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

who’d thought it was funny to shoot spitballs at the back of his head during biology class. Ben managed to hold his own during the fight after the bell went, but that had just been some stupid scrape between teenagers. This fight was likely to end up with a bunch of dead bodies. Hopefully all of them would be ogre bodies.

Ben took a few calming deep breaths, trying to get his heart rate to calm a bit.

“What do we know, Melody?” he asked.

Melody, the beautiful catgirl, glanced up at him from where she sat against the thick trunk of a nearby tree, a curious expression on her insanely gorgeous face.

Ben continued to speak, more talking aloud to himself than anything else. “We know that there are at least five of those mountain ogres in the village. Possibly more hiding in those huts.” He began counting items off on his fingers. “They also look strong as hell. Right?”

Melody nodded. “The mountain ogres rely on their immense strength for victory in combat against weaker races.”

“So, brawn-over-brains types.” He counted that off. “Anything else you know about them?”

“This particular species of ogre is not known for sophistication in craftsmanship,” she added.

“OK, perfect—big muscles wielding shitty weapons.” He counted that off as well. “So unless they’ve managed to steal weapons, they’re probably not well armed. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen any weapons among them while we’ve been watching. I’m going to assume they’re not very smart either, right?”

Melody nodded. “They are brutish and ruthless, but not cunning.”

“Hmm.” He paced across the hilltop again, reflecting. “So, if their advantage is raw muscle, then ours needs to be tactics. If we don’t play it smart, they could easily beat us through simple physical strength. We need to outwit them somehow.”

Melody smiled as he spoke. “The Forgotten Ruler was always known for his brilliant use of strategy.”

It was encouraging to have her vote of confidence, though he still needed to actually come up with the strategy.

“We have the element of surprise,” Ben continued. “And the ogres aren’t exactly tactical masterminds. So, we ought to be able to distract them pretty easily.”

He slapped his knee with satisfaction. “Can we create a distraction, Melody? You could cast a spell. Your lightning spells would really stand out in this light.”

“Then what?” she asked. “A distraction will not last forever.”

“We can grab the prisoners and run to safety. You know these woods, right? We can hide away until they give up and leave.”

Melody shook her head. “We need to enter these ruins in order to recover your strength, in order to find the artifacts. And the ogres will not give up these prisoners so easily.”

“You don’t think we can hide from them?” Ben asked. He was beginning to get the distinct impression they were actually going to have to fight these ogres head on.

“Prisoners like these,” Melody gestured in the direction of the village, “monster girls. They are rare and will fetch a very high price. These ogres will do anything to recover them. I don’t believe they’d be willing to simply let them go.”

“How would they find us though?” Ben persisted. “These woods are huge. Wouldn’t it be easy to just…keep running? We’d have to be able to lose them eventually.”

“The ogres may not be known for their intelligence,” Melody countered. “But they do have keen senses, particularly of smell and hearing. They are excellent trackers, and they will find us.” There was a note of finality in her tone.

“Well, so much for that plan.” Ben put his hands on his hips and went back to staring out at the village in the deepening gloom, trying to think of a plan.

“Could you defeat them?” he asked. “You have some powerful magic. Couldn’t you just…blow them up from a distance? Shoot fireballs or something?”

Melody shook her head. “I am not that powerful.”

He chuckled. “You and I might have very different definitions of powerful. In my world, someone who can shoot a thousand volts out of a wooden stick would definitely be considered powerful.”

“Your words are kind, Benjamin.” She smiled. “But my strength is not what it once was. I lost much of it when I traveled to your world.”

“How so?” he asked.

“The magic I had to perform to make such a dangerous journey cost me much,” Melody said. There was unmistakable sadness in her voice.

“And you gave that up to bring me here?” Ben felt a twinge of guilt. How much, exactly, had she given up to bring him here?

Melody smiled. “I would do it all again. We need you here, Benjamin.”

“What can we do to get your power back?” he asked. He was grateful beyond words that Melody had made this sacrifice for him, but he didn’t want it to be a permanent sacrifice—not if he could do anything about it.

“Don’t worry, Benjamin. I will regain my power in time. And you will grow in strength beyond anything you could imagine. You are the answer to these problems. Your increased power will make your followers stronger also.”

Melody’s words reassured Ben. He was excited to see how much they could grow in strength. “One step at a time then,” Ben said. “First we need a plan to defeat those ogres.”

Thinking his plans over was definitely one of his strengths. He’d never liked going into a new situation without knowing the “hows” and “whys.”. He wasn’t one of those idiots who brazenly dashed into danger without a moment’s consideration. But he'd never had to plan for combat with monstrous slavers who would make any linebacker look like a dwarf.

Fortunately, it seemed like the ogres were settling in for the night. A carcass was roasting over the fire in the middle of the clearing, the smell of cooking meat drifting all the way over to where they were hidden. And one of the mountain ogres had tapped a barrel of some liquid, presumably some sort of ale, though he had no way of knowing from our distance.

The smell of