Live to Ride
Authors note:
This story is set two years after the events described in the story 'Prisoner of War', it takes place at the same time as 'Hunter.Hunted'
Prologue:
The human kingdoms of the south have prevailed against the invasion from the north.
The great coalition of Giants, Dire Wolves, Orc's, and Goblins was smashed by the valiant troops of the Eastern, Western and Middle realms in a series of battles.
None of it would have happened except for the bravery and tenacity of one lone warrior. Alice, a prisoner of war, who had escaped her captors and carried a message of warning to King Tonar of the Middle Realm. In turn, he laid plans with his fellow monarchs, King Patric to the east and Queen Bea to the west.
The decimated enemy fled northwards to their villages and strongholds to the north, fleeing back to the mountains from which they had come.
That should have been an end to the war. Alice was feted and rewarded and rightly acknowledged for her bravery. However, she like many subjects of the realms, had suffered greatly at the hands of the enemy. A return to the status quo was not sufficient and could not hope to quench the fires of revenge that burned in the breasts of so many.
There were other reasons why the conflict would continue. Many who had dwelt in the borderlands and had been taken prisoner during the conflict still remained unaccounted for. Friends and relatives, mothers, wives, husbands and sons all sought word of their loved ones. Failing that, they sought an accounting with those who stole them from their lives.
Many merchants, those who dealt in lumber, stone and precious minerals were also eager for troops to continue on to the Northlands. They believed that riches were to be made from the natural resources in the mountains and perhaps beyond them too. Lands that no human had yet set foot on.
There was one more reason. Something known to just a few, those who had heard Alice's tale directly from her lips. There was an herb, seemingly one that grew only in the North. To all accounts, one known to Giant kind alone, although this was speculation. This herb allowed the person who consumed it to ignore all pain. A useful drug. However, it also increased physical pleasure and lust a hundred-fold, and this was an item worth far more than its weight in gold. The discoverer of such an herb would be wealthy beyond imagination.
Alice, though questioned thoroughly, could give no description of the herb, having always received it through food and water. Other slaves rescued in the aftermath of the battle were also ignorant of the herb. The bodies of the slain giants on the battlefields also yielded no clues.
And so, bands of men and women, some in groups as large as a hundred, some just a lone warrior or hunter, set out from the Southern Kingdoms. They sought vengeance and money, cutting a path of blood for others to follow, a slowly creeping wave of humanity as the borderlands shifted ever northward.
Chapter 1:
Margo the Terramancer, Mistress of the arcane and skilled manipulator of earth magic rubbed her aching ass cheek as the wagon rumbled over a particularly rocky stretch of ground.
The merchant guild had hired her to assess the lands to the north of the Eastern Kingdoms. While many sought the mountains for riches, these merchants had decided to bypass the mountain range using ships. The idea was for Margo's expedition to chart the land beyond the mountain, identify mineral deposits (her speciality) and to identify prime sites for settlers seeking good arable land.
The expedition, two merchant ships in total, had sailed up along the coast for over two weeks before a navigable natural harbour had been found. Once the ships had unloaded their occupants, the captains were to wait in place for a month to allow for a preliminary reconnaissance to be completed.
Margo and two of her adepts occupied one horse drawn wagon, a simple but sturdy vehicle which had been fitted with a thin wooden screen and a canopy roof to allow the occupants some privacy. Three more wagons completed the train, filled with supplies and also transporting the two cartographers who were tasked with mapping the terrain. For security, a mercenary company of cavalry had been retained. All of them were former military and the hundred strong troop had a reputation for reliability and efficiency.
The magician winced once more as the wagon lurched again. Since the expedition had set out from the ships three days ago the land had remained flat, featureless and disappointingly free of any deposits that might encourage a mining enterprise. Also, the steppe, while covered in grass, had thin soil that would tax any farmer seeking to grow crops. It seemed like, for the moment at least, the guild would be disappointed by her findings.