by Sean Oswald
Then the former adventurer and monster would trade places. Not that this happened often, for the outside circle worked together to keep the monsters from ever touching the ball, even going so far as to knock them over. One of the monsters, a younger child, had actually quit and run home crying with a badly skinned knee.
This provided the perfect opportunity for Sara, as they were short one monster. She cried out, “Can I play too?”
The other children must have been aware of her presence but still were slow to respond. An older boy finally said, “Sure, you can play, but you have to be the monster in the middle.”
One of the girls said, “You can’t make her be a monster.”
“Why not?” One of the kids asked. “Everyone always starts as a monster.”
The answers came back in rapid fire from different children, both human and elven.
“But she is the baron’s daughter …”
“It wouldn’t be proper, she is Lady Emiri’s daughter …”
“She’s a noble …”
Sara cut off all the discussion by saying, “I don’t mind being a monster in the middle.”
The first boy said to everyone, “See I told you.”
After that, Sara took her place and told Krinnk to wait and watch in case mommy came looking for them. The game quickly became fun. Sara started out slowly, so they threw the ball over her head or around her. She wasn’t making too much effort to get the ball but was simply having fun being included in a game.
As she got more comfortable with the game, she began to try harder. She felt the spring in her legs and knew she could jump much higher than before since Snowball became her monster friend. When she was ready, she started trying her hardest and leapt a full 10 feet into the air snagging the ball in a move that shocked everyone.
She heard whispers. “No way.” “How did she do that?”
Sara then watched the boy who had thrown the ball, expecting him to switch places with her, but he simply said, “That isn’t fair. No one else can jump that high.”
A girl asked Sara, “Can you do that again? It was so amazing.”
This quickly devolved into a game of the other children testing Sara’s capabilities. For a group of children below the age of levels, they all were obviously level zero and classless. Thus, Sara’a abilities from her class put her on a whole new level. She was faster, stronger, and had skills that they simply couldn’t hope to match, but she didn’t mind leaping or chasing after balls to display her abilities if it allowed her to play with the other kids.
The surprising displays she put on made the children louder than usual, and a couple of mothers came to watch, but both were uncertain about what to do. They didn’t want to tell their leaders’ daughter how to act, but they also didn’t want it to seem like the children of the community were testing her capabilities and treating her more as an oddity than a friend to play with.
The issue became moot when Gabriella the priestess observed the situation. She beelined for the group of children and called out, “What do you think you are doing? You serfs should be showing some respect for your betters. She is of noble blood, and what's more, she is the daughter of a Chosen. Treat her with respect.”
The children all stood there unsure how to respond from this scolding from an outsider, new to Eris’ Rise and wearing the markings of a priestess. Her position was something which the human children had been taught to revere and the elven children to disdain in equal measure. More parents gathered as Gabriella raised her voice and were more than embarrassed. Despite what Dave and Emily said about their plans for Eris’ Rise, they all knew someone who had suffered for dishonoring a noble.
Sara saw her mom walk over and just knew she was going to be in trouble. All these people had gathered, and the nice woman who had come with Jackson was yelling at them. She didn’t quite understand what it was all about but just knew she was going to get in trouble when all she had been doing was having fun.
“Excuse me, what is this all about?” Emily asked. A few people turned and looked at her, but most were still engrossed by Gabriella lecturing them.
“I will not have this happen around me. If you dishonor the Chosen of Shanelle or, by extension, her family, you will have to face the wrath of the Goddess.”
Sara saw that look on her mom’s face, the one that meant somebody had made her very angry, but she was doing her best not to yell. A little louder this time, Emily said, “Excuse me.”
This time the rest of the adults heard her and turned. Gabriella’s face went sheet white, and many of the children moved behind their parents. Sara was baffled. Her mom wouldn’t hurt anyone. Well maybe a monster, but only if it was being very bad.
“Who wants to tell me what is going on?”
One of the elven mothers, Sara thought she worked in the kitchen because she always brought them the best seasoned rice dishes, said, “We beg your indulgence, Lady Emiri, the children did not mean any offense.” As the elf spoke, she bowed so deep that her forehead was below her waist.
Sara watched as her mother glided between the people to stand next to the elf; placing a hand lightly upon her shoulder, Emily said, “Please stand up. I am not angry. I simply want to understand what has everyone so upset.”
The elf did stand up, but her face still looked like Sara’s during a thunderstorm. “Lady Emiri, the children were playing a silly game with a ball, and apparently started trying to see how high your esteemed daughter could leap. It was just a game. I assure you that no slight was meant.”
Before Emily could say anything, Gabriella spoke up, “That isn’t how I saw it. They were treating her like an animal and making her jump for a ball. Children or not, they should know better than to disrespect the daughter of a noble house–let alone of a Chosen.”
A few other parents tried to inject pleas of innocence upon behalf of their children when Emily made that gesture of chopping with one hand into the other. Sara had seen it many times before and knew that it meant her mother didn’t want to hear any more. Surprisingly, all of the other people shut up too. They must have known what that sign meant too.
“Hmm, Sara doesn’t look to be hurt. I don’t see any cuts on her. No bruises. No tears. In fact, until all the shouting, I’m willing to bet that my daughter had a big grin on her face. So, nothing was done wrong here. Children were being children and simply playing. Now, perhaps everyone should return to their chores. We have a lot to accomplish before winter.”
As everyone began to go their own way after nods, bows, and acknowledgments, a frustrated Gabriella started to stalk off. Emily then said, “Will you please stay, Gabriella. Perhaps we should have a discussion about the tenets of redemption.”
For the next few minutes, Sara and Krinnk sat silently, watching as mommy and Gabriella spoke. Sara couldn’t make out the words as their heads were very close together, but she did see that Gabriella’s face was very red when she did walk away.
After all of this chaos had resolved, Emily didn’t know what to do with Sara. She felt like their day together had been interrupted but didn’t know what to say. She had to take the blame as these tasks were probably very boring for an eight year old.
“Sweetie, mommy needs to continue going around the town, and I thought you wanted to spend the day with me,” Emily said, doing her best to have a patient tone.
“Oh, I do mommy. I was just bored when you were talking about all the metal stuff, and it was so hot in there,” Sara replied exuberantly.
“Then you have to promise not to wander off again. Can you do that for me?”
“I’m sorry mommy. I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. I will try to pay better attention.”
“I know it isn’t always fun, sweetie, but these things are necessary. Remember what I always say.”
Sara dutifully intoned, “Responsibility before relaxation.”
“Very good, and if you promise to listen and learn about our responsibilities here, then I will use the tabernacle to
get you some ice cream later.”
Sara’s face lit up, and Emily knew that she had her. “I’ll do my best, mommy.”
“Fine, but you have to stay close to me, okay?”
“Yes mommy,” Sara said with a heart melting smile.
With that settled, they made their way to the elven counterpart and learned that, while they had a little better idea of what she meant by a prosthetic, the best they could offer was a solid unmoving metal hand, little more than a decorative hook.
From there they visited the cooks, tailors, builders, leatherworkers, and other tradesfolk before heading out towards the farms. She purposefully put off speaking to the alchemists because she still had hope that they might have some remedy for regrowing limbs or at least be able to point her in the right direction. If they didn’t, then all she could do would be to speak to the other priests or the druids, but since none of them had a cure for Jaselm’s lungs, she didn’t hold out much hope that they would have a solution for her problem with Kraden. It was a bit frustrating, and business was becoming her solution for dealing with the hurt that she felt about both men, not to mention the responsibility she felt for Sir Tradon.
Emily was glad that Sara seemed content to just walk hand in hand and stop the continual chatter. Her daughter definitely seemed more perceptive than before and must have sensed the turmoil inside of her mother as she had hugged Emily and then just held her hand as they walked.
The peace was broken just as they were nearing the first of the farms at the edge of town by a voice shouting, “Mom, mom stop, I need to talk to you!”
Emily immediately recognized her firstborn’s voice but was taken aback since Mira never asked her for help anymore. That wasn’t new to Eloria but something that started around the time she turned thirteen or fourteen. Still, they immediately stopped, as it is a truth that being needed is to motherhood what ice is to a lemonade on a hot day; it takes the bland necessity of hydration and turns it into a joyful treat.
Emily and Sara stopped and stood there waiting with Krinnk for Mira to reach them. As she watched, Emily couldn’t help but notice that Mira’s feet weren’t always touching the ground as she ran. It was so crazy how things worked here, but she had to admit that running on air was one of the most amazing things she had yet to see. Unlike Dave, Emily was not always looking at the magic of Eloria as a means of combat but was able to appreciate the wonder.
Not quite out of breath, Mira paused for a second to get herself under control. “Mom, I have a couple of ideas about how we can help Jaselm and Kraden.”
That of course captured Emily’s full attention, “What did you figure out?”
“Well it’s not so much that I figured something out as much as I have an idea, but you know a lot more about medicine and healing than I do, so I thought that you might be able to figure out how to apply it.” Emily simply nodded and waited for Mira to continue. “There is this new spell in that book dad got. It is called Life Salve.” Then Mira showed Emily the description of the spell.
“That might work, but how would we get it to the affected portions?” Emily said mostly to herself.
“I was hoping you might have an idea. I mean, it won’t work if we just make him choke some down will it?” Mira asked.
“No, I don’t think that would work, even if we could trick his body into taking it down the wrong pipe so to speak, it likely wouldn’t reach his lungs. I guess the main question is, how thick is this salve?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t learned the spell yet because I thought that you might want to be the one to learn it. There is a small chance that if I learn it, I will fail when learning it from the book, but you have a special affinity for healing due to your class,” Mira replied.
“But I thought you said it was a Tier 3 spell?” Emily asked
“Well, how far are you from level 20 anyway mom?” Mira said, clearly exasperated.
Choosing to ignore her daughter’s tone, Emily said, “I still have 356 XP before I hit level 19.”
“Okay, but what is your total XP now?”
“5,204, sweetie, but maybe we should focus on a way to use the spell now,” Emily said, trying to bring the conversation back around.
“Hmm, well that means that you need a little more than 1,300 to hit level 20. We could do that pretty quickly, mom.”
“That’s even assuming that I can reach Tier 3. You know not everyone is able to.” Emily’s voice took on the tone she had when she didn’t want to talk about something.
Try as she might, Mira couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Both dad and I made it, there is no reason to think that you won’t as well. Besides, aren’t you always the one telling me to think positively?”
“I don’t know. I mean, yes that is what I have told you, but this is different. You just don’t understand, Mira,” Emily said, obviously troubled.
“What? I don’t understand that you blame yourself for what happened to Sir Tradon? Of course, I know that. But, mom, I was there. You didn’t do anything wrong. Bad things happen. And another thing, you always told us is that just because bad things happen to good people doesn’t mean that God isn’t in control,” Mira said, her voice rising at the end in a display of passion.
“That’s enough. I’m just not ready. But you can learn the spell, and we can figure out a way to make it work.” Looking at the ground, Emily added, “I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense to you.”
The Mira of a few months before would have continued to pick at her mom but not now. “Okay, if that is what you think is best.”
So relieved by not having to fight about it any longer, Emily reached out and pulled Mira into a hug without thinking about it, and for whatever reason, the teenager allowed it to go on for a good twenty seconds before pulling away.
“Well, I will go learn the spell, but there was one other thing.”
With that, Mira explained about the imbued gems and how they could be used to power magical devices and how she thought with some work, they might be able to craft a hand and foot for Kraden and then have them powered by imbued gems. They discussed the inability of the smiths to shape something as fine as the joints of fingers but decided to table that until they had worked out the solution for Jaselm.
Emily stood there looking at Mira. She marveled at how the past few months had changed her daughter, but there was no time for reflection as they suddenly heard some horns blaring. They were on the northern edge of town on the dirt roads that separated the parcels of land, mostly farms belonging to individual families. There weren’t many guards here as most manned the wall, so there were only small patrols out here.
Her two Meiyo Eihei bodyguards were instantly on the alert, fighting sticks in hand, and with good reason for Emily recognized the horn’s signal from knowledge she obtained when she was inducted into the Circle. It was a signal from the elven forest wardens. It meant that danger was coming and that it was serious enough to warrant all the farmers drawing inside the walls.
She was pleased to see that the human farmers seemed to recognize the significance of the clarion call just as much as the elves. It was another positive sign of integration. Yet, watching mothers and fathers grab their children and run from their farms toward the half-finished wall around the main city infuriated her. She wanted her family to be safe, and she wanted her people to be safe just the same. No parent should have to endure this.
Strangely, Emily found, instead of wanting to bundle Sara up and flee herself, a righteous indignation swelling within her. At this moment, she wasn’t Emily Nelson, nurse and PTA mom. No, now she was Lady Emiri, a fierce elven noble with the customs and knowledge of a proud people filling her mind–a people for whom the protection of the land and the people on it meant everything. She was thrice bound to the people here, as Lady Emiri, Baroness Murkwood, and Daughter of Shanelle.
Had she taken time to think about what she wanted to do, Emily would have undoubtedly made a different decision, but just as some will never understand
how a first responder or soldier can run in the direction of danger even as everyone else is running in the opposite direction, so she couldn’t put words to her actions; it was instinct.
“Isaka, take Sara back to town and send help as quickly as you can. Then stay and guard her along with Balayria and Krinnk,” Emily barked out the command quickly and without looking away from where the horn call had come, probably the other side of the river.
“But, my Lady …” Isaka started. He probably intended to insist that it was his primary duty to protect Lady Emiri, but then his knowledge of his Lady’s priorities caught up with his ingrained sense of duty and obedience, and he said, “It shall be as you command, Lady Emiri.”
Emily spared a momentary look over her shoulder as she said, “Sara you listen to Isaka and Balayria. Mommy loves you, and I will be back very soon.” Then, with a glance from the goblin to the half-orc, she said, “Please do what you can to keep her safe.”
The two answered simultaneously, “As if she were my own flesh.” Krinnk added, “Krinnk, no let Sara be hurt.”
Sara started to ask a question, but Balayria was already scooping her up in her muscular arms to run toward the town. She was flanked by the elven monk and goblin scout.
“Aren’t you going to try to get rid of me too?” Mira asked
“Would it have done any good?” Emily asked in a matter of fact tone.
“No,” Mira answered.
“Fine, but know that right now, I’m not mom. I’m Lady Emiri, and you are to obey my commands just as well as Baru does,” Emily said, signaling the elven monk standing next to them.
The brusque tone caught Mira off guard enough that she simply said, “Okay.”
“Follow, and stay on your toes,” Emily said. She started running with characteristic elven grace towards the bridge across the Seinna at whatever danger was coming.
Interlude 8
Altracia the dungeon drake
Altracia had fumed in anger, pacing in circles and quite literally biting the head off of more than one minion. Gradually though, over the course of a few days, which was in reality only hours to the outside world, she calmed down. It occurred to her that she needed to take a new perspective. She needed to attract more victims into her dungeon. It was how she grew and how she could feed herself. This vendetta that she felt against David Nelson was not a true emotion. It was something imposed upon her by the stock she had created her drake hounds from.