B01DCAV4W2 (S)

  The Land: Alliances

  By

  Dr. Aleron Kong

  The Land: Alliances

  A self-published book by Aleron Kong

  Copyright ©2016

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is dedicated to my father, Basil Waine Kong. He is an amazing man who didn’t see a street light until he was fifteen and yet still became the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company! I personally could have done with less ‘Why can’t you be like Tiger Woods’ references when I was growing up lol, but I still love him dearly! This one’s for you dad!

  THE LIGHT COURT

  The King retired back to his private room. The Royal Chamberlain followed him and they left the other denizens of the Light Court behind. The ‘room’ was not just four walls, a floor and a ceiling of course. When the door closed, the two powerful beings were effectively alone in a shard universe of the King’s own creation.

  “I have instituted the first phase of the plan, my King. I am curious however, why you did not let the High Chancellor or the rest of the Court to know.”

  The King of Light stood silently on a balcony. In front of him was a sea of raw Chaos. Most beings would go mad just staring into such primordial soup for more than a few minutes, but the King gazed unflinchingly. Hours passed with no response, but what was that to immortal beings. The Chamberlain waited patiently.

  When the King finally spoke, the Chamberlain heard something he had never heard before in his liege’s voice, hesitation. “Those weaklings are not worthy of knowing my thoughts… also, it would not be… prudent.”

  “What does it matter what they know, my King? You are the strongest being in creation. That is why I serve you.”

  The King of Light just nodded in response to his Chamberlain’s Machiavellian reasoning. There were no illusions as to the nature of their partnership. He was quiet for even longer this time. He searched for answers in the sea of grey Chaos which had seemed more turbulent of late. When he spoke, it was softly.

  “Once that was true, my Chamberlain. The Universe though, is shifting in its slumber. I feel that none of us are safe anymore.”

  CHAPTER 1

  “You need to get more sun, Randy.”

  “My Lord!” He stood up quickly and bowed, “No one told me that you were back.”

  “Sit down, sit down,” Richter said. “That’s certainly what I plan to do.” He plopped into one of the chairs in front of the desk. “There is a lot that I need to tell you. It looks like we are at war. In addition, Hisako tells me we can start expecting more monster attacks. And last but not least, there is a plague of giant insects called the scourge that we need to eliminate ASAP. Before we get into ALL of that though, Hisako said there are some things you need to tell me.”

  Randolphus’s eyes grew wider, and his expression more incredulous as Richter spoke. The last seemed to take the wind out of him though and he dropped back into his chair. The chamberlain opened his mouth and closed it several times before speaking. These eaters certainly are well known and widely feared, Richter thought to himself. When Randolphus had composed himself, he said, “You are correct, my Lord. There are several things we need to discuss. The first however, is what you want to do about the prisoners. We can’t just continue to keep them under lock and key.”

  “Derrrr, what prisoners?”

  The chamberlain took a deep breath, “In the weeks that you have been gone, the hunters have begun to notice people traveling along the western border of the mists. It appeared they were searching for weak spots in the enchantment. I ordered the hunters to observe them from within the mists. One night, a hunter got close enough to overhear them talking. The news wasn’t good, my Lord. They were mercenaries hired by Count Stonuk.”

  “Okay,” Richter said. “So how did we get to having prisoners? Did the hunters attack?”

  Randolphus nodded, “One night, our hunters did shoot at them, hoping to thin their numbers or at least frighten them away. The mercenaries started firing back blindly into the mists. At least one was a magic user. Our people had to avoid both arrows and offensive magic. One of the hunters was struck in the shoulder by an errant crossbow bolt. The injury was not life threatening, but after that, I ordered our people to simply observe. The truth is, my Lord, our hunters were not equipped to attack a well-armed force. They continued to follow them from inside the enchantment. After a few days, two of the mercenaries wandered into the mist and became lost. The hunters were able to capture them.”

  “Good!” Richter asked in a strained voice. His tone barely concealed the truth… he was pissed! It apparently wasn’t enough that the Count had both emotionally and physically savaged Isabella. It wasn’t enough that he actively partook in the slave trade. No! Count Asshat apparently now felt the need to come after the few nonhumans that had escaped his clutches. Richter was furious that the man was threatening his people!

  Of course, if Richter were being fair, he would have to admit that he HAD infiltrated the Count’s home, enspelled his guards, and then robbed the noble blind, but on the other hand… the guy was a total asshat!

  Richter controlled himself, “So we caught a couple of mercenaries, huh? Well I can’t say that I’m completely surprised that the Count came after us. How many were there total?”

  “I am unsure as to the total numbers, but the hunters saw less than ten,” Randolphus answered.

  “Ten?” Richter asked confused. “What was that supposed to do? Even if they could penetrate the mists, what did the Count think ten fighters could do against three hundred of us? Were they all very high levels?”

  “I cannot speak to the capability of those that remained outside of the mist, my Lord. Mage Zarr knows a spell similar to your Analyze skill, however. He was able to tell us that one of the trespassers was indeed a Professed Warrior, level twenty-five. The man would have been formidable in battle. The other prisoner was underwhelming. She is only a girl and level six at that. Her name is Natosca and she has been quite forthcoming. She said that she had been hired by the mercenaries to guide them through the woods. That is actually how the two found themselves in the mists.”

  “What?” Richter asked. “A lover’s quarrel?”

  Randolphus looked uncomfortable, “Of a sort, my Lord. I will tell you what we have discovered, but please bear in mind that the following information has been obtained from prisoners, and so should be held suspect. The Warrior, Orvin, told us that the count payed for a divination to find you. That was apparently unsuccessful, but he still had an article of Isabela’s clothing. He was able to get a weak reading that she was in this general area of the forest. I am quite frankly surprised that he was not able to coerce our location from any of the ship captains that brought us from Yves. I can only surmise that the Count had not found any of them yet. But I digress. As I was saying, the mercenaries hired the girl as a woods guide, telling her nothing except that they needed to get to this general area. From what the guide said, the men were not… kind, once they were away from civilization. When she saw that the men were afraid to enter the mists, she took her chance to escape.”

  “So the girl was a victim in all of this?” Richter asked. He felt a bit bad about his off color joke now.

  “I cannot say that definitely, my Lord. All I know about her is that she arrived with a small company of invaders. That fact does not engender my trust, no matter what story of sympathy she tells.”

  Richter nodded. He wouldn’t second guess his chamberlain’s instincts unless he had a damn good reason. It had not been too long ago, that his lack of concern over the village’s defenses had led t
o the bugbear attack. An attack that had left several of the villagers dead. He wouldn’t be cavalier about the security again. Those goblinoid fighters had been more than a match for the average villagers. Come to think of it, how had his hunters subdued a level twenty-five warrior? He asked that very question to Randolphus.

  “Once the two were in the mists, the hunters simply followed them until they wandered deeper into the enchantment. When our people finally attacked, they were smart enough to use the magic to their advantage. They would take shots of opportunity at the Warrior. He would then try to attack one of our people, but the hunter would retreat until the enchantment took effect again. While he was chasing one, the other hunters continued to fire. Though he was armored, the damage added up. One struck the warrior in the back of the knee causing him to collapse. After that, he surrendered. The hunters made him strip off his weapons and armor and then hobble a short distance away. Once he was unarmed, it was a simple matter to bind him. Warrior or not, without armor to protect him, the hunters could have easily ended his life. The girl offered no resistance at all. She cried out in surrender as soon as the battle commenced. While being escorted back, she just thanked the hunters profusely. She was apparently grateful to be free of the mercenary party’s ‘extra’ demands.”

  Richter smiled. He was proud of his people. They might not be able to beat a well-armed band in a head to head matchup yet, but they had used their heads and still snagged a win. When he had left to unlock his second power, he hadn’t planned to be absent for long. Ultimately though, he had been trapped in that dungeon for more than two weeks. He was delighted that his village had not only survived and thrived, it had defended itself.

  “Okay, so we caught these two,” Richter said. “Now the Warrior seems a bit tough, but still I would have thought the count would send a small army to get revenge, if he was going to do it at all.”

  “The mercenaries were most likely meant to gather intelligence, my Lord, and perhaps harm you if possible. Noble or not, the Count’s coffers are not bottomless. Fielding an army, even a small one, is not a cheap undertaking. I am not surprised that he is using a small skilled group to attack you. He could not have known about the protective enchantment around the village. Ten fighters would have been more than enough for a night raid. They could have caused a large amount of death and damage among the nonhumans before fading away again.”

  “So the question is, what we do with these two now? I don’t really have a problem just letting the girl go if she was just hired to do a job. Even if she talks and tells others where the village is, that cat is probably out of the bag.”

  Randolphus looked at Richter in confusion. He shook his head, damn idioms! He tried again, “I mean the damage is already done. The other mercenaries might already be on their way back to the Kingdom. We were never going to be able to keep our location a secret forever. I’m surprised one of the ship captains didn’t sell us out too.”

  “As for the Warrior though,” Richter continued, “I’m not sure what to do yet. I’ll talk to Yoshi about persuading the man to tell us anything else he hasn’t shared yet.”

  “My Lord,” Randolphus said in a cautioning tone, “I am familiar with the type of persuasion the sword adept employs. Mercenary guilds wield a fair amount of power in these lands. All who live by the sword accept that they may die by the sword. If it is ever discovered that a mercenary was tortured after he had surrendered to you however, then there might be far reaching consequences. At the very least, you would not be able to hire mercenaries if you ever had the need in the future.”

  Richter hadn’t really thought of that. He might need to hire mercenaries soon. He had just been told by Hisako that they had found a bugbear camp. It would be great to hire more fighters for the upcoming battle. Hell! He might need to hire some fighters to deal with the eaters. “So if we let the guy go, would it make it easier to hire mercs in the future?”

  “Perhaps, my Lord,” Randolphus said thoughtfully, “but I would caution you against putting faith in such men and women. Most cannot be trusted to stand fast in a bad situation.”

  “I won’t be paying for trust. I’ll be paying them to fuck shit up. I just need to know if they will fight if I pay them to.”

  “Then it is a fine plan, my Lord. There are some guilds that have, if not honor, then at least the intelligence to know that they need to honor their contracts. The Kingdom of Yves is also not the only place to find mercenaries. The dwarf clans of the Serrated Mountains are strong and have been known to trade their hard steel for bright silver.”

  Hisako had told him he needed to speak with the dwarves anyway. He would just have to find a way to grease the wheels. “Okay, I’m guessing that Basil left while I was gone,” Richter said. Then a thought occurred to him, “Did the mercenaries…?”

  “No, my Lord,” Randolphus said. “I had the same concern, but the Warrior knew nothing of our trader and he left a good week before they were first spotted. Taking the river ways with the ship you arranged, he should have been safe enough.”

  “Well when he comes back, we will have to send him right back out again. I want to commission at least one group of fighters and have them back here as soon as possible. I’m assuming you know about the various mercenary guilds of the Kingdom. Tell Basil whatever he needs to know to pick the best. We will also need to send a second group to the dwarves. I’ll ask Krom if he has any insights on the best way to approach his people.”

  Richter looked his chamberlain in the eye with a grave expression. “Our enemies are multiplying. I have already told you about the two large threats we are facing from the bugbears and the eaters. Now we have to worry about the Count’s little mercenary band and whatever else he plans to throw at us. To make matters worse, Hisako just told me that we can expect the monsters and creatures in the surrounding lands to become more powerful. We need help.”

  Richter sighed, hating the words that were about to come out of his mouth, “Prepare a budget of how many men we need, and how much it’s going to cost me. I was able to bring back some treasure which should hopefully cover the costs.”

  “I will prepare everything, my Lord,” Randy said jotting down some notes. “That brings us back to the original question. What do you wish to be done with the prisoners?”

  Richter sighed again. He really didn’t want to have to deal with this when he was just coming home. What he really wanted, was to take a hot bath and then sleep in a bed for about a month straight. Richter squared his shoulders though. Duty first, he thought. “Okay, let’s deal with the Warrior first. Is he in the building I saw outside with the guards?”

  “Yes, my Lord. I had the builders erect the two shacks in the center of the village. We are keeping them guarded day and night.”

  “How long have they been here?”

  “They were brought into the village about three days before you arrived,” Randolphus replied.

  “Well let’s get this over with,” Richter said getting back on his feet. “I need to stop at the treasury and armory first though.”

  Randolphus organized the papers on his desk into whatever system he seemed to use. To Richter the piles of notes just seemed to be randomly allotted to any empty space, but he wasn’t about to judge how his chamberlain conducted business. The job got done and that was all he needed to know.

  Richter walked out of the room and over to the treasury. Holding his Mark up to the glass circle in the door, he then heard the sound of massive bolts being drawn back before the sturdy door swung open. The shelves of the treasury were just as bare as they had been before, but he set about changing that. He unloaded all of the jewelry from the Tefonim queen’s vault. He then started removing the bars of metal from his Bag of Holding as well. It was laborious to remove them one at a time, and then take the time to stack them. He had to actively resist the urge to turn the Bag upside down and shake it. Richter was pretty sure the magical fold in space that let the Bag hold so much didn’t work like that, but it sure
was tempting to test the hypothesis.

  Removing all of the bars, high steel, moonstone, cobalt and quicksilver took longer than he thought it would. He was happy he had taken the time though, because his Bag of Holding was definitely lighter afterwards. Richter had to admit that seeing the stacks of metal filling his treasury made his heart happy. It was clear and tangible evidence that his village was growing in wealth and potential. They might not be stacks of gold bullion, but the metal in these pyramids would make stronger weapons and armor for his people. That was definitely a form of wealth in The Land.

  He placed the bars of elementum on a shelf, and then took one ingot of each metal and placed it back in the bag. He had a quest to finish, and he planned to make his Magic Forge just as soon as he was done talking to the prisoners. After pulling a few more items out of his Bag, Richter walked out of the vault with a lighter step. It’s amazing what unloading hundreds of kilos off of your back can do for your posture, he thought. Even if the Bag did reduce the weight of everything by 90%, losing dozens of kilos of weight was a welcomed feeling.

  Randolphus was waiting patiently outside of the treasury. Richter had given the chamberlain access to all of the rooms except the vault that held the village’s wealth. Randolphus had never seemed offended by the decision. The man was well versed in the whims of rulers after having spent decades in the halls of power serving as the old King of Yves’ chamberlain. Of course, if Randolphus had been offended, Richter probably would have never known. The older man was too professional and polite to mention something like that.

  The next step was the armory. When Richter opened the door, he was pleased to see that Krom and Randolphus had indeed been through the room. The cobwebs had been removed, at least from near the entryway. The weapons too had been polished and set in orderly rows against the walls. Walking up to an empty table, he started unloading all of the non-magical equipment from his Bag. All of the weapons and armors from the draugh were placed there for his people to later clean and catalogue. He told Randolphus to make sure the haul was organized into what could be salvaged, what could be used for parts, and what needed to be scrapped. The chamberlain jotted the order down on one of his papers, and that was that.