Four Horsemen: Chapter 5 Part 2 of 2 (Patreon)

“Thank you,” Petor said as Helena filled up his tea mug.

“No problem.” She smiled and left them to their breakfast.

Valter looked more awake and rested than he had any right to be. Desari looked like she’d been in a battle between a book and sleep and the book had won out most of the way.

The door to the tavern opened and Mya walked in. she had beer stains on her shirt but looked like she’d had a full night’s sleep.

“Hey Helena!”

“You want breakfast and tea?”

“Yes please!” Mya grinned at her.

“Late night?” Helena asked in a low tone.

“Early morning,” Mya winked back. Helena laughed and turned to the kitchen window, yelling at the staff in there.

Mya plonked down in her seat.

“We have to report in an hour, that’s not enough time to sleep,” Desari said.

“Not feeling tired really,” Mya shrugged.

“Here you are.” Helena arrived with a cup and filled it from her clay pitcher.

“Thanks!”

Helena gave her a smile and dropped off the pitcher, moving around the room to organize the furniture.

“You learn anything in last night’s festivities?” Desari asked.

“There are tunnels all through the mountains, Dreakoun is the god of Stone and shadow, people think the tunnels go to the Underfall, which is the dark plane of this world which is called Krendel. It’s a pretty new world, people don’t have much access to magic and the elite fighters are of the gold level. Jorai is the god of the mountain, the Skrug, Mardaren and the Amesh nations believe in him. This city is ruled by the priests of Jorai, and they use warriors from the three nations for their defenses. They wage war on the nations that believe in other gods. Champion is called Berrox, he was a high level gold, but now with his gear and blessings, should bet that he is at least as strong as a low or mid level Dimantium,” Mya quietened as Helena approached with a plate of food.

“There you are, need anything else?”

“No thank you,” Valter smiled.

Helena pressed her lips together, looking him over quickly. “Anytime.” Her grin deepend as she headed back to the bar.

“Is dimantium some guild thing?”

“Yes, it is a level higher than gold,” Petor said, cutting up his food.

“Huh, well otherwise people are scared, this is some kind of holy war, five groups of followers, those that believe in Jorai the mountain god and then four others. Jorai’s faithful, are attacking the other god’s cities. Seems they got in a sneak attack hitting Sorelli, that’s the town we’re in. The army has apparently been recalled but its going to take weeks for them to get back here and no one knows when the portals are going to open again.”

“They going to send out riders to hit the camps?” Valter asked.

“Can’t, the fighters out there are too strong for them to beat. There’s the champion, his personal guard, then a small group to protect the head priest and then all the guards are the ones too old, young or injured to fight with the army.”

“Messy,” Valter grimaced, eating a forkful.

“The priests are excavating the cathedral, looks like they’re clearing a path down to the bottom. Also there’s rumors that the inquisition were spotted at several residences around the city. Residences owned by members of the council that run Sorelli.”

“How does the city work? Like the governing?” Petor asked.

“Sorelli is basically a place of pilgrimage by all believers and Jorai Faithful. The church essentially rules. Though they leave things like the operation of the city up to the council. They manage the guards, the walls, the sewers, roads, houses and farming. Oh, also some of the guards come from Sorelli, but most of them come from the four different nations that believe in Lord Jorai. The church runs their buildings, their priests, hold parades and the like,” Mya waved her hand.

“The church is rounding up the leadership? They’re taking control,” Desari asked.

“Some say they’re being arrested, others say they’re dead, others say they’ve fled. The only thing for sure is that the councillors and the inquisitors were involved with one another. And the rumors Percy was talking about, they’re right, Jorai’s cut off the priests and his faithful. No blessings, no nothing. Councillor Matteo Wolf, the leader of the council and vocal supporter of the citizens of Sorelli has disappeared. People like him, he’s been fighting to extend the walls, working for the people living in the city not just those on a pilgrimage to it.”

Mya used the bread to scoop up some of the eggs.

“There are tunnels and mine shafts carved into the mountain to pull out metal to fuel the war. There’s a constant threat of creatures coming out of them, people think that there are paths through the mountain.” She stuffed the bread and egg into her mouth.

“Wahd aboh youh?” She asked through her food.

“I know alchemy apparently, pretty well too,” Desari chewed on a piece of meat.

Mya’s eyebrows swung like a see saw.

“Houh?”

“And I know smithing,” Valter said.

Mya chewed quickly, drinking down the eggs and bread with tea.

“So if I increase my core, do I get a higher guild plate?” Mya gasped.

“No, you only get a higher guild plate by doing a related feat. You defeat a gold ranked beast, you get a gold guild plate. Doesn’t matter if you are a white core or a green core.”

“So if we were to fight and kill someone that was a gold then we would become golds in one shot?” Mya swallowed down her food in a way that made Petor feel the heartburn.

“Ranks are just how people categorize one another in this world. They would say that we are golds, and I guess we would be, but as we are we would only be able to use that kind of power for a short period of time, we couldn’t use it all the time.”

“As we are we’re coppers that can fight a low gold if the situation requires,” Valter said. “Best to stay as coppers instead of golds.” He nodded and continued shovelling food into his face.

“Why, don’t the golds get all the cool stuff?” Mya slumped on the table.

“People underestimate coppers, if a group of four golds show up in the city and people don’t know where they came from, they’re going to look into us,” Desari said. “Better to lull them into thinking we’re weak and then when we need to we can use our power.”

“Sneaky, me likey,” Mya waved a sausage and then nibbled on it. “Damn this tastes good!”

“Right,” Valter kept eating, savoring each half shovel sized scoop. He cleared the last of his meal with the tea. “I feel that all of you need armor.”

Petor’s spear, armor and cape were all linked to his essence, sure with more essence they were stronger, but having more than just a light jacket and rough pants and shirt would be nice.

“Would it be possible to make gear that would enhance our power?” Desari asked.

“Yes, I looked into the books I have on smithing. I still have more to learn but I am going to start testing out a few ideas, but I am going to need resources.” He looked at Mya, as stuffed as a successful chipmunk.

“Whouh?”

“I need you get me some items,” Valter put down a list.

Mya read it over, chewing and gave him a thumbs up. He could even see a smile on her bulged out cheeks.

“I can’t make you anything that would enhance your fighting abilities right now, but I can make you something that would make it harder for arrows and blades to harm us. I also have some information on runic craft, but I need to figure out things.”

“I like my ability to move,” Desari said.

“We don’t have to give you full plate, can work some armor into lighter more maneuverable gear, protect your vitals.”

“I can work with that,” Desari finished off her tea and stood. “We need to get on our way to the Adventurer’s guild.”

Mya stood, scraping the last of the plate down and finishing off her tea.

“Going to be a wet one today,” Petor pulled on a waterproof cloak.