Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 02 Pt. 02

The Queen looked at Brannar, "How so?"

He smiled, "This was her task we completed so she owed me. I told her if Jarron can go 40 years between getting laid. He has gone centuries before getting married. She could deal with a 4-year pregnancy if it happened. She will start looking for a husband now instead of waiting, Your Majesty."

The Queen laughed, "Your father would say you struck two birds with one arrow!"

Jarron just groaned, Brannar looked at him, "Look how much time we saved by having the documents ready for you."

The Queen laughed and Jarron shook his head. He finally cracked a smile and laughed.

He looked at Brannar, "I guess I owe you for kicking me in the ass."

Brannar looked over at Cerissa. "Your job as a consort is over. However, your job to keep his grumpy ass happy has just begun. Congratulations!"

She smiled at him when the Queen spoke, "Does she know?"

Brannar looked at the Queen, "Jarron failed to kick her out of the house before I briefed the two teams who arrived this morning. None of the gory details but she knows what we are after and why."

Jarron looked at him, "You could have asked her to leave."

Brannar looked back, "I knew she was your wife. I was not about to go ordering her about."

The Queen laughed. He looked at the Queen, "With as many troops moving in and out she is bound to overhear and see things she does not want to know. You cannot pull a thousand plus troops thru a small house. Let alone an embassy that she lives in and kick her out at all hours, Your Majesty."

She sighed and nodded, "Try to keep what she knows to a minimum."

He nodded, "We did not go into gory details, just enough to scare the shit out of them. Make sure our very survival depended on the success of this mission, Your Majesty."

Jarron looked at Brannar, "You also went into his own personal reasons as to why this Lich has to be destroyed. Including gory details like being 'cut from your mother's corpse.'"

Brannar nodded to him, "To let them know just how vested I am in this mission on so many levels. When I get intense, they will know why."

Jarron nodded, "Alright you have every reason covered for wanting this Lich destroyed."

Brannar looked at him, "Did my talk in the field help you at all?"

He looked at Brannar, "Yes. Thank you."

He smiled, "There were a lot of people waiting for this moment. Now you just have to keep cranking out heirs to be your replacements. Then you will know you can leave the field."

The Queen chuckled at his comparison of Jarron's family to the Silvertree family.

Octa 11th 7017

Brannar went through the motions with the Dwarven King and Human Queen of Grand Falls over the evidence they had found. The great detail the records went into. They did not secure the room for this briefing as they wanted the Council of Nine to know how infuriated they were at this betrayal. They broke for the day and agreed to a private meeting to discuss what level of a response they wanted to have when they met with the Dragons on the 13th of Octa 7017.

Octa 12th 7017

They held a private meeting in the Queen's Chamber but left teleportation open so they could move to the real meeting location. The secure Embassy had the local Warlord visiting with the new Ambassador. He might not last long as he refused to learn the new languages. His saving grace at the moment was the known language spell. He was not a part of the meeting and was confined to his quarters.

Both Queens and the Dwarven King were brought in to a meeting with the local Warlord. Teleportation was opened again with a delegation of Metallic Dragons bringing the draft version of the Alliance with non-aggression pact with allied kingdoms. Final items were hammered out and the human scribes brought in completed the document. Fourteen hours later with the heads of each Metallic line signing the document, The Alliance of Old was reborn.

The Knights would no longer run under the control of dragons. They were now in the business of sharing intelligence and would work to remove the threat the Lich posed. The language was added to include the reactivation of the forge and 132 dragons had volunteered for this mission. Most were young adults and two to three would go out with every ship until they were ready to bring the force to bear.

The two Queens and King were returned to the conference room in the Palace and emerged several hours later than expected but seemed resolved in the results of the meeting.

Octa 13th 7017

The day of the dissolution of the Dragon's Control over the Knights. Brannar lived up to his word. He ripped into Lord Regal and every now and then Lady Silver Hair and any other dragon Council member present for their failures. He went into the extinction of the Deep-Sea Elves, the slavery, piracy, and consuming of their races.

The issue with the Lich that nobody could seem to locate even though they could track magical use. They did not know where to look, they could not or would not point them in any direction. When the term, 'it is Dragon Business' finally rolled onto the floor. Brannar yelled, "STOP!"

The Queen called for a resolution to terminate the Council of Nine involvement into the Knights. The allies would go it alone rather than continue with these lies. The Alliance with the Metallic Dragons went into effect based on the agreement from the previous day's meeting. Communication crystals for all Knight Senior leadership and the other Kingdoms Kings and Queen were in place.

Octa 15th 7017

Received the first two ships with 2 more coming out of another shipyard in the next province in 3 days. Come to find out the Warlord had gone the extra distance and had 5 others being built in neighboring provinces. They hoped to have 9 ships in place by the end of the month. The long wait would be on the last three ships they have paid for thus far. They're not due to be completed until the first week of Deca 7017. Started maneuvers to get the crew and as many Knights used to Sea travel.

All command level officers and diplomatic communication was routed through new crystals. Old ones in the field were destroyed or upgraded as replacements were received.

Brannar and Silver continued to spend every night together in each other's arms. They never played with the toys given to them, Silver did not like the idea, other than the cock ring games they did. They did try a lot of the positions in that little red book.

Octa 18th 7017

They had 4 ships with 20 forward deployed dragons who had a commanding officer who reports to Brannar. At least for this mission. Intel came in from the dragons that the Council of Nine was frustrated by the new crystals' ability to block their access.

Octa 30th 7017

They were on maneuvers and encountered and sank three pirate ships with no issues. They used the casters into the crow's nest method to complete targeting of magazines of human explosives on those ships. A cheap imitation of dwarven explosives that could be handled by just about everyone, until it would sweat in the heat.

That sent them plummeting to the bottom. Two half-dragon prisoners were captured. They were taken to a secure room in the Silvertree Keep in Quatarsia. Using his brother's psionic abilities on the prisoners they determined that we were dealing with an organized effort by the chromatics to use the Sahuagin as shock troops to keep ships away from the island.

---

Vexxor started monitoring on and off as the reported loss of the ships that occurred. Unknown to the new alliance, using an elf and dwarf in hand and on the verge of death they had successfully created another red Draco-lich. He had departed the area almost immediately with 3 necromancers who were enthralled to him.

Vexxor had shown he could succeed again. Vexxor believed the elves did not know where he was located, the sahuagin could deal with anything getting close to the island, and they had no chance of breaching the island defenses regardless. Vexxor was still unimpressed.

---

Nova 3rd 7017

An exploratory incursion into Sahuagin waters was underway. Only 4 dragons on board this trip as they were rotating dragons around to avoid any long-term missing assets. The dwarven sappers had rigged explosives on timers. They were rigged that if the casing was opened underwater it would set off the explosives.

They were hours or a day away from the expected assault point. That was when two blue dragons emerged out of the water. The displacement sent the ships scattering like apples in a barrel of water. Brannar ordered all the arcane casters to watch the friendly fire. The four Silvers jumped into the battle from their ships. The fact they were battling dragons was suddenly known to all the crews.

He ordered all deckhands to start to throw launches overboard. The sahuagin attacked in force. The wards cause significant damage to them but some still make it on deck. Arcanes were forced to refocus on repelling boarders. Brannar had taken to trying to direct ship movements but with all the chaos they were not moving.

Commodore Silver Moon had been asleep on the ship as this battle started. She was delayed in getting out of her quarters. Captain Sutter went to look for her when he saw her emerge banged up and bleeding from being tossed around her quarters. She was halfway through the door when a mass of three small dragons crashed onto the stern section of the ship.

They crushed the Captain's Quarters into nothing; killing the smaller blue dragon. Silver Moon was pinned and killed with a broken back. The rest of the ship broke in half. Men jumped off the ship. Captain Sutter went after Silver Moon to pull her from the sinking section of the ship. He downed a flying potion but was unable to move her.

Brannar teleported next to him and did a teleportation circle. He dropped the two of them onto his ship. Silver Moon never got her sword from the scabbard. The blade was not lost. One of the earrings was gone to the sea. The ship Silverbar had been the first casualty of a lightning breath weapon hitting the explosives on the center port and starboard sides of the ship.

This caused a massive explosion that cracked the hull of the Silverbar breaking its back and sending it down quickly. The two silvers that went into the water appear to be badly injured and managed to polymorph back into human form and board a floating launch with four other men.

The large blue shook the Silver off of his back and had the other silver in a piercing grip as it breathed lightning through the center of the dragon's chest. Killing the silver. Brannar flew around behind the blue and shot a ray of disintegration that was heightened and empowered and punched a hole between the dragon's wings that destroyed the spine and half of its black heart.

It created a massive splash and the Sahuagin broke off the attack and swam almost straight down. Brannar called out to the sappers, "To hell with the timers, set them to go off when they hit bottom and launch them all!"

The battle was all but over and he ordered immediate rescue efforts and damage assessments. He got to his ship and grabbed his pearl, "Lady Silver Hair! I need you here ten minutes ago with assistance."

She arrives in seconds with eight other dragons in human form. He called out, "These are allies, first officers start the briefing."

He looked at her, "We have two blue and one Silver in the water dead. Wait another thirty seconds because the sappers just dropped explosives. Two silver are injured and incoming in that launch. The fourth landed on the far ship after changing back."

About that time the rolling of water from the explosions kicked off. The dragons went in and collected the dragon bodies and took them somewhere. Lady Silver Hair looked at the body of Silver Moon at his feet. Brannar looked at her, "Crushed when dragons fell on her ship. One blue and the two injured Silver fell onto the ship.

They took out the younger blue one. I blew a hole in the bigger one when the fourth got thrown off and into the water. It had taken a lot of damage already from our casters. The bigger one killed the Silver before I could get in range and position. We lost two ships from the attack. We are working on rescues now and will have numbers soon."

Brannar found two extra sappers on one of the boats. From The now destroyed Guardian. A caster grabbed them and teleported them to safety. Within minutes of them getting their people in line hundreds of Sahuagin bodies started floating to the surface. The water was black with blood. Brannar called for a meeting of all the Captains to get numbers. They lost 207 in the attack including the one silver dragon dead or those presumed dead as they had no corpses.

The enemy lost 802 counting the 2 blue dragons; best estimate. Brannar contacted the Queen, "I need an Honor Guard to be present in the conference room of the Palace in two minutes. I will be coming in with an update, Your Majesty."

---

Vexxor got a very short message from the sahuagin leader, "Lord of Bone. The alliance between us is over. We lost an entire city in the attack. Explosives were dropped on the area and killed over 2,000 of my people. You're not paying us enough to continue to support you."

The crystal broke in Vexxor's hand.

He went and scryed over the ships as the dragons had reported their position moments before but he was in his lab and not in his quarters on the third floor at the time with his scrying device, it took time for him to get there. He saw the bodies in the water, no signs of dragons, and the dwarves aboard the ships confirmed the use of explosives. Dwarves and elves he could use for further experiments. He listened in for a few minutes.

He left Captain Silvertree in charge, "Take the ships back toward port but anchor away and do not enter the port. No launches are to be used and nobody is to leave the ships."

He loaned her his crystal to Silver Hair who was still with him. He looked at her, "I will need you to contact the Captain to teleport us back here before you depart again. We need to know where this leaves us."

He contacted Lord Regal and let him know "I wish we could confer again." Code for we need you in the conference room as soon as possible.

They teleported with Captain Sutter who has broken down! Silver was coordinating damage control when they left. Turned out Silver Moon was not as infertile as she thought. They were expecting a child together. They had kept it secret from everyone. The man was devastated, inconsolable, and Brannar knew he just lost another officer.

---

Once this young Silvertree teleported away with orders for those ships to return to port he went back to his lab for now, "The fucking elf is getting lucky. Where did those dragons run off to?" He was unable to contact them as the crystals they had were destroyed. He hissed, "Fucking cowards." He went back to work in his arrogance and ignorance of what the Alliance was doing at the moment.

---

The Queen contacted Jarron who arrived seconds before they did. They brought Silver Moon's broken body straight into the conference room. He took her weapon belt and handed it to the Queen and gave her the loss from the day's encounter. The Queen sent for her son who came in and saw the broken body of Silver Moon laying on the floor with Sutter crying over her.

Queen Goldeagle sat in a chair in shock at the numbers involved in a single battle. Lord Regal arrived and Lady Silver Hair did her mind thing to communicate the events as she knew them. Brannar stepped away and pulled the crystal for his Sister, "I need to talk."

She knew that tone, "What is wrong?"

He sighed, "I believe you hold the will for Silver Moon. Father's records."

He heard, "Oh shit."

He took a breath, "Her body and sword were recovered. The Queen has been given the sword and all of the eligible children of hers are in the village or town. You need to round them up to see if they know who she thought would wield the blade next. Also, if they are ready to claim the blade. It could be in her will. Along with burial instructions. As the holder of that will, it falls to you to handle."

She groaned, "I know. How bad was it?"

He sighed, "Two ships destroyed over 200 dead, over 800 enemies dead. The enemy dead is an estimate as we do not know how many bodies got consumed or stuck on the way up to the surface. I just found out she was pregnant as well. Her partner in this is at a total loss right now. I do not think he will be back in the field. I am turning him over to Jarron to assess after her funeral."

Zaria made a noise, "Father saved her from dying in that ocean years ago and losing her family blade. Now she dies but her blade is saved."

Brannar sighed, "I grabbed her and teleported her out with the Captain. I would not use the word 'saved' with the number of losses we incurred. 'Recovered' is the word. I got to get back."

He walked back over, "We had 10 ships, we now have 8 and they are over capacity with the crew we saved. The eleventh is still being enchanted and the twelfth is still in the construction phase.

We have two options. Return to port and risk the facts getting released too soon or we move forward and bring in the dragons now on the 8 overloaded ships." He looked at the Queen. "Your orders, Your Majesty?"

The Queen looked at him, "I need to know if your men are ready to proceed now. I will take care of Silver Moon."

He nodded, "My father held her will, my sister now has it and is gathering her family to find out if there are any special instructions. Once that is determined her house Patron might want to be contacted. I know they were not on the best of terms, Your Majesty."

She nodded, "Thank you."

He looked at her, "I need you to contact the Dwarven King let him know we lost two sappers in an explosion during this attack. Two others were rescued by our casters. We need to resupply them with explosives because I just had them create a new crater at the bottom of the Deep Sea. It sent a message!

I hope it has broken that alliance. I want some of Lady Silver Hairs soldiers to get those supplies and meet up in two hours. Once they are on board I will move forward with fewer ships and a month earlier just to disrupt. Lady Silver Hair, can you have your people in place by then? With the artifact?"

She nodded. He looked at the Queen. "We will remain off communication until we have a status of our effort after the attack, Your Majesty."

She nodded. He looked to Lady Silver Hair who contacted the Captain and teleported them to the ship.

He looked around and they had not moved. "Why are you still sitting here?"

Captain Two-Stroke looked at Brannar, "The men wish to speak with you."

He saw all the ships were tied together at the moment so they could walk from ship-to-ship.

He moved to the middle, "What is the big question?"

One man raised his hand. "Why are we going back?"

He glared, "We are not going back. You have all been briefed. Lady Silver Hair is getting her assault team.

They are picking up more supplies for our sappers. Just in case the sahuagin wish to feed more of their own to the sharks. Start making repairs. I want the Captains in my office now!"

He headed into his office and Silver was on his heels, "I need you to do something that you are not going to like."

She looked at him, "What?"

He looked around the room and pulled out the map for the island. "Our plan changes. We have eight ships and we take them all to the far side of the island. We send one launch out. Mine. You are in charge of the fleet. This means you will not be with this landing party. I lost Silver Moon and Sutter is gone in the head right now. Silver Moon was pregnant."

She looked at Brannar, "This is about me being pregnant?"

He shook his head, "If that were the case, I would take you back to the village and off this ocean. It is about you being the next most senior Captain that I trust to handle the troops. Most of the other Captains are casters. The first officers will be taking over. I expected Sutter to fill that role as a fighter. That is not going to happen. You have to lead the ships."