by Noah Layton
I created one from two wooden panels, and found myself holding a thin, razor sharp stick around two feet long.
For a second I was confused, but after looking back at the defence menu and seeing False Ground again, I immediately knew what I was looking at.
Alone the spikes were relatively useless, but if the ground around my perimeter fence was excavated, the spikes placed at the bottom and the false ground placed above, it would send any attackers plummeting to a very painful death as they were skewered alive on the spikes set into the ground, waiting to be finished off by a sword to the neck or an arrow to the head.
A brutal way to go, but I didn’t care. If they were trying to get into my land, they posed a risk to me, my wives and my people, and they deserved to die.
I mentally mapped out my defences for a moment, looking about at my land and considering how this would work most effectively.
It was something my dad had taught me an age ago.
When you’re creating something meticulous, spend more time planning than doing.
It applied to DIY, and it applied here – although this was a kind of DIY in its own right.
I headed to my Map Room and activated the slab. The blue, grid-based layout came to life.
Usually if I was claiming a piece of land I could just tap it with my finger, but this was different – this was land that hadn’t been claimed by anybody before.
After a little experimentation, I discovered that I had to trace my finger along the area that I wished to claim. I took a ten-yard chunk of the forest spanning from my perimeter fence into the wilds where the trees began.
From there, I acquired my flag and set out to the wilds beyond my land to claim the untamed land.
But not without a little help from my best buddy.
I had planned on taking a little alone time to walk the land that needed claiming yard by yard, but Alorion’s presence was more than welcome. I could say anything to my imp, and he would listen – the same went for the other way around.
‘Taking a walk on your own, Jack?’ He called down to me from his lookout post on the northern side of the land as I reached the gates.
‘Expanding the land,’ I replied resolutely. ‘It’s time to do something useful with the forest.’
‘Mind if I join you? I need a walk.’
‘Of course.’
A few minutes later the flag was planted by the gates, and Alorion and I were pacing across the dried forest ground as blue squares lit up beneath out feet.
With both of us on the job we could complete it in half the time. I could complete it faster with more citizens, but having a little time in the forest away from the duties of the tribe wasn’t a bad thing.
‘What is the purpose of this?’ Alorion asked.
‘Defences. We’re going to turn this place into a fortress.’
‘A bold endeavour. How are your wounds healing?’
‘Decently.’
‘To venture onto the land of a wild tribe and make it out alive is one thing, but to vanquish it almost single-handedly in the process is another matter entirely. You should be proud of your achievement.’
‘It wasn’t exactly my achievement,’ I laughed. ‘It was Zagor’s. I just pissed him off by accident, and now we’ve got a demi-god on the loose somewhere in Agraria. I keep wondering why the hell something that powerful would just take off like that…’
‘It could be for any reason. He could be sleeping, finding a new home, even biding his time…’
‘Biding his time for what?’
‘For when he decides to lay waste to this world.’
‘You… You seriously think that he could destroy Agraria?’
‘Well, whatever he could reach perhaps, but it would take many a being to bring him down. He is half-god after all. But the demi-gods of this world have not walked the land for centuries. They are not even a memory to most, they are just a story… Hopefully the rest will remain that way.’
‘Yeah, we can hope. Him hunting me down is the last thing that I need right now.’
‘We are safe here, Jack, believe me. Our tribe is but a single grain in the vast ocean of sand that is Agraria. And besides, he has no reason to come looking for you. You are as important to him as any other individual in Agraria is.’
‘Way to make my efforts feel small, buddy.’
‘No, no, I didn’t mean it like that.’
‘I know,’ I smiled.
‘What I meant was that our tribe is only one of hundreds if not thousands of communities scattered across this world. It is very unlikely that he would seek to hunt us down. We are safe.’
‘Yeah,’ I agreed, ‘and we’re about to be a lot safer once the defenses are put in place. Once things are completed here, we’ll start looking to the Rourke Homestead and the new land north-east of there.’
‘Forgive me for perhaps asking a stupid question, but why would we need defences at the new land at this point? No one occupies it… No one except for Nyah, that is.’
‘I thought you would be the first person who would want her protected.’
‘Well,’ Alorion stuttered. I glanced over at him as he sought to find the words, ‘I’m, uhh… Perfectly sure that she can take care of herself. She seems… Very… Capable.’
‘Capable? That’s the word you’re using to describe the woman you’re in love with?’
‘Well, I…’ Alorion trailed off, then stopped in his jumping from square to square and looked up at me sharply. ‘Wait, wait, I didn’t mean that!’
‘I think you did, buddy.’
‘I am not in love. I have told you, we imps do not fall for such manners of conduct.’
‘Of course you don’t, except when the imp of your dreams turns you into a bumbling mess of lo-o-o-v-e…’
Alorion went to respond but clenched his lips shut and nodded slightly.
‘I see your game, Jack, and I shall not rise to it.’
‘Oh, come on, live a little. Just give things a shot with her. You said yourself that you were becoming more comfortable with this sort of thing. And if I remember correctly, you seemed to be showing that imp back at the sun-elf tribal land a pretty good time.’
‘Apologies again for that.’
‘It’s fine. I’ve seen worse things in my life.’
‘I… Thank you…? I think…’
‘Look, man, I’m heading there in a few days if you want to come with and see her again. I know she makes you nervous as hell, but…’
Alorion shot me another clamped-mouth look, resisting the urge to lose his temper. He took a deep breath.
‘I shall consider joining you, but only for professional purposes. I would prefer it if you did not blow yourself up as it almost happened last time, or get attacked by hidden assailants.’
‘Fair enough. Let’s get this thing done.’
In no time we had returned back to our starting point. I tapped the flag, selected claim land, and examined the fence while the clock ticked.
It was eight-feet high – much taller than your average human, but easy for most to climb over with a little willpower and strength.
A little useless on its own, but with the additions that I had in mind, nobody would be getting near us anytime soon.
‘So what was the reason for heading back to the new land in the first place?’ Alorion asked.
‘A home for our new tribe members.’
‘The fox-people? You’re relocating them?’
‘No,’ I replied, turning to him. ‘The slaves that we’re going to free.’
Chapter Two
After the surrounding land had been claimed, I acquired the help of Aden and Oden in beginning defensive measures for the fortification of our perimeter.
I moved through the northern gate and turned to look back at the main entrance to my land. One of our twenty sun-elf flags was hanging from the left of the wall, while our own flag was hanging on the right.
During my rest over the last few days I had made a
trip to the trading post to have one designed by a tailor and had made an order for twenty copies.
Symbols had to be simple and straightforward. They had to be distinct and easy to remember, so that whoever looked upon them would immediately know who or what they were dealing with.
With the help of Alorion and my wives, we had finally settled on a pair of wings with a blade protruding from their centre point. It spoke of the two things we stood for – freedom and strength.
Moving from one construction, I turned to the newly-claimed land surrounding the fence.
Construction was going to move in three stages. We would begin with the outward facing spiked logs grounded into the dirt at the base of the fence. Secondly, we would move to digging the hidden pit where the razor-sharp spikes would reside, hidden beneath the false earth; this would be the hardest part, as it would require the shifting of tonnes upon tonnes of dirt that would then need to be moved.
That part would have to wait for the moment until I figured out how I was going to do it.
The final part would consist of adding Frisian horses as the outer level of defence, right before the hidden pit. Once our enemies managed to make their way over them they would go plunging to their painful deaths.
Any other waves would have a damn hard time getting over the fence with the spiked logs blocking their way, and the fence would be reinforced enough to stop it from coming down if it came up against anything stronger.
Waves of attackers approaching were pretty unlikely, but I had to prepare for any eventuality. Now that I had seen the kind of power that resided in tribal form just a few miles from my land, I had to make sure that my land and my people were safe.
Two panels of wood to create one spiked log. I had plenty of spare wooden panels in the storage building from the deconstruction of the buildings at Werger’s land and leftover projects, but needed more to create the sheer amount that it was going to take to build this many.
Fortunately I had the walking tanks that were Aden and Oden at my side.
I created several hundred spiked logs and filled my inventory with stacks of 20, then headed back beyond the perimeter with my companions. They brought their axes and began hacking at trees in the surrounding forest, while I turned my attention to the fence.
I took the first spiked log, and as I did a blue bar appeared along the base of the fence where it met the earth.
After placing one end of the spiked log against the earth, one end was sucked into the ground sharply, sending a plume of dusty dirt into the air.
That would save me a hell of a lot of time.
From there I began placing spiked logs at the base of the fence, moving steadily along the perimeter line. I resolved not to place them in a discernible pattern; it might have been aesthetic, but that wasn’t what I was going for here.
Unpredictability meant it would be more difficult to mount an attack. I placed the spiked logs in a random jutting pattern, overlapping them at an approximate 45-degree angle, with others at 25 degrees and others almost vertical.
Needless to say, I would need a hell of a lot of them. I had figured out over time that my land measured just under a mile in circumference, which meant thousands upon thousands of spiked logs would be needed.
Fortunately I had the rest of the day to go about the work.
Aden and Oden continued to chop trees, taking the fallen trunks and hacking them into logs. They harvested the forest, and once a pile of logs had formed I deposited them into my inventory and hurried back to the Building Totem to create more wooden panels, which could then be converted into spiked logs.
Our system worked quickly and efficiently, but with Aden and Oden hacking trees at an unprecedented rate, I was having a hard time keeping up with them.
‘You boys are making me look like garbage,’ I panted, sweat dripping down my forehead as I pulled off my overshirt and used it to wipe my face.
‘You don’t need them to make you look bad, husband.’
I turned in the direction of the voice to see Ariadne sitting on the ledge of the fence. My foxgirl was wearing a skimpy outfit comprised of tight, smooth fabric that covered her breasts and waist.
‘Did you get sassier lately?’ I breathed, leaning against one of the spiked logs. ‘I swear you were so obedient once.’
‘You’re my husband, of course I have become more comfortable around you. Plus you are a lot more lenient than many other tribe masters, if you had not figure that out yet.’
‘Clearly I need to be stricter,’ I said smoothly, eyeing her slender legs and toned navel.
‘Clearly,’ Ariadne smiled slyly, looking my muscular body up and down. ‘Would you like a hand?’
‘Only if you’re offering one.’
Ariadne hopped down off the fence and sauntered over to me. I shot Aden and Oden a look, wondering if they would be distracted by the sight of my beautiful wife in her skimpy outfit, but they paid us no notice, simply getting on with their work.
I transferred half of my spiked logs to Ariadne, and together we picked up the pace in building up our first line of defense.
The four of us zoned in on our work, taking down trees and placing spikes at a sharp pace. By the time we had reached the last quarter, the twins had cut down enough trees to last us until the final spike. I nodded for them to go and they took off, leaving Ariadne and I to finish off the final section together.
‘You were not joking about turning this place into a fortress, were you?’ Ariadne panted, retrieving another log and placing it on a jutting angle that would spear any attacker straight in the neck if they happened to fall.
‘Damn right,’ I breathed. ‘If anyone attacks our land from now on we’re going to be ready. Nobody’s getting inside who isn’t one of our own.’
‘You take such good care of us, husband, even if you do occasionally need some help…’
She shot me a smile and winked slyly at me.
‘Help?’ I smiled back at her. ‘I’m perfectly capable.’
‘I know that you do not like to accept help from others in your endeavours, but I like that. A man may not be able to exist on his own, but he should be able to accomplish plenty by his own hand.’
‘No man is an island,’ I said. ‘It’s an expression from my world.’
I planted the final spiked log and took a step back, examining the spoils of our work. It had taken hours, but it was undoubtedly worth it.
‘What do you think?’ I breathed, dampening my forearm after wiping it across my head. ‘A little simple on its own, but it’s a start.’
‘It should do for now. We would still need to worry about the northern and southern entrance points, though.’
‘We need to keep some part of the perimeter open so we can actually get inside. Besides, that’s what the lookout towers are for.’
‘You think Alorion will be able to fight them off?’
‘I think he’ll able to alert us when anybody does decide to attack.’
‘You think they’ll be attacking us anytime soon?’
‘Right now?’ I looked around at the forest, silent save for the breeze pressing the leaves against each other. ‘I doubt it.’
‘Good,’ Ariadne said, wrapping her arms around me and pressing her tight body up to mine as she kissed me. ‘Then we shouldn’t be disturbed…’
Ariadne sank down to her knees, dragging her hands down over my body and stopping at my waist, sending a tremor of desire through me.
‘You don’t think we’d be better off bathing first?’ I said, looking down at my foxgirl as she undid my pants swiftly. ‘We’ve been working for hours…’
‘And I want the taste of a real man in my mouth,’ she whispered with an eager tone, pulling my pants down over my throbbing length and pressing her tongue instantly to the base of my cock.
She ran her wet tongue up my shaft slowly, staring me in the eyes intensely the entire time, before reaching my tip and sliding her lips over the head of my dick.
Ari
adne moaned with approval as she lapped her tongue against me from below. She indulged in the taste of me, and hearing her delight sent a jolt of pleasure through me.
My head fell back uncontrollably as she pushed herself down further upon me, engulfing me into her mouth. I ran my hands into her soft hair as she pressed her mouth down against me, clamping her lips and her tongue against me insatiably.
I withdrew my hands from where they were wrapped in her hair as she pulled away, giggling and panting for breath.
‘Fuck…’ I moaned, my eyes still closed as she pulled from me. ‘You could’ve finished me just like that, you know that?’
Ariadne didn’t respond. I had managed to control myself, but I was still lightheaded. After a few seconds I looked down to where she was kneeling, but I couldn’t see her.
I glanced around, eventually seeing her leaning up against a nearby tree that gave onto a small cluster of others in the forest ahead.
‘You realize this is the second time you’ve left me with my dick hanging out like this?’ I smiled with a raised eyebrow. ‘Just like that time at the waterfall?’
‘Am I being disobedient again?’
‘Damn right you are.’
‘Then, as tribe master, you should do something about that.’
She gave another devilish smirk, then disappeared into the tiny grove that the cluster of trees composed.
My wives were all a force of nature in their own right, and Ariadne was no different.
I dressed myself and crossed to the cluster of trees, moving inside the secluded, shadowy space within to find Ariadne awaiting me.
She was leaning over, her back arched as she presented her tight, perfect body to me.
‘What are you thinking, Jack?’ She moaned lightly, biting her lip as she stared into my eyes over her shoulder.
‘I’m thinking you should call me master.’
‘I thought you didn’t want us to call you that any longer?’
‘Right now I do.’
Ariadne grinned uncontrollably in anticipation, pushing her round behind even further up. I crossed to her and slid my fingers into the tight leather wrappings that covered her.
I pulled them down and dropped them to her legs, exposing her perfect round ass, then slid my hands up her slender, arched back, undoing the leather wrapping covering her perky breasts. It fell to the floor, exposing her body completely as she awaited me.