Chapter 1 : Elias

  Elias leaped backwards, as the man he had been trying to awake lunged towards him. Elias’s hand darted towards his dagger, but stopped as he noticed that the light of consciousness returned to the man before him. The man looked around, as if noticing his surroundings for the first time, and slumped back against the wall of the wagon. Elias let his hand slip from his dagger and spoke.

  “apologies for roughly handling of you sir, but as it was, you were disturbing the other passengers in your sleep.” though most would be disturbed by your mere presence. Elias thought before he continued,

  “You were thrashing about, and even screaming before I intervened.”

  The man, no, the drunkard before him, didn’t reply. He simply grunted before reaching for the wine skin that he kept at his belt. When the drunkard went to drink from it, it must have been empty. As the drunkard eyed it, ran a finger along a section of it and muttered to himself.

  Magic lines that were weaved into the skin glowed a soft blue light before fading. The drunkard then poured dull red wine into his gullet. The drunkard was a sight to behold, a tall man, his unkempt shoulder length hair a dirty blonde, and fading dark blue-gray eyes. A thick untrimmed beard of the same dirty blonde as his head, covered his face. His most noticeable feature however was his awful stench.

  Why the employer allowed such a being to take part in this request, Elias hadn’t the faintest idea. The drunkard did keep a sword with him, it looked to be a simple thing, a plain pale blue sheath, with an unadorned hilt and a simple leather wrapping on the grip. Elias hadn’t seen the drunkard draw the thing. Perhaps he is just another freeloader. They were common enough, especially on escort requests like these. The employer would report his actions to the guild, and appropriate measures would be taken.

  The drunkard slumped back into his seat, wine skin in his lap, Elias noted that his eyes were heavily glazed over. The stench entered Elias’s nostrils, assaulting his sense of smell. If he didn’t need to let his horse rest, Elias would be far away from this waste of humanity.

  Elias himself was a young man, barely 20 years of age, a bit shorter than the drunkard. His short cut light brown hair, and his pale hazel eyes, combined with his well kempt attire helped produce a striking visage. Lacking anything else to do, and in desperate need of a distraction, Elias thumbed open a pouch on his travel pack. He reached inside and found the folded copy of the request.

  Elias unfolded the parchment and read the note he had read a dozen times already.

  Solen Adventurer’s Guild Request No. 017.214.1305

  Request Grade: X

  Requester: Lewis DeWitt

  Request Type: Escort / Merchant guard***

  Request summary: Require guards and escorts for a caravan heading to the Imperial Roman territories city of Sintilla

  Request Payment: In addition to the standard Guild rate (Rank and Grade rate) The Requester will pay an additional 5 gold per day of travel, with an additional bonus of 100 gold pieces paid upon approval. Food, Water, and shelter accommodations are also provided if necessary for the Adventurer.

  Request Location: All adventurer’s who meet criteria shall go to 1 of the following Muster points for interview / approval by Mr. DeWitt

  - Estwind muster field, final call day 32 of Winter

  - Ipson muster field, final call day 39 of Winter

  -Solen muster field, final call day 47 of Winter

  -Cante muster field, final call day 53 of Winter

  -Sudderlan muster field, final call day 60 of Winter

  *Requester will only accept Adventurers of Rank C Grade 3 and higher

  *Adventurers who wish to take this Request must see their guild hall, and receive a copy of this request with the guild’s seal. Any who do not will be rejected without collateral pay

  *Requester holds right to reject any adventurer regardless of rank, guild will cover collateral pay in this instance

  Signed – Diobella Krent, Guild Master, Solen Hall

  Being an adventurer of B Rank, 2nd Grade Elias of course took up this easy looking request. 5 gold a day plus the standard daily fee, for what would most likely be multi month journey was too much to pass up. It was simple too, a short interview with a guild officer and Elias had his copy of the request. It wasn’t unusual for long term guild partners to get special treatment when putting in requests such as these. The Request grade of X simply meant it was a custom request along those lines.

  Folding up the parchment once more, Elias placed it into his pack. The drunkard appeared to have dozed off again, Elias allowed his head to rest against the wooden slat that supported the covering on this wagon. It was one of almost a score such wagons, each of the covered wagons were being used to transport the main cargo of the Request, people.

  ---

  2 weeks earlier

  Elias approached the old muster field with concern as he saw the collection of tents, it was unlikely that those dilapidated things were being used by adventurers. His concerns were confirmed when he saw the people milling about by them. As he made his way through the camp, he noted the looks of alarm on some of these people. In his plate, even half done with his modifications for adventuring. He still had the look of a knight.

  Their concerns were understandable, a Knight especially if they were landed, or a sworn sword would have to report these people to the local lord. They had the look of peasants or serfs that had decided to leave their farms or manor houses. However, the most shocking type he had seen were a group that had even less clothing, and they had the tell tale tattoos on their faces, slaves.

  Elias himself detested the practice, but that wouldn’t save him from the punishment for harboring said slaves. He moved quicker in order to find the Requester. He found him easily enough in the center of the camp, next to a rather large wagon with a team of fine horses tied next to it. Stood a portly man with his clothing belying his traveling nature. He was short, bald, and had a thick black mustache.

  “excuse me, are you Mr. Lewis DeWitt?” Elias asked pulling his horse next to the others, before dismounting. Lewis looked Elias up and down with a squint.

  “Before you ask, no, I am not landed, nor am I sworn to any lord. I am merely an adventurer. One of Rank B, 2nd Grade” Elias gave a small bow. He felt it best to try and assuage the worries of the 4 people who were next to Lewis, they had the eyes of desperate people. Desperate people are at their most dangerous Words of his mentor echoed in his mind.

  “Ah, that is good then” Lewis responded, with the same voice that nearly every trader, and merchant seemed to have. Gregarious, yet serious, loud, but quiet. Elias had often wondered if such people all learned their craft together in order to speak the same way.

  “Do you have your guild made copy of the Request?” Lewis held out his hand, in which Elias put his neatly folded copy. Lewis opened it, and carefully checked the guild seal and the branch master’s signature. It was subtle but Elias noticed that Lewis had a substance on his thumb before he ran it along the seal.

  Whatever it was for, it seemed to satisfy the employer, as he swiftly refolded the parchment and handed it back to Elias.

  “So, Ser?”

  “Elias.”

  “right, Ser Elias, I take it you have gathered what is going on here right?”

  “Yes, I have” It didn’t take much thought to put it together. Lewis gave a slow nod,

  “Uh, huh. Any questions Ser Elias?” Elias took a brief moment to think before answering. He had never been particularly good at picking up subtext in the words people spoke. Even when his mentor had tried to beat such a skill in his head. Learn this, you are likely to be robbed and left on the side of a road at this rate!. His mentor’s voice rang through his skull.

  “No Mr. DeWitt, I am happy to work with you.” Elias held out his hand, Come what may, he was an adventurer, if the guild was fine with this “caravan” then Elias would do his best to protect it. Lewis looked at the hand for a mere moment, before he took it in his plump hands and shook it vigorously.

  “So you are a B rank 2nd grade huh? Well that makes your standard fair roughly a gold a day, add the additional wage you get 6 a day. I will provide meals, and shelter should you need it. Oh, and here is the first half of your bonus.” Lewis took a medium sized pouch from a chest nearby and handed it to Elias. The pouches weight felt right, though Elias would count it later.

  “Thank you Mr. DeWitt, do you, have any questions?” There was a slight smile on the face of Lewis before he answered.

  “No, Ser Elias, I do not. You are free to camp over there, In fact there is a group of adventurers who arrived before you that are camping there. We will be leaving within the next few days.” Lewis gestured to a section of the field that had much higher quality tents among them. Elias nodded and made his way over, taking the time to bring his horse along. He would need the saddlebags to set up his own tent.

  After he found a spot, this is when he first met the drunkard. He was lying next to a tent snoring loudly. There were even a few children who were entertaining themselves by stacking various objects on his head. Elias was about to make sure the man was okay, before he noticed a group sitting around a fire. It was midday so they were cooking what smelled to be a stew of some kind. Elias’s stomach made a noise, and he made his way over.

  There were 5 adventurers here, they had gathered up some logs to sit on, 1 was stirring the pot occasionally adding various ingredients into it. 3 were sitting on one of the logs chatting, it wasn’t particularly interesting. Before Elias could make a place of his own, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

  “You can sit here if you like”

  When he looked over to the voice, he saw what had to be the most striking girl he had ever laid his eyes upon. She had a fair, and slightly tanned complexion, a soft and ever slightly round face. One feature that struck him was her short golden hair that almost shined in the sunlight. However, even this trait lost out to her eyes. They were of a blue that Elias didn’t think possible, They almost seemed to glow with an effervescent light.

  Elias had obviously been staring, when the girl giggled she looked to an empty spot on the log she was occupying. Elias gulped down the embarrassment, and made to sit down. Making sure to leave ample space between himself and the girl. When he looked again, he noticed that she was wearing simple traveling clothes, various pouches and a strong looking belt. However, what caught his eye was the quality, even from the distance he could tell her items were of a higher quality than his. A noble of some sort?

  Elias banished the thoughts

  “Erika” The girl smiled

  “You were going to ask my name right?” Elias hesitated, because that is exactly what he was going to do. Unsure of what to say Elias answered

  “Yes, my lady.” Elias decided to be cautious, if she was a noble he should use the correct honorific. To his horror, the girl giggled again.

  “my lady?, Well then Ser...”she left a space waiting for me to fill it in.

  “Elias, My name is Elias… my lady” this time she laughed kicking her feet. After recovering she spoke.

  “You can just call me Erika,” she smiled a most lethal smile. Be ever wary of a pretty girl’s smile, it is their most dangerous weapon! Yet more wise words from his mentor. Recovering himself Elias spoke again.

  “My- erm… Erika, have you been on a long term Request like this before?” She tilted her head, like she hadn’t expected this question.

  “no, this will be my first.” She smiled again, Elias felt his body temperature rise. She really was pretty, and that smile would most likely ensnare most who were attacked by it. Regaining control over himself, The adventurer who was working the stew seemed to just notice his presence. She appeared to be a mid sized half elf woman. Her curly brown hair bouncing as she spoke.

  “The food’s done, I take it you’ll be joining us?” She was looking at Elias, she was also smiling. Her smile lacked impact, when compared to Erika.

  “If you are proffering an invite.” The half elf nodded, and turned to a collection of bowls, filling several and passing them to the now gathered group of adventurers. There were 6 them including Elias, So Elias made to get out his own food kit from his saddle bags before he was handed a bowl, with a simple spoon.

  “Don’t worry we have enough bowls, doesn’t look like he’s joining us.” The half elf was looking at Erika.

  “No I don’t believe so” Erika said, Elias himself wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw Erika’s beautiful smile fade for but a single moment. Erika quickly recovered and began to eat from her own bowl. Gods above she was even pretty eating a stew. Elias distracted himself by eating his own portion. The stew was filled with various vegetables as well as some beef. The broth was light, yet packed a strong flavor that was sharp and spicy. Perfectly complimenting the rich beef.

  “Beef isn’t dry…” Elias muttered

  “course it aint! I aint no trash cook you find among our profession. Takes a careful hand makin something decent out in the field!” The half elf was half shouting, still ladling stew into the rest of the bowls.

  “Sorry bout her, she gets touchy bout her food.” A young man around Elias’s age sat next to him. He was by all accounts normal looking. Around the same height as Elias, with short unadorned brown hair. Elias would have considered him as just an average man, if it weren’t for his eyes. His pair of dark black eyes were quite unique. Elias had only met one other person with black eyes in his life, and they had been quite odd.

  “Merrik” Merrik held out a hand, and Elias shook it. It was a surprisingly firm grip, Elias also noticed the faint blue lines that made a pattern on the back of Merrik’s hand, a mage.

  “and the touchy one is Queth”

  “I’m Elias, I take it you’re a seasoned group?” Merrik slurped a spoonful of stew before he answered.

  “They are all C-3, I just passed the promotion review, so I’m B-1” Merrik said this casually, even his achievement as a B rank, which the majority of adventurers didn’t achieve. Merrik certainly had potential if he was able to cross the threshold into the B ranks. If one was able to cross the gap from C to B it generally meant they would at least make it to 2nd grade of B rank.

  The guild had made the process to getting into the upper ranks (B rank and above) much more difficult since the war. At least that is what he had been told by adventurers who were still stuck at C- 5. Merrik looked to Elias,

  “Erika just joined up with us, but she’s C-3 as well seeing as the guild signed her copy” Elias nodded It meant Erika at least had the skills of a seasoned adventurer, it wasn’t surprising that she hadn’t done a long term Request before. There were plenty who just got by on single day work.

  “Yourself? How seasoned are you?” Merrik asked licking some stew from his lips, with his tongue.

  “Oh, I’m B-2” Merrik raised his eyebrows.

  “How many years are you?” Merrik asked.

  “20 years” Merrik let out a whistle,

  “same age as me and a full grade higher than me. Well I know who I’m hiding behind.” Merrik smiled and went back to eating. Elias was then introduced to the rest of the group as they filed in to eat. Queth was the resident cook, and scout. Merrik was a magician, though he was reticent to share much more than that. Thon, a large silent man who, according to Merrik, was their “battering ram”. Then to Elias’s surprise there was a Tlkalmith. Elias had heard of them, they were almost lizard like in their appearance, this one was 2 heads taller than Elias while slouching. His brown-green scales arrayed themselves into an almost hypnotic pattern. He was called Ray, apparently his true name was difficult to pronounce.

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  Ray worked as a support covering any jobs that were needed. A nice all rounder. The only odd one out was Erika.

  “What does Erika do?” Elias asked, Merrik gave a pause, then answered.

  “well we are still working that out, she knows how to fight at least, and seems knowledgeable. We were thinking of just having her support like Ray.”

  “I see, you have a well rounded group.” Elias went back to his bowl enjoying the meal.

  “What about you?”Merrik asked

  “I do a little bit of everything, I usually work alone so it’s mostly out of necessity” Merrik nodded in understanding.

  “Oh, Ser Elias is being humble, he’s a knight you know.” Erika plopped down next to the duo, her lethal smile in full force. Merrik eyed Elias curiously.

  “I have no lands, or lord, there is no need to worry.” Elias stated reflexively

  “You seem a bit young to be a full knight.” Merrik’s look contained a mixture of caution and disbelief.

  “Young? Yes, and while I may not feel it at times, I was knighted by a knight house.” Elias put down his bowl and took up his sword belt he had placed next to the log. He slightly unsheathed the sword revealing a house mark on the blade. Merrik and even Erika looked surprised by the marking on the shining metal blade. The mark was that of a shield with vines covering a heart in its center. The symbol of house Karde. Seeing the mark stirred up memories of life there, but Elias quickly re sheathed the sword, and with that, those memories.

  “Well if you carry a marked blade I guess you really are a knight.” A marked sword was one of the few ways to distinguish a legitimate Hartland knight from a fraud. There was also the rings that lords gave to vassal knights, and landed knights were often more well known. The knight house system was a relatively new addition to the knight society of the kingdom of Hartland. At least according to Elias’s mentor. Supposedly they were created during the war in order to rapidly create new knights.

  Though the old knighthoods where not particularly different to the knight houses. The only real tangible difference were the size and number of recruits. Returning to the remnants of his stew Elias remarked

  “And if you inscribed those mage lines yourself you must be quite the magician.” Merrik turned to his hands the blue faint lines that covered the back of his hands shifting with the movement.

  “Good eyes too…” Merrik muttered, now trying to cover his hands and eat at the same time, to little success.

  “What lines?” Erika was now standing between Elias and Merrik trying to see what Elias pointed out.

  “How attuned are your magical senses?” Elias asked taking that last spoonful of stew into his mouth. Erika pondered for a moment before answering.

  “I thought they were decent enough” Erika said, a playful pout on her face.

  “Well I’m not surprised you can’t see them, Merrik here has done a pretty decent job masking their presence.” Merrik squirmed again, as Erika leaned over him trying to see the lines that were clear as day to Elias.

  “I don’t see anything!” Erika exclaimed in an almost singsong voice, she then inserted herself between Elias and Merrik taking one of Merrik’s hands into her own. Merrik’s face looked like he was going to say something. However, that was quickly changed to a look of red embarrassment as Erika threw a smile at him.

  “What do they do?” Erika was staring directly into Merrik’s eyes. Merrik unprepared for such a mental assault nearly faltered. However, he recovered quickly, taking his hand back.

  “They help with certain weaves. It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t do magic the way we do.” Merrik seemed apprehensive to share more. Detecting this Erika turned to Elias. Her eyes almost demanding he explain what Merrik would not.

  “I won’t know what those particular lines do. Each magician makes their own from what I know. I only noted that he had them, it means he can manipulate external magical energy to a certain extent. It isn’t something that any random mage can do.” Elias meant what he said, Mage lines were external magical energy that was tattooed onto the skin to fulfill a certain purpose. While Elias was no magician, most every knight in Hartland was expected to at least know basic magical energy manipulation as well the intermediate concepts. Well House Karde did at any rate.

  Erika looked at Elias, as if she expected more information, Elias didn’t have anymore to give so he said nothing. When you have nothing to say to a pretty girl, sometimes that’s okay! Don’t try to fill the space with something stupid, or you will look just as stupid!. The voice of his mentor again guiding Elias. Seeing him say nothing, once again for just a single fraction of a moment Elias saw what could have almost been irritation in Erika’s features.

  “Wow, Merrik must be an amazing magician then!” Erika laughed again, and got up. She made her way over to Queth and whispered something in her ear. Queth nodded and handed her interestingly two bowls of the stew. Erika then went to the outer edge of the adventurer camp. Elias thought it odd, but pushed that thought to the back of his mind. It was rude to pry into the doings of adventurers you weren’t grouped up with. However, the thought was nagging him, then to his horror his mouth was speaking.

  “Where is she going?” Merrik looked at him, and so did Queth. Elias felt awkward, this was obviously a breech of etiquette.

  “She’s probably feeding that Uncle of hers” Merrik said returning to his own stew

  “You see the guy who was sleeping near the way you came in?” Elias nodded

  “That’s him”

  “That drunkard?” That’s right, that beautiful smiling Erika had a useless drunkard for an uncle. Though Elias wondered why he cared.

  “Yep, you’ve seen him” Merrik nodded solemnly. Silently Elias got up, and made to set up his tent. It would be a few days to wait for the other prospective adventurers before the caravan got up and moving. He needed to do something before he violated etiquette anymore than he already had. Though part of him wanted to know more about Erika.

  ---

  Elias was still thinking of that day when the first of the patrols the adventurers had set up came back. The caravan had left 2 days after Elias arrived, making 2 more such stops to obtain more adventurers and more “pilgrims” as the collection of peasants, serfs, and escaped slaves had taken to calling themselves. All in all there were about 100 or so “pilgrims” with half being women and children. To guard them were about 30 adventurers. 8 adventurers were rejected by Lewis for various reasons, though they were paid their bonus as well as the first days pay.

  Elias found himself as one of the senior adventurers. As a B rank, 2nd grade he along with 3 others who were of the same rank were chosen by Lewis to organize the gathered adventurers. He and the other B-2’s decided that having 2 of them in the caravan, and 2 leading patrols depending on the trail made the most sense. Lewis had made a point to purchase endurance animals for the carts and wagons. This left many of Lewis’s horses available for the adventurers to use.

  Elias had his own horse, as did the others that made up the 4 team leaders. Elias also didn’t like riding a horse he wasn’t used to the quirks of, so instead of using a remount he just let his horse rest while he either sat in a wagon or walked.

  1 of the patrol leaders for today was Vlattu. She was a Barbaton, they were a race native to the hills and mountains to the east. They were known as the “half giants” though from the histories Elias read, the true giants were far taller than what the name “half giant” would imply in the race’s title. The true giants died out long ago, though no one knows how or why.

  Vlattu was a massive woman, well over 8 feet tall with a well trained body. She often wore simple clothes when on patrol. even then it was often restricted to sleeveless tunics, and short pants. She said heavier clothes, and armor especially, made it hard for her to “feel the wind”. The way she had said it made it feel like it had a hidden meaning that Elias couldn’t understand. Her grasp of gods tongue was accented. She often used metaphors that probably made more sense in her native language.

  She had just returned from her patrol, and was drinking from a water cup while waiting for her remount to be brought up from the rear.

  “Ah, water is most welcome when out on long rides.” She spoke in a straightforward, yet almost noble bearing, her deep voice producing a warmer tone than her stature would imply. She then refilled the water cup from the ReCask, the enchanted cask that could refill itself with water when a certain activation magic sequence was inputted into the enchantment. Vlattu drank half the water, and dumped the rest on her head. Letting the water cool her head of jet black hair tied in a single braid. With drips of water falling from her face onto her exposed blue-gray skin.

  The drunkard stirred in his sleep, and Elias winced away from the man. Leaning out of the wagon he took in fresher air, and even though he was on a wagon. Vlattu on one of her pair of massive chargers was still near his head height.

  “Anything interesting on your patrol lady Vlattu?” Vlattu eyed him, he called her lady Vlattu again. She had repeatedly told him not to do so. However, Vlattu exhibited the air and poise of nobility. You must learn to sense a noble, always treat them with courtesy that way you can get the most out of them! The instinct to treat someone perceived as a noble was ingrained into his being. Vlattu was just that noble in her bearing.

  “My apologies Vlattu,” Elias bowed his head, his free hand over his breast. Vlattu smiled,

  “No need, I am aware you are trying” Her spare horse was brought over, and in a move that still shocked Elias with its grace. Vlattu smoothly transferred mounts without touching the ground. Her first horse was brought back to where the other remounts were stored.

  “As for information, there was little activity. Just some wild creatures, they were no issue.” “wild creatures” meant monsters.

  “what manner of monster did you encounter?”

  “oh, a pack of what they call ghoul-hounds” Elias eyes widened,

  “They were easy to kill, they must have been searching a feeding ground” Elias relaxed slightly. However, they were still to close to civilization, the last village they had passed was only a day or so away. Ghoul-hounds wouldn’t be that close to a center of civilization unless they were either desperate or there was a food source. They were scavengers, not hunters so they usually avoided people.

  “I would not be worried I did not feel any more of them on the winds.” Elias nodded. He would have to accept this. She was a patrol leader, and she hadn’t been wrong yet.

  “Of course, if you say it, it must be true la-… Vlattu” He stopped himself from making that mistake again. She nodded and moved to look at her patrol. It consisted of another group they picked up in the last muster area. It was a magic user of some sort, along with a pair of warrior types. The first being a more typical adventurer, wearing modular armor that was easy to take off and put on. He had a spear, a short sword, and a crossbow. The other wore some animal skins as well as a thick gambeson, with a pair of axes at his belt. One long with a double bladed axe head, while the other was a shorter hand axe. He also had a bag of short javelins strapped to his mount. Their helmets were of the eastern confederation fashion.

  Elias guessed that the group was from the tribal confederation to the east, though they did not seem to know Vlattu. They had simply met on the road to the muster field and arrived together. Seeing as they hailed from the same areas they had a sort of chemistry that allowed them to work well together. So they ended up as a natural patrol. Vlattu nodded to her patrol members as they formed back up with her. She turned to Elias and gave a slight nod before she made her way off with her patrol.

  About an hour later the second patrol arrived to do just the same that the first patrol had. Get remounts, and refresh themselves with food and drink. The second patrol leader was a gray skinned elf named Naesheleen. Though he had told everyone to refer to him as Naesh.

  “Ah, friend Elias, how is you?” Naesh had a peculiar manner of speech. It was more than just an accent, it was as if he was speaking gods tongue the same manner his native speech was spoken. Every race could speak the gods tongue, it was ingrained into the ancestral memory of all sentient life. Or so the histories say. It didn’t stop peoples or nations, from adopting their own languages. Elias himself couldn’t remember when he began to comprehend it, it was simply always something he knew. He knew it as well as he could read and write Kelict the native language of Hartland.

  “I am quite well Naesh, was there any activity in your patrol?” Naesh shook his head, before he took a small sip from his water cup, and started nibbling on some dried meat.

  “there were some surface creature, but none that was of the dangerous variety.” Naesh finished his snack, as well as his water and got onto his remount, though with far less grace than Vlattu, he still managed it well.

  “Ok, Vlattu ran into some ghoul-hounds on her patrol so be careful this afternoon.” Naesh nodded and smiled, Unlike Erika his smile was a simple warm smile. It was warming in its purity. Where Erika’s smile was a lethal weapon that could entrap those who saw it. Naesh’s smile was a simple expression of joy, it had a power of its own. Naesh pure white teeth contrasted with his dark gray skin, and odd bright green hair. When asked about his hair he simply said,

  “I don’t know my friends, my hair simply became this way when I found myself in surface country.”

  Add his dull pink eyes to the dark skin and green hair. You get a peculiar sight indeed.

  “I will be of the most caution friend Elias.” Naesh also had a habit of calling everyone by “friend” even the odd pilgrim he learned the name of was referred to as “friend Edwin, or friend Carla”. Naesh had said

  “Back in deep country, one is friend if they give you their name. I have made many of the surface friend!” Naesh’s friendliness bordered on unnerving at times. Regardless of his quirks, Elias found himself quite fond of him. In fact Elias was starting to consider Naesh a friend. Though he was unsure if it was simply because Neash kept referring to him as “friend Elias”.

  “of course Naesh” Elias looked to Naesh’s patrol. It had 5 members including Naesh. The most notable was a pair of demi-beasts. The first was a man who was of the hound clan. Elias had little knowledge of demi-beasts. Until the war displaced most of their tribes away from the mountains to the south they had lived in general isolation. Elias’s mentor told stories of how they were used as scouts in the war. They were said to have heightened senses equal to a first tier enhancement magic.

  The demi-hound was tall and sturdy of build. He also had thick hair not quite approaching fur covering most of his exposed body parts. His head was also slightly elongated, with the region where his nose was almost extending into a snout. He was accompanied by a woman of the same clan, though her hound like features were less pronounced. Still bestial in form, just more subdued. From what Elias could gather from conversing with the pair, the level of ability one possessed coincided with the amount of the clan blood in one’s veins. Put short, the more bestial, the stronger the power of the beast they could harness.

  The two demi-hounds were surprisingly polite, even friendly at times. Their senses, and temperament making an excellent match for Naesh. They carried horse bows, as well as daggers. With some clothing and riding leathers. They felt armor was uncomfortable and got in the way of their scouting.

  The remaining members of Naesh’s patrol were a pair of younger adventurers, freshly promoted to the rank of C-3. They were a couple, a young man, and young woman. They didn’t share much about themselves, and no one pried. An adventure’s personal life was their own, one was expected to share details that may be relevant to a job. However, the culture of the guild expected adventurers to respect the privacy of each other. The couple wore similar attire, standard adventuring gear. Some hardened leather armor with quick release straps, over well fitted shirts and pants.

  They also had well divided saddle bags with their various other tools of the trade. Their armaments consisted of some horse bows, as well as short swords. The girl had a pair of daggers strapped to her chest, and the boy kept a lance strapped to his mount. Elias evaluated their bearing, and he felt they certainly had potential to go far. According to Naesh, the two were cautious and listened to advice readily. Skills that many, even seasoned adventurers, didn’t have. When he looked at them they both nodded politely.

  Naesh finished checking his mount with a smile and a nod he lead his patrol off to their next patrol area.

  “Until I see you next friend Elias!”

  ---

  Later that evening

  When the caravan stopped to make the camp for the night, Elias ran into the 4th and final member of the B-2 leadership.

  “My lady Trayalla” Elias bowed his head, and Trayalla gave an ever so slight nod in return. At least with her, Elias’s habits of finding “nobility” were correct. The woman was an elf, not just any elf, but a Domain Templa. Elves of the eternal domain were rare enough to see outside of the Fomagus forest. A templa, was even rarer to see let alone meet. She was short only coming up to Elias’s chest, her long silver white hair cascading over her shoulders.

  Her hair combined with her snow white skin accentuated her deep lavender eyes. With the sharpness of her other facial features and characteristic long ears adding to her mosaic like beauty.

  “Good evening ser knight” Trayalla’s eyes looked him over, though they seemed to look nearly everything over. Analyzing and taking in the detail of everything they saw. She wore white robes with intricate patterns of black with silver accents. To Elias’s trained and attuned senses he could tell that they were enchanted. Unlike the armor and other equipment Elias wore, these robes probably could protect against most anything.

  It isn’t that Elias couldn’t obtain enchanted armor. He just hated the idea of trying to maintain it. One of the many tasks of house Karde was to maintain the enchanted armors of the full knights. While enchanted armor was amazing at protecting you. The maintenance of such armor was both time consuming and difficult. You had to ensure the material kept its magical conductivity, while also ensuring the enchantment hadn’t degraded.

  It was a general rule for enchantments that if you enchanted an already “completed” item that the enchantment would eventually degrade. So while it was cheaper to enchant mass produced armor, that armor wouldn’t last too long. Not only would the enchantment degrade, but the materials would also degrade as a side effect of the magic degradation.

  Compared to equipment that was forged with enchanting in mind. Those who create items like these are known as Mage-Smiths. Items forged by Mage-Smiths have their enchantments weaved into their very being. Which creates a long lasting enchantment, as well as reinforcing the material with the inherent qualities of the magic.

  Looking at the robes lady Trayalla had, Elias was thinking they were probably made by a Mage-Smith. He couldn’t notice any signs of magic degradation so it was his best guess. This information lead to Elias wondering what she was doing as an adventurer.

  “was there any activity at the rear during today’s travel?” Elias was preparing his sleeping area, instead of a tent he planned on sleeping on a small platform he had constructed.

  “besides 2 of the young men assigned to me confessing their “unyielding” love for me? Nothing much happened.” She said this in a flat yet cool tone. Elias wasn’t entirely sure if it was some sort of joke, or if she was simple stating facts. He again cursed his troubles with subtext.

  “Would you like me to take them? I wouldn’t want there to be any problems with leadership.” Trayalla only shook her head.

  “No, it will not be a problem Ser knight. I take it nothing of interest happened in your section.” Her face still had that stillness that permeated her features. It was as if her face, no her entire body was trying to remain as still as possible only for that stillness to be shattered by the necessity of movement.

  “Aside from the drunkard finding new ways to insult my senses? No nothing much today” Elias swore he could see a hint of change to Trayalla’s stone like expression.

  “If he offends you so much, why do you remain in his proximity?” Elias paused the knot he was tying. It was an obvious question, he didn’t have to ride in that particular cart when resting his mount.

  “I’m not sure myself my lady.” Trayalla stood there for a moment then with a slight nod of her head departed Elias’s company. Elias finished creating his platform, after he organized his belongings. He was going to make ready to eat when he noticed Erika. She had a small sack and was moving away from the camp. Where is she off to? Against his better judgment Elias was already making to follow.

  The kingdom of Hartland, was a fairly woody country. The camp the Caravan had chosen was near a few copses of trees. Providing cover for the fires and wood for said fires. Erika was making her way towards one of these. Elias was following, he had made sure he didn’t have any loose articles that would make noise. The wagons had been organized to provide some protection from the elements while also being easy to pack quickly. This in turn served as great cover as Elias watched and followed Erika.

  Elias himself wasn’t particularly sure why he desired to follow her. It was mostly just a feeling he had, always trust those feelings of yours, your gut is usually smarter than you!. The voice of his mentor was again speaking to him. Elias had learned to hunt while training with house Karde. This had given him some skill in being undetected, stalking prey animals took patience and deliberate effort. These skills had often served him on many requests, and now they were helping him stalk a pretty girl.

  What am I doing, she could just be relieving herself, and here I am following her...Elias continued regardless of his thoughts. For some reason he felt compelled to follow Erika. She finally made her way to the copse, not even stopping to look around. If she was doing something suspicious wouldn’t she be worried about being followed? Elias’s heart was starting to race, what he was doing felt both wrong and correct. With his mind telling him that he shouldn’t be doing this, while his gut was saying to follow.

  Remember, once you decide to do something, commit! Listening to the voice of his mentor, and of his gut Elias followed. Inside the copse there was a small clearing, what Elias saw caused his heart to race further. In the middle of the clearing there was a pair of children. They were currently sparring, wooden wasters slicing through the air. The one currently on the attack was a boy, he was thin with simple dark clothes. His jet black hair was short, and contrasted with his pale skin.

  He was currently attempting to attack the second child. A girl who was a full head taller than him, she shared the boy’s jet black hair. Hers was longer, tied behind her head in a short pony tail. Her skin while still pale, showed signs of exposure to the sun. The boy was making his attacks without a word. Elias watched the sword play. For children of their age they showed good training. The boy while still using a child’s body was making good efforts, his blade’s alignment was good.

  His tactics were basic, but he wasn’t just swinging the sword around. However, what caught the eye of Elias was the girl. While she wasn’t attacking, Elias was shocked at the effectiveness of her defense. Even against such basic attacks she was moving her own sword as little as possible. Carefully parrying the attacks of the boy, and each of the parries would be perfect set ups for counter attacks. The girl was clearly superior to the boy.

  Looking closer, Elias wondered if the girl was a little older. From the distance he currently was he couldn’t tell more. Erika’s arrival was noticed just as the girl deflected another attack from the boy. The children looked to Erika, Elias noticed that there was no expressions on their faces. Just neutral looks of recognition. Unlike Trayalla who had a look that was a beautiful mosaic, these children’s expressions were “empty”. A cold feeling touched Elias’s spine.

  Erika patted the children’s heads and started retrieving food from the sack she brought. The children bowed and moved to a tree. The boy rummaged in a bag near the tree and pulled out a large heavy set book. The girl sat next to him and they ate. Erika moved to another tree, and Elias saw him. The drunkard was sitting at the base of the tree, his sword on his shoulder. The drunkard looked to be asleep, the same way he always was.

  Erika crouched next to the drunkard, and the drunkard’s head tilted up. They looked to be talking, however, Elias nearly jumped when the drunkard’s head turned towards himself. The drunkard was staring at his location. Elias quickly moved away, almost sprinting by the time he left the copse. This is why the etiquette exists! Quickly making his way back to his platform. Elias made an effort to calm himself. Sleep would be hard to come by tonight.