We slipped through the earth making our way back to the bolt hole. Once inside I relaxed making some dinner enjoying the luxury of accomplishing something I thought of as impossible. I hadn’t had to kill the king, much to my surprise there was a reasonable side to the leader.
I was honestly surprised by the development, everything I had been taught about elven culture was might makes right. It really did catch me off guard the way it worked out. To be fair I had been taught most of what I knew about them by humans and my own experience. Maybe that was what I had gotten wrong or maybe it was just that rulers had to put their people first. Either way I was just happy it had worked out.
We waited until full dark before we left, slipping through the ground once again making our way to the castle. When we reached it I took time to study the wards, it was heavily protected but something had changed from my earlier exploration. Some new magics had been applied, it made me wonder. Was the king truly trying to make peace or was this a trap? I explored the wards further finding the trap, and it was a trap.
The wards under the kings chamber had been altered to capture and seal me in. I took a few minutes studying them, long enough to realize they wouldn’t stop me. With further study I learned they wouldn’t even be able to slow me down. What fools! The anger boiled up inside me, I couldn’t believe this fool thought this would be the end of it. Now he would pay, pay with not only his life but with the lose of wealth.
All that was a forgone conclusion my real question was what to do about the rulers? The general came to mind, he had seemed genuine and did have the might to hold the throne. But was he being honest? I had to know before making a decision and than another realization hit me. I didn’t care, their leadership wasn’t my problem. I would supply them with shards through whatever means served me and let them figure it out. If they attacked the humans, they would find themselves cut off from shards and face me as an enemy. That settled I started moving through the keep searching for the vault I knew must be there.
It didn’t take long to find it, an area deep below the castle built in the roots of the great tree. It glowed with wards, strong ones that sealed the room tight to all appearances. Well to anyone but a pissed off six shard mage. Normally I would skip this because it was to much work, but I was mad. Not mad enough to brute force e the wards and alert him to my activities. It took me calming my self slow through breathing to start my work.
Twenty minutes later I had a door opened into the vault, not one ward had been disturbed. While I worked my mind calmed, maybe it wasn’t a trap it was possible that the new magic was simply defense. The king could be worried about me, I had demonstrated that I was a threat. Maybe killing my way up the nobility hadn’t been the most friendly approach. What did I do now? I did what I planned, robbed the treasury and went to the meeting. If I was betrayed I could escape and take their wealth, if not I could put it back.
I slipped through the door, my eternal horder dancing with glee as I took in the room. Chest filled with gold and gems, racks of weapons and armor and held in pride of place was 16 shards. They were grouped with parchments, when I read them I couldn’t help but laugh. The elven king had taken lessons from the humans, using the shards to keep the nobility in check. Some houses had shards that couldn’t be used together while others had combination that could be used together. With each note was a list of favors or support the king had gotten or needed from that house. Some were coin or wealth others were conceded duels or approval for decrees.
It answered so many questions. I took them all, every coin down to the last copper. The magical weapons and armor were next, there was nothing I wanted to use but I wouldn’t leave it for them. Of course I claimed the shards as well, it all went into storage. In the back of the vault I found a small bookcase, there were five books on the top shelf. Two things got my attention about it, first was the bookshelf itself. It glowed with magic, not wards but preservation magic. Someone had spent a large amount of magic to ensure those books would be preserved no matter what happened.
The books were a variety of times on the truth about magic, or that’s what the titles said anyway. I had no idea what the titles meant but knew it wasn’t about shard magic. The magic of this domain was intuitive, if you had enough shards you could force the magic to do your will. Without reading these I could feel they were different, some deeper secrets held within them. The temptation to sit down right now and read them almost overwhelmed me, not a magical weave but my curiosity about what they held.
What really struck me though was the magic in the bookcase, the familiarity of it. This shelf was created by Arawn, I knew that much for certain. This shelf was part of or had been done like the bolt holes. Whatever was put on those selves would stand the test of time, nothing would harm them for thousands of years. Rather than get stuck on wondering how it had come to be there I just took it and the books into storage. I couldn’t wait to read those books and discover their secrets.
Exiting the now empty vault I reworked the magic to remove all traces of my interference than slid back into the tree. I still had one more thing to look for, the kings personal vault. I had no doubt there was one, there was something about powerful people and private stashes. It took me another five minutes to find it, a floor board behind his desk in a private office held a small sealed box. Just large enough to contain his personal things, it would be stocked with gold or gems. No this would be filled with small magical items, blackmail material probably some gems, things like that.
I didn’t bother breaking into it, simply took the whole box into storage I could open it later if need be or just put it back. The time for the show was fast approaching. I still didn’t know if it was a trap but more immediate I didn’t know how I should arrive. He had said to come to the palace and he would make sure the guards knew to allow me. With that thought in mind I deciddd to just walk up, no sense in revealing my hand. Let him think the wards had stopped me from traveling directly to him.
I slipped into the ground hidden from sight in a deep shadow between two trees, there size made it obvious they were storage of some sort. I switched my outfit to hunters leathers and a fixed the half mask, hiding my features. Taking the dragon bone staff in hand I stepped out walking to the front door. The two guards stiffened as I appeared.
“Duke Syn, the king and general are expecting you.” The one on the left said, his partner did his best not to stare, locking his eyes forward. “A guide will lead you to them.”
He opened the door revealing a young woman waiting in the hall beyond. I didn’t see a need to talk and simply nodded walking forward. The guide stepped forward leading me through a maze of halls, she never spoke just lead on through the massive tree. She stopped infront of two huge doors after what felt like an hour of wandering the twisting hallways.
“They await you inside my lord.” She said bowing as she stepped off to the side.
There was nothing for it now, I stepped forward and pushed the doors open revealing the large study on the other side. A large fireplace lite the room, a large desk held focus at the back of the room but the two chairs and couch near the fireplace were more welcoming. The two elves stood as the door opened, the general stepping forward to welcome me. The king more reserved, waiting for me to come to him.
“Welcome Duke Syn, my thanks for coming.” The generals tone was honest and welcoming.
“Your majesty.” I offered a simple bow as I stepped forward. It finally got the man to acknowledge me.
“Syn, come have a seat.” It wasn’t a request, his hand waved me to the couch. The couch that sat directly above the wards meant to trap me.
“My thanks.” I offered stepping forward to take a seat on the couch. Having me sit here didn’t tell me if this was a trap or not but since I didn’t feel threatened by it there was no need to stand.
“A drink?” Q offered.
“Tea if you please.”
“Your majesty?” His follow up question received only a wave of the hand as a response. The kings gaze had never waivered from me. He waited for Q to hand me a warm cup of herbal tea and join him in the chairs across from me before speaking.
“I caught most of your proposal earlier, but want to be clear.” His voice had a smooth resonance to it, it carried his will trying to force me to speak.
“It’s simple I will kill the last two captive dragons, since they can’t be freed, and than release the dragons I have back into the wild. It will likely take a few years for the balance to return and shard to be readily available as they once were.” I explained while carefully watching his reactions. “In the interim I will supply you with the same number of shards as you’ve been receiving from the humans.”
“With two conditions?” The king asked, I could tell he didn’t like this part. That wasn’t enough for him to reveal his hand though, no king liked conditions.
“Yes, the first is to not attack the humans while that goes on. Once the balance is returned if you choose violence that is up to you, I won’t be involved.” That was the big one.
“And if I disagree you won’t supply shards?” The king was direct, he wanted to know exactly what I meant. For his part the grand duke just listened to us, but I didn’t mistake his vigilance as disinterest. He was paying as much attention to his king as he was me.
“I won’t support anyone at war during that time. I would cut off both participants, war gains nothing for the domain it only injures it.” Was my simple response.
“The other condition?” His tone clear unhappy.
“That all dragon hunting or aid in it stops.” I thought this one should be obvious, but evidently it wasn’t.
“Why?” Q asked, not disagreeable but curious.
“The dragons are, I am sure you can see by now, the source of magic in the domain. If they are hunted again and the magic disappears it will be the end of us all.” I sipped my tea before continuing. The bitter tang of poison slipped across my tongue, I almost sputtered in surprise. It was meant to leech my energy not kill me, but the surprise of it caught me off guard. With a simple flex of my will my internal magics captured it all forcing it into a small ball, contained and no threat to me.
“That’s understandable.” The king was grinning now, showing he was aware of the poison and thought the fly had fallen into his web. “And again if we disagree no shards?”
“Good tea Grand Duke.” I complimented taking another drink before continuing my response. My magic immediately taking the poison into the ball. “Not only that but I will directly oppose those who do.”
“Yes well, glad you like it. What do you mean directly oppose?”
“Yes please be specific.” The king, I couldn’t tell was stalking for time wanting the poison to have time to work.
“I will kill any who hunt dragons, than kill every noble from the ruler down to the lowest duke as an example of my anger.” I hadn’t really planned on the threat being that big but since I knew this was a trap, why not go big.
“And you think you can do that?” The king almost laughed. His confidence was growing with every sip I took.
“Yes.” Was my simple cold response.
“So you wish to rule us by threat and blackmail like the humans?” The Grand Duke didn’t like the way it sounded.
“Not at all.” I responded smoothly. “The shards will have no price and once the balance is restored you’ll be left to your own means of acquiring them. As too the dragons, I should think that’s obvious, it’s a matter of self preservation. Anyone who can’t see that doesn’t deserve to live.”
“What of the humans? How will they be stopped from repeating what they’ve already done?” The king had an honest interest in this, but I couldn’t tell he really wanted to know how they had done it. More importantly if he could do it.
“The magic that allowed it is gone, lost to the ages would be my guess.” I gave nothing away, he didn’t need any of this information.
“Short lived fools!” The king scoffed. His disdain for them letting my lie feel truthful. “Only they would loose magics so powerful because they failed to record it.”
“A fair judgement.” The Grand Duke agreed, his tone shifted slightly telling me he wasn’t asking his next question directly. He was asking if it was time to spring the trap. “What do you think your majesty?”
“I think it will be much easier to dispose of you Syn.” He sneered flaring his shards to activate the wards. “Time will kill the humans and than we shall rule, foolish breed!”
I felt the wards activate, a magical cage of fire and lightning flaring up around me. It was an impressive looking spell I had to give them that, sadly it was no real threat to me. The two of them hadn’t moved and there was no sounds of guards coming so I just sat there, completely calm. This seemed to disturb them, they evidently expected me to be afraid. Fools, arrogant fools.
“How does it feel to have fallen to superior planning you stupid breed?” The king laughed.
“You were right my king, the man is as foolish as we believed.” The grand duke cackled. Turning to me he added. “Nothing to say now? Done making demands of your betters?”
“When I see my betters I’ll consider it than, what I see now are two cowards who feared facing me in the arena, as expected.” I smiled back at the two enjoying the look on their face as I called them out.
“Strength of arms is not the only means of rule.” The king tried to defend his actions.
“What does the ancient law of the elves say regarding that coward?” My biting retort stung and he reeled back as if struck.
They both sat in silence studying me while they tried to recover their bearings. I had struck a blow neither could deny and we all knew it, if word of this was leaked in the right way it could destroy both men and their families. Skill didn’t often overcome numbers and even the lowest commoner would take up arms against this. None of that meant anything now of course, they thought I was trapped and could be disposed of easily enough.
“None of that will matter once your dead imbecile, already the poison leech’s your magic away.” The king recovered first, he spoke with confidence. “Once that’s done it will drain your life energy until you’re dead. We will just sit here and watch.”
“Ahh that’s the bitter flavor in the tea than, shame I rather like the bit it added to the floral taste.” I grinned back at him, giving every indication that I was surprised by the information.
“He liked the taste!” The grand duke bellowed with laughter at my response.
“For a breed you seem calm about your impending death.” The king commented, a bit of nervousness tinging his voice.
“Death is an inevitability is it not?” I asked getting bored with their gloating. Maybe it was time to liven up the game. With a flex of my mind I took out the warded box I had taken from the kings private room earlier. It appearance took the king back, much to my amusement.
“What is that?” He asked, worried he already knew the answer.
“Your private vault if I remember correctly.” I grinned back through the bars of my cell. “Since this is all rather boring and I am waiting to die, might as well assuage my curiousity.”
“How did you get that?” He asked confused by how it was sitting in my lap. The general had a look of greed written plainly across his face.
“I took it earlier while exploring the castle, right after I emptied the royal vault.”
“You did what?! That’s not possible the wards would have stopped you or at least warned me about it!”
“Your wards are far too open to manipulation.” I explained simply, then added with a smile, “Did you not think I would poke around before this meeting? Or that I wouldn’t want leverage?”
“You….” The king rocked backed the reality hitting him hard. “What do you want?”
“Your majesty we can just take it back when he dies, there is no need to deal with this mutt.”
“You don’t understand, he has our shards.” The king insisted but the grand duke still didn’t understand so the king explained. “They could be drained before his life force!”
“What?!?” Evidently the general had some interest in this, something more personal. “But my son…”
“Now you understand, without those shards none of those coming of age will be able to absorb anything.” I was bored and decided it was a good time to open the box, so I started breaking wards making the king snap his attention to me. “Wait, stop we can come to an agreement.”
“What do you have to offer?” I asked pausing in the process, the game was coming to a close. Mostly because I was getting bored.
“Your life of course!” The grand duke was in a near state of panic now, evidently those shards were something he needed badly. It was a chance for me to stir the pot.
“But my dear general, your son is only due to receive two compatible shards out of the four you’ve been promised.” Mentally I flexed my mind and pulled out the note that had been laying with the shards regarding the grand duke.
Grand Dukes son- four shards promised but only two will fit for adoration the other two will be singles. No need to allow his family to keep growing in power.
He read the words through the bars, his face slowly turning a shade of red with anger. I could see the fury building in his eyes before he turned to face the king.
“You promised me four shards for my son!” He bellowed, rising to his feet. The king rose with him taking a step back to create distance. “You promised them to me for letting to precious son look good in front of the others! Like that Brat could ever fight me to a draw!”
“Understand I can’t have a threat like that face my son.” The king tried to explain, but he knew there was no way out. His blade moved fast, faster then the Duke expected if the look of surprise on his face was any indication. The kings blade slide into the dukes chest piercing his heart. The grand duke was no slouch though, even as the life fled his body his right blade jumped into the kings thigh, punching through to exit the other side. Then with a last gasp his body and he fell to the floor.
“Damn you!” The king turned toward me, anger mixed with pain across his face.
“Should I feel bad for revealing your treachery?” I laughed watching a small pool of blood start to form at his feet. “You should tend to that your majesty.”
I expected him to simply heal it, so when he didn’t and wrapped a strip of cloth around his leg binding the wound it took me by surprise. Evidently he didn’t have any healing magic.
“What do you want?” He asked, sinking back into the chair with a hiss of pain.
“Me? I’m dying as you said my king.” The sarcasm in my voice was obvious.
“I have the antidote of course.” He snarled annoyed with my disinterest.
“Currently my death accomplishes my agenda, my death doesn’t bother me.” I was lying of course, he guessed it but couldn’t be sure. “The elves will be so weakened they’ll have to make peace with the others or be killed. The other races have already agreed to my plan and been supplied so what do I need with your antidote?”
“You what?” My response must have been convincing because all at once the arrogance deflated and even though I was the one poisoned in a cage, he had lost. “You've already met with the other races? But the humans still have two dragons!”
“So you’ll rely on their generosity?” I laughed and he knew I was right, they would never let go of their hatred not by choice. Both sides would happily watch the other die out, there would be no deals now that only two dragons remained.
The king was dying, we both knew it. The bandage on his leg hadn’t stopped the bleeding, the last blow from his general had killed him just not quickly. Now the only question remaining was how much did he want to curse the world with his death? Would he free me and allow me to continue on or die thinking he had me trapped in this cage.
“My son can’t hold the throne, he is far too weak but my wife will never hear that. You’ve killed the best fighters amongst the nobility, except him and we’ve killed each other.” He sighed heavily tossing a vial to me, the antidote. “The truth is the only one left who could hold the throne is an Earl Grathin, he won’t want it but he will do it. He will also agree with you, he already has sympathy for the plight of the half breeds.”
There was a slight flex of magic and the cage faded back into nothing. The kings face was paling as the puddle of blood grew under his chair. He choose to save his kingdom in the end, dying with some honor.
“I will speak to him.” I said softly.
“You don’t take the antidote?” He asked watching me curiously.
“Didn’t need it.” I admitted spitting the ball of poison into the fire. “The cage wouldn’t have held me either.”
“How strong are you?” His breath was coming slow now as he faded.
“Strong enough to enforce my will, I have agreements with the other races already, yours is the last before I kill the last two dragons.” My words seemed to soothe him in some way, his next words surprised me.
“Why not rule? You have the strength.”
“How much blood would I have to shed, elven blood before the accepted a half breed? Plots, assassins how many challenges? No, I’ll not be a ruler I have my own goals and they are far less complicated.”
“There is one other, tell the Earl a common boy named Merid, he has a natural talent and a quick mind. He has been shared yet but has excelled in swordplay and school, if he is sharded with enough power he will make a good king.” His voice was fading as he spoke. “An orphan….I’ve watched him..funded him..absorption age soon. Tell him.”
With his last words he died, slumped in his chair, his blood mixing with the grand dukes. I could still say I didn’t kill a king but it made no difference now. My immediate needs were to find this Earl, hopefully it would go better. First of course I had to loot the grand dukes and king. I also searched the study and his books taking a few odds and ends. The important things I took were the kings seal and signet ring. Those would go to another, I slipped into the wood again no in search of an Earl.