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

looked about him, wondering what he might be able to do with the place. Melody hadn’t said how long they’d be staying here, but she did say it was an important site of power for him, so perhaps he’d be able to rebuild it to some extent. Establish it as a base of empire-building operations, perhaps?

He smiled to himself as grand schemes of demolition and rebuilding started to fill his mind. Then he went over to the hut where Melody was waiting. He pushed open the door and walked inside.

Melody was leaning over the table in the middle of the main room, scrubbing. A wooden pail of water sat on the ground beside her. The room was dimly but warmly lit by a couple of torches burning on the walls.

That reminds me, he considered, I’ll have to get used to a world without electricity. Magic seemed like a reasonable compensation to Ben, but it would still be an adjustment. He would have to learn how to make more of these torches for instance, to ensure they didn’t run out. The medieval equivalent of a blackout, he supposed.

His mind went back to the glowing mushrooms in the forest—the ones that Vinata had used to light their way. He imagined them gathered in bunches and stuck up on top of poles among the village like primitive streetlamps.

Melody looked up from her work. She had on an apron, woven of a coarse gray material, which stopped just short of her full bosom. Her purple hair was tied back by a red ribbon.

She smiled warmly at him. “You’re back.” She scrubbed at the last section of the table surface and dropped the sponge in her hand back into the pail of water.

She pointed to the corner of the room, where a half barrel sat on the floor, steam rising out of it. “I prepared a bath so we can wash before eating.”

“Good thinking,” Ben said. “After all that walking and two fights today, I’m filthy.”

“So am I.” Melody laughed, removing the apron she’d been wearing to do the cleaning. The skirt and top she wore underneath were the same ones she’d worn in the club last night. Her clothes and Ben’s were not in the best condition after all the marching and fighting they’d done that day.

“I found some clothes for us both in the hut here too.” Melody pointed at a neat pile by the wall. “I hope they fit.”

“Good idea,” he said. “I’ll check them out in a minute.”

Ben held up the tree roots he’d harvested. “I brought some food. I hope you don’t mind raw tree roots.” He said the words with a shrug as he laid his scimitar on the floor by the door.

Melody made a sour face, but then cocked her head to the side in consideration. “I’m too hungry to object right now.”

“We’ll find you something more substantial tomorrow, don’t worry.” He put a reassuring hand on her arm as he deposited the tree flesh on the table with the other.

Melody put her hand on his. “Thank you for getting food, Benjamin. We will have plenty of time to gather other stores soon, while we are searching for the ancient relics.”

“Looking forward to it.” He grinned. “The battles we fought in today made me want a bigger taste of my former power. Where do you think we’ll find the relics?”

Melody shrugged. “Archmage Kamila did not say. It is not often that anyone from the Xurian Realm ventures into these dangerous lands. We will have to search them out for ourselves. I only know that these ruins have a large amount of magic present, which is why I expect to find the relics somewhere here.”

“Do others in the Xurian Realm know about the existence of these relics?” Ben asked. “I’m guessing if he knew about them, the Usurper would have tried to steal them all to stop me gaining my power.”

Melody looked sly. “The Realm has tried to bury all rumors about the relics, but I was able to learn much from digging in the archives of the Arcanarium.”

“What did you learn?”

“Many expeditions were in fact sent out to find the relics. But almost all the soldiers who were sent never returned. Eventually they assumed that if they could not recover the relics, you would not be able to either. At least that’s the advice the Usurper was given by his counsellors.”

Ben grinned. “Then we’ll have to prove them wrong then. But…how did you get the relic you gave me in the hotel?”

Melody furrowed her brow. “Archmage Kamila refused to even speak to me of how she acquired it. She told me everything I needed to know for my mission, she was always chasing after me to tell me more history or lore about the Forgotten Ruler that I might find useful. So, for her to keep this a secret must have meant that she really couldn’t trust anyone with that information.”

“Interesting,” Ben murmured. He might have to ask the Archmage for the story in person one day, if they ever met.

Melody grabbed the trousers and tunic she had found for him and held them out. “Anyway, these look like they should fit you. Time to wash and get changed so we can eat.”

Ben grabbed them and held them up against his body, not too close, as he didn’t want to get them dirty as well. “I think you’re right. They’ll certainly do for now.”

With a groan of exhaustion, he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped out of his jeans. Both were crusted with dirt and blood. He cracked the window open and threw them outside. They wouldn’t be worth salvaging at this point, and figured he could properly get rid of them the next day. But Ben found his eyes lingering on his jeans and shirt. They were one of the few reminders of Earth, and they’d soon be gone. But he tore his eyes away from them before too long. To his surprise, he’d been more than ready