The North lord was furious when he heard of the attack. "The nerve that the Empire would send such monster to my territory!" He spat on the ground. "Leave me! I will speak to Bantu on this matter."

"If you are going to talk to Bantu, we are going to be there." Castor said.

The North lord was already shaking his head. "If Bantu saw you, I would lose all bargain power as well as giving him a reason to attack. No, I must do this alone."

"What if he didn't see us?" Theuses said. "You can talk to him through a mirage and we can stand in the back-round."

The North lord hesitated. "Fine. But I want no noise or any other sign that you are here." Theuses, Castor, and L'arch all nodded.

~ ~ ~

The North lord cast the spell while Castor and the others stood in the back ground. A cloudy figure of Bantu appeared in front of him. The figure of the evil emperor gave no signs of surprise.

"Welcome North lord. I assumed you would request to talk to me soon."

"What do you mean 'you assumed'? You sent a fire dragon into my territory! You practically declared war on me, not to mention killing one of my scouts!"

Bantu sighed like he was trying to explain something to a small child. "So what? One the point of your scout, what business do you have in my territory?"

"It isn't your territory! It's neutral ground," The North lord argued. "The very fact that you are reinforcing it with troops is questioning. I'm tempted to send more than just scouts there."

"You can't fight me. My men would overrun you and kill you dead. Your villages would lie in ruins and your cities would be chard masses. You are like a new born faun against a lion. Besides, if all goes well, my prize warrior will be released by sundown on the day three from now. You won't stand a chance."

"You underestimate me, emperor. It may be your downfall."

Bantu rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. Is that all?"

The North lord grabbed a sword and slashed it through the image. The figure of Bantu disappeared. He turned around to face Castor. "I take everything back about you overdoing this. Bantu is up to much more then it appears. He must be if he sent such a beast into my forest. I will grant you twice as many men as I told you previously. If Bantu is to fall, I wish it to be at least partly by my hand. I will also send an assassin to attempt to deal with his general Tarris. I will make sure he arrives in several days' time. "

Castor gratefully accepted. Theuses did as well, but cringed at the idea of a Night elf assassin.

"We told you what we said was true." L'arch said.

"I am aware of that. And I am sorry I did not believe you, though I'm still not sure I do. When do you plan to leave Crolia?"

Castor and Theuses looked at each other. "As soon as possible." Castor answered. "If the deadlines that we are hearing are true, than we will need to get to Argonil."

"Once you get there, what do you intend to do? Invade the city?"

"We cannot do such an open act against the Empire as invade. They will know our exact location."

"I imagine they already do."

"Still," Castor answered. "We want to make it as difficult to find us as possible. The Empire holds all the cards, so we want to make them as hard to play as we can. We will find the mount where Tarnagh is harnessed, Ilreme, right? Then reinforce his bonds, destroying anyone who opposes us."

The North lord smiled. "And you said you wanted to make it difficult to find you?"

"This is no joke." Theuses said. "I we fail to imprison Tarnagh and he reaches the pass with his followers, chances are we will cease to exist after the battle, or before it depending on our luck. Morgorath will grow to full power and send his soldiers to destroy the races of Unisus and the world will be plunged into eternal darkness."

The North lord nodded. "I understand. Now it is time for you to understand something: I can only aid you with this one battle. The Night elves are the silent defenders of Unisus so unless a blank threat is shone, one such as this, I am useless to this cause. I will still support you, but my men will only fight so far. You have my apologize."

Castor nodded understandingly. A king was the head of the country and the leader, but if he was trying to lead something that wasn't there from his people, he was nearly powerless.

"We understand North lord. I thank you for your men at this time, but we hope for many more."

"As do I."

~ ~ ~

The next morning Castor saddled up with Theuses and L'arch. The North lord had found the position of the army. They were in the area above Valdraermisr but not quiet to Argonil. The North lord sent a messenger to report to them about the whereabouts of Castor and Theuses and to stay in that area until they arrived.

The party of a hundred Night elf warriors and twenty-four Night elf shamans accompanied them. Ilvnag too was sent to be a commander for the Night elves.

The five of them sat in silence for a long while. The surroundings passed by meaninglessly. It was Ilvnag who finally broke the silence.

"The North lord had a point back there. What do you intend to do when you reach Argonil?"

"We told you." Castor answered. "We will seal the prison and banish Tarnagh again." Even as he said it he thought of the magnitude of the chore.

Ilvnag brought his horse around to stop them. "That won't be enough. That city will be swarming with imperial guards, Manekets, and Argles. They may even have Urki stationed there. You need an army. An invisible army."

"That would be great," Theuses said. "Know where we can find one?"

"In fact, I think you already have. I can send men into the city with you. Night elves are masters of stealth. You will have more than a hundred back-ups with you. I also will accompany you."

Castor turned his horse to face Ilvnag. "We can't ask that of you."

"Plus you're an untrustworthy gitt," Theuses mumbled to himself.

"Good thing you're not asking," Ilvnag said with a smile, plainly ignoring Theuses's unsavory comment.

Theuses was not convinced. "The Empire will surely have magical spells countering your shadow movement. You can't risk it."

L'arch cocked her head like she was thinking. "It could be a good idea. If we are caught with no one to help us, the army will be forced to either attack, or storm the city to get us back. Both would mean their demise when the Empire sent reinforcements. The Night elves could infiltrate the city guards and help us if need be. They are strong and stealthy enough not to be seen or caught. We will need a safety net and they provide the best option."

Theuses glared at the ground. "Fine. But do not come in unless we are about to be killed or captured. Understand?"

Ilvnag struggled to hide a smile. "Do you not want the assistance of your anti-race?"
Theuses gave him the evil eye and spurred his horse forward to ketch up with the Night elf warriors.

They rode for hours in silence. Though he didn't share his thoughts with the others, Castor was starting to doubt their plan. How would they possibly imprison the third most powerful being in Unisus?

Castor looked at his sword. It seemed small and insignificant compared to the supposed might of Tarnagh. He looked at L'arch, Theuses, and Ilvnag. Their power was amazing. They could summon spells and use armies to extreme strength. Even together were they enough? Another thought danced at the corners of his mind. When the North lord had been talking to Bantu, Bantu made it very clear the day Tarnagh would rise. Without mentioning his name, Bantu had practically told them when to appear. Could it be a trap? Castor didn't know much about Bantu, but he didn't seem to be the kind of person to let that type of information slip. Something else was going on. He was sure of that.

While in thought, Castor practically ran into Ilvnag's horse, which had stopped. Beside him, L'arch, and Theuses had stopped their horses. The Night elf warriors had concealed themselves behind bushes or trees. At first he could not understand why they had stopped. He was about to ask when Theuses put his finger to his lips, signaling him to be silent.

Then he heard the drumming of footsteps. It was faint, but certainly there. They were Argle footsteps, though Castor could not identify how many, just a large party. After a while the sound faded away and Theuses turned to Ilvnag. "That was a party of at least one-hundred Argles."

Ilvnag nodded in agreement. "How much would you bet they are on their way to the city, same as us?"

Theuses shrugged. "Practically my life."

L'arch pulled her horsed next to theirs. "No. A party that size would not be going to a city unless it was under attack. Plus, the Empire would not use anything more beastly than Manekets to defend their public. Certainly not Argles."

Ilvnag rolled his eyes. "What does a pretty princess know about war? Stay back and let us deal with the plans, baby girl."

The light that was in Theuses's eyes in Crolia immediately returned. "No one speaks like that to my sister! She is a royal in the line of elves and you will treat her with the respect she deserves!"

L'arch looked smugly at Theuses. "Why thank you brother, for defending me, but I can fend for myself." She promptly turned around and planted a solid punch in Ilvnag's gut. He sputtered and gasped like a beached fish before regaining his hold on the saddle.

"My – my apologize princess," He muttered. He glared at his warriors, but they just looked at him like he had made the biggest mistake of his life, before continuing on. They followed moments later.

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