Tamric Drubine sits upon the bottom step of a set of stairs that leads up to the top of the airdock where their airship is docked. Sitting nearby is the heavily armoured pig Piggy, who is unable to climb the stairs to the top of the straight dock.
The nobleborn boy from the kingdom of Sarcrin yawns as he waits while dappled sunlight comes down through the branches of the tall trees that surround the dock, on this cool, but clear winter's day.
Lord Farque has just gone up the stairs a short time ago, and when he passed Tamric and Piggy, the lord and ruler of the lands Farque told the former heir to castle Drubine in the north of the feudal kingdom of Sarcrin to keep waiting where he is.
Tam knows the heavily armoured ruler of the lands Farque could of carried Piggy up to the top of the dock, but there was no way in hell the nobleborn boy was going to ask him to do that. So the son of the former knight of castle Drubine continues to wait, with the large pink pig sitting close by,
Not long afterwards and Piggy stands up, the large heavily armoured pig looks away to their right through the trees and oinks. Tam looks that way too, and he soon sees what the large, pink domesticated pig has spotted. It's Dorc da Orc who is making his way through the trees towards this particular airdock.
"Hey Dorc" says Tamric Drubine in greeting when the large ork walks up to the foot of the stairs, the ork warleader just grunts in return, then looks up at the dock above, then picks up his pet pig Piggy. Though not before Tam notices the ork weaponsmith rubs one of his large meaty hands across his face, and sniffs a few times. For a moment there, the nobleborn boy thinks the large ork is going to cry, Tamric Drubine shakes his head and thinks he's imagining things, as Dorc would never do that.
Dorkindle heads up the stairs while carrying his pet pig Piggy, who he usually tucks under an arm when he's carrying him around. But not this time, for the warleader of the ork race is cradling the heavily armoured pet pig, who weighs well over three hundred pounds, in both arms infront of him, as if he was a mother carrying her child.
Even Piggy is a little confused by this, as he leans his head over the broad right shoulder of the large ork, and looks back at Tam who is following them up the stairs. Not too close though, as the weaponsmith from the wolf tribe of orks fear reeks this morning.
The big, pink, domesticated pig is softly oinking away as he looks back at Tamric Drubine, as if he's asking the nobleborn boy, what's going on? The former heir to castle Drubine in the kingdom of Sarcrin, just shrugs his shoulders as he looks at the large, heavily armoured pet pig, who is watching him.
Fifty feet above the ground, and they're on the dock, Dorc da Orc spots their airship, it's the closest one to this end of the dock, and it's one of only three vessels moored at this particular dock.
"What the fuck they dong here?" asks Dorc da Orc who looks back at the following nobleborn boy after he spots a squad of guards, both royal and from house Aelvilth, who are essentially guarding the single masted airship that the large ork, along with Tamric Drubine, Lisell Maera, Caerik Alsair, Riley Hait the mercenary ranger and Mira Reinholt the mage used to travel from the hills and mountains just across the southern border of Alínlae, to here it's capital, Parlindellè,
"They're just here so that nothing untowards happens, and that we get safely away" says Tam in response to the large ork's question, the ork warleader grunts, then with Piggy still cradled in arms, he heads towards the small, single masted vessel.
"We've still got to wait for Helbe" quietly says the nobleborn boy from the kingdom of Sarcrin "He fucken here" says Dorkindle with a nod of his head at their airship, as he has caught the scent of the young elven noble from the principality of Laerel, along with Narladene the ground pixie onboard the small, singlemasted airship.
"Outta the way cunts" says the warleader of the ork race to some of the guards positioned near the gangplank to the small airship, they part for the large ork, who walks onto the wooden plank to the vessel.
Tamric Drubine waits a moment as the gangplank creaks alarmingly under the combined weight of Dorc da Orc and his pet pig Piggy. Though no more loudly than the creak of every step of the stairs that Dorkindle just went up. The ork weaponsmith and his pet pig make it onto the airship, and the son of the former knight of castle Drubine follows them across the gangplank and onto the small airship.
Once Dorc da Orc, his pet pig Piggy, and Tamric Drubine are onboard, lord Farque has a final word with the squad leader of guards as he stands at the port rail, and the elven squad leader is on the dock. The guard from house Aelvilth farewells the lord and ruler of the lands Farque, who does so in kind, before turning aft and giving the order to Caerik Alsair who is at the wheel, to get underway.
The undead warlord heads below deck to the cabin to have a private word with Helbe the elven thief who is already there, while Tamric Drubine, Liselle Maera, Riley Hait and Mira Reinholt, and the newest member of the group Dalinvardél Tanith, help out the elven crew from a couple of the villages just south of the border, to get the small airship underway, while Dorc da Orc sits on the small foredeck with Piggy straddling his legs, and the large ork just looking away to the south at nothing really.
Soon the lines are brought in, and the airship is away, moving away from the straight dock, and gaining a bit of altitude as Caerik Alsair pulls slightly back on the wheel to clear the tall trees that are in and around the airdocks. They leave the airdocks and the small single masted airship is heading south over the city of Parlindellè.
Away to the east, those onboard, well at least those on deck looking that way, spot a griffon flying their way. After a few moments, those that know it, recognise it as the Aelvilth family griffon Flashstrike, and upon her back is Halvelnín Aelvilth.
The heir to house Aelvilth comes up so that Flashstrike is just fifty yards off the port side, the nobleborn elf lifts an arm in farewell, before he circles away after both the mage Reinholt and Caerik Alsair lift an arm in response.
"I guess they don't know you killed a member of their household earlier this morning" quietly says Mira Reinholt the mage to Riley Hait the mercenary ranger who is standing beside him, the ranger Hair nods his head, but doesn't say anything, as they watch the griffon and it's rider fly away.
The once powerful mage from the city-state of Vexil looks around and sees that Caerik Alsair has got everything in hand, and under control, so he heads to the ladder and goes below deck. The swordmaster Reinholt knocks on the cabin door, and waits a moment, until he hears lord Farque on the otherside of the door say "Enter".
"Anything?" asks the Vexilian mage in exile once he's in the cabin and closed the door behind him, and he looks at the princeling sitting on one of the two chairs in the cabin "Doesn't exactly work like that" says Helbe the elven thief in response to the mage Reinholt's question.
"You mean it hardly works at all" dryly says lord Farque who is seated on the other chair, the spellcaster who was once the most powerful mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands, nods his uncovered head in agreement as he leans back against the closed door.
"It'll happen" says Helbenthril Raendril who pauses for a moment, before he continues with "Eventually" as he knows his power of forethought is highly inconsistent, not to mention erratic, happening when it likes, wherever it likes. Though it is always right, and has proven to be completely accurate when it does work.
"So where are we going then, after we drop the crew off across the border?" asks the spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster, who along with the elven magic user, and Narladene the ground pixie who is on the small table in the cabin, look at lord Farque for an answer.
The undead warlord shrugs his broad, heavily armoured shoulders, then says in answer to the mage Reinholt's question "Wherever" followed by "As i have no idea yet" as he is waiting for what the power of forethought that the elven princeling possesses, tells them who to find next, and where to find them.
Late in the morning, and as the airship is about twenty miles south of the southern outskirts of the city of Parlindellè, lord Farque briefly takes over the helm of the small airship. The lord and ruler of the lands Farque calls out orders to trim the sheets, and luff the main sail, he then dives the small airship down to the trees below, eventually levelling out, flying quickly through the upper canopy of the vast forest that dominates most of the southern region of the principality of Alínlae.
The heavily armoured deathlord moves slightly the airship to port, then dryly mutters "Idiot" and an instant later the top third of a tall tree, which is already swaying from side to side, snaps and breaks away, and a large black shape comes flying through the air from it, over the port rail, to land with a heavy thud on the deck.
As lord Farque pulls back on the wheel, and the airship starts gaining in altitude to get well above the treetops, Dalinvardél Tanith backs up against the starboard rail to get well away from the undead wardog Axe who has just jumped aboard.
"Don't worry, he won't harm you" says Lisell Maera as she passes the elf who was once in service to house Ollinsállé, who is the only one onboard not to encounter Axe before, the orphan girl from the city-state of Brattonbury continues with "Just make sure not to touch him, then he will harm you".
Dalinvardél Tanith just nods his head as he watches the massive animal, that stands six and half foot at the shoulder, and easily weighs over fifteen hundred pounds, follow lord Farque, who has given the helm back to Caerik Alsair, forward to the foredeck.
As Dorc da Orc and his pet pig Piggy shuffle out of the way of Axe, who plops himself down in the middle of the foredeck, lord Farque stands at the bow, looking southwards in the direction they're flying in the clear, late morning winter's air, wondering where they'll go to next.
*Authors Note - Here ends The Princeling. The main storyline will return in Wonderful.
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