tried to, his magic has been lost, the great creator of the most vile, violent and deadly creatures known in the world was now a beggar. His defeat at the hooves of the ponies brought a rage deep inside him, and when he met the exiled Minotaur Adrix following the shameful path towards forgetfulness, he was met with a chance for revenge.

The Ram taught the Minotaur the basics on how to channel magic, and the student in return showed his knowledge of locations were they could obtain powerful artifacts and magical objects. With magic slowly returning to Grogar, his image began to return as he was remembered, a big blue coated ram with sharped teeth and fang, and his signature red eyes glowing with pure unadulterated hatred.

Adrix swore himself to him the moment the ram gave him a powerful axe from the defiled grave of a great general of his people, what was once a weapon created to protect Minos was turned into a weapon to destroy and corrupt all those who stood against them. They began traveling West towards the ancient lair in which Grogar first began experimenting, lacking of tools and test subjects and ingredients but it will have to do for the time being. While the 2 of them began making preparations to bring down the most powerful nations of the world to their knees. Grogar knew he will need time and allies in order to bring calamity to Equestria and the species of ponies that wronged him in the past, but he would have to wait, for the time being he needed a plan, so he would make use of his new apprentice to acquire what he needed. Adrix was a perfect example to begin with, he was sent to sow chaos and confusion in Griffonstone, but more importantly to get slaves and subjects to experiment. The magic of the world was wild and dangerous to both attain and control, specially if you are trying to mix dangerous species, even the sentient ones.

For a couple of weeks Adrix did as he was tasked, the griffins never cared much for nature or the prey and predators that roamed the forest, when he finally met the diamond dogs he was thankful for fate has finally rewarded him with a chance to try out the new magic his master has bestowed upon him. Even better when his diamond dogs were making tunnels towards the top of the mountain he found a sleeping dragon, the drake wasn't fully adult but was big enough to be of use to them, the poor legendary lord of the flame was still asleep when the magic began to corrupt his flesh. The dragon screamed for one and last time and with the magical help of Grogar he was now another fallen victim.

With a great number of creatures and monsters to his command and the will of his master, Adrix began kidnapping the workers of a small town deep in the forest. Unbeknown to him one of the griffins escaped and sent news of his presence towards the town and the border city of Erden, expecting the worst he prepared himself for a full attack, but that never came, instead the town Branwick was almost left to suffer alone his little reign of terror. A couple of days he would find out that the descendant Prince would be coronated in the Capital and all the attention would be put on the safety of their new monarch, leaving enough time to send part of his captured animals along with the griffins he had been collecting to his master.

Everything was according to plan, until one day while he was trying to cut off the couriers from the town from delivering further news of his actions, he was met with the reinforcements on the open road....He expected only griffins but they were accompanied by strange creatures armed with weapons that could bring down even his most stronger of warriors with a speed and accuracy that he couldn’t dream in his entire life, he saw how this hairless and hornless minotaurs began firing their weapons in a rhythm that was almost entrancing in a way but with devastating results, one by one the numbers of his army was cut down to the last. He wasn’t a coward but he was way to important to waste his life in a single engagement, if the griffins had an ace under their sleeve then he will have to use all of his cards in order to conquer something as simple as a forest.

By the time the reinforcements arrived at Branwick, Adrix was preparing to transport his hostages towards the lair of Grogar but when he told his master of the creatures, Grogar told him to leave the griffins and prepare for a full assault. The ram wasn’t an idiot but he new that his student has already over stayed his presence in the country and the chances of returning with the full loot was a window that was closing the more time he wasted. So he gave his student 2 choices to either attack and leave no survivors on the town or pack it all up and leave, knowing full well that the griffins would come looking for their relatives, that’s when Adrix decided to go out and test out his new pets on his enemies.

Michael Keener heard the first explosion, signaling the beginning of the operation but they never expected a more powerful explosion a couple of minutes later, as soon as they began getting closer to the fort. They heard the Minotaur yell orders from the balcony of the tower and soon the were-dogs as well as some of the lizardmen began running towards the direction of the mine. The Slavs knew something went wrong and decided to retreat back to Branwick.
Separating the group was a smart move the Slavs Wojtek and Prag would retreat back to the town and leave an opening for them when they return. Hoping that the other group remembered the plan. the Slavs fell back, leaving the Americans to take their chances.

The Fort wasn’t empty but the security that was left wasn’t nearly enough to cover all of the wall and battlements, the Fort itself wasn’t completely empty but it didn’t show that much of troops to begin with, when the humans sneaked close to the cages, they whispered to captives and shown them the badge of Captain Silver, telling them that the “cavalry” just arrived. That's when Calli was trying to break open the lock of the cage with a knife, when all of the sudden a Lizardman pointed his spear at her, it was a bout to yell the alarm when claws from the cages grabbed the lizard from the limbs and head. While It tried to pry itself free a couple of claws went directly to his throat and squeezed then other 2 went in for the kill, the gurgle of gushing blood coming out of it’s mouth and throat was the only noise it made, while the rest of the guards simply didn’t take no mind, almost as if they were statues just looking outside deep into the forest.

Thankfully one of the griffins told her that the keys were hanging inside one of the makeshift watch tower, moving fast and with the rest of the group covering the area around the cages, soon one by one the captives got out, Austin told the griffins to not go to Branwick but to go directly to Erden, it was a longer flight but a safer one and if they managed to reach the city they could alert Iron Beak of the situation in the forest. So with the badge given by the humans and using the dark of the night the griffins left. The team gathered in the shadow of the tower were the one creature responsible for all the grievances in the forest lay with a false sense of security, the humans discussed whether to risk it all and kill the Minotaur or fall back and join in the defense of the town.

With a confidence that irradiated out of their bodies the human group began slowly to go up the set of stairs towards the upper floor of the tower, the creaking of the wooden door making a soft echo in the building as they went inside one by one, Lucy was the one faster on her feet and the lighter one of the group, she was the first to reach out and slowly peer out of the heavy wooden door that lead directly to the great room of the tower..
The Minotaur was standing in waiting in front of a huge mirror that had a strange glow around it, it appeared that he was speaking to another person, the group couldn’t make heads or tails on whom was on the other side. The whole situation felt like a DnD session to Lucy, a group of adventurers about to face the BBEG only to find out that he was just another piece of the grand puzzle, the cliche of the conversation that the creature was having, was word to word a typical back and forth between a curious minion and his dark master. Her scoffing and roll of her eyes would have been hilarious if it wasn’t for the fact that even if they kill him, they would have to face the rest of his army later.

“Just because you kill a bad guy doesn’t make his army dissapear”, she thought as the Minotaur spun around and smiled back to his hidden audience. showing his battle axe. “Come my friends there is no need for more violence, I’m sure we can reach an accord” he said the blade of the axe pointing down while the strange crystal pommel just pointed up, the Minotaur tried to look as diplomatic as he could but in case the whole situation went down even further he would down fighting like a warrior of the old kingdom of Minos.

One by one the group of humans stepped out into his view, the 5 humans pointing their weapons towards the hulking Minotaur, what they didn’t expect was the image behind him in the mirror to laugh at them. The humans saw the blue coated head of a demonic Ram with crooked fangs just laughing, even weirder they didn’t expect that animal to talk. “It’s been a couple of millennia that I had the chance to meet new creatures roaming the world, specially young humans such as yourselves, to whom I own the pleasure to talk?”

No one said anything, for a couple of seconds the group stayed in complete silence, the humans just kept their guns aiming at both the Minotaur and the mirror, the look on their faces showing complete distrust at the two, just when one of the group was about to speak, Lucy took a shot at Adrix the bullet bounced on the axe and then Ram yelled, “Very well then if that’s how you want it, ADRIX KILL THEM, BRING ME THEIR CORPSES!!!” and with a flash of light coming out of the pommel of the battleaxe the Minotaur launched his first magical attack on Michael, the tall human was launched against the wall, his chest smoking like if a lightning just struck his body in full force but there wasn’t any damage Michael got up to his feet, the white tree emblem of his shirt unscathed, the rest of the group opened fire on the Minotaur, bullets flew fast hitting his bulking arms and legs but they were protected by the metal armor he was wearing, still the barrage was enough to force Adrix to seek cover behind a stone pillar in the room.

Just when Grogar was about to shout a new order Calli loaded a new round and shot the mirror shattering it into pieces, the rest of the group fired round after round, each time cutting holes into the pillar where Adrix was taking cover, then the Minotaur warrior charged the moment the humans were reloading their weapons. With his Axe powered up Adrix tried to struck Austin, the Texan after loading a few rounds into his lever action, he began to hip fire while he retreated trying to put a bigger distance from the horned hulk, each round making new holes in the armor, but that wasn’t enough to stop Adrix from slashing the chest of the Texan, Austin fell into the ground heavily injured and bleeding.

Grogar saw from the bigger fragments that remained scattered in the fight, before his vision went black, he saw that magic could barely affect the humans, as if their bodies were showing an immunity of some sort or maybe because they were new their bodies hadn’t adapted fully to their environment, the Ram began to theorize and the idea of having at least 1 of this creatures alive or under his control was enough to draw out his scientific imagination, if he could at least implement their innate ability on other more powerful monsters then Equestria would fall easily.

Humans were known to him, in the past the few tribes of humans that walked the land began hunting down his monsters one by one, no matter how big or deadly, the nature of their species always prevailed against many obstacles the world threw at them. It is perhaps mere luck that only a handful of humans managed to make contact with the ponies of Equestria, but their relationship was sour and distant from the beginning, leaving nothing but a few myth and legends about them.

Back to the fight Grogar was a witness of their capabilities.
Adrix was losing, he knew that he would die there on that tower, his skill as a warrior was no match to the technological advances of the world, in the past the Minotaur race prided themselves as the greatest warriors, even thought they still were in some aspects in the present, most of that prowess began to fade away the more other nations tested their new inventions. the appearance of the griffin crossbow and it’s variants, the ponies with their spells and magical power that grew with time were some of the examples in which a Minotaur mercenary couldn’t compete in the world at least on the bigger scene.

When the humans began firing their weapons at him, he thought he could have at least a chance to take at least one down with him, the wounds they made were too many and they spread almost on all of his body, his armor managed to bounce a few rounds on the small distance but the moment he got closer, he was ripped apart in almost all directions. with no other choice and feeling the strength of his body leaving, Adrix overcharged the crystal pommel on his axe and struck the floor beneath him hoping to bring down the whole tower and the humans with him. The moment of the explosion took the humans by surprise, they were pushed in different direction of the room. It was like a green explosion of energy and fire, there was nothing left of the Minotaur but an ashen silouette on the floor. Fragments of glass, wood and rock flew at incredible speed in all directions, some hurting the humans who were closer the warrior.

The base of the room began to crack, leaving fissures opening and fragmenting the whole structure, the humans barely got time to get to their feet when parts of the ground began to fall. It wasn’t a long fall but with injuries sustained on the short battle made and the tower collapsing was enough to put the fear of death into the minds of the group. Michael and Calli were the least injured and they rushed to help their friends, with enough luck they barely escaped the crumbling of the tower and began fighting their way out of the fort. Austin, Lucy and Mary took the worst of the fight, wounds covering almost all of their bodies but they were still conscious and capable of stand on their 2 feet.

With little help from their friends and by following the X trail they left behind, the group finally managed to fall back to the town, the first wave of attacks had been repelled and the griffins and other humans were already waiting for them. When the American team finally got to safety, they realized that the other group was short on numbers, while they were getting first aid and treatment. The other group explained the situation on the mine, a small army of mutated diamond dog and lizarmen was easy to resist but the addition of a Dragon changed the whole situation.

That’s when they heard the horns signalling another attack followed by a deafening roar just out side the Wall.

To be Continued

Author's Note

Okay, here's another chapter for the Friday.
Enjoy.