by Han Yang
“The King will love to hear this, but he will find it folly and think your plan is doomed,” Nick said. Baroi walked over, the guard a few feet taller than Nick.
“Figured you’d leap at a chance of certain death,” Nick quipped.
“You’d take me?” Baroi asked me, not Nick.
Again, I raised my hand, this time defensively. “Look, I didn’t invite you. Let that be noted if some general gets upset. However, if you want to come, and Nick vouches for you, come. We’re going to war, and that will likely never stop. As my dear elva friend likes to point out, I can’t win every battle, even if I intend to win it. So, I cannot guarantee your safety or survival, but I can guarantee fighting.”
“To the far south?” Baroi asked, wanting to confirm.
I shook my head. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. I want Bell back. When she is safe, I need to find a home. If the minotaurs own Seqa, what are my options? I’ve been thinking I should conquer Tarb, solidify the defenses, and then thwart my attackers. But I’ll become trapped and could easily face a losing siege. I’d rather slay a few million ratkin and go south. The alternative is that I hold Tarb and fight King Karn until I remove this area of humans which would only help the invading swarm.”
A voice cleared behind us, and the last person I expected to see on Nordan Prime stood behind me.
Prince Tao.
He wore gold and black robes, held no weapon, and exposed his hands as empty.
“You gotta be shitting me,” I blurted. “Can I not shop ever?”
“Excuse me?” the Prince asked in a formal tone.
“How the fuck are you running around this city without an escort?” I asked.
“That’d be me,” Oskatriver said from the gate guard area. “He flew the yellow, and we honor the yellow when acceptable.”
I nodded, not questioning my hosts.
Instead, I returned my sneer to Prince Tao, and snarled, “What do you want?”
“Funny you should ask. I was told a bit of news I found hard to believe. I flew home, intending to warn my father of your approach and learned the news shared with me was indeed true. An invasion from the south, winters in waiting, and will be here by spring,” the Prince said, rocking on his feet awkwardly.
He likely didn’t have to admit he was wrong often and knew minotaurs had fantastic hearing. The Prince waited for me to comment and I went to walk away.
“Wait,” he said, getting me to pause, “I lost her. Well, I never truly had her. I’ve soured on fighting you and began muttering about making peace. This split the Arax faithful ideologically. Are you following?”
“Not really,” I admitted.
“Karn’s Kingdom is filled with many churches. None bigger or livelier than the god before the calamity known as Arax. Hell, he’s my god too. However, we failed in our mandate to kill you. We were too slow to arrive and too slow to keep up. When we failed, the choice became clear - god or realm. As a prince, I have people I must shepherd that are not in the Arax flock. Therefore, I want to extend a peace offering,” Prince Tao said in a painful manner.
The words vexed him.
I frowned and gave a loud pfft. “Bell and three million Z.”
This had about the same reaction I expected - vehement anger. “You know we can’t afford that. We’re rebuilding a city and our needs are great. Plus, I was getting to our current issue.”
“Where’s Bell?” I watched him squirm unhappily. “Shit, you don’t have her.”
“My father is in a bind. He cannot openly decry Toneba as an enemy. Clearly, you can understand that?” Prince Tao asked.
I nodded.
Every king has to play politics. This is politics at its finest. A chosen champion of the gods was playing fire with the kingdom. So… instead of killing him by themselves, they came to me.
Not surprising, and I could respect it.
“Toneba has Bell?” I asked.
“Yes. He sprung her from her confinement the very night I left. His camp is now separate from mine and moving quicker. He is still ten days out before he reaches the capital, but Arax has been lapping boons on his faithful to rally to his side. I - I - I think he doesn’t care that an invasion is coming and only wants your Z. Anyway, I sent an envoy and was denied the prisoner,” Prince Tao said.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Seems like you should kill Toneba via assassin, steal his Zorta, and avoid a war by giving me Bell. That’s what I’d do.”
“Never going to happen with the champion of Arax.”
I tossed my hands up in frustration. “Arax has eight champions. Toneba is a stooge.”
“That’s not true,” Prince Tao said.
“It’s true,” the King bellowed from an upper wall.
I should have figured he’d eavesdrop. At least he settled the debate.
“We had stability before the cataclysm, and ever since, we will not attack a champion of the Arax,” Tao said, his voice unwavering.
“So, what is your offer?” I asked.
“We can’t give you Bell, and we want to not war with you before the ratkin swarm arrives. At the same time, we’re short on Zorta after a losing war,” Prince Tao admitted. He eyed me intently and asked, “The griffin rider?”
“Usain Bolt. Yeah, lighting guy. He’s dead, a minion now.”
“Earl Marin. No one calls him Ursai. And I know he’s undead. I tried to bribe the King to revive him,” Prince Tao said.
I glanced up at the King on the battlements, but he had gone.
“Caitlyn can do it. Not cheap, though,” I said.
“I can’t afford much more than the twenty-five thousand Z that the King wants,” Prince Tao said.
I suddenly understood why the King had left the conversation.
“Okay, you want your Earl noble back from the dead. The griffin stays dead. What about the girl?” I asked.
The brown eyed man stared at me, blinking blankly.
“Gotcha,” I continued. “You didn’t realize he used an air mage to fly into the atmosphere where there is almost no oxygen. Actually, really clever, and I get why you want this Earl back. Okay, I do this favor for you, then what?”
“I don’t think you should. You clearly know they’re in two bad situations,” Tarla said.
The Prince scoffed. “Careful, we know who you are and who you love. You’re our only leverage now that we lost the Priestess.”
I groaned, shaking my head. “Hey, am I getting paid to listen to this, or are you guys used to forcing your guests to hear threats from their enemies?” I shouted this to Oskatriver.
“Wait! I apologize,” Prince Tao pleaded. “I can offer you trade, a pittance of Z, and a free pass through our lands. And…” He gulped nervously. “And strivian prisoners you may want to use as undead. That offer came from my father to sweeten the deal.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know. We tend to not let it be well know that we have orcs, trolls, and others in our dungeons that we use as slave labor. I can’t say where we send them or what work they…”
Prince Tao quieted as the King strode into the market confidently, each of his steps jarring the ground. When he towered over us, he stuck his meaty hands on his hips and said, “They are mining in the north through tunnels, and it's nearly six thousand slaves. That is where all their metal comes from. There’s an advantage in living above sea level.”
“Shit, yeah. I’ll take that deal. I’ll send the problem children north to Seqa Mine and use the rest to march south,” I said, looking at the King, and he snorted with a chuckle. Yeah, the crafty big guy had probably already had this planned. “Define pittance?”
“Thirty for Earl Marin and fifteen for a non-aggression pact. The slave numbers have gone down to four thousand, which, if your spies are good, will be verified shortly,” Prince Tao said.
“I agree to your terms,” I said, not risking a shake or forearm clasp. “Meet me in a week in the great plains. No funny business. Come yourself, and I’l
l finish our deal. On my word, you’ll get your Earl, and if you don’t have my four thousand strivian when I arrive in the kingdom, it’ll be war. Will you be providing me with intel on Toneba?”
“Yes, but be warned, he already has a large following readying for his return. Arax is vested in your defeat,” the Prince said. “I’ll see you in a week or two with the agreed Z and will expect to see a blond haired Earl Marin.”
I turned to the King, craning my neck to address him. “I think I’m going south. Actually, I plan on it. I don’t want strife,” I said.
The King shooed Prince Tao away.
“Have you figured out that you’re on a tight leash here?” the behemoth minotaur asked. I nodded extra quickly, knowing I had to appear small. “If you displease me, you’ll know. With that said, the dwarves will likely not want to extend their contract with you. I can send a small unit with you. Only the foolish, of course.”
“I appreciate that, I was asked by -”
“Mage Baroi is free to accompany you,” the King interjected. “She is here instead of in the formations due to disciplinary issues anyway.”
The mighty mintoaur tucked his arms behind his back and proceeded to leave until he towered over Oskatriver at the front of the market.
I watched in awe. Seeing him out and about was truly mesmerizing as well as terrifying. A tap on my shoulder stole my attention back to the current situation.
“Hey, so I got in trouble for charging in recklessly. I’m an enrage mage,” Baroi said.
I nodded with a smile. “Gather your things. You're a siege loader going forward. Before you complain, I hear the ogre ratkin explode acid. You can go melee until we fight them. I don’t waste troops,” I said, leaving her gawking.
I didn’t think she expected to hear that from me.
“Where are you going?” Nick asked, watching me head deeper into the market.
My walk didn’t talk long for the next shoe to drop.
“Shopping, obviously…” I paused, arriving at a higher end slave section. “Well, shit. You set this up.”
An ogre sat chained to the wall, beaten to within an inch of his life. A crossbow rested a few dozen feet in front of the prisoner on a table. This was a big guy, almost thirty-feet tall, but all the fight had left him long ago.
Sold to the Mancer
The sign said all I needed to know, and to be honest, I was kinda in a bad mood. I chugged the last of my drink then hurled the mug at the black and blue ogre.
The ogre came to life, slowly lolling the unswollen eye to glare at me. “Oye, fer that, I’ll be rapin’ yer -”
Snap!
I don’t even really remember snatching the crossbow off the table. The weapon kicked back with the bolt zipping forward. The projectile burst through the shocked eye, and the ogre shit himself as he died.
I didn’t ask what he did, or who he had pissed off. I simply chanted.
“Death is life, and I’m to be feared. Death is life, and I’m to be feared. Death is life, and I’m to be feared!” I shouted the last line.
My domination spell burst out, firing like a laser toward the ogre’s orb, as if my magic knew better than to piss off the locals by remaining focused.
Claim or Consume - Claim
You have connected to Pargro Betrayer consume 109.332 Zorta to convert this being into a minion (YES) - (NO) - Yes
I certainly preferred the quicker interface. When my reaper slid out of my chest, time crawled to fractions of a second per moment.
Confusion rippled through my mind.
I could see the reaper grin, then a yellowish blinding light eviscerated my vision with such an intensity I knew it would need magic to heal.
Then… out of nowhere, I could suddenly see in a different spectrum; grayish colorations painted an image of my reaper ingesting immense amounts of power. The King blasted his spell with determination. His sneer rotated into confusion.
“You're going to die unless you trust me,” my reaper said. “Upgrade to healer fifteen.”
My prompt immediately activated.
Upgrade Healer 13 -} 14 for 1566 Zorta. (YES) - (NO) - Yes
Upgrade Healer 14 -} 15 for 1992 Zorta. (YES) - (NO) - Yes
You have unlocked constant regeneration for one target. This spell has a once a week cooldown. To use this spell, think about the target and then will your magic to cast constant regeneration.
You have cast constant regeneration on yourself. Confirm (YES) - (NO)
While this transpired, my reaper blossomed in height. He smiled down on me, and for the first time, I could see my reaper for what he really was - a merman. I tried to ask, but the altered speed of time faded.
The King snarled, blasting an arcane spell of immense power as he reactively tried to smite the creation.
Boom!
The spell crashed down with so much force, I lifted off my feet as I was sent flying. The flesh of my body sizzled as it burned to the bone.
I felt ribs break, lungs puncture, and my heart even stopped beating for a few seconds. The torment and the blessing of the healing washed over me for what seemed like an eternity.
Smash!
I crumpled into a cart, the wooden framing shattering along with my body. I’m fairly certain I died a few times as the green aura quickly repaired any pain I suffered. My eyes blinked out the stars, and when I opened them, I gasped in shock.
My reaper stood over three-hundred feet tall. He cackled at the minotaur King, challenging him with a taunt. I deduced what had happened now that I had some senses restored.
The King used arcane magic on my reaper, and it did nothing to my reaper. Well, nothing except hurt me, which my reaper warned me in time to fix.
Interesting, oh so very interesting.
The two immense beings stared at each other.
I peeled myself out of the vendor rubble, knowing whoever owned the shop with the broken sculptures was going to be pissed. I casually returned to my reaper who seethed with rage.
“I appreciate your devotion. This was a simple misunderstanding. Go and resurrect my minion,” I commanded.
That did it, my orders were law. Gone was his fiery attitude as he shrank. A ghoulish whale leaped out of the ground, the creature gobbling up the ogre in one massive bite. The ghouls robbed the ogre of its flesh in a new and terrifying way.
When my latest minion stood, bones gleaming white from the overcast day, the reaper slithered into my chest.
“Tarla,” I said, noticing her missing.
I groaned as I quickly scanned the area. I found her not far from where I had landed. She was laying inside a vendor booth, her neck twisted backwards.
I went to revive her when the King spoke. “I have perfect healing for pregnant revivals. I erred. I - I - rarely am surprised by much as a warrior with eons of experience. I also rarely admit a mistake. You have surprised me two-fold. You possess profound power and should not have survived my attack. My transgression will be noted in the annals, and I will find a way to apologize.”
His guards and every other minotaur in the area stared at me with worry. I’d survived a strike by their most ardent warrior. I wasn’t sure how much mana he had poured into his attack, but it had been a lot, and I had noticed his reaction when he realized I wasn’t a threat.
“I appreciate your candor. I saw your face change from concern to understanding, and I see nor hear malice in your current posturing and words. What did you think the reaper was?” I asked.
“A demon, and it is. The reaper is not normal. However, our only necromancer died during her early training. To the ogre you revived, no less. A story for another time. For a fleeting moment, I thought you opened an invasion from Leo,” he answered and Oskatriver whispered something. “Yes, we shall discuss this in private. The ogre was for your competition we have planned later.”
“And his transgression against your necromancer?” I asked, and the King ignored me, reviving Tarla. The King left without another word.
W
hen Tarla came back to life, she rushed into my arms.
“He had perfect revival, sorry that it wasn’t me,” I said.
“Oh, Damien. That was the worst.” We kissed. “I understand why he revived me. He can talk to those he connects to. It was odd, but he explained as well as apologized,” Tarla said, hugging me tighter.
“What a day. Told ya I’d need a drink,” I said with a huff.
She clung to me with love. “Dying sucks.”
“Yeah, well. I’m not a fan of it either and so much for your winning streak,” I said.
She playfully swatted my arm.
“Are you ready to go actual shopping?” Nick asked with a chuckle.
“What were my other two options for minions?” I asked.
“The ogre will fight a living ogre,” Nick said. “That was it. We had no idea how many openings you had. We just figured you would have one.”
“Ah, cool, sounds great,” I said, not really meaning it.
The ordeal still shook me as much as it had shocked the King that I had survived his attack.
“It is chilly out,” Nick commented, leading me out of the market.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Well, if I’m going for good, and the King is giving you a small minotaur contingent to try to delay the invasion, then I have a lot of work to do before we leave,” he said.
I rolled my wrist forward, wanting more information as I followed him out of the market.
“We’re not leaving, just going to a different section that backs up to the poor housing. Look, you can individually interview every candidate,” Nick informed me as we swerved around some opening vendors.
We passed food stations, a blacksmith fanning his coals with a billow, and mostly empty stalls. An older minotaur sat guard before a door against the wall that led to the slaves’ quarters.
“These slaves are the special ones. That means verified status, exceptional behavior, or unique qualities. Your three hundred promised by King Hartinger are okay to come from this group,” Nick said.
