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

“I would gladly do it again. How did it happen then?”

“Well, the three of us, daughters of the priestesses of our tribes, were present at the council of the nymphs.”

“Wait, Lulu and Imogen are also daughters of priestesses?”

The dryad woman nodded. “That is why the three of us are already so close, and why we were present at the council.”

“What was this council?” he asked. There were so many questions running through his mind, but this was the first to come to the forefront and leave his mouth.

“The nymphs convened a council to discuss the Xurian Realm, which has begun encroaching on our lands. The priestesses gathered and expended much magic during the council in an attempt to halt this approach. We…have no way of knowing yet how effective this will be.”

That was also an interesting coincidence. “How long ago was this council, and where was it?” he asked.

Vinata looked at him curiously as they walked. “You seem to show a lot of interest in the council. But I can see no reason not to trust you about it. The council is over, at any rate. It took place a week ago, only a couple of hundred miles from here—a short distance in this forest.”

That was roughly when Melody traveled to earth. She did say she had to travel here in order to access enough magic to make the journey. Had the council of nymphs been involved in sending her to this world, and bringing him back here?

“Anyway,” Vinata continued. “The three of us wanted to commemorate our coming of age. That’s why we went out that evening to a town nearby to celebrate.”

“What does coming of age mean for your people?”

“Oh, uh, of course, you wouldn’t know about that.” Vinata’s cheeks went a darker shade of brown in the moonlight streaming through the tree branches, the mushroom illuminating her features from below. From the way she was attempting to hide her face, it seemed she didn’t blush very often. Ben had obviously hit a sensitive topic for her.

She seemed to quickly recover her composure and explained, “When a young nymph woman experiences her first night of pleasure alone, she is considered to be of age.”

“I…see,” Ben said, massively understating his surprise. This was a far cry from his own rites of passage—getting his license, turning eighteen, taking his first sip of beer. “And it was in this town where you were celebrating your coming of age, that you three got captured?” He changed the subject for both their sakes.

Vinata nodded. “We had been warned that this town had a bad reputation, but the council was just a bit too stuffy. There were too many old nymphs, and that meant too many eyes watching us. I swear, it was like we couldn’t take a step without some elder asking where we were going or what we were doing. And to make matters worse, none of our friends had been allowed to come along. Only the children of the high priestesses. It was all quite boring. A little danger actually sounded nice.”

“I can understand that.”

“Well, of course it turns out our parents were right.” Vinata sounded slightly frustrated being forced to acknowledge this. “At the tavern we were in, we received so many strange looks from the patrons. I supposed they weren’t used to seeing monsters like us among them. Anyway, we tried to relax and enjoy our drinks, but something strange happened. All of us got…woozy at the same time. Right as we asked one another what was happening, we passed out. When we awoke, we were in the back of a wagon, the null locks on us.”

“And what happened then?” he asked.

“They took us outside the town and sold us to the mountain ogres.”

“Where were they taking you?”

“To be sold to other slavers in the Xurian Realm.”

“Your parents must be worried about you.”

“I’m sure they are. Dryads are excellent trackers in the woods. I’m sure they are coming for us. They will probably find us within the next day or two.”

So, Ben would end up meeting more nymphs. Hopefully he could persuade them also that he was not a threat—the last thing he wanted was there to be some sort of misunderstanding. Though based on what Vinata had said about waiting for the Forgotten Ruler, it was possible that this encounter might go better than expected. Ben entertained the idea of enlisting the help of the Dryads in rebuilding his empire. He knew he’d need all the help he could get.

They rounded another bend in the forest path that they’d been following and saw the ruins surrounding the village, in the distance.

There came a crashing noise from the direction of the village, as if a large creature was making its way through the trees. Heavy footsteps thudded steadily toward them.

Ben quickly turned to Vinata. “Take these,” he whispered, pulling the tree flesh they’d harvested out of his rucksack and handing it over to her.He gripped his scimitar and crouched to one side of the forest path. Vinata hung back a short distance behind him, and they waited to see what was causing the commotion.

An enormous figure came into view, plodding methodically down the track. Was it another mountain ogre? He focused on his mana, trying to get a sense of how much he had at the ready. He felt strong, as if it had replenished substantially during their walk through the woods.

As the figure drew closer, the moonlight revealed more detail. The creature, whatever it was, was very short legged, and had two gigantic lumps where shoulders ought to have been.

Then the figure came closer and Ben gasped. It wasn’t a mountain ogre. It was someone carrying the corpses of mountain ogres.

The figure turned to the side of the path and disappeared into the trees a short way. Could that have been Melody? Surely the strength Ben had given her from the mountain ogres had worn off by now. Ben knew his