Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 03 Pt. 02

They shook their heads. He looked at them, "I asked for units. Dismount and follow me. He walked them inside the home. Travious looked at them, "On paper, you are all part of my mercenary group and unaffiliated with the King. That is the truth of the matter. You are all now part of the Shadow Riders who are going after slavers in this part of the world. We are going to rain the hells on them, capture their warships, and sink the slave ships.

We will do this after releasing all of the slaves and returning them here for processing. Our other casters have a true seeing spell. If you have not gotten it in the last few days then you do not have it."

One of the men looked at him, "I have it memorized."

Travious called out "Cast it. Everyone, clear out of the lower area except for lieutenant Silverleaf. I want you to show them the ring you carry."

He pulled it out and he was a big black dragon. Fully in control and he roared. He then took the ring off.

He looked at them, "We have captured a lot of those rings. We may capture more. You will likely get assigned one at some point if you are an arcane caster. If you are close to death get it off and teleport home. Your body would be trapped and your spirit sucked into the ring.

I left behind some with drow and orcs in them. One's who died after killing a member of my town. I got some spirits released from a few of these rings. We know it is possible to do so but the Lady of Dreams will not do it until we are ready to destroy them all.

That will be after we are finished with the dragon wars which will return in less than 85 years. We are going after the slavers because of my code and directions from the Gods. They have our people, and they are using them to feed chromatic dragons.

We are taking down a province out here. We will do it with 2 ships and those of us in this room. I know one cleric wants to return but that will not happen for a while. I want you here to work with refugees and the remaining injured horses until they are all perfectly healthy."

He sighed and nodded. Travious looked at the group, "I will give the order to kill, some dragons using these rings are metallics attempting to stay hidden. We find any I will make contact as we have a treaty with them.

I am in contact with 2 dragon Queens who did not leave with the homeland. They did not make it back. One of them activated the Eternal Forge for us at the last war. She worked with my father. She will do it again as we recovered the forge and it will be installed in the dwarven lands for all of us to use."

They nodded their understanding. He looked at them, "Right now all the mares you rode in on are getting pumped full of seed by Shi'Drakon. My Stallion is the head of the herd. Your horses will communicate with you and they will fly. Shi'Drakon may change out your horse assignments and get you on stallions. We lost a lot of horses out here.

Memorize at least one feather fall. Silverleaf, find those that arrived that know polymorph and get any unassigned rings to them. Including these." As he set the rings from the recent attack on the table.

"Get your spell books out and get the new true seeing spell and keep it in memory. Silverleaf will explain how I assign kill order when and if the time comes. If I call for the release of the 'Reds' then those with reds rings will don them and engage the enemy. You will have to do it while jumping off the ship or your horse.

Remember your color. I ever call for all of them to be released, you know we have a problem."

They nodded and chuckled. Travious looked at them, "Once that is done find a room except for the big one at the end which is mine. Silverleaf can aid you in that as can Gia Silvertree my wife. One of them anyway. I have 3 at the moment but she is my personal healer. I am looking for a personal caster as well.

The lady I was pursuing to fill that role died when a green dragon struck here. That was why I called for the extra units. I cleared four of our navy ships out here and the others are feared lost by chromatic dragon attacks. I will need Silverleaf to organize a detail of four or five to go after supplies. Fruit, meat, vegetables, etc.

Bananas are a big one on the list because they will help those with seasickness. Here is a portable hole. If you have a bag of holding you know the rules. Stay out of it. Leave it behind. I need one man to be the only one who goes into the hole. Lieutenant Silverleaf, you are the holder of the improved invisibility rings for the moment. I will let you know when to distribute them."

He nodded. Travious looked around, "One last question. If anyone here has a title come to me with your paperwork."

He saw one man come forward. A gold elf. He looked at Travious, "My father is the General of Fort Ash."

Travious looked at his paperwork and he was a Goldeagle, "Good to know. You will head up one of my squads. I saw your commendations. That is what swayed me. Not your name. I nearly stole your father from the Gray Blades, I worked out a deal with my Aunt so she could keep him."

The others chuckled.

Travious went outside and surveyed the damage while everyone got ready. He pulled the crystal to the Countess, "You awake?"

He heard a chuckle, "This is lady Rachel. She has me monitoring her crystal communication while she grabs a few hours of sleep. Did you need something?"

He sighed, "Yes in about 3 hours I will contact this crystal and I need a couple of the dragons who did the forge work to come to my location near where the extraction point was located. I need them to search the crew and the ships for any dragon wards.

Including under them. We lost most of our fleet and I want to clear these 4 ships of any tracking or listening wards. I am wearing a non-detection item. Will that create a problem?"

She chuckled, "Only if we tried to send you explosives, she told us about that request. We all found it quite cleaver. You should hand it to another for us to locate you. Nice addition, given the circumstances. I will relay the request when you call back."

Travious smiled, "Thank you."

The planner came up with a piece of parchment. "Here are the numbers. Can I go back now?"

He pointed at the open portal. "When the Ambassador arrives and you explain all of this to him. Then he can arrange your transportation back. Not until!"

He sighed and stepped inside. Travious looked at him, "Go and grab some food and sit by the waterfall and relax. It is not Silent Falls but it is a nice homage. Past the dining room."

He nodded. Travious thought, "Finished fucking them all Shi'Drakon."

Shi'Drakon laughed, "Almost. Two more to go. Half of them are patrolling."

He thought, "Reallocate stallions to the new arrivals. Keep the mares back and those who will breed the next generation. Let them know to respond to Amy Silvertree's requests. I want to move most of them back to Quatarsia.'

He heard back, "I will work those once I finish fucking these mares." He heard him chuckling again.

He walked over to the academy and saw a guy at the desk, "The Magister's office please."

He took him up and she looked over with her glasses at him, "I see you are back after the carnage."

Travious looked at her, "I dealt with it in Quatarsia and we had 5 of them. Managed to kill 4 before they got the rings off. The other was a red dragon. I killed it from the inside out. Nothing like healing stomach acid. I took more damage than the last time I did one in the dwarven homeland. Saving their Paragon."

She nodded, "So you have been busy."

He nodded, "I will need you in about an hour to take a group of casters out to the forge extraction site. The ships are still in the area, what remains of our Navy. I need to get to them and get others to know the location."

She nodded, "Alright I can meet you in an hour and a half."

He nodded. "That is fair. Thank you. They brought your Patron in to be the ambassador here."

She nodded, "I will look for your horse. Mine survived thankfully. Your clerics helped. I was in that fight. It was brutal. Bree Storm got was landed on. I know she had been with you for a while. I will find my Grandfather later. Thank you for letting me know."

Travious nodded, "I was trying to get her to marry me. She kept holding me off."

She nodded. He was back out of the tower. He walked across the compound. The Ambassador and Jarron rode in. Travious looked at them, "Done already?"

They shook their heads, "We have a framework but he had to deal with a sudden military matter."

Travious nodded, "Not of my doing is it?"

Jarron sighed, "It might be. They did not ask for our or your assistance."

Travious nodded and they followed him to the portal and dismounted. He looked at Silverbar, "Don't forget to visit with your granddaughter the Magister. There is a town planner with numbers back by the falls or in the dining area who wishes to get back. Both of you should talk with him. He was not happy about getting dragged out here."

A few minutes later and Doc and Eagle-eye walked in. They looked at Travious and Doc sighed, "Missed the dragon!"

Travious sighed, "I dealt with the 5 in Quatarsia. Your church is fine by the way. Only one villager lost that I know of when the dragon fell onto a home."

Doc nodded sheepishly, "My services came in handy but got exhausted quickly."

Travious looked over, "I stole 8 from your church to fill my ranks."

He sighed, "After the 6 you lost here are you sure you can handle them?"

Travious looked at him, "I was not here because I was talking with the King about what he wanted to do when he suddenly lost two-thirds of his navy! I think overall we dealt with the fallout well enough for 6 dragons being on our doorstep. I was directly tasked to go to Quatarsia where the other 5 were found, by the King. Remember, my family was here."

Doc nodded, "You are right they are hard creatures in a fight. As we saw. Our work here is done. We have the house information you asked us to gather."

Travious nodded, "The new ambassador is in the back. You have met him before. The patron of Silverbar. He is with Jarron."

Doc and Eagle-eye both perked up and headed back and he followed. Travious waited for them to finish the talk they were having.

He waived Jarron over, "How bad are things with these regional generals?"

He sighed, "Pretty bad. I think one or two might have gone rogue. Agents we trusted in those areas have disappeared. I am working on it now. I have my old contacts looking at things from a distance and trying to figure out what is going on with three of them that have stopped responding."

Travious looked at him, "If they are casters you should recall them to get that new true seeing spell in memory. It might provide more insight."

He nodded, "I will consider that. Your father would have been great at this job."

Travious looked at him, "Sounds like your son is gunning for this job."

He shook his head, "No. I think the King has you in mind for the job. Probably when you are done with this slaver business. I want him to find his own course and not get stuck in that rut."

Travious smiled, "I still have to debrief him and the others about the attack here. Besides I work for the Gods first. I hit like a hammer when needed and sometimes that is not what the King is wanting."

Jarron nodded, "My son is walking up behind you. Travious walked over to him and showed him into his room. Travious looked him over, "What happened with the attack?"

He sighed, "From what I pieced together they arrived. The Captain pulled his ring and immediately killed his men and the 6 clerics when it transformed into its real size. The Ambassador was at our door and Bree and her unit went out first. The breath weapon hit and your wife sealed the portal to protect those of us inside.

Those casters outside beat it down with spells the horses flew in and kept attacking with hoofs and swarmed it. But they took a lot of damage and many were killed. It tried to flee at the end but the Magister managed to paralyze it and the dragon fell onto the building. They finished it off before it had a chance to recover.

The horses worked to stomp it to death and casters went to single target spells. It was another 30 minutes before Melia opened the portal and most of the gas had dissipated by then. She said she saw the head rearing back to blow it into the portal when she closed it. She saved a lot of lives."

Travious nodded, "Write it up and get it to the ambassador for his official report. Let all casters know if they have a dragon ring, I expect them to fucking use it! A dragon appears and is attacking to fight the fucker back as a dragon!"

He nodded, "Will do."

He left and an elf-blooded moon-elf woman with red hair and emerald eyes stared at him. She walked in. "What does it take to become one of your wives?"

He smiled, "We have to find love in this chaotic time with you and with you to my other wives. I have three."

She looked at him, "Only one travels with you?"

He nodded, "True."

She looked at him, "Can you handle that many wives?"

He smiled, "Talk with Gia on that. If I answer it would sound like bragging. If she answers it then she is either trying to sell me or hold you away. What is your name, class, and what tier spells can you cast?"

She looked at me, "Mage, seventh tier almost eight-tier. My name is Angel Carpenter."

Travious looked at her and handed her a copy of his book, "The Paladins code. Read it and talk with Gia because it has rules and sections dealing with wives."

She nodded and took the book. She smiled and left. He sighed and thought, "She is aggressive."

He heard his sword laugh, "Sounds like she would be right up your alley then. You do not have an overly aggressive one yet."

He nodded and sat in solace for about half an hour and there was a knock on the door. She was back and handed him the book. She looked at him, "It did not dissuade me and Gia seems to think I would be a good addition."

He smiled, "We will see. We have part of a mission to complete. Get ready Angel."

She smiled, "I believe in them, I have heard all about the champions and your family. I was happy to come on this mission."

He walked out and Gia smiled at him, "I like her and she likes the thought of playing with women. She is a virgin. Just became of age about a year ago but been focused on her spells waiting for them for the right guy to come along."

He smiled, "Good to know she is rather top-heavy."

Gia laughed, "Yes, she has more upstairs than Melia from the looks of it. She even told me she magically removed all of her pubic hair. Just because it bothered her. I know you like that."

He smiled, "We will see. Get mounted up and I need 5 casters with teleportation circle twice. Find them for me. She nodded and he headed outside.

Travious mounted up as the Magister rode up. Gia and five mages came out including Angel. He sighed and thought, "Gia is drooling to get her hands on her."

He heard laughter from his sword and Shi'Drakon.

He walked around, "Hand out cloaks to those going." He gave Bree's cloak to Angel. He looked at them, "Those are protection cloaks."

He looked at 'Gold Star' who came out and waved him forward. "Put this one on and distribute the others. Tell them to get mounted up and ready to ride."

He thought, "Shi'Drakon send a message to Gia's mount and let her know to find out what elven house she belongs to."

Travious got a message from Shi'Drakon, "She said Silver Bowl though she has never heard of it. She had another cleric followed up and she is the last of that house other than a few other elf-blooded females in the world. The father is dead. A love them and leave them type."

Travious sighed, "Well everyone going, gather. Your horses will immediately start flying. We will be coming in steep to stay above any ballista fire."

They appeared several thousand feet in the air and started flying down and they followed as he headed for the Silver Rose. He landed on the deck without incident. The Captain came out, "You are back."

He nodded, "Get the other ships side by side. Tie them together because I need to speak with all of the crew. You were held here at my request and it was for the best."

The Captain sighed and sent the signal. It took them an hour to get all of the ships lined up and tied off. Travious looked over, "The name of the boat that lost all of its officers?"

He looked at Travious, "The one to our left and it is the Silver Moon."

Travious smiled, "Good lady according to my journal."

He nodded, "My grandmother."

Travious smiled, "Why are you not Captain of the ship named after your grandmother?"

He shrugged, "This one has always been considered the flagship. Besides I have a younger brother who is Captain of that one now."

Travious smiled, "I have had both of these ships turned over to my mercenary company."

He looked shocked, "What are you going to do? With us?"

Travious smiled, "Keep you on and working if you are up for it. We are going after slavers and warships with this flag."

He laid it out for him. This Captain Silver Moon nodded, "Have seen a few of them but not lately."

Travious nodded, "Capture or destroy. They protect slave ships. Therefore, they are enemy combatants in my company."

He nodded. He looked across and in the native Language, "Before I do anything, I need everyone to strip off all clothing and remain on deck. This includes all of the people who came in with me."

He complied as well. "We will have visitors."

---

Angel stood there naked now for all on the ship to see her as did everyone else. She gawked at the Knight Paladin as he was not only naked but erect and ready. Even his own wife was naked in all of this. She figured it had to serve some purpose.

---

Travious activated the pearl, "We are ready for the guests."

He handed the pearl to the Captain. He heard laughter, "Four will come."

The crystal went dark and four silver dragons appeared in the sky and swooped down and changed forms in front of him. He took the pearl back. He thought, "Shi'Drakon They can hear psionic communication. I need them to check for dragon runes in, on around the ship and the crews and remove any that they find. Also, note any unusual magical devices. Including checking the horses."

He looked at the Captain, "This goes for you as well, and all of your officers. Strip. They are searching these ships for me. If they find something, they can remove it and it could be on a person."

---

Captain Silver Moon nodded and ordered all the officers to strip as well. He did not like it and felt somewhat inferior seeing what this knight Paladin packed below the belt, but also the fact he was muscular and erect. There were several naked women though on the ships which had several others going erect.

---

The dragon's checked all the crew and Travious saw hands go up 8 times. They walked over, "You can all get dressed. We will check the rest of the ship including under it."

He nodded, "There will be more to check. As I bring the others here."

They nodded. "We found nothing on the upper deck. Eight of them had monitoring runes on people."

Travious looked out, "You can dress. Eight men had hidden monitoring runes on their bodies. They removed them. They are checking the rest of the ship. Our enemy is tactically very smart and downright evil. Strike the colors on the Silver Moon and Silver Rose and replace them with these flags. They belong to my shadow riders.

My casters deploy back and gather the rest of the shadow riders. Divide them between these two ships."

Travious looked at them, "My gods have directed a mission for me. The King has released these 2 ships to me. Those wishing to stay and go in search of slave ships and warships of those who would protect them remain. Those who wish to transfer please do so now. Once we know how many, if any openings are available, we have we will ask for volunteers to fill out our ranks.