Empire Builder 1: Breed, Populate, Conquer

by Dante King

  “I hear roast hawkgirl is a delicacy in the Sapphire Isles,” Uzax muttered as Lexi applied her glowing magic to the spot where she had kicked him.

  Lexi seemed to have her earlier anger under control now because she didn’t respond to either mage. Ben almost felt like he would regret harming her, but he could see no way to deal with the mages without bringing the hawkwoman down. After all, injuring and weakening the mages meant little if she was there to restore their health.

  “You take over for a minute,” Ben said to Sir Gallant the Younger, depositing him on the dashboard. “My mana is low. I’ll activate the screen controls for you.”

  Ben absorbed all the gravel ghoul corpses, bringing the control limit back up to full.

  Sir Gallant flashed a manic grin and set about indiscriminately summoning vine monsters and gravel ghouls all over the dining hall.

  As the fighting began again, Ben checked a couple of notifications. The vine monsters had developed a minor amount of resistance to fire, and the Greater Stoneskin of the ghouls had increased defense around the joints. Judging by the speed with which the mages were cutting the monsters down, however, it wasn’t enough.

  The monsters grew a tiny bit in strength each time the waves got mowed down and reabsorbed, but the mages were powerful. They cut swathes through their opponents.

  Adremor and Uzax were both eventually forced to drink potions from their belts. Ben watched as they guzzled down the faintly glowing fluids, wondering what they were. Once the bottles were empty and cast aside, the wizards stood up straighter, casting new spells right away.

  Mana potions, thought Ben. I wonder how those differ from the mana crystals that Melody has been preparing?

  He put aside the thought as both mages quickly resumed fighting as fiercely as ever though. They did use some more physical attacks and save some of their mana, but Ben didn’t think there was much chance of wearing them out completely.

  He had one shot left though. While Sir Gallant the Younger manned the control panel and was summoning monsters, Ben wanted to regenerate enough mana to summon a blade fiend. The fiend hadn’t done much against Imogen in the empty atrium, but according to the description, the monster could absorb blades and fight with them. If any monsters were powerful enough to face the mages, it had to be that one.

  “Go easy on the summoning, Sir Gallant,” Ben cautioned. “You’ll run out of mana at this rate, and we don’t want any gaps in our summoning process. We have to keep attacking.”

  “Are you telling me how to do my job?” the knight shrilled back as he danced between the glyph totem cylinders, summoning monsters furiously. “Where’s all the trust gone? You think I’m no longer up to the task?”

  Ben thought to himself that he most likely hadn’t had much faith in the homunculus all those eons ago. But he didn’t want to crush the little man’s stony heart by telling him that the reason he had the job wasn’t necessarily due to his skill, but because of his near immortality. After all, he imagined that there were very few creatures who were functionally immortal, and if any creature could live forever, it was likely to be one made of stone.

  Ben knew he needed to check his mana. He closed his eyes and focused, able to easily picture his supply. He wasn’t sure if it was only his imagination, but he could imagine a small reservoir inside of him, faintly glowing blue liquid sloshing around. It was like a magical gas tank inside of him.

  And one that was running dangerously close to empty.

  Ben cast his eye over the scene of the battle again. Lexi was taking good care of her soldiers, and Ben winced in annoyance as the force and fire mages were now effectively working together. Whatever differences they’d had were put aside, the two of them now operating as a unit of deadly efficiency. He wasn’t making any progress.

  Then his eye fell on a small form moving about among the corpses. It didn’t look like one of the monsters he could summon, and none of the mages had brought any creatures in with them. He peered closer.

  Then he gasped. “That’s Pearl!”

  His stomach sank. Damn that adorable kitten! His child would be squashed to jelly by stomping giants if she wasn’t roasted first by Uzax. He had to get her out of there.

  “How did she get in there?” he wondered aloud.

  “How did we not notice her before?” Sir Gallant added, continuing to summon monsters as he looked up at the screen.

  “She must have been hiding under the table,” Ben said. “However she got in there doesn’t matter. What matters is making sure she doesn’t get crushed. You’ll have to monitor the controls and try to reach the screen on your own.”

  Ben turned around and walked to the door. It wasn’t the best time to enter the battle, but he was left with no choice now.

  Sir Gallant’s voice arrested him as he was walking through the door.

  “Master, look, your child is evolving.”

  Ben turned and looked at the screen. Sure enough, Pearl was growing before their eyes.

  She stood up on her little hindlegs and opened a mouth in what looked like a cross between a yawn and a roar. She rubbed her little paws against her eyes, then arched her back.

  Her fur split all the way down her spine, and flesh spilled out in large lumps, knitting together and growing. Bones jutted out, marrow spurting around in circles, to be encased by hard casing.

  As they watched, her body contorted and grew, until she stood at the height of a man. The werecat growled. Her features were still the soft eyes and mouth of a kitten, but her curled claws were the length of razor blades, and her arms bulged with muscle.

  She picked up one of Lexi’s soldiers, flinging it back and forth like, well, like a kitten playing with a toy.

  Ben knew Lexi wasn’t going to like that one bit. “Out of the way a moment.” He pushed the homunculus aside, seizing the dashboard controls.

  He poured all his mana into the totem cylinder for the blade fiend, until he couldn’t spare another drop. He selected a spot on the ceiling, and confirmed his choice.

  He gasped as the cylinder sucked his mana dry. It felt like his intestines were being roasted in an oven, as every drop of magical energy was ripped out.

  It was enough though. A giant blob began growing out of the ceiling with a wrenching, squelching noise. Before the monster was even full grown, it belched out primal noises, sounding like a cross between a trumpeting elephant and a squealing pig.

  Long tentacles grew from the blob, slithering out across the room. The tentacles waved wildly about, searching. True to the monster’s name, the tentacles sucked up any blades they came in contact with. Knives, swords, even spoons, were all absorbed.

  Ben watched the display eagerly, pleased to finally see the monster at work.

  “Good gods,” Adremor said, his mouth agape as he stared up at the monster. “What foul fiend has this Benjamin of Davies summoned?”

  “One that will kill us if we’re not careful,” Lexi replied.

  “There’s nothing fire can’t kill,” Uzax said.

  “Other than those rock monsters,” the hawkwoman muttered.

  Then new tentacles grew out of the giant purple blob on the ceiling, each tipped with a blade. Some tentacles even ended in giant spoons, which waved back and forth, whacking soldiers’ heads with a clang.

  Adremor fought fire with fire, so to speak, controlling blades with his telekinesis, severing tentacles, and spearing the blob itself with flying blades.

  “I’ll handle the blades!” shouted Adremor. “Uzax, blast that thing with flame after flame. Lexi, sever the tentacles!”

  “You’d be wise not to bark orders at me, Force Wizard!” shouted Uzax as he prepared to summon another ball of flame.

  But he did as Adremor asked anyway, blasting the main section of the blade fiend with ball after ball of superheated magma.

  The screeching monster met their attacks blindly but ferociously, slashing and hacking with its bladed tentacles. It eviscerated another of Lexi’s soldiers, while Pe
arl tore a third in two.

  Lexi screamed in rage and threw herself at Pearl. The two began fighting with beastly savagery. She leaped back, holding her weapon in front of her as Pearl snarled for another attack. Pearl leaped forward with speed that surprised Ben, the beast cutting through the air and nearly landing on Lexi.

  Come on, kiddo, thought Ben. You can do this.

  But Lexi held her own, dabbing the end of her weapon in a small pool of nearby magma from Uzax’s spells, the blade catching fire. She waved the flames in toward Pearl, the animal shrinking back.

  “We need a bigger flame to handle this creature!” shouted Uzax. “Watch this!”

  Uzax poured pure fire straight into the dining hall table, setting the whole thing ablaze. Flames leapt up, scorching the blade fiend.

  “I have to get in there, before it’s too late,” Ben said.

  He opened the intercom to the room where Melody, Nipper, and the others were waiting. “I’m coming up. We have to get into the fight now.”

  Melody looked up at the ceiling, where Ben’s voice was coming from. “Has everything gone according to plan?”

  “Uh, not exactly. I’ll explain when I get there.”

  Ben shut off the intercom. “Sir Gallant, I’m leaving you in charge here. Let us into the dining hall and then lock the doors again. Don’t open them unless I tell you otherwise.”

  “Understood, master.” Sir Gallant got close to the screen. If he jumped, he could hit the controls required.

  Ben dashed off toward the elevator, ready to save his child and give the mages the justice they had now earned. He imagined Melody wouldn’t be too happy when he arrived and told her where their younger child was, and who she was killing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ben exited the elevator on the second floor of the tower’s crown, where the dining hall was located. The others waited for him in a semicircle, restlessly fidgeting.

  Nipper stood beside Melody, mewling anxiously. The nymphs shivered in fright. Only Sir Gallant remained motionless. No doubt he was much better at that than the monsterkin, having a frame made of metal, even if it were a little rusted.

  “Ben, I can’t find Pearl anywhere,” Melody cried out as soon as Ben stepped through the elevator doors.

  Ben held up a hand. “I can find her using the cameras in the control room. We’ll deal with that soon.” None of that was a lie. He would explain the danger in a moment, but he needed everyone to keep their heads for just a little bit longer. He was having enough trouble keeping himself under control as it was.

  “The mages are fighting off some monsters right now in the Dining Hall,” Ben explained. “But Sir Gallant the Younger won’t have the mana to summon monsters for much longer. If those mages start attacking the doors, I don’t know how long it will take them to break out. They’ve already tried and failed, but they might discover some way out eventually. I doubt we can starve them in there.”

  “What are we going to do?” Vinata asked, bravely keeping her voice steady.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Ben said. “I’m going to see what I can do to defeat the mages using my Drain spell. Once I get null locks around their legs, they’ll be powerless to harm us.”

  Ben made it all sound simple, but he knew how much could go wrong in that process. He didn’t want the nymphs worrying about all that though.

  “We have to face their footsoldiers as well, don’t we?” Sir Gallant the Elder pragmatically asked.

  “The monsters have almost completely finished them off,” Ben said. At least one thing had gone right about his plan so far.

  “Is there anything else I can do to help then, sire?” the knight asked.

  Although Ben didn’t want to put anyone in harm’s way, the knight’s support would be invaluable to him in this combat. If he were killed in there, it wouldn’t be long before everyone else was slaughtered or enslaved after him.

  He glanced at the knight. “Can you handle yourself in combat?” It seemed like a silly question, but he had to ask it nonetheless.

  “I can, sire. I was a formidable knight-errant before joining your service.”

  “Very good,” Ben said. “I will need you to defend me in battle, and distract the mages if you can, while I try to lock them up.”

  “How many monsters are left in the chamber now, sire?”

  Ben liked the knight’s approach. He was practical and thought ahead.

  “Most of the monsters have been killed,” Ben said. “There’s still a blade fiend, however. Melody, do you have any more mana crystals? My supply is low.”

  Melody fished one crystal out of her satchel. “It’s the last one I have.”

  Ben consumed it, bringing his supply up. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. If it was enough to let him drain the mages of their magic, it would be sufficient.

  Ben looked at the women. “I need you all to wait out here, I can’t have you facing such danger.”

  “But Ben, you will be alone in there,” Melody said. “You can’t face those mages on your own.”

  There was nothing else for it. He had to tell them now. “Pearl is in there fighting as well.”

  Melody gasped, her face draining of color.

  “You didn’t think to mention this earlier?” The catgirl’s tail swished, and she turned, ready to run at the doors.

  “I needed you all to be prepared first, Melody. I will go in and rescue her myself.”

  “But she’s just a kitten,” Melody said. “She’ll die in seconds.”

  “She’s already evolved,” Ben said.

  Melody looked at him, wide-eyed, not sure what to say in response.

  “She’s a great werecat now,” he explained. “All the same, I have to hurry. It might be crazy, but I have to go in there and face those mages, for the sake of my child.”

  “It’s not crazy,” Vinata said. “It just shows that you really are the Forgotten Ruler.”

  Lulu agreed. “You have the courage to face deadly danger to save those who need you most.”

  “Are you sure you couldn’t just make more children, sire?” Sir Gallant the Elder asked, pragmatic as ever.

  Ben gave him a glare stonier than even Sir Gallant the Younger could have managed.

  “Right, yes, I see, sire. Onward to the dining hall it is then.”

  Ben looked up at the ceiling. “Sir Gallant the Younger, what’s happening in the dining hall now?”

  The stone homunculus’ voice squeaked through the intercom. “I’m keeping the mages busy with monsters, and Pearl is handling herself wonderfully. But I’ll run out of mana soon, so you need to hurry.”

  Melody’s shoulders relaxed slightly as she heard the news, but her stance was still tense.

  “Melody,” Ben addressed her. “You have the null locks?” He held out a hand to take them.

  “I will go with you, Ben. I cannot let you go in there alone.” Melody clutched the null locks to herself.

  “Are you sure?” Ben asked.

  Melody nodded.

  Imogen spoke up. “I will go with you also, Benzhameen.”

  Ben was deeply touched by the dryad’s bravery.

  “Without you, we have nothing left to live for,” Lulu said.

  Vinata stepped forward. “You can’t stop us if you try, Ben. We’re with you to the end.”

  The loyalty of the women moved Ben. He hoped it would be enough.

  “Let’s go then, time to put an end to these slavers. I’ll use Drain. Sir Gallant,” he called up at the ceiling. “Be ready to summon gravel ghouls to defend us in the entrance.”

  “Consider it done,” the intercom squeaked back.

  Melody gave the null locks to the nymphs. “You hang back and be ready to use these as soon as you are able.” She drew her wand and held it at the ready. “I will attack with my lightning spell.”

  The nymphs took the locks.

  “Lulu,” Ben said. “I need you to use whatever water you can find in there to attack Uzax. Hopefully water
will work against his fire magic.”

  Lulu nodded in response.

  Ben marched toward the Dining Hall entrance. “Open the doors, Sir Gallant,” he shouted at the intercom.

  Sir Gallant the Elder strode up to stand beside Ben, shielding the women before the entrance. Nipper rubbed himself up against Ben’s leg and stared at the door, fangs bared.

  The doors unbolted and slid open, revealing the carnage inside. A wave of heat washed over Ben and his companions from the burning furniture.

  Lexi was standing on the left side of the blazing dining table, slashing at Pearl, now a giant werecat, with her spear. Her strikes were lightning fast, and Pearl was only just managing to defend herself.

  A scorched blob hung from the ceiling, the blade fiend having been mostly reduced to an impotent form. But it had done its job, eviscerating the last of Lexi’s soldiers as the doors opened.

  Uzax tossed fireballs at the blade fiend, causing burning hunks of dripping flesh to drop onto the table with a sizzle.

  Adremor was hurling whatever dishes and bits of furniture he could get his hands on, even the bones of dead footsoldiers, severing the monster’s limbs.

  A row of gravel ghouls rose from the floor in front of the doors, shielding Ben’s party.

  “Control limit is at maximum,” Sir Gallant the Younger announced into the intercom of the room Ben was still standing in.

  Ben walked forward, taking up position behind the gravel ghouls, as the stone giants came to life and advanced on the mages.

  As they entered, Adremor managed to slice off the last of the blade fiend’s body, which crashed with a splash onto the table, smashing it apart and throwing splinters all over the room.

  The two mages turned their attention to the advancing gravel ghouls.

  As they did so, the body of the blade fiend was absorbed into the floor, and more gravel ghouls and vine monsters appeared from behind them. But these would be no more than a distraction.

  Everyone leaped into action. Sir Gallant the Elder, put on a surprising turn of speed, vaulted over the gravel ghouls to engage Adremor in combat. He practically flew over the stony giants, drawing his great broadsword as he went. The blade sang as it left its sheath, and firelight flashed along its length.