by Marcus Sloss
“Most definitely, I didn’t even kill any shamans during our orgy!” Siliq blurted.
I let that conversation rapidly die. We trotted around the field's outer edges twice before the next portal materialized not far away. Master Mage Lamont exited the gateway. A company of mages and elvath with bows followed. Directly behind him were some friendly smiling faces. I saw Victor and Janice who waved as we kept up the pace on the outside of the field. I shifted our run to meet Lamont.
“Here is your company of mages and archers as promised. May I present your leaders for each color. Victor for fire. Janice for water. Roger for earth. Dale for air. Oh… I forgot about healing. I had a promising student but you stole her for your guard. Ah… Priscilla. Come on over here.” Lamont said and Priscilla joined him. “For your archers, they have their own rank structure. This is Lady Jia she commands a hundred and fifty archers.”
“Colonel Prixal,” I yelled out to the ranking dvaren. He ran my way from his formation that was still jogging. “Halt the running. You, Jai, and Lamont have a task to sort out. I want equal companies to integrate dvaren, mages, and elvath. Expect to train mounted. I believe you can handle it with your combined experience. I have something I need to attend to.”
Both men went to work and called over team leaders. I walked over to former King Omarrs daughter Emily. She had been granted team leader for my harem guard from Amber. I knew Emily was not a very powerful green mage. She looked at me meekly as I approached. Confliction was evident on her face.
“How about we go for a jog?” She nodded and we started to run a lap around the field while the companies mixed mages with dvaren and elvath archers. When we got far enough away from the group I paused our run. “How is King Olon?”
“Your brother in law is fine. You did not stop to ask me about my brother.”
“I am at an impasse. You are probably a gifted manager with years of training. Why did you agree to guard me?” I asked… Then I saw it in her eyes. The way she was hesitating. I calmed her agitation by pulling her in. “Let me start by saying you are pretty, smart, and indeed are tied to an entire kingdom of mine. I wish we had met when I was accepting Addilyn.”
“I was in school. I am not a gifted mage. I know Priscilla is, yet Amber couldn’t have a Trade Master's daughter lording over a Princess like me.” Emily vented and I sympathized. I certainly was not a fan of politics.
“I rarely do this but ask for anything and I will try to grant it. I do not want conflict in my family.”
“Elevate me to a queen wife. You do not want seven anyway, sends the wrong message. I will always be around to help heal and most importantly Amber as well as Addilyn could…”
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said and she blushed while batting her eyes. I paused our run and stared at her intently. “You girls sure are crafty. You set this up from the get go. Is Lamont in on it? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t care. My wives want you as a queen wife?”
Emily smirk was so big I should have seen it coming. She reached into her bust. “This was in Bella’s bust as is tradition. I held onto it until this moment. And here is a knife my lord. I want your signature in blood. It seems more fitting as you have been named the Harbinger by the elvath. I see you are without your dagger. Here use my hair pen.”
I turned Emily around. I placed the unfolded paper on her back and pricked my finger. The blood pooled and I signed the document. “Alright find me a replacement for you. You will share your nights with one of the others for now. Seeing as how most are recovering it should not be a big deal. Off the field with you. Keep the armor and help manage my northeastern development.”
“Exactly as I was born to do… I will rule in your honor my Emperor,” Emily performed a perfect curtsy.
I scooped her up and kissed her. “Ensure that you do my Queen,” I said and she left for the castle to help my wives manage our empire.
When I returned to the team leaders troops were being sorted. Colonel Prixal stepped forward to brief me as Lamont left. Lots of academy stuff to run and he was here to just drop off mages anyway.
“We are going with ten companies. From this day forward the companies will train as a unit. There will be a reserve pile that we can draw from for when someone needs to step out for any reason.” Colonel Prixal said as he nodded at Emily skipping away. Yeah, good point. “Ten companies. Each company has ninety dvaren for infantry, fifteen elvath for archers, and fifteen humans for mages. That is broken down into thirty dvaren per platoon with five mages and five archers. Any objections?”
“Where do I and my guard fit in?” I asked.
“Well, that is for you to decide. My recommendation is you stay up there with your wives. Alas, that won't happen and I respect you for that. If you are here in the dirt and you can save lives by fighting, then fight. I do not know what you are intending here. I am where I am told and now organized the units as instructed.” Colonel Prixal replied like a professional soldier. Which he was. The vibrant young face hid that fact. Vin magic could be perplexing at times.
Prixal, Jia, and Victor waited for orders. I decided to dismiss everyone. “Ensure all the troops get measured. Then take the rest of the day off. We meet here again tomorrow at sunrise.” I said and they confirmed my orders. When the troops found out they had the day off they were ecstatic. “Siliq, come over here please.”
I waited as the new shaman hustled my way. I told her to find Roz and bring her to me. She went running for the estate. While we waited a new portal was generated. Fourteen shamans who stepped out were pushed aside by a hundred angry stomping ogres.
“Who dares to command us?” The lead ogre demanded as he thumped a worn rounded club into his paw. He was a mature brute at twenty feet tall. He was flanked by two large ogres nearly as big as he was. The challenge to the alpha was heard and accepted.
My blood purred and my inner demon thirsted. I slung my shield off my back and drew my sword with a ring. I could have pulled it out silently. A statement was being made.
I poured aura into my legs and let them fill until I burst from my spot in the field toward the lead ogre. “I am your master!” I screamed and the ogres chuckled. So be it.
I saw their eyes widen when they realized how fast I was moving. The lead ogre grimaced and readied his club to swing. When I was a dozen feet away I dug my right foot in and shove hard shooting myself to the left of the lead target. The lead ogre swung into empty air. I cleaved the right leg of the left most ogre. I used enough force to know I separated the leg at the shin. The sidekick was not expecting this at all. He had no called out the challenge so he was shocked by my attack.
I slammed two feet into Vin to stop suddenly. Dirt and rye flew in a fanning spray. I rotated and leaped at the falling ogre who was cartwheeling his arms while screaming in sudden pain. With a full aura injection into my arms, I hurled my shield at the other supporting ogre. I did not have the time to watch where it landed as I was off the ground and arching for my target. When the dismembered ogre thudded into the ground I landed beside his ear and drove my sword into his skull. The ogre went from screaming to muttering, to silent. I yanked my sword out of his brain and slid it quickly into its ring. The friend of the alpha stepped back in shock. He staggered while clutching at his spilling guts. A massive hole the size of a shield let his intestines free of their confines. A few desperate attempts to steam the flew and then he fell over dead.
The alpha smashed his club at me as I ducked and rolled. The weapon mushed the dead body of his ally as I evaded. When I came up I had the dead ogre’s greataxe. A club came horizontally at me from the left. I lunged backward to get out of his reach. I was set now with the greataxe firmly in my hands. A bellowing roar of spittle was aimed at me in anger. Then the alpha charged.
I waited and stood still. The ogre had experience and was expecting me to dodge. I let him miss twice without ever moving. He was certain this time he had me and did a powerful overhead swing. I shifted to the left. I bounced wh
en his club slammed into the ground. The force was so great the club cracked in two. I wasted no time in my counter attack. My swing was rapid, so swift that the ogre went to club me with the remains of his weapon without realizing I had severed his hand from his arm. When he did notice the blood squirting he panicked. I casually walked up to where he clutched at his severed appendage.
The alpha went to kneel in submitting, and I removed his head when it was within reach. That was nice of him. The other ogres kneeled.
“I am your master, accept my slave contract or die without mercy!” I screamed at them with my adrenaline pumping rapidly through my veins. My yellow contract hit them instantly and they accepted. Awe I wanted to kill some more.
I looked back over the bodies and saw Victor and Janice sawing for a heart. Old habits die hard. I let the troops extract the organs. I went over to the shamans who were behind the ogres that parted to let me pass. “You ogres, you will go north. There is a mountain. You will find your kin entrenched in it. Scout them for me and await further instructions. I will be there in a few weeks. Survive on the local Horde you find. Enslave any goblins and start to mine the mountains. Do this and I will bring you three mates each after six months. Fail me and I will have your hearts.”
“Yes master,” was their reply. With their orders, they marched north for the Saquin Mountains.
I turned my attention to the fourteen shamans that were waiting for their own orders. Virtue walked away and waved me over.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yes, these are low quality portal shamans. They can do okay with harems. You may need to convert Goblin Isle into Harem Isle.” Virtue paused at my chuckle. He was being serious and when I realized that he continued. “I think it is time you send shamans to help trade flow more smoothly through the empire. They can only do so much and that is probably the best way to utilize these.”
I decided to accept his recommendation. “Take them to Amber to distribute throughout the empire mention the elvath in Livina. King Aves will like this news. Real quick, how many good shamans can I trade for these ogres?”
“Quality shamans. These are warrior ogres of full growth that are now slaves. They will fetch a quality shaman for five ogres give or take. The hundred here probably twenty more slave shaman. Better than these. She probably figured you needed warriors more than movers. Plus shamans rarely move troops outside of diplomacy or trade between worlds. Glowvia would not need to move supplies and troops the same way you are. Would you like me to trade them?”
“Yes, one second,” I said and then altered the contract for the ogres. Virtue was now able to control them. “Send them to market, convert them to shamans, and then take the rest of the day off. I am going to spend the evening with the family tonight and then start training first thing in the morning. It is still early in the day. I would rush to them before they spread out.”
“As the Emperor commands. Livina is looking good by the way. The elvath who arrived are hard at work. They are cleaning the ships in the harbor and sorting the city. I will tell your wife the same thing. They will need more homes, shops, and infrastructure in general. So does this city though. Three more hearts to add. That was impressive work. Enjoy your day.” Virtue said.
The old mage left my side to join the huddled shamans. They were escorted through a portal Virtue made. Virtue gave them their marching orders and when they vanished, he retracted his portal. I watched him form a new portal in the middle of the slow moving ogres that were going north. It was interesting to see them walk joyfully into a new portal to a slave world.
I decided to sit on my butt and watch the leaving ogres file away. They were happy and playfully shoving each other as they proceeded away from me. They had to know they were probably going to fight somewhere instead of managing goblins and digging for minerals. This was what was best for them and us. I needed more shamans and they wanted actual combat. Roz sat beside me and watched the ogres leave. We sat like that for five minutes in silence.
“I need a thousand elk with saddles on this field in the morning, assuming you were able to buy them all. Also, I need the rels for the elvath. How many did you get of those?” I asked.
Roz pulled out a bound notepad. I stole it quickly, then handed it back. “I take it you want a notepad? Nevermind I know some of your human expressions. That one is for when you want to dominate one of your wives in lust. You desire a notepad. You sure are strange my human Emperor. Let me see…” She thumbed the pages. “Yes, I can have the saddled elk here tomorrow at sunrise. The rels will be there also, but it is easier if you send the elvath to get them than for me to portal them. They hate portals for obvious reasons. It is big, black, and spooky looking. I see there is extra shaman can I get one to help with all the livestock and such.”
“Siliq will be available afternoons for the next few weeks. If you hurry Amber or Addilyn may give you a male shaman for your harem. As long as it helps the empire I don’t care where they go. I want to focus less on micromanaging shaman and more on the elite troops. Figure it out. If Amber says your head shaman for role distribution then so be it. You girls figure it out. Hey Roz…” I said and let the sentence hang.
“Yes, master?”
“My inner evil overlord sent thousands of elvath into slavery and painted the field over there in defiant ogre blood,” I said as I tossed a thumb over my shoulder towards the dead ogres.
She grinned and left without another word. I was contemplating what to do when I heard Ruby.
“Lunch?” She opined. I nodded with a grin as she sauntered my way. “First a bath with Victoria and me. I called licking your balls while she sucks your cock if you are okay with that.”
I laughed and Victoria blushed. When I raised an eyebrow she shrugged. Today was a good day.
CHAPTER 11
I was watching a portal that was five thousand feet wide but only ten feet tall. I never would have thought to make a portal rectangular like that. It must have saved a lot of energy. Hundreds of thousands poured out of the black gateway as quickly as they could. Disheveled humans in tattered clothing were stuffed in between two clay walls and forced forward down a specific path. I had humans on pedestals waving flags with my banner to keep the flow of people moving. As I watched what seemed like an endless tide of filthy humans enter Vin I reflected on the last six days.
Training was mixed with some more training and then served cold with the winter weather. We had our first frosting of snow that dissipated quickly. That was nothing compared to the endless drills. Every morning at sunrise, even on the cloudy days, my elite forces assembled on the western fields. It is important I get to laugh about the first day. The dvaren hated being mounted on tall elk. The rest of us loved watching them combat their discomfort of it. They were not shield infantry any longer. They were now heavy elk cavalry that needed step stools to get mounted. You think most warriors, regardless of specialty would be willing to ride an armored mount. Not the dvaren, at least not until I replaced a few who refused to even consider becoming cavalry. I removed them from the roster which was a big deal.
Our teams were the elite fighting combat units. The rest were stuck on guard or fighting on the Vartin ice shelf. More on that later. When I replaced a few soldiers with backups that did that trick. Get on the damn elks or get out. The formations came together quickly. Over time we decided to keep ten companies with ninety dvaren, and then fifteen human mages as well as elvath archers. All of those ten units were on mounted elks. When the rels arrived they were determined to be our skirmishing cavalry and a fresh thirty two elvath were recruited to the unit.
Every morning for an hour the training was infill and exfill. Our shamans would change the drop locations at random. We practiced everywhere but in the water, beaches yup. I hated racing out of a portal and into the sand. Open the portal, race through the portal, establish a landing area and then find the enemy. Then it was reverse order back in. It sounded simple until you add untrained mounted dvaren, limited
portal sizes, and mages not used to slinging magic from a mount. The only ones who were perfect were the damn elvath. They made it look so easy. After portal transitions, we went over cavalry formations. The wedge, the box, and the loose formation. We never did the loose much because we had air shields. It was more for avoiding projectile fire. After formation drilling, there were mock battles with wooden weapons that still hurt… A lot. The elk would kiss each other instead of trying to kill each other. Those of us with the wooden sticks were bashing each other. There were numerous broken arms, dislocated shoulders, and broken collar bones that had to be healed. No one died thankfully.
By day four when we raided a small orc outpost, all our troops had scale armor. Which was really impressive stuff. I let a chieftain slash my leg at the shin. I knew if he got through I would not die. I did not need to worry though. The armor held beautifully. That dismayed the orc and to help him out I kicked his chest in so hard his ribs punctured his lungs. As I aided in his demise, I laughed over him while he drowned in his own blood. I laughed so hard there were tears of joy… Good times. Well, today was another planned raid when that damn portal opened. Which brings me to finances and development.
Roz sold a dozen bibles and we had spending money. The item we bought for everywhere were goblins. Apparently, we had not captured enough in the north. They were cheap, easy to maintain, and perfect for the goblin slaughter factory. I wanted to cover all our elk in scale armor and that was a lot of the money. Then we bought supplies for the incoming people. Basic stuff we could not easily make like blankets, pillows, and leather for winter clothing. The really good news. Gold was super cheap and we bought so much it would affect the market. We bought a lot of bronze too. Silver we hoped to find in the mountains. That stuff was expensive. Fernlan began minting coins and our treasury bounced up quickly. To me, gold was play money at this point. I wanted souls for freeing slaves.
