"Kelemak?" Hamaer Ka'bal changed the subject to something he was sure she would talk about, "Look at the Moon. It's always that color red this time of year. Do you know why it does that?"

"No, Hamaer. I don't," was the unsuccessful response.

Hamaer sighed with his futile attempt of encouragement, "Kelemak....I want you to know that you have done an excellent job during this crisis, and you should be proud to know that. No matter what happens."

"...Thank you, Hamaer," Kelemak said sitting down next to him.

The remaining Grell had gathered to eat their possible last meal in a constructed shelter. But their spirits were not solemn, rather they were quite pleasant. Bulmer, Ismet, and Old Tideme had spent the evening recalling amusing stories from the previous years. Experiences they shared in the Aelo-Lorinthian colony over the course of their lives. And they had each gathered quite a collection of humorous tales to share with each other.

"...And that, that is when I found Ismet hiding under the table slurping his Moska soup!" Old Tideme concluded his comedy. The Grell burst into laughter, except maybe Ismet. "All he could say was, 'So where did everybody go?'" Old Tideme added, escalating the cheers.

Bulmer sipped some of his ale while the excitement died down. Ismet poured himself some as well. Then a Lorinthian entered the shelter.

"Isbas, you must come now," he said to them.

"What is it?" asked Bulmer, "Are we being attacked?"

"You must come see this."

"It could have been some kind of primal morality thing," Gildur Etrask, Grell of Foreign Affairs, suggested, "We were totally defenseless, maybe attacking us would have been unethical to them."

"Perhaps Gildur. But it could have been a number of things. We don't know how these creatures think, maybe it was a smell or the weather or the time of day or the location. Who knows," said Galeb.

"Let's just be fortunate and not question. We have more urgent problems," the Galome said.

"Like what? We seem to be making good progress." asked Galeb.

"Well, it is already late. Shouldn't we have made it to Tuskagua by now? How much farther is it Gildur?"

"Oh?," Gildur stopped and observed the surrounding area momentarily, " maybe you are right Isba. It is possible we have taken a wrong turn somewhere. No matter. Galeb could you climb to the top of this peak and have a look around?"

"Of course, Gildur. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Galeb," said the Galome as Galeb R'ef ran on ahead of them.

By this time at night the snowfall and wind had grown into a strong blizzard. Gale winds whipped around the Lorinthians as they stood high on the rigid mountains. Gildur leaned agains the wall of the mountain to hide from the wind, the Galome approached the edge to look out over land.

The two Aelo-Lorinthians remained silent, each deep in thought. Gildur Etrask, the Grell of Foreign Affairs and the Galome of the Aelo-Lorinthian colony of the Diamond Falls in the Western Lands. After all they had been through, they now fought for the survival of their race. The end was approaching for both of them. It was inevitable.

"Or perhaps," Gildur said abruptly, "perhaps it was simply our company."

The Galome turned to Gildur, "What do you mean?"

"Those Dread Whispers...they would not want to harm myself."

"Oh, so why not?"

"Oh, Isba. So naive, so oblivious. You have been quite convenient for myself, a true companion. That is why it makes it so hard to do this."

"Gildur?"

Gildur Etrask spang from against his wall and lunged at the unexpecting Galome. A quick shove was all it took to send the aging Aelo-Lorinthian off the edge of the cliff. Nothing could stop him from plummeting to his doom.

"Farewell, our mindless leader. May you burn forever on the Crimson Moon. Do not worry, I will take care of the situation here."

Galeb R'ef returned from his short scouting.

"And now do I require the young one as well? No? I will give him the same luxury."

"Mr. Etrask? What do you mean?" Galeb R'ef began with confusion but he hastily realized what was going on, "where is the Galome?"

"Yes! Where is he? Does it matter? He could not stop it if he were here or not!"

Galeb backed away from the Grell in horror.

"But neither can you, young Aelo. Be thankful for this present of fate I grant unto you, that you will not remain a part of this ridiculous world!"

"Gildur! Why?!" Galeb could not believe what was happening.

"Why? Why not? Maybe if you saw the rest of civilization for once, you too would realize the worthless existence of this pitiful colony!" Gildur reached out and grabbed Galeb by the arms.

"Let me go! Get away from me!" Galeb struggled to get away as Gildur moved him closer to the edge of the cliff. Gildur was much larger and stronger than the young Aelo and Galeb did not have any chance against him.

"Perish! Give up, Galeb!"

With all his strength Galeb managed to push both of them down into the snow and he quickly wrestled himself away from Gildur. He got up and stumbled away from Gildur as fast as he could move. He continued to run away not looking back at the Grell.

"Ha, ha! Where do you intend to flee? You don't know how to get to Tuskagua, and you will never find your way back to the colony! You will freeze to death in a few hours!"

Galeb R'ef heard him, but he continued to run.

Ismet continued to stare at the hundreds of deep blue lights encircling the Aelo- Lorinthian settlement on Serenity Hill. Small flames that peered through the darkness of the surrounding Tashmine forest. They remained unmoving for so long the Grell of Aelo- Religion began to wonder if they even belonged to a living creature.

"Ismet?" a familiar voice called out to him, "You don't even have a weapon ready, pull yourself together." Hamaer approached the overwhelmed Grell.

"Hamaer. Tell me, did you anticipate so many? There must be a half thousand of them."

Hamaer sighed in admission, "No, but it would not have changed anything, nor will it change what will happen now."

Bulmer left his position to confer with Hamaer. He was clad in the leather armor designed that day for this battle and carried a sheval bladed stick.

"What's going on, Ka'bal? Why aren't they attacking?"

"If it is a battle you are eager for Bulmer, then you need not worry. They are probably only curious as to what we are all doing here. But, no doubt they will attack soon. I predict they'll start small and snowball into our encampment here, so be ready."

"Is the 'weapon' fully prepared?"

"Indeed it is, Bulmer. We could not be more prepared for this if we were given a lunar cycle"

"Any word on the Tuskegery aid?" asked Bulmer, "there are too many, we won't last long alone."

"Not yet, but it is still much too early. This waiting act of theirs is at least buying us some time as it increases the tension."

Bulmer nodded his C'dowe and returned to his designated post. Hamaer signaled for Ismet to do the same.

On that winter night, a quarter thousand Aelo-Lorinthians stood poised for a battle that would determine the very fate of their race. A final stand against the vicious Dread Whispers which sought to annihiliate the species of Lorinthian from this realm, for reasons unrevealed. Only days ago such a scenario would have seemed unrealistic to any Aelo- Lorinthian, but reality has been cruel and unmerciful to the colony. What occured previously these last few days all came down to these remaining decisive moments.

The white trees of the Tashmine forest danced with the gale forces. Infinite snowflakes fell from the sky to the ground like the short lifespans of countless mortals when perceived from a cosmic scale. The blackness of night was covered with scattered dots of the white of stars and snow, all under the crimson red of the moon that hung full in the sky.

Hundreds of blue lights visible in the Tashmine forest were vanishing, returning the darkness to its rightful habitat. It began slow and unnoticable but escalated, like a snowball rolling down a hill. First only one Dread Whisper was noticed in the Aelo- Lorinthian encampment at Serenity Hill, then another, and another. In moments Serenity Hill erupted into chaos. The battle had begun.

The odds were discouraging, 500 Dread Whispers against 250 Aelo-Lorinthians and a secret weapon. But, if all went according to plan, the struggling Aelo-Lorinthians needed only to stall the enemy long enough for help to arrive. It was something to hope for, if nothing else.

For only animals, the Dread Whispers knew how to fight together as an army quite well. They were swift and deadly, they did not hesitate to kill nor did they pause long after before moving on. It seemed as if they had warfare in their lineage. The Aelo- Lorinthians fought well also, as best as could be expected from them. They had been trained for combat and were prepared well for this. They had fashioned bladed weapons hastily designed to fight this specific enemy. But most importantly, was the secret weapon the Aelo-Lorinthians constructed on Serenity Hill the day before.

The body of a Dread Whisper was composed of mostly hair. Hair acts like a sponge towards liquids, it absorbs it and holds it in. There was one obvious liquid that would best be used in this situation. The endless supply of freezing water in the falls and streams during the winter. Dread Whispers were no less susceptible to cold than humans or Aelo-Lorinthians, but it was more threatening to them because of the hair. This frigid water could be used to freeze them to death or at least slow them down.

The concept is simple yet inconvenient. How could water be transported effieciently to use as a weapon? Fortunately, the Aelo-Lorinthians had something that did indeed do just that. The main purpose of the Hibernation Apparatus, that once supported the life of the Aelo-Lorinthian colony, was to transport water supplies, especially during the hibernation season. It was a highly complex machine that only could only have been constructed by Aelo-Lorinthian design. No one else could understand the workings of it and would have given credit to some magical force. But the Aelo-Lorinthians used their superior of knowledge of astronomy and physics to build the machine.

Unfortunately, the Hibernation Apparatus was destroyed a few days ago. A certain Grell let the Dread Whispers into the colony and they quickly dismantled the apparatus, leaving the residents of the Diamond Falls colony subjected to a doomed winter season. But, although the apparatus was no longer functioning as a whole, the remaining pieces were still intact. So it was only natural to use these leftover parts to be used to construct a weapon. A weapon, although lesser in grandeur than its previous incarnation, yet still was built by the same Aelo principles which governed the construction as before. This new weapon had only a main purpose though; to transport water, store water, and project water. The framework is nearly indescribably, just a series of pulleys and gears that stretched over all of Serenity Hill. Admittedly, it does seem unlikely that such a strange contrpation could be convenient enough to apply in the chaos of a battle, but only an Aelo-Lorinthian would understand.

Even though Aelo-Lorinthians had no previous combat experience since the birth of the Diamond Falls colony, the concept came naturally to them. Long ago, Tideme- Lorinthians and Basanthar-Lorinthians existed nomadically through constant war. Quite a change from the sophistication of the present generation. The killer instinct from those ancient races awoke from their genes and nullified any doubts and hesitations the Aelo- Lorinthians would have with slaying. They immediately became merciless killers, the only surviving attitude in war.

Still, the Aelo-Lorinthians were not able to compete with the speed and cunning of the Dread Whispers. Fighting was all they seemed to know how to do. Thier purpose and goal of all this remained unknown. Perhaps because they take pleasure in it, maybe it is what they live for. It seemed that way to many of their fallen victims who were unaware of the truth. A species only existing to bring doom to others. Certainly, they did not demonstrate any mercy in war either.

The battle itself was nothing less than planned chaos. It took only moments after the blue lights in the forest to disappear before the battle reached its perigee of chaos, and then sustained that position until it was over. It was anything but glamorous, it was a slaughter for both sides. The massive carnage was more than any other two species could bare but the determined Aelo-Lorinthians and the heartless Dread Whispers. It took alot of preperation for the Lorinthians to endure so much horror.

"There's more coming around the corner! We'll need more back up!" Bulmer shouted to anyone of his companions who could hear him. His thoughts were tangled in morbid madness. He wiped snow and sweat from his face as he struggled to maintain his focus. Unexpetedly, he was tackled from behind by three of the lanky vermin. Caught totally off guard they quickly took him to the ground and began their biting and clawing. Bulmer could only struggle his best to escape but any hope of that was diminished when several more slunk onto the scene and disarmed him of his weapon.

"Bulmer!? It looks like you need some help!" Kelemak said after dousing the the pile of feasting Dread Whispers with several gallons of freezing water. She found the battered Grell of finances under writhing horde.

"I'll be sure to thank you later," Bulmer regained his weapon and fiercely sliced off a waving arm. "Where is Ka'bal? Is there any good news?"

Kelemak jammed the length of a bladed staff through the back of an open maw, hissing in intimidation. "I do not know. We were seperated, I have not seen him."

Scenes such as this occured those after midnight hours, although most were less fortunate. The Aelo-Lorinthians kept alive the repeating theme of courage and concentration despite any hopeless situation, which were quite frequent. Courage to sacrifice yourself, the ultimate price in war which the Aelo-Lorinthians were prepared to offer. Concentration to remain focused in spite of the terror of the demons, the morbid surroundings, the maddening screams of the wind, the darkness of night, the piercing cold, the futility of the situation, or the overall horror of war.

Nature interfered only by her white maelstrom. She could only do as much. Her trees listened to life shattering cries and her full moon watched massacres with mourning of crimson. Laws of nature restricted her to only a blizzard which she offered as a gentle touch of assurance or perhaps a form of weeping.

Meanwhile, Ismet and Old Tideme were receiving less fortune than the other two Grell. They were protecting the central area where women and children Lorinthians were kept from the onslaught of battle. The two had no choice but to stay and protect the area.

"Ismet! Where are you?!" Old Tideme shouted while breaking a water pipe in desperation, sending icey water raining down on the enemy.

Ismet soon appeared from around a sylvan shelter, "Tideme! You're still alive!" Ismet rushed towards him avoiding invading arms of death reaching out to him.

"Get back! I just broke the pipe! Get away unless you want to freeze with them!" Ismet hesitated, then ran back. Old Tideme followed. A thin arm groped out and clenched around Old Tideme's leg sending him falling forward into the snow. Instantly he was dragged into a mass of gray evil.

"Tideme!" the least bravest Grell ran to help his friend but, to his regret, discovered he was useless. As the enemy began to look upon himself he wondered if he could even save himself.

Hideous, malicious heads slowly creeped together in the direction of Ismet. The Grell of Aelo-Religion's large, sunken eyes widened at the sudden attention he was receiving. Courage and concentration, he thought. Pulling his thoughts away from the wicked scowls focused on him, he began to back away. Strangely enough, he was not immediately followed as he slowly stepped backwards.

The moments of Ismet's retreat seemed endless to him. A dozen malevelont demons stared at the horrified Grell as he took slow steps back. His pace decreased as his fear increased. The terror was so unbearable that he wished for only the Whispers to finish him quickly and stop the mental torture. Blue-green eyes peirced through the essence of the Lorinthian while fangs tore through his soul. Ismet took another step back when he then found that he had bumped into something. He instinctively new it was something living.

The area now consisted of dozens of Dread Whispers, Ismet, and whatever remained of Old Tideme, all among the wooden shelters recently abandoned by the other Lorinthians. At this point, reality seemed like merely a hazey dream to Ismet. He could not hear anything other than the beating of his own heart or the wind that was carrying the snow recklessly to the ground. He felt himself turn around to face the living barrier. The confrontation was breif. All Ismet saw was a large, hairy object, much larger than any Dread Whisper. That was all he saw, all he had the opportunity to make out. Barely aware of anything, the Grell felt something pull him up from the ground. Several crashing noises followed as his body was sent through the wooden walls of several of the shelters in the area before sliding to a stop in the snow. It left a trail behind.

Things were not any easier for Hamaer Ka'bal, the appointed commander of this battle. He was fighting alongside some of the best hunters in the colony. But, he too was wounded and most of those hunters had fallen. He struggled to keep his balance while decapitating a drenched monster.

"This hardly appears to be a sufficient plan anymore, Isba," a nurse said to the Grell of Security while bandaging his wounded arm.

"On the contrary," Hamaer spoke confidently, despite his injury, "everything is going according to plan, do not lose faith. The Tuskageries will come soon."

"I can only try to carry such confidence myself."

An Aelo-Lorinthian in the distance was racing towards his commander. Ka'bal anticipated what news he wrought. Watching carefully the manner of the messanger's stride, Hamaer noticed a strong limp. He then collapsed altogether in the snow.

Hamaer shed himself from the nurse and encountered the fallen Lorinthian. As he lay on his back in the snow, he peered straight into the sky with large, round Aelo- Lorinthian eyes. Hamaer's concerned figure interrupted his view. The Grell did not say anything, his concerned look was enough.

"...it...is here" the wounded Lorinthian said to Ka'bal. He looked at the Grell as if he were looking at Death itself.

"..He.." a cough escaped the dying breath of the Lorinthian, "He..is on his way...here...you must escape....he is after....you Ka'bal."

With the passing of this Lorinthian's life Hamaer realized how dire his omen to be; he did sacrifice his life to warn the Grell of this great danger. But what could it be? What new threat has slid its way onto the scene? Hamaer looked around and listened closely. The battle had moved from his specific location and he could only hear screams in the distance.Still it was too quiet. Hamaer could see a few standing Lorinthians some distance away from him, but he felt entirely alone as he stood in the snow surrounded by death. Although this was the safest moment he had received all night, a great fear burned into him as he wondered what would come next.

By now, the blizzard had erupted into a maelstrom of blazing white streaks and fierce lashes of swirling winds. The singing voices of the wind screamed a chaotic melody and the bare treetops danced in madness. The soldiers caught in the middle of nature's fury showed no signs of noticing. The war between the Aelo-Lorinthians and the Dread Whispers continued. The death toll steadily increased and it would not be much longer before any calvalry could save the remnants of the Aelo-Lorinthian civilization. The most unexpected aspect of this battle was that nothing unexpected had occured, at this point. Both sides were fairing as well as predicted. The elements that would lead to the Aelo- Lorinthian victory were uncontrollable, without them they would perish.