World Seed

Aerwyn wasn"t sure how the Earl had convinced them but it was clear that his men trusted him immensely. When Aerwyn inevitably sent him back to his territory he should be able to sway his subjects to Aerwyn"s side should the need arise. It was important because the Abery territory was one of the two gateways into the world of Alduun from the forsaken lands according to Pontus. Now that he controlled the lord of one it opened up endless possibilities, the most important being information and trade.

As of now he didn"t have much in the way of resources outside of the revarium vein the vosk found and he had no intention of arming his eventual enemies with any substantial amount of the metal but that wouldn"t always be the case. The underground world beneath the forsaken lands was practically endless and surely he"d find something less threatening to trade with for the things he needed.

Marik and Semmy were good blacksmiths but eventually he"d outgrow their ability to produce what he required. He had planned to begin trading with the elven capital like Marik had suggested but now with Earl Abery, the merchant brothers, and two dozen s.h.i.+ps, he would be the one unable to produce enough goods to trade between them all.

Aerwyn slapped his cheeks as he realized he was getting a little too giddy thinking about the future while a battle played out before his eyes. The Durani camp was in complete disarray as the zin beetles and trolls trampled everything in their path while the humans, tenri, and the few remaining brexil cats dealt swift blows to any living person they could find.

The spiders had already dealt with the minimal resistance on the s.h.i.+ps and were beginning to join the battle on land without needing an order from him, which Aerwyn found interesting.

"Go rejoin the fight. Let"s wrap this up quickly, there is much to do." He said to Pontus.

"As my lord commands." Pontus bowed before taking off with the others at a speed that seemed unnatural for a body as old as his. The men quickly found opponents as Pontus began firing off earth spikes much like the one that left Aerwyn"s arm in such a sorry state.

The battle only lasted another ten minutes before the Durani men began to route in all directions. They didn"t make it far as the unarmored fleeing humans were no match for the tenri"s speed and ferocity. One of the fleeing humans made the mistake of fleeing in Aerwyn"s direction and once the man entered Erit"s range, a rusty sword shot out from her hand into the man"s eye socket.

"Why are you still using those? There were plenty of better swords amongst the dead." Aerwyn asked.

"Ah! How could i forsake a gift my master bestowed upon me for some rubbish on the ground. Rin tell him how hurtful he"s being!" Erit acted appalled as she held the dagger he had given her closely to her chest as if Aerwyn was to take it from her.

"KWEEEEEE!" Rin turned to him with a never before seen serious face as if showing that she was in agreement.

"...When did you two become such good friends?" Aerwyn was confused. Rin and Ren were with him every second of every day whether he was sleeping or awake and yet Erit was talking like Rin was her old friend.

"I get bored when master sleeps so i play with little Rin at night. She likes it when i attach a strip of cloth to my webs and dangle it around for her." Erit"s words sounded una.s.suming yet she wore a grin that gave Aerwyn a chill.

"KWEE!" Rin protested as if Aerwyn was going to order Erit to stop playing with her at night.

"It"s ok silly, i"m not going to stop Erit from playing with you." Aerwyn said in a sweet voice before putting his hands over Rin"s ears and looking to Erit.

"Don"t you go corrupting my little innocent Rin."

"I would never!" Erit still wore the same grin as she tried to act appalled by his implications.

"Your devious smile says otherwise..." Aerwyn sighed and removed his hands from Rin"s ears.

The battle was in it"s final moments and admonis.h.i.+ng Erit"s twisted plans could come after he dealt with more important matters. The sun began to rise as Aerwyn did a headcount of his undead. He lost another brexil cat, twelve tenri, and eleven abyssal spiders throughout the battle. Considering they killed nearly six hundred humans Aerwyn felt satisfied.

Of course the battle only went so well because the Durani men weren"t soldiers and they were caught in a situation where they were unable to defend themselves properly but an easy win is still a win. After he was done counting his undead, he entered the merchant s.h.i.+ps with Kers and Inik. He struggled climbing the rope ladder up the side of s.h.i.+p thanks to his injury but he made due.

Kers and Inik led him down below deck, the oar deck was cramped even though it was empty and Aerwyn was surprised people could even row properly. They continued on and led him down below another deck to their cargo hold and Aerwyn was made somber by what he saw. The elves of Lyr were packed together in small cramped bunks no better than a coffin, chained down so that their movement was extremely limited.
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The sounds of whimpering from both old and young filled the air which was only drowned out by the horrid smell of urine and feces that was left to rot underneath the elves who were forced to defecate in their bunks due to the chains

"...Set them free..." Aerwyn covered his eyes as he spoke, not wanting to see the scene any longer lest he lose his temper on the undead merchant brothers. As Kers went to the nearest bunk that held a young elf girl in her late teens, she recoiled out of fear and Aerwyn realized that he should say something.

The elves here had lost their homes, their loved ones, and even their freedom. They spent the last few days locked in place dwelling in those thoughts and they needed something to rouse them back. His "great one" act worked on his undead so without a better option he decided to play the part once more.

"My name is Aerwyn, i am from Setrhyn. Some of you may have seen me before in Lyr with my strange undead creatures. I found Lyr after it had already been destroyed to which i sent my undead to notify Setrhyn of the pending attack. As i made my way to join them in battle, Nyris and the others from Lyr found their way to my home in Ardin..." As Aerwyn mentioned Nyris"s name the elves appeared to listen more closely.

"...Nyris joined me and my army of undead as we marched to Setrhyn. Once there, together with the brave Fae"Laran of Setrhyn, we routed the human"s army as they attempted to pry their way through Setrhyn"s walls. The humans were chased down through the night as they tasted fear and terror the likes of which are reserved for scary stories meant to keep younglings from going out after dark..." As Aerwyn recalled the story with a voice of fervor the elves resentment towards the humans became ever apparent as the sparks of life began to slowly enter their eyes once more.

"...Their punishment wouldn"t be a quick death. No... Their punishment for daring to step foot on the lands of the Fae"Laran would be a slow and torturous death at the jaws and claws of my undead beasts. Not even their everlasting souls were spared my fury. No longer shall their souls have the chance to start again through reincarnation. They shall never again taste the bliss of life, of love, or of happiness, for they took all of those things from you..." Aerwyn"s words seemed to cause the sparks of life in their eyes to burst out in a furor as the elves regained their sense of self.

"...However the Fae"Laran are strong, you will rebuild your lives, you will find love and happiness again while those humans who dared to take from you are doomed to an eternal suffering alone in the darkness. That is their punishment for daring to harm the Fae"Laran. The humans lucky enough to fall by my hand shall pay for their transgressions by serving me in their undeath for eternity like the two you see before me. However like the rest, should they die or fail me, they too shall suffer that deep darkness, never to see life again..." The fervor of the elves grew with each pa.s.sing word before Aerwyn brought it back down with a somber tone.

"...I cannot return to you your lost loved ones... However, your vengeance is my vengeance. The world of Alduun, the world that banished the Fae"Laran to these forsaken lands, shall see my reckoning just as these human trespa.s.sers have. There will come a day when the Fae"Laran march south, back to their rightful home to reclaim all that this world has taken from them... So live... Rebuild your lives knowing that all that has been taken from you will be repaid tenfold before i am through..." Aerwyn didn"t receive so much as a peep in response to his "great one" speech. The elves simply stared, eyes full of vim and vigor as he turned to Kers and Inik.

"Release them." Aerwyn said as he walked back above deck. At the top of the stairs leading back up was Erit who stared at him with a beautiful smile so large Aerwyn could see his reflection in her pearly white teeth.

"...You were listening?" Aerwyn asked embarra.s.singly.

"Hmm? Did you say something master? Listening to what?" Erit smile that refused to leave her face betrayed her not so convincing words.

"Whatever, let"s go. It"s time to deal with the Earl"s men."