“Steve, going to need that arm of yours,” Dave said.
“Knew you liked me for more than my good looks,” Steve said, doing some flexing poses even though his metal body didn’t change at all.
“Okay, everyone ready?” Josh asked, looking out over the assembled Stone Raiders.
“Connect us!” Josh said.
Dave stood beside Steve, pulling out a fire bomb.
“I’ll hand them to you, you just need to get them on the other side of the teleport pad,” Dave said.
“Can do!” Steve said, taking the fire bomb. Dave had conjured a trigger into the fire bombs, as soon as he destroyed the conjuration then the fire bomb would go off.
The teleport pad activated.
Spiders that had been standing on the opposite teleport pad were torn apart, others fell in.
They looked around in shock, mana lines covering their bodies flaring in anger as mages and archers let loose.
Steve hurled the fire bomb, just as it was about to clear the teleport pad, it hit a spider Fighter that was charging through.
Dave passed him another fire bomb, this one being grabbed out of the air by a spiderling that rushed forwards
“Come on,” Dave muttered, passing another to Steve, seeing two spider knights rushing for the teleport pad.
The third sailed through the spiders that were now coming in from every direction, covering the floor, roof and walls of the teleport pad like some black and blue lined plague.
Dave activated the fire bomb.
It flared to life. It was so hot that it passed through a spiderling, cauterizing the wounds as it passed.
The ground around it blackened in seconds as flames erupted around the bomb.
Spiders rushed away from the out of control fire bomb. With most spells and magically coded constructs, they had something to manage the power output and the elements used.
Dave had removed the part of the magical code that would synthesize oxygen, turning the spells to pure heat and fuel as well as the controlling part of the spell turned enchanted metal plate.
In seconds, the area around it was hundreds of degrees, burning out its soul gem as fast as possible, giving about five minutes when activated.
Steve grabbed and threw the remaining three, all of them making it into the housing complex.
The stream of spiders abruptly stopped, just being within a few hundred meters was enough to burn the spiders.
They started running away, trying to escape the heat and the carbon monoxide.
The Stone Raiders let out a ragged cheer as they finished off the spiders that had made it through the teleport pad.
The remaining fire bombs that didn’t make it into the housing complex were grabbed and thrown through the teleport pad’s event horizon.
“The best spider is a crispy one!” Josh yelled, the Stone Raiders yelling their agreement.
“Shut down the teleport pad,” Josh signalled to the controllers.
The six fire bombs made the other side of the teleport pad look like the inside of an oven; anything that was remotely combustible within a few hundred meters was burning.
Chapter 10: In Seats Of Power
“The Queen Mendari Selhi has arrived!” a servant told Magistrate Houn, who had been at her office table, reviewing the documents that lay on it.
“What? Why was there no word? I thought that we were just changing over the military command of the soldiers here?” Houn said.
The servant didn’t answer as Houn slammed her papers down.
“Tell the rest of the staff. Send word to the advisors, nobles, military officers and get me the captains of the guard now!” Houn said. There was nothing to do, but try to make the best of an already bad situation.
“Yes, Magistrate!” The servant hurried off as Houn looked herself over in a mirror. She tried to make herself look as presentable as possible.
Why is the queen here? Without any announcement or anyone warning me of it? Houn’s fears played in her mind as she quickly left her offices and moved to the front of her residence. She could see over the city and the snaking procession of soldiers, officers, their beasts and supply wagons heading into Selhi.
It was only forty minutes later when the queen of Selhi stepped out of her carriage. She was a symbol of beauty and power. Many had seen the former and not the latter, to their demise. The queen of Selhi was a brilliant lady and one of the few female leaders on Emerilia who had gained if not the respect, the fear of the men around her.
“My queen.” Houn bowed deeply in front of her queen. Her personal guard saluted their monarch. Advisors and nobles had flocked to the castle in order to greet the queen properly. They all bowed behind their magistrate.
“Rise. We have much to discuss. Take me to your offices.” The queen walked past Houn. Her royal guard moved in around her, their ebony and gold armor shining in the sun.
Houn shuddered at the auras of the queen’s personal guard.
The nobles parted before their queen. Sensing the tense atmosphere, they kept their tongues instead of trying to increase their station through pleasantries and compliments.
Houn followed the queen, an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she felt like a stranger in her own home.
Everywhere they went, the staff bowed to the queen. She paid them no attention as she drifted through the halls, finally entering the magistrate’s office. Two guards stayed outside; the rest moved inside. Four checked the room over quickly, one clearly a mage. With a nod to their queen, all but two left. The queen sat in the magistrate’s chair, dominating the room with her presence. Her two guards stood at ease in front of the desk.
“Sit.” There was no denying the command or the anger in the queen’s voice.
Houn’s stomach plummeted as she did as commanded. The tense silence spread out as the queen stared at Houn, a dark frown on her face. Houn averted her eyes as cold sweat broke out across her back.
Finally Queen Mendari Selhi shook her head and rubbed her temples. “You’ve made a right fine mess, Houn.”
Houn didn’t dare to respond and waited for the queen to go on. Houn’s mind worked to try to figure out what the queen was talking about.
“When I made you the magistrate of the capital, it was with my expressed writ as I took up my seat in Veloria. I trusted you to do what was not only in the best interests of this city but for all of Selhi. When the assassination guild PKP started a war in our city against the Stone Raiders, the Stone Raiders worked to fight against them and with your guards. The destruction was great, but the PKP were killed or driven from the city. You saw the Stone Raiders as being weak, having just been in a battle, and looked to blame them for the battle. As they were the only one of the two groups that were here, you used them to hold the blame of defending themselves. They had to flee the capital with you ordering the army to hunt them down and kill them within a few weeks. Then they disappeared into thin air. What do you think that makes Selhi look like?” The queen’s voice was conversational, almost curious sounding, but Houn could hear the cold steel in her tone.
“It would not look good.” Houn kept her eyes averted.
“It makes us look like backstabbing, disrespectful cowards who are looking for a scapegoat even if they are a potential ally!” the queen erupted, fire in her eyes as she slammed her fist down on Houn’s desk.
Houn jumped and sat back in her seat.
“Look at me, Houn!” Mendari demanded.
Houn met her queen’s gaze.
“They were the victims. They didn’t have to protect our people, yet they did. They were even aiding in fixing our homes, then you ran them out of the city like savages. The MOST POWERFUL PLAYER GUILD ON EMERILIA!” The queen took a moment to get her composure back. “The same guild that just added the Exdar’s Traders to their ranks, the very traders who have the ear of the Arch Mage himself, as well as the royal court of Gudalo. The ones who are refusing to sell or buy anything from Selhi and have a trade agreement with the Dwarve
n mountains!”
Houn paled and squeezed her hands in her lap, so that they didn’t tremble in the open.
“No one knows where the Stone Raiders are, but what is for damn sure is that they have not been idle. While they were gone, they have built a guild—the kind that has not been seen this early on in a Player cycle. They are becoming a cornerstone guild.”
Cornerstone guilds were the kinds of guilds that all others were compared to. They were either the strongest or the oldest of the Player guilds that rose at one time or another. It usually took nearly three years for these guilds to start forming.
“I sent you here to keep the snakes here sated, so that I could focus on Veloria. Now, I see that it looks like you’ve become one of the snakes. Guilds started staying away from us after you chased the Stone Raiders down. It would have been bad enough to use the city guard, but you used my troops. Turning it from a simple issue between a town and a guild to an issue between a guild and Selhi.” The queen sat back in her chair.
“I’m sorry. I never meant for things to turn out this way. I was hoping to use their items to allay the costs of the damages,” Houn said.
“Players are a resource in and of themselves. They can go out and do the seasonal monster hunts, so that we don’t lose people to them. They can come back from death, while our people can’t. I would give them Selhi Capital if they were to do the monster hunts and keep our people safe! Our people are our greatest resource, not our money.” Queen Mendari Selhi deflated, a tired expression on her face.
“I hoped that you would have been able to deal with Selhi Capital in my stead. I take from you all your responsibilities, lands, and titles as given to you by the crown. Do you understand this?” The queen’s voice was calm and cold as she passed down the sentencing.
Houn heard the sadness in her queen and old friend’s voice, which hurt her more than her cold tone. “I understand,” Houn almost whispered, holding her head in shame.
***
Fire’s head snapped upward as she felt an aura she would know anywhere. It was calming and gentle, much like a small Fire to keep away the chill of the night.
“And can turn into a raging inferno in a second.” She smiled and sat back in her chair.
There were thousands of auras all over the mage’s college campus. The strength of the mages there were the highest in all of Emerilia. They came from all walks of life and all different places. Most hid their auras, so that they wouldn’t stifle the students.
An aura could be a terrifying thing to someone who didn’t know what they were dealing with. Most of the third-year students of the guild gained the ability of aura detection and everyone was trained in the art of aura suppression.
To gain the skill, you needed to be around people over level 150 who had a strong aura, something that was a daily occurrence at the college.
Fire pinpointed the location of the aura. She pulled out a scroll and placed her hand on it.
Her eyes shone with blue Fire as she stopped looking inside her office, instead finding herself looking through one of the thousands of mage lights. A melancholic smile spread over her face as she looked at a face she saw every time she went to sleep.
“What are you doing here, Mal?” she said to herself, changing to another mage light as Mal walked into an ornate office.
“Hello, I am Oson’Mal, here to see Arch Mage Jelanos.”
“Do you have an appointment?” the secretary asked.
“No, sorry. I was off wandering and I didn’t send him a message. You know how he is if I give him a reminder. With all the Merpeople, I didn’t send one to Alamos either. Thought it would be best to make it a surprise.” Mal smiled.
The secretary smiled back, enamored by Mal’s smile. Fire’s eyes thinned as she glowered at Mal and the secretary, who was slightly blushing.
“Well, I can send them a message,” the secretary said.
“Would it be okay if I surprised them?” Mal pulled a sigil from a pouch on his hip and passed it to the secretary.
Her eyes flashed green with her mage sight, a shocked expression on her face as she looked at Oson’Mal.
Fire giggled to herself. He doesn’t look over thirty, but to have that sigil he must be a few hundred years old. Ah, loved playing that trick on everyone we met.
“Certainly. I will tell them that someone is meeting with them. It’s just Jelanos and Alamos in there.” The secretary handed back the medallion.
Their fingers touched, the secretary’s cheeks reddening as Mal smiled.
“Thank you.” He turned and headed for the door. Mal knocked on the door. As he walked in, Fire changed to one of the lights in the room. Jelanos looked at it for a moment before he looked to the door.
“Come in,” Jelanos said, trying to look official, knowing that the Lady of Fire was watching the meeting.
I’m going to have to figure out a way to do this spell without him figuring out where I am. Fire sighed as Mal walked in the door.
“Mal?” Alamos asked as Jelanos leaned forward and squinted at the Elf.
“Hey Al, Jel. What you old bastards up to?” Mal grinned, greeting his old adventuring friends.
“Ah! You should have told us you were coming, you pointy-eared mutt!” Jel said. All sense of decorum he was trying to establish was gone as he wrapped Mal up in a hug.
“Are you sure you’re the Ach Mage? Looks like you just escaped from the damned fighting pits of Akapore!” Mal laughed.
Jelanos set him down after a few moments. “You look good!” Jel declared.
“Friggin’ Elves.” Alamos shook his head before he snorted and shook Mal’s hand vigorously. “So, what brings you to our humble abode? Last we heard, you were off in the Kufo’tel forest with your daughter. Where is she?”
“Humble abode? You’re living on nearly fifty islands. Your memory really is going, or could it be your sight?” Mal laughed.
“Hey, listen here, you ornery old bastard, you’ve got to be like two hundred years older than us!” Alamos said.
“Jenny, could you see if we could get some food sent up?” Jelanos asked, sticking his head out of the office door.
“Yes, Arch Mage.” She nodded and opened her interface.
Jelanos shut the door and sealed it with magic.
The three old friends sat down, relaxing as they talked about times of old. Fire watched, smiling and laughing at the tales. Fire heard tales from the time when she had lived with their party—from escaping Earth trolls by jumping into the Efadel rapids or trying to run out of a haunted crypt with a master phantom chasing them and Alamos got a cramp, so they had to carry him, throwing him out of the crypt’s entrance as Fire had set off an explosion behind them, sending them cartwheeling through the air, collapsing part of the crypt and blasting the phantasm in the face with pure sunlight, killing it.
It was a number of hours later when they stopped talking about their stories, a pile of sandwich remains to the side of Jelanos’s large desk.
“So, you looking to get the band back together?” Jelanos looked to Mal.
“I’m here to learn as well as catch up with a few people.” Fire swore that Mal’s eyes flickered to the mage light she was looking through.
“Learn? You’re one of the strongest Fire mages I have ever seen anywhere. To this day,” Alamos said.
“I remember a time when you would have made a sexual joke out of that instead.” Mal sighed.
“Melanie made me stop doing that when I had my first kids.” Alamos sighed.
“Been beaten out of him.” Jelanos wiped an unseen tear. “I have to go down to the magical arena to just live the old days now, though they’re nowhere near as inventive as our dear Alamos.”
“For a man who doesn’t swear, he is rather good at getting the point over regardless,” Mal mused.
“I wasn’t that bad.” Alamos looked to the two of them. “Right?”
“Remember Lord Fontane? Or that knight from that Ashal kingdom who tried to attack the D
warves? Hell, that Dwarven king of the Xendur Mountains?” Mal asked.
“The look on his face when he realized it was the king of the mountain range!” Jelanos slapped his desk, laughing. “I thought you’d shit yourself! Damn, everyone shut the hell up, just in awe of your abilities. Thought we were dead for sure. No Mana left, tired, and just finished fighting off hobgoblins and a troll infestation!”
Mal was laughing too. “Then you remember what the king said?” Mal said, having trouble with the words.
Neither Jelanos nor Mal were able to speak coherently as a smile crossed Alamos’s face.
“Well, slap me sideways and call me a hobgoblin. If that ain’t the finest chirping I have ever received! This lot can’t even put two words together—like you can string a whole sentence. Lads—we’re going DRINKING!” Alamos couldn’t help himself, laughing with his two friends.
It took some time before they all calmed down.
“God, I miss the old days.” Mal wiped tears away.
“Don’t we all,” Alamos said.
“So, what you looking to learn and what do you have to trade?” Jelanos asked.
“More Fire magic. I offer information and applicants,” Mal said.
“What information?” Jelanos opened his desk to try to find his pipe.
“Information about the coming wars,” Mal said.
Jelanos and Alamos looked to Mal quizzically.
“Which wars?” Alamos asked. The mage’s guild and college did not get involved in wars. Members were allowed to do as they wished in defending their homes, but they were not to involve the college or guild in any way. The one thing that the mage’s guild did do was put a stop to war crimes: killing innocents, treating those who have surrendered outside of the laws that had been passed down. The mage’s guild kept all of the kingdoms and fighting groups of Emerilia in check.
Mal opened up his private chat; the other two opened up their own interfaces to accept it. They talked among themselves. No words came from their mouths and Fire was unable to read their lips.
New Horizons (Emerilia Book 4) Page 10
