November 1, 2021 - Pharendria, Iowa

He stood on the hastily erected walls of the Elven city, a cruder and less elegant city he was certain he had never seen. Turning his back to the city, he looked out over the rolling plains of their new territory. This was a world of lands so tamed they had forgotten the truth of themselves. Wild grasslands and tangled forests had been stripped bare and replaced by acre after acre of farmland and artificial pasture.

It was a desecration of the divine.

His faded gray eyes looked out over that desecrated land and for a moment he imagined what it would have been like before the scourge of humanity tumbled across its wilderness. What great beasts would have ruled this land in those days? Would beauty ever return to this desolate wasteland?

General Leander shook his head and turned away from the land beyond the walls of Pharendria and headed for the throne room and his meeting with the Emperor. It would not do to be late to such a meeting, but the General didn’t hurry. He rarely hurried.

“You may approach the throne.” The Chancellor’s rich voice echoed in the mostly barren room. The gray stone walls and floor were mostly unadorned, a mere shell of a true throne room and a telling sign that the Emperor had no intention of settling into this outpost for long.

It was General Indalis who approached first. He prostrated himself on the floor at the foot of the Emperor’s throne, his short chestnut hair barely moving out of place. “Your Excellence.” His voice was like gravel tumbling down a slope littered with scree.

“We will hear your report, General.” The Emperor’s hand fluttered in a lazy gesture as he spoke.

“Yes, Excellence.” The General rose to his knees, but no further. “We have scouted several days travel in every direction. Several hours to the west there may be a more suitable location or a city. A good sized river surrounded by thick forest. Cliffs and caves as well.”

“We have found this location adequate.” The Emperor mused.

“Adequate.” The Chancellor echoed. “Your Excellence, surely adequate is not enough for the Empire.”

“We see your point, Nathariel. We shall have the location investigated, but consider that we cannot move the Rift.”

“We cannot, but we have plenty of troops to guard the Rift while we settled in a much more pleasant location.” The Chancellor offered. He stood just behind the bare throne, to the right hand of his Emperor.

“We have been told that this world has an abundance of people who can be collared into service.”

“Yes, your Excellence.” General Leander said, stepping forward to prostrate himself next to Indalis.

The Emperor made a small gesture with one hand and one of the servants was there with a chilled glass of wine. He drank slowly, his piercing blue eyes studying Leander, leaving the elder general laying on the ground as he drained the entire glass.

“We have seen no collared servants yet, General.”

General Leander drew a slow breath. “None have been captured yet.”

“This shall be rectified. Nathariel, see to it.” The Emperor set the glass aside, the servant right there to catch it as it fell from his hand, and rose from the throne. His robes swished between the two generals as he left.

For a long moment, there was absolute silence in the throne room, then the Chancellor spoke. “General Indalis, take a sizable escort and the Archmagus to investigate the site for the new city.” The general bowed his head in acknowledgement, rose to his feet and left the room.

As the rest of those gathered filed out, leaving General Leander still prostrate on the ground, the Chancellor drew in a deep breath. “You spoke out of turn, Oscyll.”

“Yes.” Came the General’s voice, muffled by his position.

“Given three days, how many collars can you put to use?”

“Give me three days and all of my men and I will have five hundred collared slaves for the Emperor.”

“Then bring him a thousand.” The Chancellor said as he too swept out of the room.

November 2, 2021 - Near Pharendria, Iowa

“Shit, boss.” Jump said, her eyes glued to the columns of soldiers leaving the pile of boxes that seemed to make up the elven city.

“Shit’s right.” Captain James said as he studied the arms and armor of the troops, mentally tallying them up.

The last of the elven troops left the city and the two soldiers ducked back down into the ditch. “Two thousand troops, it looked like. Heading straight west.” James’ tone was bleak. “There’s civilians that way.”

“Orders, sir.” Jump said, her generally bright tone, dull. “We don’t have the firepower to deal with this kind of threat.”

“Can’t outrun them either, warn the civilians.” James mused as he put his binoculars back in their pouch. “What the hell are we supposed to do?”

“You’re the boss, boss.” Jump said. She lead the way along the ditch and back toward their basecamp.

It was times like these where being the boss just wasn’t worth it. He thought. “When do we expect support?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him, her expression unusually grim. “I don’t expect support, boss. But the messengers should have arrived by now.”

“Nice of the Nolans to lend us a pair of horses.” James said.

“They said it was the least they could do to thank us for our service.”

James shook his head. “What the hell good is our service going to do the civilians still in Ames?”

“Not a bit of it.” She admitted.