Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 26

She nodded and they ran down the corridor until he got to the sapper who waited on the battle. He tapped him on the shoulder, "200 feet down the spiral corridor. Look for a small bird carving. The item blocking teleportation is buried above that image. Something tells me you can get to it when the lady wants it down. We will head back and hold the intersection."

Eldar signaled a wait as he looked around the corner at the battle. He saw the dragons battling it out in a dog pile melee combat. "I will send one of the clerics to you just in case he is needed."

The dwarf laughs, "They are both women."

Eldar nodded, "I stand corrected."

Eldar, "This is Eldar. The Sappers have the location of the teleportation device and we captured his son."

He saw the Draco-lich turn his head toward him and glared. 'The Elven champion comes to me to DIE!' Lord Barrimus lunged away from the pack and toward Eldar. Eldar signaled everyone back as Lord Barimus breathed fire on Eldar and the other dragons brought him to ground and busted up that body.

He looked at the shocked dragons, "Sword, I am immune to fire. I will let you know when the sapper has it dug out of the wall so you can collect the device when ready. We have a cleric coming. If you are in need of healing, walk slowly. Let me know if you need anything else besides the present, we have for you."

They took off down the corridor and there were 6 of them. The other 18 must have worked down the spire. One stopped and nodded at Eldar before continuing forward at a much slower pace.

Eldar headed back and looked at the sapper, "The first body is down. Go to the teleporter site and hold until they give you direction. The location might be warded. Ensure they have a cleric healing up the trailing dragon. I am heading back up to see if anything else showed."

He hurried back to the group with Annette. He returned to the intersection and looked at the group, "Need a cleric to head down that way and meet up with the sapper and dragons. Hurry, one is badly injured. Annette's powers are a Knights secret. Very few in the order know so it is not to be discussed. They got us into the assassins' heads, the cache locations, names of other spies, she has a very strict code of conduct and she has my love and support.

My sword makes me immune to mind control so I would know. She only uses it when we make very specific requests for her services. Like having him strip off all his protection."

This got a few chuckles. Moon Blade looked at Eldar, "Personally I like that kind of surprise, saved a lot of damage and got us a prisoner."

Eldar nodded, "The Dragon's first body is down. We have our prisoner. I am going to head back to the sapper who is waiting on the teleportation device removal. The prisoner will get questioned further, but not by us. He is a half-dragon and falls under their rules."

He went down the corridor to the sapper. He saw the lady walking up the corridor rapidly, "Two more will be here in a second you found the device?"

He nodded, "With Annette's abilities we know it is buried in the wall right here. We were awaiting your arrival in case it is warded. The half-dragon stripped himself naked and laid on the ground for us thanks to her. I wish she would have left his underclothes on but he is naked. Now I feel a bit inferior."

She laughed at him as they walked back to the main group and her 'wrapped present.'

Lady Silver Hair smiled, "Great work. Hold here we will clear the office. They have him contained as they destroy the other bodies. This will give us time to locate the phylactery."

Eldar looked at their prisoner, "We already asked about the phylactery, he does not know. You might want one of your sappers with you as we have not checked that tunnel for any traps or wards."

She nodded, "Not information a red would share with an offspring. We have ways to locate it. The horde is massive. Has to be half of what was stolen, at least in coins. You were right, most of the gear is gone except for some dangerous relics. We will find out how much is in the hands of the enemy troops."

Eldar nodded, "I am betting that was a Giant Chieftain that got buried setting off those traps."

She nodded, "Your perception paid off. Good work on capturing this one and getting the teleport blocker location."

He looked at Annette, "The team blasted him and she brought him to ground. The manacles are mine. They help with spies and sometimes in the bedroom."

That got a few loud laughs. The ladies just sighed at him and nodded. "Sometimes they like to tie me up." That got a few more laughs. Two more of their casters and one of the sappers headed up the hill.

He looked at Lady Silver Hair, "Did they give you the crystal? The only thing that has been touched. He stripped himself while trapped between two walls of force. All of his gear is on the ground there for when you wish to collect it up. Including his underclothes."

They heard an explosion from below and the lady looked, "Yes, one of ours has the crystal. It shattered when the other was destroyed in the main fight. They just got access to the teleporter device. Things are transferring very rapidly now. Send your strike team back. Our men can teleport out vast amounts of the horde now."

He looked at the group and Jarron just smiled at Eldar, "One caster per group, groups of nine no discussion of this mission until the debrief in about a week. Great work everyone. Any mission where we all walk away is a good mission."

A cleric healed him up and stayed with the sappers. The Lady nodded, "Your interruption of the battle below actually helped. You drew the aggravation of the Draco-lich once he heard your name. He wanted you dead IMMEDIATELY for what you have been doing. That allowed the other five to finish him off. The one who nodded to you, you saved his life as he had the focus before that."

Eldar nodded, "Not intentional, but I am glad it helped. I knew I was immune to any stray fire and with as many, as you brought, I was not too concerned with him getting a bony claw on me."

That got a chuckle as the others started to group together and teleport away. The other sapper arrived and one tosses the lady the suppression device that has been deactivated.

She looked at it, "An artifact from a long-dead race. One of their greatest creations was their downfall as they could not escape or get to the device to turn it off."

She looks at Eldar. "Legend Lore spell when we found it several millennia ago."

Eldar nodded, "Seems to have worked twice in that role."

She smiled and Jarron puts his arm on Eldar's shoulder, "I told her you were ready for this. Your father was worried but he agreed as well."

Lady Silver Hair looks at them, "Grab hands."

As she grabs the prisoner. Eldar stopped and asked her, "Where are we going, for what reason, and how long?"

She looked at him, "I cannot tell you the first 2 but the last is at least several days."

Eldar shook his head. "This is going to cause a retaliation strike. I cannot spend several days locked away while my men are being attacked. We took out more of their leadership than planned. Take Jarron and your prisoner.

I am going back to the city, pulling New Moon and his men back to our town in a forced ride, then out to the front to head off the incoming strike. Unless you plan on setting a couple of dragons in the valley shaking their heads to turn back."

She chuckled, "Very well, we will want to see you in a week, at the debrief."

He looked at her, "I can do that." He added a warning. "Be ready to answer hard questions. Especially you Jarron. I want to know what to do to replace the men you are taking now that you have me cut off from recruiting in the other two locations.

You need to find a creative solution fast because this fight will cause a loss of a lot of lives the longer it continues. We may not have lost troops here, but out there is another matter. I will have a chip on my shoulder for every death I have to deal with if I am not getting your support."

Jarron nodded and then the 3 of them were gone.

She sighed, "I wanted him to head back with us. We will have to delay the reveal on the prisoner for a few days. We will take him to your Knights facility for now. I have the sentry wards being put into place in the main chamber and the body chamber. The Sappers will get a chance to use those explosives as I want the tunnels here buried, starting with this intersection."

The dwarves looked around and got everything set and she gave them a nod they lit the fuses She sent them back to dwarven lands.

Jarron nodded and the Silver Queen took the prisoner and Jaron to his facility and got him caged and strapped to a chair for now.

Jarron shook his head, "You just got your ass handed to you by our Knight Champion. Rest well knowing that."

He closed the door and Graxxor was hurt, angry, and now very scared as every dragon would want him dead. His mother would be freed from her cage with his father's death.

---

Vexxor was in the pretentious human court. His plan of action would arrive soon enough. The court was only half full today. He was awaiting the upcoming gathering. Then he felt the sudden drain on his constitution. He crumpled for a moment and the King looked at him, "Vexxor, Are you alright?"

Vexxor nodded, "I suddenly do not feel so well, Your Majesty. I believe I will retire to my quarters. This might have me out of commission for a day or two. Likely a stomach bug, Your Majesty."

King Thornland nodded to him, "You are excused from court. Get to feeling better."

The King smiled inside. Without the wizard watching over him he might get some protection activities done. The wizard left the court and the King retired to his room, "Archmage Fellow, I could use your assistance with some projects. I want additional security in the Palace and Vexxor has come down with a bug and is sick in bed.

I want additional teleportation blocking runes setup in my quarters, my daughter's quarters, and the Royal vault immediately. Add one to stop extradimensional spaces from being opened within the vault. Anything stored in a bag or a portable hole would have to be done away from the vault. We have an anti-magic field outside the vault already.

Vexxor probably has a teleportation block in the vault but I want dual security as we have some dangerous relics in our vault. I want to add additional protection from theft. Can you handle this today?"

He heard back, "As long as Vexxor does not interfere we can get this done. I have a few enchanters to aid in this task. He gets temperamental about other mages being in the palace, except for the elven ambassador he fucks around with. We will work quickly if he is sick. We will try to be in and out before he feels well enough to give us a hard time in interfering with his affairs. Anything else?"

The King sighed. He did not want to give too much away. "I want an item crafted for me. A ring of spell turning. Consider it commissioned work. I could get one from the elves quicker but I preferred they did not know I had one. Can that be done?"

He sighed, "Your Majesty, that will take quite a bit longer. At least a month, and it will not stop them all. But we can get started on that for you immediately." He ended the communication.

He looked at his schedule. He set his daughter to not be in court for the foreseeable future. Having her work with tutors on treaties and studying the elven language. He found Dwarven to be barbaric and he had mages for that and a ring that let him listen in when they thought he did not understand.

Draconic was beyond him and she did not know of the Dragons' role in the greater world. Not yet. He did keep her informed of his decisions, including the cross-border treaty. She was particularly interested in how parts from 3 treaties applied to the group who did it.

She had smiled at her father, 'That was a very smart elf.' He had told her, 'Yes, and I was pleased to see it get used in my lifetime. I hope it continues for generations. There are interesting things in those treaties you find so boring.' She had laughed at that.

She had smiled and nodded at him at the time as she realized what that elf, Eldar Silvertree, had accomplished with them and he was not even royalty.

Now King Thornlord had this threat Eldar had uncovered from within his own court. 'If only the dragons could remove this archmage.' Magic scared him a lot and this traitor had him on edge but he had to keep up a facade until they were ready to take him down.

Jarron had worked the framework of a plan to aid him, but it was days out as he had to pull resources that were geographically separated and some were on important missions. They had to all be human and that constrained which assets he could bring forth. This Knight's training facility would help in the future Jarron had told him. He thought back to his daughter again and smiled, 'She will be a great ruler one day.'

He called in his Captain of the Guard, "Archmage Fellow will be in to set up some additional protection today that I requested. I want them escorted and nobody is to interfere. I want orders given to the guards at the vault that only access is to be given for this activity. Once completed they require you, the treasurer, and a signed order from me to gain access to the vault."

The Guard Captain nodded, "I will take care of this personally, your Majesty."

The King sighed and set about work he had piling up.

---

Vexxor hurt all over and took to his bed after warding his chamber, "If someone killed his Draco-lich pet then they had to be very powerful. A dragon strike force most likely. He was in no shape to face that at the moment to check. Investigating was out of the question for now. Plus, that damned teleportation blocker that also blocked out scrying.

He could go and check on it a couple of days if he managed to regain his strength, but then he would have to deal with any of the horde guarding the entrance...was it worth it? Likely not. That soul bind had consequences that would have been negated by being a lich. Now he had to face them as he worked to recover his strength. Sleep overtook him as he worked to put the pieces together. Something was missing.

---

The Silver Queen walked into the chambers of the Council of Nine and took her seat. Everyone was assembled. She looked over, "I have something to report. The blocking of teleportation and communications over elven lands was temporary as we suspected. It appears the teleportation and scrying blocking in Ok'nar has also self-corrected. We have not had a chance to investigate the area and as it is in your area we did not know if you knew it had been resolved or how?"

The Red dragon looked over puzzled, "I have not been monitoring it that closely as it had been present for a long while. If it is down then we will investigate the issue."

The Gold King looked over, "No. Risk of exposure to our forms there. We will work through scrying to see if anything can be found out. Dragon activity in that area is still barred until we figure out what caused the disturbance. It could reemerge and we don't want any of our kind being trapped there."

The Silver Queen raised a hand, "I second that motion." The vote went 7 to 2 as the Blue member of the Council voted against exposure. The red and black were the only two who voted to investigate by other means. The Gold King looked over, "Scrying will begin tomorrow morning to monitor the area."

They adjourned the meeting.

The red left in a hurry. She had a 12 man strike force on standby if he teleported into the area. She looked at the Gold King in his secure quarters, "We conducted a successful raid there, more than successful. Eldar Silvertree proved most impressive in the conflict as a team of his aided in support of our efforts. He is, as I have confirmed, a champion to Corellon.

His holy symbol is buried in his chest as his wives gave him a major amulet of health and it has regenerative effect as it merged. Based on the description I believe it was a draconic version. We have not seen an Elven Champion in millennia but he is a true champion, and Knight because he joined us before he was revealed. We are the victims of our own success as most of the leadership of the horde was killed.

This deception on the Ok'nar area, for example, was where he was located. The Draco-lich and father of our red council representative. Eldar foresaw a reprisal strike and would not allow his men to face it without him. We are delayed.

If he breaks the council's ruling, we can hold him for doing so as we have sentry spells in place in the main chamber and body chambers. The sappers we took, at Eldar's insistence, were able to shut down four more sections of the tunnels leading down. The horde in the area could not get there before we started monitoring in the morning, officially."

The Gold King looked at her, "We had a Draco-lich and you did not inform the council?"

She sighed, "We know at least two of the chromatics who voted on exposure, likely all three but the other is older and wiser. He does not want to be caught in that area. His name along with 47 other chromatics had been listed in the journals captured from the son Graxxor, who is being held by Jarron at his facility.

He is a half-dragon and half-brother to our red council member. They are both neck-deep in this fiasco. The other news is not as good, but good overall. We found the culprits behind the theft. The gear is spread out across the realm. The funds we will be able to recover the lion's share. Over 400 Billion of it as we know where those are located.

This was an agreement hammered out in how to balance the playing field while getting back what we could with the least amount of exposure. As the Horde has over half the gear taken, we cannot pull it from those 3 allies who will end up facing that horde.

We recovered most of the relics, the other gear would have to remain else give one side or the other an unfair advantage. Eldar claims to not be a diplomat but he came up with the framework that we could use before we launched the attack mission within seconds, again he is the champion of a god. This information was brought about by spies he captured including one who helped in the transformation of Lord Barimus into his undead form.

We only have to wait a week to get him before the council. I think you will find him an interesting elf to deal with. His courtly etiquette is bizarre and some find it funny. I found it humorous though he is not likely to know I am royalty, not that he would care. He likes to keep it straight and avoid the typical games associated with royal courts. The game if you will.

I will move to bring him and his wives in as members of the Order of Dragons. They help to inspire him, Charlie Silvertree formerly Silver has been with us for over 20 years. She is a part of this training facility activity that will help to regrow the Knights. His other wife is a new non-blade intelligence asset. I will discuss her before the council as her help has been tremendous and there should be a couple of surprises, even for you. She will help to get the other two approved. I can just about guarantee that."

Her crystal went off and she listened to the message in her head, "My assault force captured the red and reset the sentry spells. He was outnumbered 12 to 1 and some were older than he was. He surrendered without a fight. We have him on violating the council's order and when Eldar arrives, we will have him on a whole lot more with the report I will finish writing up for the meeting."

The Gold King sighed, "You played that fool of a Red into being detained to buy this Eldar Silvertree time to get back."

She nodded, "He is Heliar Silvertree's son from Elara Strong Oak. A double legacy and a good candidate for a regional general with what they are about to face in the next 50 years if I had to guess. On top of this training facility, they are building."