Emerilia Box Set, page 125
part #1 of Emerilia Series
They’d sent forces to the city Cliff-Hill, where Stone Raiders trained with the Elves and Dwarves of the area.
They had been found and killed well before entering the cities.
Still, Hevard and the rest of the guild were driven to destroy the Stone Raiders.
Their best opportunity yet was the traders’ guild that seemed to be trading with the Stone Raiders. No one knew how they would be able to get the goods to the Stone Raiders. From overheard conversations, it seemed that the traders didn’t know where the guild was either.
Their leaders have to know where the Stone Raiders are. They might be hiding in some odd cave, but there has to be signs up here. No one can live without supplies.
“We’ll just have to pull the information from the traders.” Hevard smiled to himself, making plans to meet with others at Zol’sou, the closest teleport pad to the Zolu Mountain that was in the path of the Exdar’s Traders.
He wasn’t going to let his guildmates have all the fun.
Chapter 35: At Devil’s Crater
Malsour looked around as he stepped out into a dark cave. Anna followed behind him, a blade over her shoulder.
Malsour looked back and waved to the rest of their party before the event horizon closed.
“Well, this is going to take some time,” Anna said as they stepped out into the cave. There were runes that hid the cave away from outsider’s eyes as they walked through the area. Anna pulled on heavier layers of clothing as Malsour walked ahead.
“We’re only a few hundred miles from Devil’s Crater,” Malsour said.
“Yeah, going to be a pain in the ass to walk that far,” Anna complained.
“The Players are wearing off on you.” Malsour smiled as she hurried to catch up with him.
“Meh, they’re not that bad.” Anna touched the bottom of her blade.
“I’m guessing that Dave’s gift is well received?” Malsour cast a glance at the hilt that protruded over her shoulder.
“It’s something else, all right. With enough time and Mana infusion, it’s going to be one scary weapon.” Anna tapped Maldar affectionately. The name meant singing blade in Jukal.
Malsour shook his head as he stepped through what looked like a silver ringed area, exiting the cave system and appearing out onto a rough cliff-face. Stairs were cut into it, leading down toward the ground below. Malsour felt the change take hold as he stretched out into his true form.
“Well, let’s get moving.” Malsour’s voice boomed as Anna grinned and jumped up onto his back.
He rose off the cliff with powerful wing-beats, heading for Devil’s Crater.
Anna squealed in joy. Not what you would expect from a hardened blade mistress.
Malsour grinned as he put on more power, increasing their forward momentum.
Three hundred miles, bah!
***
“Come on you bunch of ingrates! I thought you said you were soldiers! Get your asses moving!” Kala barked as she moved around the marching formation, berating those that were marching, all of her officers and Sergeants were doing the same, ‘motivating’ their people.
Kala kept an eye out for the Demon Lords.
At first they had said that they didn’t require training, they were the strongest, there was no need for them to do as those under them did.
Kala disagreed saying that she didn’t believe that they were the best. Their pride was their hot button. As soon as she had targeted it they had boasted their skills and bet against one another that they wouldn’t be able to complete the training.
Kala let out a satisfied grunt. Having the Demon Lords there showed that they were the same as the rest of the soldiers.
It showed that the training was important and everyone pushed themselves harder.
That said, Kala and her officers had all quietly held conversations with all of their people, talking to them.
Before the only place of honor had been within the fighting forces. Now they were trying to show that they needed a large group of people that could do things other than just fight.
It had been slow at first but more and more people had dropped out of training and the army to pursue jobs and trades that they were interested in. Most of them had crossed over to the Beast Kin stronghold to learn there.
There was still a long way to go but Kala was determined. Once the Demons got past their differences and actually worked with the Beast Kin then it was possible to see a future with the two races working together.
Love a challenge.
“There’s no room for weakness here! Keep in your formations and in step!” She yelled out, moving through the marching formations.
A few hundred had already ‘graduated’ to Devil’s Crater. Kala didn’t slack her standards and kept training those left in her command.
The strongest metals were made in the hottest fires.
***
Alkao rubbed his eyes. He and the warriors at his disposal had worked themselves to exhaustion, first checking the seven fortresses, various caves, and the farming plots within the crater.
The carcasses and hides they had strung up showed the resistance they had run into on their travels. Four of the demons were badly wounded.
It was now that Alkao didn’t have troops and resources to throw at the problem that he was learning how something as simple as knowing a healing spell could do wonders.
Krenua had asked to put them out of their misery. Alkao had forbidden it, saying that their allies might have a way to save them. They did not have the lives to waste.
Krenua agreed but his mind was still used to the old ways. A Demon who couldn’t fight was useless.
Alkao was going to have to change that way of thinking.
Alkao was thinking about turning in for the night when a presence made his very bones quake in fear. Its aura was as if a Dragon stalked them, interested but ready to strike in a moment, with barely veiled strength.
Alkao turned his head toward the windows, but saw nothing. For a few minutes, there was nothing but the silence of night, the warmth fleeting as the moons and stars hung overhead.
“Hey! Alkao, get your scrawny Demon ass out here!” a familiar voice said. Alkao’s eyes latched onto the two people walking across his keep.
Two Demons swept in from above, their weapons drawn. They slammed into a black shield, rolling back, dazed.
“I told you we should have knocked,” a male voice said.
Alkao stepped out of the keep, one hand on the hilt of his sword as he glided down to meet his two new visitors. With his night vision, it was easy to recognize Anna and Malsour.
“How did you get here so quickly?” Alkao asked.
The two Demons who had dove into a Mana barrier spread to either side of Alkao, ready to step in at a moment’s notice, their hands already on their blades.
“We took a few shortcuts, though we don’t have much time to chitchat,” Anna said.
“You mind if I fix this up a bit?” Malsour pointed to the keep.
“Sure.” Alkao’s confusion turned to astonishment as the ground around the keep changed. Rock and materials seemed to sprout out of the ground; different creatures of shadow pulled apart the old ruins as new parts of the structure seemed to grow into place.
In five minutes, it looked better than all the work Alkao had done over weeks.
“Malsour is pretty good at making things. This is for you.” Anna put her bag on the ground and pulled out pieces. First there were triangular pieces that formed a circle.
“That’s a drop pad. It will allow us to send materials here that you could use, like food and such,” Anna said.
“I was told that there would only be one person,” Alkao said as more of the Demons flew free of the keep as it moved under Malsour’s work. The walls stopped being brick and started to have an almost polished look to it.
“Ah, well, I have a few things that I need to talk to you about,” Anna said.
Alkao turned to Anna, giving her his full attention at her serious tone.
“My people’s home was destroyed and like your own Demons, they were held by my father so that they wouldn’t be wiped out by the forces against them. Now, they are looking to return to Emerilia. My father suggested that it might be an idea if our two races work together.” Anna stiffened up, her eyes looking over Alkao and inspecting him.
“What do you want?” Alkao asked.
“My people bring with them skills that you and yours never learned—well, few of you learned what would allow you to thrive as a race. We would need a plot of land within Devil’s Crater and to make certain agreements for trade, mutual defense, and so on,” Anna said.
Alkao would have dismissed her out of hand before he had trekked across Emerilia to his home. Now, he knew how useful different resources could be. Manpower was good, but trained manpower was dozens of times better.
“What kind of skills?”
“Basic field craft, the ability to scavenge for food on the move. To hunt better, hidden fighting techniques that do not rely on sheer brute strength. Medical knowledge of different plants, and so on.” Anna waved her hand dismissively.
“I have many more questions, but the one that comes to mind first is if you could heal some of my people?” Alkao said.
“Show me,” Anna said.
Alkao led her through the keep that looked more and more like his home. Broken stairs were replaced. Walls covered the night sky.
Neither of them needed the torches that would have rested in the walls as they walked up to where the Demons had been resting. Four were wounded; one whimpered, clearly in pain, unable to sleep through it all.
“What the hell have you been doing up here?” Anna growled, brushing past Alkao and moving to the injured Demon. She pulled out herbs and different items, pulling on the Demon’s leg that had been opened and smelled something fierce. She drew a dagger and looked at Alkao. “Hold him down. This is going to hurt.” A small Fire danced between her fingers and along the blade of her knife as she pulled out a collection of herbs and held it to the creature.
She spoke in guttural Abyssal. “Chew this.”
The Demon clamped their mouth down defiantly, its eyes red with infection, but still he didn’t accept her aid.
“Do it,” Alkao said in Abyssal.
The Demon opened their mouth.
Anna shoved the herbs in as the Demon chewed, relaxing slightly. Anna positioned herself over the leg wound, looking at it in all its pus-filled glory.
“This is going to suck.” Her blade moved quickly, opening up the wound once again as she started to clear it out. The Demon bucked and fought their grasp, the herbs not enough to blunt the full pain. Anna’s hand was like a vise, keeping his leg from moving.
Alkao had trouble keeping the Demon’s upper body from jerking. He was impressed by her strength as she worked, unaffected by the Demon’s attempt to free itself.
It finally passed out, to Alkao’s relief.
Anna continued to clear out the wound that had festered. “Burn this.” She pointed to what she’d removed.
Alkao did so as she cleaned her knife and went to work once again. Alkao watched in interest.
“What happened was that the wound was not cleaned properly after it happened; outside crap got into it and turned into rot. That rot destroyed the surrounding parts of the leg, turning it into pus. Eventually, this crap would have leaked into his system and his body would have shut down. Now, I’m cleaning all of the bad crap out. Then, we can start from the beginning,” Anna said, noticing that she had a willing audience.
Alkao watched as she cleared out the wound.
“Now, we take Gor-root, Night’s Balm, and Wolf’s Feather.” She held each herb and put it into a bowl. “They’ve been dried out so that they are more potent and they last longer. We throw in some water and grind it all up.”
“What is with the herbs?”
“Together they will numb, help with healing, and make sure that infection will not take hold again.” Anna put the paste along the three lines in the demon’s leg. “Now, we put it back together. This poultice is fine with being in the wound, as a person’s nanites will break this down and use it for growth.”
“Nanites?” Alkao repeated the foreign word.
“A mix of your Mana and Endurance,” Anna said quickly, pulling out a needle and thread. “Now, we need to put him back together.” With quick and precise movements, she closed the wounds with her needle and thread.
“Could you not use one of those healing potions?” Alkao asked.
“I could have, but it is best to use them when in a life-or-death situation. He’ll be fine and with just that little bit of work, he should be okay in a few days. You Demons heal fast.” Anna moved to the others who had woken to their fellow’s bucking and screaming. “Okay, what injuries do we have here? Cuts, broken bones? That shoulder is definitely out of place. What the hell were you lot doing!”
The Demons looked up at her with defiance, trying to not show their injuries or weaknesses.
“That’s how you want to play it, fine—scream when something hurts,” Anna said with a truly scary smile as she leaned down. The Demon made to push her back and escape. Anna held the Demon’s arm and pinned him to the floor with it.
Strong, ruthless, and resourceful, Alkao thought. If she can put these four, who we would have killed before, back to their full duties in just a short while, then our hordes could pull veteran fighters back from the battlefield. No more mercy killings unless necessary. It would be like the angels, who could suffer a great many wounded but unless you killed them they would once again return to the battlefield.
“Alkao, you want to give them an order or something? This shit is pretty annoying.” Anna sounded as though she would start to add to their injuries if they would not stop resisting her.
“Stop moving around and stay still. A little pain grows a Demon. With her ministrations, you will once again fight by my side. Do not think of your deaths to rid us of your burden.” Alkao looked at them all.
They bowed their heads under his gaze.
“Now, tell me where it hurts,” Anna said. Her patients pointed to different areas where they had wounds.
Anna showed Alkao different kind of poultices, how to clean and seal wounds, break and set bones and put joints back into place. It did not look like fun, but Alkao could see its immediate usefulness.
He only had twenty Demons and getting them back into their peak condition without having to mercy kill them was a valuable resource indeed.
***
Krenua watched in awe as Malsour put Alkao’s keep back together. The patchwork of stones was covered in ebony.
“Is that material not rare?” Krenua asked as the ebony started to move over the walls as if it were a living thing.
“It is, but I don’t think that one should ever waste expenses on their home. Provides security should someone try to attack them—or steal their books.”
Krenua was pretty sure that Malsour was trying to keep that last part to himself, as he’d mumbled it.
“Also with the metal, unlike stone, you can enchant it, though that takes a lot of time. If my friend Dave was here, then he could do it, though he is busy with another project.”
“Enchant the walls?” Krenua had heard of enchanted weapons; he had never wielded one, too busy with fighting to go on raids and other adventures that might gift him a blade with magical properties.
“Yes, the mages of Per’ush do it. The Dwarven mountain Aldamire has it as well, but even their runes are not that strong as the mountain is so large.”
Krenua shook his head, thinking of the kind of defenses that they would have. People I would not like to fight without heavy help.
“Now, what do you want to focus on: wood, metal, or food?” Malsour asked.
“Huh?” Krenua asked, caught off guard.
“Well, right now you have no need for more troops, but you need mines to get materials to forge into weapons—that armor is pretty crap. You’re going to need more than just meat and the meat and furs you do have, you could sell for five times its weight in other less rare animals. You’re going to need wood for shields, bows, as well as building houses yourselves. I can’t simply make all your homes all the time,” Malsour said.
“Food and then wood,” Krenua said. Having the Hordes around would just make more mouths to feed; having their villagers and the Demons who didn’t want to fight would increase production and the speed at which they could bring more people over to return Devil’s Crater to its former glory.
“Good choices,” Malsour said. A shadow appeared under his feet as he descended toward the valley. Behind him, a one cart-wide path of stone appeared.
Krenua flapped his wings, following Malsour. “Why are you doing this?” Krenua asked.
“A war is coming, with many creatures that were banished from Emerilia for good reason. Few of the races on Emerilia are ready or capable of fighting that threat. You are one of them. Like your people, my own race was sealed away. While it was easy for us to adapt back to Emerilia, it will be much harder for you. We had to sit by and watch the Demon and Angel armies as they fought. We watched as the Angels spread their fanaticism across Emerilia.” Malsour’s eyes found Krenua’s, his eyes black with purple flickers in their depths, reminding Krenua of a Demon who had given itself to its bloodlust, or their mages when casting.
“I wish to give the Demons a chance, a real chance, at living and see how you act. This time, we will not watch from the sidelines if you choose to try to conquer Emerilia. This is our planet, too, and we will keep the balance, with force or diplomacy.”
“Hope for the best, plan for the worst,” Krenua said approvingly.
“Quite.” Malsour was quiet for a long time before he looked over Krenua, studying him as they carved a path into the crater. “Have you ever been interested in the Lady of Fire’s teachings?”
“I bow my head to no lord or lady,” Krenua spat.
“Oh, she is no lady—regal, powerful, and as weak as any of us mortals, though she does not care for your platitude, your words and devotions. She is the creator of the mage’s guild and colleges. Her Fire might be portrayed as the one of destruction, but she used it to light a fire inside the minds of thousands. Her Fire is the one of knowledge, the ever-burning need to learn, to sate one’s curiosity,” Malsour said, with true respect in his voice.
