Shooting a commercial I was up for about 28 hours from 7:30 AM Thursday to 11:30 AM Friday, that was insane and I never want to do it again!
Chapter Fourteen
Walled City, Treige
After a tiresome march around the ruined Grove Mine, the troop returned to a deathly worried pair of merchants. Ultimately they decided to go back to the Grove Rest where they relaxed for a day, reflecting on the events before they took the Emerald Road out of the Grand Grove and to one of Anondye's three border cities, the Walled City of Treige, heavily fortified and surrounded by a huge and nearly impenetrable wall.
"Lyle!" Orgoth called, approaching the green haired man.
Turning to the knight, Lyle grinned "Hello there, Orgoth…I don't have a friend here, you don't need to follow me."
"I'm not…I realize that maybe I've been too hard on you…I don't do this often but…for lack of a better word, I do-"
"No need to say anymore…the forest air here soothes me…and just not being at that creepy apothecary's place has put me in a much better mood."
"Maybe that's why I'm here…I've never been around so many trees…maybe for once, I am at ease." Orgoth stated looking around at the surrounding forest.
Lyle and Orgoth sat in Fistivus car right now, the knight asking about the places Lyle has been to in his travels long ago before he settled in Corelis.
Orgoth admitted to himself that he wasn't entirely convinced Lyle was on the up and up but he was willing to give him a chance to prove whether or not he should be trusted.
Soren sat on the stony cliffs watching the falls pour out into the lake below him, a sight he never really got to fully take in as he was distracted by the strange hermit. Pushing the thoughts that led back to the Apothecary's Keep and his undesired meeting he turned to see Mia and Leena sparring with Mikel off to the side juggling his weapons as Wyre and Wayu laughed.
Lyle decided to stay back and Orgoth hung back as well, Soren somewhat understood Orgoth's desire to look into Lyle but he decided that until something could completely convince him, they needed Lyle, and the man himself isn't much of a threat.
Soren shook his head; the last thing he wanted was to start devising strategies to kill allies in the event they would turn he no longer trapped himself in his room like it was a cave, he wanted to, had to and did trust the allies at his side right now..
Hearing a loud clash he noticed Leena's blade go flying and stick into the ground near Mikel causing him to jump, yell and drop his axes all over the floor.
He smiled as the rest of the group let out relaxed laughter.
Ultimately, it seemed everyone is in higher spirits after the defeat of the Korgan leader, Soren was still convinced that more Korgan Bandits would come after them, if whoever was behind this was still resurrecting them.
But for now, the only true threat was in the form of the Earth Archsage, Meloi.
Standing he walked over to the group, tossing Leena's sword back to her "You and me, Leena."
She glanced over as Soren pulled out his blade and whistled "Trying to make a statement little man." He smiled at her and she spun her blade around "Let's go!"
Soren and Leena sat near Lyle and Orgoth as the swordmaster told some of his stories of his trip through a treacherous cave in Pozem.
Soren turned to Leena who looked back at him with a cocky smile "Where did you learn your sword skills?"
"Mia mainly, but two good friends of mine, Zihark and Leah also threw in some…lessons I suppose."
She put her chin on her fist as she kept eyeing him; he raised an eyebrow "Why are you watching me so closely?"
"I've worked a lot of missions in Sarhara and met all kinds of people…but you mister Branded, top them all…what other secrets could you be hiding?"
Ashnard's face briefly flashed in Soren's head but he shook it out "Nothing serious."
Leena looked out to the cart carrying Mia, Wayu, Wyre and Mikel as she opened her mouth Soren cut her off.
"I know he is overly brash about it but what do you think of Mikel's advances?"
Leena turned to Soren quickly, blinking several times before laughing "There is another surprise, interested in other people's relationships? I figured with you and Mia living every day and night together you'd forget about all that stuff."
Soren shrugged "I'm not particularly fond of giving out advice, only did it once before cause a friend asked for it…I know you don't buy this but if anything is there it could affect our team dynamic…there are only eight of us, not enough to cover for everyone."
Leena laughed again after he finished "Soren…you're right, I don't buy it…but should you really worry about me? I came highly recommended from Orgoth here and I earned my reputation…doesn't matter how many men I…worked with, I keep my eye on the prize."
Soren raised an eyebrow and she shrugged "Besides, if it's relationships you're concerned about, I say you talk to Wyre and Wayu about it, not me."
Soren shook his head "Wyre is married."
Leena looked shocked; she turned quickly to the other cart then back to Soren "But…"
"Hey everyone! Here we are! Anondye's Walled City of Treige!" the carts passed through a massive open gate with a few guards standing outside welcoming travelers.
The walls were massive, thick and had many keeps and watchtowers, including open windows where men were likely stationed during times of war.
Inside the theme of the fortress wall clearly inspired the architectural designs of the houses, shops and key buildings.
Mia turned to face Lune as she directed the cart through the streets of the town "Hey Lune, what do we have to do to get to Sarhara from here?"
"Simple! We must speak with the joint border guards, Chief Ottenz of Treige and Chief Iltar'Elm of Sendusk, though it is peace, Sarhara enjoys some kind of solitude and is a little nitpicky in regards to border crossing. Either way we'll be in Sarhara before sundown!"
Before Mia could reply there were screams and people running from a shopping district. Mia quickly jumped out of the cart followed by Wayu, Wyre and Mikel as Soren's group dismounted.
They spotted a Treige guard signaling several others as they headed in the direction of the disturbance.
"Should we go?" Mia called.
Soren was about to yell no when a guard running towards the location was struck by a pointed stone. With one end sticking out of his back he fell to the ground dead as the others raised their shields and moved further in, out of sight.
"Dune Guard!" Soren yelled, Mia's group ran past them with the other four following close behind.
Several members of the Dune Guard raised a wall between Mia and Soren's groups, cursing Soren turned to his group and told them to stand back.
On the other side of the wall, Mia's group stared as several guards were struck down by Korgans holding people hostage.
One of the Earth Sages called to them "Here they are!"
A lead Korgan pointed at them "You lot struck down our master Murawk! In his stead is I, Roltz! This will be our revenge!"
Nine Korgans ran past Roltz towards Mia, Wyre, Wayu and Mikel as they pulled out there weapons, the Treige guard moved to aid but Roltz cut them off, drawing his blade, Mia noticed that it looked like a section of the blade was cut off and in its place were teeth. With a war cry Roltz began to cut down the Treige Guard.
Wayu slid on her knee guards, leaning back as a blade flew over her; she rammed her spear into one of the Korgans and held her shield up as an axe slammed into it. Wyre fired a bolt of lightning along Wayu's other side, stunning one of the other Korgans headed towards her.
Ripping her spear out and letting the man fell dead she spun and struck the axe wielder across the face as Wyre ran past her and killed the other Korgan.
Mia easily avoid several sword slashes from two more Korgans, the men continued to get aggravated as she avoided but didn't strike back, as they continued to attack, Mikel readied his bow and shot one in the neck and the other in the head. With one last slash for safety, Mia downed the two as two more descended on her and two others attacked Mikel.
Dropping his bow, Mikel moved back, not as fast as Mia his armor was struck several times before an axe hit his left arm. One of the men turned and struck down Wayu's spear as it headed towards him but was zapped by Wyre's lightning and fried.
As the two axe men held Mia back she bumped into the wall that the Earth Sages raised, hearing something on the other side she jumped out of the way as a massive gust tore through it, debris knocked down the two axe wielders followed by Orgoth and Lyle impaling them and Leena bolting past cutting down the last Korgan as he cornered Mikel. "Looks like I'm in the shining armor in this situation." She commented as Mikel stood with a grin "No complaints here."
Mia yelled to get Soren's attention and pointed to Roltz as the teeth on the end of his blade dug into the last man's neck, killing him. The two Earth Sages retreated to Roltz's side. He looked over at the dead Korgans and whistled.
"You all took out my group much faster than I thought you would…but I am done with my plate as well…" he aimed his blade at them with the sages at the ready.
"It doesn't matter how many of you there are! This is for Murawk!" as Soren and Mia's group prepared to battle an arrow shot into one of the Sage's eyes, followed by an axe crashing into the other's chest.
As the two fell dead, Roltz turned to a roof where two men stood. One wore a long flowing robe and had a staff sheathed across his back while the other had a band over one of his eyes, a large shoulder guard and was holding a bow.
"Never thought you Korgan scum would come all the way out here with us around!" said the larger man in the robe as he jumped off the roof followed by the other man.
Holding his hand out, the axe tore out of the dead sage's body and flew back to him.
"Who are those two?" Soren whispered to the rest of the group.
"Ottenz is a warrior monk of Treige he protects the Anondye Side of the border and works with Iltar'Elm of Sendusk a Sarharan sniper and chief of defense of Sendusk, the city across the border." Orgoth whispered back.
Soren turned to him and raised an eyebrow; shrugging Orgoth continued "I read in my spare time."
Amazingly, Roltz did not back down, clearly his fury was blinding him to the position he was in, as Ottenz prepared to charge, axe in hand a black lightning bolt struck between the border guard chiefs and Roltz.
An ethereal form appeared; Mia recognized it as the being that aided Murawk's escape from Emerald Hold.
"Roltz…withdraw, that is an order!" the form shouted as it held its hand up to stop Ottenz axe.
"The Korgan Clan doesn't-"
Before he could finish his statement, two more people warped in the same way as the ethereal man, grabbed Roltz and vanished with the new Korgan leader.
Throwing Ottenz away the form vanished into the air as Iltar'Elm's arrows flew by and struck into the ground.
As Ottenz stood he dusted himself, said a few words to Iltar'Elm and moved towards the fallen soldiers as the Sarharan Chief approached Soren and Mia.
"You are a very skilled mercenary group...assuming you are mercenaries." The sniper stated as he came to a stop in front of them.
Mia shook her head "Not quite."
Ottenz cleared his throat "Regardless, you clearly aren't just any travelers, what brings warriors of your caliber here to Treige?"
Soren glanced back at the group then turned to Ottenz and Iltar'Elm "It's a long story…to make it short and understandable; we are planning on crossing the border to Sendusk."
Iltar'Elm nodded to them and turned to Ottenz before addressing the group "Honestly, I'm a little suspicious of you lot…so many heavy-hitters crossing the border at the same time…together…and that strange glowing man…the Korgans."
Leena stepped up to the "You think we are involved with those freaks? This group has been fighting those assholes since Corelis! We despise em more than you'll ever know!"
Mikel crossed his arms "Surely you don't believe we are up to something…malicious."
Ottenz and Iltar'Elm glanced at each other again then turned back to the group.
The War Monk sighed "We suppose not…but as a matter of good faith…I'd like to know what this is all about. There has been news of Korgan and Dune Guard activity and it makes very little sense considering both groups were exterminated decades ago. Even the people reporting these events don't quite believe them, mainly because no bodies are ever found after the fact."
Lyle scratched his head "Another explanation? Is this really necessary?"
Soren sighed "As much as I hate it as well…these two control the border…either this or we have to head further north into Numengate."
Iltar'Elm glanced back as Ottenz approached a group of guards and they began moving the fallen bodies "Meet us at the Treige Border Keep at the edge of the city, we'll listen to the tale and let you across the border…relax in the city or what have you, we have some burials to attend to."
Joining Ottenz the border chiefs began loading up the Treige Guard carefully as the aids moved towards the Korgan and Dune Guard bodies which burst into flames and caused the men to stumble back in shock.
Soren looked at Mia as the border chiefs shook their heads "Just like the man in Malsean…"
Mia nodded as the transports full of dead guards were pulled away.
Soren and Mia's group sat at a local eatery, mostly discussing matters of the Korgan and Dune Guard supposed desperation, among other things.
Leena rolled her eyes as Mikel took a huge bite out of a slab of meat in front of him. "Seriously Mikel…you could be a little more presentable…we aren't just a bunch of sell swords here."
Mikel turned to her with food hanging out of his mouth "Speak for yourself."
She made a disgusted face and turned away as he continued eating.
"So…you said that the weird…glowing guy that came in from a black lightning bolt attacked you before?" Soren nodded at Leena's statement "Essentially, it was our first fight against Murawk, the being helped him escape the battle…the form has to be some kind of disguise."
"Why would he be concealing his appearance? Do you know anyone who can fire dark energy like that?" Lyle asked.
Mia turned to Soren then to the rest of the group "A few…like the vampires on Hitenticul or Yakaan on Zatuo, but they are all dead."
Orgoth: What about that Tyse Erent fellow you recruited after Zatuo?
Mia: No, he is a good guy, trust us.
Wyre: Your friend Shinon killed Yakaan, so you've said, is it possible he could've used Singularity before he died to leave like…a past version of himself?
Wayu: You did mention the tome had space and time bending capabilities.
Soren: That might be possible…but the tome was destroyed over the course of the battle, if he somehow knew how to replicate himself, no doubt the version faded with the destruction of Singularity.
Lyle: You've been at this for so long…you're bound to have made some enemies you may have never met face to face…there are always dissenters.
Mia: Sadly…this is true…it may be someone who chose to hate us for some reason.
Leena: Or it could be the 'big guy'.
Lyle: The 'big guy'?
Leena: Yeah, the ringleader, the one who resurrected the Korgans and Dune Guard, it would explain why he had to hide himself.
Soren: He did give orders to Roltz…though the man didn't seem keen on obeying.
Leena: Not to mention they can bring people back from the dead. Who's to say a vampire or this Yakaan fellow hasn't been revived?
Mia: They were killed on different continents…
Wyre: What about the situation in Hitenticul that brought me here?
Soren recalled that Wyre came to Ymarkteg because of strange incidents occurring around the sites of Kanahana and Ulyus' deaths. "We don't know if those things are directly related…but it is possible our enemies have learned more about the vampires and their magic…it would be far too…"
"Impossible to believe they know all about our former enemies." Mia added "What are the odds of that?"
Wyre scratched his chin, recalling the events again "There were no bodies. Without that any chance of bringing them back would require things our enemies don't have access to."
Lyle raised an eyebrow "Like what?"
"Soren, Mia and Wyre's memories…" Orgoth stated.
Swallowing and turning to the group, Mikel burped loudly, laughing he waved off Leena's punches to his shoulder "What about the creepy, black clothed dudes who warped in and took Roltz away? Is there another faction that was revived by the ringleader?"
Soren remembered the other strange men and thought for a second "They warped in the same way as the ethereal man…they may be his direct subordinates…not a revived faction but one of today."
Mia's eyes widened "The ones truly behind this are a large organized group, resurrecting old terrors? Honestly, I thought it was just one guy amassing an army."
"Ultimately I think it is…but an army in such a peaceful and large land as Ymarkteg could never topple a single nation let alone the whole continent…he needs these old horrors." Soren continued "It could very well be…him."
Mikel stopped eating and turned to the tactician "Him…the man you came to Ymarkteg looking for…that last member of the Barbyos Legion?"
Mia sighed "Zijo Oit showed how far he would go, using his abilities and the cursed Dyeshein he nearly conquered a large portion of Zatuo under the flag of Benkanan…if this man is as terrible or even worse…there is nothing he wouldn't seek to subjugate."
Lyle scratched his head "Tyse Erent, Zijo Oit and this man sound unbelievably strong in their own right, how was Barbyos keeping them under his thumb?"
Soren stood and motioned the rest of the group to follow; it was time to see the border chiefs.
"Barbyos' Legion has been long dead…we may never hear the words from Barbyos himself and Zijo Oit is dead, not to mention Tyse's encounter with the vampires erased most of his memory as a Barbyos Pirate…this may be our last chance to learn what transpired back in Thyremog."
Soren and Mia's group may not have fought into the political uprising in Thyremog headed by Barbyos and Jilger, the vampire war on Hitenticul or the rebellion on Zatuo, but they knew enough from Soren and Mia's detailed stories that if what could happen on Ymarkteg was planned since Thyremog, someone even darker and more sinister could be at play.
But now was nowhere near the time for deep speculation.
On their way to see Ottenz and Iltar'Elm, Lyle stated he needed to see someone and invited Orgoth along, Soren wasn't too sure about it but he decided to let the pair go.
"Remember how you trailed me back in the day…I'm going to show you I wasn't up to anything dirty." Lyle stated as Orgoth followed close behind. The knight grinned "I'd say you don't need to do this…but I must admit I'm a little curious."
The pair walked through the streets, there weren't as many people as when they first entered the city as news of the Korgan attack spread, most people were hiding and more guards were posted.
In an old alley Lyle knocked on a crooked and cracked door "Hey, its Lyle…it's been a while."
The door opened to reveal a young woman with bright red hair and green eyes, she recognized Lyle instantly, said a greeting and hugged him before turning to Orgoth, she looked very surprised.
"You never bring other people."
Lyle waved her away "Long and boring story, trust me. Orgoth, this is an old friend of mine."
She extended her hand "Hello Orgoth, my name is Versha; Lyle must really trust you to bring you here."
Shaking her hand the knight smiled "Something like that."
The woman led them into the house and struck up conversation with Orgoth about the Korgan attack, surprised to hear it was them among several others who fought off the bandits.
"I didn't know you were doing such dangerous things these days, Lyle."
The swordmaster shrugged "Well, it is part of the long and boring story."
Orgoth raised an eyebrow "Long yes…from my experience, not at all boring."
Another man entered the room and came to an abrupt halt seeing Lyle and Orgoth speaking with Versha.
"Uh…sis…I didn't know we were expecting…company." The man said his eyes fixed on Orgoth; the knight narrowed his own eyes, examining the man closely. He had the same hair as Versha but bright yellow eyes that unsettled the knight.
"We weren't, Lyle just dropped by to catch up."
Standing, Lyle walked over to the man and shook his hand; he leaned in close "Easy, Pesh, just a friend of mine."
Pesh smiled at Orgoth before turning back and leaning towards Lyle "But no friend of mine…what are you doing here?"
"Just letting you know that we are here…now chill, I'll be out of your hair in a few minutes." Slapping the man on the back, Lyle returned to the table and continued talking to Versha. Orgoth and Pesh glanced at each other again. As the knight turned back to the conversation, Pesh turned and re-entered the room he emerged from, closing the door behind him.
Versha smiled at Orgoth "Don't worry; Pesh isn't a people person in any sense of the word…if I wasn't his sister he'd probably never talk to me."
Orgoth grinned as Lyle chuckled "So…Lyle, where did you meet these two?"
"That is a long story…you have the time?" Versha cut in.
Lyle shook his head "It's fine…I met Versha and Pesh here in Anondye…the exact city doesn't exist anymore but it was northwest of the capital city Amaryllis."
Versha smiled recalling those times "Good days…just a few friends on constant adventures…life couldn't be any better."
"Someone is resurrecting the dead? Using them to hunt you? And you aren't entirely sure why?" Soren nodded, confirming Ottenz statements as the war monk sat down in his chair.
"Unbelievable…even more so considering that you lot managed to topple Murawk…there are only eight of you, it took dozens of Royal Anondye Troops under General Joltam to defeat that goliath."
Mia nodded "Murawk never managed to get through anything without mentioning his hate for Joltam…that was a long time ago, how does he intend to take revenge on the general?"
Iltar'Elm laughed "Former general, Joltam retired a long time ago, the man is over one hundred…he settled somewhere or other, I don't keep track of those kinds of things."
Ottenz stood, the rest of the people in the room followed his lead "Well…we'll do what we can here, Iltar'Elm will lead you across the border to Sendusk, it is quite a change of pace I'm afraid, whereas the transition between our earthy base is slower into Pozem, Sendusk is sand trapped, surrounded by a natural 'wall' of quicksand. Bridges have been built over it, but I'd never live there. From there the trip to…never mind, Iltar'Elm will tell you the rest, I'm not dependable when it comes to the geography of other countries."
The sniper laughed at the larger man as he sat down. Shaking his head he gestured for the group to follow him. Upon leaving the keep they were met by Fistivus and Lune, who finished picking up more materials and Orgoth and Lyle who just returned from Versha and Pesh's home.
Joining again the troop started across the border, the grassy land beneath their feet began to heat up and gradually die away. Iltar'Elm led them to a large gated 'runway' of sorts that connected from the Treige keep and continued into the desert, turning into a bridge and leading into Sendusk.
As they walked across the hot, stony path Iltar'Elm took in a deep breath and turned to the rest of the group "Welcome to my home, the Western Desert Nation of Sarhara!"
Batman reference? Kinda! :D
Anyway, that concludes the part of Ymarkteg the troop has spent in Anondye, as of the chapter I am writing right now they have not returned.
Up on my deviantArt (on which I use the same name) is Ymarkteg OCs 4 which includes pictures of The Hermit, Einseek the Apothecary, Roltz, Ottenz, Iltar'Elm and the Ethereal Man
Below is a portion of 'Ymarkteg Chapters' a notepad document that keeps track of the chapter titles, weeks of updates, words, pages, OCs and their classes, plot twists I've thought ahead, summaries to go with the plot twists, classes and tier lists
Each star next to them represents the tier of their class for example Mage* Sage* Archsage* Tactician* (unique class just for Soren)
THE TROOP
001 Soren (Tacitican) ****
002 Mia (Trueblade) ***
003 Wyre (Thunder Sage) **
004 Lyle (Swordmaster) **
005 Mikel (Warrior) **
006 Wayu (Halberdier) **
007 Orgoth (Lance Knight) *
008 Leena (Mercenary) *
M01 Fistivus (Merchant) *
M02 Lune (Merchant) *
Weapon Ranks
Soren: Magic (S), Sword (A), Staff (S), Branded
Mia: Sword (S), Branded
Wyre: Magic (S), Staff (B)
Lyle: Sword (A)
Mikel: Axe (B), Bow (C)
Wayu: Lance (B)
Orgoth: Lance (A)
Leena: Sword (B)
Troop's Objectives
[X] 1. Take Ulmeihn's Research to Eminse in Euto
[ ] 2. Reach the Sarharan Western Archives to learn of the living True Elder Magic users
Soren's Objectives
[X] Give Branded Blood Sample to Orgoth
[ ] Give Beorc Blood Sample to Orgoth
[ ] Give Laguz Blood Sample to Orgoth
[ ] Give Blood Sample from Mia to Orgoth
Next chapter begins Ymarkteg: SARHARA