Knight in the Mountain - Part 2 - Squires

Sorbar Tris turns the page of his book. It is one that he has read before, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying it. If that was the case, then his entire collection of books would be useless for it has been a very long time since Sorbar has been able to acquire any new books.

“Done it!” yells Sarkira from out of sight, catching her father’s attention.

It has been almost five years now since he found Sarkira on that fateful evening. And not once has he regretted having her as his daughter. The Jorman girl has adapted quickly, easily settling into the role of being Sorbar’s daughter.

In that regard, Sorbar muses, not being able to remember anything of her previous life is quite possibly a blessing even if it is tragic otherwise.

At the very least, Sarkira has no desires about knowing what lies beyond the mountain. Their small home and the surrounding mountain top is the whole world as far as Sarkira is concerned.

“Done what?” inquires Sorbar as he puts his book down.

“Got the Fab working Daddy,” says Sarkira in a gleeful voice.

One thing that Sarkira has developed over the last few years is a fondness for the old technology that Sorbar has lying around. And the girl has been nurturing her talent when it comes to building new devices and repairing the old broken down machines.

Her current goal is to get an old Sarg’Coa-Nin Fabricator unit back to working condition. The device in question is about the size of a small chest and allows the user to store and rearrange particles to create new items from old ones.

And from the sound of it, Sarkira seems to have achieved her objective.

“Coming darling,” says Sorbar as he gets up from his chair.

Life is good.

***

“Daddy,” says Sarkira as she begins to put on her boots, “I am going to take a stroll for a bit. I need the fresh air.”

“Just don’t stray too far,” replies Sorbar, sparing her only a brief glance.

“Of course I won’t,” replies Sarkira with a roll of her eyes, “I never do. You know that Daddy.”

“I just worry darling,” says Sorbar, “Paranoia-”

“Born of experience,” mutters Sarkira, “Yes, I know. Don’t worry about it Daddy.”

Sorbar grunts his acknowledgement. Despite his worries and the dangers of their location, he isn’t too worried about Sarkira getting hurt or into trouble. There are no threats are up here and Sarkira is more than handling herself in a fight.

Besides, Sarkira is a Jorman, the hardiest of this world’s humans. Naturally resistant to the cold, Jormans are tough, strong and resilient. Furthermore, they are harder to harm than your average human and recover quicker. Unless it is some kind of Karc or Monster, Sarkira will be totally fine and even then, the girl will be able to hold her own until Sorbar shows up.

As Sarkira closes the door behind her, Sorbar gets up and decides to fetch Ang’Jun. He could do with some practice.

***

“Daddy!” yells Sarkira as she approaches the house, shouting so Sorbar will be able to hear her, “I found people!”

And with those words, Sorbar’s calm and relaxed sparring practice comes to a sudden halt.

People. No one has come close to his home since he found Sarkira. Furthermore, they managed to get this far without being detected by him. Even if they did travel part of the way with his daughter, they should have been detected even when with her.

The fact they didn’t is extremely troubling, especially since a quite check via his HUD confirms that all of his sensors and alarms are working properly.

“Coming!” Sorbar yells back, not bothering to sheathe Ang’Jun. He will be taking the weapon with him and if he does need it, he might as well already have in hand and ready to use.

Sorbar darts up the stairs, exiting the basement as he dashes for the door.

“Can I bring them inside?” asks Sarkira, sounding excited.

“Not until I met them first!” shouts Sorbar as he swings the door open.

He scans the area, but Sarkira and her new found companions are easy to spot. His daughter is making no effort to hide whilst three elves are huddled behind her.

He is fairly certain of what he is seeing, another brief scan confirms his thoughts. The elves are Lari, also known as Sea Elves, and are roughly the same age as Sarkira, only they are a little older. Like all elves, Lari have a taller average height with slimmer bodies and long, pointy ears. 

Furthermore, Lari are inherently stronger at magic with only the Mari exceeding their natural talent. And unlike the Mari, Lari have an innately faster and more agile than most with a strong stamina.

Not that natural talent matters for much against someone who has honed their skills, both in battle and out of it, for centuries.

There are two girls and one boy, all of them wearing ragged winter wear. The boy is gangly with short black hair and hard blue eyes.

The first of the girls is a slender young woman with a mane of green-brown hair and eyes. Whereas the hair leans toward being brown, the eyes are mostly green. Whilst she is slender, her body has the athletic body of a huntress.

The second girl has clearly seen some action for there is a scar across her left cheek. From experience, Sorbar would say it is a grazing hit from a stabbing wound from a bladed weapon. Most likely a short sword, but possibly a longsword or some kind of a polearm.

As for the rest of her physical appearance, she is a redhead, but the mixture of red and orange makes her head look all fiery and flame-like. Her green eyes are those of a soldier. Not the dull, dead stare of a traumatised veteran nor the eager look of an untested recruit, but the determined gaze of someone who has seen the horrors of war, but is resolute in their willingness to continue their duty.

“Hello Sarkira,” says Sorbar slowly, “Who are your new companions and what are they doing here?”

“Oh, this is Nirea, Girath and Korica,” replies Sarkira, indicating to the first girl, the boy and second girl in turn, “They came up here to find you and convince you to help them. But I told them you were retired and wouldn’t leave and help them fight the Antera!...What are the Antera!”

“Humans who sought Godhood and were successful by sacrificing their humanity,” answers Sorbar solemnly, “Now they rule this world.”

And I once called them friends and was part of their group, Sorbar remembers soberly, but then they just had to cross lines that I couldn’t.

“We need your help,” says the huntress elf, Nirea as she darts forward to stand before Sorbar, “They slaughtered our entire town! Anketa, Cursed be her Name, came with her Disciples and the Acolytes of War and killed everyone, but us. I had to watch as they broke Uncle Gereth’s knees and used him for target practice for their new recruits! I was helpless! There was nothing that we could do! Nothing I could do! Nothing! We only got away because we playing in the woods and Jepris just, he just...”

As words fail her, Nirea drops to her knees and down in trees. Sorbar sighs, sheathing Ang’Jun as he kneels down and embraces the crying girl in a firm hug.

“What do you wish of me?” asks Sorbar, “No, how did you find me first?”

“W-we knew that the mountains were off-limits,” answers the boy, Giarth, “The Gods killed everyone who tried to enter them and they seemed scared of what in them so we figured...”

“We had nothing left to lose and everything to gain,” says Korica, her voice hard as she meets Sorbar’s gaze, “So we hid ourselves from their gaze and made the climb.”

And that explains how they were able to avoid detection. If they were able to hide from the Antera, it is likely that they were also hidden from his systems.

“And what now?” asks Sorbar.

“W-we were h-hoping to find a wa-way to fight the Antera,” answers Nirea as she does her best to stop crying.

“But your daughter says you won’t fight the Antera,” says Korica accusingly and Sorbar sighs.

“Back when the Antera first ascended to Godhood, I spent the better part of three centuries fighting them,” explains Sorbar, “And look where that got everybody. The majority of the Antera are still in power and rule the world. Meanwhile everyone I have ever known or loved is dead while I am an old man hiding out in a mountain.”

“Oh,” mutters Korica as the girl looks away guiltily.

“So what do you want?” Sorbar asks.

“I don’t know,” says Giarth while Korica shakes her head and Nirea breaks into tears again, “We just...I don’t know.”

“What is your goal?” Sorbar demands, getting to his feet as the old man stands up tall and begin to use his strong, confident and loud commanding voice and use a bit of magic to subtly force an honest answer of these kids, “What do you want out of life?”

“To help people.”

“To end the Antera.”

“To avenge my family.”

Those answers come from Giarth, Korica and Nirea respectively.

“So you wish to bring the Antera to justice?” Sorbar says and he receive three acknowledgements, “Then I shall train you as best I can. Sarkira?”

“Yes Daddy?” replies Sorbar’s daughter as she looks up at him, her eyes full of fiery determination that he shares.

“Please help our new friends settle in. I will bring preparations and the new constructions.”