Empire Builder 1: Breed, Populate, Conquer by Dante King (free e books to read online txt) 📕

resist looking down between the planks. Had anyone who’d ever been told not to look down when crossing a huge height ever managed to do it? His throat went Sahara dry. Far below, he could see a spindly tree growing out of the cliff face like a weed. A small white shape rested on the trunk. It was a skeleton.

Ben swallowed his fear. It wasn’t like he could stay on this hillside forever. He shuffled further out onto the bridge. It began to sway under his weight, and he had to place his feet with great care. The bridge was nearly a hundred yards long, no short distance by any means.

Melody appeared happy as a lark in comparison, lightly hopping from plank to plank behind him as if she were crossing a stone path.

She smiled sympathetically as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

“There is nothing to be afraid of,” she said. “This bridge has hung here for centuries, unchanged. Or so I am told.”

He really didn’t think that was very encouraging, much as it might have been meant to be. This old bridge could collapse at any moment.

Melody stopped and got a look on her face as though she had an idea.

Ben was beginning to dread that look.

“I know of something that might help.” She gestured toward herself. “Why don’t you try sapping some of my courage?”

“Why don’t I what?”

“Sap my courage.” Melody beamed, pleased with herself for coming up with the idea. “If what I understand of the Drain spell is correct, you should be able to distinguish between different types of energy, and take some of my courage without affecting me in any other way.”

Ben nodded, understanding what she was saying but still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was capable of using magic.

But it was worth a shot. He reached back to grab the crystal ball from his rucksack, then paused. Since he had learned this spell, maybe he’d be able to cast it without holding the relic?

As before, he grasped some of the energy inside him and focused on Melody. The energy began to shoot from the center of his body toward his hands, but he clenched them in a fist momentarily, halting the flow. He could discern multiple strands of energy inside Melody, being drawn toward him.

There was a multitude of energy within her, broadly divided into three different kinds: physical, mental, and emotional. The physical energy strands were green, the mental energy strands were blue, and the emotional ones were red. He chose only the emotional strands, and found the one that represented courage. He didn’t quite know how he was able to tell which emotion each strand represented, but it was clear to him as he examined them. That understanding must have been inherent in the Drain ability.

Ben opened his hands and drew some of Melody’s courage toward him, being careful to stop before sapping all of it. It wouldn’t do them any good for Melody to become as paralyzed by fear as he was.

He felt a strange taste in his mouth as the energy flowed into him. It was almost like caramel, a strong, warm and sweet sensation. Evidently, his body reacted strongly to the use of magic as well. Perhaps this was normal in this world, just as the five senses were taken for granted on Earth.

“Did it work?” Melody asked.

“I…I think it did, actually,” he said, turning to continue across the bridge. “I feel better already.”

Ben’s shoulders were straighter, his body felt lighter, and his vision was clearer as he looked calmly at his surroundings. A smile touched his lips. His first spell as the Forgotten Ruler was already proving to be very useful. And it had worked without holding the relic, so evidently he was right that he didn’t need it in his hands after learning a spell.

He was much steadier on his feet now, and his anxiety was greatly reduced, though he still proceeded cautiously. Melody still walked confidently as well, but with less of a spring in her step, now that he’d taken some of her courage.

Halfway across the bridge, right when he was beginning to think they would cross without incident, a loud shriek pierced the canyon. Ben turned to look at Melody.

She looked up and to the left. “Werebats!” she cried.

Ben didn’t know what the hell werebats were, but they didn’t sound like the sort of creatures he wanted to get acquainted with while swinging on an ancient bridge over a deep chasm with a precious monster egg on his back.

“I knew this had been too easy,” he muttered

Then Ben turned to face the growing number of shrieks in the canyon, ready for whatever was next.

Chapter Three

The high-pitched shrieks of the werebats intensified as the beasts swooped into the gorge. With his hands gripping the ropes of the bridge, Ben whipped to the left to face the source of the sound. Melody, still behind him, turned to look as well.

The bright sun had risen a short way above the horizon to the right of the gorge. As the werebats flew into view, their shapes absorbed the rays of light and blackened the sky. Their forms were the darkest black, like they were soaking up the sun itself.

“What the hell kind of creatures are these?” Ben asked, his voice raised over the shrieks of the bats. His tone was confident and calm. Sure, he was nervous about the coming conflict, but the courage he had absorbed from Melody using his Drain spell gave him the fortitude to remain calm.

He shifted his weight to keep the rucksack on his back steady. He didn’t want the egg he was carrying to be damaged at all, and he couldn’t take off the bag while they were still halfway across the ravine.

“Werebats are so named because they are like a combination of a human and a bat,” Melody explained, her voice surprisingly calm considering the situation. “They‘re small flying monsters with disease-ridden fangs. Be