The War Lich Chronicles Ch. 01

I was inspired to write this by a game but these boys are all my own. And every one of them is going to find someone to love. Enjoy!

mac

000

Danroth watched from the depths of his cloak as a tiny red headed elf came bouncing happily in through the door of the Rusty Bucket. The innkeeper ran over and grabbed her up in a bear of a hug. She laughed and pounded his back.

"Put me down, Egan! I'm soaking. You'll get wet."

"Nan, Ni is back!" Egan called out toward the back of the inn as he set the girl down.

"That's wonderful." Nan, Egan's wife said exiting the kitchen. She came forward and gingerly hugged the girl. "You poor thing, you're soaking wet. I'm going to have Bets get some hot water ready for you. You need a bath before you catch your death."

"Thanks Nan." Ni said with a grateful smile.

"We were worried about you." Bets, the Barmaid, said as she came down the stairs. "This weather is horrible!"

Right as she said that the inn was shaken by a large clap of thunder. Everyone one jumped except for the four cloaked men that sat at one of the few tables. The four merely turned their cloaked heads toward the window, looking out at the rain pinging off the windows.

Nerves of steel, Ni thought to herself.

"Come on Ni." Bets said taking her hand. "Let's get you in a hot bath. You can tell me all about your adventures."

"Sounds good."

"Did you kill any walkers?" Bets asked talking about the undead that always seemed to be plaguing the region. Sometimes it got so bad that you couldn't walk around without being in a big group.

"You know they can't really help what they've become." Ni told the girl. "I try not to kill them if I can help it."

"Whatever. I just don't see how you can be sympathetic toward those things." Bets told her but immediately let the subject drop.

Ni shrugged but didn't say anything else about it either. They walked upstairs and talked about silly female things. Bets helped Ni with her bath and into some clean clothes. When they went back down stairs Ni sat at the table next to the four cloaked figures. Egan and Nan joined her and Bets went to fetch food and drink.

"You said a week only." Egan said with a shake of his head.

"I know." Ni smiled. "But I found a great vein of silver. The only reason that I even came back was because the weather was starting to get bad."

"You made it just in time." Bets said as she put food and drinks on the table.

"I still got a bit wet though." Ni said.

"Can I get you gentlemen anything else?" Bets asked the four cloaked figures, not even going near their table.

They shook their heads no and Bets sigh of relief was almost audible. The figures all looked to be around seven feet tall and they had large builds with wide shoulders. They dwarfed the table that they were sitting at and everyone in the inn felt intimidated.

Accept for Ni. Her father was around seven feet tall. Most of the men that Ni had grown up around were large. Ni could sympathize. Sometimes large people were just as frustrated about being large as small people were about being small.

"You look worn out." Egan told Ni when they had finished eating.

"I am." Ni rotated her head, hoping her neck would pop but it didn't. "Between Goblins and Walkers I didn't sleep a wink."

"You've been out for almost two weeks!" Nan said with wide eyes.

"Thankfully I take after my dad." Ni said and the others nodded in agreement.

Danroth rubbed a finger over his lips thoughtfully and put two and two together. Her small size and generous curves indicated human but her obsidian black eyes and pointed ears indicated elf. So she was a half breed. Normally elves only mated with their own kind but there were acceptations to the rule. It was that way for any of the races of Solaran.

Ni looked over and saw that one of the cloaked figures was looking at her. She smiled shyly and turned back to her conversation with the others. He was just curious about their conversation was all that it was. It would have been nice if he'd been interested in her but she was plain and never garnered much attention from the opposite sex.

"I'm going to go to bed." Ni finally said, getting to her feet, and yawning widely. "The rain should stop in a few hours and I want to get an early start."

"How early?" Egan asked.

"I'll probably be gone before you're up." Ni pulled a small pouch of gold from her pocket and set it on the table.

"Ni I told you that-" Egan started but Ni halted him.

"You're the only human family that I have left cousin." She patted his cheek, remembering the day he'd been born. "It will make sure you get through the winter. You know you won't have many people come this way when you have six feet of snow."

Egan stood up and hugged her tightly. She was such a gentle caring soul. The inn, the Rusty Bucket, would never go under because the locals came for the booze no matter what, but things could be a little lean in the winter months. The gold would ensure that they all stayed comfortable and wouldn't have to let Bets go for winter.

"Thank you, Ni." Nan said gratefully and gave her a hug.

"My turn." Bets said and then whispered to Ni. "Thank you."

Ni caught sight of the cloaked figure watching again and for some reason started blushing furiously.

"It's nothing." She smiled at them. "I'm off to bed before I drop."

When she was gone from sight Egan looked over at the table holding the cloaked figures. Their food and drink were untouched. Danroth took that as his cue and stood up, the others following suit. They'd paid for their beds in advance so he merely headed up the stairs, the others following behind him. Egan shook his head and looked over at Nan and Bets who were watching the strangers walk away. Both women had on identical frowns.

"We'll be gone early." Danroth threw over his shoulder to the innkeeper.

Egan shook his head again and helped the ladies clear the table. Good waste of food and beer was what came to his mind. Strange, those ones were. But he figured if they hadn't made trouble by now then they probably weren't going to at all. This was good, because it would probably take the whole damn town to stop them.

There were four bunks in the room that Danroth had rented. Of course none of them would really fit on the tiny things. But they didn't really need to sleep either. They just needed a place to rest for a while. Even those that were undead didn't like to traipse around in the rain if they could help it. He walked over to the fireplace that was lit and heating the room. He contemplated the small pot sitting next to it. It was filled with water waiting to be heated for drinks or bathing. He looked over at the wall that was separating their room from the one next to it, cocked his head slightly, and listened. He could hear the little elf settling down to sleep for the night. After a few moments he heard her sigh as she dropped off to sleep.

"Neron?" Danroth said the name of one of his companions getting his attention.

"Ya mon?" The troll asked.

"Do you have any sleeping herbs?" Danroth asked him as he put his hand to the wall gauging its thickness.

"Ya mon. Why?" Neron asked.

"Make some tea." Danroth told him then threw out his elbow and knocked the wall hard. Each of the men heard the girl in the room sit up. She mumbled something about the horrible weather and snuggled back down into the bed, dropping back off to sleep almost right away.

He looked over at another one of his companions. "Tirin when is the rain going to stop?"

The Wood Elf stood up from the bunk he was sitting on and walked over to the window, opening it. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Even though he too was undead Tirin was still very much in tune with nature.

"An hour." Tirin told Danroth as he closed the window and crossed back to the bunk to sit again. "What exactly are you contemplating Danroth?"

"How old do you think she is?" Danroth asked Tirin.

"By the way she acted I'd say she's still very young. If I had to guess I'd say a hundred or so." He shrugged negligently. "It's hard to gauge with half breeds like her though. They usually live as long as regular elves but tend to retain a lot of their human qualities for a very long time as well."

"What you contemplatin mon?" Neron asked as he moved to the fire place to make the tea. "She's not beautiful."

"She's not ugly either. She's unique." Danroth smiled, picturing the shy smile she'd given him. "I like that mass of red hair."

"It's the de color of flame mon." Neron snorted. "De ones wit the red hair are spitfires."

"You think that because she's sympathetic toward the walkers that she'll be able to accept you." The last of the four spoke, his hood still pulled up over his head.

Keslur had watched his friend watching the girl. He liked that the girl tried not to kill the walkers. She was right; they couldn't help what they had become. It didn't mean she would be able to accept Danroth. But on the other hand he couldn't really fault his friend for wanting to try having a relationship.

The others sensed that the Vampire had more to say so they waited. They had all learned patience from Keslur. His thoughts might leave his mouth at a slower rate but they were usually witty or wise.

"Perhaps you're going about this the wrong way. Most women liked to be courted. Not drugged and held captive." Keslur finally said.

"Of course you have a point." Danroth said with a nod then slammed his elbow into the wall again, waking the girl back up. "But there are two problems with that."

"What's that?" Keslur asked.

"I'm a War Lich. And I don't have time for courting."

Danroth knocked the wall several more times before the rain let up. Finally, Ni had had enough. The last hit to the wall had finally woke her up enough to make her realize that the rain had basically stopped so it wasn't thunder that kept waking her up. She got up and left her room to go and pound on the door of the offenders.

"What in the name of all things holy are you doing in here?!" She asked the man who answered the door. The one who'd been watching her downstairs. His hood covered his hair but showed a handsome face.

Danroth smiled down at her sheepishly. He motioned toward the small bunk beds against the wall.

"The beds are so small and I couldn't get comfortable." He hung his head ashamedly. "I didn't mean to wake you lass."

"Oh, I understand, I guess." The beds couldn't be comfy for the man or any of his companions. She could sympathize with something like that.

"My friend is making me some tea to help me sleep. Why don't you join me?"

"Oh no I-"

"I insist." He pulled her into the room but left the door open so she wouldn't panic. "It's the least I can do for keeping you awake."

A small cup of tea was set in her hand by one of the cloaked figures. She didn't really want to drink anything given to her by a giant stranger wearing a hood so deep that she couldn't see his face. On the other hand she didn't want to be rude. They more than likely weren't planning to anything nefarious to her. The tea actually smelled very good too. She hadn't had a good cup of tea in weeks and her mouth was starting to water. Maybe something hot in her stomach would help her sleep. The gods only knew how bad she needed it. At least a few hours so that she would be able to make her way home to Alay.

"Here's to a restful night." Danroth said and touched the rim of his cup against Ni's.

She smiled and nodded, taking a sip of the tea. She liked it. It was very good with a strong mint flavor. She could feel it warming her all the way down to her belly. She took an even bigger drink.

"I'm Danroth MacCairn by the way." He told her as he took a drink of tea. He knew that Neron would only have put the herbs in her cup.

"I'm Ni." She took another drink of tea. "Nienna Surion."

"Don't elves usually have names like Moonwind?" He asked and looked over at one of his companions.

"It's my mother's last name." She took another drink of tea.

The man that Danroth had looked at stood up and walked over to stand next to him.

"It's the norm for half breeds to take the name of their non elf parent. I'm not sure where the practice came from." Tirin said pushing back his hood.

Ni gaped at him. Her cup slipped from her fingers and Tirin reached out faster than she could see and caught the cup before it could fall far. He held it out to her and she gingerly took it from him. She'd met several Wood elves in her time and none of them had been very pleasant to her. Most elves didn't approve of half breeds. The fact that she was half Sun elf didn't help her cause with any Wood elf.

He smiled at her and then he started wavering in and out of focus. She blinked several times and shook her head but it didn't help. She was starting to feel a bit unsteady. She must have been more tired than she thought.

Danroth smiled at her as he took the cup out of her hand, giving it to Tirin. She closed her eyes and started swaying. Danroth caught her up in his arms and took her to one of the bunks and gently laid her down.

"The tea?" She asked him, not managing to pry her eyes open.

"Yes." He said pushing a lock of hair off her forehead.

"Why?" She slurred the question.

"Because I don't have time for anything else." Ni heard him say as she moved off into the oblivion of sleep.

000

It was probably the gentle sway the finally woke Ni. Or perhaps the quiet. She lived in Alay most of the time and it was solid as a city could be, so no swaying. Even in the dead of night Alay was laden with the sounds of the hustle and bustle of trophy laden adventures and people hawking their wares.

She was wrapped in a warm blanket or cloak that was covering her head. Smothering her, it felt like. She reached up and pushed the material off of her head and took a deep clean breath. It was then that she realized two things. She was blindfolded and her hands were bound at the wrist. She reached up to remove the blindfold and her wrist was grasped by a large hand.

"Ah, ah, little one. Leave it be for now."

That voice!

"You!" She tried to turn and was once again stopped.

"I wouldn't start struggling if I were you. We're flying fairly high. I would survive a fall from this height but I know you wouldn't." Danroth told her easily.

"Flying?" She croaked. "I don't like heights."

"I can tell. You're shaking like a leaf."

She gave a small wimper and he pulled her tight to his chest. He wrapped a heavily muscled arm around her front and stroked her arm.

"You don't have to worry. I won't let anything happen to you." He bent his head and kissed the top of hers. "I promise I will always take care of you."

I can take care of myself! She wanted to scream at him but the words seemed to be stuck in her brain.

"We must cover your head." He told her and she started to struggle.

He held her tightly until she stopped.

"Can you not feel the cold?" He asked.

"What is that?" She asked as her teeth started to chatter. "Why is it so cold?"

"We are leaving Ice Cleave behind. We're flying over the Frozen Sea."

"Frozen Sea?" She asked bewildered.

"Yes. We live on an island far out into the sea."

"But-"

"No more questions. I'm going to cover you again. Please stay that way. I don't want you to freeze."

He may have requested it of her but his tone said it was a command and that she shouldn't disobey. He covered her head and instead of fighting him on it she decided that she'd rather be covered. She was already becoming warmer. Then she had a thought.

"What about you?" She asked pushing back the hood again.

"Thank you for your concern but the cold doesn't bother me or my companions." He pushed the hood back over her head and she left it there.

They flew for a quite a while and she contemplated how she was going to escape this obviously crazy man. This was definitely not how she was planning to spend her winter. She'd figured on warm sun and sand down around Sondori. She'd had a falling out with her father and Egan knew she spent winters in warmer climates so nobody was going to start looking for her any time soon.

"We are gliding over the island right now and we'll be landing in a moment. You'll feel a jolt." She heard Danroth say.

What she heard were quite a few angry shouts. She was glad that she didn't speak the language they were shouting in because she was sure that it would singe her eyebrows off.

"Don't mind the Voran. They are large sea going raiders. They took over this island some time before we got here. We took probably a quarter size chunk of the middle from them."

"I take it they didn't like that?" She said and even though it was muffled he heard and laughed.

"I'm afraid that they didn't. They can't really do anything about it though."

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"Because bigger is not always better. My companions and I are not to be trifled with." His tone was deadly, making her shiver.

"I know it's cold." He said mistaking her shiver. "I will have you by a warm fire soon."

She refrained from saying anything to him. They landed smoothly and walked their mounts into the cave mouth that served as the entrance to their Enclave. They were greeted by Asdern Stormrider, the unofficial leader of their small group. He had a serious look on his face.

"You're back early? What's wrong?" Asdern asked the group.

"We found a Wizard that was able to port us to the edge of Ice Cleave." Danroth told him.

"Why?"

Danroth pulled the hood off of Ni and Asdern stared at the bound, blindfolded women in bafflement.

"I just don't know what to say to that." Asdern finally said.

"You're not the only one." Ni sniped and Danroth covered her mouth with a large hand. She bit him and he yelped. "You were covering my nose. I have to breath you know."

"We're really not equipped to care for her." Asdern said to Danroth, ignoring the byplay.

"We'll muddle though." Danroth told him.

Danroth dismounted then pulled Ni off and handed her to Asdern. "Hold her while I get my mount taken care of, will you?"

Asdern frowned and was about to put her down.

"She's barefoot." Danroth told him.

"Ah." Was all Asdern said but held onto Ni.

"You're an elf." Ni said to Asdern.

"How did you know?" He asked with a frown.

"Because no other male species in the whole of Solaran is secure enough in their masculinity to actually wear the scent of flowers. You smell like cherry blossoms."

"It makes me feel alive again." Asdern said quietly.

"I know what you mean. It's always the little things that make me feel better when I'm down." Ni said giving him a pat on what she assumed was a shoulder.

"Oh boy." Asdern said.

"What?" Ni asked.

"I'm going to set you down. Step on my feet instead of the snow.

"Kay." She did as he asked then gasped when she heard a knife sliding out of a sheath.

"Hold still." He told her then slid the knife between the bonds on her wrist and cut them.

"Thank you." She told him.

Thankfully they hadn't really been tight so they hadn't cut off the circulation to her hands. She held onto his shoulders as she felt him lifting her blindfold off. She looked up into his glowing White eyes and felt herself frown. She'd never seen that particular color before.

"You should have waited." She heard Danroth say.

She turned to look at him. His eyes were the same glowing White as Asdern's were. His long hair was styled in a pony tail and was almost as long as hers. But it was white. She looked back at Asdern who had white hair as well. Not many species on Solaran had white hair. The cogs started turning in her head.

Danroth came and picked her up and headed into the cave system. He navigated a maze of corridors, arguing with Asdern in a strange guttural language. He finally made his way into a large hall. He set her down on a chair in front of a large fire place and made sure she was covered well.