478 - 484
Severely Injured
"Everyone, lord or servant, sinner or saint, bleeds if poked hard enough." ~ Gospel of St. Harken the Bloodletter. 2:1
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Magrut backed down far too quickly. Before the rest could react, his figure vanished. He disappeared from the tent, leaving behind a tear in one of its walls. Lorist stared at the hole, his jaw on the floor. He didn't think a swordsaint would run away without even putting up a fight. He wanted to fight Magrut and enjoy himself. He had no opponents that could challenge him. His skills had stagnated as a result. He'd finally found an opponent against whom to train his domain, how could he just leave? It was like downloading an erotic film between a youth and a widow, only to realize it's a lolicon after getting into the position.
Nonsense. You think you can run?!
Lorist gave chase with a grunt. He was determined to keep the all-bark-no-bite swordsaint behind if it was the last thing he did. The tent was large, and the place Magrut escaped from was about ten meters away from Lorist, and it was right at the border of Lorist's Slaughter Domain. But when Lorist rushed over and was no more than three meters from the hole in the tent, he felt a sudden humongous pressure attacking him from the outside.
"No good..." Lorist's legs sank into the ground. His body had become heavy as a mountain as his legs fixed him to the ground as he got into a defensive stance.
The walls of the tent were slowly torn apart before Lorist's very own eyes, with its pieces flying all over the place before settling on the ground. That was the same with both the cloth of the tent and the stainless steel frame it was clad over; they were all turned into fine airborne debris. The tent's walls had already completely disappeared and Lorist found that the windstorm swordsaint was no more than six meters away from him.
A loud boom rang out from the depths of Lorist's mind. He coldly humphed as he took two steps back. The swordsaint before him shuddered, but he didn't retreat.
That was the result of two domains clashing. Lorist's domain was blood-red, a color that couldn't be seen but only felt from experiencing the endlessly cruel bloodlust the bloodbath brought. Within the bloodbath, all that was living was a sacrificial offering. The windstorm swordsaint's domain on the other hand was greyish-black and it manifested in the form of the roar of a wild gust. The sharp sounds of the winds and the cold and desolate land made one feel like one was hanging by a cliff with one hand holding onto it while experiencing the assault of strong winds, going to fall at any moment.
The windstorm swordsaint had not tried to run, but instead escaped Lorist's domain and activated his own to deal with it. Darn it! Lorist cursed himself for not having taken the perfect chance and letting go of the windstorm swordsaint just like that. Within Slaughter Domain, Lorist was a god. However, he allowed the swordsaint to escape without being able to react. Otherwise, the windstorm swordsaint would've been eliminated without recourse.
The tent was already shaking flimsily, having been torn apart. In terms of range, the windstorm swordsaint's domain seemed to be double of Lorist's own. The ones embroiled within that domain looked as if they were being assailed by a tornado, rising and falling within the tent. Things flew around and spun before they were torn to small pieces.
The people within tried to back off from the range of those two domains. As they backed up against the throne, some drew their swords and leaped out of the tent like the windstorm swordsaint did. However, Auguslo and the nobles still wore expressions of disbelief that they had made it out of the tent alive. Viscount Krilos had also completely lost his calm and elegant smile, having it replaced by a look of terror.
While the windstorm swordsaint's domain felt far wider than Lorist's, it didn't carry the dense feeling Slaughter Domain did. It was like a large plate that had a bowl on top of it. The bowl and plate was clashing against each other. The spectating nobles found it really funny how Lorist and the windstorm swordsaint were fighting each other at the intersection point of their domains. The two of them were attacking and defending with the slowest of speeds.
Lorist had already sweat all over. What he never imagined was that the clash of the two domains exerted a mountainous pressure on his body. Not only did his whole body feel that stress, even the longsword in his hand felt heavy like a mountain to the point that he almost couldn't lift it up. The blood-red tornado formed a gigantic physical blade that pierced slowly from his side as Lorist slowly took a step forward and thrust his sword towards the swordsaint at a snail's pace.
The windstorm swordsaint was faring worse than Lorist. Even though he had the experience of fighting other swordsaints, which Lorist lacked, he didn't think Lorist's domain would give him the feeling of being submerged in a quagmire. It was far too odd, as if he had fallen into a pot of rice. His Windstorm Domain focused on swiftness and agility. But now that it had clashed against Slaughter Domain, he was no longer able to use it to its full potential. His limbs felt like they were moving through thick mud. The pressure was huge and his movements couldn't be linked together, so he had no choice but to block Lorist's strike incredibly slowly, being able to do nothing about it.
Without their domains, Lorist and Magrut's fight would be swift as lightning to the point that the naked eye wouldn't be able to make out what was going on. But the clash of the domains brought with it the effect akin to gravity being multiplied a number of times. The two of them engaged in combat in laughably slow movements. One slow stab was parried aside really slowly before it would be followed by a crawling counter strike.
Lorist was already starting to get anxious. He could only use Slaughter Domain for 15 minutes, but he had already been slow-dancing with the windstorm swordsaint for more than ten without either of them being able to gain an edge over the other. Should that continue, once his domain ran out while Magrut's was still active, it would no doubt end horribly for him.
Lorist had to find a way to heavily wound the windstorm swordsaint. He strived to approach the swordsaint, but the cunning old man retreated every time Lorist made such an attempt. The two of them were separated by a distance the length of a sword. Perhaps the experienced windstorm swordsaint already saw through the properties of Lorist's domain and knew that it wouldn't be able to last long, so he started to draw it out until the domain crumbles.
There's no other choice. A look of absolute determination flashed through his eyes as his sword was parried away. The windstorm swordsaint followed it up with a thrust, and Lorist made no attempt to avoid it. The cold tip of the sword pierced into his body and came out of his back ever so slowly, only serving to exacerbate the pain Lorist was feeling. But he grit his teeth and pressed on, arcing the parried longsword in his right hand back down diagonally...
Magrut was greatly shocked. He wouldn't dare dream that Lorist would fight so suicidally. His longsword was already pierced in Lorist's chest and there wasn't enough time for him to draw it out or slash horizontally to bring it out from Lorist's body. The arcing longsword in Lorist's right hand could take the windstorm swordsaint's head in the next moment.
The windstorm swordsaint didn't share Lorist's deathwish. He currently had two choices. He could retreat backwards, but he had to give up on the sword pierced in Lorist's chest. He might even be slashed on the chest by Lorist. The second was to get even closer to Lorist to avoid the edge of the sword. Even though he would get even closer, that would render Lorist's slash not as damaging. At the same time, he would have control over Lorist's life because he didn't have to abandon his sword. After avoiding that strike, he could tear Lorist into two halves by slashing horizontally with the sword he had stuck within Lorist's body.
Naturally, the windstorm swordsaint chose the second option. The way he saw it, Lorist was courting death. He sidestepped slightly and stuck close to Lorist from his flank. As long as the slash caught air, he could ram Lorist with his left shoulder and swing his longsword with his right and it would be done. Little did he expect, Lorist took one step to the side at that very moment. The two of them had switched places. Lorist's left hand struck the windstorm swordsaint's chest at that moment, using the full extent of his internal energy.
To the spectators, Lorist was already done with. Not only did the windstorm swordsaint's longsword find its way through Lorist's torso, the old man himself switched places at close range to evade Lorist's fatal diagonal slash. The slow palm strike by Lorist looked like a futile move by him to push Magrut away.
It was over. Auguslo and the other nobles donned a renewed look of despair. The windstorm swordsaint had still defeated Lorist in the end; the situation didn't change one bit.
...
A soft rustling sound rang out, and the face of the old swordsaint who stuck close to Lorist turned red all of a sudden, before he opened his mouth and sprayed a mouthful of blood all over Lorist's face. Soon after, the other side of the spot Lorist struck bulged huge before the swordsaint was sent flying through the air. He tumbled down on the platform before the throne like a struggling old dog near its death, sputtering blood out incessantly.
The domain vanished all of a sudden; both the Windstorm Domain of the blood-vomiting swordsaint laying on the gold-laced carpet and the Slaughter Domain of Lorist, who was struggling to stand with a sword pierced through him, were without a trace. The chaotic area around the ruined tent finally calmed down.
None expected Lorist to turn the tables around so suddenly just as he was about to lose, neither did they know how Lorist managed to score a pyrrhic victory against the viscount. However, the fact that the windstorm swordsaint was no different than an old dying stray was undeniable. Auguslo and the kingdom nobles shifted their gazes to Master Magrut as their faces shifted from despair to crazed fervor. They had already gripped their swords unconsciously. At that moment, the gaze they shot the windstorm swordsaint was one they would shoot a helpless beauty, especially one that was stark naked.
Viscount Krilos gulped audibly as he turned back to look at Auguslo with a forced smile. Auguslo still seemed excited and agonized at the same time; a paradoxical combination which fused into something ever so sinister. Krilos felt himself soften as if he wanted to sit down from holding his urine in for far too long.
"Y-y-y--your Majesty, we... we are envoys... Even if our negotiations fall apart, you should le-let us go... Only then can y-you uphold the reputation of the royal f-f-f-family..." stammered Krilos.
"Hehe, Lord Krilos, don't worry. We will definitely send you back. As for the windstorm swordsaint and your guards, hehehe..." Auguslo said as he waved his hand with a smile, "Kill them!"
Krilos fell seated to the ground and made a huge wet mess beneath him. He had been relying on the windstorm swordsaint, yet he didn't expect that the old man had turned into a helpless fish on shore. He had vomited out large volumes of blood and people knew that it was the end of him. One could only imagine how terrifyingly the grudge-holding Auguslo would treat the envoys of the Union...
The sounds of swords drawing filled the air. If the windstorm swordsaint hadn't been injured, those nobles and blademasters would act like fearful turtles, helpless sheep waiting to be slaughtered. But now that the windstorm swordsaint and Lorist severely injured each other, as was obvious to the eyes of all present, they were all eager to finish the deed. Taking the kill on a swordsaint would no doubt let them pass their proud names down for centuries to come. Every one of them began to rush in for the kill.
The first one to get on the platform was Auguslo's blademaster bodyguard, Manst. As a rank 2 blademaster, he was really careful. Even though he was the first one who made it up there, he pierced his sword into the left arm of the windstorm swordsaint in an attempt to test whether the latter still had any arm strength left. The swordsaint made a pained cry as Manst's sword bore a hole through his hand, causing fresh blood to flow out. Surprised, Blademaster Manst stepped back twice, only to find that the swordsaint didn't retaliate. Instead, he sat up and no longer laid on the ground, having stopped puking out blood.
The second one to get up there was Reidy. However, he didn't care about the windstorm swordsaint one bit and instead rushed to Lorist, his master and teacher, with concern.
The third was the blademaster employed by Duke Fisablen, Blademaster Forund. He was an honorary viscount of the former Forund duchy and he had participated in the banquet as the duke's personal bodyguard along with the other nobles. Seeing the windstorm swordsaint heavily wounded by Lorist, he also couldn't resist his ambition's temptations. He believed that after he killed the windstorm swordsaint, not only would his name be spread far and wide, Auguslo might also surprise him by making him a proper landed noble of the kingdom.
As he followed closely behind Reidy to get to the platform, he was worried that Reidy would get the kill before he could. The moment he saw Reidy rush for Lorist, he couldn't be happier and he made his way across Blademaster Manst and sent his sword cutting towards the throat of the windstorm swordsaint, desperately wanting to score that kill.
Blademaster Manst cried out in terror, "Look out!"
"However, Rimad was blocking in front of him, so all he could do was sidestep and prepare himself to receive the blow. Rimad himself had heard Manst's warning, but he didn't take it seriously. He had wanted to block Manst intentionally so that his kill wouldn't be stolen. Look out? For what? It's not like the windstorm swordsaint is holding a sword. His chest bone is obviously shattered by Lorist and he's nothing but livestock waiting to be slaughtered. What's there to look out for? Aren't you jealous that I'm going to steal your achievement? Haha! Who asked you to probe so carefully? Couldn't you just have killed him in one strike?
Rimad's sword continued coursing for the throat of the windstorm swordsaint. The moment before it collided, he felt his vision darken as the winds blew ferociously once more, causing the sands and stones in the area to tussle around. Blademaster Rimad cried out in a panic, "Domain!"
The windstorm swordsaint's body had already disappeared from his sight, and that was followed by a searing pain at his hand that caused his longsword to be knocked flying. Rimad really wanted to beg for his life, but he could no longer speak at that moment. The swordsaint had already used the longsword he took from Rimad and pierced it through his spine from the back of his neck. Rimad seemed as if he was struck by lightning and he only struggled for a bit before he fell to the ground lifeless.
Blademaster Manst clutched his right wrist as he hurriedly retreated. The moment the windstorm swordsaint activated his domain and started the killing, he had cut off the blademaster's right hand. Had it not been for his alertness, he might've lost his life just then. All the other nobles who haven't rushed up the platform hurriedly turned back to escape.
The figure on the platform flashed a couple of times before Windstorm Domain vanished once more, causing the windstorm swordsaint's standing form to be revealed with the corpse of Blademaster Rimad at his feet. Even though Magrut was still coughing out blood from time to time, and the injury on his left hand bled on without stopping, the nobles of the kingdom were like scattered birds who flew all over the place, not a single one daring to get close.
"Counter him with the longbowmen!" shouted Duke Fisablen from afar when he was certain that the windstorm swordsaint wouldn't harm him from that distance.
"Hmph!" cried the old man with rage. Duke Fisablen's suggestion had hit his weak point. Now that he was heavily injured, he could only barely hold on. If the nobles of the kingdom all charged at him, he'd only be able to kill three to four of them before being torn apart himself. He turned back and saw the silent Lorist who had a sword poking through him before tapping his longsword on the ground and leaping up in the air and landing outside the tent, spitting out another mouthful of blood. After that, he tapped the ground with his longsword once more and disappeared into the distant sky.
"Bluuargh!" The blood Lorist had been holding back so long had still been spat out. He crumbled to the ground like a soft noodle as he blacked out while amidst Reidy's panicked cries. Right before he fainted, he heard Auguslo call out angrily, "Give chase! We must definitely hunt down and kill that swordsaint!"
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Awakening
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On the 11th day of the 7th month, Year 1787, King of Andinaq Auguslo I gathered his million-man army to reclaim the provinces of Anderwoff, Bodolger, Kanbona and Northwest (the northwestern area). As their troops approached the border of the Union, they demanded the Union to return the territory formerly belonging to the Lormo duchy, Armenia and Malivia, to Andinaq so that the empire could once more be reunited and refounded.
After the 100 thousand reinforcements sent by the Union to Kanbona was destroyed by the Norton forces of Andinaq, the Union successfully hurried the signing of the peace treaty with the midsouthern nations and recalled the six armies of the big six guilds from the midsouthern nations. They also ran a recruitment drive for a garrison force and also requested their ally, Jigda, to send reinforcements. They managed to gather an army of approximately 500 thousand to stand off against the Andinaq army at the border.
On the 13th day of the 8th month, the Union sent an envoy to Whitelion's camp in the name of discussing a peace treaty between the Union and Auguslo I. Auguslo I was elated by the news and set up a 5-kilometer-long path of peace to express his sincerity during the welcome of the envoy.
However, the king who had his mind completely on the peace talks didn't think that the Union only pretended to send a team of envoys over. Instead, they also secretly included the windstorm swordsaint among the ranks in an attempt to hustle the king and the kingdom's nobles to travel to Morante and sign a humiliating agreement of surrender.
During the negotiation process, the Union suddenly had their forces travel in five different routes to attack Andinaq's army camp. Counting on the fact that Auguslo I and the kingdom's elite were being held up by the windstorm swordsaint, they planned to take advantage of the fact that the army was without any leader to cripple it and remove the threat it posed to the Union.
If things went according to plan, then Andinaq would never pose any threat at all to the Union in the coming century. The kingdom's economy might even fall into the Union's hands. But what nobody expected to happen was that during the most crucial moment, Duke of The Northlands Norton Lorist stood up against the windstorm swordsaint and those two fought till the both of them were heavily wounded. The windstorm swordsaint made a haggard escape with heavy injuries and was said to have needed more than three years to completely recovered. That led to the failure of the Union's plan to kidnap Auguslo I and the nobles.
Having suffered the five-pronged attack from the Union's army, the Andinaq army experienced great casualties in their unprepared state and retreated immediately. However, House Norton's Firmrock remained to secure their camp and managed to use the territory to their advantage and dealt a heavy blow to the Union's forces. The Union split their forces into three to besiege Firmrock's stronghold for a whole month only to return with failure, causing Firmrock's reputation to soar right after.
As Firmrock had managed to hold back a large portion of the Union's forces, Auguslo I had the necessary time to regroup his troops. After a month, Auguslo I returned with more than 600 thousand troops. Being angered by the union, Auguslo I made a solemn oath that he would use the Union's blood to wash away the humiliation he and the kingdom received from them. The Union's forces stood up to the challenge and sent 400 thousand of their own forces to wage battle in Armenia and Malivia. Both sides had their fair share of victories and losses and were in fierce competition.
On the 23rd day of the 10th month, House Norton's Tigersoar and Jaeger launched their assault and appeared on the battlefield all of a sudden. Their path was unabated and they crushed every obstacle in their way. The Union suffered consecutive losses and lost over 100 thousand troops, being helpless before the Norton assault, having no choice but to retreat from Armenia and Malivia back to the Falik Plains.
As the Union's forces were occupied by the Norton forces during their retreat, they neglected Auguslo I, who was watching and waiting for an opportunity. In the end, Auguslo I used mobility of cavalry troops from the Frontier legion of House Fisablen and their reserve legion as well as the Pegasus legion to mount a night attack on the Union's forces during their retreat. The attacked was launched on their vanguard and rearguard as well as their flanks, causing the whole army to be drowned up in slaughter. The Union's forces suffered yet another gross loss of 240 thousand troops.
After that battle, Auguslo I ordered for the thousand captive nobles to all be killed before leading his troops all the way to the Falik Plains, ushering in two years of bloody sieges and battles there. The Union on the other hand had been severely wounded by that exchange and had started to destabilize internally. Though they were considered the largest superpower on Grindia, their army had been beaten back to their original form by the forces of Grindia. The big six guilds, having been greatly wounded, could only barely hold their defense line at the Falik Plains.
In the history of Grindia, as the Union had broken the sacred, unspoken noble tradition of not deploying troops during the negotiation of a peace treaty, the war starting all the way from Auguslo I's gathering of a million-man army at the Union's border to the night cavalry attack on the retreating Union soldiers was known as the War on the Traitorous Union. Some war scholars refer to it as the Betrayal of Peace.
During that war that fundamentally altered the political landscape of the continent, the richest and most popular legends were about Andinaq's Duke of The Northlands, Norton Lorist. Before the age of 40, he had challenged Windstorm Swordsaint Magrut, someone who had already taken the continent by storm before. Before 15 minutes elapsed during the fierce battle, he managed to greatly wound the swordsaint. Even though he had been greatly injured himself, his name still spread all over the continent overnight. That was the birth of a new swordsaint in the past five decades, one that was younger than 40 no less, and that incident was one of the most contented and doubted topics of all.
In the millennia-old records on Grindia concerning swordsaints, the youngest to ever reach that realm was 68. That person was one of the most legendary figures in the past millennium: Master Cloudsaint Cameron who lived three centuries back. However, Duke of The Northlands Norton Lorist actually broke that record, and that was where the point of contention was at. The duke was younger than 40 and it was said that he didn't train in the hereditary battleforce technique of his household, but instead, a mysterious technique of the eastern martial monks that lived during the era of the magical civilization.
Regardless of the fact that the duke didn't train in traditional battleforce but rather a lost, ancient martial monk technique, he had still managed to heavily wound the windstorm swordsaint. Even though the duke himself suffered similar levels of injury, being able to face off against the windstorm swordsaint gave Andinaq more confidence in their continued fight against the Union. The Kingdom of Andinaq now had a swordsaint they could call their own. It was a shame that the windstorm swordsaint had entered seclusion to recover from his sever injuries after returning to Morante and nobody was able to extract a testimony from him concerning the duke.
According to a reveal by the windstorm swordsaint's first disciple, Count Bolyde, the windstorm swordsaint did confirm that the Duke of The Northlands was a swordsaint. His domain was an incredibly weird one too that was filled with bloody gore and killing intent, like a domain of blood. It could be seen that the duke must be a crook with his hands stained with the blood of others. But Count Bolyde later added that the Duke of The Northlands also suffered a strike from the windstorm swordsaint and was injured far worse and would require an even longer time to recover. The windstorm swordsaint said that he would challenge the Duke of The Northlands once more when he recovers to wipe that humiliation off his name once and for all.
After getting heavily injured in the fight against the windstorm swordsaint, Duke of The Northlands Norton Lorist also vanished without a trace and had probably gone to recover from his wounds. During the War on the Traitorous Union, House Norton's performance was stellar beyond comparison. FIrmrock legion defended their army camps steadfastly while Tigersoar cruised forward, busting through one obstacle after another. Jaeger could scatter and gather freely as the wind and managed to find its way through any defense. It could be said that it was because of the three Norton legions that secured the kingdom's edge over the Union.
After that war, it was said that the Union formed a unit with 15 blademasters to infiltrate The Northlands to assassinate the wounded Duke of The Northlands. It was recorded in the Norton chronicles that the Norton forces frequently encountered hostile blademasters during that period. However, it was a point of suspicion that the high officials and household knights as well as the family members of the Duke of The Northlands weren't targeted by the assassins as well. However, that soon proved to be nothing but a rumor. After the Duke of The Northlands lost contact with his household, the internal situation of the household started to destabilize and that culminated into an internal rebellion.
The internal rebellion within the Norton domain caused the three Norton legions to return to The Northlands from the frontlines. Having lost the support of the three Norton legions, the Andinaq forces didn't have any momentum to carve their way forward, making them unable to take over the last three remaining stronghold cities and Morante the Union had on Falik Plains. That caused the war situation there to enter its bloodiest state. The Andinaq kingdom and the Union didn't think that in the following year and a half, both sides would lost more than 30 thousand elite soldiers on the bloodstained plains. That was a war without victor.
Extract from Rise of the Ragebear Dynasty -- Book 1: Fall of the Empire, authored by continental war historian and expert, imperial scholar, and professor of Dawn Academy, Sir Anderwlin Mismord, published throughout Year 2127 to Year 2131 of the Grindian calendar.
"Where... am I?" Lorist finally awakened and said a full, clear sentence. The house he was in was completely dark and the sound of falling rain could be heard from the outside.
Ever since he fainted from his heavy injuries following his battle with the windstorm swordsaint, Lorist felt as if he dreamed for a really long time. He could only barely remember what the dream was about as well as the bitter and viscous medicines he had to drink, the pain he suffered all over his body, and the vague feeling on having been on a stretcher or a carriage. His body hurt the whole time like he was being baked by an intense heat. From time to time, he would wake up and see the blue sky. He also vaguely recalled hearing the sound of fighting and agonized cries.
"Your Grace, you're finally awake?" said a familiar voice beside him. It sounds like Reidy...
"Is it Reidy? Where is this? Why don't you have a candle lit?" asked he doubtfully.
"Your Grace, we're at Kobo. We can't light any candles for your safety," said Reidy with difficulty after a period of hesitation.
Kobo? Can't light any candles for my safety? Lorist took a few breaths and felt that his chest was still pulsing with pain. But the sword he remembered sticking out of it was no longer there. He soon happened upon the memory of his fight with his swordsaint.
"Tell me what time is it and what kind of situation we're in." As his eyes gradually got accustomed to the darkness, he could more or less make out the linen sacks all around him. He was probably within some food storehouse.
"Your Grace, you've been unconscious for nearly six months and was only sustained by medicinal concoctions. His Majesty had wanted to let you recover at the imperial capital, but the Union sent ten blademasters to the royal palace in an attempt to assassinate you. But you weren't within the palace like they thought. Blademaster Manst, who was recovering there, and another blademaster called Joseph, died from battle there. The imperial capital was thrown into chaos, and Blademaster Shuss and I killed three of the Union blademasters who were tracking you and used that chaos to bring you away from the imperial capital. We then left for Vanades with the guards.
"We had thought that since Knight Terman was stationed at Vanades with his brigade, he could help us protect you. But we soon discovered that the knight brigade had been reassigned to Wild Husbandry by the house. That was when the Union blademasters got on our tail again. To lead them away, Shuss and Jinolio brought the guard regiment with them to The Northlands, while I secretly brought you to Kobo in a food cart. It is the rainy season of the new year right now and we've been staying here for a month and a half."
Reidy's explanation contained quite a lot of huge developments that Lorist had to make a bit of effort to process and make sense of them.
"Did His Majesty send anyone to pursue the windstorm swordsaint after I fainted?" asked Lorist.
"He did, but the Union forces arrived just when they were about to catch him. A few divisions from Whitelion had already crumbled and everyone was busy running for their lives back then. Jinolio and I brought you and the guards to retreat. After that, His Majesty said that you had to be saved no matter what and let and had the injured Blademaster Manst bring us back to the imperial capital so that a herbalist could be found to treat you. We wanted to let you stay in the palace, but the poisonous wench of House Fisablen didn't let you live in 'for the sake of avoiding gossip and rumors'. So, we had to settle you down within a count's mansion near the palace. We didn't think that we'd manage to avoid the assassination attempt that way," said Reidy with relief.
"His Majesty didn't return to the capital?"
"No. The million-man army crumbled this time around and only Firmrock held firm within camp. That managed to buy His Majesty some time to regroup his soldiers. A month later, he led his troops on an assault. He had stayed at the frontlines the whole time without returning to the imperial capital. After that, Sir Potterfang sent Blademaster Shuss to the capital to protect you He brought news that His Majesty had shaved himself in front of the army and made an oath to fight the Union to the bloody end to wash away his humiliation."
Alright. Looks like Auguslo will be busy for a time. Who knows how long this battle will last?
"You just said that Knight Terman was moved from Vanades to Wild Husbandry. Why? What about Jaeger? Weren't they within Wild Husbandry? Did something happen?"
"This... This is because His Majesty is going to lead his troops to attack the Union, so the knight brigade had nothing better to do at Vanades. General Josk was also said to explode with anger when he heard that Your Grace was injured and wouldn't follow his orders. All he cared about was bringing aeger and Sir Loze along with Tigersoar to fight the Union at the frontlines to avenge you. Wild Husbandry was left empty, so the house had no choice to call for Sir Terman and his knights to defend it," replied Reidy with a stammer.
"They're all messing around!" snorted Lorist. However, he could do nothing about it now that he was hiding within a food storehouse. Josk had always been rather close with him, so it was no surprise that he had to act after hearing about what happened. It wasn't something Charade could stop. Fiercetiger Loze on the other hand was arrogant and proud and heeded only Lorist's orders. He wouldn't even bother with Charade at all. If he weren't hiding away in this corner, he'd order those two to return obediently to pay for their mistakes.
"Does anyone else know that I'm here?" asked Lorist.
"Your Grace, only three people know. There are around three thousand local defense brigade soldiers here in Kobo. Apart from me, only the major of the brigade and his attendant know. The major called Selikoff and used to be part of our guard brigade. His attendant is his own cousin who is also in charge of bringing us food. However, when the rainy season passes and the harvesting of winter wheat in Delamock begins, there will be many food carriages traveling here. There will no doubt be more people by then and if anyone realizes that Your Grace is here, we might attract the attention of assassins."
"Let's find another place. There's no way we can return to The Northlands right now as some people will be looking out for us there. Let's disguise ourselves as the food-transporting farmers come the 4th month and head to the Dina barony," said Lorist after some consideration.
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On the Run
"The best place to hide is in plain sight." ~ Unknown
Note: We found this on Chinese social media and thought you guys might want to know.
Title: I'm Smoke is a Path's wife and I only saw this subforum today (dated Apr 11th 2018)
Thank you all for your support. I'm sure you know why the book was taken down last year. My husband already had a few chapters prepared and saved up, but those were gone too and he was really frustrated. He's someone who only concentrates on writing and doesn't read threads like these or has his own chat-groups. He also doesn't read WeChat. He's just that kind of boring person.
In some sense, I suppose it's a good thing since he isn't nearly as stressed anymore and can find the time to take a good rest. He still has to take more than ten prescriptions daily, after all. After some rest, I heard he started working on his new book. But, since I'm not really a fan of Xuanhuan (fantasy) as I can't really remember these foreign names well, I've never read what he writes.
Concerning the ending of Tales of the Reincarnated Lord, he had signed a contract so we don't know whether posting the continuation somewhere else will involve copyright issues. I encourage those of you that know something about that topic to tell me more about it.
Delamock's skies were bright and cloudless on the 23rd day of the 4th month, Year 1788.
A strong horse pulled a four-wheeled cart across a narrow stretch of clay-and-lime road. Such 'flatboard' carts were rather commonplace in the province, mostly used to transport food and miscellaneous stuff. Each could move 1500 kilograms and was filled with linen sacks, making it look like small migrating mountains.
This particular cart, however, was mostly empty. It had only two people and a few linen sacks. A young man sat in the coachman's seat holding a long horsewhip, bobbing his head like one dozing off. The horse thus walked at its own pace. From time to time, it even stopped to graze. The other man, clad in typical gray-white farming wear, lay in the cart with a linen sack as a pillow. A straw hat covered his face to block out the sun. He slept soundly.
This wasn't common on the roads. The youth would whip the horse to the roadside when oncomers cursed at him and let them pass. Soon he would be dozing off again as the horse trotted along on its own.
Contrary to appearance, however, Lorist wasn't asleep. He just enjoyed the warm sunlight. Having stayed in the dark, dank storehouse for two months, he missed the sun and fresh air.
How many years has it been since I've had the time to enjoy the sun? In Dawn Academy I would read in the sun on my balcony. Ah… how free those times were.
Lorist wasn't in the best of shape. It took him six months to recover from his wounds. While their movements had been severely slowed by the pressure of their clashing domains, a stab was a stab, it just took longer. He still had to face the full force of his opponent's battleforce, which damaged his dantian. He was just a normal mortal right now, maybe even just a weak mortal. He couldn't do any labor or muster much energy. He was very grateful to have Reidy at times like this. Reidy's Dan Ocean Ki-refining technique was similar to his Aquametal technique, so Reidy could continuously inject internal energy into his body, which, along with being fed medicine every day, had mostly healed him.
The stab had gone straight through his chest. Lorist's palm strike had shattered the old man's sternum. But, as Lorist had to take the stab first, he had reserved a portion of his internal energy to protect his innards. So, while he managed to break Magrut's sternum, he didn't liquify his innards, which was why the old man could escape. Had his internal organs been liquified, even the gods would have struggled to save him.
Though similarly injured, Lorist fared far worse. Magrut could recover in peace and quiet in Morante and had the best medicine and perfect environment while Lorist had to move around in secret to avoid the blademasters after his life. He couldn't even go home or contact his family.
If a kingdom had a patron swordsaint, it would offer them some protection in the form of high-tier fighters. If they lacked that, they would at least protect him with an army. But Auguslo was only concerned with getting revenge, so he dedicated everything he had to fighting the Union, and Andinaq was at a huge disadvantage when it came to their top tier fighters. Since the Union blademasters couldn't fight against the swarm of soldiers, their best use would be going after the next greatest threat, Lorist.
Lorist was worried for his wife, concubines and children, but knew he had to recover first. He could do nothing until he was at the level of a swordsaint again. Nobody would go after his family while his fate was unknown, so he didn't have to be by their side. If his ongoing recovery was discovered, everyone would go after his family immediately. It was not without precedent after all.
Two swordsaints had been wounded in battle two centuries earlier. One was nearly assassinated, but escaped. Having failed, his assassins went after his family. When he had recovered a year later, he killed all 70 thousand people related to the blademasters and nobles that were involved in his family's death. Even the enemy swordsaint didn't dare intervene.
His reasoning was that he would do exactly the same if it were his family. He had warned his king not to do it, but they wouldn't listen. As far as he was concerned, they deserved exactly what they got.
The big-six were aware of this story, and were not willing to make the same mistake, especially not now that it was clear Lorist was a swordsaint. Killing him, someone who could threaten their strongest asset, was natural, but his family was off limits until he was dead. No one, not even Lorist, could really say anything against the Union for going after him, but touching his family was a whole other matter. Even household officials and knights were a risk. They had no interest in watching him rampage through their guilds, if they really went after his family, Magrut would no doubt do exactly the same as the second swordsaint in the old story.
They had nothing to worry about once Lorist was dead, they could wipe out the entire kingdom if they wanted, but as long as there was even a chance that he still breathed, they had to be very careful. Thus, the best way Lorist could keep everyone safe right now, was to stay hidden.
The winter harvests came after the rainy season. This was also the first year his household's harvest tax would be implemented. All his vassals sent their taxes to Kobo, where it was stored for his forces.
He had also set up a trade center for Delamock where all the province's produce could be traded slightly under market price. He had legislated a monopoly for the market so only he could buy produce from the lords, and sell to merchants. Every fruit, vegetable, and grain had to pass through his hands. It let him earn a three-tenths profit on the province's entire agricultural economy and nobody could do anything about it. He could easily drive any merchant that offended him out of business, and could make anyone he disliked starve. There was no way he was going to give that up.
It was in this carting hay-day that the two were heading into his domain. They left Kobo incognito amongst thousands of similar carts, no one knew where they were going.
Reidy had informed Lorist of the current situation immediately after his awakening. Everything about Auguslo's recovery and ongoing campaign, Tigersoar and Jaeger's exploits, Auguslo's miraculous and decisive assault on the Union's camp and subsequent recovery of Armenia and Malivia, and his ingress into Falik.
He was also informed of Marquis Krilos's fate. Auguslo was so furious he broke all of the man's limbs, destroyed his cultivation and paraded him all across the kingdom covered in feathers before sending him back to the Union, tied to a cow. He didn't paint him in honey since water could wash it off. He had him covered in raw lacquer before the feathers were applied. Even Lorist thought this was going a bit far. The particular mix Auguslo used was known to irritate the skin severely, causing intense itching, rashes, and swelling.
A chill ran down Lorist's spine for the duration of Reidy's narration. Krilos was completely wasted. If Auguslo did not hate the Union to hell and back before, he clearly did now. It was understandable, however. If not for Lorist, Auguslo would not only have become a prisoner, he would have been made the continent's fool. His legacy would have been as history's greatest non-fiction comedy.
Reidy knew nothing else, however. He'd hidden with Lorist in Kobo for more than two months after escaping the imperial capital and splitting up with Shuss. He knew nothing about what was happening to Lorist's forces or in his lands. And he couldn't ask around and risk rousing suspicions either. But Reidy wasn't too concerned since everything would be sorted out once Lorist recovered his strength. Even if the house had been uprooted, they could just rebuild it.
The two saw someone reprimanding a group of cavalrymen because the messenger eagle sent to The Northlands had not returned for a months, nor had any of the messengers. Selikoff increased the area's security so it wouldn't happen again. Luckily the messengers were found unharmed, it appeared only their letters were searched. That this was made public, however, was clearly to let the two know that someone was looking for them in the area. Clearly their information network had been uncovered and was being used against them.
Lorist currently had a full beard, no different from a common farmer. Even those who knew him wouldn't recognize him at a glance. Reidy, who usually had a mustache, was now hairless. He'd grown it after Lorist declared him a rank 1 blademaster equivalent to appear more mature. He looked much younger without it, like a farmer's son unresigned to his life in the fields.
The journey from Kobo to the Dina barony took three days. It would have been much slower if not for the new roads, at least a week. The barony lay in the west of Delamock at the foot of the mountains between it and the sea.
Lorist had spent a lot on the barony. He'd been very worried about scuffled between his stubborn lover and her neighbors, so he'd arranged for it to be in a relatively unpopulated area where she wouldn't feel too cramped. The cart pulled into the barony as the day's last rays of sunshine faded away.
"Don't go to the village. Head straight for the castle."
Lorist knew his way around after having been here twice. The wooden castle was actually a popular joke at noble parties in the province. Arriotoli had prepared it for her younger brother, the future baron. It wouldn't have been a problem to build a one out of stone, but she wanted her brother to build his own as he wanted. He was studying at Nico Academy at the time and couldn't give his input. She didn't mind the jokes, even working on it every year. Not a year went by that something didn't change.
The cart rolled into the castle. Security was rather lax, Lorist hadn't seen a single guard on the walls during their approach. He would have suspected the castle abandoned if not for the servants faffing about in the bailey.
Three people emerged from a hall bordering the bailey as Lorist got off the cart. The two in front were an elegant middle-aged couple, Arriotoli walked behind.
Reidy tensed up immediately. The couple carried themselves like blademasters. He secretly grabbed hold of the hilt of his sword, hidden in the closest linen sack. Arratoli recognized the two by the cart immediately.
Hunter's Cabin
"A smart woman is a blessing and a curse."
'What should we do?' seemed to be what Reidy was trying to tell Lorist with his gaze.
Lorist made a pained smile and shook his head. He was completely powerless in his current state. Counting on Reidy alone to take on two blademasters was completely unrealistic. No matter which one of the couple Reidy manages to hold back, the other would definitely give Lorist a strike and that would be the end of him. All he could do now was pray that Arriotoli didn't call Lorist out there and then. No matter how big her boobs were, surely she did have some brains. After all, she was already a mother.
Lorist hurriedly pulled on Reidy's sleeve. He got down from the carriage with Reidy and lowered his head pensively, acting like a servant found out by his master for committing a mistake. He hoped that Arriotoli would be made aware of the situation after seeing them like that instead of leaping straight into Lorist's embrace with tears of joy flowing out of her eyes.
He was already regretting it deeply. I must be half conscious when I decided I would come to the Dina barony. It's quite a known fact that two of my concubines, Fennazali and Arriotoli, are members of House Dina, so it's obvious that the blademasters would search this area. I really jumped into this trap on my own accord this time.
That middle-aged couple gave Lorist a sweeping glance and thought him to be but a mere lowly farmer. Reidy on the other hand caught their attention. It was truly rather weird for one-star silver rank to be a farmer. Usually, those who awakened their battleforce in a dominion would be recruited by the dominion lord to be their subordinate or their soldier. Most wouldn't be allowed to continue working as farmers.
The middle-aged couple then turned to Arriotoli. Fortunately, she had already placed her hands down after covering her mouth from shock. She then marched over angrily and rebuked Reidy fiercely, "Krimando, why have you come back so late?! All I had you do was to accompany Kanon here to fetch some things outside! Don't give me the excuse that the axle of your carriage is broken. This carriage has already been spoiled by you three times this month already and we just got it fixed yesterday! If you keep this up, I won't let you serve as a House Dina knight! I also won't let our Sunirulu marry you, got it?!"
Huh? Reidy made a blank look. What the hell is going on? Did Arriotoli mistake me for someone else? I'm not Krimando, and since when was I going to be a knight of House Dina? What's the deal with letting Sunirulu marry me anyway? I know she's your maidservant and that she's pretty and all, but when I came with His Grace back then, you were the one who asked me to marry her! I already rejected that!
Lorist breathed out a sigh in relief and added ten thousand points to Arriotoli in his heart. He didn't think that the lass would turn so much smarter after becoming a full-fledged knight and mother. Her performance was truly stellar. He tugged on Reidy and gestured for him to not argue with Arriotoli before he withdrew his body and pretended to be afraid of Arriotoli's scolding. Reidy on the other hand had opened his mouth, only to say nothing before lowering his head again, looking unwilling and stubborn.
"What? You aren't pleased?!" Arriotoli poked Reidy on the forehead with her finger. "You're not able to finish such a simple task, and yet you dare to follow Uncle Masa to the frontlines?! Do you think I'll knight you after you achieve something there?! Dream on! If you laze on like that without doing anything useful, I'll exile you from the Dina barony!
"And you, Kanon!" Arriotoli snapped as she turned her attention to Lorist, "Even though I ordered you to watch this kid and make sure he works properly, you accompanied him on his fun journey instead! You two are not getting dinner tonight. Now you better get back in there and clean the tables. You'll be going to the mountains to pick herbs tomorrow too. These two revered herbalists are here to purchase some of our herbs and if you really do find some valuable ones, you'll get a tip for some drinks."
Herbalists? Lorist understood the situation after some thought. Those two blademasters were merely posing as herbalists on their way to purchase ingredients. Since Arriotoli was only a two-star silver-ranked knight, she didn't discover the couple's true identities. But now seeing Lorist return in that disguise, she got a feeling that both of them didn't want their identities revealed.
Even though the Dina barony was relatively near the mountains, they only produced some herbs of low value. The real place to purchase herbs was the eastern part of The Northlands. The Magical Dragon Mountains were famous for their herbs across the continent, and the herbs produced by Delamock were often sent to the eastern part of The Northlands to make up for the demand of the market there. Who would go all their way to the Dina barony just for those normal herbs? It was obvious that something was off.
"Apologies, you two, for having to let you see this joke of a scene. It's all the fault of those two lazy ones." Arriotoli's face bloomed once more after she finished reprimanding Lorist and Reidy, smiling at the middle-aged couple brightly. Women were truly fickle after all.
"No worries. It's expected for a dominion lord to deal with things such as these. We have to apologize for disturbing your busy schedule," the man said with a smile, before he looked at Reidy and Lorist as the two of them entered the hall and added, "That young man's not bad. He's already a one-star silver rank. I think he can become a gold-ranked knight of your house after good training."
"Him?" Arriotoli snorted, "Master Herbalist, don't joke around with me. I'll be thankful if they don't anger me to death. You might not know this, but that fella's father used to be my father's subordinate. He fell on the battlefield together with my father. At first, I was considering giving him proper training, but that kid actually followed a traveling mercenary and said that he would learn the skills necessary to avenge his father! And then he left for almost eight years.
"After our house got the protection of the Duke of The Northlands and had our dominion moved over here, that fella somehow managed to make his way back as a one-star silver rank and said that he wanted to become our household knight and marry the girl that used to be his neighbor, my own maidservant Sunirulu! I tested his swordsmanship and found that he had learned a bunch of muddled crap from the mercenaries instead of the proper technique!
"So, I decided to have him forget the bad habits he learned from the mercenaries first before he would be properly trained in the techniques of a knight. Little did I think that he wouldn't focus on his training and instead spend his time traveling all over the place to slack off. He even secretly tried to make his way to the frontlines with our house's Knight Massa to rake in some achievements for himself to achieve his goal!"
Arriotoli had turned into a gossipy old maid and yammered on with the couple without end. The couple's faces contorted as time went on. How could they be bothered with the backstory of some one-star silver-ranked mercenary? They were just casually asking around, yet Arriotoli actually started chattering nonstop. After she finally finished, the couple politely declined her offers for further hospitality and prepared to make their way off.
But before they left, the middle-aged man made a last-ditch effort. "Oh honorable knight, Lady Dina, do you truly not want to buy a cheap high-rank medicine from us? It's a rare chance and we happened to synthesize a few extra bottles back then. Since you treated us so warmly, we want to sell them to you for a low price. Just buy one for emergency's sake. We can assure you that this medicine really works well. As long as they can still breathe, we're sure it will help bring them back to full health. It'll even accelerate the speed of their recovery."
Arriotoli's long eyelashes fluttered as she blinked, seemingly with understanding. "But... but those medicines truly are too expensive! It's ten gold coins for one, and the expiry date is far too soon with less than half a year remaining. I really don't see a use for it even if I buy it! After half a year, ten gold coins would just go poof! It's not like our house needs medicine of that high rank anyway. We can just buy the most common medicinal concoction for a few large silvers for commoners who get injured."
The middle-aged woman smiled and said, "Alright, Jack, stop promoting those high-rank medicines. Lady Dina already said that she doesn't need any, so it'll just be a waste for her to buy some. It's about time we left. Thank you so much for your hospitality. We'll return a few days later to check on the herbs you gathered."
Arriotoli bowed and said, "Master Herbalists, won't you reconsider lodging by us for the night? Even though it's rather run-down here, we'll try our best to accommodate you to your satisfaction."
"There's no need. The thought is enough. We've already booked our own room at the tavern downtown. Should you require our service, please don't hesitate to seek us out at the town of Daphne in Viscount Sibok's dominion You can also leave a message for us at the inn's counter. We'll definitely try our best to come as quickly as we can," said the middle-aged man politely.
"Alright, thank you for your kind intentions. I won't hold back if I really need your service. You are always welcome to visit the barony," said Arriotoli as she made a knight's salute.
The middle-aged herbalist couple came and left on horses. It was until their silhouettes vanished on the distant highways that Arriotoli returned to the hall of her wooden castle.
Lorist and Reidy were wolfing down food in the hall at a table served with delicacies. Arriotoli's maidservant, the beautiful Sunirulu, was pouting right beside them as Reidy scared her as he wolfed his food down and mocked her for not being able to marry someone because she was ugly.
"If nobody marries her, then you'll be his husband," Arriotoli said with dissatisfaction as she entered, "Locke, what's going on? What's with the getup?"
Lorist put the blackwheat bread back into his plate and gave Arriotoli a thumbs up. "You really reacted quickly today and put on a great performance. I almost died in the hands of that couple."
"Huh? That middle-aged couple?" Arriotoli said with surprise, "They were merely herbalists here to purchase some herbs. Why would they kill you? Also, I was there, wasn't I?"
Lorist rolled his eyes. "Dumb lass, those two were blademasters. They came here to check whether I was hiding out and recuperating here. I suspect they were sent by the Union to hunt me down and kill me. Otherwise, they wouldn't come all the way here to buy some common herbs."
"It's no wonder they kept on asking me whether I needed to buy some high-rank medicinal concoction at such a cheap price. I knew I should've got some," said Arriotoli in stark wonder.
"If you did, they would've known that I was there right away. I am thankful that you didn't do anything as stupid as buying those high-rank medicinal concoctions. You should know that each of those cost at least 30 gold Fordes and unless a dominion lord is injured, nobody would spend that kind of money to heal someone else. They offered you that at that low price to see if I was here with you," replied Lorist.
Arriotoli began to tear up immediately. "Locke, haven't you recovered from your injuries yet?"
Lorist gave a pained smile. "It won't be that easy. While I'm more or less fine on the outside, my internals are still a mess. I'm no different from a cripple now. I can't even lift a sword. I thought that I could stay here for a year and a half to recover at first but it seems that it isn't really safe here either. It's best if I left lest I drag you and your child down with me. By the way, where's Terryke?"
Terryke was the son of Lorist and Arriotoli. He was three that year and pudgy and likable. However, Arriotoli had him bear the Dina name and he didn't count as a Norton family member. So, he was just an illegitimate child.
"Terryke played around like crazy outside the whole day and went to sleep right after dinner. I had Sunirulu bathe him and let him sleep early," replied Arriotoli.
"And there I thought I could see that little pudgeball. To think that he's already slept," Lorist complained, "Arri, have your garrison forces been deployed at the frontlines as well? Didn't I ask you not to send them?"
"Well, our house wasn't going to participate at first, since His Majesty was being pushed back quite badly after all. But when your house's three legions swept Armenia and Malivia, His Majesty managed to defeat the Union and reclaim those two provinces from them. Right now, they're already attacking the Falik Plains, so I head Uncle Massa bring the garrison to haul some benefits back from the battlefield. Since they're with your house's forces, I doubt they'd be in any trouble. The Falik Plains are rich with wealth and it'd be a shame if we didn't snag a part for ourselves," reasoned Arriotoli.
Lorist, resigned by that greedy woman, thought that the Dina house forces would at most be tasked with simple things like guarding the captives and campsites as well as delivering supplies. They probably wouldn't be made to charge in the vanguard or head a siege, so they'd be more or less safe. It's no wonder Arriotoli was so eager to send them to the battlefield, seeing that they would return with some spoils as well.
"Your Grace, are we leaving tonight?" Reidy had already finished biting the roast goat meat off the thigh bone and tossed it aside, before grabbing a linen cloth to wipe his mouth and hands from Sunirulu, earning himself an angry glare.
Just as Lorist was going to say something, Arriotoli butted in first. "You can't leave. It's dangerous to do so."
Lorist shook his head. "No those blademasters already have their eye on this place. Fortunately, those two that came today didn't recognize us. But if some others do, then it's over for us."
Arriotoli laughed and said, "Locke, only I can recognize you with your full-bearded look. I'm sure the others will only think you a mere farmer. As for Reidy, he already shaved his little mustache off. If it weren't for Sunirulu, who's pining over him all day and night, nobody would've been able to recognize him. How about this? There's a hunter's cabin at the western side of the valley. The two who lived there followed Uncle Massa to the frontlines already. I'm sure nobody would suspect you if you stayed there.
"Also, those two were named Krimando and Kanon, the names I called you in front of the two herbalists. They will come over again in a couple of days and I'm sure they won't find anything out, so you can just rest well here. Also, Locke, are you sure you don't need that high-rank concoction?"
Lorist refused, "No need. You know that I'm a herbalist myself, a rank 2 one at that. As long as I'm able to get some ingredients, there's no need to buy any myself. I'll head to the cabin you mentioned with Reidy tomorrow and stay there if it's suitable. However, I hope that only the two of you know of our presence here. Don't tell your sister about it when you write to her, and don't contact The Northlands, understood?"
Recuperation
The Mountain. I
You
Ask me why I stare
At the mound on the horizon?
Why I wander so silently, eyes upcast?
Why my gaze so longingly turns to that towering visage?
For I walk there not among men of flesh, but among gods of heaven
For there stands only the silent whisper of the stars
And the gentle sweep of the water,
frozen, as the world, in time.
There, I drift, free of care,
Free of worldly woes. And there,
Like the cherry-blossom down the stream
Drifts,
To a world only heaven knows, I
Disappear...
~ Writes with Dew
This place is pretty great: the air's fresh, and the view's beautiful and invigorating too. Lorist thought.
They were in a valley near the Garilos mountains in Arriotoli's barony. She had built a hunter's cabin there and usually left two people to guard it. The nearby mangrove forest was a valuable source of timber. Their patterns were especially sought after by the rich. Arriotoli had been surprised to discover such a huge mangrove forest nearby and instantly laid claim to it.
The forest came with two other key products, one being raspberries. Each was slightly smaller than a blueberry, but thin-skinned and juicy. They sold for a premium more often than not. Raspberries grew on shrubs in mangrove forests and matured in the 8th or 9th month. Since raspberries couldn't be kept for long, they were dried or made into fruit wine. Raspberry wine was expensive because people believed they had medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities, both of which made it very popular with the nobility. The second product was red mushrooms. They sported a bright cap and were delicious. They bloomed shortly after the rainy season for a few nights, which was the only time in the year they could be harvested. They were one of the continent's favorite cheap delicacies. They were especially popular in soups, but worked in almost any dish. The forest was a small treasure chest, a godsent for House Dina. Just the two harvestables alone made the household 30 gold a year.
The three-floored hunter's cabin stood on the forest's edge in the valley. The bottom most floor was stone, while the other two were wood. There was even a beacon above the third floor. It looked like a small fort.
"Wolves come down from the mountain in search of food in the winter," Arriotoli explained, "so the cabin has to be fortified enough to keep them out and the guards inside safe. The beacon is to call for help in case a large group of bandits or poachers show up, or the watchmen are in trouble for some other reason."
The ground floor had four small rooms and one large communal area with the stairs. The first of the rooms was the stable, the second the pantry, the third a small vault, and a workshop. The workshop had a small kiln and could make and maintain basic tools. The second floor had three rooms that fanned out from the stairwell which also functioned as the dining room, two were bedrooms and the third a kitchen. The dining room had a small table and four chair. A stag head hung on the wall above the table.
The ground floor might as well have been underground, for it was pitch black inside without windows and had to be lit with torches. The first floor, however, had windows, small as they were. Glasswork being as primitive and expensive as it was in this time, the windows were essentially just rectangular holes in the wall. The two bedroom-walls had two hinges boards that could be closed or opened, whilst the kitchen's window had a thin skin cover. The cold dominated most of the year here, even summer was cool, so the windows were closed most of the time, and the inside was still lit with braziers. Everything stunk of soot and smoke.
The bedroom to the left of the stairs was slightly smaller, the walls wrapping around the stairs that ascended to the third floor. It was the tallest of the three floors, and had the best lighting. It had two slit windows, and a murder hole in each of the outer walls, which let light reflected off the ground or snow into the room as well without letting the wind and cold air in too much. A trap-door-like contraption in the ceiling led to the beacon on the roof.
A bamboo pipe brought water over from the nearby stream. It ran by the house about 16 meters away. The steep ledges behind the house, down which the stream flowed, let the water run into the house on the first floor. It ran through a series of pipes, each with a tap in to use the water, down the house and into a pond in the yard, which overflowed back into the stream. Some of the pond's water ran into a trough in the stable.
"Not bad. I should be able to survive here," commented Lorist. He could see the fields and the castle at the foot of the mountain from the platform on the third floor. The village of Howak stood in the distance at the entrance of the valley.
"It's too run-down, Your Grace. It's severely lacking. Should we go get some cutlery, candles, and clothes?" asked Reidy.
"No. Have you seen watchers use silver and gold cutlery and candles? We're pretending to be watchers, best play the part. We can make our own utensils. Go fell a tree for some bowls and forks later. We'll use torches. As for clothes, just head further up the mountains and get deer or wolf pelts or something. Also, didn't Arriotoli mention the two phony herbalists will be here again in another a couple of days? We should scavenge a few herbs."
"As you wish, Milord."
Lorist was surprised that the couple came all the way to the cabin when they returned. Fortunately, he and Reidy had scavenged a lot of herbs. They weren't cleaned or dried yet though. There were also a lot of holey wolf pelts in the yard.
"Not bad. I'll take everything," said the male, called Jack, without bothering to give them a detailed check. He even took the chance to inspect the cabin. The woman kept Lorist in the yard and asked a lot about the pelts.
"We caught them with a few traps. They were impaled on stakes buried in hidden pits. Unfortunately it means they aren't worth anything on the market, but that's fine since we only wanted them for personal use." Lorist acted like a sneaky, money-grubbing farmer. In reality, Reidy had ruined them. If he hadn't they would obviously have been bought by Arriotoli and sold for money. Mountain watchers would obviously not want that.
"What a shame. Where's your partner?"
"There. He just went to patrol the forest. I have to stay back to feed the horses and make lunch," Lorist offered as he pointed.
The woman turned around and saw Reidy coming over from the forest, a bow on his back and three turkeys and two hares in his hands.
Arriotoli exploded immediately.
"Krimando! You're weren't patrolling at all! Hah! Caught you red-handed! You won't get any money this month! You know House Dina owns everything in the forest. I'll be taking those kills as well!"
Reidy walked over crestfallenly, "But I didn't hunt them in the forest! I was hunting up the mountain! That's free game!"
"I pay you to guard the forest, not to hunt in the mountains! No excuses. No money for you! And how can you prove you didn't hunt them in the forest? Maybe they live there and happened to go out to the mountains!"
How... how would I prove that?! Having no choice, Reidy could only hand his game to Arriotoli, who picked them out meticulously and tossed a wild hare on the ground and complained, "Too thin. You can use it for soup."
The herbalist watched on from the side.
So this is how a real noble acts! Jack left the cabin and shook his head slightly.
Since they discovered nothing, the two prepared to head back. First, however, they had to pay for the herbs. Arriotoli was quite adept at bargaining, so it didn't take long to close the deal. She made 1 gold, 15 silvers in the trade. She pocketed the coins and tossed Lorist and Reidy two small silvers.
"Not bad. Here's your reward. Should be enough to buy five wheat bears in town."
Lorist smile painedly and rubbed the small silver. He had finally experienced how it felt to be a citizen taken advantage of by a noble. In fact, Arriotoli was being rather generous with two small silvers. The nobles saw everything in the dominion as their property. All of it belonged to them, so why would they pay anyone anything for getting it for them, whether that be by hunting, farming, or foraging? The three visitors left by horse. Lorist and Reidy were left with the herbs, which they had to take to town on their own. It would be shipped to Daphne by someone else from there.
"Why not just have those two bring it all the way themselves?" asked the woman.
"Not happening. If I let them leave, they'll vanish for who-know-how-long. I won't give them the time to waste their money, or an excuse to loiter."
The couple was speechless.
You call two small silvers money?!
They had, at first, wanted to bribe the two so they'd spy for them, but, since Arriotoli wasn't giving them the chance, they let the thought go. Seeing that the two spent most of their time in the mountain, they probably didn't really know or see much anyway.
Reidy sighed when the three vanished.
"I'm really glad she's Lady Dina and not Lady Norton."
"Didn't you see how good her acting was? She duped the couple completely. They don't suspect a thing. I'll start healing tomorrow. You remember the herb I asked you to get, right? Go find it for me. Also, make a bathtub.
It was time for Lorist to start his internal healing. He would use Reidy's Dan Ocean Ki-refining technique instead of his Aquametal technique, the former was calmer and more suited to such endeavors. Magrut's battleforce had completely ruined his dantian, it could only be healed by slowly rebuilding it over time. The two stayed in the mountains for two seasons.
Summer came and left, as did autumn. Arriotoli would come by with Sunirulu and Terryke from time to time. Sunirulu and Reidy would go scavenging in the mountain and the forest while the three nobles played around. Terryke, the chubby little rascal, kept tugging on Lorist's beard. Lorist had a new toy ready every time the kid came for a visit and the two would play together. They got along quite well.
Lorist was back up to the third stage of the Dan Ocean Ki-refining technique when the third 10th month rolled by. He was now once again equal to a gold-ranker and cold just barely hold his ground against a single rank 1 blademaster. He would be back to swordsaint in six more months. He was sorting some herbs currently, preparing them for processing, when Arriotoli came rushing up the mountain on horseback.
"Locke, News from The Northlands! Something's happened!"
Internal Strife (1)
"Emperor Norton was far from a perfect man, despite what the volksongs and chroniclers would have you think. His path to glory very nearly wasn't. He had wisely oiled the wood that was his house to protect it from the weather, but he failed to treat its inside, and it rotted beneath its shiny veneer. The same year he revealed his ascension to swordsaint, he very nearly fell to pauper, the wood cracking and collapsing from within, eaten away by the termites he had failed to excise due to his own lack of determination." ~ excerpt from 'Building an Empire' by Nico Talia.
Arriotoli brought was confusing news. The news didn't come from The Northlands, it was brought by Massa. He said a rebellion had broken out within Lorist's domain which drew the three legions back home. Massa and the men had also returned.
However, because of their loot and the distance they had to travel, they would only be home in the middle of the following year. Preparations were already made for the unit to stay over in the imperial capital for the winter and the following rainy season. But they would bring with them a considerable haul. They'd also only suffered a few casualties for it. In total, they were bringing home three thousand gold Fordes.
Lorist had no comment, nor was he interested in their wealth. He was only concerned with the rebellion. Unfortunately, he only had what little Massa had mentioned in his letter.
"Arri, remind me again, the servant you sent to check on the situation was turned back, right? So the first local defense legion cut off all contact with the continent?" asked he.
"Yes," Arriotoli nodded, "Metropoulos' floating bridge has been disassembled. Only two ferries connect the two banks but they've been prevented from crossing. Their explanation is that they've cut off The Northlands for you to recover, until you do, no one will be allowed to cross."
Did something really happen?
Lorist stroked his beard, half an inch long by now. His reflection reminded him of the ancient general Zhang Fei. Arriatoli missed her brother. She'd not received word from either her sister or her aunt this month. She'd tried to send several, but none were allowed to cross the river. She made sure to quell any suspicions of Lorist being with her, she kept asking if anyone knew where he was.
She'd only come to Lorist once her letter were returned. He'd not thought it strange at the time. He'd given Belnick command of the forces when he left, and trusted he was acting in the best interests of the house. The lockdown made sense as well, since the Union's hunting parties would naturally gravitate to The Northlands; it was the natural place for Lorist to flee too to recover, after all. The news Arriatoli brought, however, put everything in a new light. Something massive was happening.
What did Massa mean when he said His Majesty didn't like it that the three legions were heading home? Don't tell me he started this? Impossible, he's stupid, but no fool. I'm a swordsaint, going against me is suicide and he knows it.
No matter how much he thought about it, Lorist couldn't understand what was going on. Belnick would never betray him, and he trusted no one more than Charade. Ovidis used to be a bandit, but he was one of Lorist's most loyal subordinates. And Furybear's headquarters was there, surely they would have uncovered any untoward goings-on long before anything could have gotten this bad.
Well, fretting over it from a distance would solve nothing. Reidy had to return and find out what was happening. Lorist had recovered enough that he didn't need Reidy for the rest of his recovery, so the kid could go and find out what was going on. He was also quite clearly bothered by this; refused to marry Sunirulu despite the two getting along so well.
Reidy departed the morning after he received his mission. His little wannebe lover cried her eyes out as she watched him leave, but he didn't stop even once. He would head to Silowas and take a ship home from there. It would take him at least three months to reach harbor. Just two months later, though, he burst through the door to the cabin amidst a blizzard with Tarkel.
Tarkel carefully explained what had transpired. When news of Lorist's injury reached home, everyone grieve for him, but excited at the same time. Their lord was a swordsaint, so of course they were happy. If only he hadn't gone and gotten himself injured. Charade deployed to Wild Husbandry to fill in the gap Josk and Loze left when they marched off. Their departure left quite the mess.
They disappeared completely, leaving 500 thousand migrants untended, all of whom now had to be watched over by just two legions. Poor Freiyar and Els could barely sleep, they just didn't have the manpower to keep everything under control. Charade sent them one of the second garrison legion's divisions. Only one was now left defending Ragebear. Charade had Belnick lock down the river to make it easier to defend with their understaffed forces.
After the assassination attempt in the capital and Lorist's escape, all contact was lost with him and Reidy. Shuss and Jinolio successfully led their pursuers away, but they caused trouble in Ragebear when they realised Lorist wasn't there. Xanthi was present, luckily, and, together with Shuss and Engelich, they drove the blademasters off. They couldn't however, keep word of Lorist's disappearance from spreading, however.
Hansk invited Belnick to a banquet under the guise of finding out where Lorist was. During the banquet, held at the Bastide, Hansk suggested they make Lysecott the acting Lord until they knew where Lorist was. Belnick refused, but was quickly captured. It turned out Hansk had been prepared for his refusal; he'd employed two blademasters to help with his rebellion. He rallied his subordinates and co-conspirators to the bastide and declared Lysecott the house's head before marching on Ragebear.
"Wait, I thought I removed everyone with such inclinations from our forces. How did Hansk rallie forces to his side?"
"You didn't clean out the constabulary, Your Grace," said Tarkel.
Of course! The constabulary was made up of retired soldiers. The old coots naturally had loyalties to the old guard! Many of the constabulary's high-command came directly from the bastide's old guard! They were undyingly loyal to the house, but Lorist was only one member of the house, their loyalty wasn't necessarily to him directly. They felt marginalized in the greater house Lorist had established, so they would of course gravitate to having an heir from the bastide itself. Lysecott was the perfect candidate!
Lorist's face turned violet.
"DId Charade not take care of this?"
"They were the first ones outside the bastide to be captured. This whole thing was very carefully planned."
Hansk marched on Ragebear once he had control of the local defense legion. Ovidis held his ground however, and fortified the city with the division he had at hand. Charade and Spiel tried to convince Hansk to step down. They warned that when Lorist returned to find the dominion in this state, Hansk and everyone involved in this rebellion would be put to the sword. But he would not listen. If Kedan hadn't placated Hansk and agreed to make Lysecott the next duke, he might have hanged the two on the spot.
Hansk considered Charade a crook. He saw him as the source of all the current house's malaise.
"What the fuck is Hansk thinking?!" Lorist yelled, "Hansk can win as many fights as he wants, he can take as much of the dominion as he wants, it will all turn to dust when I return! All he's doing is making his fate worse and worse when I return!"
"He's asked the king to officially declare Lysecott regent. He promised the three legions would return to the frontlines if the king did this. He plans to let Lysecott stand by the king's side. If the king backs him as your heir, there will be little you can do to change it, he will be all but guaranteed to inherit your title and lands one day. If possible, he even wants the king to split your demesne in two. You'll have the lands you conquered, but Lysecott will have rule over the ancestral homeland of the house."
Internal Strife (2)
"All men are ambitious. Most lords know this all too well, which is why a rebellion by one's subordinates is rarely what kills or brings down a lord. Most forget that women are just as, if not more, ambitious as their brothers, fathers, and husbands, and mothers love their sons more than their husbands. Poisonous women kill ten times as many lords as ambitious men." ~ Unknown
"In his fucking dreams!" raged Lorist.
Hansk's plan was insane. He wanted to use a royal decree to suppress him and raise Lysecott as successor, maybe even force a split? He could go screw a magic goat! Did he really think he could create a Norton dominion within a Norton dominion? Did he know Lorist so badly that he thought it would help him avoid punishment?
Then again, he was an old man, he'd never actually left The Northlands in his entire life, so he was way too ignorant of how things worked. Charade, Camorra, or Hector, who were familiar with how the house worked, would never dare rebel. Certainly not for something so futile as getting Lysecott to be heir de jure. Did he really think Lorist, now a swordsaint would care about some lousy royal decree?
Gleis would have known better as well. Had he still been alive, and obviously thus the head of this faction, he would not have let this happen. But he was dead and had left his position within the faction to Hansk, the idiot. He'd also left behind Hansk, Spiel, and Kedan as the house's administrative talents, his dying wish had been that they help Lorist make the house prosper. The house now was already far beyond what the old man had dreamt. It stood at the zenith of vassal houses, in terms of reputation, size, might, and rank. It could only climb higher by switching to the mountain of independent forces.
Each of the three talents had their own specialty. Spiel was great at saving money, even stingy, Kedan was slick, and quick to adapt, and Hansk was great at managing the normal day-to-day goings-on. Had he stayed in the house's old lands, he might have been known as a great servant, he might even have been mentioned alongside Gleis, by future generations.
But, the house broke out of its three-century mould when Lorist took over. It underwent historical, if not legendary, growth. No house of similar size had ever risen from bottom-of-the-barrel to cream-of-the-crop in such a short time before. It usually took several generations, two at least, working their entire lives to see this come to pass, but Lorist and House Norton did it in just ten years. Hansk, having lived in the middle of nowhere his entire life, was very conservative, shortsightedly so. Lorist, on the other hand, had spent half his life at the time of his return in the continent's capital. When given the choice between such a shortsighted man and his long-time friend and fellow progressive, he naturally trusted Charade more, and thus gave the position of head administrator to him.
He didn't neglect Hansk on purpose, the man just wasn't capable of performing satisfactorily in the positions Lorist had given him. Rather than learn from his mistakes, and ask for advice so he could become better, he resented the newcomers and formed his own faction to try to force things back to how they used to be, where he could do well. He'd also grown bold over the year and crossed Lorist numerous times, the worst of which saw him all but expelled from Lorist's inner circle and exiled to the bastide.
To think that would not be enough punishment for him, that he would come back with even greater schemes for trouble, going as far as to plunge the house proper into chaos just so he could get some power for his corner of it, was unbelievable. Lorist was reminded of the old saying, 'the enemies at the door will never kill you, it is the ones sitting at your table that will deal the killing blow.'
"Did the king agree?" Lorist asked.
"He did. I arrived too late. Hansk had already announced Lysecott's appointment to regent. Charade smuggled a letter to the king explaining everything, it reached the front-lines long after everything was done. The king only realised his mistake after reading the letter. The three legions returned after they read it as well."
So that's what Tarkel meant when he said the king was regretful. He'd not acted as the mastermind in this rebellion, but was instead a victim as well. He had thought he was doing Lorist a favour, instead he was throwing him under the bus. He thought the house was asking for his support in making Lysecott regent, and, by extent, heir de jure, because Lorist didn't want to play the bad guy and make his bastard son heir when he had a legitimate son that had a stronger claim to the position.
The king must have thought that he might as well do this favour for Lorist since he could and win some points with him. There would be no problem for Lysecott to become the heir de jure with the king's endorsement, so he didn't hesitate to write the decree.
"Hansk declared Ovidis the rebel the moment he received the decree and prepared to assault the city. He ordered Glacia to take command of the assaulting forces, but she refused. Instead, she went to Lady Sylvia, and the two negotiated a short ceasefire.
"With Kedan and Glacia, Lady Sylvia your concubines and children escaped the city and are now in Cherry Blossom Ridge. Howard and Ovidis left the city as well and, along with the forces they have with them and the three blademasters, are all now at the palace as well.
The only good news out of this whole debacle was that no one important had died yet and no major battles had been fought. This did not have to turn into a full blown civil war.
"Where are the three legions now?"
"They're still in Frederika. They've run into a little trouble."
"Oh? What kind of trouble?"
"Firmrock and Tigersoar occupied Bluwek and Ritt in the plains. The king had Whitelion take Krido and Jaeger raided the countryside in Gudlink and Mauvlin--"
"Wait, where is is that? I haven't heard of those places before."
"They're in the former Teribo kingdom. They split the kingdom into five provinces, those two border the plains."
"I see. Continue."
Lorist stroked his beard, somewhat embarrassed. He remembered now Tarkel had told him this in a report long ago but he was too focused on his own lands to listen properly.
"The Union is extremely rich, even its minor nobles are quite wealthy. We've inned quite the haul. We need at least a thousand carriages to transport everything, and then there's the 500 thousand migrants we caught as well."
Tarkel's face reddened somewhat as he spoke. If this was told to any outsider, they would think the house were nothing but land pirates. All they did was raid and plunder. Even Lorist had to admit that was pretty much what his armies were at this point; a bunch of well-trained nobility-sanctioned privateers. He would never admit it to anyone else, of course.
"That's all fine and good, but what's this trouble they ran into?"
"They're short on food, Milord. There are too many people for their current supplies. They can't start the journey back without a large resupply, and, given how things are looking in The Northlands, that won't be happening anytime soon."
"I know what you're thinking, Milord," Tarkel quickly added, "We did prepare enough for our forces in Winston, but then you sent back the immigrants from Anderwoff, Bodolger, and Kanbona. Three hundred thousand have been settled in The Northlands and can feed themselves, but 500 thousand are still waiting in Winston and are being fed by that stockpile. The only place that can spare the resources needed to resupply the legion and the refugees still in the south is The Northlands, but that's now under rebel control, so..."
Fuck you, Hansk!! Lorist slammed the table, disintegrating it.
"What are Potterfang, Loze, and Josk doing about it?"
"Potterfang will stay at Frederika to watch over the immigrants while Josk and Loze return to the plains. They hope to plunder enough supplies to be able to return by winter. They'll skip back on the snow."
"And what will they do when they're back in Winston? It's not like the city will have supplies waiting for them. Without proper preparations they'll only make things worse. We can't just suck in a million people like it's nothing," Lorist critiqued.
"I think they're planning to attack the rebels."
"Attack The Northlands? Do they think it's easy? There's a reason we chose to haul up there for so long before breaking out! All Hansk needs to do is destroy the bridges and all the forces in the world will do us no good! He'll just declare them rebels the moment they arrive.
"How is the situation on the information front?"
"When Supervisor Hansk gained control of the first local guard legion, he sent his men to take over the eagle hub at Firmrock Castle and forbade any contact with the outside world. We can't send letters in or get anything out. The Northlands is completely cut off from the rest of the world. Our only chance is by sea through Northsea. But Hansk sealed off that route as well. The ships are stopped at Bullhorn Bay and forced to anchor. He ordered the Northsea Fleet to stand by Lysecott's side, but Admiral Senbaud moved it to Silowas instead."
Lorist would have moved the eagle hub to Ragebear when he moved, but he couldn't do that without retraining them all, so it had been left there. It turned out to have been a fatal mistake. He had established a second hub in the capital, but it was still in the process of growing and was nowhere near ready to take over from the old hub. Hansk made brilliant use of this weakness and cut off all hope of calling for help and letting the world know what was really happening before anything could be done.
"--Apart from the messenger eagles, though, the rest of our network is intact, outside of the Northlands, of course. Without the eagles, however, we can't get the information within anything approaching a reasonable time," Tarkel continued.
"Silowas and Northsea?"
"Not good. I escaped The Northlands through a secret cave Furybear uses for covert travel. I headed for House Kenmays and switched to a larger ship from there and headed for Silowas. When I arrived I saw the island and Northsea were facing off. Hansk had sent word ahead of the fleet in case they didn't obey him. He told Pajik that the fleet was the one rebelling and ordered him to capture or eliminate the fleet. Pajik has no clue what's happening, so he believed you were the one that sent the order. When I told him what was going on, and to ignore all orders accept those coming directly from you, he stood down and the fleet was allowed to dock.
"I went to the plains from there to deliver news to the generals. The three nearly collapsed when they heard what was happening and began mobilizing immediately. The king tried to stop them, but Loze nearly jump on him and beat him, so he shut up and let them leave. I was heading back to The Northlands when I ran into Reidy on Silowas and he brought me here."
Lorist paced around the room, stroking his beard furiously. Hansk's rebellion was shaking the house to its core. Even if everything ended immediately and went back to how it was before, his plans were still set back by years. First things were first, though. The most immediate issue was the immigrants still waiting to go to Winston. In his dominion's current state, they would be nothing but a burden and a source of unneeded trouble. Luckily, Camorra wasn't in The Northlands when the rebellion broke out, but in Windbury, so he would deal with things in the short term.
"The rebellion isn't our biggest problem right now, I'll deal with it myself when I've completely recovered. Right now we need to settle the unrest in the rest of my lands. The immigrants should already be on their way to Winston, we need to deal with that first.
"I'll have orders ready for you shortly. Take them to Camorra. Hand it to him directly, the letter will only leave your hands to enter his, no one else's. First have him clean out our forces, anyone that rouses even the smallest amount of suspicion is to be executed. As for our legions, have Tigersoar and Jaeger borrow food from nearby friendly nobles. They have my permission to promise on my personal honour that the nobles will be paid back double what they give us.
"Also, Reidy, find the strongest whip you can and give Josk and Loze each a hundred lashes. Punishment for disobeying my orders and marching off on their own. Give their subordinates fifty lashes each for not stopping them. Potterfang will move two Firmrock divisions to Silowas where he'll wait for further orders. Senbaud and Pajik will get as many transport ships as they can together in the meantime."
"By your will, Your Grace."
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Hi guys sorry for hijacking the end of the story page, but we have an important announcement to make. Do read on.
As some of you may know, we are holding an event where you answer questions about our other novel, The Sword and The Shadow, to win access to one extra early access TRL chapter (which our patrons can also benefit from!). In other words, folks reading the novel in Liberspark can gain access to one early access chapter following the publicly released one and patrons can read one chapter ahead the furthest one afforded by their pledge tier.
The answer to last week's question, 'Name Leguna's childhood friend', is Eirinn! Congratulations to those who won. The links to the early access chapters throughout the week has already been sent out and the chapters should be accessible shortly.
And now, we have this week's challenge: Name two of Leguna's gifts (aspect abilities).
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