The Burning Grove

by Skyler Grant

  This conversation was treading on dangerous territory, especially if it was being spied on. But then, Cleo knew they were being spied on, and wherever this was going they were words she wanted the Banker to hear.

  “And who, exactly, do you think I’m becoming?” Banok asked.

  “Don’t you see it yet, Banok? I know you can sometimes be blind, but you aren’t that blind. You are the lover of Urania Vox, one of the most powerful mages alive. And now you aren’t a fire burning out of control but, because of this conspiracy, a fire burning with purpose. I think you’re a new Dark Lord. I think these idiots created what they were trying to prevent,” Cleo said.

  And there it was. Of course the thought had occurred to Banok, how could it not. What exactly a Dark Lord or lady was might be open to some interpretation, but if he continued on this path, he knew it was how he’d be perceived.

  There came a beep from a tablet laying near Cleo and she leaned over to glance at it.

  “Dinner invitation. Formal. We’ve got our meeting,” Cleo said, and she was unable to hide the satisfaction from her voice.

  That did it? That? Banok had to wonder just who they were going to meet.

  45

  Outfits arrived for them both before dinner, and Banok wasn’t sure what to make of either except that they demonstrated just how well they were known.

  Banok’s was a take on the traditional druid robes except open in the front. It allowed him a lot of freedom of movement and was meant to be worn over armor, which was also attached. Banok didn’t know what creatures the leather of the armor had made from, but it was an actual hide and an intensely magical one. The chest plate was emblazoned with a stylized version of a grove of burning trees within a circle.

  Cleo didn’t get armor. Her dress showed a lot of leg and in the process made for easy access to a thigh holster which was included. There were tiny touches of the jaguar, and even two wolf pins along the shoulders.

  Everything was perfectly sized. Cleo’s could have been prepared in a hurry, but he didn’t think that was true for the set of armor.

  At the appointed time a shuttle came to pick them up, the compartment as big as some houses and more luxurious than most. It turned out they weren’t headed to the banking planet, but rather to one of the satellites which orbited it.

  The woman who greeted them wore a red dress that was barely there, and had brilliant red hair and green eyes making her one of the most stunning women that Banok had ever seen. An effect spoiled only slightly by the implant along one ear. Another Blank then, another hapless soul under control.

  “Welcome,” the woman said with a sunny smile. “I’m Olina, your hostess. Cleo, you look amazing in that dress. Banok, I see the armor fits. Very sexy.”

  Right, this meeting wasn’t starting off awkward at all.

  “A shame you didn’t decide to come yourself,” Cleo said.

  Olina waved that off. “Oh, I’ll be coming before the night is done? Too forward? No? Would be a shame to waste a host like this. Well, come in.”

  The shuttle had let them off on a private dock and the residence attached contained a surprising amount of wood and stone. The interior had been made to look like some sort of fancy log cabin, if a particularly decadent one. Olina led the way to where a small table had already been set.

  Banok was finding himself troubled by something about Olina, and he hadn’t quite figured out what yet. Something was off in some way. He’d keep trying to pick it.

  “The armor was a surprise. Why the symbol?” Banok asked.

  “Branding, you have no idea how important it is, but I do. Once I heard you throw out the Dark Lord bit I just knew it was time to have a talk. I mean, really? How tired and old is that without a little flash?” Olina asked with a laugh.

  “You’re that concerned over a title?” Cleo asked.

  “Always. I’m thinking Lord of the Burning Grove. What do you think?” Olina asked, as she hustled over to the bar and began to pour drinks. Banok got a bourbon. It wasn’t his usual, but he found he really liked it. It wasn’t all he liked.

  “For a title, it’s actually pretty good,” Banok confessed.

  “Branding. The armor for your Orcs is going to have the same symbol. It will also, of course, have all the pointy, shooty bits they’re used to,” Olina said cheerfully.

  “I rather thought we’d have to do a lot more threatening and cajoling to get anything out of you,” Banok said.

  “She’s not the Banker,” Cleo said quietly.

  There, Banok got what was off. It was the implant. Oh, it was real enough, but with Blank it had bypassed her brain. While the brain might have been fully developed, it wasn’t being used to control her body. Olina’s was, and she wasn’t a shell—for all she was pretending to be one.

  “Well, of course I’m not. Vestal? Really?” Olina asked, rolling her eyes, “You are looking in the wrong place. Not my problem—you want deep pockets I have them, and I’m an incredible friend to have.”

  “You’re the Socialite,” Banok said.

  “And wearing a real one for the occasion,” Olina said with a leer. “Which I always am. I keep a stable of them so I can always push things in the right direction, and now it is my time to push you.”

  That might be true, that implant probably worked both ways. Just as it might allow a host to be controlled, it might allow one to easily control a host. Still, Banok was certain he was right. It wasn’t controlling her. The question was did he let her know he was aware, or did he let this play out? For now, he’d let it play out and see where this went.

  “A power play then?” Cleo asked.

  “Queen is all about control. If we aren’t in charge of it, then it is a threat to us. Me? I’m a believer in having friends,” Olina said, taking a seat at the dinner table and gesturing for the others to sit as well.

  Banok joined her. The dishes were a bit like the cabin, surprisingly homey. There was a large bowl of salad, and a mix of what looked like chicken and grilled vegetables. Home-cooked unless Banok missed his guess.

  “I really don’t understand you people,” Cleo said.

  “And how close a friendship are you thinking of?” Banok asked.

  “How close do you want?” Olina asked with a wicked grin. “But seriously, you know the sort. I do you favors, you do me favors.”

  “And you’ll be as loyal to us as to your previous friends?” Cleo asked wryly.

  “Queen is Queen, she only has subjects. You can say no, but yes is way more fun,” Olina said.

  Banok didn’t understand these people either, not really. He did find it all the more interesting, however, that this offer was made in person. It was time to see where this led.

  46

  Olina let out a cry as her release came over her, her sixth for the night, her hips coming to a slow atop Banok although she didn’t abandon her place straddling him.

  Banok wasn’t about to protest, she looked even better with her clothes off than she had with them on. If there was a blemish on her body he had yet to find it.

  The decision to let this play out and see how far Olina would let things go proved that she was happy to let them go all the way. No faking it either, Banok’s life-sense let him see that at least there she was being honest.

  It didn’t escape Banok that he was in some subtle way making a potential enemy stronger. With his magic being so tied up to life energy, every time they came together he was extending her life just a bit, making her a bit more healthy, and if she had any magic probably giving that a boost as well.

  “This is fun,” Olina said, letting her fingers trail down Banok’s chest. “There are advantages besides the obvious for working with you. You’ll have to let me know if you have any special requests for the body next time.”

  Banok had to give it to her, she was a fantastic liar. He could only hope that he was doing half as well. Cleo seemed fooled, given how she’d rolled her eyes when he accepted Olina’s invitation to the bedroom after dinn
er, but then Cleo was a great liar herself.

  “So what do you get out of all of this? This conspiracy that you’re a part of?” Banok asked.

  “I’ve always been about pulling levers and pushing buttons, darling,” Olina said, leaning down to brush her lips across Banok’s shoulder. “Queen offered me a way to do so on a whole new scale.”

  “And yet you’re unhappy with it.”

  Olina pulled back to give him a teasing look, her hips beginning to slowly roll again. “Business with our pleasure then? I can do that. Queen hides her buttons and levers well. Yours?” Olina gave a sharp movement of his hips and Banok gasped. “Yours are a lot more obvious.”

  Banok thought he was starting to get a sense out of how Queen operated, just how she’d built this organization of hers. The council were all extremely talented individuals, but stifled in what they were best at.

  Gavin delighted in his research, and he would have done anything and gone along with anything for the chance to do it. Now he would do the same for Banok.

  That meant Banok had to figure out what to do about the woman on top of him. Olina, the Socialite. There was nothing defending her here, no magical defenses he could sense, and with a thought he could suck her lifeforce dry and leave her an empty husk. It would be a move that would rob Queen of her second in command and seriously disable the network she’d built.

  And yet … yet. There was such a possibility here as well. Olina was being honest about one thing, she thrilled in controlling people. That was really what this was all about, why she’d shown up in person. It was the chance to push the buttons in person, to wind up here. It was like an addiction to this woman, and it was why she was risking so much. That could be used, but he had to be careful about it.

  “You are most singularly skilled at pushing them. A first-rate rider,” Banok said.

  Olina slowly began to increase her speed, eyes running along his body. “And you are a most delightfully muscled steed.”

  “So where do you want to ride me? What do you want out of our … friendship?”

  Despite the pleasure she was feeling, Olina seemed more than capable of keeping her mind on business as well. “You may not believe this, but I want to do some good. If you are the latest incarnation of a recurring theme of history, you don’t have to be a bad one.”

  “I don’t trust good intentions. At least I know where I stand with selfish ones,” Banok said.

  “I’m rich, I’m beautiful, I’m powerful. What selfish ambitions do you think I harbor? No, helping to shape a powerful force is reward enough and that might as well be to do some good along with whatever evil you have planned along the way.”

  “I’m not actually plotting evil, you know,” Banok said.

  Olina shrugged. “How many people have you killed? How many are you going to murder by the time this is done? I know you have reasons, I don’t care.”

  Olina’s hips had gained a steady movement and Banok for his part was starting to find it hard to think. Olina could tell, judging by the smile curving her lips, and she delighted in that, in driving him to the edge.

  “So what do you want? What do you offer?” Banok asked.

  “I offer a solution to your financial woes, and my guidance. It’s worth it, and as proof of that I have two little tasks for you and your army to carry out. Do that, and I give you Soldier and Queen. Meetings where we do this on a regular basis are just a little bonus for us both,” Olina said.

  If they were together, then Ogdek could probably find them. The Orc seemed convinced his lead would pan out on Soldier. However, they had also come here seeking a solution to their financial woes. What had once seemed an unspeakable fortune became rather less so when trying to field an army.

  To stop Queen from ever trying to kill him again, to rebuild the druids, to keep them safe. That would require powerful resources, powerful friends, competent people. What Olina did for Queen she could do for him, if he let her.

  “Tell me about these tasks,” Banok said.

  Olina smiled, believing she had him. Perhaps she did.

  47

  The next two weeks were hectic. Ogdek continued to reach out to those Orcs still in service and discovered that the purge he long feared had come into effect—with that said, it largely wound up working in Banok’s favor. Twelve more battleships and their compliment came over, and while that required the individual healing of over four thousand Orcs to remove their addiction, it bolstered their forces significantly.

  Gavin was not yet able to produce Orcs without the addiction despite his best efforts, but the growth vats had resumed their full output with supplies that Olina sent in and were now producing one thousand Orcs weekly. While these too required individual healing initially, it let Orc vessels which had lost crew refill their ranks.

  Their current target of interest was Senaril, ruled by the summoner King Aeriloni, an ancient world of the Elves although one with a strong population of younger Elves too. The wraiths had been investigating and returned to submit their reports.

  Cleo and Vanwyn had called a meeting to discuss what they’d uncovered. They’d gathered in the lounge of the Catspaw and a number of display screens already showed rotating images of the planet.

  “So what have we got?” Banok asked.

  “This was an interesting place to send us. You’re certain the Socialite said nothing about why she wanted us here?” Vanwyn asked.

  “All she said was that a situation on Senaril was worthy of attention and that she wanted us to investigate. Why? What have you found?”

  “Things taken to extremes. There is a sharp divide in the Elvish race. Those of us who were the original immortals number around a million. The mortal Elves who came after are in the billions,” Vanwyn said.

  “And the mortals tend to revere you,” Banok said.

  Vanwyn tilted her head. “We’re renowned for our wisdom.”

  “Guess they don’t know you very well,” Nyx said from her perch on Jia’s shoulder.

  Vanwyn shot the fairy a look. “Be that as it may, we elders consider ourselves very much responsible for our mortal kin. They are our descendants after all, no matter how far removed.”

  “How did it happen anyways? The whole mortality thing?” Jia asked.

  “We don’t know. It came only after we met the other younger races. The Dwarves, the humans. We thought for a long time mortality was some sort of disease that had infected our people, but if it is, we’ve never figured out how or devised a cure,” Vanwyn said.

  “Yet, new immortals can be made,” Banok said.

  “Like yourself, yes. Rare and usually born of considerable magical power. But what has happened on this world is unprecedented to my knowledge. I think if it were known, it would bring about a lot of rage,” Vanwyn said.

  “Enough lead up. What did you find?” Banok asked.

  Cleo answered. “Slavery. The mortal elves have been forced into bondage to serve the immortals. More than that, they’ve been infected with some sort of magical plague. It steals all their potential, their strength, and uses for the purposes of summoning, before eventually proving fatal.” Her tail lashed furiously.

  Cleo was all about freedom, especially her own, but it applied to others as well.

  Well, this was bad. It didn’t go towards his plans at all, of course. Banok had no illusions that he was there to right every wrong in the galaxy, or had any desire to do so. Still, Olina sent him here hoping to have the issue dealt with. If everything Cleo had just said was true, it would be a pleasure.

  “What are our options?” Banok asked.

  “I doubt you’ll get in to see King Aeriloni, and even if you were to try it is unlikely he’ll change his ways because you ask,” Vanwyn said.

  No, but an Orc army and the power Banok wielded could be pretty convincing.

  “Military options?” Banok asked.

  “They do little in the way of space travel. We won’t be having a grand space battle, but on the surface is an
other matter,” Cleo said.

  “Elder Elves tend to be powerful magicians and the defenses of this world will be no exception,” Vanwyn said.

  “Magicians stop casting if you shoot them enough,” Ogdek grunted.

  “True,” Vanwyn said.

  “Is this a big talk to say we can’t do anything, or do we have a plan?” Banok asked.

  “Any wide-scale assault on the planet is out. If we want to do anything about this, it will require a targeted strike on the capital and the palace,” Cleo said.

  “The strongest of the planet’s magical defenders are all tied to their summoners, the King himself. If he dies, they are neutralized. Then if those now enslaved want their freedom they can buy it in the usual way,” Vanwyn said.

  With blood and pain. It would do as plans go.

  “What do we need to hit them?” Banok asked.

  “In the event of attack the palace is completely isolated within a magical bubble powered by four crystals. Each protected by an elemental avatar,” Cleo said.

  “The goblins can blow those crystals to little tiny fragments if we give them time. They’re really good. I mean bad at surviving, terrible at that, but good at making bombs,” Nyx said.

  “And me and mine can buy them that time,” Ogdek said.

  “We’ll hit those positions and then have troops fall back to defend the palace. I don’t see much of a choice. It has to be you going in there,” Cleo told Banok.

  “Nobody else would have a chance of surviving. I would, if I were still full strength,” Delilah said.

  “You handle whatever the King has, and anything his bodyguards have to throw, take him down, then we evacuate and let things handle themselves,” Cleo said.

  Banok was a lot more adept than he used to be and a powerful mage. But this was going against an immortal with centuries of practice.

  Well, if one wanted to be a Queen killer, perhaps it was best to start with a king.