Joey, Donnie, and I panted for a few minutes. We were at our weakest right now so I did a quick check with Traz about the warg party. They were roaming in the far distance and we were clear. I breathed in relief and helped the men dismember the five extra dead golems. It was fairly quick work as I hobbled to each one and used Smasha to break the golems into movable pieces. The men followed behind me and loaded the wagon.
“Alright, that is enough for now. This is a good haul, we will take turns pulling the cart back. I can help get it started rolling with my one good leg but after that, I am going to use it as support.” I said as Nate and Brad took the handles to start the pull. The rest of the men helped me get the wagon rolling by pushing from the back. It creaked and groaned but once it got going the loaded cart rolled smoothly down the dry road. “Looks like this wagon could hold a few more if we had a combat healer to continue. If we get additional wagons and some hired muscle we can adjust how long we stay. I had planned on being here for a few days, and with nothing pressing in Fernlan, I think we should extend that. Get a massive harvest of these, especially if there is gold in selling them. I think all of us want more gold, right!?”
This got a small cheer from the men, it was the reason they were here. Gold and I was offering more of it with some hard work. I needed to learn how much these golems were worth and how many I would need to light Dais.
“It should be easy enough to find more wagons to buy, finding men in a hostile city that I want to take into the wild lands is another ordeal.” Nate said as he heaved from pulling the wagon. “We will make it happen though, locate some mercenaries or men desperate for work. I have to admit it went a lot smoother than I thought it would. Even with Joey nearly getting himself killed, dumbass.”
Part of the camaraderie was giving each other grief over our mistakes. In this case, Joey deserved it, he was deep in enemy territory and got surprised. I did not think less of him as a warrior. I knew from experience sometimes you deserved the harsh critique. The walk back took longer than I anticipated because the trail which I thought was flat was now going uphill. The men took turns telling stories of their craziest drinking nights. Each story got a bit more farfetched and fanciful.
We were roaring laughter when we crossed the barrier and were inside Malvia. A team of four griffins provided escort for us and I hobbled onto Traz's back as soon as I could. The cart and the parts made it safely to the Count's manor. There were some unfriendly faces but most were shocked to see the large pile of golem parts.
“My husband, I am so happy you return.” Velia greeted me as I slowly got off Traz. She saw me limping and rushed to my side. “Let me support you. The Count has a wonderful hosting area for meals on the first floor. I will get you settled then find a healer. Preferably one cheaper than Drifa.”
We hobbled into the manor and entered a private lavish room. It held a large rectangular table that had three benches around it. Instead of the typical chairs, these benches could be converted into a bed type platform. The table came apart into sections. I then realized what this room was. It was a dine and fuck orgy room. The count would eat to his fat hearts content, have the table removed, place a dancer at the far end or some music and then lounge. While lounging it was probable serving women, which would not be hard to find in a city this large would provide wine, snacks, or sex.
I tilted the bench back before I sat down. Once the bench was in lounge mode I took my liberty to remove my dirty armor.
“How did you know it did that?” Velia asked and I shrugged. I knew she would figure it out on her own in a minute. She saw I was comfortably seated and left the room. She returned with a bucket of soapy water and a cloth. I was cleaned with an intense scrub. Velia used her small muscles to clean all the grime and sweat off me. She scoffed when her hand neared where the golem goo burned into my arm.
“I know Velia, I will be more careful, I need you to get a healer and a fire mage for me please,” I said. I was about to lay down when Lady Tami entered.
“Ah, I did not take you as the orgy man Gryff, surprised you are planning to eat your lunch here. The stains never really come out.” Tami said.
“So that what this room is for, well technically I was not wrong it is a hosting room. Oh, my dear husband, how about we get Tami to find a servant to fetch a runner for your mages. While I take care of certain large problems... delicately.” Velia said and slid the cloth under my kilt to clean my penis.
I smacked her hand away and she grinned. “Feed me first, woman, I am famished. It takes a lot of food to keep a body looking this good, not to mention I burned a lot of aura. So when we fuck, you are doing all the work.”
Both ladies laughed at this and I chuckled myself. Tami took her leave with Velia. I rotated the bench back to the sitting position and awaited my meal. I was not disappointed, it was runtlet with rice. As I devoured my food I lost sight of Velia. I spotted movement between my legs under the table. She stared up at me with her guilty greedy brown eyes. She flipped my kilt up and pulled my undershorts down.
“What are you doing?”
“Relax, I am thanking my husband for taking care of me. Please finish in me okay.” Velia said as she gulped my soft cock into her mouth.
I was kind of focused on eating but I wolfed down my food to give my attention elsewhere. This blowjob was amazing. I was letting it out of control and almost climaxed in her mouth when Tami entered the room.
“Shit woman don't you knock.”
“You may be an Earl but this is my house. It is not like I haven't seen worse in this room. Trust me you are like ten times more appealing than that fat bison of a husband of mine. Alas, I am content with Carl, he is sweet on me and treats me the way I deserve. Anyway, do not let me stop you from your fun, the healer and fire mage await you outside. They are talking with your captain Nate. Waiting for you... well, both of you... to finish your snack.” Tami stated and bopped my nose with her index finger while Velia continued to work her tongue around my cock.
“Alright, out with you and you bend over,” I ordered. The door closed and Velia got out from under the table. She bent over with her hands on the table. I smacked her tight ass with a spank so hard it echoed. My red handprint was etched into her right cheek. Velia shuddered in the painful pleasure and wiggled her ass asking for more. I slid my cock that was waiting to explode into Velia's wet welcoming pussy. Her tunnel squeezed hard on the cock.
“Can you move a little to the right, perfect,” Tami said watching, apparently she closed the door and never left.
“Ladies rule!” Velia said while I was distracted and slammed her ass back into my crotch burying me deeply. She did that three times and I burst my load into her. It was so good I moaned out and had to brace myself on her dimpled back as I vibrated with release.
I hobbled back to the bench and sat down. I grabbed the cloth and washed my cock off, pulled up my shorts and strapped my armor on. The two girls giggled in whispers by the door. I hobbled over to them and Velia slid under my left arm to help balance me. Tami opened the door for us and it was like nothing out of the ordinary ever happened.
Nate greeted me as we exited the manor. “My Earl, this is healer Nathan and fire mage Krix. Nathan, do not let the good Earl hobble. Please heal him, he can surely pay.” Nate said.
“We certainly can,” Velia informed them.
Nathan was a portly old man with grey side hair and a bald crown. Details which disqualified him from my combat healer category. The man came to us and kneeled to look at my ankle, he wrinkled his nose. He gazed at me, then Velia. I guessed he smelt our recent sex. “My lord this is broken. I can heal it for three silvers. Is that okay?”
Velia waved him to get on with it and my ankle tingled and then what I thought was a bad sprain mended. I felt the aura flow up to my arm and heal my burn spot. Healers were great, super excited to find a combat healer one day. I shifted weight onto it, then added pressure by standing on my left leg. I did a little dance,
excellent. I felt much better now. Nathan got paid and left the manor to continue on with his own agenda.
“So Krix, I take it that Nate showed you our haul of lava golems. What did you think and how many torches can be made from one heart.” I asked.
“I think that you are going to get a lot of fire mages asking you to sell some parts. They will then, in turn, spread them out to the four corners of the Empire, where supplies are desperately desired. I think you are now a wealthy man if you were not already. Most torches contain anywhere from a quarter to an eighth of a heart. Of course, if you want it to burn brighter do one heart per torch but that is rarely done.” Krix said.
“Surely there must be some other cities harvesting these creatures,” I replied. “They are fairly slow and are dumb when it comes to combat.”
“While that is true, no one has the strength you do. Nate and I tried to lift your club, Malv's club. The two of us could not. It took three lifting the head and one on the shaft end to get it off the ground. You swing it like it is a toy. So, sure, they can be killed with planning and patience. Not in mass slaughter like you did. Nate mentioned you need manpower. I could have a dozen fire mages here working for you for the next week if you paid them fairly in parts. Our deal would be contingent on you not selling for profit outside of King Horus' realm. Nate here said you have a vendor that does the five capitals but is based out of Tent Crossing. All we ask is for the fire parts you sell to flood that market alone. Which is fair because King Horus is building a vast underground city below his capital. If what Nate said is true, it would make your sixty foot deep cavern that spans a few miles look tiny. So you are not the only ones digging deep, as well as wide. You also will not be the only ones desperate for catalysts to illuminate dark places. If you agree to our terms I can also throw in a free tip, which you won't read in any book about farming the lava golems.” Krix said in a compelling salesman pitch. The guy had the right stuff and I had to take a step back from instantly agreeing.
“My counteroffer, you get a crew of mages to help secure and bring in the golems I kill. In return, I pay you in golem parts of fair market value at the going rate for daily services of a standard mage. I only sell in King Horus' realm. I agree to all those points, my ask is that two of you fly out to Fernlan once your trading is complete and help the city for a month. Who the two are, you can decide. If I have no work for you, you are free to go. It is not a big counter but it does serve my people which I am all about.” I said and stuck out my hand. He accepted and we shook.
“Now for my tip. Do you know what a vole is?” Krix asked and I shook my head no. “It is a tiny all black rodent that lives between the caves of the lava fields and the lava itself. They are rumored to eat the bulbs the lava golems drop to reproduce. They are small about six inches long and three inches high. These little rodents have a heart that is near three times the normal size a creature should have. That is the best lighting catalyst for use of fire mages. The blood that pumps through the vole is said to be the ultimate catalyst for fireball spells. I have never seen that, so I cannot attest to it. Early in the war, we had a large battle under the earth in the Farmout mines. A fire mage pulled out a vole heart and illuminated the entire battlefield. For us humans, it was one of the few clean victories I experienced. That heart produced a brightness near ten times greater than any torch I have seen since.”
Well, that was a wonderful bit of information. We definitely need a few of those if we could find them, the problem would be getting that deep into the golem territory that we could find the voles.
“Nate, how about we prepare for tomorrow and call this haul a good win for today. Let Krix get his volunteers together while we get some more carts. First thing tomorrow morning we will proceed to the lava grounds and harvest all day. Or at least until I cannot swing Smasha anymore. I will do some reconnaissance of the area with Traz while you do that and see if we can spot some voles. Velia would you like to fly with us?” I offered.
Krix and Nate took off to get the preparations for tomorrow started. Velia agreed to fly with me and we got ourselves onto Traz's back in his saddle.
“How long do you think we will stay?” Velia asked as we did a gentle take off. “I like having you all to myself, I am worried that the nobility will revolt here soon. If you add in all their guards combined it could be a bloody fight if they try to free the Count. Tami mentioned a few could be reasoned with if something were to befall the Count. A quick succession of a neutral noble would benefit us. I know I am not a high born woman who has years of dealing with nobility like Bella or Tami, but I feel to keep the peace you should make a deal.”
I watched the fields pass under us. There was the scent of freshly turned dirt in the air. The breeze pulled on my hair. I had been meaning to get it cut.
“We will stay here until we can make a thousand torches. We got eleven hearts today, the dimmest version is eighty eight. I will want them to be brighter unless they serve a small space in size like a storage room. So a few hundred probably at each fraction. Then the largest amount at half, which is assuming we cannot find some nice vole hearts. That would change everything and make torches for primarily inside buildings and overhangs. Ugh, the heat, we are crossing into an area where the golems live. Nice and slow Traz please.”
The silence we held was broken as a few golems roared at us. I wish I had a picture of what these voles looked like. Their basic description was minimal at best. A big mouse that was the same black as the ground. This was going to be a long afternoon. A few minutes passed and none of us spotted the tiny rodent yet.
“What is your goal Gryff? I do not mean today but in general. You came to Vin and helped the first people you saw recover from starving. That swept you into events that lead to where you are right now. But I wonder what happens after you finish building out Dais.” Velia asked as we continued to search.
“Finish Dais, then rebuild Xiq and Straddleback outpost to serve our needs. I really need to rename that outpost. After that, I do not know. I could find myself content and have a bunch of babies and work on keeping my people well cared for. I will tell you this much, I do not want anything bigger or grander in responsibility. If King Horus becomes Emperor and offers me a promotion I will decline. I actually only ever accepted being a Knight and was made into an Earl.”
As we got closer to the flowing lava Traz took us higher to avoid the extra heat. I already felt myself starting to sweat again. I hoped to get to try a bathhouse tonight, never had a chance to go to one. I was curious about what they were like. I was lost in thought of a bunch of naked people and relaxing water when Traz jerked down and to the right.
“Woah, what do you see?” I asked looking at the general area Traz was focused on.
“There. In between the rocks in the shadows. You can see the voles. That is why we have been missing them. They can easily see me and are hiding in the shadows. I am surprised the little creatures have better eyesight than me.” Traz told me.
I squinted, turned my head, and leaned forward. Nothing worked, I could not see the little buggers. Velia realized something was going on but also could not find anything. Traz certainly did though. He flew us lower and further away at a fast speed that caused my eyes to have issues keeping up. I hunted the shadows unable to locate any prey. We made it about halfway across the blacktop area when he double backed to the lava.
“Alright, I got it. I can see them now. They are only in proximity to the lava, I think the golems need the heat for their reproductive sacks. They hide behind any contour they can find and use almost a camouflage to hide. I would wager it is a blending technique more than something were their skin fades into the background. Looks like they can see any shadow above them and stay hidden until big stuff moves away. Probably how they avoid the golems.” Traz said.
“Okay, they are hard to see but you can pick them out. As long as you are our guide on the day we get this far in we should be good to find them. The key is we are what...
almost a thousand golems between this spot and the campsite. It will take days to get this far in. I wonder if there is a way we can cut down on the amount we have to fight to be able to farm here. Even if we lead them away I would have to guess they would eventually roam back. Hmm.” I said in thought.
Velia gave it consideration as did Traz. We threw some ideas at each other when Traz asked something vital. Malvia was on the eastern side of the mountain. We had been taking the south exit of the barrier and then looping around to the south side of the mountain. The quickest way to the lava flow was up the cliffs on the eastern face, and then walking the short distance to the south side. Before we got any further into debating if it would work we decided to see how far the barrier extended into the mountainside.
We glided back to Malvia nice and slow waiting to feel the tingle. The cliff drop off was a few hundred feet away when we felt the tingle. I watched as the black rocky terrain transitioned into regular dirt and sparse trees from within the barrier. There was ample space to set up a base camp here and kill golems easily. This was huge news for us. We had to assume no one had used this place for farming golems because it required a griffin or lots of mountains to climb. It would make the griffins have a lot more work in ferrying people up and down. Yet, if we planned it right we could use gravity to lower platforms with the heavy body parts and the griffins or humans could lift the empty platforms back up to the surface. I would need to consult with Lord Nova and Nate, but I think we found our solution to getting to the voles quicker.
The strategy would be to fly up top onto the shelf plateau. Kill a few hundred golems and dismember them at the campsite which was inside the barrier. Eventually, we would get to where the voles lived and harvest them with the help of the griffins for eyesight. It would cut down on the hour and a half walk time to the old starting point. We could achieve so much more this way in less time. The bonus was if the wargs did catch wind of us they would have to ride through a bunch of golems to get us. If they did reach some of us, we could quickly retreat to the barrier. I was liking the idea and told Traz to give himself a raise. The reply was not tactful.
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