“She’s pregnant!” Deia declared.
“Oh! Another sibling! I do get so jealous of my young having so many brothers and sisters and yet I’ve only met mine! Another one!” Denur’s expression could only be expressed as glee.
“Well, at least I know that they’ll be well protected.” Fire smiled as she looked at her two daughters.
“That’s a given.” Deia crossed her arms as Denur looked over her shoulder, giving her mother a fierce glare.
Fire laughed at the scene. Tears ran down her cheeks, in happiness and mirth.
Denur and Deia shared a look and shrugged.
***
Josh sat in the city of Zol’Ord at a table across from Gimel, leader of the Fellox Guild, and sipped tea while Cassie ordered pastries.
“So, are you ready to put up your videos and see what the Emerilia community says?” Gimel asked. A number of the guild’s leaders grinned, clearly expecting to win.
Josh smiled and put down his tea. “All right. Gimme one second. Gotta send it out to my guild. On the count of three?” Josh opened up his interface.
Cassie came over and sat next to Josh. She started to pull apart a sweet pastry after she put another in front of Josh. “Can I put up my video yet?”
“Doing the countdown,” Josh said in a calming voice.
Cassie let out a whoop and opened her interface.
“So, on three. Ready?” Gimel smiled.
“Ready.” Josh’s finger hovered above the send button for his messages.
“One, two, three!” Gimel stabbed his finger forward. Josh did the same. Cassie started typing things out on her interface with one hand while eating with the other.
Messages zipped across Emerilia as interfaces opened up all across the world. Streams that had been dead for months now had a mass of new content. The Stone Raiders had been challenged and they were returning the challenge.
“May the best guild win.” Josh held out his hand.
Gimel shook it and grinned. “Well, no matter the results, I’d be interested in doing a raid with the Stone Raiders.”
“Damn, beat me to it—was gonna say the same thing about the Fellox. We’re having a little break now but I think that we’re going to be up for some raiding and portal opening soon enough.” Josh leaned forward, an excited glint to his eyes.
“Portal opening, huh?” Gimel said. The others of Fellox listened intently. The Stone Raiders and Golden Sabres had been the first to unlock a portal. Now the Golden Sabres had collapsed, but a ton of their veteran Players were looking to join the Stone Raiders.
“If you’re game.” Josh grinned and sat back, as if it was no big deal.
“Well, maybe I can help you out with that.” Gimel stroked his manicured goatee.
“You’ll be the first guild we call.” Josh held out his hand. Gimel shook it; those who had heard of it looked excited at the possibility of the two strongest raiding guilds grouping together.
Josh knew that Cassie would be reporting it on her blog and video stream.
“Holy!” one of the Fellox guild members said, their interface taking up all of their attention.
“What you watching?” Gimel asked.
“Stone Raiders videos,” the guild member said, not looking up.
Gimel opened his interface.
“Thanks for the pastry. What you want to do now?” Josh asked.
“Well, we do have a guild city to build,” Cassie said with a wide grin. Now that the Stone Raiders had been given some breathing room, there were just so many things that they needed to do and possibilities to snatch up.
“Lucy probably has a whole bunch of people she wants us to check over from the Golden Sabres. Now we’ve got time to vet them properly.” Josh stood and held out his hand to Cassie; she took it and stood.
“Wait, are these Demons and Beast Kin?” Gimel looked to Josh and Cassie with wide eyes.
“That they are. If you want to check out Devil’s Crater, then you need to go to Cliff-Hill. It’s the only teleport pad other than our guild’s that will allow you to access Devil’s Crater.” Josh smiled.
Gimel just looked as though he’d had his mind blown.
“See you later, Gimel. Not many guilds keep their challenges classy.” Josh tipped an invisible hat at the guild leader.
“Damn, I hope we can go on a raid like that together one time.” Gimel laughed and shook his head.
Josh shrugged. “Definitely a possibility.”
Cassie put her arm in Josh’s as they walked out of the café and headed for the teleport pad.
Josh checked his interface that was beeping at him with incoming messages. He checked it, finding Lucy’s right at the top. He laughed to himself and closed it.
“What was it?” Cassie asked.
“Seems that our recruiting has blown up. Lucy’s going a little crazy with all the requests.” Josh snorted.
“Yeah, she wants all the information I have on every person who applied from the Golden Sabres. I guess I should do that.” Cassie sighed.
“Hmm, well, there is a lot of traffic around the teleport pad. We could go check out the shops.” Josh looked to Cassie.
She pursed her lips, an amused look in her eyes. “You want to see me in a dress, is that what you’re saying?”
“I want to see where this goes now that we can tell each other everything without guilds in the way,” Josh said, smiling even as his eyes were serious.
Emerilia might be a game to some, but to Josh it was his world and his guild was everything to him.
“I’d like that.” Cassie moved a bit closer, her voice low and scared but hopeful. She wasn’t the brash Cassie that many knew, but the woman underneath who was scared to be burned by a man she cared for.
Josh turned her so she was facing him; he pulled her to him so fast she couldn’t react and planted his lips on hers.
She melted against him, her hands on his chest.
They stepped back, looking into each other’s eyes after a minute.
“Supposed to buy me dinner first!” She hit his chest.
“Ah, damn. Well, I’ll do that later.”
“Good!” She slapped his butt.
He grinned and moved faster than she could react, throwing her over his shoulder and running down the street.
“Ah! Put me down!” She half yelled-laughed as Josh started to run faster, using his skills to run between two walls. People pointed and watched in shock as he disappeared over a roof. Cassie yelled the entire time.
***
Geswald stepped out of his heated carriage. He walked between lines of Lord Esamael’s guards, who stood on either side of the carpet that led to the lord’s grand hall.
There were a number of nobles and people of standing in the crowd who walked down the carpet. They greeted Geswald and made sure to let him pass as he walked through them and into Lord Esamael’s estate.
The weather was turning cold with the quickly approaching winter. Pete appeared at his side. His aide had gone on ahead, acting as Geswald’s representative. The secretaries and aides got together before messaging their patrons to push ahead talks on Lord Esamael and his allies’ plans.
Lord Esamael greeted Geswald with open arms. “Lord Geswald, it is good to see you! I hope you are keeping well.” Esamael smiled and hugged the older man.
“Oh, you flatter me, Lord Esamael. I have been in fine health!” Geswald smiled as a servant took away his heavy outer cloak.
“Good, good! We shall have to get together later and have some fire whiskey to your health.” Esamael smiled. The expression did not reach his eyes.
“Of course, Lord Esamael. You honor me.” Geswald smiled, tilting his head in acceptance of the invitation.
“I must go, as I have many others to greet. I will talk to you later.” Esamael departed.
Geswald practically heard the sighs of the ladies and the approval of the older lords and barons in his treatment of Geswald.
Geswald was the second most p
owerful man in Lord Esamael’s estate and as such, he was greeted and talked to by all people of note. Geswald laughed, passed stories and words of thanks, as well as a reprimand here and there, all of it under the guise of conversation and small talk. In Emaren and the surrounding towns, no one conducted business without his agreement, or without giving him his payment.
Geswald’s eyes might not be what they used to be, yet he still saw the groups that disappeared from time to time. He glanced to some, looking away quickly.
They were the generals and supporters of Esamael. Officers who had been in charge of leading bandit raids and those who hid their forces as city guards across Gudalo were given their orders.
Dinner parties—who would suspect the true devious nature that lays behind them?
It was much later that he was invited to meet with Lord Esamael. He made his excuses and went to meet the lord.
He stood on a balcony; a large fur covered him as he drank some fire whiskey. A servant put another cloak on Geswald; another handed him a cut glass from Markolm with fire whiskey inside.
The servants retreated as Esamael pressed a button on the balcony. A cone of silence surrounded the two of them.
Geswald sat at the small table on the balcony and sipped from the fire whiskey.
Esamael’s amenable mask fell as he downed half of the fire whiskey in one gulp. “Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are going to have to change our plans. I have been talking to my generals and my spies. It looks like Sigaird is not a complete oaf. We have to tread carefully. The Stone Raiders seem to have returned with a great number of goods. The mage’s guild and college are buying from them more and more. I have also heard from the Players that the Stone Raiders have apparently fought alongside Demons and Beast Kin. I do not know the validity of these sources, but it has become clear to me that taking out the Stone Raiders will not go unnoticed, as I had hoped.” Esamael took a seat.
“What is the new plan?” Geswald asked.
“Do all you can to put pressure on the allies of the Stone Raiders in Verlun. Drive them into the ground and build alliances that will harm the Stone Raiders’ allies. A city that sells foodstuffs is not that popular in winter. We shall make them see that siding with us will bring them monetary benefits that the Stone Raiders won’t give them.” Esamael looked to Geswald.
“I can do that, but the mage’s guild and college brings in a mass of buyers. I have also heard that they are buying up foodstuffs and shipping it to unknown places. Maybe it is to these Demons and Beast Kin?”
“Do what you can to disturb that. If they are allies, then we want to put a wedge between them…” Esamael looked to Geswald like a wolf would watch its prey.
Geswald nodded and sipped from his drink. “What is the plan to get rid of them?”
“General Loughbreck controls our forces to the north. It will take days or weeks for our northern forces to reach Haugr. It will only take him a few days to assemble the forces from our northern alliances and take them to Verlun. The city guard and forces in the area of Verlun will weaken them. The army will tear the Stone Raiders apart, capture the teleport pad and give us two teleport pads to gain access to Haugr,” Esamael said.
Geswald didn’t ask how Esamael knew that the teleport pad in Haugr would be open to Verlun and Emaren leading an assault into the kingdom’s capital.
“I can soften them and their alliances up,” Geswald said.
“Good. We will wait until spring. The strongest fighters will be at the Dwarven tournament. The Stone Raiders and many warriors from Haugr will undoubtedly go to test their mettle. We will take Verlun and all of Gudalo under our control.” Esamael looked off into the distance. A cold smile spread across his face as he twirled his glass and the fire whiskey in his hand.
“To victory,” Geswald said.
“To victory.” Esamael raised his glass and drained the contents.
Chapter 29: Gifts And Plans
Dave and Kol trudged into the Council of Anvil and Fire’s meeting.
“Hah, look at these two bastards. Did yah even sleep last night?” Quino laughed.
Kol made a grunting noise as Dave tiredly opened up his interface and sent a message to Quino before they slumped into chairs. He didn’t have the energy to explain it to Quino.
“Well, seems that some people have been burning the late-night coal,” Jesal said from where she sat at the top of the table, overseeing the council.
Dave raised his thumb in agreement, yawning as he rubbed his face with the other hand.
Quino muttered to himself excitedly. Endur kept trying to look over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.
“Okay, on to this week’s matters,” Jesal said. “Demons and Beast Kin have returned to Emerilia. It seems that both groups have settled into Devil’s Crater. They were attacked by the Dark Lord’s new iteration of Demons. They defeated them with the assistance of three Aldamire Warclans. Lady Kragr has entered limited trade agreements with Devil’s Crater. Information has been sent out to all of you on this incident. Please vote on if we should look into creating an alliance with the peoples of Devil’s Crater or wait.”
The vote passed quickly. Dave and Kol couldn’t vote on it as they had vested interests in Devil’s Crater.
“We will look to create closer ties with Devil’s Crater, allowing Lady Kragr to create a mutually defensive alliance with the government of Devil’s Crater,” Jesal said. “Second, the Aleph have returned to Emerilia. They came to the aid of the Stone Raiders and people of Devil’s Crater. They worked alongside our clans. They have not formally talked to us. Lady Kragr has talked to them and believes that they are receptive to a possible agreement, possibly even an alliance.”
Dasano raised his hand. He was the oldest of the Dwarven Master Smiths and rarely spoke but his wisdom held weight.
“You have the floor, Dasano.” Jesal nodded to the aged Dwarf.
“Many said bad things about the Aleph but they were very similar to our own people. They looked for answers. As we look to create wonders out of metal and stone, they looked to find answers to the magical mysteries of Emerilia. I heard stories of my great-grandfather when the Aleph would make wonders that no one could understand. How they created the teleport pads and automatons that made the greatest Dwarven smiths envious. The Aleph people had been cast out from their societies and in turn built one of their own. We sat back and watched as they were culled, too scared to act. As my great-grandfather regretted doing nothing all of his life, I hope to put his spirit to rest. The Aleph are the brothers, sisters, daughters, and sons of our forefathers. Together we are much stronger than apart,” Dasano said in a calm and deep voice. Every Dwarf listened to his words.
“We shall put it to a vote,” Jesal said.
Dave couldn’t vote, as he again had vested interests.
“At this time, we will allow for trade agreements to be continued. We will look into the possibility of an alliance at a later time. Mountain lords and ladies may make their own judgments on alliances with the Aleph,” Jesal announced. “Okay, next thing: the artillery we’ve used has proved itself. We have notes back from the artillery corps as well as adjustments to be made but it seems that their rate of fire was nearly tripled and the amount of time they could fire for was increased by four times. After updates to the test-bed prototype, I think that it would be feasible to melt down the old artillery once they are replaced with the newer versions. The military council agrees with this assessment. Anyone have votes against?”
“Are we going to be doing it on a one-for-one swap? Are we going to be giving entire clans new artillery or just transitioning over?” Sola asked.
“It takes more time to make these new weapons and they are more expensive. So, we’ll be working with one Warclan at a time to swap out their artillery pieces one by one,” Jesal said.
“No issues here,” Sola said.
No one else said anything or made to raise their hands. With all the foreboding future predictions, none
wanted to arm the Warclans with anything but the best.
“Okay, finally the Dwarven tournament. Preliminaries will start in a few weeks. The mage’s and adventurer’s guild will be running their own. Some towns and cities will also be hosting their own bouts of fighting, within their guards and general populace. This will take a month or two. Then tournaments will start at Dwarven mountains across Emerilia. Anyone who can make it to a Dwarven mountain will be allowed to enter into the competition. Arenas will be built by Dwarven engineers and mages. Plans are finalized and ready. As winter breaks for spring, we will start the tournaments at the mountains. It will take a month before the fighting will move to Gorlei Mountains on the Heval continent. It will take another month to name a winner of the tournament. It will be our job to test the winners and see of their inner workings. If we judge them to be good people, then the Grey God will judge them before allowing them access to our weapons vaults where they will most likely be bestowed with a Weapon of Power,” Jesal said.
The conference room was deathly silent. The Council of Anvil and Fire had been watching over the weapons since they had been recovered, made or given to them by the Grey God.
“Everything has been finalized and there should be little to no alterations to this plan. Next we go on to metals, with our new smelters, as well as the Aleph’s and Stone Raiders’ ability to churn out a number of rare metals, we have a number of contracts to discuss. It has also been brought to our attention that the need for glass panes will increase due to the residents of Devil’s Crater making a series of greenhouses. With the knowledge of silicates and malachite that Dave has told us, there is enough glass to satisfy some of these demands and we will have to figure out pricing for it all. The Aleph can also supply glass panes, but it seems that they don’t have much production as they are dealing with their own issues.”
Felar raised her hand.
Jesal indicated for her to talk.
“I have heard of the Aleph’s ability to manufacture a great number of identical items repeatedly. I was wondering if it would be possible to visit the Aleph and trade different information on smithing, smelting, and their factories?” Felar asked.
This is Our Land (Emerilia Book 5) Page 27