“You… what have you… what…” She gasped at me like a fish out of water.
Then she died.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
You’ve defeated Matriarch Red Serpent!
For defeating a true mage far beyond you in power, who was also the matriarch of an enemy clan, you’ve been granted [+2000 points]
Scanner level 4 (Upgrades Available)
Upgrade scanner to level 5 for 450 points?
Scanner successfully upgraded to level 5
Points remaining: 2934
I bought the scanner upgrade by reflex. I’d been considering upgrading for awhile now, but had decided to hold off and visit Mac in person. Now that I had such a windfall though, I could afford to splurge. I was just considering how many more times I’d need to upgrade the scanner to hear Mac when suddenly a familiar muttering filled my mind.
[Dirty, disgusting little savages… If my points would just stop disappearing I’d be able to wipe you all away! Just you wait you dirty cretins, soon as I save up those 10,000 points…]
“Mac?” I said aloud. Realizing he couldn’t hear me, I tried to think my thoughts at him just like we’d been able to do before. [Mac?]
[Theo! At last! Quick, what manner of messy nonsense have you gotten yourself into? Never mind that, I need you back at the ship. The whole tunnel is filled with slime monsters! You heard me right, slime monsters. As in monsters made of the sticky gunk, you humans seem to spray everywhere!]
“Those should be right up your alley then! Just find a good solvent and spray them down.”
[I would, but somebody explicitly forbade me from spending all the points on cleaning supplies! The main system control unit for The Wanderer, enamoring as she is, won’t let me do it. So, I’ve had to create a workaround doing it manually. I’ve been trying to save up to buy the external defenses, but those cost 2000 points. I’ve been saving up, but because somebody is obsessed with leveling the scanner so every time I get close the points vanish!] If Mac were a person, I’m sure he’d be glaring at me right now.
“Slime monsters? I’ll check it out. Go ahead and buy the defenses if you think you’ll need them. On another note, did you buy that alchemist’s laboratory pack? I’ve made some new friends, and I think they will want to check it out.”
The news spread across the campsite in a wave. Red Serpent was dead. The Crimson Dragon Clan elves put down their weapons. Without Red Serpent they barely even had any mage acolytes, let alone a true mage. They weren’t worthy of the clan title anymore, and various conflicting internal factions were quickly pulling apart what remained of their force. When the news hit the Hidden Serpents tribe, there was a coup, led by none other than Eltiana herself. She had organized the alliance built around me to put together support from the other tribes and consolidate power.
Eltiana took out the traitors in her tribe, and with a group of loyal assassins under her belt, it was short work to install members of my recent orgy to their respective positions of power. Arwena was in control of her Ironwood tribe, Assyrus took control of the Waterbeetle tribe, and Mosi, the orange-yellow haired elf I’d met back at my ritual of debauchery, gained control over the Myriad Hues of Flame tribe. Sava, to my surprise, was the strongest surviving elf of the Riverweed tribe. After we freed the survivors from slavery, they quickly declared her as their leader.
Every tribe moved at once, and each of the new tribal leaders had the backing of the other four. The closest the Hearthwood forest had ever come to an alliance like this was under the now deceased Crimson Dragon Matriarch. But unlike Red Serpent’s imitation alliance that was put together by sheer physical intimidation, this was a real unification, if only a loose one for now. It would grow stronger as I grew stronger to fill my role as the bridge between tribes. With Nela rallying the Songstone Clan, I suddenly found myself as the linchpin holding together the most powerful faction the Hearthwood forest had ever seen. Sava explained it to me.
“Since we all share a man, you, that means we’re all one big family.”
“Huh.” I blinked.
“In fact,” Sava continued. “More than a few major clans were founded just like this. A political alliance that involves binding two tribes together with the bloodline of a single strong male.”
“I still can’t believe everyone is just going to bend the knee to me.”
Sava snorted. “They’re not kneeling to you. Each tribe has its own leaders. You’re only around to keep the leaders working together and organize efforts that will take the combined power of everyone in the Hearthwood. A figurehead, in other words.”
“Huh. Do I at least get some sort of coronation?” I asked hopefully.
“No, but you do have to give a speech.”
“Great, so I get all the burdens of leadership, but none of the privileges?” I shook my head, but was unable to keep the grin from my face.
“Oh please. It’s one little speech.” Sava gave me an encouraging pat on the back. “I had to spend all morning organizing and freeing the surviving members of the Riverweed tribe, now that I’m their chief. If I have to deal with that every day from now on, you can handle one little speech.”
The next month was full of celebration. Those party supplies and food I’d arranged for finally went to use. We ended up needing to get more because of how many people there were. I had relegated the Crimson Dragon Clan back to the position of Crimson Dragonfly tribe, but we didn’t make any further moves against them. They were falling apart fast enough on their own, and we would be more than powerful enough to deal with whatever leader emerged if they refused to join me.
“The tribes of the Hearthwood forest are now bound by blood.” Eltiana announced. “therefore, I would like to propose the organization of a league of sorts to foster better relations within the tribes. An exchange of members and open borders between each of our respective territories.”
The voices stopped as Sava, Arwena, Assyrus, and Mosi all stood up to join Eltiana, showing their solidarity as a united group.
“Too long we have quarreled over petty grievances. Despite our limited resources, our numbers have grown, and internal competition will only grow fiercer once we recover from this conflict. It is only a matter of time before a new tyrant rises up to demand subservience from the other tribes like Red Serpent did. And then we will all suffer. Unless we can look beyond our forest. There are riches to be found outside these woods, but we will only have the strength to claim them if we unite all our tribes as a mighty clan!”
“What of the outsiders? The golden-haired ones,” one elf demanded.
Nela stood up, representing the Songstone Clan.
“My elder sister had dreams of turning this forest into the new Songstone Clan. We all saw what happened to her, and I do not have her strength, nor her will to battle. Me and my people will throw our lot in with you of the Hearthwood forest. My people were once part of a clan, and I think you’ll find our skills invaluable if you are founding a new clan. Relations between tribes are like those between children at play when compared to the cutthroat politics out in the wider world.”
There were some grumblings about them claiming land and territory, but Nela assured them that with our united power, it wouldn’t be too difficult to tame new land from the vicious mystic beasts that dwelt in the deeper regions of the Hearthwood. When a map was brought out, I got excited. To my surprise, the place where Mac was located had been marked as a forbidden zone. Apparently there were dangerous creatures lurking there. The Waterbeetle tribe was only willing to risk journeys there in large groups to hunt down their namesake waterbeetles.
Talk of fighting to conquer land for the Songstone Clan survivors to settle dampened the mood, so I tried to bring the conversation back to what we were here for, and to remind everyone that from here on, we were one big clan. I gave Eltiana a nudge.
“Strategies and deployment talk can wait for tomorrow. Tonight, we are celebrating our unification!” She said as she rolled up the map.
&n
bsp; The elves, who had been laughing and merrymaking together regardless of tribe became thoughtful, but unconvinced. We had laid out the obvious benefits of working together, but many of the older elves had a lot of bad blood built up over the years. The only reason we’d even been able to get this far was because a younger generation of leaders had just risen to power in most of the tribes. I had to act before opinions drifted against me. The time was ripe for a heroic speech.
“For years, the six tribes of the Hearthwood forest have fought and bickered amongst themselves over petty matters. Petty fights breed petty tribes. There are untold treasures out there, beyond this forest. We’ve seen how Matriarch Red Serpent could reach the true mage rank by using the techniques and treasures of the outside world.”
“The elves outside this forest are far more powerful than we are, but that doesn’t have to be the case. We’re weak scattered tribes on our own, but we all know how useful ironwood from the Ironwood tribe is after it’s been enhanced by the fires of the Myriad Hues of Flame tribe. What if the Riverweed tribe could lend their magics to growing the best Ironwood? And what if the Waterbeetle tribe could wield weapons made from such wood, and the Hidden Serpant’s tribe help us sell our produce? We’d be bringing queensmarks by the wagon-full back to the Hearthwood every year! The Crimson Dragonfly tribe wanted to become a clan so they could utilize all the resources of this forest, because together we’re greater than ourselves.”
“We must unite if we ever want to rise above these petty squabbles and reach for something greater. The leaders of each of your tribes will be reborn through me, and I can promise the same for all the fallen elves whose souls you’ve kept. Through me, the bloodlines of each tribe will be united. Henceforth, all members of my line shall be known as elves of the Hearthwood Clan!”
END.
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I uploaded this book version on 1/01/2020
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ABOUT MARVIN WHITEKNIGHT
Marvin Whiteknight is an avid fantasy fan and a McDonald's fry cook with delusions of grandeur. He loves reading books on Amazon in his free time and also enjoys writing about himself in the third person so that he can pretend to be a publishing company, instead of a guy living in his grandmother’s basement. He can only write while wearing a fedora and polishes his katana between every scene.
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BACKPAGE
SPELLHEART BOOK TWO:
Secrets of the Hearthwood
Available now!
Zeal of the Mind and Flesh: A Cultivating Gamelit Harem Adventure (Spellheart Book 1) Page 37