Island Kingdoms' War

by D. L. Harrison

  As for me, I trusted them. They’d already proven they didn’t leave people behind, and they were loyal and fierce in defense of their party. It was only the relationship drama that had caused them to break with Robert, and only after they’d reached a time of safety. It wasn’t lost on me they could have abandoned him last week. I’d also gotten good vibes from both of them when they’d showed us around Tradewinds in the Western Kingdom.

  I said, “Welcome to the team. Let’s get a drink. Oh, before I forget, sometime tomorrow you should get with Lyre and Lara,” I turned my head to Dan, “And you should get with me and Anlyth. Sometimes we miss things, even obvious things, we can share our common sphere breakthroughs. We’ll also be heading back to Tradewinds to pick up our enchanted equipment, maybe after lunch? I have a feeling we’re all going to sleep late tomorrow,” I finished with a grin, and then I took a sip of beer.

  Cassie smiled wider, “Great, thank you.”

  Dan grunted and nodded in thanks, then drank some of his beer. Guy code was easy.

  We drank some more, danced some more, and talked some more but stayed away from serious conversations for the rest of the night. In the end, we had a blast, before we retired for the night. Gwen was mesmerizing that night, and I truly couldn’t imagine my life without her. Not just because of the high sexual tension between us after dancing all night, but in all aspects of my life. The future stretched before us almost endlessly as far as I could tell, and I knew nothing lasted forever, but I just couldn’t see a life without her in it.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The next day of our vacation pretty much went as planned, to a point.

  It was a little disappointing but not too much of a surprise that Dan didn’t know any fire tricks I didn’t already know, and I didn’t teach him much either. I was almost positive at that point any new breakthroughs were waiting for the ten Expert levels, and we were less than halfway there. I wasn’t positive, it would be arrogant to think otherwise, but if I was missing anything with the fire sphere than so was everyone else I knew.

  We surprised the two of them with a welcome aboard gift when we went to pick up our enchantments. We had an overabundance of expert level stones, and knew where to easily get more, so we gave each of them nine, so they could have their own set when we got to level thirty-one.

  When we got back to the city after an afternoon and dinner in Tradewinds, Gwen and I finally got around to taking that walk through the elven city. After celebrating last night we’d had other things on our minds, and we’d put it off. Regardless, the city itself was beautiful, and the elves still buoyant from our victory and were very friendly as a result.

  After another evening in the tavern, more relaxation, dancing, drinking, and entertainment, I was starting to feel human again, and we were ready for the next battle or a quest. All of us had already taken the time to meditate on our new skill levels as well, and to integrate the new minor sub-concepts into our spells and magic. Which was a good thing, as Wynn tracked us down the next morning with a request.

  We weren’t sure what it was about, just that the dwarven general had a quest for us if we were interested. Wynn didn’t actually know exactly what it was, and he wasn’t coming with us to find out. He had other duties.

  The very next morning, we were all on the ship and heading east, to the other side of our small forest and to the eastern fort set up on the plains a few miles west of the Eastern mountains. I hadn’t seen it before, and as we flew down it looked a lot sturdier than the other two forts, this one was meant to hold the enemy fast and end the battle. The walls were the same height, but the fort was about twice the size. The soldiers inside were a mix, some condemned were there but other humans, elves, and dwarves as well. The grand enchantment also felt stronger to me when we got in range.

  We landed inside, despite the larger size, the layout was very similar inside, there was just more of everything, barracks, baths, larger mess hall, and more storage buildings. We didn’t have any trouble locating the command tents in the middle, and after a cursory inspection we were ushered inside. I was sure the general had staff, but he was the only one present in the tent.

  His eyes smiled, but his face looked rather grumpy to be honest. Remembering Gorlick and Naleada I wasn’t all that surprised. The dwarves rarely showed positive emotions overtly. He was just under five feet tall, had a red beard and red hair, and his face looked naturally gruff.

  He said, “I’m general Jarbal,” he waved a hand, “Welcome, and please take a seat.”

  We all sat around the table, which was covered with maps, notations, and other paperwork.

  He said, “The horde is almost ready to march, I’d estimate two or three days before they head east. This battle is a little different than the one against the northern horde, have you been advised?”

  I shook my head, “I figured it was, but I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

  He nodded, “The flow of battle for the war is different, because we live in the same mountains. Our caves, mines, and living spaces are highly trapped, enchanted, and fortified. In short, it would be very difficult for them to tunnel into the area we claim, their best bet is to breach our own entrances. They know this, have for thousands of years now. The flow of battle is different every two hundred years, as they keep trying new strategies, but what it amounts to is this.

  “Some years they bottle up our entrances with small forces, because the entrances and exits are a choke point for both them and us. Then they send the rest of the horde west to attack the elves and humans. In that case, us dwarves would sortie and take them down, then march west and flank the main enemy force and harry them as they siege this fort. Other times they’ll do the opposite, send out scant raiding parties and scouts to annoy the elves and keep them running around to put out fires, while they use the might of their horde to break into our caves and tunnels. In that case, the elves and humans assist us after putting down the small forces, while we’re under siege.”

  “Makes sense.”

  He grunted, “It sounds simple, but at the same time it’s a chaotic mess, but it is what it is. One time about four hundred years ago, the gray dwarves paid a very high blood price to get through our master level traps and enchantments, something they probably won’t try again anytime soon. However, they did get through, and they managed to loot one of our vaults and escape before they could be caught.

  “It’s annoying, but we can write off the gold, except that’s not all they took. Several of our most powerfully enchanted weapons and armor belonging to the royal family were taken as well. Not just swords and crossbows, but staves of power only our masters of magic can wield. Up until now, it would have been suicide to try and reclaim them in their city. Honestly, it probably still is.”

  I laughed, a bit startled at that last admission, “So you want to send us?”

  He nodded, “All their forces are gathered in one place, their cities and homes virtually emptied out except for the home guard, females, and young ones. When I asked for assistance, the elf named Wynn suggested you for two reasons. You’re one of the few undying groups at your level, though after the battle last week many others have joined the journeyman ranks, you’re still higher than most. Second, and perhaps more importantly, you have a ship that could cross the mountains safely and in minutes instead of weeks.

  “We have the location of the city where the enchantments are being kept, we have masters that can find and locate them anywhere, but we have no way of getting there. We also don’t know what kind of traps or protections they may have laid. The battle here won’t start for three or four days, maybe longer. I’d like you to go to the gray dwarven city and reclaim those artifacts. I will give you an enchanted item which will glow near those objects. Anything you can find to take besides the artifacts, will be yours to keep with our blessing and thanks.”

  It sounded like a desperate plan to me, where he expected us to fail but that at least no one would die. At least, not permanently.

>   Jarbal grunted again, “I’ll leave you to discuss it, I also advise you to leave your elven members behind for this mission.”

  I blew out a breath while he left the tent.

  Anlyth said, “It’s suicide. Just getting in the city is a long shot, and he wants us to break in the vaults?”

  “It is that, but it also sounds like a fun challenge. We can always run if the resistance is too high. It’s also something they’d never suspect, they invade us all the time, but have the dwarves ever invaded them? Thoughts?”

  Gwen said, “If we do this, Anlyth and Lyre should stay behind, just in case.”

  Cassie smirked, “I’m game, a little payback would be good.”

  Lyre shook her head, “I don’t like it, but my husband is right. We’re willing to put our lives on the line for our people, to protect them, but this is just a little too high a risk, for restoring a few weapons for the dwarves.”

  Lara said, “We don’t blame you, it is a little crazy, but who knows what else we might find. We also might catch up, that is if we don’t die.”

  Steve snickered, “I’m for it.”

  It was true enough, the catching up part, we’d all died the last week except Anlyth and Lyre, they were actually level twenty-six.

  Gwen sighed, “It sounds like suicide, but it also sounds like fun. I also have to think it’s possible, or Gaia wouldn’t have set up the opportunity.”

  That… was a good point, it appeared to be part of the unofficial but obvious quest line, but I didn’t want to depend on it either. After all, the world was just created a month ago or so, the thieving of the dwarven treasury was fake history, just as my friends from this world have fake memories of growing up.

  Dan grunted, “I’m game if Cassie is.”

  Cassie winked at him.

  I sighed, “You’re all as crazy as I am. It’s a go.”

  Gwen snickered.

  Lyre frowned, “We’ll go with you, but stay with the ship. If you need a fast pickup from another location, or maybe a distraction, a ship firing down from high in the sky would do it.”

  Anlyth tilted his head, and then nodded.

  “There’ll be a lot of traps, we’ll all be able to sense the enchanted ones so be alert for that. Dan, we’re going to depend on you to use the Earth Sphere spells detect and assess earth almost constantly, so we don’t fall into a non-magical trap. If we’re caught by a roaming guard, or rather if we’re about to be caught, Lara and Gwen will cloak us. We fight only if we have to, otherwise consider this a burglary of sorts. Lara will cloak all of us except Gwen if it becomes necessary for random roaming guards. That will give Gwen the opportunity to move freely and take out the guard unawares, and also give Cassie a few moments to put up a wall of air for silence.”

  Gwen giggled, “Because sneaking worked so well in the gem mine.”

  I shrugged, “Sneaking did help a little there. If we do get into fights Cassie will use a wall of air in the tunnels to deaden sound. Party order… Gwen and Dan will be out front, Cassie, myself, and Lara in the middle, Steve will take up the rear-guard position. We’ll do our best to avoid large open areas, but chances are we might have to cross a few before getting to their vaults, which I assume are in the core of the city.”

  Honestly it didn’t even bother me all that much anymore. I used to hate putting Gwen in the front, but knew she’d be pissed if I got overprotective so I did it anyway. Now… it was just what it was, my woman was a badass, just one more thing that attracted me to her. I put Dan in front too, because it would give the party as a whole a few extra feet away from unmagical traps when they were detected.

  I added, “If it does come down to a serious fight where every gray dwarf in the city has been alerted before we’ve reached the vault, we bail. Basically, cloak and run for the surface following our backtrail. We should already know how to avoid all the traps. After the vault the point is moot, but we still try to sneak out.”

  I had no qualms about killing women from the evil races, but I didn’t need to, especially when it could cause mission failure.

  Cassie asked, “When are we going?” while bouncing on her toes excitedly.

  It looked to me like she was ready to go right then. Lara and Gwen looked excited too, but they were more reserved. Us guys were ready too, I guessed two days of downtime was enough, we were all ready to get back to it. We were probably all even more ready for it because it wasn’t another large scale and horrific battle, with innocents suffering in the collateral damage.

  It was just us at risk.

  “Now would work, but we need to get with Jarbal for the enchantment, and also get more details about the city and how to access it.”

  Cassie smiled wider and headed for the tent entrance. She was really ready to get into some mischief. She was a vivacious woman, generous of heart from what I’d seen so far, and far more outgoing than the other ladies in our group. Lyre was just reserved unless in a small group, Gwen was outgoing too, but it was very situational, and Lara was just plain shy. Open with us in our group, but still shy.

  So far, she seemed like a good fit, as good as I’d hoped. She was also impishly attractive, which seemed to inform her personality. Short at five foot two, golden blonde hair, warm brown eyes, and petite and athletic. Despite her good looks, and vivacious openness, she wasn’t flirty at all, and it was quite clear where her affections rested. That was more the better, although Gwen hadn’t displayed jealousy or insecurity lately in that regard, I was happy for it. One less complication to worry about.

  In truth, Gwen was a lot more secure in me since those first few days we’d entered civilization, and she’d seen potential rivals. The fact was, for me she had no rival. Sure, I wasn’t blind and noticed the beauty of others, but held no interest otherwise, I was enthralled by the love of my life. She was lissome, sexy, and graceful. Five foot six with gorgeous reddish-brown curly hair reminiscent of chestnut, and gorgeously intelligent and mesmerizing green eyes. Her face was beautiful, but with a hint of mischievousness with a smattering of freckles on her nose.

  There was enough drama outside the group, I was very pleased with the group of people we had.

  Gwen winked at me with a knowing and pleased smile on her face, no doubt noticing I was staring at her again. I often did that when I got lost in thought, my eyes subconsciously sought her out.

  I turned my head as Cassie and Jarbal walked back into the tent.

  Jarbal asked, “You’ll do it?”

  I almost laughed again, he was looking at us like we were all insane. No doubt he had orders from his king to make the attempt, but he obviously hadn’t believed he’d find any suckers to take such a risky operation.

  I nodded, “We will. What can you tell us about the city, and do you have the enchantment?”

  He pulled a gem out of his pocket, it wasn’t a precious gem, just a crystal. It had a muddy red light, and I got the sense something important was towards the east.

  Jarbal said, “That will glow lighter and brighter in color the closer you get to the equipment and weapons we want recovered. It also gives you a sense of direction, which will be somewhat of a help in the city itself. All I have for you is the possible entrances, while masters can assess earth from far away the spells are blocked by the enchantments around the city.”

  Gwen asked, “Somewhat?”

  Jarbal frowned, “It will tell you the direction of the vaults, but more than likely there won’t be a tunnel leading in that direction, you’ll have to work your way there, and you may have to backtrack to find the right route.”

  Gwen nodded, “Got it. The entrances?”

  Jarbal pointed at the map, “It’s beneath this mountain here, you won’t have any trouble finding it, the gem will be pulling at you straight down when you’re over it. There are three entrances that we could find. One is the tunnel system the dark races use, the dark elves and gray dwarves anyway, it’s on the southern side. One of your people with the Earth sphere should be able to div
ine it, and tunnel down into it, and head north into their city. Assume there is a gate that way, and some guards, although that should be true for all entrances. The tunnel itself which leads to different underground cities is unprotected. Like our cities underground, all the walls will be protected with grand enchantments and other traps, I’d advise against trying to tunnel in a new entrance at all.

  “The second possible entrance is their iron mine which is on the northwest side, about a quarter of the way up the mountain. You’d have farther to go once inside to reach the lower levels where their vault is bound to be, but it may be worth it since it’s bound to be less secure. The miners as far as we know are the orcs, hobgoblins, and maybe even an ogre or two. The gray dwarves and dark elves usually enslave the lesser evil races for hard labor. The gate between the mine and city will have gray dwarf guards, but it will be far more isolated than the other entrances of the city, where downed guards might not be noticed for a longer amount of time.

  “The third entrance is like the first, just on the northern side of the mountain which leads to the tunnel system for other cities.”

  Gwen shook her head, “Maybe, but what if we cloak and just run by the gate guards to find a place of concealment inside the city, we’ll be a lot closer to the end goal that way.”

  Jarbal said, “It’s a risk, they might have similar grand enchantments as what is on this fort, a cloaked person may be dispelled while crossing the perimeter of the city through the gate.”

  Gwen bit her lip, “I might be able to put them to sleep for a short time, if they’re not all that alert that is.”

  “You can do that?”

  Gwen nodded, “Darkness affects the mind, it can do a lot of things. But cursing someone to sleep during battle is virtually impossible which is why I’ve never done it, but for a creature on boring guard duty it’s more than likely to work. Unless they have strong protections against the Darkness Sphere. When they wake up, they won’t even remember being asleep.”

  I frowned, “Are there slaves of the good races in their mines?”