Throne room, Shrike Empire

“My lord!” A messenger cried as he hurried past throngs of nobles. The gently milling crowds immediately parted for him, as none were willing to play political games at this point. Not until everyone had a better grasp of the situation at hand. They were destined to be disappointed, as a wave of the Emperor’s hand generated a sound barrier around himself and the messenger.

“Report.” He ordered as the messenger kneeled.

“Sire. Our preliminary reports seem to confirm what our dwarven allies have said in their last missive. We managed to recall nearly 70% of the logging companies at the Southern Forests, and have lost contact with the rest. We have already confirmed that all companies have been operating within the bounds of the treaty with the elves. All unwalled towns have been abandoned, and our five reinforced forts are now what we are considering the frontlines.”

“Excellent. The logging companies?”

“All civilian personnel save a skeleton crew has been recalled, and the companies have stressed that all that remains are those who can perform support tasks and are without immediate families.” Before the Emperor could respond, there was a small disturbance on the barrier. Glaring to see who dared, his temper immediately calmed as he saw his Knight Captain standing there in a salute.

“Very well. No messages at the moment, but maintain at least three members of your guild outside the throne room for emergencies.” With a casual wave, the soundless curtain parted to admit the Captain.

“Sire.” He said, immediately kneeling.

“Report.” The Emperor ordered, reinstating the barrier as the messenger left.

“Sire. Baron Tembly reports several skirmishing contacts, though mostly with scouting parties of elves. Per your orders, none of his men have come within a quarter mile of the Southern Forests.”

“Any losses?”

“Minor injuries only. It seems that his new mounted archer program is bearing fruit. The elves aren’t fast enough to keep the horses within range of a volley, and the Baron’s forces are able to split up to flank the enemy at will. They are calling the effort ‘hit and run,’ and there doesn’t seem to be much of a counter. Either the enemy withdraws back to their forest, or they give chase and are exhausted before being slaughtered. There were a few captives taken at the beginning, however that practice was discontinued after the third one destroyed themselves.”

“How are they destroying themselves? Were they not in mana binding shackles?”

“Indeed sire. It seems the scout parties have an unusual defense. Each scout is implanted with a crystal. If the scout’s personal mana doesn’t constantly flow through it, the crystal will start to slowly overcharge with ambient mana until it explodes.”

“I see. I’ll send a missive to the Mage’s College, see if they can come up with countermeasures. What are Tembly’s forces like?”

The Captain sighed, answering, “Roughly four squads worth of those mounted archers, the rest are light infantry conscripts. He can easily hold against the scouting charges, but a concentrated assault will easily overwhelm him.”

“I see. Send three companies of cavalry, one to each of the outer forts and one to the central one. They can be a quick response force that will bolster his archers. Levy a light company of archers and mages and heavy infantry from each of the nobility. Dukes will provide the infantry, counts the archers, mages to be spread from every noble. Spread the forces evenly among the forts. I assume Tembly’s seat is set back from the front lines?”

“It is sire.”

“Perfect. You will assume command of two companies of royal knights and one of the royal mages. I expect fairly regular updates, but the overall command is yours. Hold the line, General.”

“Thank you, Sire!” The newly promoted officer said before saluting and spinning around to put plans in place.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lodrano’s POV

I walked quietly through the church, nodding at the few people who acknowledged me. I felt bad, having not been able to concentrate enough to do much recently, but hopefully this meeting would fix that. Entering my rooms, I saw someone sitting by my desk. “Erlion.” I nodded as the door shut.

“Lodrano.” He nodded back. “Lookin’ a little rough around the edges. You haven’t been taking the weight of the world’s problems on your shoulders again, have you?”

I shrugged, heading over to get a glass from my private collection. “Drink?”

“I’m good. Got some good news, and some bad news.”

“Hit me with the good first,” I sighed, pouring myself two fingers and taking a sip.

“Sure. The Shrike forces seem to have taken our warning in hand. They lost a few, but have a new bit of a weapon that seems to have the elves stymied. Archers riding on horses. Perfect little groups for raiding, but they don’t have near the numbers to hold when the elves really start to press. My sources show that the elves are a little miffed. They were hoping to get quite a few of the humans as slaves. Instead they are losing some of the weaker scouting groups.”

“Well, at least they are taking it seriously. And the bad news?”

“Their main army will be ready to march within a month. They’ve been stockpiling mana stones for a while. In all honesty, they will probably try and grow the Southern Forest until they have the advantage and can overwhelm the border forts. Once that happens, they can launch strategic raids through the human lands.”

“Damn. Options?”

“Not many. As you know, the Oracles are basically cut off at the moment, so that is out. We can’t risk too much contact with the church of Shalora. She would be great for countering their forest growth spell. Without her, we are pretty limited. Most effective would be a Death Node Array.”

“I’ll never allow that.” I immediately said, slamming down my drink. “That would leave the land surrounding devastated, and there’s always the chance that it would piggyback through the forest growth spell and infect the Southern Forest. It’s far too risky.”

“Easy there, I just said it was going to be the most effective. Taking out the forest would negate the elves’ greatest strength, but I knew you wouldn’t go for it. We could do the occasional mana draining stone, but they have more than enough to overwhelm whatever we put together. Best plan is providing several chasm arrays as traps. In addition, we do have plenty of stockpiles of supplies. I think we are unfortunately going to have to resign ourselves to spies and support in this war.”

I sat there for a moment, digesting what Erlion had said. “Sad to say, but you are right. Our first priority should be sending out supplies to counter the poisons the elves’ like to use. After that, keep in touch with the humans and see what we can do.” I stopped and stared at the ceiling for a moment, hating what I had to ask next. “Erlion. I know things are going to be bad, and that getting your spies in takes years of effort. I don’t want you to think I am asking this lightly, but. Is there any chance of subtle sabotage from your agents? Without putting themselves at risk if at all possible.”

He sat there for a moment, staring off into space. I didn’t dare rush him. “I know you wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. Maybe I will take you up on that drink brother. Go ahead and pour two spares. One for those we are sending to their deaths, that they may forgive us. And one for the innocents, the worst casualties of war.”

“Amen.” I nodded, pouring out the liquor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Duerse’s POV, Elven war room

I watched as Adder sauntered into the war room. Several nobles still resented my rule, but they wouldn’t dare openly oppose me. Instead they caused pitiful delays, bringing up bureaucratic nonsense and cast disdainful looks at those non-elves who help me.

“Adder. I do hope you have some good news?”

“Indeed my lord. The humans have completely pulled back from the Sacred Forest, and though our forces weren’t able to capture as many slaves, we still did manage to get some. They think their walls will save them, and have pulled back. The only thing we are having issues with is some new mobile force. They have archers mounted on horses that have a peculiar fighting style. We will need to avoid them on the open plains, and will instead need to fight while limiting their mobility.”

“I see. Keep our losses minimal. Is everything ready for our major push?” I asked the nobles gathered.

One of the rebellious ones, Loric, answered, “Almost, my Lord. While we have plenty of supplies, we lack the carts required to maintain our supply lines. We were hoping to conscript more from the human, slaves, we recently acquired. However, the majority of them pulled out of the forest before we could claim them.” He explained, only giving a slight sneer at the word slave.

“No matter. Put a quarter of our mage core toward growing enough carts to fill our needs. I want to be moving out within two weeks, understood?”

“YES SIRE!”

“Good. Adder, remain. The rest of you leave us.” I locked eyes with Adder as the rest of the sycophants scurried about their lives, grinning when we were finally alone. She prowled her way toward my chair, straddling me as she seductively flipped her hair over one shoulder.

“And what would you have of me, my lord?” She whispered in my ear, gently nibbling the edge.

I hissed and shuddered in pleasure, running my hands up her thighs. “Easy my dear. Now that the idiots are gone, I do need a bit of business to get done before pleasure. What is really going on?”

“Fair enough.” She whispered, flicking her tongue into my ear for a flash. “The dwarves are meddling, but they lack the forces to provide outright aid. After the assault the humans led, those demons in the port city are unlikely to even ferry troops across the river to help should the humans even ask for their help. The Oracle’s Temple is isolated and effectively neutered. Our new religion is rising rapidly, especially among the commoners. They just love that whole raise yourself through hard work bullshit. We’ve got a ways to go, but eventually we can pit them against each other.”

“Ah, most excellent news my dear. Now, tell me how you plan to disrupt those humans?”

“You knew?” She pouted.

“You wouldn’t be you without a plan.” I answered.

“Hmmm, true. I have my little adders out, infiltrating. As soon as we make our pursh, they will try and take out the majority of the nobility. The king was a fool to let the nobles gain so much power. Once they fall, there will be nobody to pick up the pieces as the king can’t command their personal armies.”

“Oh? Something tells me that your plans aren’t that simple.”

“Of course not dear. Some will lose sons, while those close allies of the king will lose patriarchs and matriarchs. It will be politics as normal, as there are several different trails pointing fingers in every direction. Well, maybe it will be slightly more bloody.” She grinned, leaning in. “Does that please you, my lord?”

“Oh, most definitely.” I replied, leaning in to drop a few kisses on her neck. A gentle nibble on her earlobe before I whispered, “What would truly please me, would be to see your tongue skills once again. Paying proper deference to your lord, from your knees of course.”

“It would be my pleasure, my lord.” She said, sliding down my body as her fingers nimbly undid my pants.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sean’s POV

“In the flesh! So to speak.” He said, holding up an arm that now ended in a jagged blade.

“So this is the Quicksilver demon evolution? That is AWESOME!” I shouted, running my mana senses around the blade.

“Hey, quit that! It tickles.” He said laughing as a quick swipe of his blade severed the mana cloud I had around it before devouring the free mana. “Oooh, I didn’t know I could do that!”

“Did? Did you just steal a bit of my mana?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“I think I did! This is even better than I thought!” He said while cackling.

“Hold up.” Elendria said, holding out a hand. “Quicksilver demons, though powerful, can’t do that. And they don’t have different swirls of crystallized mana in their arms. Just what evolution did you get?”

He grinned and explained, “Damn but she’s a sharp one! Everyone remember that elemental turtle we killed a while back? Well I had a good bit of equipment from it in my inventory when I went to evolve. I was offered the option to take a variant evolution. I would be more powerful, but all the equipment I had would be devoured and used in my evolution. I gladly took it, and now I’m technically an Arcane quicksilver demon. I can use these veins to channel some of the magic sent against me into the ground, neutralizing it, or even back at the caster if I get skilled enough. Plus my resistances took a decent boost, though I am still a bit vulnerable to electricity.”

“That’s fantastic!” I said, slapping him on the back. “But I’m confused. Is that a common occurrence?”

“What, the gear thing? No. It’s honestly pretty rare. I was surprised as hell, and just happened to forget to take it out of my storage ring. So, I see you are having some fun blowing shit up out here, but I have to wonder why?”

“Eh, I need a finishing move for bigger monsters.” I shrugged. “That, and Elendria wanted, no. Needed some time with her summons. We are going to try and re-establish their contracts after she evolves.”

“I see. So, you going to blow the monsters up? That isn’t always the most effective. You should make one of those blades that can cut anything. If a monster ain’t got a head no more, then it ain’t alive no more.” He chuckled.

“A valid point.” I nodded, “But. First, I don’t think there is a blade that can cut anything. And if I make a blade sharp enough to cut what I know of, well. I would be obliterated along with the majority of the surroundings. No, I’m going with the set off an explosion inside of the monster. That does a lot more damage than an explosion on the outside, but I will give some thought to your theory.”

“Fair enough man, fair enough. Tell ya what, let’s go get a beer now to celebrate, and while Elendria is doing her thing I can show you the wonderful world of blades and how to remove body parts from enemies.”

“Sounds like a plan. You in, Elendria?” I asked, only to see her playing around with her summons. “Head on over to the inn, I’ll meet you there. I’ve got a few things to finish up here with her summons, and then I’ll head over. She’ll probably spend the rest of the afternoon here.”

‘Sounds like a plan, boss man!” He said, chuckling as he took off while I headed over to Elendria’s side.

“Hey hun, do you mind if I leave the tracking marks on your friends here and head on out to celebrate with D’Vaen?” I asked, absentmindedly scratching her wolf at the base of his jaw, chuckling as his tongue rolled out the side of his mouth.

“That’s fine. Just don’t get too drunk, I want to spend some quality time with you tonight. Until then, I’m going to have some fun here.” She said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks.” I said, buckling down to get some work done with the summoned creatures before I headed back for some relaxation.