by Han Yang
I danced my fingers across the table while I tried to figure out what to do. Deciding to thumb through the papers I saw a common concern. We needed more timber, stone, metal, livestock, and generic supplies for a long siege.
“Famo says it's going to take months to process all the raw ore. We need more forges, to build more forges we need more stone, to get more stone we need to stop working on the western gate,” I said with a sigh.
“Yes, that theme repeats itself over and over,” Nee said. “I may just be a goblin ogre, but I advise multiple trading options. You should go to the Jeer capital. You’re safest there over these other options. Killing you would bring them more harm than good. If you’re buffeting their enemies for them, they should want to trade and help.
“I will send troll delegations through both portals, and Jenovene can do the same for the human cities. If they’re receptive, we spend some of our treasury, it does no good sitting behind a door when it can be traded for food or supplies.”
“I just don’t know if I’ll be safe,” I said.
“I’m with Nee,” Asha said. “You need to find Nick, tell him about Baroni, and at the same time offload some of our assets before the way here closes. Right now, the Jeer Coalition can trade with us. Once the siege settles, they will not be able to do so.”
Logically, it just made sense. I wanted to adventure or fight, but trading could help our siege efforts outlast the invaders.
“Do it. Send delegations and have the main transactions take place near the portal. Pay a fee or a deposit as required, but no buying a ton of ore and then having to risk it to the portal. Different days for different sides,” I said and turned to Ike and Asha. “Militarily, can we earn an easy win anywhere?”
They both shook their heads.
“Then trading it is. Tarla is now more than Queen in title only. Ensure the word is spread that we married, and she is in command while I’m away,” I said.
The next few minutes were congratulations and general praise of our union. I promised a ball later, and this seemed to lighten the serious mood.
“Alright, who’s going to Jeer with me?” I asked.
No one raised a hand.
“The coalition is limited in how many they can fly. We suggest you talk with Perion. He said he knows where Nick is. Then you and a minotaur can do the trading,” Asha said.
“I hope he takes the news well,” I said.
Serina said, “I will come with you. I know Freninick like a child. He will welcome my presence, and I can shop for items as well. I think he will be happy.”
Ike smiled and said, “I agree. His lover is alive, merely on her way to his home. I think he can stomach that.”
“Yeah, but will he stay or go?” I asked myself. “I guess I’ll have to find out for myself. Consolidate our Zorta into large denomination orbs, and I will be ready to go in a few hours.”
I stood, and the room stood with me. By this time tomorrow, I would be with my friend.
CHAPTER 12
Jeer MegaCity Oponix
Perion hired a dragon rider with a saddle big enough for ten. The massive beast flew us high above the ground with an air mage enclosing us with fresh air to keep us from experiencing hypoxia. I traveled with Serina, hoping Nick’s nanny would help him cope with the news that Baroi had left Moonguard City.
We had arrived the day before after a ten-hour flight, and Perion had informed me Nick would be brought by the morning. How he found him and how he convinced him to travel to the capital wasn’t revealed.
We were given an opulent room with a limited view of the city. Oponix reminded me of something on Earth with its massive size. A fantasy city shouldn’t have this many people in it. The ratios for farming to city life didn’t warrant this many people.
A knock on our door pulled me from my book about tactics. The volume was rather dry, discussing the use of digging under walls combined with sappers. I figured just because I had won a few battles didn’t mean I should stop studying. Serina opened the door, and my immense friend ducked down to enter the room.
“You did it!” he said, charging in to give me a hug. “You crazy human. Oh, bless you with Mezonia’s golden tits.”
I grunted as he squeezed me a bit tighter than he should have.
“The elva, they did it,” I said with half a breath. He released his grip, setting me down. “And they held the secret. How did you know?” I asked.
“Our hosts. Apparently, King Hartinger has an ambassador in Inno City and here. I arrived here three days ago and have been purchasing library time ever since,” Nick said, aggressively patting my shoulder. “So, what was the trick?”
“Devotion to the Creator, and that is all I know. He could have used a code or a chant or something,” I said.
He tapped a foot, staring down at me. Serina broke his thoughts with a friendly hug. “Lady Baroi left, and it saddened the korb greatly.”
“She is where she needs to be,” Nick said with a huff. “You take enough losses, and eventually you quit playing the game.”
“You seem overly positive,” I said with concern.
“Baroi is alive, and you managed to free Baroi of their gem trap. Asha doesn’t believe in the Six so surely he can unlock the magic now,” Nick said in excitement.
“Maybe, if not I have a few thousand elva minions now. I hit level eleven and twelve yesterday. I have twenty-six-thousand out of thirty available now. Most of the additions are elva. Which, Nick, I don’t mind if you go home since Baroi has been freed,” I said.
“I’m not going to follow Baroi to my parents. I’m going to stand with you. Together, we will watch Moonguard City fall or persevere. Put aside all doubts. Now, what brings you to Oponix besides me?” Nick asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I have two million Zorta to burn, and anything and everything we can get to help win against the coming storm. It needs to be lightweight to fly back.”
“You’ve been busy. Sorry for my rude exit,” Nick said. He tucked his chin, snorting unhappily. “I said some harsh things.”
“Nothing to forgive, my friend. Do you have any recommendations?” I asked.
“There’s dwarven slaves who would love to join their brethren. They fled the Kebo Mountains and ended up being captured not far from here. They refuse to make weapons of war but do generic smelting and ironwork,” Nick said.
The sound of a throat clearing from the doorway told me we had a visitor. I glanced over to see a female harpy waving politely. Her sharp nose and pointed teeth gave her an ominous vibe. Red hair laid freely over her shoulders and matched the feathers on her winglets.
“My name’s Yona. I’m from the trade guild. I can guide you through what we can trade. Unfortunately, our dwarves are not for sale. Most is not for sale to you since you hold the neutral affiliation. However, I can make some variances for the right items since you’ve proven to be a worthy trade partner,” Yona said.
“I want dwarves. They are integral to my production and manufacturing and a solid cause for the Jeer Coalition. Perion should have mentioned our agreement,” I said.
“He has. The dwarves here will figure out what you are doing if you take them home. They may or may not be beneficial to you while they are a key workforce to us,” Yona said.
I held in my witty remark and breathed calmly. “If I lose my defense because I couldn’t get the mercenaries I need, I will be upset.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but there are mercenaries for hire. I doubt many will take your work,” Yona said.
Nick walked to the door. “Why are we here then?”
“You don’t need more dwarves. You need a miracle. We will take you to our problem children. That way, if you die, and they die, who cares,” Yona said.
I let out a dramatic ‘Ah’ as if it all suddenly made sense. “Not willing to gamble on me and mine. That’s fine. Then why offer me a discount?” I asked.
“We have plenty to offer, and you can use our help, but don’t expect
us to sacrifice our best for your dying cause. The elva frighten the council enough to bend to their demands to avoid interference,” Yona said.
“Isn’t trading interfering?” I asked.
“Yes, but not if the transactions are even, then it’s just trading, which is allowed. You should follow me. We have a lot to see, and your window for shopping closes quickly,” Yona said.
“I will stay with the Zorta,” Serina said.
“Wrong,” Yona replied.
I held my palms up to Serina and said, “Perion has the Zorta, and it went into a bank directly with him. We’re using a ledger that Yona is managing. Perion mentioned it was the best way to ensure its safety. That purse around your neck only holds two hundred Zorta. Feel free to shop with us or go out on the town.”
“Ah, that makes sense. I was nervous the whole time,” Serina said with squinted eyes. “I will hunt for bargains and come back here by nightfall.”
Nick hefted a large purse that clanked with each bounce. “Here are some winnings of mine. I may have fought a few arena fights to earn some bartering power.”
“You make me proud,” Serina said, reaching up to pat his cheek. “I will only spend what we can carry on a flight.”
She accepted the purse then left to do shopping on her own.
I paused, digging into the closet for a robe prepared for this very moment. I excused myself to put on a special present.
Nee, Jenovene, Bell, Yermica, Tarla, and a whole bunch of ladies participated in creating a robe tailored specifically. They worked tirelessly during my recovery from the assassins to have the robe ready in time.
While I tried to stay on the friendlier side of necromancy, certain occasions called for embracing the fact that I was a necromancer.
The jet-black robes were double sided. Worn this way, hand sewn renderings of skulls decorated the exterior. Each skull was created to reflect one of my minion skulls, and there were a lot of skulls decoratively sown in. The black robe was trimmed in gold stitching, and the skulls were white.
On the interior, the lining of the elva camouflage cloaks waited to be used. With a simple flip of my garment, I could hide just like the vile elva. The Jeer let me carry a sword, and I picked the finest elva blade from the loot pile. Armor wise, I was in thin leathers to deal with the heat.
While I wasn’t expecting to fight, I was mildly prepared. In the corner of the closet, a necromancer staff rested. Well, it actually didn’t hold mana for me or add magical boons like reduced consumption. I guess necromancer walking stick was a better term.
A waroni skull connected to a lidka spine. At the base of the staff, a human foot sheathed a blade. I had to step on the foot and yank up to free the weapon, but it was there if I needed it.
“Getting a bit dark,” Nick said.
“I’m in neutral territory and a human. Best to let it be known that this human has captured more Podoni than the average general,” I said.
Yona rolled her eyes. “Yes, you look the part. Follow me.”
“I figured you would try to wow me for my Zorta,” I said.
“Would you be wowed if we sent a mighty ogre or a seenvia seductress?” Yona asked. “Two million Zorta is nothing in a kingdom this large. Nothing. We have farms that produce that in a day.”
I felt small from that statement. Incredibly so. Then it dawned on me. I had so much more room to grow and progress.
We walked out of my room, down a lavish hall with a fancy red carpet, and toward a balcony.
A massive moth waited on the ledge. The light brown creature held fake eyes on the bottom of its wings. A large saddle rested on its back, and an orc with goggles waited with the massive insect.
“No, I guess you’re right, direct is helpful. Does that mean you’re going to take me on a guided tour to milk my Zorta?” I asked.
“You came to us. We are offering you our wild animals and ruffians. We heard you had a tamer in your ranks but were unable to verify,” Yona said.
“Interesting rumor, but not anymore. You can’t sell me a griffin or something for me to scout with?” I asked.
“All animals of flight have to bond. End of story. I can walk you through the area, but your two million will only go so far, and you’re not a dragon rider, or eagle, or whatever,” Yona said.
I felt like prodding her on how she knew that but deflected by saying, “Take me through there, please.”
“Fine,” she relented.
I didn’t care if she was unhappy. This was my shopping trip. Or so I hoped, unless some dire situation or crazy turn of events pulling me away.
“She has a point,” Nick said with a snort.
I climbed up the saddle, buckling myself in. In this part of the city, each building was created in seamless stonework that towered ten stories or higher. Without the magic, I doubted they could get this high, but some stood twice as tall, proving me wrong.
The stone architecture was mostly built around being useful rather than intricate, and I was just jealous they had the stonemelders to pull it off.
The seat had a leather strap that worked like a belt. I buckled in while Nick occupied the other half of the bench.
“Nick, you ever get that feeling that you're missing something important?” I asked.
“Yeah. Before Sprinkles captured me, you were that something,” he said with a chuckle.
Yona buckled in the bench seat ahead of us. She shook her head with what was likely an eyeroll. The moth rider went into a separate saddle near the head and readied for our departure.
“I miss Sprinkles,” I said with a huff.
The moth lurched off the balcony with smooth flaps. Wind buffeted my face, and we soared skyward between two stone buildings.
The flight leveled off and I saw Oponix in all its glory. The city stretched all the way across the horizon until it connected with a massive lake. Towering structures held numerous balconies and crossways creating sky bridges with Jeer citizens going about their day.
Buildings for ogres encompassed additional space to meet the needs of their larger sizes. Harpy roosts spiraled high until they touched the clouds. A troll tower had a floor every six feet, and an orc tower almost doubled that spacing.
The tall structures were broken up by districts for trading, arenas, schooling, and then I saw something that surprised me. Whomever plotted out the layout decided to leave huge swaths of forest, farmlands, and reservoirs between the skyscrapers. The city shifted every few hundred feet, and it started to make sense how such a large city existed at this technological level.
Not that magic wasn’t greater than science. I guess that was part of me finding an issue with my reality here. The ability of a city to reach a million souls was something I struggled to understand could exist in a fantasy setting. It happened in the past on Earth, with some debate. Constantinople was rumored to have held a million people, but it could also have held half that number.
Magic solved everything here that technology had solved for Earth. An excess of food, abundant clean water, and resolving of health issues was achieved by burning mana. Hell, even a mage like Nee could recharge her mana a few times a day before the costs grew too much.
Nordan really was remarkable when people worked together. Without a doubt, the city was a beacon of prosperity. I wanted to achieve that one day. It left me jaded that a lot of our humans had fled our walls. Moonguard wasn’t where I wanted it to be.
I let the angst go and decided to enjoy the view.
The moth soared between dragons, eagles, griffins, and wyverns. The sky teemed with avains, and the orc deftly maneuvered our moth. Some hauled goods, but most held nobles of the city skipping long carriage rides.
Our rider guided the moth above the traffic, and we entered a section of airspace dedicated to the biggest of the fliers. During the ten-minute flight towards the lake on the horizon, I ingested the sights of towering buildings, wondrous parks, and immense farms.
“What’s under all this?” I asked.
/> Yano glanced over her seat in front of us and said, “How many soldiers have you seen?”
“Ah, interesting. Strategically it makes sense. Someone invades in a brash assault, and you never know where the defenders will come out of. I was thinking more about farming though,” I said.
“Training, farming, adventuring, and more. Space is limited above ground to maintain the natural features of the region. Below… there are many areas that feed on us as much as we hunt them,” Yano said.
“Uh, can I know more about that?” I asked.
“You ever hear of the wurm lords who worship Parnicious?” Yona asked.
I furled my brows then remembered. “Yeah, Mini came from the dragon lords. From…” I tapped a foot trying to remember. “Igorn forest. They didn’t brave the surface.”
“They don't surface here either, and they roam under Jeer and Podoni cities. Let me warn you, should you survive your coming siege. Don’t dig too deep for the dangers are great,” Yona said.
“Ah, we saw this in Seqa. I didn’t know there was another level of dangers everywhere. I wonder -”
My stomach rose into my chest when the moth suddenly dived. We twirled between the traffic towards a large meadow that spanned a few miles.
On the outside of the clearing rested stables, barns, and other support structures. Inside the grassy area, hundreds of flying creatures spread out with no rhyme or reason. I also didn’t see any collars or leashes.
“Alright, you can sense if they accept you. Many of the hopeful riders visit the exterior- viewing ports multiple times a day to build rapport. You don’t get that. You can reach out and feel if you’re accepted or denied,” Yano said.
“I’m a champion though, and when I connect, it is with a domination spell,” I said.
The moth hovered, and Yona flipped her red hair to glare at me. “Do not cast dark magic in this city unless under attack.”
“Uh… how do I reach out per say?” I asked.
Nick chuckled and said, “they will reach out to you. Our mere presence has an aura for a avain who is accepting riders. If they like you, expect a friendly visit.”
