by Noah Layton
‘A… Conquest?’
‘We turn the tables on some of the less desirable characters in the land, turning our attention outward instead of inward. We could begin by freeing some slaves.’
I clenched my teeth together.
Shit.
‘Yeah… I might be a little ahead of you with that one.’
The whole way here I had been wondering how to keep the situation with Tobias and his people, the bard and satyrs under wraps.
But Mariana was like her father; she had the drop on me without even trying.
It was a damn good thing that she was on my side.
I spilled the beans on the entire situation, warts and all – warts being the ambush and killing of a mercenary caravan twenty miles from our land.
‘I don’t want you to think that I’m just throwing my weight around because your flag is flying outside of my land,’ I said insistently. ‘That’s not the case.’
‘You don’t have to explain your actions to me, Jack,’ Mariana said, brushing her hand through the air and wiping away any of the problem that might have existed. ‘You and your wives risked life and limb to rescue me. You are as brave a man as my brother was, and this is only further evidence of such traits.’
I wanted to mop the metaphorical sweat from my brow. Keeping a stern face, I responded:
‘Well, I appreciate that. We’re linked together now.’
‘That we are. So, know that the sun-elves of Morelia are on your side should you need help.’
‘Actually,’ I replied slowly. ‘I’m currently in the process of building defences back at my land. I’m going to recruit the warriors that I rescued to help out, but some of your strongest fighters would definitely help.’
‘Say no more. I can spare five or six from guard duty to assist.’
‘That would be very much appreciated.’
‘Good. There is one more thing I must discuss with you before you depart.’
Mariana stood and crossed to a heavy chest in the corner of the room. She unlocked it and retrieved a lockbox, which she returned with and placed upon the table.
‘My father left many things in my possession when he died, some for myself and others for members of the tribe, but he left one thing to you, with the instruction that it be placed into your hands for you to do what you want.’
Mariana handed the key to me and I took it. There was no handshaking or use of a trade window here – it was one hand to another.
I felt the hefty weight of the key and examined it strange shape – jutting parts either side comprised it to compose a fractured rib-cage shape.
‘Am I supposed to open this alone?’
‘That is your choice.’
‘And how do I know that you haven’t opened it already?’
‘The key and the box are dwarven-made. Incredibly intricate. Once the box is opened it can never be closed again.’
Once the box is opened it can never be closed again.
The words rang in my mind, but I didn’t know why.
Silently I wondered what the best course of action would be to take. Mariana might have been able to read my face, but she couldn’t read my intentions. Even if we were friends I knew she was studying me.
Mutual competition between tribe masters. How else would we keep each other on our toes?
If I opened it here Mariana would have the same information as me. If I chose to keep it hidden she might become more inclined to seeing me as a threat to her power.
I was trying to see her in the light of a friend, but the masters and the leaders of the world worked in a different way to everybody else. Power was on the table, and when power was up for grabs, the vicious always won.
Alorion, my wives, Aurora – Mariana’s imp - and Mariana all waited in anticipation.
There was only one course of action to ensure that she stayed on my side, even if she was an ally.
I pushed the key into the lock and turned it slowly. In the quiet of the treehouse I heard the intricate inner workings move mechanically, spinning and twitching against each other until a satisfying click sounded at the reach of its full cycle.
I looked around at my companions, then lifted the lid and set it back.
A piece of folded parchment was the only item that rested inside. Yellowed and dusty, it looked like it had been sat in the box for about a hundred years.
I lifted it out delicately and unfolded it on the table.
It was a map composed of lines and dots with no annotations; there was no indication of what the lines and dots represented, or where it even began.
‘I wonder where it leads to,’ I asked openly.
‘I wonder what it leads to,’ Mariana replied. ‘And I wonder why he would choose to leave it to you, Jack.’
‘You jealous?’
‘I have been left a small kingdom to take care of, I am sure that I can survive without this.’
‘You recognise any of these locations?’
‘No. Aurora? Girls?’
Everybody present crowded around the map with us. Nobody recognised any of the scrawls or markings.
‘Of course it would be helpful if we had some frame of reference,’ Alorion said. ‘These markings could relate to anywhere in Agraria. It seems like nonsense to me.’
‘Whatever it leads to my father evidently wanted to keep it hidden,’ Mariana suggested. ‘And he eventually wanted it to end up in your hands. You don’t think that it’s the…?’
‘The missing piece of the slab…’ I finished. It wasn’t a question; it was a sure-fire completion of what Mariana was saying. ‘It’s a decent idea, but I don’t think so. Surely he would make things a little clearer if that was the case instead of giving me this half-cocked map.’
‘Perhaps, but my father was an enigmatic man.’
‘You don’t need to tell me.’
Mariana smiled widely, then looked down to the ground.
‘Would you mind if we spoke privately for a moment?’ She finally asked.
I nodded to my wives. They, Alorion and Aurora all left, the door closing behind them.
I looked over my shoulder to see them go, then returned my gaze to Mariana. Her eyes had already filled up with tears.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, holding herself together. ‘I know that you must think of me as being a cold and firm-faced leader… I just miss him so much.’
‘I know.’
We moved to each other and wrapped our arms around each other; as a sun-elf she was about as tall as I was. Her slim body pressed to mine tightly. Maybe this was an act, but then maybe it wasn’t.
‘For the record,’ I said, ‘I do think that you’re all of those things.’
‘What things?’
‘Cold and firm-faced.’
‘I know,’ she laughed. ‘You too.’
‘That might be the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me.’
We sat down again and looked at the map together.
‘Have you heard anything about Zagor?’ I asked.
‘Nothing. I don’t know whether to be comforted or terrified by that, either.’
‘Me neither. Only rumours and theories. What the hell do we do if a winged, pissed-off demi-god descends from the sky and starts laying waste to Agraria?’
‘Pray?’
‘Maybe. Your father seriously never considered a contingency plan against it?’
‘He might have done, but it was never one that he mentioned to me. Maybe that map leads to a plan that he laid out.’
‘You really think he’d mess with us that much?’
‘I think that after seeing that 1000 year-old slab in the basement of our archives, my father had more secrets that I realized. What are you going to do with the map?’
‘Stare at it while feeling sorry for myself because I can’t figure out where the fuck it leads. If I’m being totally honest with you that is.’
‘Well, I wish you the best of luck with it. If you need any assistance beyond the squad of s
un-elves journeying to your land please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.’
‘That’d be a lot easier if I had one of those homing pigeons of yours.’
‘Now that I can give you.’
***
Half an hour later my group headed back to The Bastion with a sixth member; the pigeon sitting in the cage hanging from my left hand. The gift from Mariana was well-accepted, and it would come in handy when send messages between myself and Mariana rather than journeying to them on foot.
On the way back my wives kindly informed me how they worked; I would need one for each singular journey, as the pigeons would only take a singular route. As a result I would need two more, one for the homestead and one for the new land.
We reached the ship and made the journey back to the land, arriving just before nightfall.
The next day I journeyed with Alorion to the new land to meet with Tobias and his people, and to see the state of the land.
‘How much do we trust this man?’ My imp asked on the way there.
‘As much as I can trust anybody in this land. He hasn’t killed me yet, but I’ve got another plan to get around that.’
‘Oh?’
‘With Nyah acting as Tobias’s imp now, she can let you know if anything seems amiss. She might be loyal to Tobias as an assistant, but I’m the tribe master, and that gives me total authority over her.’
‘I will keep my ears open.’
‘Good. That’s how we need to play this as the tribe moves forward; I might be in charge, but the bigger our empire becomes, the less oversight I’m going to have over individual lands.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, say I’m in charge of 20 different plots of land one day with 100 citizens living in each section, that means I’m supposed to be overseeing a force of 2000 citizens, and that’s discounting any relationships that result in more kin.
‘I can’t look after every single one of them on a first-name basis, never mind doing something as basic as learning all their names in the first place. To get around that, I’m going to need to employ generals to look after different parts of the Arakin Tribe’s areas. That way I can delegate the work and focus on running the overall tribe while they report back to me with the important matters.’
‘An intelligent idea, Jack.’
‘Don’t blow smoke up my ass,’ I laughed. ‘I just think it’s the only way around this.’
‘Indeed. But what course of action do we take if a certain general were to rise up against you?’
‘Any leader keeps his people loyal by promising a good life, protection, and the guarantee that the other guy in charge is a bigger asshole than I am. We get around revolts by making sure that our people don’t need to consider them.’
We arrived at the new land to find the perimeter fence intact and the gates locked – that was a good start.
Smoke was rising in plumes from several locations within, but they were small and controlled.
Not only that, but as we pushed through the treeline a guard stood outside of the front gate came into view.
‘Who goes there?’ He called out.
‘Your tribe master,’ I said. ‘No need to be alarmed.’
‘Oh, Master Jack!’ The guard lowered his weapon immediately and stepped forward a little, standing to attention. ‘I apologise for acting so quickly, I did not mean to appear as a threat.’
‘No need to apologise. Acting like you’re a threat to outsiders is exactly what I want you to do. That’s how we stay alive in this world.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Naturally I wanted to put a stop to the whole sir/master situation as I did with my other tribal members, but I decided to hold off when I realized something that rang true with my own experiences; as warriors, Tobias’s people were militaristic in their conduct, and a chain of command was second-nature to them.
I would be sticking with the titles with them for the time being, because that was what suited them, not to mention it reinforced my position as tribe master.
The guard knocked on the gates, and a moment later the bar had scraped out of place and was being opened by the guard on the other side.
Alorion and I headed inside and were greeted by an impressive sight – ten houses had already been built across the land, with small fires set up out the front of each. A barracks had been established just a short distance from the mine, and the warriors were spread out, either in their homes or training.
Tobias was stood by the treehouse speaking to two of his warriors when he saw me and quickly paced over to greet me.
‘Master Jack,’ he began. ‘What an honour this is.’
‘The honour’s all mine,’ I said, shaking hands with him. ‘It’s impressive what you’ve got completed in such a short time. Before long you’ll have your own city to look after.’
‘Hardly. We are a simple people. We create only what we need. It is the way that we prefer to live. Years ago, before our people were first attacked, we had no need for barracks. I quickly realized that was a mistake, and that has changed our entire way of living.’
‘I suppose fighting is both a blessing and a curse.’
‘That it is, that it is… So, to what do I owe this visit?’
‘I only came to check up on you and see how things were going, but now that I see how productive you and your people are, I could ask a favour.’
‘Anything.’
‘As I mentioned, we have an alliance with the sun-elves of Morelia – I do hope that you’re still fine with hanging their flag outside of the land?’
‘Of course. An alliance makes us stronger.’
‘Good man. Well, they’ve kindly offered to supply some of their men to help with the construction of perimeter defences at my land, but the more people I have, the faster it will get completed. It’s tiresome work, so only certain members of my tribe are equipped for it.’
‘Say no more. I will send five of my best to assist. When will they be needed?’
‘Today, if they’re free. I want to get this thing completed as soon as possible.’
‘Are you expecting an attack?’
‘Not at all unless those mercenaries plan to come and find me, and there’s no way they would. Just knowing that there are people like them, and like Garrison, in the area, makes me want to make sure that my people are as safe as possible. I’m sure you can understand.’
‘More than understand,’ Tobias assured me. ‘I will muster them and send them back with you.’
Chapter Fourteen
I returned to the land with the warriors, and an hour later the sun-elves arrived at the western gate. After explaining the specification for what we were constructing – and feeling more and more like a construction foreman the more I spoke – everybody got to work.
Working like clockwork was an understatement for our group. Everybody was allocated a section in a ladder-like formation, moving onto the next with their shovels in hand, ready to confront the next part of the trench that needed digging.
What was more was everybody got along. Nobody stood on each other’s toes, instead getting on with the task at hand with total focus, the way all labourers did when they were working as part of a team.
Team was a fluid concept though; the further we progressed, the faster both groups began to work, to the point where a friendly rivalry broke out.
‘Do you disapprove of wagers, Master Jack?’ One of the warriors to my side asked.
‘Where I’m from it’s mostly illegal,’ I said, taking a second to wipe the sweat from my brow and wring out the sweat from my vest. ‘So I don’t disapprove at all. Why?’
‘Because it’s my belief that these sun-elves think that they can outpace us.’
‘Oo-h-h-h,’ a raucous roar emerged from the sun-elves.
‘Those sound like fighting words,’ one of the sun-elves said in his RP-accent. ‘And that’s a bet I am willing to take on.’
‘100 gold pieces to the group that completes
the most sections by the end of day,’ the warrior in question replied.
‘Think you can keep track of that, Alorion?’ I said, looking up to my imp as he watched us from atop the fence.
‘I think I can manage. Plus the free entertainment of seeing them try to outmatch each other is more than enough to keep me occupied.’
‘Then it’s settled. Let’s go.’
People rarely know what they’re capable of unless there’s something important on the line; for some it’s their lives or the lives of their loved ones, like a mother lifting a car off of their children.
For others it’s their way of life, and protecting it to the last.
For these guys, though? What was on the line was one of the most important things to a red-blooded, testosterone-fuelled man.
His pride.
What was more was the fact that they were working to save the pride of their fellow men. Even if we were all allies here, a little or a lot of friendly competition didn’t hurt.
Even though I was contributing to the effort with regular drives of my shovel into the earth, I wasn’t on either side of the competition, and I was quite literally left in the dirt with how fast they were working.
I had other things on my mind – calculating our stockpile of food for the cold snap, planning how we could keep the Rourke Homestead as safe as my main land even given its secluded position.
I called a break in the mid-afternoon for some sustenance, brought to our group of workers by my beautiful wives who ate with me. We dined on fish, steak and fried tomatoes alongside tall canteens of taurem milk, then returned to our work.
By sundown our bodies were scattered with bruises and aching brutally. Even the sun-elves who I had considered to be graceful and effortless in most of their actions were on their backs on the heaps of mud that we had created where the Frisian horses would reside.
The trench stretched from the northern lookout tower, moving around the western side to the southern point where we now resided.
‘What’s the final count, Alorion?’ I asked, throwing my shovel down and collapsing onto the ditch.
‘The sun-elves of Morelia have it by a small margin,’ he declared, counting on his fingers, ‘by only 11 sections.
