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

be enormous. At the least then, I think we can count on four months passing before they send a proper force against me. There is no telling how formidable that force will be once it comes though.”

“What do you hope to accomplish before the Xurian Realm arrives?” Lulu asked. She leaned her elbows on the table, which only served to accentuate her enormous bosom as she spoke. Ben had to tap into his restraint to avoid staring.

“What do you hope to accomplish in general?” Vinata asked. “Now that you are the Forgotten Ruler?”

“Good question,” Ben said. He had the feeling he was expected to have some sort of grand philosophical or personal motivation. Sure, vengeance was important to him, but that was only a temporary goal.

When he thought about it, there wasn’t really any sort of philosophical basis for his motivation. At the bottom of it all, he just wanted more power. Once he’d got a taste of magical power, there was no going back. He had to get as much of it as he possibly could. And he was going to father monster children with as many beautiful women as he could.

“I want to become the most powerful ruler this world has ever seen,” he said, feeling the weight of his words. “I want to overshadow all previous incarnations of myself. There will be no more legends of the Forgotten Ruler, because I will become immortal, and this world will never forget me.”

Sir Gallant clapped together his stony hands. “Well said, if I may say so.”

Melody beamed at Ben. “I had a feeling you would be the right man for this task.”

Ben smiled back at her, then turned his attention to organization. “OK, let’s get back to more practical matters. What natural resources are available to us in this forest? Who lives here? Who can we count on for support?”

Imogen put up a hand to speak.

“Yes, Imogen?” Ben smiled at her. Obviously her shyness would still take a while to overcome. He realized how brave she had been opening up to them all in the bedroom earlier.

“I inspected the cellars below the tower,” she said.

“What did you find? Are the foundations in order?” Ben asked.

“They are. The workmanship is excellent. My own people would be proud to claim it as their own.”

“I wonder if your people did do that work,” Ben mused aloud.

Imogen looked startled. “It’s possible. I’ll have to ask my mother if she knows anything about it. I inspected the food stores as well.”

“How much food do we have?” Ben asked.

“Enough to last the five of us for several years. All of it is kept frozen in these strange, enchanted chambers.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “There’s really that much food down there?”

“They are well stocked. If more of your, uh, children hatch, however, or if more people join us, it will not last so long.”

“Yes, I see. We’ll need to find a way to gather more food and maybe grow some. We need to be able to sustain ourselves. The Xurian Realm will no doubt try to prevent us from buying any food. That reminds me, what does the Realm use for money, Melody?”

“You won’t be able to acquire any currency, I’m afraid, Ben.” Melody put her hands up helplessly. “The Vizier’s officials track the currency very closely. If they find out you have acquired any, they will immediately make it invalid and issue new bills.”

“I see.” It was becoming evident to Ben that the Xurian Realm had tremendous resources behind them. They were well organized. Beating them would be a hell of a challenge, but one he was more than up to. Still, he knew he’d have to play it carefully—attacking them before he was ready would be disastrous.

Hope was not lost, however. “You said there are mineral resources in the Outlands,” he said. “If we managed to capture some of those mines and acquire gold, we could still trade.”

Melody nodded. “It is far away, however. You will need to win the support of the monsterkin first.”

Ben looked at the nymphs. “Your people are monsterkin, are they not? They will welcome my return, I’m sure of it.”

Vinata appeared ambivalent. “Some will, Ben. My own parents, like me, always waited for your return with eagerness. Many of my people will be suspicious, though.”

“As will mine,” Lulu said. “They will fear reprisals from the Xurian Realm too.”

Imogen nodded as well.

“For centuries our people have been hunted,” Vinata continued. “Bounty hunters and slavers from the Xurian Realm have carried off our children, and any other vulnerable nymphs or other monsterkin they could find. We never saw them again, and who knows what was done to them once they were taken.”

“They are used to power magical machines,” Melody said, a note of disgust and horror in her voice.

Vinata looked at her, shock written on her face. “You mean they operate the machines as slaves?”

Melody turned to face the dryad. The cat woman’s purple eyes blazed. “They use the children as fuel. They burn them in the machines to power them.”

The nymphs gasped.

Ben himself felt nauseous. “We have to put a stop to this. Maybe if I promise to the monsterkin that their children will not be harmed anymore, they will work with me.”

It would be a good deed, ending this trafficking of children. And it would make his empire much stronger too, allowing him to better defend the peoples dwelling inside it. Ben allowed himself a small grin. His plans were starting to take shape.

Ben’s musings were interrupted by a mewing sound coming from the elevator shaft not far from the dining hall they sat in.

Ben looked at Melody. “You left Nipper on the ground floor, right?”

The catgirl nodded. “He was content gnawing on the bones of the deer carcass.”

“What can that noise be then?” Ben felt a shiver run down his spine. Had some creature broken into the tower? That seemed impossible.

He got up to investigate. The others followed. Sir Gallant the Younger raised his voice. “Ahem, a little help?” He