But before she could take that final step like Illiel did, she needed to gather life zeal.
“Oh yes, Theo!” Sava moaned.
“Oh yes, Sava!” I joked as I thrust into the elf’s loins. This was the third time today, and I was starting to think Illiel was getting jealous. Yorik too for that matter. I’d suspected that the orc was interested in being more than my hired muscle for a long time.
I fucked Sava long and hard. She deserved it for all the hard work she’d been doing for me lately. Before long we both came and were able to cultivate the life zeal we’d generated.
Our private moment was soon interrupted by Melise opening the door and bursting inside. Her eyes went wide when she noticed our undressed state and she immediately started blushing.
For my part, I rolled out of bed and stood up, still stark naked, but my newly improved body and all the female attention I was getting had done a lot for my self-confidence, and I only felt the barest twinge of embarrassment as I bent over to pick up my clothes from the floor.
“What is it, Melise?”
“U-uhm... Matriarch Yulli has returned and wishes you to be in attendance.” Melise stuttered.
“Yulli went somewhere?” I asked curiously. “News to me.”
”She has just returned from subjugating three of the local tribes of the Hearthwood forest. Their leadership has been captured and have been brought back to this encampment to swear fealty or face death." The mage acolyte had recovered some of her composure now that I had my pants on, though her eyes were still locked on my bare chest. I didn’t blame her. I’d gotten really nice abs recently.
“She did what!?” I swore. The exclamation was only able to lift Melise’s gaze for a moment. “Damn it. This is not what I had planned!”
Open conquest has its place, but it isn’t always the ideal in terms of expanding your power base. I’d planned to have the Hearthwood clan take over all the local clans in the area, but I’d planned to do it slowly. I wanted to foster trade networks to get them to specialize. After that I could use our superior military forces provided by the remaining assets of the Songstone clan to convince the other clans to let us do all the protecting for the entire area.
Based on my research, none of the neighboring clans had a formalized military structure. I had planned on forming a league of sorts, reminiscent of the Latin League that led to the rise of the Roman Republic. In time, all the nearby clans could have become willing subordinates. Instead, Yulli had gone and made enemies of them.
“Sava, I hate to leave you like this, but I’ve got to go. Get dressed and keep your deadliest concoctions close at hand. You too Illiel, but stay out of Yulli’s sight.” I ordered as I stormed out of the building. “Melise, follow me.”
Before the mage acolyte could question whether I actually had the power to order her around like that, I left the room. I stomped off in the direction of the building that Yulli had seized as her personal manor.
Melise coughed slightly to get my attention. “Theo... you know my name, but I don’t remember introducing myself to you.”
That’s right. I learned her name in her dream. This at least confirmed the notion that I had really been in her dream. The odds of my brain simply making up the correct name in some sort of magically induced acid trip were very slim.
“You did promise yourself to my service.” I said, causing Melise to freeze slightly. “We can talk later, if you’d like.” Luckily, she didn’t pester me further and kept walking behind me.
The manor Yulli had taken over had been expanded dramatically since last, I’d seen it. What once had been plain walls of wood now had floor-to-ceiling tapestries, with plush rugs of both fabric and animal skins lying around to make the place more comfortable. It still wasn’t a palace by any stretch. No vaulted ceilings for one. But it was much closer to one than it had been.
In front of Yulli there were three elves, each of whom bore a proud expression on their faces. Their straight backs and defiant eyes spoke of a lifetime of pride and accomplishment. Every one of them was at the mage acolyte level. The silver-haired woman on the left even seemed to be a hair’s breadth from breaking through to becoming a true mage on Yulli’s level.
The difference between a mage acolyte like Illiel and a true mage like Yulli was a small distinction, but that small distinction was a chasm in terms of power. As a true mage, Yulli had fully mastered her spellheart and could use all of its power to its true potential.
This elf was clearly a powerful mage acolyte, somebody who had been in that realm for years. But she wasn’t a true mage, as her current position testified. Yulli, as a true mage, must have bested each one of them. Probably in front of their own tribes and clans, humiliating them in the process.
“Ah, here he is.” Yulli said. She was sitting sideways across a wooden chair that looked like it was trying to be a throne. Her legs stuck out over one arm rest and her head stuck out over the other. She reclined with one hand behind her head and gesticulated at me with what appeared to be a turkey leg, which she had been gnawing on just a moment ago.
“Here I am.” I said in a very unhappy tone. Yulli frowned in displeasure but made no move to rebuke me.
“As you can see here, my fellow chiefs, the future of the new Songstone clan is looking up! The best time to bend the knee is now. It might cause some humiliation for the moment, but at its peak many tribes more powerful than yours would fight for the opportunity to become servants to the Songstone clan. You are truly fortunate to have found us in such distress. You’ll be vassals, but with work and dedication you may someday become servants.”
“The Ironwood tribe will die before we become a weak tribe of slaves. We know that road and will not walk it again. I refuse.”
The two others seemed to gain strength from the Ironwood chief’s bravery. Though they had looked on the edge of wavering, now that stood taller and prouder.
“Nor shall the Myriad Hues of Flame tribe yield to an up-jumped tribe of fishermen who have allied with forest bandits.” The proud white-haired chief Conadur said, straightening her back. She seemed to be referring to the Riverweed tribe being absorbed into the Songstone clan.
“If two trader tribes will not yield, how can the Waterbeetle tribe do so? No, as tribal chief Wisdom, I have been shown my namesake this day. I choose to die with honor.”
Yulli took one last bite of bird leg with a look of consternation on her face.
“So be it.” She said, tossing the animal bone aside. “In this land of ours, the strong take what they will, while the weak endure what they must. I offered the olive branch to you, and you have spat upon it.”
Yulli turned towards Melise, who was standing behind me. “See that they are fed and armed. We will take them with us to the gathering tomorrow. They shall face me in the field at dawn tomorrow. As custom dictates summon their kin to watch over their final moments, and to collect their souls when they die. I will show the whole Hearthwood forest the strength of the Songstone clan!”
The matriarch of the Songstone clan inclined her head at the three tribal chiefs, but they did not return the courtesy by bowing as they should have. Instead, they merely met her gaze and inclined their heads, as they would when greeting an equal.
They would die tomorrow at dawn. Yulli knew it, and each of them knew it. But the pride of a cultivator dictated that they meet their killers gaze as if still believed that victory could be theirs.
***
When the three tribal chiefs had been escorted off to wherever was to serve as their cells until tomorrow at dawn, I spoke.
“They could have been allies, you know.”
“And now they’ll be subjects. As I see it, that is preferable to allies.” Yulli retorted.
“Perhaps preferable to you, but not it is far from ideal. They will serve half-heartedly at best. Perhaps not at all.”
“If the next group of chiefs they elect do not bend the knee to me, then I will defeat them in combat, as I shall with this current
batch.”
I shook my head. “Perhaps they will swear fealty to you and your cause, as the Riverweed tribe did. But the difference between the Riverweed tribe and these three tribes is that you are right here. You drink their water, eat their fish, settle disputes between tribesmen, sleep in their hall, and defend this clan when needed. With you are a loyal band of mage acolyte warriors that follow your orders, who also live in this tribe.”
“But this is not the case with the conquered tribes. They are out of sight, with their own leaders, accustomed to their freedom. Without your constant presence it will be impossible to keep them loyal. There will be rebellions every time you turn your back.”
“Then I’ll appoint someone I trust to lead them.” Yulli snapped grumpily. Before I could respond, she waved her hand again. “Enough of this. I didn’t call you here to advise me. You lied to me last time we met.”
When you don’t want to reveal any information at all, it’s best not to say anything. I had more than one secret to keep and didn’t want to accidentally reveal the wrong one to Yulli without reason. So, I kept silent.
“You were the one who concocted those elixirs. The ones that enhance the potency of spellhearts. You had me believing it was the prisoner.”
“I did.” I answered slowly.
“From now on, you will be responsible for producing one hundred such vials of elixirs each moon, for me to distribute amongst those most worthy of such an honor. I will provide the elixir components needed.”
I nodded slowly. “Very well. While I’m at that task, would you like me to arrange for some food and celebration for after you defeat the three clan chief’s tomorrow? Nothing lightens the mood after an execution like good food.”
Yulli nodded in surprise, a note of good cheer coming back into her voice. “Fine. I’m glad you’re acting more amenable, Theo. You’re an important asset to this clan, Theo. In more ways than one now. I will see to it that all the contributions you make are well rewarded. As I rise, so shall you.”
“Yes, matriarch.” I bowed in the fashion I’d seen others do, then immediately turned to leave.
“Oh, and Theo? Do not plot against me again.”
I bowed again but said nothing. I wouldn’t make a promise I was already planning to break.
***
“A cake, you say?” the Songstone clan cook asked. He was the only person I knew in Queenshold, and thus the person I visited the moment I arrived in town.
“A duel to the death between cultivators is a solemn occasion. By tradition, the winner should respect the life they have taken by entering secluded meditation, and thus cannot enjoy any cake. The loser is dead, and thus cannot enjoy any cake either. So, tell me again, why should I waste what little flour we have baking a cake?”
“We are not celebrating a duel to the death. We are celebrating the conquest of three neighboring tribes by our matriarch.” I said, trying to mask my annoyance. It had been much easier to convince the others to treat the events tomorrow as entertainment. I’d arranged for banners to be hung and tables to be set up. Many of the other elves would even bring some of their own dishes, so we could set up some food buffet style. There would be music and dancing, and most importantly, drinking.
The cook snorted, despite my explanation. “Sweet rolls. No cake.” She was on the heftier side, as far as elves went, and she had a large wooden spoon that she slapped against her palm in an intimidating fashion.
“Fine but make them dry. I want everyone to be thirsty. I want the alcohol to flow freely tomorrow. It is a party after all.”
I got Sava to Melise to requisition what we needed from the clan coffers. That was enough to pay Grotkins for some supplies. I also visited other clan members specifically to get the rest of what I wanted.
Although we were all set up in tents, most of the craftswomen of the clan brought their tradable goods with them so their tents doubled as sales stalls. Besides them, there were many rogue elves who were not part of any tribe or clan present to hawk food or goods that weren’t available from within the Songstone clan.
After I arranged for some salted fish to be served as well, I visited one of the Songstone servants who’d taken to being the clan brewmaster to acquisition some alcohol. They were no less eager to part with their stock than the cook, but I convinced them that everything was on Yulli’s orders. Which they technically were. She hadn’t given me any specific instructions, so I was able to freely expand the scope of the feast as I wished. And so, the bigger the event the better.
I ended up agreeing to owe the brewer a favor in exchange for giving me a single bottle of her best brew. It was a type of fermented fish drink from the stock that had been commissioned by Yulli. Apparently, she loved the stuff, but their supply was running low because she’d drunk so much of it.
To me, the important thing was that the drink was strong. Strong enough to cover up the scents from any unusual herbal blends I might choose to adulterate it with.
***
Not long after I had Sava fetch a bundle of those same herbs we’d tested on Illiel before and brew up a second batch. Nela herself was in seclusion, working on her cultivation base, as she had been since Yulli had shown up. I had considered sending Illiel out for the job, but I still hadn’t admitted to her that I’d drugged her to get her to trust me early on. I’d save that conversation for another day.
After I’d made arrangements for supplies the next day, I got to work on the bottle of fermented fish and berries I’d collected.
The stuff was naturally high in life zeal, probably played a large part in its popularity. I’d be adding my own touch to it tonight while everyone else slept.
As the elves around me went to bed, I settled into a meditative stance, legs crossed, and eyes closed. I focused on the zeal accumulation technique and gathered up the zeal I needed, plucking it from the minds of dreaming elves. Bit by bit, I concentrated it into the bottle of alcohol before me. Soon, the bottle was nearly as high in mind zeal as it was in life zeal.
I pushed it as far as I dared. The two zeals seemed to sit together quiet easily, which I was thankful for. Zeals like water and fire did not mix together without great effort, but mind and life zeal seemed to effortlessly mix. Still, I didn’t want to raise the concentration of mind zeal higher than the life zeal. Illiel had told me balance was important in alchemy. Judging by how she ate, I didn’t think Yulli was a connoisseur of fine drinks, and she likely wouldn’t be able to pick out a change in flavor due to the addition of mind zeal.
After that, I concentrated the drink a little by evaporating a little of the water off. I lost a good portion of the alcohol that way, but not the zeal. This made the taste a bit stronger in flavor but lacking in potency. In the end I decided to mix it with a cheaper distilled brew to bring the alcohol content back up.
And then I tried my new trick. I tried to turn the mind zeal to a specific aspect. In this case, trust. I’d discovered this to be true with earth zeal, so why wouldn’t it be true with mind zeal. To take on an aspect all it took was earth zeal spending a bit of time in contact with a certain type of earth. By that logic, if mind zeal spent a bit of time near trusting thoughts, it should take on the flavor of trust.
It was a theory that I was still developing. I had no way to measure success with it, but I gave it a try anyway. And so there I sat, thinking about the things I trusted.
I struggled quite a bit trying to figure that out. In the end, I had to resort to thinking about things I knew to be true without a shred of doubt. My own name. That two plus two makes four. Lame stuff.
After more than an hour of thinking trusting thoughts, I noticed no signs of success. Maybe something had happened, maybe not. Either way, I set the bottle aside to let things settle after all my efforts and give it a chance to cool down a bit.
I’d salvaged a panel of ironwood that had been treated with cold flame, which had probably been taken from somebody of the Myriad Hues of Flame clan. It had a bit of chill left in it, so I w
rapped the bottle in a sheet to keep it cool.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
A gong awoke everyone in the in the vicinity the next morning. It was made of torso-sized disk of brass, but whoever was banging on it must have had something against the little metal disk, because it was ringing loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood.
When I looked around nearly everyone and everything had been gathered and packed away from our encampment. Almost everything was packaged into carts, and those that weren’t loaded with goods had tarps and linens to assemble tents. I couldn’t believe the elves had much to trade, having just settled in the area after fleeing for their lives, but I think Yulli’s idea for this gathering was more a show of power and force. She’d already succeeded in subjugating the weaker half of the Hearthwood forest, and the only remaining rival of note was the Crimson Dragonfly tribe. Now was the time for Yulli to prove that she was strong enough to rule over the entire Hearthwood.
I was given a place on one of the carts. The ride didn’t last as long as I thought it would, partially because horses in this world seemed to be exceptionally fast. Not as fast as a car but faster than I could of run back home. Not that the elves on foot had any trouble keeping up with the beasts of burden. Before the day was half over we’d arrived at our destination.
By the time my cart was set down and a tent set up for me, many of the elves were already outside and wandering around a large grassy area, in the center of Queenshold which presumably would be the location of the duel.
In the light of the new day I realized that it wasn’t just the Songstone clan attending. The sea of golden-hair was interspersed with bits of green from Riverweed cultivators who’d survived and joined up with us, but off to the side there were brown haired Ironwood tribe elves, orange-yellow Myriad Hues of Flame tribe elves, Purple haired Hidden Serpent’s tribe elves, and Blue haired Waterbeetle tribe elves. According to Sava, elves change hair color depending on the concentrations of zeal in their body, which meant that hair color for elves was a good indication of the type of magic the practiced.
Zeal of the Mind and Flesh Page 29
