by Marcus Sloss
I rolled my eyes. Of course, it was seven days. “Caffeine as in the picker upper humans drink in the mornings?”
“It is a drug to my species. It gives us grandeur dreams and cravings so strong we shake with migraines without it. Nasty, nasty stuff. Why did you bring three sets of bibles? Of course, I can see how many you brought when you pull out three of the same version. It is embarrassing to see the relics handled so casually.”
“I need help Rakmar. My Empire is out of money and I have goods I need to sell. The problem is I don’t want them linked to me. Roz got discovered as a supplier of copied bibles fairly quickly. I may have some dealings that are friendly with the seven but for the most part, we are at war. If they find my wagon, yeti, icraw, and other goods I am selling they will shut it down. I would rather have it all taxed in middleman fees and avoid detection. Hence why I brought two other sets.”
Rakmar was normally a cyclops to kill his servants around him. He did so twice in that seedy bar we visited before. Here in his home, he showed no agitation at our conversation being overheard. I decided to enjoy the view while he thought over my offer. The war boar racing across the fields gave me a smile. I missed the days of bringing home that first kill. Such simpler times.
Ruby shook my shoulder. I had zoned out and Rakmar was tapping his claws on the table. “Uh, say that again.”
“I want them signed by the creator of these books. I will display a set in my trophy hall and be the envy of the cyclops universe wide. Then I will be your partner in profits. I want fifteen percent. I will only deal with raw stones and no bank transfers. You will have to deal with the banks or vendors directly. I also need time. More than seven days. I have to align my own fencers. The fifteen percent is with me only taking five. I am not doing it for the recurring revenue. I am doing it for the bibles. I am a devout Horde believer as are my friends and family. If you can…” Rakmar said when I paused him by standing up.
“Entria Virtue,” I commanded and Rakmar grew confused.
“I have not forgotten your slight of killing my shamans Virtue. I do however owe you for warning me about Gryff. Something I am very grateful I took seriously once Rozmak vanished. I would be dead by the seven if I had stuck around. I consider us even.” Rakmar said with frustration to Virtue.
“Put the claws away Rakmar. You are…” I cast a silence shield and he frowned at my proficiency. “Glowvia. The goddess of gravity is the creator of these bibles. She did so to maintain the common Horde member’s devotion to the cause of expansion. She single handily was able to restore your cyclops from slaves back to free beings with these books. I don’t think I need to tell you to be on your best behavior. Also before we step through, here is a contract of silence so you can keep our secrets.”
I sent him a contract dictating that he must hold any information he gleaned from the trip to Entria. Not the disintegrating kind either. He accepted and stepped through first with curiosity etched across his one eyed face.
∞∞∞
I entered the floating glass platform to a chanting. I looked down through flooring to see a field of protesting elvath. That was in stark contrast to the other times I had seen them going about their daily lives. They sure seemed angry about something. A shaman clapped to gather my attention. I saw Rakmar, Virtue, Ruby, Priscilla, Tess, Victoria, Maise, and my two guards were all here.
Glowvia’s shaman spun a portal and said his mistress was waiting. We stepped through and there was no blackness. I found myself on a stage behind a curtain. On the other side of the curtain was the angry protestors. Glowvia beamed at seeing me suddenly appear.
“Bless the creator… Perfect timing Gryff. Small problem that I need your help with. The good news first. Your lazy, weak, pathetic elvath you sent me are adapting wonderfully. They yearn for a lavish life of luxury and ease. Unfortunately, they have been telling stories of Vin. Do you know what happens when you manage elvath for billions of years… You end up owing a lot of favors. When you can suddenly ask for your favor to be paid in full… this is what happens. I am so conflicted on what to do.” Glowvia said and I shrugged. Not the answer she was looking for. “Can they join you on Vin?”
Livina was still empty, I needed an elvath capital and it could work. The phrase work was vital though.
“How many?”
“A few million, they know they will be safe there. This will allow me to placate those I owe while freeing up room. Then I can acquire other elvath. I have been remiss on adding to my planet from overcrowding. To be honest even with the two to four million that join you I will still have too many here. It is a lot to take on. I can try to divert some food and resources…”
I interrupted Glowvia.
“I will address the crowd. You will work with this cyclops. His name is Rakmar. He is a business partner of mine. He needs these three sets of books signed by your hand. I do not want them duplicated. Add a cute note or something that is generic for each set. Should increase the value. See if you can use him to advance our causes. Rakmar this Glowvia.”
The cyclops clasped his hands over his heart and knelt until both knees touched the ground. Then he began kissing the ground in front of the goddess. Both Glowvia and I rolled our eyes as Gravin landed beside us. His conversion from tiny bird to handsome elv was flawless. We did the friendly man hug thing and I left them to establish a relationship with Rakmar.
I stepped to the curtain and tried to find a seam to slide between. Nope. I went to lift the dumb thing up and found the bottom weighted. If they weren’t having a private meeting I would have ripped the damn thing from its hinges. Finally, I added purple aura to hoist the heavy rocks sewn into the base and swiftly shimmied under the curtain. When I stood before the assembled masses the crowd quieted.
I waved. A few waved back. Most were perplexed as to why a random human was standing before them. I cast a massive silence shield around me and the assembled masses. Aura flooded out and was projected from the elvath to refill me. I surged with aura diving for my center. The problem was I was filled instantly and the rest deflected. I never got used to elvath using their cores as batteries.
“Enough!” My voice boomed with the help of an air spell. The aura flying my way halted and then retreated back into the elvath bodies. I had their attention. I did notice this was not two to four million elvath. More like a few hundred thousand. I figured this would be enough to spread the word.
While I was contemplating what to say questions were fired at me from the crowd. “Who are you? Where is the Mistress? When can we leave for Vin?” All vital questions from a confused populace.
“Silence… I am Gryff. Emperor of Vin. Leader of the resistance armies against the Horde. It has come to my attention some of you would like to go to my home to live on a planet where you are truly free.” I said and cheers erupted. “Except you will not be free. There is no such thing as true freedom. There will always be something given for something received. A tyrant leader who takes from his subjects, still has to devote time to the ruling of said subjects. A free citizen in my empire still has to pay taxes and support the war effort. There is no free ride. Your existence here is as close as it comes. Seven hells… A flipping god provides for you here. All they ask for in return is for you to have sex and make babies. You are not even mandated quotas for the resources you consume.
“That is not how things work on Vin. You will contribute. You will work. You will obey the laws set forth by my Empire.” I said sternly. I needed it to be clear.
“And if we don’t,” a random voice shouted from the masses.
“Then stay here. I will just send you back and we all know what Glowvia does with trouble makers. She sells them to slave farms. As she rightly should. I sure as seven hells don’t want an unruly populace. I know I am downplaying Vin. Vin is an amazing land of opportunities. I merely want anyway who is arriving to know it is not a free ride. That there will be hardship you do not face here. That I will ask things of you that will not be pleasant. I sent
that elvath here from Vin to help you. That is a big deal and a big secret. You will only be allowed to my planet if you swear to that secret and swear to be a good citizen that follows our laws. My planet, my rules. If you don’t like it stay here. I have a lot to do. If you do decide to come you will establish and maintain a port city named Livina. It needs to be expanded and the boats in the harbor need to be cleaned. Then I need you to produce sails, boats, fish, clothing, and more. I hope you are understanding the results of what you are requesting. Hard work.” I finished my speech and rolled sideways under the dumb curtain.
I wanted to destroy that thing so badly. I needed to kill something. My blood was bored with inaction. I had not killed any Horde when we acquired Ooney bay. I had a feeling I would get plenty of battle soon enough in the caverns of the Saquin Mountains.
Glowvia, Gravin, and Rakmar were talking while my team waited patiently with the shaman that had brought us down to the field. I pointed at the portal shaman and he pointed at himself with a questioning look. I waved him to me and pointed to my head. He walked over and touched my head while I thought of Livina. I then interceded in the conversation the gods were having.
“May deter some. May not. Send those willing to immigrate to Livina. Your shaman has the location.” I said to the group and then looked at Rakmar. “Did you get your signatures?”
“I most certainly did. Consider us business partners. Seven days for the war boar and as soon as I get home I will have a few dozen delivered free of charge. Thank you for this Gryff. I look forward to working together.” Rakmar said with sincerity.
“Here is the contract. You cannot disclose our dealings outside of people I trust. You will not harm Virtue.” I said and sent him the contract. He accepted it. “It has been a long day and I am eager to sleep. I also promised my wives a run. Anything before I go?”
Gravin shook his head and Glowvia raised a finger. “When can I send the elvath who want to leave? I have a dozen shamans and a hundred plus ogres ready as part of our trades.”
“Perfect. Send them to Livina right away and let them settle in. I will have someone check on the city every morning and evening. It is a gorgeous port settlement that was eradicated by treachery and bypassed by the Horde. The elvath from here should enjoy it except that it is in need of intense work. Thank you for signing his bibles. Get me some funds Rakmar. Virtue send me and the team home, please. Once we are gone I need you to take Rakmar home and bring back the war boar he is willing to send our way for now.”
I shook hands with Gravin and watched as my team left through the portal. I followed in the middle excited to get back home.
∞∞∞
That night was filled with lots of sex with Nautica. That dirty dvarette was insatiable. I was certain if there was no healing on Vin I would have walked with a rawness. Thankfully there was because the morning rounds were just as fun.
A solid breakfast in my stomach and with my new dragon scaled armor equipped I walked to my balcony. I found Virtue waiting on my bench. The old shaman was wearing a black thicker robe than before. My emblem on the back and over his chest. It was getting cooler in Fernlan.
“Good morning, Virtue. I need you to go to Castle Riza and get the dvaren there to meet me in the western fields.” I ordered.
“Good morning, Gryff. The war boar were placed in pens for breeding last night. Much to the complaints of the griffins. I miss it when they would draw out their problems. Now they have elvath make demands from their back. I will see you in the western fields with your requested dvaren in a few minutes.” Virtue said and created a small portal.
I walked to my wives who were in a meeting. I invited Addilyn for training and was surprised when she declined. I went down to the sixth floor to assemble my harem guard. None of these duchesses could decline. They also were all waiting for me in the foyer. Perfect. I pulled Ruby out for a routine room inspection. The only thing I inspected was her little vagina and huge boobs. Five minutes later we joined the team and stepped down six flights of stairs.
When we exited the building I paused the group and addressed them. “If you do not have armor then you are to go the seamstress right now. When you are done meet us over there,” I said and pointed to a ryegrass field to the west. It was as good a place as any. As I pointed that way a new portal spawned ten soldiers wide and dvaren stepped through. They were not singing which I was grateful for. It was still early morning and the city was mostly asleep. “The rest of you follow me.”
Nate ran up to my side as we passed the entrance to Dais. My former home was now booming with dvaren. A few hundred thousand occupied the city below. A few humans still lived among them Count Donnie included.
“I checked on Donnie. The kid is recovered and doing well. His family grew by one. Poe, Mina, and now Cherry. Linzy and I made it official too. The wife is excited, she was complaining that a man of my standing should have more wives. Women are confusing sometimes.”
I snickered at this. We were in a group of my wives who were listening intently. I kept my mouth shut on this topic.
“Speaking of which what is your standing. I remember that griffin handler from Cern. She was the wife of the city guard. I think he was only a knight. Baron now…” I said as I snapped my fingers trying to remember the man. To be fair to myself I never actually met him. Why can I not recall his name?”
“Baron Hanz my lord. We get nothing besides glowing reports from Cern, been that way ever since the leadership change. Came at the perfect time. Duke Riza was the best at being decisive.” Nate said while tucking his chin in remembrance. “I have been hearing good reports from Lakeland too.”
“Do you want an official title? Military Advisor or Duke. I can do anything at this point. Even make you a king and send you north to rule.”
“I am General of the Guard. Amber saw to my title and the paperwork is completed. When are we going to smash the ogres in Saquin? I am really excited about that. Will be a great test without griffins.” Nate said changing the subject. I was happy she officially promoted him even if I was not consulted. Decisions like that were best done by her, I could not always be trusted to have that spur of the moment realization that Amber naturally had.
Ruby butted in between us. “Yes my Emperor, when are you going to take us back into combat. Ooney Bay was kind of dull, not many fireworks…”
“I had to stress this to Donnie months ago. Not every adventure is blood and battle. Seven hells. Combat should be ninety five percent preparing, with three percent reacting to your opponent's moves, and two percent fighting. The issue with Vin is we were so swamped with targets. It is irrelevant now anyway. We are not in a rush. Zero rush. Our economy is starting to produce and out threats have mostly been eliminated. I am not sad to inform either of you that we will not be charging into an ogre nest until we are good and ready.”
Nate shrugged and Ruby pouted. Victoria joined us and held my hand. I let it slide. My wives were allowed to be affectionate and we had not begun training. The more assertive duchesses would end up pregnant first. Simply how I operated, if hotties threw themselves at me I would be more apt to sheet wrestle with them, then the ones who hid.
“Is there anything special we should know before we start training?” Victoria asked while she gazed at me with lustful eyes.
“Not really, the big thing is simply getting organized and geared today. Then we will drill, and drill some more. Then lunch. Then mock battle. That is my idea anyway. Baldwic will come up tomorrow. I want to focus on portal transitions and rules today.” I said as we arrived in the western fields. “Fae, I want a raised platform right here.”
The earth mage went to work and created a simple ten foot platform with built in stairs. I raced up the side and let out a loud clap.
“Good morning. I need half of you dvaren to go to the seamstress warehouse and get measured. When you get back, I want the other half to swap out. This is going to be a new unit. As a unit, we will be dressed the same. The roles we serve will
vary but our appearance will not. Dragon scales are expensive and this team will more than make up for the investment.” I said while I muttered “I hope” under my breath. “Victoria, you are to lead the dvaren to the seamstress. I will personally brief you later over lunch.”
Half of the thousand dvarens best of the best marched off. Ruby went with Victoria to escort them. I smirked at this knowing my after lunch sex would probably be a threesome now. If the two were game for a bundle of fun, then so was I. I waited until the troops finished clamoring away.
“Is there leather under that metal?” I asked the dvaren unit remaining.
“I am Colonel Prixal, we do indeed have leather under our metal.” The lead dvaren replied.
“Great, you will need to start getting used to no heavy armor. Have the heavy armor piled off to the side. I want you to store in your homes once you transition to the light armor. We are just waiting on Master Mage Lamont to bring his mages and some elvath from the front. Then we will get started. I want everyone to stretch and start a light jog while we wait. Virtue and Siliq to me,” I ordered and waited for my two shamans. I saw Siliq in her black dragon armor, her orange eyes displayed happiness. “Siliq, when we start I want a portal ten wide right about here and then the exit right about there.”
I point at the edge of our formation and then a thousand yards away.
“That is all?” She asked with a tilted head. “I used the harem last night. I have plenty of aura.”
“While I am glad you are fully charged, we need to practice a few things. Virtue while we do this I want you to go to Livina. I need a few things. Whoever the appointed leader there is… They need to check in with Queen Yvette. She is on the seventh floor going over paperwork with the other queens. Then I need to verify the contract the new portal shamans have so send them here.” I said and Virtue spun a portal. When he and the black gateway vanished I turned to Siliq as well as the team. “Light jog follow me. Are you transitioning well?”
