“A second drake, Hel? You know as well as I that they are solitary creatures and do not invade each other’s territory unless it is mating season, or there is a dire shortage of food!”
Hel burbled deep within her amphibian chest, a sort of chuckle for her species. “Do not look to me, Uncle. I like this boy. Since we began observing him, he has killed many of his own kind! I expect great things from him.”
Loki raised his tentacles in a sign of peace. “It was not I, Brother. I suspect the drake just sensed the death of the Matron and moved in to claim her territory. Or her eggs. I too am curious to see what this young human does. Already a Viscount, with a Citadel and teleport stations. The only beings I’ve seen rise to power so quickly after an Assimilation were those who were already in power when it occurred. They simply reinforced their rule and claimed their own holdings or those they could quickly steal. This human has started from nothing. I am impressed. In fact… shall we make a wager on his future?” Loki’s voice was smooth and soothing, and Baldur found it difficult to remain angry.
Until he realized his brother was using persuasive powers on him.
Drawing his sword in one tentacled hand, he pointed it in Loki’s direction. “I see through your tricks, Brother. And no, I will not wager. That would simply give you incentive to ensure the young human’s failure! I know how you think, Brother. And I warn you again. Do not interfere with this human or any other. We have tolerated your twisted sense of humor for too long. That ends today.”
“Of course, Brother, of course. The humans are perfectly safe from me. I shall take no additional action to encourage their demise.” Loki waved his arms in a gesture of innocence. “But forgive me if I hope for the humans inhabiting the island of Oahu to perish utterly. I find it quite beautiful, and I would claim it for myself when the time comes.”
Hel nodded in agreement. “Volcanoes.”
Baldur let out a sigh. “I did not miss your phrasing there, little brother. What have you done? Tell me now!”
“I simply made a small adjustment to the System notifications. To honor your human, you see? When he constructed his Citadel, I made sure that all of UCP 382 was informed of his impressive achievement. So that nearby humans would know his power. So that those who sought power would stay away out of fear, and those who sought protection would seek him out.”
Baldur focused three of his eyes on his brother, glaring at him with contempt. “You mean so that those seeking an easy way to seize power of their own would know where to find him.” He shook his head, his weapon still pointed at Loki. “I should gut you, Brother. But I have no proof of your intent - other than my knowledge of what’s in your soul. Be very careful. I will be watching.”
End Book One
Acknowledgements
As always, I want to thank my alpha readers, my family, who spend endless hours reading and re-reading my nonsense, seeking out plot holes and typos. And who occasionally provide original monsters to play with. And a big thank you to my beta readers, who mostly just screw around and suggest wild plot twists, but also help me find the outstanding mistakes and fix them.
My thanks to Paul at Dominion for editing this mess of words and random commas. A big thanks to Anders Hemlin for the wonderful cover art. Also to Kari Christensen for the void titan, and Irulana for the Allistor-Fuzzy meeting scene. I think all three were very well done! And to Bonnie Price for her awesome typography.
For semi-regular updates on books, art, and just stuff going on, check out my Greystone Guild fb https://www.facebook.com/greystone.guild.7 or my website www.davewillmarth.com where you can subscribe for an eventual newsletter.
And don’t forget to follow my author page on Amazon! That way you’ll get a nice friendly email when new books are released. You can also find links to my Greystone Chronicles and Dark Elf books there! https://www.amazon.com/Dave-Willmarth/e/B076G12KCL
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You can find information on lots of LitRPG/Gamelit books on Ramon Mejia’s LitRPG Podcast here https://www.facebook.com/litrpgpodcast/. Also thank you to Ramon for early feedback on this book when I was thinking about discarding it, and some good advice. You can find his books here. https://www.amazon.com/R.A.-Mejia/e/B01MRTVW3O
There are a few more places where you can find me, and several other genre authors, hanging out. Here are my favorite LitRPG/GameLit community facebook groups. (If you have cookies, keep them away from Daniel Schinhofen).
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Shadow Sun Survival Page 43
