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

had the crunchy texture of hard candy and the flavor of toffee—but a very mild flavor. As he chewed, he wondered if the intensity of the flavor tied into the power of the mana.

As Ben swallowed the first mouthful, he felt energy being restored. The swirling substance inside him that he'd used to cast his Drain spell was replenished and began moving faster inside him. He hadn’t realized that he'd been depleted before, since he never knew what it was like to be full.

Ben looked around him, then clenched and unclenched his fists. His muscles throbbed and a tingling sensation ran down his limbs. He could feel his pulse slowing, and his breathing grew steady and calm.

Ben felt stronger, less worried about the trial he was about to face. And it wasn’t the wild, careless overconfidence he'd experienced after absorbing too much courage from the werebats. It was simply the knowledge that whatever happened, he had inherited the legacy of the Forgotten Ruler, and he had the power to defeat these ugly motherfuckers.

“Wait,” said Melody, placing her hand on his shoulder as he turned toward the village. “Shouldn’t I come with you?”

Ben shook his head. “This is a recon mission. With those, the fewer people, the better. And I don’t want to put you at risk trying to pull off this risky-as-hell plan.”

Worry in her eyes, she nodded. “I…I see. Then I’ll stay here and out of sight.’

His eyes flicked down at her wand. “What about that? Might be handy to take with me if my cover gets blown.”

Her eyes flashed. “That would not be a good idea, Benjamin. While you have great potential for power, you’re not yet ready to wield a wand like this. I’ve seen the less-magic-adept try to use powers they weren’t capable of handling. The result is…not pleasant.”

Ben had a brief mental flash of some newbie magic user sticking out a wand, ready to shoot a bolt of lightning, only for the spell to turn back on him.

Not the sort of thing he wanted to risk.

“Then I should get going.”

She continued to regard him with concerned eyes. “Good luck, Benjamin.”

Ben flashed her a confident smirk. “Be right back—don’t miss me too much.”

With a cautious but steady gait, he set off down the hill toward the sentry at the entrance to the village.

The tree cover thinned as he approached the village, but it was still enough for him to remain concealed in the fading light. He used the trees and the stone ruins for cover, ensuring there was never an unbroken line of sight between him and the sentry.

Ben noticed some of the collapsed stone structures more closely as he crept past them. It seemed as if some of the stone belonged to towers and walls, stretching in a long ring, far beyond the village to either side. That structure must have been truly awe inspiring, eons before now, when it was in its original condition.

Maybe he'd be the one to bring it back to its former glory.

As he got closer, Ben made out the mountain ogre sentry’s features more clearly. He was definitely not human. Humanoid, perhaps, but his face was so heavily set, and his joints so thick and graceless, he might as well have been carved out of the same weather-worn stone as the ruins he stood beside. Ben wondered if draining emotion from humanoids would be different than doing it from a normal human.

Ben was under no illusion that he could beat one of these one-on-one. The sentry was over seven feet tall, and had to weigh at least three hundred pounds. As he shifted from one leg to the other, Ben caught the gleam of a blade in the mountain ogre’s right hand, a vicious-looking scimitar. Evidently at least one of the mountain ogres had managed to steal a decent weapon. Ben would need even more caution approaching them. He wasn’t thrilled about the idea of the ogre slashing that blade across his gut.

Ben reached the last bit of cover before the archway, a low pile of stones only twenty feet away. From there, he could peer over and still see the sentry. By that point he was placing every footstep with the maximum amount of care. Ben had no doubt that this guy would be all over him if he so much as snapped a twig under his foot.

The sentry lifted his head and sniffed deeply. Ben’s heart stopped. Did he smell his cologne from last night? Last thing Ben wanted was a scimitar in his neck because he went a little too heavy with the Drakkar Noir.

The sentry turned and shouted something unintelligible in the direction of the campfire. Was he calling them all over to Ben? Ben’s skin went cold and sweat ran down his brow. This would have to be the shortest reign of the Forgotten Ruler in all his history. He'd failed Melody, and the dryad prisoners.

But then the other mountain ogres started up another one of their ugly songs. The sentry must have smelled the food cooking and simply yelled something at his buddies. Ben took a breath once more, softly. The sentry hadn’t noticed Ben then, but he would eventually if Ben didn’t do something about him.

He looked formidable, and his weapon no doubt deadly. But thankfully Ben wouldn’t need to come within range of his swing. Six or seven feet ought to be enough. Hopefully Ben could get that close and cast his spell before he could attack him or alert the guys around the fire.

Ben waited for the raucous song of the ogres by the campfire to reach a fevered pitch. Then he gathered the swirling magic inside him toward his arms and clenched his fists, ready to cast a spell. Ben dashed over the low stones and sprinted toward the sentry.

Ben was only ten feet away when the savage turned and saw him. His eyes widened, and he gave a loud grunt. He swung his scimitar at Ben’s head.

Ben dove at