Eastern Expansion

by Randi Darren

  She cannonballed into one of the guards, crushing it up against the stone wall.

  Red was only a step behind her, having poured on the speed and gone sprinting away. Catching one of the guards moving to engage Ramona, Red attacked. Her clawed hands sped out and tore a gaping chunk out of its chest.

  Spinning up and around its back she raked its eyes and rode it to the ground.

  Leila threw out her right hand with a muttered phrase and a purple projectile left her fingertips. Then she let herself draw back a bit, her floating disc slowing down. The brackish oil-like substance coated the last guard and began dissolving it as it screamed.

  Vince lowered his shoulder and began channeling his power as Leila taught him. Guiding it through the grove, he reinforced his body. His skin and bones became as hard and rigid as steel.

  Just before he crashed into the door, he added a tremendous amount of density to his body.

  The door shattered and cracked stones fell free from the archway.

  Stumbling through the rubble, Vince had become a human wrecking ball.

  Two unlucky guards had been on the other side and were ground down under the weight of the door, stones, and Vince’s charge.

  Collapsing to his knees, Vince released the power that he was feeding into himself and looked around.

  Sam darted in behind him and sped onward. In her hand she carried a Ratkin spear, which she’d been training with.

  She drove it straight into the brain of a third Lizardman through its eye. Apparently one hadn’t been destroyed in Vince’s entrance.

  Squealing for a split second, the reptilian guard dropped to the ground and lay there twitching.

  Sam yanked her spear free and hovered in position.

  Red and Ramona came in next, clearing the room and ascertaining that it was indeed safe.

  “That’s five,” Ramona said. “There should be another fifteen. I’m fairly limited in these confined spaces.”

  “My turn then,” Vince said, getting up to his feet. Brushing himself off he drew his saber and looked towards the stairs that led upwards. “Time to save the princess?”

  Leila tittered and floated lazily into the room on her disc of air. “If Heint heard you say that, he’d have a fit. Though we do still need to worry about Gerard.”

  Vince sighed at that. The old man would be a problem.

  He’d been secretly hoping that Heint could take care of that, or at least provide a reasonable solution. It was seeming more and more likely though that Vince would have to battle him.

  Battling a necromancer sounds like a great way to get killed.

  Unsheathing his saber, Vince started up the stairs swiftly. Keeping his sword up in front of him he eyed the second floor. It looked something like a lobby, with tables and chairs spread evenly throughout.

  It was empty, which didn’t feel right.

  Not waiting around, he moved up to the third floor and found that it was a barracks for the elite guard.

  Being empty, it looked as if they’d all fled in a hurry.

  Once again Vince went upwards.

  The fourth floor was like the others, empty. Though this one looked uninhabited. Which was expected, as it had been the home of the Lizardman councillor Srinis. Or so their intelligence report had said.

  Finally, upon reaching the fifth floor, Vince found his answer. The fifteen remaining guards were drawn up around Gerard.

  Standing there with a raised staff, he looked every bit the terrifying necromancer. Dark black runes floated about him, looking for all the world like dark fire drawn into the air.

  “Vince?” said the councillor, surprised.

  “Gerard,” Vince said evenly, ducking back around the corner for cover.

  “What are you doing here?” called Gerard.

  “Taking the city. I plan on adding it to my kingdom,” Vince called back. “All the city guards are already dead. This is the only remaining holdout.”

  “Ah. I see. Mm. I can see the merit in your course of action, despite it pitting us as foes,” lamented Gerard. “I take you already have someone in mind to rule?”

  “That I do, though… why do you ask?”

  “Curiosity.”

  No. More than curiosity, but he won’t be the one to make that bridge. Can I swing it? Where would a Necromancer even wa—Denver.

  “I do have a problem that I wonder if you could help me solve, though. As my Kingdom expands, I’m going to eventually take over more of the Wastes. There’s a particular city I’m going to have a colossal headache with though.”

  There was no response. Vince could only imagine Gerard couldn’t respond without giving himself away to his own guards.

  “It’s called Denver. Full of undead. Full of them. I was going to send an army to wipe it out and cleanse the place. It’s been untouched since the Wastes appeared. No one has been able to venture into it deeply.

  “I imagine a Necromancer backed with an army could turn Denver into a city of Undead. Maybe even become a functioning Duchy of Yosemite,” Vince said loudly.

  There it is. Maybe he’ll take it. Maybe I’ll end up being forced to make a deal to get him to leave.

  That’d be easiest, wouldn’t it? Let him leave with his guards?

  From around the corner, Vince could hear the rattling of equipment, and a soft hiss.

  Several seconds later and it was followed by rapid popping noises and loud thuds.

  “Consider it a bargain struck. I look forward to taking Denver into hand. You said it’s an entire city of Undead? How curious and interesting. I wonder what types there are,” Gerard said calmly.

  Peeking around the edge of the stairwell, Vince saw all fifteen guards on the ground. Dead.

  Gerard had already started moving to one side, seemingly lost in his thoughts of becoming Duke of Denver.

  “Oh, do you need any help with Heint?” Gerard asked, looking up from his thoughts.

  “No, he’s going to become the Duke of Vegas,” Vince admitted. Stepping into the room he sheathed his sword.

  Gerard snorted and waved his hand at the ceiling above him. “He can have it. Do you think we’ll be able to move on Denver soon?”

  “In the next month or two. We’re currently in the process of taking Verix.”

  “Oh? Wonderful. Wonderful. I’ll retire to my rooms for the time being, my Lord Vince,” Gerard said to Vince.

  “Of course, Duke Gerard,” Vince replied, bowing his head to the Necromancer.

  Smiling at the title Gerard nodded his head and opened the door to his chambers. “I wonder if it’s zombies or ghouls. Skeletons, maybe? Oh! What if it has a Wraith or two? Or even a lower-tier Necromancer? Or a Lich! Or all of it! I bet if I—”

  The trail of spoken thoughts were cut off and muffled when Gerard closed the door behind himself.

  Vince let out a breath and grinned.

  Not waiting around, he clambered up the next set of stairs. Moving quickly to the interior hallway he found only one chamber door.

  Opening it, he stepped in.

  Inside was a lavish room decorated smartly.

  Sitting at a desk was Heint, writing with a smile on his face.

  Looking up at the disturbance he was clearly shocked to find Vince standing there. Then his smile grew wider.

  “Goodness. My King, have you already secured the tower?” Heint said, standing up and then bowing politely to Vince.

  “Indeed. It was decided that the best way to protect you was to take the tower and ‘force your cooperation’ to assist us,” Vince admitted. He could hear the rest of his people checking corpses the floor below them. Their muffled voices floating up the stairs.

  “And Gerard?” Heint asked neutrally.

  “He’s to become the Duke of Denver. Which just happens to be a city of Undead. We’ll be situating him in his Ducal lands probably in the next two or three months. I’ll be supporting him with Yosemite’s army, of course.”

  Vince walked over to a chair wedged up agai
nst the wall and sat down heavily.

  “Hm,” Heint said, retaking his seat at his writing desk. “I can’t say I’m happy to share the same rank with the man. But then I must admit it’ll be good to have him on our side. How do you plan to keep him in check after you’ve granted him your lands?”

  “Not sure yet,” Vince said. “But we’ll figure out something.”

  In truth, he did have an idea, but he didn’t want to share it yet.

  Undead suffered tremendously under the weight of blessed belief.

  It was well known that when the Wastes opened up, so did the heavens. Gods, Goddesses, and Demons alike all happily invaded Earth and made it their home.

  Priests and Clerics were the bane of their existence and could be destroyed easily. Backed by a Necromancer it would be infinitely harder, but not impossible.

  And if I turn all of my Dryads into Priestesses, they can use the grove power base along with their faith.

  Faith is the strongest weapon against the Undead. And will also be their shield, so long as they are loyal.

  “I’ll leave it to you then, Lord. I myself am quite happy to simply rule Vegas in your stead.”

  “Ah, speaking of. I brought you a codex of the laws of Yosemite. They’re fairly straightforward and benefit the masses. Nothing too onerous, I promise. Vegas will also be the first place I begin sending my Dryads when they come of age,” Vince said. Setting his head against the wall behind him, he closed his eyes. “We’ll also start building out the garrison and fort immediately.”

  “Oh?” Heint asked.

  “Of course. Can’t have my Duke in the south not be given the same benefits that others receive. We’ll start recruiting immediately for those who wish to join the military. They’ll be trained in Yosemite, then garrisoned elsewhere, while those not from Vegas are sent here.”

  “For that, you have my thanks. It would seem you’ve put a lot more thought into this than I gave you credit for.”

  “Ha. Not me. My people. I have a lot of strong and smart people behind me who make it easy.”

  There was a shuffling at the door that got his attention. Opening his eyes he found Leila and Felicity standing there.

  “Speaking of my smart and talented people, here’s some of my brightest. Felicity, Leila, this is Duke Heint,” Vince said, introducing the two to the dragon.

  Heint nodded his head from his desk. Leila and Felicity bowed politely to him in return.

  It would seem protocol has already been established. One less thing for me to fuss over.

  “Lord, the city is in our complete control. The Lizardmen were killed to the last. Our people have already started to settle in.

  “City patrols are being conducted immediately and routinely. We’ve a number of patrol leaders making contact with the criminal element and giving them what we’re willing to look the other way on, and what we’ll burn down their part of the city for,” Felicity said, opening her ledger. “The codex is being proclaimed and posted in all meeting places. We expect the citizenry should understand their new laws by evening, and punishments will begin being handed out. You’ll need to preside with Duke Heint at the first hearing.

  “The barracks are being cleaned out and the armory cataloged. Everyone who was part of the guard or army that remains is being interviewed by Mouth and her Dryads. They’ll be cleared by morning.

  “Recruiters have set up intake stations and will begin hiring in the morning for both city jobs and kingdom positions.

  “The bank has been taken without bloodshed and all Tri-lliance assets have been immediately listed and put into custody. We’ll be able to return that as soon as their envoy arrives. With any luck they’ll take that and leave.

  “Due to their extensive notetaking, we’ll be able to establish the Yosemite treasury immediately without a problem. There will be no lapse in pay for anyone who is allowed to return to government work.

  “The walls have already been manned, and all weapon emplacements armed. We’ve brought up all the support weaponry and placed it on the south side.”

  Felicity snapped her ledger shut and looked up at him with a wide smile.

  “Well done. Truly, well done. Is there anything we need to be aware of?” Vince asked, grinning at the blushing Dark Elf.

  “No, Lord. All is exactly as you wished it to be. We have some wounded, but no casualties. Fes has taken command of the situation admirably.

  “We should be expecting another courier in another hour with an update,” Felicity said.

  “My great appreciation, and thanks to your planning, my Lord,” Heint said with true satisfaction in his voice. “I didn’t dare dream that this takeover would be so complete and total within the first night.”

  Vince smirked and nodded. “Felicity and Leila spent quite a bit of time on this.” Looking to the two aforementioned people he watched as both the Gnome and Dark Elf turned a dark red. “I can honestly say, that without them, it wouldn’t be possible to accomplish three fourths as much as we do.”

  That being said, there wasn’t much more to do tonight.

  Everything had been accomplished.

  Taking up residence in Srinis’ old chambers Vince made it his headquarters. His inner circle joined him and made it the focal point of operations.

  Things progressed quickly. Unfortunately, there was one thing that didn’t go according to Felicity’s plan.

  The criminal underworld had taken exception to being told what they could and couldn’t do.

  Specialized teams organized by Felicity that she painstakingly put together for city fighting were set loose. They charged into the warrens, the warehouse districts, and the red-light district the same night.

  When dawn came, the city was quiet.

  Subdued, even.

  Citizens came out to inspect the damage cautiously. By and large, there wasn’t any.

  Only a few buildings suffered any damage in the battle for Vegas. And that was fixed immediately.

  What the denizens did find, was a city that appeared no different than the one they went to sleep in the day before.

  There was no rioting, no looting, no fighting.

  Nothing.

  The first hour passed. The only thing that they noticed was a change in the frequency of patrols and make up of the guards. They wore different uniforms and were not Lizardmen but a variety of races.

  The guards took any questions asked. Those questions were answered politely, and without malice.

  And every time the answer was the same.

  There was nothing wrong, Vegas was simply now part of Yosemite.

  They began to slowly creep into the public places, the merchant quarter, and even the government buildings.

  Everything was the same, except that the banners, flags, and guards were all different.

  Or so Vince’s intelligence reports told him.

  Dropping the papers to the table Vince scrubbed his face with his hands.

  “Any early reports on recruiting? We’ll need to bolster the ranks and every single person we can pick up here will help offset it,” Vince asked, his hands pressed to his face still.

  “Lord, from my understanding, the recruitment drive is going very well. We have half of the needed number to fill a garrison already. Word is also spreading to the surrounding areas. The closest inhabitants are already sending messengers and messages to swear under Heint, into the kingdom of Yosemite,” Felicity explained.

  “Great. So why do I get the feeling we have a problem,” Vince said, tapping the papers in front of him. “I feel like something isn’t being said.”

  “Lord, there is no mention of the criminal element. Your hearing in ten minutes will be to judge those we captured alive in our raids on the criminal organizations of Vegas. That’ll be the first, and only piece of business,” Felicity admitted.

  Vince sighed into his hands.

  That was no secret. She’d already briefed him on it.

  He needed to decide what to do with them.<
br />
  The problem was he couldn’t afford to show weakness. Not now.

  Even a clean execution might be too simple. These were people who had refused his laws and rule.

  When everything was coming to a head with a swift and nearly bloodless transition.

  He’d never sentenced someone to death as a king. Killing someone with his own hands wasn’t new to him, but ordering it as coldly as getting a dinner?

  That was new.

  “Lord, we’ll be there with you. No one is expecting you to do anything other than execute them all,” Felicity said softly, reaching out to touch his forearm.

  Vince nodded, not saying anything.

  And so he waited. Before he knew it, it was time to go.

  Entering the hall without speaking or saying a word, Vince took his seat on the impromptu throne that had been set up for him. Felicity stood to the left of the throne, Fes to the right.

  Heint and Gerard stood on flanking positions beyond that.

  It’d been placed in the same audience hall he’d killed Srinis in.

  Spread throughout were the citizens, nobility, merchants, and anyone who managed to cram themselves into the hall.

  “Lord Vince!” someone called out.

  As one, everyone grew quiet and waited.

  “The first and only matter on today’s docket is the dispensing of justice,” Felicity called out from beside him. “There are three hundred and twenty-one people facing the King’s justice.”

  Vince had been debating this. Three-hundred people would be put to death, and there was no way out of that.

  He had to make a point though.

  Slowly, with clanking chains, the accused were brought to stand before him as one group.

  As the last person was forced into the empty space that had been made before his throne, Vince stood up.

  “I sentence you all to undeath. Your lives will be taken by Duke Gerard, and become his personal retainers. You’ll be the first of his Ducal guard,” Vince said without preamble, or explanation.

  He condemned them all to eternal damnation.

  A collective breath was sucked in as news of his sentence spread.

  “Duke Gerard, these citizens are now yours to do with as you please,” Vince said. He made eye contact with Gerard who looked surprised and excited at the same time.