Empire Builder 3: Breed, Populate, Conquer

by Dante King

  “Everyone ready?” Ben asked. “Because this isn’t over yet.”

  “Let’s go,” Melody said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what treasure is worth all this.”

  Ben and the group formed up, stepping through the armory. On his way out, Ben spotted two more racks—still with swords. One was packed with simple but well-made longswords, the other with kite shields. Both reminded him of what he’d seen on the relief in the first room. He watched them for a moment to make sure they didn’t leap to life. When he was satisfied, they moved on.

  Ben led them through the tall doors and into the next room.

  The space was huge, another round room with tall ceilings. The floor was matte, the walls padded, and training dummies were here and there. It reminded Ben of a huge training space.

  He stepped into the middle of the room, where a massive training dummy clad in tall, thick armor sat in the center.

  Ben didn’t have time to wonder what to do next. The armor clanked together on the dummy, the thing coming to life, red eyes visible from within its helmet. The armor summoned a huge, magical blade and stepped toward Ben.

  “Welcome, Benzhameen. I’m the Blade Master. And I regret to inform you that your journey ends here.”

  Ben pulled out his sword, and the fight was on.

  Chapter 2

  Ben held his longsword, both hands wrapped around the hilt. His heart beat like a war drum as he watched the hulking suit of armor approach.

  “Form up!” Ben shouted to his group. “Don’t let it separate us!”

  He stood shoulder to shoulder with the women. Lily and Sap were behind, Nipper at the front row’s flank.

  “Here’s the plan,” Ben said. “Melody, hit that suit of armor with all the electricity you’ve got. Lulu, shift into your water form and distract it. I’ll use Force Blast, and Lexi can get in strikes where she can.”

  He felt confident in the plan as soon as the words left his mouth. It’d worked against the swords; it’d work against the Blade Master.

  But when Ben closed his eyes to tap into Force Blast, he realized something shocking.

  He couldn’t access his magic.

  “Ben?” Melody asked, worry in her voice. “I’m blocked!”

  “Me too!” Lulu exclaimed.

  Ben hissed a curse under his breath.

  “You think you’ll be able to cheat your way to victory with magic?” the Blade Master said, his voice booming. “This room is about the blade. Fight with it, or die by it.”

  As if to prove his point, the Blade Master pulled back his sword and swung it in a horizontal arc toward them.

  “Down!” Ben shouted.

  The group dropped to the ground, the blade sailing harmlessly overhead. But the Blade Master was already gearing up for a second attack.

  “Now,” the Blade Master said. “It wouldn’t be a proper fight without more even numbers.”

  The Blade Master swept his hand forward, toward the practice dummies that littered the room.

  “Oh, no,” Melody said under her breath.

  The dummies came to life, six in total. Like the collection of weapons in the armory, they were diverse. There were two warriors clad in European-style platemail and longswords, two Middle-Eastern-style fighters with scimitars and light robes. Rounding them out were Eastern-Style samurai clad in heavy armor, katanas at their sides.

  Ben wasn’t sure why the fighters were so similar to the styles of warriors he’d seen on Earth. It didn’t matter—there was a fight to win.

  “What do we do, Ben?” Lulu asked. “We can’t use our magic, and we don’t have weapons!”

  Ben remembered the remaining racks of swords and shields in the armory. Then the image of the relief came to mind, the soldiers in tight shield walls as they marched toward their enemies.

  “We do have weapons!” he said. “Back in the armory. Follow me!”

  Ben turned on his heels and hurried to the entrance of the practice room. Together, the group rushed into the armory, and Ben led them over to the racks of swords and shields, the monster children close behind.

  “Now,” Ben said as the women grabbed swords and shields. “What we’re going to do is something called a ‘shield wall.’”

  “Ben,” Lulu said, holding up her sword. “I should mention that I have no idea how to use this.”

  “That’s fine,” he said. “Because we’re all going to learn together. Now, a shield wall works like this—we lock our shields side-by-side, creating a wall they can’t get through. Once that’s secure, all of us fighting in lockstep, we start opening up, jabbing our swords through the cracks in the wall. That way, we can attack them, but they can’t get to us.”

  “And that works?” Melody asked.

  “It’s how the Anglo-Saxons took over England,” he said with a slight smile.

  “How the who took over what?” Lexi asked.

  “Uh, I’ll explain later. Right now, just get ready to lock up and fight on my command. Sap, you stay behind and try to slow their movements. Nipper, attack from the flanks when I give the command. And Lily…”

  The flower monster regarded Ben with the same dreamy expression that seemed to always be on her face. He couldn’t think of what to do with her. Null fields over the room meant mana charging wouldn’t be necessary.

  Before he had too much time to consider the matter, Lily scrunched her face and let out a sneeze. The sneeze seemed to cause her to grow, making her look less like a child and more like a preteen. A puff of red pollen burst from the flower on her head. The group watched as the pollen drifted down, landing on their exposed skin.

  Tiny cuts remained on Ben’s arms from the battle with the swords, little nicks that he hadn’t bothered mending with Healing Touch, but as the red pollen landed on his skin, he watched as the cuts faded and vanished.

  “Lily!” he said. “Your pollen can heal now, too!”

  Lily smiled, her eyes sleepy.

  “Can you try switching back to mana pollen?”

  She nodded, closing her eyes and focusing. A puff of yellow pollen drifted from the flower atop her head.

  “Now healing!”

  She concentrated again, switching to red.

  “Yes!”

  Ben was thrilled. He knew this would be a major advantage to have in the battle against the Blade Master. It seemed that, unlike the magic of Ben and his women, the magic of the monsters wasn’t affected by the null fields.

  “Now,” Ben said. “Let’s get in there and finish the fight. Not a chance in hell I’m getting taken down by some walking suit of armor.”

  He led the group back into the training room, this time ready to fight. The Blade Master stood at the center of the room, the massive sword still in his hands. The six fighters were in a row in front of him, their weapons held out.

  “Ah,” the Blade Master said. “Much more sporting now that you’re all armed.”

  Ben opened his mouth to respond, but before he spoke a word, he saw someone new in the room. A small man, clad in rust-colored robes, a hood over his head, stood next to the Blade Master. In his hands was a simple, unadorned short sword.

  “Who are you?” Ben asked. “Tell me your name.”

  The man didn’t say a word. Instead, he raised his blade and moved silently to the side with incredible speed.

  Ben focused on the fight.

  “Shield wall!” he commanded.

  The women moved in front of him, raising their shields and locking them together. It wasn’t perfect, but Ben knew the protection would serve them well.

  “Now,” Ben said as he raised his blade, pointing it at the enemies ahead. “March!”

  The women obeyed, moving in sync. The armored dummies stepped forward, inching toward the shield wall with their blades extended. None of them had shields, Ben realized. That meant if the wall held, he and his companions would be able to march them down.

  He watched as the shield wall made its way forward, the women holding their long swords
at the ready. Nipper was at the right flank, Sap and Lily side-by-side.

  “Sap!” Ben shouted. “Attack!”

  She nodded before letting sap drip from her bark. She collected it at the ends of her branches, forming it into round globules that she launched at the armor. The sap wasn’t deadly, but it managed to gunk up the armor, slowing down its movement.

  Lily stayed at a safe distance, spraying her red pollen into the air. Ben had a feeling that, while the healing pollen would be useful, it wouldn’t do much for a grievous wound. Her mana recharge was only a slow trickle, which likely meant her healing pollen would amount to a minor regeneration. He’d need Healing Touch for major healing, and that wasn’t an option in the null-locked room.

  His stomach tightened as he watched the shield wall slowly make its way toward the armor. Ben flashed back to the stone relief, his mind’s eye focusing on the horseback leader commanding his armies into battle. He could feel what that leader felt in those moments, the nervous tension that preceded a clash of soldiers.

  But he was confident. He knew he would prevail.

  The moving armor drew closer, one of the European soldiers raising its longsword for a strike. It jabbed its weapon forward, the point clanging harmlessly against the shield wall.

  “Good!” Ben shouted. “Like that! Hold the wall and they won’t be able to get through!”

  The other European armor stepped forward, ready to try for a strike of its own. It angled the blade down, preparing for a jab at their legs.

  “Shield wall!” Ben said. “Lower and guard the bottom!”

  The women did as he commanded, lowering their shields in time to prevent a sweeping attack at their legs. The impact of the sword against the shields clanged through the room, the force of the blocked swing causing the armor to stagger.

  “Now!” Ben said. “Raise shields and jab through!”

  The women raised their shields as he commanded, opening the cracks between them just enough to jab their blades through. Ben could tell by their awkward pokes that they weren’t comfortable with longswords. Lexi had some skill, but Melody and Lulu had a harder time.

  But one of the jabs from Lulu struck true. The blade slipped into one of the cracks between the arm and chest of the European armor, the spirit inside letting out a howl before the armor dropped lifelessly to the ground.

  “Yes!” Ben shouted. “Keep it up!”

  The women continued poking their swords out of the shield wall, most attacks clanging against the plates of the European-style armor.

  And there are still five to go, Ben kept in mind. The fight wasn’t close to being won, and anything could happen.

  The Blade Master, the robed man still at his side, raised his blade.

  “Charge the wall!” he commanded. “And move in from the flanks!”

  The Japanese-style armor and the Middle Eastern formed into a line before the shield wall. The European moved to the side, getting ready to go in for the flanks.

  “Nipper!” Ben called. “Attack on the right!”

  He did as Ben commanded, rushing around and attacking the European armor. He sank his teeth into the armor’s greave, the bite hard enough to puncture the metal. Ben allowed himself a wry smile as he observed how powerful Nipper had become.

  Lexi, who was on the right near Nipper, took advantage of the attack. She jabbed her sword forward, the end vanishing into the space in the armor between the helmet and the breastplate. Another howl sounded, and the armor collapsed into a heap.

  Two down, four to go, Ben thought. And now we outnumber them.

  One of the Middle-Eastern fighters scored a lucky swipe with his scimitar, the blade arcing down and slicing into Melody’s arm. She let out a cry of pain, the injury enough to cause her to lower her shield.

  Ben’s eyes flashed—he didn’t doubt that the Blade Master would move in to take advantage of the gap in the shield wall. Ben knew enough about tactics to understand that once a shield wall broke, panic could seep in and cause it to fall apart.

  He rushed in, wrapping his arms around Melody and carrying her back. He checked out the wound and realized that, to his relief, it was only a surface injury.

  “Stay back with Lily and let her heal you,” he said as he slipped the shield off her arm and put it onto his.

  “Yes,” she said, her hand over her wound. “Thank you, Ben.”

  He rose, blade in hand and shield in front of him. He had always wondered what it would be like to be part of a real shield wall, and he was about to find out.

  Ben joined Melody’s shield to the other two, locking them together.

  “Push!” he shouted. “Don’t give them an inch!”

  The Middle-Eastern armors backed up, the samurais just behind them.

  “Sap!” Ben said. “Focus on the front right armor!”

  Sap did as he commanded, launching globule after globule at the right-most Middle Eastern. The sticky, heavy sap accumulated in its armor and clothes, weighing it down and slowing its movements.

  “Shield wall!” he shouted. “March him down!”

  Ben steered the wall toward the sap-covered armor, his and Lulu and Lexi’s blades jabbing out through the spaces between the shields. The other armors moved, but the sap-covered one couldn’t get out of the way in time. The shield wall approached and together with the women, Ben stuck his blade over and over into the armor. There was a howl, and it collapsed.

  Three more, Ben thought. And what the hell is the Blade Master doing? He could turn the tide of the battle right now if he wanted.

  He flicked his eyes up to see the Blade Master holding back, the small, robed figure still next to him.

  Whatever was happening, Ben wasn’t about to ignore an advantage.

  “Press on!” Ben said as he jabbed his sword at the armor ahead. “Keep moving until they’re down!”

  Ben glanced over his shoulder to see that Lily’s pollen was working and Melody’s wound was healing. The blood flow had stopped, and the slice in her skin was on the mend. But she still wasn’t ready to be back in the fight.

  The shield wall went on, and soon they caught up to the second of the Middle Eastern fighters. Ben could sense the apprehension in Melody and Lexi, as if their morale was slipping.

  “We’re almost there!” he called out. “Keep pressing!”

  The Middle Eastern fighter, now close enough for an attack, swung his scimitar against the wall. Ben held fast, bracing against the impact. The blade clanged against the shields, Ben wincing as he imagined what such a hard strike would do to bare skin. But that didn’t come to pass. Instead, he led the shield wall on, the jabs of their blades soon catching up to the Middle Eastern warrior.

  The three of them perforated the fighter with their sword tips, stabbing him over and over until he was down, nothing but a pile of rags and armor pieces.

  Two more left. Do we have it in us to take them out?

  Ben felt his energy waning. Between the fight in the armory and this battle, he was on the verge of collapse from exhaustion. But he pressed on, commanding the women to keep at it.

  “I’m here!” Ben glanced over to see that Melody was back in the fight, a shield in her hands that she must have retrieved from the armory. She was now locked onto the far-right side of the wall.

  “Let’s finish this!”

  The samurais attacked the wall with their slender katanas, but the blades were too thin, not powerful enough to penetrate the shields. The shield wall pressed on until Ben and the women were close. Together they stabbed forward, the endless onslaught of blades taking down the two remaining fighters, Nipper rushing in from the flank to finish the job.

  It was over.

  “Shield wall, break!” Ben shouted.

  The women did as he said, separating their shields and holding their swords out in front of them. The Blade Master remained, the strange, hooded man at his side.

  “Now,” Ben said. “The fight’s over. Tell me who you are.” He pointed his sword at the hood
ed man. “Tell me what’s down here. I, Benzhameen, the Forgotten Ruler, command you.”

  The hooded man said nothing, did nothing.

  And the Blade Master laughed, the hulking suit of armor leaning against his sword, his enormous pauldrons bobbing up and down as he chuckled.

  “You think you are the Forgotten Ruler?” he asked. “Don’t make me laugh.”

  “I am Benzhameen,” Ben said. “This is my dungeon. And you, whatever you might be, are my subject to command. And that goes for you, too.” Once more, Ben pointed at the hooded man with his longsword.

  “You are not the Forgotten Ruler,” the Blade Master said.

  “Is that so?” Ben asked. “Tell me why.”

  “Because the true Forgotten Ruler would’ve known how to end this fight in seconds. Instead, you wasted your time with tactics, burning the energy of you and your companions. Impressive, perhaps, but too easily beaten.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Watch.”

  Casually, the Blade Master raised his hand. As he did, the suits of armor that Ben and his companions had struggled so hard to defeat rose, bestowed with life once more.

  Ben’s heart sank at the sight. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  “No,” Melody said.

  “How… how are we supposed to do all that again?” Lulu asked.

  Nipper hung his head, and Ben could sense the monster was fatigued. There was no doubt Lily and Sap were in the same condition.

  But Ben wasn’t to be deterred. He raised his blade, ready to fight them all again.

  “You’re still not getting it, are you?” the Blade Master asked. “For all your tactics, you’re not able to figure out the solution.”

  Ben kept this blade out in front of him, the sword wobbling from the exhaustion that took hold of his body more and more by the moment.

  The solution? What solution?

  His eyes flicked to the hooded figure beside the Blade Master.

  Then he understood.

  He imagined the stone relief once more in his mind. Ben was the figure on the horse, the ruler who led his forces against all who would oppose him. But on the relief next to him was a strange, robed man.