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

So, he grabbed one.

The creature couldn’t even scream. It opened its mouth in what seemed like shock, its eyes wide as it shriveled up like a scrunched-up paper ball and fell like a sheet of loose leaf paper onto the bridge. The shell of the creature was so light that the bridge hardly budged from the landing.

Energy poured into Ben’s body as he absorbed the physical strength of the monster. His limbs burned with vigor as he stood up straight next to Melody, who was right on the verge of casting her spell again.

With another boom, she detonated her third werebat, the shower of gore falling silently down onto the gorge below. Melody’s body moved lithely as she waved her wand before each attack. Her tail flicked back and forth, balancing her weight, allowing her to dance over the uneven surface of the bridge.

Ben wasn’t sure how long she’d trained for, but her attacks seemed to him to have the practice of a master. He watched as she exploded yet another werebat, forcing the other monsters to fly over her head, missing their chance to sink their fangs into their intended prey.

As the last bat passed above, Ben leaped into the air with a roar. The power surging through him was incredible. It was like every atom in his body was aflame, his muscles feeling strong enough to grab one of the werebats and rip it apart. The power was so sudden, so intense, that he felt unable to contain all of it as it flowed through him.

Mid-air, he found himself face-to-face with a werebat, his mouth spreading into a grin as he pulled back his fist and smashed it into the monster’s face. His arm had all the power of a freight train, plowing into the werebat’s jaw.

The bat’s face crumpled into its body with a crunch. The thin skin of the werebat tore, followed by the loud snap of every bone in its face cracking. The creature stopped in midair and fell straight down, landing with a dull thud, its face mashed into raw hamburger.

With a laugh of pure exhilaration, Ben landed heavily back down on the planks of the bridge. The wood creaked underneath him, and he quickly moved his feet to avoid cracking the planks and falling through. As much fun as he was having, they weren’t out of the woods just yet.

The werebats’ numbers were reduced to fourteen by now, but they appeared undeterred as they wheeled around to attack again. They clearly didn’t know what was good for them if they were prepared to face Ben and Melody after they had obliterated six of their comrades in the most heinous ways imaginable.

They were too ballsy for their own good, too bold.

Then a thought occurred to Ben: their courage was only getting them into trouble—maybe they’d be better off without it?

“Yo, Melody! Stand back—I’ve got an idea.” He placed his hand on the soft curve of her hip, gently pushing her to the side and behind him. She frowned but didn’t object.

Ben didn’t want her getting caught in the crossfire. If he sapped her courage as well, he didn’t know if he could give any of it back. The monsters needed to come near to the bridge if this plan was going to succeed.

He waited for the whole colony of angrily screeching bats to come closer. Their glowing red eyes were filled with rage, and their rotten yellow teeth were bared. He held his energy in check, clenched his fists, and dropped below the level of the ropes, signaling to Melody to do the same.

The bats drew level with the bridge, then slowed to come in for the attack, not fooled by this trick a second time. As far as Ben could tell, they intended to hover above the bridge and strike at him and Melody individually.

And that was when he made his move, releasing his Drain spell in a wave around him, targeting the whole pack of bats. Tendrils of red, emotional energy flowed toward him, and he tasted the sweet caramel flavor of courage. He grabbed one rope, then another, then another, that delicious taste flooding his mouth. Their emotion came pouring into his arms, filling his body with a crackling sensation of invincibility.

In unison, the monsters stopped screeching. The silence was deafening. Their eyes widened, their wings faltered, and their mouths snapped shut.

Then the largest bat, at the front of their line, let out a piercing cry of fear, higher pitched than before and quavering. The other bats all screeched likewise. The biggest bat flapped its enormous wings in haste and whipped around in a half-circle, rushing away from the bridge with such speed it was like he’d seen death itself staring him in his ugly face.

And he wouldn’t have been wrong to think it.

The other bats followed, howling in terror and fleeing as fast as their ragged wings could take them, back to whatever lair they had in up further in the mountains.

Ben rose to his feet, watching them recede into the distance, his eyes focused on their rapidly shrinking forms until it was clear they weren’t coming back.

With a whoop of excitement, Ben pumped his fist in the air. Heedless of the weight of the rucksack on his back, he jumped up and down a couple of times, reveling in victory.

Then he turned to see Melody staring at him in wonder.

“What, you didn’t think I was capable of holding my own in a fight?” he asked.

“What you did was remarkable,” Melody breathed, her chest rising and falling with excited breaths. “I did not think you could cast such a powerful spell so quickly. You attacked so many adversaries at once.”

“I wasn’t sure if I could do it myself,” he agreed. “Just as well though, I’m not sure how else we would have got out of that scrape.”

“That was very brave,” Melody said, allowing a smile to