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

I have something that belongs to you.” He turned and walked back toward the back of the dais. A small box lay on the ground behind the table. The knight picked up the box and returned with it.

The box was made of a dark wood, oak perhaps. The finish on its surface was so smooth, it shone, almost reflecting Ben’s face back to him. If this had belonged to him, it must be very old by now. Ben wondered how it could still be in such good condition, but then he remembered the answer. Magic.

He took the box and put his hand on the lid to open it, but it was locked.

Ben felt an urgent tug from inside the box, the same strong pull he had felt outside the dungeon yesterday. Could this box contain one of the ancient relics? If so, he had to get this box open.

Ben held the box up closer to look at it. “Is there a key, Sir Gallant?”

“I was not entrusted with one, sire. Perhaps you hid it somewhere else. You were the one who gave me this box to safeguard, but you never told me about a key.”

“Strange,” Ben murmured. “There is no keyhole.”

Melody and Sir Gallant started when he said that. In the background, they could hear Sir Gallant the Younger’s muffled protests as Nipper continued to use him as a plaything. By now the nymphs had moved to sit at the table, continuing the unfinished game of Towers and Castles.

Ben simply stood staring at the box, perplexed. A golden tab stretched from the lid of the box, down to its body. It was inserted into a piece of solid gold on the body of the box. That was where Ben would have expected to see a keyhole, but the surface was blank.

“How are you supposed to open it, then?” Melody asked.

An image popped into Ben’s mind from an old documentary he’d once seen about Alexander the Great, the man who could undo the Gordian Knot would become king of Macedonia. Other men were baffled by the knot, but Alexander was the kind of man who thought outside the box. The kind of man Ben admired.

Alexander had simply cut the knot with this sword, and so became king of Macedonia—or so the legend went.

A smile came to Ben’s lips. He himself had supposedly been the one to seal this box. Perhaps he had intended for himself to open it this way.

He set the box on the ground and picked up his scimitar from the ground where he’d laid it earlier.

Melody and Sir Gallant both gasped when he stuck the point of the scimitar in the gap where the lid met the box.

“Won’t you damage the box doing that?” Melody asked.

Ben smiled up at her. “I think I was supposed to. What good is a box no one can open?”

Sir Gallant shrugged. “Our ruler speaks the truth.”

Ben wedged the blade in between the two halves of the box and heaved. The box appeared strong, but the corners of the lid were weak to this kind of pressure. With a splintering and cracking noise, the lid burst asunder. Chips of wood scattered across the stone floor, leaving a few busted strips.

Ben tore the rest of the wood aside, revealing the contents of the box. The small casket was lined with purple velvet. In the middle sat a large crystal shard, about the size of Nipper’s head. It sparkled in the morning light.

“One of the Greater Relics,” Melody whispered.

“Have you seen one of these before?” Ben asked.

Melody shook her head. “It couldn’t be anything else.”

“The lady is right, my lord,” Sir Gallant said. “This is one of the Greater Relics you left behind before your departure.”

Lulu, Imogen, and Vinata got up from their game at the table and walked over to look. They stared at the crystal shard in awe.

“The magical aura from this stone is strong,” Imogen whispered.

Vinata nodded. “I have never felt such power before.”

Lulu stretched out her fingers, looking like she wanted to touch it, but withdrew them again, not daring to.

The crystal beckoned to Ben. He could hear it whispering, though he could not make out the words. He stretched forth his fingers to touch it, almost unable to resist.

He stopped. This could be dangerous. He looked up at Melody. “I may have another vision if I touch this crystal, right?”

Melody nodded. “That seems likely to me.”

Ben laid his scimitar on the ground and sat on the stone steps. He didn’t want to fall and skewer himself or someone else in the middle of a trance.

Cautiously, but greedily, he stretched his fingers out and wrapped them around the crystal surface. He picked up the shard and held it in his lap.

His vision swam, and the stone chamber disappeared. In its place he saw a great tower, stretching up into the heavens. The tower began at its base like a ziggurat, but stretched up ever higher, forming a spindly and dizzying spike, pointing straight to the sky. It widened to a crown at its top.

The crown was filled with chambers, luxuriously appointed, fit for a king. Here were found the throne room, bedchambers, places of play, and places of counsel.

The ziggurat at its base was filled with chambers too, but these were of a different nature. Armories, torture chambers, training rooms, forges, and all manner of crafting rooms abounded. Magic and alchemy were practiced here, as were arts of healing and arts of killing.

The difference between this ziggurat and the pyramids Ben had seen when reading about ancient eastern history, was that this tower, from its base to its crown, was made entirely of obsidian. Its sleek black surface reflected every cloud, every passing crow, every magical missile that might be sent to assail it.

In its shape and its lofty stature, Ben was reminded of what he had read about the tower of Babel. A smile formed on his lips. If there were any gods in the heavens that could be reached