“Nice to see our council seats filling up. Johan, Sazor, it’s bloody good to see you made it. Reunited with the kids?”

“Johan beamed wildly, yes my lord. We owe you our lives and our futures.”

I cringed. I’d just had that shit off my Nystiobek Aspirants, and now I was getting it here. If this kept up, I was going to have to stop rescuing people.

“We feel the same,” Sazor said. “Because of your help, we were able to rescue our families and get them here relatively safely.”

“We found almost another four thousand people to join us on the journey,” Johan added. “The strength in numbers helped us a lot in navigating Kalabri.”

“With their numbers and the others we’ve managed to rescue close by, our town is booming,” Joel said. “We’re at around ten thousand people now.”

“That’s actually pretty terrifying,” I replied with a smile, to show I wasn’t serious. “We hope to be bringing around another six thousand when I come south. Hopefully not longer than a month if things go well.” I caught Grimstrom from the corner of my eye raising an eyebrow at that.

“When we do come back,” I continued. “We might need some help. I dare say we’ll be coming in hot.”

“Aren’t you always,” Joel said. “So have you had any trouble off Natom? You think the people you found are strong enough to help us against him?”

I stared at him slack jawed. “Shit! You don’t know?”

He didn’t need to answer with anything more than his expression. I turned to Grimstrom. You didn’t tell them?”

Shuffling uncomfortably in his chair as everyone’s eyes turned on him, he shrugged. “We weren’t even sure what had happened and you gotta remember it’s a long way away. It took a while for word to travel down to from the north.”

“I’d normally agree if you didn’t have bloody portals and all other ways of communicating.”

“Aye, but we still weren’t certain, and it’s only been a damn week, Clive. Nobody was expecting you to kill Stada and become the Protector of the North as well.”

“So you killed the bastard?” Joel asked, interrupting.

“Well, kinda. He has an immortal soul, so we were only able to kill his body. But it takes nigh on a year for him to regenerate a new one.”

“So he’s unkillable?” Sanyl asked aghast. “How can you fight against such strength?”

“Sort of. There are ways to kill his soul. The gods could do it easily and I’m going to work out how to do it before he comes back.”

“Do you know how he managed to achieve such a thing?” Grimstrom asked.

“Dunno. But I’m guessing it’s because he was a Seraphim. Human evolution four, for those who don’t know. I think there are at least ten ways to achieve an Ethereal spirit and they all come with their own buffs. I don’t know if they’re all possible without other levels, but certainly reaching Seraphim and gaining a certain amount of followers are two definite ways to do it.”

When I finished talking, I noticed that they were all looking at me with peculiar expressions.

“I’m just going to go ahead and ask what everyone is thinking Clive. Have you got an Ethereal Spirit, are you Immortal, and have you got a certain amount of followers?”

I laughed at his straight talking. “That’s why I love you Joel. You don’t beat about the bush. Yes, my physical body can be killed, but not my soul. Not unless someone knows something I don’t, which is highly likely. And yes, I have followers. I didn’t ask them. I didn’t want them to do it. But they wanted to. Before you judge, they aren’t bonded servants anymore. They’re Aspirants and Clerics. Twenty of those who left with me, and now a hundred and six Nystiobek. Eight of whom are Nanooks.”

“You bonded all those people,” Joel asked clearly, still not happy.

“Yeah, man, ‘fraid so. But it’s not like you think either. They’re not tied to me like they were as bonded servants. They don’t die if I die, they don’t have to do what I say and when they pray, I get Ethereal energy. That might sound like a one-way street, but it was that which allowed me to finish off Natom and Stada.”

I waited for a response from the shocked, silent faces around the table when Johan surprised me by standing bolt upright. As his chair scraped back on the floor, I thought he was going to start shit. That wasn’t what happened.

“I will swear,” he snapped, abruptly.

“Nah, Jonah. You don’t have to do that, man. I’m not actually looking to add to the followers I’ve got. I was kinda railroaded into it.”

“If my swearing gives you the power to battle these incredible forces we are pitted against, then I want to swear. How do I go about it?”

I felt guilty about even mentioning it now, and that feeling intensified as Sazor stood up next to Johan. “I will swear too. For you have saved the lives of my entire pack and given us a home. You fight up north against our common enemy and continue to protect us and others. In this way, I can help you in your battles as you help Far Reach by fighting them.” He slammed his fist against his chest with a resounding thud in a kind of salute.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Johan was quicker. “Do not try to deny us Lord Clive. The choice to follow you is our own. Not yours.”

That wasn’t technically true. I could reject his prayer. But he had a point and well. Fuck it, in for a penny, in for a pound. I’d already crossed the line and was up to my neck with that particular moral quandary.

“Let me lay out for you, guys. What it would mean. As an Aspirant, you can sense and will follow the essence of my will, rather than being required to follow the letter of my word. Meaning you are completely autonomous apart from that you will find it difficult to do anything that I would disapprove of. And you provide me with 3% of your Neuma pool, not including praying to me. At some point, I reckon this means I can give out powers and stuff, but just not at the moment.”

“I’m comfortable with that,” Johan replied resolutely. “How do I do it? Through prayer?”

“Before I answer, I want you to understand that I can’t free you though, dude. You can’t change your mind. Maybe in the far distant future I can, and I will if you want me to. But there are no guarantees.”

“I can’t repay the debt I owe for the children you saved. But I can try.”

I let out a long-suffering sigh. Hell, he could do it if he really wanted to, but not for the wrong reasons. “You don’t owe me a debt, Johan. Or you, Sazor. That’s all in your mind. If you really feel there is a debt then just go help others who need it. Job done. Simples.”

As I spoke, I felt a tiny tendril of Neuma touch my core. I looked from Johan to Sazor. He was bloody praying. With a shrug, I locked it to my core. I couldn’t give anymore warnings than I had.

Congratulations: You have bonded another to your core. Please assign a rank:

Rank 1. Bonded Servant

Rank 2. Follower

Rank 3. Devoted

As the notification appeared for him, I set him at Rank 3, Devoted. His Identifier changed immediately.

Sazor: Level 48. Aspirant of Clive. Woltar (Wultr II).

Moments later, a tendril from Johan landed on my core and for a moment my mind wandered on the fact that people could subconsciously access their Neuma in this way and not even know what they were doing. Something to unpick later. For now I hooked him to my core, gave him Rank 3, Devoted. Then watched as his Identifier changed.

Johan: Level 49. General of Issel. Aspirant of Clive. Elman (Human II).

Satisfied all was as it should be, I looked back to those gathered around the room trying to gauge their response to what I’d just done.

“So we’re gonna need a Church of Clive after all,” Joel grumped, but I was relieved to see he didn’t seem too unhappy.

“Don’t worry about it mate. I can live without a church,” I laughed, more to ease the strange atmosphere a little.

“I’ve got you a restaurant, already,” he grinned.

“You have?”

“Well, kinda. There’s a shell of a building with water to it. Still needs all of the fixtures and fitting, but I thought you’d want to sort all of that out. I know what a finicky shit you are. Once you’re back, we can tart it up as you want. I mainly just wanted to stake you out a plot out close to the castle while there was still space.”

“Thanks dude. I appreciate that. I can’t wait to get back properly. I could do with a moment to put my feet up and just hang around for a day or too.”

“Well, I doubt that’s gonna happen any time soon,” he replied. “Especially if you’re bringing five thousand more people. We better get busy making a place for them.”

“Thanks, man. Though a fair few of them will be in the forests. So Zeine, you might wanna look at extending what you can.”

“Olata’s tribe?” he asked, teary eyed.

“Yeah man. They’re coming.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “I hardly have the words to explain what an amazing addition to our forests they will be, Lord Clive,” Zeine said.

“Do we need to do anything for you Lord Clive?” Johan asked for both him and Sazor.

“No guys, just do whatever you’ve been doing. We’re all stronger for the bond and I’ll get power from you passively. And don’t worry overly much about that either. You won’t miss it.”

They both nodded, and I could sense they were both proud of what they’d done. Mad buggers.

“So, Everyone. As much as I’d really like to stay here. I should probably get going now. Sania, Danivra and our Nystiobeks are heading towards a battle, and I need to catch up with them before they get there.”

“Wait!” Scralex said. “North is poor food. Is your hunting good for so many?”

“No, mate, it’s tough, but we're managing.”

“Take supplies!”

“You know mate, that’s not a bad bloody idea. The information about the power said it only works with one person, but I can try to carry some food. Have we got enough to spare?”

There was laughter at that, as Joel answered. “We been stock piling heavily in case of siege. Dried meat, Dried fruit. Pickles then there’s bread baked every day. You should be able to take a good haul back with you.”

“Oh, Sania and the others are going to be stoked when I rock up with a load of food. I can come back often to grab stuff. Hell, I could even take some other stuff,” I said excitedly at the revelation as ideas went through my mind. “We’ve got a group of Goblins, so maybe I could even get some weapons to them. The crab they’re using at the minutes more likely to kill them.”

“Come on then. I’ll take you down to the stores,” Joel said. “Lierin, will you go and get a few loaves of bread.”

“Sure, she said, jumping to her feet. “How many?”

“Just a few this time,” I said, my stomach rumbling at the thought of fresh bread. I’d grown so used to not having much to eat, I barely acknowledged the hunger I felt.

“I’ll have to fly with what I carry quickly. Though I can’t wait to stop and get tucked in.”

As Joel stood and waited, I turned back to the table. “Alright guys, it’s been great to see you all. I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

I thought I would be able to walk away, but no. Everyone wanted to come and shake my hand or hug me and say goodbye properly.

Apart from wanting to get back, I didn’t mind at all, and part of me was flattered that anyone gave this much of a shit about me. It was still hard to believe some days. I followed Joel down the stairs outside the main hall, into the basement. As we descended, I saw the whole pace had been dug out, floored and other rooms stretched off underground.

“What do you think?” Joel asked proudly. “There’s even a tunnel down into the Nideland should we need to escape at any point.” It’s further back in the stores.

“I think we better fucking hope it’s not the Nideland we need to escape from,” I replied with a hint of bitterness.

“It won’t be,” Grimstrom said from above. I hadn’t even seen the fucker proving that dwarves could indeed be sneaky when the mood took them.

He came clomping down the rest of the stairs now we’d seen him.

“We’re not your enemies Clive.”

“Sure, sure. I believe you, totally, Grimstrom,” I replied sarcastically. “Just a little jumpy around you guys at the minute. I’m sure you’ll be able to re- prove your good faith in time, though. Yeah?”

He muttered something about all they’d done so far for me, but I couldn’t make it out clearly, as he spoke the words he wanted me to hear.

“Of course, Clive. I’m sure this will all be water under the Nideland soon enough.”

He didn’t say anything else but seemed intent on following us around the stores as I filled a rough woven hessian sack that Joel carried.

I focused mainly on dried fruit and meat as they were light and easy to carry. Filling the sack almost to the top, I left enough room for the bread that Lierin was now making her way down to the basement with, in a wicker basket.

I took the basket gratefully before placing the eight still warm loves into the sack before tying the top. My stomach grumbled at the scent of the loaves and I couldn't wait to get back to everyone else to eat it all. It would be an excellent pick me up before the coming battle.

“Okay guys, I guess that’s me off then.”

Joel nodded. “Good Luck then, mate. And be careful, will you?”

“Always careful could well be my middle name,” I said with a smile.

“One thing before you go,” Grimstrom said. We all looked at him with interest.

“Yeah?”

“Are you still intent on keeping your deal with Darkness?” he asked, reluctantly.

I shook my head, a little confused. “We didn’t have a deal, Grimstrom. He suggested that I get strong and to collect and protect the neutrals of Kalabri. Which is exactly what I’m doing and would have been doing, anyway.”

“But you have an… agreement to be allies, yes?”

“We are allies,” I replied suspiciously, though that was never actually part of any agreement. “You’re freaking me out Grimstrom. What the hell do you want to know?”

He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Can Darkness still trust you after the fallout with Egard? You're not intending to go behind his back?”

“Has he even got a back?” Joel queried, which I couldn’t help but laugh at. Grimstrom didn’t see the funny side.

“Look Grimstrom, we’re good, okay. If Darkness plays it straight, then there’s nothing at all to worry about.”

The head Guardian of Nuinaer seemed to relax at that. “Good. Do you know when you will be back here for a visit?”

“No idea man. Whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

He nodded,” Fair enough. I need to go back under, but I’ll probably come back up to the surface for when you next arrive. Hopefully, you can stay longer and we can have a better talk.”

I wasn’t too enthused with the idea, in all honesty. When I came back, I wanted to look around the town and talk to everyone who was here with me. Probably try to smooth things out with Mal a little too. The most precious things I had were the relationships with the people close to me. Grimstrom, despite me liking him, would always be on the other side as far as I was concerned.

“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll have time,” I replied. “Now, Gotta go,” I said hauling the sack off food over my shoulder. “I can’t communicate with my other aspirants at this range, though I can with Danivra, who’s a Cleric. So once Johan and Sazor reach Cleric I’ll be able to let you know when I’m coming back. Might be back properly by that time, though.”

“Well if you’re not, that’ll come in handy,” Joel agreed. “If a little creepy.” Lierin punched him in the arm.

“Love you guys,” I said to the pair of them as I focus on my internal map.

I selected yes, and appeared in the exact spot I’d left… without the pack of food.

“FUCK!” I screamed to the sky. I’d been so looking forward to the soft fluffy white bread.