hunt for a foe [Vaete, open]

[Jacob Carter Blade]

Jacob and Vervada were now within site of the city of Gil’ead, a steady column of smoke rising from one of the sections of the city that was still burning. He didn’t know anything other than that a dragon had been involved in the attack and that the dragon had a rider. That was all that his superiors would tell him. He was tasked with finding out who had been responsible and to help the city recover from the attack as best he could. He had also been told that he would be receiving some help within the next few days and that he would be in charge.

This was a comfort to him as it meant he would have help if the mysterious attacker or attackers came back and attacked again. It also meant that he’d have more time to try to hunt down leads and maybe even hunt down the attacker. He set that at the back of his mind for now though, having other priorities to deal with. Vervada, land there in the courtyard.

AS soon as she landed he jumped down off of her back and ran toward the fire. When he arrived he saw that the city inhabitants had already formed a bucket brigade and where frantically trying to put the fires out. A lot of good it was doing though, because most of them refused to go out. He quickly cast a few spells that would let him know if the fires were being fueled by a spell. He quickly learned that they weren’t and was then easily able to use a spell that extinguished them.

After that he started issuing orders to the townsmen, organizing them into groups that were to go around and find any and all wounded and bring them to the castle courtyard. He himself walked around trying to find wounded, but also looking around for any signs of why the city had been attack. It was in state that he sensed something in the area around him, something neither human, elf, dwarf, or werecat. Something distinctly evil in nature. A shade.

He looked around and drew his sword, having had some very bad experiences with shades. He roared: Come out Shade!! I know you’re out there![

[Væte]

"Vís oss." Væte suddenly became obvious, sitting perched on a ledge just above Jacob's eye level. He had been sitting there for some time, but before he spoke, he had blended into the stone behind him, utterly unremarkable.

"Hi!" he said, leaping down fluidly, and sweeping off his hat into a bow. "Væte at your service. Vee-ash-tee-ee. We - I," he corrected himself, "I am, as you have probably noticed, a Shade. But not the one responsible for this. We - I need your help, dragon rider."

He leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "The guy who did this is named Vándr Vanmátta Vandræði. He is a Shade riding a dragon by the name of Drengr, and he must be stopped before he conquers - " he waves a vague hand - "Algaesia, the world, whatever it is these types usually want to take over. Mwahaha, nothing can stop me now, and so on. Not a very subtle man, I'm afraid. Although who am I to talk? The point is: I don't think you want a takeover by a long-winded Shade anymore than I do, and I could use your help in stopping him."

[Jacob Carter Blade]

Jacob leaped backwards and swung his sword up, the bright red blade looking vicious from the light cast on it from the sun, when Væte leaped down from the ledge of the building beside him. He didn’t trust shades, and he didn’t like them either. Every one of them he had ever met had tried to kill him, every one of those was now a long lost memory, for they were all dead.

Hi! Væte at your service. Vee-ash-tee-ee. We –I, I am, as you have probably noticed, a Shade. But not the one responsible for this. We – I need your help, dragon rider. Jake looked Væte straight in the eye, anger on his face. Give me one good reason why I should trust you shade? He said the last word with a sneer, having no desire to stand and talk with the shade, but realizing that the shade might have some information he could use. And why on earth would I help a Shade. Why should I? Speak up now or prepare to die. As soon as he finished speaking he stepped back, ready to fight.

He had thought that the shade was just saying what he had said as a ploy to get him to let his guard down, though he relaxed slightly as the Væte outlined a story that fit the facts he already knew about the attack, though the story also raised some questions in his mind. I’ll accept that as truth, be it the only thing keeping you alive. Why though, would you betray one of your own kind? Why not let this Vandr, whom I remember very well, take over? And before you start asking why I know him, know that he was one of my former students, mine only failure. Tell me, did you see if the dragon Drengr was black and missing a patch of scales just above one of his wing joints?

The spot he was mentioning could hardly not be noticed, and it was the only way he’d accept anything the shade had to say as absolute truth, his test to be sure the shade was not lying to him. He knew about the spot he was talking about, because his dragon had put it there when He and Her had tried to kill the black dragon and his evil rider nearly ten years ago.

[Væte]

There was a long pause while Væte tried to organize his objects to what the dragon rider was saying. "He did, yes," the Shade said. He studied the dragon rider's face; it was wary. Væte felt like he was being tested; if so, he wondered what this was supposed to achieve. After all, the rider had just told him what the right answer was.

Nevertheless, now that he thought back on it, Væte did indeed remember the patch quite distinctly. He hadn't put much thought into it; such an ancient dragon must have had ample opportunity to injure itself.

"You can trust us because we don't have any reason to lie to you. If we - I - if I were working for Vandr, what purpose would it serve to try and agitate you against him? He didn't strike me as a fool. Well - " Væte considered this. "Not too much of a fool, anyway."

He had a hand near his concealed daggers now, casually, and was fishing around in his mind for some shielding spell. He didn't want a fight, but if the rider started one, Væte intended to be the one to finish it. He was faster and stronger than the rider. It would be the dragon he'd have to worry about.

He blinked in surprise. "Betray one of our own kind? Why wouldn't w - I? I don't owe Lord Deathykillmurder anything, and we - I don't like being ordered around. I'm what you might call a free spirit. Well, actually, technically I'm several spirits, and none of us are so much free as stuck in this body, but - uh - that's not the point. My apologies. I digress. Anyway, human rulers don't give me much trouble. An army of Shades, though . . . they could. And any ruler has an interest in keeping order." Væte shrugged. "I'm very self-serving. Was it the Shade you taught?" he asked, suddenly changing the topic. "Vandr. He doesn't seem like your type of friend. Or was it the human he's inhabiting?"

[Jacob Carter Blade]

Jacob was no fool, he saw Væte move a hand closer to the edge of his vest, presumably to retrieve a weapon or weapons concealed within. Put that hand back down at your side shade. He spoke coldly, his voice surprising even him. He was still extremely weary of the shade, though he believed him. He was slightly comforted when a moment later he heard the thud of Vervada land behind him.

I hope you’ve been listening Vervada…this is the handiwork of our old pupils Vandr and Drengr. A few seconds later he cast several strong spells of protection that only he knew without using words. They were all geared toward preventing any magical attack from coming close to him, and stopping all blades, be they a riders or not, from coming within a foot of him. Concentration was something he was extremely good at, which allowed him to cast spells without using words. The only downside to these spells was that each of them would only block a few attacks before he would have to end them as they were each extremely taxing. With Vervadas help he could hold them longer, and with the help of Vervada and the four cleverly concealed Eldunari he always carried he could hold them nearly an hour in battle, but no more. This was one reason he very rarely used them. In this case he figured that though the shade may not attack him unless he himself attacked the shade, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

Væte, for starters I’ll give you a small piece of advice, never underestimate an adversary, even if they are a temporary friend. I am as skilled in magic as all elves, perhaps more so than some of them. I am the riders acknowledged master swordsmen. I have killed five of your kind in my five hundred years of life. And I just cast spells of protection but a second ago. I trust you for now, do not do anything to break that trust. To your question, I and Vervada taught that trash before they decided that they wanted to learn sorcery. I found about it too late to stop Vandr going shade. I vowed to kill him then and there, though he was nearly as good as me with a blade, though even as a shade im still his master. It is well you didn’t try to attack him. What more can you tell me of either of the pair?

[Væte]

Væte withdrew his hand from his side, and held it up in plain sight. "Alright! Alright! Sorry. Can't blame a man for getting a little bit nervous."

He felt the magical shields going up, and was both surprised and worried. On the one hand, that was very strong magic. On the other hand, it was obviously defensive, and someone spending that much effort on defense couldn't spend too much effort on offense if Væte had to run, could he?

Could he?

Væte decided he didn't want to know the answer to this question.

One thin red eyebrow raised dubiously as Jacob praised himself. "Come to think of it, w - I'm not that surprised that he was your student. You remind me of him. Liked to hear himself talk. Didn't seem to grasp that I had a name - which I do, by the way, it's Væte. I spelled it for you, remember?" It dawned on him that this was probably in no way conducive to his aims. "But! But we're sure you're perfectly nice person, and not all world-conquer-y. Well, not too world-conquer-y. And, um. Lesse." Væte, who was starting to feel like they were having three conversations at once, tried to summon up what he knew about Vándr. "He works for a Shade named Herlið, who is mustering an army of Shades out in the desert. He's served Herlið for three hundred years, Herlið is around six hundred years old, he plans to off Herlið and take over her empire once Herlið takes over the world, which, if you ask me, sounds like something Herlið might want to know. And . . . uh . . . Herlið's very old and has caused a lot of trouble over the years. That's about it. Please don't try to kill me; it won't help either one of us."

[Jacob Carter Blade]

Jake narrowed his eyes. If you think that I am anything like that trash that nearly sacked this town you are sorely mistaken. I told you that so that you, Vaete, might decide to not make a mistake that would cost you your life. He listened as Vaete told him more about Vandr and who he was working for these days.

He stood there and thought about what Vaete had told him. Herlið…that sounds very familiar. I wonder…could it possibly be the same that killed many riders long ago? He came to a decision a few moments later. Okay then Vaete, I will summon my ten of my riders here, though we’ll likely need an army put together before long. You will fight with us? Letta The last word served only one purpose and that was to end his spells.

Now it was time to plan. Come with me friend…let us go meet with the town governor and speak with him, though you would do well to mask your true appearance, because he will never trust a shade. Vervada took off a moment later, heading in the general direction of the city keep.

When he turned around however, he didn’t expect to see what he saw.

[Herlið]

Herlið had heard of Vandrs’ attack on the city of Gil’ead, and so she had traveled there to see what he had done. For a human, it would have required around a months worth of traveling. As a shade though, it required less than a day. Her goal had been to beat any of the Dragon Riders there, but in this she failed. She was standing on a hill overlooking the city when she saw Jacob and Vervada arrive and watched as they started to try to help the townsmen with the destruction.

After about an hour of watching though, she decided to go down into the city, see if she could learn more about the rider there and to learn more of Vandr’s activities. She uttered a spell that would render her invisible to anything and anyone, as well as let her leave neither footprints nor a shadow for her to be caught by. As thus she walked straight into the city, looking for any signs of the rider.

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Ten minutes later found her on a rooftop near where Jake and Vaete were talking to each other. This made her curious in the extreme, because she had never met a Dragon Rider who would actually stop and talk with a shade. Indeed, every one of the riders she had ever met had attempted to kill her. She was obviously still alive.

She waited and watched, listening to everything the shade Vaete said to the Rider, whom she now recognized as the Rider Commandant. She then grinned a grin that, if seen, would have struck fear into even the most ruthless, evil beings in Alagaesia.
She watched as the pair below came to an agreement over something, and then waited for the dragon Vervada to leave before she dropped to the ground below, behind Jacob.

Hello Jacob Blade, my dear old friend. The last time I saw you, you were leading a group of riders after my decoy. ‘Tis a pity you were too stupid to figure out that he wasn’t me, even after you struck him down. Now however, you are alone, outnumbered. I have no desire to kill you though, I just want information. Anticipating Jacobs’ reaction to seeing her, she cast several spells of binding on both him and Vaete, restricting their ability to move, denying them the ability to either run or attack.

That done she turned to Vaete. My dear youngling, how I could help you become more than you are now. I know things that even this fool, here she gestured at Jake, would never dream of. I can give you power, unlimited freedom, almost anything you want. You can have this rider for a pet, his dragon your servant. What do you think Vaete? Will you join with me and help to bring Alagaesia under the rule of Shades?