First time a chapter is set a location the group has already been in...more of these are probably planned?
Chapter Six
Return to Corelis
Several years ago, the Greil Mercenaries crossed the Islands of Hitenticul, two of them were embroiled in war against the Order of Rein while one had been taken over by the vile vampires.
Helping the mercenaries was reformed vampire Klein Kruse and his best friend and vassal Wyre Reh, armed with lightning magic which vampires were weak against, Wyre Reh was deathly effective. However that didn't prevent the war from taking the life of Klein Kruse.
Soren stood in his home as Mia gave Wyre Reh a small tour of the surrounding forest and such. They arrived back in Corelis with Wyre in tow a few days back. The man has yet to say why he has returned, how he knew they were here and Soren knew the answers wouldn't be something he would be too fond of hearing.
"Wyre Reh! How did you find us!? What are you-"
Before Soren could continue Wyre Reh walked up to him and place a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll let you know all the details in due time…but there are many people who were affected by this attack…we'll look after them and I'd rather not openly discuss business for your ears only until we are at your home."
The three of them along with Fistivus and several other volunteers aided the people whose carriages were destroyed and those who were injured; clearly Meloi's attack was aimed only at getting Soren and Mia to face him as he didn't directly endanger anyone's life.
They rode into Corelis during the night and after bidding Fistivus farewell, they slept, though Soren was still eager to hear what brings Wyre Reh of Hitenticul to Ymarkteg.
Mia walked back into the house with Wyre Reh in tow, he was older than Klein Kruse now, though he still wore the same Thunder Sage robes that he donned during the war against the Order of Rein but his face showed a much more mature man with a grave story.
The only bad news Soren could figure that would bring Wyre here and that would involve Soren was vampires. He really hoped that he was wrong about it.
Wyre seated himself at the table and cleared his throat "It really is great to see you two again…though I was hoping to have run into Ike as well."
"The Greil Mercenaries disbanded several years ago and have begun living in peace in Ymarkteg, Ike is the only one I have no idea of what he is up to…I apologize for that Wyre." Soren stated.
The thunder sage nodded "It's alright…you two were my second choice…see, during my travel here I passed through a neighboring continent that knew of your exploits in that whole debacle on Zatuo…"
"Do you have any news on Zatuo's status?" Mia cut in. She caught Soren's eyes but the sage nodded, he wanted to know just as much as she did.
"Yes, after being placed in control of what was Benkanan, Mertre has returned much land to its former owners but several areas desired to stay within the new Benkanan under Mertre's glorious rule. Unbelievably night and day when comparing her to Wetka…actually, there is no comparison."
Soren and Mia were glad to hear this, Wyre smiled a bit before returning to his story.
"Anyway, I left Hitenticul in search of you on orders from King Yuuten Heitnaro…it seems that someone has disturbed the rests of the Order of Rein's hierarchy."
Soren raised an eyebrow "None of the vampires were buried, in fact; most of them were reduced to ashes…"
Wyre nodded "Yes but the key members like Ulyus and Kanahana, the spots were they were killed were under surveillance for a while after the war and are reminders of what we all lost…Yuuten, Sef and I visit them every so often…however, recently, we noticed activity, people in the areas, we left some troops behind to keep watch and question these people…the division at Ulyus headquarters found nothing, the division at Kanahana's spot were all killed."
Soren and Mia's eyes widened, she stood "A vampire attack!?"
Wyre sighed "I wish there was some way to know…it didn't seem like it, far too brutish and there was magic, vampires would've drained blood…whoever it was may have a desire to follow the Order of Rein's footsteps or even form another order…or so we thought…after that, no more activity. Whoever was there and whatever they were doing. They stopped and departed, I took a wide chance at coming here hoping to find some clues, seeing you engaged in combat with those people I knew that something was going on…whether or not it is related remains to be seen, but it's the best that I've got to go on."
Soren and Mia decided to help their old friend and told him about the encounters with the apparent dead men at Malsean after having killed them at the Otrobort Way and the third man at the Clock Tower. They showed Wyre the paperwork handed to them by Ulmeihn to take to one, Eminse in Euto.
Soren and Mia split up to recruit the other members of their troop, leaving Wyre at home.
Soren stopped by the practically finished building and asked the foreman about Mikel, he pointed him in the right direction.
"Soren! Glad to see you back! How was the trip?"
Soren smiled as Mikel slammed his arm into the sage's back and laughed "It is good to see you as well Mikel, I have something important to ask you."
"Really? Well, whatever it is, lay it on me, I'll see if I can help. As long as it has nothing to do with women, you are perfectly fine there!"
"Headmaster Kino!" Mia yelled as she ran up to the brown clad swordmaster who ran the training school.
"Mia! When did you return? It's good to see you again."
"Just a few days ago…did Lyle leave for home already?"
The headmaster turned and began walking down the street, followed by Kino. He nodded slowly "Yes…you know where he lives?"
Mia shook her head "Not really…surprising all things considered."
A few minutes later she knocked on Lyle's door, the man opened and she saw his hair was rather messy, well, messier than usual and he looked exhausted. His entire disposition changed as soon as he saw Mia "I…uh…hello! Wow, it feels like it's been forever! When did you get back?"
Mia sighed "That isn't important, listen Lyle, some crazy things happened to Soren and I during our trip, we are heading out again soon to Euto."
Lyle's eyes widened "Euto!? That's even farther than Malsean? Why did you come back if you're just going to leave again? No offense or anything…just…"
"Lyle, things happened, crazy things and it seems like it's a call to take up our arms again…and we need help."
Lyle smiled and folded his arms across his chest "Help? Alright then, that I can do! No problem at all! When do we leave?"
Mia laughed "Thanks, Lyle but maybe you should wait until Soren tells everyone what this is about. Anyway, Lyle, Soren and I are heading to Corelis Bay to meet an acquaintance of Fistivus' we'll be back and ready to leave in a few days."
"You'll come see me right? Don't forget!" he asked as she turned to leave.
"Yeah, we definitely need a small troop, thanks again, Lyle!" with that Mia ran off.
Lyle stared after her, turned and closed the door before staring at the living room of his house. He began asking himself countless questions about what to do and what was going on before moving to prepare himself.
Mikel put his chin on his fist "Wow…that is some story…if anyone else but you had told me this, I'd kick them out on their ass in two seconds flat."
Soren nodded "I thought so…but listen, Mikel, I don't need your answer right now, I'm heading to Corelis Bay to look for someone else to bring along before we head to Euto. Take the time to really convince yourself to go or not, alright?"
Mikel nodded "Will do, Soren."
With that the sage left Mikel's home and headed back to the Lis Forest.
"You really don't have to come along with us Wyre." Soren stated.
"You've been on a pretty long trip to get here; there is nothing wrong with taking a break." Mia added.
Wyre Reh shook his head as the three mounted Fistivus' carriage "I have to do something; I realize that I should be exhausted, but I want to get on with this, I need to know what is going on."
As they left Corelis, Fistivus turned to Soren, Mia and Wyre "Alright, if you do plan on bringing three more people into the fold then I'm going to need another carriage, a good friend of my Lune could man the other one…you wouldn't mind that would you?"
Mia shook her head "Not at all! That is more room to keep all our gear."
Fistivus smiled "Good, I'll get in touch with her when we get back.
The road trip to the Corelis Bay town was uneventful, which was a great change of pace. Fistivus pointed them towards the right location, near the docks they just need to find one Wayu.
Mia noticed Wyre glancing around, he hadn't been in Ymarkteg long so everything was very new to him, and it reminded her greatly of her first trips around the continent.
"So…the Greil Mercenaries disbanded…so hard to believe after seeing how effective the lot of you were together."
Soren nodded "Yeah…at least it wasn't out of spite…I think all of us, even Ike knew that it would end someday. I just wish I knew where Ike was."
Soren and Wyre came to a stop as Mia approached a dock worker and began chatting. Wyre turned looking out to sea as a ship began to pull in.
"By the way, did you come here alone? No other Hitenticul soldiers?"
Wyre looked back at Soren and shook his head "We obviously brought a ship but many thought my desire to see this was crazy…Yuuten was nervous about the courts and the people, plunging into a conflict on a continent so far away…Sef personally saw me here, he wanted to come along but I told him it was best that I went on my own."
Mia turned and signaled them over, the three continued down a few steps closer to the ocean and saw a beach with many people relaxing nearby.
A fishing boat pulled in and a girl with pink hair jumped out with a spear in hand, followed by a few members of crew, with successful catch they passed by Soren, Mia and Wyre.
"Wayu?" Mia asked the girl with a spear who came to a halt and turned to them "Yes?"
She was younger than Mia, had hair that fell a little past her shoulders and wore wet gear. Her spear had an odd shaped end; she produced a towel and wiped her face before turning to them.
"We were told to find you by Fistivus, we'd like to ask something."
She began walking and they fell into line behind her.
"Fistivus? I told him the last caravan guard job I took was the last time I'd do anything…active, I suppose…regardless, what did you want to ask?"
"Well first off, I'm Mia, this is Soren and Wyre. We have recently ran into a…problem and we're forming a troop to better deal with it."
Wayu stopped as the emerged on the dock, she turned and faced them "A troop? I…I don't take up arms anymore, it was just a short time for some money…but uh, I suppose I could listen to whatever it is you have to say…common courtesy…"
Wyre cleared his throat "We believe that a foreign threat from my land has come to Ymarkteg and it is linked with several strange attacks on Soren and Mia over the last few days."
Wayu pointed to them "Strange attacks? Wait…were you three involved in that rumored attack at the Cross Kingdom Path? Some people claimed that there were guys destroying property and threatening people, right?"
The three nodded and Mia continued "It did happen and we were there…it seems to be linked to us and we've been putting pieces together to determine why. Now we are trying to form an effective group should we run into more. Soren and I have faced many soldiers on our own in the past, but as of now we have no idea what we are dealing with."
Wayu scratched her head, looked to the ground and sniffed before looking back at them "I understand…and I hate having to tell you the same thing over and over again…but I-"
Wyre lunged past them, grabbed Wayu and fell to the ground as Soren and Mia jumped away from a large stone that crashed into the ground. People began running around and away as Soren glanced over to the roof of a building where the hooded man from the path, Meloi stood.
He turned away and left as five more men tore out of the earth, two of them began shooting jagged pieces of rock at Soren and Mia. The sage began whirling a force in front of him, catching and deflecting the rocks as Mia took her blade out.
Two axe wielders and a swordsman all in the red robes charged Soren, Mia leapt over him and deflected the axe hurled by one of them, as the man pulled another one out a bolt of lightning struck him, Mia flew into him and silenced the man by ramming her sword into his throat.
The other axe wielder swung his weapon and crashed it into the ground as Soren jumped away. Wyre came out from behind a structure, placed his hands on the man and sent a current through his body, which one last grunt the man fell to the ground limp.
The earth mages raised their hands as the road beneath them shattered and then shot at Soren and Mia who danced with their blades, shattering the rock, the swordsman reached them and clashed with Mia, several rocks whizzed by, cutting her side and face. Soren spun quickly and shot gusts at the mages who raised a wall of rock in front of them.
Wyre prepared Brave Bolt and fired four beams into the rock, shattering it. The mages were no longer behind it, one erupted from the ground behind Wyre, his fist encased in earth and knocked the thunder sage to the ground with a resounding punch.
Before Soren could head over there, he was cut off by the other one tearing out of the ground in front of him.
Mia couldn't break away from the swordsman and glanced at Wyre as the other earth mage prepared another large rock to drop on him.
A spear ripped through his chest, the man screamed silently as the rock above him shattered and the pieces fell to the floor harmlessly. He tried to grab the blade of the spear but the rest of it was pushed through him and then torn out. His body fell to the floor and Wayu helped Wyre up.
"Excellent work!" Soren yelled as he dove aside from more shrapnel.
"Earth magic…never really thought to learn about the weapons and forces of this continent…my bad."
The mage laughed and began throwing more boulders from the road below him at Soren.
The agile sage continued to avoid until he drew out his blade and slashed through a rock, releasing an Arcwind gale that cut across the mage.
Mia finally broke away from the swordsman; he took a step towards her but was zapped by Wyre from afar allowing Mia to end the swordsman with a slash to his neck. Choking on his own blood the man struggled for a few seconds before he stopped moving.
Soren continued to air slash through the earth mage's attacks before using Arcwind to leap high into the air. The mage looked up as if to attack when Soren's blade shot down and impaled the mage, stunned at the accuracy of the sword, the mage remained silent before he died as well.
The four glanced around at the bodies, Soren noticed the crowd forming, and he glanced at Wyre who moved to assure them everything was alright.
Soren saw Mia walk over to the axe wielder that Wyre shocked to death; she turned and looked at Soren with an odd expression.
He kneeled down next to the man and immediately saw what she was looking at. A long scar across his neck, Soren remembered the axe wielder on the path who he decapitated.
"Impossible…" Wayu walked over to them, Mia stood and turned to her.
"Thank you for your help."
She shook her head "No…no…I didn't do anything…I can't…I don't…"
Mia smiled "You saved Wyre, we are very grateful for that…these men are related to all the attacks on us until now…we could really use someone like you."
Wayu nodded "I still don't know…I'm not incredible with this spear…just lucky...and I've had no desire to…"
Soren walked over "Maybe not, but you have potential and we'd really love to have you."
Wyre smiled at her "We'll take anything…and honestly, there is nothing wrong with being lucky, besides, I owe you my life."
Wayu smiled slightly, Wyre walked over to them and held his hand out, he shook hands and thanked Wayu several times.
A few hours later Wayu emerged from her home with knee and elbow guards and a large shield with the Anondye A on it as well as upper body armor.
The group left Corelis bay and headed for the city, they needed to prepare for departure and see if Lyle and Mikel have decided to come with them.
Upon reaching their home in the Lis Forest, Mikel was waiting there in full armor with a bow slung to his side and an axe across his back "Hey Soren, Mia and…"
He gestured towards Wyre and Wayu who formally introduced themselves.
Soren raised an eyebrow "You decided to come with us Mikel?"
The man nodded "You know it! I appreciate the time you gave me Soren, can't wait to hit the road in a few days!"
Soren and Mia left Wyre and Wayu at their home and took off to speak to Lyle.
Upon reaching his house, the door was thrown open and a tall cloaked man stormed out, followed by Lyle "Hey! Asshole! You-"
He noticed Mia and forgot about the strange man, he turned to Soren, the two stared at each other for a while until Soren spoke.
"Mia tells me you were very eager to come with us…"
Lyle nodded and grinned while running a hand through his green hair "Yep! We spoke a bit about travel some time ago, this is the perfect excuse to go on a cross kingdom or even continental adventure…I assume."
The archsage regarded Lyle as Mia jumped for joy "Looks like we hit the perfect people! All seven of us are heading out in a couple of days after we get everything ready and speak to Fistivus and Lune before we leave."
Lyle turned from Soren to Mia and grinned "I can't wait!"
Soren continued to examine the man, he had seen and spoken to Lyle a few times in the past, he gave the impression he was always nervous or bumbling but something seemed strange.
"Have you been getting sleep lately, Lyle?"
The green swordmaster turned to Soren, "Yes! Why do you ask?"
Soren shook his head and turned to Mia "Let's go, we have a lot of preparation to do."
Mia waved at Lyle and skipped off after Soren, she placed an arm around him and almost knocked him off balance as he yelled about his refusal to skip with her.
As they approached their home Soren stopped and looked at the rising moon before turning to Mia. "Pretty hectic last few days, eh?"
She nodded and smiled, "No matter what happens…I do love spending any time with you…"
Soren smiled, then the two shared a kiss "I love you Soren…"
The sage held her hand and they walked towards their home "I love you too, Mia."
The next few days would pass quickly as the group prepared to hit the road for Euto, requiring them to pass through the Cross Kingdom Path and Malsean again to reach the Rotric Trail that connects Malsean to Euto.
With this chapter I can upload Ymarkteg OCs 2 to my dA, it's kind of amazing considering I have 10 files of OCs, though as the story goes OCs that are just random people like a librarian or post keeper vanish and all of them are important in some regard for the situation
The OC sheet includes Murawk, the dead Korgan Leader, however, everyone else on the page has already appeared in the story so...its fine, I'm really impatient with them and really want to submit all of them cause I love how the characters came out.
Well, that is all for this week! The road trip to Euto to meet Ulmeihn's friend Eminse begins next week!