5. Refuge

Madakos had fled on the open sea heading towards the ‘Continent of Death’ to the west. The seas were choppy and generally awful, but the two ships were powered through the air and sea through Zira, hurtling through the waves, now they could go even faster, but Madakos made sure the voyage was stable as well as quick, not daring to go too much faster than his voyage to the desert continent had been.

“These ships are made of wood!” Hunila said, “remember that.”

“Thank you for the reminder,” Madakos said quietly and sarcastically, receiving a few stares, he knew she was right, it was a spontaneous remark without much thought behind it.

He had added another construct to a total of 5, 4 golden crystals pulsated around a purple one on each construct, generating 10 million Zira a second. The Ena clan members all looked astounded at the thing of power, whispering; but the Esim clan, all 15 of them were outright stunned into silence.

“Hunila?” Korax asked, “is he your boyfriend?”

“Not yet,” she replied quietly, “Why you asking?”

Korax gave her a good grin, wiping laughter from his eyes, chuckling again at the words she just said. Hunila looked at him discerningly and he shook his head, the nonverbal communication finally ended, Madakos was somewhat oblivious to what was going on, having not heard it.

“It’s not like that, I like the other woman,” Korax finally said.

Hunila immediately chuckled and lifted her eyebrows.

“I think you’re in luck,” she smirked.

Korax smirked, kissing the hilt of his sword and swaggering over to Tamura, who was surprised to see him, impressed by his physicality and even more impressed by his confidence. Madakos looked behind him, only seeing sea monsters, immediately zapping them in purple flames.

“Madakos,” Hunila said putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes?” He said, a bit confused, but eroticised by the whole affair.

She stared at him, smirking and then coming closer.

“I can take some of the sea monsters out next time, you don’t always have to do everything.”

Madakos stared at the woman with a wry grin. He could smell attraction, but more importantly he could smell perfume of some sort, or was it pheromones?

“Oh why is that Hunila?”

Her features were godly, wide hips, glittering lilac hair, tits that were now being pressed on his shoulder big enough to be shapely and yet not too big, her butt was worked out, and she was generally toned and muscular. She smirked at his ogling, he was obvious in his affections not just to Hunila but everyone else on the ship.

“Am I making myself clear?” She asked, smirking at him.

“Loud and clear,” Madakos whispered back, “do you want to do this in front of everyone though?”

She gave a small glance and then looked back at the man. Her sharp eyes glinting in satisfaction and anticipation.

“I think I should begin marking you,” she said, “I see many leering eyes.”

He took some time to formulate a reply also looking ahead to see what was ahead.

“I don’t care for vapid flings, you said before you were almost forced to marry other men. I could have married a village wife and been happy I suppose, but I yearned for more,” Madakos realised he was rambling slightly, Hunila interrupting him with a step back, “I am yours if you are mine. There is no value in many women for me.”

“Oh?” She said, “and how do I know that? Hmmm?”

“I’ve been in survival mode for a long time woman, I can’t prove anything,” he said.

She tutted and walked away. Ultimately other shadow Elf women eyed him up, hunger in their eyes. There were only two Esim women, looking up at him, but he politely refused them. He focused on the task ahead of him. Breaking through waves, and outright manipulating the ocean currents they braved through, ploughing through the most atrocious weather conditions. Up ahead there was a storm that looked like it would dissect both boats into tiny pieces; Madakos glided through, giant rogue waves were ploughed through without much trouble, the Shadow Elves all stood agape at him. Muscly women paid him attention, attempting to touch him, but he extricated himself from the situation politely. Storms and rocky waves made some crew fall over, stormy seas produced ocean spray that would have almost certainly killed most other adventurers that went this way.

“The Continent of Death, is more accessible from the north,” one of the Elders said, “I hear that’s how some Necromancers venture there, but we’re going from the southern route.”

An elder of the Ena clan noticed the interested women, but zeroed in on Madakos. Madakos smiled and nodded, he was indeed heading toward the southern route, over treacherous waters precisely because they were treacherous.

“If only we can venture past these waters, then it will mean less likelihood of people or worse following us.”

Madakos filled a flask full of water and drank it, quenching his parched throat.

“I see,” the elder said, “tell me, do you like any of the women?”

Madakos coughed a little, looking at the discerning elder with surprise at the direction of his questioning.

What a wily old man, he is adept at reading my facial expressions. Am I that obvious? Or is he that good? Or did someone tell him?

The truth was that it was that Hunila was the most obvious but with Madakos second guessing he didn’t quite realise.

“Yes,” Madakos smirked at the old man, the old man smirking back at him.

Madakos choosing to be honest made the man give a wry chuckle as he sat back down, and talked with his wife; no doubt about the direction of the Shadow Elves, Zira and intermarriage between Shadow Elf and a human. After probably 100s of kilometres of diabolically treacherous waters, the water’s became calm. It was night time, and the two ships slowed down and docked at a small island. Mooring the two ships on the little land mass was common sense, they had spent a whole day of travelling and it was best if the three Zira users could get some sleep and restock their supplies for the following day. With the Zira they could produce all the fresh water they could need or want, which they did. Immediately a few huts were constructed. Hunila not only made a house, but also made a large hot tub, looking eagerly at him. His 5 super constructs were augmented to 6, her 1 became 2, the super constructs that produced 10 million Zira a second were put in a safe place at the centre of their makeshift village. The infinite magic had allowed Hunila to make silks while they journeyed; silk like bedding, clothing, a secret Shadow Elf technique which apparently used fresh water, all tucked neatly in a corner in their small house. The island had been segmented, and even augmented by magic, earth created by felling trees, burning and growing trees again. Food, water, juice was created, they created a lot of supplies for their future journey, for now they rested. Hunila eagerly approached Madakos, her shirt covered in her own sweat, his too. Near their new hot tub.

“You’ve been running away a lot,” Hunila said, putting a hand on his chest, “will you run away now?”

“No,” he said, breath increasing in pace,“I will not.”

She outright grabbed his dick and he winced in the unaccustomed pleasure, she smirked at the reaction. She pressed her chest into his looking only slightly upwards, as it turned out she was relatively tall for a woman, again she smirked as his breathing became haggard and his dick began pressing at her. Her eyes glowed at him.

“Not used to this?” She said obviously goading him.

He cupped her face and kissed her, hair done in a ponytail, her eyes that usually had a sharp quality suddenly mellowed out, returning to that quality when spinning her around. Kissing her shoulders before gently kneading them, he caressed but first undressed her and then himself before he went into the circular bath that Hunila had so effortlessly created. She sat on his dick, without insertion, letting the folds of her vulva glide on him, while he massaged her back. The water was steaming hot, perhaps on purpose, the outside air was relatively cool, 15 degrees celsius, so the water had to be hot to stay warm; steam blew upwards in a lovely effect as he kneaded her back, making sure to dig into her muscles. She chuckled and relaxed backwards, the smell of her hair and body tantalising in his nostrils. He attempted to relax, while pressing his fingers in her, but she merely exhaled and he felt his muscles and lower half stand to attention in response. Her head turned, she chuckled, he leaned to her lips and she kissed him, she had sufficiently blocked off the view through fencing before hand, but everyone must have known what she was up to. After a while of massaging her back, he grabbed her tits and brushed her front, massaging her legs and breathing into her ear.

“Are you mine?” He said breathlessly.

The blood flow to his penis throbbed, she stood up briefly and clamped back down on his dick, her vaginal walls squeezed tightly around him.

“You are mine,” she whispered, “and I am yours.”

He grabbed her butt that he had always been staring at. He felt along the traces of her back.

That tingles. Are all Humans so aware of the nerves of a Human body, and muscles. He must. Holy.

She had unconsciously bobbed her body up and down, the wet slapping was rhythmical and hypnotising.

“So much journeying, I want to just pour everything into you,” he said impatiently.

Madakos grabbed a tit, put his chest on her back and kissed her shoulders, she moaned, but she moaned more when he put strength into his hips, smacking upwards at her, he grunted spasming his blood vessels, attempting to dilate his penis as much as could, her vagina grew wetter and wetter, he grabbed her thighs and realised that despite his best efforts.

“Inside,” she demanded.

She tightened and she did not move upwards, only cementing herself on top of him and put downward pressure, he jolted in ejaculation.

“Wait are you sure?” He said a little bit too late.

“Unfortunately it’s a safe day, I’m pretty sure this magic gives me access to birth control, but also I want it.”

She turned around, his dick was totally upright, he was quite horny given the fact that he was stressed, having been chased half around the world, she took the air out of his mouth in a kiss, before inserting him once more. Both chests pressed onto each other, her nipples getting sensitive after each thrust.

“Mine,” he growled, “mine, mine, mine.”

“Mine,” she likewise purred.

She licked his neck, her purple eyes locked onto his and hypnotised him into a deep lust.

That’s the fucking spot. Keep going like that. She thought, grinning ear to ear. Now keep fucking.

His hands massaged what they could, but he was overwhelmed by the strong lust and a possessive nature he did not know he had; the eyes made him hornier, but even then he used his natural instincts to brush against her lower belly and to feel her clitoris, again he ejaculated and it was a strong one, a jolt like eruption inside of her. The effect of her eyes really kicked in, in truth he was already horny and had a lot of pent up energy but this magic had him even more raring to go. This time, she exposed her behind. Holding onto the ledge, making a silk like velvet cloth to hold while her rear was exposed. Her pussy dripped, the folds of her vulva wet, tanned and hot, seductive beyond measure.

“Again,” she demanded meekly.

He realised she was not really meek at all, this was planned, in fact deep inside herself she was smirking. Feeling up her hips, brushing up against her clit and her pussy, her grabbed and brushed everything, kissing her pussy, wet and his own cum was coming back, he finally stuck himself deep inside of her. Not all judgement had been robbed from him, but his horniness was amplified. He grunted, his balls slapping her, the heat of the water just a notch higher as the steam not only hid them but also kept them warm for his intense pounding.

“Madakos darling, are you getting tired?” She said as she shook her arse.

This significantly goaded him to go even faster; his dick nestled in a warm wet environment, clutching her butt and tits made her clench harder, tugging at her ponytail and tracing along her back made her outright moan.

“Hahaha, I’m keeping you Human, I’m definitely keeping you, oh god…” she said.

He ejaculated once more, and she was obviously cumming, every bit of her body was touched up, her tits and butt, she immediately went to kissing him, her eyes glowing into his once more.

“Shit that might be too much,” she said, “oh what am I saying?”

She got two flasks and filled them with water, giving them to him, which he happily chugged down, one had water and the other coconut water, she filled the same ones and did much the same. Following this most basic of nourishment she licked his penis, it was already hard, but she put the whole thing in her mouth and shook it around a bit; she proceeded to give him a vigorous blowjob, her mouth going up and down, dabbing it on and inside her cheek before he ejaculated into her mouth. She licked around the base, completely cleansing it.

“Let’s get out, I’ll treat you some more, I promise,” she said.

His dick was still hard, and he followed her out with no trouble. They dried, the smell of semen, his semen now stuck to her, alongside her natural pheromones which were something else and seemed to only target him; her natural scent was sweet, tantalising in and of itself. She had dressed in her silk like clothing and was going to cook fish and vegetables. He grabbed her arse and she chuckled in amusement and pride.

Humans don’t know anything about this magic do they? Maybe it’s unfair, but he will be mine. Only mine.

He cooked pressing his clothed genitals on her arse, she reciprocated and frankly purred, his arm slinked around her waist, hips and bust, he touched her all over. They cooked the fish, adding a variety of vegetables from corn, to beans to broccoli, coconuts, carrots and others. Eating on two plates, at some point her butt just sat directly on top of his pelvis, and she would spoon feed him, she then changed her attack to be from the side, her breasts squishing into his side to give different sensations. The food eating took longer than it needed to, and she recommended they brush their teeth which she did. Pomegranates and garlic had been fed to him to be all that more horny, her eyes stared into his, the glow giving him extra virility. Hunila lay him down, putting dick between breasts and squeezed them, going up and down with perfect pressure. She smiled just to make the effect more tantalising.

“Wow…” he said, spasming as nerve endings produced electrical signals all across his body.

He shot his load all over her chest, and she licked the mess, giggling gorgeously. She laughed again, as she felt the smooth shaved pelvis while she slotted her pelvis on top of his. He noticed the pubic hairs now, some of them stained in his cum. His virility was like that of a barbarian, and she became more elaborate in her wavy riding methods, determined to squeeze everything out of him. She rode him in the reverse cowgirl and he couldn’t get enough of it. He shot his semen inside of her again. And that would continue again, and again in various positions. Finishing with him cumming inside of her on their bedsheets, rubbing his penis on her vulva for his ultimate time of the night, finishing in a missionary. Despite all the excitement, Hunila had the last laugh standing up and giving his penis a good night kiss and suck, before the both of them washed off the sweat and fluids, cleaned their bedsheets and went to sleep. He slept like a man who had been knocked out, she kissed his head, sleeping by his masculine body, pressing up against him, and puckering him with kisses, giving him a hickey on the back of his neck. Giggling internally with a smile as she hugged him.

That way they’ll know you’re mine.

She slept self satisfied, comfortably, with the most self assured smile possible.

He woke up the next morning, utterly relaxed feeling a head bobbing up and down, she smirked when she saw him awake, her eyes did not glow, but they were glittery purple. Her tongue rolled around his penis, and she increased the pace, Madakos noticed her smooth hair going back and forth as she continuously sucked and licked. She paused.

“I’m sorry for glowing my eyes at you,” she said, “I hope you’re not mad.”

“It’s alright,” he said stroking her hair.

His balls were a sperm factory, she purposefully licked and sucked them before she carefully and caressingly extracted the cum from the end of his dick. His eyes rolled at the sweet sensation, she showed the sperm in her mouth, smiling satisfied, she swallowed, and very shortly after took a swig of water before giving him a kiss on the cheek. Hunila looked deep into Madakos’s eyes, and he likewise stared back.

“That magic was something else, care to explain?” He said, scaring her a little, but he then softened, “I mean it made me awesome, and I felt godly levels of relaxation, but what is that?”

“Us Shadow Elves have that ability, it’s a charm ability, it takes a few things into consideration, like mutual feelings and magic strength and makes the affected go berserk with lust, I wanted to cement our relationshi-”

He exchanged the longest kiss, hugging her tightly before picking her up and putting her down again.

“It’s cemented, I am yours and you are mine,” he whispered, “You have glued me to you, and not just sexually.”

“And me you,” she said.

She gave a proud smile, he kissed her head, and she blushed, she blushed further when she noticed the hickey on the back of his neck. Patting his bottom and then hugging him frontally, pressing her body without regard.

This is the best. She thought.

They made a simple breakfast, Madakos realised his magic was all over the place. He doubled his magic abilities to include 10 super constructs, Hunila got 5 in total as did Tamura. The morning was chilly, Madakos provided for fires.

“We will be making all of you Warlocks!” Madakos said, “every single one of you.”

There was an awed public. Whispering hubbub that bubbled over into more excited cheers. Many of the Shadow Elves looked at Madakos with excitement. Korax smirked at Hunila for multiple reasons. In the meanwhile, an elder volunteered to take Zira, forgoing mana and being inundated with the new magic system, he was given extra Zira just to test whether he could still grow things like before; and he could, with that he nodded, and others mere seconds later opted for the same. Like a mass baptism, people queued up to get their Zira, receiving donations to build up constructs, until eventually, there was not one Esim or Ena clan member who did not have Zira. The island was small, and Madakos looked at everyone and wondered something very basic.

Should we just stay here? It’s not like anyone will harm us. But I suppose after a while we’ll inbreed too much. What should the Warlocks do?

Hunila used abundant Zira magic to make a velvety sofa, which they both sat on.

“What about the other Shadow Elves?” Korax asked Madakos and Hunila.

Tamura pressed the same question, echoing her man’s concern. Madakos scratched his head and looked to the calm ocean before him.

Is it wise to doom the other’s? What if I am truly a calamity and they die with me, surely I should spare the others from my effects. But if I’m not, if I am their saviour, dooming them to live without Zira could lead to other terrible consequences. Either way by making a decision, or being indecisive, I irrevocably change their fate.

Korax squinted his eyes, purple eyes stared at Madakos. The others waited for an answer from Madakos, but he was clearly in his own head. The only answer, was the endless ocean, crashing on the shore, a small refuge in an enormous expanse.

“As great as this place is, we will probably have to find other settlers,” Madakos whispered, “demographically, we can’t breed endlessly with so few people,” he said, perhaps an answer to what Korax had asked.

“Breed?” Tamura smirked.

The others also joined in laughing at Tamura’s quip.

“Have kids with,” Hunila defended Madakos, charming him.

Korax raised his eyebrows and chuckled a little; others likewise looked with mild amusement, but ultimately Koreax settled down and said:

“Yes that seems reasonable, I can hardly argue with that,” he said. I guess that sort of answers my question. Perhaps he will accept the other Shadow Elves.

“Right,” Madakos said.

Neither side told each other that they were romantically attached, but both couples worked it out, probably because Tamura and Hunila were clutched the sides of the men they had claimed, both women smirked knowingly. Supplies were loaded onto the boats, for the sake of being efficient, the others were prohibited from stacking regular constructs and would be gifted one super construct each that produced 10 million zira. The two ships effortlessly glided along until the soft calm seas met yet another turbulent sea. There on what seemed like the edge of the world, the Continent of Death stood. An imperious sight, green beings interlocked on each other were as high as the clouds, two metres tall they duplicated, some falling into the sea. Both ships halted, attempting to be stable in the environment.

“What the fuck is that…” Korax whispered breathlessly, “I thought this was a land of Necromancers.”

“Bacterium,” the elder whispered breathlessly, “that is the name of the continent, I thought it was a myth. Bacteria are supposed to double every 20 minutes.”

It was witnessed by all just a moment later, of course with so many, it was truly astounding to witness, no one blinked for a minute.

“Is that true elder? Are you sure?” Hunila asked breathlessly, the question, revealing she doubted her own eyes.

Everyone doubted their eyes, their jaws wide open, their eyes even more open.

“Quite sure, especially now. It is said in 304cc a Human went there and it was only a tiny portal in the middle of the sea. But the Bacteria, they die in the presence of salt water and create earth, I think. Of course it’s hard to tell fact from legend, maybe the land was always here.They are supposed to create green crystals too. He gave some to the Shadow Elves. He went back to the Western continent and vanished…” the elder said, coughing afterwards producing an astonished silence.

“That’s some old history,” Madakos muttered.

“It was in our clan library, I’m sure it’s true…” the elder said, with only a bit of surety, “are you sure you can deal with this?” The elder asked a little bit irritated, his tone full of doubt, wishing to change the subject quickly.

“If we augment the Zira power of some of the clan members, we will land on the coast and do our business. Then we can cleanse the land of these foul beasts,” Madakos said, nodding, but not entirely sure himself.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Every 20 minutes they doubled, some fell into the ocean, but they were remarkably sturdy, they often clambered back onto the shore, they extended beyond the clouds higher than towers, higher than mountains. Green creatures, 2 metre tall as a singular entity but of course in their multitudes they were absurdly tall and fat. A cloud of Bacteria had one mind, imitating the ocean in their undulating movements. Madakos’s companions waited a few minutes. Giving super constructs to a few of the elders and instructions.

“If we don’t make a beachhead return to the island, at least you’ll be safe there. Otherwise only land behind us when it is safe!” Hunila instructed, “do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Korax said, “but I wish to go with.” He paused a moment and looked at Tamura, “Bestow me with more Zira. I must. I will protect Tamura.”

“Alright,” Madakos said, beckoning him to go on the rowboat.

They rowed forwards, and the Bacteria before them were infinite and also angry. They had given Korax 1 super construct (10 million Zira), and Madakos in turn instructed him to be defensive.

“Prioritise your own and Tamura’s life, please don’t die needlessly. Just save your own skin please.”

Madakos first summoned a cascade of purple flames, then he put towers up, the Bacteria immediately flocked to the towers and attempted to storm them. There were more than trillions. Hunila put towers next to Madakos’s flames which burnt and destroyed them as they approached, light green crystals were falling to the ground like rain would patter on the ground. Tamura and Korax joined in the defence, sturdier and sturdier towers slowly encroached on this continent. 5000 towers shot fireballs everywhere, Madakos teleported the lot of them onto the shore and immediately began shooting machine gun rate of fireballs and meteors.

“Push them back!” Madakos screamed.

The Bacteria’s behaviour resembled ants more than Humanoids despite their features, they rushed forwards and attempted to surmount the obstacles, swarms of Bacteria crumpled into mere crystals as endless hordes of Bacteria attempted to kill them. Fortunately Madakos burnt many to a crisp, 10 kilometre’s square was cleared in an hour. Hunila innovated, creating purple fire elementals, producing thousands of them that were effectively walking flamethrowers. Despite numerical superiority, the Zira users could easily fortify a beachhead, and Hunila created underlings that went about torching the landscape. There were probably decillions of Bacteria, but they were highly vulnerable to flames. A chaotic battle that was impossible to win, but provided they did not die, that was enough of a victory. The two ships slowly docked in the new harbour, the Shadow Elves cautiously looked at the defences. Hunila, Tamura, Korax and Madakos spent all their surplus zira on destroying the Bacteria before them. The dark skies were turned crimson with flame, and the ground that lacked any vegetation was now full of ash and or crystals.

Thousands of kilometres away, Roderic had failed in his mission. He had politely asked various Shadow Elves if there had ever been a dark sorcerer, instead of finding them, all he saw was various confused Shadow Elven clans, a whole lot of shrugs and dismissals. Finally one said something interesting, a young shadow Elf who wore binoculars of sorts on his neck.

“Necromancers and Demons were fighting each other not that long ago, a large battle took place. It is hard to say who came out on top, although I suppose the Undead probably.”

“Right,” Roderic said slowly as he tried to process what he just heard.

Stocky and short, he looked up at the Shadow Elf with a degree of skepticism, he did not particularly trust the nonhuman. The nonhuman sensed the suspicion and shrugged, as if to tell Roderic he could choose to believe him or not, after a long moment, Roderic shrugged himself and continued the questioning.

“What happened?” Roderic finally asked, fishing for more information.

“Both went on their separate ways, but they left a considerable stain on the environment, umm, yeah.”

Roderic glared at the non human, again the Elf was not confident due to the glares, but nonetheless told Roderic what he knew.

“They did?” Roderic asked a little confused.

“Ashen soot, Demon corpses.”

“Talida,” Roderic said, looking at the wiry woman.

“On it,” she mused.

She sent her air elementals, sending them to scout ahead in the sands. They whooshed past, kicking up dust, before sighting Maras and Ildrid, both of which were fighting Demons again.

“Again?” Roderic said, repeating the words Talida mumbled.

“Wait seriously?” The Shadow Elf said, “if it wasn’t terrifying to have them here, I’d be laughing.”

“Should we fight them?” Nina said, “I can summon some gryphons if you like.”

“No, give me the communication crystal. I need to contact HQ,” Roderic instructed, he tutted impatiently, he knew it was irrational and yet there was frustration in his voice, “send me on a goose chase, don’t give me any details. What a country…” he muttered to himself.

He looked at the sand, seeing Demons with his naked eye, then he saw Talida. Her air elementals went to the Demons, but they had seemingly fled through a portal to somewhere else. The air elementals whooshed back to base, Nina came back with a communication crystal.

“Who is this?” The agent on the other end said.

“Can I get in touch with naval command?” Roderic said.

Strangely no one replied, and it didn’t sound like his call had been redirected, he pursed his lips nervously. He smelled of nervous sweat, coupled with the desert sweat that was normal with being in such a climate in the day. His two lieutenants looked at him, and he looked at them. He deliberately put the crystal on loudspeaker, there had been no mistaking that no voice was coming from the other end. 10 ships parked in the harbour, the sailors and marines getting rowdy, as a few of them had seen the Demons.

“They were no ordinary Demons,” a soldier yelled as he waded ashore.

“Explain yourself,” Roderic said.

“They are not Uriri or Teutona Demons, they are not Earth or Ice Demons, they are Fire Demons. Cahov.”

“We have treaty with Urir…” Roderic said, before immediately staring agape.

He summoned water elementals as fast as he could then craned his neck and head around, desperately rushing back. Another message immediately was heard loud and clear on the communication crystal.

“Hello this is the garrison of Suno! Cahov Fire Demons are attacking us. Some of the local forts have already surrendered. Please send assistance!”

“This is Roderic of the third fleet. I am coming to your assistance. Hold on soldier.”

“Of course,” the commander said, “please hurry.”

“Talida!” He screamed, “lets use air and water to get there as fast as possible.”

It didn’t take too long. Cahov had apparently not been idle, having won a few footholds on the desert continent, they had built a fleet on the great sea. Roderic's fleet that had scrambled desperately sailed straight into the Demon fleet. The sight would have paralysed a lesser man and commander, but Roderic immediately thought of a plan.

Arrogance leads to mistakes, still I doubt they have that much experience sailing.

“Sir there’s far too many!”

I know that, you moron.

His crew stared at Roderic, as he had said it aloud, he waved his arm to shut them up for a little bit. A fleet of 400, against 10 were not good odds. Roderic scanned the battlefield to be, and for a long 30 seconds he thought. Following quiet contemplation Roderic screamed commands to his summoners.

“We are to sink as many of these scallywags as Humanly possible! Avoid the flames, douse them, save your comrades. Kill these fuckers!” He bellowed to much roaring from his crew.

Roderic’s water elementals emerged violently up from the water and punctured and ruptured ships, bringing others into the depths. Talida used air elementals to tear sails, ships quickly stopped moving, which allowed another summoner who used earth elementals to tear through deck, as the earth elemental smashed through each level of wood until the ship ends folded, water engulfed the Demons affected. Within 5 minutes 50 ships had been sunk, the Demons rallied, and their admiral shot fireball after fireball in attempt to chase off the attackers. Roderic quenched the flames and sunk more ships; Roderic’s fleet did advanced manoeuvres, snuffed fireballs before chucking the mages responsible overboard, eventually however Roderic screamed again:

“Talida! Nina! Finish this, Suno needs us!”

Gryphons descended from the sky smashing their beaks onto the decks of the Demon ships, their talons sinking into the wooden boards, their bird like cries shrieking in a resounding chorus, the vessels soon croaked into the deep seas, the Demons appropriately shouted in panic, their ships soon glugged down below the water before they vanished. The only thing left were Demons who had clung onto driftwood, staring agape at the sheer might of the third fleet. Demon flyers soon came to harass but were bit and scratched, nonetheless it made the Gryphons operationally useless, as they could not assist in sinking the Sumari fleet. Talida would finish the day, her air elementals made the Demon vessels crash into each other, she partnered up with other air elemental users who did much the same, and the result was a completely marooned fleet, crunched up into each other, operationally useless. The Demons could not even retreat, those who were not sunk were on rowboats or driftwood, the coup de grâce was a wave which devastated any remaining ships, and left the Demon crew deflated. Roderic upon inflicting this terrible punishment turned toward Suno. His crew were somewhat astonished. Everyone stared at him and themselves with awe.

“How did we win?” One man mumbled.

Nina walked up to the sailor and merely stood next to him, her usually angry eyes, mellow, she was awestruck by Roderic. Talida likewise stood next to the short woman, wiry looking, thin features, she was suspicious of the victory, she was the only one who bothered to look if they had truly won; everyone else cheered, some even got alcohol out, Roderic did not demand discipline, Talida’s air elementals fanned out in various directions checking for an attacker. Talida did not find any enemy vessels, but still she tutted and hissed at the lack of proper vigilance.

“Amateurs…” she whispered.

Roderic looked at his lieutenant.

“Anything?”

Talida stumbled a little bit backwards, surprised at the sudden turn around in manners.

“They can celebrate, it was a feat,” he said, “I was checking too, you can never be too sure.”

“I suppose it was,” she mumbled, “I’m glad admiral.”

“It won’t be long and we’ll be at Suno. I pray it hasn’t fallen yet,” he said, his voice quivering and his fists clenching.

Talida stayed silent and pushed the ship along with her elementals, the wind catching the sails as they glided along the waves; Roderic did much the same with his water elementals, the fleet racing through the ocean and with full stability.

Roderic had arrived that evening, Nina’s gryphons assisted the defence immediately even slightly before he fully arrived. The morale was restored and aerial attackers bested, the ground defenders assisted. The squawking of said birds, drowned out the confused Demons, the humans were awed by the reinforcements, staring at the flapping wings and sound of the large birds. The Third fleet noticed a distinct absence of enemy vessel ships, not sure if a ruse or simply the effectiveness of their operations against Cahov, they nonetheless approached the harbour cautiously. Roderic’s fleet docked in, the regular troops joined the garrison, and the summoners not only repelled but obliterated the Cahov Demon attackers after a short battle. Demon infantry littered the various stairs up to the governors palace, the battlements ran red with blood, the stench was palpable, there was a quiet as soldiers and citizens waited. Roderic was near the city walls made of cobblestone; charred and chipped, creaking wooden buildings, half destroyed, some completely charred, dead on the wall, outside the wall and inside the city, the dead of both sides. Roderic shook his head, a peaceful city that he had been garrisoned in, subject to such ruthless carnage. He clenched his hand unconsciously; the air was still, blood and smoke could be smelt, what were once dry patches of dirt, now wet with blood. Roderic’s water elementals were still summoned, awaiting a surprise attack of any sort, like an unsheathed sword it was ready to strike. A man was running up to Roderic, and Roderic breathed in.

“Damn bastards,” the commander of the garrison said, cautiously wandering up to Roderic, “admiral Roderic!” He exclaimed his face lighting up with hope in his eyes as he said it.

The man outright hugged the short stocky admiral. He would have kissed him, but Roderic merely patted the man on the back. Roderic could understand the friendliness, even if he wasn’t entirely comfortable. Roderic smiled bemused at the garrison commander, and the cheers of his soldiers. The garrison commander was old and haggard, but he was not hiding his happiness. Some soldiers were outright crying in the background.

“I thought we were going to die,” one man said collapsing on his knees, “I thought we were goners.”

“Is his name Roderic?” One soldier on the ramparts asked another.

“Yes it is.”

“Glory to Admiral Roderic! Glory to Roderic! Roderic! Roderic!”

The whole battlements, practically the entire city was screaming his name. The cries for the Admiral started as a smoulder and were soon so loud they silenced anything else. Roderic took in the scene, he looked bewildered and broke into a smile. There was still a sadness about Roderic.

I was too late, we could have avoided this. Well I had my orders I suppose. Find a dark sorcerer, was it a conspiracy? Did someone deliberately put me off course and out of the way to do an invasion? No high command probably had their reasons. I hope.

Roderic nodded, and then said:

“Glad I could help.”

Roderic laughed nervously. He did not know what to think, and just concentrated on the present.

“Help? You did more than help lad. You saved the city!” The garrison commander said adamantly.

“Nina?!” Roderic shouted.

“Already on it,” she said, bringing him the communication crystal.

The stench of blood, Demon and Human was quite something, but at least Suno had been secured. The city was still elated at his presence, blue flags with white dots, the flag of Sumar were hoisted on the roofs of houses, many flags had holes in them from the Demonic flames, they fluttered slowly, as the air was near still.

“Excuse me HQ! HQ!” Roderic said frantically.

The communication crystal on the other end turned on and a growl was heard followed by a terrified scream as a man was blatantly butchered. The splat of blood audible from the other side, Roderic winced at the sound. He closed his eyes, and scratched his head.

“Your pathetic Kingdom has been conquered! The royal family has been slaughtered, surrender or die!” The growling voice said.

Do you think he would spare us even if we did surrender? Somehow I doubt it. Roderic thought soberly.

Roderic turned it off slowly, looking at his lieutenants with a mixture of negative emotions. The garrison commander fell to his knees, looking up at Roderic, his face drooped and full despair had set in.

“We are doomed…” he muttered.

“Enough!” Roderic said, “I am admiral of the third fleet, I will Marshall Suno’s resources to continue the war effort, do you understand me? Sumar lives. Sumar is not some king, it is its people. I will fight. Will you?” He trembled, exhaled, and shook his fist to make the point, “even if it is only me. I will fight…” he said quietly, but the words produced tears in those who heard it.

The sailors and marines all looked at him first, the words were their own kind of magic, they looked with such hope which soon turned to pure elation, they all looked with inspired eyes and ready hearts. Roderic full of righteous fury, bellowed at his troops fully and without hesitation. He stamped on the ground with his feet.

“Our kingdom has been invaded! We must kill all these Demons and send them a clear message! Suno has not been conquered! Sumar lives! I live and will fight! What will you do?”

“We will fight!” One immediately said, followed by five others, followed by everyone.

The sailors, marines and soldiers were all cheering, chanting, and lifting their swords, and spears in the air as they psyched themselves up. Roderic took the moment in, the air trembled with the cries of so many, Roderic wiped a tear from his eye. Roderic tried to find other summoners. Then he received a call from his communication crystal.

“Yes what is it?”

“This is Elana of the fourth fleet, the Cahov Demons have surprised us to the extent that the royal family have been killed. Sumar city is in their control as is much of the countryside. I have dutifully held Fortus from capture, slaughtering many foes. I do not require assistance.”

“Really?” Roderic said, “I am Roderic of the third fleet, It is a honour to defend. No. Retake Sumar.”

“Yes it is,” Elana said, seriously without getting emotional.

“I hold Suno,” Roderic explained, “we should rendezvous and discuss strategy for the kingdom.”

“As you wish,” she said quietly and sternly.

The call ended, but the Kingdom hadn’t.

Madakos and Hunila had cleared hundreds of kilometres of Bacteria, night had hit the world once more. Tamura and Korax fortified more and more ground, other Shadow Elves slowly expanded their Zira production meanwhile. They could create water and then crops, but they already had a fair few supplies, eating fish and vegetable soup. The crackling of so many Bacteria was beyond combat. The crystals were largely useless to the Warlocks for Madakos could create plant and water relatively easily. The green crystals had horrifying implications for the world, Madakos sensed the danger in them; the bacteria themselves were dangerous of course, if the full weight of them were brought to bare on the continent it would ravage everything.

The crystals will be like honey to flies, even with the Bacteria.

Madakos felt a chill down his spine. He looked at the Bacteria in the distance with distaste in his mouth.

“They could kill everyone, but their crystals could feed everyone,” Madakos said, sighing and laughing in the same breath, “I could kill everyone or feed everyone…” he whispered.

“It is precisely that,” Hunila said, “but what about you? What is your plan exactly?”

“We could defeat them all, I guess. For now we bunker down. We clear them up in the morning.”

“Let’s make housing again,” Korax said.

Hunila did as much, making a small shack and a bath. Soon night hit their part of the world, and they went to rest. She was content to lay in his arms, the towers shot at oncoming Bacteria, and they merely reflected on life.

“I want to have sex with you,” Hunila began, shushing him with her finger, “but first I want to simply soak in the water with you.”

“Alright,” he said kissing her head.

That produced a quiet as they sat in a circular wooden tub with some hot water. She gave him her hand, and he clenched it tightly, they both sat in the tub, soaking in the hot water, she sat on his pelvis. The stress of before, soon melted away, the thoughts of worry replaced with lust.

“Soap me up, you’re already hard,” she said, chuckling a little.

She was soaped up, his hands moved up and down, cleaning her skin, she wagged her butt at him, and he soaped up that as well, smoothing down her thighs. He kneaded her back.

“You’re good at this,” she whispered.

“Perhaps if I wasn’t a Warlock, I’d enter my true vocation,” he whispered to a laugh.

She smelled of the soap, he lathered it down both legs, which relaxed her, until he grabbed a cheek and waited for permission.

“Can I?” He said.

“Sure,” she quivered.

He started fingering, sliding his finger on her vulva and sticking fingers inside her vaginal hole, then he licked, her fluids going directly onto him before he started properly eating her out. This continued for quite some time, until eventually after at least three times cumming on his face she lay down on him. For his services to her body, she bounced on top of him, producing an ejaculation that she cradled inside of her. She stared at him with glowing eyes, and she went to work, they cummed in each others arms in multiple positions, first she pinned him, then he pinned her, in a cowgirl, then a reverse cowgirl and after all that she fell into his arms, full of exhales kissing each other in a lovers embrace.

I want to settle down. If I lose her.

I will make babies with this man.

They went to bed, to eventually sleep. They were in each other’s arms, feeling each other’s chests, the breath of each other, the mere heat of each other, they soon hypnotised each other into deep sleep. There was a sound that was soon ignored, which was the Bacteria being killed by towers and fire elementals, but that became a mere surround sound, the crackles of flames, the ash of the burned creatures and the droppings of green crystals pattered on the ground like hail on a stormy night.

Some time later in the late morning, they ate breakfast, the Bacteria had not been allowed to grow thanks to the summons of Hunila. They continued their assaults, burning more and more Bacteria, the wind picked up and the fires spread endlessly. The Warlocks soon came across an unfamiliar sight. Three Necromancers faced them.

“How did you get here?” One of them said, “surely you should have died…”

A Lich Lord with skeletal hands and dexterous spells. Death coil, a death spell that killed what it touched, millions of skeletons led by another Lich, and a Reaper Lord.

“Those are the Warlocks!” The Reaper said, “we must kill them!”

“Arnold…” the lich said, “this is very serious. We are farming here.”

Madakos breathed in and out and immediately annihilated all three with a long range shot.

“Fuck…” Korax breathed, “seriously?”

Hunila mopped up the leaderless Undead, and the various Bacteria that surrounded them. Only a small trek revealed the portal. The Warlocks had fortified themselves along the trail, now Hunila sent some fire elementals into the portal, she could see beyond it, frightened by the sheer volume of Bacteria.

“I don’t know where it began, but there are a lot of them there,” she said, “but who knows, maybe in that world. We’ll be safe from pursuers.”

“Maybe,” one of the elders said.

“We must go!”

There was fear and apprehension, a nervousness that extended to the lot of them, for they really had conflicting emotions. To go where no one had gone was nerve wracking, but they couldn’t exactly stay where they were either. There were still Bacteria on the continent of Bacterium, the continent they were standing on. Hunila cleared a path in the other world, Madakos dismantled his old towers and put towers in this other world. They immediately fried Bacteria as green crystals dropped off the dead. The Warlocks ventured into the new world, immediately firing desperately at the Bacteria; towers were erected and the Warlocks made a basecamp; purple bricks, shooting purple flames, wielded by purple magic users. Madakos stared at the endless continent.

“A city?” Korax whispered in awe.

“The ocean,” Tamura also whispered, “are those ships?”

Metal ships, they had advanced weaponry that shot into the beaches and shot again, after which they raked the crystals in nets. The city had walls like Madakos was accustomed to, but had strange devices shooting downwards, metal bushes designed to slow down besiegers, as well as ditches.

“It’s unclear how trustworthy those Humans are,” Madakos said, “we should fortify that hill over there and think about what we want to do.”

They did as much, it was some seven kilometres away from the city, but they did exactly as intended. Built a small fortress and thought about their next moves. The terrain was a complete desert, but they used their magic to created a little oasis. The sound of poured water and collected crops were soon heard in this locale, an oasis in a sea of Bacteria.

“If anything tries to come out the portal, they will be inundated with Bacteria,” Hunila said out loud, “I wonder if those Demons are following us.”

“Undead or Demons would certainly not be welcome,” Madakos said.

The smell of sweat was ameliorated by everyone making their own baths. Hunila made purple fire elementals that patrolled, as the lot of them built a lot of towers, to guard the perimeter of their little village. It was absurdly safe despite the Bacteria’s ability to duplicate every 20 minutes. The treacherous landscape was noted from the other side.

“Sir, we have spotted some strange fortifications yonder!”

“You have?” The superior said cautiously, “wait fortifications?”

He stole the binoculars and looked at the towers that flashed purple light, purple flames that eviscerated the Bacteria, he rubbed his eyes and looked again. He smelled himself and looked again.

“You did, I shall report this to the garrison.”

The walls were something found in the great world, the weapons were not. The flags were a metallic silver colour, fluttering in the wind as soldiers armed with guns ran about, shooting at the Bacteria that would approach, stakes would catch the occasional Bacteria and prevent other’s from being able to mass too deeply. Nets and large brushes every now and then would extend from the walls and collect the green crystals from the Bacteria. Water, food, metal, wood, a lot came from these crystals, it was the only currency of Technonim, the people finding other forms of money superfluous, both life and death were determined by the Bacteria, and wealth. Various parts of the wall spotted the Warlocks in the distance. This got reported to the head of intelligence in his office.

“Intelligence chief sir. There’s been a strange report on the walls.”

His office had polished wood finish with glass cabinets that stored all his fine whisky, leather couches and satin curtains, the head of intelligence could not help glance at his own largess, rather pleased with himself while he heard the report.

“Yes?” He asked.

He clicked his pen, and got the sheet of paper.

“By all accounts, it is magic users who have come from another world,” the soldier said.

Stiff back, he looked straight ahead barely looking at the intelligence chief.

“I’m not a general soldier, there’s no real reason to be so uptight,” the intelligence chief said.

“Of course not sir,” the soldier replied, conscious of his rank.

The intelligence chief had grey hair and blue eyes, the young soldier was notably darker complexion, with dark hair, and darker brown eyes. The racial differences between Arala and Technonim were visible, of course there was mixing now, but the Arala ethnicity was darker and more adept at dealing with the heat, the Technonim migrated to this desert from somewhere cold, many of them blonde and fairer skinned. There was a trend of the Technonim newcomers being higher up in the social strata than their Arala counterparts. The young soldier was still nervous, the yellow sand coloured uniform matched the terrain of the outside quite well, the intelligence chief wore a silver uniform like the flag.

“We are all Technonim soldier, some were Arala and others were Technonim, we share everything, it is a country for both.”

“That’s to your honour, we Arala owe you an eternal debt.”

The Intelligence Chief smiled, humming quietly as he looked over the city outside his window. The metal and glass buildings surrounded the more rustic older parts of the city made of sandstone brick. Arala had been a Human kingdom that had lived in the Shadow of the Bacteria, they had no magic instead using a system of moats and salt walls, salt being a semi competent repellent of these creatures. In the end the Technonim came with advanced technology and ended their seclusion, choosing instead to blast as many Bacteria as possible and collect the resources. For 50 years that had been the case; people practicing strange magic now had established themselves beyond the protection of the city which was odd and concerning to the Technonim, the Technonim had heard from the Arala about magic, even if the Arala had not wielded it, they had fled to this world partly due to their lack of it. In another part of Aralum, looking through a spyglass soldiers looked at the Warlocks with growing suspicion.

“They must have entered through one of the portals, why they would though? Only god knows.”

“This place is both heaven and hell,” one man whispered, “I suppose that makes it equal. One cancels the other.”

The strong could profit from the Bacteria, but the weak very readily perished. The walls were crenelated stone, but everyone heard the constant gunfire, the flamethrowers, bombs, and more efficient machine gun fire. Verandas of brick houses, with wooden laminated porches and railings, tiles and more modernistic buildings of steel and glass were curious to look at. Those who fought and killed more Bacteria certainly did live better and there was hardly a person who didn’t take part; you didn’t need to be a big brawn to do so, that was the beauty of the Technonim technology, that was what they had brought the Arala. Guns and bombs could do far more damage than swords and arrows, with magic it was debatable; but everyone could have a gun, not everyone could have magic. Meanwhile hordes of Bacteria surrounded the Warlocks in the distance, no longer preoccupied with the city of Aralum. Green crystals were spent throughout markets, but even then, the society spent it on bullets and food, a militarised society where even the children held weapons. There were no inefficiencies, paving stones were barely if ever used, armoured vehicles and tanks rolled down one of the bigger avenues.

“We’re going on a sally outside the walls. Open the gates!” A soldier cried.

“Open the gates!” Guards shouted echoing the orders.

The soldiers hands flapped up and down to mimic opening as the gates cranked and groaned, the treads pressed downwards on the road. Kids gawked, and volunteers swarmed on the flanks.

“Volunteers will be limited to 50 per vehicle. Not a man more on the flanks!” A captain said.

Shiny gleamy silver metallic coloured armour. They sallied out and began shooting almost immediately, rifles shooting with intense firepower, being careful to not hit each other, machine guns emanating from the vehicles also firing with great enthusiasm.

Thunderous shouting of the squads as they coordinated through the noise. Bald heads of poorer volunteers gleamed in the sunshine, alongside better outfitted richer soldiers who could afford helmets. Volunteers acquired better gear each time, those who risked themselves could slowly over time accrue more wealth. There was also a distinction between so called ‘mercenaries’ and state soldiers, state soldiers received state provided equipment, but their pay was capped and they only received 20% of their collected green crystals, mercenaries had to outfit themselves but could potentially earn far larger profits of 80% of the green crystals they collected, the other 20% of the earnings going to the government of Technonim, so even mercenaries contributed to the well being of Technonim. In both cases there were often squabbles as to who was responsible for kills of Bacteria, and therefore how many crystals each soldier, state soldier or mercenary would get. Both state soldiers and mercenaries employed vehicles, although a mercenary who owned a vehicle was something of a higher stratum. Vehicles could accelerate the crystals you could collect, as they had metal nets, rakes, and of course machine guns, which allowed a much more efficient collection process. Rather than flimsy bags, the vehicle had a hold where crystals could be stored. Renting or loaning crystals to buy a vehicle was of course extremely common, for a 10% crystal fee, you could attach yourself to someone else’s vehicle. This meant in reality mercenaries often only collected 70% of their earnings, many in temporary debt. There were all kinds of credit that evolved from this, some earning a lot of crystals simply from loaning out equipment. While some shot, others collected, this much was communitarian, but personal enrichment even at the expense of others was always there. If a vehicle got destroyed having bought it on credit, it could mean destitution, albeit one could always go out on sorties against the endless Bacteria to try and recoup your losses. The Bacteria attempted to breach one wall, and were shot into oblivion, burnt into crisps in some stretches of the wall, the crystals collected by the garrison state soldiers, eager to shoot and even more eager to loot. Of course with such a system, many people volunteered to go out and shoot the Bacteria, riches could be won through their destruction. Everyone would return from their sally, and would turn the green crystals into metal that would be forged into rifles, or food or water. The Bacteria were like the ocean, both in their number and their nature, for they crashed against the walls so often and with great vigour, and like the ocean, the bounty of the Bacteria was boundless. The Technonim, shot and recovered crystals, and shot again. The stone walls and other defences were reinforced on both sides, that was the most essential part of what the Technonim government did with their share of the profits, investing so that Aralum would be able to resist the constant siege of the Bacteria, and yet it was the Bacteria’s crystals that made it grow, that made everything grow, that was Technonim in a nutshell.