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Part One
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And so the call went out the next day. It was among the rain and the first breath of spring that all of Kaliai was woken by the sound of a warhorn, and the tolling of the bells. The long, lowing sound of the horns echoed off of the mountainsides, and shook the town with their dark calls, while the clangor of the bells sent the city running. A century of riders flew out into the city streets, the hooves of their horses thundering down the streets, as they cried out:
To arms! Free men of the Merhai, rise! To arms,
to arms!
The anthill was stirred, and men woke to the world for the first time in their lives: it was not so small as they had remembered. Hundreds poured out of the homes of the city, and made their way to the center: the great square, usually a marketplace of grandeur, was now filled with a thousand people, who crowded each other in their haste to give themselves sight of what was going on. The warhorns still called, and the bells answered.
Then all was still. The great General Darin, who had won many victories in the far east, stood before the crowd and bid them be silent, for the Great Council had decided upon a new course of action. Then he nodded to Falhir, who had stood silently through all of today thus far. But it had been decided that, as he had spoken to the Great Council, and convinced them of this course of action, it was his duty to call the summons, and his duty to encourage the Merhai to join their comrades in arms. It was time.
Men of the Merhai! You have heard our summons, now hear the word of the Council!
Over a century it has been since we have dabbled in the affairs of the south, and with good reason: they little concerned us. What did the follies of the Gorinese and Gerbers have to the people of the Merhai? What did they have to do with us? And it was a just policy, thus, we stayed out of their affairs, much as they stayed out of ours. But it cannot continue, and we must not let it continue! The ending days of this age are approaching, and we must march!
The nation of Gorin has long been brooding ill plans in their lands, far to the south, but we knew little of them before now. They have killed hundreds of thousands of people, and to what purpose? To their own! They desire nothing less than the complete subjugation of the world, to put all nations under the dominion of their Kaiser, and their God, the evil Red Lady.
Ten thousand curses have been cast upon us for not acting! They attacked our ally, our loyal and trusted friend, the valiant Lengels, and we did nothing. Why? It was cowardice that kept us out of these wars, and though some might call cowardice good sense, they do not know of what they speak, for cowardice is not good sense. For now, we have Gorin on our southern border; even now their armies are en route northwardostensibly to crush the Lengel rebellion, but we will
not be deceived. Their armies do not stop: they attack anyone whom they deem heathen, and we are in their path.
But we will not wait! We will not stand and watch as the doom approaches. We will stand here, and fight! We will fight for the Freedom of all the world, for the Gorinese are without pity, and they will surely destroy all, if the free men do not stop them!
They have raped and plundered and burned in the lands we were sworn to help protect, they have rampaged through these realms, destroying homes, salting fields, and selling the women and children into slavery! We will not let this happen further! The men of the Merhai are not weak, and we will not stand to see these lands enslaved by cruel masters such as these Gorinese!
So I bid you, men of the Merhai, to stand with me, and fight the dark lands to the South! Let us fight, to protect those lands that still stand free! Who shall march with me!?
The crowd roared back at him, indistinctly, but he could still tell that they were with him.
Then to the Capitol of the City! There lie your arms! To war! To death!
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Forth free men valiant,
We know no fear
Our ends in glory
Draw ever near.
Forth free men brave and bold
With a shout!
Let foul men of evil go flying.
For though the south-lands
Be dread and harsh,
For though all evil
Be fierce and great,
The winds from the north
Shall sweep the plain,
And bring every
Evil to sunlight.
To death! To death!
We march with haste!
To death! To death!
We fear no fate!
To death! To death!
To glory or naught,
To their end, or ours
We go marching!
