Wild Wastes

by Randi Darren

Her head bobbed up and down as she reattached her unpowered collar. Eva and Elysia following suit.

  “Lord.”

  “Master.”

  “My Liege.”

  Vince waved them off and started in on their rather large family.

  Elysia’s hand writing was meticulous. Flowing evenly and precisely through each line of her ledger she copied the name, and job Vince assigned. She added her own notes and had divided sections in her ledger for various things.

  Vince wasn’t quite interested in this tedium and was more than happy she’d taken it upon herself to do all the work.

  The front door to his home opened and Fes walked out, Petra close behind her. Whatever discussion they were having immediately stopped on seeing him.

  Fes looked to the Dryads, who were nearly comatose in their chairs, then to the elves cloistered around him.

  “Husband, did you claim the other two Dryads?” Fes asked, a green hand indicating the corpse like Dryads.

  “No. They’re drunk on power. They’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

  Fes’ mouth turned into a grimace. “Why not? They-no. You’ll do what you do in your own time. You’re like the boulder atop a hill. I can shove you, but unless you’re ready to move, you won’t budge.”

  Vince snorted at that and then waved a Dwarf in. “You want me to claim more wives?” he asked, picking up the battery.

  “Yes. As your Fes, the more power you have, the more power I have. We need much more power. You will conquer all.

  “We will return later. Going to go train and spar.”

  “This one-” Petra started.

  “We train,” Fes said firmly.

  Petra glared at the Orc but relented when she realized Vince was watching the exchange.

  “Hold on tightly to your collar, and pull when you feel tired,” Vince said. He felt as if he’d turned into a machine. Activating the battery the Dwarf wasted no time in pulling off the collar.

  Then put it back on immediately and turned to Elysia to give her his name.

  Tuning them out for a moment Vince felt his lips turn up into a foul grin and looked to the Dryads.

  They watched him with the barest signs of life. Their eyes glowing green and glittering.

  They waited. Knowing what was to happen. As his thumb moved up to the stud he could feel their trees inside him quiver in dreaded eager anticipation.

  Thumbing the stud, the battery discharged into his arm.

  Each Dryad locked up, their teeth bared, toes curling, fingers clenching into the arms of the chairs as they stiffened up. Then relaxed just as suddenly as the power filled their trees.

  “Thank you. Please, may I have another?” the Dryads woodenly murmured in chorus. They’d gotten much better about saying it together by the tenth discharge.

  Karya started panting audibly, her mouth hanging open. Daphne had the look of a woman so drunk she no longer knew if she lived.

  Meliae was the only one who had enough awareness to take a sip of the water he put out for each of them. Looking to her left and right she helped her Dryad sisters each get a drink as well.

  “Of course I’ll give you another,” Vince said and turned to Fes. “I’m punishing them. They actually love it. Part of that ‘destroy me’ Dryad thing. Trust me on that one.

  “In the woods? Don’t get lost in the woods or I’ll have to come find you. All kidding aside, I don’t want to worry over you Fes Berenga.”

  Fes gave him a wide smile, her tusks becoming evident. “You’re enjoying yourself a bit too much I think with those poor Dryads.

  “As to the woods, yes, husband. I will listen.”

  “Course I am. They tease and mock. Rile me up. They want this, and they know I’ll eventually lash out if they keep it up. Admittedly I’m being trained, and they’re being trained, but that’s the way it goes.

  “I don’t think they expected this though. Heh.”

  Vince looked to Petra who had been staring at him. “Petra.”

  “This one awaits orders, Master.”

  “Be safe. Come home alive.”

  “This one will do as her master instructs.”

  Vince nodded and turned back to the dwarf he’d collar popped. “Stone or metal.”

  “Stone,” came the gravelly response.

  “Rock quarry or the wall, Elysia.”

  Vince stood bolt upright as the shock of Fes’ firm hand slapping him on the ass caught him unaware. Then she stepped off the decking and set off for the woods.

  Petra lingered for a moment, her eyes moving from him to Fes and back. Then the ant soldier darted in and kissed him hungrily. Before he could respond she scuttled off the deck to catch up with Fes.

  The Dwarf stumped off to whatever work assignment Elysia had given him.

  “Where are we at then?”

  “The quarry needs more hands right now, my Liege. That’s because the early reports from the wall is that they’re going through the bricks faster than we’re making them.”

  Vince leaned over Elysia’s shoulder and looked at the figures she was pointing to. It was a summary with every work type listed and current count in tallies.

  “Blacksmiths are short in supply. More so than the quarry, even. Can’t help what their background is.”

  “No, my Liege.”

  Vince laid his left hand on her shoulder and began tracing the entries with his right hand.

  Lumberjacks, all the Beavers. Of course.

  Wall defense, Trolls and Ogres.

  Siege weaponry, Gnomes.

  Library, Centaur, couple Elves.

  Scouts, whole lot of Ratfolk, Brownies, and Pixies.

  He’d bought those by the dozen in Blanchard.

  Front line warriors, Bearmen, Wolfmen, Orcs, Kobolds, Gnolls, and… Vince didn’t bother to read the rest as there were too many.

  River defenses and upkeep, Nereid, Nixies, Water Elementals.

  Farming, handful of Halflings. Not nearly enough.

  Carpentry…

  Vince couldn’t make heads or tails of it. They were spread across all the races. They had quite a number of them though, thankfully.

  Miscellaneous, Goblins.

  He still didn’t understand that one. Elysia asked him to trust her so he did. Didn’t mean he understood it.

  “What do we really need right now?” Vince asked to himself.

  “My Liege,” Elysia said, turning her head. She seemed unperturbed by the fact that they were inches from each other.

  Vince realized at that point he was practically hanging on the poor woman. “We need weapons, traps, and fortifications. Once the Beavermen finish clearing the immediate area and approaches, we should have them begin working on a wooden stake wall facing out, opposite to the side we have our wall going up.”

  Vince nodded and leaned away from Elysia.

  “Oi, there you are, Vinny,” called a Dwarven voice. Looking up Vince saw Deskil stomping up the deck. He marched right up to Vince.

  “Ha, Deskil. Good to see you. Didn’t expect to see you here though,” Vince said, holding out a hand to the Dwarven blacksmith. Looking over Deskil’s shoulder he saw Minnie approaching, too.

  “Minnie, a pleasure as always.” Deskil took Vince’s hand and shook it firmly. “What do I owe the pleasure to?”

  “I’m afraid I’ve come calling, cap in hand, Vinny. I’ve lost my forge, my tools, and my home. I can work. I’ll work hard. Just give me-”

  “Done. We have precious few metal workers. They’re over there right now.” Vince indicated to the large roped off area in the distance.

  Visible even from here were the crates stacked one on top of the other. “We’ve got all the tools, equipment, and ore for a team of blacksmiths. I don’t know the exact counts of everything but there should be an Elf over there who has all the details.

  “As for pay, well, that’s the rub. We’re more of a commune at this point than a city. Everyone here is working for our mutual benefit with one goal. I can guarantee you
a home for free. Eventually. And more than you could eat or drink right now.”

  “Vinny, were you the bastard who bought out several months worth of ore in Sacramento and then again in Blanchard? Damn near ran the entire guild under for a month till they found another supplier?” Deskil asked, his bearded face splitting in a wide grin.

  “That’d be me. So, up for the job? Also, is your collar depowered? No powered collars allowed here.”

  “Aye, and aye. We’ll catch up later, Vinny. Work to do,” Deskil said, rolling up his sleeves. The Dwarf trundled off at a walk, and soon was off at a run.

  Minnie walked up to Vince and then hugged him. “Thank you, Vince. We… weren’t really sure what to do.”

  “Of course. My pleasure. Though I’m surprised you found us. Was it that easy to follow the trail?” Vince asked her. He knew they’d left a pretty easy trail with all those wagons and supplies.

  “Very. Deskil tracked you if you can believe it.” The woman pulled back and glanced over at her husband who looked to be sprinting towards the blacksmiths area.

  Minnie sobbed once and then started to laugh as she rubbed at her eyes. “They took everything. Claimed I was a Waste lover. We got out while they were trying to find the safe.

  “We could see the fire even as we left. They burnt it all down. He looked shattered. Lost.”

  Minnie laughed harder now and rubbed at her nose. “Now the stupid fool is running faster than I’ve ever seen. How much ore did you buy?”

  “Something like eighty-thousand standards worth? Round there.”

  Minnie shook her head, sniffling. “Thank you and curse you at the same time then. I won’t be able to pull him out of there for weeks. He’ll look at this as a blessing for the simple fact that he can make whatever he feels like without a care for me nagging him about the cost of ore for his pet projects.”

  She ran the books?

  “Well, what will you have me do then. I’ll be needing a job as well.”

  “You any good at accounting?”

  Minnie smiled warmly at that. “I am. Though it sounds like you need a professional and I’m-”

  “Better than me. So, congratulations. You’re the accountant. For now, go get some sleep. A meal. We’ll tackle the ledgers tomorrow night.

  “For now all I can offer is a patch of grass. Warehouse has plenty of beds and blankets. Weather should be good this week according to Meliae, but we should have several dormitories put up by the end of the week. Once everyone is under a roof, we’ll start working on homes.”

  Minnie let out a slow breath and nodded her head. “I’m sure you know that they’re talking about you in nearly every town. And what to do about you.”

  Vince agreed with a nod of his head.

  “I’m betting they’ll be coming to pay us a visit eventually. We’ll be ready.”

  Vince looked up to the next person in line, and waved them on.

  Chapter 24

  Vince closed the door to his manor with a soft click. It’d been two weeks since he’d broken everyone’s collar.

  Not one single person had left after being given their choice. They all remained. Which left him with something like six-hundred and fifty pairs of hands to work with.

  And work those hands did.

  The forest clearing had gone impressively. The Dryads had worked quickly to get all the spirits out of the area they needed to clear and moved into other trees or given a promised residence over a home.

  With no resistance and trees that seemed eager to fall, the Beaverman had cleared more than enough of an area for a large city. Including the surrounding approachable areas. Many trees had been left alone if they had a locational significance, or held a truly obstinate spirit. With gave the whole thing a forested feeling, without being a forest.

  Goblins had run rampant over everything, picking it clean of debris, rocks, and anything else that could impede building, or farming. All for the simple fact that Vince had asked them specifically. Because it was a task no one else could do as quickly as they could.

  Halflings had taken over the farm-work from there. Vast tracks of farmland were already being cultivated.

  His contingent of carpenters had descended on all that readily available wood and threw up dormitories. Faster than any human carpenter he’d seen, that’s for sure. Half of them had then started in on the workshops and factories, while the remaining half began on actual housing.

  Vince had originally been concerned about that aspect of the project. It sounded like his carpenters wanted to build each house to specifications. Then he realized with so many different races they had to.

  More surprising was how quickly the camp had sprouted up families and pairings. The number of houses they’d need dropped a few every day as more and more of his people got married or joined families.

  Nodding at a passing Hob-goblin who gave him a gap toothed grin Vince set off for the walls. He didn’t want to panic anyone, but the walls needed to be up. Soon.

  Eva, Thera, and Elysia glided into place around him before he’d made it ten steps.

  None of them had changed their duties after he’d freed them, despite him telling them to stop.

  They’d even gone ahead and coaxed some of the carpenters to work on his manor. Which would now be fit to call a mansion since it had rapidly been expanded to three times it’s original size. Taller than he wanted, and bigger than he needed, he felt lost in it at times.

  At least someone had the presence of mind to take all my existing rooms and move them item by item. Converting the new rooms into duplicates of the old, just with new walls and elsewhere in the house. He imagined it was probably painstaking work. Moving a room item by item.

  Probably Elysia.

  Even his messy and horribly cluttered trophy room. Which had been raided the next day by Deskil when he heard about it.

  “Inspecting the wall, my Liege?” Elysia asked, taking the position just behind him and to the left.

  “Yeah. Why? Is my attention drawing attention?” Vince asked.

  Thera nodded her head from directly on his right and a step ahead.

  On his left at his side was Eva. “Yes, Master. You are.”

  “Damn.” Vince stopped dead in his tracks and slipped one hand into another. His Elven trio circled up in front of him, facing him. “Well, how are they doing?”

  “Very good, Master.”

  “Yes, Lord. Completion isn’t far off.”

  “Perhaps even next week, My Liege.”

  Vince looked from one Elf to the next. “Alright. What does need to be inspected then? Anything?”

  Thera’s brow furrowed and she looked to Elysia at the same time Eva did.

  “My Liege, I would suggest that you relax today. Perhaps look to your own inner circle. Maybe train,” said the High Elf neutrally.

  Ok, so there’s a problem and they’re being cautious.

  “One of you can explain that statement to me.” Vince lifted a finger and waved it between the three of them.

  Elysia looked pained and wouldn’t meet his eyes.

  Eva sighed and pressed a hand to her brow. “Master, Petra and Fes fight. Every day.”

  Thera closed her eyes and bowed her head. “It’s true, Lord. The only discontent is in your own home.”

  Vince grunted and looked to one side.“Got it. I’ll take care of it.”

  The problem here was that Fes was acting within her rights as Fes to dictate Petra’s actions to a certain degree. Petra, having not actually been beaten, or beaten Fes, didn’t respect the situation. Her chain of command was fuzzy.

  Fes on the other hand needed a strong hand guiding her in the same way. While her issue wasn’t one of chain of command, it was of leadership through trial of arms.

  It wasn’t his way, but if he wanted to keep Fes happy, and in turn Petra, this was his answer.

  “Thera,” Vince said, turning his head to the Dark Elf.

  The Dark Elf’s shoulders straightened, her head snappin
g up.

  “Get the Dryads. I’d like to meet them in the training field behind the manor.

  “Elysia, could you please fetch Petra and Fes?

  “Eva, I need training weapons for anything that could come up.

  “I’ll meet you out behind the house. Promise.”

  The Elves regarded him suspiciously. There’d been times where he tried to send them off on errands so he could be alone. At once they decided without speaking that the requests were legitimate and moved off to their appointed tasks.

  Vince was annoyed. He’d known there was a problem but had deliberately ignored it. Ignored it to the point that his Elven council had to tell him that it was no longer a private problem.

  Heading back to the manor he went through it to the back to the fenced in private back yard. It wasn’t something he’d asked for, and no one told him who’d done it, but he was suddenly grateful for whoever had requested it.

  In the center of what once was an empty field of grass and trees, was now a cleared circle of dirt with a wooden lip encircling it. Walking to the center of that Vince started going through warm up stretches.

  He was sure he didn’t need to, never had, but he always felt better in doing it.

  As he worked his waist muscles into what he hoped was a more limber state, the Dryads and Thera walked over to him.

  “Ah, good. Meliae, can we talk for a minute?” He smiled at the Dryad in question and motioned at her as he walked to one edge of the ring.

  Meliae grinned at him and bounced her way over to him. “What can I do for you Sweetling?”

  Vince decided to dive right in. “I get the impression you’re rather good at fertility and sex magic. Is that you personally or you as a Dryad.”

  Meliae blushed deeply at that and nodded at him. “In general, Dryads have an affinity. Mine is… yes, it’s fertility and sex. Daphne is better at direct intervention with flora. Combat you could say. Karya is very in tune with the land and animals. People.”

  “Good. Can you keep me… er… can you make it so I can perform repeatedly? One after the other? Three times preferably.”

  “Easily. Any of us could do that,” purred the Dryad, her eyes starting to green over. Her hands gripped her staff and wrung it back and forth.