Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 03 Pt. 01

He nodded and rode out. Goldeagle looked at him, "Where are you going?"

Travious looked over, "Where I need to be."

He rode out. "Shi'Drakon Biatus Evanill Aisiaon."

---

Frogtusk scried over the valley. He started at the fort but they blocked scrying on him twice and decided to watch for their entry into the valley. He wanted to see this champion dead. He smiled when he saw him riding into the valley alone.

---

Travious got past the destroyed horse traps in two leaps. He thought, "Karti'Ros right hand Moon Fire on" He saw the hill and rode like the wind to the top. He saw his guys teleport in a thousand feet up as he crested the top of the hill, "Shi'Drakon Brise Shint (Rise up and scream)!"

Shi'Drakon rears up and got the enemy's attention. Seconds later the barrels hit the group. They exploded out sending dust and debris everywhere. Fireballs and chain-lightnings went flying into the group from the forces that teleported in on the outer edges.

He saw a group of orcs break for one of the caster positions. He headed for it as they dropped three and teleported out before they arrived. He ran them down and swept his blade through those that were missed.

He made a hard right, "Shi'Drakon Biatus Evanill Aisiaon."

They were headed for a limping giant. He rode right in behind him as he advanced on the casters. He cut through his ankle tendon on his good leg. He kept riding toward a group of ogres who were headed for the observers. "Shi'Drakon KITA (KILL)!" He did a forward roll off the horse taking two ogres to the ground as he bowled them over. He sliced through the first one while the second smashed him twice on his back with a massive club into his left shoulder.

Travious went rolling forward. The ogre jumped up with a big club and Travious rolled under him on that left shoulder, sliced through his genitals as he went under. Travious jumped to his feet and stabbed him in his back. He drove his sword again and buried it in his back and left the sword behind. He rolled past him on that last strike again over that damaged shoulder and got back on his feet. He did a quick scan and he yelled UNTA he jumped on his horse.

He thought, "Karti'Ros right hand." He rode toward the observers and sheathed his sword, "Take us out of here!" They reappear and he lay on hands into Shi'Drakon.

Travious slid out of his saddle slowly battered bruised and bloody. He looked at a cleric, "I think my left shoulder is shattered, maybe the arm as well. Definitely a few broken ribs."

He got tapped on the hip, "That was fucking beautiful! Your father was a hell of a storm mage but you know how to really use that sword. I think you cut down 20 easy."

Travious shook his head, "Shi'Drakon ran over 8 of them or kicked their heads in. Like the ogre I had him pointed at when I went for the other two. You knew my father then?"

He nodded, "They call me Sparks, I worked on his flagship. I also planned the crater that used to be the hill for your Grandfather. I have been around. Your father would have loved to see you use that same maneuver on those orc and ogre shits that we used on the sahuagin."

Travious looked at him, "What happened to that giant I sliced through?"

He laughed, "It fell forward on his own sword. It went in at the neck and shot through the top of his skull. He was fucked up from the explosives but that shot on his good foot just sent him down like those barrels from the sky. Your grandfather was more fitness and magic, and brilliant at acrobatics. I see a lot of him in you. You are way stronger than him and more aggressive in your combat tactics."

He looked at Goldeagle, "Get assessment on what lived if anything. The dust should have cleared for a small patrol to check things out."

He nodded, "You look like hell."

Travious nodded, "Right where I needed to be."

---

Frogtusk screamed in rage. He heard from his god. "You're a fucking caster and did not even think they would use those circles again on your group. You are fucking pathetic for a champion. You will need a win. To keep your forces.

Let them clear the field of your shame. They will fear it being an undead army, which you have no assets to make that happen, yet. Then send another force against their allies as you cannot face this champion and live. You are too fucking weak. Break the alliance instead and then you will prove yourself a leader or one who should be killed by your own troops.

He still got off the ground, even with your weapons tearing into him because you are too scared to go onto the field of battle yourself. In the meantime, I will start figuring out who I might have to replace you with."

---

The cleric looked at Yola, "Cast up a new one I think he is done for the day."

Travious shook his head, "Hold it not yet. Goldeagle's office with our observers you two can help get me out of this armor. They got past that one guard who looked at him like he was mentally unstable. They headed upstairs to Goldeagle's office and he sat down with the observers and he looked at the other dwarf, "Did you work with my father?"

He shook his head, "I work to make sure our assets go to a good cause. That was fucking fantastic."

Travious smiled, "Thank the sappers and my father. They came up with the strategy, I just adopted it. My father saw them as THE solution because of what Eldar got them to do during the war. Your sappers earned a lot of glory under them."

The two dwarves chuckled and nodded at that.

He pulled out the crystals and locked the room and pulled out the orb, "Your Majesty, I am here with the observers. Did you wish to speak to them?"

The King responded, "Yes was it a good use of your assets?"

The two of them laughed.

Sparks spoke, "Guts and body parts flew for hundreds of feet. Looked like an explosive meat grinder. Then this guy comes in and takes out over 20 of them if you count what he had his horse do. The cleric is tending to some broken bones and a lot of blood."

The King responded, "You alright Champion?"

Travious smiled, "I have a couple of clerics here who would disagree with the word alright. They probably think I was crazy for riding out of the fort by myself.

I was where I needed to be. Anything that survived will remember a lone rider on top of a hill with a shield in one hand and flaming Moon Blade in the other. While Shi'Drakon was reared up and screaming to get their attention Then the massive explosions.

Commander Goldeagle went to do a body count and see if there was anything significant that survived. My guess was well over 90% destruction with one horse and one rider wounded, Your Majesty."

The crystal was quiet, "The dwarven King wants to know how much his explosives contributed."

Travious laughed, "Tell him at least 75% percent. We had casters prone on the ground who teleported in as the first barrels hit and fried anything on the outer edges. Uninjured and those wounded. Be sure to ask him how much help my request to have the explosives helped, Your Majesty."

The two dwarves laughed. He heard the King laugh and relayed the message.

Travious screamed out a bit as the cleric was none too gentle in setting the bones. He smiled, "What is your name?"

She looked at him, "Fressa." The King came back and he laughed, "King Fireaxe admits you have a point. He is willing to support our position on expanding the Gray Blades treaty and the support provided we can get the humans onboard."

Travious nodded, "I have a plan for that. As soon as the clerics tell me I can get back into my armor, Your Majesty. Just a moment I want to see if Goldeagle had made it back."

He undid the lock on the door. He was waiting. Travious waved him in and secured the room again, "He is here, Your Majesty. We are secure again."

The King called out, "How did it look, cousin?"

Goldeagle laughed, "Like a giant crater bowl of burnt body parts that was spilled all over the table. We saw maybe 300 orcs heading back into the mountains, a couple of ogres, but the rest was orcs. No ogre magi or giants survived from what I saw."

The King replied, "Was the size of the force around 10,000? The dwarven King is asking his observers."

The little dwarf looked at the orb, "This is Rumble Axe, Your Majesty. Please tell our King that the number was wrong. Based on my expert experience it was closer to 12,000."

The King was quiet for a moment and he laughed, "Your King said you would know.

He said something about you telling them how much ore would be collected. Based on the rock content and the amount of explosives used. You were never further than five pounds off."

Rumble Axe grumbled, "I still say someone walked off with four pounds of ore!"

They chuckled. The King came back on, "I want our Knight Paladin in my throne room in 5 minutes. Thank you for the report."

He stood and Fressa looked at him, "What are you doing?"

Travious looked at her, "Obeying the King's orders."

She looked at Travious, "We have not cleaned you up yet."

He took the crystals and turned them off, "He does not want me cleaned up."

He switched rings, "Armor on. OH, GODS THAT HURT!"

She looked at him and said sarcastically, "Maybe it has something to do with the shards of metal sticking into your back causing you to bleed."

He nodded, "That would do it."

He switched rings back and stood and picked up his shield and the dwarves stared at him. Travious looked at the ladies and pulled out the white crystal to his Aunt, "Yes! I am getting good sex right now."

He smiled, "I'm injured. I am headed to the Palace, at the direction of the King. Could you let my wives know please?"

She came back, "How bad are you hurt?"

Travious chuckled, "Blood, broken bones bruised walking on my own barely. That level of hurt. My armor is going to take a complete month to repair; if it is even possible. Right now, it is causing me to bleed all over Goldeagle's Quarters. Just pass the message. I will get to my horse."

He put the crystal away. The ladies followed him with a towel on his back and he got to his horse and they brought their horses around. He looked at General Goldeagle, "Get more teleporter locations in place." A guy walked over, "This came for you."

He opened the package.

He found the cloaks of protection. "Might not be as bad off if I had had this morning. He stored three and handed the package to Fangs, "Give these to my sister she will know what to do with them."

He stepped away and the ladies teleported them to the Palace. He never mounted up and they walked in when he heard Melia shout, "What in the nine hells happened to you?!"

He looked at her, "After. The King is waiting."

He walked into the building. The King was at his throne and his mother was off to the side.

She jumped to her feet. Travious walked out to the middle of the room, "Your Majesty, as you requested, I am here. I do apologize for bleeding all over your throne room."

He looked at Travious, "Can they not stop the bleeding?"

Travious smiled, "Your Majesty if I may. Rule 10 states I must always wear Elven Full Plate once Made a Knight Paladin. Rule 31 states I must strive to keep it in good repair. If I may show you? It requires me to turn my back toward you."

He nodded and Travious turned. He could see the indented scraps of metal pushing through his skin, "As I have just left the battlefield, I have not had a chance to have it repaired. In order to meet your 5-minute request, Your Majesty. When I summoned my armor back on it stabbed me in the process."

The King looked at him, "What put those holes into your armor?"

Travious looked at him, "My best guess was an Ogre Captain that was really pissed that we sent his friend's body parts scattering. In addition to the fact, I came off my horse taking him and a friend of his to the ground. I killed his friend but had to give my back to him to do it.

He smashed me at least twice in that shoulder. I used the forward moment to roll forward. Over that same shoulder to get some distance. I then rolled over it a second time as I rolled under him as he was in mid-leap. He leaped in the air to crush me with that club and I sliced him from the navel to the nether-hole. I got back to my feet and ran my blade through his back, Your Majesty."

The King looked at him, "Please remove it."

Travious smiled to the King, "That would be against the code. The code came from the gods. I would be remiss in honoring the code to do so. I considered it a test of faith to deal with this until I can handle the problem, Your Majesty."

He smiled while shaking his head, "Very well, please step forward and take a knee. He did as he asked. He draped a medal around his neck, "For tactical command that resulted in the loss of no elven lives. That led to the destruction of over 25,000 of our enemy. I award you the medal of valor and leadership.

I would award you a title but I know you would have to refuse it. I will do something for you to make your life more pleasant. I will have a new set of armor ready for you by morning. Your wife and the ladies tending to you are all invited to have dinner with me in private. No armor will be required, expected, or wanted."

Travious nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty."

He looked to his page, "Please take him and his team to guest quarters."

He looked at Travious, "Well done Knight Paladin."

Travious nodded, "The fight has just begun, Your Majesty. I look forward to getting back to the field to continue the endeavor."

He followed the page as the ladies worked to get a fresh towel onto his back. He had two under his arms and Melia looked at him, "What happened to your team having your back."

Travious sighed and smiled at her, "This was not their fault. I had to be on that field, on that hill alone. A vision. The 300 orcs saw a Knight on a black horse who was reared up on its back feet and screamed at the sky and their comrades were struck down by the hand of a god. That is what they saw. Melia, you need to stable our horses. Double-check I got all of the injuries off of Shi'Drakon. I put all of my lay-on-hands into him.

He was injured several times including the Ogre he took down. Before anyone tries healing me this time, they might want to get the pieces of metal, padding, and clothing out from under my skin first. The Queen Mother came rushing up the corridor with her lady in waiting, "I have my personal cleric coming to help."

She looked at the ladies, "That cloak is a new design."

He nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty. It is the symbol for our assault force the Shadow Riders. Now if this cloak had arrived the day before I would not be near as banged up."

The Queen Mother gasped as she saw the blood running down the back of his armor, "Why were you not wearing a house cloak of protection?"

Travious thought of how best to answer that question, "For centuries the Silvertree symbol was just that. It fell into a state of corruption. My grandfather came in and cleaned the house and the Double crescent was added.

It became a part of his coat of arms and heraldry for the Duchy. I could not associate myself with the corrupted version. I could not adopt one associated with a Duchy because I am not allowed to wear the heraldry of a Duchy when I am not allowed to accept the title. It did not represent me. The one on my armor was gifted to me by my trainer, my mother.

She did not have the knowledge of elven heraldry at the time to understand the significance. She was a Duchess before she was knighted. I was an heir before I was knighted. I could not establish my own until I was Knighted. I was busy training others for the last 30 years. Then I found Shi'Drakon when I was getting new horses and retiring my last one. The double crescent on the front and a full moon behind with the double crescents in the sky. That would be my upper left corner. Bottom right I should have Silent Falls as the background with a young Silvertree with lots of branches."

They got him into the room and undid the straps on his armor. With quite a bit of pain, they got the armor off. The blood has drenched his shirt and pants and dripping from the creases. They got his pants off and again the Queen mother gasps, "He is hard as a rock even with this blood loss."

Melia looked at her, "Your Majesty, His 'abilities' make it so he stays hard through a dozen climaxes before it will go soft. That was why the goddess insisted on this kind of arrangement. She did not want a repeat of what happened to his grandfather happening to him. When someone dies, he has to work to find a replacement for them, Immediately."

He was seated and naked. He looked at Gia and whispered, "There is still metal inside. You are going to have to find it."

She looked ashen and shouted, "I need lots of water and towels. We are going to make one hell of a mess in here."

Gia looked at him, "Where does it hurt the worst? Where should I start?"

He placed his hand over his heart and left pectoral muscle. She poured water into one of the gashes in his back and pokes around carefully and she found the metal she sat back up, "It is too deep and narrow for me to reach with two fingers. Feels like it is wedged between two pieces of bone."

He looked at his armor, "Your Majesty. Someone needs to contact General Goldeagle. He needs to return to the site of that ogre with a mage and detect magic. Tell him Boy Toy was there so he should know where that took place on the field. My only guess is that ogre was using a sundering weapon. We need to get that off of the battlefield or it could be him next time."

She rushed out of the room with her handmaiden in tow.

He sighed, "Melia, where she tapped and where I felt it was two different locations.

I think that metal is piercing my heart. The good news is the clerics healed me or I would be dead. The bad news, she healed me. It is the clerics healed around it which means if you pull it out it could tear my heart and kill me. You are going to have to teleport the object out and heal me immediately. This is at least a two-person task. Someone who can teleport an object."

Melia looked at him, "I can do it but only if I can see it."

Travious looked at her, "What about feeling it? She said it was deep. If you could put your finger on it, could you take it out?"

She looked at Gia, "You see something in my hand which I will hold it out here then you heal him with the strongest stuff you got."

She nodded. Melia gingerly slid her finger into the gaping wound. Her fingers went deeper as the wound angled away from his heart.

She looked over, "There are two pieces one goes into the bone of his shoulder."

He looked at her, "Try taking that one out first if you can do this more than once."

She sighed. A trapezoid piece of metal was in her hand. He nodded, "We now know you can do the other one."

She growled, "How did this get it in the bone?"

Travious chuckled, "Remember when I said the good news? That bone was shattered. She healed it up and the metal was still in there. Now focus on the task."

She squeezed his shoulder to stop her hand from shaking, he put his hand over hers. The piece of metal appears in her hand and Gia begins healing him. He used what healing spells he had as well. They had most of the bleeding stopped. Gia looked at Melia, "We need that healer to finish. I am out of all of my healing magic.

Travious nodded, "Same. I did not take any healing potions with me either, saving them for the men."

Melia went rushing out of the room putting the pieces of metal in his hand. The other cleric came into the room crying. He put his arm out and she came to him, "Melia said I almost killed you!"

He sighed, "Melia gave you the bad news portion of that talk. The good news was if you had not, I would have died. The bad was this."