The wind whipped the tree’s branches against Zeke’s legs as he held himself in place. He barely noticed it, instead focusing the whole of his attention on the army in the distance. There weren’t just thousands of them. There were tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds, spread across the valley and blocking the way through.
Knights, all in gleaming silver armor that, even from so far away, pulsed with mana. Mundane soldiers, wrapped in leather cuirasses and carrying bows and spears. Behind them was an enormous forest of tents, each one bearing a large flag displaying the emblem of Adontis – a silver sphere amidst a black field. It was a simple symbol, meant to represent the moon among the black expanse of the night sky.
From what Zeke had witnessed, the Knights’ skills tended to revolve around the moon, though there were enough exceptions – largely for more destructive skills like the ability to sling fireballs – that they didn’t present a united front. Whatever the case, Zeke knew enough to recognize the danger all skills represented. Certainly, there was a hierarchy of power, but dismissing any skill, regardless of how benign it might seem, was a mistake with the potential of getting people killed.
Zeke wouldn’t allow himself to make that kind of error. There was too much on the line, and far too many people depending on him.
For a while, he continued to watch the gathered army, and he saw a steady stream of more Knights, spearmen, and archers arriving to augment the force. More, he watched as they established supply lines composed of hundreds of horse-drawn wagons bearing crates of goods. It took a lot to feed an army, and that wasn’t even considering the incidentals they would such a force would require. In addition to food, they would need quite a bit of other supplies, each almost as important to their chance of victory as keeping everyone fed.
Finally, after Zeke had seen enough, he climbed down from his perch atop one of the gargantuan trees, then set off to the north. After a few hours of travel, he felt he was far enough away from the army to chance summoning his gate. So, he pulled to a stop next to a cluster of smaller trees that had somehow survived beneath the expansive and nigh-impenetrable canopy, where he finally let his gate manifest.
The moment it appeared, he stepped through, appearing back in the tower’s Entry Hall. There, he instructed a pair of kobold centurions to stand guard outside the gate. In addition, he sent another to find a troop of rangers to scout the area and warn everyone if they encountered any ranging Knights.
With that taken care of, Zeke headed toward the teleportation pad – ignoring the arrayed bronze statues as well as the sculptures ringing the Entry Hall. Each one depicted his adventures in both the Mortal Realm as well as the Eternal Realm, and given that he’d lived through each event, he didn’t need any reminders of the hardships he had endured.
Besides, some of the earlier statues brought to light some painful memories, most of which concerned Abby, and Zeke wanted nothing more than to move on from that doomed relationship.
In any case, he quickly found the teleportation pad and let it whisk him away to the Residential District. It was much the same as it had always been, though the kobolds had continued to spread out, occupying more and more of the square buildings. As far as Zeke was concerned, that was a good thing. The more individuality the kobolds showed, the better.
However, he wasn’t concerned with kobold development at the moment. Instead, he quickly found his way to the Pillar – the tallest building in the district – which housed the budding bureaucracy that governed the tower. Or given the number of people – both kobolds and the former slaves – at work, it was probably more established than the word “budding” implied.
Zeke’s arrival garnered no small degree of interest. Most of the kobolds regarded him as an almost messianic figure, while the former slaves rightfully looked at him as their savior. And the ones who’d been picked to form the governing bureaucracy were the most zealous within the tower, so, as Zeke made his way through the Pillar, he was forced to endure quite a lot of unwanted attention. Some of the kobolds restrained themselves with deep bows, but others dropped to their knees and prostrated themselves. Still others reached out to touch him. Even the former slaves got into the mix, though they were slightly more subdued than their scaley fellows.
For Zeke, it felt like the way popular movie stars and musicians were treated back on Earth. Or maybe the Pope. Regardless of how he characterized it, it was extraordinarily uncomfortable.
Eveline interjected, “Most people would kill to be so loved.”
“It’s not love.”
“It looks that way to me. These people would do anything you ask,” she responded.
“Sure. But that’s not love. It’s subservience. Love happens between equals. This is worship.”
“I don’t see the difference,” Eveline said, and Zeke could tell that she was entirely serious.
“That’s not surprising,” was his only response.
Gradually, Zeke waded through the sea of worshipful kobolds until he finally reached his destination – the chambers set up for meetings between the tower’s most prominent members. He passed through the pair of double doors, grateful for the pair of burly kobold legionnaires standing guard. Without them, the others would have flowed right into the chambers behind him.
Zeke didn’t relax until he heard the doors shut behind him. He knew he wasn’t in any danger from the kobolds, but their overflowing attention – or worship, as he was beginning to think of it – left him feeling on edge. Some of that tension dissipated as he beheld the small council arrayed before him.
They were seated around a large, semicircular table that, to Zeke, looked like it formed a sort of shallow horseshoe. At the opening was a massive throne that he knew was intended for him.
“What’s this?” he asked, glancing from one member of the council to another. All the usual people were there, including Eta, Pudge, Jasper, Sasha, Silik, and Kianma. However, there were a couple of new additions as well. Kala, the woman who’d taken charge of their farming efforts on the Artisan’s Terrace, sat next to the dryad, while a surly-looking dwarf whose name Zeke couldn’t recall was positioned on the other end of the table.
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“The tower provides. A few days ago, this room simply appeared,” said Eta. “We decided that this was the use the tower intended.”
Kianma asked, “Do you disapprove?”
Zeke did, but he wasn’t going to say so. He knew better than to shirk his position as the kobolds’ leader, and as such, he needed to take his place as their ruler, which apparently came with a really big chair.
“No,” he lied, stepping forward. It was only then that he realized that it was sized to fit his colossal form. So, with a flick of his mana, he transformed into the unattuned version and took his place. Looking down on everyone, he said, “So, we have a problem.”
Then, he outlined the issues. After the fall of Heartwood – which had gotten a little out of hand when the beastkin had fallen upon their former captors, leaving most of the humans dead – the Knights of Adontis had mustered a response in the form of a gathering army. That response was what Zeke had seen barring passage through the valley that would eventually lead to the labyrinth. That was the only feasible way to the Kingdom of El’kireth, where Zeke was certain he would find Talia.
“So, we got no choice but to go through ‘em,” said the dwarf.
“I don’t know you,” Zeke said.
“Oi. Right. Dinna think ‘bout that. Marcus is me given name, but most folks call me Bracken,” the dwarf said, his voice ranging somewhere between a Scottish brogue and a southern drawl. It was a strange combination that left Zeke a little uncomfortable. Bracken went on, “Been trainin’ yer lizards, I have. Good lads. Hard workers. Get ‘em shaped up in a hurry, I will.”
“We voted to include Bracken because, as their chief trainer, he knows the kobolds’ capabilities better than any other,” supplied Kianma. “He is one of the former slaves you rescued from Min Ferilik.”
“I like ta think we were on our way to rescuin’ ourselves. Just takin’ our time ‘bout it, s’all,” he said. “We woulda made it ‘ventually.”
“I’m sure,” Eta said, shaking her head.
“This is not addressing the problem,” interjected Jasper. “What should we do about the blockade?”
“Ram it,” said Bracken. “Scatter ‘em. Trample ‘em. Then execute any that’s left.”
“We will lose many,” pointed out Silik, who’d been silent until that point.
“All wars got casualties,” Bracken stated.
“I don’t think a straightforward attack takes advantage of our advantages,” Zeke stated. “We’re mobile. We have no supply lines. We have an extremely low profile. I can move faster than any army, and we can have a thousand kobolds out of the tower and ready for battle in minutes.”
“How can we take advantage of that?” asked Jasper.
“We attack their supply lines. We kill their reinforcements. Force them to respond by splitting off to search for us. Make them chase us through this forest,” Zeke said. “Then, once we’ve run them ragged, we lead them into a trap.”
“Our force cannot stand up to so many Knights,” Silik said. Indeed, the battle of Heartwood had proven one thing – even with surprise on their side, the army of kobolds had been stretched to their limits. It was only due to the poison, which had weakened the defenders, and surprise that they’d managed to win the day without significant casualties. It would be nearly impossible to repeat that feat, now that the Knights of Adontis were ready. That meant a straightforward clash was off the table. Even if victory was possible, it wouldn’t come without a cost Zeke considered unreasonable.
“That’s why I intend to find some allies,” Zeke said. “The centaurs owe us, right? We fought their war, didn’t we? So, let’s get them to help us fight ours.”
“Do you think they will do that?” asked Jasper.
Zeke shrugged. “Why not? They consider Adontis an enemy, don’t they? Even if they’re not engaged in open warfare, they’ve fought often enough in the past that they won’t balk at finishing them off,” he said.
“And if they don’t consent to your war?” asked Eta.
“Our war. We’re all in this together. Or is there anyone here who thinks we shouldn’t fight Adontis?” Zeke asked. No one spoke up. “Come on. If you have an objection, let’s hear it. These are people who enslave and kill anyone who isn’t like them. That means me. That means everyone here in this room. And everybody in the tower, too. There are thousands of beastkin out there right now who can attest to Adontians’ evil nature. If we don’t do this, it will come back and bite us. I can guarantee that.”
“We follow where Ak-toh leads,” said Silik. Kianma spoke her own agreement. Most of the time, Zeke would have insisted that they think it through more fully, rather than simply following his lead. However, he felt convinced that his cause was just, so he refrained from indulging that impulse.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” Jasper said. “People will die. It won’t be like the giants. This is an established faction with real warriors.”
Zeke understood that well enough. The hill giants had been only a slim cut above monsters, and as such, they’d been easy to outwit and outmaneuver. In addition, Zeke’s forces had allied with the centaurs, hitting the giants hard and fast, without ever letting up. The giants had been on the back foot until the very end.
The Knights, by comparison, were presumably intelligent enough not to be so easily outflanked. More, they were, soldier for soldier, far more powerful than the giants. And finally, they were well-equipped and supplied. Fighting them was going to be a much more difficult battle.
Still, Zeke wasn’t going to let that dissuade him. Not after what he had seen in Heartwood.
“You really let that get to you, didn’t you?” asked Eveline.
“Didn’t have much of a choice. I can’t see something like that, then look the other way. I just can’t, Eveline.”
“Understandable.”
It was telling that she didn’t argue with him. Certainly, Zeke understood that she didn’t necessarily agree with their course of action. To her, slavery was as normal as breathing. It was common practice in the cities of Hell, and so, she’d long ago discarded any empathy she might’ve felt for the enslaved. However, she also knew him better than anyone else – being privy to his innermost thoughts would do that – so she was very much aware that he wouldn’t be swayed.
After that, they got down to the business of working out the logistics of the coming war. When that was finished, Zeke left them all behind, then led a group of centurions out of the tower before beginning the long trek through the Old Growth forest and into the Mukti Plains. Along the way, they encountered a few scattered monsters, but when they reached the river crossing, the river naga scattered.
Clearly, they remembered what had happened the last time Zeke visited their small village, and they wanted nothing to do with inciting his ire. So, crossing the river went off without a hitch, and soon enough, the group was jogging across the plains in search of the centaurs.
As it turned out, the centaurs were the ones who found them, and once they confirmed Zeke’s identity, they consented to lead him and his kobold escort to where the bulk of the centaur nation was camped in the center of the Mukti Plains.
The journey ended up taking four more days, and that was with them sprinting from dusk until dawn. For his part, Zeke had never maintained such a pace for so long a distance. However, his endurance proved up to the task, and he had no issues keeping up with the centaurs. The kobolds, by comparison, had to be switched out every night, lest they fall over from exhaustion.
Still, none complained, and they never let themselves lag behind. It was that single-minded determination that Zeke hoped would set them apart from other races. Perhaps, one day it would allow them to ascend to prominence, but that was years in the future. If it ever happened at all.
Eventually, the group reached the camp, and Zeke was taken aback by the sheer number of centaurs present. If there were less than ten thousand, he would have been shocked.
“This is more than fought the giants,” he remarked to Erk, the leader of the centaur patrol.
Erk replied, “We are more than our warriors. This is our entire civilization, gathered her for the Rite of Prominence.”
“What is that?”
“You will see. Follow. We will meet with the Mistress of the Herd.”
With that, the centaur galloped forward. Zeke, the other centaurs, and his kobold guard followed.