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

Lulu’s eyes blazed. “I’m not going to turn back until our friend is rescued.”

Imogen nodded. “Neither am I.”

Melody put her hand on Ben’s arm. “I’m with you till the end.”

Nipper mewed and brushed himself up against Ben’s leg.

A surge of pride ran through Ben, knowing his companions were all there by his side.

“That settles it,” he said. “Keep your spells at the ready and be on your guard. If any danger arises, make sure Nipper is safe between us.” Ben held his scimitar at the ready and strode forward toward the statue, the women following close behind.

They hadn’t walked halfway down the passage before a loud creaking sound echoed from the other end of the corridor.

Ben sighed and looked back down the hall. The sliver of daylight streaming down the staircase was rapidly diminishing, until, with a loud thud, the stone dropped into place. Just as he’d anticipated, the entrance had closed to seal them in.

“Well, we’re all trapped in here now,” Ben said. “Keep your eyes open and be ready for anything.”

They didn’t have to wait long to see the surprise in store for them in this chamber though. They’d only taken a few paces forward when the sound of stone grating on stone filled the vaulted chamber. A light movement of air caused the torches to flicker, casting wild, bouncing shadows.

The party stopped. Ben stood facing the statue, his scimitar outstretched. “I don’t like the sound of that. Be ready.”

The women all stood with their backs to him and each other. Nipper stood in the middle, protected on all sides, and growled in a thin and high-pitched tone.

In the wildly dancing shadows, Ben could make out the forms of other, shorter statues, rising out of the ground in long rows on either side of the passageway. The statues had humanoid shapes, but were far bulkier and taller than any human he had ever seen. There must have been twenty on each side of the hall.

And what was more, Ben couldn’t shake the notion that he was being watched, like many pairs of eyes were on him all at once.

The grating noise culminated in a loud thud as each statue reached its full height and came to a stop.

Each figure stood close to eight feet in height and was proportionally wider and heavier set. The stone was rough, its surface more resembling coarsely chiseled granite rather than skin.

The face of each giant statue was equally rough. The eye sockets were dark holes, encircled by heavy brow and nose ridges. Within these sockets, their eyes were closed, as though they were sleeping. Their jaws were heavy set. There was no sign that these statues were sentient or intelligent, but Ben wasn’t about to jump to any conclusions.

Imogen’s next words proved him right. “Gravel ghouls,” she muttered grimly.

“What are they, Imogen?” Ben asked.

“They are stone giants,” Imogen replied. “They look lifeless now, but they will come to life in a moment. That is a common trick of theirs. We have such creatures in the mountains. They cannot be harmed by elemental attacks, except for those from water.”

Lulu chuckled. “Just as well I’m here then.” She pulled her water skin from her belt and opened it.

“That counts you out though, Melody,” Ben commented. “Your lightning spell won’t work on them.”

Melody stowed her wand in her belt and smiled. “I may not be able to use lightning, but I still have my fists, if you can give me a boost, Benjamin. Do you think you can sap their strength and give it to me?”

Ben quickly examined the ghouls and saw that they did have large green strands of physical energy. He couldn’t make out much in the way of emotional or mental energy, but hopefully that wouldn’t stop him from taking their strength.

“That sounds like a plan I can work with,” Ben agreed. “You’re more experienced at fighting than I am; I’ll see if I can give you some of the ghouls’ strength. Imogen, do you need me to give you some of their strength too?”

Ben remembered how Imogen had carried the mountain ogres the night before, but he wasn’t sure if she would need extra strength to fight these monsters.

Imogen smiled and shook her head. She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a grating noise, a sound like two heavy, rough objects rubbing hard against one another. The sound blended with more and more of the same noise, the cacophony loud and horrible enough to nearly cause pain.

The stone statues began to move their limbs. Then their eyes opened, glowing a dull, bloody red. Each statue turned its head toward the small party in the middle of the hall and began to advance with slow, booming footsteps.

Ben’s hands clenched into fists. He wasn’t sure exactly what was happening, but he could sense that a fight was on.

“Get ready!” he shouted, his voice rising above the groaning and grinding of the statues coming to life. “Got a feeling we’re going to have to fight!”

Lulu didn’t hesitate. She poured the water out from her water skin onto the ground and tossed the empty leather bag to the side. She whispered an incantation and twirled her hands in the air while making symbols with her fingers.

Ben was about to start casting Drain, but then he saw what Lulu was doing. The water rose up into the air in tendrils. Ben stared with his mouth open, still not accustomed to seeing new forms of magic.

The tendrils of water, gleaming in the orange torchlight, hovered in front of Lulu in globules. Then Lulu shouted and splayed her fingers, the streams of water splitting just like her fingers.

Streams of water shot toward the nearest gravel ghoul, wrapping around its neck. The liquid constricted, flowing in tightening rivulets around the thick, stone muscles of the giant’s throat. A loud creaking and groaning sound rose above the thudding of the other giants’ footsteps.

With a loud bang, the ghoul’s head popped off and crashed to the ground.