Chapter Twenty-One

Igneous and Nelly sit outside of Yasevl’s temple, while Yasevl, Nevil, Heva, Thomas, Corma, Nora, the leader of the high elves, Vola Magina, and the leaders of the dwarves and gnomes, discuss what to do going forward. Giblex had explained to the Igneous and Nelly all that had happened while they were gone. How the dwarves and gnomes had made their way to the surface and had become allies of the wood elves, and how the high elves had learned of the wood elves and had come to warn the wood elves of the coming human army and to offer their aid. After explaining this to Igneous and Nelly, Giblex went off with Koren and Mitch to help the priests and priestess of Dorean set up their tents and camp outside of the village. Marigold had taken Vance to show him around, this left Igneous and Nelly to wait. Igneous turns to Nelly and says, “ If you want, you can go home, and I’ll tell you what I learn later.”.

Nelly shakes her head, “ No, I need to be here myself. I may not be allowed to be in the meeting myself, but this still effects the future of my village and me.”.

Igneous nods and the two sit in silence. After a moment Nelly cocks her head to the side and says, “ You know almost all other villages have a name, but our village doesn’t. I wonder why?”.

Igneous shrugs, he doesn’t know he never thought of it before, but she is right. With nothing better to do, Igneous asks, “ What would you have it called?”.

Nelly taps her finger against her chin and opens her mouth to say something but is cut off when Nora steps out of the temple and looks to Igneous and says, “ We need you inside.”.

Igneous and Nelly both get up and walk towards her, but Nora holds up a hand and smiles at Nelly, “ Just Igneous, sorry Nelly.”.

Nelly pokes out her bottom lip and pouts, Igneous smiles and offers her a shrug. As Igneous follows Nora through the doorway, he feels a thick magical energy wash over him. As he enters he can hear the others talking. Looking back at the doorway, he sticks his head out and hears nothing, pulls his head back in and hears the others again. He looks up at Nora in confusion, but she simply shrugs and gestures toward the large table the leaders of the varies groups sit. Igneous steps forward and they all turn to him. The high elf sizes him up, studying him both on the outside and with magic. The dwarf, Rix, smiles at Igneous and with a friendly gruff voice, “ So this is the little flame bringer we have been hearing about. Its an honor to meet you.”.

Rix nods to Igneous and he returns the dwarf’s smile and nod, Gimmel, the gnome, jumps down from his chair and walks forward towards Igneous, and holds out his tiny hand. Igneous responds in kind and the gnome grasps Igneous’ forearm, with surprising strength, and says in a musical high-pitched voice, “ A pleasure to meet you, I am Gimmel,”, nodding his head towards the dwarf adds, “ and that is Rix.”.

Igneous smiles and says, “ It is good to meet you, Gimmel. I am Igneous”.

“ Yes, we know. We have been regaled with the stories of your battles.”, Gimmel says releasing Igneous’ arm. Igneous looks to Yasevl with surprise, fearing that he had told them everything, but Yasevl shakes his head, and lifts a finger to his lips. Igneous nods to Yasevl and looks around the room and asks, “ So what did you wish to speak with me about?”.

It is the high elf that responds, “ We have heard that your flames are able to fight against the darkness of the creatures back in the human village. We wish to discuss all our options for the coming conflict.”.

Igneous looks at Yasevl again, the demi-god, in wood elf form, gestures for Igneous to take a seat in an empty chair next to him. Igneous walks over and takes his seat, Gimmel returning to his as well. As Igneous gets himself situated, Vola speaks up, “ I see that you have dark mana swirling inside you, along side your flame mana. We have been told you are able to incorporate the darkness into yourself using your flames, is this true?”.

Igneous stares at the high elf for a moment, not sure what to say, when Yasevl nudges him and nods. Taking a deep breath, he says, “ Yes, this is true. I am able to force the darkness to become part of myself and others, by using my flames.”.

Vola narrows her eyes, rubs her chin, and says “ Interesting.”.

This is all the woman says, and the room settles into silence. After a moment of silence, it is Gimmel that speaks up, focusing on Igneous, “ Corma tells us that you are able to enchant items with your flames. Would it be possible for you to do this with weapons?”.

Igneous bobs his head, and responds, “ I have only done it once with a magic staff, but I guess in theory I could.”.

Gimmel nods, and Rix then speaks up, “ Are you willing to try?”.

Igneous thinks for a moment. Remembering the discussions he had with Thomas and Nora on the aspects of human society, mainly that when someone preforms a service they are expected to be compensated. He nods then says, “ I am, but what do I get in return?”.

Rix and Gimmel look at Igneous in shock for a moment before smiles spread across their faces, Rix chuckles and says, “ That is something I like to hear. Anyone that gives away their bargaining chips for free are fools, and I don’t wish to work with fools. What would you ask of us?”.

Igneous thinks for a moment and realizes he has no idea, he looks to Nevil, who nods and says, “ We have seen your homes and village, you are able to create stone works in a matter of hours, you created a whole village in a couple of weeks. Would it be possible for you to have some of your stone shapers to improve the buildings of our village?”.

Rix and Gimmel nod their heads and lean to each other, whispering, before looking back to Igneous and Nevil, Gimmel speaking up, “ We would have to see if it is possible for Igneous to enchant the weapons first and how effective they are, but if they prove worth it, we can discuss the prospect of our builders coming here to work.”.

Nevil smiles and says, “ That sounds reasonable.”.

The rest of the meeting is occupied by the planning of the coming battle, it is decided that all non-combatants will be moved to the dwarven and gnomish village of Surface, Thomas and his people will try to talk the human army into listening to reason, and if that doesn’t work, the wood elves, goblins, high elves, and the humans, on their side, will fight back the army. They also learn that the high elves have a spy in Forestedge and that a group of survivors are planning to try and catch up with the human army, and that this will most likely bring the creatures with them. If this happens it may just be enough to convince the human army to join forces with this group of varies races. The dwarves and gnomes will not be involved in the fight, in hopes that they maybe able to act as a third party between the two side. With a plan the group disperses and begins to prepare for the coming battle.

The next day Igneous stands inside Corma’s hut with Gimmel and Corma, holding an iron sword in his hands. Focusing, Igneous feels the sword looking for its mana, but finding only a minuscule amount. Frowning, Igneous tries to loop his energy around the swords, but finds it is unable to do so. The only result is that the sword in Igneous’ hands begins to grow red hot but stops has Igneous cuts off his connection to the sword. Igneous shakes his head, and looks to Gimmel, “ I don’t think I can do it, there is not enough mana in the sword to anchor to. I am sorry.”.

Gimmel shakes his head and says, “ It is alright, it was worth a try.”.

He is about to say something else when a voice comes from the doorway of the hut, “ I think I may be able to help with that.”.

The three turn and see the high elf leader, Vola, standing in the doorway. Gimmel’s eyes go wide, “ Madam Vola, it is a pleasure. Do you have something to add on this matter?”.

Smiling, Vola steps forward and pulls a sword from her side, its thin curved blade shimmering in the light.

“ We high elves are experts in magic, with most of our army consisting of mages, but we still have need of warriors, so we came up with this.”, Vola says holding the sword out to Igneous, “ We call it a spell-sword. It is created in a way that allows magic users to cast with it.”.

Igneous takes the sword and uses his mana to probe the sword, finding that it almost pulses with magic, every inch of the sword being infused with mana. Igneous looks up to the high elf and asks, “ How are you able to do this?”.

Vola smiles ruefully, “ It’s a secret, sorry.”, moving on she adds, “Do you think you could enchant this sword?”.

Igneous probes the sword with his mana, and it feels as if the sword is almost trying to pull the mana from Igneous to itself. Igneous quickly retracts his mana, and hands the sword back to Vola and nods, “ Yes, it should be possible.”.

Vola smiles and says, “ Wonderful! Then the high-elves will supply the weapons for you to enchant for the gnomes and dwarves.”.

Gimmel narrows his eyes, and asks, “ And in return you want?”.

Vola’s smile widens, “ Well that is simple, we wish for Igneous to teach us how to enchant, and for you to show us how to shape stones. Vary simply, really.”.

Corma is about to speak up, as well as Gimmel, when Igneous says, “ Fine, I will show you how to enchant, but you must supply the swords first and you may watch me enchant them to learn to do so yourselves.”.

Vola narrows her eyes, but nods, “ That is acceptable.”, turning to Gimmel she asks, “ And you? Do you agree to the terms?”.

Gimmel thinks for a moment, when Igneous leans forward and whispers in his ear, “ They will most likely figure it out themselves. Better to show them now and get something out of it, then to wait for them to figure it out and get nothing.”.

Gimmel looks to Igneous and smiles, thinking that the creature seemed to learn fast. Turning to Vola, Gimmel nods, “ Deal.”.

Vola smiles, and snaps her fingers, “ Very good.”.

As she says this a group of high elves begin bringing in wooden crates of swords, after the last one is put down the elves leave, save for Vola and she asks, “ Shall we begin?”.

Bigsly pushes his large form through the dirt hole leading to the surface, looking around he sees that he is close to the out skirts of the village and that there seems to be none of the creatures around, turning around he reaches back into the tunnel and pulls Lily out. As Bigsly places the frightened girl down, Iva pulls her way out of the hole. The three of them moving aside as more of people begin to pull themselves out of the hole. Bigsly looks around again and sees the crouching form of Geoffrey at the edge of the forest near where the army had made their path through it. Geoffrey waves for Bigsly and the others to hurry over, Bigsly is about to say something to Iva, when the sound of fighting comes from the direction of the Adventure’s Guild. Yelling and hissing can be heard though out the village. As the last person comes through the hole, a small group of the creature come running from the forest, heading in the direction of the fight, when they spot the group of fleeing villagers. The creatures stop and fix their gaze on the villagers and begin running toward them. They are almost on them when the adventures from the tavern rushes from the forest and intercept them, swords and spells crashing into the creatures. The lead adventure looks back at the others and yells, “ GO! We’ll hold them off and join you later!”.

Bigsly begins to say something but is cut off by the sound of more creatures rushing towards them, the sound of stomping feet feeling his ears. Nodding his thanks to the adventure he grabs Lily and begins to run but stops when he realizes that Iva is not with them. Turning back, he can see that Iva is fighting along side the adventures, casting one spell after another, alternating throwing fireballs and throwing up shields to protect others. Bigsly yells to her, “ IVA!”.

She looks back for a moment and smiles sadly and shakes her head. Bigsly is not sure what to do, wanting to run, but also not wanting to leave the woman. He is snapped out of his indecision by the sound of Lily’s whimpering. Frowning, Bigsly looks to Iva one last time before turning and running towards the forest with Lily in his arms. As Bigsly makes it to the tree line the rest of the villagers have made it to and already began running, Geoffroy waves them on, before running along side Bigsly, saying, “ I’m sorry.”.

Bigsly says nothing as they run along the path made by the army, only wiping away the tears forming in his eyes, before briefly looking down at the small form of Lily, griping his shirt tightly, her face buried in his chest. With a new feeling of purpose, Bigsly begins to run faster with all his being, not daring to look back as the screams begin.

“ I WANT TO STAY AND FIGHT!”, Nelly yells as Nevil tries to convince her to go with the rest of the villagers. Soon after the Igneous had finished enchanting the swords that he could, Rix had returned with a group of dwarves and gnomes to escort those leaving the village. Nevil is trying to get Nelly to go with them, but she refuses.

“ Please Nelly, it is too dangerous for you to stay here.”, Nevil tells her. Nelly frowns and places her hands on her hips, and replies, “ That is why I need to stay and defend our home, I can help.”.

Nevil shakes his head and looks around for help, most people doing their best to look anywhere but at him. Igneous sighs and looks up to Yasevl and says, “ Come on, you know we have to help.”.

Yasevl hangs his head low and says, “ Fine.”.

The two walk over to the arguing father and daughter. Nelly looks over to Igneous and says sternly, “ Tell him I should stay and that I can help.”.

Igneous nods, and says, “ She can help, she knows how to fight.”.

Nelly smiles smugly, but stops when Igneous turns to her and adds, “ And that why you have to go.”.

Nelly looks at Igneous in disbelief, and asks in a shrill voice, “ WHAT!? You just said I can help and now you are saying I have to go?”.

Igneous nods, “ Yes. You have to go with your people. If the worst should happen they will need a leader and that has to be you.”.

Nelly begins to say, “ But-but,”.

When Yasevl cuts in, “ He is right, if we should fail here, those that survive will need a leader to rally around and as the future chieftain that must be you.”.

Nelly looks as if she wants to argue more, but Nevil kneels down, placing his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes and says, “ I know you want to fight to protect our home, and I know you are able, but a village can be rebuilt. Home is not a place, but is our people, as long as they live so shall home. I need to know they will be in good hands, and that’s why I need you to go. Please.”.

Nelly looks into her father’s eyes, the fight leaving hers, then nods, “ Fine, I will go with our people.”.

Nevil smiles, “ Thank you, daughter. We will do our best to protect our village.”.

Nelly looks over to Igneous and then back to her father and says, “ Roothome.”.

Nevil looks at her in confusion, and asks, “ What?”.

Igneous smiles and says, “ The name of our village, it is Roothome.”.

Nelly nods and says, “ All other villages have names and ours is called Roothome.”.

Yasevl smiles, as does Nevil. Nevil nods and says proudly, “ We will defend Roothome.”.

After giving her good-byes to her friends and family, Nelly goes to join Corma and Giblex with the group leaving. As Nevil watches the group of goblins and wood elves, Heva approaches and informs him and Igneous and Yasevl, “ They are ready to go.”.

Nevil nods followers her to the head of the group. As they walk away Yasevl looks down to Igneous and says, “ Looks like we are really doing this.”.

“ Yeah, we are. I just hope we aren’t making a mistake.”, Igneous replies looking over the people he has come to see has his own. As the two brothers stand in silence, Gimmel walks up to them and address them, “ Yasevl, Igneous. It has been a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to seeing you again.”.

Yasevl nods, and returns the respect, “ As it was ours, stay safe until the next time we meet.”.

Igneous nods his heads and grasps the gnome’s forearm, “ Stay safe, friend. I am sorry, I could not finish all of the swords, I promise to finish once this is all over.”.

Gimmel shakes his head, “ Worry not, I know you did what you could. From what I can tell it takes a lot of mana to enchant, and you still were able to enchant over fifty. Our deal is done, and when this ends we will keep up our end. Thank you, Igneous.”.

Igneous smiles and nods. The two release the others arm and bid the other farewell. Gimmel moves to the head of the convoy leaving the village. Igneous watches as the villagers begin to leave, yelling last minute good-byes to those staying behind. After the last of the villagers are out of sight, Igneous looks to Yasevl and asks, “ Now what?”.

Yasevl replies, not taking his eyes off the horizon, “ Now we wait?”.