AN: Thanks for reading this far, hope you've enjoyed yourself, just a reminder that if you want to see me write full time, you can support that effort at patr-eon dot com slash tellingstories where my first original work is available and unfolding for your reading pleasure. :)
...Elf Kingdom...
Zesshi rode like a woman possessed, at her left and right were her chief aides. Replacing their undead mounts with living ones to avoid any chance of standing out had seemed like a good idea. Then they rode until their horses collapsed and died from exhaustion and after that, they were compelled to run on foot. No time was wasted, no moment spared. Were they not vampire elves, neither Thirg nor Tefl would have had a prayer to any gods of keeping up with the rapidity of Zesshi's pace. As they moved over path and road, beneath and through the trees, bypassing villages and populated areas, it became more and more apparent to even the normally oblivious Zesshi Zetsumei that her aides were increasingly on edge.
Still, it was three days of riding and running before she bothered to ask, when her curiosity finally got to her and they made camp. They'd hidden themselves deep within the woods. A great high canopy rose above her, one so thick that they didn't really need to move along the ground. They could have run from limb to limb in the heights of the trees and never even needed to jump.
"The green wood is just like I remember." Thirg said as he looked around.
"Exactly the same." Tefl said as she squeezed a honeycomb in hand, drizzling some honey over meat that had started to roast.
"How long since you last saw it?" Zesshi asked as she moved a log into place to serve as a seat.
The fraternal twins shared a look and thought it over. "About a hundred and ninety years I guess." Thirg replied with a shrug of his massive shoulders.
"Long time, even by elven reckoning." Tefl added as she sliced up some carrots into a stew.
"I guess so, I've never seen it, I have to admit... this place... it speaks to me." Zesshi reluctantly acknowledged.
"So it does for all of us, like mountains to the dwarves, this is where we are supposed to be." Tefl said as she wiped her knife clean and put it back into one of her many pouches.
"I guess that explains why I never much cared for Kami Miyako." Zesshi replied thoughtfully.
"Do you think so… maybe?" Thirg grumbled out with mild sarcasm as he tossed aside the honeycomb and began adding herbs to the meat.
"Crescent Lake is something very different." Tefl said proudly as she made herself comfortable on a log of her own.
"Different how? A city is a city, isn't it?" Zesshi asked in passing. "Damn, Thirg! Whatever it is you're doing to that meat... it's a work of art, I've never smelled something so good in a camp before." She inhaled the scent and held it in as if unwilling to let it escape.
"Wild turkey, I don't think they have these in human lands, or if they do, they must be rare because I never saw them." He replied with a grin that prominently displayed his fangs. "I may not need to eat anymore, but I still enjoy the smell and I still know how to make it." He had a proud, even cocky expression on his face as he turned the flesh over and over. "And to answer your question, no. It's the only truly elven city in the world as far as I know, I mean we've got other big towns, plenty of villages, but Crescent Lake is unlike anything else."
"OK, for that buildup, it had better be." Zesshi replied archly, "Now thanks for cooking and all, but cut me a piece of that, I can't stand the wait any longer."
A moment later she was chewing enthusiastically while Tefl scooped stew and handed it over to Zesshi. "I'm not the cook my brother is, but hey, it's edible and it beats going hungry."
"I'm guessing you know a little about that?" Zesshi said archly.
"Yeah, we do." Tefl replied unhappily as she looked down into the remnants of the meal she'd prepared.
"It's part of why we enjoy our vampiric state, even when we were hunted beings, it was better that than 'hungry' beings." Thirg added with a sad curl to his lip that was a sort of ironic smile.
"How'd that happen anyway? I never heard any reports of vampires living in the Elf Kingdom." Zesshi asked as she dipped her bread into the stew.
Thirg picked up his maul and twirled the two handed weapon idly in one hand. "Simple really, before the war broke out, we were sold to the humans as slaves, but back then security wasn't exactly fantastic. We were eventually able to escape. I guess the war broke out about then, that was probably why, though we didn't exactly have a calendar to confirm that for us." Thirg smirked a little at the humor, and Tefl picked up.
"We got lost, and ended up in a vampire's hands, if we'd been human, I'm sure he'd have killed us, but I guess the novelty of having some elves serve him was enough, so he turned us. We were his slaves for awhile, we learned from him. But then something strange happened."
"Strange?" Zesshi asked, suddenly intrigued, she leaned forward a bit as she finished her bread, stew, and set the bowl aside.
"Yeah," Thirg said, "See, we'd been living in a cave preying on travelers, and then a traveler shows up and pays my master to turn him. Never seen that happen before, paid enough that we even got some trips in disguise to a human city. Life got better... for him, but then one day some adventurers showed up and killed him, and we were masterless again. Masterless... but still very, very strong."
"Well, looks like you got lucky." Zesshi replied.
"Very." The siblings agreed sharply.
"Still, it was an edgy existence until the Sorcerer King got started and his pope began to follow suit." Thirg added.
"Anyone in Crescent Lake you need to rescue personally?" Zesshi asked as she thought it over.
"I doubt it." Tefl said sadly as she looked down into the flames. "We weren't from a hostage town."
"Well, if everything works out after we get to Kami Miyako, 'nobody' will be from a hostage town." Zesshi said with a savage grin.
Two very fangy smiles greeted that statement.
...Crossroads...
Moira's eyes fluttered open slowly, low murmurs came past her lips that were 'not quite' words. 'Warm. I feel warm.' She thought with a dawning awareness. Everything was still dark as pitch in the room. There was a faint sound of water falling outside. Normally, the thin walls of the cheap building did little to keep out the cold weather that was taking hold over the city, so the warmth she felt was a welcome relief.
That was when she realized her hands were touching flesh. The fluttering of her eyes flew open and she realized it wasn't just her hands, she felt skin against the entire front of her body. She reached up and touched her head. Memory came flooding back.
"Oh... right." She whispered in the dark. "Rascal... Rascos and I..." She blushed as she remembered the lewdity of the night before, it had been fun, reckless and enthusiastic, an impulsive decision she made as the warmth of the liquor they shared and the heated, urgent desperation of their conditions hit home and caught fire in them both.
He was breathing heavily, deeply in his sleep. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the dark and she made out the shadowy outline of his face. The grim fury of his killing intent returned to mind, how different he seemed when asleep to when awake. She slipped out from under the blanket and got out of the bed. She gently replaced the blanket over him when she felt his body shiver with the cold. He sighed and rolled over onto his side. She looked around the room. They were alone, she got dressed in the dark as best she could and let herself out.
Down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door she went. The rain was drizzling slowly, but that was steadily picking up. The hours were predawn, the sun still hid from the world. "I wonder where that goes every night." Moira mused with idle indifference as she sat down on a small stack of crates that sat by the door. She watched as the lifeless streets began to waken with the footsteps of people going off to their own tasks. Women going to the public fountains to draw water, soldiers yawning as they went to their patrol duties. Industrious merchants who could not suffer idleness. But the most noticeable to her were the people heading in the direction of the wall where the main gate lay.
The night had been relatively quiet, only the occasional impact before darkness set in. She looked down the street to the right, she vaguely recalled the sound of an impact about the time she'd taken her shirt off. Now she could see where it had hit. There were some red stains on the street, along with a scattering of rubble, a large rock was embedded where a decent sized building had been. Curiously, she found herself looking at the minor carnage with indifference. 'Wow, a lifetime ago that would have been upsetting.' She thought, and then shrugged and walked over, most were giving the place a wide berth as if afraid to come close to the ruin of a building and the dead within, and no soldiers had secured the scene, which presented an opportunity. She climbed over some of the wreckage that blocked the way into what remained of the interior, and began poking around looking for anything useful.
General Boabdill was used to being given unpleasant news. So it was almost routine now when he shot up out of bed when the bell in his room started clanging. He flung his armor on as fast as he could, secured his boots and his sword, and rushed out of his private quarters. Commander Heikeren and Vice Commander Ira were waiting for him. "What is it? What's happening?!" He asked with his eyes already wide and alert.
"Sir, there's been a development." Heikeren replied after they exchanged quick salutes. His aged face looked even older when delivering bad news, but in spite of the years on his face, his strong, powerful body said that he was dismissive of the idea that he was past his prime. "There's been a raid, Chuban Vakti is dead."
"Who?" General Boabdill asked, his narrowed eyes darting around in search of his memories.
"Our best magic caster." Vice Commander Ira said, suppressing a yawn with one hand over her mouth, telling him that at least he wasn't the 'only' one to be yanked out of bed. "He was the one making the bolts we were going to use to take down General Enri's dragon corps, we wounded one recently, you may recall?"
"And let me guess, he was the 'only' one that could cast those spells." General Boabdill asked anxiously.
The two gave him unhappy nods. "Yes Sir." Vice Commander Ira replied, "He was 'it'. We have other casters, but none like him. We have enough rounds already made to fire twelve shots. General Enri does not have twelve dragons."
"She doesn't need twelve dragons. She just needs to make us fire twelve shots." General Boabdill cut off her attempt at mitigating the bad news. "We can't afford to let those things hit the walls or fly over them, look is there anything distinctive about those rounds?" He asked hopefully.
"Yes, Sir." Commander Heikeren said thoughtfully, "They glow very faintly. Not much, but they stand out."
"Alright, light spells are easy, get some continual light stones made to glow the same color as the real bolts and attach them to ordinary bolts, we might not have limitless rounds, but they don't need to know that. If they think there is a threat, that might be some kind of deterrent." General Boabdill said in a rapidfire voice.
"What do we know about the attack?" He asked, quickly changing gears as he went to a nearby table and gestured for them to be seated opposite him.
Heikeren's face turned dour, "Two assassins, we don't know their names, and one of them had his face too badly burned to be recognized, but the other one who died of poison, well... my Vice Commander here had a hunch, we had his head taken and brought to the dungeon..."
"Let me guess, one of the escapees?" General Boabdill asked.
"Yes, Sir." Vice Commander Ira replied abruptly.
"And the one who took his own life?" The general probed further.
"Also one." Commander Heikeren responded immediately.
"So that settles it, not only are they at large in the city, but they're not just hiding out, they're actively trying to fight us from within. Striking our magic caster down was a heavy blow, I'm actually more impressed than angry. Bold, willful, suicidally brave. If all humanity were like that, we'd have been the dominant race centuries ago." General Boabdill said in a reflective voice.
"Sir? Is that really appropriate?" Commander Heikeren asked unhappily.
"Very. We should recognize the strengths of our enemies, their virtues, and their vices. Only in foolish stories are the villains and monsters all unredeemable idiots. The villains under the undead are often brave, clever, decisive, and devoted. It is what makes them dangerous to us." General Boabdill replied with a confident voice as he rested his elbows on the table and folded his fingers together. He tapped his thumbs rhythmically against one another and thought the matter over.
Finally he said, "Take both heads and start asking around. They left the dungeon with nothing, they managed to rob a few drunkards, but how much money do you think they had on them to take? Not much I'd wager. They've got to be sustaining themselves somehow. They're either working honest jobs or they're doing dishonest ones. Check the lower class areas and find out if there has been any kind of a burst in the number of crimes lately. Check the cheap inns, someone has to have seen these people. Anyone in their company is suspect. Arrest anyone they're found with. We can sort it out after and compensate anyone wrongly arrested, 'after' we've worked out that they're innocent."
"It will be done, Sir. But do we take prisoners otherwise if someone resists, I mean?" The Vice Commander asked.
"No. They'll have no useful intelligence on our enemies out there, and these are a rogue element, they're not protected by the customs of war or by treaty of any kind. Put them down with prejudice." General Boabdill said firmly.
"Anything else, or is that the only shitty thing to have taken place today?" He asked ruefully.
"No, nothing else. After we hurt their dragon, General Enri has been keeping back from more than probing attacks, though we've seen parts of her army depart, it appears she's seizing villages and towns around the city, probably to augment her supplies." Commander Heikeren replied evenly.
"Not unexpected, other than the occasional boulder sent this way, we won't see much for a bit. Taking the surrounding communities is fairly standard, and at least I can be confident she won't be slaughtering our people. They're rather lucky, really." He said with a grim voice.
"Lucky, Sir?" The Vice Commander said with surprise.
"Yes, lucky. She's fairly merciful. The fighting farther west, over in the Roble Holy Kingdom, that is the stuff of nightmares and atrocity. I never liked Suchala or his methods, and I'm glad I don't have to work over there..." He sighed heavily and went to a cabinet to draw out a bottle of wine and three goblets. He brought it to the table and laid a cup in front of each of them.
"You never met General Suchala, did you?" He asked his subordinates as he poured into each cup.
They traded a glance, then each shook their heads. "No, Sir." They replied together.
"He's very talented, very efficient, he's proactive, he's brave, he's got twice the experience I do... but he's a monster wrapped in human skin. I knew him when we were at the academy together, he was an instructor. He was very firm about the value of scorched earth and terror as a weapon. That is why he was sent to where he was in the first place." General Boabdill explained unhappily.
"I don't understand." The Vice Commander said with an eye cocked at him.
"Because she would be there. That was going to be 'her' theater of operations, or so everybody guessed, and they guessed right." He replied.
"Ohhhh." Commander Heikeren said as understanding dawned. "The traitor to humanity."
"Yes, the Black Pope, the heretic of heretics, she plays with terror like small children do with blocks. So he was the one seen as best fit to oppose her and to support Remedios. I was considered for it, but Cardinal Dominic prevailed on the others to send me this way instead. It was probably the right call." He took a long drink as they sank into thought.
"Sir, if it matters..." Vice Commander Ira took a sip, and then continued, "we think you would have performed well there. Enri has won because of her advantages here, for you to still be able to fight her at all, let alone stall her at the walls is a testament to your skills."
Heikeren nodded his head vigorously, "Quite right, if you went against Neia, on equal terms, I'm confident you could have beaten her already."
Boabdill chuckled, "Your praise is welcome, but we don't get to choose these things, they're chosen for us, unfortunately. And that puts me here, now. I admit I'd have liked to test my mettle against General Neia. But if General Suchala was right about the best way to break her, then I was the wrong man to go."
He poured another cup for himself and slid the bottle across the table. "Tenva's surrender came as a surprise, I thought he'd at least call for more resistance rather than give in. Were it not for that, we could have had more soldiers ready to face against Enri's deeper incursion, or she'd have had to leave a larger garrison behind." He laughed bitterly, "Hopefully we get the reinforcements we were promised, but... I suppose we're probably on our own. How are the citizen levies coming?"
Heikeren grinned, "Sir, I've been overseeing the instruction of the militia since the get go of this operation, and I have to say I'm proud of them. Constant reminders about demihumans, vampires, and more flooding into the streets has kept their motivation as great as their fear. They are fighting for their homes, their families, their city... they may not be the bricks of our wall of soldiers, but they are the mortar and they will stick!" Heikeren spoke with unabashed pride as he poured the last of the bottle for himself and his Vice Commander.
"Good, I want them in the rotation as soon as possible, when General Enri looks at these walls I want her to see row upon row of gleaming steel that reflects so brightly off the sun that it all but blinds her. I'm going to go get at least a little more rest now, go give the orders you need to, then get some rest yourselves." General Boabdill said and stood up. They stood in return and rendered quick salutes, before departing and leaving him alone.
"Ugh, what I wouldn't give for just one good night's rest."