"Vay is an inspired swordsman, someone who is born once every thousand years! He's only 157 years older than me, and next to him my swordsmanship looks like swinging a flail..."
I was sitting with Valeria by the river. Her half-brother was currently beating up mercilessly lizardmen with a stick, who kept him company during his training — if it could even be called anything other than a massacre.
"Left, right, thrust! Too slow!" he shouted, then struck Jo'Xa'Jaru in the chest with the shaft of his wooden sword and leapt back before the counterattack. "You almost had me!"
It had been a long time since days were this peaceful. Valeria had come back to life, looking like herself again — full of energy, defiance, and drive. Her brother, meanwhile, turned out to be the life of the party and a very friendly individual. Not for a moment did he hold it against me that I didn't want to spar with him. After all, the Great Devourer must have strength for matters of the kingdom, right!?
"Your Highness, news from Gyrd. It's very urgent."
A small goblin handed her a wrapped scroll; she glanced at it and was taken aback. Something had happened. What could have shaken her like that? Did something happen to Zoggo? Was there a rebellion? Maybe Gyrd had fallen into a trap? Her expression promised nothing good on the horizon...
Vay sensed the unease in her aura and stopped sparring. He dodged another strike from a glaive, turned into dark mist, and appeared before his half-sister, who was a head shorter than him. Like a ghost — like an overwhelming presence that made me uneasy. The last time I felt such a monstrous difference in power was when I saw those creatures in the underground. The Black Dragoness and others...
"What happened, little sister? Are your gray friends causing trouble again?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed. Who would have thought that even after such a long time apart, he still felt like teasing her...
She only told us to follow her and set off along the river toward the capital of our young state. Recently, the capital had been named the White Stone City, and somehow I liked that more than Hakku's Stronghold... After all, I was the one who came up with the change! The pearly white stones were so abundant here that they gave the river its name, so they might as well name the settlement too. Who knows — maybe in the future even a proper city?
For now, poverty here was worse than in a third-world country on Earth. The last battle had taken its toll on everyone. It was good that summer was approaching, and truth be told, it was the last call to gather supplies and button everything up before winter. Those were said to be extremely harsh here and deadly for the unprepared. After my experience on the Hundred Grasses Plain, I could believe it.
"What is it? Did something happen?" I pressed, but without success.
Valeria only urged me, Jo, and Vay onward. She sent for Mago, Doirak, San, and Argos. Something important must have happened...
Goblins who saw the queen paid her respect, and rumors of another vampire's arrival spread through the city like a tornado. Everyone probably already knew — even the newborn and the deaf. It wasn't every day that a cold-blooded figure in armor worth more than a hundred such villages (now officially cities! though only officially) came to these lands. Usually, it meant something bad — abduction into slavery, killing for sport, or extortion...
As soon as it became known that Valeria and Vay were related, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Especially me! Just imagine what would have happened if he worked for the usurper uncle! Good thing reality isn't a k-drama, and siblings with good relations — especially half-siblings — actually exist!
"Don't be so mysterious, Va... I'll die of curiosity."
He teased her along the way, nudging her shoulder and pinching her, to the horror of the greens around us. She didn't remain in debt and tried to kick him, but missed, to her irritation. Vay laughed.
"Eh, brutal as always! Though a bit stronger now."
He winked, delighted.
In the throne room — if this newly, painstakingly built structure could be called that — eight of us gathered. Valeria still didn't fully trust the chieftains from the east, and she certainly didn't have time to discuss things with every minor goblin elder individually.
"I won't beat around the bush. The Free Cities are gathering sizable forces at our borders."
She blurted out, unrolling an old and possibly detailed map on the table.
"Five days from the Thorn Route. Gyrd writes about eight thousand... We won't stand a chance in open field. If they move west—"
"If."
Vay interrupted her with a smile. Confidence radiated from him, and not for a moment did he show fear for his sister.
"The Great Southern Forest is wild and vast. What will they gain by waging war on you? They'll burn border settlements — and then what? Haven't you heard of orc raids on plantations and settlements belonging to Gomas?"
He asked, and we remained silent. I had only heard the name, nothing more.
"It's the northwesternmost Free City. Their king is a strong and wealthy little man," he leaned against a decaying pillar supporting a roof made of straw and branches, then, looking at the map, continued in a good mood, "He got rich from trade at the White Bay, where our beautiful river flows into the Pirate Sea... He plays the important man, and since the grays have been bothering him lately, he's trying to figure out how to deal with them. You could use that, dear sister."
Damn it. He's got a way with words! He should be a politician, not a sellsword for hire!
"What do you suggest? That we trust Gomas? They'll stab us in the back at the first opportunity! They're trash without honor. Brother, it's not that simple..."
Vay laughed, folded his arms, and looked at all of us.
"Who said only they can stab someone at the first convenient opportunity, dear little sister? Since when do wolves make deals with sheep?"
Argos didn't like those words, though he admitted he was right.
"Gomas is a barbaric city pretending to be honorable. We should do what is best for the Queen," he commented.
"First, let's send an envoy and try to reach an agreement," Jo'Xa'Jaru pointed out, but the goblins didn't approach those ideas with much hope.
Meanwhile, I studied the map, tuning out their arguments and thoughts, and approached it mathematically. I thought about all my late-night sessions playing Total War and Hearts of Iron. Logically speaking:
How would they attack us and stretch their forces while orcs harass them from the north? Those gray monsters don't have a single great city that can be taken to defeat them. They'll attack like locusts, and if he marches against them with a large force, they'll simply retreat and wait it out... He'd have to conquer their lands piece by piece, building forts and camps kilometer by kilometer, year after year, until those bands are forced to fight... How could a single city have the resources for all that? If they were that strong, they wouldn't be making deals with Koshia!
"What are you thinking about, Artax?" Valeria suddenly asked me.
"I think we have nothing to worry about. We should approach this without fear in our hearts. A greater concern will be hunger, watching out for orc raids, and protecting settlements from slave hunters. That's what we should focus on."
"Maybe you're right..." she replied, still troubled.
The great hall quickly heated up under the late spring sun. Layers of hides and furs, wood, and suffocating air. Makeshift construction like something built by alcoholics and retirees sent from a job agency to build a school in a third-world country in the 90s... Even worse!
Doirak began discussing available forces with Mago. Jo'Xa'Jaru was silencing San'Xa'Hu, who was trying to sell Vay a lucky talisman from the swamps, while Argos was making plans with Valeria about forming some kind of diplomatic unit in the east... Pfft! Who would we even put there? An illiterate goblin, or one of us just to rot there?
"Your Highness!" the voice of young Isai rang out. What had happened that the grandson of Isma himself appeared here? "It's urgent! Great birds have landed near the village!"
Everyone jumped to their feet. Vay remained leaning calmly.
"I felt some kind of aura in the distance. You should go greet them, Va."
Sweaty, tired, and surprised, we organized ourselves as best we could. We all suspected who it might be. After all, it was the Free Cities that had business with us, and orcs didn't exactly fly on giant birds! Griffins, huh?
"How did you know about that, Valeria?" I asked on the way.
"I told you, didn't I? I was in the Adventurers' Guild for a time! Have you already forgotten? I guess our conversations on the way back from the wild dungeon didn't leave much of an impression, huh! Griffins live on those cliffs and hills. Some cities have tamed them and use them for military and logistics. They're powerful beasts."
Powerful beasts, huh? Just what we were missing here...
The sun burned against our skin. With a large escort of dozens of hobgoblins and goblins, we went out to meet them. And they better not hold it against us that we didn't let them into the city. If they saw that poverty, they might actually decide to attack us, damn it!
A young figure with distinguished mustaches, wearing a cap adorned with colorful gems and shining armor, observed us carefully. Visitors from Gomas, huh?