46 Chapter 46

"Wake up young squire, time to get back in the fight." A noble voice shook him from the sweet relief of unconsciousness. The first sensation to greet his awakening was his new companion, pain, the second was the firm grip that held his shoulder. Looking up he saw his first mentor, the Witch King Heidon, who had brought him into the fold of the shadow realms wraith' faction.

"Glad you made it back in time, I really didn't want to die." Salem forced a smile up at the Witch King before giving him a short explanation of his current ailment. The Witch King gave him his full attention, as he explained the Witch King didn't give away his thoughts, his expression was steady as a mountain.

"Okay, I have a theory as well as a cure for your current ailment but I can't help you here at the edge of my seat of power. This might be disorienting," before he could ready himself they were swallowed by a beam of light, disorienting was not the word he would use to describe the vomit inducing inter dimensional travel. He felt as if his organs had been pushed into his spine, a few moments later the sensation came to an immediate stop, falling to his hands and knees he wretched till his stomach was empty.

The Witch King chuckled and pulled him up from the floor, "Don't worry about the mess some one will clean that up, for now I am going to take a closer look at your soul since that seems to be the root of your problem. So hold still, relax, and don't resist otherwise you could wind up as the village idiot instead of a warrior, understand?" Salem wiped his mouth and nodded. He was brought to an intricately designed chair that had been carved from a wood so red that if you were to cut it he believed it might bleed. As he relaxed he could feel warmth come from this strange seat, Heidon moved behind him and placed his hands upon his shoulders.

He felt a prickling sensation moving throughout his body, once it saturated his entirety it seeped into his mind and soul. His first instinct was to remove the intrusion, but he remembered that if he fought back he would most likely wind up a drooling idiot. Letting his barriers down he allowed the energy to flow into the deepest part of his mind, "Aha, just as I thought when you were unconscious and absorbed all of that information your own power couldn't keep up with the cost to fuel your expansion so your own seat of power came to your assistance, not an uncommon occurrence, but in its act to save you it overcompensated because you began to stabilise. Then as you grew you absorbed more information and it fueled your abnormal growth instead of trying to disconnect you from the flow of information. I assume it's because your seat of power is inexperienced but don't worry it will learn over time, well in the long run this is now a blessing all you have to do is digest all of that soul energy, every twenty-four hours when the moon shines brightest you will break one of the seals I am placing on that energy. Usually you would at most consume a few hundred units of soul power per week, and that is if you are a well fed wraith from a noble house with boundless resources, you were eating thousands a day for ten years. A bad diet for a squire, a knight would be severely jealous and some Witch Kings would be willing to take your plane so they might raise a thousand knights every other century."

Heidon chuckled before continuing, the deep voice was a pleasant distraction to the stinging sensations, "Lucky for me, I found you first! Those old bastards have constantly asked for my 'assistance' when they were invading other planes and had me and my soldiers take the front line in their formations. So I know it is not the best time to mention it but would you like to join my coalition? There are many knights and squires that lose their masters in some way and we try to give them a place that gives them a fair chance at survival instead of just putting them on the front line or suicide missions. So what do you think?"

Salem mulled it over for a moment before agreeing to join the coalition, Heidon laughed and told him the rules of the coalition which were rather simple. Rule number one, fellow members are brothers and sisters and infighting was forbidden, rule two was that if you received a call for aid from your brothers and sisters that you will do all within your power to protect, hide, or rescue them. The coalition had at first wanted to name themselves something that would frighten their enemies.

After much deliberation the elders decided on what felt true to their cause, the translation in most human languages was 'The Family' and in elvish 'The Clans' the first came out as more of a single entity while the second was slightly more true in that it was a gathering of many clans that were joined in spirit. Heidon didn't disagree and only smiled warmly at his ward and new little brother, he went on to talk about a few current events within the Family and how he would open up a permanent path to his territory for Salem and his clan. He gave his advice about war and strategy that had worked for him in moments of siege and he also gave him an invitation to a tournament between squires that would be held in two years time, he didn't give him a direct answer about the rewards for the tournament but hinted that they would be helpful in the future.

After a few more hours of small talk the procedure was complete and Heidon bid him farewell, the ride out was easier to bare than the first one. This time it was only disorienting, no both times were only disorienting, taking his thoughts away from that fact he pulled a glowing red gem from his storage ring. This was the key to opening a path to Heidons territory and linking his people to power, he made his way back to his home not a moment after his return he was pounced upon and pushed down on the bed, soon his tongue and body were occupied, the twins had ganged up on him. They were very determined to make sure every part of him had returned in perfect condition, their inspection was quite thorough but it was more than welcome.

After their love making, Salem held them close, he comforted them and told them he had recovered and that there was nothing fear. The others had left him with the twins of course before they left, they had coaxed a sensual promise from him in between thrusts and moans.

Well all except Railia, she had stayed and watched, now she massaged his shoulders as they sat beneath the moonlight. It was time to break a seal, there would be an hour where he would have to focus only on the seal and assimilate with it. Railia and the twins would protect him, well once the twins recovered he thought with a smirk. He focused on the moons that bathed his body in their serene light, he located the first seal, it was actually all the seals. Each seal was a red tree, and he stood within a forest of such seals, he placed his hand upon the red tree and he could sense the thrum of power. Like water deep beneath the earth he drew it from the tree and into himself, at first the going was slow and required meticulous concentrated effort.

As time passed he was able to increase the pace of assimilation and the tree withered and after the hour it had become fine dust that scattered into the forest. He left the forest within his soul, once again he was with those he loved though some were not at home they would be back soon enough. He turned and passionately kissed Railia, "Thank you", he stood and stretched a light popping sounds echoed through the quiet room. "I have slept for too long, also my hair...it is quite ridiculous." Salem frowned as long hair fell upon the floor.

Railia and the twins let out a faint giggle before coming towards him, they each took out a small knife, they gently cut away the excess hair until it was at the middle of his back, they told him they liked it long. Which elicited a giggle from the twins, after they helped him dress with much fanfare they walked to the war room. The first thing that caught his attention were the pins on the map, they were still surrounded, but no longer was it just orcs.

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To the far north was a large stretch of forests and it belonged to a host of elven clans and kingdoms, to the east of the forest were hills and mountains host to the dwarf lords. To the far east beyond a massive forest was the human empire, the southern portion of the map was deserts both highland and lowland with mesas and mountains to a host of different peoples, but most importantly two major forces were now in constant state of war for the deserts the orcs were battling now on two fronts the void elfs and the catfolk demihumans, the undead faced both the dwarves and elves from the north and void elves and humans from the south, pincered yet their lines held firm. The human empire in the far east had yet to take part in this war, looking at the map and reading the reports he felt mischief at hand.

No this was deeper than just being an overcautious empire, or an rude neighbor, from the reports it would seem that the human empire had strengthened their borders. On the surface this would be normal, except six battalions had been re-assigned to the north and south, they were preparing to attack the catfolk and the dwarf lords while they were engaged with the undead and orcs forces.

"Summon the council immediately, prepare envoys to be sent to the dwarf lords of the north and the catfolk of the southern desert." The dwarves were closer to the human empire than the catfolk, but our own mountain was much further from the catfolk than the dwarves. Fifteen minutes passed as he went through more reports, the undead were not an issue for the moment they had been pushed back to a small region that lead to their caves beneath the earth. The orcs held the inner city of Koftas and they had attempted to breach the fort, but even with their ambush, their army broke repeatedly against the stronghold and every attack brought the wraith army strength, replenishing their forces and taking in the soul energy into his seat of power.

There was a knock at the door, Railia had an attendant open the door and let in a flow of council members. Railia motioned for them to sit and not to speak, Salem kept his back to them until they were all settled before addressing them. "The orcs are a nuisance, the undead are a cancer, and the human empire is a snake; I am aware of a potential threat to the catfolk and dwarves" he motioned to the map and indicated the restructured military and the hidden patterns of supply chains moving towards the closest strongholds to their potential targets.

"Our scouting methods don't rely only on our people, but on the various creatures we bring back, from what information they brought back it would appear that the supplies are weapons and the equipment needed for cavalry and infantry. While this may not be proof as of yet, I will be prudent and inform the dwarves and catfolk once the morning arrives I will expect the majority of our forces at the fort leading to Koftas. I have had enough of their presence near my city and it is time that they were removed, you are all dismissed."

This was not a discussion or deliberation, it was a call to arms and though some felt anxious, they couldn't agree more that they were tired of being trapped within the mountain and that the orcs and undead pillaged their former homes. It was time to take back their land.