Eli POV

Ash filled the night air, mingling with the omni-present scent of death that the shambling dead brought to the snow-covered land. The only sound, aside from the soft breeze, was the stomping of feet and the tortured screams of the fat congressman further ahead of the caravan. As I walked around the right side of the line of carriages, some with their horses dead, some burning, and some untouched, I looked for whatever supplies were left and could be seen in the faint starlight. Gula, dressed in leather armor and wearing the various pads of wood I had made, walked out from the left side of the carriages when I approached the end.

“Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance,” She said with a look towards the box of ruined steel further ahead that swayed her bowl cut of pitch black hair, a smile playing on her face that stretched the vertical scar across her left eye.

“How did the crafts hold up?” I asked as I approached her in-between a few of the carriages. The sweat from the battle still slicked my back even with the bitter winter air that my cloth bandanna did little to mitigate.

There was a long silence as she looked over the carnage of bodies along the right side of the road. Regular troop or mage, neither were shown more or less consideration when their time came. Fortunately, the entire caravan had used troops instead of any civilians. A small mercy in these hard times. Gula pursed her lips before she turned to the opening of one of the carriages.

“It felt…Too easy,” Gula said, followed by the clanking of her rummaging through the crates. “Less like fighting, more like hunting deer. No real threat of losing and barely any fighting back when they couldn’t get through the shields.”

I huffed, prompting her to look back to me with a raised eyebrow.

“And it will only get better if I get my way,” I said proudly.

Gula got a conflicted look, but I cut it short by walking forward and taking her lips. She was a bit of that ever-illusive thing called home and I wanted to feel her in all of my senses. Her smoky, vinegar taste played on my tongue while she gave a light moan before I pulled back with a light pop.

“We’re done,” The deep base of Baloo’s voice sounded out from further ahead.

I let my eyes soak in Gula’s golden irises for a moment before I turned around and moved further ahead. She followed, though couldn’t escape my palm as I gave her a light swat across her bum. The orc gave a little pout, though she made no attempt to block the hand or reprimand me afterwards as we moved from between the carriages and onto the battlefield proper.

The frojan had done well during the fight and were spending their time inspecting the caravan and placing the last of the bodies they brought in place. A bit to the right of the moving frojan stood Andrew and Jeff. They were wearing white shirts and grey pants, the same as I was. They looked on dispassionately, used to the gore and tragedy of fighting but the constant looks they were giving the two ends of the road spoke of their nervousness. Though Jeff seemed a bit more familiar than Andrew with the carnage as blood ran up and down his shirt. Combined with his heavy breathing, it was quite likely Jeff had taken the feral madness route of caring for the fat congressman. Despite that brutal display, Andrew had a bit of happiness in him from the return of his familiar that sat on his right shoulder. Acting as a go-between with our two groups, the fire ape had more than carried his weight during this operation.

Surveying the charred and bloody landscape, I nodded in satisfaction. With the hard part over, I started working on a powerful water spell that would mimic a heavy rain. There were too many footprints everywhere for me to be confident that we wouldn’t miss one webbed foot in the mix. I had provided the Frojan wooden shoes, of course. But, as with all things, it didn’t go perfectly to plan.

The back end of the caravan still had carriages with live horses who were panicked in the fighting and charged all over the battlefield and churned up the snow. More importantly, several of the Frojan had their shoes knocked off and were too busy trying to not die to notice. We were in the middle of nowhere, but it would only be a few hours before scouts were swarming over this place and we didn’t have the time to retrace all of the Frojan’s steps. Better to wash all the evidence away in a thick sheet of rain.

After a few minutes, the hill and road were mostly a slurry of mud. Even better, the snow everywhere meant that there were going to be some puddles for the people who found this open graveyard to believe this was a natural rain like the one earlier. Satisfied, I turned to my compatriots waiting for the go ahead.

“Let’s get out of here!” I declared to the small crowd of a dozen or so frojan and Gula.

“UAGHH!” The cheer and fist pumps sounded out as we turned back to the east on the left. With a small stampede, followed by another bout of rain, we were off. We passed by a mangled corpse that was probably the now late congressman, though I had to go by his size rather than the puddle of brains, blood, and bone where the head used to be. The emotional energy behind the wounds were pure, animalistic hate, like he had been torn apart in a mad frenzy with a few other dead guards around him. Nodding in satisfaction, I followed the rest of our group up and over the hill.

The two brothers were being pulled along between some of the larger frojan who had gotten used to the wind boosted shin guards. For my part, I used wind spells to keep up the pace. Now that we were where the woods used to be, we ran in a single file through the wasteland filled with nothing but snow and the occasional struggling body that refused to move as its veins were fille with solid ice.

Late in the night, we stopped for a breather but quickly pushed on ahead to make sure that none of the scouts that would be swarming over this area would find us. Gula and her troop had worked out the path home that had the fewest patrols and dangers, but even with our crafts and willpower, it was a horrid slog. Sweaty and tired from the battle, I only just felt up to the task ahead of me due to the relatively fresh condition of the other water casters here. The frojan, having barely moved and not being forced to use any spells during the battle, were relatively spry.

As spry as one could be for the horrid march ahead of us.

Along the way were a wide range of tracks where the frojan had used their wind boosters to create alternate paths for scouts to follow, crafts they now used to help blend the line of tracks we left behind us into the surrounding snow. Our deception had to be perfect, and I used a scion water spell twice more at key points to make it impossible to tell what direction we were going in. At other points, the frojan used their combined efforts to create imitations of the scion spell.

Tired and needing some kind of sleep on our hard slog, we stopped four or five hours from the airship. With the heat provided by another craft I made for their camp earlier in the week, I slept on a blanket in one small open cave that served as an exit for a small creek from the soil. Gula was plastered against my side, of course. All those nights unaccompanied were a lot lonelier after I had gotten used to having someone to hold and I had no intention of letting the loneliness continue. After a few hours of blessed sleep, those who had taken up the watch woke us with the suns first light struggling to show beyond both the grey clouds and the nights hold.

As the camp stirred to life, I excused myself to go relieve my bladder. While that was also an issue, I took the time to address my medical issue. It was a delicate thing, but I needed to project calm and stability in the coming days if I was going to lead this patchwork of soldiers, maids, pseudo princes, and interdimensional vagabonds, the latter of which I put Cell in considering he came from me, to their glorious future. And self-mutilation did not give people the impression that a man was of sound mind. Besides, I wanted quality time with my wives in the coming days. My task finished, I returned back to the camp of frog men getting ready to leave while scarfing down a meager breakfast.

Out on the trail again with nothing but some hard travel nuts and water in our bellies, we finally arrived back at Dwarf’s Rumble around late morning as Gula and I lead our merry little troop. The two brothers kept their questions to themselves as we travelled over the sharp hills with jagged trees and stones sticking out of them. After a half hour of travel, the grey balloon was seen over the peak of the hill as the faint feeling of a spirit connection from Cell registered. A connection that quickly strengthen as a black spot in the grey sky shot out from the ship and zipped towards me.

The small mass of black liquid with a crystal sphere in the middle only slowed down with a blast of wind just before he hit my chest. A feeling of happiness and comradery was sent to me as he bombarded me with a bunch of images of Salamede setting up a meeting with the dwarves, Durka practicing flying the air ship, and him flying around the area. As he sat on my shoulder, Gretton bounded forward, and I briefly felt the spirit connection he was sending to Cell.

“What manner of craft is that?” Jeff asked with a rub on his slight chin. He moved up the line of Frojan on my left, with Andrew right behind him. They both had some dirt or blood on their white shirts and grey pants but the curious expressions on their faces and oceanic eyes were their most prominent features right now.

“This is my familiar, Cell,” I responded. That prompted a look of shock on their faces, with Andrew going so far as to have his mouth agape. Cell turned the shifting slit of light in his sphere towards them and took off from my shoulder with a blast of wind and landed on Andrews left shoulder.

“This…It’s… what kind of animal is this related too?” Andrew said, his strong chinbones showing some sweat as he took in the ever-changing geometry of Cell’s body.

“None, as far I can tell. Let’s get moving, we’re in the home stretch.” I yelled the last part, prompting a wave of smiles from the Frojan as we pushed on ahead. When we came over the last hill, the full prow of the airship came into view. It was longer than most houses and had three stories as the huge balloon of white cloth above was deflated in and around a metal skeleton to keep it off the ground.

Our little troop stopped for a moment to take in the odd ship. I could tell that they were trying to comprehend the oddities of its construction, from the flat bottom, the lack of sails, to the flat deck with an odd iron spire jutting through the middle. The attempt I was going to make to explain what it was died when I saw Salamede coming down the ladder on the left side of the ship with its front facing away from us.

Without a thought to propriety, I ran forward to my wife as I pulled my cloth mouth face cover down. She had a white shirt and long brown skirt that flapped with her sprint from the ladder and got a bit dirty as the snow was churned up from her running. We slammed into each other, feasting on our lips for a moment of sweetness before pulling back. Her white eyes were filled with love as I ran a hand down the white ridge of her nose. She rubbed a grey furred cheek against my left one before pulling back with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, Eli,” Her rough voice wobbled with her emotion.

We took a moment to soak in each other’s presence before getting another deep kiss going as my travel companions trudged up behind me. The Frojan and the brothers were content to walk up to the ship and inspect its sides for any curiosities while Gula hung back to my left with an amused smirk and her hands on her hips.

“Damn, Eli. Couldn’t wait for- Eek!”

A pull on her right arm brought her closer to me, which she did little to resist. Catching her lips, I let only a moment of savoring her sharp, smoky flavor pass before pulling back and pressing both of them as close to me as possible. With the three of us standing in the snow, their heads resting on my shoulders, I felt that ever elusive thing return to me.

I felt like I was home.

A moment of savoring the feeling was all I could allow myself, though. Moving towards the ship, our hands on each other’s sides before we made our way up the ladder. The flat deck of oak with thick rails was the same as ever, though the presence of Gula’s mother at the helm near the back was different. She was fiddling with the levers and wheel while the smaller brown Kelton woman in a grey dress that was Salamede’s mother gave her some instruction.

Going down the hatch near the furnace tube in the center of the ship, we came down into the oak covered floor with mana lamps dotted along the walls. Aside from another staircase on the opposite end and the door to my personal room behind us, the only changes were the lines of doors along the sides of the now noticeably thinner hall in the middle. That did nothing to stop Lokan, the blue snake woman with a purple robe and slitted red eyes, from curling up near the center by the black tube with the ever-humming spheres in iron boxes around it.

She did a lazy raise of her head towards us with a smile directed at Gula.

“Finally. I was-s wondering when she were going to get a man. Gula was always so sulky when the mood for love struck her. But now I suppose she’ll have the proper outlet for her frustrations.”

Gula puckered her lips and raised her chin.

“Nice to see you to, lefty. I’d hate to interrupt your busy work schedule, but-“

“Quad mage!” Andrew’s voice boomed down the hole in the ceiling. “We’d all like to talk.”

“The dwarves are sending Gashton as an envoy to hear out your proposal, but I think a more thorough explanation is in order. For everyone.” Salamede said with a rub on my right shoulder. Gula gave an equally encouraging nod.

I sighed as I motioned the three women downstairs.

“Let’s meet down on the lower hold. Less wind and more heat down there.” I called up to the sky above.

A few minutes later, we were all down in the lower deck. It was more wide open and had a few chests in the back, but the space was mostly taken up by the inhabitants now. All of whom were enjoying the considerable heat from the furnace above. The left side was occupied by the Frojan and Durka on the left, idly fingering their long weapons and robes or open shirts. Opposite of them were the brothers, Salamede’s mother, and Lokan. The three of us decided to try and make the two groups blend together by having Gula stand on the right and Salamede on the left, an unconscious visual que that our species pasts were not to be considered. An effort that was helped by Cell happily meandering between the two groups. I sat on the stairs leading up to the second floor as all eyes rested on me. When the last of the frojan filed in, I let out a slight cough to officially start the meeting.

“All right, now that we’re all out of immediate danger, I’ll let you in on the whole plan. I suppose you already know how I dealt with the Coalition going after the Kelton community, but there is the future to tend to.”

Baloo stood straighter as he took a step forward, the floor creaking with the green Frojan’s blue robe flapping from the movement.

“I think we’re more interested in the past right now. Your past.” His deep voice reverberated around the room.

“Indeed,” Jeff said, stepping forward as well, away from Andrew on his left and Salamede’s mother. “The origin of Ultimate mages is something that’s always been shrouded in mystery. There have only been four in the past millennia and two of them only just barely having existed as far as records go.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of where this science came from,” Baloo cut in with a nod, “But that would be a nice gem of knowledge to pick up as well.”

A deep sigh escaped my lips as I took a moment to collect my thoughts.

“I’ll start from the beginning. Around some ten thousand years ago, I was working on a ship-“

The deep V’s that quickly formed in everyone’s eyebrows, except for Salamede’s, made me stop for a moment to consider the best ways to go about this. I decided to just dump it all out at once. Though the concept of flying through the stars was a rather farfetched one for their limited perspectives, I decided to not leave any more surprises for my little group. When I fully explained what the hyper lanes between galaxies were, even Salamede looked at me with a questioning gaze.

At the end of explaining my need to remake my connector, I moved towards the conversation I had with Dior. That seemed to particularly interest Andrew and Jeff, pushing aside their anguish over the pointless conflict surrounding my time at the academy. The Frojan looked skeptically between themselves as the two brothers came closer.

“That’s why we can’t find where you lot come from!” Jeff exclaimed with a shake of his ragged black hair, “There’s nowhere for us to look for. Aside from the elves but prying the location from them is as good as it not existing. Though that does raise the question of how long Rodring and his brother were actually capable of producing mana.”

“Nah” One of the older brown Frojan said, his grey eyes looking me up and down with some suspicion. “He came from somewhere. Up above, from the stars, apparently.”

Sensing the distrust from most of the Frojan, and some skepticism from Gula, I got up and turned around to expose the back of my neck to everyone. They all crowded around as I rubbed my hands on the two parallel cysts along my upper spine. Nodding to Cell, who was on one younger red Frojan’s shoulder barely within my vision, he leapt over to me and slammed that cool black mass onto my back. Summoning a water blade, he cut into the left cyst followed by a clench of my teeth to keep the pain on the inside.

I heard several people move forward as I knew the inside of the bump was now exposed. The inner workings of the device were second nature to me, and I knew where to have Cell cut it, even as he used a water and healing spell to stop the bleeding. A screech of metal rang out, followed by a series of yelps and shuffling feet to get away from the red glow of the black metal capsule. I saw some of that light play on the walls with the edges of my vision.

Cell had lightly cut the lower portion designed to store excess metal components for replacing nanites and parts of the chips internal structure. A spot chosen for the lack of crucial data and information contained within. Not that I had any doubts about its repair functions no matter where it was hit, but better safe than sorry. I felt the nanites pouring out of the capsule to repair the breach and retrieve any bits that were on my skin, like something between water and the smallest bugs ever felt. After a few seconds, the damage was repaired, and I had the wound around the AI chip smoothed over into pristine flesh.

“Well?” I said as I turned around to meet the eyes of the rest of the group. The Keltons, orcs, and humans seemed fully convinced while the frojan were merely coming around.

“Was that fire magic?” One of the older frojan said with a turn towards Andrew and the fire ape on his shoulder, who shook their heads in denial.

“Is the moon really a place that we could visit?!” The excited red frojan asked, his amber eyes bursting with excitement as his open white shirt fluttered from his movements.

Ah, the explorer’s spirit.

“Yes…”

“Songoo,”

“Songoo,” I said with an indulgent smile, “And if we prevail I’ll get us to more places beyond even that wonder. But I need time to construct a crude connector and people to run this little society. A lot of people.

The road ahead is dangerous, and I will not insult you by saying it will be without pain or risk. I can’t be everywhere at once and no single tool can guarantee safety. But at the end of this journey will be a society where your life isn’t over when you reach puberty because you didn’t eat enough dragon tails or water naga hides.”

“And a bunch of towering steel buildings with glass? I suppose you want to make our world more like home.” One blue frojan asked.

“Yes. Though I will be looking into the possibility of exploring the magic system that brought me here to try and find my long-lost family, as much of a fools wish that it is,” I admitted. The older Frojan still seemed a bit hesitant, which was understandable considering how crazy I must seem to them right now. Sensing a more…self-interested opening, I seized it. “Even without the prize at the end, I will be using my healing magic to help undo injuries and malice’s to your bodies. Perhaps I’ll even take you back to your prime depending on how mana rich our new home is. To say nothing of how fun playing with more of these crafts will be.”

That did it. Whatever doubts they may have had about my mental state were brushed aside as their faces showed naked eagerness for the return of their youth. Gula rolled her eyes at the last statement, but the way she looked at the magical gun leaning against her side said she was just as eager as the frojan to see what new toys they would be playing with.

“I still think you’re a bit off.” The older brown frojan from earlier said, with a thumb against his green robe, “But maybe not as off as the idiots who’ve led us from one disaster to another.”

Seizing the moment, I made sure to look them all in the eyes, each and every one.

“Now that we all know what I’m about, are we free to move on to the future?”

The Frojan all nodded, along with the humans, orcs, and keltons.

“Good,” I said before moving on to the main event. “We’re leaving towards the northern lands of the Central continent. A frozen wasteland far from any major trade lanes or settlements. Most of the north is so inhospitable that even the Keltons stick to the more southern section. Our home will be among the barren sheer rocks in the sea. We can easily use my magics and tech to provide food, drinkable water, heat, and housing. From there we’ll scour the wastelands for poor lost Kelton souls.”

I had taken a few minutes to see if what I read in the books at the academy matched Salamede’s own lore of her homeland. It did and I could not have been more grateful. Some raised eyebrows from the small crowd prompted me to explain.

“Dying Keltons are the least likely group to betray us, at least before we expand our covert operations. They have no interest in the battle of man and orc. If we can get the people who couldn’t get into the better spots occupied by the major Kelton clans, people who have no fight beyond the next meal and a hot place to sleep, they’ll be the least likely to betray us until we can start discreetly recruiting amongst the human and orc settlements.”

I turned towards the two brothers at that, as did everyone else. They held my gaze, in spite of that.

“People who are going to be executed for associating with, or mating, orcs are going to be the most valuable. I’d bet my life that there are some humans amongst the orcs pretending to eagerly partake of the green women so they can keep an eye open for any happenings or movements. But men being executed for laying with orcs? They, and their families, will be as loyal and reliable as anyone else could ever be. Those are the ones we will be reaching, and we’ll need your experience and diplomatic knowledge to help us navigate those places.”

They both nodded, with Jeff giving a slightly more rigorous head nod.

“You bet. We spent a good summer over there. It was a pain in the ass learning the local customs and legal foibles, but I suppose those hours with the diplomat won’t go to waste now.” Jeff said with a cocky grin.

With that I gave a nod and a clap as I looked to my left where Salamede was standing. “How long until the dwarves arrive?”

“An hour or two.” She responded after a moment’s consideration.

“Speaking of,” Baloo cut in with a cross of his arms as the big green frogman’s blue robes fluttered from the movement. “The dwarves. I know you said something about them giving us supplies in exchange for your crafting ability, but I can’t imagine they’d be ecstatic to hear the quad mage has taken on an orc wife. How confident are you they won’t kill us to hide their involvement and stave off future trouble?”

“Very,” I proclaimed with certainty, “There are too many well-armed people here for them to kill us all without a massive operation, especially with our weapons. To say nothing of the unknown horrors that may be waiting for them in the great quad scions hold. I’ll hold off on giving up the secret of our crafts until we leave and I’m sure the chance for a world-shaking new innovation in crafting will be too much to resist in exchange for some metal bars. But the best assurance is that their self-interest goes against such a plan.

If we disappear with no trace or explanation, everyone will assume I’m with the dwarves after they find I’m not anywhere near the academy town or the Keltons. Killing us and burying our bodies in some hole in the woods doesn’t get them the solitude they want. Exchanging the crafting ability will also help us by alleviating their concerns about future quad element orc scions.”

Satisfied, Baloo nodded. Looking at the rest and seeing no more questions, I started going over all of the needed items when I felt myself sway. The long journey of the road decided I had had enough time talking. A look of understanding from Gula and the Frojan prompted me to abandon whatever tasks I was preparing to delegate.

“An hour or two of rest then,” I declared, to the relieved sighs of the Frojan.

Gula and Salamede stuck by my side as they pushed me up the stairs as the rest of the crew plopped down where they stood. When we were back in my room, I noticed a blue carpet along the oak floor with the wide bed of blue and white sheets still to my right. The window opposite of the door provided some faint light as my two women prodded me towards the shower door on the left.

‘All right,’ I said in a spirit connection to the two women, both of whom gave surprised start before Gula slammed the door shut behind us. ‘Like I said, there is going to be levels of trust in our organization. At the top level is me, you two, and Cell, with everyone else being on descending levels of trustworthiness to one degree or another. Along with that, descending levels of privilege when it comes to knowledge of what we’re doing. Of particular note, Jeff and Andrew. They are the least trustworthy among us so be careful with what you tell them of our backup plans. They’re only here because they felt the sword on their necks and have some very vested reasons to see the magical preferences continue.

So, here’s what we’re only keeping among us four for as long as we can.

I have no intentions of containing all of our hopes and dreams on a few rocky islands. Keep your eyes and ears open for any other places that sound promising. A trip comprised of Cell and one of you in a small ship with our most trusted guards should be enough to make a small base anywhere and I want us to start preparing that angle when we’re established enough that we can start setting up some refuges elsewhere should the need arise.’

They both nodded before a look passed between the two. Gula left my right side while Salamede left to fetch a towel from a spot on the other end of the ship.

“Eli…” Gula bit her lip for a long moment, her horizontal scar across her nose scrunching with her nose.

“Yes?” I said, putting a finger under her chin. She bit her lower lip, her golden eyes looking down for a moment before turning back to me with a firmness in her face.

“That future you talked about. Do you really think that you can make a world where our species can peacefully co-exist?” She said, hope shining in her eyes.

I wanted nothing more in the world than to say yes. One simple word for a smile from one of my ladies. A precious boon for any husband. But, despite my own desires to the contrary, I knew that it would be a lie.

“I can guarantee that only in our territory, more because the humans we’ll be taking in will have already mated orcs or at least worked with them. As for the rest of the world? Removing the overriding prerogative for magical preferences will mitigate that animosity in the territories outside of our main domain. But eliminating it entirely? Such a thing hasn’t happened even between humans of differing ethnicities and races.

The blunt truth is this: all I can promise is that at some point, orcs the world over will be able to eke out something for themselves. Either in official nations or in communities, established and operating in broad daylight. All the while working alongside them will be humans of some capacity and number. Though I will admit your dependence on us for children will present certain challenges as far as family structures go.”

Gula nodded, that hope in her eyes dimming slightly.

“I appreciate the honesty. When you’ve gotten the connector thing rebuilt and all those mountains of glass and steel reaching the sky, I suppose using those things on you neck to forcibly insert the fact that orcs aren’t a threat to humans anymore wouldn’t work?”

A sad shake of my head was all I could give her.

“You can give people all sorts of facts, but how they interpret or categorize them is often a matter personality and experiences. Re-wiring their brains to the point that their attitudes and beliefs shift from you forcing the change through neural remapping would effectively kill them. At least by my peoples standards and that is one area where we were in agreement. To say nothing of how many problems could arise from setting up such a system when I inevitably hand it over to regular workers.”

“I suppose the universe wouldn’t allow things to be that easy,” She said, walking forward and stealing a kiss from my lips. After a moment of savoring the smokey heat, we pulled back. I took a moment to look towards the shower then turned back to Gula with a meaningful nod towards my destination.

“Um…” Gula said with a bit lip before shaking her head. “I don’t think I’m quite ready.”

I nodded as I planted another kiss on her lips. After my farewell kiss, I went into the room by myself and waved her goodbye before closing the door. Taking off my clothes, I set them in a wooden box to my right before walking up to the wooden flower on the opposite side of the room. With the golden glow coming from the square lump of mana crystal above, I took a moment to really appreciate the warm water on my skin before the door behind me opened. Thinking Gula had found her nerve, I was a bit surprised when Salamede came in. She was appropriately dressed for the occasion as her bare breasts swayed from her half sprint up to me.

No words were exchanged. We knew what we needed and took it from each other, both in the shower and on the bed. Salamede ended up having to do most of the work due to my exhaustive trip here, but she went about her labor with glee. As we lay in a sweaty heap on the bed with her chest pressed against mine, we idly kissed each other for a few minutes before getting up to meet the rest of the day.

“Any problems since I’ve been gone?” I asked as I slipped on my pants to the right of the now mussed bed.

“Some food worries, but we’ve more than made do.” My wife said as she pulled her green dress over her horns while standing near the window. “I’ve been reluctant to rely so heavily on the dwarves but there’s not much choice about it considering how dangerous going out into the wilds is. Not that there would have been much to catch here before necrosis.”

She patted her back where the strings of her dress lay loose.

Smiling, I walked forwards and started working the strings into a knot.

“I’m sorry, my lord. I had thought Gula was aware of her wifely duties enough to at least bathe with you,” Salamede grumbled, a cross note in her voice. I finished the knot with a final tug before I grabbed Salamede’s shoulders and rested my cheek on her left one.

“Her whole life just blew up. Now that she has time to rest, she’ll probably need to process that fact before she can think of her romantic life.”

Salamede huffed.

“Ancestors, Eli, you’re everything a woman could ever want. At no time or place should you be wanting for company. What shitty wives you’ve gotten with.”

“Salamede”

Her lips quivered for a moment as I pulled her fully against me.

“I love you. I love you both.” I whispered in her ear, making her bite her lips. “Please. Don’t disrespect my love by insulting the women I’ve given it to.”

She got a stiff lip as she put a hand to the back of my head and kissed me, her snout showing the hard flare of her nose. We took a moment to savor the contact before we pulled away. After a moment of taking in her white eyes, she spoke up again.

“Come. We have lunch and a meeting with the dwarves to prepare for.”

And we did. It was a good hour, after eating a salted pork stew with crackers, that the guests of the day arrived as I was looking out over the deck of my ship. Gashton, the older dwarf with emerald eyes, marched over the snow with a double line of dwarves behind him, a few carrying boxes between them. A few stole a look at the boxes and crafts we had stashed on the right side of the wavy hill before quickly turning back to their duty.

“Hail, quad mage!” The veteran leader bellowed with a twirl of his braided beard that smacked against his red armor and billowing cape. I nodded to the frojan off to my left before moving down the ladder with Gula quickly following behind. Cell came through the air and landed on my white shirts left shoulder as I trudged through the snow laying across the field.

“Greeting, Gashton.” I said with an outstretched hand and a small smile hidden by my cloth wrap, which he promptly took.

“Greetings in kind, Eli. You’ve been a blessing and a curse these past few weeks. Always some disaster or miracle coming along.” He said before shaking Gula’s hand and nodding to his men, who promptly started dropping off the chests to the left. “But you’ve kept things from getting boring at least. There’s never been reports that excited the halls as those concerning you. Both of you.”

At that, he bit his lip, and I noticed the other dwarves were hanging further back. He looked between the two of us with some heavy weight on his mind as he idly thumbed the war axe in his right holster.

“Eli,” He started as he took a deep breath and looked me right in the eyes. “Do you remember how we met?”

“Aye,” I said with a cross of my arms.

“And do you remember what we discussed?”

“Aye,”

His face got some red color as he stomped with his right foot.

“I’m going to need a few more words than that!”

The spat of anger subsided when he saw Gula pull back, her bowl cut of black hair swaying over her white shirt. Gashton pinched the ridge of his nose.

“Eli, we hadn’t even decided on your kissing games with Gula and now you want to fly off to some far away land with her as your wife? Or has Salamede badly bungled your message?”

Gula held her gaze at him with no malice or hurt, while Gashton acknowledged her with a quick glance before turning back to me. I nodded before a casually stretched my arms.

“No, that was the gist of it. Of course, it’s not just Gula who could be a future problem. Who knows what could happen. Maybe I’ll slip on a mountainside someday and fall into the hands of an entire orc tribe.”

Gashton took a moment to nod as I motioned him to follow me to the right near the pile of crafts and boxes.

“Under most circumstances, you’d be bleeding from both ears as my scream rolled over these hills. But I’d like to think my judgement of you wouldn’t be so far off that you would be stupid enough not to have a solution to this problem.”

“Indeed,” I called behind me as we trudged through the snow and came up closer to the boxes with Gula’s equipment scattered on top. “You’re afraid of being outmatched by an army of quad element orcs with familiars, so, let’s make your people as strong as them.”

Gashton gripped his axe handle and I noticed some of the dwarves in the back unconsciously reach for their cross bows. The air, so cold and dreary, now had a palpable tension as the dwarves took a moment to look me up and down.

“And how, exactly, would you do that?” The veteran said with a guarded look.

“We, Gashton. Through the power of crafts, we will make any dwarf as powerful as any of my line.” I said with a grand sweep of my right arm towards the crafts, trying my best to lighten the mood. While Gashton visibly relaxed as he perused the goods, Gula moved forward and started donning the vambraces, shoulder pads, and reached around the back to pick up a long wooden handle with a water sword enchantment that I had thrown together.

Armored up, Gula stood opposite of Gashton. When she activated the water shields and sword, Gashton raised a grey eyebrow to me. I motioned him forward with a nod before pulling back. He huffed and drew his axe before stomping forward through the light snow on this part of the field. After sucking in some mana, he formed a fire construct in his left palm before he dashed forward. A gust of heat blasted over Gula as Gashton raised his axe to hit her right shoulder.

A tactic that quickly failed when her shoulders shield of water crisscrossed with stone deflected the blunt side of his axe and she put the water blade up to his chest. His bushy eyebrows scrunched together as he took a moment to comprehend what had just happened.

“The enchantment didn’t overload,” He said, standing there as he took in every curve of the pads and sword handle. Gula nodded smugly before pulling the sword back.

“Mana batteries layered into the wood?” Gashton asked as Gula handed off the wooden sword handle to him.

He promptly gave it a hard swing through the air. As the swish still rung out, he looked over the shimmering water of the blade. Using another fire construct, the accompanying gust of heated wind continued for a minute before the sword started leaking water out of the bottom. It took a moment before Gashton finally turned to me.

“How? No amount of mana batteries would hold that much mana. This stream,” He pointed to the now small trickle of water coming out of the bottom of the handle, “Even if you had an infinite amount of mana batteries, they would still spill the mana into the siphoning triangles before they filled up. Which should cause the blade section to fail.”

“With my crafting technique, no amount of mana will kill the enchantment.”

His eyebrows shot up at my statement. A quick look towards the sword was all he had to say at first. After a moments consideration he looked back towards me, a glint of greed unmistakable in his emerald eyes.

“And what would we need to part with to obtain the how of that crafting technique?”

I smiled before clapping my hands together.

“An as of now undetermined amount of steel, graphite, and copper. And playing along with my scheme. Once all of that is completed, I’ll instruct anyone you want me to in the art. You can take the sword to test and fiddle with as your higher ups come to terms with my proposal.”

Gashton whistled for one of his dwarves. The big burly fellow with sapphire eyes and brown hair took the water blade from him almost reverently, having seen the demonstration.

“Protect it with your life.” Gashton commanded.

“Hmm,” I interrupted, prompting looks from the both of them, “The method behind it can be used by anyone. If it’s you or the piece of wood… well, I would not want your widows tears on my conscience.”

Gashton huffed before waving his soldier away. I noticed the other dwarves had scrunched around the man when he returned back to the line.

“By the ancestors, Eli. I…” Gashton struggled for a moment as he wiped his forehead with his leather covered left hand while he had his axe back in the holster and was squeezing its pommel with his right hand. “Do you realize what is happening here? Everything is changing by the hour. Mages aren’t going to be needed anymore aside from support positions. Scions… your power will be severely diminished if this method of crafting is let loose into the world. Are you comfortable with that?”

A bitter taste filled my mouth as I puckered my lips.

“I have never desired power. What my heart yearns for is family and the love of those who care for me. If I had had any choice in the matter I would have lived as a simple crafter or a one element caster for a few months or years. But fate had other plans and now I have to maneuver around the greedy parasites in the Coalition, Phoenix empire, and some pirates with ambitions.”

“Not just them,” Gashton said with a sigh as he strummed his fingers “We got word of a powerful mage from the City and some mages from the Bodring kingdom pairing up with the Rodring kingdom. Everyone is involved now. Every major human power in the world is coming for a piece of you. There was an unspoken relief when Salamede spoke of some plan to divest ourselves of this mess. Your heavy involvement with us has a lot of people on edge now that the hammer is dropping.”

“I’m sure. But if I just disappeared, we both know which two groups they’d go after.”

Gashton bit his lip as he nodded, knowing all too well of my misadventures with the Coalition and the Kelton community. At that, Gula stepped forward and pulled down my cloth cover to kiss me. When she finished, she plastered herself against my right side.

“But he has a way to deal with all of it.”

Gashton raised his eyebrows at her smug tone and looked at me with a hint of eagerness in his eyes. Not keeping him in suspense, I told him of my plan and how the dwarves could help assure that there would be the proper assignment of blame at the end of it.

“Simple, yet effective.” He said at the end.

“Well, what say you?” I asked, a note of eagerness now coming clear through on my end.

The dwarf veteran nodded with a sway of his grey beard.

“I’m sure they’ll be eager to accept. This gets you out of our land and someone else gets the executioners axe. Any amount of our materials would be worth trading if it meant getting ahold of your crafting secret. Which will be promptly delivered as I’d bet a year’s pay no one in the council will be dumb enough to hold up the proceedings. Good day to you, quad mage. You’ve certainly given me one.” He said with an outstretched hand, which I promptly shook.

After he shook Gula’s hand, he turned around and went back to his troop. They moved off as the Frojan came from the ship to help us move the boxes and chests. I spent the rest of the day with Cell, various members of the Frojan, and the two brothers making chests with expanded storage. When a dozen space expanded chests, each nearly a full ships hold themselves, were completed, all the casters laid sprawled on the deck from exhaustion.

“Dammit!” Jeff moaned to my left, laying near the younger red Frojan while I finished up a swig of water from my cup as I sat on a crate. “I don’t know how you scions keep up with this much spell work.”

Andrew was leaning against the railing to the right and just shrugged.

“It comes with the turf.” He said idly.

“When it’s as easy as breathing, endurance counts for very little. Though bigger single spells still hurt like hell if the scale is large enough,” I said, wincing at the memory of taking out the underground base near the swamps. Hours of agony were worth it in the end, but it didn’t make the memory any less unpleasant.

“Time heals it better than anything else is what the doctor said,” The rough voice of Salamede called out from the hatch on the left. She held a platter of sandwiches and was followed by Durka carrying a pitcher of water. Behind her was Gula carrying a tray of mugs, both mother and daughter were now done up in brown dresses and flowing white shirts.

“Damn,” One of the older brown Frojan exclaimed. “Gula wearing a dress. The winds of change are truly blowing through the world.”

She stiffened her upper lip and gave him a solid kick in the shin before placing a mug in his webbed hands.

“It’s because my pants got so dirty from carrying your worthless hide across the snow. Now fill your mouth before I ask Salamede to toss your portion of food over the side of the ship.”

A few light chuckles sounded out as we settled in for a lunch. As the meal of sliced bread with chicken in the middle was nearly completed, Salamede got up from my right for an announcement.

“After we’re done here, I’ll start teaching each of you the technique for making the crafts.”

All the mages eyebrows shot up at that followed by a few of the Frojan and Jeff scurrying forward.

“How could you?” The dual mage asked with a raised right eyebrow.

Salamede raised her right eyebrow and put her hands to her green dresses hips.

“By instructing you. I can’t see your crafts, but when I show off mine, you’ll see that I know what I’m talking about.”

“I…yes. I know that. How could you have become a crafter? I’m certain the magical resources needed to make you one would be immense.”

Her grey fur ruffled from her smug smile as she turned around.

“Eli was quite generous in giving out his magical bounty. At least to me. Something that will continue as I need every advantage I can get in the coming trials.” Her white eyes met mine as she reached for a few bark pieces behind her crate. The long lick of her lips suggested she fully intended to take that advantage, just as she had earlier. Not trusting myself to keep the mood out of my eyes, I lifted my mug for a long swig.

For a few days, it continued in much the same manner. Salamede instructed the magically gifted, I worked on chests and some small items for our eventual home. At night, Gula shared our bed but never partook of our marriage bonds, even if they weren’t made official by a ceremony. Their legitimacy was something that I asked her about as we lay in the blue and white bed with both of them in night gowns and using my bare chest as a pillow.

“Is that really it? Just a simple yes?” I asked as I watched the moonlight pour out of the window.

“Eli, it’s not like marriage is really a thing for orcs. Getting a kid consensually is about as far as romantic aspirations go.” Gula idly said as she mussed my hair for a moment before sticking her sharp chin back into my side.

“You’re not just an orc, you’re my woman. And by god, I want everyone to know it. Everyone who should know it, anyway,” I pouted. Her green lips wobbled as she got an uncertain look.

“Gula,” Salamede said with a reach over my chest to rub the soft lace covered shoulder of the orc. “You’re going to be bigger than Borba. Bigger than any orc that has ever come before you. When we have other orcs here, you’re going to be defining what an orc is. Do try to use that power for good and don’t let the bitter thoughts of your mind out. If you say ‘this is what an orc is’, that will be the truth from then on to all who hear it. For who could say what an orc ought to be if not the one who snagged a marriage vow from the greatest mage in history?”

Gula’s golden eyes went wide as saucers, stretching the vertical scar along her left eye. She bit her lip before burying her face in my shoulder, not saying a word. That prompted a little smile out of me. Kissing her head before turning to kiss Salamede, I drifted to sleep and was awoken by the day all too soon.

The dwarves had arrived with the needed prisoner.

Drugged into a coma, the doomed gang member had the needed body frame and with my healing magic, he soon had the needed features and lack of tattoos. This time, Gashton arrived in the morning sun with several carriages piled high with bars of steel, copper, and slabs of graphite. As I walked over the snow-covered field, my breath leaving a fog where it escaped my cloth cover, one dwarf jumped out of the door of one of the carriages to the right.

He had wild brown hair, a big nose, and a manic look in his ruby eyes as his brown leather coat and grey pants with matching shirt fluttered from his sprint towards me. The newcomer stopped right by Gashton, practically hopping in place with his brown boots. A look passed over the veterans face before he coughed into his hand.

“Most grand mage, I am pleased to introduce the leader of the Deven League’s magical resource and crafting research initiative, Maldran.”

Not wasting a second, Maldran stepped forward, hand outstretched and the smile of an eager child left undisguised.

“Well, Maldran, today is the day.” I said with a grand gesture towards the crate on my right with long pieces of bark laying atop it.

“The craft was most amazing, though your promise was not completely true as it was not totally immune to spell attacks.” He said to my right with an eager tone as we started walking to the crate.

“Really?” I said, raising an eyebrow over my cloth face mask.

“Pff!” Gashton scoffed to my left, “Yeah, I suppose if you count only barely being overwhelmed by over a dozen earth and fire spells all at once a failing, you could say it was a false promise. I think the council were all the more impressed after that test.”

The sound of moving golems and the grind of metal being moved sounded out as the workers started filling the various chests to the brim. There were a few food items, but I could make whatever food I needed with plant magic or fishing. As the big, almost spherical golems moved my goods, I grabbed the piece of bark off of the crate. Sure, there were probably grander pieces to use for this demonstration. But there was something about using bark pieces to sus out the intricacies of crafting that reminded me of a less… extreme time. Even if that time existed only for a few weeks.

Gashton struggled through the pulse concept, but Maldran’s red eyes went wider and wider as he grasped the implications of communication between the squares. After a few tries, he got the basics of the concept down. When the enchantment he created on one piece of bark put out a solid bar of fire, I hit it with a blast of wind. After the initial failure period as the mana moved between the squares, the bar of hot flame reformed.

The look of innocent wonder on his face sent a pang of jealousy through me. As thrilling as it was to implement these techniques and technologies, there was a special wonder about getting to experience it for the first time that I was going to be forever denied. Gashton seemed impressed, though more so for what the practical affects rather than the intricacies behind the technical explanation.

“Marvelous!,” Maldran exclaimed as he put his own gust of heat into the enchantment with a fire construct in his right palm, “To think you came up with this in a basement with nothing to work with but bark pieces! The implications of this. I’m trying to think of all the crafts we could make or change to the forges but the enormity of what I’ve learned these past few minutes… Oh, I don’t think I’ll be bored for many years hence.”

I gave a gracious bow before turning to Gashton to my right.

“Am I correct in assuming that our deal has concluded?” I said to the two dwarves. A shake of messy brown hair from the researcher confirmed it to Gashton, who promptly stuck out a hand to me again. Taking the hand, I made sure to look him in the emerald eyes before looking over towards the right.

“Indeed,” Gashton nodded with a small grin. “If time or circumstance ever allows you to visit us, know you will receive a kings welcome.”

I absently acknowledged the gesture before I found the carriage that held the prisoner.

“How long until you’re ready to move out?” I asked as I turned back to him.

Gashton bit his lower lip as he followed my gaze.

“Now, actually.”

I looked back to him with a raised eyebrow. He huffed before he started walking off with Maldran and briefly turned around.

“You may have had a few light days, but it’s been anything but relaxing for the rest of us. When the armies turned towards here, a lot of the civilians got moved further west while some held up in that backwoods town with big square houses. The affection the undead have for that place pushed the Phoenix Empire and the Mist pirates to take a few longer backroads since such fighting would be a longer delay. Still, they’ll be in this region in the next day or so since the coalitions efforts to slow them down have been side-stepped. I’d suggest you not actually be here. When they find your body, we’ll need to make sure they have nowhere else to look or blame.”

With that he did a light salute before stomping off through the snow back to his men, who were now nearly done with their labor. Despite the long line of carriages, it was only the last one that was left with no chest to dump off its cargo of steel and copper bars. With one final wave goodbye, I helped the Frojan move the chests up the ship and into the hold. As I placed one in the crowded lower hold, I felt a tap on my right shoulder.

“We’ve got the last chest coming in now. We’re ready to shove off if you are.” One larger blue Frojan said with a shake of his white shirt as he went back into the mid-section. Walking up the stairs, I headed up the main hatch and into the bitter winter cold. While the sudden temperature change was bracing, the cold got a lot better when I came up to the steering wheel and its various levers. Considering we may have one person flying for hours at a time, I made it a wide chair with heating enchantments to warm the cushions and air just above it along with a water repulsion field for rain.

Around me were the Frojan sprinkled about with the brothers and Andrews familiar to my right and to my left were my wives with their mothers. Lokan lounged around the back of the chair and kept her body temperature up with a thick brown blanket wrapped around her. Cell dropped down from somewhere up in the balloons scaffolding and ropes. After he sent me a spirit connection filled with vague feelings of warmth, I gripped the wheel and pulled down one lever.

The huge steel pipe in the middle of the flat deck sent up a blast of heated air into the cloth construct wrapped around its end. When the cloth stretched around the steel frame, we lifted off he ground. There was a hard shift to the left as the wind pushed us around from our newfound freedom. Though I was more focused on the cries of the brothers who were hysterically clinging to the thick wooden railing.

“I thought this thing was a boat!” Jeff shouted as he looked on in disbelief at the ground that was now pulling away from us. Andrew didn’t even try to comprehend what was happening, instead opting to run down the hatch and back towards something he could understand.

“Nah,” Baloo called, looking like he wanted to puke, “But Gula said once you get used to it, it is a lot like being in a boat. Just don’t ever look down or throw anything over the side. You’ll only panic yourself when you realize how long it takes to hit the ground.”

Jeff nodded with sucked in lips as he couldn’t look away from the shrinking landscape. I was going to give him a piece of my own advice when I saw his eyes turn up. Looking past him, I saw what drew his gaze. It was a long company comprised of dozens of lines of dwarves with long ballistae’s and magical cannons between them. It would be quite a convincing show of force for anyone questioning their true intentions.

After some time spent zipping over the landscape, I finally saw the two other guests to the party far, far below me. I was alone now as the others couldn’t stay in the cold and Cell liked playing with his familiar friend down in the bowels of the ship. Which was just as well as this felt like a very private moment. Along the white canvas that laid beyond the railing was a rising mountain of steam with the sharp, hard legs of various smaller crustaceans along the steams edges. Smaller, as they only seemed to be the size of small mansions or larger houses. Occasionally, I could see the swing of some humongous, long leg that had proportions suggesting the mountain had a living center. Each swing was promptly followed by a loud crunch and the sound of churning soil.

Further off to the right, were the phoenixes. They were blasting waves of fire into the snow-covered grounds to make way for the troops below. A frenzied need had taken hold of them that was so great, they were leveling hills and mounds of dirt as they did so. The two had yet to come to blows as their prey was within…

Turning around, I finally recognized the mountain off in the distance. It was one I had worked around when I had trudged through this region in my earlier days here. My mental map of the area formed in my head, laying out roads, hills, and cliffs as I followed my minds eyes to the two armies targets.

A multi-story castle with white teeth painted around its walls.

For all of that miserable gang leaders smarts, Maw, he let obsession get the better of him. He couldn’t let the quad mage go and decided to get his revenge, consequences to his betters be dammed. An all too common thing when magicless peasants get uppity and develop foolish fantasies of getting involved in the lofty heights of magical affairs. Such mighty dreams only cloud their already dim wits.

Or something to that affect will be said when the torturers are using every trick, tool, and technique of their craft to extract their vengeance out of him. Or when he’s being fed to the giant crabs. Or being pecked to death by the phoenixes. Who knows what inventive and creative energy will be found for his fate when the silver haired, purple eyed body is found under a crumbled wall.

A wall that the dwarven spies made sure crushes the esteemed prisoner beyond recognition while still leaving a purple eyes off to the side and silver hair plain as day.

And what objection will he and his compatriots have then?

After all, when confronted with the fact that the scouts found the bodies of his men left behind at the attack site, along with a few rangers, will he still play the stupid, unknowing man then? What play on words or chain of lies will he and his army of sycophants weave to their captors in the smoking ruins of their stronghold to try and save themselves from their leaders own hubris?

A cruel smile crept up my face.

Good luck.

Assholes.

The ship paid no heed to my musings, though, and quickly sped past the two marching armies and on towards the western regions. After another long draught of eventless flight, an unexpectedly sad sight greeted me. It was the fields around the academy town. I couldn’t quite make out the gleaming walls and central tower of white from this distance, but I knew enough of the land and curves of the river to establish it was a bit further towards the left, if memory served me well.

For a brief moment, I saw the places I would have put skyscrapers. I saw the massive airport, universities, server complexes, and hydro farms I would have built here. Along the banks and hills of these lands I could have built a future beyond anything anyone here could have ever dreamed. In this moment of time, I, perhaps for the first time, began to truly feel the loss of that future. All the good I could have done, all the wonders and innovations I could have… would have brought to the every-day lives of the struggling masses through the workings of my own hands.

It was all gone.

And it wouldn’t be coming back for a very, very long time.

At what point was it lost? Was it after the tournament? Or perhaps when the censure came down, that was when the supports gave out and the whole project was destined to fall through. The government going after Salamede? It was well and truly gone then, but the things leading up to it were what set that in motion.

Maybe if I had been a little more patient, less paranoid. If I had guarded my heart a bit more and not let Salamede and Gula grip it to the point I felt happy just being near them. I wouldn’t put out children from dozens of different women, so maybe that….

I smirked to myself as I adjusted my position in my seat.

An old man stuck on the how’s and what if’s of the past. That’s what I was right now. The future is what I needed to be focused on. That provided a decidedly less appealing visage though. Blood, horror, and hatred were what lay before me now.

I pondered on that for a while before I heard a laugh from below deck. It was a pure thing from Gula, followed by a chortle from Salamede. Stiffening my spine, I shook my head as the ship shot over the landscape. The cloud enchantments continued billowing mist along the hull as the still low sun shined over the white hills and fields below.

Love.

And all the bloodshed, pain, and despair I would inflict on this world to protect it.

That was my future now.

The deck tilted from a gust of wind before the ship righted itself. With that, we left these lands behind and towards far colder, drearier wastes of freezing seas and meager food. At least, until that day when we would stand tall and return to drag this place into a better future.