by Randi Darren
“I’m going to set up a city out there. I’ve already built one outpost; I can make another. First I’ll make a river. One that runs from Filch to Linne’s citadel city, to all the way out there. Somewhere I can take over.”
“I… what?” Jaina asked.
“Yeah,” Steve said. “A river out into the Creep lands. And as I dig, I’m going to have my lovely and talented Creep Witches and witch-knights cover me. And build over my river so that no one sees it. So they don’t have any idea of what’s happening. A canal that literally runs through the ground as a means of travel no one can see. A simple chain or rope so one can pull themselves along in a small boat.
“And I’m going to build out there. My watering can will go out there. We’ll start cleansing the ground and the surrounding areas, and build. My witch-knights and Creep Witches will all go with me and be the shield that holds everything back.
“I’ll take everything out there for myself. Everything. I’ll build up something that can crush the rest of the world under its heel and bring them all into my hand.
Steve spotted something out in the distance that looked almost like a gray river. After staring at it for several seconds, he figured out what it was.
“Is that a road?” Steve asked, pointing out toward it.
“I dunno,” Kimor said, pulling her helmet off to scratch at the base of her antlers. “Maybe?”
“Looks like one,” Beati said. “Can’t really tell from this distance, though. Could be a dry riverbed.”
“It’s a road,” Lucia stated firmly. “It doesn’t seem to be laid with paving stones, though. It looks rather odd.”
“Where there’s a road, there’s a destination,” Steve said. “And that destination is where I want to go to see what’s going on. Because I’d be willing to bet it’s interesting. And a spot I’d really like to see.”
“Oh?” Lucia mused. “Hmm. I’ve never been in the Creep lands themselves. This should be interesting.”
“We can do it,” Jaina promised, nodding her head rapidly. “Easy, easy. We can use it as a chance to power up, too.”
“Yes,” Siena said, nodding her head. “I need more power.”
“Power… power indeed, Siena,” Steve murmured. “Yes… power, then. I’m done. Done with all this and everyone.”
Steve lifted his chin when he finished speaking.
It’d been a building thought since Linne had killed his wives. A building thought and a burning ember stoked now into a raging bonfire.
One that would consume the world.
Thirty-Two
Jaina hit the ground with a purple sphere enclosed around her.
All the zombies around her immediately vanished in a puff of black powder and purple smoke.
“Next?” Steve asked, looking at the women around him.
Kimor grunted and slapped a hand to her breastplate as she moved forward.
“Me,” said the Reindeerkin.
Steve shrugged his shoulders and then held out the rope to her.
Kimor wrapped it around her middle, got up to the top of the wall, and simply walked off the edge.
Holding tight to the rope, Steve began to lower her down. It was like Kimor was literally walking down the side of the wall.
“Faster!” Kimor called up.
Not feeling like fighting her, Steve started to lower her significantly faster.
When she landed next to Jaina, she started flinging around purple blades of Creep magic.
“I almost feel useless with them around,” Lucia said, watching Jaina and Kimor tear into the zombies around them.
“You could become a Creep Fae or something,” Steve said, yanking the rope back up. He grabbed the end and looked at his knights.
Beati stepped forward and took the rope from him.
“I suppose I could at that, couldn’t I?” Lucia murmured. “Is it hard to die?”
“No,” Felisa answered as Beati went over the edge. “It was like falling asleep against my will.”
“It was more frightening than anything else,” Hiren offered up.
“Hmm,” Lucia hummed, tapping a finger against her chin. “Maybe I will at that.”
Steve didn’t bother to respond to that. He was busy. As soon as Beati made it down, he was lowering Felisa next. Then Hiren, Nancy, and Lucia.
Looking down at the ground far below him, Steve wanted to test something.
He was beginning to think he was practically indestructible at this point.
One didn’t punch the tip of an enchanted weapon and only suffer a light cut. But that’s exactly what he’d done.
Tossing the rope back down over the side of the wall for their return trip, Steve vaulted the wall and fell.
He hit the ground with a thud. The force of the landing made it so he’d practically hit his ass on the ground, but he was remarkably unhurt.
He stood up and looked at himself.
Everything was where it should be. Nothing was out of place or even sore.
Huh. Well.
Apparently, I’m not… really… Human anymore.
All around the knights, Nancy, Jaina, and Lucia were clearing the area.
From above, it’d looked like a sea of zombies.
Nancy held her hands above her head and made a swirling motion with them.
Instantly, a half-dome of glittering purple magic sprang up and swept outward.
“Goodness,” Nancy exclaimed. “It’s as if it costs nothing at all. I’m just… drawing it from the ground itself.”
“Yeah?” Steve asked, an idea forming in his head.
“Indeed, it’s easier than eating,” Nancy said, and she began walking forward. Their goal was the road he’d seen. They were going to find out what was at the end of it.
After that, Steve could plan further.
Linne was a secondary goal now.
She’d face justice—Steve would make sure of that. His goal right now was to explore the Creep lands while he could. While he had the time.
He had a theory now. One he couldn’t prove, but he was fairly certain it was accurate.
Linne was letting the Creep in herself. To incite fear, provide credibility for her cause, and keep everyone in line.
The Creep wasn’t getting in through the gap, which really only left one other point it could be.
Linne.
Steve figured she’d come to the same conclusion he had and why he was moving forward with his plan.
A citadel city commander could hold a country hostage if they held the citadel.
Disagree with me? I let the Creep in.
Try to attack me? I hole up and let the Creep in.
Don’t send me food? I let the Creep in.
Don’t tell me bless you when I sneeze? Let the Creep in.
All I have to do is hold Linne’s citadel and have a base in the Creep lands that sustain it, and… the country is my hostage.
We just need somewhere to work out of now.
Following behind Nancy, Steve smirked as the Wight single-handedly wrecked the Creep. His knights on the perimeter were attacking outward for the sake of attacking.
Jaina was at the front, wielding cones of purple flame that obliterated everything in front of them.
The Creep isn’t a problem for me.
It’s a resource.
***
“And how much longer can we be out here?” Kimor asked as they walked along the road. They could see their destination now, less than a minute away. It’d taken them several days of walking on the road from where they’d found it.
“Not long,” Hiren replied immediately. “A few days. Then we have to turn around, or we won’t have enough supplies to get back.”
Damn.
I didn’t think it’d be this far away.
Have to change the plan a bit, I guess.
“It’s a castle and a town. But it’s not something I’ve seen the like of,” Lucia said, her eyes moving around as they got closer by the second. “The walls
are so high for a castle, and the construction looks like it’s made from the same material as this road. I’d be lying to myself if I could claim I knew how it was all made.”
“It’s concrete,” Steve said, watching Nancy and Jaina. They were the two putting in the most effort right now, and he wanted to keep an eye on them. If they were taxing themselves, he’d expect them to lie about it before admitting it.
“Concrete?” Lucia inquired. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.”
“You add sand and gravel to cement, then mix that with water and there ya go,” Steve replied almost automatically.
“Cement?” Lucia asked, sounding more confused now.
“No idea on cement. I think someone told me it was limestone or something, but I can’t remember it very well,” Steve said, then realized what he was talking about.
And immediately the memory faded and fled as if it had never existed.
“Well, I’ll have to look into that,” Lucia said with a curious tone. “Limestone to make cement, then cement, sand, and gravel with water to make concrete. Should I assume you’ve lost the memory now?”
“I… yeah. It’s a weird… place… now,” Steve said. “I can remember telling you what it was, but not what it is, except you said it, so… ugh.”
Lucia reached over and lightly ran the tips of her fingers through Steve’s hair, tickling along the back of his neck.
“It’s alright, my beloved consort. I’ll always be here to pick up the pieces for you,” she promised.
The endless waves of zombies continued to blast themselves apart on Nancy’s dome. Or they got picked off by his knights and Jaina.
If ever there was a place to train his Creep Witches and witch-knights, it was here. In the Creep lands themselves.
When they finally reached the castle, Steve realized he didn’t want anyone to go exploring.
The zombies they were finding here were clearly long-dead citizens of this country. They were lurking in darkened corners and hallways.
Their supply of watering-can water wasn’t in excess, either. They’d been forced to start drinking it as soon as they’d entered the Creep lands.
Standing in the plaza in front of the castle, everyone was looking around.
“And is this what you wanted?” Nancy asked, still holding her dome in place.
“Yeah. This is what I wanted,” Steve said, nodding his head.
It really was, too.
Everything of the city remained intact. Whatever the Creep had been originally, it had more or less instantly converted the city into Undead. By and large, most of the city and its infrastructure remained standing.
Although anything made out of wood had rotted away, the stone buildings and the castle itself looked impressively sturdy.
“For now, though, this place won’t do,” Steve muttered. “Let’s head out past the city limits. See if we can’t find a field we can turn into a farm with some work.”
“Farm?” Kimor asked. “I make the ground catch fire when I piss on it. I’m not so sure you can make anything grow here.”
Steve chuckled softly. He found himself enjoying Kimor.
“Uh huh. Maybe it’s just you, Kimor,” he said, walking toward the exit of the city. “Maybe all those sexy thoughts in your head are making your urine fiery.”
“That’s not possible,” Kimor grumbled, catching up to him. “Is it?”
“No, you idiot, it’s not,” Beati said with a long-suffering sigh. “We all make the ground burn when we urinate on it. Defecation, too.”
“Defe-what?” Kimor asked.
“When you shit,” Steve helpfully interpreted for her.
“Oh, yeah. Smells awful when it catches fire,” Kimor agreed.
“It’s the watering-can water,” Jaina said, moving out in front again. Then she began blasting ahead of herself with her two-handed flamethrower technique.
“Is that it?” Felisa asked.
“Yep. Which is why I know for a fact we can bring the ground back to life and use it for a farm,” Steve explained. “It’ll just take some time, effort, and the watering can.”
Maybe that’s my goal in all of this?
Was my task to retake the Creep land? Not just to hold it back?
Is that why I’ve been completing my goal and making progress?
Could be. Probably is.
It’s the most likely answer.
It’d fit everything else. I mean, this feels like… the whole thing is set up for me to solve the problem.
“This’d work, wouldn’t it?” Lucia asked.
Steve gave his head a shake. He hadn’t even been paying attention, and they’d left the courtyard and the city around the castle quickly.
They were just outside the walls in the middle of a giant city. The ruins of a house were nearby, and the road ran quite close to it.
“Yep,” Steve said after just a few seconds. “This’d be the place alright. One of you put down a dome. Big as you can make it. I figure the ground, air, and Creeps nearby can feed it even if we’re not here.
“Right?”
“Yes, yes,” Jaina said, grinning at him. “I’m the strongest—I’ll do it!”
Before anyone could disagree, Jaina slapped her paws together and then flung them outward.
A massive, glowing, and crackling purple dome blasted out in every direction.
It grew bigger by the second, sweeping up zombies as it went.
So large was the dome, Steve could only see the parts of it that were in the distant plains. The rest of it had swept right over the city.
Looking back over his shoulder, Steve watched as it zipped right through the castle and beyond it.
Well, that’ll clean everyone and everything out.
“Ah!” Jaina barked out. “That’s all I can do. That’s it, that’s it.”
Sighing, Jaina let her hands fall down to her sides.
“Whew. Tired, tired,” said the Kobold. “Will you carry me, my pack master, my alpha, my husband?”
“Course I will,” Steve said, and he immediately scooped up the small woman. Grabbing her by the rear end, he held her against his front. “Should we take a sleep here and head back? No reason to stick around. Found what we needed to find.”
“That’d be the best course of action, I’d say,” Hiren mused. “If the goal was to find what was at the end, we’ve found it.”
“Yes,” Kimor exclaimed loudly. “I want to watch you skull-fuck Linne, my lord. Can I be the one to put a hole in her skull for you to use?”
Grinning, Steve looked at Kimor.
“I dunno, maybe I just want to fuck you instead. Hold you by those antlers and really give you a good bedding,” Steve said, feeling odd about the Reindeerkin now. For whatever reason, he’d found himself drawn to her and her fellow witch-knights lately.
Maybe it’s because they follow orders and do what I tell them.
“Oh. Okay. I’d like that,” Kimor said, shrugging her shoulders. “Should I keep my armor on for it or what?”
“You’re such an idiot,” Beati said, putting a gloved hand over her eyes.
“What? It’s a valid question,” Kimor complained.
“No. No, it really… it really isn’t. But you’re an idiot, so… maybe it’s valid for you and you alone,” Hiren wondered aloud.
“Hmph. He wants me, not you all. You’re just envious,” Kimor said defiantly, shaking her head and making her antlers tremble. “I’ll let you know what it’s like to be a woman when he’s done and give you advice. Like the little sisters you are.”
“At least she used the right word,” Nancy deadpanned.
“Right word? Oh. Wants? Yes. That’s the word. He wants me. I mean… he said so. Well, I guess that’s not true. He said he wanted to fuck me. So I guess I could have said he wants to fuck me,” Kimor said, staring at Nancy. “Right? My lord wants to fuck me?”
“I meant envious versus jeal—never mind. Just… never mind,” Nancy said, holding her han
ds up in front of her.
Laughing to himself, Steve couldn’t help it. His witch-knights were becoming more entertaining to him by the day.
***
Keeping low to the ground, Steve and his group watched the citadel city from the Creep lands’ side of the fortification.
It was deep night, and they were far enough away that they were very unlikely to be seen.
The only concern and possibility of them being seen was in the small shields his people had put up around themselves. Nancy was providing the one for himself and Lucia.
A massive, oppressive-looking wall spread as far as the eye could see. Holding back the Creep and protecting the land.
Except for the citadel, which had its gates wide open. A flood of Creep and zombies flowed through it into Lamals.
This was exactly what Steve had been expecting to find here.
“They’re… letting the Creep in,” Lucia hissed. She sounded absolutely floored. As if someone had told her that her wings no longer existed.
“Indeed they are, my butterfly,” Steve said. “Indeed they are. I can only guess at the motives, but… it’s exactly what I plan to do.”
“What?” Nancy asked, looking at Steve.
“If you control the citadel, you control the Creep. If you control the Creep, you control what happens to the country. If you control what happens to the country, you’re the leader of the country,” Steve explained simply. “And I plan to control Lamals, one way or another. As I said earlier, I’m done. I’m done with everything that Lamals is and is involved in.
“From the fact that I’m apparently not much better than a chair in the capital, to the fact that my race is called a ‘breeder’ race, and the fact that the ‘pig-pen’ is allowed. And the most offensive on that list… giving someone like Linne the responsibility of the citadel.
“No. I’m going to crush Lamals as a whole.”
“First things first then, my sweet kingly consort,” Lucia purred at him. “How are we going to get Linne?”
“I’m going to jump at the citadel, smash into the top of it, break my way in, and ambush her in her bed,” Steve said. “Because let’s be honest, I know where she lives in there. We were there. She’s overconfident that I’d have to go through the front door. So I’m going to go in from the top.”