Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 25

Eldar smiled as his wives groaned. Annette looked over, "He is a handful in bed already and you are telling us he could double his ability?"

The lady shook her head, "I said he WILL, not that he could and at least double. Maybe even more."

That got the guys clapping and the ladies turning red. Eldar looked at them, "Something tells me a dozen children are not out of the question with you 2."

That got more laughs. The Lady looked at Eldar, "Did I miss something?"

Eldar nodded, "Our wedding was performed by Sehanine Moonbow, she informed me of being Knight Champion to her husband initially, I have seen him twice since then. I told her she was being sneaky for adding a line into my vows about finding love again. She then whispered in my ear, 'I am sneakier than you think. All of your children will be twins.'"

The Lady chuckled, and the guys laughed. Eldar continued. "She went into a long dialog with the guests at the wedding. One line that caught my attention from her. 'If you can afford to have a dozen children then have a dozen children.'

Much was said that was cryptic but I have been putting pieces together to help others as well. In my first conversation with Corellon Larethian, the one thing he said that I did that surprised him in a really good way was asking you for the return of the other Moon Blades."

The Silver Queen already knew this part as she had gotten them out of the Vault with nobody noticing and pulled the last from her horde. She smiled, "Good to know all of your creativity is not divine."

Eldar shook his head, "My wives will tell you I can be a bit devious in bed at times."

That got a laugh and his wives turned red. Jarron enjoyed this show, Charlemagne just nodded rapidly as well. Then Annette started nodding.

Eldar looked at Jarron, "The wives were talking about spanking me tonight for giving you a hard time, I told them you would just think that it was foreplay. Now I have given them reasons to follow through on the threat."

That got another round of laughter. Annette spoke up, "No threat, promise!"

He looked at them, "Well then you better keep track of all my transgressions."

That generated more laughter and Jarron piped up, "I will give you a list!"

Which got one final laugh before the Lady brought things back to order.

She waved her hands around, "You have a self-deprecating sense of humor on top of being mischievous."

Eldar nodded, "I reserve the mischievous to those I care about and battle."

She nodded and looked at Jarron who rolled his eyes as he had no out for that comment. She smiled, "Onto the mission, we will enter through this portal, I need someone with a good sense for Danger to lead the first wave."

Eldar raised his hand, "My Moon Blade has excellent danger sense. My perception is otherworldly. I took down an elk at night, in a forest, with my eyes closed at 125 feet on a frontal shot because I heard and tracked its heartbeat. It was a 7x7."

She looked at Eldar, "I think you just volunteered."

Which got a laugh. Eldar nodded to her, "I will not give a dangerous role to one of my men that I would not do myself unless he was better suited to it and agreed by the same 'volunteer' method."

She nodded, "You will take the point, followed by three of my troops and then 3 of your team."

Eldar nodded, "Lieutenant Silver Bow in the last wave. I would like my wife Commander Silvertree leading in the second. I want Captain Silver Moon and my wife Dame Annette with me. The men are not aware of her abilities but they will likely come into play if we have a one-off situation."

The Silver Dragon Queen was aware of those talents and agreed for those specific reasons. It improved their chances.

The Silver Dragon Queen nodded, "We will have four waves. I will take the other two Moon Blades one in each of the last two waves. My people will lead waves 3 and 4 to secure the inner chamber. The crack in the wall is narrow but long we should be able to get everyone through. One of mine in the second wave will have a crystal for communication. They will let us know to send wave 3. Move into the crevice as quickly and quietly as possible.

My people will disable wards if we find any, that is their job. Eldar, as you can detect magic you are on point, put three fingers in the back of your head for the symbol of a ward. A fist to show hold. Just move if you are ready to move. We will hold at the crossroad. My men will set up sentry spells to monitor the two pathways. We have a couple of wards to take down.

Once the charges are set it is up to you to hold the intersection when our attack force heads into the main tunnel; blow the charges when you see forces approaching from the outside of the Second's tunnel has an alarm set off. Eldar, thoughts on holding the intersection."

He nodded, "Do we need to buy you more time to collect a horde? If so we need to be able to blow that tunnel in three sections then reinforce with walls of stone unless you have something."

The dwarves looked up, "We will drop an eighty-foot section mountain into that pass with our charges."

Eldar nodded, "We need to put a wall of force across the bottom of that passage to protect vs passwall." He nodded at the idea. He looked around, "I want to hold the fight in the intersection; there are only a few ways to do that.

Have all our troops in the crevice and come out and attack from behind they could run right into the main chamber. Stay in the intersection they could run back to the Second's office. I would suggest a split option; it buys us some leeway and flexibility. Have Annette, Charlemagne, Captain Silver Moon, Moon Blade, and Moon Bow in the crevice.

That puts the rest of us partway down the tunnel plus the two sappers; I would like to put one on either side if they think that is best." They nodded. "That is a five to ten split. We will not know where the second will come from with his bodyguards. The main attack force might encounter and take them out in which case we just have to hold the reinforcement line.

If they come from the Second's office, I want to move our team of 10 about 100-120 feet down the dragon tunnel, is that safe enough?" They nodded. "As the 7+ enemies come toward us our 5 can work their way out and block retreat. If they come from the main tunnel heading for The Seconds office then we have 10 there and five that can reinforce.

We want to keep them out of a fight in the Second's office. We do not know what wards are that way and we do not want to destroy any intelligence. We do not pursue it if they run. We use walls of force or stone to block their movement. Which takes me to Moon Bow we need you to set and hold the wall of force at the explosion.

Silver Moon, same but the open passage leading to the Second's office after the enemy has passed toward us to block retreat. Moon Blade you have fighter skills that make you the tank on the backside. Once the group enters the intersection I will yell out 'ONE.' I want chain lightning cast into the group.

The Second is going to have cold resistance items because he is vulnerable. The bodyguards if they have an ounce of brains have a fire-resistance item because of the boss and the Second frying their asses. After lightning, you can try cold spells, fire is a no-go in this battle; leave that to the sappers to try and damage them with explosives.

Before the main group moves, I want the sappers to evaluate the crevice to ensure that it will still be open after the explosion; it does us no good to blow our escape route. Reinforce with stone meld scrolls, wall of force, wall scrolls, and chain lightning wands for those who are mages but cannot cast it. Blade Singers. Defensive spells, chain lightning if you have it; we cut them down.

Leave big and ugly to the tanks initially. We cut down the bodyguards. We are running without a healer with this group so that means healing potions. Remember spells such as teleport and dimension door are useless here. Invisibility is an alternative if you have to back out and heal."

Jarron looked over, "You will have one more, I will go be a second arcane tank on the backside."

Eldar looked at Annette, "Get them turning on each other; if they do have them attack the Second. If someone is getting pounded, slam the attacker to the ground, throw their hands in the air, and surrender. Be creative but be quick.

Once the 7 or more are down we will need to keep anything from opening the other passage. Under no circumstances do you touch any enemy gear or go toward the Second's office. The primary force will be collecting that on the way back. Our job is to stay focused."

He looked to the Lady, "How much time to kill clear wards, and collect?"

She shook her head, "We hope only a few hours."

He nodded, "Jarron, can you get us, two healers? If we are going to be there that long I would like a couple. Sappers IF I said 'nice trick can you do it again?' Do you have the supplies?

That means moving almost 200 feet down, setting one set to drop 80 feet, set up another set at 100 feet to drop another 80 feet. The dwarves thought before their leader answered, "We can be by morning."

He looked at the Lady, "Dear Lady, we might need a reinforcement distraction. If we can get one of your guys who talk in a menacing hissing voice bark out, 'Stop trying to dig us out! I will deal with it when I am ready. The giants turned on us, kill the giants.' That would slow and sow chaos on the other side of that wall.

Crystals should be lighting up with requests for information to those of us inside. We should know which crystals to use. The Dwarves can easily tell an ogre and orc from a giant. Again, this is to buy you time to get everything. If it was a kill and get out then it would not be asked."

The lady thought about it, "We could do that, but why frame the giants? Wouldn't the others be more numerous?"

Eldar nodded, "We do not know how many or what type of giants he has. We know any fortifications we build will have to be 30-40 feet high and 10-20 feet thick. You get giants pounding on that in numbers the fortifications will not last as long.

Orc's we can splash with an area of effect spells and kill them by the hundreds. Ogres will be weakened just as much, Giants are the big guns; short of Dragon direct involvement which if he has allies, we cannot rule that out."

The Lady looked at Eldar, "If we cannot find the source quickly for what is stopping the teleportation. Then, I will have a couple of my team clear the office and deal with outside communication. They have an ear for voices as well."

She smiled at her last comment. He nodded back to her. He looked to the guys, "We will not collect gear or intelligence as part of an agreement with the dragons on them removing as much from the battlefield as possible.

We have let them know what pieces of intelligence we would search for and they will share that with us. Some of the treasure in that horde is stolen dragon property and we do not wish to piss off our dragon friends."

That got some nods and chuckles. Jarron commented back, "I can have 2 healers here and another 4 at the departure point.

We can start sending badly wounded back after the first fight if needed. Only those that are cleared will come through with us. If they succeed in your attempt to block access to the bodies by walling them in then it will give them needed time to destroy the other bodies and find the phylactery."

Eldar nodded, Jarron looked to the lady and she nodded.

Eldar turned to his guys, "Evening meal then get some rest. 9 hours after the evening meal to allow caster time to prepare and early enough to catch the enemy in their bunks?"

The lady nodded, "Your time frame is acceptable."

Eldar looked at Jarron, "Can you check on those scrolls and wands from your sources? Moon Bow has connections at the Academy."

Moon Bow nodded as did Jarron. Eldar looked to his troops, "Lieutenant Silver Bow, pull every healing potion we got from the caches we pulled. I will speak with the Queen about healing potions as well."

Jarron shook his head, "I will have that covered. Ten to a member. We have a Knights Cache I can get into."

Eldar chuckled, "Let me guess, House Silvertree?"

Jarron shook his head. "No reserves set aside by our allies, in this case, the Queen. I have a key."

Eldar nodded, "I am impressed, let me know when I can get a copy of that key."

Everyone chuckled even Jarron. He fired back, "When you have my job."

Eldar sighed, "There you go wanting me to apply for your job again. I told you I have enough going on already."

That got a few more giggles even the Lady and Jarron. Jarron just smiled at Eldar now knowing what was likely in store for him if they pulled this off. His approach to the stolen treasure would win some support as well.

Eldar looked at the Lieutenant, "Back to House Silvertree, you guys will be bunking out there for a while so please find a good room and food *Cough cough* father."

That got a few more laughs as Heliar nodded, "I have a whole wing open to them and what they will be doing."

Eldar nodded, "No staff in that wing and no family unless they are a Knight and in the know. If Captain New Moon shows tomorrow put him to work protecting that wing exterior, they will need rooms in another location for now. Ensure it has teleportation and scrying blockers throughout that wing."

He nodded. He pointed his troops to the door and they walked out together. He looked back to see Heliar talking with Jarron and his father chuckled. Eldar continued walking and headed to the Queen's Audience Chamber and knocked on the door, "Enter." Came from the other side.

Eldar opened the door to see the Queen with her red-faced handmaiden, "I apologize for the interruption. I just wanted to know if our evening meal planned for this evening to go over this afternoon's meeting was still on? If our quarters still worked for you? Also, if you wished to order the meals up, or shall we take care of that for you, Your Majesty?"

She nodded, "The meeting is still on in your quarters. My handmaiden will take care of getting the meals sent up."

Eldar nodded, "I will set up the privacy settings we discussed. I will leave the door open. The staff can bring it in because once the wards are in place no sound will escape the room, Your Majesty."

She nodded, "That will be fine we will pass that along to the staff. Thank you for checking."

Eldar bowed, "Yes, Your Majesty."

He turned and left her sitting there with a smile.

He walked to the ladies, "To our room, the Queen will take care of having dinner ordered. We have security measures to put into place and I will talk with the guards right outside the room and let them know of the measures to be safe."

They got to just outside the room and Jarron stood there, "I was just knocking. I will meet you in the foyer first thing in the morning in just over 8 hours. Can we step inside?"

Eldar opened the door and they walked inside. He looked at Eldar, "If everything goes well, you and your wives will not be coming straight back. We will be teleported out to another location after this mission. We could be gone for a few days."

Eldar shook his head, "I have family matters and House Silvertree business I must attend to after this mission. We are scheduled to meet in 4 days. They have tasks here to deal with the caches here in the city. That and we are carrying 4 extra Moon Blades at the moment.

I am not wanting to take those with us. If this is a required thing, then I will need to be teleported here and Lieutenant Silver Bow will need instructions to gather and store for now. Do not distribute until Charlemagne and Annette return.

We would have to be teleported back to two different locations. House Silvertree or a good place in the City and my home in the Elven Village so I can deal with family. Then I would have to come back for T'suras which I could teleport back for that. We would need our gear here stored in a secure location if we leave those blades behind."

Jarron nodded, "I can talk with the Queen about that."

Eldar shook his head, "She is joining us for the evening meal. I can address that with her if you like as she will be here in about an hour."

He looked surprised, "She is having dinner with the 3 of you?"

Eldar nodded, "She asked us to go over our impressions of today's meeting, and wanted to discuss some things concerning the Gods. What else is on her agenda I do not know."

Jarron nodded, "Alright, you better make sure you have some security set up."

Eldar nodded, "Wait here a second."

He walked out into the hall and spoke to a guard, "Could you come over in front of the door here and tell Jarron your name and rank. I wish to show him some security measures we have in place for a meeting with the Queen this evening."

The guard nodded. Eldar stepped to the side. The guard stepped in front of the door and Jarron motions for him to come in, "What did he ask you to do?"

The guard cleared his throat, "He asked me to step in front of the door and give you my name and rank."

Jarron nodded, "Alright you have taken measures already."

Eldar nodded and looked at the Guard, "Divination and teleportation are blocked in this room according to the Queen. The room is magically silenced to prevent anyone from overhearing the conversation the Queen wishes to have with us this evening.

Servers will be by shortly as the Queen is having the evening meal sent here. Just open the door and let them into the room as we will not hear any knocking. Once the Queen arrives, I will magically lock the door as well."

The guard nodded and walked away.

Eldar looked at Jarron, "Who might I ask, will provide the means for our travel?"

He smiled, "You have been referring to her as the Lady."

Eldar nodded, "Very well, I will let the Queen know we will be delayed upon our return. Is it safe to teleport into the Palace or is the front lawn better? I will have to come back by that means."

He sighed, "Front lawn, you will set off alarms if they are not expecting you in very specific and private locations."

Eldar nodded, "Front lawn it is. I will have to walk on the grass but I think that is an easier thing to forgive."

Jarron chuckled, "Why are you always making jokes?"

Eldar looked at him, "There are so many serious life and course-altering things that have been laid upon my shoulders. Sitting and crying about it will not help, I get relief with that and with my wives; our private lives. I have to find some humor somewhere; else I will forget why I am doing this for everyone else. That is why I laugh at myself as much as I do anyone else.

I do not want people worshiping me and feeling that I am this unapproachable being touched by Gods. I need to let them know this and keep myself grounded. I know that I am still the same smart-ass guy who walked into your office. That you drew your sword upon for reaching into my pack.

When you knew next to nothing about me and learned to respect me based on my observations and memory. Nothing takes the fun out of life like having tons of responsibility and no life to enjoy outside of that. I know you can appreciate that point."

Jarron stood and sighed, "I will see you all in the morning, we can talk later. I have some things to think about."

Eldar nodded. Jarron headed out the door. Jarron knew that aligned with what Heliar told him and what the Queen told him. He still wished he had been born into the circumstances to have married the Queen, as he had always and continued to love her.

Eldar pushed the door most of the way closed for the moment, "You have known Jarron longer, how do you think he took what I just told him?"

Charlemagne shrugged, "You just told him to get a life, lighten the fuck up, and have some fun. Just more tactfully for once. Same thing you told your father. The fact you want to make yourself seem more approachable. Something you did with the men by showing them that you can see him as approachable. Even when he does not want to be at all. You are challenging him to evaluate himself and his life."