New Horizons (Emerilia Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  Josh tossed a fruit through the portal.

  Dwayne kicked it; mush came back through the portal as Dwayne’s pants were covered in pink fruit.

  “Mmm, my favorite.” Josh wiped his face, now covered in pulped fruit. He grabbed a towel from his bag of holding, walking through the teleport pad’s event horizon and into the center of Devil’s Crater.

  “Dude! These are my comfy pants!”

  “Mate, this was my clean face!” Josh said back. He pulled the towel from his face and noticed the Demons, Beast Kin, and the council members who led Devil’s Crater standing off to the side.

  “Pillock,” Josh said to Dwayne, smiling to the Devil’s Crater leadership. “Hi! Good to meet you. I’m Josh Giles. I heard that you’ve got a mission for us.”

  “Hello, Josh. It is good to finally put a face to the name.” A large Demon walked out from the middle of the leadership group.

  Alkao Travezar

  Level 243

  Aerial Demon

  “Agreed,” Josh said. The two of them shook hands. Stone Raiders were pouring out of the portal and headed off to meet with their friends who stood to the side of the teleport pad.

  “So, shall we go and look over these plans of yours and check out just what kind of hell we’re going to rain down on this Demon Horde?” Josh grinned.

  “Straight to the point. Very well, come with me.” Alkao flapped his wings. His guards and brothers took to the skies.

  Josh and a group of Stone Raiders’ leadership ran as fast as they flew, heading for Alkao’s keep built into the cliffs around Devil’s Crater.

  Chapter 28: Homeward

  Malsour was off in the libraries of Per’ush. He’d flashed a medallion that allowed him access to any college resources.

  Dave was a bit jealous, but he was also excited to go and see Cliff-Hill. Suzy had been running the business side of things and keeping track of the minutiae of the businesses that Dave owned. Dave was excited to see the businesses, but he was more interested in seeing the people and getting to know what they needed.

  All of them were interested to see how Cliff-Hill had changed.

  “So, where are you off to?” the man who was selling tickets to different places asked.

  “I have special coordinates, though I would prefer if I was the one to put them in.” Dave passed over enough gold to make the ticket seller’s eyes go wide.

  “While it is not regular, with two teachers of the college backing your word, I think we can do that,” the ticket seller said. The gold disappeared as four tickets replaced them.

  “Thanks.” Dave smiled and pocketed the tickets.

  “Well, when you’re done with the business your guild is up to, it would be nice to see you again,” Fire, back in her disguise as Librarian Fuego, said to Deia.

  Dave could sense the woman’s nervousness. Even the gods of this world got lonely and it seemed that they missed and cared about their kids deeply. Well, at least Fire. Dave wasn’t sure that Light or Dark would give much of a hell about any children they brought into the world.

  Bob did not paint a flattering picture when talking about them.

  “I’d like that.” Deia smiled.

  Fuego’s face flared into a wide smile, growing more as Deia gave her a hug.

  “Look after this lot. Seems like they’re a good bunch. Dave’s all right,” Oson’Mal said.

  “Thanks, father-in-law.” Dave smiled back at the man.

  Oson’Mal was fiercely protective of his daughter, but Dave and Mal had made a friendship, understanding that the other would do anything to protect Deia. Also, drinking together and talking freely didn’t hurt.

  “Next transport!” the controller of the teleport pad called.

  Dave waved to Fuego and Oson’Mal and moved to the controller’s booth.

  “Okay, this is all rather complicated,” the controller started.

  “Ah, I’ve done this a few times. Your gain is too high, dude—wasting power on that.” Dave pressed different keys on the control booth’s control pad and turned a few levers.

  The teleport pad in front of the control room shifted and changed, rotating in new runes and out old ones until they formed a new pattern. Dave pressed the power button as the runes started to glow with power, a portal connecting the teleport pad to its location.

  “Damn, you trying to steal my job?” The controller laughed dryly.

  “Nah, thanks, I’ve got enough work as it is.” Dave smiled and shook the man’s hand in thanks. He walked back out of the control pad. He saw through the teleport pad and out into a large stone courtyard.

  Kol and Wis’Zel, as well as some Dwarven shield bearers, were waiting on the other side. Dave waved at them as Deia released Fuego and Oson’Mal from a hug. Induca and Suzy walked through the teleport pad’s portal.

  Dave held out his hand; Deia grabbed it as they walked through the portal. They stepped out into one of the training squares that Dave remembered the tournament, from a year ago, being held on. The portal closed behind them as Dave looked at the teleport pad that was stuck into the ground. There was cracked stone around it, but that could be fixed easily enough.

  “Damn, it’s good to be home!” Dave saw Lox and Gurren with wide grins on their faces as he crossed to the waiting crowd. Kol and Wis’Zel descended on him.

  “I’m going to go see Gurren and Lox. Dinner later?” Deia asked, knowing Dave was going to be wrapped up in business all too soon.

  “Sounds good to me.” Dave smiled. He waved to his Dwarven friends who had trained him and helped him come to know Emerilia and be able to defend himself.

  Dave turned to face his two managers. “All right, let’s get this business crap sorted out quick, then we can get down to relaxing!” Dave smiled.

  “Good to see you again.” Zel smiled and shook Dave’s hand.

  “Look to be going soft, I see. Not enough time in the forge,” Kol said.

  “I’ve been preoccupied with other things, Mentor,” Dave said, his voice dry.

  Kol made a displeased snort to hide his smile.

  “I guess I’ll tag along and see what you three have been up to,” Suzy said.

  “Lead on, Zel,” Dave said.

  They passed through the crowd, Dave saying hello, giving a hug or handshake here and there. His worries seemed to fall away. He promised to see them later as they left the training square and headed up Cliff-Hill.

  Dave paused, looking at it all. Cliff-Hill looked like the name said. It was as if a hill had once rested there and someone had cut away the slopes of two-thirds of the hill, turning the sides into sheer cliffs, leaving just the southwestern side with a sloping hill.

  What had been a wooden wall covering that gentle slope was now completely stone, wrapping around the base of the cliff. A trench ran in front of it, with a bridge toward Omal and another toward the Mithsia Mountains and Kufo’tel forest. The road looped up and through the village at the top of Cliff-Hill. It seemed to have multiplied in size since Dave had last seen it. There must have been ten or twenty stone buildings where there had only been a handful when Dave left.

  Below the town, there was the biggest building: a four-story apartment building with a small fortified wall around it. It had been the Golden Sabre’s base when they had come to Cliff-Hill. Since then, the Stone Raiders had bought it from them and was the home to around fifty Stone Raiders who trained with the Dwarven forces, worked in the smithy, or traded with the people in Cliff-Hill.

  There was a massive open area around it, plenty of room for expansion as trees filled the area. Well below that, through the trees, were two growing complexes. Laid out in straight lines, there were smithies close to the road that led to Omal; factories were next to the road that led to Mithsia.

  The ceramics factories were five hundred meters long and two stories tall. Rough clay headed into one side, and then ceramics came out the other side, piled onto carts and sent across the stone-paved roads between the factories and smithies to the r
oads leading to Mithsia and Omal. Dave noticed another main road between the two factories now extended out into the forest, headed right for the training square where the teleport pad was located.

  Dave knew that his smithies and factories had grown, but he hadn’t expected them to have grown so much. He felt a bit of nostalgia as he saw his portable smithy away a bit from the main smithies.

  The roads through the city were complete, a work of Dwarven construction. Dave looked to where his house was. It was a simple cabin, tucked away from the road to Omal, overlooking the western side of Cliff-Hill. It overlooked the fields that grew around the cliff faces of Cliff-Hill and the river which had been diverted to weave around the hill to water their crops.

  There was more room for the town to expand, but its progress left Dave stunned for a few moments.

  “You’ve certainly been busy,” Dave said, proud of all his people had been able to accomplish.

  “We’ve got plenty more plans now with the teleport pad here. Our biggest thing is resources right now. With the new teleport pad opened, we can ship across Emerilia at much cheaper prices. Also, we can get some more workers in here. We’ve got plenty of room to expand.” Zel smiled.

  “After purchasing the teleport pad, we’re going to have to wait a bit before we do too much expanding or hiring. We haven’t got too much in the way of coin to make much. With that weapons and shield order that you placed, for now we’re just losing money all over the place with the time and resources we’re putting into it,” Kol said.

  “Why don’t we go to the bank first? It’s been awhile since I was at one.” Dave hid his smile. “Is Ukon still running the place?”

  “Yeah, and doing a damned fine job of it,” Wis’Zel said.

  “It’ll be good to see him. So, now, tell me, how are the new runed furnaces going for you both?” Dave asked as they got onto a wagon. The teleport pad was located lower down the hill, where the old dwarven warclan training area had been. A good thirty- or forty-minute walk from the smithies and factories.

  As soon as they were sitting, it moved forward up Cliff-Hill. Kol told the driver where to go as Wis’Zel talked to Dave.

  “They’ve been great. The materials cost is a bit much, and as you said, we’ve only made as many as we’ve absolutely needed. However, we’re going to need more very soon. They’re faster and cheaper than the regular wood-burning furnaces. People like not having smoke all over the place.”

  “Keeping the people around us is half the business—don’t need them actively fighting us on everything,” Dave said. “Also, I think I can get a few of those furnaces, especially the bigger ones you were talking about, done for you.”

  “That would be great. As Kol said, we don’t have much in the way of wiggle room for money right now.”

  “I think we’ll be able to sort that out soon enough.” Suzy looked to Dave.

  “You thinking of investing?” Dave asked.

  “Yes, though I know I’m not going to get much of the place, but even a few percent is good enough. With the teleport pad, your factories, smithies, and all those workers, you’ve got a growing company. Might be an idea to start looking for investors to take off some of the financial burdens and planning.” Suzy turned the statement into a question.

  Dave winced. “Right now, I think we’re good. We’ve got the right people in the right places. Having too many people with different opinions who don’t know what is going on inside the factories and smithies could really mess things up. They see numbers and figures, not people and circumstances.”

  “True. It was an idea, though I think the only people with the kind of capital we are thinking would be lords and ladies. Which usually doesn’t make them that in touch with regular people’s troubles.”

  “So, what about the workshop? How are things going there?” Dave asked.

  “Good, better than I thought,” Kol said.

  “We’ve got around fifty people learning. It’s slow going as the teachers are learning from your methods as they’re teaching it. Right now, they’re like one big smithy working on five different weapons. If you could go and talk to them, it would help out. Some of the stuff they’ve come up with has been turned into patents, which we’re getting five percent from. Not much, but these patents are for things that people use every day, so it’s a near constant stream of income. It’s certainly making others interested in learning,” Zel said with some pride.

  “Damn, the place looks like it’s changed, though it’s only talking with you two that I’m realizing just how much it’s changed.” Dave shook his head, once again looking out at Cliff-Hill. They were almost at the city center.

  “It’s been a crazy year.” Zel grinned and looked to Kol, who nodded in agreement.

  “Oh, Kol, I almost forgot, you know I said I had that healer friend? I was wondering if you were interested in her helping you out?” Dave asked.

  “I’ve become used to not using my eyes at this point, lad. It’s not worth getting my hopes up again.” Kol’s gruff voice cracked slightly.

  “Well, even if it helps fix your messed-up nose, so I don’t hear you snoring from half a mile away, I’d count that as a victory.” Dave grinned.

  “I can still kick your butt, you young whelp,” Kol grumbled. The corners of his mouth flicked upward in amusement.

  “I’ll take that as a yes, and I think we’re here,” Dave said. The wagon rolled to a stop outside a large stone building, people moving in and out at a rapid pace.

  Dave sent Jules a message before he jumped off the wagon. The others followed, Suzy asking Zel about the day-to-day running of his ceramics factory.

  Dave walked into the bank. A line led up to tellers dealing in all manner of tradable goods and coins.

  “That way, back right.” Kol pointed to a hallway. Dave followed his directions, walking down the hallway and coming to a reception desk.

  “Hello, I am here to see Ukon,” Dave said to the Elven receptionist.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “Dave Grahslagg.” Dave smiled.

  Her smile faltered as she studied him. “Right, and I’m Oson’Deia. You are the third person to say that this week. I need a piece of identification please or else I will call the Dwarven warband to collect you.”

  “Am I enough proof?” Kol stepped out from behind Dave.

  “Master Kol? So, he’s really the Dave?” The receptionist looked at Dave.

  “As I know it.” Dave smiled, a bit worried about the impersonators, but happy that the bank had made sure they were arrested instead of allowing them access to his accounts.

  “Sorry. I thought you would be shorter and have a larger beard and not as muscled.” She went bright red as she realized what she’d said. “Uh, sorry, umm, I’ll get Mister Ukon.” She opened her interface, her Elven features bright red.

  “If you don’t mind, me and Zel will hang out here to discuss things,” Suzy said.

  “Sure, this is just boring bank stuff.” Dave shrugged.

  “Here, tell me how much of a share that will get me.” Suzy opened up her interface, holding a trade with Dave.

  “You sure? Isn’t this nearly all of your savings?” Dave asked.

  “We’ll either get it back through the holdings here, or we can make it up in our next raid. I’m not too bothered.” Suzy shrugged.

  “Where’s the penny-pinching Suzy I knew?”

  “She learned that money isn’t really all that important and she can always make more. Now go on, don’t keep Ukon waiting.” She waved Dave on as the door behind the receptionist opened.

  Ukon appeared, a large smile on his face. “Master Kol and Dave, I heard the good news from Benvari Mountain. Two Master Smiths calling Cliff-Hill home—I don’t think there is any other city outside of the Dwarven mountains that can boast the same!” Ukon shook Kol’s hand and then turned to Dave.

  Dave smiled and grabbed the Dwarf’s hand. There was something that always made Dave smile when he was around the
man, a kind of friendly energy. “Ah, it was pretty fun.” Dave shrugged.

  “Makes it to the Master Dwarven Smith level and calls it ‘pretty fun.’” Ukon laughed, a deep, bassy sound. “Come in, come in.” He waved them through the door.

  “When Kol came to me with your plans to purchase a teleport pad for the town, I was a little shocked. The second teleport pad in all of Opheir right in Cliff-Hill? I knew I settled in the right place when I heard that you were taking all of our resources and putting it into the pad. I’ve never heard anything quite like it! Most just want to horde it all away.” They entered Ukon’s office. “Please, have a seat.” He waved to the chairs in front of his desk and closed the door behind them, before he took his own seat. “So, what can I do for you today?”

  “Well, first I wanted to link together some patents that I’ve made. The accounts have been made and the patents filed, but I wasn’t near a bank to connect them. Then, I’ve got a deposit to make into the company’s accounts and then my good friend Suzy also wants a part of the company and she is willing to buy into it, so, going to have to find out how much her money equals out of the company shares. We can do that first before everything else,” Dave said.

  “Well, seems like you’ve got a long list of to-do’s,” Ukon said. “You sure you want to do the share before accumulating all the assets you’re putting in? You’ll own more of the company.”

  “She’s like a sister to me and I wouldn’t trust anyone more—other than Zel and Kol, of course.” Dave smiled.

  “Well then, let’s get that sorted out for you.”

  A prompt appeared in front of Dave, asking for the amount Suzy was depositing against the worth of the company.

  Dave put in Suzy’s money, earning a surprised look from Ukon.

  The deposit screen disappeared. A new one asked for Dave’s deposit. He put his in as Ukon shook his head.

  “I should remember that you’re a Player. But still—having this much money in your pocket instead of a bank, you must’ve been in the back end of nowhere.”