Chapter 7

Dusty arrived with his friends at the kingdom of Stelmore.

The first thing they did on entering was to head straight for the castle to talk with King Roland about the attacks.

Reaching the city gates it was obvious that the city was on high alert.

On trying to enter the capital city they had to get off of their horses at the gate and lead them into the city. The guards then separated them, and two guards checked them one at a time. One held a serviceable pike on them as the other one patted them down.

While the men didn't seem to mind, Dusty looked back when he heard Seth growl as one young soldier took a little longer than necessary to pat down Marie. He was sure he saw the man squeezing on her a few different times under the guise of making sure she wasn't really carrying anything underneath her clothing as well.

It seemed he was most concerned about her breast and hip areas concealing items.

Just when Dusty thought Seth was going to attack, the man finished, smiled at Marie with a leer as he smacked her shapely butt hard, and then said "Welcome to Stelmore."

Marie gave him a dirty look and said quietly only loud enough for him to hear "this isn't over soldier boy", and retrieved her possessions that were being examined for magical qualities.

The young man just grinned at her as he waved her on through.

After the horse were also searched and cleared they started down the cobblestone road that led to the castle.

"Dusty are you sure we have to help these pricks?" asked Marie in anger.

She was so mad she was shaking.

"It's an assignment whether I like it or not. This is why I was brought here," said Dusty quietly, but he wasn't happy about it either. Inside he was quietly seething.

No one touches his friends like that.

"I have a score to settle with one of them before this is all over," said Seth quietly.

"No you don't. I do," said Marie as she gritted her teeth.

Seth looked over at her and she looked him right in the eye. For a moment nothing was said between them and then he silently nodded and looked away.

As they silently rode on they could see several children and other citizens looking at them fearfully from within alleyways and doors that were barely cracked open before someone slammed them quickly shut when they saw them look their way.

They could recognize a town in fear when the saw one.

"This is what we have to protect. These people are terrorized by something. This is what we need to fix," said Charles suddenly.

Dusty looked over at him and could see the anger etched on his face.

While he had seen Charles upset and angry before, this time it looked as if he would murder someone if he had the chance. Something about seeing all the terrified people was really upsetting him.

Riding closer Dusty put his hand on his shoulder.

"This is what we do, remember? We'll fix this," said Dusty as he smiled at his friend.

Looking over at Dusty, Charles started to smile himself and the anger was quickly gone.

As they rode on Dusty seemed to be lost in thought about what just happened.

Soon they were at the castle gates.

The first thing the guards did was to take everything that could conceivably be used as a weapon. Then they were asked to strip down and leave all robes and outer clothing behind. The guards wanted to make sure that they didn't anything else they had missed.

Once this was complete they were escorted into the castle for a meeting with the King. As they stood in the doorway they were all announced in turn.

Dusty was introduced as Sir Dusty Reynolds the Baron of Tara, Daniel as Sir Daniel Griffith the Baron of Arderyth, Seth and Marie as the Duke and Duchess of Patenenall, and Charles was just introduced as "Master Charles Duvall".

"Ahh, Sir Dusty Reynolds. The current Battlemage I've heard so much about. The mage's council said you would be coming by to assist me in routing these rebels. How do you plan to help us win this war?" asked King Roland.

King Roland was a relatively young man at thirty to sit on the throne. He had blonde hair, brown eyes, and a regal, but hawk nose. Under all the voluminous robes it was hard to tell his general body size, but judging by his arms he couldn't be very large, as they were spindly.

"Your Majesty, we don't plan to help you win the war. We plan to stop those weapons from being used anymore and find out where they came from," said Dusty matter of factly.

"Isn't that the same thing?" asked the King confused.

"Not necessarily," said Dusty as he shrugged his shoulders and opened his hands palms out.

"But if we can, we will do all in our power to help protect your people as best we can," said Charles suddenly.

Dusty looked at him oddly before he cleared his throat.

"We'll help any who want us to, but we will not fight for the sake of a kingdom, any kingdom. But we will protect all people from being abused," said Dusty.

He noticed that Charles was now smiling at him as while he clarified his earlier statement.

"So what is your plan?" asked the King again.

"In my report it was said that your army's Commander and Chief General Taltson survived the initial attack a few weeks back? Is it possible to talk with him?" asked Dusty.

"Yes, yes it is possible. I'll have someone take you to his home where he is resting. Thankfully his horse took the brunt of the attack, but he'll have a limp for the rest of his life. They are still sometimes picking bits of metal out of his legs I was told," said the King with a curious expression.

Only Seth and Marie shared his expression.

Dusty looked over at Charles and somehow wasn't shocked to see that he didn't appear surprised to hear what was just said.

"Thank you your Majesty," said Dusty before they bowed and were shown out.

Shortly they were on their way to the home of General Taltson

After being check again by a different set of guards at the home, where yet again they were forced to disrobe and leave their garments behind, they were shown to the room where General Taltson was sitting in a bed barking orders and trying to read reports.

They stood off to the side until he had a quiet moment to talk with them.

"Excuse me General Taltson, but what did you see?" Dusty asked once General Taltson finally acknowledged them.

"Damnest thing I've ever seen..." began the general, and soon recounted exactly what was in the report.

"Did you get a good look at the device that crippled you?" asked Charles suddenly out left field once the General finished speaking.

"Yes I did, it looked like it was made of metal and was shaped like an egg, and once it finished rolling to a stop it had what looked to be studded bands around the outside. My horse started to rear or I would have gotten off of her to investigate it. Her actions was the only thing that saved my life," said General Taltson

As Marie and Seth's brow furrowed as they tried to picture what the device looked like, Dusty's eyes again narrowed as Charles face flashed with anger as he just nodded at the description of it.

"Those metal covered wagons..." began Dusty.

"Tanks Dusty, they were called tanks," said Charles interrupting him.

"Ahh, yes. Thanks Charles, the tanks that were there. Did you see how they were driven?" asked Dusty as he nodded at Charles.

"No I didn't a chance to get close enough to them. I called a retreat and I was attacked as I stood and watched to make sure everyone followed my orders safely," said General Taltson

"Hmm, well we need..." began Dusty again before a young man, dressed in a junior officer's uniform thrusted a paper in front of General Taltson and waited.

Everyone stopped talking as the General read the paper.

"I believe you were going to say that you needed to see these things in action. I just got word that there is another battle a day's very hard ride from here. If you're really here to stop them, you may get your chance now," said the General as he looked at the paper in disgust before he threw it on the floor.

"I hate to do it this way, but if you can have someone take us there we can get started," said Dusty grimly.

"You ride out with reinforcements in the hour. After an attack like this we need to transport medical supplies to help the survivors," said the General.

As they turned to leave, Dusty noticed that Charles was standing off the side with his eyes closed.

Waiting for a few moments he touched him and said "Charles are you alright?"

Charles jumped about two feet before he said "Yes I'm good. Sorry was thinking mentally about something."

He then smiled at Dusty and started out the door.

Dusty watched his back strangely as he tried to figure out what was going on with him.

Just before she left Marie turned and asked "General, are all the troops in the city under your direct control?"

"Yes they are young lady. Why do you ask?" asked the General.

"If I may, may I make one tiny request?" asked Marie softly with an evil smile.

As they arrived in the town of Chowan they could see where the fighting had taken place.

They could hear the cries of the wounded as well as the survivors for their dead and destroyed lives.

Riding with the troops Dusty looked around at the devastation and was pissed off.

Where Marie, Seth, and Daniel were shocked at the devastation, Charles was so angry his face was red at times as she looked around him. It looked like he was going to stroke out at any minute.

As they reached the center of town the men quickly and efficiently started circling the wagons. Before long they had them set up to dispense aid to all the victims.

Dusty started to get off his horse and check the wounded before Maries voice rang out "Don't you dare move Dusty"

Sitting back with a smile Dusty waited.

Marie snapped her finger and said sweetly "Oh boy ... we're waiting."

The soldier from the gate who took the liberties of feeling up Marie broke free of the pack of men with the wagons and approached them. The look on his face was anything but happy.