Empire Builder 1: Breed, Populate, Conquer
Page 22
The large knight spread his hands apologetically. “I’m afraid not.” He pointed a glove at his own torso. “We haven’t needed to eat for a long time now.”
“I see,” Ben sighed. “Well, now that Vinata is safe, I think we should be getting back to our camp.”
He looked at Melody, who nodded eagerly. No doubt she was hungry too after all the fighting they’d done.
Then a worrying thought occurred to Ben. “The monsters we killed won’t have all respawned in this time, Sir Gallant?”
The knight inclined his head. Perhaps he didn’t understand the word respawned. He appeared to understand the question however. “My younger companion and I control this section of the dungeon, sire. We can assure you and your followers safe passage back to the ground.”
“We would be most grateful to you for that,” Ben agreed.
“Before you return, my lord, I have something that belongs to you.” He turned and walked back toward the back of the dais. A small box lay on the ground behind the table. The knight picked up the box and returned with it.
The box was made of a dark wood, oak perhaps. The finish on its surface was so smooth, it shone, almost reflecting Ben’s face back to him. If this had belonged to him, it must be very old by now. Ben wondered how it could still be in such good condition, but then he remembered the answer. Magic.
He took the box and put his hand on the lid to open it, but it was locked.
Ben felt an urgent tug from inside the box, the same strong pull he had felt outside the dungeon yesterday. Could this box contain one of the ancient relics? If so, he had to get this box open.
Ben held the box up closer to look at it. “Is there a key, Sir Gallant?”
“I was not entrusted with one, sire. Perhaps you hid it somewhere else. You were the one who gave me this box to safeguard, but you never told me about a key.”
“Strange,” Ben murmured. “There is no keyhole.”
Melody and Sir Gallant started when he said that. In the background, they could hear Sir Gallant the Younger’s muffled protests as Nipper continued to use him as a plaything. By now the nymphs had moved to sit at the table, continuing the unfinished game of Towers and Castles.
Ben simply stood staring at the box, perplexed. A golden tab stretched from the lid of the box, down to its body. It was inserted into a piece of solid gold on the body of the box. That was where Ben would have expected to see a keyhole, but the surface was blank.
“How are you supposed to open it, then?” Melody asked.
An image popped into Ben’s mind from an old documentary he’d once seen about Alexander the Great, the man who could undo the Gordian Knot would become king of Macedonia. Other men were baffled by the knot, but Alexander was the kind of man who thought outside the box. The kind of man Ben admired.
Alexander had simply cut the knot with this sword, and so became king of Macedonia—or so the legend went.
A smile came to Ben’s lips. He himself had supposedly been the one to seal this box. Perhaps he had intended for himself to open it this way.
He set the box on the ground and picked up his scimitar from the ground where he’d laid it earlier.
Melody and Sir Gallant both gasped when he stuck the point of the scimitar in the gap where the lid met the box.
“Won’t you damage the box doing that?” Melody asked.
Ben smiled up at her. “I think I was supposed to. What good is a box no one can open?”
Sir Gallant shrugged. “Our ruler speaks the truth.”
Ben wedged the blade in between the two halves of the box and heaved. The box appeared strong, but the corners of the lid were weak to this kind of pressure. With a splintering and cracking noise, the lid burst asunder. Chips of wood scattered across the stone floor, leaving a few busted strips.
Ben tore the rest of the wood aside, revealing the contents of the box. The small casket was lined with purple velvet. In the middle sat a large crystal shard, about the size of Nipper’s head. It sparkled in the morning light.
“One of the Greater Relics,” Melody whispered.
“Have you seen one of these before?” Ben asked.
Melody shook her head. “It couldn’t be anything else.”
“The lady is right, my lord,” Sir Gallant said. “This is one of the Greater Relics you left behind before your departure.”
Lulu, Imogen, and Vinata got up from their game at the table and walked over to look. They stared at the crystal shard in awe.
“The magical aura from this stone is strong,” Imogen whispered.
Vinata nodded. “I have never felt such power before.”
Lulu stretched out her fingers, looking like she wanted to touch it, but withdrew them again, not daring to.
The crystal beckoned to Ben. He could hear it whispering, though he could not make out the words. He stretched forth his fingers to touch it, almost unable to resist.
He stopped. This could be dangerous. He looked up at Melody. “I may have another vision if I touch this crystal, right?”
Melody nodded. “That seems likely to me.”
Ben laid his scimitar on the ground and sat on the stone steps. He didn’t want to fall and skewer himself or someone else in the middle of a trance.
Cautiously, but greedily, he stretched his fingers out and wrapped them around the crystal surface. He picked up the shard and held it in his lap.
His vision swam, and the stone chamber disappeared. In its place he saw a great tower, stretching up into the heavens. The tower began at its base like a ziggurat, but stretched up ever higher, forming a spindly and dizzying spike, pointing straight to the sky. It widened to a crown at its top.
The crown was filled with chambers, luxuriously appointed, fit for a king. Here were found the throne room, bedchambers, places of play, and places of counsel.
The ziggurat at its base was filled with chambers too, but these were of a different nature. Armories, torture chambers, training rooms, forges, and all manner of crafting rooms abounded. Magic and alchemy were practiced here, as were arts of healing and arts of killing.
The difference between this ziggurat and the pyramids Ben had seen when reading about ancient eastern history, was that this tower, from its base to its crown, was made entirely of obsidian. Its sleek black surface reflected every cloud, every passing crow, every magical missile that might be sent to assail it.
In its shape and its lofty stature, Ben was reminded of what he had read about the tower of Babel. A smile formed on his lips. If there were any gods in the heavens that could be reached with this tower, he would be sure to overthrow them.
The vision faded.
Ben looked around him, giddy from the experience of having his senses usurped by this crystal. He slowly got to his feet.
Melody looked at him with concern. “Are you alright, my sweet?”
Ben put a hand on her arm and smiled at her. He breathed in deeply. “I’m more than alright.”
He turned to look at Sir Gallant the Elder. “What did this crystal show me, Sir Gallant?”
“The Dark Lord, our Forgotten Ruler, you sire, before you left,” the knight broke off, looking for words. “On the eve of your final battle, sire, you knew that you would suffer defeat. You stored the many components of your empire in these crystal relics.”
“What did I store in them? How do these relics work?” Ben spoke with impatience.
“Some relics contain your former powers, my lord. Some contain places, buildings, landmarks. Some contain persons important to your rule.”
“Persons? People? You mean I put people in the crystals?”
Sir Gallant gave a squeaky nod of his rusted helm. “That you did, Lord Ben. They await your return in slumber.”
Ben thought back to the vision he’d seen when he first picked up his scimitar from the first mountain ogre he’d killed. A master of swordcraft had told Ben to find him. Maybe he could be found in one of these relics.
His thoughts turned toward the
tower from the vision. Aside from being the coolest looking dark lord’s tower Ben had ever seen, it would be much more comfortable to sleep in than the hut in the village. He didn’t yet know what to expect from a winter here in the north, but he was sure they’d have to move out of that hut before long.
They hadn’t yet established that they would be remaining here, but the knowledge Sir Gallant the Elder had imparted meant that there was no other choice. The dungeon here contained relics that Ben could use to rebuild his empire at a rapid pace, and there would be no reason to go elsewhere until he had mined the place’s depths. After that, he could venture out into the world and expand his dominion. This would all need to be communicated to Melody, of course. But that could be done later.
He cast a quick glance at the nymph women and wondered whether they would play a part in his budding empire. They would likely go home to their people at some point. It was a pity. They seemed intelligent and capable, two qualities which would serve him well in his ambitions.
And what better place to carry out said ambitions than in a tower like the one he had seen in the vision?
“How do I get the tower back?” Ben asked Sir Gallant the Elder as he stared into the crystal.
“You did not give me instructions on how to use the relics, sire,” the knight explained, his tone apologetic. “Perhaps that is something you must rediscover for yourself.”
Ben looked up at him.
The knight put his hands up defensively. “I meant no offense by that, sire. I can offer no further aid in this matter.”
Ben laughed, taken slightly aback at the knight’s excessive politeness. “No offense was taken, Sir Gallant. No doubt you are right. I was able to activate the first relic I received without any instructions. Now is obviously not the right time or place, however. I wouldn’t want the tower popping up in the middle of the dungeon here.”
“I can look after it for you,” Melody offered, opening the pouch where she stored her mana crystals.
“Please do.” Ben handed the crystal to the beautiful catgirl, who stowed the relic in her seemingly bottomless pouch.
Ben looked around him, and felt another rumble from his empty stomach. “For now, it is time that we get back to the village. Sir Gallant, you will accompany us, won’t you?”
The knight put a hand to his chest in surprise. “You want me to accompany you, lord? But that would be too great an honor.”
Ben nodded. “If you will obey my commands, I can think of ways you could prove very useful back at our village. I don’t need you running the dungeon just now. You would be more helpful guarding our settlement as a sentry.”
“It would be a pleasure, Lord Ben. And can my younger companion accompany us also?”
Ben sighed. “I suppose he can come too, if he promises to behave himself. Nipper.” He turned to address the great cat. “Put the poor knight down and let him go.”
Nipper growled playfully and spat the tiny statue out against the steps.
Sir Gallant the Younger got to his feet and stamped indignantly, attempting to scrape sticky slobber off himself, to no avail.
Sir Gallant the Elder faced his younger self. “Our Forgotten Ruler has invited us to return with him to his settlement, but only if you promise to behave yourself.”
Sir Gallant the Younger laughed when he heard this.
“I shall kick you to that cat as its plaything again if you misbehave,” Sir Gallant threatened.
“Please no, anything else,” the younger knight pleaded. “My armor shall be ruined if it gets any more of that monster’s saliva on it.”
“You shall have worse things to worry about than rusty armor if you misbehave,” the elder knight warned.
Ben smiled to himself, satisfied that these two would be too busy bickering with each other to cause him any difficulties back at the village.
He turned to Melody and the three nymphs. “Let’s get back. It’s time to start building my new empire.”
Chapter Twelve
Ben returned to the village among the ruins with his growing band of followers. While they’d made their way back through the dungeon, they encountered no more monsters, but Ben did harvest some of the glowing cores from the walls in the plant area of the dungeon. On the way back through the forest, Vinata took them on a slight detour where they found more roots for them to take as supplies.
During the return journey, Nipper pricked up his ears and alerted them to a rustling noise in the low bushes. Ben thought it might have been an enemy, but before he could spend too much time thinking about the deadly possibilities, a deer emerged from the undergrowth.
Using Drain, Ben was able to slow the beast to a crawl. Nipper and Melody swiftly dispatched the creature, taking care not to spoil the flesh.
Melody appeared quite relieved as Sir Gallant the Elder carried the carcass on his shoulders back to the village with them. Vinata on the other hand, did not seem amused, which was unsurprising given what Ben had learned of her personality thus far. As much as he’d enjoyed eating the plants she had gathered the night before, there were few things that could beat a good steak. Vinata didn’t say anything to criticize them though, for which Ben was grateful.
Before the women could get to work preparing the food, Ben eagerly dashed to the center of the village, where the remains of the bandits’ campfire lay. He wanted to see if he could activate the great relic and restore the tower he’d seen in his vision.
The others gathered in a ring behind him to watch. Ben gave his scimitar to Sir Gallant the Elder for safekeeping. The knight didn’t need the weapon himself, however. Over his back was a huge longsword. The scabbard was strapped to his armor, and the hilt extended past his shoulder. The sword itself appeared to be almost the length of a man. Ben couldn’t help but wonder if he would be able to wield such a weapon one day.
The relic pulled Ben onward, like iron being drawn to a magnet. The sensation ceased when he stopped in front of the great stone block the chieftain of the bandits had sat on the night before.
On its weatherworn side, Ben could make out the remains of a frieze. A warrior was mounted on a monstrous steed, like the frieze they had seen in the dungeon. This warrior’s face was not disfigured, however.
Ben stepped back, putting his hands on his hips as he tried to figure out how to activate the crystal. There was, of course, no instruction manual for it; no forums on how to activate the relics of a forgotten dark ruler; no YouTube tutorials.
While the women, Nipper, and the two Sir Gallants gathered around him, he gently placed the crystal on the stone surface. It wobbled for a moment, then settled, motionless. He put out a hand and touched it on one side, the surface smooth and cool. Then he put out his other hand, and cupped the crystal between them.
Hardly daring to breathe, he concentrated, his eyes closed. He could feel the presence of the crystal probing his body. And he could hear the same whispering he had heard in the dungeon, but much louder now.
Then all sound stopped. Ben opened his eyes. The crystal was glowing. A white light inside it was growing in intensity. The relic was shaking, rattling on the stone surface.
Ben felt the surface of the crystal growing warmer—much warmer, almost to the point of burning his skin. He found himself wondering if the heat and pain was some sort of test, like the Bene Gesserit box from Dune. But before he could give too much thought to the matter, a bright light flashed from inside the shard. Heat blazed out from the crystal surface, forcing Ben to pull his hands away.
A rumbling grew louder and louder. Ben could feel the ground beginning to shake under his feet. He stood, watching the crystal, which appeared to be melting into the surface of the stone.
“Ben, look out!” shouted Melody.
Ben turned around just in time to see a giant block of stone hurtling toward him. He dove to the side as the stone crashed into the one on which he’d placed the crystal shard. A second stone crashed into the other two, then a third from the other side.
&nbs
p; Ben rose to his feet, shaking on the rumbling ground. The stones around the old campfire were all sliding toward the main block, forming a large stone platform.
“Uh, guys,” Ben looked at the others, sheepishly. “We might need to get back. I don’t know how long this earthquake is going to last.”
“How big was the tower in your vision?” Vinata shouted over the growing noise.
“I couldn’t say for sure, but it would have made the New York skyline look like suburban housing,” Ben yelled back.
Vinata’s face was blank.
“It was really big,” Ben tried again, this time remembering not to use a reference she’d have no way of understanding.
“We have to get out of here then,” Vinata shouted. “We’ll have to leave the village.”
Melody tugged his arm. “Ben, the egg is still inside the hut!”
Their second child. Ben ignored the confused looks the nymphs gave him and dashed into the hut in which they’d spent the previous night. Dust filled the air as the roof shook, and the furniture rattled on the wooden floor as the ground trembled.
Ben darted into the bedroom and grabbed his rucksack, which contained the first relic, the crystal ball. He shoved the egg inside and slung the bag over his back. He hurried back outside.
Other stones were sliding down the side streets of the town, crashing into the growing stone structure. The rumbling was deafening, and the ground was unsteady.
“Run, all of you!” Ben shouted. “We don’t have a moment to lose.”
They all started sprinting out of the village again. Sir Gallant the Elder slung the dead deer over his shoulders and in one hand gripped Gallant the Younger. Vinata carried the roots she had harvested.
As they ran, the rumbling noise of the earthquake was overwhelmed by a crashing sound. Wood splintered. It sounded like a whole forest was being logged at once.
Splinters, whole planks, thatched roofs, flew into the air. Then a giant stone column appeared down one side street, careening across the ground and smashing whole houses to pieces as it sped relentlessly on toward the campfire clearing.