Mercenary Tales 43.

Girdane/Vexil. 

"It's no use having the whole army, or what's left of it, crossing back into Vexil" says Marqand the mercenary captain, who follows that with "Especially if they find that town we based ourselves out of". 

Next to the mercenary captain, the young field commander Tamric Drubine who is posing as a mercenary himself, nods in agreement with Marqand. 

While the Geist cousins Gamil and Farsen, along with the other mercenary captains, those who survived the attack upon their army, listen on. 

"Which I'm pretty certain they will" continues Marqand, who was in command of the only column of the mercenary army that didn't come under attack from the Vexilian forces that caught them in the forested hill country of northern Vexil. 

"Best if we sent over a small party to see what's happening" adds captain Marqand, who follows that with "At least they can pass themselves off as travelers if they're stopped by the Vexilian army or aircorp". 

Both Geist cousins, Gamil and Farsen slightly nod to that, and do so again when Marqand says "That's if you intend to carry out what you've planned?". 

"We do" says Gamil Geist who is the older of the two cousins who have gathered a mercenary army. 

"Though with a couple of changes" continues the older cousin, who is still surprised, two days after the attack in northern Vexil, that he and his cousin Farsen, and most of the column they were part of, survived what took place across the border in his homeland of Vexil. 

Captain Marqand nods, then after gesturing at field commander Drubine standing next to him, he says "Young Tam here, who is one of my seconds, will lead a small company across the border into northern Vexil". 

Throughout the rest of the early morning meeting, they discuss what they want to accomplish, now that Gamil and Farsen's cousin Misa has given them what amounts to more or less an ultimatum. 

And that she wants them to follow through with their plans that they originally came up with when they set out on this scheme of theirs. 

Captain Marqand, Tamric Drubine and two others from their company who were waiting outside the command tent of the Geist cousins as the meeting was taking place. Head back to where their company has set up camp. As they do, they go by where captain Mackrin and his company have their campsite. 

Tamric Drubine or Tam as he's more commonly called by those who know him well, glances sideways at a wagon in that particular campsite.

A wagon that has a number of odd shaped boxes stacked in the back of it. A wagon that even the camp followers of captain Mackrin's company keep clear of. 

A wagon that easily survived the attack upon the column that it was part of. While some of the other wagons were damaged, destroyed or left behind in the haste of the retreat back across the border into the kingdom of Girdane. 

"You and your lot should find things pretty easy across there now" says captain Marqand as they enter their own campsite, here in the hill country of southern Girdane. 

"Especially since none of those warships have been spotted lately" adds the mercenary captain, who kept the column he was in command of out of harms way. By the simple fact he was more or less on time with the plans they undertook. 

And he kept those he was in charge of, moving at a pretty quick pace, when the mercenary army gathered by the Geist cousins was in northern Vexil creating havoc. 

"Good thing none of them crossed the border" mutters one of the two mercenaries in Marqand's company walking behind the captain and young Tamric Drubine. 

Captain Marqand nods at that after sharing a look with Tam walking beside him. As the two of them have privately discussed that is what the Geist cousins, or at least the youngest cousin Misa, who is never present with the army, exactly wants to happen. 

Have the Vexilian forces, either army or aircorp, cross over the border and enter the kingdom of Girdane, or vice versa. 

Have any of the Girdanian forces in the south of the kingdom, to make their way across the border and enter the hill country in the north of the city-state of Vexil. 

"My lot are ready to go" says Tamric Drubine the field commander with a nod of his head to where most of the group are waiting for him at the southern end of the camp site set up by Marqand's company. 

"Some of them are already gone" adds the young man in his early twenties, who is of noble birth, and originally from the feudal kingdom of Sarcrin. 

"Nice to see you had confidence in me talking those two cousins into what we wanted them to do" says captain Marqand in a slightly droll tone. 

"I had every confidence in you" says a grinning Tamric Drubine, who is a former heir of a previous Knight of Castle Drubine. 

A castle and it's lands that can be found in the forested north of his homeland, the kingdom of Sarcrin. 

The mercenary captain just grunts at that, then he says "Get going" he briefly pauses, and before field commander Drubine rushes away, captain Marqand says "And Tam" he follows that with "Come back in one piece, okay". 

"I will" says Tamric Drubine who then quickly walks away, though not until he waves goodbye to the captain of the mercenary company he and the group have been part of for the last little while. 

They set off, heading south through the forest, which is less dense than it is over the hill range in the north of the city-state of Vexil. 

Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy and Lisell Maera the scout have already gone ahead, so has Mira Reinholt the mage, who has accompanied the pair who are in the Scouts and Rangers division of the Armies of Farque. 

A little while later, and a top of a hill, Tamric Drubine the field commander calls a stop. Much to the relief of the portly woman by the name of Malisse. 

Who is already breathing heavily, and sweating, even though it's another cold winter's morning here in the hill country that straddles the border between the city-state of Vexil and the kingdom of Girdane. 

"Anything?" quietly asks the young field commander in the Armies of Farque to his lover Saanea the witch who is beside him. 

The attractive spellcaster who hails from the Maldin Hills, is standing there with her eyes closed, observing things through the eyes of her familiar, which is further away to the south, across the border in the north of Vexil. 

Tam glances to his left at Tovis the war engineer, who has taken out his eyepiece, and is looking through the leather wrapped, brass cylindrical mechanism. 

Field commander Drubine thinks about doing the same as the last of the group, Shur Kee the monk and sir Percavelle Le Dic reach the top of the hill. 

When Saanea the witch finally says "No Vexilian forces nearby" she briefly pauses before continuing with "Mira, Dalin and Lis have just crossed the border". 

The dark haired woman from the hill country near the coast of The Southlands points. And Tovis the war engineer, who looks that way through his eyepiece, says "I see them". 

The war engineer, who before joining the group, and the Armies of Farque, was in service to one of more ambitious noblemen in his homeland, the kingdom of Druvic. 

"Heading up that hill there" continues Tovis, Tam nods when he spots the trio in the distance, about three miles away, across the border in the north of the city-state of Vexil. 

The young field commander glances at Malisse aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman, who has just taken a canteen of water from Zam the ex mercenary. 

Then he quietly asks his lover Saanea "Think you can teleport us all?" Tamric Drubine then discreetly nods in the direction of the overweight woman in the group, Malisse. 

"Maybe" is the quiet reply of the dark haired witch, who follows that with "Though it won't be far" she continues with "I lack the power to take us all a reasonable distance, like say Beldane would". 

The young field commander in the Armies of Farque nods in understanding, then quietly tells his lover "Anything to help Zubutai, I mean Malisse out a bit" he quietly adds "And to be fair, I don't fancy walking all the way to the border". 

Saanea slightly grins at that, then she has the others stand close. And a few moments later they all disappear. 

"Fuck" mutters Mira Reinholt the mage in agitation, causing Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy and Lisell Maera the scout to spin around. 

And they find a smiling Helbe the elven thief standing beside the black clad spellcaster who hails from the city-state of Vexil. 

"Do you mind?" sourly says the mage who is also a highly skilled swordmaster to the elven masterthief who suddenly appeared beside him as they near the top of the hill they were heading up. 

"Not in the least" says Helbe the elven thief who is grinning from ear to ear, which earns him a scowl from his fellow practitioner of magic and member of Lord Farque's personal council. 

The young elven noble from the island principality of Laerel who is a member of Lord Farque's personal council then says "The others are on their way". 

The elven master assassin continues with "They're about halfway between the camp and the border" followed by "Shouldn't be too long before they're over here in Vexil". 

The mage Reinholt nods his hooded head, then they get underway again, making their way up the hill with the spy Tanith and the scout Maera out in front of the two who are members of Lord Farque's personal council. 

"Anything up ahead?" asks the Vexilian spellcaster who was once the most powerful mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands, infact pretty much the world. 

"Nothing" is the reply of the elf from the island principality of Laerel, who is the grandson of the ruling prince of that particular nation. 

"The bulk of their aircorp here in the north are a bit further to the south" continues Helbe the elven thief, who along with Narladene the ground pixie have been snooping around here in the hill country of northern Vexil. 

"And the elements of their army here in the north are further west of here" adds the elven princeling, who follows that with "Probably a couple of days march away at this pace, though they are fairly close to the border and the main road in that direction". 

"Interesting" murmurs Mira Reinholt the mage "I agree" quietly says Helbe the elven thief as the four of them get to the top of the hill on what's a cold winter's morning here in the hill country that straddles the borders between the north of the city-state of Vexil and the south of the kingdom of Girdane. 

"Head that way" says the highly talented elven magic user who points to where he wants them to go, then he disappears as he shifts away from the hilltop. 

"You heard the royal thief" dryly says the swordmaster Reinholt, which gets a grin from both Lisell Maera and Dalinvardèl Tanith. 

"That way" dryly adds the mage who is in exile from his homeland of Vexil. Then the trio head down the other side of the hill they've just come up, and walk in the direction that prince Helbenthril Raendril pointed to . . . . . .

Mercenary Tales 42

The City Of Oaklynn. The Kingdom Of Girdane. 

Messages between towns and cities, especially between capital cities. Are undertaken in a number of ways. 

And though the governments of various nations have a number of ways of contacting one another, usually magical, and usually only between nations that are friendly neighbours. 

For the general public, one can send a message over a long distance by several means. The cheapest by coach, wagon or horseback, usually belonging to a trading company. Which does take a certain amount of time. From days to weeks, sometimes months. 

But for quicker methods, you have to pay a substantial amount for it. And the cheapest out of those, and the most common. Is by airship, usually a fast moving single masted vessel. Which will have packets of bound messages. Hence the name packet ship to describe those type of vessels. 

But for even more expensive ways, one can send it via magical means, by rift or gateway through a bonded message service company. Who employ various spellcasters. Though only in the main cities, and capitals of various nations across the Southlands. 

The other expensive way is by air. In the elven principalities, they use griffon messengers. While other nations tend to use wyverns. 

And though some trading companies run such operations. They tend to be stand alone companies. Who make a fortune sending bound messages from city to city. 

And it's one such messenger, that left the capital city of Vexil in midmorning, and arrives in the city of Oaklynn, the capital city of the kingdom of Girdane, just as the sun sets on what's been a cold winter's day here in the central region of The Southlands. 

The wyvern could of made the journey a bit quicker, but they're temperamental creatures. And the rider knows to give it some leeway when it comes to the delivery of the messages he's carrying. 

Though this day, he's carrying just the single message in a magically sealed envelope. When ordinarily he'd carry a small bundle, or packet of them. 

But someone paid his company a fortune to send this single message. He doesn't know what it is, or who it's from, or who it's for. 

He just has to get it to the company's offices in the city of Oaklynn in a timely manner. Or at least as fast as possible. 

It helps that his company's offices are in a tower in the south of the city, not far from the main airdocks of the capital city of the kingdom of Girdane. 

And as dusk gives way to nightfall over the city of Oaklynn, the dark green, almost black coloured wyvern lets out a screech as it circles down around the city of Oaklynn, to the tower that is it's destination. 

The wyvern lands upon the top of the tower, and the fractious creature let's out another screech. Before it settles down with what sounds like a grumble as the rider hops down out of the saddle. 

Who is glad that there's no other wyvern on the tower top at the moment. As they can often fight for no reason, even ones that have grown up together. Which is what the various message companies will do with their wyverns. 

Having wyverns that are completely unknown to one another is a recipe for disaster. As they'll fight if they don't know the other creature. Damage is a certainty, sometimes resulting in death. 

With the riders being killed if they're caught up in any fight between wyverns that don't know one another. 

This particular rider gives his wyvern a good thump of appreciation, which earns him a hiss. The type of hiss that's a sign of contentment from a wyvern. 

Then as the winged creature settles down, wrapping a wing over it's head, the rider heads down the tower to the night office of his company. 

The night manager takes the bound message from the rider, and the card that comes with it. He thanks the rider, who will go back to the tower top to check in on his wyvern. 

Before he heads down to the dormitory that the riders use while they're here in the capital of the kingdom of Girdane. 

After the night manager reads the card, he goes to the row of shelves against the left wall of his office. 

And after looking for it, he takes one of the black leather bound books from a shelf, and returns to his desk with it. 

"Hmmm an older one" the night manager murmurs to himself as he looks at the card, and the corresponding entry in the book after he finds it in. 

He takes note that the customer has been using the company for over two decades, and in that time, they've only used them for important bound messages like this particular one a handful of times. 

Then after the night manager writes the entry into his own ledger, he calls for one of the runners waiting out in the hallway, and for a couple of the company guards sitting on the benches out there too. 

"You are to deliver this to" says the night manager, who then gives the name of the person the message is for. 

"They'll either be at the" continues the night manager, who then gives the location that certain individual will be at, he then adds "Or they'll be" as gives another location they might be at. 

The night manager follows that with "If they're not at either place, you are to return with it" followed by "Understood?". The runner, a young man in his late teens nods and says that he understands. 

The night manager then tells the pair of guards "Protect him" he continues on with "The customer has paid a fortune for that message to be sent" he follows that with "I want no harm to come to him or the envelope he carries" he then adds "You know the consequences if something happens to that message". 

All three of them, guards and runner nod in understanding. As they know that the message, to be exact the envelope is protected by magic. 

And if anything was to happen to it, or the wrong person opens it. Something rather unpleasant will happen. 

Most likely to them, and definitely to whoever it is that would be stupid enough to tamper with a magically sealed envelope. 

The runner and his accompanying guards leave the tower, and make their way north through the streets of the city of Oaklynn, on what's a cold but clear winter's night. 

Near the city center, the runner from the bonded message company, stops at one of the more well to do wine shops found in the capital of Girdane. 

With the company guards in attendance, the runner speaks with the shop owner. 

Who informs him that the person he's looking for, isn't here this night. And only sporadically visits the wine shop over the last half a year or so. 

The runner thanks the owner, then he and the company guards head off again. Making their way north through the city streets. 

A little bit later, and beyond the city center, the runner followed by his two guards, enters an inn, one of the finest establishments in the capital city of the kingdom of Girdane. 

The innkeeper in the front room frowns at their appearance, then once he realizes they're from one of the bonded message companies in the city, he asks them what he can do for them. 

The innkeeper, a slim man in his late forties lifts an eyebrow in surprise when he hears who the runner wants to see. Then he leads the three of them away, to one of the private dining rooms found in the establishment. 

He's just sat down, and looked across the table at his guest, one of his fiercest rivals, who also happens to be one of his best friends. Who is talking to the serving woman, who has come in to take their order. 

He's just about to quip about how much is friend is ordering, when the innkeeper followed by others enter the private dining room. 

He frowns at first, then slightly nods in understanding when the innkeeper informs him that the young man is from one of the bonded message companies in the city. 

He's asked his name, and after supplying it, he holds out his hand, and the messenger hands him over the sealed envelope. 

Then after seeing him open the envelope, which he glances inside of and doesn't take out the missive inside. The runner, and his guards départ the private dining room and inn. 

After they do, he tells his guest "Sorry old chap, I'm off" followed by "Enjoy your meal" and he leaves as his friend protests him taking off like this. 

He steps outside into the cold night, and hurries away. He's in luck tonight, as he doesn't have all that far too go. 

And for once, the person who is to receive the missive he's carrying, is actually in the city this time. 

As normally he'd hold on to whatever magically bound message that's delivered to him until whenever they show up. Which often can be months, even years at times. 

He crosses a square, and turns onto a street that goes east, he's bound for another inn, at the end of this particular street. 

Not as opulent, or well known as the one he was just going to have dinner in, but one almost as expensive, but far more discreet. 

He enters in the inn, glad to be out of the cold night air, he greets the innkeeper who knows him. Who informs him, where those he's looking for, are dinning this evening. 

He heads to one of the two small private dinning rooms that the inn has, knocking on the closed door when he gets there. 

He's asked to enter from someone inside, once he does he says "Message from the city of Vexil" to those who have turned to look at him "It just came in a short time ago by wyvern rider". 

Once he's handed it over, he's dismissed by one of the trio of elves in the group using the private dining room. 

Once their main contact here in the city of Oaklynn, or for that matter in the entire kingdom of Girdane. Who just happens to a member of the royal household staff, departs. 

Jarkellé the elven warder hands over the opened envelope to Salinéll the elven maiden, who sits down at the table, and takes the missive out as the others serve themselves from the side tables. 

She clenches a fist, and thumps it on the table top, causing the others to turn and look at her, as she stares at the missive she has just read. 

Then Salinéll the elven magic user, with a look of fury in her eyes, she says to the others "They've be spotted". 

Still seething, the elven maiden from the principality of Alínlae, continues with "In the city of Vexil" followed by "Both of them". 

Eyebrows are raised in surprised by the others, then furious looks start to appear on their faces too, and Salinéll tells them "That stinking bastard of an ork, and that other one, whatever the fucking hell he is" .

A devilish grin starts to appear on the youthful face of the elven maiden, who then says in a determined voice "We've got them" followed by "And they're going to finally pay for what they did" . . . . . .