The Land: Forging (Chaos Seeds Book 2) Read online

  Yoshi put the corner of the bridge down and pointed at Red’s body, “They all die. Come.”

  The sword adept walked back to the bridge and picked up the same corner again. Daniella, Sion, and Richter all looked at each then followed and picked up a corner. If Richter was being honest with himself, his desire for blood and vengeance had been extinguished. The original order had been his, however, and he wouldn’t have others fighting while he rested. They extended the wooden bridge out over the trench, and then crossed out of the village into the wild forest beyond. They began to hunt. Even years later they never discussed what happened after they crossed the trench, but not one bugbear left the mist alive.

  CHAPTER 10

  It was afternoon by the time the four made it back to the village. Once their bloody task was completed, they had all waded into the river. None of them had wanted to reenter the village covered in gore. Richter had retrieved the better weapons and armor from the slain invaders, but even his Bag of Holding was not large enough to hold them all. He mentally made marks on his Traveler’s Map so that all of the gear could be recovered. The map would also serve to help gather the bodies as well. In addition to being a health risk, Richter believed that even enemies were entitled to proper disposal of their bodies. In this case, they would all just be placed in a pit and burned, but it was still better than being left for the animals. The loot from the bugbears was nothing amazing. Most of the gear was standard, but Richter did find several potions of healing which would come in handy. They crossed the bridge, pulling it in behind them.

  The Dark mage offered better loot.

  You have found: Magic Ring. Durability 12/12. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Average. Weight 0.1 kg.

  You have found: Magic Ring. Durability 11/11. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 0.1 kg.

  You have found: Magic Ring. Durability 25/25. Item class: Rare. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.1 kg.

  You have found: Apprentice Dark Mage Robes. Defense + 12 (additional +15 vs magical attack). Durability 20/20. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Weight 2.8 kg.

  You have found: Magic Amulet. Durability 20/20. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 0.3 kg.

  You have found: Magic wand. Attack 4-6. Durability 17/17. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.2 kg.

  You have found: Minor Mana Potion x 4. Taking this will restore 40 mana points over 6 seconds.

  He was well familiar with the blue mana motions and so could identify them by sight. Richter would need Futen to identify the other items whenever he turned up. Despite having spent several nights reading the Lore book, he had yet to achieve the skill to identify unknown magical items. The remnant had found them after they had crossed out of the village, and had been instrumental in locating enemies throughout the morning. If it wasn’t for Futen and the Sion’s tracking skill, they would never have found all of the them. After the last bugbear was killed, Richter had sent Futen back to the Quickening. The remnant was to inform everyone that the attack force had been defeated, and then to keep watch at the base of the hill leading to the meadow. He would serve as an early warning in case any enemies were still hidden and tried to attack the noncombatants.

  The four walked slowly through the village passing the bodies invaders and defenders alike. Each one was marked on Richter’s map, but not even Yoshi had the emotional wherewithal to deal with the bodies of the dead after the morning they had had. Richter felt a painful stab of guilt every time he passed one of his villagers that would never wake again. He took his mind off of it by examining his combat log. Experience was allocation seemed to be different in larger battles. Any enemy that he killed directly he received experience for, but it also seemed he received varying amounts of experience if he helped in the kill at all. Trying to figure out the math was giving him a headache, so he closed his log again.

  They walked until they reached the top of the hill leading to the Quickening. A sea of saddened and weary faces greeted him. The sprites stood around Hisako. The Hearth Mother was now awake and stared at Richter with sympathy. Her empathy touched him. That she could understand his pain and guilt, when her own people had died as well, moved him deeply. He knew that he needed to remain strong though. Sensing his turmoil, Alma landed on his shoulders offering him her warmth and support.

  Terrod stepped forward, “Has the danger passed, Richter? Are we safe?”

  He looked back at his Companion, “They are gone. We killed all that we could and the defenses are back in place.”

  One of the villagers shouted, “Here here! Cheers to Lord Richter! Cheers to our savior!” The villagers took up the cry. All except those who had the vacant look of numb loss. Several families had been irrevocably damaged, and nothing would bring their loved ones back. One mother held a small doll which she gazed at, slowly stroking its hair and murmuring to herself.

  Richter couldn’t stand having them cheer him for stopping an attack that he had allowed to happen in the first place. “Stop, stop! Do not praise me! This is my fault! Because of my arrogance and impatience our defenses were lowered. It was me! I chose to dispel the protective enchantment. I assumed that our location and our trench would protect us. I was wrong.” He walked over to the woman mourning the loss of her daughter, “I’m sorry.”

  With those words, his walls came down. He hadn’t been able to face the complex emotions that had arisen over the last hours of battle. There hadn’t been time. The needs of the moment had helped him to compartmentalize, but saying those simple words broke him down. He reached out and held the woman holding the doll. She looked at his face and began to sob. Unnoticed tears began to stream down his face as well. She clutched the doll to her chest as if it was the child she had just lost. The two of them slowly crumpled down to the ground. He didn’t know how long he sat there with the survivors of the attack. After a time, though, a hand touched his shoulder. Looking up from the embrace he shared with the grieving mother, he saw the faces of Wisteria and Poltan.

  Both were elders of their people, Wisteria was a high elf and Poltan was a hill dwarf. Richter had met with both of them a month before in the Kingdom of Yves. He had convinced them that his village was a chance for a better life, and they in turn had convinced their people to come. Looking up into their faces, he braced himself for the condemnation that he knew he deserved. Instead of berating him though, Wisteria just placed her hand gently against his cheek.

  “Before you came to us, we were struggling to feed our children. The laws of Yves were crushing us, and it was becoming shamefully common for our men to be wantonly killed or our women abused. Nothing was done about it by the authorities because they saw us as less than human. That changed the day that you came to speak to us. You didn’t promise a miracle or a perfect life. Instead, you offered us the chance to rise or fall based on our own merit.” Wisteria’s voice was soft and understanding.

  Poltan spoke after her, “If I remember correctly you said, ‘I make no promises for the future, but I do promise that if you come with me, we will meet it together.’ Today when we were attacked, you didn’t look to save yourself, you plunged into danger. You fought and defeated those that were a threat to us. And,” the hill dwarf paused. When he continued his voice was thick with emotion, “you saved my son, Dargren.” Poltan gestured to a reclining figure behind him. It was the dwarf Richter had used CPR on. Dargren looked exhausted and worn, but was alive. When he noticed Richter’s attention, he smiled weakly and raised his arm in greeting.

  Wisteria withdrew her hand from Richter’s cheek. She offered a hand to help him stand up. He gently disengaged from the woman he had been holding. She stood as well, and then shuffled over to some of her kin who held her in turn. Richter accepted the offered hand and stood. Her grip was sure and reassuring.

  Poltan spoke again, “It is easy for us to forget your youth when we are confronted with the knowledge that you are Master of a Place of Power. You made a mistake, and it was a terri
ble one. It had real consequences, and as a result, lives were lost. You will have to live with this forever. Nothing you do will ever undo what happened here tonight.” Richter would not have thought it possible, but his heart sunk even lower with the dwarf’s words. He didn’t try to deny it, though. He deserved these words of recrimination and more. So much more. Poltan wasn’t done speaking though, “If I guess correctly though, you have gained in wisdom tonight.” He looked at Alma, “And perhaps you have gained a great deal more as well. Know that you do not need to make every decision alone. If you but ask, we will readily give our counsel and help. Either way however, if your offer remains to stand with us come what may, then we will stand with you.”

  Richter looked around at all the faces around him. Many of the villagers nodded to show agreement with Poltan’s words. The rest at least looked at him with acceptance. Terrod gave him a small smile while he held Isabel, and Sion moved to stand beside him. The sprite didn’t say anything, but then he didn’t need to. They had been through fire and death together. They would always stand together.

  Richter squared his shoulders and set aside his self-pity. His guilt would be with him for some time to come, but Poltan was right. He had made a mistake. He had forgotten that this was not a game. He had been so wrapped up in the loot of the Tome, and so eager to use his cool new ‘toy,’ that he had sacrificed the safety of his people. He would have to live with that.

  A mistake was not all he had made, however. He had also made a promise to stand with these people come what may. He couldn’t undo what had happened, but he could start preparing for the future. It was time to get back to work.

  He was about to address everyone, when a prompt clouded his vision. The notification symbol in the corner of his vision was blinking indicating that at least one other message had appeared, and been auto-minimized during the course of the battle. He was about to minimize this one as well to just deal with them all later, but the interface was a silvery color that he hadn’t seen in a prompt before.

  Congratulations! Your actions on behalf of your village have awarded you your first Tenets! A Tenent is achieved when a preset series of conditions are met. The Tenent will provide certain qualities or privileges to your settlement. At the current level of your village, you may have: one Tenent. At the next level, you may have two Tenets. All previous Tenets can be replaced at the time of the village leveling.

  Congratulations! You have been awarded the Tenent: Don’t mess with Texas I! You have been attacked, and taught those fools a serious lesson! Specifically, less than 10% of those who started the attack lived to see another day. Defense +10% in future attacks, small chance of future attackers acquiring ‘Fear’ status when faced with your merciless forces.

  Congratulations! You have been awarded the Tenent: An Honorable Ruler I! You have made an error that negatively impacted your settlement. More importantly, however, you acted in a way that was consistent with your conscience. You were honest with your people and admitted your fault. As a result they will trust you more and feel more comfortable relying upon you. Loyalty for all inhabitants increased by +0.5 per day.

  Would you like to assign a Tenent now? If you do not, then one will be randomly assigned in one week. Yes or No?

  Richter shook his head. His first impulse was to choose the first prompt. Right now all he could think about was protecting his people, but he resisted the urge to act impulsively. That was the kind of the action that had led to the attack. He would have to learn more about both options. He decided to deal with it later. What he needed to do was take care of his people. There were tasks in front of them that needed to be completed.

  Richter started speaking, “Okay then. This is what we do.” Over the next several minutes he outlined tasks for everyone that was able to help. Even the children were given assignments. He detailed several of those more comfortable with weapons to go stand guard around the trench. The defenses may have been back up, but Richter wouldn’t take chances again. Randolphus thankfully had survived the attack and assured Richter that a guard rotation would be setup around the clock. Quasea, the gnome Dark magic adept, promised to cast Night Vision on the guards for the night shifts. A quick request to Yoshi also got him a detail of sprites to sweep the village and surrounding land a final time, to ensure no other enemies were near.

  He then tasked several of the villagers with collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades. The enemy bug bears would be left for the Mist Workers. Sumiko said she would aid with the disposal of the bodies. There was apparently a simple blessing that would keep the corpses from being resurrected in the future. He instructed Futen to summon as many of the workers as possible as quickly as possible, but to pay special attention to having the full four hundred mana needed at midnight to pay the upkeep of Confusing Mist. Futen responded with his customary, “Yes, my Lord.”

  He asked Sion to make more potions, specifically as many mana potions as possible. It was time to put the superb quality alchemy set he had bought to good use. Thankfully another sprite said he was skilled in Herb Lore, and an arcane gnome said he was quite skilled at potions. Unless they could make their own mana and health potions, the only other source would be to wait until they got a shipment from Leaf’s Crossing. That would take at least a month. That brought him to the next important issue.

  He asked Shiovana to go with the sprites once they went outside of the city walls. He needed to know if work done on the ship had been destroyed or not. Connection to the outside world was of the utmost importance. He also asked several of the farmers to go on the same trip and check the crops.

  The children that had shown skill with Herb Lore were to sweep the meadow with Sion or the other sprite and help collect herbs for potion making. The rest of the villagers were to salvage whatever could be useful from the fallen invaders and the ruins of the longhouse. Terrod was in charge of that group. His ability to get along with people would make this day go much easier. It might also soften the realization that they would all be staying in the rooms off of the Great Seal until another longhouse could be built.

  Elora flew up while he was talking. She felt terrible that she had not been helpful during the attack. In turn, Richter just apologized for putting her in danger. He assured her that her only task was to live and grow. She seemed to feel better after their short talk, and flew over to hover by Hisako. Richter checked in with the Hearth Mother, who besides being a bit tired, appeared to be none the worse for wear. She agreed to rest in Richter’s quarters for at least the next couple of hours. Yoshi and a few other sprites would stand guard. She protested it wasn’t necessary, but the adept was not to be budged on this matter.

  Richter addressed the group of human and nonhuman villagers once again, “Thank you for everything! We will rebuild. I promise you that. When you first arrived here, I chose not to include all of you in the immunity to the mists. Right or wrong, I own up to that decision. We are in a different place now, though. We rise, or fall, together. I trust you all with the safety of our village. I will work to keep us safe. Make sure you do the same.” Richter’s voice took on a heavy tone, and he drew his glass dagger, “I swear to you that this attack will be avenged. I will find the rest of those responsible. They are already dead; they just don’t know it yet!” He drew his dagger against his palm and showed the blood to his people. Hisako gasped a weak, “No,” but the deed was done. Richter squeezed his fist shut, and the first drop of blood dripped down and struck the ground. There was rumble of thunder.

  Know This! You have made a Blood Oath of Vengeance. In The Land, your words have meaning. You have one year to enact vengeance on the attackers of your village. If you do not accomplish this, the anger in your heart will poison your soul. This soul sickness will cause the loss of one Charisma per week until your vengeance is complete. Any losses will be permanent.

  You have received a Mark: Blood Oath of Vengeance.

  A tingling began all over his body and swept over him until it conce
ntrated on his inner right wrist. Looking down, he saw a red diamond with skull inside of it. A slight glow was in the center of the eyes. It faded from view in a few seconds.

  Richter could live with the countdown. Whoever was responsible for this attack would be lucky to make it a year. As far as the physical Mark … He would figure out what it meant and deal with that too. He was preparing to leave the meadow when he heard someone say “Through service, ascendance.” The other villagers answered together in a shout, “Through dedication, transcendence!” Yes, Richter thought, I will protect these people. In fact…

  “My people! Before you leave to start your tasks, I would like to make an offer. If any of you wish it, I will use my power as an Air Master to awaken any Air magic you have inside of you.”

  His announcement drew a sharp intake of breath from most of those present, and everyone started talking at once. He could only awaken Air magic in those who had over 50% affinity for that school of Power. Just because they had over 50% did not mean they would ever naturally manifest though. With Richter’s intervention, however, anyone over 50% was guaranteed to be able to cast spells. His pronouncement raised such an uproar because knowledge and magical power were jealously guarded secrets in Yves. Only the rich or powerful would be able to be taught magic without a lifetime pledge of service to the King or one of the magical guides. It was like Richter had just offered a chance for a free ride to Harvard (or somewhere even better like Dartmouth or Morehouse), to EVERYONE in the glade!

  The quickly formed a line, and as each passed by he placed his left hand on their heads’ and his right hand on their hearts. He would then murmur, “By the Right of My Power, I Awaken Your Power.” For most nothing happened, and they would leave with a disappointed, but grateful expression on their faces. In no less than thirty one villagers though, eleven of them children, he felt the same warmth he had experienced when he had awoken Sion’s power. The feeling would emanate from the center of his chest and flow down his arms into the man, woman or child, and find a resonance within them. For only a few hours of work, he now had thirty-one new Air novices in his village. Each of them were pulled aside from their duties, and Randolphus documented their affinities, and any starting spells they were granted.