A Soldier's Life - 469 - The Fellowship of Necessity

Chapter 469: The Fellowship of Necessity

Mage Lord Osrien created an illusory map over the brazier, and everyone stood as if this were expected. It appeared to be a projection of a map in his hand as the illusion wobbled very slightly as he moved. Once he stopped, the illusion stilled. “Lokchai is here, in northeastern Keisinia. The passes here and here are still iced and snowed in for at least two more months, but Mage Lord Rasharn doesn’t have any apprentices with battle magic or a large barracks and will not be able to defend. We have already sent three thousand men to reinforce the city, but if the army is also in the tens of thousands, like the one attacking Pameaxos, it will not help.”

“Can’t you just send more?” King Roderin asked as if the solution was simple.

Mage Lord Osrien coughed. “With the number of roaming monsters, I was surprised we raised that much support for Mage Lord Rasharn. He is a bit of a dragon’s ass. Maybe enough lords will cooperate to get a few thousand levies, but they will be green.”

“We shouldn’t overlook the fact that these are two threats we can see; there may be more surprises,” Queen Adelin said. Princess Elenora entered the room, took a seat, and was recognized by her mother to speak.

“No new communications. The message sending spells still do not function,” the princess said, perturbed.

“Mage Lord Wunder is artificing paired mirrors. He can make a set every month and is selling them at a reasonable rate among the mage lords. Soon, we will have better communication if this disruption continues,” Osrien offered.

“What about the Telhian paired message books? Do they still work?” I said pulling out the my Hound notebook. I opened the pages, but they were all blank since the words vanished after time. Lord Osrien took the book and settled into his seat.

The mage lord appraised the book. “The Telhians used to have some brilliant artificers. This book is old, at least five hundred years old. The runes are obscured, and I am sure if we tore into the bindings, they would be destroyed. But I cannot discern if they are still functioning.”

“We are sending an expedition to the Telhian Empire; maybe they could negotiate for the schema?” King Belanor said. A slightly panicked look appeared on Queen Adelin’s face, and I sensed something was up.

“I am headed to the Empire as well,” I added cautiously. “I seek permission to travel through your dwarven lands, King Roderin.” He nodded dismissively, as if my request was not needed.

“Alhur Larethian is going with you to represent the Heptarchy interests,” the Elven king clarified.

“I was going to inform you after the gathering,” Queen Adelin said diplomatically, seeing my shock.

“You expect Alhur to travel with me?” I said curtly. The sovereigns looked around, confused. “We have a history,” I said in my only explanation.

Queen Adelin gave King Belanor an annoyed look before turning back to me. “Alhur is uniquely suited to represent the Heptarchy since we have good relations with Bartiradia. I was hoping you would delay your departure. Kyrenic should return within the week, and I can send my Lord Champion with you.”

King Roderin spoke up in support. “Kyrenic is a good swordsman. I cannot say the Brightmantle lands are safe these days. We flew here, not just for haste but to avoid the denizens of the dark creeping the lands.”

Maveith, speaking for the first time, gave his advice in his deep voice, drawing everyone’s attention. His words were directed at me. “The more people we have in our party, the safer Evie will be.” Evie looked about to say something, but Baelira put her hand on her arm.

“It is decided then.” King Belanor stated. “Now what about the attack on Pameaxos. It has almost all of Gorgiphia’s iron, tin, and copper mines. Smelters too…”

“It would certainly put stress on King Brenwynn’s ability to raise and equip an army. A strategic first target for the Brotherhood,” Queen Adelin added.

“Most of his soldiers are south, dealing with the stragglers from the dungeon breaks and creatures being pushed out of the Endless Dark,” King Theron added. “Should we send aid?”

“Would the Nausians allow us to send an army through their lands? I don’t know how I feel about helping Brenwynn; he was always a whiny braggart who cared more about his table than that of his people,” the dwarf king huffed.

“A quarter of the iron from Pameaxos is exported. My guess is they will destroy the smelters. Then the Nashasari can march east to Maseleapa, obliterating the dungeon town there,” King Theron said pragmatically, which got angry grumbling from the others.

I suspected the Nashasari were attacking now because the High Sentinel had successfully recruited sovereigns to the cause. Delay and distraction were normal tactics on such a continental battlefield that Desia was likely to become. The conversation shifted to how much add the four sovereigns were willing to send to retake Pameaxos.

The challenge was to fight and win against an estimated thirty thousand Nashasari, which would require raising a substantial force. It had to be an overwhelming victory because at this early stage, losses were not acceptable. This force would need to coordinate with King Brenwynn’s existing troops and any aid the Nausians might send. There was little doubt that this would allow the army to pass since they were already serving as the rally point for the fleet destined to invade the Brotherhood of Mitzra.

I only half listened to the back-and-forth conversation. Maveith asked questions to clarify some points, but didn't contribute much, as the sovereigns decided to send 14,000 soldiers and a few mages. This depended on the three human kings, who were not currently present, contributing equally. They all felt a show of support was crucial in creating a continental-wide alliance. The goal was a four-month campaign to meet up with Nausian and Gorgiphian armies, crush the invasion, and then retreat to Nausis and quarter there until the fleet was ready to sail.

It struck me as odd about the calmness of the conversation as these men and women discussed sending men to die in a foreign land. This was why I could never be a ruler and send people to die. I looked at Maveith, and he looked constipated as they discussed expected losses. Since this didn’t affect me, I excused myself, and my companions followed.

“Are we going to wait for Knight Kyrenic?” Evie asked earnestly once we got back to my room.

“A few days at most…” I replied.

It ended up being five days for word that Kyrenic was only a day away. I managed my time by going outside the city, practicing my teleport spell form, and letting Ginger run. As long as I could see my destination, it didn’t take long to establish the anchor of the teleport. The surge of aether through the spell form made it slightly unstable for a few seconds after each teleport. The further, and thereby more aether pushed through the spell form, the longer it took for the spell form to cool down.

Usually, Evie, Baelira, and sometimes Maveith joined me. I knew Maveith was wrestling with how his people would be used in the war. He sat in on every council meeting the Heptarchy sovereigns had. The other three human kings—King Thandrel, King Eryndor, and Prince Auremir—didn’t need me to convince them of the threat. They were already feeling the effects in their lands from the monster surges and the opportunity to destroy the source was enough motivation. Prince Auremir didn’t want to send his soldiers to help King Brenwynn. There was a lot of bad blood between them, but I didn’t care if it got resolved.

My evenings were spent in the library and the dreamscape amulet. Adding as many unique books as I could to the collection. Evie joined me in the dreamscape, but was focused on studying her spell form for her next imprinting. Every time I saw Raelia in the dreamscape, I yearned to leave but couldn’t decide how I should handle the confrontation when it finally occurred.

I avoided Princess Elenora when I could—turning down her requests to cross blades in the practice courtyard. The queen had her running between the sovereigns most of the time, but whenever she found me in the library, she had the inspiration to read a book or two while I walked the shelves and paged through others.

When word came that Kyrenic would be riding into the city in the morning, I told Queen Adelin we would be leaving immediately. I beat Kyrenic to the northern gate, but was still waiting on Maveith and the others. Kyrenic arrived riding a powerful snow-white warhorse, with Alhar riding an impressive black a few paces behind him. Kyrenic looked haggard, and maybe I should feel guilty about leaving right after he had rushed nearly a thousand miles back to the Heptarchy. But he flashed his impossibly white smile, and my guilt was gone. “Eryk! Or I should say Seeker Eryk, it is good to see you well!”

“I am sorry about leaving before you had time to talk with your family,” I said.

“I arrived last night, actually. I spent the predawn with my mother and sister getting caught up.” He grinned lecherously. “My sister said you have been avoiding her for the last few days?”

Kyrenic reached inside his belt and pulled forth a vial. “My queen said you never requested a replacement dungeon healing potion for the one you used on me. I return your friendship and generosity two-fold.” He rolled a second potion dexterously from his palm to his fingers.

I took both potions and stored them in my right-most dimensional belt pouch with a slight nod. Kyrenic’s white charger danced in anticipation of getting on the road. I gave Alhar a sidelong glance; his ebony horse was calm and patient. Even with his blank expression, I still considered the elf smug.

Ginger fought me reins to sniff Kyrenic’s mount, showing some interest. I was close enough for Kyrenic to pat me on the back. “Don’t worry Eryk, I will protect you from the big bad elf. My mother told me you two have differences. On the ride, you can tell me about your son.”

“I think you are here to protect him from me. I know nothing about my son other than his name,” I replied as Maveith, Baelira, and Evie rode up.

“That is a great start! Names are important,” he said enthusiastically. Seeing Maveith close, the knight turned his attention to him. “It is always great to see the honored goliaths in our lands. My mother tells me you are serving as Lord Protector of your people? When was the last time such a title was used?”

Maveith shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. “I am the fourteenth. It is a weighty responsibility.”

When Maveith didn’t say anything more, he looked over at Baelira and Evie. “Evie, you must have grown three inches since I last saw you, and are growing into such a resplendent woman. Boys will be falling over themselves if they are not already.” He shifted to Baelira and winked. “Baelira the Death Sentinel, I presume. Elenora and Runa told me all about you and your impressive skills as a warrior mage. I might have to become undead just to catch some of your attentions.” What kind of pickup line was that? And why was Baelira flushing?

“We should start. What roads are we taking?” I asked, pulling Ginger’s reins and interest from Kyrenic’s mount.

“I am obviously the most familiar with these lands. I know the best route, but I ask a favor that will only take a day. I would like to detour to report to the Knight Commander of my order. I understand that since you already had to wait a week for me, you might not want to. I can always leave the group and catch up,” Kyrenic requested gracefully.

“The Wardens of the People?” I recalled his orders name, and Kyrenic nodded. “That is agreeable, and maybe you could give me a tour—a twilight tour—of your stronghold.”

The others looked confused, and maybe it sounded like I was coming onto the knight. In reality, I was interested in the dungeon his order protected—The Twilight Warrior Dungeon. “As long as my knight-commander approves, I would be happy to give you a private tour,” Kyrenic said with a note of innuendo.

I had walked into that, so I just shook my head, turned Ginger, and galloped out the gate.

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