by Eric Vall
My eels were having a field day as they darted along the edge of the moat to threaten everyone at once, and when I saw several ogres admiring their teeth, I couldn’t help puffing my chest out a bit with pride. Then Grot raised a massive hand my way when he saw me, and he barked my name as he adjusted the dirty sash around his waist and headed over.
“Can we play with Little Mason before you leave?” Shoshanne asked, and I flipped around in immediate confusion.
“Little who?” I scoffed. “Since when are we naming any part of my body?”
The healer blushed as the women all giggled. “Little Mason is the metal dragon.”
“No, he’s Baby Mason,” Aurora countered.
“He is not a baby,” Cayla said as she rolled her eyes. “He’s Mason Junior. It’s more dignified.”
“Mason the Second?” Shoshanne tried.
“The Mighty Mason,” Aurora mused.
Cayla grinned. “King Mason.”
“Oh, I like that one,” Shoshanne gasped.
“No,” I cut in. “We’re not naming the metal dragon after me.”
“But he is you,” Cayla argued. “He’s just as powerful and intimidating as you.”
“And just as handsome,” Aurora agreed.
“With a heart of gold,” Shoshanne sighed, and she blew a kiss to the metal dragon across the clearing.
Then the dragon cocked his head to the side, and I could tell he was trying to figure out how to get to my women without crushing any of my guests. So, I connected with his gem to order him to stay put, and while he technically obeyed, he kept letting out periodic screeches so the women would look his way some more.
“Mason Junior works,” Aurora giggled, and Deya nodded her approval.
“Nooo,” I groaned.
“What’s wrong with it?” Cayla laughed. “It’s regal.”
“Alright, but what if we have a son?” I countered. “Wouldn’t you rather name our son after me?”
Shoshanne nodded. “They can share the name.”
“Yeah, but if you name our dragon after me, then you’re basically naming our son after the dog, you know?” I pointed out.
My women furrowed their brows as if I’d spoken in gibberish.
“I’ll name him,” I decided. “I made him, so I’ll name him, and we’re not going with Mason Junior.”
“Flynt!” Grot barked again as he shuffled up, and my women all lit up like this was the perfect name, but I quickly shook my head to squash that one. “The man with the dragons!”
“Hey, Grot,” I chuckled. “Looks like you enjoyed the flight. Any complications?”
“Not one,” the ogre ruler replied, and he propped his fists on his big green hips. “I tell ye’, this was really somethin’. I never felt so weightless.”
I considered his seven belly rolls as he said this, but he was already admiring Deya with a toothy grin before I could respond.
“This one, though,” Grot chortled. “This one’s a real beaut.”
“She is,” I agreed.
Then Grot raised his hand to pet Deya on the shoulder, but an ominous growl echoed in her chest as her violet eyes narrowed, and when the growl built into a throaty snarl, the ogre ruler suddenly dropped to one knee while he bowed his head.
I raised my brows as the massive ogre trembled under Deya’s gaze, and she let her fiery breath seep over his bald head while her snarl slowly faded.
Aurora sent me a know-it-all look before she told the dragon she was a good girl, and the sight of the twelve-foot ruler cowering at Deya’s taloned feet made me feel a little silly for worrying as much as I had. I couldn’t deny, my elf certainly handled herself well amongst the ogres.
So, I nudged Grot to get him to stand up again, and he kept his eyes averted from Deya’s as he tried to speak in a gentle tone, but since he had such a gravelly timber, it just sounded more like he was a mafia boss who didn’t want anyone eavesdropping.
“Can’t imagine how ye’ managed to tame one,” Grot muttered. “You’re a hell of a man, Flynt.”
“It’s nothing, really.” I shrugged. “She’s--”
“No,” Grot interrupted with a solemn shake of his head, and I hunched several inches as he dropped his massive hand on my shoulder. “This here’s a feat no man but Flynt could have accomplished. Ye’ve got the balls, and I want ye’ to know, all my sons will bear the name of Flynt. They’ll grow to have giant balls, and one day, they’ll tame the dragons, too.”
“Oh… thanks?”
“Keeka’s already expectin’,” the ogre ruler said with a crude grin. “I got a feelin’ it’s a boy, too.”
“Wow,” I muttered as I eyed the moldy ogre women in the clearing. “Keeka… she’s the one who peels your flesh for you, right? That’s… congratulations.”
Grot looked deeply impressed that I remembered this disgusting detail from my first trip to Jagruel, and he laughed heartily as he turned toward the clearing.
“Hear that?” the ogre roared. “All of ye’ are namin’ your boys Flynt! Every damn one of ye’!”
The clearing thundered with the roars of the ogre army, and I just stared as Grot scruffed my hair with his massive hand.
“All of them?” I clarified.
“Aye,” the ogre ruler chuckled. “So, where’s our lair?”
I hadn’t even thought about where I’d house the ogres after they got here, but as Grot hocked a massive, sludgy loogie into my moat, I promptly decided a lair was top priority.
“Give me five minutes,” I replied at once, and Grot shuffled off with his dirty sash sagging halfway off his ass. Then I turned to my women. “Is everyone okay if we permanently take the name Flynt off the table? It’s pretty much spoken for.”
“Yeah, they can have that one,” Shoshanne agreed, and she crinkled her brow as Keeka began digging around in her belly button for a snack.
Aurora stifled a gag. “Lair, Mason. Make a lair and don’t put it near our house.”
“I’m on it,” I assured them. “You have twenty minutes to play with the metal dragon, but then he’s heading back to Mors Pass, okay?”
My women’s smiles glittered as they all nodded in agreement, and Deya beat them all to the other side of the clearing in one jump. The metal dragon was so excited he almost crushed the ogres as he rolled onto his back, and while he splayed like that and beat his tail against the ground, I couldn’t help wondering if that’s how I looked when I was around my women, too.
Minus the tail, it seemed accurate, but the way they all scruffed his belly and talked in baby voices to him was distinctly different.
The ogres watched in awe as the demonic dragon basked in the love, and any time an ogre came up to pet him, green flames shot from his eyes to match his warning screech.
My women just giggled adoringly every time this happened, and I didn’t miss that they were still calling him Mason Junior while they listed all their favorite things about him from his serrated claws right down to his death machete tail.
Then I saw Haragh lumbering over the bridge, though, and I jogged over to pull him aside.
“Dude, you are right on time,” I mumbled. “Do you know what kind of lair these guys need? Because they’re gonna poison my eels if they keep spitting in my moat.”
“I’ll take care of the lair,” Haragh chuckled. “What’s this I heard about an upcoming attack, though?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “It’s been a long ass day, but I’ll fill you in on the finer details later. Right now, we need to get our allies here, organize six platoons, and send them all out to those underground tunnels. We’re going on the offensive, and it’s probably going to be a fucking mess.”
“Alright.” Haragh shrugged, and I could have hugged him for being so on board with any crazy shit I brought up. “I’ll get a crew of Terra Mages together to handle the lair, but you’ll want to designate a huntin’ ground.”
“There’s woods everywhere,” I said as I waved a dismissive hand. “They can hunt there.
I just need to make sure they’re comfortable and preferably not too close to the other residents.”
“Yeah, ye’ don’t want the mages around once the feastin’ starts,” Haragh muttered. “Might lose a few of ‘em.”
“Grot wouldn’t eat my mages,” I snorted, but Haragh leveled his brown eyes on me, and my stomach dropped. “Really?”
“They’re ogres. What’d ye’ expect?”
I rifled my hair as I looked around the clearing. “Just… keep the lair away from the village, but not so far that it seems like I’m being a dick.”
“Sure,” the half-ogre snorted, “but ye’ might want to run all this by Kurna and Urn. They don’t look too pleased.”
I craned my neck around Haragh, and the two generals were glaring at the clearing with their burly arms crossed when I sent them a wave.
Then they nodded curtly, and I decided it’d be a good time to fill them in.
“Yeah, I’ll talk to them now,” I muttered, and Haragh began gathering a few Terra Mages from the lane as I headed over to Kurna and Urn.
“We’ve got a lot to go over,” I told the men. “Why don’t we take this to Flynt’s Pub?”
Once again, the generals only nodded in response, and while they led the way to the market, I eyed the tense and bulky muscles on their shoulders and the long, determined strides they took with each step.
Considering they’d known about my allies in the west, I couldn’t imagine why a couple hundred ogres would grate on their nerves like this, but I figured it was more likely they were concerned about the upcoming attack I mentioned out of the blue just now.
So, I stayed the course while the generals practically stormed their way to the pub, and I followed them to a dim table in the back corner where they already had a few empty pints stacked around.
“Alright,” I sighed as I sat down, and a couple Defenders joined us as Raynor brought over fresh ale. “As I’m sure you heard, we’re preparing for an offensive attack, and I know we’ve only been back in town since this morning, but we’ve gotta get our shit together fast if we’re gonna take advantage of the situation. According to the Elven Scrolls I had Wyresus working on, these portals rely on proximity to the creatures they’re transporting in order to send larger numbers through them. Based on the schematics I saw of the Master’s fortress, there’s a good chance his underground tunnels were created for this purpose, which means we need to get our troops stationed for a mass ambush at every tunnel as quickly as possible.”
The generals and Defenders nodded.
“So, what we need to do now… is… ” I trailed off and cocked a brow as I realized Kurna and Urn were glaring at their pints, and two of the other Defenders at the table looked almost as irritated. “Did I miss something?”
“Nope,” Kurna muttered.
I nodded. “Okay… because it seems like there’s a vibe here. Kind of hostile or maybe livid.”
Urn snorted. “Little bit of both.”
“What did I do?”
“You brought that fuckin’ elf here!” Kurna snapped.
“Seriously?” I scoffed, and my temper flared faster than I expected. “Call my woman a fuckin’ anything, and I will personally--”
“Not Deya,” Urn growled. “The other one.”
“Oh.” I furrowed my brow. “Dragir?”
“Yeah, that one,” Kurna muttered, and I eyed both men’s white knuckles around their pints.
“So, this is about the spice lady,” I realized. “Look, I can’t control what spice ladies do in their spare time. If she went for Dragir, that’s her thing, but it’s not like the man lives here, and I wouldn’t read too much into the situation because he only slept with all those women to brag about it.”
Kurna turned to glare at me instead of the pint. “Oh, good. He didn’t even give a shit about her.”
“I feel great about it now,” Urn said before he drained his pint.
“You know… ” I sighed. “There are so many more important things going on than a spice lady fucking an elf. Honestly, you’re generals. I gave you the promotions because you’re solid mages with your heads on straight. Can we move past the spice lady neither of you were dating and focus on the war?”
Urn just shrugged while Kurna didn’t move a muscle, and I couldn’t believe I had to discipline my burliest generals over a girl right now.
“Cool, so if I send the spice lady back to Serin, we could get to work?” I checked, and the two men abruptly looked up from their pints.
“No,” Kurna quickly countered. “No, leave her be. She’s… she’s a good spice lady.”
“She’s already got her shop set up so nicely,” Urn agreed. “We need a decent spice lady in Falmount.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered, and I tried so hard not to roll my eyes. “So, moving on, we need to discuss the tunnels I mentioned earlier as well as accommodating our allies here in Falmount.”
“How many more ogres are coming in?” Urn asked as he loosened his grip on the pint.
“None, they’re all here,” I replied. “I’m heading to Orebane as soon as I leave the pub, and I’m not sure how many dwarves will be coming down because it makes sense to leave a decent amount up in Aurum. They’ll need to travel to the northern tunnels from there, and the others will be dispersed in Nalnora. That leaves the elves, and--”
Kurna snorted and shook his head with disgust, but I ignored the commentary and continued anyway.
“And while the majority will be handling the three Nalnoran tunnels, I’m going to bring some back to assist with the others as well,” I explained. “We’ve got about two hundred Defenders between Falmount and Serin, but what I need to figure out is if any other mages are ready for promotion. Do either of you have any suggestions?”
“Maybe ten of the mages could make the cut,” Urn said as he stroked his moustache. “They’ve all been training with your pistols at the fields, so that’s an improvement, but mostly, they’re still struggling to get a clear hold on their elements.”
“Then they’re not ready,” I decided.
“They could be of use, though,” Kurna pointed out. “Your pistols alone could secure their--”
“Defenders aren’t promoted based on their shooting skills,” I countered. “They’re mages first and foremost, and I won’t promote anyone who can’t live up to the title. If you have some mages in mind who can wield their elements with precision, and also their weapons, then start a list of names, and we’ll have a trial to see if they’re ready. Otherwise, we can make do with the two hundred we have.”
“How many will stay behind to guard the capital?” Urn asked.
“I need to see how many knights we’ll have joining us before we make a decision on that,” I replied. “If we can cover the southern tunnel well enough, then I’ll leave thirty Defenders in Serin, and ten will remain in Falmount. It’s not likely the Master will waste soldiers on the capital once he starts at the tunnels, though, so we should be fine even if the mages and instructors take on the posts in the capital while the Defenders head to the frontlines with us.”
Kurna nodded. “How many tunnels in all?”
“Six, I think,” I admitted. “I only have Hulsan’s schematics to go off. It stands to reason the Master didn’t continue building after Hulsan died, but I still need to confirm the location of the portals.”
“Wouldn’t they be right where the tunnels are?” Urn asked.
“I would assume so, but not necessarily. They could be thirty yards away, there could be multiple portals in one cluster… anything like that would put our troops at a greater risk if we don’t know about it before they’re stationed, so I’m gonna do what I can to verify their locations by tonight.”
“Does Temin know about all this?” Kurna checked.
“Not yet, but he’s on my to do list,” I answered. “For now, if you guys could focus on getting the troops prepared, making sure the ogres have everything they need, and scouting the mages who are still training, that’d b
e helpful. We also need to start on the rosters for the six tunnels, and I want at least thirty of our best mages sent south of Serin to assist the knights.”
“We can do that,” Urn assured me. “What’s your plan for transportation?”
“Right,” I sighed. “Let’s get ahold of Bagneera and ready the passenger cars for another trip. The troops heading for Orebane can take the train straight there, but the Nalnoran troops will have to get off near Howleigh and travel a ways through the jungles. I’ll talk with our elven allies about how to handle the second leg of the journey, and I’ll keep you updated on any other developments.”
“Sounds good enough for me,” Kurna said with a nod.
“Great, now, do either of you know a Terra Mage named Markus? I met him at the Oculus, but I think he said he lives in Falmount. Black hair, green eyes, seems to know more than anyone about his element.”
“Yeah, we met him during the rebuild, right?” Urn recalled. “The younger guy teaching the Defenders about the ancient schematics of the city.”
“That’s Markus,” I confirmed. “Could you track him down and make sure he’s here when I get back from Orebane? I’m hoping he can help me figure out a thing or two about these portals.”
“I’ll find him,” the Terra Mage replied, “but I don’t know how much he can help with rune magic.”
“I know, but he’s my best shot at answering a few questions I have,” I muttered as I stood up.
The two generals shook my hand before I turned to leave, but I could tell they were still a bit tense over the spice lady as they dropped back into their seats to brood.
“Next two rounds are on me,” I sighed as I gestured to Raynor, and Kurna grinned in appreciation as the barkeep brought over frothing pints for the whole table.
“Thanks for that,” Urn chuckled. “Hey, what are you doing with all those ogres while you’re gone?”
“They’ll be here,” I said with a shrug. “Probably getting situated in their caves, doing ogre stuff.”
Kurna stared at me for a moment. “You’re just gonna leave them here with us?”
