Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 24

The King asks, "Why did my men not engage this enemy?"

Eldar looked to the second to answer that question. He clears his throat, "Your Majesty, this is Commander Falchion the orders came from the General to monitor for enemy activity but under no circumstances were they to engage. He stated they were your orders."

Eldar sighed, "Your Majesty, this was also a violation of existing treaties between our people and I believe you are dealing with a rogue General. I honestly believe these orders were not your orders to the General."

The King yelled back, "That is fucking right! When I get that General back, I am going to cut off his sack and feed it to him! My apologies for the loss of the Elven life from your team. I thank you for protecting the citizens of Rambling Rock and their future protection it seems. Another order of mine ignored by this General.

I will be coordinating with the Ambassador on this issue. Commander Falchion, take your troops, all of your troops, and get me an accurate threat assessment. What Silvertree said is accurate on the size of the force he encountered?"

The commander nodded and then realized he needed to speak, "Yes Your Majesty, for this current encounter. I cannot speak to the first encounter. We did not count all the bodies but the giants were obvious and there were a lot of them, some in pieces or ashes. The report back from the field was the battle was over in less than two minutes."

The King fired back, "How many men did he have with him?"

Eldar smiled, "We had 16 plus the Queen's favorite nephew. We had several Arcane types in our group which thinned them out quickly. Hence the ashes. As to the first group, Jaron Silverleaf who works for Queen Goldeagle saw those bodies and can verify the counts, Your Majesty."

They heard King Thornlord chuckling, "Sounds like that protection force you are putting together will be quite formidable. Again, send my apologies to your Queen and her nephew over this unfortunate incident."

Eldar cleared his throat, "Did you wish for one of your officers to accompany the General, Your Majesty?"

He huffed, "Absolutely not!"

Eldar smiled, "I thank you for your time, Your Majesty. I wanted you aware of the incident so it did not come as a surprise to you."

He grunted, "Thank you for contacting me Commander Silvertree. Commander Falchion, assume command as the acting general until I decide on if I will make that permanent or not."

The crystal went dark. Eldar nodded, "General Falchion, you might want to start back at that village we offered protection to the farmers which is why they came with us. You should be able to backtrack the trail and get the assessment you need."

He nodded, "Thank you for your advice on the matter, I will consider it."

Eldar looked to the new General, "For the protection of your King, I would hold off on informing him of the name Lord Barimus. We do not know if another spy exists in the palace and we do not want to put the King in danger by tipping the hand too early.

That is why I asked if he was alone and he never stated he cleared the room. I would not be surprised if that third crystal went back to someone else back in the palace. Our ambassadors will handle getting that information to him or the Elven Queen. This was just to show you in the field what to watch out for."

The General nodded, "If we do not know who to trust then holding back for the moment would be the wiser course."

Eldar nodded back at him again as he mounted up and he looked down, "I will leave the commander's gear on his horse to you. Anything he is wearing would need to be examined by our court wizard."

He nodded, "We will do that."

The General walked off while the third went through the gear. Eldar ordered his troops, "Catch up with the column, put the bows away for now."

They continued down the road and came across Tranosa with a group of dwarves who looked at the proposed quarry. Eldar stopped as he got waved down by Tranosa, "Excitement on the road?"

Eldar nodded, "We lost one in the battle. Please tend to the notification if you have the information. Did we just get stone-smiths or masons as well?"

The stone-smith smiled, "We only had one mason who was extremely eager to get here."

Eldar looked at Tranosa, "What is the name of the Mason?"

The dwarf answered, "Flanus Stonehammer, why?"

Eldar sighed, "Because I will likely be forced to arrest him. Can you come with me and I will show you why?"

They took him to the stonemason who lined up stones for the sawmill, "Mason can you come over here please."

The mason got up and walked over, "Can I help you with something?"

Eldar nodded, "You have been selected for a random security question. I am going to make a statement. I need each of the two of you to repeat it starting with you mason. The statement is "Lord Barimus, leader of our enemies' forces deserves to die.'"

The Mason looked like he wanted to run and Tranosa grabbed the dwarf. He looked to the stone-smith, "Can you make the statement?"

He made the statement then looked at Eldar, "Who is Lord Barimus?"

Eldar looked at him, "The leader of the Orc, Ogre, and Giant army that we are trying to defend against. He has been recruiting traitors in different kingdoms or smuggling in spies. This man is being taken in for questioning as you can understand, the information will be sent back with our ambassador to your King."

The stone-smith nodded, "Thanks for finding him. Why was he in such a hurry to come here?"

Eldar smiled, "Because I am a person of interest to this Lord Barimus. He wants to know what I am doing because I keep interfering with his plans."

The mason grumbled, "You are a pain in the ASS!"

Eldar looked to the stone-smith, "Need I say more?"

He shook his head and spat on the other dwarf.

Eldar ordered Captain New Moon, "Check his gear for a communication crystal." He walked over and went through the pack and found two crystals both blue.

Eldar sighed, "Try and activate one."

He tried and got a voice he did not recognize, Eldar looked to the stone-smith and mouthed a whisper to him, 'Tell him you found it at the edge of a riverbed.'

He got the gist and sent the message. The voice screamed back, "Damned mason, this is the King's son Grontic Fireaxe get the stone back to the mason Flanus Stonehammer."

The mason went to speak and Tranosa knocked him out cold as the crystal went dark.

Eldar looked at the stone-smith, "Hand me that it will go back via our ambassador."

He activated the second one, He heard the angry Hissing voice? "What do you have to report?"

Eldar chuckled, "That I got another crystal for target practice. It is amazing how fast these guys are giving each other up when they see them!"

He heard a roar on the other end.

Eldar tossed it in the air "Mortana." The missiles sent it into shards.

Eldar looked at Tranosa, "Give that pack to Captain New Moon. Yes, I kicked him up! 49 of the enemy force dead from our 17, counting Apprentice Goldeagle who blasted a few of the way as we rode by. We only lost 1 man; when giants hit you, they can kill in one shot. Also 3 riding horses."

Tranosa nodded, "Will take care of the notification."

Eldar sighed, "I want New Moon to pass that to the lieutenant going with us first thing in the morning. Then I want him headed to the field, next crossroad only for him, watch for humans. It is about time the new blade of his gets a workout, again. I want around-the-clock 4-man teams of guards watching our prisoners.

Keep them gagged and we want them in the back of a wagon. I will take them back personally with my wives. Along with Apprentice Goldeagle, and two squads with their Lieutenant. All on horseback as we will be moving at one and half time speed the whole way.

We will leave the remains for proper burial by fire here. I want patrol sizes along the dwarven border doubled in size; the last group was any indication then we can expect some trouble. Check all incoming wagons for damage and get the new blacksmith on them as soon as possible.

I'll cover the damages. Please have Greentree get with the farmers we brought in to get them assigned land and get homes for them onto the list. If we need more men then he can have Annette request them while we are in the city.

Clearing those fields is a priority now; figure out the fair market value for the crops they brought in and add five silver per bushel on top of that. Use it for our horses and men, vegetables to the masses."

Tranosa nodded, "I will get with Greentree on that last part and the blacksmith."

Eldar smiled, "Good delegating is a good sign in a Captain." Tranosa chuckled at him. Eldar rode forward to find Apprentice Goldeagle, "Be ready to leave in the morning. We have two prisoners to take back now on top of the tactical report. When you graduate and decide on a course of action remember the last couple of days. Ask yourself 'Have you learned more in the last few days than in the last 6 months at the Academy?'"

Chalius chuckled, "Your school is definitely more hands-on."

Eldar nodded, "Also more fatal for one today. The first man I lost under my command."

They rode back to the house and he got T'suras unburdened and brushed down. Then he went in search of Moon Bow and Moon Blade.

He found them at his father-in-law's home. He looked at them, "We are returning to the Capital tomorrow morning with 2 prisoners. Quick speed I want us there in a day; one or two wagons at most and mostly empty for speed. We leave before sun up.

Instructor Moon Bow looks at Eldar, "Two prisoners?"

Eldar nodded, "Straight to the palace types. I lost my first man late yesterday. I am not in a great mood at the moment. Just please, be ready to go."

They nodded to him and he left them as he headed home. He looked at his wives, "Food and sleep, up in 6 hours and on the road to the Capital as soon as we can get our people together and roll out of here. Get with Greentree tonight on anything needed. We got 34 farmers from 11 families.

Jessup was not there; I think he was killed for trying to report the issues they were facing. I do not have any insight into it, I just do not see him in the future. Eldar sat down and ate as they both knew he was upset over the loss of one of the troops. Charlemagne had dealt with it before.

Eldar looked at her, "Does losing a man that works for you get any easier?"

Charlemagne shook her head, "I would not say easier, each one, especially if you know them well will have an impact on you."

Eldar nodded, "I try to focus on the number of lives we saved, the only way I will stay sane."

Annette giggled, "With all the crap that goes through your head some would say sanity is out the window with you."

Eldar smirked back at her, "Some think I am an idealist. I sometimes question if the ideas are truly my own or those of the Gods. I seem to know the difference. They added another rune to every Moon Blade the other night; each one unique and hidden from even the swords intelligence. A boon for my dealings with the request for additional Moon Blades if they had them. I know some decisions are truly mine."

Charlemagne spoke, "I think everything in your life affected your thought process. Your great memory and now very acute senses may be a gift from the Gods. That attack you did on the Ogre Magi, I have never seen anything like that before. Ever."

Annette looked to Charlemagne "What did he do?"

Charlemagne glared, "He got both of his feet on the back of his saddle at 'run like the wind' speed on T'suras. He launched himself a good 20-30 feet in the air in the air with his sword in hand. He spun around like a top with his head pointed at the target. He drove his sword straight through the gap of the collarbone and into the foul bastard's heart. He landed on his back and tumbled away from the body from the forward movement.

I saw the leap and stab. Apprentice Goldeagle has another war story with you in it. That goes to those acrobatic moves you did back at the Academy. He said some people will not believe it but there had to be at least 12 sets of eyes that caught that leaping attack. I went and saw the body. I knew where your sword went with the burn marks. What was going through your mind?"

Eldar shrugged, "It was like I could see exactly when to jump and I could see the whole strike as I was so damned focused on that one strike. Everything ran in slow motion. Maybe that was what was added to my sword. Some kind of focused strike, like Keyno and her Zen archery.

We were told we would only discover the nature of the rune in combat, it could have been that or the crazy acrobatics I did before if it is a focused strike then it will bode well for future generations."

Annette sighed, "It would have scared the shit out of me to watch but hearing about it sounds like an amazing strike."

Charlemagne looks at Eldar, "You said if we had not gone it would have been worse, 41 dead instead of 1."

He nodded, "I think the first who dies under your command always sticks with you."

Charlemagne nodded, "That is true, try to get some rest."

With their comforting embrace, he soon found himself asleep right there on the couch.

---

Lord Barimus pulled yet another Crystal. She answered, "How may I be of service to you, Master?"

He hissed out, "There will be an elf, Eldar Silvertree arriving in the capital in the next few days. I need you to use some assets and bribe a guard. One of the prisoners he is bringing in is a dwarven artificer, I am teleporting a package to your drop location.

The other prisoner is a human who failed me, a human general. He apparently gave up the dwarf if this Eldar is to be believed. It is the only way I know he could have found the mason was through the general. Regardless the general is his first target which should be easy, and then Eldar Silvertree."

She smiled, "He shall have it and I will take a certain guard who works the dungeon on one hell of a fuck ride. He does not know me, but the girl in this ring I have, he knows and likes to fuck her regularly. I will pay for his cooperation as well. A falsely accused dwarven prisoner, he will buy it for what I give him. He will bend to my will, Master.

I use him to keep tabs on the royal family. If I or my cohort here happen to see this Eldar Silvertree we will take him out, if the dwarf fails. I have a couple of contracts out on him and his family over the next couple of weeks planned. This elf is not popular within his own Elven House. He is an impure bastard.

I've seen him at the tournaments and he is a skilled sword fighter. But he has never faced an arch-mage assassin. I will make time when we see him. We have our plans in motion to kill the King, Queen, and the Queen's sister to get us our Queen on the throne. The last one is a free one for one of our shared lovers and the future Queen who needs her weak mother out of the way."

Barimus laughed in a hissing fashion, "I will pay you, double your going rate on top of it, if you kill him. Fuck your way through the whole court if you have to. Just get it done. Succeed and I will also indoctrinate you into Draconic Magic and how to cast it.

I have a project for you to work on how to remove a soul bind done by that fucking human wizard I had you working with before. He applied it during my transformation. I will add to your geas before doing so to ensure you do not make the same fatal flaw."

She smiled, "Draconic Mythic spell, you have my attention and support as always, Master."

She ended the comms and looked back at the future Queen, "Fuck my ass hard my royal bitch." She laughed and started drilling her lover while she fisted her male cousin's ass as he jerked himself off as he watched the 2 of them. Barimus never asked if she was alone. She was in bed having fun."

Barimus knew she did not have the dragon blood required, that was why he went with the human to do most of the work in the first place. Still, she could prove useful on this soul-binding issue.

---

Eldar awoke alone. He studied his spells and then headed outside. It was still dark and nobody was in sight. He headed upstairs to find the ladies naked with the double-ended fake cock between them and they were laying there squirming. He walked over, Annette smiled up at him and he kissed her. She was at the end of the bed closest to the door this time. He tasted Charlemagne's cunt on her face. He moved down and drove his tongue onto Charlemagne's clit.

He grabbed their toy and started stroking it faster between the two of them as Charlemagne moaned out a climax and then screamed, "That is cheating!"

Eldar looked at her "What is cheating?"

She looked up and saw that it was Eldar who went down on her. She laid back down, "We were having a little playtime to figure out who was going to wake you. I guess we took too long."

Eldar smiled at her and turned and buried his tongue onto Annette's clit and fucked her fast with the fake cock until she shrieked out. She started shaking from the attention and she went out cold. He looked at Charlemagne, "Well she is in no shape to do anything at the moment."

Charlemagne jumped over and pulled down the pants to his armor. Then his pants underneath. She pulls him into her mouth, foregoing getting him undressed. She just attacked with that tongue of hers. She ran a free hand under his sack to massage it.

He just encouraged her, "We get to the city we will see if she breaks any windows when we double penetrate her. With you in her nether-hole, with that strap-on, you have not gotten to use yet. Let alone the attachment I got for you."

She starts sucking harder and lightly squeezing his sack until it lifted, filled with seed, and shot off into her awaiting throat and mouth. He looked at her, "Don't forget to share with your sister. You can wake her up now once you have finished your morning snack."

She smiles at him, "You got me something different? How different?"

Eldar waited for her to finish up and he pulled out a small wrapped package that looked like the other except the head was a bit wider, designed for insertion, and it had all of the little round raised dots on it.

He looked at her, "You will know it is fake, but you will not care." She smiled at him and went to kiss her sister awake while he finished getting dressed again. Annette opened her eyes and looked over at Eldar.

She tasted him on her sister's mouth and she sat up on her elbows, "I should have woken you up this morning!"

Eldar nodded, "But you passed out again so Charlemagne had to take care of it."

Charlemagne giggled, "You can wake him up in the city. He wants to see if you can break windows yet!"

Eldar chuckled, "Noticed they were making good progress on the barn. I want to move some of your furniture out of here to free up another bedroom for Tiger and Dame Silver Moon as the room they are using will be taken over by my apprentice next week."

She nodded, "That would be a good idea as Kara and Fireball are now sharing a room at my father's house.

He chuckled, "Sometimes with Doc and Eagle-eye."

They both laughed at him and nodded. Annette looked at him, "Keyno and Tranosa are going to take over the guest room once you take the guests back to the city."

Eldar nodded, "Which we better start getting the horses and wagon ready to do soon. Our prisoners are at the crossroads. I will get started on our horses. Annette can work on getting our guests moving. Including Dame Silver Moon. Charlemagne can get the team hitched to the wagon. Annette, you will ride. I want a couple of soldiers on wagon duty with our prisoners."

Annette looked up, "One of the spaces in the new stable could be used as a temporary room. They could put some of my furniture there. We could have Doc and Eagle-eye take over that room."