“Ye-up, that’s where they got the basis of their tech. Drop pads are metal plates that have been carved with a specific set of runes that will allow the teleport pad to connect. They can transport people to the drop pad, but not back. They can transfer any other material back and forth with ease. They might get a little messed up but the chances are really low,” Dave said.
“Could we make one of those drop pads?” Josh asked, getting excited.
“Yeah—would take some time and materials. If you want, I could see if some of my Dwarven friends would be willing to carve one up and give it to the Exdar’s Traders when they gather our weapons and gear from Zolun Mountain.”
“If you could do that, it would be awesome,” Josh said.
“Dave!” Deia yelled.
“Duty calls.” Dave passed Josh back the bolt thrower.
“Oh, and check these out.” Josh tossed Dave a grenade.
Dave caught it gingerly, his face going white in fear. “Dammit, Josh! I nearly shat myself!” Dave yelled, making sure that the grenade wasn’t going to go off.
“Well, you didn’t and this is a present. Let me know what you think. Those rune-grenades you made were useful but we’re going to need more. Let me know if you can do anything with this and get back to me.” Josh turned to leave.
“I could shove it up your ass!” Dave said, his heart still beating quickly.
“Buy me dinner first, ya Dwarven weirdo!” Josh waved and left the power station.
Dave shook his head and went to where Deia and her group were working on a power generator that just didn’t want to work.
No rest for the wicked. Dave looked at the grenade in his hand. Ideas of modern technology melded with Emerilia’s magical tech made him thoughtful.
***
Alkao watched as the last winter sabretooth let out a pained growl and fell to its side.
It had taken longer than Alkao thought to clear out his old home. Just getting into the places where creatures still remained had been a pain in the ass.
Quest: Reclaim Your Home
You have shown determination and drive to create a place where your people might once again thrive. Do not forget: a leader leads by example.
New energy filled Alkao as he sensed a large magical disturbance in his keep’s courtyard. He disregarded his fatigue and jumped out of a hole in the side of the keep, his wings flapping to bring him up and into the courtyard. Alkao glided down to the courtyard.
Twenty demons in similar garb tensed up, their crude weapons pointed at Alkao for barely a second.
“Lord Alkao,” the leader of the twenty demons cried out, dropping to their knee. The others followed suit in the presence of one of the seven princes and their own Third Horde.
“Krenua, do you greet the floor before you greet your old friend?” A smile passed over Alkao’s features. Krenua was one of his most trusted advisers. The warriors with him were the highly trained Black Hands, the vanguard unit of the Horde, made of the best trained and loyal warriors sworn to their prince’s name.
“It is the proper thing to do.” Krenua came to stand, a wide grin on his face that was marred with a cut that went over his eye and down his cheek. “Though my joints are getting a bit tired of it.” Krenua stretched as if enduring one of their old sparring matches.
“Do you have any word from the Gray God or the rest of our people?” Alkao asked.
“I do not. The last thing I remember is watching with the Black Hands as the Celestials started pouring from their portal cities and used their city-runes to cut through the center of the massed hordes as the undead ravaged our left flank with the Champions of the other Affinities and their minions holding the right flank, and closing in on our rear.” Krenua’s voice spoke of anger and vengeance.
“It is as he said,” Alkao said to himself.
“What happened to us?” Krenua looked at the decrepit keep.
“We have been given a second chance at our fight. The Gray God saved us, though he prefers to now go by the name of Bob and takes the form of a gnome,” Alkao said.
“Well, no worse or better than the others. Which element does the Gray God control?” Krenua asked. They had come to care little about which gods were who, only their minions—a slight to the gods, not caring for their names or for their elements.
“He does not control any. He is the balancer of Emerilia. He worked to save our race. He says that he captured several of our people, keeping them hidden away from forces that would wish our destruction. Now, the time for our return has come,” Alkao said.
“So, we have a gnome as an ally. They are some odd-looking creatures, always looking like they have their faces squashed in,” Krenua said, his wings showing his amusement.
“There are many others that we might call to our banner. While we were gone, it seems the people’s belief and trust in the Affinities has wavered.”
“What of the Angels?” There was a hunger to Krenua’s voice.
“They were banished from the world, but I am told that they will return. We must prepare for their arrival and the challenges to come.” Alkao gazed into Krenua’s eyes, their determination and a promise for a future setting a fire in their eyes.
A pop-up interrupted the moment.
Quest: Reclaim Your Home
Good—thought you might know old Krenua. Now, while your soldiers might be fine living out in the elements, your people won’t. Gather food for three hundred people and shelter to fit as many. Your journey has only started, Lord Alkao. Maybe with time, you will be once again worthy of being a Prince? Some of your new friends might know of quicker ways to make homes.
Rewards: Support personnel
“The Gray God gives us a task; we are to gather food for three hundred of our people and housing to fit them. Krenua, I will need your best hunters and those who know how to build shelters,” Alkao said.
He didn’t miss the hint that the Gray God was giving him.
“Have the hunters go to the basements. There are several creatures there. First, we need firewood to keep this cold off us. Then, I want those who know how to build searching the valley for any structures that might still be standing and then to search the other keeps to see if they would be able to hold people. I want a report within a day’s time,” Alkao said, turning for the keep.
“Yes, my Prince,” Krenua said.
“I will join them shortly. First, I must see if I can make up for a mistake I had made and try to see if we can get some allies in our fight,” Alkao said.
“It will be done.” Krenua turned to his Black Hands, issuing orders and finding out who was best suited for what.
Alkao’s wings moved nervously. He was now seeing how useful having allies would be. While they would not only be building their forces once again under pressure, most Demons would be starting as disorientated as Krenua had been. Still, they would have to rebuild their home. Summer was approaching quickly, which would make the work easier, but Alkao didn’t know how many of his people the Gray God was protecting.
He got to his command room. Gripping the table, he wondered what he would say. “First, I will talk to Anna to see how they fare and the others’ moods. Then, Suzy to apologize. Finally, I must do the same with Dave.” Alkao touched the hilt of his sword.
Without Dave’s weapons, he would have died fighting the creatures that littered his keep. He liked to think of himself as a good and honorable Demon. Yet, his actions had made him seem no more than a foolish child, blaming the world and anyone who was close for his issues.
He opened his interface and moved to his friends list, finding Anna and clicking the call button on the drop-down menu.
“Alkao, I did not think I would hear from you so soon.” The question was clear in her voice.
“I am sorry of my words and my actions. They were not warranted—I was angry. I call you to apologize and to ask for your aid.” Alkao hoped that his voice showed his sincerity.
“Father told me that you are bringing
back the Demons. You know that I am not the only one you need to apologize to. What do you need?” Anna said.
“I know and I will make my apologies for my actions,” Alkao promised. “I need help in creating shelter for my people who are coming back to Emerilia.”
“I’ll talk to some people I know.”
“Thank you, Anna,” Alkao said. Some of the dread in his chest faded away.
Chapter 26: Conference
Suzy looked over Induca, who was sleeping in their bed.
After Selhi, they’d finally let their feelings guide them. Suzy wouldn’t deny that she found Induca attractive, smart, interesting, and good fun to be around. Still, she was scared for their relationship. She wondered whether people would look down on her like they had in her other life. She was scared what the future might bring—if they came together or if they were ripped apart by the world. She didn’t want to go back into trying to hide her sexuality and she didn’t want to push Induca away.
She was confronted with a situation that she had hoped for so long. Now that it was here, she was scared that it would end.
Her interface made a ringing noise, telling her that someone was trying to get her into a voice chat. She rubbed her eyes, nursing her Xer, and accepted the chat.
“Hello, Suzy.” Alkao’s voice was clear as the day they had left him in the Mithsia Mountains.
“What do you want?” Her spark of confusion turned to annoyed realization. She did not want to deal with his gloating, his threats, or whatever the hell else he cooked up.
Anna had told the others about Alkao and was looking for people who could help her out with getting a place ready for the demons to call home. Malsour had agreed to help. With his magics, he could form shelters in hours instead of weeks.
The rest of the guild was throwing around ideas as Anna tried to plan for the future.
Suzy had fielded a few ideas, but she had extended her hand in friendship before, only to have Alkao and his prejudices become clear, thinking of Suzy and her friends as weak people to be used for his personal gain. Anna said that he seemed to have changed, but Suzy wasn’t going to roll over for him.
“I called to say that I am sorry about the things that I did and said. I was blinded by false pride. I should have not said those things. It is only now that I have come to realize this. Dave gave me a gift that helped me to get back to my homeland, to protect my life and forge a future for my people. If I did not have it, then I would be in dire straits or even dead, crushing my race’s future.” Alkao sounded genuine but Suzy wasn’t about to let him off the hook.
“Pride and honor are good things to have. Make sure that you are not blinded to them in the future. An apology is not the only thing that would motivate you to contact me. What do you want?” she asked, not caring for any pride that he might be trying to keep.
“The Gray God has given me a set of tasks to complete—he pushed me to contact you,” Alkao said.
“What are your aims and what do you need?”
“I want to make shelter for my people and to have food for three hundred people. That is what the quest tells me to do,” Alkao said. “The food I can do with my warriors. The homes—we are looking for different places to house our people and make sure that they are cleared of creatures. We should get some room from all of that. For the rest, I do not know what we could do,” Alkao said.
“What resources do you have?”
“I have my sword, shield, and twenty warriors,” Alkao stated.
“What kind of natural resources?”
“We have multiple creatures in the area that are deadly and drop a good amount of coin as well as materials, though we have nowhere to sell our goods. We do not wish to reveal ourselves before we are strong enough to deal with the threats of Emerilia.”
“Smart. Give me a minute.” Suzy cut the channel to Alkao and opened one with Shard.
“Hey, Shard, I have the Demon Prince Alkao on hold. I was wondering if there are any teleport pads close enough to him that we might be able to reach him?” Suzy asked.
“There are a few, but they are a few days’ hike. I must ask what are your intentions with contacting the Demons? They have had a colorful history.” Shard’s voice became more robotic. Suzy took it as his main guardian code written by the Aleph at work.
“The Demons need supplies to rebuild their home, like the Aleph. They have some items that they can trade, but they don’t want to have to show their faces to the others in the world. I was thinking of selling their goods through the Exdar’s Traders, charging them a fee and then sending back the materials and items that they need from their profits.”
“Understandable. I could create auction systems that would allow them to sell on the auction markets across Emerilia. Their home at Devil’s Crater in Ashal hosts many creature drops and resources that others in Emerilia would be willing to pay for dearly. I can also add in a system that tracks what the Demons are selling on a person-by-person basis, storing their accrued credit with the Aleph Bank, of which I am an administrator,” Shard said.
“If you could, that would be amazing, Shard!” Suzy said. She hadn’t thought of where Devil’s Crater was.
“I would also ask if it would be possible for me to barter with the Exdar’s Traders through you? There are certain resources that I am lacking in that I would be able to purchase with your aid.”
“I don’t see a problem. The guild is probably going to place the five percent tax on it that they do with every transaction through the guild,” Suzy warned.
“That is understandable.” Shard sounded agreeable to the terms.
“We’ll get all the details sorted out later with Lucy.”
“Very well. I will allow the Demons to use a terminal for the purpose of buying and selling goods to the Aleph, Exdar’s Traders, and the auction market.” With that, Shard cut the chat.
Suzy returned to her chat with Alkao.
“Okay, we have a system that we can bring that will allow you to sell items for wealth. You can also store items for a fee to be retrieved at any time, buy items or make buy orders from the same terminal. Is this acceptable?”
“That is more than I hoped for,” Alkao admitted.
A pop-up interrupted Suzy from talking.
Quest: A Gathering of Hordes
You have assisted Alkao in rebuilding his homelands in order to give his people a safe place to come back to. You are counted as a trusted ally by Alkao. Will you continue to aid him?
You must:
Aid in building shelters for three hundred demons.
Provide food for them.
Help to form an alliance between the Demons and another race.
Rewards: ???
“Well, shit, looks like I put my foot a bit too far into this one.” Suzy sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.
No matter what Alkao had done, helping out another race come back from wherever Bob had been keeping them would be worth it. Things were moving in the background and having allies to call on was going to be essential, Suzy felt.
“Send me a message with the information on the places that you currently have that can provide shelter. I will talk to my guild to see if we can assist, as well as some of my other friends,” Suzy said.
“I cannot thank you enough,” Alkao said after a few minutes. It didn’t sound as though he was used to being the one asking for aid and then accepting it graciously.
“I do this for your people, not for you, and you should remember that. I will contact you when I know what kind of support, if any, we can provide.” Suzy pulled up her message tab to draft messages for people to read when they woke up.
“The Demons remember those who stand with and against them,” Alkao promised.
“You should also remember that it has been a few centuries since the people you fought did stand against you. Few are as fanatical as those who fought you back then. The Affinity Pantheon has shown themselves to be less trustworthy with every passing day. Where you would find e
nemies before, you might find betrayed sympathizers today.”
“I thank you for your guidance.” Alkao’s tone showed that he took her words seriously.
***
“Dave, get up.” Deia sleepily pushed Dave.
“What?” Dave complained. He heard an annoying ringing in the background as he moved sleepily, hugging her to stop her pushing.
“Your alarm is going off! Deal with it,” she complained.
Dave made an annoyed noise, looking at the trumpet-looking invention that was ringing. Dave hit it, turning it off, and snuggled into Deia more to go back to sleep.
“Go deal with the Dwarves,” Deia reminded him.
“But I want to stay here with you,” Dave complained, holding her tighter.
“Faster you do it, the faster you can come back.” She turned away, trying to get some more sleep.
Dave made some pathetic noises.
She turned over and gave him a quick kiss.
Dave made happier noises as he rolled over to his side of the bed and grabbed his bag. His inventory appeared in front of him. Yawning and stretching, he selected the Mirror of Communication.
A pop-up arrived.
Mirror of Communication
You have been invited to attend a conference of Dwarven Master Smiths. Do you agree?
Y/N?
“Yes.” Dave stayed lying down, holding the mirror as he seemed to appear in a familiar conference room.
There was a simple wood table in the middle of the room; fires at either end kept the room lit and warm and a chandelier of candles was above the table. Dwarves of all kinds milled around the table or in the eaves, talking to one another.
Dave felt a breeze on his skin. He saw that he was just wearing his underwear. With a thought, he was wearing pants and a shirt.
“Leave the mountains for just a few short weeks and you show up to a meeting without pants on,” Jesal said, loud enough for others to hear, a grin on her face.
For The Guild (Emerilia Book 2) Page 33