War Council

A Chapter by Vouren

Reinhardt covered his eyes as the ground parted in front of him. The long walk from the cavern inside the whirlpool took, what seemed to him, some considerable time. Finally back above ground he looked around to get his bearings. Nothing around him was familiar. Wherever the strange events inside the void had taken place, it was nowhere to be seen.

Standing within a beautiful field he admired the calmness of it all. It hit him as strange that these nice places kept popping up wherever trouble was about to find him. Praying he was only imagining this realization he began trying to figure out a direction.

Using the map Klaas had given him to find where he was, Reinhardt caught sight of a mountain range in the distance and used that to give him a general idea of where he was. Turning away from the landmark he kept his right shoulder facing the mountains. Within an hour and having finally made his way out of the empty field a lake became visible in the distance.

Finally knowing exactly where he was on the map, Reinhardt plotted south-west and began walking. Free from the pull of the watchers he was able to do as he wished, and he wanted nothing more than to help usurp Astraeus and finish the work Briccio had begun.

The long journey to the war council had begun and as the days turned too nights Reinhardt walked, until he had reached the spot he knew they would be gathering. Luckily he had no other distractions, and the trip was safe. From what he could gather it had been almost a week and a half since he had left the fields where he began. If everything stayed on plan the joint army should arrive any day.

Deciding to take the time to rest he untied his cloak, which had been thrown around him awkwardly. The strange long sword that had been pinned to his back fell to the ground quietly. Studying it carefully he admired the intricate weave that ran below the surface of the blade. Although it didn’t have a distinct pattern it wasn’t random. Unable to discern the purpose of the pattern he let it be a mystery.

Taking the opportunity to look at his Dragon’s Tail, released a series of small straps that held it into place. Pulling out a small tool kit that he kept in his belt he began taking it apart, figuring out what he could keep and what needed to be replaced. Using his cloak as a sheet Reinhardt slowly dissembled the weapon.

After a few minutes he had managed to disassemble the frame of the tool. The hard metal covers of his vambrace and the pauldron doubled as parts of the Dragon’s Tail, as well as armor. Setting them to the side he examined the inner-pieces. Quickly making sure the vambrace hadn’t been damaged he moved on. The hard piece of rock that had damaged the device hit his upper arm and wouldn’t have done anything to the lower half of the device.

Still taking a moment to look it over he paid special attention to the hard piece of leather that he used to activate the reverse on his weapon. If this was damaged he wouldn’t be able to make the Dragon’s Tail retract at all, and it would be useless after one throw. Moving onto the next piece he placed the vambrace aside. Tracing his hand along the leather tubing that kept the wire from slicing his arm off, he made sure it had no tears or weaknesses in it.

Grimacing at the damage Reinhardt looked the upper half of his weapon over. A few small gears, carefully placed inside the pouldron, acted as the retrieval mechanism. When he pulled on the hard leather strap, always attached to his hand, it would cause this to retract, and pull the wire back to him.

He wondered how much they actually had known about this weapon since the only spot they had damaged was here, and that was the only place that really mattered. This also made it very hard to repair since these parts were custom built and would be hard to make. Luckily for him, he knew a weapon smith that might be able to help him, and even make a few upgrades to the design.

Reassembling the device was just as delicate as a process, and he took his time doing so. Having finished looking it over he laid backed in the grass and watched the sky. Soon he was going to be thrown into a conflict that he had known nothing about until recently. A war that, for the most part, was alien to him. All of the pieces tumbling along frantically, trying to gain some kind of control over their own lives. Wind fighting the Rock, Lightning fighting the Ice, Water fighting the Fire. Nobody could just live their lives, nobody could be happy.

Sitting in the field, looking at the sky he thought about his family, and everything that had been taken from him. So gruesome a scene spiraling through his mind on so perfect a day.Sitting in the field, looking at the sky he thought about his family, and everything that had been taken from him. So gruesome a scene spiraling through his mind on so perfect a day. How strange the world looked through the eyes of death.

Footsteps behind him brought him out of his daydream. Tilting his head back he saw Roas making her way towards him. Surprised, he rose and greeted her.

“I wasn’t expecting you for a few more days. Where is everybody else?”

“You haven’t learned anything have you? We’ve been here for almost a week now.” Waiving Reinhardt to follow, Roas turned and led him to a small patch of uncovered earth in the field. Waiting silently the ground began to fall out, and a tunnel was exposed. Following her in the descended into another large city-like cavern, only this time thousands of people worked and shuffled about.

“This is the entire army?” As much as he had seen in the past few months, this many people in one place still amazed him. As a farmer he had only seen about two hundred people in one place at any given moment. His goods and fruits never went to large cities so he never felt the need to visit one.

“No, this is about a third of our force. The rest will be arriving in a few days. Our primary responsibility right now is to establish a base and prepare the army for battle. When the other section arrive we will be able to bring the council together and establish our plans for the attack. Until that time feel free to move about the camp as you'd like and get any supplies you might need.”

Catching sight of Klaas walking with Andres. When he caught sight of Ake close to the others he said goodbye to Roas and caught up with the others. Having been in a serious debate before he arrived, Andres refused to greet him and stomped away. Waving the whole incident off Klaas greeted Reinhardt kindly.

“It's good to see you again brother. I see you have a new toy there!” Grabbing the handle of the strange black long sword, Klass took it off Reinhardt's back. Unexpectedly the enormous man looked strained. Unable to hold the weapon up it slammed to the ground like it weighed as much as a house. Caught entirely off guard he began to laugh. Ake laughed as well and the strain from whatever argument they had all been in seemed to fade away.

“Well I don't know how you expect to fight with something like that Reinhardt but you could probably crush a person if you threw it at them! Where did you get that thing? I've never seen a sword like that before.” Kneeling down to try his luck at picking it up, Ake struggled to lift the sword and finally managed to pick it up. With his knees about to buckle Reinhardt knew the man was barely keeping it in the air.

“That's what I went to retrieve near the coast. Is there a way you can make a sheath for that? I can't keep using me cloak to tie it to me.” Struggling to nod, he half handed, half dropped the blade into Reinhardt's hand. Taking the handle he put the blade back over his shoulder without effort, only seeming to weigh a few pounds.

“You are a lot stronger than you look if that thing isn't even heavy to you. I'm glad you're on our side!” Storming back into sight from around a corner Andres made his way towards the joking group.

“The b***h is here.” With only that statement he turned and left.

“He seems happy. Who is he talking about?” Reinhardt was beginning to like Andres less and less.

“Probably the Water Master. He's not fond of her.”

“Water Master?! We have masters fighting for us?” Reinhardt had gone from being a peasant, to fighting a dragon, to meeting one of the six strongest people in the world. His realized that his life was never going to be simple again.

“We need masters. How do you expect for us to kill Astraeus and Joer?” This wasn't going to be as simple of a fight a he had originally thought. If what he was hearing was right then at least three of the masters were going to be fighting in the same place at once.

“Astraeus and Joer? You mean Wind and Ice? Why would they be together?” Reinhardt really felt out of place when he asked the question. Not only had he not know that more than one of them would be here, he had no idea what type of politics were actually involved.

“I will be explaining everything during the council Reinhardt. For now get your equipment ready and meet me in the council chambers. Ake knows where they are so he will be your guide for now.” Clasping his shoulder in his hand, the big man smiled and walked away.

“Ake, I have one more request of you. In the process of getting this sword my Dragon's Tail was damaged. Can you smith me replacement pieces, and fix my pauldron?”

“Yes, I'll have to take a look at that contraption of yours, but the pauldron should be easy.”

“Thank you, I don't have any money but I'd be willing to work the debt off.” Staring at him puzzled the smith shook his head, almost violently.

“You are, at this moment, one of the most important people in this camp. Along with the council and the Masters, everybody has been instructed to give you anything you need for no charge.”

“That is more than I can accept! There has to be something I can do to help out around here to pay for the goods I'm using.”

“If you can do what Briccio thinks you can do, and handle all four winds, than we couldn't give you enough to pay for your help. That's been enough small talk, follow me Reinhardt. If you're going to be in the presence of Masters you're going to need to look like you're supposed to be there.”

“Wait, did you just say Masters?” Ake didn't answer, he just started walking towards his shop.

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The doors to the council chambers slid open and Ake walked in. Almost everyone in the room were already seated. Reinhardt's new cloak snapped loudly as he entered the large auditorium. Silence fell over the room and everyone stared at him. Heavy boots thudded loudly against the stone floors as he made his way to where Ake whispered for him to sit.

Every pair of eyes was watching him move towards the front of the room. He hadn't been taught much about etiquette and the way these events were handled but from what he could see the more important you were the closer to the front you sat. Spotting two chairs in the front of the room he knew that was for the two masters who had arrived that day. Ake had explained the Water and Lightning masters had joined Klaas and his army. Having brought a few thousand men each to aid in the fight, their chances of winning increased slightly.

Reaching his chair Reinhardt saw that he was sitting next to Klaas' who was sitting in a line of chairs that included the two masters and a few other people he had yet to meet. Looking him over from head to feet, the Water Master looked to be somewhere between impressed and skeptical. When he had decided on what to wear he picked something that fit what the watchers had told him he was. Every article of clothing on his body was the darkest black they could get.

A plainly dressed man appeared and asked for his cloak. Removing the clasp he too his cloak off and handed it to the man. Having forgotten that underneath his cloak he only had a black sleeveless shirt on he felt slightly embarrassed, but refused to show it. The Dragon's Tail, having been fixed, was painted to match the rest of his outfit. Since he couldn't remove it in a timely manner he just left it on. The sheath for his sword had been built into the Dragons Tail so he couldn't remove it either.

Everyone was still watching him when he drew his long sword and jabbed it into the ground next to his seat. Expecting more resistance than he received, the blade slid effortlessly into the ground. Much sharper than it looked, the blade slid into the ground without effort. Not being able to shake how foolish he had to have looked at that moment he sat, the metal on his arm clinking loudly in the silent hall. Klaas had an amused look on his face, but the Rornin lightning master couldn't have been more annoyed by the entrance.

"Now that everyone has arrived we can begin.” Standing, Klaas moved towards a large slab of granite in the center of the room. Stepping onto the stone pedestal he became the focal point of the room. “Let me begin by introducing our guests.”

Reinhardt hadn’t realized that every person in the room was being introduced. Almost an hour had passed before they finally finished the lesser introductions. By the time Klaas had reached the front of the room Reinhardt had figured out a few ways to improve the design of his Dragons’ Tail. Gesturing towards the two masters Klaas introduced them both. “With us today I have the honor of introducing our first two great accomplishments! It has been only a few short years since we successfully removed their predecessors and established a foothold towards our final dream!”

The room burst out in cheering and Klaas waited for the noise to dim to silence again. “Now that Water master Yesenia and Lightning master Conners have joined their armies to our cause we have the chance to add not only one, but two masters too our ranks. If we can gain Ice and Wind to our cause, then the end to the War of Greed will be within our grasp!” Breaking out into another roar, the audience was now on its feet. This time Klaas didn't bother trying to settle them down. Looking over his shoulder he gave Reinhardt a wink before he turned back to the audience.

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