The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (19 page)

The running and dodging had taken
them exactly opposite in the small clearing to the tree that Sion was hiding
in. The sprite was imbuing his arrow for another strike. Richter began running
at the tree and counted the seconds that he saw the aura. Four, five, six,
seven, eight, the blue aura was blinding! The churning of earth and heavy pad
falls of the
skeeling
could be heard getting closer
behind Richter. At a distance of only ten yards, Richter dove forward and a
split second later Sion released. He landed badly, wrenching his ankle. He
turned and drew his short sword. Hopefully he could at least wound the creature
and drive it off. He REALLY did not want to be eaten again!

He was worrying for nothing though.
The last arrow had connected! Whereas strikes to the beast’s body had failed to
produce an effect, Sion’s overpowered shot to the
skeeling’s
face made it nose dive into the ground and create a furrow ten feet long. It
lay motionless for a few moments, and then lifted its head to screech again in
rage and defiance. Richter had not wasted time though. He hobbled forward, arm
held low and cocked, then rammed his blade into the creature’s eye. A faint pop
could be felt up his sword arm as he penetrated the eye, followed quickly by
the crunch of facial bones and then a meaty resistance as his blade entered
grey matter. Without even a death cry, the
skeeling’s
head became dead weight, and Richter withdrew his weapon to the sound of
further grating of bones. He looked up at the sprite’s triumphant face, and
communicated what was in his heart.

“You’re an asshole!”

His companion lightly dropped down,
and did not deign to address Richter’s assertion. He merely slapped him good
naturedly on the back as he walked past to the
skeeling’s
body. He looked up at his friend and said, “Good job! I couldn’t have done it
without you!” The grin had not left the sprites face.

 Richter shook his head, and
repeated silently to himself, ‘This is what happens when you have poor
communication.’ He resolved to make more of an effort to engage his friend in
the future, specifically about his sick sense of humor. Sion had not stopped
looking at the creature, and was walking around it now, marveling at its size.
After two complete laps, he looked back and said, “Now let’s see what we’ve
got!”

 Richter took a healing herb out
of his pack and started munching on it. He barely noticed the slightly bitter
taste anymore. Honestly it wasn’t any worse than some of those
fru
fru
salads that were so
popular back on Earth. He walked along behind Sion, and reflected it was
strange that he didn’t really miss his old life. The action, adventure, danger
and reward he had found in the Land resonated with something inside of him.
True, he missed his family and friends. He would also kill for a chicken
biscuit! Here though, he felt like he had… purpose. Even running from the
skeeling
was more satisfying and exciting, than almost that
had happened to him back on Earth. This was where he belonged. He had also
leveled his Light Armor skill which was nothing to sneeze at.

 Sion had reached the tree
oblivious to Richter’s introspective thoughts. The wood sprite began
immediately lowering himself down into the hole. Pushing his musings aside for
another time, Richter took his pack off, leaving it at the entrance to the tree
and climbed down as well. The space was actually reasonably large, for a
subterranean gopher hole that is. A phosphorescent blue moss gave faint
illumination. The ceiling was about four and a half feet from the floor, so
while he couldn’t stand upright, he could move along at a reasonable
comfortable crouch. The small area they were in couldn’t have been more than
forty square feet, but in front of them was another large hole leading downward
at a gentle slope. Sion’s sword was out, and he moved forward warily.

 They dropped down to the second
level. It was a larger cavern about twenty yards across and thirty yards deep.
There was nothing living, but the floor was littered with hundreds of bones.
Many seemed animal like, but more than a few were the long bones or skulls of
humanoids. This thing had been preying on passersby for quite a while. The
stench was also a bit overpowering as it had placed it waste wherever it wanted
apparently. Richter tried not to think too much about the overly soft earth or
the fact that his shoes sank several inches into the ground.

 Sion moved to the center of the
room. He closed his eyes and held both arms out to his side. He stood like that
for over a minute, and then walked with certainty to the back of the cavern. He
started digging in the ground with his bare hands, throwing clods of dirt to
the side. Sighing, Richter thought, in for a penny in for a pound. He knelt
beside his friend and began digging as well. He was sure that the stench was
permanently sinking into his skin! After digging for three feet however, a
smell began to compete with the offal. The new scent was like clean earth.

 A memory came to Richter’s
mind. He was standing in the park with an old girlfriend. They had stood under
a willow, the branches reaching almost to the ground, and around them a
seriously intense rainstorm had let loose its fury. Only a few drops had made
their way through the canopy to fall on the two of them, and they had just
stood there in silence. It was the last time they had touched. After that day,
the inevitable arguments of youth had broken them apart. Even though it was a
bitter sweet memory, Richter had always still cherished it. The faint, clean
smell of rain on grass was the somehow the same as what he was experiencing
now.

Richter shook his head, clearing his
mind. Sion was standing in front of him, holding a brown sphere with light
green veins running across the surface. The veins glowed with a gentle light.
Sion was smiling, “I don’t know what you were thinking, but I know it was a
reassuring memory of nature. That is what the Seed Core truly is. It is the
potential for something wonderful. I know I was cavalier earlier, and should
have told you what I had planned. I was excited to find an Offshoot, and
possibly find a Seed Core. More than that though, I could not let such a
wonderful talisman of good be used to feed the power of whatever evil creature
had found it. Thank you for helping me, my friend.”

 Richter was moved by the sprite’s
sincerity. He told him, “I’m here for you man. I will fight beside you, and
what is important to you is important to me.” Sion’s smiled in appreciation.
“But you’re still an asshole, buddy,” Richter finished. Sion’s smile grew
wider, and he gave a small laugh.

 “Well now we’re even for the
goblin pot! Now touch the Seed Core, and get your reward, my friend,” the
sprite said.

 With a smile and a confused
cock of his head, Richter reached out and laid his hand on brown sphere. The light
from the green veins pulsed, and a prompt filled his vision.

Congratulations! You have found a
Seed Core. This can be planted to grow almost any type of tree. It will grow
into whatever best fits the needs of the region. Will you plant the Core in a safe
area?

You have been offered a Quest: Tree
of Power I. Plant the Seed Core in a safe area. Reward: Unknown. Yes or No?

Well this was a no brainer. Even if
Sion wasn’t cuckoo for this thing, it seemed like a good cause anyway. He
selected yes.

Alert! As Master of a Place of Power
you have the chance to grow a high level tree if you plant within the
boundaries of your domain!

 Another exciting opportunity
for his village! In addition to the Seed Core there were other items at the
back of cavern, many buried just below the surface. They spent the next hour
searching and found a multitude of packs and weapons. The faint light from the
moss and Seed Core was not enough to truly inspect the items. The stench was
also growing unbearable, so they dragged everything they had found back with
them to the surface. The first taste of clean air was a relief!

 They set the items they had
found to the side and just sat breathing fresh air for a few minutes. A thought
intruded on Richter’s recovery time. “Will Hisako be okay if I plant the Seed
Core at the village? If only one is made every couple hundred years, she might
want it back.

 Sion shook his head, “The Seed
Core was found by us. The Forest obviously wanted it to be part of our destiny.
I believe in you Richter. Just use it for good! Now,” Sion said, “one last
task.
Skeeling
armor is usually resilient, but that
monster was something else. I say we skin it and see if anything useful can be
made!”

 “Of course, my friend, of
course,” Richter said with a smile. “But after that, we HAVE to take a bath in
the river!”

It took over two weeks to reach the
edge of the forest. No other major events occurred after they found the Seed
Core, and they were able to enjoy the peace of the forest. Many of the items
they had found in the
skeeling’s
lair were rubbish.
Old moldy clothes and rusty tools. There were several pouches adding up to a
few gold coins. One item did stand out though.

You have received: High steel long
sword. Damage 18-24. Durability 37/50. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Superb.
Weight 2.8 kg

 Well, it wasn’t a magical sword
of griffin reaping or anything spectacular, but it was a definite step up from
his short sword, which was looking rather battered anyway.

Leaving the trees was a bit of a
shock to the senses. After weeks of shade, and the myriad sounds of the small
creatures around them, they were confronted with cultivated land. It was
strange to see the wide open sky after so much time in the forest. Before them
was an ocean of green grass on gently sloping hills. The sky was cloudless, and
was a smooth azure like cornflowers in spring. A broad dirt road was several
hundred yards from the edge of the forest. The travelers upon it raised a cloud
of dust ten feet in the air. There was some traffic in both directions on it,
but the majority was moving south towards a town seen in the distance. Sion and
Richter approached the road, and a quick round of questioning informed that the
road to Law passed through the town. They joined the flow of traffic towards
the settlement.

After only a few minutes, the dirt in
the air found its way into their mouths. Can’t even get away from pollution in
medieval times, Richter thought with irritation. The time spent traveling on
the road was unpleasant to saw the least.  Before too long though, the
town loomed in front of them. A stone wall surrounded it, fifteen feet high,
with towers at each corner. The town gates were wide open though, and two bored
looking guards merely waved traffic through. Until Richter and Sion that is.

“Papers,” the older guard said
without changing his demeanor, his hand outstretched.

Richter stared at him without
speaking.

Letting out a long suffering sigh,
the guard repeated himself, “Pay-
perrs
.”

Richter put on a fake smile, “I’m sorry,
but I didn’t know we needed papers. I didn’t see anyone in front of us hand you
anything.”

“YOU don’t need anything, but the
Spit there does,” the younger guard said in an aggressive tone. Sion breathed
heavily in irritation.

“Stay easy
Jonsey
,
no need to get agitated,” the other guard said. “Now where did you folks come
from?”

“We just finished traveling through
the forest.”

“Came from
Rione
did you?”

Richter thought quickly, and
remembered that
Rione
was a neighboring kingdom on the
other side of the Serrated Mountains. If his recall was correct from the game,
the Kingdom of
Rione
was less developed, and had
large populations of nonhumans.

“
Er
yeah,
we crossed though a pass in the mountains and then traveled down through the
forest. Your town is the first that we have seen.”

“Failure to declare at the borders is
an offense and requires you to be detained!”
Jonsey’s
voice was full of righteous indignation, but it was clear that the main source
of his ire was Sion. His glare never left the small humanoid.

“Whoa, whoa,
Jonsey
!
I told you to be calm!” A note of iron had worked its way into the older
guard’s voice. Turning to Richter he said, “Now you seem like a good sort. I’m
sure you didn’t mean to flout the King’s laws now did you?”

The answer obvious, so as sincerely
as possible Richter answered, “No, of course not!”

“Now I have a cousin that works at
the border, and if you wanted to leave the passage fee with me I’m sure I could
get it to him. No harm, no foul.” As the guard said it, he looked Richter
meaningfully in the eye.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,”
Richter replied. “Of course, I would feel better if I could offer a bit of coin
to pay for the cost of the journey.”

The guard smiled brightly, “Well if
it makes you feel better, who am I to object.”

Not knowing what amount was
appropriate he took three silver from his purse and paused a moment. The
expectant look on the guards face made him dig a bit deeper, and he pulled out
five more. At a pleased nod from the guard, Richter closed his purse and handed
over the coins. For an older man, the guard made the coins disappear fast
enough, and waved the two companions through. As they passed he handed them a
piece of paper he had scribbled on. “Take this to the ministry office and get a
bond for your friend there,” nodding at Sion. “You will continue to run into
trouble without the right papers. Just keep straight on the main street until
you see a large white building with a green slate roof on the right.”

Nodding thanks Richter took the paper
and began to turn away, but on impulse moved back to the gate. At the guard’s
curious glance, he took another five silver out of his purse and said, “It is
clear that we are new here, and I would appreciate any help navigating your
town and country. I would be very appreciative,” shaking the money in his
partially closed fist, the coins making a slight tinkling sound.

“Well I have always fancied myself an
ambassador,” the guard chuckled taking the coins and making them disappear just
as quickly as the first eight. “When you get to the ministry ask for Edwin.
Tell him
Caulder
sent you. It might also be a good
idea to tell them you lost the papers, rather than that you didn’t declare your
friend upon entering our fair land. Just a piece of friendly advice,
ey
? And if you need a place to stay I would recommend the
Whistling Hen. They may not be the cheapest, but for a copper the stable boy
will place close attention to your horses. Make sure they don’t wander off in
the night if you catch my meaning,” he said with a wink. “They also don’t mind
if you have friends from various places,” nodding at Sion again.

“Thank you for help, my name is
Richter,” he said extending his hand.

Caulder
extended his own and they clasped
wrists. The guard’s hand was rough with calluses. “You might want to find some
clothes as well,” indicating the green armor they both wore, “You kind of stand
out. Maybe I’ll see you in the common room later, and we can share an ale. The
Whistling Hen has great service,” he said with a laugh, “and either way,
welcome to the Leaf’s
Crossing
!”

Somewhat confused, but happy for the
advice, Richter simply nodded and smiled. Even though it costs some money it
seemed his increased Charisma was already coming in handy.  With a slight
pull on the bridle, his pony started walking again, Sion and his own pony
moving along beside him. Throughout the exchange, the younger guard stared
coldly at the sprite.

After they had moved up the road for
a few minutes, Richter asked, “Why did he call you that?”

Sion took a moment before answering,
“I had always heard stories that some humans fostered a hate for us and other
races, but I had hoped it wasn’t true. What he called me was an insult. I have
never heard about needing to register before though. From the stories I heard,
the city of Law has many races within it.”

Richter felt somewhat disheartened.
He had hoped that blind hatred wouldn’t follow him to this world. It seemed
some things were universal, however. They walked for a while until they came
upon a white building with a green roof, just as
Caulder
had said. A coat of arms, blue swords pointing downward on a field of green,
was hung at the top of the building, the same image Richter had seen on the
guards’ shirts.

A copper coin each to the valet ensured
that their mounts would be watched while they were inside. The entrance led
into a large room with multiple hallways leading off of it. People moved
quickly in all directions. Lines of various colors were on the floor, some
tracing into open doorways and others leading off into the distance. Seeing
that all of the lines converged at the desk at the far end of the room, he
joined the que of people waiting. First racial prejudice and now the DMV! So
far Richter wasn’t a fan of the Kingdom!

After an hour of standing in line,
they reached the front. A severe older woman looked down at them from an
elevated platform. A large wooden desk was between them. Her hair was in a gray
bun, and her mouth seemed set into a perpetual frown. She sneered slightly when
she spoke to them.

“Yes,” she said in a scratchy voice
that would put a pack a day smoker to shame.

Richter plastered a smile onto his
face, “Hello, ma’am, I was told by the city guard that I needed to get papers
for my companion,” nodding to Sion.

Apparently his increased Charisma was
powerless in the face of entrenched bureaucracy. Pinning Richter to the floor
with her gaze, the woman said “Failure to declare a nonhuman upon entering Yves
is a serious offense!”

“No
no
,”
Richter said quickly. “We simply lost our papers. I have this note.” He handed
her the paper that
Caulder
had given him.

With disdain, the woman took the
paper and scanned it. Flicking her gaze back and forth between Richter and
Sion, she grunted. With one last long look, as if to question why the world had
to have such imbeciles in it, she took out a piece of paper from a stack on her
left and jotted down a quick set of notes. “Take this to requisition processing
and get a note of dividend. Then take the note to accounting, and pay the
requisite fee. They will give you an AIY-6 form. Have that signed by middle
registry, and return the form back to this desk after obtaining the signatures
of three people in good standing within the town. At that point…”

As she rattled off these directions
with the sure tone of a general giving commands on the battlefield, Richter
began to wail internally! His panic ratcheted up with each new mini quest he
was being given. Even Sion who had faced a horde of goblins and an undead
sorcerer, seemed to have paled under her onslaught. With the feeling of a man
without air, Richter made one last effort to keep from being drowned in a week
of bureaucracy, “I need to talk to Edwin,” Richter blurted.

“
Ohhh
,” she
said slowly, dragging the single syllable out and staring at him. Richter was
fairly certain she was doing her best to make him catch fire with her mind!
After a seeming eternity she said, “Follow the blue and white dashed line to
the second floor.” The woman’s voice was like two rocks scrapping together… coarse
rocks.

Saying thank you, Richter and Sion
walked, walked rather quickly, away from the fearsome creature. After only a
moment of searching, they found the appropriate line and followed it to the
second floor. It led to a door with “Nonhuman Affairs” carved above it. It
might have taken days to get here if he had followed the proper channels!
Richter realized that the money he had given to
Caulder
was probably the best money he had ever spent in either world. Whether the
interaction was due to his Charisma or Luck he’d never know, but he was
thankful! Knocking on the door, they swiftly heard something crash against the
other side of it and a shouted, “Go Away!” Richter hoped he hadn’t spoken too
soon.

With the only other option being to
go back down stairs and face Edna the Terrible, Richter steeled himself and
went inside the room. A portly man sat behind a desk piled with papers. His
robe hung open revealing a simple white shirt and brown pants. The shirt had
several stains upon it, and by the fade pattern, they had been accumulated over
some time. He looked up from whatever he was working on and snarled, “I said I
was busy! Who are you anyway? Do I need to call the guards?” The man opened his
mouth, and drew in a sharp breath.

Before he could call for help, and
Sion and he ended up in jail, Richter said, “
Caulder
sent us. He said you could help.”

“
Caulder
?
That no good
sunuvabitch
! He still owes me from that
game of Kings last week! And you thought you would engender sympathy by using
his name? Ha! Guar--”