by Marcus Sloss
Dina did her chuckle and Duke Riza smiled like a young man.
I said my farewells and told Dina to meet me at the roost. I found Bella with Trish and ordered them to prepare for home immediately Trish’s household items would have to wait. I knew we flew light coming here so it should be easy enough. We talked a lot on our way up to the room we stayed in. We secured our extra clothes and minor items while Trish brought an essentials only chest I had to lug to the roost. It was mighty heavy. When we arrived at the roost I set it down and the top popped open causing a pile of clothes to spill out. I tossed the top layer to the side, shut the top, and then sacked it. With that done I latched the sack. Trish was trying to scoop up clothes on the ground. I reminded her she was a part of the Emperor's family. Her clothes were going to be custom made from here on out. She beamed, dropped the garments in her arms, and scurried up Dina. I told the nearest handler to scoop this up for later and send it to Fernlan. Some of it looked expensive. The young griffin handler smirked at my comments and told me they would be on the next flight. I jumped up the ladder and shimmied in between the lovely ladies. I never got to buckle in. Dina burst off the ground in a hurry. We should make it home right before dark. I rested my head on Bella who sung a sweet lullaby to me and I succumbed to the power of a nap.
∞∞∞
I had to give it to Dina, that lady griffin could soar when she wanted to. I was shaken awake. Well more like poor Bella shifted from my constant mass. I noticed Streb in the distance and knew Fernlan was not far away. The sun still had a good hour left of light with only a few clouds in the setting sky. Trish was wide eyed in delight and Bella was drowsy herself.
I looked down at the river and noticed a fishing boat. Not big or fancy, merely a simple fishing boat with a father son duo. They were setting a long line attached to floating logs. An old dock was not far away. Maybe they were survivors from the wild lands feeling less pressure since the Horde were mostly removed. Or maybe they traveled this far. I watched them for as long as I could. I wondered when we would revert to calling untamed land just land.
“Welcome home human Emperor Gryff,” Lord Nova said from far away. It was probably near max distance because I barely heard him. “There has been a sabotage and assassination attempt. I wanted you prepared for the chaos before you land.”
Dina slowed down probably on orders to allow an explanation before landing. I wanted to know now though.
“Your friend Nate was stabbed four times this morning. His griffin friend Traz smashed into the Tipsy to save him. He barely got to him in time. The sad news is he is still in that torment phase. The good news is, if he keeps sane, he will be fully recovered in a few days at most – likely less. The attackers are awaiting your interrogation in a cell that earth mage Patti dug under Dais. Horray you have a dungeon now… The other phase of the attack was to disrupt your stores. It was unsuccessful besides some golem blood that was spilled. The sabotagers were so nervous we were able to pick out their heartbeats rapid movements. They also are now in the dungeon. Patti questioned them, they say they were sent by Salvoni to strike key members you value and ruin your vital supplies. Most of their team died on the way through the wild lands. Their heartbeats said this was true to me at least.”
“Thank you for the update Lord Nova, and for stopping the damage from spreading. I need to talk to you about Bavie. I was wanting to move some troops from Lakeland to Bavie. Three hundred plus each weighing a little more than a normal man. If not I can wait a few days. Your efforts would allow slaves to escape sooner rather than later.” I said as I felt the slither of Fernlan’s barrier.
There was not a single tree standing anymore inside the settlement. The griffins had been busy. The bushes had been cleared… The bushes were their goal. They moved the trees to look good while utilizing the bushes for nesting. Lord Nova did mention they were wanting to nest more. There was a massive pile of wood off in the distance by the lumber mill. The two Horde wagons rested beside the government building that dominated Fernlan. The deck of the rolling monstrosities were loaded with metal from the pass up north. That must have taken weeks.
“We will get a decision for you tomorrow. Dina tells me you received hundreds of yakin. We want to eat these three. If we can eat them now we should be ready to go by morning.” Lord Nova said bartering with me.
I laughed. Then I roared in laughter. Then I wiped the tears from my eyes. The key to a griffin's heart was always its belly. So relatable.
“You can dice them up and light your own fire. Go ahead. If anyone objects draw our emblem.” I said as Dina grew tired of our conversation and hungry for yakin.
We added speed which transitioned into a quick landing at the roost. I helped the ladies down, and unhooked Trish’s bag. A porter stood inside the roost loading and unloading area for this exact reason. I ordered him to haul Trish’s container to my estate. Then I turned to Bella kissed her and said to escort Trish around Fernlan. I was about to leave when Bella kept looking at me then Trish… Oh, I kissed her cheek goodbye. Women.
Speaking of women I wanted to avoid my wives until after I found Nate. We had no hospital. Seven hells I had not seen a single medical building set aside for health care since I arrived on Vin.
“Traz where is Nate?” I asked the air.
“Second floor in the governmental building. Your team is with him. He was stabbed this morning. If you hurry you will catch him waking. I hear them saying he is sturring right now.” Traz informed me.
The streets were quiet at this hour with most residents in Dais for dinner. I was able to add some aura to increase my speed. There was a wide staircase that I went up to get inside the building. As I bounded the steps I slowed my speed. I noticed a few more vendors under the building were setting up shop. Even Dvar was there who did a head tilt until he recognized me and waved. I tried to wave back but I was too far gone up the stairs.
The building itself was the same drab clay color. The problem with building entirely with magic, you had little variety. Ant farm, already on the list, and now promoted in importance. If this was going to be how new residents first saw my city maybe I needed to go a step further. After the foyer was a wall map of the building illuminated by a torch. Medical was another floor up. I found a staircase not far and bounded up it. The medical wing was mostly empty. There was a woman screaming up here in what I assumed was labor. This made sense as to why I never saw hospitals. They were added on to buildings of import for simple stuff like deliveries or recoveries. Actual healing done by green mages at a business or client's home.
At the end of the hall, I saw Brad from Lakeland holding back a crying woman. I sprinted down and let my feet skid to a halt. I extended a hand to Nate’s wife. I knew it was her based on her description from him. We entered the room and Nate was coughing. Fwar poured another healing into him but his body was fine.
Nate’s eyes recognized me and his wife. “Clear the room everyone. How did you all fit in here? Nate, glad you are okay. Know this. The residual effects of griffin healing fades. Hurry up, Knights. I got a lot to go over. Enjoy your rest. If you want to skip tomorrow's mission no worries.” I said and everyone perked up. Well besides Mrs. Nate. She gave me daggers.
We clumped up in the hallway. Donnie went first. “This is earth mage Poe. She has… filled our vacancy. This is air mage Ovas, he is a skilled air mage. Tammy is now an instructor at the academy. Her aura has grown significantly. We are glad you are alive. We got back with the metal this morning and it had been chaotic ever since. The team was wondering what you had planned, but you left so quickly.”
Poe was a young bright eyed woman that was shorty and skinny. She had brown eyes and brown hair, which was the most common on Vin. She was cute in her own way. Ovas was young and confident. I felt Fwar and him would get along well. He wore a yellow robe that contrasted against our woodland armor theme. I needed to bring our armor maker here from Lakeland. If not send them to get a custom fit. I let it drop and filled them in.
/> “I did leave in a hurry. Much transpired… For instance, I bought slaves!” I said rubbing my hands together evilly. The new team members did not realize I was being silly. The rest rolled their eyes. “Three and a half thousand dwarves. And they can come to Vartin with us without barrier issues. Then fifteen hundred elves, well I hope that many. Dvaren and elvath are the proper terms, at least that was what the gods and Horde called them. So shall we as well.”
I scrunched at my mistake. It should be fine. I never said anyone by name. “Ovas cast a silence bubble around us,” I ordered and he did it correctly. Tammy must have shown him. “It turns out that the gods are real. They war across multiple universes and the Horde is empowered by a set of invading god. My mother is a defending god, a natural to our universe. Wait it gets better. If I were a mortal that stupid snake would have killed me even with the healing I got. And with time I can learn all magic. For instance, I know Ovas cast a proper silence spell. For now, that is trivial. My goals have not been altered too greatly. Training the griffins, and freeing Vin of the Horde is my primary mission. Which leads to us going south. We are going to capture young yeti and ice cats. The dvaren are coming with us, we leave for Bavie in the morning. Ensure you are prepared.”
“Gryff we are ready to go. How about we leave these dreary hallways and catch you up on the month you missed. I know we have some interesting things to tell you about.” Markus said while handing me a javelin. “Garin has been pumping these out non stop. Hired a whole crew. The Mer are trading them for pearls which are selling well and go back to providing for Garin and his team.”
“Getting that metal was fun… And by fun, I mean not fun at all. The smell of the dead was so bad we had the griffins melt the bodies with vole blood. Which we need more of.” Victor said as we walked out of the governmental building.
Lazra went next. “After you went out we collected more tree worms and then headed home. For a few weeks, we recovered from the trip with some downtime while taking turns watching over you. Then we ran caravan protection for a trade trip to Cern and back. It was like old times. I even got to bow down a deer. The Horde has been removed from here. Means unless we are taming the wild creatures of Vin we may have to go further for fights.”
I chuckled at this. “I think we will have plenty of fighting to do here soon enough. I am glad you retrieved the metal, guided a caravan, and got some downtime. You missed the Horde arena. I slew a few ogres… Damn it, I left a mighty ogre heart in Lakeland. Oh well. I think I will build my castle in Livina anyway. I like the ocean too much and it is near the center of our continents.” I said as we started to descend into Dais. The bright overhead lights were being reduced with partial covers as the sun was setting. “I loved this place. It is my home, I also love fishing. Nothing wrong with having two homes. Speaking of which what did you guys do with the homes I gifted you?”
Donnie spoke up at this part. “Empress Amber traded us. We stripped a few other homes of goods in exchange for property rights. She said she would deal with you about it. I think she already planned to demolish those homes for your castle. It is probably good you are married since you think alike. We all graciously accepted her offer. Mina is beside the moon with what to do with the coins. I have no idea what to do with it. I have a nice home with nice decorations here in Dais. There is no vacuum in my soul that requires me to spend money. Mina did start talking about a second wife…”
I slapped the young man on the back. “Ha! Good luck. I will tell you all what we can do. Maybe if you turn your coins into something the Horde wants you can get stones. Stones are the Horde’s currency. Essentially small granite chips infused with sacrificed souls. Very disturbing but they are the enemy. Anyway, I can buy some slaves for you to free Donnie. Convert the slave contract into employment ones. You could get mina a maid. I plan to turn a lot of slaves into griffin babysitters. Besides retaking Vin, that is my goal. I feel it is a noble calling. Speaking of which, how many prisoners do I have?”
Ovas fielded this one by raising his hand. “I watched Patti construct your dungeon. In reality, it is a closed-off pit. There were the two who stabbed Nate and three attempting to light fires to supplies. So five total. Baldwic is watching over them. Said he doesn’t mind when he is not training.”
“Perfect, I was going to break their legs and cut out their tongues then feed them to my rat farm. I really, really, wanted to do that. Now I have a more noble idea. Sell them as slaves to free decent humans or allies.” I said and Ovas gulped at the image of the prisoners' demise I laid out. I pulled out my pen and a piece of paper. I wrote an official order sending the detained attackers to Lakeland to be handed off to Roz as slaves. I handed the document to Donnie. “Go hand this to Baldwic. Help him corral that filth, then move them up top. The griffins heard and will be ready to take them south. Man sack those Salvoni lovers. I will probably be able to buy fifty human women with them. Ha! More wives for you Donnie!”
I was in a fit of laughter. The team was a mix of emotions. I didn’t need to justify myself but decided I should.
“Hold up Donnie. I am serious those five are going to die. Anyone on the team have objections.” Everyone said they had no issue. “I see some of you don’t like the idea of slavery. So the option is clear. I sacrifice those five and free far more. Or feed them to rats. For probably the only time I will allow a vote. All in favor of a quick death. Score of four… All in favor of trading… Everyone okay I am confused.”
Donnie who voted for both spoke up. “Those men have families, they came here on orders of an Emperor. They failed in their mission and deserve to die. I also find value in letting them live. Who knows what they will end up as slaves. Really I am more concerned where the line is drawn. These are clear cut. It will come…”
Janice cut Donnie off. “Your wives may have better input. But I say you get some good people here on Vin for these bastards. Then from here on, do exactly as you did here. Hold a communal vote. It will give the nobles and your other wives something to do who are not running your Empire. It will also ease the pain of realizing the Vin Empire is an active slave trader.” Janice said and this got a lot of nods.
“Deal. Speaking of wives. I have four I want to surprise. Be ready at first light at the roost. Good catching up with you all,” I said and ran for the tipsy.
It was much busier down here in Dais with hundreds of people moving about. As I entered the commerce district it was the fullest I had seen it yet. I weaved through the slow moving crowds and noticed a new restaurant was serving food. The library had its doors opened wide and people congregated over books for talk. The smithies were roaring with work. There was so much metal to smelt. They were in for a shock once the dvaren smiths arrived.
The Tipsy was being repaired by Patti who I waved to. She went to tell me about work and I said it would have to wait. I knew about the prisoners. This placated her and she returned to filling the griffin sized hole in the wall Traz caused to save Nate. As I passed the bar, Jak called out to me.
“Your wives are eating a private dinner in the back. King Horus and King Omarr are in there. Around the corner. You can't miss all the guards.” Jak said and I thanked him.
I went to the back of the Tipsy where the private dining was. I was stopped by four guards who did not recognize me. My anger boiled when they refused me entry. They did not believe who I said I was. I was going to shout to have my wives or one of the Kings let me past to avoid violence when I was shoved by a hostile guard.
I poured aura into my body and hit the man so hard I killed him. His face erupted in gore from my punch. I stepped forward to kill the other guards when they lowered their weapons. Amber peaked her head out of a door at the commotion and squeaked in delight. Until she saw the dead guard and frowned. I shrugged and she waved me in.
I entered a joyful room full of families. There were little kids running around, lots of wives, including mine, and the two kings. A servant rushed over and cleaned the blood off my face.
&n
bsp; The room went silent. “All hail Emperor Gryff, glad you are home, is everything okay?” King Horus said.
“I guess. I need an emblem on my clothes ladies. That means by tomorrow morning. Someone’s guard assaulted me in my own home. They are dead now. Instruct your men to realize the tallest man on Vin that is built with lots of muscles is the Emperor. Shoving him leads to bad things. I am certain the mistake won't happen again.” I said as I worked my way into the room around playing kids and moms chasing them. A chair was pulled up and I was given a seat at the head of the table. A wife of Omarr’s was whispering in his ear and he gulped. It was his guard. “Ladies I need to talk business, please remove the children. If you are a wife who helps manage affairs, by all means, stay. I do not dally long with my meetings.”
The dismissal was clear. As I sat my wives rotated to give me a kiss each. Amber first, then Addilyn, then Velia, and finally Pipi. Pipi decided to help with the visiting children. When the room quieted King Omarr apologized and I forgave the transgression. I sent Addilyn to fetch Tammy who, I was told was upstairs. I ate any food within reach while I waited. The wives handed me extra and that went down too. It was delicious and I asked to have to cook thanked. Tammy arrived and sealed off the room with a silence spell.
“Update from my end. I went to Kikra… I need to step back. I traded with the cyclops master of Vin. That being is a greedy bastard. We concluded our trade and I acquired a portal shaman. I can now portal around the universe with limits of course. For now, Rakmar and I have concluded our agreement and there are no future deals planned yet. There are millions of humans for sale if not billions on the slave market. I intend to buy them all. Including those like the dvaren and elvath. As of today, Lakeland had thirty five hundred dvaren waiting to be moved to Uhara.” I said and King Horus frowned. I stopped and glared at him.