Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 19

He had many resources available to him including an entire library of forbidden knowledge at his disposal. All from selling assets from his victims' homes over the years. He had little in the bank, 10 billion gold pieces was a trifle. Instead, he had it hoarded away in the sub-level in magical items, relics, and gemstones. Including several artifacts, he would need to power his experiments when the time came.

Moon Blade walked in and stood across from him at the desk as the guards flanked him from either side. Gatrius looked at him, "The spirit of Alisand Blood Moon has sent us to collect her Moon Blade."

Golden Knife shot to his feet and went to cast. Gatrius, activated spell turning on a ring he wore. The two royal guards, one a mage and the other a blade singer jumped into action as Gatrius got his sword out and the spell rebounded back. Disintegration.

That did massive damage to Golden Knife. The one casters spell rebounded back from a ring Golden Knife wore but only partially. The Blade Singer sliced off the elf's casting hand. Moon blade cut off his fucking head being a talented warrior and a non-caster. Screams could be heard from down the hall.

The Blade Singer went to investigate. "The page is dead. It looks like he had his life linked to Golden Knife."

Gatrius looked at his notes. "Following death's hand. He looked and the hand from the dead Golden Knife walked slowly across the floor. It had been severed before the main body was killed. He held the guards back, "Hold off, do not attack it yet. We are supposed to follow it." The hand traveled through the small estate and got to a wall and pressed on a brick on the wall that opened a secret passageway.

The way smelled of death and it was overwhelming. They followed it through 8 rooms and it headed toward what could only be described as a flesh golem sewn together from past victims. Moon Blade had enough and stabbed the hand and the caster burned it to a crisp. The golem caught fire and the smell of burnt flesh filled the room.

He counted the rooms and there were 14 rooms some had only 30 placards and others over 100 on the walls. He found the sword due to his sword being able to home in on it. and then the sheath. The guards had a crystal activated. Moon Blade took it from the guards as it was a Guard captain asking for status.

He called out, "This is Patron Moon Blade. Tell the Queen everything here is as described by the champion. Golden Knife appeared to be studying necromancy. The gear on the walls, there are at least 500-800 items on the walls. The Relics were to go to me to cover the creation of the Gray Blades weapons. Payment received as some of this is probably priceless.

She is going to need a cleanup crew to deal with dark magic in this place. He had a contingency to inhabit a flesh golem, probably the last resort. He also bound the spirit of his page to him. When he died, so did the page. This place is a nightmare. Under every placard is a body according to the champion, One room has 50 chests with just gemstones in them. A bloody fortune. As the killing of this patron was not authorized beforehand by the crown, I will just assume the crown will take the funds and the mundane items. My sword has a magic detection function and there are 7 relics here that it has identified for me. Another 4 relics that are dark magic and not to be touched. I want nothing to do with those. Permission to pull those items destined to me, from the Queen please."

He heard her sigh, "This was a divine directive, I will work that. I will ensure all of the guards receive a bonus from this night's activity with 100 thousand going to each of the two guards that went with you. The rest is the property of the crown for the coming war effort. I will get the head of the Academy there in the morning. Tag those items that belong to you but do not remove them from the home yet."

Moon Blade sighed, "There are 2 I would like to take with me. One is a forge that was specifically called out to aid in the crafting of the Gray Blade weapons. The other is another dead Moon Blade to go to the champion for allocation, Your Majesty."

She sighed, "Take the sword to the champion and take the forge. Tag the other items and get a wizard there that can ward the dark magic relics if he can, or point them out so guards we have coming can handle that task. I will have 60 royal guards watching over that property tonight. It will take days to clear them to ensure there are no hazardous effects we need to worry about. I will assume the gods know those 2 items are safe."

Moon Blade chuckled, "The Forge itself is worth the cost of crafting all of the Gray Blades. The rest is just a bonus, your Majesty."

She chuckled, "Then a profitable night. Thank you for the report."

He looked over and stepped next to the forge after tagging items and identifying what not to touch and ward when they could. "Can I get one of you to have my horse brought to my home please?"

They nodded. Moon Blade pulled out an item and activated it. It did a teleportation circle into his shop's storeroom. A gift from one of his ancestors to the owner of the shop for moving materials needed. He looked at the forge, "You will be getting a lot of use in the coming years."

He covered it in a tarp in the storeroom he was in. He had his sword teleport him to his lady love's home. It could not do a teleportation circle but given the number of wielders who were non-casters, it was a good choice for his sword. He smiled, "Third and last stop. She opened the door and smiled. "Hello, my love..."

---

Eldar woke a bit earlier than normal in the usual crescent shape. With Charlemagne in front and Annette in back. He knew they had not been asleep long. He got up and got dressed and headed downstairs and went to the stable. He got his wives' horses saddled up and then he pulled out the tack and barding for T'suras.

As he placed the blanket, "Good work T'suras you have a son and daughter on the way. I know we will need another 6 mares to get the herd started before we leave. Then I will have to bring in another male and a dozen more mares to expand the gene pool for the next generation, but we have a couple of years on that.

I will not forget to get you another 12 mares before that occurs if not 100. We need as large of a herd as we can get. We will need a lot of trick-shot arcane archers for what is to come."

He got T'suras saddled with barding in place without much difficulty. He took all three horses out front and tied the two mares off on the stirrups of T'suras. "I cannot give them command words like you because my wives have yet to give them names. Then I will not need to tie them off to you. T'suras Veta."

He walked back into the inn as the ladies rushed down the stairs. Annette sighed, "Where did you go?!"

He pointed out front, "All three are saddled. T'suras has his barding on. Time to eat."

They sat down to await the morning meal. He sighed, "Shall I save you the trouble and name the horses myself?" They looked at each other and nodded. "M'myas and M'hosa then."

They both laughed and Charlemagne looked at him, "Taste of Molasses and Taste of Honey."

He nodded, "They needed names, they are both mothers to be now. I cannot tell you which commands they have picked up already without names." They looked at him in shock. Charlemagne asked, "They are both pregnant?"

Annette's asked, "They know commands?"

He looked at them, "Yes, and some they know Biana, Filarna, unta, and veta and will pick up others as you mimic me. Name first. Let them know their names then they will associate the commands. Two more which both of them will need to learn and one which T'suras will have to associate the first is Git asos, or go to safety. The second is one you hope you will never have to use, at least not often in the field of battle. Git villam (Go home), but you have to teach them where home is first."

He saw Hunter, Keyno, Tiger, and Tranosa coming into the room. He waved them over, "You may not have heard about yesterday's excitement but I will give you a glimpse. Tiger, can you get the innkeeper's wife."

Tiger ran off and came back with the lady. "First, I take it Doc confirmed it for you?" She nodded. "I learned a bit more but the details are fuzzy. What brings this uncle into the lives is the loss of your husband and it could be 5 years or 15 years. I cannot tell you.

This uncle helps to run this inn for you. Sell the inn and your daughter's and son's fates can be sealed; your daughter will not be as dexterous as some elven archers but there is another way. Your daughter will be wise and that is the key to the type of archery Keyno will train one of her sons in this form of archery combining her with intelligence she would excel. If you have time go to the Academy and follow the crowd to the meeting today.

One of the first things you will see is Keyno's archery demonstration." She nodded and headed off. Then he had four sets of eyes that stared at him. "I had some sort of emotional storm. Flooded with images of things that were going to happen. Things that I needed people to do.

People I had to talk too so they could effect change. Weaponsmith Moon Blade had a busy night last night. I flew through one of the gate checkpoints without stopping." The wives just nodded rapidly. "Please sit and eat the worst of that is over."

They were about finished eating when Guard New Moon arrives. Eldar sighed, "How bad was it?"

He looks at Eldar, "The husband was dead and the two women were hiding in a wardrobe trying to keep the door closed. A sword blade holes both of them were injured but not seriously. The Guard Captain is in custody and relieved of command permanently. Captain Bilara Moon Glow has taken over and is outside waiting for you."

The last sentence was said with a bit of anger and disappointment. Eldar nodded and he got up and placed his hand on New Moon's shoulder, "Listen to what I have to say today. I have a need for another leader of people. I have great people, they will be excellent trainers but not all want or have the tactical skills to lead troops."

Eldar nodded to him again as he went past. He stepped outside and saw the lady up on her horse, "Guard New Moon relayed my request for him all day today?"

She nodded, "I hope you do not go rushing past our gates again. You should really tie up your horse."

Eldar got up on T'suras and turned to her, "If I had not, the Guard Captain would have killed five instead of one."

She looked perplexed, "There were only two women in the closet."

He nodded, "Pregnant women, check for yourself if you like." He waited for his wives to come out and get mounted up. The guards brought the other horses around. He looked at the guard Captain who stared at him hard and uncertain. "I got T'suras yesterday from the stable; nobody could get near him. This horse has never been broken. I know a dozen commands including stay.

Where he will stay so he will never be tied down. The one man who tried to force that yesterday. Let us just say it did not go well for him. I told him to ride like the wind which is when I lost the escort but I had to catch someone. That led to the capture or death of a mass murderer and soon the safe return of a lady from the far eastern part of the world in the next four days."

Everyone was mounted up, "Shall we T'suras? Biana"

He started his team moving. He looked over at Charlemagne, "Yes, she is scared of me now. She should be scared of her husband when he finds out she is fucking another married man and a young lieutenant."

Annette giggled. They headed off to the market to meet with the Merchant's Guild. They walked into Merchant's Hall. Most did not seem to know why they were there. He tapped the stand to get their attention, "Greetings everyone. Some of you met me yesterday as we went through and purchased half of your supplies in some cases..."

He got a few giggles. "I am Commander Eldar Silvertree of the Gray Blade mercenary company. In about four weeks, we will have the southern trade route reopened for travel. This will cut 6 days off of travel time to the nearest human kingdom and 4 days off of the travel to the dwarven settlements. We are in the process of building a village on this route that will span crossroad to crossroad."

Someone shouted out, "That spans into human lands."

Eldar nodded, "Yes it does. This village, Quatarsia, is home to the Gray Blades. The first cross-border mercenary group established under treaties with the humans, the dwarves, and us. The governments will be paying for our services, which means the merchants will not need to pay for escorts. At least for that 400 square mile section of the human and elven border, we have under our control. The Gray Blades are a multi-racial company hence the name of the town."

Someone else shouted out, "How much land is the dwarves giving to this?"

Eldar smiled, "None. The treaties specify that they will contribute labor to this effort. We will have them building a garrison, maybe even a fort. They will also build watchtowers along the far south road to provide some reliable intelligence on activity. My turn to ask a question of you, any veterans of the last war here and could they tell us before they attacked what the typical scouting party sent looked like?"

A one-eyed gentleman in the back stood up, "I served with and scouted the area and would encounter groups of 6-12 orc scouts."

Eldar nodded to him, "As a veteran, I know you will understand this better than most." He described the threat assessment from the attack on Rambling Rock in detail. "We're getting no intelligence of what is going on in that area. No warning. Our armies are not within that area right now. Once this area is established travel can be shortened and the area actively patrolled.

No mercenary group will be providing protection except us. They can travel with your caravan at your expense but they will be passengers in this area. This reduces your costs as you will only have to pay for protection on a much shorter route. After they leave our area.

Now before anyone asks about the wood-elves and the other village. The two villages that controlled the land we now protect turned it over to us. They will be working on setting up designated campsites that will be stocked with firewood. The only ones authorized to go off-trail to hunt is our mercenaries.

All others will be detained or if they fight, killed. The wood-elves now have a much smaller area to watch over so expect every caravan to be monitored. As the wood-elves will be collecting and stocking the campsites with firewood there will be a small fee. The fee is 100 gold pieces for every 6 people.

Yes, the fee is based on people to help discourage people from traveling as a group of less than 6. It is easier to protect a group than an individual. That will be split between the two villages handling this collection work. Every caravan will initially have two of our officers riding with the new recruits we are getting over the next few days."

Another voice shouts out from the back, "How long did it take you to do all this?"

He looked back at his group, "About a week right, give or take a day?"

He had a bunch of mumbling and shocked faces. "Most of this was spelled out in existing treaties but never used. The reason being is a mercenary company has to have a sponsoring village. Nobody on either side of the border wanted a multi-racial company established in their village or town.

We got them to turn over the land to us. We got the village charter and mercenary charter from the Queen and King shortly after we arrived in the city. The same day I believe?"

He looked behind him and his people's heads nodded away.

Another shouted, "How did you get them to do this that fast?"

Eldar bowed his head for a second. "That is a long answer but if you want it, then send representatives to the Academy gathering this afternoon where we will be going into great detail on those aspects. We are hoping to recruit some Academy talent into this group. We will also be talking with members of the people doing your existing protection. Then we will be hitting up some dwarven and more human talent into the mix.

My officers will be within the market today talking with your existing protection companies. We will be available to answer any more questions you might have. Commander Charlemagne Silvertree will be here if any tough questions come up. I have to go for a bit and I will be back to join them. You will find me out at the stables when I return. I hope I got your big questions answered."

Nobody yelled or stopped them as they left the meeting though there were a few murmured conversations in the crowd. He got outside, "I have to leave one Commander here."

He looked at Charlemagne. She smiled and kissed him, "You are sounding like yourself, I like that."

Annette not to be left out of the action came up and kissed me too, "Thanks for saddling up the horses. We were hoping to ride you this morning."

He smiled, "Hoping we have better luck tonight. Hunter, can you, Keyno, and Eagle-eye to meet me over at the stables really quickly. Annette, Doc, and Guard New Moon with me please."

He got back onto my horse. "T'suras Biana." They stroll over to the stables. "Guard New Moon, want to see a trick?"

He smiles and nodded, "T'suras, find us the next 6 mares."

We pulled up to the pen and 6 mares approached the fence, one white and brown, one solid gray, two black with white in different spots around the hoofs, another sold brown, and a solid black one.

"Hunter, Eagle-eye, you want to check these six out. Annette, grab the stable master."

He looked over at Guard New Moon, "Well?" He chuckled and shook his head. "The other two are pregnant now."

Hunter looked at Eldar, "You planning to breed them?"

He nodded, "We will not need riding horses for much longer. They will not work in the coming years. We will need intelligent warhorses who will all be trainable. Keyno and Tiger should work to learn elven. It will help with your children and these horses. They will never be broken or trained individually."

Keyno nodded, "I was planning too anyway but why elven?"

He smiled, "Our enemy understands common, not all of them understand elven. Warhorses will tend to imprint to the rider so each rider will have two when the time comes. They can take a new rider in time but it takes some re-education and trust. The other reason is they will start picking up commands from the elders.

They will listen to what we are telling the parents. All existing commands are in elven and these kinds of horses respond to one language best." Annette came back with the stable master. "How much for these six?"

He looks over, "With discount 650 each?"

Eldar looked over at him, "I will give 3,600 for all 6. They all check Hunter and Eagle-eye?" They both nodded. The stable master looks at him, "Agreed."

Eldar gave him his account number and looked at Hunter, "Now we have a hundred." Eagle-eye laughed and Hunter just shook his head.

Eldar looked at Keyno as she asked, "Will help but how will we know they are all intelligent?"

He smiled, "Because the father and mothers are all intelligent. The two we picked up last night are now carrying, and I just had T'suras pick out another 6."

Keyno looked at me strangely. Then Annette got her attention, "Some strange stuff started happening last night remember. Be glad you were not there, but everything happened."

He nodded, "T'suras Biana. We need to go back to the enchanter's district." They rode back to the shop. "T'suras Veta" They walked into the shop, "Doc, just jump ahead and check for pregnancy. They have twins."

He looked to the lady, "Is my order ready after Doc is done?"

Doc casts his spells nodded to the first, and he could see it was a girl and boy/ Both wizards. She beamed with pride as she ran to the back.