Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 11

Silvertree Chronicles Book One, Chapter 11, The World Awaits (Dragon Wars Enhanced Edition)

Synopsis: The life of Eldar Silvertree, from his graduation at the prestigious Elven Academy, and his desire to leave it behind. Only to return full circle, to shake Elven Society to the core.

***Inspired by multiple fantasy environments. Not endorsed by any of them. © EmotionalStorm April 2021. This story cannot be transferred to any other site besides Literotica.com without the prior authorizations in writing from the author and EmotionalStorm must be credited for this work.

Authors warning: This section contains scenes of incest between sisters.

Authors Note: For those who have not read my bio, please note I write as a form of therapy for a Traumatic Brain Injury. I know the English majors will probably encounter issues that annoy them. If these are your focus, instead of the story itself, then this is not the story for you. I am not and will never be a professional writer.

I do it to tell the story, for those who wish to read them. I originally submitted this story back in mid-2017 to mid-2018. I have worked to try and improve my writing style while struggling with this issue. I have added some editing software and written a few other stories. Now I am revising and editing this earlier work to try and bring it up to a higher standard from what I have managed to learn over the last few years.

Chapter 11 The Plan and Downtime

Jarron looked at them, looked at Annette, and shook his head, "Your worth in that town is blown. It could take weeks to get your team into another route!"

Eldar looked at him and smirked, "I have a plan to fill that downtime and potentially take our team off the road. We have an opportunity to increase the reach of the Knights exponentially."

Eldar proceeded to lay out the plan he went over with the twins. He covered the time savings in trade routes and a training ground for manpower that could feed into Knight recruitment. Control over an area of several hundred square miles in the bordering kingdoms.

All with support from 2 Elven allies, and it established a major trade stop that could gather information. Along with the fact that 2 of the businesses would be owned and operated by members of the Knights at a minimum.

Eldar smiled at him, "We could talk more about that before the wedding when my father was there if you would like."

The rest of the team arrives and Jarron pulls out a map and several books. He looked over at the group and directed, "All of you, do not discuss Annette's abilities with anyone. Hunter, take Annette to the inn to get a room while I finish looking over the report..."

He looked at Charlemagne and Eldar, "You 2 stay. When did you come up with this plan? How did you come up with this plan?"

Eldar smiled at him, "First I came up with the plan 6 days ago at our last inn stop. As to the how. Three elements came into play. First was Annette's story of what drove her from her home. I realized she held the key seed to something. The second was Charlemagne's efforts to fuck my brains out..."

Jarron snorted at the direct comment while Charlemagne's face turned red. "Her choice of words at the time and it was mind-blowing, physically exhausting, and worth repeating. The last piece was my knowledge of history, treaties, and the shortcomings of the Elven community.

In the lack of foresight by the Elven, Human, and Dwarven allies that in the next 30-60 years if the cycle of aggression continues war will return to this border. It provides the means to do what the Knights are supposed to do, gets large conflicts, and keeps them small. This is also a direct threat to the Elven people and I am a Blade Singer who is supposed to find ways of protecting the Elven people."

Jarron sighed, "Continue there is always more with you."

Eldar smiled, "The Elves would lose more forest land. We got Annette in on the conversation. I walked through the logical progression into expanding the possibilities and impact of the Knights.

The known trend of Orc and Ogre activity over the last thousand years. Elven armies are a reactive force by our nature. They wait to be attacked and are often out of position at the beginning of a given war because we have so many fronts.

That's why this kind of band of independent soldiers is ideal for monitoring and in the process beefing up this defensibly vulnerable area. Speaking of which, I still do not know much about the rank, structure, or number of teams or members.

I'm assuming we lost a few with the caravan attacks. I do not know the size other than we're undermanned. I'm also curious about what happened with the scribe?"

Jarron held up his hand, "First the scribe was captured alive but is refusing to talk, he is a Drow with a ring that masked his appearance and evil aura. Second, the exact size of our group is classified but is only a few hundred. You're correct in your assessment, we were 1,000 strong just 50 years ago.

I will be candid; we have been losing agents at a rate of 5 to every 1 recruit for the last 10 years. Finding qualified candidates has been a problem in recent years because we have no central training ground except in this base. That's problematic as you have to be a member or be in the invitation process to even get to this base.

Which is another reason these ideas of yours MAY have merit. Charlemagne and you are lieutenants, the chain goes from that to captain, to a field commander to general. The others on your team are various enlisted ranks from private to sergeant."

Eldar pondered his last statement, then looked at him, "What if you lost another 8-9-man group? Should I say split them up and have them head up 4 mercenary companies across all the lands to try and get done the work you want, but only 2 in the group clued in to what the assignment is about?

Keep them going with low to middle-level work, but you could find a few diamonds in the rough. Send them to us to polish, then we let you know which ones are good candidates for Knights. If, of course, you back the plan in front of you."

Jarron looked at Eldar, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Getting the 2 villages of Elves to surrender the control of that land is your first big hurdle."

Eldar smiled at him, "If we get the land to establish the new village, you will ensure a smooth process for the mercenary charter as part of the co-operation and work to enforce the 2 treaties to support our costs.

Which includes the construction of the fortification and watchtowers along the dwarven route. And to sweeten the pot..." Eldar pulled out 4 of the diamonds from his pouch. "I will bet you those are over 21,000 gold pieces but we will call it that. A little wager based on what you know about me."

Jarron chuckled, "I have not even looked at the treaties yet!"

Eldar walked over and grabbed the 3 books he had pulled. He sat down and grabbed a blank piece of parchment, ink, and a quill.

He cut the parchment in half and then turned one half into 14 strips. He flipped through marking pages and then wrote page numbers and section numbers. He continued through all 3 volumes. He set the marked books with the bookmarks in place back down.

He handed him the parchment and looked at Jarron, "These are the relevant sections of the treaties and the order you would want to read them in. Now about the bet?"

Jarron looked up at Eldar, "How long ago did you read these?"

Eldar shrugged, "About 14 years for the last one on the Dwarves. I had already read the other 2 over the 2 years before that. I did have other course work, magical studies, and blade training to do during that time. The Elves and Dwarves do not make changes without redrafting the entire document.

They are current. Now to this wager. I get control of the first 200 square miles of Elven land which will allow me to establish the village with the charter for the mercenary company. You get the humans to turn over the protection of the 200 square miles.

Then allow us to extend the village boundaries an equal distance along the south road; which is currently unusable rocky lands and deforested Elven lands all along a dwarven trade route that they are not even guarding. Then work the dwarven government to enforce the dwarven treaty to build our fortifications and watchtowers.

After which the 3 of them pay our company expenses once we hit 20% of capacity which is 40. As we have 10 at the moment getting another 30 should not be a problem. The biggest problem will be housing them until the garrison is done.

We should subsist on caravan protection fees and Knights pay with at least 7 of us able to support guard patrol regularly from the start. A lot of us will be on the road anyway at the beginning."

Jarron looked at Eldar and smiled, "You're looking at the impossible you know; especially before we even get to talk to those Elders."

Eldar shrugged, "I figure we will have the Elven land, village charter, and mercenary company charter. Unless you object, I will put myself and Charlemagne as the founders. Should be able to get that accomplished in the first year if not sooner provided no interference and your support."

Jarron chuckled, "Oh Gods, Charlemagne said you were cocky."

Eldar looked back at him, "Is that a yes or no?"

He smiled, "I think you're making a sucker bet but I will enjoy watching you try--you got a bet."

Eldar looked back, "One last thing if we control that much area, Charlemagne and I are promoted to Field Commanders. She can not only watch over a business, children, and help to arrange training at the garrison and deal with a lot of nasty paperwork like who's going where. The rest of the team will be paid lieutenants as they will be working as trainers in addition to caravan duty."

Jarron laughed, "Sure, why not you're looking at the impossible. One last thing, what are you planning on calling this village? Oh, and the Mercenary group?"

Eldar smiled broadly, "Quatarsia! For the village, Gray Blades for the mercenary group."

He looked puzzled, "Tolerance, I get why you would name a village that, but why Gray Blades?"

Eldar shrugged, "A true Gray Blade is made of a drop or 2 of steel with equal parts of mithril and adamantium ore to combine the metal. The steel is a binder for the other 2 metals only. This reflects the three partners in the treaties, a merging of races in the company, and gray is associated with the moon.

As the Lady of Dreams and Corellon Larethian seem to have a vested interest in my life, anything to pay homage to them is also a plus. It also stands between the light and the dark which we will be doing to keep the darkness at bay."

Jarron smirked, "Well it looks like you have thought that through, not that the name may come about."

They left the office and Eldar turned to Charlemagne, "Thoughts?"

She shook her head, "I cannot believe you gambled that much money."

Eldar shook his head, "I take calculated risks remember. Given things we do not talk about and what I saw in my dream; history is going to be made at our wedding. I feel this is going to happen and change the Elven people. Now we need a team meeting. You want to grab everyone and bring them to the bar? I will go up and get Annette."

She nodded, "Will be right there."

---

Jarron did not know who to contact first so he pulled the Crystal to Heliar Silvertree, "You secure? We have a lot to talk about."

He heard Heliar sigh, "I am secure and alone now. What is going on? Did Eldar make it there? Did you find out what is going on with his trip to Grand Falls?"

Jarron sighed, "He gave me a written report that included dates. He left the morning before the attack on this Underhill gang and he documented 2 run-ins with them. He killed 6 himself using an ability from the sword you told him to try out on some rocky ground devoid of vegetation. It was 6 on 1 as he was alone at the time. I know which ability. I saw you use it during the war. I am sure that caused some guards to have an eye-opening experience.

As to the second encounter, Charlie killed 2 of them and Eldar made some sort of example of the other 2 he captured. He wanted to send a message back to the gang to stop coming after them. He left them alive and they left exactly when the guard captain and our Ambassador directed them to leave.

Everything he put down aligns with what the Captain of the City Guard told King Thornlord. Our people were not there. He said to blame you for him using the ability on the sword because he followed your instructions and was out of the town proper when he did that.

The city guard had no grounds for holding him as he killed wanted men and refused the reward money. The guards collected it instead and got other guards drunk. A mess for the human King but our guys should get cleared.

You, have any idea how long he retains information? First that book from his childhood. Now I have 3 treaties in front of me from ours that cover all factions of Elven society, the Dwarves, and the Humans in Grand Falls. He sat down, marked 14 sections for me to read and in what order.

He came up with a crazy idea to use portions of these treaties to build a cross-border mercenary company and Knights training ground. It requires him to get 200 square miles of Elven land along the border released to him by the 2 southern Elven villages. Then us getting the humans to turn over a like amount.

The dwarves would be on the hook for building fortifications as he covers 90% of their trade route in this area to us. All paid for by the 3 governments. He bet me 21,000 gold pieces he could secure the Elven land inside of a year. Then he wants my cooperation to work the human side of the treaty."

Heliar laughed, "Then support him. If you were crazy enough to bet against him. One thing I have not done is to bet against him. It sounds like he has a plan in place and is confident. We know a Knights training facility would be an ideal thing to build right now.

Those villages are Charlie's home and the home of Eldar's mother. He has connections there. I don't know how good they are off the top of my head, but they would be better than mine in his mother's village regardless. What has the Human Ambassador Gretchen Carpenter said?"

Jarron sighed, "Hold on, I wanted to hear from you first." He connected a crystal to the Human Ambassador and gave her the relative treaty sections.

Gretchen finally responded, "Those are on the books, hypothetically it would work. Let me speak with the King about this. One moment."

The crystal went dead and she returned a few minutes later as she contacted him back, "He said he wondered if anyone would ever use those sections of the treaty. He stated if your Knight asset or assets who proposed this is serious, he would support it. He wants to know their name or names."

Jarron sighed, "Tell him Eldar Silvertree and Charlie Silver. Heliar's son and his soon-to-be wife. We have confirmed his report matched his Captain of the Guard and they were a day out of town when the strike against the Underhill gang arrived. They had no attacks on them so far on this last leg of the trip and the weather happened to be favorable.

He could not have gotten here this quickly with 4 wagons and been in the town then. My asset in Cotton Web confirmed their arrival and departure and it also aligns with the report. They were not in Grand Falls. Eldar will be heading to these 2 villages because he plans to get married at Silent Falls near Misora.

One of the villages he would have to work this with and where he was born. They will leave Junction in the morning. They will likely pass through a small farming village called Rambling Rock as they will not head from here directly to the Elven Capital."

The human Ambassador responded, "The King stated based upon the information from his Guard Captain and your assets all aligning, he looked over the map and getting to Junction would not have been feasible with wagons unless they traveled at night."

Jarron sighed, "Inform him they had no extra horses to do that with."

She responded, "He heard your comment. You have 2 markers and they are consistent and no extra horses to speed them up on this journey. He is no longer wanted for questioning. It would be best to keep him from Grand Falls for a while until they can figure out who was behind the attack, if feasible.

A rival gang is highly likely as others have moved into the area to take over from what his guards are reporting. Regardless he thinks those assets being fixed in that area would be a good use of Knight resources. He supports the idea based on a discussion he had with your Queen. Concerning Eldar's skill with a sword at the Academy and being highly skilled.

If he were able to train some humans up to his level of skill it would be a benefit to his army when they have to address another invasion along that border. Currently, they are reported as being all quiet. Yes, training others would be a good use of his talents. Thank you for contacting us as this was a beneficial discussion. Let us know if he is successful."

Jarron ended comms and shook his head, and sighed, "I hope he can pull it off. It might just save the Knights."

---

Eldar got Annette. Charlemagne walked in 30 minutes later and apologized, "Sorry, had to throw some water on a couple of them to separate the ones in heat!"

Eldar laughed, "Just because you're already pregnant you can tell who's in heat?"

She smirked, "It took them a few minutes to finish up; at least for now."

Everyone grabbed a chair. Hunter asked, "How did it go?"

Eldar looked at him, "I took any blame; with a small amount thrown at my father and another small amount at the stupid city guards."

Eagle-eye smirked, "Did you tell him about the dagger handle in the ass, signs, and candles?"

Eldar shook my head, "I told him I worked out how to make examples of the 2 remaining assassins. We could have had 10 dead bodies instead of 8 and 2 messenger boys."

Annette sighed, "What did he say about me?"

Eldar looked at her, "Nothing yet, but I covered the idea for the crossroads and how you're vital to that as well. I think he is intrigued and we may have an interrogation opportunity if you want to consider it. I did not put that out there. They found a Drow spy in the Royal Palace who is not talking. Something to think over before you answer."

Eldar looked at the group, "The big problem is once we make this delivery, we could be off the road for a few weeks for them to try and get us assigned to a new location. I threw another idea at him that could make everyone a lot more money and less time traveling across the country.

It was inspired by Annette, Charlemagne, and my repository of useless knowledge. If things go well, we could be starting a mercenary company to work border protection, gather information, caravan protection, and train new members for the mercenary company.

Some of those efforts could help find recruits for the Knights. They are losing too many Knights compared to what they are getting. Like what you guys did for me, we will be doing to a lot of others on a larger scale. The mercenary company will grow to around 200 in 5-10 years.

You will all become trainers in your area of specialization; hunting, tracking, combat, stealth, finding arcane talent, and bringing them up to combat readiness. Now if this works everyone gets promoted. You could have the opportunity to start businesses.

We're talking about reopening an old trade route that's much shorter, It will save days on each journey to Grand Falls and the Dwarven settlements. Another thing driving this is that we're expecting twin girls and this would keep Charlie active with the unit even while raising two girls with the help of Annette and myself. The floor is open for questions and comments?"