《Shadow and Silver》 New Lands Part 1 Lillianna ¡°I hope it doesn¡¯t rain before I get to town¡± I say to myself as I look up at the dawn sky. The dirt road I was standing on ran through a forest and lead north towards unknown lands. The forest itselfwasn¡¯t particularly dense but it had enough vegetation that if I needed too, with the low light of the cloud covered dawn, I could easily disappear into the greenery and no one would be the wiser. I had arrived in Thayet, the continent I was now on, only a few weeks ago and had decided to head north to explore the uncharted lands. Exploring and finding new peoples was one of the few things in life I still found exciting apart from combat. New food to eat, new alcoholic drinks to consume and different cultures to investigate and understand, all these things brought joy into an otherwise long and boring life. New alcoholic drinks were always the highlights of my travels, you can always get a feel for a new culture by the drinks they consume, especially the women. Having left the previous town three days ago I had not seen a single person or caravan on the road which I considered quite odd. The information I got from an inn keep at the town I had just left, informed me that this road was one of the few well-travelled roads that lead north and was safer than most roads in this area. While Fraul, the kingdom I was currently in, had few bandits and slavers, it was not unheard of for travellers to be attacked near the edge of its borders, where I was headed. *Maybe this is the off season for travel in this land or I got swindled by that inn keep?* From what I had read about Thayet before my arrival, the climate of this continent got milder as you went north. While the west of the continent was more tropical with lush jungles and swamps. The south and east, which is where I had first arrived, was considerably colder throughout the year with snow fall during most of winter. Having made my way north to warmer weather I had hoped to run into more travellers, but that did not seem to be the case. Not wanting to waste time on pointless speculation, I tie my long white hair into a ponytail and continue making my way down the road. As the climate was getting milder as I went north, I was only wearing light clothing, even with the warmer weather the rain in this region was bitterly cold and prolonged exposer was something I wanted to avoid. I was wearing my normal traveling attire which consisted of: a black hoodless cloak that went down to my ankles, a long sleeved white cotton shirt, grey rugged cotton travel pants and a pair of leather sandals. I also had a backpack full of provisions as well as books and trinkets to trade. The nearest town would be within view soon so I quicken my pace hoping to avoid the rain. ~Master, danger ahead~ A voice in my head whispers. The area I was traveling had quite a few hills and I was just reaching the peak of one such hill. ¡°Thank you Nat¡± Upon reaching the top of the hill I can see some figures far of in the distance marching in a column. Two out front are on horseback and about two dozen on foot, with another small group trailing behind. ¡°Nat, lend me your eyes¡± ~Of course, Master~ Upon hearing those words, a golden hawk lands on my shoulders, its eyes peering off at the approaching mass of people. My eyes turn from their usual violet into that of a hawk¡¯s, with my now golden eyes I look at the slowly approaching group of people. With my enhanced vision, I can clearly see that the two men on horses have an dog insignia on their pauldrons while wearing full plate armour. Their armour looks battle worn with noticeable scratches and dents giving off an aura of veterans. The men behind them on foot are wearing leather armour and some are carrying spears while others have swords. They appears to be soldiers of Fraul, judging by their marching posture and attire. The group trailing them consist of women, men and children who are in chains and wearing clothing common for farmers and villagers in this region. ¡°Slavers maybe? Thanks Nat, that is all for now¡± The golden hawk extends its wings and departs back into the sky, circling overhead. A small smile forms on my face as my eyes return to normal and I continue my fast pace march towards the approaching group. *I hope they are slavers but they appear too well organised for simple slavers.* It¡¯s been too long since I last ran into slavers and after walking for three days without coming across anyone I was beginning to get bored. As I approach the group, one of the men on horseback rides out in front of the others towards me. While still being out of earshot I whisper to my traveling companions. ¡°Wait for my command and remain hidden¡± ~Yes Master~ voices whisper in my mind. The approaching man looks to be in his early thirties having a clean-shaven appearance and a pale complexion with short blonde hair that is almost long enough to reach his eyes. I notice that he has a shield on his back that is shaped like a kite while having a sword on this hip. ¡°Halt, who are you and what are you doing on this road?!¡± *Why was this idiot screaming, I am only a few steps away from him.* Looking up at the man with a smiling face I answer. ¡°I am merely a traveling scholar who goes by the name Lillianna. Currently I am peddling my wares and knowledge for money¡± I pull out a few trinkets and books from my backpack and show the man, before putting them away again. ¡°You look more like a whore than a scholar!¡± *What about my attire makes me look like a whore? If this how a whores dress in this kingdom I wouldn¡¯t find them very alluring.* ¡°I do not wish for any trouble I simply wish to be on my way¡± ¡°Listen here bitch, I am a knight of Count Ramuse and he is the Count of the land you stand upon. Until I am done with you, you will do as you are told!¡± *This idiot is still shouting.* ¡°You will follow me back to my men and we will try out some of your ¡°wares¡± to make sure you are telling the truth¡± *At least the idiot isn¡¯t yelling anymore.* ¡°As you wish my lord¡± I follow the foolish knight back to his group. As I trailed him I decided that any further talking would be a waste of time and even if they weren¡¯t slavers they needed to die. If only for the fact that this knight had called me a whore as an insult. Upon reaching my destination I take a look at the prisoners at the back of the group. They were bloody, bruised and had no hope in their eyes, most were just looking at the ground beneath them. This was a sight I had seen many times in my travels and one which never failed to ignite my rage. I had seen enough, this little troupe of brutes was about to meet its bloody and in my mind, necessary end. With that thought I gave a silent command to my traveling companions to begin their happy slaughter.Stolen story; please report.
As if hit by a massive hammer the two knights on horseback were thrown off their horses, their chest plates crushed and dented by an unseen force. The bodies of the knights hit the dirt road and limply roll while their companions on foot watch silently in shock. ¡°At arms, defensive formation!¡± one of the foot soldiers roars. The soldiers burst into life and arrange themselves in to a circular formation with spears on the outside aiming forward while those with swords are at the centre. All the while the horses of the now limp knights run off down the road in terror. Looking around in panic and shock the soldiers try to see where the attacks came from but no enemies come into their view. CRUNCH one of the spearman¡¯s has his head crushed into his neck from above with the sounds of breaking bone ringing out around him. The next soldier to meet his untimely demise has his arms and legs ripped off as if he was being quartered in a public execution. All the while the remaining men search for their unseen aggressors. Screams ring out as the slaughter continues, some are disembowelled, some are ripped to pieces while others find their limbs rotting and their skin bubbling with cysts and puss. A few of the soldiers try to run but quickly find that they are no long able to escape as they have their legs crushed by an unseen force, giving of a sickening crunching and squishing sound. One solider at the centre of the now quickly dissolving formation even drops to his knees to start praying to whatever god he believes in. That particular solider met his end by having his own hands shoved into his mouth and being forced to rip off his own jaw from his face, he then quietly gargled and twitched on the ground as he waited for death. As the carnage continued, the figure of a lone woman watched on with a sinister smile on her face.
Lillianna I looked at the remnants of the recent carnage and thought the sight was quite pleasant. These fools earned my ire and I felt no remorse or sadness, instead I felt satisfied with a job well done. I then issue a silent command. ~Clean up the mess please, not a spec of blood is to be left~ ~As you wish Master~ a voice whispers in my head. I watch as the blood and gore is quickly enveloped by a shadow that radiates out from my cloak. The remains of the men sink into black nothingness, not a spec of blood or a piece of bone is left in view, only their weapons remain. With the clean-up done the shadow retracts to my clock and resumes its unassuming guise. I then turn my attention towards the captives, who are looking at me in terror with most of them kneeling on the ground begging for their lives. *I guess this is to be expected after what they had just seen, if I was in their position I would probably do the same.* Walking over to the captives non-threateningly as possible, I stop a few paces away from them holding a smile on face, trying to ease their fears. *I suppose someone smiling after what just happened might be taken the wrong way, oh well.* Now that I am closer to them I take a close look at the group to make sure none of them have life threatening injuries. Apart from a few bloody faces and bruises I can¡¯t see anything that would require my immediate attention. They all look like people from Fraul, with fair complexions and light coloured hair and eyes. ¡°Please I mean you no harm¡± I say in a calming and soothing voice. ¡°Are any of you hurt and require healing?¡± The captives are still begging and crying for their lives in front of me. *They are still scared off me, better try explaining things.* ¡°Do you people know what a mage is?¡± I ask calmly. A few shift nods and muffled grunts to show that they understand my question. *Well that¡¯s a good start, I hate talking to people who don¡¯t know about mages. They always think I¡¯m some kind of demon or evil spirit come to eat their child.* ¡°I am a mage and those men tried to harm me, so I used magic to defend myself. Do you understand?¡± More nods but this time clear words of acknowledgement can also be heard. *Good, now we are getting somewhere.* ¡°I am sorry you had to see that display of carnage but they left me no other choice. So please don¡¯t be afraid I mean you know harm¡± ¡°Thank you¡± a man in front of me quietly says, while wiping tears from his eyes. ¡°It was no trouble, I am just glad that none of you seem to be seriously injured. But having said that I can see all of you are in bad shape, let me use my healing magic to fix you up¡± I say in a cheerful manner. ¡°But we have nothing to pay you with my Lady¡± a skinny and beaten woman says. *I guess she thinks I¡¯m some kind of traveling healer.* ¡°Not to worry, I will not charge you money for this service¡± ¡°Please my Lady please don¡¯t take our children!¡± one woman begs. *Huh¡­ why would I want the children as payment? Wait, do they think I¡¯m some kind of witch and want their children to eat as payment?* I made a mental note to think more carefully about how I speak to people after showing them some of my power. ¡°I am sorry, I did not mean for you to take my words in such a manner. I simply meant that my services are given freely. I will not harm your children or any of you, please be at ease¡± *I hope that calms them down.* ¡°Oh thank you my Lady¡± ¡°But first let me gets these restraints off you¡± ~Cormon break these chains~ ~Of course Master~ The chains binding the prisoners shatter one by one and fall to the ground, while the now freed prisoners gawk in amazement. ¡°Now please, everyone sit on the ground while I heal your injures. This won¡¯t take long¡± ~Nin please heal these people for me~ ~Of course Master, always happy to help~ A cheerful voice answers in my mind. I slowly go from one person to the next touching their foreheads with the palm of my left hand quickly healing their injuries. Looking at their faces I see that some show fear while others show tears of joy and relief. All the while I hear a happy humming in my mind. ¡°Now that¡¯s done and everyone is feeling a lot better, I will be on my way¡± I say with a pleasant smile on my face. *I guess I¡¯ll have to go around the village. What a pain* As I turn away to leave I hear cries of admonishment and pleas for help from the now freed villagers.
Lillianna ¡°Please my Lady you have to help us, my children are still in the village, it is not so much as a stone¡¯s throw away. We were attacked by the Count¡¯s men and forced into chains. We do not know why they would do such a thing¡± a crying man pleads while kneeling and grabbing onto my cloak. I turn around to gaze back at the crowd. ¡°We will pay you whatever you want, our village of Riverbrook isn¡¯t a wealthy one, but we will give you all that we have¡± one of the crying women begs while crawling over to grab onto my hands, looking at me with desperate eyes. ¡°I am sorry but this is not a matter of payment. What you are asking me to do is no simple task¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t save us, our whole village will be enslaved¡± the man holding my cloak replies. ¡°Enslavement is better than curtain death. You told me these are the Count¡¯s men, what do you think will happen if I kill them? They will just send a punitive force and in all likelihood they will kill everyone in retaliation¡± *Not that I care about this Count Ramuse* ¡°You would have us enslaved over helping us!¡± one of the men in the crowd barks. *Easy for you to say, when you won¡¯t be the one doing the fighting.* ¡°My words may seem cruel but that is the reality. I have seen such events in the past and this will only lead to your deaths¡± I reply calmly. ¡°Will you do nothing while our lives and families are destroyed? Please, we would rather die trying to save our families and village than accept a life of slavery, I know everyone in the village feels the same way¡± *You know what everyone feels huh?* ¡°You are free to die trying, I will not stop you. You can even use the weapons of the men I killed, I have no need of them¡± I hear more crying and moaning as I once again slowly turn away. ¡±We do not stand a chance against so many men, please my Lady you must help us¡± The man still holding onto my cloak says. *Best to let this go and continue on. Just keep walking.* ¡°PLEASE¡­ with your aid my Lady we could save our village¡± The woman holding my hands cries as she tries to stop me from walking away. ¡°And how many soldiers are currently in your village?¡± *Why am I even asking¡­ just walk away* ¡°Maybe a hundred soldiers and a dozen knights¡± a crying woman replies. ¡°I may be able to deal with a hundred or so men, but do you expect me to defend your village when they send a larger group in retaliation?¡± ¡°Ah...but¡­please¡­you are our only hope¡± the woman holding my hands stutters, tears streaming from her face. ¡°Is there nothing that we can do that will have you lend us your aid my Lady?¡± *Arghhh why am I even considering helping these people more. This will only end badly for me¡­DAMN IT, I¡¯m going to regret this decision.* ¡°Be careful what you wish for... know that once I accept your request and proceed with carrying it out, there will be no going back. Are you sure this is what you wish?¡± I hear a chorus of agreements and thanks from the villagers in front on me. ¡°And you are sure you don¡¯t know why you were attacked? I do not think the Count would just attack one of his own villages in jest¡± ¡°Maybe the elders know, but they are still being held in the village¡± *The elders probably pissed of the Count and now the people have to pay* ¡°Very well, I will make haste to your village and evict the forces of Count Ramuse. You will be of little help in the upcoming battle so wait at a safe distance from the village until my work is done. Also look after my belonging and don¡¯t touch anything in the bag¡± Dropping my backpack at the feet of a weeping woman, I dash off towards the village. *I already regret my decision¡­* New Lands Part 2 The sky over Riverbrook lets forth a torrent of rain as if weeping in anticipation of the carnage that was soon to be unleased upon the once quiet village. Amongst the deluge of rain and wind a golden hawk soars peering down at the village with its golden eyes seeking and searching for those that wish ill towards its master. The village was situated next to a large stream that flowed around one edge of the town. In the centre of Riverbrook stands the town hall, a large two storey stone building, with men running for shelter towards it in hopes of avoiding the sudden down pour. Around the town hall others seek shelter where they can in the surrounding wooden cabins and cottages. A shadow in the shape of a man stalks the outskirts of the village obscured by the rain in the dim morning light, it weaves its way through the buildings of Riverbrook. In its wake only silence is left as memories of its visit. Inside one such building that the shadow was entering, a group of twenty soldiers hurry to dry themselves and their weapons. Soldiers can be heard complaining while standing around a hearth in the centre of the cabin. They complain of the cold and wet which they wish to be rid of, but soon such complaints are replaced by silent terror as their new found shelter turns into a nightmare when a shadow quietly enters the cabin through the main door. An unfortunate soldier by the entrance finds that his head seems to have been detached from his neck and silently drops to the floor, blood gushing from his neck. Before anyone in the room can do any more than gape in horror, the shadow leaps over the newly decapitated body and two thin silver spears burst out from within its murky depths. The silver spears race towards two soldiers who are swiftly impaled in the neck, their bodies dropping to the floor wheezing and coughing, while the silver spears evaporate into mist. The remaining soldiers rush to draw their weapons, finally recovering from their momentary shock. ¡°We are under attack! FORM UP ON ME!¡± screams a soldier. Recovering from its landing the shadow dashes at the group of soldiers around the hearth who are now in a defensive spear formation. More silver spears radiate out of the shadow and impale four more men as the shadow closes in. ¡°ARGGHHHH!¡± A man in the back of the formation screams as he is lifted into the air and torn in half by an unseen force, his insides spilling to the floor while his two halves are smashed into his comrades. As the shadow arrives in front of the men, it pulls back its right arm as if about to swing a sword as it does so a silver blade appears in its hands. With a horizontal swing the blade rends those in reach in two, as the sword reaches the ends of its swing it dissolves into mist. Then with its left hand the shadow reaches forward palm open, three men in front of the shadow find that their skin has started to erupt with puss filled boils, their eyes weeping tears of blood and their hands rotting away. The remaining men stab and slash madly at the shadow as their swords and spears cause the shadow to ripple where they make contact, as if the shadow was an ocean of black ink. More men are crushed or ripped apart by the unseen force, while the shadow continues its dance of death with flashes of silver. With the dance complete the shadow wraps the room in darkness and the remains of the soldiers are pulled into its black depths, leaving no trace of the finished performance. The shadow continues on its way through the town performing its dance for all those it meets. Until finally only the town hall remains. The shadow leaps onto the rain slicked roof of the hall and perches itself next to a window that looks into the interior. As the shadow carefully observes the inhabitants of the hall, a golden hawk swoops down and places itself next to the window away from preying eyes.
Lillianna Breathing heavily I try and regain my composure, while peering into the hall below me. Through the window I observe a dozen knights outfitted the same as the ones I had previously encountered, there were scattered throughout the large stone hall. A group of fifty or so imprisoned towns folk are at the front of the hall, huddling together for warmth and comfort. Two of the knights stood guard by the large wooden doors that open out into the centre of Riverbrook, oblivious to the deaths of their fellow soldiers in the surrounding buildings. While the other knights sit around the various tables in the hall eating and making conversation with each other. *It doesn¡¯t look like they are aware of what¡¯s going on.* The rain and wind masked my actions and muffled the cries of the now dead soldiers. If the whole town had been alerted to my attack, I do not think it would have gone as smoothly as it had. I was almost at my limit, with fatigue weighing on my body and dulling my senses. There had been more soldiers than I had anticipated, forcing me to exert myself to near exhaustion. ¡°Nat, are there any soldiers that I missed outside this hall?¡± I whisper to the golden hawk perched next to me. ~No master, only those left in the hall remain~ *I should probably take some captive for interrogation* ~Nin I need you to incapacitate some of them. They need to be able to talk so don¡¯t overdo it.~ ~Not a problem master~ the usual happy voice of Nin replies in my mind. ~Cormon, kill the two guarding the door~ ~Yes Master~ a low deep voice rubbles through my mind. With my commands given I burst through the window showering glass into the hall bellow me. As I am falling I summon two silver spears and eject them from my shadowy figure at two knights who had their backs turned to me, piercing them in the back of their heads. As I hit the floor I roll forward to soften my fall and upon recovering expel two more silver spears at the two men who had previously been in conversation with the men I just killed, impaling them in their chests.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Defend yourselves!¡± a knight across the hall roars. With that commend the remaining knights in the hall draw their weapons. As the two knights by the entrance ready their great swords from their backs, they crash into each other. The way two dolls would behave if a child had picked them up and smashed them together with all his might, their intertwined bodies dropping to the ground in a bloody heap. After witnessing that Cormon had done as instructed, I race forward to meet the remaining six knights who were closing in on me with weapons and shields at the ready. Two of the knights come within range and I summon a silver blade into my right hand, with a swift horizontal slash the knights are decapitated, leaving their bodies momentarily still before limply falling to the ground. The last four knights seeing their comrades fall before them continue their advance with shields raised in a defensive posture. I thrust out my left hand palm open and feel Nin¡¯s power flow through me, coalescing in my hand. Directing Nin¡¯s power towards the four knights, I see their legs give way as if a great weight had been placed on them, forcing them to kneel before me. Cries of pain ring out from them as I steady my breathing and close in on the now disabled knights. Once again I will Nin¡¯s power through my left hand and place it on the closes knights forehead, forcing him to fall unconscious. The three remaining knights struggle in vain to raise their swords as I turn my attention towards them. After rendering them unconscious I inspect the hall to make sure I did not miss any stragglers or hidden opponents. Satisfied that the hall was now secure I make my way to the front of the hall towards the captive villagers. While walking towards the huddling villagers, the shadow that is enveloping me slowly recedes, making its way to the black cloak around my shoulders. Having returned to my normal appearance and standing in front of the group, I command Cormon to remove their shackles. The villages look towards in fear, some beg for their lives while others try to hide their children from my gaze, as the chains binding them crumble to the floor.
Lillianna ¡°Is anyone seriously injured?¡± I ask in a calming voice. The villagers fall silent at my words, while parents try and hush their crying children. ¡°I mean you no harm. I am a mage and I came across some of your fellow villagers on the road south of town. They asked me to liberate this village¡± *Let¡¯s hope they don¡¯t think I want to eat their children* ¡°T¡­th¡­ thank you¡± an elderly man in the group stutters. ¡°So let me ask again, are there any of you who are seriously injured?¡± ¡°Please save my child. They beat her when she would not stop crying, she hasn¡¯t moved since¡± a crying woman pleads as she holds the limp body of her young daughter. I reach out my hand and place it on the child¡¯s head, infusing her with Nin¡¯s energy. Luckily the girl was still alive but had suffered a fractured skull. If she had not been healed, the girl would have most likely died in the next few days. *These so called knights even beat children, how disgusting* ¡°She is just sleeping now and will wake up soon, there is no need to worry¡± I reassure the weeping mother. ¡°Is there anyone else?¡± A few more people requested healing for broken limbs and bloody wounds, but none were seriously life threatening. Once again I heal the injured villagers one by one at their request. ¡°Now that everyone is healed, it would be best if you returned to your homes for the time being. I will need to have a talk with the surviving knights and it would be best if you did not have to witness my actions¡± I hear murmurs of understanding and agreement from the crowd. ¡°There is also a small group of villagers on the road south of town, someone will need to go inform them that the village is now safe to return to. Once that is done I would like for those who speak for the village to assemble back here. I will not take long with my interrogation¡± I turn around as the group of villagers disperses out of the town hall, the rain and wind rushing through the open doors, before being closed by the last of the villagers. Focusing my attention back to the knights laying on the floor at the centre of the hall I make my way towards them. Walking up to the four knights and waking them up using Nin¡¯s abilities I look down at them with a impassive face. They roll onto their kneels with grunts of pain and look up at me with anger blazing in their eyes. ¡°What have you done to us you witch!¡± one of the knights yells. I swiftly kick the man that spoke in the gut, causing him to spit and cough as he doubled over onto his head, his limp arms unable to brace his fall. ¡°I will be the one asking questions here¡± ¡°We have nothing to say to you bitch¡± another knight hisses at me. ¡°If you do not answer my questions you will die. It will not be pleasant, I can assure you that much¡± I point at the man I had previously kicked. ~Cormon, crush his skull¡­ slowly~ ¡°ARGHHH!¡± The three other men watch as their companion has his head slowly crushed by a force they cannot see. The man¡¯s head slowly compresses, blood dripping from his eyes and ears, his bones slowly breaking and giving off sickening cracking sounds. Until finally his skull gives way and implodes, causing his eyes to burst from their sockets, blood and pieces of his brain splatter around the room. ¡°Now tell me, why did you attack this village, are they not subjects of Count Ramuse?¡± ¡°Their elders ignored a decree to send a levy of men for Count Ramuse¡¯s army¡± a frightened knight answers. ¡°Silence you, coward!¡± one of the knights barked. I point my finger at the barking knight and like the previous man his head slowly compresses and implodes. I motion for the talkative knight to continue with my hands. As the other still silent knight watching on in silent terror. ¡°We were ordered to bring the men in by force and to sell the rest into slavery as an example to those that might defy the decree¡± ¡°Where did you come from and how long did it take you to get here?¡± ¡°We are from the provincial capital Fornall it is seven days march from here¡± *That means it will take some time before they become suspicion that their men haven¡¯t returned* ¡°Why does the Count need levies for his army?¡± ¡°The Pa-ghan Empire is amassing an army on our western borders, the King has ordered all Counts and Lords to ready their men¡± *So the Pa-ghans are about to start an invasion, this town might still have a chance if the Count has to focus his attention elsewhere* ¡°Has the Count found any other towns resisting this decree?¡± ¡°We were the first group sent to enforce the decree, the Count may have sent more since but I do not know. Please you have to believe me¡± The previously silent knight replies. *Hmmm that gives me an idea* ¡°One last question¡­ do you have any last words?¡± I say as my mouth contorts into a sinister smile. ¡°No¡­ please¡­ we have answered all your questions, mercy ple¡­¡± *Did any of you scum show mercy when nearly you beat a child to death?* My right hand swings in a horizontal arc as I grip a silver blade that is forming in my hand. Before the pleading man can finish his cries for mercy, I decapitate the two remaining knights, their bodies falling to the floor, blood gushing from their necks. ~Enenra, please clean up the mess in the hall~ ~Yes Master, thank you for the feast~ My black clock erupts into a shadow that envelopes the large hall, slowly swallowing up the remains of the once proud knights, before contracting back into the cloak that adorns my shoulders. I make my way to the entrance of the town hall and open the doors to gaze open the town that I had saved. *I need a warm bath* Side Story 1 Map created using "inkarnate.com"
A brief history of mages by Lord Julvian Marmont Year 81 of the 9th era The first recorded instance of a person wielding magic was in the middle of the 4th era of the Runic calendar. The first known mage Ekkehard The Foolish, as he would later be known in history, appeared on the continent of Argosha. With his new found magic Ekkehard created a short lived kingdom whose name did not survive, unlike the name of its founder. The kingdom lasted for fifty or so years, before King Ekkehard was killed in battle by the combined forces of the neighbouring kingdoms. Though he was considered a powerful pyromancer at the time, Ekkehard was still only one man and his kingdom could not withstand the combined might of his neighbours. As time went on more mages appeared on Argosha, though their numbers remained small. By the 5th era some five hundred years after Ekkehard, the number of known mages had risen to approximately twenty. It should also be taken into consideration that many non-mages have falsely claimed to be able to wield elemental magical powers throughout history. In our current era, scholars estimate there to be some five hundred mages, spread out over the four known continents. It appears that as the peoples of Argosha spread across the world, the mages followed and intertwined themselves into the societies of new found peoples and lands. Whereas before the arrival of any Argoshians and their descendants the peoples of the three other continents had no creditable records of mages or elementalmagic. The three other continents being: Nuevo, Ix and Thayet. Since the continent of Thayet was only colonised in the last three hundred years by the descendants of the other three continents, the number of native mages is estimated to be no more than twenty. Making Thayet in terms of magical prowess, the weakest of the four known continents, even though its population rivals that of the other known continents.
The city of Dantor Clovis Martel Lord Marshal of Fraul Dantor was located on the western border of Fraul and neighboured the Pa-ghan Empire. Due to its proximity to the Pa-ghan Empire, Dantor was mostly populated by the families of soldiers stationed in the surrounding area whose job was to protect the border. This also meant that the city had a large standing army compared to cities located deeper within the Kingdom of Fraul. With so many soldiers permanently stationed within and around the city most considered it safer than other border or frontier settlements. This assumed safety meant that a large number merchants and traders frequented the city selling goods from within the Kingdom that was hard to procure due to its remote location. Apart from the large number of soldiers, Dantor was an unremarkable city in Fraul with brick houses or shops lining its streets and the occasional guild hall scattered about. I had made my way to Dantor after receiving news of a possible pending Pa-ghan invasion. Upon arriving and inspecting the troops I made my way towards Castle Dantor. The Castle situated at the centre of the city was designed with defence in mind and was made of large stone blocks to withstand siege engines. Surrounding the castle was a large wall with battlements and troop quarters, with the purpose of fending of any sieging army. The wall was meant to defend the castle and did not surround Dantor itself.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Having made my way to the entrance of the war counsel room in Castle Dantor, I burst into the room, my full plate armour clanging as I take my position at the head of the meeting table. Commanders, Giles, Noel and Degarmo wait for me to begin the counsel dressed in fine evening attire more suited for a ball than a war counsel, while their aids presented them with documents and information. ¡°How long until the majority of our forces arrive?¡± I question Commander Giles ¡°If the Counts stop dragging their feet, a month at the earliest, they have only begun readying their forces¡± SMASH! I slam my fists into the table. ¡°Damn those bastards! I sent out my orders to marshal their troops two weeks ago and only now do they take action, I should have them stripped of their titles for this¡± ¡°The minor Lords have been more accommodating, the bulk of their forces should arrive by week¡¯s end¡± *At least some of the nobles are taking this threat seriously* ¡°How many men are currently stationed here?¡± ¡°We have about 10,000 soldiers and 700 knights ready for battle, if need be we can conscript another 5000 or so men¡± Commander Degarmo quickly informs me. ¡°And how many men are the Counts and lords expected to send?¡± ¡°Their forces should consist of at least 30,000 men though most are levies, with another 500 or so knights¡± ¡°What are our latest estimates of the enemies numbers and position?¡± ¡°If our scouts are to be believed, Pa-ghan has 15,000 troops with more on the way. Their troops are scattered about their villages near the border. It appears they are trying to hide their actions, until they are ready. They likely plan to take us by surprise and haven¡¯t planned for us to have a sizeable defence force¡± *They can¡¯t be stupid enough to think we wouldn¡¯t notice could they?* ¡°Any idea how many more soldiers they have coming and how long it would take them to bolster their numbers?¡± ¡°Going by previous military engagements they should be able to field two to three times their current number. Regarding how long it would take to gain those numbers, I am not sure. If I had to guess, about a month or two, but that is only a guess¡± *If only the Counts hadn¡¯t wasted time in gathering their troops* ¡°Commander Noel, any word from Marshal Dupont?¡± ¡°Marshal Dupont¡¯s campaign to conqueror the eastern islands will take at least another six months. Even if he was to make haste here with his forces right away, it would still take at least four months for him to come to our aid¡± ¡°Then we will have to hold until the forces of the Counts and Lords arrive. In the meantime, send word to the Counts that they are to make all haste to our location. Threaten to take land from those who do not heed the order and tell them the seized lands will be given to those that are seen as loyal to the Crown.¡± *That should give them the swift kick in the ass they need* ¡°Lord Marshal, would the King approve of such actions?¡± Commander Giles says in a worried tone. ¡°Worry not Commander, the King has given me absolute authority in dealing with the Pa-ghans¡± ¡°What if the Pa-ghans attack before our forces arrive?¡± this time Command Noel raises a question. ¡°We will need to delay them from attacking or at least weaken their forces. Ready men to harry any small groups of enemies that are not a part of a larger force. I also want agents to be sent into their villages to poison their food and drink¡± ¡°Might that not cause them to attack earlier?¡± ¡°It might¡­ but if we can slow down their efforts to amass a large force, it would force them to attack before they are ready or wait for more troops. If they attack with the numbers they have now, we can easily hold them off in a siege before our reinforcements arrive. If they wait for more troops that gives us time as well¡± I see nods of agreements from the three commanders. ¡°Lord Marshal, what about the Royal mages, how many were sent to aid us?¡± Commander Noel askes again. ¡°The King has granted us the services of one mage, he will arrive here within two days.¡± ¡°Only one mage was sent to aid us?¡± ¡°Commander Noel, only the King may decide where Royal mages are assigned. We will have to make do with what we have. Now, we have no more time to waste, begin putting my plan into action¡± Looking around the room, I see the Commanders giving their aids the necessary commands to carry out my plan. I than quickly get up and leave the room, hurrying to make my own preparations for the inevitable upcoming battle. Give and Take Part 1 ¡°Should we go in after her? Maybe she needs our help¡± Jacob whispered into my ears. We had been waiting a safe distance away from Riverbrook as instructed by the mage who freed us but it had almost been two hours with no signs of fighting. Hiding off by the side of the road that leads south from Riverbrook, I tried to keep the group in good spirits but that was starting to become difficult. Words of encouragement quickly fell on deaf ears as the freezing rain and biting wind harried us. Jacob and I were keeping look out while the rest of the group was further back in the brush hiding. The waiting had caused Jacob to become impatient and he constantly nagged me to take action instead of waiting. ¡°You heard what she said, we would just be a burden to her in a fight. Just have a little faith, you saw what she did to those soldiers¡± I replied, trying to comfort Jacob while shivering from the cold. ¡°Erick, we can¡¯t stay out here much longer, the children won¡¯t last long in this rain¡± Jacob was right, everybody was already shaking from the icy rain and huddling together wasn¡¯t much comfort. ¡°You are right¡­ hand out the weapons we took from the soldiers and tell everyone that we are going back to the village and don¡¯t forget her bag¡± Having given out the weapons to the group, we decided it was time to venture back into our village and meet whatever fate had in store for us. The men and women lead the way while the children stayed at the rear, hoping that the adults would protect them. As we were about to reach the first few buildings of the village, we saw a group approaching us, due to the rain our sight was limited and we could not clearly make out the figures. ¡°They are coming, get ready!¡± I say to my people We try our best to get into a fighting stance but being farmers and hunters we had no real combat training and our postures held no confidence. As the group of unknown figures approached us, I mentally readied myself for what was likely the last fight of my life. To my astounding relief the group approaching us were fellow villagers and not soldiers of Count Ramuse. ¡°Lower your weapons they are not soldiers, they''re our people¡± I command my group. We lower our weapons and start to quickly close in on the oncoming group. ¡°Erick! You¡¯re safe, the mage told us to look for people outside of town. Are you all right? Quickly get to shelter, there are no soldiers left in town. Are the children all right? Quickly get them dry and warm¡± Kade the Elder leading the other group rambled off quickly. ¡°Calm down Elder Kade, we are cold but otherwise fine¡± ¡°Good good, now everyone get home and get yourselves warm and dry¡± ¡°What about the mage? I still need to return her bag¡± ¡°She¡¯s at the town hall, we elders are meeting with her soon¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go get changed and meet you there Elder¡± I turn around and take the mage¡¯s bag from a woman who was holding it and then head back to my home. The others say a few parting words and soon we are all back in our own homes. Upon arriving at my house, I notice the signs of battle that must have taken place. Tables overturned, weapons strewn around the room, but no bodies or blood anywhere. ¡°What happened to the soldiers?¡± I ponder out loud. Then memories of what happened to the soldiers south of town race across my mind. So much blood and gore, I had never seen such violence in my life. In the past I had witnessed injured hunters returning to town with bloody wounds and broken bones, but what the mage had done to those soldiers was entirely different. Not only the way she killed them, but what happened afterwards had been seared into my memory. The shadow that flowed from her cape like black water and devoured the remains of the men and the smile she had afterwards. I had heard about mages but never one that could control shadows and rip apart men without lifting a finger. And that beautiful smiling face of hers that showed no sign of remorse or sadness at her actions, it would surely haunt me for years to come. *It¡¯s best I don¡¯t ask too many questions* I quickly changed out of my cold wet clothes and put on fresh dry ones along with a heavy rain coat. I did not want to keep the mage waiting for her belongings and rushed off towards the town hall, shielding her bag from the rain beneath my coat. When I arrived at the hall I see the three village elders; Kade, Roswell and Yasmin sitting side by side at a table while the mage sat opposite to them with a golden hawk perched on her shoulder. The elders sat in silence while the mage slowly drank from a flagon filled with what I presume is ale. Brushing of the rain from my coat, I withdraw the bag from under it and make my way towards the group. As I near the group, the mage turns her attention towards me, eyeing the bag I was holding, she then waves her hands suggesting that I hand over her bag. Upon receiving the bag the mage quickly opens it and shifts through the bag before closing it again. ¡°Good it¡¯s all there, now shall we start the meeting? I¡¯ve had enough ale for now¡± the mage says while finishing her drink.
Lillianna *Time to start my plan* ¡°Ahem¡­ killing people makes me thirsty¡± I say while shrugging. The three elders and the man standing next to them glance at each other with nervous eyes, but remain silent. ¡°Shall we start with introductions? My name is Lillianna, your names are?¡± I say as I gesture with my hand for them to reply. ¡°We are the elders of this village, I am Yasmin, this is Roswell and Kade¡± the elderly woman of the group says. The three elders before me a look to be in their 50s or 60s with the woman having her long grey hair tied into a knot behind her head. The two men have similar grey hair, which are cut short and extends to their eyebrows, both men have long grey beards. The two men are wearing the standard attire of farmers, which are long sleeved cloth shirts and pants with leather work boots. While the woman is wearing a plain long blue sleeved dress that goes down to her ankles. Their skin is wrinkled and tanned showing the signs of those who work in the fields for a living. ¡°And you are?¡± I gesture towards the man standing next to the elders, he looks to be in his mid-20s. He is wearing a thick leather coat and has short blonde hair no longer than a finger¡¯s width, with a clean shaven face. ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯m Erick, you saved me on the road outside of town. Thank you¡± Erick says as he bows his head to show gratitude.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Well then, now that introductions are done, I have a few questions I would like to ask¡± ¡°Anything you like great mage, we will try our best to answer your questions¡± Elder Roswell replies. *Great mage? Are they trying to butter me up?* ¡°I would prefer if you just referred to me by my name¡± ¡°Yes of course, our apologies. What questions do you have for us?¡± this time Elder Kade answers. ¡°When I talked to the group Erick was with, they informed me that they were not aware why your village was attacked and requested that I free your town. However upon speaking to the now deceased knights I was told that your village defied a decree to send men to fight for Count Ramuse. This defiance lead to the Count sending his men here, and well you know the rest¡± The elders look at each other with fear before Elder Kade replies. ¡°We can explain¡± ¡°Please do¡± I gesture for him to continue. ¡°They wanted to draft all the men in the village. If we sent all the men away to fight, we wouldn¡¯t have enough people to tend to the fields or hunt. It would have meant the end of our village, they even demanded boys who had not come of age¡± ¡°And so you ignored the decree? What did you think would happen if you did nothing? That the Count would just forget about your village?¡± ¡°We did not know what to do¡± Yasmin replied while bowing her head in shame. ¡°So the Elders decided to nothing and hope for the best? Did the people of the village know?¡± ¡°We did not tell them of the decree, it was sent as a letter and only the elders have read it¡± Erick interjects, rage barely held back in his voice. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us! Maybe we could have sent only a few men or¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ anything would have been better than doing nothing¡± *I guess the villagers really didn¡¯t know why they were attacked* I wave my hand at Erick signalling him to calm down. ¡°Well what¡¯s done is done. I just wanted to make sure I wasn¡¯t deceived. Now how do you plan to compensate me for my troubles?¡± ¡°We will give you anything you ask for, just name your price¡± Elder Roswell responds. *Anything I want huh?* ¡°How about two children to eat, they don¡¯t have to be big, babies will do¡± *Might as well have some fun with these stupid elders* The Elders eyes widen with shock and all three of them start trembling while looking at each other in panic. Erick on the other hand is seemingly oblivious to my request and just stares at his feet, obviously still angry at the inaction of the elders. ¡°I was joking¡± I wave my hands dismissively while laughing. ¡°That was not funny¡± Erick replies. *I guess he was listening after all* ¡°Well¡­ now for my actual payment. I want control of all the trade in this town¡± my eyes narrow as I make my demand. ¡°You want all the trade in Riverbrook, what does that even mean?¡± Elder Kade questions with a worried look on his face. ¡°I plan to travel north, towards uncharted lands. There will no doubt be people there who have goods to trade. I plan on making your village a trading hub for Fraul with the currently unknown north ¡± I say with a wide smile on my face. ¡°And you want to take over the village to do this?¡± Elder Yasmin replies. ¡°All I want is control on all future trade in this town. That means no one will be permitted to trade with anyone or sell anything from the north unless I give permission. What you do with local goods for the time being will be up to you¡± ¡°We are still ruled by Count Ramuse, we cannot give you something we don¡¯t have¡± Elder Yasmin continues. ¡°I will take care of Count Ramuse, all I want is for you to agree to my terms. It¡¯s not a bad deal, I saved your town and will deal with the Count, while all you have to do is give up your trade privileges¡± ¡°For how long?¡± Elder Kade askes. ¡°For as long as I live¡± I reply with a smirk on my face. ¡°That¡¯s outrageous! Mages can live for hundreds of years. We would be shackling our children and grandchildren to this deal of yours¡± Elder Roswell interjects. ¡°You offered to pay me any price I wanted, that price is your freedom to trade. If you do not wish to pay me what I ask, than I will leave this village to its fate. However I am sure the Count will not give you such generous terms for killing his men¡± ¡°We did not kill his men¡­ you did¡± again from Elder Roswell. ¡°True¡­ but I do not think the Count will care who actually killed his men. Once his men fail to return to Fornall, he will send an even larger force to investigate what happened. They will no doubt arrive upon your village and find it unmolested, which will raise questions. Regardless of how you answer these questions, they will carry out the assignment issued to them. That assignment being the subjugation of this town and its people¡± Erick finally decides to intervene in the discussion. ¡°You are asking us to choose between, accepting your terms or enslavement and possible death for everyone in this village?¡± ¡°I believe my terms are quite reasonable. Your village will benefit from this arrangement as well. With increased trade, your town will grow more prosperous and become invaluable to Fraul, since you will be the only hub of trade goods from the north. Who knows, I might not even survive my journey north and this village can continue its meagre existence without my influence¡± *Once the village becomes invaluable to the Count he will have no choice but to leave it alone* ¡°And you will make sure Count Ramuse doesn¡¯t destroy this village?¡± ¡°That is correct. How I do this, is no concern of yours for the time being¡± ¡°Do we have to decide now?¡± ¡°You have until sunset tomorrow. I will have a contract written by morning, it will detail the agreement¡± ¡°We will need to discuss this with the people¡± Elder Kade says. ¡°Do what you must, in the meantime please provide me with lodging until tomorrow¡± ¡°Erick since you are here, please take our esteemed guest to the inn and provide her with anything she request, while we decide what to do¡± Elder Yasmin informs Erick. Before Erick could say or do anything I interrupt. ¡°Oh I almost forgot, it would be best if my status as a mage doesn¡¯t spread beyond this village. Who knows what trouble that could cause¡± I made sure to last part came out more as a threat than a warning. With those words I stand up and make my way towards the entrance of the town hall. *I don¡¯t even know why I am helping them so much. Maybe my conscience is finally catching up to me*
Erick I follow Lillianna as she moves towards the entrance of the hall, keeping a respectable distance at her side. As we reach the entrance I open the door and find that the rain has not subsided. ¡°Let me get a rain coat for you, please wait here, I won¡¯t be long¡± ¡°There is no need, let us be on our way¡± Lillianna replies. As she says that, a shadow creeps out from her black cape and envelopes her in its wake, until all that I see is a figure of almost pure darkness, her once white hair now black as night. I recoil at the sight and jump a few steps backwards trying to avoid the shadow in fear that it might take me as well. All the while the golden hawk stays perched on her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t harm you. This is just quicker than getting a coat. Now please lead the way¡± Recovering from my momentary shock, I lead Lillianna through the village towards the only inn in Riverbrook. As we are walking I glance at the shrouded Lillianna and notice that the rain hitting her figure causes the shadow enveloping her to ripple where it lands. I had never seen or heard of such a sight, it was like walking next to a pool of darkness and it made me feel uneasy. *Having to choose between a demon and enslavement¡­ what have we gotten ourselves into* As we reach the veranda of the two storey wooden inn, the shadow around Lillianna withdraws back into the cape, revealing a perfectly dry figure of an attractive woman in its place, while the hawk flies away into the sky. I felt relief that she would not enter the inn while cloaked in darkness, it would have caused more panic than I cared to deal with, especially after all that had happened today. *If I didn¡¯t know better I would be tempted to court her* I lead Lillianna through the door and towards the main counter. The interior of the inn consists of a few rows of tables and stools lined up throughout the room, culminating with the main counter at the far side of the room and a stair case next to it. There were half a dozen patrons sitting at the tables, eating and drinking trying to find comfort from the ordeals of the day. It was just after noon, yet those that were drinking appeared to be heavily intoxicated with some even passed out on their tables. *I feel like drinking myself stupid as well* ¡°Hello Helen, this is Lillianna the mage that saved us. Please give her anything she wants and your best room for the night¡± ¡°Of course, we cannot thank you enough for what you have done for this town, please what can I do for you?¡± Helen replies in a cheerful voice. Helen the owner of the inn was dressed in a bar keeps outfit, a yellow apron over a long sleeved one piece dress made of grey fabric. She was in her 30s with long strawberry blonde hair down to her waist and gave off a motherly aura with her warm smile and upbeat demeanour. ¡°First a warm bath and then some food and drink, please¡± Lillianna answered. ¡°Right away, I¡¯ll have the bath ready for you in no time, please follow me to your room¡± Before leaving to follow Helen, Lillianna turns towards me. ¡°Wait here, I won¡¯t take long. I wanted to talk to you about a few things¡± she says. *What could she want to talk to me about?* ¡°I will wait here then¡± Give and Take Part 2 Lillianna Having finished my bath, I took out a change of clothes from my bag similar to what I was wearing before and got dressed making sure to put on my cloak, this time leaving my hair untied. The room given to me wasn¡¯t very big but judging by the wealth of this town, I did not doubt that this was likely the best room they had to offer. *Nothing beats a warm bath after killing, well apart from drinking* Leaving my bag on my bed, I grabbed the clothes I had worn earlier and made my way downstairs towards the counter where I hoped to fine Helen. Arriving at the counter I find Helen going about her business cleaning tableware. *Too bad she¡¯s probably married, she¡¯s just my type as well* ¡°Hello Helen, does your inn offer washing services?¡± I ask while holding my worn clothes. ¡°Not a problem, I can have them washed and dried for you by morning¡± Helen says while taking the clothes from my hands. ¡°Thank you. If you don¡¯t mind could you please bring us some food and some of your best ale¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll bring them right away¡± I head towards the table that Erick is sitting at and take a seat on a stool opposite to him. He appears to be nervous and his right leg is shaking up and down, while he fidgets with his hands. Look around the room at the other patrons, I see similar signs of uneasy. Ignoring their expressions I turn my attention towards Erick. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so anxious, I just want to have a friendly discussion¡± Erick places a hand on his right knee to stop it from shaking and calmly folds his hands and places them on the table in front of him. ¡°What is it that you want to talk about?¡± ¡°I want to know about this region, the other villages around here and especially Count Ramuse¡± ¡°There is not much to say, all the villages around this area are either farmers or hunters. We sell our crops or animal furs to Fornall and pay our taxes¡± ¡°And what of Count Ramuse?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to ask the Elders, they would know more than me¡± ¡°Perhaps, but they would likely paint him as some villain trying to destroy the village. I wanted a more¡­simple opinion¡± ¡°I see¡­ from what I¡­¡± Erick is cut off as Helen approaches with two tankards of ale and plates with vegetables and roast meat. ¡°Thank you Helen, that will be all for now¡± I say smiling as I show my appreciation to her. ¡°If there is anything else please let me know¡± Helen says as she returns to the counter to go about her duties. ¡°Please continue¡± I motion Erick as I start drinking from the tankard. ¡°Well, from what I know, the current Count took over from his father about five years ago, I heard that his father had died of an illness. Since taking over, he has left us alone for the most part, only sending men to collect taxes and things like that¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t sound so bad¡± ¡°Maybe¡­ but I¡¯m pretty sure he only left the frontier villages alone because we did not cause him any trouble until recently. I visit Fornall often to sell furs I get from hunting and the stories I hear about him there are not good¡± Erick takes a gulp of his ale as he finishes his words. ¡°What kind of stories?¡± ¡°That he imprisons and tortures people who anger him, that he raised the taxes so that he could hold lavish feasts. One story I heard even said that he burnt down a town near Fornall just because they didn¡¯t welcome him fast enough when he visited¡± ¡°Did you also hear that he drinks the blood of virgins?¡± I say in an amused toned and let out a brief chuckle. Erick stares back at me with a puzzled look, unsure of how to reply. ¡°The stories you¡¯ve told me are commonly told about Lords and Kings. Political opponents and would be usurpers like to spread bad rumours about those in power. I¡¯m not saying the stories are false just that I don¡¯t trust rumours¡± ¡°And what do you plan to do about the Count?¡± ¡°Well I might have to kill him¡± ¡°You plan to kill the Count!¡± Erick gasps. ¡°I said I might have to kill him. Now let¡¯s eat before the food gets cold, I¡¯ll explain after we finish eating¡± I begin eating the food that was served to me with a small smile on my face. Some of the vegetables on my plate were new to me and I took delight in savouring their tastes. The meat tasted like some kind of deer, probably killed by one of the town¡¯s hunters. It didn¡¯t taste bad but the gamey odour wasn¡¯t to my liking. I much rather preferred farmed meat and only hunted while traveling when necessary. One of the vegetables had a crescent shape with a bright orange colour and tasted like spicy potatoes, which I found quite palatable. The food of Fraul wasn¡¯t by any means sophisticated, being mainly roast meats and vegetables, but it was delectable enough and in the few weeks I had been here, I had grown accustomed to its tastes. *I should find out what this is called, this stuff is pretty good* Having finished my meal and ale, I request another round of drinks from Helen and wait patiently for its arrival in silence, before turning my attention back to Erick. ¡°Now¡­ back to what to do about the Count. The first thing is, do you think the village will accept my deal?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have much of a choice, I don¡¯t see many people objecting to it. Especially after you saved the town¡± Erick replies in a dejected voice. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to sound so grim. So long as the village agrees to my terms, everything will work out just fine¡± I reply in a cheerful tone. ¡°You say that, but we would be basically giving you ownership of this town. And how do we know you are not worse than the Count?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t, but there are worse people in the world your town could be working for. I¡¯m not a cruel woman¡­ for the most part. If your village keeps its end of the bargain it will prosper, if it doesn¡¯t¡­ well that¡¯s a story for another day¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°We should have never asked for your help¡± Erick mutters under his breath. ¡°Well I did warn you, but your group insisted I help free your town. Now that the deed is done, payment is due. If the payment I want is too distasteful, I am happy to leave your village to its fate. The choice is yours to make¡± ¡°Not much of a choice¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s the reality of the situation. Anyway getting back to the matter of Count Ramuse. If your town accepts my terms, I will need to head to Fornall to deal with the Count. As I only passed through Fornall and are not familiar with it, I want you to come along with me¡± ¡°What¡­ why me?¡± Erick replies hesitantly. ¡°You said that you¡¯ve been to Fornall to trade in the past. That means you must know the city fairly well¡± ¡°That is true¡­ but there are others in the village who know Fornall as well as me if not better¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather take someone who I already know and apart from the Elders you are the only other person I know by name. If you insist on not coming with me, then I will find someone else¡± *Well I guess I know Helen¡¯s name, but I don¡¯t think she would be suited for this task* ¡°No, I will go with you¡± ¡°Good. Then I want you arrange for two horses to be saddled and ready to leave at sunset tomorrow. Make sure they have enough provisions to make it to Fornall and back. Also find some weapons you can conceal like daggers and bring a sturdy staff you can use to defend yourself¡± ¡°I am no warrior, I¡¯m not sure what good those things will do me¡± ¡°I said they were for defence. I do not expect you to fight for me, but I do expect you to try and stay alive when I am not near you¡± ¡°What do you plan to do once we get to Fornall, kill the Count?¡± ¡°Maybe... it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t know for now, in case you are captured¡± *Also I¡¯m not even sure what I¡¯m going to do about the Count¡­ but there is no need for you to know that* ¡°In case I¡¯m captured?¡± Erick askes with a worried expression. ¡°Well it¡¯s not like we can just walk up to the Count and tell him to give me the town, can we? Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll let you know of any important details¡± Erick nods a few times to acknowledge understanding but otherwise keeps silent. ¡°Well I¡¯m glad we could have this little talk. Now I have to go get this agreement written¡± I say as I stand up from my seat. Before I could leave, Erick interrupts. ¡°Are we about to sign a deal with a devil?¡± ¡°Who knows¡± I say with a smile on my face and a shrug of the shoulders. Before turning around and returning to my room. *It¡¯s better if they don¡¯t see me as some kind of saviour. They can¡¯t rely on me forever*
Riverbrook Town Hall Elder Kade After hearing the demands of the mage who went by the name of Lillianna, the other Elders and I watched as she exited the hall, clocked in shadow. ¡°This is insanity, does she really expect us to hand over this town to her?¡± Roswell exclaims. ¡°She just wants control of the trade that goes on in this village. She didn¡¯t ask to rule over us¡± Yasmin replies. Yasmin had always been the moderate voice of the Elders ever since taking over from her father. ¡°It might as well be the same thing. If she controls all our trade, we will have no control over the money and goods that flow through this town. She would have us by the balls!¡± Roswell counters. Roswell on the other hand was a snivelling coward who would shower those in power with praise while complaining behind their backs. ¡°That may be true, but what choice do we have. If she does not take care of Count Ramuse, our village is doomed. As much as I hate to agree with the mage, she is right. The Count will just send more men and without her help, we will all be enslaved or worse¡± I reveal my thoughts on the matter. Yasmin and Roswell, grimly nod in agreement. ¡°Then we will leave it to a town vote at noon tomorrow. This is something everyone must decide upon¡± Yasmin says. ¡°Agreed, we will let the town decide¡± Roswell says before getting up to leave the hall, anger showing on his face. ¡°We failed this village haven¡¯t we, Yasmin?¡± I say before getting up from my seat to leave. ¡°Perhaps not¡­ if what the mage says is true, it might not be so bad for this town¡± ¡°Perhaps¡­¡± my final remark before leaving.
Lilianna The town meeting to decide whether they would accept my terms had ended shortly after noon in my favour. The majority of the villagers were happy with my offer and only a few voiced their concerns, which were quickly ignored. The terms of the agreement were quite simple, I would have the final say regarding all the trade in and by the village and in return I would protect them from the retaliation of Count Ramuse for the past day¡¯s events. The contract I presented the Elders had the fine details of the agreement but that was the crux of the arrangement. Now that the contract had been signed by the Elders, I made my way back to the inn to prepare for the upcoming journey to Fornall. Arriving at the inn I find that Helen had preceded me and was talking to young girl. Not wanting to interrupt I wait for their conversation to end before drawing Helen¡¯s attention. ¡°Hello Helen, could you prepare some of those orange vegetables for me. I plan to leave for Fornall with Erick at sunset and I would like some for my travels¡± I say in a pleasant voice. ¡°Do you mean the bunyip roots?¡± ¡°If that is what they are called, then yes please¡± ¡°Not a problem Lillianna, or should I call you boss?¡± ¡°You still own your inn, I¡¯m just in charge of what you can stock¡± I reply with a smile. ¡°If you say so boss¡± Helen responded with a genuine smile, to show she held no ill will towards me. I shrug my shoulders and turn my attention towards the young girl. ¡°What¡¯s your name cute little lady?¡± I ask in a gentle tone. She appears to be about five or so and resembled Helen closely, one might even mistake her as Helen in her childhood. She wore a white dress that went to her ankles and was hiding behind Helen trying to avoid my gaze. ¡°This is Elise my youngest child. Elise say hello to the nice lady¡± Helen answers. Elise shakes her head to refuse her mother¡¯s request and continues to hide. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, she is still scared after seeing you fight yesterday in the town hall¡± Helen says in an apologetic voice. ¡°That¡¯s okay. Well Elise it was nice meeting you¡± I turn my attention back to Helen. ¡°Could you ask Erick to meet me here when he is ready to leave. There is no hurry as long as he is here before sunset¡± ¡°I will make sure he gets the message. Was there anything else?¡± ¡°Could you also please let me know when Erick arrives and if you would be so kind please arrange for another warm bath¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll let you know when the bath is ready¡± ¡°Now if you will excuse me I need to go prepare for my journey¡± Before leaving I once again turn my attention to Elise. ¡°Be a good girl for your mummy okay?¡± I say with a warm smile while gently patting Elise on the head. ¡°Okay¡± Elise replies quietly, still hiding behind her mother. *Hmmm sometimes I forget what it¡¯s like to have a family* Returning to my room I check that everything was still in my backpack and made other minor preparations for the trip before deciding to while away the time by reading one of my books while taking a warm bath. Traveling as much as I did meant that warm baths were far and few between, so I took any chance to indulge in its pleasures when able. About an hour before sunset, Helen informs me that Erick was waiting for me downstairs. After acknowledging Helen¡¯s announcement I gather my things, tie my hair into a pony tail and head down to meet Erick. Upon arriving in front of Erick I notice that he has a bow slung around his shoulders with the bowstring around his chest and a quiver full of arrows on his right hip. He is wearing a short sleeved cloth shirt with a vest and travel plants along with boots that reach his calves, which are all made of dark brown leather. ¡°Good, it looks like you¡¯re ready to leave. Did you bring any other weapons?¡± I remark. ¡°I have a dagger in my vest and a staff which I left with the horses¡± Erick replies while patting his vest to indicate where he hid the dagger. ¡°I assume you have the provisions we need as well¡± Erick nods to confirm that everything is ready. ¡°Then we leave at sunset¡± ¡°Is it a good idea to travel at night?¡± ¡°If we leave at sunset we should arrive at Fornall in three days also around sunset, which means we can enter the city unseen without waiting around. Don¡¯t worry we can rest at dawn and start traveling just after mid-day, that way we won¡¯t wear ourselves out¡± ¡°You¡¯ve planned this out pretty well¡± ¡°Well I do travel a lot, so planning a journey isn¡¯t that hard for me¡± As we wait for sunset Helen brings me some bunyip roots wrapped in cloth which I place into my bag before ordering one last tankard of ale. ¡°Are you really going to drink ale before we leave?¡± Erick asks. ¡°It¡¯s only one drink¡± I reply with a smile. We take a seat at a table and soon Helen brings me my drink. I once again notice Erick is shaking his right leg up and down causing the arrows in his quiver to rattle. *He seems to do that when he is nervous* ¡°Relax, we haven¡¯t even left yet. Do you want a drink as well?¡± I ask while drinking my ale. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not used this kind of thing¡± he replies, his leg still shaking. ¡°What kind of thing?¡± ¡°The kind where I sneak into a city and possible help you kill the Count¡± ¡°I told you before not to worry about that. Just enjoy the adventure and before you know it, you will be back here drinking and telling tall tales¡± Give and Take Part 3 Lillianna We had been riding throughout the night at a decent trot and had not come across any others on our travel as of yet. With clear skies and a half moon we did not encounter any difficulty with visibility and we were keeping good pace. The trip so far had been a silent one with Erick quietly riding abreast of me. He would often glance over to me as if he was about to ask a question but each time he refrained from speaking. It was about an hour before dawn when Nat informed me of a group ahead of us on the road. ~Master, there is a group ahead, signs of a past battle~ ~Scout ahead for me~ ~Yes Master~ With my command Nat who had been tailing above us, launched himself further down the road. I then signal for Erick to stop by the side of the road and we dismount from our horses. I further instruct Erick to lead the horses into the woods and to tie them down so they do not run away. ¡°Erick there is a group ahead of us on the road, stay here with the horses and be prepared to defend yourself¡± I whisper to him. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything¡± he whispers back. ¡°Nat sighted a group further down the road and said there were signs that a fight had taken place¡± ¡°Your bird can talk?¡± Erick questions in a slightly too loud manner. ¡°Quiet, we don¡¯t know if there are more of them near us. Also Nat is not a bird and yes he can talk if he wants¡± ¡°He¡¯s not a bird?¡± again Erick responses too loudly. ¡°I said quiet, I¡¯ll explain later. Now stay here and wait for me, I¡¯m going to find out who they are¡± Erick nods in understanding and readies his bow while taking cover in the shrubbery, while I place my backpack onto one of the horses. After making sure that Erick and the horses were suitably out of view I summon Enenra around myself and skulk off down the road. Arriving at a safe distance from the group I quickly rush off into the foliage to conceal my presence. ~Nat lend me your eyes~ My vision shifts to that of Nat¡¯s who is flying above the group, with my new vantage point I start gathering information. It appears that a series of caravans had decided to spend the night camping by the side of the road and had been attacked shortly before my arrival. Judging by the corpses scattered around, the caravan guards had put up a good fight but were outnumbered by the attackers and in the end lost the battle. *I guess this area isn¡¯t as safe as I was told* A group of survivors had been rounded up in the middle of the makeshift camp site and were being held there by what appeared to be brigands. There were only six attackers left and some of them were injured from the previous fight. The brigands were equipped with an assortment of haphazard armour and weapons. Most of them had crude swords and short spears that had likely been pillaged from other victims. One among the group had an air of superiority about him and was wielding a pair of fine steel swords, while wearing a short sleeved chainmail shirt. *That¡¯s probably the boss* ~Nat did you spot anyone else?~ ~No Master~ I decide to take a closer look at the remaining survivors who numbered about a dozen and were forced to sit in a group. All of them were men and had the look of merchants and sell swords about them. They were probably traders and caravan guards who were headed for the frontier villages and had been set upon by a band of refuse on the way. ¡°Take whatever you want. Please just spare our lives¡± an old man in the group of survivors begged. His begging was shifty repaid with a kick to the face from the leader of the brigands. The old man had fine travel clothes and appeared quite wealthy judging by the trinkets that adorned him. *Not the smartest idea to wear that much jewellery when traveling is it?* ~Thank you Nat, just keep an eye out in case we missed anyone~ ~Yes Master~ With my eyes and vision returning to normal, I decided it was better to take care of these brigands than trying to go around. I would need to return down this road once my business in Fornall had concluded and I didn¡¯t want to take the chance that I would be ambushed by them in the future. The only issue I was facing was whether I should reveal myself as a mage to the traders and risk rumours of my escapades spreading. I had only revealed my abilities to the people of Riverbrook since I was planning on traveling north and wasn¡¯t worried about local gossip. My original plan would not have me returning to Fraul for over a year and any rumours about me would have long dissipated by then. *Better play it safe, I might need to stay around here for a while* ~Enenra release me~ ~Yes Master~ The shadow enveloping me withdraws back into my cloak. ~I don¡¯t want any of you to reveal yourselves unless absolutely necessary. Don¡¯t do anything that would upset me~ ~We obey Master~ the voices of my companions echo through my mind. Although I generally disliked fighting without using my companions, the group before me didn¡¯t seem too troublesome. I had trained in fighting without magic for just an occasion and almost couldn¡¯t contain the thrill I felt about the upcoming martial exercise. The sensation of fighting using only my skill and training without magic was rare and I was eager to experience it once again. *Does using Inanna count as cheating? Oh well I didn¡¯t bring any normal weapons so I guess it doesn¡¯t count* I will Inanna into two silver daggers in my hands and quickly observe their appearance. The daggers had a plain design with a blade about a foot long and a simple guard above the hand grip. They gave off a faint silver glow in the darkness, giving them an otherworldly aura. *Better make them look normal* Once again I pour my will into Inanna and this time the daggers change from their silver appearance into that of mundane steel. With the dagger in my left hand in a reverse grip and the one in my right held in a forward grip and I make my way towards to the group of brigands. Arriving within ear shot of the group I make my presence known. ¡°Well well what do we have here?¡± I proclaim. ¡°Who the FUCK are you?¡± the leader of the group shouts. ¡°Sorry I don¡¯t give my name to dead men¡± I reply in a casual joking tone. ¡°Big words for a bitch who¡¯s about to be put down¡± the leader sneers back. I gesture with my right dagger for them to come towards me. ¡°Don¡¯t cut her up too much boys, I want some fun afterwards and I don¡¯t like fucking gutted cunts¡± *A necrophiliac huh? Well who am I to judge*
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The two men closest to Lillianna charge forward swords held up high ready to strike her down. Lillianna crouches into a defensive posture and blocks the first blow with her left dagger causing the sword to slide off harmlessly to her side. With an upward stab, she lunges the dagger in her right hand upwards and into the attacking man¡¯s chin nailing it shut, with the tip of the dagger protruding from the top of his skull. Before the second man could finish swing his sword towards her, Lillianna withdraws the dagger from the first man¡¯s skull and pirouettes on her left foot and kicks the man in the in jaw with her right. The kick throws the man off balance and causes him to stumble backwards unable to finish his strike. Like a beast pouncing, Lillianna leaps onto the man, her cloak rustling behind her, she saddles the man on the waist, wrapping her legs around him. Before he could react she plunges the dagger in her right hand into the man¡¯s temple while the dagger in her left hand is spun into a forwards grip and impales the man sidewards in the throat. She quickly dismounts the man before he hits the ground and gives him a swift kick as a sign of disrespect. Three men who were standing next to their boss race forward undeterred by the deaths of their comrades. They close in on Lillianna, spears held forward in both hands and form an arc in front of her. In unison they jab their spears towards her aiming for her chest, but Lillianna ducks into a low crouch, her chest almost reaching the ground with her left leg out to the side and narrowly dodges their attack. Lillianna winds back her left leg while still crouching and releases it in a sweeping motion, kicking the legs of the three men out from under them. As the three men hit the ground, she jumps towards the man furthest to the right of her in a high arc. With bone crunching force she lands on the man¡¯s chest, both her feet coming down in a fierce stomp. The man lets out a gargled scream, bloody spit forming around his gaping mouth before he goes limp. Before Lillianna could descend from the crushed man, the closest attacker to her had recovered to his feet and had thrusted his spear at her left thigh. Having barely dodged in time the spear leaves a deep graze, causing Lillianna to cry out in pain. Reacting to the attack, Lillianna kicks the man in the gut causing him to reel over forwards, she then proceeds to stab him multiple times in the face before turning her attention to the last of the three men. The last man appeared to be wavering in his will to fight and started backing away from Lillianna, his spear held in front of him in defence. Limping forward Lillianna closes in on the man before leaping off her right leg her daggers held out ready to strike. Using her left dagger, now back in a reverse grip, she parries the spear aside and plunges her right dagger into the man¡¯s heart. Landing on her wounded leg she stumbles and tries to avoid putting pressure on it before steadying herself and turning towards the leader of the group. Witnessing the last of his men fall, the leader of the brigands draws his two swords and slowly starts to walk towards Lillianna. He spins the swords in his hands as he approaches trying to show off his martial prowess, while Lillianna watches on with a wicked smile across her face. Having closed in on her, the man swings both his swords sidewards in a scissor motion aiming for her stomach. Lillianna dashes forward inside of his reach and shoulders the man with her right side while seizing the man¡¯s right arm with her left arm, locking it in place with the inside of her elbow. The dagger in her right hand slashes the now immobile right arm on the inside of the man¡¯s forearm, causing him to drop his sword. Before she can withdraw to a safe distance he stabs her in the back of her left shoulder through her cloak with the still intact left sword. Due to her proximity to the man and awkward stabbing angle the blade had not penetrate her shoulder blade but still left a gruesome wound. Upon removal of the blade from her shoulder, Lillianna drops to the ground while using her right hand to brace her fall. Once on the ground she quickly knelt up and slashed the man across both shins causing him to also drop to his knees. Reversing the grip on her right dagger she plunges it into the man¡¯s right forearm, effectively disarming him. Standing up weakly she uses the butt of her dagger to smash the man in the face causing him to fall onto his back. ¡°Not bad¡­ for thieving scum¡± Lillianna said with a tired voice between heavy breaths.
Erick It had only been a short while since Lillianna left me but I was already feeling anxious. Every noise I heard startled me and caused me to nock an arrow in anticipation of unseen dangers. *Why did I agree to go with her, I¡¯m not cut out for this kind of thing* As I continued to wait I heard something land on the ground in front of me. In a panic I release an arrow at it and watch it fly towards what I now saw was a golden hawk, it was Nat. My mind raced with thoughts of what Lillianna would do to me for killing her bird, but much to me relief the arrow flew straight through Nat and stuck itself in the ground just behind him. I couldn¡¯t believe what I had just seen, the arrow had defiantly hit its mark, however instead of impaling the bird it had passed through him as if he wasn¡¯t there. ¡°My Master has a message for you¡± the bird chirped in a sing song voice. I had not believed her when she told me that Nat could speak but with the evidence staring me in the face I had no choice but to accept it. ¡°Erick bring the horses and meet me further down the road. It¡¯s safe now so no need to be weary, also don¡¯t speak unless I tell you to¡± Nat said in a voice that was a perfect mirror of Lillianna¡¯s. I was taken aback with hearing Lillianna¡¯s voice coming out of Nat and blankly stared at the bird for a few moments. ¡°What are you?¡± I question Nat. He doesn¡¯t answer and simply takes to the skies towards where I assume his master was. Not wanting to be alone in the dark for much longer I hurry to untie the horses and make my way down the road on foot, leading the horse by their reins. Not long after, I arrive at a group of caravans with dead bodies strewn around, glancing around I notice Lillianna talking to an elderly man in fine clothing who is covered in jewellery. As I make my way towards her I gaze around at the dead bodies along my path and come across a particularly disturbing sight. A man wearing a chainmail shirt had been gutted with his intestines wrapped around his neck. It appeared that he had been strangled with his own intestines and had his genitals removed. Whether this removal was done before or after his death I did not know.
Lillianna *This is what I get for being cocky I guess* I had underestimated my opponents and the wounds I had sustained was the price I had paid. Not wanting to reveal my abilities I had forbid Nin from healing me during and after the battle. ~Master please let me heal you~ Nin pestered me. ~Enough, I already said not to heal me until we leave these people behind~ ~Sorry Master, I¡¯ll be quiet~ she replied in a sorrowful voice. ~No need to apologise, just keep me from bleeding out for now~ I had just finished talking to the caravan leader when Erick found his way to me. ¡°Sorry Saul, I need to get my wounds tended to and would like some privacy¡± I said to the elderly caravan master. I lead Erick away from the survivors and found a place to sit down and tend to my wounds. The place I had picked was far enough away from the group so as to have them not eavesdrop on me but close enough that they could see me. ¡°What happened, were the bandits that strong? I didn¡¯t think you would be injured by such men¡± Erick questions in a worried tone. ¡°I didn¡¯t use my magic¡­ I didn¡¯t want them to know I was a mage, so keep quiet about it and help me bandage my wounds¡± I take of my cloak which still had a gash where I had been stabbed and placed it next to me on the crate I was sitting on that belonged to the caravan troupe. ¡°Get some cloth from my bag and wrap it around the wound on my shoulder¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just heal yourself?¡± ¡°I just told you that I didn¡¯t want them to know I was a mage. Having my wounds magically healed would be too obvious, now hurry up this shit hurts¡± Erick finds the bunyip roots that are wrapped in cloth and quickly unwraps them and starts to shake the cloth clean. ¡°This is all I could find, sorry¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, just place the roots somewhere clean I still want to eat them later¡± He places them on top of my cloak and proceeds to rip the cloth into two long strands. ¡°Help me take off my vest and shirt, it would seem odd to dress a wound on top of clothing¡± ¡°Ahhh¡­ but¡± Erick mumbles. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t care if you see me naked, just hurry up so we can leave and I can heal these wounds properly¡± With Ericks help, I remove my vest and shirt and place it next to my cloak. He then helps me to bandage the wound on my left shoulder blade before also helping me dress again. During the process he tries his best to not leer at my breasts, which I find humorous since most men would jump at the chance. ¡°What about the wound on your leg?¡± Erick askes bashfully. ¡°Sorry but that¡¯s all you get to see for today. I¡¯ll just bandage it over my pants¡± I reply with a cheeky grin. Erick puts on a disappointed expression but quickly recovers and hands me the other bandage. ¡°Don¡¯t look so down, you got to see something only my women get to see. Consider it a gift¡± ¡°Your women?¡± ¡°I prefer the company of women. Sorry to dash your hopes¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Erick says in a dejected manner. I quickly bandage my leg and gather my things, putting my cloak back on and placing the bunyip roots back into my bag. ¡°By the way, what did you tell those people about us? Didn¡¯t they ask who we were?¡± Erick inquires. ¡°I told them we were adventures from another continent and had just so happened upon them. Seeing innocent travellers such as themselves in trouble I decided to assist, while you looked after our horses.¡± I said in a flamboyant manner to emphasize the absurdity of the claim. ¡°Did they believe you?¡± ¡°They haven¡¯t asked any more questions so I suppose so. Now let¡¯s go get my reward. The caravan master promised to compensate me for my troubles¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t try to make them sign one of your contracts did you?¡± ¡°Not this time, I just asked for coin¡± I chuckle in reply. We find the caravan master as he is giving instructions to clean up the camp site and for his people to be ready to leave soon as possible. ¡°Excuse me Saul, I am ready to receive my reward¡± I interrupt the man. ¡°Why yes off course, fifty livres as agreed upon¡± Saul says as he hands me a small pouch full of coins. ¡°Fifty livres!¡± Erick exclaims. ¡°Quite the bargain for saving our lives if you ask me¡± Saul replies back. ¡°A bargain indeed. Now Saul, if you would excuse us we must be on our way. I bid you a safe journey¡± After a few more parting words we continue heading down the road towards Fornall. ¡°What are you going to do with so much coin?¡± Erick asks. ¡°Nothing, you can have it. I just didn¡¯t want to raise any suspicion by not accepting a reward¡± I reply as I throw the bag of coin into Ericks hands. ¡°Really? I could live of this for a year. Wait¡­ what¡¯s the catch¡± ¡°There¡¯s no catch, I have enough money for now. I only expect something in return if someone asks a favour of me. If you recall I didn¡¯t ask for anything when I freed you south of Riverbrook¡± Erick doesn¡¯t reply to my words and simply puts the bag of coin into a pouch on the side of his horse. ¡°Now let us be off, we can rest once we are a bit further down the road¡± We mount our horses and trot off down the road away from prying eyes where I can heal my wounds. Side Story 2 Ramuse Manor, Fornall Count Sebastian Ramuse ¡°That is all the reports for the day my Lord¡± advisor Capet informs me. ¡°Very well, leave me be then¡± I say in a dismissive manner with a wave of my hand. I watch Capet leave my study and close the door behind him. Leaning over my work desk I review the last report given to me by Capet. It contained a message from Lord Marshal Martel and had arrived by carrier pigeon. The contents of the message were simple, send men to Dantor with all haste or have part of my lands seised by the Crown. ¡°DAMN IT!¡± *More shit I have to deal with* I slam my the quill in my hands into the desk, snapping it and causing the inkwell next to my hand to topple and spill over my desk. I had received the original command to muster troops for the Crown just over two weeks ago and had sent word to the outlying villages and towns to send men to place under my banner. A few settlements had resisted but in the end had sent the require number of men, save for one village. I had sent men to bring them to heel and to use the village as an example to those who ignored Provincial Decrees. A decree from a Count was almost on par with a decree from the Crown, to have dismissed it was a grave crime and could not go unpunished. My men would return soon with the last of the levies and I could finally send them to Dantor. If the peasants hadn¡¯t resisted in sending men, I would not have this threat looming over me. Once my troops were ready to march, I would need to send word to the Lord Marshal informing him that my men were indeed on their way to Dantor. This would of course require an apology for the delay in sending troops and other platitudes. I was already in a politically weak position and this would further undermine my rule. The previous Count had been a drunkard and had wasted most of my families wealth during his rule. This had caused many rifts to form between the Ramuse family and other noble houses. Upon taking on the mantle of Count from my father, I had inherited an almost bankrupt treasury and a city full of nobles who wanted me dead.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. For the past few years I had been slowly mending relations with the other noble houses but it was a slow process and not all had been willing. I had also engaged in less honourable endeavours in the hopes of retaining power. These ranged from assassinations to criminal enterprises, which I had justified as necessary to keep my family ruling Fornall and its province. The Ramuses had founded Fornall and I would carry on their legacy even if it meant tarnishing my own name. Trying to placate the other nobles had also come with its own share of dangers. I had recently accepted a proposal to marry the eldest daughter of house Navier and would be wed to her in the coming weeks. The danger in such a proposal was not the woman I would be marrying, who was quite beautiful, but the family of said woman. The Naviers were one of the most wealthy and influential families in Fornall and I feared that once our houses had been tied they would have little use for me. I needed an heir but I had no doubt that once one was born I would be murdered by the Naviers and my heir used as a puppet for their own agenda. I had agreed to the marriage so that I could have access to the Navier family¡¯s wealth and I had achieved that with the dowry. The price and terms for the dowry was outrageous but they had accepted it nonetheless, which further confirmed my suspicions that they were planning to kill me once an heir had been sired. Now that I had filled my treasury with the dowry, continuing with the marriage was not something I desired. I stand up from my table, ignoring the spilled ink and wander over to a shield above the fireplace which held the family crest upon it. I gaze upon the figure of a hound and muse over its symbolism. *Quite fitting that our crest is a dog. I have had to beg and perform for the nobles, but soon they will learn how dangerous a cornered dog really is* Unintended Guests Part 1 Lillianna After leaving the caravan of traders behind we found an area further down the road to rest. The sun was already up and with no clouds in the sky to speak of we did not have to worry about rain. I instructed Erick to make camp off by the road side, away from prying eyes. The camp site was simple, two bed sheets lane out on the ground with thin blankets, while the horses were tied to nearby trees. ¡°I¡¯ll go get some firewood¡± Erick said. ¡°No. Don¡¯t start any fires I don¡¯t want to give our position away due to the smoke¡± ¡°What about cooking food?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t bring any food that doesn¡¯t require cooking?¡± ¡°Only a bit, I didn¡¯t think you wouldn¡¯t want any cooking fires¡± ¡°Oh well. We¡¯ll have to make do with what we have. It my fault for not telling you in advance. But first let me heal my wounds¡± With the camp site setup I sat down on my bed roll, legs crossed, and focused my will into Nin. I could feel her power flowing through me and towards my injuries. The sensation was like dipping your hand into a warm bath, soothing and comforting. Focusing further I feel the cuts closing and my muscles stitching themselves back together. The aching in my left leg and shoulder blade ceased and they felt normal again. I roll my left shoulder to confirm everything was as it should be and stood up to remove the bandages. ~You can repair the damage now Enenra~ ~Thank you Master~ The tear in my cloak that had been left by the bandit leader closed shut and returned to its normal appearance. ¡°Did you just heal yourself?¡± Erick asks. ¡°Uh huh, now let¡¯s eat¡± I answered as I stretched my arms and legs. I take out the bunyip roots from my bag and once again sit down to start eating. Erick follows suit, sitting down opposite to me and begins to eat some dry meat he had taken out of his saddle bag. ¡°Where¡¯s Nat?¡± Erick questioned. ¡°He¡¯s keeping a look out. You can relax, he¡¯ll let me know if there is any danger¡± I say while I continue eating. ¡°Since we have time now, are you going to explain what Nat is? You said he wasn¡¯t a bird¡± ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll have to explain since you¡¯ll just keep nagging me otherwise¡± I say while letting out a sigh. ¡°So what is he?¡± Erick continues in an inquisitive tone. ¡°Nat is a wind spirit¡± ¡°Like a ghost?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, ghosts don¡¯t exist. He is a spirit as I just said, you must know what a spirit is¡± ¡°So like a water sprite?¡± ¡°Not quite. Sprites are little shits who go around harassing people, spirits are different. They are the embodiment of the different aspects of nature and to a lesser extent people, while sprites are magically attuned creatures¡± ¡°Why does he look like a bird?¡± ¡°Because I bound him that way¡± ¡°Bound him?¡± ¡°You sure do ask a lot of questions. Are you this persistent with every woman you come across?¡± Erick looks shyly at the ground trying not make eye contact but continues his questioning. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve never heard of a mage who can command spirits or anything like that¡± ¡°I am a spiritmancer or spirit mage if you prefer. I can bind spirits to my will, similar to the way a fire mage can bend fire to their will¡± ¡°I see¡­ and Nat is a wind spirit you bound?¡± ¡°Yes and that¡¯s enough questions, we need to rest. We lost time due to the bandits and need to make up for it. Get some sleep, I plan to reach the next town before sunset¡± I can see that Erick has more questions but keeps quiet and soon finishes his food and readies for sleep. Waking up first just after noon, I wake up Erick and we make ready to leave. As we are getting ready I notice that Erick keeps glancing over to me but says nothing. ¡°What is it? You keep doing that. You did it while we were riding yesterday as well, if you have something to say just say it¡± ¡°Ahhh¡­ it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve been thinking about you¡± ¡°Have you now?¡± I reply with a mischievous smile. ¡°WAIT! I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I meant I¡¯ve been thinking about how you act. One moment you are deadly serious and then the next moment you are joking around. I don¡¯t understand you one bit¡± ¡°Different faces for different places¡± I answer back nonchalantly. ¡°What?¡± Erick replies in a confused manner. ¡°It¡¯s a saying I picked up somewhere. It means people act differently in different situations. Do you talk the same way to a child as you do an adult?¡± ¡°Of course not, children don¡¯t understand the same things adults do¡± ¡°It¡¯s something like that for me. Sometimes the people I¡¯m talking to don¡¯t know the things I know, so I have to make them understand, usually with threats. While at other times a more¡­ how should I put this¡­ friendly approach is required¡± ¡°I think I kind of understand what you mean. Does that mean you¡¯re only friendly towards me because you think I''m a child?¡± ¡°I am friendly towards you because I need your help. Also isn¡¯t it normal for people to be friendly to each other? I am only threatening to people who annoy me or cause me trouble like the Elders of your village. If they hadn¡¯t been stupid enough to ignore the Count I wouldn¡¯t have had to intervene, though I have turned the situation in my favour, so it isn¡¯t all bad¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Erick replies appearing to be deep in thought. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve said what you wanted, let us be on our way¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! We mount our horses and head back to the road and towards the nearest town.
Erick It was a few hours before sunset and we were almost at the town of Springhill, which was a large farming community further south than Riverbrook. Since continuing on our journey just after noon I had been pondering over what I had learned from our previous conversation. I had got a glimpse of who Lillianna really was and it had set my mind at easy for the time being. When I had first agreed to go with her to Fornall I expected her to be more cold and bitter towards me, but the last day of travel had proved otherwise. I had assumed she was only being friendly towards me when we had our first real conversation at the inn because she wanted information. But it appeared that, that was her usual demeanour unless you had angered her. Remembering the mutilated body I saw at the caravan site and how she had killed the soldiers on the road when she freed me, quickly brought to mind my original opinion of her. That opinion being that I should never make her angry or give her an excuse to harm me. But her words had sounded genuine and I had no reason to doubt her sincerity. What she said about the Elders and the village was true as well. If she hadn¡¯t intervened, Riverbrook would be in ruins right now. Letting her basically take over the town was a small price to pay for our continued survival as a community. I was starting to paint a different picture of her in my mind. *I hope I¡¯m not wrong about her*
Lillianna Upon arriving at Springhill we had made our way to the centre of town, dismounted and tied our horses outside of a clothing store. ¡°We¡¯re going to need some cloths to blend in when we get Fornall. Let me do the talking and play along, I don¡¯t want to them to ask too many questions¡± Erick nods in agreement and we make our way into the shop. The shop had a few dresses and suits on display, nothing extravagant but they would meet our needs for now. I link arms with Erick, which causes him to flinch, before making our way to the counter of the shop. The attendant was a plump middle age main with neatly combed back brown hair wearing formal attire. ¡°Hello, my husband and I would like some evening wear, nothing too formal¡± I say in a casual tone. ¡°I¡¯d be happy to help a fine couple such as yourselves¡± the plump man replies happily. The man brings out some clothes for us to try out and after looking through his wares we each pick out the ones we want. I chose a black form fitting one piece sleeveless dress, it had a simple but elegant design and showed of my features well. Erick chose a matching three piece black suit consisting of a coat, vest and formal pants. Afterwards we picked out some appropriate foot wear to go with our choice of clothing and departed the store. ¡°They had a better selection of clothing than I thought but that¡¯s enough fun for now, we need to get going¡± ¡°We are not staying here for the night?¡± Erick asks. ¡°No, we need to keep going, we ride through the night and rest at dawn like before¡± Erick lets out a moan but does not complain further. We put our new clothes into our saddle bags and depart town shortly after. We ride throughout the night at a fast trot, trying to make up lost time due to the bandits. During our travel Erick remains silent and does not appear to have any more questions for me, although he would sometimes glance upwards towards Nat. *He¡¯s probably still interested in Nat* At dawn we camp by the side of the road again and rested for the day. The conversation this time was more mundane and Erick did not pester me with questions. We talked about Riverbrook and a bit about the area around it. I did not discover anything interesting from our talk but it had the added benefit of making Erick feel more comfortable around me. I would need his help when we got to Fornall and didn¡¯t want any awkwardness between us, like he had been showing earlier. There was also the issue of trust between us, if he tried to betray me or felt that I would do the same to him, it could cause trouble later on and that was something I wanted to avoid. *He seems to be warming up to me. Let¡¯s hope he doesn¡¯t do anything stupid* The rest of our journey to Fornall was uneventful. We had come across a few other travellers but there was nothing that caused us to waste time or presented us with danger. We arrived at the outskirts of Fornall just after sunset on the third day of our trip as I had planned and left our horses to be tended in a stable. After removing our bags from the horses we make our way along the city¡¯s wall until we find an area where there are no city guards.
Lillianna The city had a two storey cobblestone wall surrounding the majority of it, with guard outposts scattered along it. The security around the wall was lax and it was not hard to find an area devoid of guards. The area surrounding the wall was also poorly lit and concealing ourselves was not a hard task. ¡°Get ready I¡¯m going to have Cormon throw us onto the wall¡± I whisper to Erick. ¡°Who? I don¡¯t see anyone¡± he whispers back. ¡°He¡¯s one of my spirits, don¡¯t worry it won¡¯t hurt, just don¡¯t make too much noise when you land¡± ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t see anyone¡± ¡°He¡¯s bound to me, so you can¡¯t see his form. Just get ready¡± Erick nods in understanding and braces himself by clutching his backpack to his chest and crouching slightly, he then nods again to signal that he is ready. ~Cormon, throw him up first then me~ ~Yes Master~ With a quiet yelp Erick is flung up and onto the wall, shortly after landing I follow him but without the surprised yelp. Upon reaching the top of the wall I look around to make sure we weren¡¯t seen and once satisfied we make our way to the inner side of the wall. Peering down I see dimly lit cobble streets and directly below us a dark alleyway. ¡°I¡¯m going to jump down, once I land I want you to follow. I¡¯ll catch you so don¡¯t hesitate¡± I inform Erick as I pass him my backpack. ¡°You¡¯re going to catch me? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea¡± ¡°I meant that Cormon will catch you, now let¡¯s go¡± Without waiting for a reply I jump off the wall and into the alley, upon landing I roll forwards to break my fall. I signal for Erick to jump but can see him hesitate for a moment before he leaps down. Just before he hits the ground Cormon catches him and gently places him down on his feet. ¡°Now let¡¯s get changed and find a place to stay for the night¡± Erick passes my bag back to me and we proceed to change into the clothes we had purchased at Springhill. He is a bit reluctant to change in my presence but begins to strip without voicing complaint. I strip down to my underwear that only consists of a pair of loose shorts similar to bloomers while my chest is exposed. Erick hurriedly turns he gaze trying not to look at my breast as he puts on his new attire. ¡°You¡¯ve already seen them before. Let¡¯s hurry up and get going¡± I say in an amused manner. After changing and placing our previous clothes, including my cloak, into our bags we head out of the alley. Upon reaching the main road I pass my bag to Erick. ¡°It¡¯s not proper for a lady to carry her own bag when with her husband¡± Erick takes the bag from me and I link arms with him as we make our way down the street. ¡°Since you are familiar with Fornall take us to a respectable inn for the night. Someplace safe for a couple like us, I don¡¯t want any trouble while we are here¡± ¡°Are we going to act as a couple the whole time we are here?¡± ¡°Yes. It would raise less suspicion for a man and woman to be together if they were married wouldn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I guess it would¡± ¡°Good. But don¡¯t get your hopes up, you¡¯re not my type¡± ¡°I remember¡± Erick replies slightly disappointed. ¡°Also when we get to the inn, do some of the talking. It would be odd for only me to speak but try not to say anything unnecessary¡± Erick nods in understanding and we continue down the street with him leading the way. We arrive at a fine looking three storey stone building. ¡°This is the best inn I know¡± Erick informs me. ¡°It should be fine. Book us lodging for a week on the top floor and make sure it has a window, use the coin I gave you earlier¡± Erick leads the way to the counter and books us a room as I instructed and he also requests some food to be brought to us in our room. As I enter the room, I look for a window and proceed to open it. Nat lands on the now open windowsill and awaits my command. ¡°Stay outside for now and keep an eye out for any danger. I don¡¯t expect any trouble but I rather not take the chance¡± I say to Nat. Nat flies off and we begin to unpack our things. Once settling into our new lodging the food arrives at our door and we sit down at the dining table in the room to eat. ¡°What now?¡± Erick asks as he eats. ¡°I need to gather some information on the Count. I wasn¡¯t planning on staying in Fornall before meeting you, so I don¡¯t know much about him¡± ¡°And what do you want me to do?¡± ¡°Tomorrow I want you to show me around the city. I need to get better acquainted with the layout of the streets. Also show me around the market area, I want to know more about the traders and merchants of the city¡± ¡°I can do that for you but why do you want to know about the merchants?¡± ¡°If I am to control the trade in Riverbrook I obviously need to setup partnerships with merchants in Fornall¡± ¡°Of course, sorry for asking a stupid question¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s finish our food and go to sleep we don¡¯t have much time before the Count realises his men are missing¡± ¡°Ah yes, I almost forgot about him. What do you plan to do?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I have something in mind¡± We finish our food and prepare to go to sleep. The room we are in is quite large, with enough space for a dining table and a large double bed in the same area, with a bathroom off to the side in another room. Erick was not comfortable with sleeping in the same bed as me and instead laid some sheets on the ground next to the bed and slept there for the night. Unintended Guests Part 2 Lillianna We woke up just after dawn and leave to explore the city. Not wanting to look suspicious I leave behind Enenra and command Nat to follow us without being seen. Erick guides me around the different districts and provides helpful titbits of information as we go along. From what he had told me, Fornall was a rather unremarkable city. Its trade consisted mainly of crops from the provincial towns and villages, which is sold to the cites further south. The province Fornall ruled was better suited for farming than the lands to the south and due to this, its main industry was farming. Sometime around midday I beckon Erick into a clothing shop. ¡°You want to buy more clothes?¡± Erick questions. ¡°Dear husband a woman can never have enough dresses to wear¡± I reply in a cheerful manner. ¡°Besides we can¡¯t keep wearing the same clothes we bought in Springhill the whole time we are here can we?¡± I add in a hushed whisper. ¡°I see¡­¡± I lead Erick further into the shop and we purchase a number of outfits for our stay in Fornall. Erick seemed unhappy at having to spend the livres I had giving him, but in the end he did not voice any complaints. I had arranged for the items to be delivered to our room at the inn, another expense that Erick did not like. ¡°Was it necessary to pay for them to send it to the inn? I could have just carried it for you¡± Erick questions. ¡°We have more things to do and I don¡¯t want you weighed down in case there is any trouble. I¡¯ll reimburse you when we get back to the inn¡± ¡°What¡¯s this about trouble?¡± Erick asks in a worried tone. ¡°I need information on the Count and we don¡¯t have much time before he realises that his men haven¡¯t returned from Riverbrook. That means that I will need to gather information quickly and possible with force¡± ¡°I see¡­ I almost forgot why we were here¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you remembered. Now I need you to go buy me some daggers, two of them if you could. Something simple but make sure they are made of steel¡± ¡°Are you not coming with me? Also steel is expensive are you sure?¡± ¡°It would be unseemly for a noble woman to enter a weapons store and yes make sure it¡¯s steel. Also buy me a leather strap, make sure it¡¯s thin but long enough to wrap around my chests. I¡¯ll compensate you for any expenses you incur today¡± ¡°Noble woman?¡± ¡°What do you think we look like to the commoners? We are dressed in fine clothing and spend livres like it was nothing. It¡¯s better that the common folk leave us alone while we are here so it works in our favour¡± ¡°Did you plan for this?¡± ¡°Of course¡± Erick then leaves to find a weapon merchant and proceeds to get the daggers I requested. I wait for him outside of the store while he goes about the task. Upon exiting the store I lead Erick into a side street away from any onlookers. ¡°Show me the daggers¡± I command Erick. Erick hands me two fine steel daggers and I inspect them carefully. They had ornate wooden hand grips with a floral design that was common in Fraul and their cross guards also had a similar floral design etched in gold. The daggers appeared to have been designed as a pair, as their appearance complimented one another. *I thought I asked for something simple* ¡°Why is it so¡­ decorative?¡± I ask Erick slightly annoyed. ¡°Ummm, I thought they suited you¡± he replies embarrassed. ¡°I suppose they will do, now help me strap these to my back¡± I begin to strip off the top of my dress and take the leather strap Erick had bought and tie it around myself just above my breasts. Erick doesn¡¯t seem to be as shy as before and follows my instructions to sheath the daggers into the leather strap around my back. Upon getting dressed again I arrange my long hair so as to cover my back and hide the impressions of the daggers. ¡°Let¡¯s be off, we need to get some information on the Count¡± Erick nods in acknowledgment and follows me out of the side street and into the main thoroughfare. We make our way to different guilds and shops asking about Count Ramuse. One of the stops along the way was a guild of bankers that operated throughout Fraul. The purpose of the visit was to gather information regarding the finances of the Count. It was no easy task as the bankers we unwilling to divulge much information but I did learn that the Count had recently come into possession of a great deal of wealth. Rumours had been going around the city about how he had gotten this wealth but I could not ascertain the true source of his new found fortune. Another residence we visited was an establishment for nobles to while away their days socialising and enjoying the luxuries only they could afford. We had gained entry by masquerading as nobles from across the sea looking to make a home in Fornall. The story was flimsy but by spending livres like mad men we had quieten most of their suspicions and had started to discuss the politics of Fornall. The women of the nobility were more than happy to gossip about the goings-on of court, which made my task easy. While on the other hand Erick was finding it difficult to mingle with the noblemen and after a few attempts simply resigned himself to enjoying the food and drink on offer. After spending a good portion of daylight socialising I had learned a bit of valuable information about the Count. He had many enemies in the city and few friends, this was something I could use to my advantage. I was also made aware that he had recently been engaged to a noblewomen from a powerful house and was due to be wed in the coming weeks. The other gossip regarding the Count seemed to be just that, gossip, and provided no further useful information. We leave the nobles behind just after sunset and make our way back to the inn. As we walk back, arms linked, I query Erick about what he had learnt. ¡°Did you learn anything?¡± ¡°Nothing useful, I¡¯m not good at talking to nobles. I thought they would figure out I was a fraud every time I spoke¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, watching you squirm was entertaining enough¡± I reply with a sly smile. Erick doesn¡¯t respond and we continue our way down the street. Fortunately we had not come across any trouble during our questioning and had not revealed our true purpose in Fornall. About half way back to our inn Erick stop just outside of an alley, forcing me to wait for him. ¡°What is it? I have other things to do tonight I don¡¯t have time to waste¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear that just now?¡± *Of course I heard it, that¡¯s probably the third cry for help we walked passed since the day started* ¡°Hear what?¡± I reply with a heavy sigh. ¡°Someone is calling for help down there, we have to do something¡± Before I could stop him, Erick runs off down the alley and towards the cry for help.
Lilianna I follow Erick at a leisurely pace down the dark alley and arrive to find him confronting three men. He has a dagger drawn in his right hand and is holding it in a defensive manner towards the men. ¡°What do we have here, a hero come to save the day?¡± the man closest to Erick says. The three men have the appearance of ruffians, probably local thugs conducting their business, their clothes are unkempt and they reek of alcohol. As I make my way to the side of Erick, the man out front who appears to be their leader turns his attention towards me. ¡°And who¡¯s this, another hero come to help this worthless bitch?¡± he sneers at me. Looking past the men I see a woman unconscious on the cobble stone street, her shirt covered in blood and her face visibility injured. From the look of things this was no mere robbery but a beating meant to serve a purpose. ¡°Where did you get the dagger?¡± I whisper to Erick. ¡°You told me to be ready to defend myself so I kept it hidden in my vest¡± *I¡¯m glad he listened to my advice* ¡°Get the fuck out of here if you know what¡¯s good for you, this is none of your business, that knife won¡¯t do you any good¡± the leader of the group continues. ¡°I can¡¯t let you beat up a defenceless woman. I¡¯m warning you, leave now or I¡¯ll have to make you stop¡± Erick replies in a shaky voice. ¡°Good luck¡± I whisper into Erick¡¯s ears and take a few steps back. ¡°What?¡± Erick replies in panic and turns to look towards me. Seeing an opening one of the thugs rushes Erick and tries to wrestle the dagger from his hand. They stumble about fighting for the dagger before Erick is punched in the face and forced to the ground. Luckily for him, he holds on the dagger and slashes madly at the man while trying to get back on his feet. ¡°Help me!¡± Erick cries. I continue to do nothing and watch as Erick frantically tries to fight the man attacking him. The leader of the group and the other man watch on and apparently find the whole situation quite funny. They laugh and comment on the ensuing scuffle, giving advice to their comrade on how to fight. ¡°Kick him in the balls!¡± the other man jeers. Erick fights on with all his might but it is quite obvious that the man he is fighting is playing with him. Seeing that he had no chance of victory against even one of the men, let alone all three, Erick turns his focus on me. His eyes are pleading for me to help him and in-between dodging and catching his breath he continues to ask for my help. *Time to step in I guess* I nonchalantly walk up to the man playing with Erick and interrupt the fight. ¡°Excuse me¡± The man turns around surprised at my intervention and turns his attention towards me. Before he could speak or react I will Nin¡¯s power into the palm of my left hand and place it on his forehead. Using her powers I rendering him unconscious and turn my attention towards the two other man.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ~Cormon hold them still but don¡¯t kill them~ ~Yes Master~ ¡°What the fuck did you do to him!¡± the leader roars. I shrug my shoulders and make my way closer to the two men. They struggle to move but find that they are unable to run. Their arms flail and swing at me while their legs remain immobile. ¡°Get away from me you witch!¡± the other man cries. Dodging the frantic man¡¯s arms, I place my left palm on his head and subdue him. I do the same for the leader and once I am confident that they are no longer a threat, I turn my attention towards Erick. He is bent over, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily and is trying to regain his composure. ¡°Why¡­ didn¡¯t you¡­ help sooner...¡± Erick asks between bated breaths. ¡°We are not here to beat up thugs, we are here to save your village¡± I reprimand Erick. ¡°So you would have let them beat that woman to death?¡± Erick asks, anger flaring in his voice. ¡°Yes¡± ¡°How could you¡­¡± this time he sounded more disappointed than angry. ¡°So what do you plan to do about these three?¡± I question Erick in a impassive voice. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I used magic in front of them, we can¡¯t have them going around telling everyone¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just use the daggers we bought there was no need to use magic¡± Erick replies in an annoyed tone. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to ruin my dress fighting and besides a woman brandishing weapons and fighting thugs in back alleys would cause its own fair share of trouble¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right. So what do you think we should do about them?¡± ¡°Kill them and lets be on our way¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just kill them, they may be brutes but that doesn¡¯t mean they deserve to die¡± ¡°That¡¯s good enough of a reason for me to kill them. Anyway, as I said we can¡¯t have them going around telling tales about us. Hurry up and kill them, we¡¯ve wasted enough time here¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do that... I¡¯ve never killed anyone before¡± ¡°Maybe not directly but you did ask me to free your village. I must have killed over a hundred men, did you not consider their lives?¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Erick tries to rebuke my question but quickly falls silent. ¡°It¡¯s easy to ask someone else to kill for you, but now that you have to do it with your own hands you can¡¯t go through with it?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want this¡± his voice full of sorrow and regret. *Sometimes what we want and what we get are not the same thing* I walk over to him and take the dagger from his hand, he lets go of his grip without much resistance. Turning my focus on the three unconscious men I casually make my way from one to the next, stabbing each one a few times and making sure they are dead. The stab wounds should seem like they were caused during a scuffle and unless closely inspected would not appear otherwise, finding dead thugs in an alleyway shouldn¡¯t raise any suspicion. Erick watches in silence as I clean the blade and hand it back to him. ¡°Let¡¯s go then¡± I say as I pat Erick on the back trying to comfort him. *I shouldn¡¯t be too hard on him, he¡¯s still young* ¡°What about the woman?¡± Erick quickly asks before I could walk away. I turn to meet Erick¡¯s eyes and show an annoyed expression to make sure he understands that I wish to waste no further time on this matter. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave her here, who knows what might happen. She looks to be hurt as well, we need to get her help¡± ¡°And what did you have in mind?¡± ¡°We can take her back to the inn¡± ¡°How are you going to explain bring a beaten woman into the inn? Not to mention that she would start asking questions as soon as she woke up¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think of something to tell her, please you have to help me carry her to the inn¡± Erick pleads. *This is going to be troublesome but I need Erick¡¯s trust* ¡°Fine, meet me in front of the inn, I¡¯ll take her through the window. It would be best if people didn¡¯t see us dragging a beaten up woman through the streets¡± ¡°Ok I¡¯ll meet you there, but how are you going to get her through the window?¡± ¡°Just worry about yourself¡± I say in a dismissive manner. I make my way over to the collapsed woman, kneeling, and place my left palm on her chest. I will Nin¡¯s power through my hand and into the woman, feeling for injuries and any serious damage. A few of her ribs are broken and she has some internal bleeding, if left untreated she would be dead by morning. The thugs had beaten her to an inch of her life and would have taken it if Erick hadn¡¯t intervened. *Must be your lucky day* Using Nin¡¯s ability I restore her to a state that was not life threatening but one which still had injuries. If the woman woke up fully healed it would not be something we could explain away easily. She would live and recover in a few days, that was the most I was willing to risk for now. ~Cormon, take us to the rooftops and back to the inn~ ~Yes Master~ Without saying another word to Erick I pick up the woman and carrying her in both arms I am thrown up towards the rooftops by Cormon
Elizabeth *Am I still alive?* My head was aching and my body was sore all over. The last thing I remember was being beaten by those ruffians. I was sure that they were going to kill me but right now I felt warm and was lying on something soft. They had found me trying to hide in the city after having run away from the farm where I had been a slave. The masters must have sent them and told them to make an example out of me. I slowly open my eyes and look around at my surroundings, my vision still blurry. I was in a soft bed with blankets covering me, the room had a fireplace which was lit and had fine furniture spread around the room. Trying to sit up I felt a sharp pain stab at my sides but I push through the pain and steady myself upright. It is then that I notice a man in fine evening attire sitting at a dining table eating and looking my way. Panic spreads through my mind, this place was to lavish for a simple commoner and those with money and power usually only wanted one thing from a female slave. ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt me, I¡¯ll do whatever you want¡± I whimper as I shield my head with my arms.
Erick After returning to our room with the unconscious woman, Lillianna had washed her with towels and water before changing her into clean clothes. Her clothes had been filthy and Lillianna had insisted on cleaning her up before permitting her to sleep on the bed. Once the woman had been tended to Lillianna informed me that she had other matters to attend too and left through the window. Before leaving though, she gave me a pouch full of livres and told me to use them to help the woman with whatever she needed. *She does have a soft side to her after all* It had been a few hours since she had left and it was nearing midnight but I did not feel like sleeping, I wanted to wait until she returned. I had been thinking over what Lillianna had said to me in the alley and the deaths of the men were already weighing on my mind. If I hadn¡¯t interfered those men would still be alive right now, they probably had families waiting for them, but now they were dead and I had been the cause. However I still felt it was the right thing to do, those men would have beaten that woman to death and if I had to choose between the lives of thugs and a defenceless woman, I would choose to save the woman every time. While still in thought I notice at the corner of my eye that the woman had begun to stir. Putting down the spoon in my hand I turn my attention towards her. The woman had light brown hair that ran to her shoulders and her skin was a beautiful olive tone. Her figure was dangerously thin but she had a face with soft features, although bruises still marked her face they did little to diminish her natural beauty. Lillianna had dressed her in some of the clothes she had bought earlier in the day and the woman was now wearing a white nightgown that went to her knees. ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt me, I¡¯ll do whatever you want¡± she begged me while trying to shield herself. *Why would I hurt her? Ah¡­ this is what Lillianna must have felt like when we first met* I stay seated at the dining table and calmly asked her to join me. Lillianna had assured me that the woman was not in danger of dying from her injuries and once she woke up, should be well enough to move around. ¡°Please come eat some food. I won¡¯t do anything to you¡± The woman looks at me with teary eyes which were peering through her arms that were still shielding her. I motion for her to sit opposite to me but she does not move and simply stays curled up on the bed. ¡°I won¡¯t force you to eat so you can rest as much as you want. Come and eat if you want¡± I did not want to intimidate her so I let her be and continued eating while wondering what to tell her. Lillianna had simply left the decision up to me, ¡°tell her whatever you like, if she can¡¯t keep her mouth shut I¡¯ll just kill her¡±, is what she had said. I had no doubt that she would carry out her threat if needed but I also did not want to lie to the woman. Not because it was wrong to lie but because I would have to keep the lie going as long as she was with us and judging by the condition we found her in, that might be longer than tonight. There was also the issue of her finding out about us and telling someone before we could stop her. After thinking on the matter further I had decide it was best to tell her the truth, for the most part, she didn¡¯t need to know all the details. Well even I didn¡¯t know all the details about Lillianna¡¯s plan to deal with the Count. An hour had passed before the woman decided to join me at the table. She had gotten out of bed weakly and limped over to the seat before carefully placing herself down, it was clear that she was still in pain due to her injures. The woman stared greedily at the bowl of hearty stew I presented in front of her, but did not move. A few moments past and she reaches for the spoon next to the bowl. I notice that her wrists are bruised, likely from slave bonds, upon noticing me looking at her wrists, she withdraws them in haste under the table. Slaves were rarely found in frontier villages like Riverbrook, if ever, as the guards required to keep them from escaping were too expensive for such settlements. I had however seen them during my visits to Fornall and was not ignorant of the lives they lived. ¡°Sorry it''s a bit cold now but eat as much as you like. If you want more let me know¡± I say in a pleasant manner trying to put the frightened woman at ease. ¡°Thank you Master¡± she replies in a meek voice, her eyes trying to avoid contact with mine. ¡°Please, I¡¯m not your master. I heard you crying for help and did what any person would do and helped you out¡± I try to reassure her. ¡°Not many people would help a slave¡± ¡°Well I didn¡¯t know you were a slave but that doesn¡¯t matter, please eat something you must be hungry¡± I say in an embarrassed voice. I was not used to hearing praise from people, even if she hadn¡¯t meant it that way, it still felt like a compliment to me. After she finished her meal I thought it was about time to get to know her better. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I ask in a casual tone. She doesn¡¯t reply for a brief time but eventual decides to answer. ¡°Elizabeth, Sir¡± her voice still weak. ¡°There¡¯s no need to call me sir. My name is Erick, Erick Fuchs¡± Elizabeth doesn¡¯t continue the conversation and simply sits in front of me looking down at her feet. ¡°This might be rude of me to ask but do you know why those men attacked you?¡± She freezes in place, clearly terrified of answering. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to scare you, it¡¯s just that¡­ well you see I¡¯m in a bit of a trouble myself and wanted to know if you were still in danger¡± ¡°What kind of trouble?¡± she asks looking up at me, before quickly averting her gaze back to the ground. ¡°It¡¯s a long story and I¡¯d be happy to tell you tomorrow but I need to know what¡¯s going on with you first¡± Elizabeth appears to be thinking about whether to answer the question or not and remains silent for some time. Eventually she opens her mouth to answer. ¡°I¡¯m a slave¡± she answers quietly. ¡°I already guessed that but why were the men after you? Did you do something wrong?¡± Again Elizabeth pauses before answering. ¡°I¡¯m a runaway slave¡­ are you going to turn me into the guards? Please don¡¯t, I¡¯ll do whatever you want Master. I can cook and and ummm clean and and¡­ if it pleases you, *sob* you can use me however you like in bed *sob*. Please just don¡¯t turn me in¡± A torrent of emotions spills from her and she weeps as she begs for me not to hand her over to the guards. My heart breaks at the sight of her pleading and I can¡¯t help but want to protect her further. I begin to imagine the life she must have lead for her to offer her body to me over returning to her old masters. ¡°I won¡¯t turn you in, please don¡¯t cry¡± I say as I get up from the table to fetch some towels for her to wipe her tears. Returning to the table to hand her the towel, she drops off the seat and kneels before me, embracing me around the waist. ¡°Thank you Master, thank you, thank you¡± she continues to thank me as she hugs me tightly. At a loss for words and not knowing what to do, I gently pat her head and try to reassure her that everything would be fine. After she calms down, I lead her to the bed and tell her to rest until morning. ¡°Master are you not going to sleep with me?¡± she asks with a worried face. ¡°I¡¯m not your master and I don¡¯t force women to sleep with me. Please just rest, there¡¯s a lot I have to talk to you about tomorrow¡± ¡°But where will you sleep?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I will be sleeping tonight. Don¡¯t worry about me and get some rest¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Elizabeth replies in a soft but worried voice. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t do anything to you while you sleep. Would you like a room to yourself? I can get one for you¡± She doesn¡¯t reply and after a brief moment pulls the sheets over her chest and closes her eyes to sleep. Not wanting to disturb her I take a seat on the sofa by the window and once again begin to ponder on the events of the day.
Elizabeth It was like a dream, I still didn¡¯t know what was happening. The man in the room, Erick, had given me food and assured me that I was safe. At first I thought it would end up being some cruel joke where at the end he would beat me and turn me over to the guards or worse. In the end though he had taken me back to the bed and told me to rest. I was sure that was when he would have his way with me but he did no such thing. Instead he offered to give me my own room and told me he wouldn¡¯t do anything while I slept. I was still worried that he might do something to me but I was too tired and even if I wanted to run, I had nowhere else to go. As I try and fall asleep I think back to the men who had beaten me. What happened to them and where were they now, I was still scared of them even if I felt a small semblance of safety at the moment. I begin to wonder if Erick had saved me from those men and if he did, why did he risk saving a slave, he must have known that I was a slave just by looking at me. My thoughts shift to Erick and I sneak peaks at him hoping he doesn¡¯t notice me. He is sitting on a sofa next to the window with his eyes closed. I thought he was quite handsome with his short blonde hair and chiselled facial features. Apart from the few noblemen who would go on to become knights, most were overweight and had the appearance of one who had never known wanting in their life. Erick felt different though, I had never heard of a noble who would risk not turning in a runaway slave. Thoughts of a knight in shining armour who had come to save me flashed through my mind. *I can dream even if it¡¯s only for tonight* I drift off to sleep tears running down my face. ¡°Please don¡¯t let this be a dream¡± the last words I whisper to myself before sleep finally takes me. Unintended Guests Part 3 Lillianna I had left the woman we had rescued with Erick and was currently making my way across the rooftops of Fornall, before leaving though I had changed into my usual traveling attire and brought Enenra with me. The information I had gathered during the day was useful but I needed more before I was sure my plan to deal with the Count would work. What I was looking for right now was information on the Count¡¯s more dubious dealings. The rulers of kingdoms and cities almost always partook in illegal activities for one reason or another. This was the reality for those who ruled and I did not particularly find it disagreeable, it was often better to have the criminal underworld working with you than against you. A few hours had passed since I began looking for a way to contact the underworld of Fornall but had not been lucky so far. As I was about to leave the area I was currently searching I come across what I had been looking for. I find two men in front of a warehouse and they appeared to be guarding it. They have the appearance of hired thugs and are vigilantly standing watching, their wooden cudgels hanging from their waists. After observing a few people enter and leave the building I had decided that this was worth investigating further and drop down into one of the side streets adjacent to the building. I then make my way towards the warehouse at a leisurely pace and soon find myself in front of the two guards. ¡°I¡¯m here to buy information, have I found the right place?¡± I ask the guards in a casual tone. The guard to my left looks at me with curiosity in his eyes, before replying. ¡°Get out of here girl, this is no place for you¡± he says in a dismissive tone. ¡°If you are not interested in my livres that I will find someone who is¡± I say nonchalantly as I bounce a small bag of coins in my hand that I had withdrawn from under my cloak. ¡°What if we just take them from you little girl? Did you think about that?¡± the same man says. ¡°By all means, please try and take it¡± I say as I continue to the play with the coin pouch. There is a small moment of silence before the guard to my right decides to speak. ¡°There is an entrance fee, a livre for each of us¡± he says with a smile on his face. ¡°Here¡¯s two each, now get out of my way I¡¯m in a hurry¡± I say as I throw the coins in their direction. Without further trouble, they allow me into the building and direct me towards a group of men sitting around a table. The building was indeed a warehouse and consisted of a large open holding area for goods and a small area at the front with tables and cabinets. The group of men, who were five in number, looked middle aged and wore attire common to the lower classes of Fornall. As I approach the men at the table, their attention shifts towards me once they notice my presence. I throw the small bag of coins onto the table and make myself known. ¡°I¡¯m here to buy information regarding the Count. Consider this a gift to start the negotiations¡± I say as I point towards the coin pouch that I had thrown onto the table. The man at the head of the table who I assumed was their leader looked at the coin pouch and then returned his attention to me. ¡°What kind of information?¡± he asked. ¡°I want to know about the dealings the Count has with men like you¡± ¡°Men like us?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play stupid with me, I don¡¯t have time to waste¡± I reply in an annoyed tone. ¡°What exactly do you want to know?¡± the leader asks with a hearty chuckle, as he places the coin pouch into his pocket. ¡°I want to know about any illegal operations he runs and I heard recently that he has gotten quite wealthy. I want to know how he came into passion of this wealth¡± No one answers my demands for a time but soon the leader begins to speak again. ¡°I don¡¯t know where he got all that coin from, all I know is that it wasn¡¯t from us¡± ¡°And about his operations?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to need a few more coinsbefore I can remember anything like that¡± the man says with a greedy grin on his face. I take out another bag of livres that I had been hiding under my cloak and throw it on the table. ¡°That is one hundred livres, if you try to deceive me, I guarantee you that no one will leave this building alive¡± *These guys better not fuck with me* The man once again takes the coins and places it into his pocket. ¡°The Count pays us to keep our hands off his goods. He smuggles weapons and armour out of the city, where he sends them I don¡¯t know. Other than that, he stays out of our way and we stay out of his, it¡¯s good business" ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Sometimes he might pay us to kill someone but he hasn¡¯t asked us to do that in a while¡± ¡°How many other groups does he work with?¡± ¡°If I had to guess, anyone that is willing. It¡¯s not a secret that the Count works with people like us¡± ¡°Is there anyone in particular that I should pay a visit to if I wanted more information? Someone who might know more about this smuggling operation¡± The group of men remain silent for a few moments before one of them leans over to their leader and whispers something into his ear. The leader gives a few nods and turns his attention back towards me. ¡°You could try talking to Gilberta Anders, she¡¯s the one who handles the Count¡¯s smuggling operation. But I don¡¯t think she¡¯d tell you anything¡± the leader says in a dismissive manner. ¡°Where do I find her?¡± ¡°She runs her business out of a shop in the merchant district called Sunset Trading, she lives on the top floor. You should be able to find her there¡± ¡°It would be best if you forgot that you ever saw me¡± I say as I leave the building, making sure they understood it as the threat it was.
Lillianna Not long after, I find myself on a rooftop across from Gilberta¡¯s shop. As it was nearing midnight the area was free of any bystanders and I decided to make my way down to street level. There was no activity in the building and I went with the assumption that Gilberta was currently sleeping. The shop was quite unremarkable and one would not have been able to tell that it was a front for a smuggling operation at face value. I circle around the building making sure to take note of any exits and possible surprises that might await me. My caution was for naught though, as I did not find anything that could pose a danger. Using the daggers that Erick had bought me, I pry open a window at the back of the building. Once through the window I take in my surroundings while holding my daggers in a defensive posture. The window had led to a kitchen or cooking area, deciding that there was no need to investigate this room further I make my way deeper into the building. Upon exiting the kitchen I entered the main room of the shop. There was a large counter facing the main entrance of the shop with rows of books on shelves that contained ledgers. Quietly I make my way towards the books and pull a few of them of their shelves to examine them closer. I light a lamp that was left on the table and proceed to read through the ledgers. They consisted of records of trade goods that had been sold and transported throughout the province of Fornall. There was nothing incriminating, just mundane trade records. Satisfied that there was nothing to be gained from browsing these books, I make my way upstairs, remembering to extinguish the lamp and bring it with me. The top floor of the building consisted of a number of rooms and I carefully go from one door to the next, checking what was inside. In one of the rooms I find Gilberta sleeping in her bed, she looked like an ordinary middle-aged woman with strikes of grey in her brown hair, her pale face had a smile on it as she slept peacefully. Still unaware of my intrusion and not wanting to wake her yet I leave her uninterrupted and continue onto the other rooms. The last room I investigate appears to be a study with a large wooden desk and a number of books along a shelf on the wall. The books along the wall don¡¯t interest me as they consist of stories and other unimportant things, the desk however does draw my attention. It was common to hide documents in hidden compartments and this desk was large enough to contain more than a few such compartments.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Relighting the lamp, I carefully inspect the desk. After a short time I notice a hidden latch in one of the draws. Upon opening the latch, a false bottom in the draw opens and I find a well-worn ledger book. The contains of the book recorded the smuggling of arms and armour to a small village on the western border of Fraul. Judging by the secrecy of this book, it was obvious that these arms sales were not officially condoned especially since the buyers originated from the Pa-ghan Empire. Looking further through the ledgers I come across something that ignites my rage. I find dozens of pages listing the names of slaves who had been sold off to the Pa-ghans. Though the life of a slave was harsh they were still afforded certain rights in Fraul, one of those rights being that no slave was to be sold to a foreign nation. The reason that this had angered me was not because the law had been broken but because the Pa-ghans were infamous for their brutal treatment of slaves. They were known to force mothers to watch as their new born babies were thrown to the dogs and would often work the men to death in their mines, feeding the remaining slaves the bodies of their deceased companions. Though the tales of Pa-ghan brutality may seem hard to believe they were well-documented and had been verified during the many wars between Fraul and Pa-ghan. With my rage barely contained I make my way back to Gilberta¡¯s room but not before taking the ledger book with me. I slowly approach her sleeping form and place my hand over her mouth to muffle her voice, before stabbing one of my daggers into her leg. ¡°MUAHMUAUMMMUARG!¡± she tries to scream as she jolts into a sitting position. ¡°Sorry to wake you so late at night, but I have a few questions to ask¡± I say impassively. ¡°ARGHHHMMUUAAGHH!¡± she screams, my hand still over her mouth and the dagger still in her leg. ¡°Be quiet or I¡¯ll have to stab you somewhere you won¡¯t like¡± She quickly hushes herself but continues to whimper quietly. ¡°Now answer my questions quietly and quickly. If I think you are lying, I will cut off your figures one by one. Do you understand?¡± She nods furiously to show understanding. ¡°Good. Now tell me, are you smuggling weapons for Count Ramuse?¡± I ask as I remove my hand from her mouth. ¡°Yes¡± she whimpers. ¡°Who are you smuggling them to?¡± ¡°The Pa-ghans¡± ¡°Why¡± I ask as I narrow my eyes. ¡°The Count asked me to sell some things from the city armoury because he needed more money. The Pa-ghans were willing to pay the most for them¡± ¡°And he knew you were selling it to them?¡± ¡°All he cared about was the money he didn¡¯t ask who I sold it to¡± ¡°What about the slaves, did he ask you sell them for him?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about¡± I withdraw the dagger from her leg and grab her right arm. I force her right hand to stretch out over the bed and in one swift motion I slice off her fingers. She lets out a blood curdling scream as her fingers drop to the floor and clutches the bloody stumps with her left hand. ¡°Sorry, I took too many fingers off. Now do you want to try answering that question again, this time without lying?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t know¡­ *sob* anything about that¡± ¡°Why are you selling slaves to the Pa-ghan then?¡± ¡°*sob* They offered¡­ me so much¡­ money¡­ how could I refuse*sob*¡± ¡°And you are sure the Count had nothing to do with it?¡± ¡°Yes, he didn¡¯t know anything, please I¡¯m not lying¡± she begs. Without any further words I drop the dagger onto the bed and raise my now empty hand into the air. I will Inanna into a silver blade and decapitate Gilberta before she can fathom what is happening, the blade then evaporates. Blood spatters around the room and onto my clothes, while her shocked expression is frozen on her face as her head slowly tumbles to the ground. Picking up the dagger, I stab it into her chest and leave it there as a warning to others. After looking over the bloody scene for a few moments I pick her head off the ground and wrap it in bed sheets. *Time to pay the Count a visit*
Lillianna By the time I had found the Count¡¯s manor and studied the building, a few more hours had past. The manor was an impressive building with four storeys and a large garden surrounding it. The grounds were well guarded but with Enenra shrouding me it was not difficult to go about undetected. Count Ramuse¡¯s room had a large balcony that overlooked the area, which I had Cormon toss me onto. Upon reaching the balcony I make my way inside, still cloaked by Enenra, and find the Count sleeping in a large bed at the centre of the room. He was younger that I thought he would be. He appeared to be in his early twenties with dark brown hair that reached his shoulders and had a pale complexion. ~Cormon, hold him in place and keep him quiet but don¡¯t stop him from talking~ ~Yes Master~ I toss Gilberta¡¯s head that was still wrapped in a bed sheet at the sleeping Count. The decapitated head hits his face and he springs upright onto his bed. He makes a muffled sound but with Cormon holding his jaw closed the sound doesn¡¯t carry far. He fumbles trying to unwrap the head and upon succeeding, lets out a stifled scream. ~Release me Enenra~ With that command the shadow surrounding me retreats back into the cloak around my shoulders. The Count¡¯s eyes widen with sheer terror at the sight and he frantically tries to flee the room while Cormon holds him in place. ¡°That¡¯s enough, be still or I will make you still¡± I command. ¡°Wh... who are you?¡± the Count stutters. ¡°I go simply by the name Lilianna and I am a mage as you can tell¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± his voice still full of fear. ¡°That¡¯s a bit complicated so I¡¯ll start from the beginning. You see, I was making a deal with the village of Riverbrook, you are aware of this village yes?¡± ¡°Yes, it is one of the settlements I govern¡± ¡°Good. Riverbrook was about to sign over their trade rights to me before your men arrived and interrupted my negotiations. As I understand it, your men were there to relocate the people of Riverbrook. This obviously was inconvenient for me, as you can understand¡± The Count nods to show that he understood. ¡°When I tried to reason with your men, there were quite rude and so I had to take matters into my own hands¡± ¡°What did you do to my men?¡± the Count¡¯s voice had hints of anger within it. ¡°I killed them all, of course. It¡¯s not a good idea to upset a mage, now is it?¡± ¡°So what do you want then and who is this?¡± the Count asks as he points towards Gilberta¡¯s head. ¡°I am getting to that your Excellency. You see I¡¯ve come to Fornall to make a deal with you, since your men had interrupted my negotiations with Riverbrook, I thought it best to deal with you personally¡± I say with a sinister smile before continuing. ¡°Honour the trade agreement I have since made with Riverbrook and you can live. The terms are simple, give me an exclusive Writ of Trade for all goods originating from the lands north of Fraul with Riverbrook being the sole settlement named in said Writ able to trade on my behalf. Do this and I will let you live¡± ¡°That still doesn¡¯t answer who this is¡± again the Count points towards Gilberta. ¡°Apologies your Excellency, that is the head of Gilberta Anders. I am sure you know of her¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know who that is¡± the Count tries to refute. ¡°Lying with only upset me, your Excellency. I know you used her to sell stock from your armoury to make extra coin on the side. What you might not know is who she sold them to¡± Count Ramuse does not reply but seems to be disturbed by my words. ¡°So you really don¡¯t know huh? Well you see, your little smuggler has been selling weapons and slaves to Pa-ghan. A crime punishable by death I believe. If word got out that the Count of Fornall had been aiding an enemy empire¡­ I would hate to think what the people would do to their beloved Count¡± ¡°Wait! I knew nothing of this, you¡¯re lying, you¡¯re just trying to blackmail me¡± ¡°Whether you knew or not is irrelevant, what matters is that Gilberta¡¯s smuggling operations can be traced back to you. It iscommon knowledge amongst the criminals of Fornall that you have been using Gilberta to smuggle goods. All that anyone would need to implicate you is some proof that you had been using her services¡± I throw the ledger book that I had taken from Gilberta¡¯s study at the Count. ¡°But that is not what I want, so you can have that book as a sign of my good will. It contains all the records of the your interactions with Gilberta¡± ¡°Even if I sign the Writ of Trade, there are other issues. You are a mage and only the Crown has authority over you mages¡± ¡°I am not from Fraul, so your King has no authority over me. Though I won¡¯t deny that it could have negative political implications but this agreement will be a great boon to you and should be adequate compensation¡± ¡°How would it benefit me?¡± ¡°As you will be the one providing the Writ, it naturally provides you with the taxes from said Writ. Granted there is currently no trade with any peoples north of Fraul, but I will provide you with the opportunity to do so within two years. Consider the Writ payment for me personally exploring and establishing a trade network with the northern lands¡± ¡°And if I do not sign the Writ of Trade?¡± ¡°Then I will kill you tonight and deal with the consequences¡± ¡°Signing such a lucrative Writ with a foreign mage would likely have me dead before your return¡± ¡°Well then, I will provide you with one further incentive. Since you are worried about your rivals, how about I make one of them disappear?¡± ¡°And you would do this without implicating me?¡± ¡°Of course¡± I say with a genuine smile. ¡°How long do I have to decide on who to choose?¡± ¡°Not long, decide now or I will take your hesitation as a refusal to agree to my terms¡± After a few moments of thought he provides me with a name. ¡°Elysia Navier¡± ¡°Your bride to be?¡± I ask with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Yes, will that be a problem?¡± ¡°Sign the Writ first¡± ¡°Hold up your end of the bargain and then I will sign your Writ, otherwise kill me now¡± ¡°Very well, I will make sure she disappears within ten days¡± ¡°Are you not curious as to why I chose her?¡± ¡°Does it matter?¡± I ask dismissively. ¡°I suppose not¡± ¡°Then I will be off. If you try to betray me, I will burn this city to the ground, keep that in mind in the coming days. I will return once the task is done¡± ~Release him Cormon~ Before the Count can reply, I dash towards the balcony and make my way back to the inn.
Count Sebastian Ramuse Realising that I was still holding a decapitated head I leap out of bed and kick it across the room. I start to vomit, the decapitated head, the image of the mage shrouded in shadow, the threat on my life, all of it had been too much for me. After wiping my mouth clean I sit down on the edge of my bed and reality starts to sink in. The mage was about to solve one of my biggest dilemmas. That dilemma being what I would do about my marriage to the Navier¡¯s oldest daughter. I had been looking for a way to terminate the marriage but still save face publicly and with the mage¡¯s offer, I had found it. With Elysia¡¯s death I would be free from the marriage and still have the dowry, while the Naviers would be weakened financially and politically. The death of a betrothed daughter would be humiliating and as long as I was not implicated, only the Naviers would be weakened. That thought brought me comfort from the recent ordeal but what the mage had said about Gilberta was quite disconcerting. I truly hadn¡¯t know about her dealing with the Pa-ghan Empire and if word had got out about her involvement and I had been linked, it would have meant the end of the whole Ramuse family. I would need to deal with the Pa-ghan operations in Fornall before anyone found out about it, but that was not an immediate concern. There was also the matter of the men I had sent to Riverbrook. But those men could be replaced easily and now that I didn¡¯t have to wait for their return, I could send my forces to Dantor first thing in the morning. After thinking over the events again, I decided that in the end that this arrangement was something that I could use to my advantage. I also did not want a mage as an enemy so I had little choice but to accept the terms. *I hope death doesn¡¯t end up being the wiser option* Hopes and Dreams Part 1 Erick It was almost dawn and I had been up all night thinking over the events of the day that had passed. What Lillianna had said resonated in my mind: ¡°It¡¯s easy to ask someone else to kill for you, but now that you have to do it with your own hands you can¡¯t go through with it?¡±. Those words had taken me aback, I had forced her hand in deciding what to do about those men. If I hadn¡¯t intervened they would still be alive but Elizabeth would likely be dead. I had to take responsibility for their deaths and make sure in the future that if I needed to, I could make such a decision without Lillianna there to help me. The same thing had happen outside of Riverbrook. We all begged Lillianna to save our village but in doing so it caused the deaths of the men the Count had sent. I had not thought about the consequences of that request and in the end I, we, were still relying on Lillianna to save the village once again. The more I thought on the matter the more I realised that Riverbrook was indeed severely indebted to Lillianna and that we had a lot of blood on our hands. *Thud* I look towards the window next to the couch I was sitting on and see Lillianna recovering from jumping through it. ¡°Where have you been?¡± I ask. ¡°I had a little chat with our dear Count¡± she said with a smile on her face. ¡°Is he dead? Is Riverbrook safe?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him, but Riverbrook is safe for the time being. There is still work that needs doing but most of that can wait a few days¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t kill him? I thought that¡¯s why we¡¯re here¡± I said in a confused manner. ¡°I never said I was going to kill him. If you recall correctly I said that I might have to kill him¡± ¡°What do you mean by having a chat with him then?¡± ¡°I got him to agree to give me a Writ of Trade and a guarantee for the safety of Riverbrook, but only if I took care of one of his rivals for him¡± ¡°Take care of one of his rivals?¡± ¡°He wants his fianc¨¦e dead¡± ¡°And you¡¯re just going to kill an innocent woman for him?¡± ¡°Of course not¡­ well probably not. From what we¡¯ve learned so far, she¡¯s just a sheltered girl and hasn¡¯t done anything that is worth being killed for¡± ¡°What do you plan to do then?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve said this before but you really do ask a lot of questions, you know that? I merely agreed to make her disappear, that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean killing her. The Count just assumed I meant that I would kill her, I wasn¡¯t about to relieve him of his misunderstanding though¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s change topics and discuss your friend over there. What did you tell her?¡± Lillianna said pointing towards the sleeping Elizabeth. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell her much yet. I just said that we would talk about it tomorrow¡­ well today since it¡¯s pretty much dawn¡± ¡°Okay, well then I¡¯m going to get changed and get some sleep, you should too. I¡¯ll wake you up around noon¡± I watch as Lillianna takes her off cloak and places it into her bag. I notice that she only has one of the daggers that I had bought for her. ¡°What happened to the other dagger?¡± ¡°I seem to have misplaced it¡± she says with a shrug of her shoulders. I didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to investigate what happened any further.
Elizabeth I felt the warmth of sunlight on my face as I woke up, my body was still aching but I was used to such things. Remembering the events of last night was like remembering a dream. I had been saved from those men and was safe in a warm bed. A thought flashed in my mind, the thought of my little sister that I had left back at the farm. With all that had happened since I arrived in Fornall I had forgotten why I had left the farm in the first place. I had run away thinking that once I was free, I could come back for my sister and finally we could be free together. I didn¡¯t know how I would do it, but when I saw an opportunity to escape I took it and left my sister behind. *I¡¯m sorry Lauren, I¡¯ve been a terrible sister* I bolt upright into a sitting position and try to get a bearing of my surroundings. Looking around the room I find Erick and a woman sitting at the dining table eating and talking. ¡°Are you really drinking ale this soon after waking up?¡± Erick asks the woman. ¡°Why, do you want some?¡± she replies. Upon noticing me staring at them, they shift their attention towards me. ¡°Elizabeth you¡¯re awake, are you feeling better?¡± Erick asks. ¡°Ummm¡­ I¡¯m feeling much better¡± The woman looks at Erick with a raised eyebrow before turning her attention back to me. ¡°Ah hum, this is Lillianna. She the one who saved you yesterday¡± Erick explains. I focus on Lillianna and find it hard to believe that such a fine looking woman was the one that saved me. She was wearing a blue dress and her white hair was flowing down her back, apart from her posture, which was rather casual for someone dressed so finely, she looked like a beautiful noblewoman. But I had no reason to doubt Erick when he said that she had been the one to save me. ¡°Thank you very much¡± I say as I bow my head. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. He¡¯s the one who ran off to save you. If it was up to me, I would have just left you to your fate¡± she said in a dismissive tone. ¡°Ah¡­ Okay¡± was all I could say. I was a bit shocked by her words and didn¡¯t quite understand what was going on. ¡°Are you going to explain our situation to her now?¡± Lillianna asks Erick. ¡°You want me to do it? Are you sure?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who saved her. I already told you that it was up to you¡± Erick then invites me to sit at the front of the table, facing both of them, and after joining them, he offers me some food. I scoff down the meal and after I finish I return my attention to the pair. ¡°This might be a bit hard to believe but Lillianna is a mage¡± Erick explains. I tense up at the mention of the word ¡°mage¡± and quickly stare down at the table to avoid eye contact with Lillianna. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Just treat me like you would anyone else¡± Lillianna says. I lift my head and continue listening to Erick. ¡°She helped my village a few days ago when it was under attack from the Count¡¯s men. We are here in Fornall to make a deal with the Count so that he doesn¡¯t attack my village again¡± Erick continues. I nod a few times to show understanding. ¡°We found you yesterday when we were walking back to this inn. She healed your injuries and well that¡¯s about it¡± ¡°A very nice story Erick, but you forgot the part where I would kill her if she told anyone about us¡± Lillianna had a smile on her face and was looking directly at me. ¡°Kill me..?¡± I ask in a meek voice. ¡°We can¡¯t have word that a mage is running around Fornall trying to make deals with the Count, now can we? But don¡¯t worry, if you don¡¯t say anything, everything will be fine. I don¡¯t kill people for no reason¡± Lillianna¡¯s smile seemed more gentle this time. ¡°I won¡¯t say anything¡­ please don¡¯t kill me¡± ¡°Good. Now that¡¯s taken care of, let me fully heal you. There¡¯s no point in having you suffer anymore¡± I watch as Lillianna got up from her seat and walked over to me. ¡°This won¡¯t hurt, just relax¡± she says to me. She reaches out her left hand and places it on my forehead. I feel a warmth flow over me, like having warm water slowly poured over my head. After a few seconds all the pain in my body is gone and Lillianna returns to her seat. ¡°What just happened?¡± I ask Lillianna. ¡°I just used some magic to heal you. Nothing to worry about¡± ¡°Thank you¡­ you¡¯ve done so much for me already. I¡¯m not worthy of your kindness¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need for such words. Despite what Erick may say, I actually don¡¯t mind helping people. Though usually only if it doesn¡¯t interfere with my goals¡± her eyes turn towards Erick as she says the last part and she gives him an annoyed look. ¡°Ah¡­ well now that you know our story, could you tell us more about you?¡± Erick asks. My eyes jolt back and forth between Erick and Lillianna, as I try to think of what I was going to tell them. Erick already knew I was an escaped slave, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I should tell them about my sister. ¡°I¡¯m a run slave¡­ I¡¯m not sure what else to say¡± I reply in a frightened voice. ¡°We already know that much. Can you give us more detail on who those men were and if we should expect more of them to come looking for you?¡± Lillianna asks. ¡°They were probably sent from the farm I ran away from. Ah¡­ I¡¯m not sure if my Master sent more of them¡± ¡°Your former master¡± Lillianna corrects me. ¡°Does that mean I can stay with you?¡± I ask as I look towards Erick. Erick blushes and seems embarrassed but doesn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Oh what¡¯s this? Did Erick take advantage of you in my absence? What an unfaithful husband¡± Lillianna quips. ¡°WHAT!? I did no such thing. I would never force myself on a woman¡± Erick replies in shock. ¡°You two are married?¡± I ask Erick, disappointment audible in my voice. ¡°I was just joking, we are not really married, but we are pretending to be while in Fornall¡± Lillianna replies with a dismissive wave of her hand. I let out a sigh of relief at those words. I knew it was foolish to dream of being with Erick, but he was the first man to show me kindness and being with him made me feel safe. With that thought I felt an ache in my heart as I once again remembered my sister. ¡°Getting back to the topic of you running away from your former master. We need to resolve this issue before he sends more men after you. Where was the farm you ran away from?¡± Lillianna asks. ¡°It¡¯s just south of Fornall, only an hour or two walk away¡± ¡°Good. Then let¡¯s get this matter sorted first¡±
Lillianna I had explained in detail my encounter with the Count the previous night to Erick and we were currently deciding what to do about Elizabeth¡¯s former master. ¡°What do you plan to do?¡± Erick asks me. ¡°We should pay them a visit and make sure they don¡¯t bother her anymore¡± ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain what you are going to do¡± he replies.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Please I don¡¯t want to go back to the farm¡­ they would kill me if I returned¡± Elizabeth interjects, tears forming in her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I don¡¯t plan to hand you over to them or anything of the sort. We will purchase you for ourselves¡­¡± ¡°You want to buy her as a slave? You can¡¯t do that, she only just got away¡± Erick rebuts. ¡°You didn¡¯t let me finish. Once she is legally ours, we will free her. That way her former Master can¡¯t legally take her back and if he tries... I¡¯ll just kill anyone he sends. Otherwise we could get in serious trouble for harbouring an escaped slave¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. But I don¡¯t think he would be willing to sell her so easily. Also how are we going to explain why she is with us?¡± Erick queries. ¡°I¡¯ll think of something. We should get going then, I want this matter resolved as soon as possible. I only have ten days to decide what to do about the Navier woman¡± ¡°Ah that reminds me, why did you tell the Count to give you ten days?¡± ¡°I asked for ten days because I knew something like this might happen. I didn¡¯t know how long it would take to resolve the issue with our guest here, so I gave myself plenty of time. That doesn¡¯t mean though we can just waste it doing nothing¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Erick replies. ¡°It¡¯s only noon so that gives us enough time to get to the farm, deal with the issue and be back in Fornall just after dark¡± I watch as Elizabeth drops from her seat and kneels down before Erick, clasping his hands. ¡°I know I have no right to ask but my sister is still at the farm, she¡¯s just a child. Please could you free her, I will do anything you want¡± Elizabeth begged Erick. Erick looks over at me and I just shrug my shoulders and leave the decision up to him. ¡°We¡¯ll free your sister too¡± Erick replies. ¡°Thank you, thank you. I¡¯m forever in your debt¡± she says to Erick, tears running down her cheek. *Why is she thanking him? I¡¯m the one who¡¯s going to have to pay the tab¡­* After a few moments Erick calms her down and she returns to her seat. ¡°Before we go though I need to visit the market district. I don¡¯t have much money left and need to sell a few things¡± I say as I get up to make ready to leave.
Lillianna After selling a few of my trinkets at the market we hired a coach to take us to the Elizabeth¡¯s former farm. The trinkets I had sold were worth a small fortune in Fornall, they had been gathered from the three other continents of Mirth during my travels. Due to the ongoing war between Fraul and the Twin Cities of the Winroot Isles, oceanic trade with the other continents had become difficult. This had worked in my favour as it increased the sell value of my trinkets. We were now sitting in the hired coach and would soon arrive at the farm. Erick was sitting opposite to me in the carriage with Elizabeth by his side. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Erick asks. ¡°The plan is to convince Elizabeth¡¯s former master to sell her and her sister to us. As to how she came into contact with us, just tell them that we found her hiding somewhere in Fornall and wanted to return her to her rightful owners¡± ¡°And why do we want to buy them from him?¡± ¡°Just say that you want a pleasure slave and as we were in need of an extra slave while we were in Fornall, we thought it would be better to buy a slave we already knew. As for her sister you can say that we want her as leverage against Elizabeth so she doesn¡¯t run away again¡± ¡°That makes sense, even if it is a bit cruel¡± Erick replies. ¡°Let¡¯s hope her former master agrees. I will try to do most of the talking, but if you have to say something make sure you don¡¯t say anything stupid. The last thing we want is for them to get suspicious of us¡± ¡°I understand¡± Erick acknowledges. Our coach begins to slow down and the driver informs us that we have arrived. Upon exiting the carriage we are met with the sight of a large two storey brick building. It was quite impressive for a farm manor and I could see dozens of slaves going about their business in the fields near the building. We make our way to the entrance of the building and find a guard standing watch. ¡°Let the master of this farm know we have business with him¡± I tell the guard. ¡°And you are?¡± he replies. ¡°We are nobles from Fornall and you are not worthy of knowing our names, now get your master before I lose my patience¡± I rebuke in an annoyed tone. The guard looks unhappy but otherwise does as told and soon the three of us are left alone waiting outside the manor. ¡°Was that really necessary?¡± Erick questions. ¡°We need to act like nobles if we are to convince them to sell us Elizabeth and her sister. Now let¡¯s put on a good show dear husband¡± I say as I link arms with Erick. Elizabeth seems upset at the last part but quickly returns to the meek demeanour of a slave. Not long after, we are greeted by a handsome middle age man in fine attire. ¡°Who are you and what business do you have with me?¡± the man says in an annoyed voice. ¡°We are nobles from Fornall, I am Lillianna and this is Erick my husband¡± I say in a calm pleasing voice. The man¡¯s eyes scans Erick and myself and soon wanders over to Elizabeth who is standing next to Erick. ¡°What is this? Did you steal my slave from me? Where are the men I sent to find her? I demand answers!¡± the man shouts. ¡°My wife and I came across this runaway slave in Fornall. I don¡¯t know anything about your men. We have come to purchase her from you¡± Erick replies calmly. He looks at Erick with accusing eyes. ¡°You steal my slave and then come to my home to demand that I sell her to you, what nonsense is this?¡± ¡°We did not steal her from you. We found her hiding in Fornall and decided to return her to you, however we are currently in need of a slave and thought of buying her for ourselves, if you are willing that is¡± Erick continues. ¡°You want to buy a runaway slave? Why?¡± the man queries. ¡°She has been with us for a few days and has been useful. We had business to attend to in Fornall and could not return her until now. I asked my husband to hurry up and buy us a slave but since we already had one, even if only temporarily, I thought it would be best to keep her. Consider it the whims of a selfish woman¡± I reply. The man looks at me with inquisitive eyes, but soon his expression relaxes. ¡°She is a runaway slave and needs to be punished, even if I sell her to you, that cannot go unpunished.¡± Erick interjects this time. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I have already had by way with her and will continue to do so in the future. She hasn¡¯t even begun her service to me. We also learnt that you have her sister, we want to buy her as well.¡± he says in an ominous tone. ¡°Why do you want the sister?¡± the man asks his eyes narrowing on Erick. ¡°We will hold the sister as a sort of hostage, if this bitch tries to run away again, my husband can just use the sister in her place¡± I reply. Elizabeth flinches at my words and starts to shake slightly. ¡°Hmmm well if I sell her to you I guess it won¡¯t be my problem anymore¡± the man replies. ¡°So how much do you want for both of them? My husband and I are busy and would like this done now¡± I say. ¡°Since you have already used her without my permission I want five hundred livres¡± That was an outrageous price for a slave, the normal price for a fit male slave was around four hundred livres. Asking five hundred for an abused female slave and her young sister was absurd. ¡°Very well. Husband, pay the man and lets be done with this. We need to be back in Fornall soon and you can have fun with her once we get back¡± I answer. Erick proceeds to take the livres out of a pouch that he withdrew from his vest and hands it over to the man. ¡°Pleasure doing business with you. If you want any more pleasure slaves, feel free to come by anytime, I got young ones like her sister if that¡¯s more to your taste¡± the greedy man says with a smirk on his face. *I¡¯m coming back to kill this fucker* After counting the livres the man sends one of his guards to fetch Elizabeth¡¯s sister. A short time later the guard returns with the girl. The girl looks to be about five with light brown hair that reached her jaw line and had an olive complexion. She was wearing a plain cloth tunic and did not have any slave bands, as she was still growing. Slaves were only given their slave bands once they had stopped growing so as not to waste money on constantly replacing them throughout a slaves childhood. ¡°Lauren!¡± Elizabeth shouts and tries to run towards her sister. Before she could move very far, I slap her with the back of my hand and knock her to the ground. ¡°Know your place bitch¡± I scowl at her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mistress¡± she whimpers. ¡°Let us be off, I don¡¯t want to waste any more time here, dear Husband¡± I say as I once again link arms with Erick. The former master hands Erick the Writ of Ownership for Elizabeth and Lauren and we soon depart the farm. So as not to raise suspicion I make the two sisters walk besides the coach until we are out of sight of the farm.
Erick Only Lillianna and I were in the carriage currently as we were still too close to the farm to allow Elizabeth and her sister to ride with us. ¡°Five hundred livres! That was twice what we expected to pay¡± I exclaim. ¡°I¡¯ll get it back later¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that for now¡± ¡°But that was a fortune I can¡¯t believe he asked for that much¡± ¡°That was more than I expected but a fortune it was not¡± ¡°You can live of that amount of money for decades, how is that not a fortune¡± I rebut. ¡°It may seem like a lot of money to you, but for a nobleman they could easily spend that amount in a month, if not less¡± ¡°Ah... I¡¯m not used to handling so much coin¡­ it just seems¡­ I don¡¯t know what¡± I say as I let out a sigh. ¡°If you live as long as I have and see as many places as I have, you will realise that there is an almost impassable gulf that separates the poor and the wealthy¡± I nod to show understanding. ¡°Ummm¡­ I¡¯ve been meaning to ask how old are you anyway?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not polite to ask a woman her age, didn¡¯t your mother teach you that?¡± ¡°Sorry¡± I reply embarrassed. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s just say I¡¯m far older than your village elders¡± ¡°What! No way, you don¡¯t look that old¡­ I mean you¡¯re so¡­ pretty¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget I¡¯m a mage. We don¡¯t age after a certain point and as far as I know we don¡¯t even die of old age¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I knew mages could live for hundreds of years, but I always imagined them to be old men with grey hair and arched backs. ¡°Since you asked me my age, how about telling me yours¡± Lillianna queried back at me. ¡°I¡¯m nineteen¡± I reply. Lillianna laughs at my answer in an amused fashion. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± I remark. ¡°Well I just thought you were much older¡± ¡°How much older?¡± ¡°In your late twenties maybe even early thirties. I guess being a hunter makes you look more mature¡± she muses. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment¡± I reply back slightly annoyed. ¡°Oh please do... Ah this seems far enough away to let Elizabeth and her sister in. Please tell the driver to stop¡±
Elizabeth As we are walking besides the coach it comes to a halt and we stop by the road side. ¡°I thought you left me¡­¡± Lauren says as she starts to cry, her face red with emotions. I bend down to hug her and embrace her with all my heart. ¡°Please forgive me¡± I replied as tears ran down my face. The carriage door opens and Lillianna and Erick look out towards me and Lauren but they say nothing. ¡°I¡¯ve been a bad sister to you, can you ever forgive me?¡± I plead. Lauren continues to cry in my arms but after a while begins to calm down. ¡°Don¡¯t ever *hic* leave me again. If you *hic* do, I¡¯ll never forgive you¡± Lauren says, her words interrupted by her hiccups. ¡°I¡¯ll never leave you again, I promise¡± After a few more moments hugging, I release Lauren and turn my attention to Erick and Lillianna. ¡°Eli, is that mean lady our master now?¡± Lauren asks in a hushed voice. ¡°She isn¡¯t mean, it was just pretend ok? Do you want to ride in the carriage?¡± ¡°Can I really?¡± her worry instantly replaced with childish glee. ¡°Of course you can little lady¡± Lillianna says with a warm smile. Lauren looks up towards me to make sure it was okay before we both step into the carriage.
Lillianna I watch as Elizabeth and Lauren enter the carriage and take their seats. Elizabeth is sitting next to Erick while Lauren is next to me. ¡°My apologies for hitting you back there. We needed to keep up appearances, are you hurt?¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯ve had worse¡± Elizabeth replies. ¡°Are you my new master?¡± Lauren asks me with childish curiosity. ¡°No, you are free, you have no master¡± I reply. ¡°Really really?¡± Lauren continues. ¡°Yep, you and Eli are free now¡± Erik answers in my stead. I notice that Elizabeth blushes at the mention of her nickname from Erick. *How cute* ¡°Yeh!!!¡± Lauren shouts as she jumps over to Elizabeth and begins to hug her. ¡°Once we¡¯re back at the inn, I¡¯ll sign the Writ of Ownershipfor you both and make you free¡± Erick interrupts. The rest of the journey back to the inn was full of questions from Lauren and we answered them all to sate her childish curiosity. We of course left out the part about me being a mage. Once we were back at the inn, Erick signed their Writs and freed them, all that was left to do was to hand it into the city registry and it would be official. ¡°This room is getting a bit cramped, should we get another one for you two Elizabeth?¡± I ask. ¡°There is no need my Lady, we can just sleep on the floor¡± ¡°Please just call me Lillianna, and also you can use the bed. Erick and I are used to sleeping on the ground, take time to enjoy your freedom¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t do that, we owe you so much¡± ¡°I insist, isn¡¯t that right Erick?¡± ¡°Ah of course, we can sleep on the floor¡± Erick replies hastily. ¡°Now all that is left to do is hand in the Writs tomorrow and you are free. We should go as a group tomorrow morning, in case there is any trouble¡± ¡°What kind of trouble?¡± Erick asks. ¡°I don¡¯t think there will be any but I don¡¯t want to take the chance. Your former master might have sent more men after we left, he doesn¡¯t seem trust worthy¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°You all should get something to eat and rest up, today has been an emotional one¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Elizabeth asks. ¡°Oh I have some business to take care of, I¡¯ll be back in a few hours. Don¡¯t wait up for me¡± Erick and Elizabeth give me a questioning gaze but chose to say nothing, while Lauren was rolling around on the bed enjoying her new found freedom. I change out of my dress and put on my traveling attire in the bathroom and take Enenra out of my bag. Upon leaving the bathroom Erick looks at me with a raised eyebrow, while Elizabeth is at the dining table eating, Lauren was already asleep on the bed. ¡°What?¡± I ask him. ¡°What kind of business do you have to take care of?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to get my money back¡± I reply with a sinister smile. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that cause trouble? I mean we just paid the man a small fortune and he ends up being robbed straight after¡± hecounters. ¡°Maybe, maybe not, but I can¡¯t have scum like that get away with my money. I¡¯ll make sure no one suspects us¡± Erick frowns at my answer, but remains silent. ¡°You¡¯re going back to the farm? Isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡± Elizabeth asks. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine and besides do you really want the scum who was your former master to go unpunished?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t go, I just want to forget about him¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be back before you know it. Just ask Erick and he¡¯ll tell you that I can handle myself in a fight¡± I say with a wink. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Eli, Lillianna is very strong, she¡¯ll be fine. Though I don¡¯t agree with what she¡¯s about to do¡± ¡°See, nothing to worry about¡±
A farm south of Fornall The full moon was shining down over the farm as Lillianna approached it¡¯s outskirts. She was shrouded in darkness and movedlike a viper through the fields of wheat as she advanced ever closer to the manor at the heart of the farm. The guards that surrounded the building remained none the wiser as she leaped up to the second storey of the manor and made her way inside. Upon entering the building she found the upper floor to be dimly lit with no persons in sight. Skulking her way through the upper floor, she stumbled upon the room that the farm owner used to store his wealth. The room had a chest at the back of it and a desk at its centre. Lillianna made her way to the chest and used a silver blade made from Inanna¡¯s essence to pry open its lock. Inside she found what she had been looking for, the livres she had paid the man earlier. After counting exactly six hundred livres, she placed the coins into a pouch and closed the chest, she then turned her attention towards the desk. Lillianna examined the contents of the draws in the desk and came across something that had piqued her interest. She had found a contract that the farm owner had made with some nobleman in Fornall for a loan of three hundred livres. The contract itself was quite benign and the amount was wrong but it would suit the purpose she had in mind for it well enough. After making sure that she had left no evidence of her presence in the room, she made her way to the farm owners bedroom, remembering to take the contract that she had found. She found the farm owner sleeping next to his wife, unaware of her intrusion. Lillianna quietly made her way over to the farm owner¡¯s wife and placed her left palm on to her head. Using Nin¡¯s power she made sure that the woman would not wake from the commotion that was about to take place. Moving over to the farmer himself she once again placed her left palm on the man¡¯s head, this time though she paralysed the man but made sure he could still awaken. With a swift kick to the farm owner''s face she woke him up. The farm owner¡¯s eyes shot open but the rest of his body remained immobile including his mouth. Fear beamed from the man¡¯s eyes as he looked upon the shrouded Lillianna. He tried to scream for help but no noise would come out of his mouth, he tried to struggle but his body would not obey. In complete silence Lillianna formed a thin knife using Inanna¡¯s power and held it close to the man¡¯s eye. With a shift motion she cut the man¡¯s cheek, but it was only a superficial wound. Using the man¡¯s blood and her knife she wrote on the contract she had taken earlier. ¡°We¡¯ve come for what is due¡± She wrote on the contract. The intention of that message was to reflect suspicion away from her and onto a third party.That was also the reason she had taken six hundred livres instead of five. She then turned her attention back towards the terrified farm owner. The shadow around her now loomed over the man, its inky form slowly enveloped the man, until there was nothing left. On the bed, which was now absent of the man, she left the contract that she had written in blood upon it. With her deed done, she left the farmer own¡¯s wife unaware of what had happened to her husband, save for the bloody contract that replaced his presence and made her way back to Fornall.