Chapter 47: Long Memories

“So how do you think the news it going over?” I asked pleasantly, trying to ignore the energetic youth running around all of us. It was hard to ignore the constant running around and spirited yelling, but the small feast that Janeen had surprised me with this morning helped a lot.

I did not mind the kids from yesterday, but that was partly because they were too young to have even start developing any magic abilities in earnest. That some of the teens that were giving me a wide birth was only a small comfort in the face of the sheer number of little ones.

That was not including the fact that Bella’s talent, to see inside other people’s bodies with mana, was currently fighting to unleash itself on everyone who touched me. It would certainly not hurt them, but I was hardly prepared for the obligation the Guilt would give me if I saw something dangerous.

“I thought I told you? It will likely involve some violence before everything is settled, which is why I am over here with the young ones. Plus I get to apologize for what the young ones put you through yesterday.” Janeen spoke with a wide grin, not looking at me, but instead tickling a random young girl vigorously for attempting to drop some bugs down into Janeen’s clothes.

That said clothes were ‘practical’ enough to make my nonexistent genitals quake was likely not a coincidence… God above there were some downsides to this genderless thing, even if I thought the lack sex would help me in the long run.

“I see.” Honestly, I would have enjoyed a chance to talk to Janeen alone, but that seemed unlikely, despite the absence of both her child and said child’s father. I was a bit disappointed at that, but I was able to answer something that had idly popped into my head a while back. What type of mother would Janeen be? Judging by the look of her smile… well I sympathized with the slight looks of disappointment when she let the child go.

Seeing a red ball of mana starting to form behind me, I instantly shot out a simple dispel without looking and hear a light gasp from behind me. I rolled my eyes quietly, dispels were traditionally the second or third spell taught to those with the ability to use magic.

Janeen looked over in confusion while I just ignored it. Young, magically talented, individuals liked testing their powers out on others, it was not something new and as long as they were a respectable distance away, it was not an issue.

“I notice that we are some of the only adults around here, even Memnon is absent.” I probed Janeen, slightly surprised by the distinct lack of mothers or other adults anywhere near us.

She grimaced slightly, “Father and the others decided that this was not a decision to be made by them alone, so they will be explaining the situation at the clan. Everyone will get a say, however,” she paused, looking around at our surroundings, “everyone was just getting excited about going home, I do not think they can-” She broke off as a pair of children started yelling at each other just behind me.

You do not think they can run away? I kept the question to myself, instead deciding that now was a good time to actually hear the story. “What is your clan’s story anyway? I was serious yesterday when I said that I was not even sure what clan meant.”

“Story!?”

“Oh stone me.” I quietly cursed, the kids were interested.

“What does that mean?” More kids, at least I was keeping most of them from hanging off me today.

I kept my mouth shut for a moment as Janeen shot me a glare, as if they would not figure it out when they were older. “When you understand the art of ‘rock and roll’ you will understand what I mean.”

“Why?”

I ignored the kid, “Janeen?”

She sighed and clapped her hands a few times, “alright then, everyone gather around. How many of you have heard the story of our clan?” Most raised their hands, but there were some among the youngest who did not. “Very well, but I find that stories are not always told the same way over time, so do remember that my story might not be the exact same as the ones you learned.” She made a point of looking over at one of the young men with a plunging neck line that would have left a clan mark visible on his chest, if he had one.

After a pause, she started telling the story:

“Long ago, when the accursed Elves,” She paused to allow a collective ‘boo’ from the crowd, “were driven from the world and the Elven-Soul war ended, the rise of humanity began. At the time there were many arguments over what they should do next. As the Soul Eaters-” a quiet hiss arose. “Hush, as the Soul Eaters went berserk from their devoured Elven Souls and the Soul Mages rose to stop them many were lost. This became even worse when the Soul Mages tried to unite all the humans under one new kingdom they both fought with the Soul Eaters and with the naturally corrupting practice their own magic.

“Clans at this time were groups of familial generations, charged with certain areas of expertise like farming or fishing. We do not know for sure what happened back then as the combinations of wars and plagues that swept the lands. People disagree about how many died then, but most say that one in three died at that time.” Janeen paused to let that sink in, but I doubted that anyone except me fully understood just how terrifying that statement was. One in three people being killed… gods above, I could hardly manage that the few times I sacked a city.

“Of those who survived, many were in much smaller clans and were closely related, causing them to look for- other places to belong.” I blinked at the skip, but just mentally marked it as we kept listening. “All clans after all, no matter the size, stood by their members when the time came as they were far stronger together than alone.” Janeen looked around to make sure her point was being made, which it did seems to be, given the number of guilty looks. “Some clans even linked together to form the first kingdoms as the Time of Strife had by them fully arrived and the Soul Mages started to lose the fight to retain their sanity.

“During this time, many scattered, fleeing the lands in the central continent, which even now bares great scars from the damage done during those times. Most of those who could scattered, with those who went west hiding amongst the trees-” There was another hiss and some quietly spoken words “-those who went south deciding to use speed to hide on the plains, and those like us who when east, towards the setting sun.

“Where the westerners and southerners could accept and adapt to their lands, we in the east could not, for these were the lands of the most traitorous of Elves.” A slight gasp rippled through the crowd, but it quickly fell silent. “The beasts here were far more dangerous than on any of the other continents and many settled in areas near the Eastern Pass, which shielded those travelers from the worst of the Soul Mages’ fighting.

“Our clan was known by another name back then, but we swore to not talk of it after the Expulsion. Still, that had yet to occur and at the time we were one of a few groups willing to venture deep into the forests. We were responsible for clearing out the larger and more dangerious monsters who lived there and attempting to teach some of the settlers who followed.

“Of course, not all learned our teachings and before the tree farms were developed, many died from cold, disease, and the occasional beasts of darkness like the goblins.” Janeen shivered and the older kids started talking about the goblins, eager to show off how much they knew. As someone who knew next to nothing, I merely tisked and rolled my shoulder loosening up the small mountain of children as Bella just giggled.

I listened to a lot of stories when Bella was still a child, but discounted most stories of goblins and the like as simple tales to make sure no one went too far into the wilderness. After all, Entrials was not that far away from what seemed to be the only true wilderness on the continent.

Janeen held up her hands, “The creatures of the dark were many and all of them posed their various dangers. Our clan helped push back that darkness and showed time and again that we had nothing to fear from the former home of the Elves.

“We continued this way for over a thousand years, traveling deeper and deeper into the wilderness to show the way for those who followed.” She paused and Janeen’s voice took on an air of sadness that instantly dampened the swelling pride in her audience. “Then we decided that it was time to let another take the roll and for the first time we laid claim to the lands we hunted.

“We grew in number and prospered to the point where some talked of us forming a new kingdom. However, there were two unexpected curses that fell upon us. One was a powerful mage family that wished us to swear fealty and another was awoken in the swamps to our east, a dungeon unlike the others that were discovered.

“Where most of these places of evil would only overflow on rare occasions, this dungeon actively sought out and attacked those who had settled near it and drove them back to our lands. We were forced to fight a long war and sent many warriors out to protect others, but the beasts took a terrible toll.”

A deep hatred crawled it way from somewhere deep inside Janeen and manifested itself on her face. I quietly tensed and noticed, with some alarm, a similar look on some of the older children, though most of the ones surrounding me actually moved closer to me.

I resisted the urge to shake my head, I had no known ancestors, so I never understood holding onto a grudge that did not directly affect you. Stones, after a while I barely held a grudge for thing that happened to my graveborn brats.

“After we fought, bled, and were almost wiped from the land, we finally managed to create a ward to help keep the dungeon spawn inside its depths, with the help of the Bulwark Priests. However…” She took a deep breath, steadying her breath as it became slightly ragged, leaving me to wonder who those priests were.

“That was when we were stabbed in the back. The mage family had arranged a large force and sent them in in the last days to help push back the monster and helped create the ward. Only, immediately after we were sure it would hold, we found ourselves surrounded.

“If not for the blessed earth priests, the Clan would have died that day, but they struck a horrible parley for our combined lives. We lost our lands and promised to return to wander as a Clan of a different name, while the priests would return and announce their combined success.” Her eyes looked like fires of hatred and her clan mark briefly twitched on her cheek, though I missed exactly what movement caused it to do so.

Despite the goose bumps on my arms, I patted a few children on the head, reassuring them in the face of Janeen’s new level of hatred. It was just as bad as the look her father had after she had been raped… maybe there was some transference? Or Nalk interference? I glanced over at Arc very briefly and found her looking at Janeen with a mix of surprise and… something else I had a hard time placing, admiration perhaps?

I still wanted her to speak with Janeen about what happened to both of them, but that look was somewhat worrying.

“So we agreed and we abandoned our old Clan name to survive.” Janeen, seeing the reactions of those around her physically swallowed while her anger was replaced by sadness. “We ran for our lives, leaving our worldly possessions, our dead, and our reputation to those cowards. Soon enough, we agreed to split up to prepare for the day we would reunite and return under our old name. To that extent we split into 5 groups with different directions and purposes to make sure we appeared beaten.”

A slight smile graced her lips as Janeen looked over at one of the young girls next to me. “The first group to splinter was the Dana. They were mostly our builders and chart makers, people who could work math into an understanding of the world around them. They went west to practice their trade by mapping cities, the seas, and the night sky.”

The girl next to me straightened and immediately became excited as Janeen mentioned the Dana, barely containing herself until Janeen stopped before speaking a high pitched series of squeaks. “My mommy is one of them, she is the best map maker in the whole-” she stuttered from kingdom, to continent, to world before we got her to settle down. Though it hardly bothered me as it helped the atmosphere a lot.

Someone else started to interrupt by say something distinctly arrogant, but was hushed into silence. In the meantime I silently berated myself as I remembered that this girl in particular was from the Bookworms. Good maps were a blessing for more than a few occupations, but I had almost dismissed them entirely.

I also felt my eye twitch as I let a hidden knife fall into my hand and casually reached back. A magic filled hand was reaching for my ribs, but a light tap from the iron made it retreat, causing a small yip before I hid the knife away again. Keeping the iron hidden inside my bone armor was hard on my mana, but it was worth it. Even if I did not mind the younger children, I felt it was already far too crowded and I nearing my limit of physical contact for the week.

Janeen and the others did not notice, as she tried to continue. “Then the Elah, our best warriors, went to the Southern Ocean, where pirates are rife and they could keep their swords sharp.” The Fodder really were the fodder then? Wow.

“Then the Farah,” I noted a few quiet snorts, “went to the continent of origin beyond the East Gate to use the respect of our Clan’s old name to gather allies while keeping their diplomatic and arcane knowledge strong.” I frowned at that, the Sieve did not strike me as the most diplomatic and with that type of a reaction… Still, who knew how old this story was.

“Finally, there were the Karam who spread out to learn the art of trade and ensure that the clan can stand its own two feet when we return.”

There was a brief pause and some quiet bragging started again right before a man’s voice called over the crowd “In my opinion you forgot the most important part.” Following this, some called out names to people I could not see, suggesting that the meeting had ended already. “We swore to reunite under the main trunk, which was the only one allowed to retain the title of Clan and to follow them as they were the ones tasked with keeping our culture and history alive.”

I did not even have time to do a countdown before someone yelled “What do you mean follow them? We are equal members of the Clan!”

People slowly parted and I saw the man who was speaking make his way in. “No, our ancestors all swore an oath that the keepers of who we are would lead us back. Our current heads are a simply a sign of respect. Everyone,” the man held up his arms and put them together to make the clan’s mark, “should remember that while we are one people we have been apart a very long time.” He lowered his arms and looked directly at Janeen, “It is an honor we should not forget.”

Janeen bowed her head briefly, not saying anything while I let out the sigh I had been holding in for some time. Everyone started breaking up into smaller groups, spawning dozens of different topics of conversation.

Through the crowd I watched some run over to parents who wore complicated faces. I sincerely hoped they had a good plan, otherwise I would, in all likelihood, never see any of them again.

Gently starting to shake the small ones free I stood up and stretched, it was getting close to my departure time. I had warned them, enjoyed talking with Janeen again, and taught those idiot teens something, even if this young woman kept trying to hit me with her magic.

I turned around and glared at her while blasting her newest spell with a dispel. What part of the all-around vision of a mage’s third eye did she not understand? The teenage girl also had the nerve to smirk for the fraction of a moment I allowed the spell she shot into the ground to travel towards me.

“DeMorte?” I gave the teenager a smirk of my own, curtesy of her now slacked jaw look, before I turned to the man who addressed me. “I am Dawn, of the Dana, I would appreciate it if you would come with me and not shoot any more spells from your crotch.”

I found my eyes narrowing without conscious thought, this man was a mage? If he was than he was better at suppressing his power than I was. “Why, does it bother you?”

“Yes.”

I looked him over, the man was big, almost Mathalaus’ size and he had some serious muscles, though they were more that of a stoneworker than a fighter. He also did not have any major sword scars, but he did have more than a few scars and scratches on his heavily calloused hands.

The Dana were the ones I labeled the Bookworms, but they were become a more interesting group by the second. I wondered if they could also give me some maps of the area before I left. “Very well, lead on.”

Dawn started to turn around, but stopped. “Just him.”

I turned to find Arc standing behind me looking flighty, I glanced over at Janeen, who had looked up and was watching us. Without me having to say anything she stood up, “I will keep an eye on her. I have been meaning to talk with her.”

“Thank you,” I inclined my head to her briefly before telling Arc that I would be back soon enough.

It was only a short walk to the same tent I had met the clan heads yesterday, but it was certainly an odd one. My guide did not seem inclined to talk much and there were more than a few groups of clansmen who looked over at me with mixed looks. Most of them were hostile, or outright hateful, but a few were merely curious.

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No one liked it when the bearer of bad news came; all the better reason to leave soon.

When we got to the tent though, I met someone who changed my mind.

Walking in, we found Mathalaus, Memnon, the Sieve chief, and one very upset young man. They were not talking when we walked in, but the atmosphere was surprisingly tense. The man I did not know had two things that immediately caught my attention though, a small amount of leaking magic and, more importantly a belt that I helped design a copy of back in Entrials.

Stoning alchemist.

“DeMorte.” The Sieve stood up gracefully, making sure to give me a beautiful smile, her clothes were noticeably more revealing than yesterday, but in a more elegant manner then Janeen. “I apologize for our lack of introduction the other day, I am Legati, the leader of the Farah Branch of the- River Stalker Clan.” She bowed her head politely and then gestured to a cushion opposite where she had been sitting. “Would you like to sit on a cushion or are you fine on the ground?”

“Neither.” I gave her another once-over and made a point to let my eyes linger on her now well defined breasts. “So you really are a diplomat? Well now, and here I thought you were just an above average mage without discipline.”

She raised a single eyebrow and said nothing, leaving the unspoken question dangling in the air.

I ignored her and turned to the angry looking man, who I now noted was impeccably groomed, not having a single hair out of place. His clan marks were the same as Dawn’s. “Who are you then and please tell me the name is short as I am already struggling to remember the number of names I have been told these last few days.”

“I am Slaughter.”

I stared at him for a moment, taking in his at his lack of muscles, mana, and even potions, but before I could say anything Dawn disagreed, rather succinctly. “No.”

The young man rolled his eyes, “leave it to my brother to miss the joke. My name is Giovanni and I am the resident genius of the clan, your pleasure, I am sure.” His eyes flicked over me and he gave me a slight smile. “You are a man, right?”

“No, are you? Ah wait, I think we all know the answer already.” I turned away from the prick to Mathalaus and Memnon, who had not moved since I entered the room. “How can I be of assistance?”

“The coin.” Mathalaus stated simply.

The Sieve cleared her throat and was a bit more circumspect, but she confirmed Mathalaus’ words. “I am afraid that, after the news you gave us we are much more eager to ensure no crimes can be attributed to us. Part of that is collecting any and all items that might be used to do such.”

Interesting. “I was given the coin as payment and, odd though it may be, I am reluctant to part with it. Partly as it seems to be keeping my mana inside it quite efficiently, something that leaves me with the same problem you have.”

“There are ways to remove mana and we are willing to pay you, as thanks for warning us and to show you that we wish to request your aid. Particularly as you are a neutral figure who has demonstrated considerable talents in direct combat and healing.”

“So you are fighting after all?” I nodded to myself in approval, I would have done the same thing… granted I would have done it a lot closer to the actual wilderness so I could escape afterwards, but that hardly mattered. They were not actually bandits after all.

“We plan to make a strong position and force the Lord to back down and either bring his claims before the King and other nobles or accept a parley to let us leave this kingdom. Either way, we would appreciate all the help we can get including you.”

I gave her a small frown, I would not put money on any noble backing down unless, for example, he had been punched in the face hard enough to break his nose, sometimes both metaphorically and literally. “What if he accepts your offer and fabricates evidence against you? I will admit that I have a hard time imagining him doing that given his recent actions, but if he is willing to send for the other nobles? Have you considered the possibility that he honestly thinks that you are responsible for the attacks?”

She bowed her head solemnly. “We will make preparations for that possibility, however, should he choose to delay, the Karam branch will arrive in full force and we will move then.”

The Fodder would be enough to swing things? “Through what will be hostile territory with a Lord summoning you for a formal hearing? Which, yes, would have to be a formal hearing if things got that far. A formal hearing in which you would, if I recall correctly, bear the burden of presenting proof that none of the five groups of your people were involved in those attacks?”

The Sieve had the nerve to give me a brilliant smile. “I am honored that you are so worried about us, but fear not, we have planned for this, though we hoped that it would not become an issue.”

“Planned for this? When Dawn came to find me I was listening to a tale of betrayal and oaths of revenge, now I hear plans that seemed half-formed, but you tell me you are prepared for.” I shook my head, “I am not sure I want anything to do with your little upcoming argument.”

“By chance, did you hear how long ago we were exiled?” I did not bother shaking my head and she did not bother waiting for me to respond. “298 years and we have spent every single one preparing in our own ways, both for our reunion and what comes after. Believe me when I say that, while our reunion might not have been what you expected, we are hardly unprepared.”

I raised an eyebrow, but she copied my response from earlier and said nothing. Bella might be a friend, but I was at most, something of an acquaintance.

For the first time, I looked her in the eyes and weighed her. In response, she stood her ground, strong, but unchallenging and passive in front of my stare. This woman seemed to actually know what she was talking about, or she was at least confident enough to count on her best laid plans.

It also showed that she understood me well enough to know I would not let this go under any other conditions… it reminded me of when one of my advisors said something I disagreed with.

I nodded to myself and allowed her a genuine smile. These brats might have a chance, assuming they were not just mad or over confident. “Alright. Then let me go to the ultimate extension of diplomacy. What if he takes his merry band and uses it to declare war on you, after you do not balk at whatever offer he may or may not make? Further,” I let my curiosity show, “what will you do if you win?”

The Sieve, the Farah, chief’s face took on a serious look. “Dawn is here in case you accept a position to help fight, as he is in charge of building up our position.”

I turned back to him briefly to hear him speak in a calm, absolutely certain voice. “I will fortify this position, you have my word.” Rather than confidence, I saw absolute certainty in his face, he already had a very good idea of what he was going to do.

“With respect, fortifying in the woods over time is easy. How are you going to fortify against a small army that could just surround this little ‘tree farm’ and burn it down within a few weeks?” I had both the joy and the displeasure of seeing the effect of well-placed traps in a forest.

“By turning this from a tree farm into a death farm.”

“Right and how are you going to do that?”

“Traps.”

“…anything else?”

“Many deadly bits of metal, a few poisons, fire, and many traps.”

I blinked at him and just stared a moment before deciding that this conversation was going to be like pulling teeth. “Back to my other question, Legati, was it? What will you do if you fight and slaughter the Lord’s troops? Especially if you kill the Lord himself.”

I stared at Dawn for a fraction of a moment before I turned back to look at the Farah chief as she spoke. “I regret that, should it come to that, we will have to decide if we will flee the kingdom or attend to the king’s court to defend our actions. If we flee we might be able to receive passage at a later date, or go through the wilderness of the Great Forest if it come to that. Either way, we have sent for a Histone, who will as there will observe the whole affair.”

“Interesting… however I think there is something else I am missing.” I watched the room at large, there were several things I wanted to ask about, but I was more curious about what direction they were going in.

Memnon jumped in at this point. “He is here should you wish to help medically, or if you have some talent with creating Magic Devices, then Giovanni is, regrettably, the best around.”

I ignored Bella’s mental applause me as my mind jumped in a dozen directions at once. One line of thought in particular annoying me while Giovanni spoke up loudly. “You mean you would rather I work for the clan’s enemies? Is that what you regret Mor-non?”

I rolled my eyes. Really? How young was this Giovanni boy?

“Oi! I saw that look you Hideyoshi tsundere!” What the ovals did that little yellow-foot graveborn call me? “I have no problem with you healing people, but I am not letting you near my experiments or my creations. If you want to help me then you should at least know what this can do.” He reached behind his back and I had my knives in my hands.

Dawn intervened however, superimposing himself between us and grabbing something out of the boy’s hands. “This is dangerous brother, you should not have brought it.” Twisting the item in question away he turn to me and showed me a small clay pot, which he then rotated the top on. “However, since it is here I am curious if you can tell what it can do, I have made it safe for your inspection.”

I cautiously touched the top of it, knowing that he had no obvious reason to trick me in such a way, but still being careful. The clay pot certainly seemed harmless enough and there was no magic traveling along the outside. The inside was also relatively unimpressive, with what was clearly a general gust spell, to scatter… whatever the powder was.

Letting my magic slowly probe into the clay pot I pushed apart the few spells protecting the powder and started probing it directly. It was curious to say the least, giving me reason to look over Giovanni again. At least until my mana pushed past the pot into Dawn’s hand.

The big man grimaced as my mana touched a set of burned out mana channels. I apologized and actually took the pot out of his hands. That would explain how he could see my magic earlier, though I did not know that Burnouts could develop mage sight.

After another minute of examining the pot’s contents I decided that I should speak up. “There is an irritant in here, the powder or dust inside the pot I mean.” I briefly flicked a smile at Giovanni. “It is rather nasty, but nothing overly impressive unless it has some other property that I cannot feel.

“There are a few instructions in the spellwork that seem pointless, but I can feel that some are dedicated to keeping this sealed and others to scatter the contents when broken.” Taking a moment I turned the lid in the opposite way Dawn did. The whole tent tensed a little at this and I widened my eyes as I felt a very, very, small set of spell instructions go active. I turned the top back the other direction and deactivated.

“That is a conflagration pot, though I am not sure how well the irritant will burn. Incidentally, do you have anything else sealed inside this type of pot?” I did not look over at Giovanni, instead investigating the pot. “This could be quite useful for containing some of my more dangerous experiments if I changed it to burn up what was inside if released by accident.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I mean, technically you are correct, but what could you possibly want to put in there that a little fire could destroy?”

A disease or a nerve agent, I thought to myself, though I am not going to make any more progress on those until I get a serious place to settle down and keep them contained. “An irritant I modified from the seed of a plant, the stuff lingers far too well, but if I could burn it out at the start, it would be far less annoying.” I stepped past to Dawn and offered the pot directly back to Giovanni. “Though you should be careful, if it works effectively, then you opponent’s mages will start developing countermeasures on the spot. That said, good job.”

“Yeah, well,” he took the pot back, “you should see my other stuff, this is the simplest thing I have invented lately. They just do not want me showing off my best stuff.” He looked at Dawn and then jerked his chin at the rest of the room.”

“For good reason, once the idea is seen by others it will be copied and counters will be created.” That was why I had not used by concentrated light spell since I left Tartarus.

The only lady in the room, no you do not count Bella, cleared her throat. “In any case, these two will be touching lots of different areas so they can direct you to help, should you should choose to accept. You may, of course, take your time to think about our offer and how you can best help. You can also think of what you might ask of us in return, however we need an answer before you leave, so we can make our preparations with that in mind.”

In other word you cannot afford to let me leave until you actually met with the Lord, least I turn out to be his spy and part of some convoluted plan to stone your whole clan… not that I would throw shadows at that, right Bella?

I mentally sighed and thought about it, on one hand, a good source of food, some fun experiments, one stoning noticeable reputation impact, Janeen, and perhaps the Guilt. On the other, I could hand over the coin, ensure no trace of my mana was left in it and disappear.

Bella could not even laugh, she knew which choice I was leaning towards from the moment I heard the Lord was going after the River Stalker clan. In fact, I could feel her plans to rib me later over the fact that I would alternate from being paranoid about my safety to taking large risks, but that would be later.

They were not my men and women, they were not my responsibility, and they would survive without me, but… I wanted to be here.

I steadfastly ignored the barely suppressed mental smirk from Bella as I spoke. “Food and lodging should go without saying. I will be preparing for a mage battle, with all that it entails, so you should keep that in mind. I also want a sword, one-handed and made of mithril with any and all documentation needed to carry it without trouble from guards. The transition will be witnessed by the Histone you bring here whenever your scouts confirm the Lord’s forces are nearby.”

“T-that is quite the expense, a full mithril sword, even a one-handed one is enough to let even the hungriest of mages eat well for a year. Perhaps a noticeable amount of silver, enough that it takes at least a strong horse to help carry it all?”

I snorted, the Farah’s façade finally cracked for an instant. Her presentation yesterday must have really been an act, or she must have viewed that as a more familial meeting. “If am going to help you prepare for a battle, then I might as well stay to see you win it. The sword, food, lodging, and right to loot the dead will pay for one of the best combat medics on this continent.” I glanced over at Giovanni and grinned, “And I am no braggart.”

He stiffened for a moment, but then surprised me by grinned back, “challenge accepted, neither am I.”

I blinked, did I issue a challenge? Oh well, it should be a bit of fun in any case, especially as I had not worked on anything besides that thing in my lower abdomen for a while.

“Even so, I do believe that using anything as precious as mithril should be something that is discussed. Furthermore, it is rather presumptuous to assume that even assume that we have enough of it go give away some so easily.”

“I will give you mine.” We all stopped and looked over at Mathalaus, who continued rumbling. “Despite my dislike of it, I accepted the weapon for tradition’s sake, but since I have no magic, it merely grates one me. All we need to do is remove our symbols and work in a bit more mithril.” He stood up, “DeMorte will just have to prove that he is worth it.”

I nodded and felt a relaxed smile try to rise to my face, before the cold logic of the situation caught up with me. “One last thing, the clan will be fine.” I looked around the room and made sure they all understood. “You asked for my aid and I shall give it, but I am sure, based on what you have shown me today that the clan would survive even without my help. So, I will endeavor to help as many of you survive as possible, up until the moment you betray me.”

Memnon cleared his throat, “We would never-”

“I have seen mothers discard their own children and children turn on their family. When your turn comes, I will not hold it against you, but I will make you regret it, so I hope you remember who I am when the time comes.

“I am DeMorte Gyrfalcon, the man who knows death better than any other mortal and for this fight I will be on your side.”

*     *     *

Janeen’s private tent:

Arc shifted nervously, although the Lord Elf always told her to not worry so much she could not help it. Though she thought of herself as a loyal companion who would obey him in all things.

In fact, the Lord Elf told her not to even think of him as an Elf, but that was impossible for her. He had saved her and claimed her life as his own, weather he said so or not, so he was her Lord and Master. He was also eternally young looking, relatively thin despite the fact that he was almost pure muscle, and an incredible mage.

He was an existence straight out of legend, though he was not cruel like those ancient Elves. Arc thought it was because of the people he occasionally talked about and how they were obviously long dead.

Arc was something quite different. She was a normal, the former wife of a peddler who could not even give him a child. She could talk to people, but that was the extent of her skills and she knew it well.

Which was part of the reason she was so nervous now.

Janeen was everything Arc was not. She was strong, assertive, and unafraid of even the Lord Elf despite her lack of magic… She was even fruitful, though Arc would never mention how jealous she was of that.

Yes, yes, come now, you need to start the conversation already.

“Lady Janeen-”

“Just Janeen, please. I have never been a real lady and the only one I knew who could claim to be one, well, she was not the most pleasant person to be around.” She smiled. “Her sister inherited all the fun in that family.”

She want you to relax, so relax.

“Janeen. I wish to ask a question about umm, about the story you told earlier.” Janeen nodded and gestured to continue. “Well, I am not really familiar with such stories outside of bard tales, but is it really possible to just go back and get your revenge? I-mean-no-disrespect, but I just cannot see a King letting you kill a local mage family.”

Janeen chuckled, “normally it would be a horrible idea. Especially since said family became nobles the moment they swore to follow the King.” Arc inhaled sharply. “However, they fell out of favor a few decades ago and actually sold their barren land to the Church to move north.”

“Then how are you going to… chase them down?”

Janeen wore a smug smile and said nothing for a moment. “Do you remember the priests from the story?”

“I think you called them the Bulwark priests?”

She nodded, “They are followers of Ticoni, the god of earth and farming. While the family in question were followers of Conbra.” Her smile grew. “Earth priests are known for the patience for a reason and once the previous king announced that he was a follower of Ticoni, bad harvests became much more common for his opponents.”

“Then they bought the land and have started restoring it?” Arc’s eyes were wide at this

“Exactly, but whose money do you think they used?”

Good job, your master will be proud.

Arc almost blushed as she remembered that he would enjoy hearing about things like. He seemed to have quite a bit of trouble talking to humans, unless they were drunk, probably since he was an Elf. “Does that mean you are done? I mean if you bought the land back it should be yours right?”

Janeen kept her smile, but it quickly lost its energy as she looked the other woman over. There was no one outside the tent who could hear them, it was warded even before…

“No, we want our reputation and name restored. The people in that area still celebrate the day the dungeon barrier was created. Plus, we will likely see them again, even if the northern kingdom clashes are smaller than those here in the south, they are no less frequent.”

Arc studied Janeen’s face, feeling that something was missing. “Umm, is there something else? Janeen?”

The waning smile lost all its energy and Janeen scratched her nose for a moment before speaking. “Arc, I wanted to ask you about some things.” Janeen’s mouth quickly dried out as she found herself wanting to talk about something she previously tried to forget.

Arc’s voice shocked Janeen whit how cold it became, “I am not going to tell you anything new about him. He saved me and I have sworn to serve him.”

“No, not that, I mean…” Janeen uncharacteristically hesitated, “Given what DeMorte said happened to you… do you still ah… do have night terrors?”

Not the question you wanted to ask was it?

Arc opened her mouth to deny it, but the memory suddenly surged and she found herself waking up, hidden away from the raid thinking she was safe. She heard an unnerving laugh and remembered how she saw her husband begging for his life. How he even tried to offer her in exchange before the armored boot broke his jaw.

Arc closed her mouth without saying anything and tried to get herself under control, though it felt like there was something caught in her throat, making it hard to breath.

Hahaha like a part of you did not enjoy watching your so called husband get beaten to death? Like your lack of children was helped by being stomped on?

“I… I have been there.” Janeen’s quiet voice, caused Arc’s head to whip up. She had? “This place is still warded in case they come back.” She gestured to the tent. “I even threw myself at some virgin in a town we passed a few phases back, just to see if I could even enjoy it anymore.”

“How?” She asked without thinking before realizing she needed to explain. “I mean you are, I was… I was knocked out and when I came to everyone was dead. I would have thought that your clan would have…”

“I was a scout. I was used to going into the deepest wilderness by myself and I thought I was strong enough to not have to worry. I-I” Janeen took a few deep breaths of air and grabbed a nearby spear. It had taken her over a full year to trust herself with it again. “I was over confident and thought they were drunk, that they were not dangerous and I was wrong.”

“I see.”

Silence rained as both women remembered terrible things.

Almost… Perfect, now.

Arc opened and closed her mouth a few times before sound started coming out again. “If, if you would not mind I wanted to-to ask you to show me how to use that.” She gestured to the spear, “L-l-lord… DeMorte keeps telling me that I am safe now, but… I thought I was safe then too.”

“It will not keep you safe.” Janeen stated bluntly.

“O-oh.”

“…Though it might keep us both better occupied. Here, stand up.”

They both stood and Janeen started working through several basic spear movements to distract them both.

Well done, you might be useful to him yet.