Chapter 128 Pt.1:

The dry lands of Seocuria gave way to the lush grasslands and forests of Bebbezzar, just as Cetina had described. Just as the border between Graterious and Seocuria the change was stark and sudden. What Anton noticed first was the workers; they changed back to humans and looked far, far happier. So too was Cetina. There wasn’t anything quite like coming home. Though Anton didn’t truly miss Earth there was a longing deep in the back of his mind.

“Should I be asking where the extra supplies are coming from?” Wilford stood next to Anton, the girls were some distance away trying their hand at fishing. “I know we didn’t take on this much.”

“I think it’s best not to think about it too much.” Anton smiled. “Just know that they are good.”

“Right…”

The Snowberry had stopped in an additional Seocurian port, not Danafra but a nearby minor port, where Anton established a secure portal. Though Atros didn’t have the capacity to take in that many Beast-kin they were now ready to strike at Seocuria at any time.

Soon rather than later, if The Shadow Isles turn out to be easy…

“But.” Anton raised his hand. “Make sure the crew knows not to say anything.”

“I understand. It’s just a little strange, is all.”

Anton motioned to the small cliffs and open shores of Bebbezzar. “Anything you know about Bebbezzar?”

“If you want to hire some mercenaries this is your place.” Wilford began. “Also a great place to get ripped off. A lot of things aren’t what they seem, but they have this way of convincing you you’re about to miss out on a good deal.” Wilford shook his head and sighed, resting both hands on the wooden railing. “They’ve got me a few times.”

“Cetina knows a thing or two about haggling.” Anton mused.

“But they have a lot of good gear, once you look past the crap. You might even find some stuff from the Wood Elves. Now those are some expensive weapons. Beautiful, but expensive.”

I still get the feeling that Verona’s spear is one of their weapons. Perhaps a gift to the Kar Kingdom that found its way into the hands of the Goblins. Good thing it’s safely back in Atros right now.

A Dwarf, Umikgruid, ran up the stairs from the lower levels and the portal back to Atros. The Dwarves spent little time on The Snowberry, not that he or the Dark Elves particularly minded, especially when they were continuing to build and improve Atros.

“Anton.” Umikgruid calmed his breath. “We’ve finished the building you wanted. Do you want to inspect it?”

“Sure. Once we get to The Shadow Isles we won’t be going home for a whole.” Anton looked to the Dark Elves at the prow. “There’s not much more we can do now. We’re making good time. Our little forays into Seocuria were very quick…Oh, Wilford, what are the pirates like in Bebbezzar?”

“Not bad. Better than Graterious but worse than Seocuria. Most merchants have a sizeable force on them or move in convoys. Though, all that means is that the pirates work the same way.”

“Well if they try something they’ll end up burning and sinking again.”

“And becoming food for a Leviathan.”

Anton chuckled. He approached the girls as they successfully hauled in a large fish. The silver and blue scales dazzled with the mid-day sun. It flopped and struggled but couldn’t rip itself free from the hook in its mouth.

“Have a look at that!” Verona cried happily to Anton. “Our first fish and it’s this big. What do you think?”

“It’ll make a fine meal, so long as we can have a fire on this ship.”

“But you can do that.” Verona sniggered. “And much more safely too.”

“I don’t like the idea of being nothing more than a portable stove.” Anton sighed. “But it does have its uses. Do you want to come back to Atros with me? Umikgruid says they’ve finished the portal building already.”

“Already?” Kal’s mask glanced at the other girls. “The Dwarves do work quickly.”

“While I’d like to see my home I know it’s not possible right now,” Cetina said. “But I wouldn’t mind getting off this ship.”

Verona sighed lightly. “I’ll have to give this to someone. They can enjoy a nice lunch.”

Verona left the fishing rod and passed the still struggling fish to a human sailor. Surprise plastered his face as he received a veritable gift before giving a small nod of appreciation.

Umikgruid waited near the portal room. He looked very proud with himself as he opened the door. If the craftsmanship of the Dwarves was anything like they claimed he had every reason to. A brief flash of light filled his vision, disorientation wracked his mind, and they were back in Atros. Despite his best efforts, disorientation appeared an immutable part of Tethra’s portals.

“Ugh.” Anton gently pushed the girls forward and off the slightly raised white platform. “Still sucks.”

“Better than walking.” Verona sighed, rubbing her temples.

Kal removed her mask and ripped the cloth wrapping her head free.

“So which things have you actually done?” Anton asked. “There were a few on the list.”

Umikgruid waved to the Atros guards standing nearby. “Let’s see. We’ve got the Bath-House done. That-”

“Is it like how I asked?” Verona’s eyes shot open.

“Almost. We didn’t have the time to make it exactly like you wanted but it’s a lot better than anything you’d find in Qaiviel. Speaking of which…”

Umikgruid opened the door and allowed the light and noise of Atros in. The people wandered by, the hustle and bustle of a growing city in proud display. Some new Beast-kin walked by, still nervous but they already moved with a confidence impossible to find in those still in the chains of Seocuria. Some saw Anton moving past Umikgruid and waved. Anton returned it, some of the Beast-kin girls, at least he was sure those reptiles were girls, giggled and scurried away.

“Not so fast.” Verona sniggered.

Anton pinched her cheek. “Keep that under control.”

“Me?” Verona raised a brow. “Sure…Sure. You just keep thinking that.”

“What were you saying, Umikgruid?” Anton asked.

“We found a small stone in the old Bathhouse, we took that one down since no one will be using it anymore, and it was very hot. No matter what we did it didn’t cool down. Even when we threw it into a barrel of water it just made it hot, after some time.”

“That’s a hot stone,” Anton said. “It’s not dangerous but I thought someone would have told you about it first.”

Umikgruid shrugged. “That’s alright. But it’s a great little thing. We’ve put it into a reservoir and now we’ve got hot water to bathe in.”

“What about the old water?” Anton asked. “I don’t want to be bathing in greasy and dirty water. How did they sort that out in Porswea?”

“They’d probably just drain the water while we were out.” Kal offered.

Verona sighed. “I know that look.” She threw her hands up. “Yet another bloody stone, isn’t it?”

“One that cleans the water? How much will that cost in Earth Mana I wonder?”

“I hate your power sometimes.” Verona’s frown quickly transformed to a smirk.

“That makes things easier.” Umikgruid stroked his beard. “I know that my people will enjoy the baths. Your mayor, Bertram, asked us to build some more wells. They weren’t difficult. We’ve also almost finished the portal building. Just the last few pieces and it’ll be done. And we’ve started building the Sovereign Palace too. That’ll take a long time though.”

“The what?”

Verona murmured and waved him down. “You weren’t supposed to say that just yet.”

“Oh…”

“What have you done?” Anton held Verona’s cheek in a pinch.

“It wasn’t just me.” Verona pleaded, though very forced. “Kal and Cetina were in on it too.”

Anton looked up, Kal glanced away while Cetina tried to avoid his gaze. “So what have you, Verona, done?”

“We were going to wait a bit longer, and I thought Umikgruid said they wouldn’t even start until everything else was finished.”

“Everything else was finished.” Umikgruid held his mighty arms over his head and whistled innocently. “Mostly.”

“Essentially…It’s kind of copying what the other people have.” Verona nodded to the north. However, Anton couldn’t see anything over the buildings and stone walls, walls that were slightly higher than before. “They all have a big central building; like Belinda’s mansion, the governor’s mansion in Nonbur’n and Lord Cassius’s Mansion in Porswea. Even the Slave House in Danafra sort of counts. Anyway, since you’re always saying that Atros is going to be a big power one day we need things to match it. And the Main Hall isn’t just good enough for much longer. Some of the new buildings are almost as big right now.”

“I was thinking about building a bigger administration building but not so soon,” Anton said. “We still have walls and homes to build. I honestly think those are more important than a fancy building to rule from.”

“It’s not just that.” Umikgruid continued to stroke his impressive beard. “All Dwarven buildings are strongholds in their own right. If we could find that giant bear man that you have here-”

“I presume you’re talking about Zac?”

“That’s him. He’s in charge of planning for Atros. And we’ve been working with him and he’s assigned fours quare expansion blocks.”

“That’s…A lot.” Anton looked to Mount Aspire. “Just for one building?”

“It’s going to be very big.” Verona chuckled. “It’ll need to be if it’s going to intimidate the Seocurian Empire. When they get here, which they will eventually, they’ll need to know that we aren’t just some rabble.”

Anton relinquished his grip on Verona’s cheek. A slight tinge of worry washed over her face before he pulled her into a hug and kissed her deeply. Umikgruid and Cetina looked away while Kal was a little jealous.

“Thanks, Verona. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably only just have one girl.” Verona laughed. “But I, I mean we, just think of things while you’re distracted with saving the Dark Elves and the Dwarves. Nothing too fancy.”

“Thanks, you two.” Anton kissed Kal. “And thank you, Cetina.”

“Does she want a kiss too?” Kal asked, a smirk on her tanned face. Verona’s mouth flapped open while Cetina shook her head, fighting down a faint redness on her ears.

“Show us this Bathhouse that you’ve made first,” Anton said.

Umikgruid smiled and led them through the streets of Atros towards the south-east. They followed the main street, a circular stone paved road following the internal concentric circles of Atros, past the two innermost walls. A large stone and wooden building lay on the eastern side just before the third gate. The Bathhouse was larger than their home, probably three times as long and at least as wide. There wasn’t much in the way of ornamentation on the outside; the walls were flat and very straight, several small wooden latches adorned the roof to allow a faint trail of steam out while a simple sign hung over the only doorway. Four Atros guards stood outside, male guards.

“I take it there’s a shift change when it’s time for women to bathe?”

“That’s up to Jeff,” Umikgruid said. “But I’m pretty sure it is. Tonight’s going to be the first time it’s used. Everyone’s pretty excited.”

“It looks really good.” Anton nodded appreciatively, patting Umikgruid’s shoulder, after bending down slightly. “Well done.”

Umikgruid laughed. “Nothing can ever beat the skill of the Dwarves in building. No one. Do you want to have a look inside first?”

“Please, lead on.”

“I want to take a bath,” Verona whispered into Anton’s ear. “Though I think Cetina might want to give it a pass again. I don’t think she’s had one yet.”

Cetina’s face and hair was a little greasy and stained from the salty sea air. Nevertheless, she had taken care of her appearance as best she could, but she really could do with a proper wash. She caught Anton looking, tilted her head when Anton smiled and looked forward again. Cetina shrugged but ran a gloved hand through her rough hair, crinkling and cracking as salt and grime fell free.

The guards allowed them through with little more than a sideways glance. Anton whistled as the interior was laid bare. A large central stone pool rippled with clean water. One side was very shallow, about the same height as a Dwarf, while the furthest was far deeper, almost able to submerge Rasha. Small torches hung from walls, casting a gentle flickering orange light over the grey stones. On the far wall, a large open wooden cabinet had been built with dozens upon dozens of small wooden boxes. A small wiccan basket lay in each to store clothes in.

Kal laughed. “This is incredible.”

“We do our best.” Umikgruid pointed to the ceiling. “We’ve even got some sky-lights, in case you want some natural light or want to look at the stars while you bathe.”

Kal dipped a clawed finger into the pool. “It’s cold…But nothing that we can’t fix.”

“I can’t wait to use this.” Verona pumped her fists. “Privately, of course.” She leant around to look at Cetina. “I think you might have to go with others.”

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Cetina pulled a face. “I’d still prefer not to.”

“Is there a problem?” Anton asked.

“I…”

“Tell me then.” Verona gently tapped on Cetina’s chest piece. “I’ve been wondering what your problem is. I understand not bathing with men but I’m a girl too so you can tell me.”

Cetina sighed, knowing the issue wasn’t about to go away. As she whispered into Verona’s ear Verona threw up a silver brow before pulling her head back.

“That’s a thing?”

Cetina nodded.

“But what’s the problem then?”

“It’s just…”

“It’s fine.” Verona patted Cetina’s shoulder. “We won’t force you to bathe with others. But honestly, I think you’re overreacting a little.”

Cetina shrugged and folded her arms. Verona returned to his side, winked but gave no words.

“So how does water get into the pools?”

Umikgruid walked excitedly to the far side. Just below the water level was a metal grate. He pointed to the eastern wall, a reservoir had been built into the wall.

“When it’s time to change the water we simply drain it and fill it with more water,” Umikgruid explained. “There’s a drain near the bottom and that goes to the pond just the other side of the wall. Since this part of Atros is on a slight slope we decided to build it here.”

“A pond sounds nice.” Anton nodded. “Lots of fish, birds and reeds to deal with the dirty water. It’s not sewage after all. Hell, it could even be expanded and give the Seocurians something that almost reminds them of home…There haven’t been any bad things happening while I’ve been gone, have there?”

“Not that I’ve heard. The aqua feline woman, I believe her name is Marion, has been keeping the newer ones with older groups, so they understand what’s going on and don’t lash out.” Umikgruid shrugged. “At least that’s what they told me.”

Kal beamed with pride.

Anton spared a glance for Verona as she rolled her eyes. “Do you have some spare stones from building this? Looks like you’ve got to load it by hand.”

Umikgruid scratched his head. “Back on the Dwarven Isles we wouldn’t have to. But here, without any of our equipment…Yes. Let me just go and get one.”

Umikgruid returned with a few cast off chunks. Anton took the stones but saw the trail of dirt they had left behind, dirty boot prints on the otherwise immaculate floor. He made a note to apologise to whoever would have to clean up after them.

“Do you want to try making one of these a Mana Bath?” Cetina asked, leaning close to the stones. “Since you have the opportunity.”

“Not this time. Most people don’t benefit from this.” Anton bounced the stones. “And I’m sure that’s going to cost a lot of Earth Mana. We’ll have to get the Dwarves to make a smaller bath for that. Whenever we get some sort of magical school worked out.”

He held the stone and enchanted it to slowly clean the water using Earth Mana. The stone faintly glowed, indicating that something was working, but that was all. He threw a glowing stone into the baths. Nothing changed. He tapped his dirty boot into the water, trails of mud and dirt swirled through the crystal clear water. Instead of slowly settling to the bottom they faded away. Not dissolving but actually disappearing. He knelt close to watch them completely vanish.

“Seems that the larger bits take a lot longer.” Anton dipped his hand into the water. “Hmm. Doesn’t sting or irritate. So there’s a good sign. I think we can even use these to wash clothes if there’s ever a lull in the usage. I just hope that it doesn’t consider a person as an impurity to be removed.”

“Let’s not go first then.” Verona chuckled.

After he and Kal created the remaining three purifying stones he turned to the reservoir of water.

“I’ll make another water stone,” Anton said as he began to climb a small wooden ladder to the side.

A thick mortar filled the gaps between the stones, perfectly sealing the reservoir from the inside. The only place they could get the ingredients for something that fine was from the nearby lake, a place they had yet to properly investigate and pacify. Anton found a crevice to wedge the stone securely. He wiggled the stone and it barely budged. He chanted a prayer to fill the water until it reached the level of the stone and cease if it was ever moved from its position. He didn’t want something that could flood the city by accident or on purpose.

“Umikgruid? Can you try letting out some of the water?”

The Dwarf ran back outside while motioning Anton to remain on the ladder. A few seconds passed before a heavy groan emanated from the pools. The water began to swirl and tumble, draining towards a fine grate at the bottom of the pool. When a third had disappeared the groan came back and water stopped. Umikgruid returned with an expectant look.

“Perfect,” Verona said. “Worked perfectly.”

“Can we see this pond when we’re done?” Kal asked. Cetina appeared moderately interested too.

“Right after we check that this stone actually works. What do we need to do?”

“Pull that lever near the floor.” Umikgruid pointed down. “It’s pretty heavy though.”

Anton gripped the metal lever, hidden behind the shadow of the reservoir, and pulled. It was very heavy but it still moved underneath. He felt something move underneath his feet, followed by the sound of rushing water. Water gently poured from the metal grates and began to refill the pool. When he climbed the ladder the reservoir had dropped enough to have fallen below the stone. The stone leaked water from the ether. It was quite slow but unending.

Anton shook his hands dry. “This is absolutely perfect. If something goes wrong with the wells we can just use this.”

“A saboteur might not think to check a Bathhouse for a fresh supply of water.” Cetina looked at the bath as Anton descended the ladder. “At least I wouldn’t.”

Anton waited until the pools were almost full before wrenching the lever closed.

“This is perfect, Umikgruid. Everyone will love this.” Anton patted the Dwarf’s shoulder again. “I don’t know how much this would have cost normally but I’m imagining it’s a lot.”

Umikgruid slowly nodded. “Be glad that we’re working for free right now. Won’t always be that way, but the work of the Dwarf’s doesn’t come cheap.”

Anton would never air such thoughts but wanted to take full advantage of the Dwarves before they had to start paying. Hopefully, they weren’t keeping a list.

Outside Umikgruid showed the small stone drain leading underneath the stone wall into the next ring with a metal grate blocking any access. The Dwarves were proving to be very thorough. The pond, the same size as the new Bathhouse, had attracted some visitors. This wasn’t just some puddle in the mud. A row of large rough stones surrounded the edge, preventing people from falling in accidentally. Plants, reeds from the lake, dotted the exterior of the pond and small weeds had taken root. Small fish darted through the slim shade, terrified of the moving shadows of potential predators while nibbling on small insects and plants with a ravenous hunger. Several people had gathered and observed the gentle pond with a serene expression. Anton found it very peaceful too. Once the onlookers recognised them they scattered, leaving only a lonely solitary guard at the stone edge, hopefully to prevent dumping of rubbish.

“That never gets annoying,” Anton mumbled. “I mean, I understand why, but it still gets on my mind after a while. I haven’t done anything bad to them.”

“They don’t want to take the chance to annoy you,” Kal spoke flatly. “They clearly weren’t working…”

“I suppose.” Anton gently slapped his cheeks. “But this is nice. It doesn’t take in any of the sewage, does it?”

Umikgruid shook his head. “It’s simply not big enough. But if you’ve got those stones of yours I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

“I’d like to have both methods.” Anton folded his arms before waving to the pond. “If I rely just on magic, and someone breaks it, well, we’ll be swimming in shit in but a few days.”

“An unpleasant thought.”

“At least we’ve got some lovely fish.” Verona sighed. “I wish I could have taken that one from The Snowberry with us.”

Kal raised a brow. “You could have, you just gave it away instead.”

Verona glumly agreed.

Umikgruid began walking back into Atros. “Next are the new wells. You only had one before, I can’t believe a city this big only had one.”

Anton said. “Indeed. But I think it was getting close.”

Umikgruid led them towards the west. He stopped at a new well surrounded by Atros villagers. Each held a large bucket, a large Beast-kin pulled up and distributed the water.

“This...” Anton glanced at Kal. “This doesn’t remind you of Seocuria?”

Kal nodded. “A little. But he seems to be enjoying himself and isn’t tired. If it was Seocuria there’d be someone whipping him for just daring to look up rather than work constantly.”

Umikgruid clapped his hands. “But I’m sure that you want to see the main reason you’re back here.”

---[]---

A thought had bubbled through the back of Anton’s head while he was deploying the portals. If someone found a way to force open the portal, possible with the versatility of Principle Magic against their own, an army could pour through before anyone realised. The portals couldn’t be housed in barns forever. Doubly so since that space was needed for food and other supplies. Anton had only given the vaguest idea of what he wanted from it but the Dwarves had been very excited. Gosthilda said it was something about being given a challenge. Now they stood before their work. A squat stone building, the size of four small houses stuck together, lay in a section of the concentric rings devoid of homes. The area was filled with some sort of armoury and many barracks buildings. The military district, whatever that really meant for somewhere like Atros. Several new guards, mainly Beast-kin, were being measured for armour before being sent towards the Training Fields for some much-needed practice.

Four Dwarves moved on top of the portal building, laying the last of the timber for the roof. However, they weren’t lifting the pieces up. A large blue being lifted the wooden logs up to the eagerly awaiting Dwarves. Rasha effortlessly picked up another log when she saw them approach.

“Hello!” She almost dropped the log as her short tail whipped happily through the air. “What…What are you all doing here? I thought you were still on the ship.”

“We did come back a little while ago.” Anton smiled.

She coughed to calm herself and smiled at the other girls. “How are you all doing?”

“Pretty good.” Verona chuckled. “Seems like Irso would be teasing you right now.”

Rasha frowned as Verona nodded to the wooden log. “Oh. Yeah. Well, it’s really the only thing that I’m good at.” The Dwarf above clapped his hands and Rasha passed up the log. Her large muscles tensed but didn’t strain, the Dwarf required a second pair of hands to pull it up.

“I’m glad you didn’t get free of those chains.” Anton mused.

Rasha’s ears pulled back as her hooves scrapped on the ground. “I didn’t know back then.”

“Another one, please.”

“Right!” Rasha’s large fingers twitched as she lifted another wooden log.

“The Dwarves don’t seem to care about having a Beast-kin help.” Kal smiled faintly.

“Are you kidding?” Umikgruid laughed. “Should have more of them. Look at how quickly she can lift things. It’d have taken a lot longer without her.”

Rasha smiled. After nearly forty years the number of times she had heard praise could probably be counted on one hand.

Anton approached the building. “Are you just a labourer?”

“I’m still training.” Rasha turned to Cetina. “Without Cetina, it’s a little hard to get a training partner, so I just have to try my best by myself. Sometimes Kristof’s there so I can practice. I think I hurt him the last time.”

Anton raised a brow. “You hurt that slab of muscle?”

Rasha glumly nodded. “I think so. At least that’s what Marion said. She doesn’t want him going there without her going as well.”

Rasha sighed and ran a hand through her red hair. In doing so her upper body bounced.

Perhaps Marion doesn’t want Kristof sparring with someone like you? You’re both Minotaurs after all and sparring partners can become good friends. Forging of friendship in battle and all that. Plus you are one of the biggest people in Atros, in more ways than one.

Rasha squeaked a noise as he looked at her face, she grew increasingly flustered as she thought too deeply about the matter.

“I don’t think I’ll be much of a challenge.” Anton chuckled. “You’ve seen how I fight. But for now, I’m going to have to ask you to endure. Sometimes there are things, actions, taken by others that are well out of your control.”

“I…Don’t understand but I’ll do my best.” Rasha nodded proudly.

“What about the others?” Kal asked. “How are they doing?”

“Irso’s doing well in the smithy.” Rasha passed up another log. “And I think Eider and Ulyaa are still helping with the harvests.” Rasha shrugged. “It’s kind of like Seocuria but this is so much better.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Anton received a look from Umikgruid, he was getting a little impatient to show off their work while he was merrily chatting with Rasha. “We’ll talk to you later then, Rasha.”

“Bye, everyone.” Rasha waved and continued lifting the logs as they moved inside.

Verona pulled Cetina down and whispered something in her ear. While Anton couldn’t hear he did see Cetina’s face turn flat yet somehow deeply irritated.

The interior of the portal building was quite large once they passed through the door. Twelve doors, four on each side, lined the interior. A small fire in the centre illuminated the room and slits, embrasures, lay either side of the doors.

“Here we are,” Umikgruid said happily. “This is what we’ve come up with. Each of the rooms links to a different portal. And the locks…” Umikgruid tapped a large plank of wood resting next to the door. “Are on the outside. If someone were to breach a portal they’d just be stuck in here. We can just bolt these shut and shoot through these embrasures and whittle them down.”

Anton looked through the small slit in the wall. It gave a very good line of sight over the centre of the room, most importantly where the portal stones would lay.

“And if it gets really bad we could just shoot one of the stones and cut them off from this side.” Anton patted the stone. “Or some sort of explosive magic. I think a mage would be needed to get through this.”

“If a mage of that strength came through there isn’t much that we could do right now.” Umikgruid’s fingers played with the metal bands on his beard. “I mean, when we get our equipment to Atros then we won’t have a problem making something that could deal with magic like that. But this will have to do for now.”

“It’s still fantastic work.”

“Do you Dwarves sleep?” Verona asked, a slight smirk on her face. “I’m being a little serious here.”

“I mean you drink like fish drink water,” Anton added.

Umikgruid laughed. “The booze you have here is pretty good, for humans, but nothing compared to what we have. I don’t think a human could even handle ours without dying or passing out unless it was watered down, which…which is just a travesty.”

“We have…” Anton looked around the room. “Two portals in Seocuria right now. And they’re on the fall wall.”

Above each room, a wooden plaque denoted the name of the portal city. Anton peeked in to find the ring of stones inside, with one removed from the circle to deactivate the magic.

“That’s a nice touch.”

“And there’s the private one we have back home too,” Verona spoke very softly. “Just in case something happens to this place.”

Cetina pointed to the ceiling. “Why are you making the roof out of wood?” Heavy footsteps, of Dwarves encumbered by wooden logs, thudded above them. “And why are they putting more on top? Is it some sort of defensive measure?”

Umikgruid nodded. “If something really bad happens we can set fire to the roof and smoke them out. We’ve also got some tar to go on there, thanks to those Seocurian portals. And if it gets really bad we’ve put in a few traps, we can just drop the whole building on them. That’ll definitely break the portal and crush them. I know we don’t want to do it but it’s better to have precautions. It’s also a lot easier to build a roof with wood rather than stone.”

“No steel beams yet,” Anton mumbled quietly, Umikgruid raised a brow. “Let’s set up the portal to The Snowberry.”

Anton placed the stones down, the white portal formed while Umikgruid tried to hand up the wooden plaque. Cetina took it, Umikgruid spoke a silent thanks. Anton stepped through the portal and returned to the interior of The Snowberry. He stepped through and returned to Atros, though with a terrible headache.

“It’s still bad.” Anton reached out and received Verona’s hand. “But it’s getting better.”

Verona laughed. “Not so good when you step through it twice so quickly.”

“It’ll free up the guards at least.” Anton rubbed his temples until the feeling dissipated, he didn’t want to always rely on his magic for something so mundane. Kal broke the portal to reduce the Earth Mana usage. “What about this Sovereign Palace you started to build behind my back.”

“It’s not that bad.” Verona delicately intertwined her fingers with his. “I’ve seen some of your drawings. Compared to some of those this is actually quite simple.”

Anton kissed her. “Perhaps. But how much have you got done?”

“Just the base right now.” Umikgruid tapped the floor. “If anything we’ll still be levelling the ground for the next-”

Three short trumpet blasts echoed through the building. A heavy thudding came from outside as Rasha’s head came though. The door was wide enough for her but nowhere near tall enough, she struck her horn upon the doorway but didn’t miss a beat.

“It’s that sound!” Rasha’s voice was panicked. “Coming from the west again. What do we do?”

“It’s three blasts,” Anton said calmly. Another three blasts interrupted his attempt to speak. “Remember what it was last time?”

“It was the Dark Elves.” Rasha’s eye flickered to Umikgruid. “And the Dwarves…And humans.”

“Exactly. So not a threat.”

“For now.” Kal corrected.

“Yes…Do you have armour or that Halberd yet?”

“Jonathan, the smith, was working on a full suit but he said it wasn’t ready. He has made a halberd but he said it’s not the best.”

“Perhaps an apprentice?” Verona queried. “They’ve got to start somewhere after all.”

“Go get the halberd and find the other Beast-kin guards,” Anton ordered.

“Right.” Rasha gave a quick nod before leaving.

“Someone like her with heavy armour will be basically unstoppable.” Anton mused, holding his chin. “Imagine her with a ballista.”

“She could probably hold one.” Umikgruid chuckled. “Maybe one in each hand.”

“She seemed quite excited to think there might be some action again.”

“Oh. I have an idea.” Verona teased, a finger worming its way underneath his armour. “You’ve already got one bodyguard. But I don’t know if that’s going to be enough. Do you want another one?”

The three horns blew again. Anton waved them outside.

“While…While Cetina is probably going to be unmatched with a sword against normal soldiers another hand would be helpful. Especially one that could move a boulder without breaking a sweat.” Anton nodded. “Cetina?”

Cetina glanced at her feet as she frowned lightly. “I…I don’t have a problem with it. When we spared she was very strong and a quick learner, though she got a little too aggressive as the fight dragged on. But that’s not really a problem for now. She seems like a good person.”

“And probably very loyal already,” Verona whispered. Kal heard and rolled her eyes.

“So, yes.”

“Though she can’t come to the human territory she’ll be useful when we explore the wilderness.” Cetina continued. “If we actually do that again. I don’t like what happened at Balefire Mine.”

“Me neither.” Everyone agreed with his words. “Come on. Let’s see who this is.”

It’s not time for Raston to come back yet. So did he run into trouble? Or did he run into someone? Well, there’s only one person that could come from the west…