Chain the Infamous Chainmaid 1

The end was at hand. Beneath the boughs of the Builders’ Tree, a giant tree which covered a great portion of the northern hemisphere of the world of Niol, a mighty mountain range known as the Stormroot Mountains tore across a continent. By some mysterious force no snow gathered on their towering peaks but to the two nations who flanked them to the north and south the end would soon fall as surely as snow in winter. Bright Rift, the nation to the north on the Emerald Sea comprised of great bluffs of land covered in grasslands that looked as waves breaking upon the Stormroot Mountains, was possessed of people who were ignorant of the coming end. To the south of the Stormroot Mountains was the kingdom of Highroot below massive spires of rock that appeared like teeth with gentler grasslands that rolled away into a dense forest that separated the southernmost of the Northern Kingdoms from the rest of the Great Theatres of Civilization. Within that nation its people prepared to fend off the end.

The city of Highroot, the capital of the nation which shared its name, was built up against the base of the Stormroot Mountains. Like the Teeth of the Stormroot Mountains gothic towers rose skyward from golden cobbled streets that were lined with people and steam trucks both. Above the gothic towers and tiled roofs airships filled the sky and even further above a castle of some dozen towers looked down upon it all. From next to the castle which served as the seat of rule a waterfall spilt out of the mountains and fed a river that served as a moat to the entirety of the bustling city. Connecting the city to farmlands beyond numerous bridges straddled the river but before the roads could reach the farmlands they first had to pass through fields of weapons that had been embedded into the earth. The weapons served as a reminder to the people of Highroot never to challenge the Bandit King, a man elevated beyond human limits and called a Hero by the song of the Builders who shaped the world. Fearful as the people were of the Bandit King the news on the radio and in the newsstands spoke of war with their northern neighbors. To engage in a campaign that would strip the people of their only protection from the Bandit King under the shadow of a sliver of an ancient tower of advanced technology that would have been taller than the mountains were it whole the people prepared a celebration of tribute. If they could appease the Bandit King then they could focus on the war without fear of his ire and whims.

“Tell me soon-to-be Lord Highperch, does this sight not amuse you?”

In a terrace garden of the castle an old, balding man of regal disposition with long grey hair spoke with a tall lanky man with bushy mustache and graying hair. Though dressed in attire that marked him possessed of an important station his posture bespoke a warrior of many years who would not normally be in the presence of the old man. Still with a stern and gruff voice Hawk Highperch answered the question presented to him.

“Not at all your majesty. The sight disgusts me if anything. The negotiations your daughter set out for ended in failure and we are now officially at war with Bright Rift yet the people are preparing a festival for the Bandit King.”

The king of Highroot, Peregrine Stormflock VI, offered Highperch a knowing smile. Stepping up to a rose bush of ivory blooms Peregrine pinched the stalk of one flower and took in the bloom’s aroma.

“You’re a harsh man Highperch, but if you were not then you would not have survived to this age in your profession.”

“But that very age has slown me down and left me powerless and pushing papers. Such a station is at best a humiliation.”

“Which is why you gladly entered my employ and have turned Soarmont’s Adventurer Company into a tool for my use against our pesky northern neighbors. You adventurers will be the turning point in what will be a short lived war. When the fools of Bright Rift realize that there is an enemy army in the heart of all of their cities it will be much too late for them. They will fall as their airships surely will when they arrive above our skies while the Bandit King feasts upon our tribute. We will make the Hero serve us even as he would have us bend the knee.”

“All to your daughter’s plan I’m sure.”

Peregrine turned a solemn look onto Highperch and stepped away from the rosebush. Placing a firm and controlling hand on the aged adventurer’s shoulder the king looked out upon his nation.

“She will be your queen in time Highperch. That you can recognize her work will only make you of greater value to this kingdom. I hope you realize that and will not disappoint my Corvina.”

“No, your majesty.  I have no intention of disappointing her or you. My concern is being able to root out her enemies from within her tangle of strings without disrupting her plans. My instincts for finding threats are honed enough for the first part, but being delicate has never been a specialty of mine. If not for the wisdom you have kindly shared with me I would have never gotten this far.”

“Your humility is unnecessary soon-to-be Lord Highperch. It was your instinct and adaptability that allowed you to make the most of my lessons and allow you to stand in such an opportune position. It was your insight and connections that allowed you to place before my daughter a pawn who has proven most useful in bringing all of our enemies to heel. Now none stand in our way save the Bandit King who will soon also serve our purposes.”

“I do wonder though who your daughter has chosen to kill the Bandit King. For all the years of his reign of terror it is almost impossible to think that any could end his life. Even the brat from Lumirest could not fell him despite his reputation. Though perhaps that’s because of that foolish girl barely turned maid.”

Turning his head to look out over the city that Peregrine ruled all of Highroot from Highperch let out a humorless chortle.

“How ironic. She came north in celebration of the freedom of her newfound adulthood and now she’s rotting in a jail not even aware that she is the greatest tribute we’ll be offering the Bandit King.”

“It is rare to hear you laugh Highperch. Considering the fear that you have let slip through the cracks of your armor before when involving this maid from the Southern and Headland Kingdom’s though I wonder if you have done all you can to assure she will serve her purpose fully. To my knowledge her Relic is powerful and her ability with sword and spell alike allows her to do battle with Heroes. That Relics protect their wielders from the Builders’ Song as well makes keeping her alive for so long an unquestionable risk that even my daughter’s powers cannot soon mitigate.”

“I’d like nothing more than to assuage your worries your majesty, but even your daughter called her a wild pawn. Considering the reputation she has and the stories of disaster that follow her the Bandit King can’t end her life soon enough in my opinion. Even then, I have the most powerful of mages in the Company’s employ keeping her under the influence of the most powerful of magic seals and anti-magic rituals.”

Feeling Peregrine’s hand tighten on his shoulder Highperch focused his gaze onto a keep in the city below that served as the company house for the Branch of the Soarmont Adventurer Company in Highroot. Though he could not see through the keep’s walls he knew locked away in the deepest depths of the keep well beneath the earth was a most peculiar maid. She was possessed of long brown hair and a pleasing figure that she was too thin to put to good use aside from her ample bosom. She was not short though she was most definitely not tall either but she was still a pretty maid regardless of her height deficiency and thinness. Her figure was not what made the maid who was slumped on the floor of a dusty cell with her hands shackled to the wall above her head peculiar though, but rather the unique suit of chainmail that she wore. A Relic from the Age of Ash that preceded the modern age the chainmail could not be removed from her body and fit her nearly as though it were her own skin .Only from above her jaw line was the maid not covered in the skin of chains revealing that she was possessed of fair skin of actual human flesh. She had not been conscious when Highperch originally turned his eyes to the keep where she was imprisoned but that soon changed as large, beautiful, round eyes the color of emerald flames slowly opened, the light of consciousness returning to them.

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater