by Marcus Sloss
The next goblin happily planted his rear in the seat. I waved. He waved back. I did a gentle throw ensuring I did not break the game. Bullseye. A short scream and a violent death later left me laughing madly.
“I take it you fought our kind before. I understand. Even I enjoy watching them hit the water after all these years.”
“Uh… Want a raise? I will totally build one of these with traps, lava, icraws, golems… The options are endless. By the creator, this trip was worth it already. Another.” I said and the shaman indicated for the next goblin to go.
I waved, it waved back. Would this ever get old? Thunk, scream, splash, horrible death. I doubted it would.
“I am shaman Rawix, pleasure to meet you. I see your shaman bears your emblem and defers to you… Most unusual.” Rawix said while waving the next goblin onto the seat.
I killed it after we blew each other kisses.
I noticed the area around us had cleared and an elegant cyclops lady sent me a white contract. I accepted.
“It was a pleasure Rawix. And yes he defers to me in a sense. Really we are friends as of late, used to be enemies. Until he learned I was Gryff, the champion of Lily. One of the retreating four.” I proclaimed. There were audible gasps. “Yeah… zero fear of reprisal now. I have killed all the champions of the seven and signed a white with the gods themselves. I was serious about the job. We even have a great library if you like learning.”
“Demigod of Lily… I do not know that god. What are her talents?” The cyclops asked.
I lit my hands on fire then iced them solid. It hurt for a brief second. Then I shattered them. My frozen digits crashed to the ground and I healed them back into creation. That part I had to bit my tongue from screaming. I then built a small pedestal and spun a portal from my spot to besides the cyclops. I hopped through and when I was beside her did an improper curtsy. Exactly like I had to Lady Rain in what seemed like ages ago.
“Oh my, I am Ilia. Cyclops Supreme Mistress of Rawix… you look, puzzled human. Is something wrong?”
“Did Yrak die or something? My cyclops said he ruled here.”
“Ah yes… He does. That is my brother. The Cyclops Supreme is unusually busy.” Ilia went to say more when I paused her.
“I get it. Intruder sets an alert with a potential risk flagged to it. I do understand. Since we are wearing the white can I get a tour while we talk of dealing with this elv I have? His name is Pebbles. Here is his contract.” I said and extended the contract. Ilia single eye shot and she stuttered in her reply. I had gifted her Pebble without anything in return. “Ah dear lady Ilia, do not be stunned. He challenged me to a dual. This will be far more than he deserves.”
“You cheated with your god powers…” Pebbles said like a fool.
Ilia was certainly not tolerant of slaves. She accepted my contract and her cyclops guards smashed into Pebbles until he was bleeding on the ground.
“May I heal him so they can do it again?” I asked and the contract gave me permission. I healed the arrogant shit. The next round of beatings continued.
“I dare say Gryff you are a delight. A biponi awaits. We will tour a few of the islands and then talk to my brother. E-rax, go ride a dragon to inform my brother I bringing a demigod and a new male slave that has been gifted in friendship. If you will follow me Lord Gryff.” Ilia said with a bow. The dress spilled her triple amounts of cleavage. I saw observers of the crowd gawk and a few mothers cover children's eyes. So much for freeing the nipple in cyclops society. “The trip should not last too long. It will give my brother time to prepare for such an esteemed guest.”
I swatted Cora’s ass to get her to jolt forward. She rubbed the sting out and we followed behind our host. This would be the first time seeing the biponi up close. Traz… or was it Lirkon… Traz told me about them. They were defeated swiftly in the opening acts of the war until they stopped coming through the portal. Up close they stank. I smelt under my arm. Nope, it was definitely the biponi. Cora rolled her eyes at this and Virtue was indifferent to the stench. It was a strong oily smell.
“This thing safe?” I asked.
“Unless it is swarmed by dragons then yes. We have only lost a few in the billion plus years of operating this world. Every time one dies it is a damn rogue dragon. I hate those things even if they do bring in good stones for rides. This planet is for the rich of the rich though. Even wealthy cyclops from the warring universe have been known to visit. That is a feat in itself.” Ilia said while we walked up a ramp. The top of the ramp went horizontal as we walked to a booth platform strapped to the biponi’s back. “Find a place of comfort once inside anywhere you like. Any particular drink you favor. I have a whiskey that I bought from a trading planet. Our kind has found human whiskey agreeable with our palette.”
“Whiskey with ice, please. Careful now, I drink three of those and I may put a baby in this wife.” I said while grabbing Cora’s firm ass.
Ilia snickered. “As a breeding mistress, it is clear as day that woman is with child. Look at her shiny hair and complexion. Opa, be a dear and swell her belly.”
Cora went to panic. We were on a flying whale about to take off so I wrapped her gently in my arms as an elvath servant of Ilia’s grew our child. She muttered about wanting to be certain when I watched our baby grow. She was huge. Maybe twins big. I hoped that wasn’t a thing now. I complained of a lack of twins and now I was getting twins. I placed a hand to her belly. I sent my aura through her and indeed felt two. A blue and green core was barely detectable. Perfect if she let the blue go down first. For another day though. It was those darn purples that made it nigh impossible to have the children without my help.
“Oh, these stairs are so much different. Are you upset husband?”
“What that you were nervous and wanted to be certain,” I paused while I looked at her wobbling and stabilized her. “No, I am not upset. I am happy for you. You will be a different woman when you are a mother. This will probably retire you for a while.”
“Why retire me, there are teams that care for your children.”
“Just a hunch. I think… You will be a very good mother. Know I will not be disappointed if your focus goes from your magic that you have mastered, to our babies well-being. I am sure you will be up for a new challenge. Enough of that talk for now. I want to get you seated before we take off.”
At this point, I was a tad upset with Ilia. She should have asked before making my wife ready to have babies. I was going to ask Cora if she had been elvath tested when we got home. This was achieving the same goal in a sense. I let it slid realizing it was minor as I found an elevated perch. I walked up the ramp with Cora in tow as I held her hand. I sat in a bench seat and placed my wife on my lap. We had an amazing view. Something that I had been lacking until this moment. What I saw startled me.
Elvue at first look might pass off as a water world. I had to observe closely to figure out what exactly happened here. Across the horizon, ever few miles were peaked mountains. Each of these mountains was an island. I had seen large islands that had mountains on them. This was all the islands were… Massive mountains designed in a layered style with the lowest sections being the biggest and widest.
I started to piece together what had happened. Everything was custom built here. The designers had created isolated city islands high off the ground. They then flooded the planet, the amount of ice or water used here would have been insane. This was very visually appealing, and I think that was not a side bonus. The reason for a water world with isolated cities was to protect their property. Against a Horde army, it provided a great defense. The mountain islands sheer walls were too steep for most aquatic creatures, while the ocean waters prohibited marching mass amounts of Horde. Even the branki would struggle to assault this world with all the predators in the water being fed goblins.
I spun around and saw nothing besides water and tall islands. The private biponi we were seated on slowly lifted as it was untethered to the docking platform. I watched a
s the crowded masses grew smaller. Cora nestled into me and apologized. I let her rest against my chest. She sniffed the blood on my tunic from earlier and I removed it. A quick toss over my shoulder sent it billowing toward the sea or lake. I had no idea if it was salt. As we increased to a slow speed the stench floating whale decreased from fresh air.
Ilia sauntered up the ramp to our private enclave with a glass of whiskey and a fresh shirt for me. I saw one of the guards wearing his armor with no undershirt. It would work so I gratefully accepted it and ducked my head into the tunic. It stunk but nothing horrid. The whiskey I downed in a long pull. It was divine.
“Do you like how we copied Entria?” Ilia asked. I was not sure if she was testing me or being serious.
“Entria has plenty of oceans, I see the continent outlines with ease from my balcony now that it has moved into orbit around my sun. This is far different. Sure you use glass and mostly floating or elevated tours. I respect that, and what you did here. This is a fortification island. You would be hard pressed to defeat your defenses and pull off a successful raid.” I said as we flew slowly for an island with no other tours going around it. “I have to give credit where it is due. I want to steal elvath prisoners. Not from here though. Too isolated and too well defended.”
“Your honesty is refreshing and unusual. Are you trying to breed elvath and are looking for stock?”
“Have you studied that elv I traded you. And be mindful that was a trade. Merely I went first.” I said while waving a friendly finger.
“We cannot determine where he is from,” Ilia said with a huff. “Most unusual. He is not accustomed to being a slave which says a lot.”
“Yeah, he has a real attitude problem. He is from my home on planet Vin. Billions of them there.” I said and she laughed. “Fine don’t believe me. Glowvia added thousands of new males. Seven hells I bet Warg even sold you some males recently or tried to trade for something.”
This got her to stop laughing instantly.
“Knowledge is power and in my circles expensive. Why disclose so much?” Ilia said while shaking the empty whiskey glass I handed her. “Want another?”
“No thanks,” I said as a servant grabbed the drink holder. “I killed Raxrune. I wish got some cool scar or trophy. The first time we met he was raiding elvath from my planet. I let him get away in exchange for destroying our planetary portal. That was how much he wanted them without us stopping him immediately. We could have killed all those he was wanting to escape with too. Really we got the short end of the deal I think. Well, those poor elvath that went through the portal certainly did.”
“Indeed, he was asking too much. Unlike Glowvia we limit our female numbers and rotate males with other breeders we have ties to. She has old warriors. Soldiers from the original fall. So renowned their children she trades for are considered premium. It is rare she even lets the offspring go. It would help so much to rotate those males. I digress though. This male will help our chartist during the next cycle. That is assuming your planet does not put us out of business. We always knew at some point there could be a hidden planet discovered. It was a given with how many ships they sent fleeing before we crashed into their defenses. If you have a planet full of elvath and especially elv males… Why do you want more?”
“That is a fair question Ilia. Fair indeed. I don’t. I merely want to free more slaves. I have been raiding dvaren planets. Virtue here showed me that my audacious actions will never have a profound impact until I am ready to house trillions of slaves. There are more dvaren than planetary space I own. That is not the case with a small chunk of the elvath population. I can make a real difference. If you are low on females I would happily trade for soul stones and market buy what I can. I got around fifteen hundred females for the last male I won in a contest.”
“Things are adding up quickly. You were the warrior that many disbelieved was a human. We had bought a lot of humans to help clean up our dvaren planet of trash when the market skyrocketed. We flipped those humans for three times as much. I wonder where those forty million humans ended up.”
I laughed at this. There was a chance I had bought them. I dropped that line of thought as we had arrived at the first island. There was a dock with a ramp that spiraled around the island with viewing glass. It looked like this was for the tourists to get off the boat to get high for seeing the elvath. We flew in a slow pattern from low to high I instantly realized what they built here. The island design allowed tiered platforms with themes. The lowest platform was an icraw breeding floor. How they kept it covered in snow had me intrigued. There were a lot of them and anyone who went over the clear wall was doomed. There were no ogres or elvath with them. Only the large fierce cats. The next layer of the tiered island was elvath. Many, many, females. Three more layers housed tens of thousands of the ladies performing all sorts of tasks. A lot were simply resting while reading a book. I saw no task masters here trying to get a certain quota of sails made or anything like that. There were dvaren guards everywhere you looked. In numbers so great I sighed. The next layer up housed a few dozen males with ogre guards. They were waited on while they lounged. I do not think this island was toured often as shutters were brought around by the females to shield the males from our view. Rude.
The top layer rested a large black dragon. A single read eye opened to view us. A quick look and it closed its eye to continue its rest. I wondered if it would be upset if I had been wearing my scaled armor.
The biponi ascended and we went to a city that floated in the clouds. Under the city hundred of biponi were tethered together to promote the lift required. I saw a lot of crews managing the team of floating whales. I guess when you were not the god of gravity you had to be creative in how you defied the natural pull of a planet.
We reached a landing pad area and ropes were tossed out by orc crewmembers. The process was quick and efficient. Within a few minutes, we were walking down ramps and were inside the city. There were no massive structures or thick buildings. Everything was slim and short while still being ritzy. A floating city needed the least amount of weight so this made sense.
“Welcome to Elvue Floating Isle. The Horde name is more elaborate and the translation is a simplified version. You can get anything you want here for a price. This is where only the elite of the elite get to visit. Is there anything of splendor or grandeur here… No, not really. We have elvath prostitutes. That is the main draw I guess. It really is a scheme to get more soul stones from the privileged. You do not want to eat here either, so expensive.” Ilia said as she guided us past a business section that comprised of mostly inns and restaurants. A trinket store sold that same stupid outfit the troll who greeted us here was wearing. “Yrak will be pleased to see you. I think he misses the days of the civil war when things were actually on the line. He was one of the few generals at the time who gladly let the collar be slapped around his neck. Me… I hated that time. Never thought I would ever become a breeding tool. No offense lover of Gryff. I had eighty seven children back then.”
Cora shrugged, not offended in the least. I had to wonder if I was meeting a devout Horde supporter. While his sister was not. I think that was a hint she was giving me without violating any contract. Or she could merely be passing the time while we walked.
On the far edge of the landing pad rest a two story house made of thin wood supports and glass. It was definitely trying to mimic Glowvia’s palace. I gazed at it and felt it was weak and cheap. Probably for the best they limited who was allowed up here. I also was spoiled by actual work of gods so maybe this was amazing in other circles. To me, it was not. We passed some guards and walked around the building until we were on a large balcony. Shocker, the balcony was glass. Unfortunately, there was a cloud under us and you could not see the water or the islands.
Ilsa clattered her claws in getting the attention of those waiting for us. A large cyclops who was reading a contract lifted his single eye. The guards behind him tensed at my arrival. Ilia added him to our white con
tract and his casual wear shifted to the bland white. The guards visibly relaxed.
“This is Gryff, demigod of Lily, slayer of Raxrune. Gryff this is Yrak, Cyclops Supreme Commander and Lord Yrak.” I noticed him grimace at my claim of killing Raxrune. “Bring the elv forward for my brother to inspect. This was brought in trade. His world has many more. Or so he claims.”
Yrak set his report down and stared at me. I wanted to sit and eat. I even heard my tummy rumble. He did too and ignored it. That was rude.
“I pay well to stay informed. I did not hear of the demise of Raxrume. Temi yes. Aroxa was captured. The rest are but babes. I have heard the seven were planning a massive invasion. One so large it put the elvath wars to shame.” Yrak sighed at this. “The report I got from there was I retired at the right time. All my friends who still served have gone missing. No letters are being sent back. This early into an invasion there are good soul stones in moving letters. I also heard Warg has placed a bounty on all demigods of the four retreating gods. You…”
“Nice. Yeah, he made a contract with me for a billion years. No scrying of fighting. He thought I was someone else. Not my fault. Since we are wearing white let me show you something. I think your sister and you would love it.” I said making him an offer.
“As long as it is brief,” Yrak said.
“Virtue Ooney Bay please,” I said and a small portal was created. I stepped through.
∞∞∞
I was on the east side not facing the harbor. I walked into the building and wave Yrak, Ilia, and their guards with them. I heard muttering about how plain and bland the décor was. I wanted to give an excuse until I realized it did not matter. We walked down the hallway and exited to a western facing balcony with views of the bay.
Lord Nova postured himself not far off, he was quick to assess the situation.
“Lord Nova, we are playing host. If you would be so kind as to give our guests a view of the elvath on that ship down there. Can you have Hai give a brief explanation of where they came from?” I asked. Lord Nova landed and Hai waved. “One guard each, please. This is Lord Nova, second in command of the griffin kingdom. He will show you a glimpse of what lays across the sea.”