Empire Builder 3: Breed, Populate, Conquer

by Dante King

  Light flashed, and when it faded, they were in a large house, the interior run-down and leaking. Cinder was there, squatted in the corner as if waiting for them for some time. He rose as soon as he spotted them, excitement in his eyes.

  “You’re back!” he shouted. “Shrike!”

  “Cinder!”

  The siblings rushed to one another and embraced, pulling each other into a tight hug.

  “What’s the status of the town?” Ben asked.

  A hard expression formed on Cinder’s face.

  “Word is spreading around Moonbright of what happened—I’ve been making sure of that, but I have good reason to believe Hullbeck is going to refuse to give up power, no matter what. He’s been bringing some of the youth into the great hall.”

  “Human shields,” Shrike said, venom in her words. “Damn coward.”

  “He’s been spreading word of his own, that rebel kin are planning on attacking the town, their intention to burn it to the ground rather than see it fall to the Black Army.”

  “But we can convince them otherwise,” Imogen said. “Can’t we?”

  Ben considered this. “Morgon and Gaton and the rest of the kin should be showing up in an hour or two. I’m sure they’ll be able to talk the other kin down.”

  “But,” Shrike said, “there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to do it before fighting breaks out. I don’t want a single kin to die if it’s not necessary.”

  Ben knew she was right. Sure, the truth might come out—but not before kin lost their lives.

  “Then we’re going to have to take out Hullbeck before they get here. Once he’s dead, we’ll make sure everyone knows we’re in charge, and that we’re here to help.”

  Everyone seemed to be in agreement with Ben’s plan.

  “That sounds good,” Cinder said. “But how do we pull it off?”

  “We move in as quickly as possible,” Ben said, “and we take them down all at the same time.”

  The group regarded one another, and it was clear they all knew there would be no easy way to get through this. If they made a move and Hullbeck suspected what was happening, he’d likely kill the hostages he had in the hall. He and his men would certainly put up a hell of a fight.

  “We’re going to need some kin to get the door open,” Cinder said. “Lucky for us, Kerrick and Sharn are in charge of the wall defenses. If I can convince them that I’ve kidnapped you, Ben…”

  “It’s going to be our best shot. Cinder, you and I get in there, and when the signal happens, the rest of you can do the same.”

  “What’ll the signal be?” Zito asked.

  Ben smirked. “I’ll use the crystal—I’ll send you all back to the tower, and when it’s time, I’ll transport you right into the battle.

  Cinder nodded. “Let me get the kin—we can make our move now. The rest of you—hide and prepare to attack when we give the signal.”

  With that, he left. Ben used the crystal to teleport the rest of the group back to the tower. It wasn’t long before a knock sounded at the door, the door opening and revealing Cinder, Kerrick, and Sharn.

  “There he is,” Cinder said, pointing to Ben. “Found him in here.”

  “How the hell did he get in?” Sharn asked. “We’ve got the walls sealed up tight.”

  “That,” Kerrick said, nodding toward the teleportation crystal. “I bet that has something to do with it.”

  He stepped over to touch the crystal, but Cinder stopped him.

  “You don’t know what sort of dark power it has,” Cinder said, “but we should take it with us to Hullbeck.”

  “And you don’t want to break it,” Ben said. “Trust me—unless you want half this town to go up in flames.”

  The two young kin seemed apprehensive, but they were ready to go along with the plan.

  “Come on,” Kerrick said. “Let’s do this.”

  “I’ll handle this thing,” Cinder said, taking the crystal.

  With that, the group left the house and made their way through the town to the great hall. Kerrick cleared his throat, stepped up to the door, and knocked in a strange pattern. It wasn’t long before the door opened, one of Hullbeck’s men poking his head through.

  “What the hell’s going on?” he asked. Then he laid eyes on Ben. “It’s him.”

  “I need to see Hullbeck now,” Cinder said. “He tried to sneak into the town.”

  “And we found them!” Sharn shouted.

  “Yeah, yeah,” the guard said. “All of you, come in.”

  He opened the door, and the group entered. The place was a mess, just as before. When they reached the main hall, they found Hullbeck in the same spot he had been, seated at the table and gorging himself on wine and meat. A half-dozen guards were in the room, along with a dozen young kin, all of them in chains and looking as if they’d had no say in the matter of them staying there.

  “It’s you.” Hullbeck finished his words with a long burp before taking another swig of the wine.

  “It’s you,” Ben said, “and you look like you’ve actually gained weight since the last time I saw you.”

  Hullbeck snorted, setting down his wine, sitting up, and reaching over to wipe his greasy hands on the frock of one of the hostage kins.

  “Funny. You want to tell me why you’ve broken into my town? Because I’m not planning on letting you go this time.”

  Ben cleared his throat. “I have the northern tower. The One is dead. You can surrender this town and turn yourself over to my dungeon, or you can die right now.”

  Surprise took hold of the faces of every single person in the room. They no doubt all knew that The One was dead, but there was no way they could have guessed that Ben had been the one to kill him.

  “What… what the hell did you just say?” Hullbeck growled.

  “You heard me. Now, what’s your call?”

  Hullbeck slowly rose from his chair. “My call? My call is that there’s one of you and twenty of us. My call is that I kill you on the spot. Who knows? Maybe I can even take the tower for myself. Guards!”

  Two of the guards dropped their weapons, running out of the hall.

  Ben knew it was time to move. He took the crystal from Cinder, then pictured the teleportation room in his mind’s eye. Light flashed, and when he opened his eyes, he was there, the rest of the group waiting for him.

  “Come on!” Ben shouted. “Hullbeck and five guards! Kill them before they hurt anyone!”

  The group nodded in unison, their weapons at the ready. Ben used the crystal one more time, transporting himself back to the great hall of Moonbright[12].

  “What in the flying fuck?” Hullbeck asked. “Where did you go? How did you bring them here?”

  Ben didn’t bother answering his question.

  “Attack!”

  Everything happened in a flash.

  Zito sprang from his spot, leaping through the air and plunging his blade into the nearest guard’s chest. Nipper jumped on another, sinking his teeth into whatever flesh was available and sending sprays of blood into the air. Melody cast her Lightning spell, a crackle of electricity connecting with another guard and punching a ragged hole in his middle. Ben was cleaner, using Siphon to pull the strength out of his guard, dropping him to his knees before using his magical katana to slice cleanly through his throat. Imogen and Brock used their stone powers to bludgeon their guard into a pulp.

  When they were done, the guards were all dead. Only Hullbeck and his hostages—all of them safe and unharmed—were left standing.

  “You can’t do this!” Hullbeck shouted. “I’m in charge of this town!” He grabbed the nearest wine bottle and smashed it against the table, using it as a makeshift weapon. “I’ll kill you all and then no one, not even The One, will stand between me and ruling every last kin on the river!”

  Shrike and Cinder weren’t bothered. Instead, small smiles on their faces, they stepped side-by-side up onto the platform where Hullbeck’s table sat.

  “You ready?” Cin
der asked.

  “Ready,” Shrike replied.

  Without another word, they summoned their flame magic, blasting it forward and roasting Hullbeck to ash. He burned so quickly that the smell of his roasting flesh didn’t even fill the room. When they were done, there was nothing left but a charred skeleton.

  “Go find your parents,” Cinder said to the hostages. “Let them know you’re safe.”

  None of the hostages said a word as they shot up from where they were seated. Shrike grabbed a set of keys on the table and used them to remove their chains, the kids fleeing the scene soon after.

  “Let’s get outside,” Shrike said. “The others need to know Moonbright is free.”

  They left the great hall, stepping out into the sunny day. The group made their way to the entrance of Moonbright and saw that Morgon had arrived, his silver siege soldier standing tall above the hundreds and hundreds of kin who’d joined him.

  “That’s a heck of a lot more kin than he left with,” Melody said.

  “Hey, everyone!” Morgon’s voice boomed through the speakers of his siege soldier. “Picked up a few along the way! Turns out plenty of towns are ready to join you, Ben!”

  Ben allowed himself a small smile, pleased that the plan had gone off so perfectly. He turned to face the rest of his group.

  “That’s more than enough kin to take back Waterbend,” Shrike said. “We can have what’s left of the Black Army out of the river region before the week’s over.”

  Ben nodded. “There’s still the matter of Moonbright. This place needs a leader.” He turned to Shrike.

  “Me?” she asked. “I don’t know. I’ve never led a thing in my life. I’d rather travel with you, Ben. I’ve always dreamed of seeing the rest of the continent. What better reason to check it out other than conquering it?”

  Ben noticed that a huge crowd of Moonbright citizens had gathered to witness the conversation.

  She placed her hand on Cinder’s shoulder. “You should lead this place. The people want you in charge. They respect you.”

  Cinder turned to the crowd. “I’ll lead you. If you’ll have me.”

  The cheers that rose from the crowd made it clear how they felt. Cinder nodded, turning to Ben.

  “Well,” Ben said. “Now that you’re the leader of this town, I’ll ask if you want to join me. You’ll have your freedom. All I ask is a small amount of resources in exchange for protection from my army.”

  Cinder nodded. “It’s my pleasure to accept. I believe you’re the one meant to rule this land, Ben. The one who’s meant to unite the continent.”

  He stuck out his hand, and Ben took it. More cheers sounded from the crowd.

  Words appeared in front of Ben’s face.

  BENZHAMEEN HAS CLAIMED TOWN: MOONBRIGHT.

  He grinned, knowing it was only just the beginning.

  Chapter 26

  One week later…

  Ben was seated in the chamber of the northern tower. The room had been mostly emptied, the personal effects of The One taken out to make room for however Ben decided to decorate it.

  But décor was the last thing on his mind.

  “Tower, bring up a map of the region.”

  The tower did as he asked, a map of the two towers and the river region appearing. Most of the area was now covered by his blue territory color. A few villages were still holding out, their elders showing stubbornness in the face of Ben’s offer. The prize, Waterbend, had agreed to join him. He had a feeling it was only a matter of time before the rest of the kin allied with him.

  Several splotches of contested territory were on the map—the remnants of the Black Army. Ben would have to take care of them, whether that meant wiping them out, or extending an offer to join his empire.

  He stepped to the balcony. The forests and mountains below were teeming with activity, hundreds of kin working—working for a wage, this time—to bring him new resources with which to grow his empire. Morgon had returned to his ruins, bringing willing kin with him to begin the work of creating more siege soldiers. Smiths from the villages were beginning to arrive, all fashioning gear that they would use to outfit his burgeoning army.

  The team at the other tower was hard at work digging out the other teleportation room, and soon he would have both towers connected to his network. Once that was done, he would be able to solidify control over the region. Ben had used one of the teleportation stones to bring Zito’s dojo into the tower, replacing the arena. He was hard at work going through the kin, eager to find suitable candidates for his new Luminous Blades.

  But Ben had one thing on his mind that morning—the next tower, and the journey to claim it.

  It wouldn’t be easy—the tower was far up in the mountains to the north-east. First, he had to scout out the region.

  “You sure about this, Ben?”

  He turned to see Melody entering the room, a teleportation stone in her hands. She stepped out onto the balcony and faced him, worry in her eyes.

  “I’m sure.”

  They both turned their gaze toward the northeast, toward the mountains where the tower was located.

  “You can’t fly up there all on your own.”

  “One scout is better, and I’m not just going there—I’m stopping at Brekmarth to ensure the existing portal stone network can be joined to our teleportation network. That’s what this is all about, remember?” He tapped the crystal in her hands.

  She sighed. “I know better than to try to talk you out of it, Ben. But be safe, alright? Get the teleportation sorted and then come right back. OK?”

  “Will do.”

  “And let me give you a little kiss for luck, too.”

  “Most definitely not going to say no to that.”

  She smiled, stepping on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his lips. “Come back in one piece, and you’ll get a lot more than a kiss.”

  “Now I’ve got even more motivation not to get killed out there,” Ben said with a wry tone.

  “Enough of that,” she said. “Now, get going.”

  Using the leather carrier, she hung the crystal around his neck. Ben closed his eyes and shifted into his hawk form, taking off and flying over the forest, through the peaks of the small mountain range near the tower. He passed over the river region, the towns already alive again with trade.

  It wasn’t long before he was over uncharted territory. Another forest down below seemed to stretch into forever, and though the mountain ranges in the distance were visible, they were so huge and far off that he realized it would take hours of flying before he’d reach them. The outpost of Brekmarth was a bit closer, and would make a perfect place to stop and rest.

  As he flew, he spotted something in the distance in the air—three somethings, to be precise.

  Ben kept his hawk eyes on them, watching as they grew larger and larger. At first, he was certain they were other birds, but as they drew closer, he saw that they weren’t birds at all—they were helicopters.

  Not Earth-like helicopters, he realized. More like wooden flying machines. As they drew closer still, the pilots became visible—they were goblins.

  And they all were carrying something.

  “Hey, wanna-be Forgotten Ruler!” one of them shouted. “Catch this!”

  It all happened quickly, but Ben watched as one of the goblins tossed something in his direction—a bomb-like object. It exploded around him, a burst of frosty blue air spreading out around it. Ben was too close to avoid the cloud, and ended up flying right through it.

  His wings grew stiff. He tried to flap but couldn’t. When he was clear of the cloud, he saw that his feathers were covered in ice.

  Some kind of… frost bomb?

  It was the only thought Ben managed to hold in his head before he began to fall, the ground rushing to greet him. As he plunged to his certain doom, he realized his beak was frozen shut.

  Not even a cry of help could come from him as he fell down, down, down.

  End of Book 3

 
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