Chimera King Box Set Books 1-3

by Atlas Kane

  Yet as they plodded along, he began to notice that the soldiers in his unit were learning an ancient language. Ensuring the spacing between each soldier was even, listening for the sound of ambush or a shouted order in the distance, the marches taught them all to operate in a way that relied more on instincts than the refinement of language or society at large.

  Cade led the way into the cave, and sighed deeply. Already, this location had provided him with plenty of memories. Each trip he took here would always be laden with emotion.

  When the group stood above the winding staircase, and Cade had ordered Micah to open the next level of the dungeon, he regarded the villagers once more. “I’m not going to paint my face or talk about sacrifice or glory. But keep your fucking eyes open and protect one another. You’re not just Antinians now, you are all members of Camp Casmeer. Sixteen go down, and sixteen return, understood?”

  Unwittingly, Cade had filled his voice with the granted authority of the Archon. His battle crown no doubt lent his words more weight, as did his absurdly high Charisma score. So when the group arranged around him replied, their voice was united and thundered in the chamber.

  Cade gave Vrin and Polde a look, both of the team leaders in charge of the two divided groups, and let them take over.

  Polde outranked Vrin, by level and experience. She took her team down first, and then Vrin’s followed. In moments, Cade found himself alone in the room containing the Town Interface. He took the time to check on their Mana Reserves, and was sad to see it had again dipped. Time was ticking, and he only hoped the next level in the dungeon could provide more Mana Shards.

  Most of the rest of Cade’s day was taken up by various administrative tasks. He began by dropping by the expanded stables. They were on the way back from the cave, before the first of the defensive walls. Built on the same ground where Satemi, Minda, and Cade had trapped Bellows when he was still growing, the stables were a relatively grand structure now.

  A few more of the battle boars had been gathered since the fall of Tanrial. Most were still growing, not nearly so large as the impressive Bellows, but having been locked into the companion bond, they were growing just as quickly as he had.

  Ketzal and a few assistants kept the stables cleaned, the animals fed, but as she had agreed to take on the duty of today’s dungeon run, he offered to complete her duties for her.

  After a half hour of shoveling the world’s most impressive dung heaps, he finally set down the crude shovel and washed his hands in a basin of water. Nothing like scraping up mounds of shit to make a leader feel truly powerful, Cade grumbled to himself, but knowing the task was not only necessary but beneficial, he suppressed his complaints as much as possible.

  Then he fell to the task of feeding the beasts. They were so large that once a day Bellows was tasked with taking the pack out for a run. They would sprint away from town past where the hunters would roam and dig up tubers, knock down fruit trees, and generally harass the countryside for as much food as possible.

  But in the mornings, the villagers had been able to supply their battle mounts with additional nutrition.

  Cade summoned a pile of collected fruit for each of the juveniles along with a pile of sugar cane. This last had been a serious improvement in the animals’ diet. The cane grew over a foot a day, so after Minda had blessed the patch of cane, they’d been able to rotate the harvesting of the plant to ensure a consistent source of carbohydrates for their livestock.

  Protein was more difficult to come by, but after finding out how much meat could reliably be harvested from the surrounding jungle, the council had agreed to feed the boar a few pounds of raw meat a day.

  Cade summoned the steaks last, scratching each of the Brimstone Boars on their snouts as they ate.

  They’d only trapped four more at this point, but by all calculations, they were already at the limits of the resources they could provide. No sense in raising mounts that would grow malnourished under their care, so any further expeditions for the boars would be in the harvesting of more food.

  Cade fed Bellows last of all. The huge beast towered above him and snuffled in delight as he deposited enough calories to feed the entire village for half a day.

  “How are you, buddy?” Cade asked, scratching the beast behind his huge ear. “I’ll bet you miss your girlfriend, eh? Or was that just a fling?” he asked, remembering the boar Bellows had chased off into the jungle when they’d stayed with the Kotani Apes.

  Of course, the brute didn’t answer, just chomped through a mess of sugar cane as happy as ever.

  Before Cade turned to his other duties, he noticed a streak of crimson on the back of the boar’s right flank. Moving around the side of his enclosure, Cade gasped as he saw a long gash, the dark red of drying blood covering several feet of Bellows’ tawny hide.

  “Damn!” he cursed, inspecting the wound more closely. “What in all of Antinium screwed with you?”

  Cade saw a single streak of claw marks had ripped across four feet of the boar’s hide. To make matters worse, a few mangled bones protruded. How Bellows was still standing, let alone happy, was beyond his reckoning.

  Ignoring the potential danger, Cade ducked in through the side of the enclosure to take a closer look.

  Holy hell. They aren’t bones at all, Cade realized as he touched one of the protruding spikes. It’s a quill!

  He headed immediately to see if he could find any other healers about. The boar would most likely need to be knocked out somehow. Minda’s herbs and botanicals had flourished, and Cade himself had made a medicine capable of putting anyone to sleep. Enough of the drug should do the trick.

  On his way, he ran into Mole.

  “Thank god. Hey, so Bellows needs some serious attention, and soon. Something attacked the mounts, probably last night. It must have been too dark for the handlers to notice when they returned. He’s fine, but I’m afraid infection might set in,” Cade explained to the councilman. “Can you find any healers or someone stupid enough to perform surgery on the beast?”

  “Something attacked Bellows?” Mole asked incredulously.

  “I know, right? Yes, something equally huge or more so. I thought only the Kotani Ma could challenge the boars, or the dragons that live in the distant mountains. They don’t come this far though.”

  Mole nodded, and after exchanging a few more details, scurried off to handle the matter. Before he was out of sight, Cade shouted back, “Please, find me when the deed is done. I wish to take a good look at one of those quills!”

  Trying to push the feeling of anxiety rising in his gut, Cade next visited the makeshift brewery that had been fashioned from one of the old structures they’d first built for the Casmeer villagers. Now that more suitable sleeping quarters had been purchased through the Town Interface, several structures had opened up.

  Cade discovered that Ronden and Dan had lived up to their promise. The brewer had enough supplies to make mead and ale for a fortnight.

  “What of the distillery. I don’t really care to see anyone wasted on the stuff, but alcohol can have many uses,” Cade inquired, knowing the more advanced process would take a good deal longer.

  The brewer smiled and waved him deeper into their laboratory.

  Further in, Cade met the small woman in charge of turning the strong jungle wine into something like brandy. “Tell him, Cally. He should know.”

  “Fine. Nobody likes surprises anymore. Wants to share the news at next Town Hall. Fine,” the woman mumbled, glancing up from a pile of powdered reagents.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you. And if you want, I’ll keep the information to myself and the Council of Five only,” he offered, hoping to appease the grumpy woman.

  She batted the air with her little hands, and Cade noticed that her race might be something like a mousekin. “Never minds. I’ll show yous and you tells everyone. I know. I know.”

  He didn’t bother to argue, but instead, settled in wait for whatever news the Distiller had to offer. She ri
fled through a rack of small clay pots until she found the one she was looking for. Then she wove around Cade and headed out of the structure.

  “Where are you—” he began before deciding that conversation with this creature wasn’t the most productive. Instead, he followed her back out.

  She walked all the way to the edge of the pool, finding a patch of moist clay and turning to face him. “Safer here. Must be safe. I show why.” Sniffing the small pot she’d brought with her, she poured the liquid out onto the ground.

  “Brandy. Nothing fancy. Tastes terrible. Must be filtered and aged. But I have secondary Occupation of Chemist. I find special herbs from the Minda,” the woman said, producing a small pouch from a pocket in her apron.

  She stepped well away from the pool of brandy, already soaking into the soil, and drew out a pinch of fine powder.

  After winking at Cade, she turned and tossed the powder onto the patch of liquor. Rather than catch in the wind and puff away, the powder seemed dense, almost like metal shavings. It fell onto the liquor, and after a half second, burst into angry flames.

  From what looked to have been less than a quarter cup of brandy, three feet of roaring flames shot up and out in all directions. The explosion of fire lasted but a second until the fuel was extinguished. When it died down, the clay embankment stood smoking, black char marking where the fire had been.

  “Fred fucking Savage!” Cade exclaimed, blinking away the white afterimage that clung to his vision.

  “Strange man speaks of savages. Impressed or no?” the distiller asked.

  “Yes, of course I am. We’ll need to figure out how to do so, but I think we can make some nasty weaponry with that stuff. Well done.”

  The woman smiled, a thin and chilling gesture. Then, without ceremony, she tucked the pouch back into her apron and departed for her laboratory.

  “She’s a bit strange. Please, forgive her impolite behavior, Archon,” the brewer offered, looking embarrassed.

  Cade shook his head. “I honestly don’t give a damn. Please, just tell her to make as much of the brandy and powder as possible. And keep everyone away from the stuff. We have greater need for explosives than we do booze.”

  The brewer agreed and said goodbye.

  A few more things to check on, Cade thought as he strode toward his next destination. And then maybe I can have a little fun with my own Occupation.

  Though he’d spent a few days dickering with his Apothecary and Alchemical Engineering, Cade hadn’t had time to invest in the Occupations like he knew they deserved. Both had incredible potential to change everyone’s way of life.

  Cade spoke with the guard in charge of town security for a while, Vrin’s second in command, and then he spent an hour hearing the lead botanist complain about the need for fertilizer other than boar dung. He did his best to calm the man down. Apparently, boar dung was too susceptible to fungal growth, and though it was excellent substrate for their mushroom farms, caused more harm than good with their vegetable crops.

  After calming the man and ensuring they’d come up with some other form of fertilizer soon enough, he made his way to check up on the cooks.

  Cade was halfway to the kitchen when he nearly tumbled over a tiny, furry figure.

  “What’s the deal?”

  “Sorry, Archon Cade! Sorry, I must speak with you though!” Tessra cried, her face a knot of worry.

  Cade sighed, reaching deeper for another ounce of patience. He didn’t want any further distractions, and the issue with Bellows still bothered him. “Okay, what is it? And please, be quick.”

  “I must show you. Come!” the squirrel woman said and then practically sprinted away.

  She moved in bursts, looking about in all directions before continuing on once more. There is nothing that doesn’t shout squirrel about this one, Cade thought, suppressing a laugh. In a town as diverse as Casmeer, getting caught up on racial differences wasn’t wise.

  He found her waiting on the front step of the Clothier’s Shop. She ducked inside and beckoned him in.

  At first, the shop looked like a hopeless mess, balls of thread and half-sewn clothes littered the work bench and the racks that lined the walls were filled with fabric of all kinds. It had an order to it, though. Hard to discern, sure, but an elegant chaos had taken hold of the shop, and Cade felt he understood a little more of the woman’s mind.

  He took a seat and waited for the woman as she ran to a backroom, promising to return immediately.

  A moment later, she came back bearing a small wooden box.

  “You are Archon, leader of this place. In my world, we have Shamans to lead us. I plan to marry, but need your blessing as leader. Will you do this for me?” she asked, opening the box and removing a strip of decorated cloth.

  Cade took the piece of cloth in his hands and admired the work she’d done. It was embroidered with various colors of thread, and when he opened it, he saw it was a picture. Two tails intertwined to make one column of colorful fur. One tail was a caramel brown, the other a metallic silver.

  “Dan. You wish to marry Dan?”

  She nodded furiously, her eyes glancing to the front door. “Please, not so loud. Should another female hear of my plans, she may move to thwart me.”

  “I will give you my blessing, but Tessra, Dan can marry who he chooses. Have you spoken with him about this?” Cade asked, trying to keep a straight face.

  “Of course not. Don’t be foolish. Will you bless the marriage cloth or not?”

  “Sure. It’s blessed, Tessra. Go get your boy. But, if he refuses, there’s nothing I can do, okay?”

  Tessra growled, baring long front teeth that seemed equally good for crunching through seed husks as they would be for biting off fingers. “You must do more than say the blessing. You must breathe life into it!”

  When Cade stared at her mutely, she took the cloth back, held it up to his mouth, and explained. “If you bless my choice of life mate, breathe life into the cloth!”

  Leaning forward, and feeling ridiculous, Cade huffed out a lungful of his breath into the fabric.

  Tessra’s scowl retreated, and she tucked the cloth away into her prodigious tail. “Thank you, Archon! Thank you! Now, please go. I have much to prepare!”

  Having performed his shamanic duty, it seemed Cade’s presence was no longer required. He was promptly pushed out of the Clothier Shop.

  He stifled the string of curses that rose to his lips. At least he could finish his duties and head to get some food.

  Cade turned to head to see the cooks once more, but found Mole standing in his way. “Flying fucks, Mole! You scared me half to death. What is it with people ambushing me in my own town?”

  Mole’s expression stilled his outrage though. More chilling still was the long quill he held in his hand. “This, I think, is a little more frightening than little old me,” the Councilman said, holding the quill up in the air between them.

  Cade took it, disturbed by the sheer weight of the thing. On one end, the quill was still covered in boar’s blood. A barb as long as his hand protruded from its side. The quill was black as night, and hard enough to pierce leather with ease.

  Glancing to his friend, Cade swallowed down a lump of terror that rose from within. The barbed quill had been buried deeply in Bellows’ side. When Cade had seen it, only half its length remained visible.

  It was over four feet in length.

  “What kind of beast has quills this large?” Cade asked in a hoarse whisper. Only an amalgamation of immense size could explain the phenomenon.

  His thoughts fled to Gemma and her hunters, miles away from the safety of the shield dome. If anyone could survive an encounter with such a beast, it was her. But despite his attempts, Cade could do nothing to quell his growing fear.

  Something was out there, rampaging through his jungle. Something strong enough to wound Bellows. And Cade knew that there was little to no chance it would go away peacefully.

  12

  Deep Within, a Lot
of Slime

  “Freezing cold. Soaking wet. I mean, I’m glad I had a few extra furs with me. The floor wasn’t particularly challenging, but we might have had a worse time of it without the extra warmth,” Satemi explained, heads bobbing in agreement all around.

  Ketzal spoke up next, resting a friendly hand on Dan’s shoulder. “If we wouldn’t have walked in with a lightning storm, who knows how challenging things would have been. But we were lucky.”

  The lycan shuffled his feet, obviously embarrassed by the praise. To make matters worse, Ronden came up behind him and swatted his friend on the back. “Puff up and take it like a man. Or a wolf at least. You saved our asses a half dozen times.”

  “So they were all water elementals?” Cade asked, wanting to get the story straight.

  Satemi gave Cade a wink, and narrated with her arms. “Pretty much. There were a few stone golems at the very end in support of the boss. Almost as big as Ronden, but not nearly tough enough to withstand his hammer.”

  The giant blushed more furiously than Dan had when hearing Satemi’s praise, but the warrior woman didn’t stop to notice. “The boss, though, was a Typhoon Elemental. Windy as anything. Glad Minda was standing far enough away. She almost got blown away as it was! But after Dan sent another round of lightning at it, quieted down easy enough.”

  Everyone was in high spirits, everyone but Tessra, who had bristled the moment Ketzal had touched Dan’s shoulder. Don’t worry, lady, I’m pretty sure the demoness is spoken for, Cade thought, wishing he could ease the squirrel woman’s anxiety.

  They’d met in the Town Hall to discuss the dungeon raiders’ success, and it was obvious that everyone was becoming restless. No free round of XP had been distributed this time as a quest reward, but a few enchanted reagents and another 50 Mana Shards had. It was a win, however, especially as it meant they were one level closer to claiming the dungeon.