Chapter Seventeen

“ So, I sent a letter to the Grand-Bishop in the capital, and upon him agreeing, which he should because lord Dorean said he would talk to him, then we will send a group of priest and priestess, guided by adventurers, to the wood elf village. It is our hope by establishing a human temple there, the Albion nobles and royals will have to accept the village as a country and people separate from the high elves.”, Thomas tells Igneous, who listens quietly. Yasevl jumps in, “ We also hope that by including adventures, the Adventurers Guild will get wind of it, and see it as an opportunity to increase its importance and influence by being the only human business in a non-human land. And if two human organizations are there then the village will, hopefully, be seen as a possible ally and not a possible threat.”.

Igneous nods his head slowly then looks up at Yasevl and says, “ That’s nice and all. Really. But, could you tell me, WHY ARE YOU FLESH AND BLOOD NOW?”.

Igneous sudden outburst, surprises Thomas causing him to jump, Yasevl had expected this and nods with a reply, “ Yeah, about that. By me pledging myself Gaia, not only did she grow stronger, but so did I. I am no longer a spirit, but I am a demi-god, the demi-god of the forest.”.

Igneous takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, then after taking a few calming breaths says, “ Okay, when do we leave?”.

Thomas and Yasevl look at each other shrugging and bobbing their heads, Thomas looks over and states, “ Well it will take a few days for the letter I sent to reach the Grand-Bishop, then a few days for his reply, which if it goes as we think, will include the money needed to buy supplies, hire the adventures, and for any unforeseen expenses.”.

Igneous is getting ready to say something when a loud groan feels the room, looking over Igneous sees Yasevl holding his stomach with a pained expression. Laughing, Igneous informs Yasevl, “ You haven’t used the bathroom yet, have you? Ha ha, oh you are in for a less than pleasant surprise. You don’t get used to it.”.

Yasevl looks up from his stomach and looks at Igneous then Thomas, the latter trying to hide a smile, “ What do I do?”.

Thomas points down the hall, and with one hand still covering his face, says, “ I suggest heading down the hall to the door that says bathroom, there are stalls with doors and leaves for, um clean up.”.

“ Clea-,”, getting ready to ask further questions, Yasevl stops suddenly and clenches his stomach then looks down the hall and down at his laughing brother, groaning he darts out the door and down the hall listening for talking doors, but all he can hear is the laughter of an imp and a priest from behind him.

The human hunter burst through the tree line, on the outskirts of Forestedge, her clothes dirty and ripped. Breathing heavily, she takes a deep breath and continues running towards the village. After nearly knocking people over on her way, she stands in front of the local lord’s office and home. Stepping forward she is stopped by two guards crossing their spears over the door, “ Halt! What business do you have?”.

Jumping back in surprise, the hunter sets stern gaze on the guards, “ I need to see the lord! It is urgent!”.

The taller of the two guards looks down at her and says, “ Do you have an appointment?”.

“ What? No! What part of urgent don’t you understand?”, the hunter says her temper growing.

“ The part where you don’t have an appointment.”, the guard states blankly.

The hunter stares the guard down for a moment then takes a deep breath. Looking around to make sure no one was listening, leaning forward she whispers, “ I have information on a group of elves near Forestedge.”.

The guards demeaner quickly changes, they fling the door open, “ Please hurry inside.”.

Smiling, the hunter says smugly, “ That is more I like it.”.

As she steps inside, is confronted by a portly man with the nose of a swine, “ Welcome to the lord Sven’s office and home. Do you have an appointment?”.

“ No bu-,”, She is about to explain again, when the guard steps up beside her and says, “ Out of the way Bigsly, this woman must see his lordship, NOW!”.

The large man acts as if he is physically struck, his head shooting back, causing his many chins to giggle. With a heavy and gasping voice says, “ Why I never! How dare you speak to one of his lord’s personal clerks like that! I hav-,”.

The portly man is cut off by a booming voice feeling the room, drawing everyone’s eyes up to the second story balcony, “ I will hear her out!”.

Standing at the railing , is a middle-aged man, his brown hair trimmed short along side his silver peppered beard, his shoulders broad, and his posture evident of his time as a warrior. The piggish clerk, Bigsly, stammers, “ B-b-but s-sir! She do-,”.

“ The guards let her in, most likely knowing she did not have an appointment and yet they let her in, I will hear her. And you dare question, not only the guards that protect this place, but me!”, lord Sven says his voice booming. Bigsly shakes his head, his jowls shaking as he does, “ N-n-no! Of cou-ur-rse n-not sir.”.

“ Good. Woman come.”, Sven says dismissing the guards and clerk with a wave of his hand.

The hunter rushes up nearby stairs and heads over to the lord. The guards do as they are told and return to their post, closing the door behind them. Bigsly, on the other head, quietly makes his way up to stairs, far quieter than should be possible for a man of his… stature. He watches as the woman and the lord walk into the lord’s office and the door shut. Sneaking over to the door, he presses his hear to the door, his chubby face forming around his ear and against the door, helping him hear more clearly.

“ Elves?”, the muffled voice of Sven asks.

“Yes, my lord. In the northern forest, about a week or so’s trek.”, the hunter says her voice quiet and respectful.

There is silence for a moment, Bigsly worried that they will leave the room gets ready to move, when he hears Sven say, “ I need you to tell me all you can.”.

“ Of course.”, the woman replies.

Bigsly listens as the woman tells the lord about how while on a quest for the Adventures Guild, she saw a group of dark-skinned elves walking through the woods and how they were speaking a language she had never hear before, then she goes on to tell him how she had run all the way back to get this information to him a soon as possible. The lesser lord, thanks the woman and hands her a piece of paper with something written on it, telling her to give it to one of his clerks and that they would give her the reward for the information. The door opens and the woman steps out and walks off to find a clerk, hopefully not that portly guy. That would not be a problem, Bigsly had left as soon as he knew she had given the lord all the information she had. The large man rushes through the large manor and makes his way out through the kitchen door, nearly flattening a kitchen boy on the way. The large man quickly makes his way to The Wounded Purse, the local tavern and inn. Rushing inside, he makes his way up the stairs to the rooms for rent. Standing in front of the last door on the right, Bigsly wipes the sweat from his face onto his sleeve, then softly knocks three times. After a moment the door opens up slightly and a soft gentle voice calls out, “ Yes?”.

Bigsly smiles and says, “ Its me, Bigsly, I have some information for you.”.

The door opens more to reveal the face of a young, beautiful woman with light cyan skin, blue eyes, and long pointed ears. The beautiful high elf smiles at the perspiring human and smiles sweetly, her smile never reaching her large eyes, “ Please do come in.”.

Bigsly smiles and steps into the small room, standing in the small room he looks at her messy bed, she must have been asleep, then around at the small room, besides the bed and a basket clothes the room was empty. The high elf walks past him, her arm brushing against his, making him take in a sharp breath. The woman sits down on the bed and crosses her legs, causing her skirt to rise just so, giving the man a peak at her exposed legs, “ You have information?”.

Being pulled away from his own thoughts, Bigsly looks up at the elf and smiles, “ Yes, I do.”.

The elven woman gestures to him, “ Then by all means, speak.”.

After Bigsly tells the elf, all he knows she thanks him, and pulls a pouch from the clothe basket, and hands it to him, the pouch heavy in his hands. The elf walks him to the door and opens it, when he just stands there, the elf rolls her eyes and kisses the man on the cheek. While Bigsly is distracted by the kiss, she pushes him out of the room, thanking him as she closes the door. Pressing her hands to the door she chants a quick spell that leaves the door shimmering. Wiping her mouth off and spitting, she walks over to the bed she rents, gets on her hands and knees. Feeling around under the bed, she feels a hard and cold, smooth surface. Grasping it she pulls the mirror out from under the bed, and places it on the bed while she gets to her feet. Upon standing the elf picks up the mirror and holds it with both hands and chants softly, then taking one hand away traces a symbol, that resembles a flower mixed with an ocean wave, on the mirror’s reflecting surface. After a few moments longer, she stops her chanting and the mirror glows, soon her face is replaced with that of another elf, a man.

“ You have something to report?”, the man asks calmly.

The woman grins and says, with a sparkle in her eyes, “ Yes, I do.”.

After a week the letter from the Grand-Bishop, along with the money requested, arrives at the temple in Forestedge. Another week pasts as supplies are bought, Nora and her group are hired by through the Guild, and priest and priestess are chosen to move to the elven, and goblin, village. Igneous stands in the back of the temple as Thomas speaks to the priest and priestess chosen to go, in the early light of dawn. Muffling a yawn, Igneous looks over at Nelly, her excitement and nervousness evident by her lip biting and her foot tapping. Leaning over Igneous whispers, “ Excited to be heading home?”.

Nelly looks over at Igneous and smiles shyly, “ Yes, and no.”.

Igneous raises an eyebrow and shrugs a non-spoken question at Nelly.

“ I’m just worried that the humans will think our village is small and weak. After being here, I see how behind our village is.”, Nelly says with a weak smile.

“ Yeah, but you can change that. You are the next chieftain.”, Igneous says giving Nelly a comforting smile.

Nelly grins and nods, “ Yeah, you’re right. I will do that.”.

The two talk quietly of all the things Nelly wants to do for the village, while Thomas finishes up his sermon. When he finishes, the group of people going gather their things and say their good-byes to those staying. Even Thomas picks up a bag, and when given strange looks he laughs and says, “ You don’t think I would past this up, do you?”.

Nora smiles and says, “ Glad to have you a board. But I expect you to listen to me while we are in the woods.”.

Thomas nods, “ Of course.”.

Nora smiles and says, “ Good.”.

The group step out of the temple and begins heading towards the forest, when they suddenly stop, Nora looks around and asks, “ Hey, has anyone seen Marigold?”.

One of the priests speaks up, “ She said she had to grab something before we left.”.

Another speaks up, “ She said she wouldn’t be long.”.

Nora is about to say something when Marigold’s chipper voice breaks through the early morning silence, “ Hey! Guys! Wait up!”.

Everyone looks to see, Marigold running with her pack swaying on her back, and behind her a man with a lute following behind with a pack of his own. When Marigold and the man reach the group, everyone can see that it is a bard. Nora looks at Marigold with a stern and frustrated glare, “ Who in the Abyss is this? And why is he here, now?”.

Marigold smiles and says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “ This is Vance, he’s a bard/adventurer. He’s going with us.”.

“No, he’s not.”, Nora states simply.

“ Yeah, he is. I got the Guild to add him to our quest.”, Marigold says with a smile, then adds chipperly, “ Isn’t that great?”.

Nora breathes in sharply through her teeth, “ You have to talk to me before doing stuff like this, damn it, Marigold.”.

Mitch places a hand on Nora’s shoulder, “ What’s done is done. Nothing we can do now, and we are wasting time standing here.”.

Nora breathers out and looks at Yasevl and says, “ I am so sorry, but is it okay with you, if Marigold’s friend comes along?”.

Yasevl studies the man, who doesn’t seem shocked to see non-humans with the group, and says, “ Yeah, its fine.”.

Nora gives him a silent thank you, then looks to Marigold and points at her then the bard, “ If he does anything out of order it’s on you too.”.

Marigold nods vigorously at Nora, then grins deeply.

Nora sighs and turns back toward the forest and says, “ Let’s go.”.

The bard, Vance, who had been silent up till now, pulls his loot around and begins to play a marching song, that somehow makes everyone move a little faster and easier.

When Nora turns around to snap at the bard he smiles and says, “ It’s a little magic I picked up in my travels, it’ll help us move faster.”.

Nora groans and says, “ Fine!”.

Con stands at the front of his dark temple, that now stretches far below the ground with rooms for him and others to sleep, and smiles at the small group of people sitting in front of him. Most of them are weak minded fools that jumped at the chance of power, but an enough of them wanted to serve something greater than themselves but were not allowed to join the Dorean temple. Here they were all welcome. Con speaks with a confident voice that coats the others’ skin like a film, “ Welcome my brothers and sisters! Today you shall receive the blessing of our master.”.

Some of the people gathered clap and cheer, others just look at Con with a hunger in their eyes. Con smiles, knowing that both types had their place here. Turning around picks up a stack of folded black robes, that match his own, and passes them out to those gathered. A few mumbled thanks, and quick changing later, everyone assembled are clothed in dark robes. Con smiles and gestures towards a dark door behind the alter that the light of the scatter torches in the room can’t reach, “ Please brothers and sisters! Come forth and receive the gift of our lord.”.

The true believers jump at up and rush to the door, while with some grumbling most of the others do the same. Before long all have entered the room, and when some of them call out asking what they needed to do, a stone door slams shut trapping them inside. They bang at the door and yell, demanding to be let out, begging to be released, but over all of that, some could be heard calling for the master to give them his blessing. Con smiles as he hears the yells of anger turn to screams of fear, and the needy cries turn into roars of triumphs. Con smiles darkly, as darkness stretches across his skin, leaving only his mouth untouched by the darkness, he whispers, “ Welcome to the family.”.

For the first time, several voices answer back in his mind, “ Thank you, brother.”.