“Yes, Lord,” the Elf stammered before yelling at his men to free the prisoners and to turn themselves over to them.
Alvin chuckled as he watched the surprised looking dark-skinned Elves take their previous captors prisoner. One of them, a tall, striking woman in form fitting leathers, came striding toward him.
“Who are you that has come to our aid?” the woman asked with all the confidence she could, having seen the carnage Alvin had wrought.
“I’m Alvin, and my friends will be back soon,” he said. “Get this all squared up so we can talk once they do.”
Eyes narrowing slightly, the Elf bowed her head fractionally. “I will return momentarily.”
Ducking down into the cab, Alvin looked at the dead bodies and wrinkled his nose at them. “Can’t wait to get rid of you guys, too.”
Becky was catching up to Ilbryen again, and the Elf went wide-eyed when he saw them gaining. “Lucy, you got some splainin’ to do,” Becky murmured as she watched Ilbryen reach for something. “Not again,” she hissed, sticking her left hand out the window and firing the MP5 at him.
Whatever Ilbryen was reaching for got away from him as some of the bullets hammered into his back, almost unseating him. With the attempt lost, he snarled and drew his sword.
Shaking her head, Becky closed on him and clipped the ass end of his mount with Ruffian’s bumper. The solid thump of the sevra’s head as it got run over bounced them in their seats. Slowing Ruffian after the impact, Becky turned them back toward Ilbryen.
Ilbryen was pushing himself off the ground shakily as he watched the strange beast turn back toward him. “What are you?” he asked the empty air.
Becky revved the engine, but waited for Ilbryen to get to his feet. Once he was standing, wobbly as he was, she accelerated toward him, shifting through the gears as fast as she could as Ruffian picked up speed. Seeing the beast charging at him again, Ilbryen drew his blade, determined to strike at least one blow against his foe.
“Gotta love last stand idiocy,” Becky snickered as she drove straight at the Elf, sending Ilbryen flying up and over the car.
Becky stopped the car and got out, looking back at the very broken remains of the former Champion. “Mousie, go strip him of gear,” she told her. “I’ll loot the sevra.”
Once both bodies were looted, she started them back to where the army had been, wondering how Alvin had done with them. “I hope he really fucking appreciates us running this fucker down.”
Chapter Two
Alvin got out of the Humvee as Becky drove up next to him. “I have them looking through the dead for the leader,” Alvin said as Becky got out of the car.
“No need. He ran for it,” Becky said as she glanced at the smaller group of dark-skinned Elves getting the far larger number of light-skinned Elves into chains. “I ran over him,” Becky said. “The son of a bitch hurt my baby.”
The front of the Mustang had some dimples in it, where it had been pristine before. “Damn, what happened?”
“He dropped a barrier between us when I was doing over a hundred. We smashed through it, but it broke the windshield and smashed Ruffian up pretty bad. Then we had to play catch up before I was able to knock him off his mount and run him over. A sevra can run like a demon when pushed.”
“Sevra?”
“The horse things,” Becky said, pointing to a group of them milling around in a pen. Frowning, she looked at the bloody battlefield. “What the hell did you do?”
“What you did: I drove over them,” Alvin chuckled. “I just did it over and over until they surrendered. Gonna say that this world has had a problem with necromancy in the past,” he commented, pointing to a group of Elves who were going through the dead and decapitating them. “No idea if they’ll reanimate by themselves like on our world, but I’m not going to stop them, just in case.”
Kuro got out of the Mustang and went to Becky’s side. “Matriarch, I see both Champion Skyfall, one of the Queen’s Champions, and my old Matriarch, Ayla Lightkiller. They are handling the prisoners.”
Becky spotted the women Kuro was pointing out, and saw two dark-skinned beauties ordering their subordinates. “The one in the more ornate leathers is the Champion?”
“Bemere Skyfall, second Champion of the Queen,” Kuro nodded.
“The one next to her is your old Matriarch, then,” Becky said, eyeing Lightkiller.
As if she could sense Becky’s eyes on her, Lightkiller looked over her shoulder at them. Her narrowed eyes focused on Becky before she noticed Kuro. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she started talking to Skyfall.
Both of the Elven women started toward them, clearly trying to get a read on the group. When they came to a stop, Lightkiller gave Kuro a hard-edged smile. “You have returned. Where is my niece?”
“Dead,” Kuro replied. “A squad of King’s men came through the Gate. The ones with us joined forces with them and turned on us. I was told to bring word back to you, and tried, but the remnants of the King’s force tracked me and wounded me critically. Matriarch Gothy,” Kuro nodded at Becky, “stopped them from killing me and restored my health. I have pledged to her service, as I would have died otherwise.”
Lightkiller’s eyes narrowed as Kuro spoke, lips compressing into a thin line. “You have broken your oath to me?”
“I did, Matriarch; I had fatal wounds,” Kuro said. Pulling the two blades from the bag Alvin had given her, she extended them to Lightkiller. “Your blades, Matriarch.”
Both Skyfall and Lightkiller looked shocked as Kuro held the blades out. “But you are a Dancer! You must have blades,” Skyfall said after a moment.
“I have replaced them with blades I won in a duel,” Kuro said softly. “These blades belong to Matriarch Lightkiller. I can’t be pledged to another and keep them.”
Lightkiller took the twin blades and sneered. “You turn from me, and think merely returning my blades is enough?”
“It is,” Becky said firmly. “You’ve seen what my Hero does to those that displease him. Do you think that challenging us is a smart move? If you want to dispute my rights to her, I’ll end you here and now, just like I killed Ilbryen.”
The two Elves looked at Becky with incredulous expressions. “Not even I have bested Ilbryen in a fight,” Skyfall scoffed.
Becky pulled Ilbryen’s sword out of the back seat of the Mustang. “Get better gear,” she said, jamming the sword into the ground.
Both Elves looked stunned, eyes locked on the blade. “He’s... dead?” Skyfall asked after a minute.
“It’s why I wasn’t here with Hero. I was chasing the coward down and killing him,” Becky snorted as she pulled the sword out of the ground. “Any more questions about who Kuro belongs to?”
Skyfall and Lightkiller exchanged a glance, then Lightkiller bowed her head an inch to Becky. “I concede my former vassal to you,” Lightkiller said. “Her armor is also property of my house.”
Becky tossed Ilbryen’s blade at Lightkiller’s feet. “I’ll buy it for that sword.”
“Done,” Skyfall said, scooping up the blade. “I will make sure that everything is settled on this count.”
“Thank you, Matriarch Gothy,” Kuro murmured, stepping behind her.
“Now that we’ve settled the issue of Gothy’s new friend,” Alvin said, “I’ve got a trunk full of bodies and would like to offload them.” Seeing the puzzled frown from the two Elves, he opened the back of the Humvee. “Bodies. If you don’t want them, that’s fine, I’ll just dump them here.”
When Skyfall came over to look, her face paled. “Is this all of them?”
“No,” Alvin said. “I’m fairly sure the wildlife snatched one or two, and the ones who were attacking Kuro when we found her aren’t here, either.”
“Kuro,” Skyfall said, ignoring Alvin, “are these all of your sisters-in-arms?”
“As many as we could find, Champion Skyfall,” Kuro replied. “I couldn’t find Darkwalker’s body.”
“Maybe she survived,�
�� Skyfall suggested.
“I think that was the one the bear was eating,” Becky said. “There wasn’t much left of one of the bodies.”
“A pity… she was a talented scout,” Skyfall sighed. “I’ll have some of the serfs come unload the wagon.”
Alvin’s eye twitched at being ignored. “I’m just supposed to wait?”
“As any man should,” Skyfall said, walking away.
“If I shoot her, does that count as an inter-Gate incident?” Alvin asked Becky.
“It will likely make it more difficult to get what we want, since I think the King is going to hate you,” Becky replied. “Maybe you just need to show you’re worthy of respect.”
“Kuro, any idea how to do that that doesn’t involve me killing or maiming them?” Alvin asked, watching the two Elves walk away.
“Men are not highly regarded by my people,” Kuro said softly, not looking at him. “They are thought of as tools to be used more than anything else. Men can rise up in our society, though it is normally done by proving your worth.”
“He’s proven his worth to me,” Becky said with a wink.
“For Alvin to be accepted, he will need to prove he isn’t like the King’s men,” Kuro said. “Don’t be aggressive, and be either knowledgeable or helpful. If you can do that, they will accept you, in time.”
Alvin watched five men with chained ankles and hate filled eyes hobbling toward him. “Have at it,” he said, stepping out of the way. Going over to Becky, he leaned against the car. “This might take a bit.”
Alvin was right, it took them an hour to unload the bodies. Once they had, Alvin extracted the tarp carefully so the blood, viscera, and offal didn’t splash in the Humvee. Dragging it away from the vehicle, he looked inside with twisted lips. “That’s going to smell forever.”
“Bleach probably won’t help much,” Becky said, coming over to look inside the Humvee. “Charcoal would help, but it might take a while for it to absorb all the scent.”
“I wonder if the store has Ozium?” Alvin muttered. “Jarvis, pad me, please.” A pad appeared inside the Humvee and Alvin took it, expecting the item he wanted to be up, only to find the page blank. “Jarvis?”
“You are on the other side of the Svargax Gate,” Jarvis said. “The store is different here.”
Lips pursed, Alvin began to search the store, his jaw dropping as he went. “Nothing from Earth is available here?”
“Really?” Becky said, taking the pad from him.
“No sir,” Jarvis said.
“Can I even make a settlement here?”
“That information is restricted at this time,” Jarvis’ mechanical voice replied.
“Sorry buddy,” Alvin sighed. “Fuck, we probably need to hit a town and see what the hell is happening here.”
“They have some glyphs for sale,” Becky said. “Along with common gear found here; armor, weapons, bags… hell, even the local livestock.”
“That’s good, at least. If we pick up some glyphs, we can probably sell them on the auction side of the store,” Alvin said. “Question becomes, do we grab and run or stay and explore?”
“We should stay and learn,” Becky said, handing him the pad back, “after you get that stink cleaned out.”
“Then do you want to talk to the bitchzillas and find out what they plan to do? I’ll head back through the Gate long enough to grab what I want.”
“Don’t take too long,” Becky said, kissing him before walking away.
“Definitely won’t,” Alvin murmured, watching her hips sway.
It took him only a few minutes to drive back through the Gate and buy the spray he wanted. Looking at the area the Gate was in, he could see it had potential to be set up as a small settlement. Shaking his head, he crossed back over to Svargax, wondering what the Elf world would throw at them next.
Parking next to the Mustang, he found Becky talking to Skyfall. “What’s the word?”
Skyfall eyed him with disdain before walking off, not saying anything. Becky shook her head and turned to him, “It will take them a few days to retreat to the closest town. Before she left, she was wondering if she could hire us to provide a rearguard. She thinks the King was sending more this way.”
Alvin stared at Skyfall’s back. “She won’t talk to me, but she wants us to risk our lives giving her and her remnants the chance to escape?”
“She is one of the Queen’s Champions,” Kuro said. “She is used to getting what she wants, how she wants it. I’m amazed that she was asking as politely as she was.”
“Killing one of the King’s Champions seems to have an effect on people,” Becky chuckled. “It won’t take us anything but time and she’s willing to pay in items, so we can get hold of better than common grade glyphs. On top of that, our stay in the Queen’s lands will be paid for: all food, drink, and lodging.”
“Three days of sheep dogging?” Alvin asked. “Three days of no base?”
The idea of three days and not being able to go to their home seemed to sink into Becky. “Oh…”
“We can do it,” Alvin said, staring right at her.
Eyes widening in horror, she looked at him. “What? No!”
“Oh yes,” Alvin smiled. “Oh, and no playing with yourself or Mousie. Mousie, no playing with yourself or Gothy, either.”
“Hero… no, please,” Becky whimpered.
“You wanted to sheepdog them so we can get better glyphs,” Alvin’s smile broadened. “I think you have a point.”
Becky stalked toward him, her hands flexing. “Hero…”
“Or, we can sheepdog them and have fun under the stars,” Alvin said with a smirk.
Becky’s breath hitched and she stopped, her eyes going wide. “In public?”
“Public seems like the only real option, unless you can get a tent from them,” Alvin said, watching Becky squirm. “A tent would probably be better in the long run, but you always get vocal, so they’ll know without a doubt what’s happening to you.”
“We can guard them,” Becky managed, stepping back a step. “I’ll go see about a tent that can fit all of us.” She turned and quickly started toward Skyfall.
Kuro’s eyes were going from Becky to Alvin, fear etched in her face. Alvin held up a hand and spoke softly. “Mousie, I’m not going to hurt you.” She stepped back, then hurried after Becky. “Nice to know she trusts me,” Alvin snorted as the Elf retreated from him.
Chapter Three
They spent the next two hours watching the Queen’s Guard preparing to leave. Alvin took the time to walk through the dead, looting everyone he could. Standing up from looting the last corpse that he could, he found the Elves staring at him in horror. “What?”
“What did you do to their bodies?” one of the captured men asked after a long pause.
“Looted them,” Alvin said. “It would take too long to explain everything, but the long and short is if you kill someone now, you can loot the body. If you do, you get random stuff.” Holding up a common glyph of fire, he continued, “This is all that’s left of the guy I just looted.”
“Does that mean they can’t be raised up?” Skyfall asked, pushing to the front.
“The bodies vanish into the ether, so no, they can’t be raised,” Alvin said, pushing the glyph into the duffel bag he was carrying. “I’ll explain it all to you tomorrow while the army moves.”
Skyfall’s lips pursed as she looked at the dead still on the ground. “Can you do the same to these bodies?”
“You can only loot what you or someone in your unit kills,” Alvin said. “I’d say have your people touch the dead; the ones who killed them should be able to loot them. Just accept the words that appear in the air.”
The barest hint of a smile touched Skyfall’s lips. “We can make certain no necromancer raises an army ever again.”
“We’ve agreed to three days of guarding you,” Alvin told her. “You might want to jump on it, if you want to get it done.”
Eyes narrowing with
annoyance, she turned back to the captives and her survivors. “Form a line and touch each body. If you get words, accept them.”
Alvin went back to where Becky and Kuro were resting under a pavilion that had been set up for them. “This is going to delay things for a bit…”
“What did you get?” Becky asked him.
“A few dozen common runes of various kinds, a handful of uncommon runes and glyphs, a number of leather armor pieces, weapons, and the like.”
“The glyphs are good,” Becky said.
Elven Accord Page 2