Hero Scout

To his right sat Lord Swan, the overlord to Lord Richmond"s replacement and representative of King Thunberad. Seeing as Lord Richmond had near run the place into the ground, Lord Swan had decided to personally take over the local duties until the current crisis was properly dealt with.

To Kenji"s left was Almanac, representative of the Adventurer alliance and the people of Tariak.

Then there was Kenji, fiddling his thumbs as the boy knight. Tenko sat behind him having an even harder time sitting still, while Violet remained hidden away with Grey and Gold Beans in another room. If it came to it she would pop out and reduce the Far King to ash with her Starfire Bracers, but with the previous talks having gone so well Kenji doubted that would be necessary.

Well, "talks" might not be strong enough a word. To be honest Kenji had gone a little far with his detailed description of just how the ash would rain down upon the Fae people if they refused. And perhaps the mention of how common folk tend to guillotine unpopular kings was a little far, the messenger having paled upon hearing of what a "guillotine" was and apparently a.s.suming Kenji was the execution machines inventer.

When Kenji had pointed out the device was only necessary for the sheer number of executions a revolution would demand...well the promise of an agreement had come swiftly afterwards.

Striding between a grand door held open by a pair of Silver Swan Knights, came the Far King himself flanked with two Knights of his own. He had insisted he be the one to negotiate, along with an insistence that it be p.r.o.nounced that it was the Far King who was extending the offer of negotiation after pushing Tariak to the brink. Kenji could appreciate why, reputation having meant so much in his favourite MMO games and could comprehend that a king perceived to be weak might not remain king much longer.

The Far King appeared so feminine at first Kenji a.s.sumed him a woman, with soft lips and an almost timid expression. But those rounded eyes with long black eyelashes were filled with lakes of the deepest crimson, like ancient wine, and crested with flecks gold. Their intensity spoke of ancient power, and his purple silk clothes that shifted colour and curled around his lithe body like vines stank of riches beyond mortal imagination.

Kenji realised once again the power he had played. The Far King most likely had some political reason preventing him from an all out war, because it felt to Kenji as if the King and his twin guards themselves could have lain waste to the entire region. Perhaps....the Far King really was the main force behind this deal after all, and Kenji"s threats were not as threatening as he had hoped?

Bah, this is why Kenji always got lost in the gambling houses. There was just something about the game of bluffs that got the blood flowing, and with so much on the line Kenji felt like this was his biggest gamble ever.

With the life of him and the entire region as the bet.

The Far King"s knights were bound in gold, each standing seven feet tall and wielding their bristling auras like searchlights as they scanned the room for threats. Yet Kenji had already removed all iron from the room well in advance, even the old iron nails had been replace with well fitting wood in the j.a.panese style.

Another accidental introduction, his little childhood curiosity in woodwork having sent the surviving craftsmen into a fervour as they anointed him the Wood Prince. Kenji would have admitted that he had smirked and pointed out since it was in the morning if he could be the "Morning Wood Prince?" which had been readily been taken up, much to his amus.e.m.e.nt.

"As you have requested, the usual rules of Fae interaction will be halted while this meeting continues. You will not be compelled by the rules of Fae Hospitality, and no decision is binding until both parties willingly agree to sign a contract in their own blood. Amba.s.sador of the humans, have you yet decided on an impartial mediator?"

Kenji nodded.

"My thanks for complying to my requests, King of the Fae. For our mediator, I request the presence of the Fourth G.o.d, Truthblade." Kenji said this fully believing the G.o.d"s presence to be an outlandish notion, merely wanting to test the waters of possibility.

To his well hidden shock, the Far King readily agreed.

Closing his eyes, the Far King focused, and in the next moment the black wings of a fallen angel appeared amidst a portal made of shining blades. She was not the G.o.d himself, with but twin wings, yet still had that same silver armour bound in a tapestry of warfare and raven black hair that curled at its tips. With heavenly features she held a supernatural beauty, but there was no denying the threatening presence of her long blade taller than she was and sharper than an executioner"s axe.

"I have been sent to mediate, no magic bar that binding the honest agreement of both parties will take place while the servant of the Truthblade is present. Failure to comply will result in the summary d.a.m.nation of the transgressor," the angel said with the all authority of the cosmos, leaving everyone bar the Far King cowed by her mere presence.

"Might I ask, who is this Fourth G.o.d? I admit I"ve never had the pleasure to hear of him," Almanac beamed with his most flattering smile at the otherworldly woman floating above him.

The fallen angel instantly brightened at the request, rocking slightly to either side in the air as she spoke.

"The Fourth G.o.d is the king of honour, holder of truth and the only G.o.d to remain to their purpose. While the others became filled with corrupt greed he-"

"My time is valuable, angel," the Far King muttered. Instantly the fallen angel shut her mouth and looked a tad embarra.s.sed as she floated to watch from the corner of the room.

"Maybe later then," Almanac mouthed, the fallen angel replying with a little nod and a shy smile.

"You have read the agreement then?" Kenji said, a copy of it in his hands. "You"ll release all the elves in your service to my companion, Violet, allow the freed satyr to remain free, aid in the reconstruction of Tariak and form a non-aggression pact with Tariak, including the greater kingdom as a whole?"

It had taken endless rounds of threats and near-suicidal levels of determination, but here Kenji"s masterpiece sat in all its majesty. While they would not receive a 10% t.i.the of the Fae economy as he had wished for, all the more necessary terms had still made their way within.

"Indeed. And in return you will refrain from raiding my lands along with returning the Starfire bracers to me," the Far King said, each word as heavy as a mountain as it left his glossy lips. Kenji wondered if the feminine effect was on purpose, and the Far King was a cross-dresso. Or perhaps the King really was a girl? Admiring the King"s frame, Kenji nodded his head as he realised that if that was the case she wouldn"t be too bad either.

"So too will you and those represented here refrain from any activity that would undermine my rulership of all Fae for as long as this treaty holds. Whenever possible, you are also to enforce my t.i.tle as the sole King of the Fae, and at the minimum report to me those who would work against my absolute rule. This would include High Lord Greenbeard, who after failing to execute his defensive plan against your human aggression has been reduced to but a mere Fae Lord."

"Human aggression? You think axemen, farmers and new adventurers are a threat to you?" Lord Swan hissed. "How could that possibly be so, Angel, is this King"s words true?"

"As true as the sun is bright, Lord Swan," the fallen angel said evenly.

"You humans have spread like a plague, and one that has just become more dangerous. The tree"s whisper that your King works with foul magic. I didn"t believe it to be true, not until I saw the Primevil horror flowing through that one"s veins," the Fae King said, pointing at Jack.

"Me? You know of what this "Manic" thing is Phillip was on about?" Jack said with his wide eyes and eager bloodthirsty smile. Kenji had grown used to the severe look of the Warden, coming to realise the poor guy just couldn"t really help it.
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"Manic...how fitting. Just keep your kind well away from mine and we will be without issue, creature."

"So far acceptable," Kenji said hastily, before either Jack or Lord Swan could press on the issue the Far King so clearly felt sour about. "I also wish to make an agreement between you and the adventurer alliance. We wish to be able to purchase your enchanted equipment, and for your people to be able to offer rewards in return for quests that follow our guild guidelines. In return, our adventurers are to be permanently exempt from being enchanted by your people against their will, and will be protected within reason while in your borders."

"As long as the guilds acknowledge me as the only King of all Fae, and swear to never accept quests of any Fae that does not use my currency, then there can be an agreement. I will also require members to become open to any of my kingdom that desires it, on the condition they are treated with all the same expectations of a human member. For this to work, i"ll need you to personally lead this endeavour," the Far King responded while staring right at Kenji.

Kenji looked to Almanac, who shrugged before returning to ogling the fallen angel.

"Me? Why me?"

"You defeated Greenbeard"s best attempts to crush you, creature. It is clear without you his plans would not be thwarted, that"s exactly the kind of strength I wish in my allies. Furthermore, you speak of strange concepts, and have a level of confidence I have not encountered in a thousand years. If you do not lead the guilds, then I cannot see an agreement being formed today," the Far King spoke with the finality of a collapsing star.

"It"s fine by me," Almanac grumbled, not looking that "fine" about it. "But we"ll have to talk about how this new guild will be structured, with the wealth and resources we could fold numerous guilds into one much larger one."

"If you are all in agreement, then please use this quil to sign in your own blood. And read the contract as it is currently written carefully," the fallen angel said, providing a crimson feather and fine scroll scrawled with golden ink.

It would take much of the rest of the day, and well into the next before it was finally signed, the Far King having added several innocent looking terms and conditions that the fallen angel pointed out as disastrous if agreed to. But finally, it really was all signed, and the Far King withdrew from the realm of man. In his place arrived a great many satyr refugees outfitted with crafting tools and supplies, who got to work rebuilding the town back up from its absolutely flattened foundations.

With a few additions that Kenji had added from his time playing city builder games, it would be constructed better than ever too. If somewhat reliant on its relationship with the Far King for Tariak"s continued prosperity.

A full one week of hard work pa.s.sed quicker than Kenji could believe. Trying to solve problems as quickly as they came wore his patience thin, but Kenji did enjoy the challenge of managing the clash of cultures between elves, satyr and humans. Therefore he was both overworked and half-dead from lack of sleep, when he stumbled upon a note on his bed.

"Meet me outside town at midnight, where the hill is crested with apple trees. The area is known as Apple Cresent, and it"s where I would like to say goodbye - Jack," the note said, Kenji feeling rather sad that his friend couldn"t have just said so himself when they went drinking these last few nights.

Yet the fast friends had grown close, and Kenji could understand the heartache of separation if it was already time for the two to part ways.

With a heavy heart, Kenji waited until darkness drenched the land before he started his long trek. He woke up Tenko and Violet too, although both came only in case "Jack has become a zealot again" and other outlandish conspiratorial reasons.

Lanterns in hand, all three headed into the cold domain of night.