by Marcus Sloss
I glanced out at the balcony and saw Virtue jotting notes into a book. Roz sat beside him quietly waiting on me. I went to Addilyn and extended a hand to her. She rose from her seat as did Amber. I got a kiss goodbye from Amber. Addilyn held my hand as we left for the balcony. Roz rose from the bench and summoned a portal. Virtue was the first through and we followed behind him.
I found myself in the northern fields of Fernlan not far from my balcony. From the outside this rectangular barn made the one in Lakeland look small. There was no open space to trot animals or a large circular seating area. All that stuff was for trying to sell animals. This was a functional layout designed for efficiency. The pens were orderly in there varied sized that ran down a perfectly straight walkway wide enough for ten people. Each entry had a double gate on the left side and a single gate for a handler on the right. This was where the test animals Roz had procured were being stored. Before the tour started we waited as Yvette, and Lady Linzy walked toward us from the other end.
“Everything you see here today can be bought in bulk. Your accounts are low now though. Our primary goal was to acquire enough livestock to last the winter with the incoming mass of people. The issue will be housing, we need a lot more of it, which is next on our to do list.” Addilyn said while we waited for Yvette and Lady Linzy. The two were chatting away as they walked our direction down the long corridor. The torchlight that flickered in here as sections of the roof were open to allow fresh air and light in. “What was left of the accounts, Roz?”
“Six million souls, more than enough for livestock. You hear that endless moo, master?” Roz asked and I nodded. “That is the sound of a hundred million dairy cows plucked from human worlds. Nautica is handling their integration and the female dvarettes are handling most of the care. She is working closely with Earl Conway and a farmer named Phen. We also bought a billion chickens. Then we cleared out a few types of sheep and increased our yakin numbers. Really bought far more livestock than this Empire needs. I understand you want to keep expanding… There is so much room to house and manage all these animals we had to extend beyond Xiq. Which ate up valuable resources that could have been used to build more houses. If I were to guess you know have enough livestock to support a billion souls.
“The best news was there were lots and lots of animal feed available for really cheap. I am not sure if you know this but goblins can harvest fields… I say that because that is a primary way for goblin slave owners to make easy money. A lot of the ogre worlds are planted and maintained by goblins. We stocked up on that and created underground storage areas for the excess. As long as we have access to the markets I don’t think we will run into issues feeding all these animals.
“I tried to tell your wives this was too many animals. You now have access to many more ports and fish are plentiful on this world. It is done though. You will need to figure out your port cities. We did get some larger versions of runtlets. Hogs… Yes, hogs. I bring up the fish because they will eat those and the rats. The seller would not sell us his human slaves. Hopefully, we find someone who is proficient at managing these new species here.
“I think we went a long way to making Vin a production planet. There is infinitely more work than willing workers. At least when your starving forty million humans show up they will be well fed. I also fear starvation, so seeing this makes me happy even if I did recommend alternative methods. I will die before starving again.”
As Roz finished this I grimaced. I forgot she had to eat her own family to survive. I shivered in recollection of her telling that fateful story.
“We most certainly will expand our fishing Roz. I am thinking long term here though. Humans at least get tired of the same food over and over. Adding diversity with milk, eggs, and meat will help. The wool will give us different clothing options. Then there are animals I do not even know about for producing that we can look into later. My main good was achieved though, we indeed shall not starve.”
When the ladies reached us the tour began. Lady Linzy placed herself in front of the group to be our guide. We walked to a wide pen where the front two extra large gates. The walls were eight feet tall and it was impossible to see the inside ground of the first pen. The two animals I saw were something I was not expecting. They were large tusked mammoths. Long hairy black fur was shagged over the bodies. The looked uncomfortable in the pen too small for them.
“This is the mammoth… An ice creature that can handle most climates besides extreme heat. They can stand up against larger enemy mounts. A battle line of anything other than ogres will be crushed, shattered, and broken if these charge in. This pair will eat a lot and produce nothing besides an offspring once every three to four years. They can not tell friend from foe, and they tend to have limited breeding cycles. I do not advise these for a few reasons. I will let Virtue go over those as he can give first hand experience.” Lady Linzy said and swapped places with the shaman.
“We used them in the extreme cold only. I would not classify them as anything other than ice creatures. They move sleds across frozen tundra better than yakin. They look like they would make worthy combat animals and to some extent they are. There are better choices though. Their lack of overall use makes the mammoths expensive. Now I know Iceshore would take a few thousand of these easily. Do you have the contract list handy? I am interested in the price.” Virtue asked and Roz sent him a tendril of yellow. “Indeed… Okay, I recommend you buy this stock. It looks like a breeder is closing up and trying to move a full operation at a decent price. Three thousand mammoths of all ages and mostly females. Three hundred thousand souls. Not super cheap… Those dvaren in the south will love you for it though. Especially if it is as grand of an ice shelf as the reports are saying.”
“Can we get them moved for us, Roz? I have a lot of battle formations I need to move that takes priority. If we cannot have them moved then purchase them and pay the fee to hold them until we free up some portals.” I said to Roz who purchased mammoths at my request.
“I thought you would have realized this by now. Every trade world has its own separate power pool for portals. The seven learned long ago that trade sometimes needed to move swiftly. When Glowvia moves a trade world into perfect orbit Torn goes next. He gives it perfect weather, and then Maurta adds a separate portal power source for that planet at the center of the universe.” Roz informed me.
Lady Linzy moved forward to continue the tour and we followed behind her. The next pen was something unexpected. It was a giant squirrel with a bushy tail, buck teeth, fifteen foot long rodent. It had six legs and only rose a few feet of the ground. Lady Linzy opened the gate to the enclosure and Yvette followed her. They doted on the animal with baby talk. The animal chirped in reply to the affection. Odd. Both the animal and elvath seemed in harmony.
“The taiven are a creature of the giant forest. In our expansive universe, there are a few planets where everything is out of proportion with the rest of life. In this case, the planet Kaeun has trees that reach thousands of feet tall, and squirrels that eat nuts the size of a bison. Insert the taiven. These creatures are great for us elvath. This male stays in here because I asked him to. Watch this.” Lady Linzy said as Yvette hopped onto the creature's back.
The taiven turned his head and looked at Yvette. She gave a few commands and the squirrel scurried up the wall. Yvette held on firmly with her hips and one hand in the fur as they went up the side of the barn. I was impressed at first. When the squirrel went upside down and walked to the center of the roof I was amazed. I could see Yvette struggling to keep her hips locked down onto the animal. It hurried to return to the ground. When they were safe and back in the enclosure… I clapped. It was a great display.
“They can swim… not for long mind you. They can recognize friend from foe, and they love elvath. As you saw they have razor sharp claws and ankles that swivel. These are bred as pets for us. It was found in some cyclops study it can give us quicker fertility rates if we have a friendly pet. Another scam… We
liked this one though so pretended it was real. They are not in high production and only a few niche farms of these exist. Your best bet is to buy a few for now. Then when the combat slows set up an outpost on Kaeun to send elvath to. How many were available Roz?” Lady Linzy asked.
“Three dozen, all were young and untrained for combat,” Roz replied.
“Awe, I wish we could buy thousands of these for now. Purchase the three dozen. I will add setting up an outpost to the to do list. I need a new bag… and more pens and paper. I love this animal and am very impressed by them. Taiven are on the must have list for sure. I will let you elvath handle their procurement and raising. As soon as the fighting here on Vin slows, you can have a personal portal shaman to make it happen and enough soul stones to make custom harnesses.”
This was the right thing to say for Yvette. She raced to me and planted a thank you kiss on my lips. When she removed her lips from mine.
We continued the tour. The next animal was a rhino with six legs. It was longer, taller, and wider than any rhino I had ever seen in a zoo. It was similar in every other way though. Tough leathery skin, large central horn on end of the nose, and a tail with a swatter. I had to admit I was hoping for a dinosaur raptor or something more lethal.
“If the dvaren were here they would say they hate these. They are great at smashing sturdy formation lines. Some say this animal was a factor in the downfall of the dvaren. Their shield lines are renowned until they face a mammoth or a rhino. The key difference here is the rhino eats less, can march faster, and will survive in the desert. These are still bred for on occasion. Not nearly as common to see as when the dvaren wars were in full swing.” Virtue chimed in before Lady Linzy could talk.
“Next,” I said. I simply could not think of when we would need these.
When came across an elk bigger than a horse, Virtue suddenly erupted in a hooting snorting laugh. It was awkward and we all stared at him with questioning looks on our faces. He thumped the staff into the ground a few times to calm himself. It was a few moments before he caught his breath.
“Take her out please while I tell you all what I find so funny,” Virtue said and the elvath who were by the gate refused to move. Yvette and Lady Linzy were too proud to take the shaman's request as anything other than an order. I rolled my eyes as I went past them and entered the pen with the female elk. She wore a saddle that was bigger than I fit. Set for a cyclops if I had to guess. I walked the docile animal out of the enclosure. “I was a young shaman back at the time. I had passed my Maurta and Unforina initiations. I could add black and yellow magic to my white, which made me an asset to many units. It was a key moment in my life as I was valued above regular shamans and almost on equal with outcast cyclops. For some context, it is important I explain that after you finish your initiation you are handed a guideline sheet. It covers what offenses can get you disintegrated. A what not to do list.
“This sheet said we could not fee out our services. We could never use portals for personal reasons. If a commander or leader wanted a shortcut outside of a diplomatic reason we were to refuse. They wanted the Horde to move on foot everywhere they went. We were only to be used as a diplomatic or trading tool.
“A few months into my tenure I was tasked to support a cyclops who found a hidden dvaren colony. This was ages ago. We entered this rocky planet that was as chilly as it was barren. As we progressed to our targets stronghold from the planetary portal we ran out of food. The goblins were the first to be eaten when our scavenging came up empty. Then the wargs. When it looked like the orcs were going to turn on us shamans and cyclops I did something risky. I portaled to a trading planet on my own initiative. I bought a dozen of these very same equinex. I was terrified I would turn to dust but nothing happened. There were no sanctioned orders from up high, I simply took a risk fearing my own death. I returned with the equinex and we survived on them. I asked the cyclops if I could buy more to transport us further. My rationale was we could eat them if we ran out of food again. The orcs refused to ride them… they proclaimed that orcs would not ride a prey animal. Warg, the mighty god of the Horde, demanded they ride only the most fearsome of predators. The reality was equinex were ridden all over planets dominated by cyclops. They taste great, store water well, move heavy loads, and can carry lots of weight on their backs. They are superior to warg mounts and horses in every way. Even the yakin are inferior. That was a learning lesson for me, I knew if I ever had the chance to change how the Horde operated it would be to utilize the equinex more.”
I paused him at this point. The mount was calmly letting me walk her. “First… we call these animals elk, and from this day forward I decree on Vin they will be known as elk. Probably the best perk to being emperor is that I can fix some of these crazy names. The large squirrels. Rels. Done. Fixed both. Now, why are they not used over yakin?”
Virtue tilted his head in confusion as if I should know the obvious answer. When I shrugged he continued. “Yakin are assholes. They kill goblins often, like every opportunity they can. I hope you don’t let the children around them. They like to bite goblins to get a hold of the little monsters. When they have a firm grip they will trample the poor small creatures with their front hooves until the goblins are a ruined mess. Yakins are evil. So the orcs love them. The cyclops and us shamans love the elks though. They are bred wild or domesticated. They make great pets and better food. How many were at the market, Roz?”
“A few hundred thousand wild in one big order. The cyclops sales representative said they herd a big flock into a portal to your desired location. Saddled ones like this girl ten thousand from various sellers. They are expensive though as they are not fodder animals. Their real value is in the hide. They make amazing saddles because the leather they produce wears well with time and is so thick. Are you interested in purchasing them, master? The mounts would cost the same price as a female dvaren. One hundred per animal. I can buy the entire nondomestic herd at ten percent of that price. You could get a hundred thousand wild and ten thousand tamed for two million souls. I think your elvath and even female dvaren could work on domesticating the wild young ones. I also advise you to choose these as your primary mounts to replace your horses. They can tell friend from foe, and the males have horns that can help in combat.” Roz said with confidence. That was two aids with knowhow giving the same recommendation.
“Buy every saddled one you can for now and have them portaled here. Same with the wild ones. Those take priority over the mammoths. If this settles our mount issue what else is down the row?” I asked.
Lady Linzy stepped forward. “A hippo, a warg, and a lizard that is oversized like the squirrel. The lizards are hard to tame and are known to be ineffective. The hippo can work, but they are for shallow water planets combined with aquatic bipeds. I agree with Roz here and you on the idea for the rels. Both animals will be a boon to Vin. The mammoths will be a huge help to the tundra. If that is all from here, would you like to tour the new livestock or see if Amber has selected your new harem of guards?”
I sighed at this. Vin… I only wanted one wife. Now I had seven and was probably going to bind more women to me. I had no desire to visit cows and chickens. I would happily pass on seeing dumb farm animals and breathing in the wafting stench of manure.
“I need to return to the front. How long until I can get an armor set made?” I asked Yvette.
“Let us go there first then, shall we. They will want it to be precise anyway.” Yvette said to Lady Linzy. “We were hoping to surprise you after Amber presented you with your new guards. I have been informed by Addilyn and Amber you are a dominant male. We should never tell you how to conduct yourself. We merely have been stalling time to get you into a proper gearset and have your new guard established before you leave for war again. Please do not get angry at us for wanting to ensure your preparedness.”
I scowled at this. I figured as much. Fine… “Addilyn… Run and get me a combat bag. And Addilyn, not yours. Take Roz if you need to get st
uff from outside of Fernlan. Linzy, Yvette, if you would lead the way to the fitting of my new armor. The armies in the north can wait a few hours for me and if not King Aves will handle the war. You are right Yvette, I do anger when I feel my authority is being superseded. In this case, I will allow my delay. This armor is too small and being roasted alive left me wanting a harem guard more than anything. When I get back to Castle Rize there will still be tens of millions of Horde to kill. Who knows maybe my time here can skip the planning for attacking the harbor location.”
Addilyn pulled Roz to the side and a portal was instantly created. They stepped through the black oval quickly and it sizzled when into nothing when they were gone. Seven hells… I hope she got me a shield too. I forgot to mention that.
I rode the elk to the gate door when I asked a question. “Will my new armor be ready right away, or do we have five minutes?”
“Probably more like half an hour. Are you hungry my lord?” Lady Linzy said.
I dismounted the elk and left it in the hallway. “Always. I want you and Virtue to stand over there. Out of eyesight of this enclosure. Come here, Yvette…” I said and held a hand out. She was confused. The moment our hands touched I applied aura and hoisted her over my shoulder. Yvette squealed in surprise.
I carried her into the pen and slammed the gate closed. I found her belt latch and undid it. I pushed her down riding trousers until they hit her ankles. I dropped my kilt and spit on the tip of my cock that was hardening in anticipation. I plowed into Yvette's tight dry pussy. It definitely needed more moisture. She shuddered from the pain bringing her pleasure. It went from dry to wet in only a few strokes. She arched her back and watched me pound her from over her shoulder. It did not last five minutes. I cared not though. Her little pussy vibrated against my penis until I erupted in her. She went to complain when I gave her ass a thundering clap as I withdrew my cock. I then yanked her white hair back, forced her to her knees, and ensured she cleaned me with her tongue.
