Mercenary Tales 76.

Oaklynn. 

Salinéll the elven maiden wakes up in a daze, she doesn't know how long she's been out. But figures it's not long. As she hears shouting down below on the first floor of the house they're staying in. 

The elven magic user who hails from the principality of Alinlae winces as she hears an explosion downstairs. 

Then the elven practitioner of magic in her daze, pauses as she realizes that she didn't sense whatever they spell was. Which she figures was cast by Margin the wizard. 

The elven spellcaster then realizes that also she can't sense her own magic. And though dazed, she should be able to sense it, and draw from it. But as she lies here on the floor of the upstairs bedroom. Salinéll the elven maiden is unable to draw upon her magic, and cast. 

The elven magic user groans as she tries to move, and finds that something is lying across her back, as she lies on her stomach upon the floor. And whatever that something is, it's heavy. So much so, that she's unable to move from where she's prone on the floor. 

The elven maiden from the principality of Alinlae hears a stangled scream, that's abruptly cut off. Salinéll is more than certain, that was her fellow elf, Jarkellé the warden who was screaming there. 

The practitioner of magic who is the bastard child of elven nobility, hears and feels another explosion downstairs. 

This time the floorboards to her left, are blasted upwards, barely missing her. Residue of magic in the form of bright red sparks, float in the air, coming up through the hole in the floor next to the elven maiden who is originally from the principality of Alinlae, before they dissipate to nothing. 

Salinéll hears a thud downstairs, and she winces as it definitely sounded like a body hitting something, the floor, or a wall. And hitting it fairly hard too. 

The elven maiden groans as she tries to move, and get out from under whatever it is that's across her back. 

The spellcaster from the elven principality of Alinlae turns her head as she feels a cold breeze that way. And she sees a hole in the wall where the bedroom window once was. 

Then Salinéll suddenly stops squirming, trying to get out from underneath whatever it is that's holding her down, when she hears someone coming up the stairs to the second floor of the narrow home they're staying in while here in the city of Oaklynn. 

The elven practitioner of magic even in her daze, is certain that whoever it is that's making their way upstairs, is wearing steel boots. 

Then when the elven magic user from Alinlae hears that person out in the hallway, she tries to turn her head to look at the door to the bedroom she was sleeping in, on this cold winters night, here in the city of Oaklynn. 

Salinéll is unable to turn her head enough to see who it is that's just walked into the room. 

The elven spellcaster winces as she takes a deep breath, causing quite a bit of pain down the length of her body. 

Then a voice, a man's voice, say "Don't bother trying to cast" followed by "You're cut off from your magic". 

The elven practitioner of magic then frowns as in front of her face, she sees a pair of large steel boots. Dark blue, almost black in colour. 

The voice, then tells her "Those other two fuckers, Margin and Jarkellé are dead" followed by "Don't expect any help from them". 

The elf originally from the principality of Alinlae grimaces when she hears that. For if it's true, which she assumes it is. She realizes she's the only one left alive of the group she's gathered over the last quarter century or so, since the Battle of Vexil. 

"Time for you to take a trip Salinéll" says the voice right beside her, a voice that's cold to the ears of the elven magic user who just now realizes the human is speaking her native language. 

"Or should I say Misa Geist, which is the name you take in your human form" adds the human standing right next to her. 

The elven maiden who hails from the principality of Alinlae goes completely still when she hears that, and just tries to relax as she feels panic trying to set in. 

Salinéll hears the person next to her moving, then suddenly she feels something wrapped around her left forearm and wrist. 

And her left hand suddenly takes hold of something as whatever it is that's across her back, is lifted off the elven practitioner of magic. 

Salinéll whose hand is now wrapped around whatever she's holding, groans as she's picked up off the floor with ease. 

Then the elven magic user blinks as she's held up, feet dangling off the floor, right in front of whoever it is that's captured her, and who killed Jarkellé the elven warden and Margin the wizard. 

Once again, the elven maiden originally from the principality of Alinlae goes completely still, and panic does set it, when she clearly sees who has got a hold of her. 

She gulps in fright, as she looks at the large heavily armoured figure who is just standing there, staring at her as it holds her. 

Salinéll then gasps as she's flung over the broad heavily armoured right shoulder of her captor, and it's then that the elven spellcaster sees that her left hand is wrapped to the hilt of a massive sword. 

A massive sword that's now strapped to the back of the large heavily armoured figure that the elven maiden knows isn't what it appears to be. As she knows for a fact that it isn't alive, and is in fact dead. To be exact, undead. 

Salinéll who absolutely had no idea the undead could speak, or think for that matter. As she thought they were just mindless destructive creatures. 

Winces as the large heavily armoured figure steps out of the bedroom, through the hole in the wall, which obviously it created when it smashed into the second storey room she was sleeping in. 

The elven maiden's thoughts are in a whirlwind as the undead being once down in the lane behind the narrow home. 

Leaps to the roof of home behind it. Then it's moving, and moving at speed. Across rooftops as it moves away. 

Heading, Salinéll has no idea. As she's disoriented at the moment as they cross the city of Oaklynn on this cold winters night. 

The elven magic user who hails from the principality of Alinlae is wondering how the hell this undead human, got here to Oaklynn, the capital of Girdane so quickly. Since yesterday, just before noon. It was down in the capital city of Vexil. 

The elven practitioner of magic who isn't certain how's she's been cut off from her power, but figures it might have something to do with the sword she finds she's tied to. 

Blinks when she realizes that the ring on her left hand, which hides her from other spellcasters, is missing. She figures, correctly as it turns out. That the undead being has taken it off her. 

And now knows that's she's way more vulnerable than she initially thought. She's now unable to touch her power. But also, she is able to be sensed by other practitioners of magic. 

Salinéll tries to look around, and see where they are. But she quickly gives up on that, as most of everything is a blur as they move quickly across the rooftops of the buildings, here in the city of Oaklynn. 

After a while, the large heavily armoured undead being slows down, enough for the elven maiden from the principality of Alinlae to see where they are. 

The elven spellcaster spots a tower away to their right, a tower that she recognizes. Salinéll slightly nods to herself as she realizes they're in the south of the city of Oaklynn, the capital of the kingdom of Girdane. 

She gets a glance up into the sky when the undead being leaps over a wide street to a four storey building. 

And by the position of two of the three moons of Volunell in the night sky, Salinéll figures it's closer to dawn than it is to the middle of the night. 

Probably a couple of turns of a sand glass is the elven magic user's best guess. 

After leaping from rooftop to rooftop for a little while longer, the undead being drops down into a lane. 

The elven practitioner of magic sourly smiles to herself, then grunts in reply to the undead being quietly saying to her "Remain silent" followed by "If not I'll crush your throat enough that you lose your voice". 

The attractive elven maiden refrains from saying anything as they exit a lane, and head down a street. 

Salinéll spots an inn to the left a bit further down the street, an inn that they enter. The undead being passes the sleepy innkeeper dozing at the front desk. 

And heads upstairs to one of the rooms up there. A room that the elven magic user sees is actually a suite. 

She winces when she's casually dropped on the floor, while the large sword she's still gripping, and tied to, is placed carefully down beside her. 

Salinéll hears the large heavily armoured undead being say something in a language she has no idea what it is. 

Then head to another room in the suite. While the elven maiden who is originally from the principality of Alinlae screws up her face as she smells something rather disgusting. 

Salinéll turns her head when she hears movement to her right, she goes completely still when she sees who it is, that's sitting on the floor, not that far from her. 

Someone who chuckles, in what can only be described as, delight. When the elven practitioner of magic looks at him. 

"Bitch, you gone fucked up" says the large ork named Dorc da Orc who looks at the massive sword Salinéll finds herself tied to, then loudly mutter "Fuck touching that thing" followed by another mutter, with "She fucken nasty". 

The elven magic user sighs, then wonders what's going to happen to her, now that's she's a captive of the undead being, and the large ork named Dorc. 

Both of whom Salinéll has tried to either kill or destroy over the last two and a half decades, since the Battle of Vexil. 

The elven practitioner of magic who hails from the principality of Alinlae hears the undead being return, and with him is someone else. As she lies on the floor, she turns her head to see who it is. 

"The fuck?" mutters Salinéll the elven maiden in disbelief when she sees who it is, that's with the large heavily armoured undead being. 

"You're dead" says the elven magic user, who starts seething in anger as she lies there, basically unable to move because of what's she's tied to. 

"As you can see, I'm not" says Beldane the cleric, who looks at the undead being, and tells him "What that Mercer told us was true" he briefly pauses before adding "From what he told us before Dorc chopped him up". 

Well, so that's what happened to Mercer I guess, Salinéll the elven magic user sourly thinks to herself when she realizes what happened to one of the group she's gathered over the years. 

Then the elven magic user, realizes that the fighting cleric in the church of Glaine must of just read her mind. 

"Betrayer" hisses Salinéll as she looks at the powerful cleric in the church of Glaine, who yesterday and the day before, she thought was helping her and the others, when they were down in the city of Vexil. 

"That's rich coming from you" says the cleric in the half plate armour, who then wryly adds "Considering you've tried to forment a wide ranging war between nations, here in this region of The Southlands". 

Salinéll the elven maiden shuts up at that. For through she'd hate to admit it. But Beldane the cleric speaks the truth there. 

The elven practitioner of magic doesn't catch what the fighting cleric and the undead being quietly discuss, as she's too busy lying there, seething in anger at the situation she finds herself in. 

The maiden who hails from the elven principality of Alinlae takes notice of things again, when the undead being and the fighting cleric move to stand next to her. 

Then composing herself after taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, the elven spellcaster asks them "What are you going to do to me?". 

"We're going to go somewhere" is the reply from the undead being as he looks down at the prone elven magic user. 

"Where?" asks the elf who is the bastard child of elven nobility, who figures, what could be worse than this?. 

"Why, we're going to pay a visit to your cousins Gamil and Farsen Geist" is the reply from Lord Farque after a moments silence as he and Beldane the cleric continue to look down at their captive. 

"Fuck" mutters Salinéll the elven maiden with a grimace upon her youthful and beautiful looking face when she hears that . . . . . .