"Kren" Part Fifteen: News From the Past

 

Kren hesitated a moment, then sat down on the creaking chair opposite the man. He put his paws on his knees, bowed his head, and took a deep breath. He looked up again, hairy brows furrowed.

“First of all, tell me about Bharek and how he was defeated; about how the Black King who had reigned a thousand years and his Ogre Horde were finally overcome, when all the best efforts of the combined Races had failed before.” He cocked an eyebrow. “I imagine it must be quite a tale.”

Koppa smiled, but Kren noticed a hint of pain lurking in the corners of the young man’s eyes.

“It is indeed quite a tale, and if I were to tell you all about it, we would be here until morning and still not be done with the telling. And then, of course, I’d have to leave Far Reach and you’d never hear the end of it. It’s been made into a saga, though. Perhaps some day you’ll hear it in full.”

Koppa shifted in his chair.

“However, I can tell you the short version. About six years ago – it was in the Fall, just as it is today – when Bharek’s armies came marching out of the North again, after staying mostly penned up behind the Norkult Mountains for two hundred years. There had been raids and incursions, of course, and the waves of Bharek’s Breath every now and again, but this time it seemed the Horde was intent on our final destruction and came in hosts innumerable, so that Morg City itself was finally besieged. King Thron was old and the realm ill-prepared and it seemed certain that the South would at last be overwhelmed.”

Koppa paused, clearing his throat.

“You know, I think I will take that water, please.”  

Kren snorted incredulously, taken aback.

“Oh, no, Mr. Herald!” He wagged his head sharply. “You’ve started your tale, now you have to finish it! Then you’ll get your water!” He sat back glowering. “With things looking so bad, how was the Dark Lord defeated?”