Heir To The Nova (Book 3) (30 page)

“Here you go, Hons. Don’t ever say I hogged all the beautiful dark elf girls to myself!”

My last meeting of the day was with Elsa and Darroth. Earlier that morning, Elsa had suggested we open a portal back to the dwarf capital. She reasoned that a large sack of gold coins from Sky Raven’s treasury would go a long way toward relieving our ballista bolt shortage, and she volunteered to broker the exchange. Before leaving, she had gathered up all the demon horns and claws that we had acquired as well, promising to make good use of them.

I found them both at a small table in an empty stable that had been appropriated by Elsa’s boys as an impromptu bar. A huge keg of ale sat propped on its side in the back of a wheelless wagon which doubled as the serving platform and snack bar. As usual, they were hip-to-hip and both nursing a quart tankard of ale. Elsa slammed her hand down on the table and waved me over happily as I walked in.

“Sir Alex, or should I say King Alex now? Come join us; have some ale.”

I waved her off and smiled. “No thanks, Elsa. I have no desire to wake up on a bar bench in my underwear ever again. So what good news do you have for me?”

The blonde dwarf princess grinned and slid a piece of paper toward me across the table. “A receipt, your Kingliness, for three thousand dwarf-crafted, steel-tipped, ten-pound ballistae bolts which have been transported here and turned over to that sharp-tongued Ebony wench; and I have to say even she was speechless for a brief period!”

My mouth dropped open for a few seconds. “Elsa, you are amazing!”

“Aye, that I am, but that’s not all.” She reached under the table and pulled out a crimson-tipped arrow, setting it gently on the tabletop. “I showed those demon horns and claws to a few specialist friends. After a little trial and error, we decided they were more mineral than bone, so we ground them up and sintered the dust mixture into the alloy we make arrowheads out of, and it worked!”

“What worked?”

“In addition to the ballistae bolts, you now have three hundred demon killer arrows to distribute to your human and dark elf archers. I don’t think Ebony was nearly as impressed with the arrows, though. The way her nose curled up in disgust at the sight of them, Helios probably think they stink,” Elsa chuckled. “Now don’t worry, Alex, I saved you a piece.” She reached into her pocket and brought out the sharp tip of the minotaur horn that I had brought back with me from the hell dimension and set it on the table. “My friends recommend you incorporate this into your hammer to increase its effectiveness against demons.”

I looked at it for a few moments, and then pulled my hammer out of its sheath and examined it. The remaining horn piece was almost exactly the same size as the spike on the backside of the hammerhead. I held the horn at the appropriate angle and willed the metal to liquefy and flow around the base of the horn, completely encasing the back half but still leaving the razor sharp tip exposed. I was sweating profusely when I was done, but the change to the weapon was stunning. The white metal had not only flowed around the demon horn but somehow also purified it, turning it into a substance that resembled cut crystalline diamond. It no longer seemed to radiate evil, but it was definitely still badass.

“One more, small thing,” Elsa crooned. “I had a few minutes so I stopped by and checked in with my brother. You know, just to let him know I was still alive and what was going on at Sky Raven. He became quite agitated when I told him about the Kerr. He was also fairly insulted that you didn’t come to him for help. I explained that you had a lot on your mind, what with the wings and everything and having to keep a full contingent of dark elves out of trouble.”

“Ok, this story is leading to something…what?” I said impatiently.

“Patience, you don’t rush a dwarf when they’re storytelling,” she counseled easily, wagging a finger at me. “Well, my brother, the King’s next question was exactly how many dark elves did Faeron send to defend Sky Raven? And I told him there were a few less than seventy here.”

“So?”

Elsa sighed and shook her head sadly. “Alex, you’re a fine lad and all, but you have no ale in your blood or music in your soul. Fine then, the King sent seventy axe warriors, all volunteers, back with me. Plus five master smiths to work with Darroth for good measure. He commands that we win the battle, however, so that he can rub it into the dark elves faces that we dwarves provided the greater service!”

Later that night, Maya and I had just started to relax for the first time in days, in chairs in our room. I had barely enough time to sigh blissfully before Dawn and Dusk opened the door and stood before us.

“We’re sorry about this, we know you both just got a break, but you’re needed at the main gate.”

Maya moaned. “There had better be a friendly army on our doorstep,” she said sleepily.

“Close,” said Dawn. “It’s Lady Belrothe and her people…all of her people. She is requesting to speak with you immediately.”

We glanced at each other with surprise. Bel hasn’t exactly been one for open visits like this, usually she comes directly to us. But now that I think about it, the fortress might make that hazardous to her health. Reluctantly, I levered myself out of my overly comfortable chair. Maya had her arms out, pleading for me to help her up. The twins led us down the stairs once again; I was starting to question which idiot decided that the royal chambers needed to be in the highest bloody tower on the planet.

When we arrived at the central court, several of Ebony’s guards along with Higs and a full squad carrying torches and glow orbs, were already there to meet us.

“There are a large number of farmers and villagers outside. It appears they’ve come to stay too; clothes, dogs, goats, and kids, lots of kids,” Higs reported. “It looks like they are being escorted by Segmun’s outriders and a small number of hooded warriors in light chainmail.”

“Sounds like Bel’s people all right,” Maya whispered. “What are they doing here in the middle of the night?”

I shook my head. “They must have the undead hard on their heels to make that long a trek in the dark. Ebony, do we have any of the barracks areas able to receive that many people?”

“Yes, my King. We’ve had to do some shuffling around to keep the dwarves and the dark elves as far apart as possible, but I believe Barracks Five is available. It’s a little dusty but at least furnished and fully operational.”

“Thank you, Ebony. Captain Higs, I’d like you to take charge of ushering the villagers inside and to their quarters. These are simple farm folk.”

“Simple farm folk who live with vampires,” Nia interrupted from her perch on my shoulder.

“As I was saying; they may be a little leery of the Helios until they get to know them. Wake people up if you need to; our new guests are probably hungry, and a few of them might even need healer attention. Please see that they get what they need.”

“Yes Sir.” The captain saluted smartly and started issuing orders to several troopers who ran off in various directions.

I took my dark elf’s arm and we started walking through the series of raised portcullis that protected the main door, which began to swing open. A group of four Helios slipped past us in order to go out first, with a like number and Ebony following behind. Once outside, we were struck by the wall of noise that a large unhappy group is capable of making; bleating goats, crying children, and barking dogs all vying for attention.

As Higs reported, there were several hundred people milling about between the bridge and the walls. Bel’s people looked tired and scared. Their faces reminded me of what we all looked like that first day after losing Xarparion.

I nodded back at Higs and his men standing at the entrance, and they immediately started trotting out with glow orbs in hand to direct the leading elements into the courtyard. We walked a short distance out and away from the looming walls, which still emitted an eerie white glow even in pitch blackness. The Helios warriors formed a protective cocoon around us, swords drawn and at the ready.

Bel dismounted effortlessly, leaving her horse’s reins on the ground; all of the rest of her guard force hung back. As she approached, our guards instinctively put themselves between us and her. “First dragons and now this; you never cease to amaze me, young ones,” she said, pausing to eye the golden warriors. “These new protectors of yours are very interesting. Even from here, I know what those swords would do to a master vampire such as myself.” I smiled slightly, realizing that Belrothe was fishing for a reaction from Ebony and her girls; and much to the Helios credit, none of them even flinched at the information.

“Still up to your old tricks, eh, Lady Belrothe?” said Ebony.

Bel’s face lit up in recognition. “Guardswoman Ebony? Well, isn’t this a surprise! It seems you’ve seen the light and joined the ranks of the undead as well.”

“I’ve seen the light, it is true; but not undead. However, that’s a story for another time,” Ebony retorted.

“Indeed.” Bel came closer to us, but the guardswomen didn’t budge. Maya nodded and gestured for them to fall back.

“It’s alright, Ebony. Lady Hornalde is a friend and business partner, we have nothing to fear from her or her people.”

“Thank you. Queen Maya and King Alex, may I approach so that we may speak freely?”

“Certainly, Lady,” I said, my interest piqued. She stepped forward and withdrew a large parcel of scrolls from her hooded robe.

“You are no doubt wondering about all this,” she said, indicating the procession moving into the fortress with a wave of her elegant hand. “Well, I come bearing gifts. The first…” She lifted her hand toward a large freight wagon pulled by four draft horses at the middle of the procession. The farm folk who were driving it stood up in the seats and threw back a large tarp revealing baskets of greenery. “This is as much healing herbs and poultice roots as my people could harvest on short notice. It should be enough to help out greatly in your upcoming battle.”

She paused and handed me the parcel of scrolls, a little tremor showing in her hands. “The second gift is this.” I opened the scrolls, and even though it was dark, I could read it plainly with my mage sight. Most of the back sheets were supporting documents for the top writ, which garnered most of my attention.

“Lady, this deeds all of the Hornalde lands to the King of Sky Raven Fortress! Like all of it…?”

“Indeed, King Alex, it does; from the human settlement at the outflow of Dashern Lake, to the primordial dark forests to the far south, up to the border of the dark elf lands to the southeast and the dwarf lands to the northeast, including the abandoned seaport and, of course, the valley holding our farm communities. Even the lowlands behind your mountain for ten leagues or more are included. Maya, I believe it would take even one of your ‘handmaidens’ the better part of a full day to fly its full circumference.”

“This is a huge parcel of land; how did you acquire it all?”

She smiled a toothy grin. “Let’s just say when the last of the human landowners in the area were on the verge of leaving in the face of the swarms of undead, they were more than happy to trade their worthless-to-them holdings for gold. We vampires tend to look at investments in the long term. It’s all legal, including the boundary signoffs by the Kings of the dark elves and dwarves at the time.”

“But I thought the dwarves built the seaport?”

“Oh, they very much did; but they were commissioned and paid to build it by the human rulers of the time. The dwarves never owned the actual port, but now you do.”

“But why, Bel? Why are you giving it to us?” Maya interjected.

“Because she can no longer hold the territory through force of arms,” Ebony muttered under her breath.

The old vampire swiveled her blonde head, her hearing as acute as ever. “Indeed, Ebony, perceptive as always.” Then she turned back to look at Maya and me. “However, it is not the only reason, nor even the primary one. King Alex, in the days of old, most of which I remember fondly, it was the Lord of the land’s sacred duty to protect his vassals in times of duress.” Bel nodded at the trail of villagers passing through the gate. “Even inviting them into their own castle for protection when war ravaged the land.”

I nodded, this was basic history taught even at Foalshead. “Bel, we’re friends. I would have offered your people shelter without all this.”

Belrothe reached up and ran an affectionate hand along Maya’s face. “You look so much like your mother, you know.” Turning back to me, she smiled. “I know you would never have considered turning my people away, Alex; you have a good and pure heart, both of you. But the fact is, Ebony is correct; the Lich has decimated my vampire liegemen and slaughtered all of my living descendants, save for Segmun, who has neither the desire nor the aptitude to manage an estate. He will happily play dashing cavalry commander until the day it kills him. So you can see, the proud Hornalde line is at an end, and we no longer have use for these lands.”

She stopped and paused, looking around as if taking it all in for the last time. “But when the Lifebane is defeated and normality returns to this region, Sky Raven will need a substantial territory to supply it, and coin from trade to support it. For the sake of my people, I would rather see a wise, benevolent ruler assume leadership than have the lands that I love lapse into petty land grabs, war, and chaos.”

Maya took my arm and clung to it in concern, speaking out shakily, “Bel, you’re talking like you aren’t going to be here.”