Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 44 - Mustering for battle - Part One

Upon entering the second floor of the Laine Labyrinth, I immediately came to a halt when I quickly realised it was not the same as I had left it.

The existing central European-styled buildings were gone, replaced with the flat-roofed and somewhat middle-eastern style buildings I had seen the Orcs use in the barren desert. Made from what looked like hardened and thoroughly dried clay, I was still struggling to understand how so many buildings had been built so quickly. Even the doors to the houses looked like they were made of the same sunbaked clay.

The Slaves I had left behind seemed to find nothing particularly out of the ordinary, which only made the situation seem all the stranger.

Wandering the Settlement with Keith and Mortax trailing along behind me, I found Ril’s tent had been replaced with another one of the flat-roofed buildings. However, the scale of the building was almost half that of the others, and the door and windows were considerably smaller.

Trying to open the door, I found that not only was the door locked, but the door handle was considerably more durable than its appearance suggested.

“Toofy? Are you in there?” I asked while trying to peer through one of the windows on the second floor. It was decorated with rough approximations of furniture I would have otherwise expected to find in the inn, except that they were all made of the same hardened clay.

“Tim?!” Toofy exclaimed in surprise from somewhere inside the building. There were hurried footsteps and a scraping sound from the door before it suddenly flew open and revealed Toofy standing on the other side, “TIM!” She leapt up and wrapped my neck in a hug, easily covering the necessary distance due to my heavily stooped posture from checking the window.

I hugged Toofy back with one arm before gently lowering her to the ground, “Toofy, where did all these buildings come from?” I asked curiously.

Toofy looked back at the building she had just left and then nodded to herself, “Terry did it,” she replied happily.

“Terry?” I muttered uncertainly, “Who’s Terry?”

Toofy seemed confused for a moment and then became contemplative before seeming to come to a decision of some kind. Taking a deep breath, Toofy cupped her hands around her mouth, “TERRY! BE HERE!” She shouted commandingly before settling her hands on her hips and smiling expectantly.

After a few moments, I began to feel tremors through the ground beneath my feet, and a few moments after that I was able to make out heavy footsteps growing closer from the direction of the nearby gate.

After about a minute of waiting, a thick and incredibly blunt featured man wearing only a loincloth lumbered into view. Only six feet or so tall, the sheer weight of his footfalls was not proportional to his admittedly heavily muscled build. As the man drew closer, this discrepancy began to make more sense.

Clothed with only a loincloth, the man’s large muscular build was on full display, as were his physiological quirks. His deeply tanned skin was oddly inconsistent, possessing darker and lighter blotches like a host of unfortunately inherited birthmarks. Furthermore, what I had originally mistaken for a short-cropped beard was in fact a dark purple-coloured moss. Judging by the dark shadow on his bare head and chest, it was probably safe to assume the moss normally grew there as well.

His broad smile revealed a mouth full of iron-grey teeth that otherwise appeared quite normal. Similarly, his dark brown eyes seemed human enough, although the whites of his eyes seemed somewhat odd for a reason I couldn't quite place.

“You called for me?” The man asked with a deep gravelly voice.

“This Terry,” Toofy declared happily while pointing at the new arrival.

Terry, looked slowly from Toofy, to me, and then back to Toofy again, chuckling to himself before bodily turning towards me, “I have answered the call, and have sworn to serve,” Terry stated matter of factly, as if it somehow explained everything.

I had initially assumed that the labyrinth had withheld the Overseer I had expected to accompany the Harpy eggs. The knowledge that he had somehow been delayed in his arrival was not exactly reassuring either.

Toofy nodded vigorously, “Nadine make Terry build, so Toofy make Terry build more,” she declared proudly.

The ochre coloured skin of Terry's cheeks darkened in what might approximate a blush. “I apologise, Master, but I was quite famished when I arrived and had not known the provisions were serving as shelters for your minions.”

“Wait...What?” I asked while looking up and down the street, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

“Terry eat, Nadine say Terry build,” Toofy explained with a giggle.

“He ate the stones!” Keith exclaimed and slapped his forehead, as if it were all obvious, “He’s a Terraphage!”

Terry’s cheeks darkened a shade further.

“Terry the Terraphage...That can’t be an accident,” I muttered while trying to wrap my head around how someone so relatively small had been able to eat nearly two entire buildings' worth of stone.

Terry fidgetted somewhat nervously, “With due respect, Master, my name is not Terry.”

“Then what is it?” I asked without really thinking, still trying to puzzle out the latest deviation of physics' supposedly immutable laws.

“My name is Ochram, Master. But I can change my name if it suits you,” Ochram offered amiably, his somewhat embarrassed tone of voice sounding quite strange when combined with his deep gravelly baseline.

“Ochram?” Toofy seemed confused and was scratching her head uncertainly, “No Terry? Is Ochram?”

Ochram nodded.

I held up my hand and took a deep breath to align my thoughts, “Just so I have this straight, you ate the stone from the two largest buildings? And then you replaced not just those two buildings, but the others as well?” I asked a little sceptically.

Ochram nodded, “The minion named Nadine made it clear that you would not be pleased, so I followed her instructions to replace the dwellings I destroyed in my state of extreme hunger.”

I felt a surge of panic as I realised that the Lizardmen, Fesk and Khibi had been in the former guild office building, “You didn’t damage any of the eggs did you?!” I demanded.

Ochram staggered back a step and looked as if I had struck him across the face. “I-I most certainly did not!”

Somewhat relieved, I still made a mental note to check on the Lizardmen later to make sure everything was fine. “Why replace the other buildings?” I pressed, not seeing why exactly Nadine would have asked for such a thing. The buildings had all been in a state of relatively good repair, so it didn’t make sense to replace them so flippantly.

“The minion known as Nadine expressed concerns over the dwellings being insufficient for the minions occupying your territory,” Ochram explained somewhat anxiously.

That sounded like something Nadine might have done, but I had been overlooking something incredibly important. “How did you make these buildings?” I asked while quickly searching for his Status information.

Before Ochram had a chance to answer, I found it on my own. He was a Master Earth Mage. “You’re an Earth Mage,” I stated, answering my own question for the benefit of the others.

Ochram shifted somewhat uncomfortably, “Erm, Master Earth Mage, Master,” he corrected somewhat pridefully, “It was a decisive factor in my accepting the calling.”

Aware that Hanna had accepted a similar offer, I wasn’t inclined to hold the incentive against him. However, I still wanted to know why his arrival had been so delayed. “Why did you take so long to arrive?” I asked somewhat warily.

Ochram blushed again, “I believe I was asleep when the offer was made,” he replied awkwardly, “I had been practising my art but overdrew my mana...”

I had done that myself a number of times already, so I knew that his explanation wasn’t entirely unreasonable. Part of the blame was my own as well. I had not kept track of the notifications like I should have done and had assumed there would be no Overseer provided.

Continuing to look through Ochram’s Status information, I realised that his Species was similar to the Dryads, possessing both Earth Sense and Shape Earth, which roughly correlated to Hanna’s own Racial Abilities with plants. However, Geophagia was something entirely new.

[(Racial Ability: Geophagia {Rank 7}): Consuming minerals enhances the {Toughness} Attribute but deteriorates over time. Volume of minerals consumed, quality of minerals consumed, and existing {Toughness} determine the maximum potential {Toughness} gained.]

Ochram had a Toughness value close to my own, but a full third was provided by a bonus besides his Class. With no other explanation for it, I could only assume it was because of his Geophagia Ability.

“You eat rocks and dirt,” I commented thoughtfully while nodding my head in understanding, having realised that the Iron Gut Ability provided by the Settlement would have only exacerbated his hunger. This made me also realise that I was more responsible for his behaviour than I had been a few moments ago.

Ochram nodded, “I can eat other things as well, but-” his expression soured, “They just don’t taste as good.”

Shifting Ochram into the group, I was only a little disappointed to find that his Geophagia wasn’t suitable for Synergy, and neither was his Shape Earth Racial Ability. However, Sense Earth was a different matter entirely.

Almost immediately, Mortax began to stagger and moaned in distress while waving and flailing his arms. Keith’s reaction was more controlled but he still wavered and had to firmly plant his feet to avoid staggering.

It had been some time since I had last interacted with Hanna’s plant sensing Ability but the general principle seemed similar. However, most likely due to Ochram’s Rank in the Ability being considerably higher, and the core ability itself being passive rather than activated with mana, even I found the sudden rush of information to be fairly disorienting.

In my mind, I was suddenly aware of every building in the Settlement, and to a lesser degree, what was transpiring within them. I could also ‘see’ the empty soil below the Settlement and feel the small clusters of natural minerals and large pockets of clay.

Shifting Ochram out of the group again, I wasn’t entirely surprised to find that I had unlocked the Apprentice Earth Mage Basic Class. However, thinking it over for a few moments more, I was actually rather shocked. I had not been able to unlock the Druid Classes at all, so why was I able to unlock the Earth Mage? Was it because of my ‘Species’? Or was there some other explanation I hadn’t encountered yet?

Ochram seemed equally surprised, “Master! To have such affinity for the earth! I felt your presence moving with such purpose and confidence!”

That wasn’t how I would have explained the experience from my perspective, but I grudgingly accepted the compliment.

Mortax and Keith both seemed profoundly relieved to be free of the Earth Sense, with the former crashing down onto his haunches and breathing heavily.

Dismissing Ochram and leaving Keith and Mortax to their own devices, I let Toofy climb up onto my shoulder and then went looking for Nadine.

It didn’t take long to find her. After passing through the nearby gate, I found a rough approximation of Sanctuary’s hospital, only made of baked clay rather than trees. It wasn’t the only recent addition on the outside of the walls either. Dozens of large buildings were built around the existing wall and were at least twice the scale of those inside of the wall.

Investigating one of these buildings, I was only slightly surprised to find that they were entirely empty. They didn’t have doors either, so I could only assume that Ochram was prioritising the shells of the buildings over everything else. Considering the relatively small amount of time that had been at his disposal, it was still very impressive.

From what I could observe, the large buildings all had large pillars and ribbed bracing along the ceilings of each floor. As best I could tell, this was probably to provide the necessary support the buildings needed in order to remain standing.

Since Nadine was teaching a lesson to her students, I decided to check on the Lizardmen instead.

Fesk was waiting by the door when I arrived, and the little fluff-ball Khibi was peeking out from behind his legs.

#Everything. Good.# I signed while raising my eyebrow to show that it was a question.

Fesk nodded, #Everything. Good.# He signed back and added, #Everyone. Healthy.#

#You. Have. Practised.# I signed back with interest. His fluency with the gestures had grown noticeably better and he was making fewer mistakes.

Toofy watched our exchange with unfeigned curiosity, “Why waving fingers and hands?”

#Practice. With. Brown. Hair. Female.# Fesk signed back before crouching down to reassure Khibi who had begun to giggle anxiously.

“We are talking with our hands,” I explained to Toofy while Fesk attended to Khibi.

“Hand talking?” Toofy asked warily, making it clear that she thought I might very well be lying or making a joke at her expense.

I nodded and turned away from Fesk, this is how you say hello, #Hello.# “If you make that sign for Fesk, he will say hello back to you,” I insisted before turning around again.

Fesk had lifted Khibi into a sling on his chest in the meantime and seemed to have calmed her down.

“Hey!” Toofy barked to get Fesk’s attention, #Hello.# She signed with alarmingly accurate dexterity.

Fesk smiled, #Hello.# He signed back.

Toofy giggled, “More! Teach Toofy more hand talking!”

Originally planning on practising with Fesk at some point during the day, I shrugged and sat down on the road so we could start. Toofy continued sitting on my shoulder while Fesk fetched and overturned a bucket to use as a seat.

Toofy was an incredibly fast learner and was quickly outstripping both Fesk and myself in her ability to form actual sentences with the words she was learning. Granted, Toofy’s sentences were more or less the same grammatical minefield as her spoken sentences, but that was a shortcoming inherent to sign language in the first place.

#Me good at hand talking.# Toofy signed happily, deliberately avoiding the use of the sign for signing in favour of her own diction.

#Yes.# Fesk agreed with a small smile of his own, #You. Good at. Hand talking.# His own proficiency seemed better when practising with Toofy, and I suspected this was because Toofy was able to push him to sign faster than I could, better representing a more organic conversation.

Far from being put out by being worse at the subject I was teaching them, I accepted my natural limitations and continued introducing new words to their signing vocabulary.

This was where Toofy’s seeming talent for signing began to lag. While fully capable of learning new words, Toofy was very selective with whether she would actually decide to use them in a sentence. Her desire for minimalism meant that most of the words I was teaching them would be left unused.

All the same, Toofy was still quite happy to continue ‘hand talking’ with Fesk as he experimented with the new words and worked on correcting his technique.

After practising for an indeterminate number of hours, Nadine joined us during our meal break and confirmed that she had been the one Fesk had been practising with.

“I just thought it was interesting,” Nadine confessed while setting down a small chest to use as a seat, “Speaking without talking, I mean.”

“Hand talking,” Toofy agreed, nodding while pulling a strip of boiled spider meat from its chitin casing.

“Hand talking,” Nadine repeated with a bemused expression before nodding in agreement, “I suppose that is a less confusing way of putting it.”

“Well, the common term for it was sign language,” I commented, “But even then I suppose there were always some people that didn’t quite understand that it referred to making signs with your hands to use as language.”

“It’s impressive that someone even made the language at all,” Nadine added while tearing off a small strip of smoked Vrabbit and feeding it to Khibi who was still hiding in Fesk’s sling.

“There are actually a number of variations on it as well, and they can be as different as spoken languages,” I explained while trying to think of why that had been the case. While it was possible to spell words out using the signing alphabet, it was rather uncommon to use it in day-to-day activities unless it was somehow part of your job.

#Me need to take care of baby.# Toofy signed after another shorter practice session. She then gave me another hug before hopping down from my shoulder and running off to rejoin Ril in their temporary home.

“I still don’t understand how she can be so good at this,” Nadine sighed with a mildly frustrated expression and massaged her hands.

“Well, Toofy really is quite clever,” I countered, “So long as it’s related to something she is interested in.”

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“I suppose,” Nadine sighed.

#She has, Fast hands.# Fesk added, #Easier. To talk.#

Nadine was silent for a moment while translating, “I guess that’s true as well,” she agreed, “But it still surprises me that ‘hand talking’ is possible at all.”

“I think it was originally developed as a means of speaking with the deaf,” I explained, “In a similar justification for why braille was invented for the blind. Human ingenuity is capable of great and truly remarkable things when there is the motivation for it.”

“For the deaf?” Nadine challenged uncertainty before taking a few moments to think it through for herself, “Oh...Because they can’t hear what you are saying...” She realised with some embarrassment.

“How are your students doing?” I asked, changing the subject to spare her some embarrassment.

We spoke for a while longer but Gregory’s sudden arrival brought the conversation to an abrupt halt.

“Majesty,” Gregory seemed profoundly troubled as he bowed his head, “The city has just repelled the first attempt at sieging the outermost walls. Morale is beginning to slip...and...” He paused and looked around with an expression of concerned confusion, “What happened to the administration building?... And the...Everything else...”

“An Earth Mage,” I replied glibly, more interested in what Gregory had been intending to say earlier, “You were saying?” I prompted.

Gregory looked at me with an air of confusion for a moment before quickly rallying, “Morale is slipping as more enemy forces join the siege. Is there any way of knowing how long until the Gateway will allow reinforcements to become available to the city?”

I almost said no out of reflex, but it wasn’t strictly true. As the Gateway grew closer to activating, the general feeling of the mana building inside of it would change. I had felt this change a number of times already while observing other Gateways Ril had created and then connected to the greater network. I wasn’t sure I could determine the remaining time precisely, but I could probably make a guesstimation in terms of hours vs days.

“I don’t, but I may be able to find out,” I replied evenly, making sure not to oversell my own intuition. Getting to my feet, I left Fesk, Nadine and Gregory behind so I could move closer to the Gateway.

Even without touching it, I could feel that the physical vessel of the Gateway was brimming with mana and nearing its completion. Depending more upon Ril than anything else at this stage, I returned to others to deliver my news.

“It’s close,” I stated with the same even tone as before, “A matter of hours, not days. Does that help?”

Gregory took a deep breath, sighed and nodded, “It will have to, and could have been worse besides. Thank you, Majesty.” Rather than leave immediately, Gregory motioned toward Nadine and Fesk with an expression of curiosity, “What is it they are doing with their hands?” The tone of his voice implied that Gregory was confident he knew already, but wanted to be certain.

“Talking with their hands,” I replied, “It’s called sign language.”

Gregory nodded to himself, confirming my suspicions. “Is it a simple language? Or?...”

“As sophisticated as the language we are speaking now, with a few obvious limitations,” I answered honestly.

“Remarkable...” Gregory breathed, a fresh glint of eager excitement now in his otherwise tired eyes.

“You are welcome to join Fesk and I during our practice sessions when you have the time,” I offered, assuming that Gregory would use the sign language for productive purposes. More specifically, for the shady business of the Regent and the Asrusian military’s high command.

My original trepidation regarding the potential for betrayal from the Asrusian government was now thoroughly outweighed by the risks posed by the nations invading them and the Liche still skulking in the Mournbrent Labyrinth. Providing tools to the Asrusians was functionally in my own best interest so long as I wanted Sanctuary to remain a safe haven where I would, eventually, be able to live in peace.

“Thank you, Majesty,” Gregory replied grateful before briefly looking towards the nearby buildings, “Would the Earth Mage possibly be able to teach others how to unlock the Class and its Basic counterpart?”

I realised I had made a mistake in generalising by using the label of Earth Mage instead of Ochram’s true Class title. “I will have them added to the list,” I commented, referring to the openly accessible training quests any Citizen, or Slave, could access in order to learn Classes in a structured and efficient manner. “But I think this is a similar situation to the Druids, requiring direct apprenticeship and the mana flowers.”

“All the same, thank you again for your generosity, Majesty!” Gregory exclaimed with markedly more excitement than before. “Earth Mages could make all the difference during this siege!”

Given the difficulty of learning the Druid Class, I wasn’t nearly as optimistic. Then again, even if only a handful of soldiers were able to learn the Apprentice level of the Class, that might be enough to repair the city walls. At worst there wouldn’t be much lost even if the soldiers proved incapable of unlocking the Class at all.

Gregory didn’t seem to mind, and he left in far greater spirits than when he first arrived. All things considered, I couldn’t blame him for it either.

I decided to spend the rest of the day exercising, focusing on jogging and running in an attempt to maintain my level of coordination while at speed. The increased effects of gravity due to my size made running in particular rather difficult to adjust to.

However, as much as I hoped to be proven wrong, I was anticipating Gregory to make another request on behalf of his Regent. Specifically, I was expecting a request to intervene directly in the siege in some capacity, and that's why I was exercising.

Even if Gregory didn’t ask, circumstances all but demanded it anyway. A meatgrinder of attrition here would mean drastically reduced support for my pursuit of the Liche. This was because the Asrusian army, in its entirety, would be outnumbered by the forces laying siege to this single city.

The Asrusians couldn’t divert their entire army to this city even if they wanted to. They had more than one opposing nation to fight, and presumably more than a handful of different armies to contend with. Furthermore, the number of cities connected by Ril's network could be counted on one hand and wasn’t anywhere near comprehensive enough to allow the redeployment of so many soldiers from their scattered postings around the embattled kingdom.

I had no intentions of doing any direct fighting, not if I could avoid it. I wasn’t a soldier, and in spite of my advantages over normal humans and weaker Species of monsters, the flaming oil incident had served as a powerful reminder that I was prone to making poor decisions in the heat of battle. Besides, even a spider could be killed by ants if they were numerous enough.

Worse still, I didn’t have the necessary bloodlust or tolerance for violence in order to proactively engage in battle without being threatened or provoked in some way first. Training made it easier in some respects, reducing my subconscious hesitancy, but it wasn’t enough.

My observation regarding the Gateway proved true, and it became active sometime around midnight. However, the anticipated reinforcements didn’t begin appearing until an hour or so later.

It was difficult to be absolutely certain, but I was reasonably confident that my earlier assumption was correct. Despite thousands of soldiers arriving through the gateway, the Asrusian defenders would still be significantly outnumbered.

Without waiting to be asked, I hunted down Ochram and took him through the Gateway to Mournbrent’s Labyrinth. After briefly explaining the situation to soldiers on watch, I left Ochram to modify the Vampyr fortress and descended to my former quarters.

To my surprise, Ushu seemed to have been waiting for me. Nila and a team of her Squires were in the process of strapping an upgraded and refined version of his former saddle onto Ushu’s back. With padded cloth and chain barding now covering his underside, and iron plates shielding his flanks and snout, Ushu seemed dramatically more imposing and dangerous.

“Majesty!” Nila called out in surprise upon noticing my approach, hurriedly assigning one of her assistants to finish strapping the buckle she had been working on and then jumping down from her arming stool. “We were just going through an arming drill with Ushu’s new armour,” Nila explained somewhat nervously, “As you can see, it is far more substantial than the improvised saddles we were working with before! AH! Not that there was anything wrong with them!”

“Is that a flag pole?” I asked curiously, pointing to the ten-foot-tall pole being erected on top of the saddle.

“Ah, yes?” Nila replied nervously, “It can be raised or lowered depending on the need though!” She insisted, moving her arm from being upright, to a forty-five-degree angle, and then full horizontal. “The engineers thought it would make the best use of your Ability if your banners were deployed from the highest points possible on a battlefield.”

“Banners?” I asked uncertainty for a moment before realising what she meant, “Oh, right.” Nila of course meant the Asrusian flag, and the sigil Toofy and I had made for Sanctuary.

I was proven correct shortly afterwards when a deep blood red banner with a boned white fanged maw was raised up the flagpole above the slightly modified Asrusian royal banner. The absence of wind made them seem less impressive than they otherwise would have, but I supposed that would be quite different in circumstances where Ushu was charging or thrashing his way across a battlefield.

“Are you back to begin the next major offensive or?...” Nila asked quietly.

“Not here,” I shook my head and sighed, “Laine city, it’s under siege and we won’t have the support we need for an offensive without breaking that siege first. Well...not if we want to keep any land we take,” I grumbled.

“Oh...” Nila fidgeted uncomfortably, “Is it bad?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted, “The city has many layers of defence, and the Gateway for providing reinforcements and supplies, but the empire seems to be really invested in taking the city.”

As much as I trusted Nila to care for Cooper and Ushu, the high command probably wouldn’t appreciate a relatively low-ranking officer being privy to the details of a separate theatre of war. Of course, this would change once I brought her with me, but for now, I would keep the information deliberately mainstream. The knowledge that nearly every Laine noble had turned traitor was not likely to go down very well, and could only hurt morale.

“Cooper has one of these saddles as well?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

Nila nodded, “Cooper isn’t as bulky-”

Ushu huffed angrily, displacing a wave of dirt and debris.

“-Ah, I mean, isn’t as muscular?” Nila waited a moment and then seemed to take Ushu’s silence as permission to continue, “So his saddle and barding are somewhat lighter to prioritise speed and manoeuvrability. Not that there is much of a difference!” She hastily added while warily glancing at Ushu, who seemed to have narrowed his eyes at her.

Ushu had grown slightly in my absence, but not by much, and it was obvious that Nila had been making sure he got daily exercise.

“Then it would be best if you saw that Cooper was fitted for battle as well,” I stated bluntly, “You and your team are coming with me back to Laine once the fortress has been modified to accommodate their passage.

Nila looked surprised but quickly rallied, “Yes! Majesty!” She snapped a salute and ran back over to her team of Squires and began directing some of them over to the next stall to begin arming Cooper.

Ochram’s ‘modifications’ to the fortress were rather crude. However, he regained some goodwill by erecting a large barracks in the lowermost defences. Despite the lack of doors or windows, the ranking officers seemed content with the trade-off. A new portcullis and gate doors would need to be made for the fortress, but the materials could all be provided through their existing supply chains.

It was a better compromise by far than the required modification of the Mournbrent grand cathedral. Rather than adjust the existing architecture, Ochram had agreed to ‘reinforce’ the hallways that passed between the outer walls and the central courtyard. This would allow the Drakes to ‘scramble’ or climb over without collapsing the hallways in question, but he also left those hallways temporarily packed with clay.

The modifications to the Mournbrent Guild office had been far less subtle and would be repeated in Laine. Ochram had reinforced certain walls and the ceiling and then deliberately collapsed a path to the Labyrinth portal big enough for the Drakes to pass through. These passages would need to be defended and have gates and portcullis of their own as well, but it wasn’t a priority just at the moment.

Shady was left with the commander in the fortress to provide them with the Shadow Step Synergy just in case the Liche’s forces attempted another massed assault while Cooper and Ushu were absent. I wasn’t happy about leaving him behind, but I didn’t see much choice after leaving a giant hole in the side of the fortress.

Returning to Laine’s Labyrinth with Ushu and Cooper in tow initially drew cries of alarm. However, once Nila raised the Asrusian banner, things seemed to quiet down rather quickly. Settling the Drakes down by the portal, I sent Ochram ahead to make the changes to the Laine Guild building.

The passage of the soldiers, and to a greater extent, the Drakes, had attracted the attention of the Lizardmen who were tentatively gathered outside of their dwelling with expressions of what could only be interpreted as awe and fear.

Cheh meekly approached on her own while nervously eyeing the pair of Drakes, who was curiously eyeing her in turn. “Great One,” she lowered herself and bowed at the waist, “Iss it...time?...” Cheh asked anxiously.

I nodded, “Soon. I would like to send you ahead with Ril and Toofy first, so the council can assist with settling your people and transporting the other eggs.” It was a partial lie since I was actually referring to the Daemons, specifically Gric, who managed Sanctuary in my absence. I was also still waiting on the Regent’s candidates for managing the Slaves who wanted to become citizens.

Cheh made an excited hissing noise and bowed again, “I will...obey...Great One!” She rose to her feet and slowly backed away towards her people, who had all overheard our brief conversation and were understandably quite excited.

“Clarice will lose her mind when she gets a look at these Drakes, you know that right?” Nadine commented with obvious awe as she circled Cooper. “They're truly massive!”

Ushu huffed but didn’t open his eyes, apparently content to prioritise resting for the time being.

“Well, it’s not like Dhizi is small either,” I observed, “ In fact, if she was built like a theropod, legs straight down to the ground I mean, Dhizi would be perhaps half as tall as Cooper.”

“And half the size even then,” Nadine replied with amusement before pausing, “Cooper?”

“Nila named him,” I shrugged, “Clarice might have liked the names the Vampyrs gave them, but I think Cooper is a definite improvement.”

Nadine elected to say nothing to that, but Nila seemed appreciative of the support, smiling to herself while continuing to direct her team through a series of weapon drills.

Armed with crossbows, the Squires wore special harnesses that were each latched to a separate hoop of iron on the platform. So long as the Squires each remained in their designated space of the platform to avoid tangling their lines, the harnesses would prevent them from falling off of the platform.

The Squires also had access to javelins, spears and long pikes that were braced along the special hooks on the flagpole to provide access but also keep them out of the way until needed.

Under Nila’s direction, Cooper would buck or shake in an attempt to simulate conditions the Squires were likely to experience in combat.

Ushu’s saddle had all of these same armaments, but I didn’t have a team of Squires to use them, so I passed the time by feeding him instead.

After a few hours of waiting, Toofy waddled over while carrying Ril on her back. Obviously still tired, Ril seemed to have decided she was ready to return to Sanctuary to rest in greater safety. After explaining the message I would like them to pass along to Gric, and giving Toofy a hug, I waved over Cheh and introduced her to Toofy and Ril. After I gave Toofy another hug, they made their way towards the Gateway and left for Sanctuary.

Fifty men and women appeared through the gateway shortly afterwards, each and every one of them bearing an ornate steel gorget with the manticore crest of the Asrus royal family and the nation etched into its surface. No doubt intended to serve as an alternative to the markings born by other officers and to make them easier to differentiate, every one of the fifty men and women wore them with pride.

Unsure of how I felt about that, I sent for a runner to fetch the Slave Collars locked away in the former Guild building in the city.

Once the collars were retrieved, I instructed each of the men and women to fasten a collar around their own neck. Once they had done so, I activated the Collars through my own Ability and seized control over them all with only minimal resistance.

I then ordered them to walk in single file back towards the Gateway and then wait until someone was sent to fetch them.

I did this because I wanted to ingrain in their minds at least some semblance of what it was like to be a Slave. Hoping that the experience would serve as a motivation not to find ways to potentially abuse the power and authority that would be entrusted to them later.

Shifting all fifty men and women under Gric’s immediate control let him know that I was ready to proceed with our plan.

Sure enough, Cheh and a large group of Serpent-Kin arrived shortly afterwards, and while most of the Serpent-Kin followed Cheh with a large sled to transport the eggs, several stayed behind and began ferrying the Human volunteers through the Gateway.

Technically, I could have simply Summoned Gric and had them swear their oaths to his projection. But besides the potential information leak of Gric’s true identity, it would have made the process too easy for the volunteers. This was one particular point where Gric and I were in firm agreement.

While the Lizardmen opted for carrying their eggs themselves, the Serpent-Kin carefully loaded the remaining eggs into small compartments of packed straw on the back of the sled. Watching the process, I was a little surprised to find that the Serpent-Kin were taking care to segregate the eggs by Species.

“It iss incasse they hatch prematurely, my Tyrant,” one of the Serpent-Kin explained, pointing out matted partitions they had set aside for the moment but obviously intended to use later.

Presumably, hatchlings were less likely to attack their own Species and more likely to attack others, so the matted partitions would serve as a means of buying enough time to remove any hatchlings from the sled.

The Ashfur eggs contributed the majority, and the harpy’s made a close second. The remainder appeared to be subspecies of Goblins and Orcs, and the Serpent-Kin made sure to separate each of those subspecies accordingly.

“The Gnolls are already accounted for and surviving parents will be joining them in Sanctuary within the next few days,” I explained while the Serpent-Kin continued to work, addressing the group at large rather than a single individual, “The remaining eggs are open for adoption, but make sure those without children are given priority. This includes Humans who have expressed an interest in adoption and have passed the required inspections.”

The Serpent-Kin in the immediate vicinity nodded obediently before continuing their work.

Keith, as well as the two other Elves and Anette, had slowly made their way outside as well.

“You are welcome to go with them to Sanctuary, if it is still what you want,” I told them, “And you can go with them to see for yourself that I am a man of my word,” I added for Keith’s benefit, “If you want to remain there or return, then that is also your choice to make.”

All three Elves looked surprised but Keith seemed far more so than the others, “You would let me go?” He asked uncertainly, “Just like that?”

I shrugged, “You have sworn the oaths I required to guarantee your good behaviour, and your Species is a rarity in Sanctuary. If you choose to remain there, it would be under the expectation you would help integrate those who follow and contribute to Sanctuary’s immediate defence in times of crisis. You swore to serve me in a martial capacity, but not where that service would take place.” I added, providing him with a convenient loophole should he choose to remain with his own kind.

“I...I will consider it, Majesty,” Keith replied uncertainly before looking to his compatriots.

Keith had sworn to serve because he wanted vengeance against those who had Enslaved him, an emotional and impulsive decision at best. If Keith was going to fight alongside me going forwards, I wanted it to be because he recognised what I was fighting for was worth protecting, not just because he wanted revenge.

Looking towards Mortax sleeping beneath an improvised canopy between buildings, I considered how best to present the Aurochian with the same option and choice. However, Mortax’s limited intelligence and subservient nature presented problems. With the Serpent-Kin almost finished with their task and preparing to depart, I opted for sending Mortax with them so he could at least experience Sanctuary for himself before I confronted him with a choice.

If I hadn’t brought the Drakes along with Nila and her Squires, I would have thought twice about sending away so many fighters. However, the scale of the conflict outside of the Labyrinth made such losses relatively negligible. Even more so after considering the return of the sanctioned Slavers that would allow willing Slaves to fight for a chance at citizenship.

With any luck, a sizeable number of the empire’s Slaves could be wrested away and given their own chances at freedom as well. Even so, I wasn’t particularly optimistic...

*****

Anette followed the sounds of the others' footsteps and tried not to flinch as a scaled hand gently rested on her shoulder.

“Do you require sspecial care?” A gentle hissing voice asked kindly, “There iss no need to be afraid. Ssancuary iss for all.”

Anette wasn’t sure what to say.

“A companion could be asssigned to help you navigate the colony,” the voice offered helpfully.

Anette considered the offer and nodded, forced to admit that she would be in an entirely foreign environment and that there would be no guarantee of being able to move freely on her own.

When the procession stopped, Anette felt a momentary sense of vertigo before the air grew slightly thicker, smelling of flowers and fresh grass.

Anette heard a sharp intake of breath from one of the Elves, but she wasn’t certain who.

“Welcome to Ssanctuary,” the hissing voice said warmly, “If you are able to move, I can take you to a temporary dwelling sso you may resst until dawn and a companion can be chossen to accompany you.”

“I’m ready,” Anette replied, doing her best to sound more confident than she felt.

Allowing the hand on her shoulder to direct her steps, Anette heard other hissing voices quietly leading the Elves and Lizardmen in other directions.

“Sspecial accomodationss have been prepared due to your losss of ssight,” the voice explained, “The otherss need no ssuch asssisstance and are being taken to more permanant dwellingss.”

Anette nodded, detecting no signs that whoever the voice belonged to was attempting to deceive her. However, that didn’t make her feel any less nervous.

After walking across some of the softest grass Anette had ever had the pleasure of resting her feet upon, she was led into space where the grass gave way to moss and the air smelled of rich earth. Judging that she was underground, it came as less of a surprise when the voice described the immediate surroundings to her, taking care to pass Anette by each noteworthy feature so she could acclimate to her environment.

Somewhat overwhelmed by the person’s kindness, Anette only realised she had failed to ask for their name once they had left and it was too late.

Crawling onto the raised surface that served as a bed, Anette found that it too was covered in moss, only it was thicker and softer than the moss growing on the floor. In contrast to her expectations, she also found a large linen blanket.

Settling down to sleep, Anette tried to picture her surroundings in her mind, but it was all so bizarre and fantastical that she couldn’t believe it. Somehow, she was in a large room underground, with a private stream and small fountain. But the walls and ceiling of the room were made from interwoven tree roots to such a consistent degree that should have been impossible.

Waking to the sound of voices outside, Anette felt a momentary surge of panic before she remembered where she was. After listening a little longer, she also began to recognise the excited chatter of children as well.

Cautiously leaving the bed, Anette slowly made her way towards the direction of the door and nearly yelped as her outstretched hands met with unexpected resistance. Gathering her courage, Anette reached out her hands again and ran her fingers along the surface. Feeling no real resistance, Anette realised that she had most likely walked into a sort of tent flap or other covering that afforded the underground home with privacy and some degree of protection from the elements.

Taking a steadying breath, Anette stepped through to the other side and pushed away the tent flap. The voices were much louder and seemed to be coming from all directions, reminding Anette that she had been specially placed within convenient distances of the colony’s services and protections.

“Who you?” A curious voice asked. Sounding vaguely feminine and originating only slightly higher than her ear level, Anette assumed the voice belonged to one of the many children she had heard earlier.

Anette swallowed and tried to seem more confident than she felt, “I’m Anette, and you are?” She very nearly repeated her mistake from earlier despite a resolution to become more proactive about seeking out the names of those she was speaking with.

“Me Toofy,” the child replied happily, “Hello Nnet, you hungry?”

Anette’s stomach growled before she had a chance to reply.

“Is okay, come with Toofy!” Toofy insisted, taking Anette firmly by the hand and dragging her out and away from her temporary home.

With a surge of panic, Anette remembered that she was meant to wait for someone to show her around the colony, and she worried that they wouldn’t be able to find her if she just wandered off.

“You okay Nnet?” Toofy asked with concern and stopped rather abruptly.

“Ah, I’m meant to stay at the ah...at the house?” Anette wasn’t sure what to call the place she had just left, “Someone was meant to come get me.”

“Oh...” Toofy exclaimed in understanding, “It okay, Toofy take Nnet back after food,” she stated cheerily, “Come.”

Anette reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled along in the child’s wake, her stomach growling again as her nose caught the scent of roasted meats and rich exotic spices.

“Who Nnet waiting for?” Toofy asked conversationally while leading Anette past increasingly larger gatherings of people, and sometimes through them.

“I uh, I don’t know, they didn’t say,” Anette admitted, “They just said someone would come and show me around...”

“Oh...” Toofy made some humming noises that suggested she understood what Anette was talking about, although it wasn’t certain. “Toofy do that, Baby sleeping now, so Toofy bored.”

“Uh...” Anette didn’t know what to say. Feeling quite thoroughly lost already, she didn’t want to risk upsetting the child and becoming stranded.

“Is kay, Toofy know everything in Sanctuary,” Toofy stated confidently.

Anette was about to tactfully ask if she might speak with Toofy’s parents, but they had come to an abrupt halt in what had to be the immediate vicinity of roasted meat she had smelled earlier.

“Morning Toofy!” A deep loud male voice called out cheerily from high above Anette’s head, marking him as an adult, “What can I get yer today?”

“Hrmmm,” Toofy made an exaggerated hum and swung her arm with surprising strength, swinging Anette’s in the process, “Is this?” She asked, no doubt pointing at something.

“Ah! New recipe! I calls it Finn’s cakes!” The man explained excitedly, “A bready outsides with meat fillings!”

“Is like pie?” Toofy asked uncertainly.

“Well...Sort of,” the man admitted, “It has meat in the middle, but its bread, not pastry on the outsides, see whats I mean?”

There was a sudden burst of herby and meaty fragrance from the direction of the man.

“Hrm...” Toofy didn’t seem fully convinced by what she was looking at, “Nnet want Finn cake?” She asked.

Anette’s mouth was watering so profusely she had to gulp down her saliva just to speak, “I would like to try it, if that’s alright?”

“Sure!” The man exclaimed excitedly.

There was the sound of clattering dishware and then a small clay plate was pushed into Anette’s waiting free hand.

Toofy let go of Anette’s other hand, allowing her to fumble for a small wooden spoon on the plate. Awkwardly cutting the moist bread and its contents with the spoon, she carefully raised a portion to her mouth and blew on it vigorously before putting it in her mouth.

Despite only getting a mouthful of the bread, Anette nearly wept as she slowly began to chew what was easily the best thing she had ever tasted.

“Finn...” Toofy growled dangerously, surprising Anette with its intensity, “You make Nnet sad...”

“I er...” Finn, the owner of the male voice, stammered awkwardly, “Perhaps it were too hot? Meat juices gets real hot,” he suggested meekly.

“N-No!” Anette stammered, regretfully gulping down the delightfully flavourful mouthful of delicious bread so she could defend its creator, “I was just overwhelmed by how good it tasted! I haven’t ever had anything so good!”

“Oh,” all the malice had left Toofy’s voice, “Okay, Toofy want some too.”

“Right away!” Finn replied with near palpable relief, fumbling for more dishware and sending a fresh wave of flavourful aromas washing over Anette.

Taking great care to get a piece of the diced meat on her next spoonful, Anette moaned in pleasure as the aggressively spiced meat tumbled onto her tongue and released a more intense flavour after being pressed between her teeth. “Sho good,” Anette muttered contentedly while trying to locate another spoonful on her plate.

“What wrong with Nnet?” Toofy asked with concern, and Anette felt the girl’s face draw alarmingly close to her own.

Anette blushed and fought the urge to recoil, “I uh...I’m blind...” She explained quietly.

There was a quiet pause.

“What blind?” Toofy asked, sounding confused.

“Means she can’t see,” Finn explained sympathetically, sounding somewhat surprised as if he hadn’t noticed Anette’s...

Anette realised that her hair was still in its customary position covering her face, and she felt a wave of embarrassment.

“Oh...” Toofy sounded sad, “Poor baby,” she stroked the back of Anette’s head, “Toofy take care of Nnet!” She declared reassuringly, “Finn! More Finn cake!” Toofy ordered.

“Uh...” Anette was feeling overwhelmed again and wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. However, before she could protest, Anette felt more food being piled onto her plate, and Toofy had begun excitedly listing all the exciting places she would show Anette after they had finished breakfast.

Hoping that she could clear up the situation with a clearer head and a full stomach later, Anette resolved to remain quiet and wait. After all, things could be far worse, and the unfamiliar feeling of having someone care so selflessly for her wellbeing was touching. Besides, Anette had no other places to be and had all the time in the world. For the first time in her life, Anette’s decisions would truly be her own.