Defenders of the Realm

by Dave Willmarth

  Above the third floor he created a flat stone roof with an opening for a stair. Mattie had suggested a gazebo like the one atop Greystone Manor to be used for special occasions like weddings. Rose asked if she had a particular wedding in mind.

  Alexander left them to discuss details and further tease poor Mattie, saying “Just tell Jeeves when you’re ready to leave and I’ll send you back.” He turned to look at the building as he crossed the courtyard. It was massive compared to the original Ogre. There was space inside the ground floor tavern for maybe a hundred customers, and a dozen tables in the restaurant. The kitchen was larger than the original as well. There were twenty-eight small rooms, and eight larger ones. The building was rough, just a stone shell at the moment. The O’Malleys would need to arrange for windows, doors, carpentry, and the like. But Alexander was proud of the start he’d given them.

  “Jeeves, could you ask Brick and Collin to bring a couple of their carpenters and shapers to the Ogre, please?” He said out loud.

  “Of course, Alexander. Collin is in the newest guest quarters constructing a bed at the moment, it will take him a few minutes to arrive.”

  Brick arrived quickly with two apprentices who shared the shaping ability. He eyed the new structure critically, stopping to stand next to Alexander. “So yer magic’s back.” Was all he said.

  “Yep! Thought I’d give it a little test. The O’Malleys are inside. They’re going to need help with doors, plumbing, and such. Thought you might be interested. And Collin’s on his way to help with woodwork.”

  “Good ‘nuff!” Brick grinned at the two dwarves with him. “Inside ye lazy louts! Did ye think yer time here would be all fancy work in me dragon forge?” He grinned at Alexander as he followed them inside.

  Collin and another carpenter arrived a minute or so later. He too was taking in the new building. “Well, I guess I can see why you summoned me, Majesty”

  “You got it! The O’Malleys are inside. How’d you like to be the guy who builds the bar that so many of us will belly up to over the years? And tables sturdy enough to survive dwarven bar fights?”

  Collin grinned “I’ll take that as a challenge!” He led his fellow carpenter inside and Alexander could already see him measuring.

  It was some time before Martin stepped outside. Alexander motioned for him to follow, and led his friend over to the nearby dining area. “I assume Rose and Mattie are giving directions to the others? Could be a while.” He said as they sat.

  “Aye. Rose is all a-flutter with ideas how ta make it better than our own Ogre. I want to thank ya, Alexander. She be a thing o’ beauty.”

  Alexander nodded his head. “Not yet, but she can be. Wait, she?”

  “Ha! Aye, Rose and Mattie have decided the Ogre II will be a mate to the first. They’re already sketchin a sign with a fat lady ogre on it.” He grinned. Alexander laughed at the visual.

  “Well, with the loan you have from Blix, you can afford to make this exactly as you want it. Don’t hold back. I want this place to be a success, and to last a good long time. You’ll have no shortage of customers, and each and every one of them has at least a thousand gold to their name.” Martin raised his eyebrows when he heard this. “So spend what you need to! It won’t take long to earn it back.”

  “A thousand gold?” Martin asked. Alexander filled him in. “We just defended against an attack by an army of orcs. There was a quest to defend the kingdom, and the reward included a thousand gold to each defender.”

  “Where’d all that gold come from?” Martin’s eyes were wide as he looked around at the number of people milling about.”

  “You know, that’s a good question! Jeeves? The gold that was rewarded to the defenders… is there about 400,000 gold missing from our treasury by any chance?”

  “No, Alexander. No gold has been removed from the treasury.”

  “Well, then. I guess we’ll have to investigate. Thank you Martin, for bringing that up. I’ll need to be careful in the future that I don’t bankrupt us by giving out quests with gold as rewards.”

  He was hit with an idea that made him grin mischievously. “Speaking of which…”

  Martin’s eyes lost focus as he received a quest notification. After a couple seconds, he burst out laughing. “A Mate for the Ogre!” he chuckled. “That be a good quest name, Alexander. And aye, I accept. I’ll share it with all them that’s inside, if you’ll excuse me?”

  Alexander nodded as Martin got up and hurried back to the inn. Extremely happy with himself, he decided to see what other trouble he could get himself into.

  A quick teleport, and he stood on the drawbridge over the moat. He called out “Hey, Rocky! Are you here, buddy?”

  He waited patiently for the moat monster to appear. Sitting with his feet dangling, he recalled the last time he was here. This was the spot where he’d discovered how to enchant the health potions. That reminded him that he had a supply of ingredients in his bag. While he waited for Rocky, he began to create more of the Rapid Restoration potions. Enchanting the sugar that Mattie had given him, which it turned out was shaped into thin sticks, he popped them into the vials that Sasha had provided. The result was surprising.

  Rapid Restoration Potion

  Single Use: Restores 6,000hp

  These granted a thousand more hp than the previous versions. Alexander looked more closely at them. What was different? Was his magic stronger? He had leveled up a few times since he’d made the last ones. And he’d made a hundred of them in a short time.

  The sugar sticks caught his eye. Each was nearly the length of the potion vial. Long and narrow like the wands he created. A realization struck him. “The shape! The shape allows the magic to be wrapped tightly. I did it the same as a wand without even realizing it!”

  He was distracted then by the face of his moat monster breaking the surface of the water below him. Rocky snorted, and a fine spray of water settled over Alexander. He laughed as Rocky bobbed his head up and down. “Hey there buddy! You look bigger! Guess orc meat agrees with you?”

  Rocky let out a fluting cry that was half dragonling roar and half whale call. With a flick of his tail he pushed himself up, out of the water, high enough to take hold of the bridge with his forepaws. Pulling himself the rest of the way up, he romped about on the bridge a bit like a puppy happy to see its master. Alexander got to his feet and played tag with the moat monster for a minute or two. Rocky had indeed grown. He’d probably picked up several levels from the orc battle. He was bulkier now than he had been. His head was larger, as were his teeth. He’d picked up maybe five feet in length, and some muscle definition. At twenty-five feet long, he was now big and imposing enough that Alexander worried less about him being hurt by invading enemies.

  When the little dragon got winded from running about, he plopped down on his belly and panted. Alexander sat next to his head and patted him a few times. “You’re the best moat monster ever!” He said to Rocky. The dragon’s tail thwapped against the stone a few times in response. Alexander scratched his water dragon’s nose a bit, and Rocky closed his eyes in pleasure. They sat like that for a while, just enjoying each other’s company until Jeeves’ voice called out “Your guests are ready to return to their home, Alexander.”

  Alexander patted Rocky one last time and got to his feet. “I have to go now. I’ll see you again soon, little buddy!” He watched as Rocky trumpeted a farewell and dove back into the water, then teleported himself back to the keep.

  The O’Malleys were indeed waiting for him by the portal. Mattie was nowhere to be seen. As soon as Martin saw him, he said “We’re ready to head back. Rose here worked out deals with your people for them to finish the work. And Mattie’s going to oversee it for us.”

  Rose stepped forward and hugged Alexander. “You’ve given us quite the gift here, Alexander. And for that ya get a kiss!” She grabbed his head and planted a noisy kiss on his cheek. Martin pretended to look cross, then reached out a hand. Alexander shook it, saying “I have alwa
ys loved the Ogre. This is just me being too lazy to go back to Stormforge for some of your cooking, Rose. Instead, I brought it here to me!”

  “Ha!” Rose slapped his chest lightly. “You say the word and I’ll come cook for ya anytime!”

  Alexander smiled and, after confirming that it should be clear, teleported the two of them to the private dining room at the original Ogre.

  His next task was the mine. He’d wanted to help fortify it when his magic was twisted but now he could. With a thought he teleported himself to a spot about a hundred yards outside the mine. What he saw there surprised him. The miners and rock trolls had obviously been busy. Large blocks of stone had been cut from the mountain and stacked in a semi-circle around the mine entrance about two hundred feet out. It was an impressive structure. The wall was maybe six feet thick and twenty feet high all around. There was an opening just wide and tall enough for a wagon with riders to pass through. Or a rock troll if he stooped. As Alexander approached, Grimble waved to him. “What d’ye think? Yer not the only one that can raise a wall!”

  Alexander was nodding his head in appreciation. “Very well done, Grimble. I am impressed! It seems dwarves and rock trolls work quite well together!”

  “Aye, them big fellas be incredibly strong. And they was thinkin it were a game! They raced to see who could haul the blocks up and stack em fastest!” Grimble chuckled as he pictured the scene.

  Alexander said “I could raise the whole thing up a bit, if you like. Another ten feet, maybe?

  Grimble shook his head. “Don’t trouble yerself. The big fellas be havin fun with it. They’ll be bringin more stone soon enough. A couple more days n this wall will be blockin out the sun! I’ll have to find somethin’ else for em to do.”

  Alexander grew concerned. “If an enemy attacks before then, do you have a way to seal the mine? As a fallback position?”

  “Aye, that were the first thing we did. A wee child with a hammer hits the right spot inside, and a thousand tons o’ stone will plug that door right up! Ye’ll have to come get us after that. Won’t be enough food or water inside to last us the time it would take to dig out.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll come for you. You just focus on keeping our people safe. If it even looks like you might lose the wall, you get them all inside. I’m not losing one more life than we have to.”

  Grimble looked down at his boots. “Lost a few friends o’ mine in that fight. Ye needn’t worry. I’m no’ anxious ta lose more.”

  Looking at the wall, Alexander made one adjustment. He moved to the far-left end where it connected with the mountain. Starting there, he worked his way around, raising a sheet of liquid stone along the front face of the wall all the way around. When he was done, he said “Now it’s perfectly smooth. No hand-holds to help unwanted visitors in their climb.”

  Grimble thanked him, and he was about to leave when he remembered something. Stepping inside the gate, he moved to one side and reached into the earth. Finding several blocks of obsidian below, he latched onto one that weighed about a ton. Almost effortlessly he lifted the large block through the stone and soil above until it stood in front of him.

  Turning to Grimble, he said “Please let Drog and Gorg know that this is a gift in honor of their participation in the battle. And the warrior they lost.”

  Grimble patted the big block of ebony stone affectionately. “Thank ye, Alexander. I’ve grown fond o’ the big fellas since we found em. They’ll be likin’ this just fine.”

  With a wave goodbye, Alexander teleported himself back to the keep. The sun was only just setting, and Alexander felt as if he’d had a very busy day. He decided to sit with Silverbeard for a bit, then hit the sack.

  Taking a seat in his usual spot in front of Silverbeard’s desk a few minutes later.“I was thinking I would like to try to include the minotaurs in our alliance. Are they very widespread throughout Io? Or is Molgo’s tribe all there are?” He said.

  “There be minotaur tribes here and there. To be honest, we knew nothin o’ them up there on the plateau. From what ye say, they’d be by far the largest tribe o’ any we know. As fer the alliance, ye’d need to consult with the dragons and the others first. But I canno’ imagine them sayin no. Minotaurs be hardy warriors. And most have a sense of honor nearly equal to that o’ dwarves.”

  “I’ll ask Kai the next time I see him. As our ambassador from the Dragon King, I’m sure he can authorize another ally. Or not.” Alexander became thoughtful. If he could convince Molgo to ally with Elysia, that would effectively secure his northern border. And they might have interesting trade goods. The river that ran through his lands up there originated further north. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to discount having a navy!

  Alexander noticed Silverbeard staring at him expectantly. His thoughts raced. Had he missed a question? He finally just decided to ask. “You want to tell me something. Or ask me something?”

  “Ye mentioned the minotaurs. But there be another people ye see’d up there.”

  “The ORCS?” Alexander’s eyes widened. He thought it over. Molgo had said they’d been trading partners. And that it had been Borag that had organized them. Maybe… “You think them a worthwhile ally? Even after we wiped out so many of them?”

  Silverbeard looked disappointed. “Orcs do no’ be born good or bad. Just like humans or elves.” He paused to look significantly at Alexander’s ears. “They can be one or the other. Or both. I’d counsel ye to at least speak to em. Might be that Molgo can help ye with that.”

  Alexander nodded his head thoughtfully, and was about to leave when he remembered another question he’d wanted to ask. “Master Silverbeard. The funds for the defender quest rewards. Jeeves says they were not subtracted from our treasury. Do you know where all the gold came from?”

  The old dwarf nodded. “Me king… me previous king asked me the same question when he first took the throne at Broken Mountain. There be certain quests given by the gods. Most be quests for the greater good. Like protectin’ yer homeland from invaders. When ye completes these quests, the gods themselves reward ye. It be the same fer paladins, priests, monks… them that serve their god directly.”

  “Thank you Silverbeard. That’s good to know.” Alexander left the dwarf’s office and headed up to his quarters.

  Not hungry, he opted to do some work in his lab. Finding the hidden trigger, he opened the door and stepped inside. He did a quick survey of the room, and decided to place his ‘testing’ area as far from the door as possible. That way, in the event he caused a sizable explosion, it wouldn’t take out anyone in the study, sitting room, or bedroom.

  So he used his Earth Mover ability and raised himself a stone workbench maybe six feet wide and three feet deep. He pulled several shelves from the stone of the left-hand wall for storing ingredients and whatever items he created. On the right wall, he pulled up a long stone bench that could double as a sleeping space if necessary. Then he added a table in front of it at coffee-table height. Just as he was finishing that piece, he was startled by a voice behind him. “You’re going to need cushions for that, too.” Jules stood in the doorway looking toward the bench. “I’ll whip some up in the grey and black. I know you like those colors.”

  Much more interested in Jules than the furniture, he walked to the door and pulled her close to him. Staring into her startlingly bright eyes, he said “I like the blue of your eyes. But no fabric in this world or any other could match it.”

  She smiled slightly and said “Ooh, dork boy’s getting smoother with his lines. Good answer!” She kissed him lightly. “You missed dinner. Hungry?”

  “Nope. Been a big day. Got my magic back. Got a ton of stuff done. Tired now.” He led her to the sitting room, where they curled up together on the sofa. He told her about what happened when he disappeared on the altar. She promised to keep it to herself. Then he began to tell her about all the exciting things he’d worked on during the day.

  It wasn’t long before she was snoring softly into
his chest.

  Chapter 8

  Mined Over Matter

  In the morning Alexander woke feeling ambitious. There were two things he wanted to get done that morning. First, they would choose a group to go into their brand-new dungeon. He wanted folks who were strong enough to survive, yet low enough level to benefit from the xp and potentially epic or even legendary loot from a “First Kill”. It would likely be citizens, as even Lugs and his group were now over level 40. Of course, only the first floor was level 30-35. Lower levels of the dungeon might feature higher level mobs.

  The second thing he wanted to do was take Grimble and a small party up to one of the mines on the plateau and investigate. If he was going to run a whole kingdom, he wanted to make sure it had the resources needed to prosper.

  Jules was still snoring softly in her pink fuzzy pj’s. He decided to let her sleep in, and quietly gathered his gear before leaving the room. He dressed in his study, then headed downstairs for breakfast. As it was still early, and the sun hadn’t risen yet, he spoke quietly to Jeeves as he moved through the corridor. “Jeeves, when Silverbeard, Grimble, and all the guild officers are awake, would you ask each of them to meet me in the dining area?”

  “Of course, Alexander. Grimble, Silverbeard, Lola, Brick, Max, Lainey, and Sasha are already awake. I shall extend your invitation.”

  Alexander dished up some scrambled eggs and toast and grabbed an apple before taking a seat at one of the long tables to eat. It wasn’t long before the others began to join him. He was slicing up his apple and planning to sprinkle some cinnamon on it when Bacon arrived. Alexander tossed the unsliced half of his apple, and Bacon caught it neatly, giving him a ‘thank you’ head-butt as he swallowed it whole.

  Not in any particular hurry, he engaged in small talk with the others as they ate their breakfasts. Alexander enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. When everyone was mostly finished, he began the meeting.

  “We spoke yesterday about sending a group in to explore the new dungeon. All of our adventurers are probably too high-level to benefit, so I thought I’d ask for recommendations on who to send in.”