Atlas smiled fondly at his new baby trolls and thought, ‘The life of a father is tough. It was already hard enough to watch over the new empire. But it seems so much more real, now that I have these two little guys to watch over as well.‘
The demon dogs were going to be attacking in a few hours, and Atlas could no longer spare time playing with the trolls. "Portilla, Crushir, you’re going to be watched by the mini faeries. Be good, and don’t get into any trouble."
"Yes, Dad!" they said in unison.
Atlas summoned two mini faeries to help.
"We’d love to!" they squealed in delight.
Portilla grinned, "Come play!"
Crushir laughed along with the mini faeries, who were delighted to have new little siblings to play with. Atlas smiled and then gathered his team, preparing for the nightly demon dog attacks. The dogs had grown more numerous, but it was nothing the Portal Crushers couldn’t handle. As their leader, it was Atlas’s job though to ensure nothing happened to the settlement.
***
The tourists all lined up on the walls or at least tried to. John, Atlas’s second-in-command, had seen the chaos from the last night of demon dog attacks and hired a couple of trainees to keep the crowds back and shoo them to the tourist watching area.
"Alright, Portal Crushers, by the numbers! We’ve done this so many times, you should all be used to it!" Atlas shouted.
The Portal Crushers lined up along the walls, climbing the watchtowers, keeping a sharp eye out for movement. The demon dogs announced their arrival with howling roars. Crossbows fired, followed by the newly improvised flame grenades, as the dogs tried to charge through the pit traps Atlas had set up.
"This is looking so much better," Atlas thought.
Javelins covered in KrazyBondoglue were thrown. The Portal Crushers were in good form. Half of the demon dogs were down before any hand-to-hand combat even began.
Mini faeries flitted above the scene, their soft glow adding an almost whimsical light to the deadly setting. Though they fluttered nervously, they knew they couldn’t help. Rules were rules. All they could do was watch. They could cheer though!
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” They waved little pom poms and cheered for the Portal Crushers.
Up on a tourist viewing platform, one of the visitors remarked, "This is great! So much better than fighting them ourselves!"
"I know! This is better than the arena," another said.
“Popcorn! Popcorn! Get your popcorn here, cold beer only 1 coin. Popcorn, Popcorn!” One of the enterprising refugees had gotten the contract for snacks from John for a percentage of the profits.
Mohammed, the owner of the Sword and Iron Arena overheard and grumbled, "Hey, arena fights are great! You guys shut up!"
John’s idea of setting up tourist platforms had worked out perfectly. Originally meant to keep the tourists back from the walls, the platforms were now a major attraction. They were set up on scaffolding well behind the fort’s defenses, high enough to keep people from interfering in the fights. A protective screen in front kept anyone from throwing objects onto the battlefield. Every platform had two guards posted for extra security.
Building the scaffolds hadn’t been cheap, but by charging one coin per visitor, the nightly demon dog battles had gone from a dreaded terror to a Las Vegas-style open-stage production. The funds went directly to improvements for Fort Bone’s defences.
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‘‘‘
After the fight with the demon dogs, Atlas and the Portal Crushers settled in for the night. The baby trolls, exhausted after a day of playing and eating a bowl of troll kibble, were sprawled out in various states of sleep. Titus, ever curious, had taken a bite of the kibble, only to spit it out in disgust.
“That was not good,” he groaned, wiping his mouth.
The rest of the team burst into laughter.
"We can get you some real food," John grinned, patting him on the back. "Funds are doing pretty well."
"That's fucking hilarious," Stu snickered, still clutching his stomach from laughing.
Isabella, Olivia, and Amber, sitting off to the side, were giggling as they pet the baby trolls. "You think these are the first trolls to ever be bathed and dressed up in costumes?" Isabella asked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Probably,” Amber laughed. "I bet the wasteland would be a whole lot better if everyone just played and got along like these little guys."
Olivia, the former head of the Earth’s Children, chimed in, “See? It’s possible for everyone to get along. We don’t have to fight all the time.”
Stu raised an eyebrow, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Why don’t you head out and convince the skeletons to stop trying to eat us, then?”
Olivia crossed her arms. “You know what I mean.”
After a bit more teasing and winding down, the group finally drifted off to sleep.
‘‘‘
The next morning, the Red Fairy appeared above them all in a flash of light. "It’s day 21, bitches! Are you ready? You've been here for three weeks! Some of you have gone completely bonkers, haven’t you, my little sweeties?" Her voice was playful, but her eyes sparkled with mischief. "Do you really have to kill everything? The wasteland could be so peaceful and fun. Look at this."
Without waiting for a response, she projected a magical image in the air, showing Atlas playing with the baby trolls. The trolls looked adorable, and the mini fairies fluttered around them like a scene out of a dream. She zoomed in, getting close-ups of Atlas in his pink armor.
The various settlements watching burst into laughter at the sight.
“Do you guys want to see a quick highlight of what Atlas did yesterday?” the Red Fairy asked, not waiting for a reply before rolling the footage of him goofing around with the trolls.
“You’ve been such a diligent little warrior, Atlas," said the Red Fairy. "I bet these little guys are going to be a great help in your newly forming empire!”
A video snippet played showing Atlas’s speech about Fort Bone and the new empire. A military theme song boomed in the background. The Red Fairy hadn’t skimped on any production costs.
‘What the hell‘, Atlas thought.
In his last time through, something like this had never occurred. The thought that the Red Fairy could project anything, even strategic secrets for the whole wasteland to watch, had far-reaching consequences.
‘I’m glad she didn’t show the secret behind my armor though.‘
“For being the best of the best, Atlas and the Portal Crushers have won a prize!”
In front of them appeared a full set of troll training equipment—dungeon spawn themed stuffed animals, boxes of troll treats, and dulled weapons perfect for baby trolls to practice with.
"And here’s the best part," the Red Fairy said gleefully. “Are you ready?”
The camera zoomed in on Atlas, who was trying his best to keep a straight face. Before he could react, the Red Fairy waved her hands, crackling with magic, and the baby trolls stirred awake.
WHHHIIIIIZT!
A spell glowing with warm light enveloped the baby trolls.
“What’s going on, Daddy?” one of the trolls mumbled groggily.
“There you go!” the Red Fairy giggled. “With my magic, the trolls will now grow a year for every day they spend in the wasteland, until they hit adulthood. You don’t have to thank me, but it’s going to be great! In two weeks, you’ll have full-grown trolls.”
Atlas’s mind raced, but he quickly realized, ‘Two weeks to full-grown trolls... those could actually be really useful for defending Fort Bone—and attacking other settlements.‘
The Red Fairy twirled in the air. Sparkles went everywhere. "Oh, it’s almost time for our favorite part! I hope you guys like it." Her voice became more ominous as she waved her hands again. Images of three other settlements flashed on the screen, their people watching in horror.
The settlers seeing themselves on the screens screamed and tried to flee.
“Uh uh!” The Red Fairy said, “No more playing hide and seek.”
“You were bad settlers,” the Red Fairy said coldly. “You didn’t do anything besides hide. Now... it’s time for me to seek.”
With a snap of her fingers, the screen flickered as the fairy made them pay.
KRACK!
KRACK!
KRACK!
Lightning bolts flew from her fingers. Each bolt finding a settler. They burst into bits of body parts and gore. The sound of the screaming settlers were heard against the military music that had previously played. The voiceover of Atlas declaring his intention to rule the wasteland was juxtaposed as well.
The Red Fairy looked over her handiwork.
“Wasn’t that fun?”
The various settlements were dead quiet. The previous hiders were just dead.
“Now I have a really, really important question for you all! Do you know what it is?”
The Red Fairy paused for a moment, giving time for a possible answer and for dramatic effect.
“It’s a vote! That’s right, we are going to have the first ever wasteland poll!”