Worldbuilding: Magic Tools And Objects

Wands and staffs are the most common magic tools. Mages use them to aid in performing magic, but they do nothing on their own. There are other types of magical objects as well: jewelry, clothing, weapons, armor, etc. These magical objects provide a passive effect to the user but cannot be used to do anything else. Some magi-artisans specialize in creating magical objects, while others create magic devices like mana comms.

Magical objects provide static effects to the wearer so long as they can draw ambient mana from the environment. If their effects consume more mana than what is available, they will temporarily weaken or stop working altogether. Some common effects include: reduced mana cost, increased magic potency, increased endurance, greater agility, enhanced eyesight, magic protection, etc. The potential applications are nearly endless.

Magic wands and magic staffs allow a mage to enhance and amplify their casting magic, but are by no means necessary. They are used to perform greater magical feats with more control and precision while expending less mana. For example, if a mage created a magic barrier around themselves, using a wand would make the barrier stronger, last longer under enemy attack, and consume less mana.

Wands and staffs have similar effects, but a staff is more powerful. Staffs are also embedded with a mana crystal at the top to transfer mana to the mage when needed. Staffs are far more customizable than magic wands. Both wands and staffs are made from the wood of archwood trees, but staffs are large enough to be inscribed with runes to further enhance their power. Only wealthy magic users can privately afford a staff.

Map of Fort Roanoke as of July 7th, 2053

[https://static.wixstatic.com/media/51f621_d2a9e36db8ac4c96950d4f88039974a0~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_900,h_660,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/FortRoanoke2.jpg]

Color code

Barracks: green

Reactor: light green

Armory: orange

Command/logistics: dark blue

Science: light blue

Medical: cyan

Vehicle Depot: red

Hangar: purple

Storage Depot: brown

Detention: gray

Refugee/Civilian: yellow

Under Construction: blank outline

Undeveloped land: blank

Inner Defence Perimeter: ///

Chapter 15: Princess Maribelle

July 7th, 2053

Duremar Plains, Fort Roanoke

Princess Maribelle was sitting in an American interrogation room yet again. The American who brought her here this time only asked a few questions before leaving. That was over an hour ago. They seemed to take pleasure in making her wait in the empty room. Not that it made much of a difference. Aside from her hands being chained to the table, it wasn’t much different from her cell.

As far as interrogation chambers go, it was unbelievable. Clean floors, good lighting—they even left her some of the cleanest water she had ever seen. For some reason there was a large mirror on one wall.

She still couldn’t figure out whether or not the Americans used magic. She kept seeing marvelous things that couldn’t otherwise be explained, but they still maintained that they don’t use magic. She thought back to when they first brought her here. Their ‘camp’ looked more like a permanent fortress that had been here for years. It was hard to believe they had set foot through the portal less than a month ago.

Maribelle heard a sharp buzz, followed by a mechanical click—the telltale sign of someone about to open the door. She looked over, and two American soldiers came into the room. They were dressed in their identical, ugly uniforms.

One of them stepped forward and said, “I’m Lieutenant Daniel Ramirez, and this is Lieutenant Liv Anderson. We’ll be your escorts for the day.”

“Escorts? Where are you taking me?” Princess Maribelle asked.

“To see some of the prisoners we’re holding and then the refugees under our protection. We thought you’d want to make sure they’re being treated fairly.”

Maribelle thought that was odd. The treatment of battle captives wasn’t something the losing side had any say over. It was pretty standard for captured enemy soldiers to be enslaved or killed. She was more intrigued by how many people had gathered around the American base. Foreign armies were something commoners avoided at all costs. She was curious about what was going on out there.

“Very well,” She said as she stood up. “Take me to my people.”

Liv came over and unlocked her chains. Earlier, she had heard them referred to as ‘handcuffs’. They were fantastically crafted shackles.

Daniel and Liv led her out of the interrogation room. Standing outside were two steel golems, or droids, as she had learned to call them. She may be a prisoner, but she was learning a great deal about her captors. Each of them carried one of their strange black weapons. The soldiers led her down a hallway, while the droids followed behind.

The hallway was completely straight, lined with metal doors that had glass windows on them. Inside each of the doors was a small room with a handful of captured Rontak soldiers. They all wore the same bright orange clothing that she herself was wearing. They looked defeated and confused, but otherwise they were perfectly fine.

“As you can see,” Daniel said, gesturing to the cells, “Your people are being held humanely and are being provided for. They’re given three meals a day, plenty of water, they’re taken outside in groups, and their medical needs are taken care of. Everything abides by the Geneva Convention.”

“The ‘Geneva Convention’?” Maribelle asked.

“It’s a set of guidelines that govern the rules of war,” Liv explained. “There are detailed instructions on how prisoners of war can and cannot be treated.”

Maribelle was taken aback by that. “Why do you have such rules?”

“We don’t,” Liv Replied. “The Geneva Convention is an international treaty written about a century ago after our second world war. The United States is a signatory to it, along with 238 other nations.”

She spoke as if that explained it completely. Maribelle still didn’t quite understand its purpose. What was the point of having so many rules about battle captives? She didn’t know what ‘world war’ meant, but it must have been pretty terrible if it made so many different kingdoms agree on something. She wondered what kind of world the Americans came from.

“If there are any cultural or religious traditions your people wish to uphold, they haven't mentioned anything to us yet,” Daniel told her. “If you believe their confinement is in any way restrictive of your beliefs, we can come to an accommodation.”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Maribelle replied quickly. These were the best treated prisoners of war in all of Kraffnia, perhaps even the entire world. She didn’t want their conditions to change one bit. “Their conditions are acceptable. It's all just… a bit much to accept.”

“Given how you treat your prisoners, that's not hard to believe,” Daniel said with disdain.

That made Maribelle feel ashamed of her part in torturing the former American slaves. Luckily they didn’t seem to know about her role in ordering it. She would try to keep it that way. There was no telling what they would do to her if they found out she had personally given a command that violated their so-called ‘Geneva Convention’.

Eventually, they turned a corner and went into a room; it was a bit dim inside. There was a window on one wall that looked into a room eerily similar to the one she was in before, aside from there not being a large mirror mounted on the wall. Sitting at the table with her wrists chained was…

“Ralva!” Maribelle blurted out. But Ralva didn’t react in any way.

“She can’t see you,” Liv explained. “It's one way glass. Hang on a sec…”

The room suddenly became brighter and Ralva immediately looked towards the window, as if it hadn’t been there a moment before. She stood up and said something, but Maribelle couldn’t hear it from behind the glass.

She looked at Liv and asked, “Why can’t she hear me?”

“It’s sound-proof too,” Liv replied. She flipped a switch and said, “Go ahead. You can both hear each other now.”

“Ralva, you’re alive! We assumed you were dead!” Maribelle exclaimed

“We were ambushed by their droids,” Ralva explained. “All but one of the knights I brought with me are still alive.”

“Actually,” Daniel cut in, “The man who was shot was taken to the infirmary. He was in critical condition, but is expected to make a full recovery.”

“Then you have my thanks,” said Ralva. Turning back to Maribelle she asked, “What about you, Maribelle? How did you get here?”

Maribelle looked down and said, “They attacked Rontak’s Reach. Our wyverns and… Rago are all…” She choked a bit on the last word. “Dead.”

“Oh my god…”

“We never even had a chance,” Maribelle said. “General Rallek and I were captured right at the beginning. I haven’t seen him, Palok, or anyone else since the battle.”

After mourning their fallen, Maribelle requested that Ralva be allowed to accompany them to inspect the refugees; Daniel and Liv agreed. They let Ralva out of the interrogation room, and the four of them headed out of the detention complex with two droids following behind them.

Daniel and Liv led them to a metal wagon with four wheels. The droids opened the rear doors for Maribelle and Ralva to enter while the two Americans got in the front. They nervously stepped up into the wagon and found the seats to be surprisingly comfortable. The droids closed the doors, stepped up onto the foothold below the doors, and each grabbed a handhold on opposite sides of the wagon.

VROOOHHMMMmmmm

The loud noise started Maribelle, followed by a low hum. Then, the metal wagon began to move all on its own.

“I must ask,” Maribelle began, “Is this contraption magic or not?”

Daniel laughed. “Everyone keeps asking us that. No, it's not magic. None of our stuff is.”

“You mean you don’t use magic at all?” Ralva asked.

“That's right,” Daniel confirmed. “We didn’t even know magic existed until we came here.”

Maribelle and Ralva shared a confused and worried glance. Not only do the Americans not use magic, but they didn’t even know about it until they came through the portal? That was such an outrageous claim that it couldn’t possibly be a lie. But how could it be true? It was another layer of mystery surrounding the Americans.

The road was made of the finest cobblestone Maribelle had ever seen. She didn’t get a good look at the roads when they first brought her here, but now she could see that they were perfectly smooth. It was also very wide; another metal wagon rumbled past them with plenty of room to spare.

The road itself seemed to be only for metal wagons; there were no people or horses on it. There were groups of soldiers walking along the side of the road, but none on the road itself. She saw several buildings on her left that looked like they were cut in half half-way up. There were large machines circling around each one. She couldn’t tell what they were doing.

“What are those?” she asked.

“New barracks under construction,” Daniel answered. “We use a technique called 3D printing to add layers to buildings one at a time. They’ll be completely finished by the end of the day.”

Maribell was astonished. She didn’t follow the idea of adding ‘layers’ to a building one by one, but she understood what he meant. A whole new row of housing for more American soldiers by the end of the day? That did not bode well.

“Is that how you built your fortress so fast?” Ralva asked.

“Yep, most of it,” Liv replied.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Now that they were nearing the inner wall, Ralva asked, “What about your walls? Why are they so thin and short?”

“They’re mostly just there for security,” Daniel explained. “They’re not meant to hold out against a direct assault.”

As they passed through the east gate Ralva pointed to the north and asked, “What’s that flat stretch of land there?

Maribelle looked to where her friend was pointing and saw a flat cobblestone rectangle. It was very long, but completely devoid of people or buildings.

“That's the air field, where we house and launch planes,” Liv said. “They’re machines, like the one we’re in, but they can fly. Kind of like your wyverns.”

“You mean the gray arrows?” Maribelle asked.

Daniel chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you could call them that.”

Ralva looked at her and asked, “What is it?”

“Those… those were the weapons that killed Rago and the wyverns,” she said, her voice full of sorrow. They sat in silence after that.

Soon they came to an area that looked a bit more familiar, but was still alien. She could see rows of large white tents mixed in with a few gray American buildings. The metal carriage came to a stop next to a few others. The droids stepped down and opened the rear doors for her and Ralva. They got out and looked around.

The other metal carriages were much larger than the one they just got out of. Soldiers and gol–droids were unloading boxes from the back. Looking to where they were taking the boxes, she saw people—her people—waiting in lines. Americans were handing out the contents of the boxes.

“What is all this?” she asked.

“This is the Fort Roanoke refugee camp,” Daniel explained as he led them through the camp.

“Why do you condemn us for taking your people as slaves when you’re doing the exact same thing?” Ralva demanded.

“We didn’t abduct anybody,” Daniel said coldly. “The people here sought us out after the remnants of your army started attacking villages in the Rhinewood River Valley.”

Looking around, Maribelle saw that what Daniel said seemed to be true. Men and women freely went about the camp, and children ran around playing with each other. There wasn't much of a smell, like she expected. There wasn't any sewage or waste thrown on the dirt pathways. When she asked about that, her American escorts pointed out the sanitation building, where people bathed and relieved themselves.

They came to an open area next to a gray building. She could easily identify the well dressed Americans interacting with the refugees. Liv explained that this was the cultural exchange and community center; where the refugees and Americans could go to learn more about each other.

In the middle of the forum was a large moving picture. It seemed to be explaining basic concepts about the United States. A crowd of people were gathered around it, watching with interest. Maribelle absentmindedly stepped closer to get a better view and moved directly into the path of a group of children running around. One of them bumped into her and fell to the ground. She offered him her hand to get back up.

He looked at her, perhaps confused by her strange orange outfit, and said, “Sorry miss!”

Then he ran off after the other children. Children happily playing was not something she expected to see today. These people were definitely not prisoners or slaves. Before she could get over her surprise, a man dressed in American clothes ran up to them. He seemed to be chasing after the children.

“Eldryn!” Daniel exclaimed. “Good to see you.”

“Hi Daniel! You’d think food and water would be bigger problems,” he said, catching his breath. “But actually, the biggest challenge has been keeping all the children under control.”

Daniel and Liv laughed while Maribelle and Ralva watched in silent confusion.

“Without anything to do, they’re running around like roaming swarms of crawlers!” Eldryn exclaimed.

“Maybe you should open up a school,” Liv suggested.

“A school?” Eldryn asked, confused. “What for?”

“To give them something to do,” Liv clarified. “If nothing else, it’ll keep them out of trouble.”

“That's not a bad idea,” Eldryn said, deep in thought. He was interrupted by a loud crash and the sound of laughter. “Well, I’d better go make sure that wasn’t something important. See you guys later!”

Eldryn ran off after the kids from before, who had just knocked over a crate and were playing with the spilled contents.

“Who was that,” Maribelle asked, dumbfounded.

“That was Eldryn Kothmar,” Daniel explained. “The liaison between the United States and the refugees.”

“The name Eldryn is common in this region,” Ralva said. “He is not an American?”

“Nope,” Liv said as they continued walking through the camp. “He used to be a POW, but he was released when we found out he was forcibly conscripted into your army. We tried to return him to his village, but it was completely destroyed by bandits.”

“That's why there are so many people here,” Daniel explained. “They’re fleeing their homes because what's left of your army is rampaging through the river valley, slaughtering everyone in their path. The people you see here—they’re the lucky ones. The ones who survived.”

It took Maribelle a moment to let that sink in. She thought the Americans were ruthless invaders who massacred an Imperial army unprovoked. After all, a failed raid and a few abducted slaves wasn’t enough to justify a full scale invasion.

While they did lay waste to the Portal Conquest Army, the Americans were far from ruthless. They were offering food and shelter to her own people. She looked around the camp. There was a sadness in the air, yes, but it was overwhelmed by hope. The people here genuinely liked the Americans.

American soldiers walked through the camp. Even though they carried their strange black weapons, none of the villagers seemed afraid of them. In fact, the soldiers and villagers seemed quite friendly with each other. Seeing occupying soldiers interact so casually with local people was… strange, to say the least.

An elderly man walked up to them, breaking her line of thought.

“Heroes of Thornwood!” The old man exclaimed.

He had a long gray beard that almost reached his legs. He had a strange device on his face: a set of clear glass rectangles in front of his eyes, held in place by thin metal rods resting on his ears and nose.

“These ‘glasses’ of yours are truly incredible! My eyes haven't been this good since I was a young man.”

“That's good to hear,” Liv said. “Ralva, Princess Maribelle, allow me to introduce High Elder Vashgus of Thornwood.”

Vashgus’s previously jubilant expression soured in an instant.

“Hmph. Princess Maribelle, huh? Where was the Order of the Dragon when my village was beset by bandits? The Americans saved our lives, what have you done for us? Besides conscripting us into your wars. Serves you right to be their prisoner.”

“Watch your tongue, old man,” Ralva barked harshly.

Maribelle had been so fixated on the Americans that she never realized how bad things had gotten in Duremar. With so many knights at Rontak’s Reach, allowing such banditry was unacceptable. She could have easily sent a contingent of knights to deal with it, but she didn’t even realize what was happening right under her nose.

“No, it's alright, Ralva,” She said, feeling guilty for her failure.

“This old man has some free advice for you, Princess,” Vashgus continued, his voice full of daggers. “Don’t go picking a fight with the Americans. These two here led a handful of their warriors against a horde of bandits on horseback. They saved my village in mere minutes. I pity the fool who takes a stand against them.”

July 7th, 2053

Rontak Empire, Kashir Forest, Southeast of Duremar

The newly appointed General Ulmok inspected his men hard at work along the main road through the forest. They were busy preparing the Rontak Empire’s first line of defense against the Americans. The other roads through the forest were completely blocked off by trees, rocks and ditches. They would only be able to advance through the forest along this road.

There were a couple fallen trees blocking the road, which would force the Americans to halt their march. High above in the trees, his men were assembling platforms for javelinmen. When the Americans moved to clear the path, his men would rain javelins down upon them.

Behind the trees blocking the road, his men were digging a shallow hole: the future hiding spot for a land dragon. The beast would lay in the hole, covered by sticks and leaves, and be kept asleep by psionic mages while the Americans approached. Then, once the ambush begins, the beast will wake and wreak havoc on their metal war carriages.

While the Americans are distracted by the javelins and the land dragon, men hiding in ditches on either side of the road will form up to surround them. As per the Emperor’s instructions, they would all be concealed by temperature allusions cast by mages.

He had received a list of new tactics to employ directly from the Emperor and his highest generals. Some of them didn't make much sense, like temperature illusions. But others were ingenious, like using hidden mages to summon earth golems directly underneath passing metal wagons to tip them over. The Kashir Forest was quickly shaping up to be a death trap for any invading army.

Ulmok never thought he would be conducting war in this manner, but he was satisfied with the preparations in place. There were dozens of ambush sites like this throughout the forest. He was beginning to think that they might actually have a chance at stopping the Americans.

Just then a messenger rode up to him and said, “General Ulmok, you’re needed at the command post.”

“Would you care to be more specific?” Ulmok replied.

“It-it’s not my place to say, sir,” the messenger stammered. “But it's u-urgent that you go there at once.”

Ignoring the ambiguity of the situation, General Ulmok mounted the messenger’s horse and took off down the road. His command center was located in a small clearing deep inside the Kashir Forest. It was the heart of the Rontak Empire’s defensive operations in this region. While there were more extensive preparations going on further east, the Kashir Forest would be the first battle ground outside of the Duremar Plains.

When he finally made it back to the clearing, he laid eyes on his impromptu command center. Rows of tents sheltering his men lined the dirt paths. He dismounted his horse at the stables and looked over to the nearby wyvern enclosure. He only kept a handful of wyverns in the forest to use as quick transit for his high ranking officers.

All the wyverns were accounted for, but with one addition: a wyvern adorned in ceremonial crimson-gold armor, the colors of the Imperial family. That surprised him. The last he heard, Princess Maribelle was in Rontak’s Reach when it was attacked. Perhaps she found a way to escape the city after all. He could certainly use any information she had on the Americans.

He walked through the row of logistical tents filled with clerks, messengers, and mana comm operators. They were coordinating all defensive preparations throughout the Kashir Forest. It was a huge effort to coordinate so many small groups of soldiers.

He walked into the command tent and found his lieutenants already assembled inside. But to his surprise it was not Princess Maribelle who awaited him. Instead, Crown Prince Cevlion Rontus IX leisurely sat at the head of the table. His feet were propped up on the table and the other officers looked nervous.

“Hmph, are you the one responsible for all this?” The Crown Prince asked as he waved his hand around.

General Ulmok lowered to one knee and said, “Yes, Your Highness. I am General Ulmok. It is an honor–”

“So you gave the order for your men to hide in this forest? To prepare cowardly ambushes and traps rather than confront the enemy directly?” The Crown Prince’s voice was filled with thinly veiled rage.

“If you’ll allow me to explain, Your Highness–”

“I don’t want to hear your pathetic explanations, General,” Prince Cevlion spat as he lowered his feet to the ground and took a more serious posture. “I know all about the Americans and their alleged ‘magi cannons’. We won’t defeat them by hiding in the woods like a bunch of filthy minotaurs.”

Ulmok tried to defend himself, “But we’ve been given very clear instructions from the Emperor himself not to engage the Americans.”

“My father has grown complacent with victory after victory on the battlefield. Now, after this admittedly humiliating, but singular defeat, he panics and has us fight like weaklings? UNACCEPTABLE!”

The Prince stood from his seat and began pacing the room. “The Americans have powerful weapons, yes, but we are strong too! We will not cower in fear before them. We will show them our true might!”

“But your Highness,” began General Ulmok, “We already have a defensive plan in place. It's been approved by the Emperor and has his endorsement. After his vision from Gwuardon–”

Prince Cevlion once again cut him off, “My father is a fool! I’ve heard what he claims to have seen in his ‘vision’ and it is nothing more than the ramblings of an old man. I will be taking command of our forces here.”

“Of-of course, Your Highness. How do you wish us to proceed?” Ulmok asked nervously.

“Our first order of business…” the Prince said as he sat back down. “How many wyverns do you have?”

“We’ve appropriated 300 wyverns from nearby cities, Your Highness,” one of the officers replied. “We haven’t had any use for them yet, so they are still at their respective cities’ wyvern bases.”

“Begin rallying the wyverns here at once,” the Prince said. “I’ll need all the wyverns at our disposal.”

“What do you have in mind, Your Highness?” Someone asked.

“We will enact a scorched earth policy from here to Rontak’s Reach. All crops are to be burned and the land salted. Without gathering food from our land, the Americans will have a much more difficult time pushing into our territory.”

“And what about the people?” General Ulmok objected. “They won’t just let us ruin their farms.”

“Slaughter any village that resists us,” the Prince stated matter of factly. “Spread the word that anyone who gets in our way will be killed. Surely your soldiers can handle a few peasants, General.”

“It-it won’t be a problem, Your Highness,” General Ulmok replied.

“Your Highness,” an officer began, “Building a wyvern base and salting the farmland will take significant manpower away from our preparations here in the forest.”

“Then cease your ridiculous activities here and focus on my plan, which will actually halt the Americans,” retorted the Prince. “Destroying the farmland will slow down their advance long enough for us to prepare true fortifications.”

The Prince went on for quite a while, detailing his plan to stop the Americans. A plan General Ulmok, and probably everyone else too, knew had no chance of success. According to his superiors, not even permanent fortifications could stand up to magi cannons. Given how powerful the American versions were, there was no chance anything Prince Cevlion could construct would do anything more than inconvenience the enemy.

As soon as the Prince was done and the meeting ended, General Ulmok immediately went to a mana comm and sent an urgent message to the Emperor.

July 7th, 2053

Duremar Plains, Fort Roanoke Command Center

Maribelle looked around the room in wonder. There were moving pictures everywhere she looked; they sat on tables and were mounted on every wall. Many of them showed things she didn’t understand. But what caught her eye the most were a few that looked like the view from a wyvern soaring through the sky.

She left Ralva with Liv to continue touring the refugee camp. Maribelle herself had requested to meet with the person in charge. She wanted to meet with him face to face to begin some kind of dialogue with the United States.

“Before you ask, no, none of this is magic,” Daniel said smugly.

She stared in awe at everything she saw while he led her up some steps. None of this was magic? She heard stories of some of the Elven Kingdoms in the north using moving pictures—but nothing like this. This was unheard of, least of all because it wasn’t based on magic.

Daniel led her through a door into a smaller room, but she could still see the moving pictures through windows into the room they had just come from. She turned around and continued to marvel at the moving pictures. She didn’t even notice the man sitting at the desk until he cleared his throat and the windows turned opaque. Startled, she turned around and the man stood to introduce himself.

“I am Lieutenant General Thomas Reed, commanding officer of Fort Roanoke.”

Maribelle buried her fear and uncertainty deep inside and put on a diplomatic facade of confidence. “I am Princess Maribelle Rontus of the Rontak Empire Imperial Family, second in line to the throne.” Relaxing a bit, she said, “We have much to discuss.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling more cooperative now,” Lieutenant General Reed replied. “We do indeed have much to discuss.”

He gestured for Maribelle to take the empty seat across from him. She sat down at his desk while Daniel remained standing by the door.

“First, I would like to thank you for the unusual kindness you’ve shown to our captured soldiers,” she said.

“We have strict rules of conduct when it comes to POWs,” Reed replied.

“Then, may I ask what has become of the people of Rontak’s Reach?” She asked curiously. She expected the people to have been pillaged, killed or enslaved. But after what she saw today, she didn’t think the Americans would do that. Though, that begged the question of what actually happened to the city after she was captured.

“We’ve set up a temporary outpost outside the city walls. Its only purpose is to house our soldiers protecting the city from the rampant banditry in the region, and to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid entering the city,” Lieutenant General Reed explained.

That didn’t make much sense. Their soldiers were staying outside the city walls? They were sending some kind of ‘aid’ into the city?

“What does ‘humanitarian aid’ mean exactly?” Maribelle asked, genuinely curious.

“We’re sending shipments of food, water and medicine into the city. We’re also working to rebuild the infrastructure we damaged in the assault,” Reed answered.

“I see,” said Maribelle, secretly dumbfounded beyond reason. “And how much payment do you expect in return from the city?”

“Nothing, of course,” Reed replied.

The Americans were looking less and less like the aggressive conquerors she thought they were.

“Our main objective was to rescue our abducted citizens. As soon as we’re satisfied the city won’t be plunged into chaos or ransacked by bandits, we’ll withdraw our forces from the city completely.”

“What? I don’t understand. Why would you do that?” Maribelle was completely lost.

Lieutenant General Reed leaned forward in his chair and explained, “Right now, my orders are only to recover our civilians abducted and sold into slavery, not to conquer or occupy your empire. But on that note, there are still around 80 or so people still unaccounted for. Do you have any information as to their whereabouts?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Maribelle replied. She decided to be honest about what little she knew. Hopefully it would incur a small amount of goodwill. “I know that some of them were sold at auctions before I arrived, but beyond that I don’t know. My best guess is that they were sold to nearby towns. You should look for your people there.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Reed replied. “We’ll do our best to avoid disrupting daily life among your people while we search for ours.”

“On their behalf, I give you my thanks,” Maribelle said. “May we discuss what you plan to do after recovering your people?”

“That’s ultimately not up to me,” Reed said.

“But aren’t you the one commanding this army?” She asked.

“That's correct, but I don’t have the authority to make decisions like that. That’s for the President to decide. If you would be willing to travel to the United States you could meet with an ambassador and begin formal negotiations. I presume that as a member of the Imperial Family you have the authority to do that?” Reed asked.

“Yes, I have that power,” she answered.

“Good,” Lieutenant General Reed replied happily. “I’ll make the necessary arrangements. In the meantime, Lieutenant Ramirez, would you please assign Princess Maribelle and her colleague…”

“Ralva,” Daniel said.

“...Ralva, quarters in the civilian barracks.”

“Yes sir,” Daniel replied.

Lieutenant General Reed stood and said, “It's been a pleasure meeting you Princess. If you recall anything at all that could help us locate our people, please let us know.”

With her meeting with Lieutenant General Reed at an end, Daniel led her back through the moving picture room. They made their way outside and as he led her through the base, they passed by a field of metal wagons.

There were so many of them. They were organized in neat rows. She couldn’t get over how big some of them were; much bigger than the one she rode in earlier. It was one thing to see them from a wyvern, but another thing entirely to see them close up on the ground. Daniel explained to her that these ones were called ‘tanks’. Aside from their long magi cannons (which weren’t actually magic?), they reminded her of armored land dragons.

As they walked down the road, Maribelle couldn’t believe how permanent everything looked. She knew one thing for certain: the United States was here to stay. She hoped her negotiations went well, but she was still afraid. Not that the Americans would harm her; if they wanted to do that, there was nothing stopping them from doing it now. But more so that she would undoubtedly have to acquiesce to whatever concessions they demanded. The only question was how costly that would be. The fate of the Rontak Empire may very well rest in her hands.