Army of the Damned

VOLUME 2 Chapter 2

Flying through the dark night, with the looming morning behind them, a massive Black Dragon lands, crushing some smaller patches of trees. The bark was unable to leave even a small scratch at her glistening black metallic scales and the forest was extremely dense with a cold and merciless air surrounding them as it filled their senses with an unwelcoming flair.

Unpacking their wagon, it was soon then the morning light was high up in the sky and its rays pierced through the leaves and vines. The Adventurers with the Knight then began their trek, with Jackson smelling a faint scent of salty water but Bahamut was already tasting it in the air as they followed the wet and worn out dirt road.

Pots of water would often splash the browny water onto Jackson's well maintained wagon, to even Junior and its beautiful black skin being tainted by the liquid. "Ah dang it, looks like I'll have to clean this whole thing when I get back." he became observant as the dense fog rolled in from the peaks of the mountains, the wet leaves didn't even move an inch as they passed by, disturbing the peace of the forest.

"So what is this about Meilurious and their economy?" Eattare the steps up, crawling up the crates and down to the front seat with Ingraine. "Meilurious has had a long tumultuous history, ever since their last King died, the Queen discarded the idea of marrying a new and it's now been struck with sanctions and tariffs due to its control of the Northeastern Ocean. It has a very sizable Navy, Jackson and they've refused to aid Kingdoms in protecting their merchant ships from Druisviking longships."

"And why is that?" the elegant Witch then turned her head, facing away from him. "One of their Dukes had a disagreement of sorts with James. It sadly turned sour and they still refused to send their ships, though we could easily afford to carry their weight, it's still not optimal." This made him look down on the muddy road there driving on, with only a meter of visibility in front, he kept his eyes on the visible trail and the glisten of the mud water. "Okay... and the other Nobles plan to work around this is to... make a deal with Vampires?"

With a lifted eyebrow, Eattare shakes her head. "I... do not know, sadly. But I believe the Vampires must've offered them something quite good. Though the Church is silent about this, I am sure they are quite angry at them too." swallowing his saliva, the man shrugs. "I am actually surprised the Holy See didn't go full gung-ho and sent Paladins or something."

"The Holy See operates upon a Court of Bishops and Cardinals, they cannot simply send people without the permission of the Cathedrals... and there's rumors going around..." she then leans into his ear. "I've heard that the Pontifex plans to once again allow Demi-Humans into the religion." Slowly backing away, he turns his head to look directly at her.

"But what about the Guilds and such? Wouldn't they be angry at the Duke and the Royals?" She then turned her attention forward as ruckus from the back echoed to the front, Grifvet and Pierence were both messing around with the weapons Jackson showed them. "They are, but the Kingdom of James and Eutopious are both shouldering the weight." This made him grit his teeth. "Sheesh... that's gotta hurt. Meilurious is that important huh?"

She nodded her head slowly, sitting with a perfectly upright posture, befitting a Noble, the lady had her hands together and was as still as a statue. "Hm. Its Navy is the second largest in Dragovh, sixth between Dragovh and Geraldia."

"Who has the top spot?" She then leaned forward and looked at Ingraine. "The Elven Empire." This made him tilt his head and nod. "Huh." turning to his shoulder, he lifts an eyebrow at the Black Dragon. "Continue on, Master. The ocean isn't far away now. I can smell the humans and.... Fish."

Breathing heavily in, he turns to the two boys in the back still having the fun of their lives with his weapons and armor. "Oy, both of you in the back. I don't want to end up becoming the talk of the town, so lead me around the nicer places." Ingraine and Pierence look at him with confident smiles, though the assurance didn't give him much confidence, it was more than enough for now as he reaches into the smaller metal box behind him.