Silvertree Chronicles Bk 01 Ch 21

Silvertree Chronicles Book One, Chapter 21, The World Awaits (Dragon Wars Enhanced Edition)

Synopsis: The life of Eldar Silvertree from graduation at the prestigious Elven Academy and desire to leave it behind; only to return full circle to shake Elven Society to the core.

***Inspired by multiple fantasy environments. Not endorsed by any of them. © EmotionalStorm April 2021. This story cannot be transferred to any other site besides Literotica.com without the prior authorizations in writing from the author and EmotionalStorm must be credited for this work.

Authors warning: This section contains scenes of incest between sisters.

Authors Note: For those who have not read my bio, please note I write as a form of therapy for a Traumatic Brain Injury. I know the English majors will probably encounter issues that annoy them. If these are your focus, instead of the story itself, then this is not the story for you. I am not and will never be a professional writer.

I do it to tell the story, for those who wish to read them. I originally submitted this story back in mid-2017 to mid-2018. I have worked to try and improve my writing style while struggling with this issue. I have added some editing software and written a few other stories. Now I am revising and editing this earlier work to try and bring it up to a higher standard from what I have managed to learn over the last few years.

Chapter 21

Filling the Ranks

Most of the crowd at the Academy was either in shock, placated, or mildly curious but afraid to come upon the stage. A few well-wishers came up. Several congratulations were shouted.

Eldar saw a High Elf, extremely wealthy Gold Elves were often called High Elves. This one's attire, gear, and the entourage of bodyguards called him out as being classified as a High Elf.

He walked on the stage with 2 of his 6 bodyguards and he walked over to Eldar. "Congratulations Grand Master, it is true you will not be training apprentices here at the Academy?"

Eldar nodded, "I will be busy building a town while overseeing the raising of the Gray Blades. I will be training apprentices in the field with me in actual combat at times."

He smiled, "I have a possible apprentice for you to look at. He is of age and was not well suited for Academy life but has the potential to be a fine Blade Singer with the right instructor."

Eldar nodded to him, "Give me a moment."

Eldar walked over to Annette and Charlemagne, "My lovely wives I am afraid I must leave you for a little while to check on that possible apprentice. Remember the vision storm spoke of this."

They each kissed him. He walked over to Tranosa, "Still mad at me Captain?"

Keyno giggled as Tranosa looked at him, "You did put me on the spot in front of a large audience no less. I should kick your ass just for that, but I have to ask why me?"

Eldar smiled, "Like myself being thrust into the role I have been given. I see an Elf who looks after the safety of others as I do. My question to you is, 'Why should it not be you?' We both know you have the skill and that leaves desire. Did I desire to be the Knight Champion? No. Sometimes difficult things are thrust on great people. I saw that sword and your name was the only one that came to mind.

If that was the goddess whispering it to me or seeing some of myself in you, it does not matter. Besides, you have a family on the way and now a legacy to pass along to them as you rebuild your family name. As a Captain, you will make more. You have more children coming than any other member of the team except myself and Charlemagne. We are both Commanders."

Tranosa nodded, "I do like the fact you think that much of me."

Eldar smiled, "I told everyone I was looking at getting us a Captain."

He looked for Guard New Moon, "I have to go, are you joining me?"

New Moon nodded, "Let us see what kind of trouble you get us into."

Eldar went back over to the High Elf, "You never gave me a name?"

He looks at Eldar, "Fladius Goldbar, my family runs the banking in the kingdom."

The second richest family right behind the Royal Family, Goldeagle. Eldar nodded, "The banking staff was great when I was there, I wish I could have said the same for your stable staff."

He looked up and smiled, "You must have been the one who had a staff member smacked with a riding crop! How I would've loved to see that."

Eldar smiled, "Nobody attempts to strike or take T'suras without suffering for it."

He yelled out, "T'suras Unta."

A few seconds later T'suras joined them on stage and stopped. Eldar looked at him, "We are ready when you are." He seems surprised that Eldar's horse was on stage with them. "He is a War Horse and will fight if provoked. Where shall we gather, the field below work for everyone?"

Nods came from all the way around. Eldar mounted his horse and he saw a few archers talked with Keyno, and the two fighters talked with Tiger. "T'suras Biana..." He looked at the edge of the stage, "T'suras Yesa (Jump/Leap)." T'suras sprang forward and jumped off the stage into the field a good 20 feet away.

They caught a few stares as Eldar sat there in the field circling waiting for the others to arrive. He saw a Moon Elf approaching.

Karti'Ros warned,

"The other Moon Blade approaches."

Eldar faced in his direction "T'suras Vita Kata" as T'suras bows before him.

Eldar smiled, "Instructor Moon Bow, how are you and your sword doing today? T'suras Ota."

Instructor Moon Bow smirked, "Moon Blade tell you?"

Eldar shook his head, "My sword told me, it sensed the blade."

He nodded, "Well, I will be joining your effort."

Eldar nodded, "I was told you would once you became aware the threat was real. Before you ask, premonitions. I have been having a lot of them like the man approaching me is going to lead me to my first apprentice."

Instructor Moon Bow shook his head, "I cannot say I pictured this future for you."

Eldar chuckled, "I did not choose it. By the way the fourth will join us on the road south, catching up to us as she traveled from the other side of the world, or will be in the next few days. She is with House Silver Moon."

He looked at Eldar, "Other side of the world?"

Eldar nodded, "The Far East heading into the Chow Toh province. Right about now thanking me for sending the warning that kept her off a boat that was destroyed. I sent her toward a magical portal and she is expected. She did not have the means to teleport home when she left."

Instructor Moon Bow shook his head, "I will see you with Moon Blade."

Eldar nodded as his escorts arrived. "T'suras Biana." He followed them out. Eldar looked to Guard New Moon, "What did you think of today's briefing to the masses? Enjoy it? Have you talked with your black-haired raven?"

He nodded, "Yes to both."

Eldar looked to him, "How many men are under a captain here?"

He shrugged, "Why?"

Eldar smirked, "The Queen gave us a revised charter, we can recruit up to 600. I am thinking I will end up with 6 captains with 4 lieutenants under each captain and 4 sergeants under each lieutenant.

That works out to five or six-man groups for caravan protection and we can increase by doubling or tripling the patrols."

He shook his head, "Your numbers are off."

Eldar smiled, "Not really, they are just conservative. I have 10 lieutenant trainers who will pull patrols at random to do the evaluation in the field on top of that. Units that are on stand-down will have a week of refresher training as well as bring in any new tricks they learn. Then a week off, then six weeks of patrols or caravan duty.

Those 10 lieutenants report directly to Charlemagne. I will be on the same patrol schedule except for the retraining as I will be training every day with my apprentices in the field and jumping from one patrol to another. How many men do you oversee?"

He grumbled a bit "Four, I used to have 20. I stepped on the wrong toes."

Eldar smirked, "What did you do?"

He sighed, "I fell in love with a black-haired Raven that a higher-ranking officer wanted. He tried to make me look less desirable."

Eldar nodded, "You got busted to a sergeant over love." New Moon smiled at him. "My kind of officer, sticking with the one or two you love in my case. Even if it cost you. Where would you be by now?"

He shrugged, "I should be a captain, the lieutenant they replaced me with became a captain. You met her."

Eldar nodded, "I felt something going on between you two."

They finally got to the front door of his Goldbar's home. "T'suras Vita."

Eldar dismount and follow them in. Someone went to grab the reins of his horse. Eldar looked at him, "If you value your life you will leave T'suras right where he is. He will try to kill you if you try to take him."

Goldbar waved the guy off as he turned to me, "You have that horse very well trained, how long have you had him?"

Eldar smiled, "He has never been trained in a formal sense and never been broken we came to an understanding. He is more than a horse, he is T'suras. I have had him 2 days and have 13 commands that work for him, even one to go and fuck his mares."

Goldbar was shocked, "Two days!?"

Eldar nodded, "He is T'suras I have never beat or kicked him. I figured out I could tell him to stay. I do not need to tie him up since discovering that. Remember my discussion about double crescents, he has it on his rear quarter. Nobody at the stable could get near the horse I had him saddled and rode out in 30 minutes. Talk with the stable master in the market if you like. Show me your candidate."

Goldbar smiled, "Back this way he prefers to practice in the garden though he has scorched up one or two with fire."

Eldar nodded, "Who has been training him."

He kind of hesitated, "Many, a fighter here and a wizard there. They do not stay long. They do not like his attitude."

Eldar nodded, "Is he geared for travel with weapons and armor. Anything magical to protect him? If it goes well, he will need to be geared to be in combat."

He nodded, "I can arrange that."

Eldar looked at him, "No heavy armor, it restricts movement."

We walked into the garden and he had a metal sword attacking a dummy. His father tried to get his attention and he just kept swinging away. More like hacking at it. Eldar drew his sword, he turned to Eldar and shot a scorching ray at him and it did nothing.

Eldar smacked the sword out of his hands and kicked it across the courtyard behind him. "Do I have your attention now?"

He walked away toward his practice dummy.

Eldar,

"Karti'Ros Moon Fire."

Eldar took the head right off the dummy in one fluid swing. "Who do you think I am?"

The kid shrugged, "Not one of the usual slugs my father brings me to beat on."

Eldar nodded, "Tell me about your mother?"

He walked over to get his blade and Eldar flipped over and stepped on it. "Answer my question."

He looked at Eldar, "She was a Wood Elf who died giving birth to me."

Eldar looked at him, "Tell me her name."

The boy looked at him, "Tisa Strong Oak. I am Narius Strong Oak! He would never claim an impure mixed-blood bastard like me."

Eldar smirked at him, "Like me as well then, I am Half Wood Elf and Half Moon Elf. How often does he come to visit?"

He shrugged, "A couple of times a week sometimes more, sometimes less because he is traveling."

Eldar glared at him, "Why are you angry at him?"

Narius glared at his father, "Because I am trapped here."

Eldar nodded, "You have no mother, no connection to her previous life, and no name to associate you with the father who is hiding you away. Grab your spellbook and bring it here."

Narius walked off and came back with a nice neat, scripted spell book geared to a battle mage. Eldar looked at him, "Did you write this?"

Narius shook his head. Eldar nodded, "We are getting somewhere now."

Eldar put his sword away and picked the battered and beat-up sword off the ground. "Pick a path, magic or the sword?"

He glared at Eldar, "I want to do both."

Eldar looked over at Guard New Moon, "Indulge and spar with the child."

Eldar turned to the child, "He is a Royal Guard. No offensive magic, just sword practice."

Eldar looked at the father, "He needs something better than this piece of junk."

Eldar tossed the bent blade away. His father ran off and came back with another sword that was not bent to hell. "This is sparring, you hit an opponent with the flat of your blade only, if you hit them at all. Begin!"

The kid had strength and speed. He had a mix of styles from being shuffled through to many teachers. His style was shot. He did not land a single blow and New Moon took it easy on him and only hit him a couple of times. "Alright stop. How old are you?"

He huffed a bit as he was out of breath, "55 this Septa."

Eldar looked at him "Septa what date as well?"

He looks at Eldar, "5th."

Eldar looked at the father, "You have done him no favors in your choice of instructors. I saw at least 6 maybe 7 styles in his sword work. It is a mess. Then you have a Battlemage come in with a prepared traveling spellbook that he did not transcribe himself!"

Eldar looked at the boy, "Do you know anything about what goes on outside of this house?"

Narius shrugged, "Only what people talk about."

Eldar asked him, "Give me an example of something you heard about melee combat or magic-related combat."

He thought for a moment, "The last thing I heard about was some guy winning 5 straight tournaments and running his opponent into the ground. A Blade Singer."

Eldar looked at him, "That is what you aspire to be, a Blade Singer mixing magic with swordplay?"

Narius dropped his head, "Yes, but my father won't allow me to go to the Academy to learn."

Eldar nodded, "Let us get some facts straight. The Blade Singer won 4 in a row and is the only student to do so in the History of the Academy. His last match went for 30 minutes. he had watched his opponent's matches. He saw a flaw where she overextended to win a match.

She threw herself off balance doing so. He never saw her have a match go past 2 minutes so he was fairly confident she did not have the endurance, much like you at the moment. He danced with his sword deflecting or dodging every move she made. He wore here down then feigned a slip. Made her think he slipped up and made a mistake. Far enough away that she would have to overextend. She took the bait.

He did a nice acrobatic move and placed his blade at the back of her neck as his foot landed on her sword hand and brought her to the ground. By all rights, he should have graduated as a Grand Master, which did not happen until today. That is when I was given my Grand Master's ring. I am Grand Master Silvertree, your father asked me to evaluate you for training and the first thing you try is setting me on fire?"

The boy looked at his father and turned 5 shades lighter. Eldar looked at Narius, "You are angry and unfocused with the wrong spells to be a Blade Singer. Some will work but you are missing every defensive spell that you should have. You have some strength. You know what you want, you just do not know how to get there. Do you know the word sequester?"

The boy thought, "Not exactly."

Eldar sighed, "How many books have you read in the last 3 months?"

The boy shrugs, "Maybe half of one."

Eldar looked at the father, "You are asking me to take an undereducated, angry, undisciplined boy with me to train as a Blade Singer?"

The father turns white now, "I uh, I did not know about this gap in his education."

Eldar looked at the boy, "Grab me that junk sword and bring it over here?"

He grabbed the sword and brought it toward Eldar. Eldar grabbed his wrist and took the sword. He twisted him around and put him over his knee. He gave him 5 good swats on the ass with the flat of the blade. He stood him back up and asked him flat out, "Is that the first time anyone has spanked you?"

He nodded. Eldar glared at him, "You think you have the determination? You could find the focus to become a Blade Singer?"

He looks at Eldar, "I can find it."

Eldar glared some more with skepticism, "To commit to 30 years of training and the rest of your life defending the Elven people? All the people including your father and this family that have denied you their name? It is not just about skill and determination.

Those values have to exist! We are talking about commitment to a way of life. You have to know you will do these things, put aside your anger, focus, listen, and commit. You know this?"

The boy tried to stay calm looking at me through bloodshot eyes. Finally, with a bit of anger and a lot of determination, "Yes, I know I can do it."

Eldar looked at him "Can do it, what about will do it? The word 'can' better be followed with the word 'trip' as in cantrip. Else it should not be in your vocabulary."

The boy fought his anger and finally said. "Yes, I know I will succeed."

Eldar looked him in the eye, "That is called determination! Keeping your anger in check! Acceptance of the fact you needed to be disciplined for your shameful lack of self-control!"

Eldar looked at the father and screamed, "Get over here!"

He turned white. He saw his bodyguards start to move, "Guard New Moon, they enter this garden, cut them down!"

He grabbed the father by the wrist and pulled him over his lap. He gave him a good 20 swats when the junk sword snapped. He got the father to his feet, "I could have gotten away with beating you to within an inch of your life. I gave you a taste of what your son faces when and if he gets out of line with me! You want me to take him to train him here is what you are going to do."

He grabbed his son's hand and put their hands together, "You're going to get him the best elven chainmail armor you can find, the strongest ring of resistance, and the strongest ring of fire resistance. Then find the strongest longsword you can find. If it has command words you give them to me. I will decide when he is ready for them, and I said words, as in more than one thing.

You will buy the largest bag of holding you can get your hands on or an empty one in your house! You will go to the Academy and get the preferred reading material in combat, tactics, strategy, training horses, and the entire recommended reading material from years 30-75 for a Blade Singer, warrior, and Battle Mage.

A dozen empty spellbooks quills and ink to fill them all. I have a very comprehensive library of spells because one of the first things I will do is incinerate the book he has at the moment. He did not do the work to put the spells in the book then he should not have the spells. Tomorrow you are TAKING your son with you!

His first exploration of this city should be done by his father! You have something scheduled, then reschedule. I do not care if the fucking King wants you! You need to be committed to this for the next 3 days and occasional support over the next 30 years. The day after tomorrow you are going to bring him to the market.

I have a very good sorcerer who can appraise if you have done what I have asked. I will be putting the spell in memory as well! The pain is about 90% done. You will go shopping for the essential gear he will need to survive in the wilderness. The day after, I will get Hunter or Skinner to help you with this.

While I walk your son over to the stable to find a warhorse, saddle, reins without a bit, the softest horse blanket they have. Then you can take him home for the night. Our wagon train will depart at first light. Be waiting for our arrival, if his gear is ready to go.

You are going to do these things not to buy your son's love but give him a fair chance of survival as we will encounter combat in our travels. Your failure to be a good father has put him at a disadvantage; one I will fix or break him while trying. Do you agree to my terms?!"