Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 05 Pt. 01

Jarronus nodded, "Technically also Strong Oak going back to Eldar are distant cousins of yours. Those in this room will need to be in on the security briefings on where the attacks look like they will likely come from. Speaking of which."

He pulled out a set of those glasses and handed them to Strong Oak, "Better to wear these. They belonged to the last Duke before they disbanded the Duchy. They will help you to see as I do. Jazzia got an enhanced vision to see those rings. That the true seeing spell at the time could not. The new version was created by Eldar when the rings first started to appear.

They modified the rings again. Regardless she added that newest vision to the blade. You have all had a sense of the danger warning now. It is also something to consider for your next sword ability. I have a ring to go get cleansed of trapped spirits. Did any more turn up?"

She nodded, "30 in fact with the one from the Dragon."

He sighed, "That was all I had for today. I will be leaving soon to go back to Quatarsia to search for students and brides. The direction of the Gods. I am hoping my need to draw weapons in the throne room will become rarer, Your Majesty. But I will do it when I must act, and deal with any consequences. Like getting medals and Knighted."

She nodded and giggled, "They should have everyone's paperwork done. Thank you for this by the way. It will come in handy."

He nodded. They stepped out and there was a page waiting with a stack of tubes in his hand. He nodded to the Queen who distributed the tubes. She handed Jarronus his and the 30 rings. He walked out with Moon Ray when he was stopped by a woman on the way, "What did you cast to bring that dragon down? To see the dragon was truly amazing! I wish my Grand Master taught me what to look for."

He sighed, "Some of it cannot be taught. It can be learned if you have enchanting skills you can build a set of glasses that will do it. Also, great when fighting other Blade Singers or casters."

She looked at Jarronus, "I watched your trial for the ring and the match that followed. I researched if anything like that had been done before. Come to find out it is a variant of what Eldar did to a Rogue assassin."

He nodded, "That guy was green with jealousy of what I could do before I got instruction. He glared at me all of the time. Trying to get under my skin. There are a few things I could teach you if you were inclined. Dealing with being flanked and tracking your opponents. I will be traveling quite a bit for the foreseeable future. Moving targets are harder to hit. In theory anyway."

She chuckled, "Is that why they kept you out of tournaments at the school?"

Jarronus smiled, "More to it than that. Long story told over dinner is best. If you like you can travel with us. I have accommodations with separate rooms and plenty of food."

She nodded and smiled, "Call me Brima what will you be traveling for?"

Jarronus looked at her, "Students and brides. By direction of Corellon Larethian. You must be Silverleaf."

She looked at Jarronus, "How did you know?"

He smiled, "Dinner."

She nodded. He walked back to the stables and got his horse saddled up. She was on hers already having ridden in earlier. Moon Ray waited for him. They rode together to House Silvertree. She looked at the devastation, most of the debris was piled up. The new home was busy with builders. City guards still watched over the area.

A cleric waited there based upon her shield. She looked as he spoke with the guards.

She rode over, "You do not wear your house symbol." He nodded and reached into his bag and dropped a cloak pin in her hand.

She looked at it. He picked it up and she watched it change over, "I will eventually have to leave this area in service of the Gods and house gear would not be appropriate. I will have to put together a team of no more than 10 elves and grow it to 100 with humans and some dragons. Previous Champions have had a cleric at their back. Would you be interested in that?"

She groaned, "GODS would I."

The 3 of them chuckled at her enthusiasm. He waved her to follow them into the wreckage. She looked as he pulled them together and activated the teleporter. Moon Ray looked at Jarronus, "Thank you for showing me the Magical sigils this time."

Jarronus smiled, "I was in a bit of a hurry last time. Having to deal with all the dead bodies. Then answering your question as to why I had zero patience with them on their fourth attempted attack on me. The magical sigils are different in each direction by the way."

He sighed, "I will have to pay better attention as we travel. Tonight, I am going to see my wife. I will see you in the morning."

Jarronus nodded, "I will set you up for entry."

Mon Ray nodded back to him as he rode home. Jarronus saw a passel of children running toward him. He smiled, "Someday...maybe."

The two of them looked over and smiled. The Cleric looked at Jarronus, "I am Cleric Silver Sword. Small house compared to yours."

He chuckled, "Maybe in finances but I am the last Silvertree. Malium Silver Sword was a battlemage who fought with Eldar. He had 4 children with an elf-blooded woman and one was an arcane mimic even."

She nodded, "Right, I suppose in that context your house is smaller than mine. I descend from Malium's line, but not the line with the Arcane mimic but from his second wife, they added. That branch died a long time ago. We had one or two pop up in other houses that females married off into, but it had been over 700 years since one has been born. They did not have a large foundation and it is a rare kind of caster."

He looked at her, "That is the context that matters. Money does not make a house or a home. People do."

She smiled, "Easier to say when your house has funds."

Jarronus looked at her, "I gave 3 billion in coins to the elf who is the new Duke over this area to make the changes he needs to make. A billion to the other champion who made himself known today. Then half of the houses remaining assets to the crown to finance enchantment and equipment upgrades for the Army. She needs to muster a massive force over the next 25 years."

She looked at Jarronus, "That is a lot of money."

He nodded, "I liquidated all property and business owned by House Silvertree except the estate. I have a new set of house rules approved. All new wives are given 2 million into their accounts. If they produce children then when I pass another million will be added.

Every child will have an account set up with a million gold pieces in it. When they marry for the first time a half million would be added; each child would get a million the brides would be the same as my brides. I figure that is 20,000+ heirs. Before the main account is emptied. No direct access. When they reach adulthood, they have to sign a form stating which way they wish to live their lives.

Hopefully in the service to the Gods, crown, or elven Kingdom. As long as they followed the rules then their children and wives would be eligible for the funds I mentioned. If they opt to set up a business instead then their wives and children do not get access to those funds. The branch is cut off from funds and the ability to inherit the sword when the time comes.

They would be encouraged to start new houses. This is to instill a sense of duty and service to the kingdom. Free spirits are allowed but like all choices, they can have steep costs they have to understand. For example, we have two Blade Singers, protectors of the elven people by divine right. A cleric who heals the people regardless if they have the funds to pay for services.

The same could be done for enchanters. Those who do the tasks for the military for a small amount of pay and not a business that is gouging the public. Also teaching. Trying to avoid corruption of the house that has plagued every house with any funds. As they are all under my control right now, I can change the standards around some. To avoid greed and corruption is the goal."

She nodded, "I had not thought about that."

Jarronus looked at her, "That is how my house went from 50 to 1 with my father's will. The Gods are giving me a chance to regrow it but I have to find the right wives who are not all about the money aspect of things."

She nodded, "I can see that being a problem. The Queen signed off on this?"

Jarronus nodded, "She understands my reasoning. Especially after the second assassin over the last few months that showed his ugly head today. This one was an adult red dragon in her throne room. Someone is wanting her out of the way before she has any children. It reeks of house turmoil. That is two attempts that I am aware of and have thwarted."

She looked at Jarronus, "A dragon in the throne room?"

He nodded, "I will show you the papers when we get to my home out here. There are plenty of rooms in it. I come of age in a couple of weeks.

I am not only looking for students here, but I am also looking for potential wives. Corellon Larethian said I could handle four with no issues."

She looked at Jarronus, "Four wives?"

He nodded, "I have a house to rebuild. A small window of time before I have to start traveling for the Gods into very hostile lands. If that plan holds true. I am not seeing it happening. Not as long as the Gold King lives. He is an impediment to any progress on that front."

She nodded, "A lot of missions. Are you wanting your wives going on this mission?"

He smiled, "It depends on a lot of factors. Having someone who will work to raise the children left behind, some wives may no longer be able to bear children who wish to go. If they are with a child at the time I would have them wait until they deliver before joining me. I would put the safety of the children first.

Wives second, only because they would know their own minds on the matter. They do not need me dictating what they can do. I would be quite vocal about being with child and wanting to go into the field with me. Because that does affect the children's ability to survive."

She nodded as they arrived at the stable. The man running it nodded as Jarronus took the horses in and stabled them in the same stall. He grabbed his tack and took it with him. The ladies followed suit. He walked over to the inn. Brima asked, "You live in the inn?"

He smiled, "My home is in the inn. I live in it while I am here."

He spotted a few mages at a table and walked over to them, "I am Master Trainer Silvertree. I will be looking for Blade Singer candidates at the Academy in the morning. Would you pass the word along? I will be looking for elf blooded from the age of 10-15 and elves from the age of 50-55?"

She looked at Jarronus, "Those are narrow ranges."

Jarronus nodded, "I have my reasons based upon direction from the Gods."

She nodded and said flatly, "I will pass the word."

He headed upstairs with the two ladies following. Jarronus walked past the door and turned after they moved past it and opened the portal. They looked inside and around at the walls. He gave them a quick tour and sat down and ordered up an evening meal for them. Silver Sword looked around, "How long does this last?"

He laughed, "Normally several hours. Two casters who can cast draconic mythic magic can make this last forever. This one is over 1,000 years old."

He finished eating and walked out to the falls. "These work very well in the field. A place for the horse to be safe at night. Falls to relax by and there are two in this design."

He walked over to the other side and adjusted the temperature closer to normal. He looked at them, "You might need a demonstration of the showers. Each room has one." He stripped down to just his pants and showed them the controls. They were more focused on him with eyes bouncing up and down.

Between his crotch and the holy symbol. He showed them back to the table. "Corellon Larethian told me I would find two wives out here and one in the city. He said the fourth would find me. One of his clerics." She turned red. "Also, how I knew your name was Silverleaf. That name was given to me. I can marry in 2 weeks."

He set the tube on the table and let them read through it all. He looked at Silverleaf, "Between the abilities of my Moon Blade. Being a sorcerer capable of casting tier nine spells on top of being a studying Blade Singer. I had too many advantages to be allowed into tournaments. I did not care for them anyway. I beat 2 20-year students on the day of my evaluation before starting to be a Blade Singer, you saw them at the evaluation. they never beat me. I am a Storm Born sorcerer capable of casting draconic magic including mythic magic. That was how I stopped the dragon in the throne room was a draconic spell.

One that does not allow for spell resistance. My armor is over the top enchanted. High-end celestial chain-mail that has been modified to incorporate archmage robe features. Boosts to all my mental statistics and most of my physical statistics. Anything to give me an edge for going against a Draco-lich."

They looked at Jarronus wide-eyed. Brima looked at him, "An undead dragon? Like the one that killed the last champion?"

Jarronus shook his head, "No. The one who took down the last champion over a thousand years ago. Same one. Been amassing more bodies since then."

Brima ordered up a couple more bottles of wine, "You are doing this with 10?"

He sighed, "No 10 elven, a few dragons, and the rest human. About 80-85 of them, if that plan happens. This is why the ones going with me have to be the best and 3 of them may be students of mine. That was why I was narrow on the ages.

That was why I was so cryptic about if wives would go. It is a high chance for a failed mission given the constraints. Too many damned humans. Jazzia stopped his charge, but he simply went and got into another body. She saved the dwarves fleeing the volcano's eruption. Disrupted the charge of the chromatics and forced an end to the fight on that front. The lava did not kill her. They had to have torn into each other in the lava. They were both immune to fire. When her holy symbol exploded. Well, you have seen Silvertree Estates."

He got up while they each ordered up two more bottles of wine.

He looked at them, "I am going for a swim then bed. I will leave you to talk to each other about this."

Jarronus thought, "Dear goddess. They are not ready to die in this fool's errand and I do not blame them. Given we are reliant upon dragon intel and they always hold us back, then all of the unpredictable humans we would have to amass."

He stripped down and went and swam laps in the water for an hour. He came out of the water just as they came in. They both stood there open-mouthed and stared at his cock as they had never seen one before. Maybe they had not seen one. Brima was the first to speak, "It will actually get bigger than that?"

He nodded, "Yes, the water is a little on the cool side. She walked out of the falls area and the cleric followed. He got his pants on and the two of them were drinking again. He looked at them, "What is wrong?"

She looked at Jarronus, "That thing looks massive compared to the few elven cocks I have seen."

Brima nodded in agreement.

He looked at her, "There was a half-dragon in my family line. Married to Jazzia and related to me. From what I understood the same held true on my mother's side of the family. The half-dragons had significant size according to my journal. Though Jazzia talked about passing out her first time with her husband even though she could not ride him like she wanted because of the scales on it."

Jarronus left them to their drinking. He went into his room and crawled into bed. Sleep took him to the falls. He heard laughter from the Lady of Dreams.

She looked at Jarronus. She showed images, "The average elf, the average half-dragon, and what you were born with." He was right in the middle of the two. He looked at her, "Scared them off?"

She shook her head, "They were trying to figure out what sex with that monster would be like. They had a rather long but slurred talk about it before joining each other in bed and fooling around. It did not take the edge off. If anything, they are hornier now than they were before. They each have close to a century on you and have had lovers.

Nothing like that between their legs unless you count a fist. Yes, they used them on each other they were so worked up. Be careful when you leave your room or they may throw you down and fuck you right there. Age be damned."

Jarronus sighed, "I will have to lock out my room with the crystals then."

She nodded, "They talk with the other two and it could be entertaining. The other two are closer to your age and virginal but have had some strong female-on-female inclinations that they will not admit until you bed them or get them to open up."

Jarronus looked at her, "I am still upset with you about this constitution modification you have been doing."

She shook her head, "We have not, it is your body interacting with the amulet. You got medium attributes for all of them."

Jarronus nodded, "I will be fucking a lot of elf-blooded into the world when I leave here."

She sighed, "You should have no need for that."

He looked at her. "I told you what I would do if this happened. You are setting me up to die and they know it."

She sighed, "They are not optimistic. We are optimistic for you to make it through this and live a long life."

Jarronus looked at her, "Did you have the same thoughts for Jazzia or the others? Speaking of which, will I be surrendering the Trainers ring as she had to do?"

She sighed, "Some things went far faster for the Knight Paladin. Jazzia was a thinker. She knew the dwarves' only chance was to break off the advancing charge was to destroy the body the Draco-lich was in. She knew they would go for the elven lands and the damage they would have done to our forward bases would have been significant if they succeeded.

We were not happy about the direction the dwarven champion was given. Saving the dwarves should have fallen to him. Not that he or we could see the changes in the land that affected the volcano. She carried the weight of the alliance on her shoulders.

The Knight Paladin was a sad tale. He should have survived to fight the one battle and beyond but we set him on a course to a human champion who was not human at all. We cannot read Draconic champions.

The paladin was on the verge of death from that breath weapon. That dragon's breath weapon did ungodly damage. He blocked or absorbed most of it. He kept that hand crossbow as a last contingency option.

As to your ring, we expect you to hang onto it. You might have a few years between students to deal with this mission. We have heard your concerns as has Bahamut. He is working those as there is some validity in them. We want you to train others after this is over. We are hopeful for a long life for you. With dragon's in the mix, we never know."

Jarronus looked at her, "So, I will be eye-to-eye with a draconic champion most likely. Why are the dragons not dealing with these two? Why did you pull it from Jazzia?"

She smiled, "They will be going on this mission and they should engage these targets. We do not know where he is right now. The metallic dragons are working to track their activity without the system and it is futile.

They owe the elven people for saving them from extinction and saving the world from total destruction. Jazzia we expected her to be gone hunting for 100 years or more. Depending on what escaped. Her approach took that out of the equation. We did not predict Dragon Sphere or the success she would have with it."

Jarronus looked at her, "If we could track draconic magic; they had that ability. We get draconic mythic spells in place then we could possibly find the prism ourselves. Would the power of that artifact help against these enemies? I am talking about elven enchanters building that system."