by D. R. Rosier
In addition to that he had the magic corps, which was comprised of several quads of two sorcerers and two clerics. There weren’t nearly enough to go around to support all his companies, much less platoons. He only had eight quads not counting the eight sorcerers assigned to running the ship and himself, which meant they needed to be used sparingly and only where they were needed.
He said, “We’ll land somewhere along the northwest corner of the United States. Our initial goals are to gain a foothold and establish a base and community. Once that’s taken care of, and our supply lines are solid, we’ll start to absorb the fractured Americans under our authority and put them under the rule of the emperor. This first phase can last up to a year according to the emperor’s expectations, but I expect we’ll be ready to move out after the snow melts next spring. That will give us six months to prepare.
“Your twelve companies have been chosen to put feet on the ground first. With over four thousand troops you shouldn’t have trouble achieving your objective. Your goal is to secure the area with no witnesses. When we move into the second stage of the invasion we’ll want to kill as few as possible as we annex this land, but for this first stage it’s paramount to avoid any locals from escaping and reporting our presence until we’ve established a solid foothold. As such, any communes, communities, or locals seen will be cut down immediately. Do any of you have a problem with those orders?”
They all said, “No, sir!”
There was no sense in deploying all the troops to secure a bridgehead. It’d also make the unloading go faster and more smoothly. As it was, he was hoping the four thousand troops he’d chosen would be more than overkill already.
He nodded, “Good. Each of your companies will work with three others. One group securing north of our landing point, one east, and one south to create a perimeter. As such, each larger group will be given one quad, just in case you run into any magic wielders. The elves and dragons shouldn’t be a problem. According to our intelligence there are only five elven cities and magical forests on the continent, only two of those in the United States, and neither of those are on the west coast. Once a fifty square mile area is secured and patrols are instituted, we’ll start unloading the rest of the ship. I expect that to take around a week, at that point you’ll all be relieved. Keep in mind, until that base is established, any wounded will need to be taken back onboard the ship to the sickbay.”
He added after a pause, “Any questions about your orders, or comments or suggestions?”
Sun Ming interjected, “Be alert. They are sure to have seers as well. Secrecy is important, but perhaps unrealistic with magic and gods in the mix. Our enemy is broken up into fractured tribes, that is what will give us an edge, but establishing our eastern empire in the west won’t be without price.”
He suppressed a scowl, and the impulse to bathe her in fire. He’d have to have a long talk to her about morale one of these days. Her doom and gloom but we will prevail speeches killed it. Morale that is.
He asked with a calm and crispness he didn’t feel, “Anyone else?” when there was no answer he continued, “We land in two days, so start your preparations and brief your troops. Dismissed.”
They all nodded crisply and walked out, and he closed his eyes for patience.
Sun Ming said, “I know you don’t approve of me general, but truth is truth. The visions have changed, and the future grown cloudier. I am not entirely without discretion in what I reveal. You need to know however, that it’s entirely likely the enemy knows of our approach already.”
“What did you see?”
She looked like a doll, her falsely delicate face frozen and expressionless.
“General, I still see us establish ourselves here, but the path is cloudy, and there will be much blood and death. I can’t even tell you if they know we’re coming. It’s possible they just sense a nebulous threat approaching and have taken general precautionary steps that modified the vision.”
He understood that, even if he didn’t like it. Glimpses of the future were limited, and they could even be misleading at times. No misleading by intent of the gods, but simply by lack of detail and the human foible of making assumptions. The gods were constrained in what they could show to preserve free will. That was also all fine by him. He didn’t need guarantees, and he was confident in his people and their power. Battle always had a cost in blood, there was no changing that.
Sy’lia was disturbed by the bearer’s appearance but tried not to show it. She’d heard that the young bearer of the mantel had regained her youth during her new mission, but it hadn’t hit her viscerally until she’d seen it with her own eyes last evening. She’d spent the night in her company, and the young woman had been a gracious if distracting host.
Katie looked to be in her early twenties again, and the only way that was possible was if she’d had over thirty years of her life restored. It was… unnatural, and disturbing.
As a priestess of Charites, who was closely tuned with natural life, the unnatural work of a life sorcerer was disturbing. There was a natural order to things, and the relatively young elven woman already found her mission distasteful. Fortunately, life sorcerers were extremely rare. There was only one other on the planet right now as far as they knew, and fortunately he was far away from her city.
Katie asked, “Ready to go? They should be at Riverside by now.”
The young woman was extremely attractive, five foot six, with extremely light and long brown hair, hazel eyes, and full lips. Her body was extremely curvy compared to Sy’lia’s lithe elven curves, though about average as far as humans went, Sy’lia supposed.
She nodded graciously, “Yes, and thank you, Katie.”
The two headed outside. She thought it prudent to take her horse, even if she was being teleported to Sean Anders, and quite probably taken with him to his home if he accepted her presence as an ambassador. Reason being, there was no guarantee they’d send her back home with magic as well. If that turned out to be the case, she’d need her horse to get home.
The first thing she noticed was the much warmer air being out of the Colorado mountains and somewhere in mid-California. It had to be over seventy degrees already in the warm early morning sun. The human community of Riverside was rather large. The ringing sound of a blacksmith already hard at work reached her ears, and there were plenty of people in the street at the town center.
Her goddess’s magic told her the place was surrounded by farms and herds. The human buildings were ugly and uninspired, and they stood apart from nature very unlike the elven forest tree homes. She easily identified the blacksmith’s, since it was the only stone building in the place, everything else was made out of dead wood from harvested trees. She recognized a tannery merely by the stench, and she thought she recognized an inn, until she realized it was a whorehouse.
Humans were also staring at her curiously, and quite a few men with interest. Though, not to the point she felt threatened, just a little unsure. More because they were human men than anything else. She was a young beautiful elven woman after all, and elves were free with their affections until they’d mated. It was a very natural thing, plus elves couldn’t get pregnant until they were bonded, so it made promiscuity rather risk free, unlike for the humans.
Katie laughed, “I should bring an elf with me everywhere. I haven’t even seen even one-man stare at my tits with you next to me.”
Sy’lia smiled politely, not quite sure why that was amusing.
Katie said, “They’re in the tavern. You can tie your horse up out front, and no one will bother it.”
Sy’lia nodded, “My horse won’t listen to anyone else anyway. I told him not to.”
Katie smiled, “That must be handy. I remember Arielle and Kurien doing something similar during my first mission.”
Sy’lia tied her horse to the post outside the tavern, then the two of them went inside. She recognized Sean Anders almost immediately, mostly because of the unnaturally alive woman standing at
his side, and the two of them headed for the table.
Katie smiled, “Hi Sean, Cassie, and… Lin? Meet Sy’lia. Sy’lia, this is Sean Anders, his sorceress mate Cassie, and their bodyguard Lin.”
Sean waved at the empty chairs, “Take a seat, it’s nice to meet you.”
Sy’lia almost snorted, because based on his strained voice she guessed it wasn’t nice to meet her at all. He was just being polite.
Katie sat down as she did, “I guess Kim, Emily, Lori, and Mara are out trying to convert the heathens?”
Cassie laughed, “Something like that, yes.”
Lin asked curiously, “How’d you know it was me?”
Katie winked, “Like I’d mistake your sexy smile for hers?”
Lin laughed, “Thanks, I think.”
She suppressed a shudder, this Lin acted so vibrantly alive, without her magic she’d never know it was a lie. That the woman had no soul. Based on Katie’s comment, Lin must also have different body language than her twin abomination, which was interesting if a bit disturbing.
Lin was almost elvish in appearance, her lithe body that is, even her generous breasts weren’t out of the question in Sy’lia’s people, though hers were slightly smaller. The abomination even had a thin face and high cheekbones. Though her chocolate brown eyes and liquid midnight hair were colors no elf could ever claim.
Cassie was incredibly lush and ripe, no elf had a body like hers, it was all soft curves. Her face looked friendly enough as well, with a smile on a heart shaped and cute face. Her light blonde hair and lovely blue eyes however were common enough in elves, though usually an elf’s blue eyes were darker, like hers.
She didn’t know why she kept comparing everything to her own people, and she tried to suppress that impulse in herself. They were human, and alien. Their kinds had very little in common besides the world they lived on, and the gods and magic.
Sean Anders was five foot nine and muscular, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was… really kind of attractive, and he was at least attempting to be welcoming of her. She’d find out just how open-minded he was soon enough.
Sean said, “This might not be the best time for this, although I have no idea what this is yet. We just found out yesterday a threat is coming from the west, within the week. I’ve done some preparation, hopefully we’ll see the ship before it lands and any of my people are lost. I hope we can get past the first meeting between myself and your people but keeping my people safe is the priority right now.”
Sy’lia replied, “From the west? Our seers have seen a nebulous threat in the direction for a while now.”
Sean scowled, “And you didn’t bother to send word?”
Sy’lia blushed, “We…” she trailed off helplessly.
Sean laughed shortly, “You thought it might be me. Right. Because I’m the evil life sorcerer that twists life and makes abominations.”
She flushed at his sharp and bitter tone.
Cassie touched his arm, “She’s not the enemy, Sean. We don’t need trouble from both sides.”
She read through the lines, as there was definitely a not yet in her tone of voice. Not yet their enemy. Did they think her people would attack them? She had to admit, it wasn’t easy not to cleanse the abomination in front of her. This Lin set off all her instincts, and just felt wrong to her magic. She was almost two hundred however, and she had strong control and mastery over her impulses. She might look eighteen or nineteen, but she wasn’t human.
She said, “We only fight defensive wars that endanger us. We also don’t get involved in human conflict. Not anymore. Humans are short-lived, but extremely numerous, violent, and always at odds with each other. We can’t afford to take sides.”
He frowned, “It’s not that simple. I have no designs on making my territory larger, and certainly none on invading your forest. If your seers see trouble coming, then that means we share an enemy. On the other hand, I’m not asking for your help, and I don’t need it.”
Sy’lia frowned, “You’re angry.”
He nodded, “Yes. The first time we met I tried to speak with your delegation in good faith. I’d never seen an elf before and was fascinated. Your people attacked and tried to kill my guard and me without warning, and without provocation or cause. So why are you here now. What changed that you would dirty yourself with my presence, and the presence of my abominations?”
She shivered. Yes, he was very angry. She also realized he wasn’t wrong. The elven delegation sent out to greet their new human neighbors, educate and even help in matters of magic and the new world they’d been thrust into, shouldn’t have reacted with such impulsive judgement. Trielle had been right, they never even considered he was acting in ignorance of the danger, and that he had no teachings to guide his magic. Worse, the council never even questioned it, because of their race’s instinctive recoiling against such a use of power by a life sorcerer.
To be fair, she wasn’t far behind them, but perhaps Trielle had made the right decision in sending her. How many of her kind would be sitting her so calmly and mastering their instinctual impulses? She wasn’t a warrior, or even a trained ambassador, but she was more cautious and controlled than a lot of her kind.
She could also see the concern and worry underneath the anger. She was highly disturbed as she realized why he was so angry. He loved the abomination at his side. She wasn’t just some tool to be discarded in his mind, but one that held great value to him. That she hadn’t expected at all. It went against all they knew about life sorcerers who chose this dark path with their magic.
On the other end, she wasn’t entirely sure about anything yet. Nor had she met his other mate, the priestess Mara who may or may not be under his control and influence. She wasn’t entirely sure how to answer his question, and she decided the truth would be best. Of course, only a part of the truth, revealing her true mission would be foolhardy.
“Doubts were raised recently. That gave us the insight that we may have handled that situation badly, and that we may have made bad assumptions. Life Sorcerers that follow the path of stealing life and using it for unnatural ends, typically are cruel and not anyone we would want to have anything to do with. Typically,” she shook her head, “More like always, but there’s also always an exception in nature.
“It was brought up that it was possible between the shock of emergence, the aliens, and society’s breakdown, along with no one to teach you how to use your magic or what the pitfalls of your magic are, that you were just doing the best you could. So… you could say I am here giving you the benefit of the doubt we should’ve extended the first time.”
He asked, “To what end?”
She bit her lip, “Excuse me?”
He waved expansively, as if to take in everything around him, and said, “My people could’ve used your help four years ago. Now, there are two hundred flourishing communities exactly like this one up and down the coast. Half of them under my authority, all of them under my protection from outsiders. We are at the point we’ve learned how to survive in this pre-high-technological world, and are expanding into arts, music, and entertainment. The rest of the country might need your people’s help still, but we are flourishing. We no longer need what you came to offer in your first visit, we’ve got it under control. We know not just how to survive the winters, but we thrive in them.
“The one thing you could help me with is this enemy coming from the west. You’ve already told me you won’t. You’ve also told me that me and mine are safe from you because the elves don’t start wars, they only end them. So, if all that is true, then why are you here? What is your goal, and what are you offering?”
Shit, he had to be perceptive and smart? She was also… attracted to him. Not just his exotic and muscled appearance, but his passion and strength, the intelligence and intensity in his eyes. Not enough to compromise her mind, but enough that she’d be wondering if he was influencing her with his magic if she hadn’t been shielded from the possibility.
She sai
d carefully, “You’re not wrong about the coming conflict. We cannot assist you with troops and weapons, and your people are safe from us. The first question is easier to answer. I’m here to see if I can determine the threat from the west. I’m also here to hopefully ensure a peace between our people, and to correct a wrong of the past if it was indeed wrong.
“The second one is harder to answer. We do trade knowledge and even products with human communities near us. I suspect you don’t need the latter, but if an agreement can be reached there is still much that we could teach your people about magic and the gods. Not to mention cures and preventatives from magical herbs and plants. Things of that nature, that would go a long way to replacing your lost modern medicine without always resorting to priest magic.”
He frowned, “So what are you suggesting?”
She replied, “That you allow me to get to know you, and your family, as a guest. At the same time, you will get to know me, my people, and our culture. If at the end of that we both agree, we can further the connection between us in a way that will enrich us both. If not, we part peacefully.”
He nodded after a few moments, “What about what I mentioned. The timing of your arrival isn’t exactly great. There will be battle soon, and my family and I will be in the middle of it.”
She thought it through carefully before she answered, “Even that will tell me something, of the threat my people may one day face. My people cannot assist you in war as a kingdom, but as an ambassador and guest I could accompany you, and perhaps even aid you in small ways as an individual.”
There was a very long pause, long enough that she had to suppress any inclinations to fidget. When he scowled at his mate, she suspected that he’d learned how to connect their life forces, and they were having a silent conversation and argument about her offer right in front of her.
He looked annoyed as he looked back her, “Alright. What kind of surety do you require as a guest, and what surety do you offer?”
Katie interjected, “The elves have a concept of guest rights. It’d be unthinkable for her to harm you while staying under your roof. At worst, she would leave. Your responsibility as host is to provide what she needs and protect her if need be. Guest rights also guarantees her safety from your household. It is tradition and custom, there’s no need for anything like an oath. Violating it would be an extremely bad idea, and you’d have the elven nation come down on you if you did.”
