Snakes and Ladders-26

This was hard to come back to. I started this as a present to Wren who had very quickly found herself a place as a dear friend in my heart. I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to put another one out and they’ll be coming out probably infrequently so I hope everyone is patient and understanding.

Wren…. We love you, we miss you.

Chapter 26

*Before……

“No, you’ll be protected.” She passes me the sword in that knightly over her wrist way.
“Me?”

“Wren, you are Erendae, Wren Phoenix yes and I’m here able to unspell this warded box on this mission and theirs is a blade form and you think that this wasn’t something the gods set into motion? This blade was meant to be your sword Wren.”

I take it and stare at it and step back and charge it up and there’s this red-gold light that shines out of the bird decoration with raptors scree and its glowing red…and there’s little tufts of flames coming off of it.

I’m not even hot holding it.

I’m not sure about the whole gods thing since I’m kind of a Christian but this…this looks a whole lot like one of those flaming swords that an angel might have had.
I’m kind of scared of this and yet…

Was this meant for me? Is this a sign?

I have good people here looking at me and nodding like this is.

I cut the power. And look up? “I’ll try; I’ll do my best to keep them safe.”

*And Now……..

While I’ve been talking to Illisia everyone else has been gathering the things that were here and the rangers have already left sweeping out with a few of the others that I’m going to consider likely to be able to spot some of those magical things that we might have to watch out for…stumbling across some of those could be bad.

My whole body is telling me that I’ve pushed things way too far. But I’m used to pushing things too hard. The fact back home that things weren’t the best for me health wise and the fact it never seemed to stop the bills from coming in well.

A person…

A mom even if she’s never ever been seen as a mom well she’ll do everything she can to provide for her family.

Or like now to defend it.

Illisia passes me a vial and she’s taking out this bottle with a lime colored glowing liquid in it and she takes a drink. Before passing it to me as we walk to catch up with the others. “Here, potion first.”

“Potion?”

“Healing magic.”

“Shouldn’t we save this for the wounded?”

“I’m a cleric; I came well prepped this’ll help.”

“Okay…” I down it.

It tastes like medicine, not bad, bad stuff but have you ever had like ginseng extract? Yeah like that and some other things. It’s funny because the feeling starts in my mouth.

It’s this tingle like you’d get from a small electric touch like from a battery or something and I can feel my mouth feel…better? Clean too?

“My mouth?”

She’s laughing. “You likely bit a cheek and whatever else happened in the fighting. Its magic also prevents infections so it’s gotten rid of the nasty stuff in your mouth too.”

It’s working and while I’m not badly hurt those things are mending but not just the wounds, the chaffing from my bra and armor, the few blisters I have and muscle strains too are all vanishing.

“Whoa….that’s…”

“A good idea, I keep a stock of lightly powered healing potions like this just so we can actually stay fresher while doing something like this.”

“Yeah…well that is a good idea.” Wow…what the military guys could do back home with…no…no…no…Not a good thought Wren.

Don’t get me wrong I love our troops but as far as what some people order them to do and some of the crap going on…The United States does not need magic, the thought of it is really scary.

And with this traitor usurper Lyam exactly what we’re here fighting if he’s trying to use stuff better left untouched.

I take the radioactive looking stuff from her next and take a sip. “Hey lemonade!”

“Yes, it’s one of my favorites.”

“Why is it glowing lime green?”

“Starhoney.”

“Huh?”

Okay I take it elves don’t go huh? Because she’s laughing.

“Starhoney, it’s honey that’s collected from certain hives that bees have made on leylines and have fed from the flowers along those lines. It’s filled with spare mystical energy.”

“Okay….”

“It glows blue Wren.”

“Okay…”

“Yellow and blue make?”

“But lemon juice isn’t yellow?”

Illisia snickers. “No? Well maybe I drank the juice and something else was yellow?”

“Eeeew!”

She’s giggling and we’re both getting looks from the others and Kyte’s rolling her eyes at us but she says. “Erendae, sylvan lemons have yellow juice.”

“Oh well phew.” I tip the bottle back a have a good long drink.

It’s kind of like having an instant sugar buzz for a second but its magical energy coming into my system. Not a lot mind you but right now I can feel it.

“Wow…yay.” I offer some to Kyte.

“No thank you I’m not gifted.”

“Gifted?”

“I cannot do magic so I’m not really in need of it.”

“Thirsty then?”

She takes a sip. “I thought that all elves did magic.”

She has a sour look on her face. “Many do, most of the noble houses do actually and I…I do not.”

I step up and give her a hug around the shoulders. “You okay?”

“No…yes…I’m used to it, used to being different.”

“We’re all different Kyte.”

“I know that people have been telling me that my whole life trying to make me feel better.”

I look at her. “No...I really mean it Kyte, we’re all different even the so called normal people no matter were you go are different you just get under the surface and they…everyone is a completely different person that what they show the world.”

“Even you?”

“Especially me! Look on my world I was me.” I gesture at myself. “On my world what was on my outside was a close to four hundred pound very large man that tried with all of my heart to fight off what my heart and soul really was. Here…I was reborn, raised from the dead pretty much and because of that majik I’m the actual me because the majik healed me and not the shell I was wearing.”

“But the gods? I mean how could you be a man and yet inside be a woman?”

“Well first with great difficulty. But second it’s not gods or the gods fault that I was born that way I just was. Look I don’t know how the faiths work around here but after a certain point didn’t they let your people have control over their own fates.”

“Yes.”

“Well take that a step further and say that they started something and are seeing how things go? Leaving it the hands of fate and our own selves to create our destinies.”

“But why are people like that…trysts and twysts?”

“I don’t know to test us? I’m just down here with the rest of us looking for answers too.”

“I suppose…” She’s frowning and there’s some signals from ahead and we hit several more blocks of rooms carved out from likely natural caves.

We go from room to room with some of them empty cot rooms but in better shape than some of the other ones and wild herbs gathered and in corner vases to freshen the place and the blankets are definitely sylvan and not something else.

Guest quarters? A place for the elves that are part of this to bed down?

And we find more supplies just general stuff like bedding and rations and food the food room have three locks on it and inside are definitely not stuff the nasties down below were eating.

Kyte’s sheathed her sword and she’s looking things over frowning.

“Problem?”

“There are some nice things here; they have more money than what I thought.”

I….

I have an idea.

“Illisia do you have a spare notebook?”

“Of course?” She takes one from her satchel and passes me a pen. “What are you doing?”

I’m going through things and writing them down, everything and how much I can count at a glance and the labels and the dates.

“This stuff had to be bough someplace or stolen now we have a list and labels of what and where it’s made and I assume that merchants carry records right? So we can either track the sales or we can try and to track the thefts.”

“Tracking sales? Who would have thought of such a thing?” Kyte asks but the others are looking at me too.

“Uhm we do that at home a lot of the time when it comes to stuff that’s evidence or the proceeds of crime.”

Illisia nods. “This makes a lot of sense.”

Kyte’s frowning. “Work for the clerks.”

I look at her. “Home this is part of……of the work of the watch. Not just that but we can get the help of the thieves on this too.”

Kyte’s really looking at me now.

“Look, people steal, either in taxes and fees or they do it the old fashioned ways but it’s part of life and if you grew up dirt poor and the rich only seem to get richer you do what you have to do. Now…we can get them to help us by offering them deals.”

“Deals with thieves and brigands?” A couple of them say.

“Yes, because they know this world. They know the ones stealing and the ones smuggling and they know who is fencing the goods. And some of them don’t want to be in this life and we can help them with that.”

Oh now I’m hitting the whole nobility thing because some just look put off by the idea and me for suggesting it. The soldiers and men at arms aren’t saying anything but Illisia is nodding and Kyte looks thoughtful.

~Beloved?~

Shaya…her mental touch makes things feel better.

~Yes, is everything alright topside? ~

~Yes we’ve taken the surface troops out in the valley and we’re trying to work though the doors. ~

~Bhlaze? ~

~Yes mostly him. ~

She touches me deeper and I sort of see through her eyes Bhlaze in front of this huge drop down steel gate, like one that looks a couple of feet thick just by the look of it and there’s no way that he could budge it or anyone here in the whole force.

Instead he’s blasting it with lighting but with this really short range stream of lightning that’s actually too bright to look at directly like he’s using his lightning as a cutting torch.

I know cool right?

~Oh that’s very cool. ~

~And cool is good right? ~

~Yes, yes it is. ~

~Wren? ~

~Yes Love? ~

~Your idea with the thieves, it has merit we need to talk to father about this…this is why Jaiden took to the streets in part I think or why he stays there still after Lyam was found out.~

~Good…maybe even we can talk to him and use him to get things arranged. ~

~It’d be nice to see him since everything…~

I can feel it she’s missing her twin.

~We will love and hopefully this time he won’t sneak up on my like last time I nearly flattened him. ~

She giggles at the thought and the look she imagines on his face and we share a mental embrace and a kiss.

I look at the others.

“Shaya and the others have the top taken and they’re cutting through the blast door.”

The other’s nod.

Illisia’s calling out. “With most care everyone they’ve taken the top anything or anyone left is now trapped between them and us it might get desperate.”

We finish up there and we find only one large hall that leads from here, now by hall I mean big and like the main promenade of a shopping mall from home and we’re going slowly since this might get ugly all over again.

I can hear voices and sounds of movement as the rangers signal for quiet and we all spread out and move up quietly.

There’s…?

Well it looks like a boat only sort of really thin like it doesn’t have a keel? I’m not sure but the bottom of it’s just slightly rounded and it had two other boats part of it like one of those trimarin boats I think it’s called and I see guns or well turrets of some kind on the thing and there’s people there in armor and sylvan looking clothes loading things and there is a lot of weapons in this crowd.

We’re about the same numbers…
I look at Illisia and whisper. “What’s the plan?’

She’s looking, and looking and looking. “Okay….I’ll cut the mooring power.” She points to what looks like one of those things that you tie a boat to the dock with I don’t see rope so I’m thinking majik.

“Shaya’s almost though I can smell the door cooking. They’ll try and pop the door and let loose with all the guns on the airship to get out of there…so…when I cut the mooring power it’ll drift that when you…”

“Gotcha that’s when I freightline it.”

“Yes but just on the right wing unmoored it’ll send it spinning and create the chaos that we need to launch our attack.”

“Okay…”

She moves a little getting clear and she’s chanting under her breath and holding her holy symbol.

Okay…I take a breath and built up my own power.

I hear then freak out and panic when those mooring things sizzle and pop and the boat starts to bob and move just floating on it’s own and I concentrate and let loose and slam my spell semi into the right side boat-wing thingy and the ship goes spinning in a fast circle in the hall hitting people, cargo falling off, people falling off before it gets wedged nose to tail sideways in the hall.

Then I’m in Final Fantasy meets Star Wars as spells are going up and off and arrows are flying and blasters are opening fire in the dark here from both sides.

Illisia casts some thing and this knights buckler made of energy and golden light with all these glyphs and symbols hit my arm and latches to it.

I pull my sword and fire it up and it does this energy whine as it does like a hawk cry at its prey and I run into the fight taking hits to the mage shield.

I’m not sure why but I yell. “Drop your arms in the name of the King!”