For The Guild (Emerilia Book 2)

by Michael Chatfield

  “One must enjoy the little things to have a long life.” Quino raised his bottle and took a good sip, tasting the drink slowly before he swallowed. “Even if that little thing costs as much as a damned Mithril nugget!” He laughed as Florence’s alarmed expression.

  “Ahh, don’t worry, with your guild’s rise to power, I think that you will be getting more of that in your clutches sooner rather than later.” Quino grinned.

  “As I am honored by your presence, I wonder, why are you talking to me?” Florence asked.

  “Well, that damned boy wanted me to make you some ugly darned contraption that I can’t make heads or tails of. There were also a number of rare weapons that you dropped off for the boy and the Stone Raiders that I was interested in. I was wondering who the boy and his guild would trust to see this all done and get a measure of you,” Quino said, a smile on his face as he drank from his bottle. Yet there was a calculating look in his eyes.

  Who is this boy he talks of? How does he have this much pull to tell a Master Smith to make something?

  “He also told me that you have a contract to sell several items that his guild procures. Recently, I have found myself interested in some wares and I was wondering if you would be willing to act as an intermediary,” Quino asked.

  “What kind of items?”

  “Resources,” Quino said simply.

  “We don’t have that many wagons compared to the Dwarven trading companies,” Florence said.

  “Ah, a straightforward one! I do hate when you traders beat through the bush about this and that instead of getting right to the real conversation! Right—we need a way to make it seem separate of us. If people see us start moving all this kind of stuff, then we’re going to have a whole bunch of people wondering just what the hell we’re doing. Much easier to use one of you bonded and secured Player guilds. A lot less tongue wagging! Oh, and he said that it would be a good idea to move to Verlun—you know, that farming city near the Per’ush floating islands close to Emaren, the merchant city? Well, yeah there, or one of the smaller cities that isn’t as prominent. Says that the snobby types will probably be pissed at the new power you’ll come in with. Best to go to a place where you can establish yourself instead of barge in. He’s a smart one.” Quino drank his beer.

  Florence once again took a light sip of her wine.

  “Though don’t tell him that. The boy has a high opinion of himself as it is!”

  “I’m sorry—who is this you’re talking about?” Florence asked.

  “That’s the spirit, gal! Okay, so he said that you should tell Josh when you have all of the stuff and that Josh will talk you through all of the assembly and what-not of the drop pad. But for the trading of those resources, would you be able to be our intermediary if required?”

  “Certainly,” Florence said, more confused than ever.

  “Great. I’ll take your contact info and your guild’s interface information. Be good to do business in the future. Having a right pain trying to make the materials ourselves without using direct magic, which makes them damned expensive!” Quino grumbled.

  ***

  “What is this?” Bronx put the last metal plate down into the wagon. The springs of the cart sunk with all the weight.

  “I’m not sure. I’ve got to talk to Josh. Do you have all of the other items?” Florence asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Bronx said.

  She nodded and moved to her wagon, letting out a whistle.

  The wagons started to move.

  A pair of eyes that had been watching from a trader’s table turned and left, heading deeper into the city that surrounded Zolu Mountain in the Medlari Empire. Making sure no one was around, the man opened up his interface. “Tell the magistrate that the Stone Raiders’ trading company just picked up their goods.”

  “Good. I wonder if the idiots know that they hired the guild that killed their people to try and steal the wealth from their defenders,” a voice on the other side of the chat snickered.

  “I swear, talk and blend in with a bunch of the NPCs and then they show just how stupid they are.”

  “Keep an eye on the caravan. We’ll have more of our people join you shortly.” The answering voice cut the chat.

  The man looked around before he moved deeper into the city, moving up to the rooftops, following his tracking spell to the Exdar’s Trader’s wagons as they made to head toward the mountain passage that crossed around the Zolu Mountain and into Zolun.

  ***

  Hevard listened to the latest information from his spies. Since Selhi, he had sent out forces across all of Emerilia to try to find the Stone Raiders. It was as if they had vanished as soon as they left the city. There were no signs of them, but it seemed that they were still active.

  He had tried to get people watching the Stone Raiders who were littered across the planet and training or off on their own quests. All of them seemed to have been executed.

  Damned bitch cursed us all with some soul magic.

  Hevard muttered to himself. It had taken a lot of gold, but he had found out where the curse that drained a Health point every five seconds came from: the Lady of Fire. There were few to no temples to her; instead, her followers were the mage’s guilds and colleges that were spread across Emerilia.

  People had gone and tried to have the curse removed. None of the colleges or of the guild were interested in lifting it.

  Hevard was tempted to attack them and force them to lift the curse. He would wait until his people were a higher level before going up against the mages guild. It would take time but they would be free from the curse.

  In the meantime, they had looked to find anyone who helped the Stone Raiders or had ties to them.

  The Golden Sabres were reported to be having talks with them. The plots to try to weaken them had turned sour, costing too much and putting them on the hunt for the PKP’s members.

  They’d sent forces to the city Cliff-Hill, where Stone Raiders trained with the Elves and Dwarves of the area.

  They had been found and killed well before entering the cities.

  Still, Hevard and the rest of the guild were driven to destroy the Stone Raiders.

  Their best opportunity yet was the traders’ guild that seemed to be trading with the Stone Raiders. No one knew how they would be able to get the goods to the Stone Raiders. From overheard conversations, it seemed that the traders didn’t know where the guild was either.

  Their leaders have to know where the Stone Raiders are. They might be hiding in some odd cave, but there has to be signs up here. No one can live without supplies.

  “We’ll just have to pull the information from the traders.” Hevard smiled to himself, making plans to meet with others at Zol’sou, the closest teleport pad to the Zolu Mountain that was in the path of the Exdar’s Traders.

  He wasn’t going to let his guildmates have all the fun.

  Chapter 35: At Devil’s Crater

  Malsour looked around as he stepped out into a dark cave. Anna followed behind him, a blade over her shoulder.

  Malsour looked back and waved to the rest of their party before the event horizon closed.

  “Well, this is going to take some time,” Anna said as they stepped out into the cave. There were runes that hid the cave away from outsider’s eyes as they walked through the area. Anna pulled on heavier layers of clothing as Malsour walked ahead.

  “We’re only a few hundred miles from Devil’s Crater,” Malsour said.

  “Yeah, going to be a pain in the ass to walk that far,” Anna complained.

  “The Players are wearing off on you.” Malsour smiled as she hurried to catch up with him.

  “Meh, they’re not that bad.” Anna touched the bottom of her blade.

  “I’m guessing that Dave’s gift is well received?” Malsour cast a glance at the hilt that protruded over her shoulder.

  “It’s something else, all right. With enough time and Mana infusion, it’s going to be one scary weapon.” Anna tapped Maldar
affectionately. The name meant singing blade in Jukal.

  Malsour shook his head as he stepped through what looked like a silver ringed area, exiting the cave system and appearing out onto a rough cliff-face. Stairs were cut into it, leading down toward the ground below. Malsour felt the change take hold as he stretched out into his true form.

  “Well, let’s get moving.” Malsour’s voice boomed as Anna grinned and jumped up onto his back.

  He rose off the cliff with powerful wing-beats, heading for Devil’s Crater.

  Anna squealed in joy. Not what you would expect from a hardened blade mistress.

  Malsour grinned as he put on more power, increasing their forward momentum.

  Three hundred miles, bah!

  ***

  "Come on you bunch of ingrates! I thought you said you were soldiers! Get your asses moving!" Kala barked as she moved around the marching formation, berating those that were marching, all of her officers and NCO's were doing the same, 'motivating' their people.

  Kala kept an eye out for the Demon Lords.

  At first they had said that they didn't require training, they were the strongest, there was no need for them to do as those under them did.

  Kala disagreed saying that she didn't believe that they were the best. Their pride was their hot button. As soon as she had targeted it they had boasted their skills and bet against one another that they wouldn't be able to complete the training.

  Kala let out a satisfied grunt. Having the Demon Lords there showed that they were the same as the rest of the soldiers.

  It showed that the training was important and everyone pushed themselves harder.

  That said, Kala and her officers had all quietly held conversations with all of their people, talking to them.

  Before the only place of honor had been within the fighting forces. Now they were trying to show that they needed a large group of people that could do things other than just fight.

  It had been slow at first but more and more people had dropped out of training and the army to pursue jobs and trades that they were interested in. Most of them had crossed over to the Beast Kin stronghold to learn there.

  There was still a long way to go but Kala was determined. Once the Demons got past their differences and actually worked with the Beast Kin then it was possible to see a future with the two races working together.

  Love a challenge.

  "There's no room for weakness here! Keep in your formations and in step!" She yelled out, moving through the marching formations.

  A few hundred had already ‘graduated’ to Devil’s Crater. Kala didn’t slack her standards and kept training those left in her command.

  The strongest metals were made in the hottest fires.

  ***

  Alkao rubbed his eyes. He and the warriors at his disposal had worked themselves to exhaustion, first checking the seven fortresses, various caves, and the farming plots within the crater.

  The carcasses and hides they had strung up showed the resistance they had run into on their travels. Four of the demons were badly wounded.

  It was now that Alkao didn’t have troops and resources to throw at the problem that he was learning how something as simple as knowing a healing spell could do wonders.

  Krenua had asked to put them out of their misery. Alkao had forbidden it, saying that their allies might have a way to save them. They did not have the lives to waste.

  Krenua agreed but his mind was still used to the old ways. A Demon who couldn’t fight was useless.

  Alkao was going to have to change that way of thinking.

  Alkao was thinking about turning in for the night when a presence made his very bones quake in fear. Its aura was as if a Dragon stalked them, interested but ready to strike in a moment, with barely veiled strength.

  Alkao turned his head toward the windows, but saw nothing. For a few minutes, there was nothing but the silence of night, the warmth fleeting as the moons and stars hung overhead.

  “Hey! Alkao, get your scrawny Demon ass out here!” a familiar voice said. Alkao’s eyes latched onto the two people walking across his keep.

  Two Demons swept in from above, their weapons drawn. They slammed into a black shield, rolling back, dazed.

  “I told you we should have knocked,” a male voice said.

  Alkao stepped out of the keep, one hand on the hilt of his sword as he glided down to meet his two new visitors. With his night vision, it was easy to recognize Anna and Malsour.

  “How did you get here so quickly?” Alkao asked.

  The two Demons who had dove into a Mana barrier spread to either side of Alkao, ready to step in at a moment’s notice, their hands already on their blades.

  “We took a few shortcuts, though we don’t have much time to chitchat,” Anna said.

  “You mind if I fix this up a bit?” Malsour pointed to the keep.

  “Sure.” Alkao’s confusion turned to astonishment as the ground around the keep changed. Rock and materials seemed to sprout out of the ground; different creatures of shadow pulled apart the old ruins as new parts of the structure seemed to grow into place.

  In five minutes, it looked better than all the work Alkao had done over weeks.

  “Malsour is pretty good at making things. This is for you.” Anna put her bag on the ground and pulled out pieces. First there were triangular pieces that formed a circle.

  “That’s a drop pad. It will allow us to send materials here that you could use, like food and such,” Anna said.

  “I was told that there would only be one person,” Alkao said as more of the Demons flew free of the keep as it moved under Malsour’s work. The walls stopped being brick and started to have an almost polished look to it.

  “Ah, well, I have a few things that I need to talk to you about,” Anna said.

  Alkao turned to Anna, giving her his full attention at her serious tone.

  “My people’s home was destroyed and like your own Demons, they were held by my father so that they wouldn’t be wiped out by the forces against them. Now, they are looking to return to Emerilia. My father suggested that it might be an idea if our two races work together.” Anna stiffened up, her eyes looking over Alkao and inspecting him.

  “What do you want?” Alkao asked.

  “My people bring with them skills that you and yours never learned—well, few of you learned what would allow you to thrive as a race. We would need a plot of land within Devil’s Crater and to make certain agreements for trade, mutual defense, and so on,” Anna said.

  Alkao would have dismissed her out of hand before he had trekked across Emerilia to his home. Now, he knew how useful different resources could be. Manpower was good, but trained manpower was dozens of times better.

  “What kind of skills?”

  “Basic field craft, the ability to scavenge for food on the move. To hunt better, hidden fighting techniques that do not rely on sheer brute strength. Medical knowledge of different plants, and so on.” Anna waved her hand dismissively.

  “I have many more questions, but the one that comes to mind first is if you could heal some of my people?” Alkao said.

  “Show me,” Anna said.

  Alkao led her through the keep that looked more and more like his home. Broken stairs were replaced. Walls covered the night sky.

  Neither of them needed the torches that would have rested in the walls as they walked up to where the Demons had been resting. Four were wounded; one whimpered, clearly in pain, unable to sleep through it all.

  “What the hell have you been doing up here?” Anna growled, brushing past Alkao and moving to the injured Demon. She pulled out herbs and different items, pulling on the Demon’s leg that had been opened and smelled something fierce. She drew a dagger and looked at Alkao. “Hold him down. This is going to hurt.” A small Fire danced between her fingers and along the blade of her knife as she pulled out a collection of herbs and held it to the creature.

  She spoke in guttural Abyssal. “Chew this.”<
br />
  The Demon clamped their mouth down defiantly, its eyes red with infection, but still he didn’t accept her aid.

  “Do it,” Alkao said in Abyssal.

  The Demon opened their mouth.

  Anna shoved the herbs in as the Demon chewed, relaxing slightly. Anna positioned herself over the leg wound, looking at it in all its pus-filled glory.

  “This is going to suck.” Her blade moved quickly, opening up the wound once again as she started to clear it out. The Demon bucked and fought their grasp, the herbs not enough to blunt the full pain. Anna’s hand was like a vise, keeping his leg from moving.

  Alkao had trouble keeping the Demon’s upper body from jerking. He was impressed by her strength as she worked, unaffected by the Demon’s attempt to free itself.

  It finally passed out, to Alkao’s relief.

  Anna continued to clear out the wound that had festered. “Burn this.” She pointed to what she’d removed.

  Alkao did so as she cleaned her knife and went to work once again. Alkao watched in interest.

  “What happened was that the wound was not cleaned properly after it happened; outside crap got into it and turned into rot. That rot destroyed the surrounding parts of the leg, turning it into pus. Eventually, this crap would have leaked into his system and his body would have shut down. Now, I’m cleaning all of the bad crap out. Then, we can start from the beginning,” Anna said, noticing that she had a willing audience.

  Alkao watched as she cleared out the wound.

  “Now, we take Gor-root, Night’s Balm, and Wolf’s Feather.” She held each herb and put it into a bowl. “They’ve been dried out so that they are more potent and they last longer. We throw in some water and grind it all up.”

  “What is with the herbs?”

  “Together they will numb, help with healing, and make sure that infection will not take hold again.” Anna put the paste along the three lines in the demon’s leg. “Now, we put it back together. This poultice is fine with being in the wound, as a person’s nanites will break this down and use it for growth.”