It had been a year since that fateful night.
Long enough to find out about their enemy. Long enough to know that most of them were men, just like them. Men that could be killed.
But they were not the problem. The ones that they served were.
Darmen stood atop the hill next to Loratis. He and one other were the only ones left of the order.
They looked down upon the village. The only home they ever knew. And they watched it burn.
In the streets, the two forces clashed. The war had started on open ground. At first, it had been almost too easy. The force was large, but quick raids could take out their supply lines, and surprise attacks cost the enemy a large number of casualties.
But then the Decoraks arrived. They were the ones that the old man inside the tree had warned them about. Scaled beasts with lightning fast tails that could take off a man's head. Whenever they showed themselves in battle, the only option was retreat, or death.
And so Darmen watched what should be an easy battle rage through the streets of his home. Time after time, he watched his men rally and take a section back; and then a Decorak would come from nowhere, moving too fast to see, and demolish them.
Darmen stomped the ground, "We should be down there!" he screamed.
Aloris, Master of the Order, and the only other left, put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We will get our chance for battle soon enough. The Decorak's will come here. Maybe we ourselves do not know fully the importance of the tree. We know that those who tend it gain abilities that other men do not have. We know they are granted longer life than most. But we do not know why.We do not even know what would happen if the tree were to fall. I feel they do. And that is why they want to destroy it."
And so, fists clenched and tears stinging his eyes, Darmen watched in silence as his village died. Eventually, unable to take the carnage, he turned to stare at the tree he had given his life to.
He gasped. The fire leaves were being extinguished, one by one. He turned to look back at the village.
"The leaves," he said. Aloris turned and looked at the tree. He fell to his knees.
"All this time," he whispered, "we were guarding the very lives of our people....perhaps even their souls."
As Aloris spoke, yet more leaves were blown away, leaving only a wisp of smoke in their wake.
A primal growl turned both around.
A Decorak was charging up the hill.
Aloris stood, hands held high, and then plunged them deep into the Earth. The ground in front of him exploded, and the explosion followed a path down the hill to the Decorak.
The great beast dodged the torn mounds of dirt just in time, and continued towards them. Darmen gathered all of his strength, and sent a bolt of lighting towards the monster.
It hit its side and the great beast rolled away, smoking. But it was up just as quickly as it had gone down, and now it was only a few seconds away from Loratis.
Aloris gathered his energy for another spell, but it was too late. The Decorak was on him, and crushed his skull in it's great jaws.
Darmen screamed in disbelief, and in his rage, simply drew his sword and charged. The great beast dropped Aloris, and backhanded the boy with it's massive claw.
Darmen flew through the air and landed against the trunk of the Great Fire Tree.
Dazed and vision swimming, he noticed that the tree had given slightly. The door, the door was open!
Thoughts confused and body aching, he did the only thing he could. He turned and went through the door.
OK LAST PART COMING LATER TODAY I PROMISE.