Eastern Expansion

by Randi Darren

  What the hell is going on?

  “Before you ask, yes,” the old Orc said, coming to stand in front of Vince. “You’re the new warmaster, and they plan on following you. Anyone who can command a legion of Elves, defeat their champions, and not dishonor them is worthy of being followed.

  “I am Bermeen, and I will follow.” Turning on his heel, Bermeen began marching along with his fellow green-skins.

  Unable to get a word in edgewise, Vince was shut down completely.

  Leila started giggling loudly, and then practically tried to cower into herself when Vince looked at her.

  “What’s so funny then?” he asked.

  “Oh, n-nothing. You just happen to have picked up the better part of the largest Orc enclave that’s been seen in a long while. While marching a huge army of Elves through.”

  “And?” Vince asked.

  “How exactly is one human going to keep them all in check as slaves?” Leila asked.

  Now it was Vince’s turn to laugh.

  Thera, Eva, and Karya started laughing after a moment as well.

  “What’s so funny?” Leila asked.

  “You have no idea what Yosemite city is, do you?” Karya asked, standing upright.

  “No. I’m new to this area. I came from the east, why?”

  “You’ll see,” Karya said, melding herself into Vince’s side. “Darling, I’ve made arrangements with Eva so I could have you to myself until we get home. Do take good care of me.”

  A Fairy came in fast, a trail of glittering lights behind them with the speed of their approach. It slowed as it reoriented itself. Then it was off like a rock from a sling, heading straight for him. Coming to a stop with violent wing flaps, this unfamiliar fairy hovered above him.

  “Master! Elysia is north of here, heading towards you with supplies and troops. Frit is running a forward patrol and will be here shortly. Can I take a message from you?”

  Vince grinned at the fairy, his worries suddenly spent and gone as if they’d never existed.

  “Yeah. Tell Elysia she’s beautiful and I owe her another favor,” Vince said, shaking his head.

  The fairy shot off back towards the north.

  “For her to be this far south, she set off the day she got the message. Your sister is wonderful,” Vince commented, looking at Thera and Eva.

  Both Elves nodded their heads in return, smiling. It was apparent that their own worries had evaporated in the same way his had.

  “Alright. Let’s get the Orcs and Elves aware of the situation. The last thing we need is a bunch of unarmed civilians getting into a fight with our own army.” Vince leapt into a jog, heading for the north to head off any potential disaster before it could start.

  “I’ll work from the rear upwards and have the word spread,” Karya said. “I’m not made for running. Come on, Leila, you can keep me company.”

  Vince caught Red’s eye and nodded towards Leila and Karya. “Keep ’em safe.”

  Red gave her hair a shake as if to argue, then snorted and went to follow Karya.

  Thera and Eva paced along with him. Their lithe graceful forms powering along beside him.

  Quickly they caught up to the lead elements of the Elves.

  “Break off and let them know what’s going on, Thera,” Vince got out between breaths.

  The Dark Elf gave him a nod and turned on a dime, her form shimmering as she obeyed orders.

  It wasn’t long after that when Vince found he was rapidly closing in on what he could only guess was the forward scouting party for Frit.

  Except it wasn’t really.

  It was Elysia and Petra along with a squad of Frit’s people.

  Slowing down he came to a stop in front of Elysia.

  “My liege, it’s… so good to see you,” said the High Elf, a smile blazing free across her face as she inclined her head towards him.

  “This one is very pleased to see her master,” Petra said, closing in on him.

  Before he had a chance to do or say anything, she had him off the ground and pressed into her breastplate.

  “Ha, hey there Petra. I mis—” Vince managed to say before she started kissing him roughly.

  “Petra, put our lie—Petra, put him down,” Elysia said with a laugh.

  After several seconds of ravaging his face, Petra moved him a foot backwards. She didn’t put him down though.

  “This one apologizes, she missed you.”

  “It’s alright. I missed you too. Though, should you be up and around? I mean…?” He left the question open. He wasn’t sure what the news would be.

  As if sensing his internal distress, Elysia cleared her throat. “I won’t reveal the genders just yet, by request of Meliae, but all four were born healthy and whole.”

  Petra gave him a wide grin, her eyes having never left his face. “This one bore you a son. He is human and looks perfect,” she said with no small amount of pride. “This one is positive he will live to defend our home well.”

  “Glad to hear it, Petra. Did you pick out a name? I know we talked about a few but we never settled on one.”

  “This one named him for his father. He is Vincent of Yosemite the second of Yosemite. Minnie told this one about how names can carry on a lineage of their own.”

  Blinking at the thought of a son carrying his name, he could only reach up and lightly pat her cheek.

  “I thank you. Now, if you promise to put me down, I’ll give your thorax a good scrub down later tonight.”

  “Truly?”

  “Yes, truly.”

  Petra slowly set him on the ground. It was clear she didn’t quite want to, but his offer had her tempted.

  “Now, Elysia. Fancy meeting you here,” Vince said, waving a hand at the open land around them. “What brings you here, when I swore you were supposed to be my second in command back at Yosemite?”

  Elysia’s cheeks reddened for a moment. Then she closed the distance between them. She brushed a kiss across his lips before he could react, and took a step back.

  “Because I already have a trusted second in place for my role. She’s getting some on the job experience right now. Fes and Meliae are working to keep her on track.”

  Having been stunned momentarily by the brazen kiss, he finally smiled at her. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

  “The only important news, my liege, is that I purchased a group of new citizens. They were on offer from the military. Apparently sending them north is more of a problem than an answer.”

  Elysia flipped open a ledger she’d had wedged under her arm and continued. “I had Meliae and Daphne do interviews with me for each one before purchasing each contract. In the end we turned away one hundred and purchased six hundred. No less in revenue that would be a concern. We traded them with castoffs from the foundry. Deskil was happy to get rid of them.”

  Elysia looked back up at him after finishing.

  “Great. Though I think we’re going to have a problem. I have something like… a thousand and a half Orcs and Elves trailing along this way. We’ll have to do interviews to figure out if there’s any problems in the group. And it sounds like we’ll need to get moving on more food production, last I remember we were already having difficulties on that end,” Vince said.

  Elysia’s tight lipped frown brought a certain unease to him.

  We’ve got a bigger problem with resources than I think, I’m betting. She won’t tell me till she gets back and runs all the numbers though.

  “Anyways, before you can ask, I did claim your sister, Eva. Thera is waiting for a turn when we get back home. After that, well, I’ll need to figure out how to break into you room at night,” Vince admitted with a deadpan delivery.

  Elysia’s eyes flicked to Eva behind him, then back to him.

  “That’s simple, really. The same way you do everything else. You ask me to unlock the door.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  “The fun would be in what I’m wearing when I open the door, of cour
se,” Elysia said, giving him a bright smile.

  “Oh.” That smile was captivating and made his heart speed up a bit.

  “Or not wearing,” she amended.

  “Oh,” Vince repeated brilliantly, his heart now pounding.

  I think I need to feed Red.

  Chapter 12

  Vince hadn’t realized how much tension had been in his shoulders until he saw the walls of Yosemite in the distance.

  They were a long ways off, but at this point, there would be nothing that could prevent him from getting home.

  And thankfully so. Getting a moment to himself inside his home would be a blessed thing.

  It’d taken a week and a half to get their large group this far north. Days were spent marching along as multiple groups ranged out in every direction to scout for food and water.

  Vince was surprised with how clingy Petra was as well. It wasn’t the first time they’d been separated but her demeanor was quite different.

  On top of that, apparently she wasn’t as ready to be out and about as she said she was.

  Karya had immediately ruled her out from doing anything more strenuous than walking seconds after seeing her. That included any time spent in the bedroom.

  If he had to guess, she’d forced her way out of Yosemite despite Meliae’s protests. He imagined the thought of him being in danger had spurred her on to ignoring her own well being. It more than likely was also why she was as clingy as she was.

  She’d taken in Leila and Red quickly enough though. Red she forced to spar with Eva and Thera regularly and Leila she didn’t interact with much.

  There had been questions from the Gnome but nothing that generated a lasting conversation.

  Karya, Blue, and Green kept him occupied at night.

  He wasn’t sure what agreement Karya had worked out with Eva, but the Elf seemed none the worse off for whatever she was getting in exchange.

  If anything, she seemed quite happy.

  A distant horn could be faintly heard from the east, as apparently someone saw their approach and realized who they were.

  Watching the gate, Vince could clearly see the moment it swung open.

  Frit snorted and shook his shaggy head. “That’ll be Kitch, or I’m a mouse. She was quite unhappy about not being able to head south. I only managed to convince her by reminding her your children were here.”

  Vince smirked at that and scratched at his shoulder. “Yeah, she seems to think of herself as my honor guard.”

  “It isn’t a bad idea,” Frit admitted. “She’d be good for it, too. Her people are just as well trained as my own or Henry’s at this point.”

  “Harder to hide them. I’m a Ranger, not a—well, I spend more time in the woods than cities,” Vince said thoughtfully.

  “That’ll change. We had a number of ambassadors arrive after you left. They’ve requested approval to set up embassies. Your fair chamberlain there has allowed several to do so, but on the condition that their buildings are subject to regular inspections, cannot have more than ten people, and are beholden to the laws of Yosemite.”

  Looking at the High Elf Vince quirked a brow.

  She shrugged her shoulders at him. “It’s the right thing to do, and not something you’d care about, my liege. You’d ask me to solve it anyways. So far, we have a representative from a fairly large gathering of Wood Elves in the North, one from the emperor in the west, and a few from smaller groups.

  “I’m having an enclave built with apartments for the smaller groups.”

  Nodding his head a bit he pursed his lips in thought. “Good work, and you’re right. I would pass it off to you. Am I that obvious? That easy to read nowadays?”

  “My liege, I spend every day with you. We spend more time together than you do with your wives. I would hope I understand your mind when it comes to Yosemite, explicitly.”

  “Huh. Good thing you’ll be joining them then I suppose.”

  Elysia’s face turned scarlet and she faced forward at that, the conversation dying immediately.

  Sure enough, Kitch and her people started out from the gate at a slow trot.

  At the same time, a trio of Ratfolk came sliding up to him from the West.

  “Humans are coming from the west! A large group of them,” said one of the Ratfolk. “But they don’t—”

  As the first Ratfolk hesitated the second stepped up. “They don’t look like soldiers. They look like refugees.”

  “Refugees?” Vince asked, looking out to the west. There wasn’t anything there but the open approach down the road. “Elysia, has the war gotten worse?”

  “From the impression we got, and the citizens we purchased, it seems like it, my liege. Apparently it’s bogged itself down into trench warfare for the front. They’re bringing up all the ancient weapons of war and turning the entire area into a grave.”

  Vince clicked his tongue. “Refugees. Probably from the north. Why this way though? Are they trying to head into the Wastes, or to the east?” he asked no one in particular.

  “I’m not sure, my liege. What are your orders?”

  All around his people watched him, waiting.

  “Get all these new possible citizens into the city, Frit, but get them put up in the dormitories until we can get this figured out. If we run out of room, take them out to the eastern plains. Take the Ratfolk with you to run ahead and alert the gates.

  “Karya, take Blue, Green, Petra, and Leila with you and get into the town. Get the gates shut and Henry and Sivir on duty.

  “Please don’t argue and do as I’ve asked.”

  Vince thought for a second and then made a second decision.

  “Eva, I need you to be my messenger. Get to Fes and Meliae and give them the run down.

  “Red, Thera, Elysia, with me.”

  Collectively, heads bobbed in agreement and set about their work.

  Petra looked annoyed, but didn’t fight him in this.

  Moving off to the side so the column could keep marching by, Vince gave himself a once over, checking his gear.

  “Red is ready,” said the Cursed One. She gave her clothes a quick tug, and then settled down again.

  She’d adjusted fairly well to the rapid changes in her life. Her feeding was fairly regular and seemed more for his own pleasure as of late, rather than her being hungry

  Red never complained but seemed happy with the situation.

  Elysia set her ledger down to one side and clapped her hands together.

  Lightning sparked from between her fingers and began to crackle ominously. Pressing her hands together, the crackle of power died away to a dull hum and was barely noticeable.

  Thera lifted her sword from the sheath and let it drop back into place. Then she took up her customary place at Vince’s right.

  “Are we expecting trouble, my liege?” asked the High Elf.

  “No. But I’ll crush them if they think to start anything,” Vince said, meaning every word of it.

  The silence grew and took hold after that.

  Eventually, the oncoming wave of humanity came into view. It was a teeming horde. Easily numbering in the hundreds.

  Perhaps even close to a thousand.

  Onward they came, marching out of order and haphazardly.

  Kitch and her crew arrived, the big Troll coming to attention behind Vince.

  “Lord. I am here. Orders?” Kitch said loudly, her heavily armored and armed cohort lining up in an orderly formation behind her.

  “Kitch, it’s good to see you. And that was a damn fine marching order and column at attention. Have I told you that I’m proud of you and your people?” Vince asked, letting his eyes move from the humans to the Heavies.

  Kitch’s spine straightened at the praise and a number of shoulders squared in the ranks behind her.

  Positive reinforcement. Always a winner.

  “Lord, we aim to serve.”

  “And you do. Those coming this way are what we believe to be human refugees. So far, they’ve ma
de no attempt to hide their intentions and walk to us openly. Assume they’re neutral until they show otherwise. Questions?”

  Kitch shook her head once.

  “To your people, then,” Vince said with a nod.

  Saluting crisply with her crossed arms, Kitch spun and barked out an order.

  The rear rows began peeling out and spreading out into a winged formation around Vince.

  Kitch took the center, hovering over him as if she were a trap waiting to be sprung.

  “Damn, Kitch, have you been drilling them non-stop? That was a perfectly executed maneuver just now,” Vince murmured under his breath for the Troll.

  “We live to serve. We train to serve.”

  Vince snorted at that and looked back to the oncoming humans.

  They were distinguishable now. His Ratfolk scouts had been right. One and all, they had the look of refugees fleeing. They carried whatever possessions they could manage. A few even had wagons or carts.

  A sad, sorry-looking lot indeed.

  Wondering what they’d do, he couldn’t help but be curious as the mass came to a stuttering stop. Then a small group of humans broke away and began walking towards them alone. With a white sheet tied to a branch held above their heads.

  “Why they wave that?” Red asked.

  “Flag of truce. Parley. Peace. It means they want to talk. Or surrender.”

  Red wrinkled her nose at that and then squatted down, her clawed fingers raking the grass.

  “Talk, talk. People talk to Bringer a lot.”

  “That they do,” Vince said neutrally.

  He’d rather talk than slaughter them all anyways.

  Clearing that many corpses from the field is never quick.

  “Ho there!” called one of the humans. “We come in peace! Peace!”

  “Nervous lot, aren’t they, my liege,” Elysia said.

  “You would be too if you were staring down Kitch and her people, no?” Vince waved his arm wide above his head. “Ho there. Come in peace, and you will receive peace.”

  Emboldened by his words, the humans picked up their pace and hurried on towards him.

  It looked to be about six humans. Four men and two women.

  “I am, my name is, that is—” said the man in the center.