The Wolves Ch. 029

Xigios wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't the young human man sitting in front of him. He had short black hair and blue eyes and was much taller than Xigios' three foot ten inch frame. He wore what reminded him of Spectre armor from over fourteen hundred years ago, but it looked different.

"Xigios Dryth?" the man asked with a smile. "My name is Jonuth Kidravia. I need to speak to you on an urgent matter."

Xigios' eyes grew wide and he quickly rose up off his chair before kneeling with his head down. "Milord!"

"Get up!" Jonuth barked

Xigios looked up at the man but otherwise stayed kneeling. He noticed the disapproving look on Jonuth's young face and stood back up.

"My apologies, mi..."

"No, I should be the one apologizing. I have only recently learned of my heritage and I don't like people kneeling before me. Or calling me 'sire' or 'milord' for that matter. 'Sir' or 'boss' is fine, otherwise just call me Jonuth or Jonathan."

"I understand, sir," Xigios said, sitting back down. "What can I help you with?"

"An attempt was made to assassinate or capture my sisters and I no more than thirty minutes ago. They failed and we drove them off, but we learned that the group that assaulted me goes by the name Hellraisers. What can you tell me about the mercenary group The Storm Bringers?"

"Not a whole lot, unfortunately. They're a relatively new mercenary group, having formed approximately two hundred years ago. I do know that every member in The Storm Bringers is of a higher level than the average in most of the other mercenary groups, or armies for that matter. They rely purely on spells rather than more modern weaponry when it comes to combat on the ground, and can take on much larger armies if they all gather to form into an army. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often, as they tend to take on smaller jobs. They don't have a very large navy, and as a result, tend to be one of the more nomadic mercenary groups, rather than having a permanent home base. Esriro can definitely tell you more, but she is occupied right now."

"Do you know any of the leadership? I'm going to be contacting them shortly to get them to give up their contract on my sisters and I. If they don't, then I'll have Abi open fire and destroy the ship we're currently tailing. I was told that The Storm Bringers would declare war on me if I took out the Hellraisers. How likely is that."

"Very likely. They're very protective of their own and wouldn't appreciate an entire team being taken out. I know the name of the leader of the group, a Jotunn named N'ardil Vilos, but no one else. Before Esriro joined The Indomitables she was in a number of different mercenary groups. Chances are she has met some members of The Storm Bringers. Would you like me to ask her to stop what she is doing so she can speak with you?"

"Yes, please. I've got an important decision to make, and would rather not be in conflict with another group of people if I make the wrong choice."

"Very well, I'm going to transfer you over to her. It will probably take a minute or two for her to get to a secure area, but the next face you see will be hers."

"Thank you. I may ask her to transfer me back to you when we're done talking."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Xigios typed hit some buttons on the pad beside him and the screen in front of him went back to displaying the logo for The Indomitables.

[Esriro, I am transfering a transmission to your tablet. Get somewhere secure and talk to the young man on the other end.]

[Can this wait? I'm in the middle of something here!]

[No. It's important and you'll see just how much when you talk to him.]

[Ugh. Alright, I'll head to one of the vacant rooms on this deck and talk to him in a minute. Who is it, anyway?]

[You'll see.]

*****

"Ladies, I apologize, but I've got something to take care of. I don't know how long it will take, but I'll be back as soon as possible," Esriro said before turning to Kylli and lowering her voice. "Keep them entertained until I get back. Xigios wants me to talk to someone and he's being cryptic about it."

"I'll take care of it," Kylli said with a smile, knowing how Xigios could be.

Esriro nodded and turned to leave the room. Turning left, she walked for about a minute before coming up to one of the many vacant rooms kept for any guests who might come aboard Nira's Revenge. After pulsing mana at the door to open it, she made her way in and closed it behind her. As she walked over to the table, she took her tablet out of her storage and tapped on it. After sitting down, she brought up the transmission noticing that was from Abi. Tapping the button to accept the transmission, she started talking before realizing that it was audio and video, not just the former."

"Hey, Abi! What's-you're not Abi."

"No, I'm not," the man said with a chuckle. "My name is Jonuth Kidravia."

"Really? I was expecting someone...older."

Jonathan broke into soft laughter again. "I'm technically older than you are, if not physically. Sorry to drag you away from the abused women, but I've got a problem and need your help."

"How did you know what I was doing?"

"Abi," Jonathan said, simply.

"I should have known," Esriro grumbled. "Alright, what do you need help with?"

Esriro listened as Jonathan explained what had happened and told her that her father said that she could tell him more. She could, and did, of course. She had spent decades working alongside N'ardil Vilos and a few of the other mages who made up the leadership group of The Storm Bringers.

"Abi, I'm sending the code that will allow you to initiate a transmission to N'ardil Vilos. You can bet that she is at Kuirilia right now, but she won't remain there after this transmission. Keep me in the transmission, but make sure that she can't see me. I'll step in if necessary and see what I can do."

"I've got it. Initiating the transmission now."

*****

Kuirilia

The Storm Bringer's Base

11:48 SET (19:48 EDT)

August 16, 12610 (August 15, 2019)

The large Jotunn woman was bored listening to reports her underling was going over, as she usually was every day at around this time. There were many such operations going on around the galaxy, and she liked to be kept current on events, even if it was boring. There was some excitement a little over thirty minutes ago when one of her best teams reported in, explaining that they had to flee and were requesting orders. If wasn't often that they had to flee, but that they did showed that they were facing someone, or something, that was very dangerous.

She had ordered them back to the base, knowing that it would take them two months for them to return. It had been by chance that they had a team nearby when the bounty was put out, and it was an easy decision to have the team redirected to the planet their quarry was located on. She hardly even glanced at the names of the targets, knowing that they would be able to make short work of them, or flee if it became necessary.

N'ardil Vilos was saved from her boredom when she heard a chime coming from her large, oversized tablet that was sitting on her desk. Her underling scurried away at a glance, N'ardil accepting the transmission as soon as they were out of sight.

"Esriro, good to see-you're not Esriro...," she said, her voice sounding deeper and more masculine, thanks to her large size.

"Nope. My name is Jonuth Kidravia, and a friend of mine just foiled an assassination attempt by a group in your organization. Hellraisers is the name they go by, I believe?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No? Then you won't object to me ordering my friend to obliterate their ship?"

An angry expression appeared on N'ardil's face, directed at the puny man in the transmission.

"If you so much as sneeze in their direction I will recall all of my forces and launch an assault on you and everyone else on that backwater planet!" she bellowed.

The man on the other side of the transmission just laughed, aggravating the Jotunn woman even further. Jotunn were known for having very short fuses, not that Jonathan knew that, and the woman was about to blow.

"No, as far as I'm concerned, you've got two options. Option one is that you order your team back and never come near me and my sisters ever again. I'll forgive your transgressions and we'll go on as if we'd never met. Option two is I destroy the ship I am currently following and then spend the next few months tracking down the rest of your teams and eliminating them too. When I'm done with them, I'll track you down and The Storm Bringers will cease to exist."

N'ardil guffawed when she heard the puny man's demands while he just sat there with a smile on his face.

"You and what army?" she asked, still chuckling.

Suddenly, the display split and a Scyftan woman appeared. "My army," Esriro said. "Nice to see you again, N'ardil."