Chapter 171 - We Have An Accord

The lightning flashed, bright enough to blind Peter for a few moments. But that was nothing compared to the explosion that followed. The blast tossed him from his feet, sending him crashing into the muddy ground. Chunks of wood and stone flew everywhere, sailing by overhead. Peter rolled sideways as one large piece of debris plowed into the ground where he’d lain.

He staggered back to his feet, then made his way toward the epicenter of the explosion. The walls around Selena’s base had seen better days. His orcs had already done a number on them, tearing a gaping hole in the center of the north wall, but the blast set off by the lightning had done even more damage. As Peter strode through the gap, he took in the damage done to the interior.

The central farmhouse was gone. There was nothing left of it but a shattered, gutted set of foundation stones. The building had once had a cellar, and half the wreckage had poured in, filling the hole. Most of the other buildings in the area had been blown over or shattered entirely. Pieces of burning debris were everywhere, casting an orange glow through the smoke and dust choking the air.

His orcs had been badly hurt by the explosion. Dead bodies lay everywhere. They must have managed to get into the structure before it was hit, or at least close to it. Peter imagined the scene: hundreds of orcs all clawing their way toward the central building, fighting to get past the undead guards so they could get inside.

Then that blast of lightning.

“It wouldn’t have done this sort of damage, though,” he mused aloud. “No way. If she was capable of this sort of hit, she’d have killed me with her first shot.”

He went to the edge of the broken foundation and peered into the wreckage. No, she had to have used something else to cause this level of destruction. Probably the same sort of Alchemy bombs his orcs used. The more he pondered that idea, the more correct it sounded.

Orcs were getting back to their feet, calling for healers, calling for help. There were more wounded than Peter could possibly aid, but he did what he could, lifting chunks of wood and stone that trapped some of the injured. He was stronger than any orc, and that made a difference. With his help, they saved a good number of lives which might otherwise have been lost.

“Was good fight. Not good end.” The orc warchief, Hakken, strode forward to help Peter move one particularly large chunk of stone.

They tossed it aside together. Peter reached down and helped the orc who’d been trapped beneath it back to his feet. Then he turned to Hakken. “Agreed. I wasn’t expecting that. She surprised me.”

Hakken grunted. “Over now, anyway.”

But it wasn’t, not really. Peter sensed Selena’s control stone. It wasn’t far. She was still down there. Under the rubble, perhaps? Was there some sort of safe room there? He could sense her rough location, but not precisely where she was, and he didn’t know how that ability for Domain owners to sense one another worked, not completely. Was he just picking up an echo of where she had been, and she’d moved on? Or was she still down there?

Peter walked clear of the ruined walls and called out. “Dragon. I need you.”

She flew to him and landed, then spoke into his mind. What would you have me do?

“I need that hole dug out. We need to capture the leader, and she’s down there somewhere,” Peter replied.

No.

Peter froze, then whirled on her. If she was beginning to rebel, he needed to put it down now, before it got worse. “We have a bargain. You defy me, and your child dies. You know that.”

She hissed. Steam poured from her closed mouth, and her eyes blazed with fury. Still Peter stood his ground in front of her. If he let her see fear even for an instant, he knew it would end badly.

I KNOW! she roared in his mind. But we have an accord, human. You promised me time with my young one, and you are remiss. Would you void our agreement, then?

Peter cursed under his breath. She was right, of course. He’d promised her six hours from each day and no more than two days without a visit with her baby. The dragonet he’d captured was cute and always excited to see his mother. That was probably why Peter had agreed to such a generous arrangement.

Capturing the baby had been a stroke of luck. He’d tracked the mother for days, watching her flight patterns until he at last realized that she was always returning to a single point at least once a day. That spot was a small, rocky island just off the shore. He’d gone there alone, using a sailboat to reach the island in the dead of night. Once Peter arrived, he’d hidden the boat and waited.

As soon as the mother dragon departed her nest, she gave away its exact location. He stole into the nest and was delighted to see a baby dragon waiting inside. Once he’d roped the thing up so it couldn’t cry out for its mother and give him away, Peter slipped back out of the nest and carried the baby dragon back to KingsHaven.

Of course, the mother dragon figured out who’d stolen her infant. That’s why she kept attacking his castle. But once his ballistas took her down, it was easy enough to forge an agreement with her. She’d been desperate to see her baby, and he’d been all too willing to let her do so—provided she served him.

Well, human? Do we travel to see my dragonet? Or are you reneging on your side of the bargain?”

“I do not break agreements, not ever,” Peter snapped. He sighed. Having the dragon unearth Selena would be the easiest way to go about it, but there was more than one way to skin this cat. He had the orcs, too. “Give me a minute to speak with Hakken, and we’ll be off.”

The dragon grumbled softly in his mind, but she said no more. Peter rolled his eyes as he went over to where the orc warchief was rallying more of his people.

“King,” Hakken said, as he approached.

“Warchief,” Peter replied with a respectful nod. “I was hoping your people could take on one more task for me.”

“What need?”

“The woman who owned this place. I need her. If she’s dead, then her body is sufficient, although I’d prefer to have her alive. I believe she’s buried over there.” Peter pointed toward the ruins of the central farmhouse.

“If she in there, she dead, and there no body,” Hakken replied. “Orcs that went inside, there little left.”

“I need her control stone. Any piece of her body will do. Can you and your people unearth the wreckage and dig her out?”

Hakken scratched his chin. “Mebbe. Have wrong tools here for dig. Can start, though. Most orcs tired, though. I send most troops home. Leave some here, dig out woman.”

“Make sure you leave enough here, then,” Peter replied. “She’s very strong. Tier ten. She’ll kill dozens of orcs if they face her.”

“Leave hundred orcs. Be more than enough,” Hakken replied. “We lose many warriors. Half my fighters dead, King.”

“We will restore your land to its previous glory, never fear,” Peter replied. “I need to return to my castle, but I will be back soon.”

“Is good,” Hakken said.

Peter walked back to his dragon, working hard to not shake his head. He had too many minions and vassals who didn’t really like him for his comfort. Everything really relied on the dragon, though. So long as she was working for him, so would the orcs. With the orcs as enforcers, the human Domains would remain in line as well. He just had to keep the dragon civil, and the rest would fall into place.

He climbed aboard her back and they took to the air. She’d get her visit, as agreed. All her visits were supervised, of course. She would be manacled before they brought the dragonet to her, and fifty crossbowmen would stand by ready to kill the baby if his mother so much as twitched the wrong way.

As soon as he arrived back at KingsHaven he’d send a large force of his people here to finish the job. A good mix of workers to excavate the site along with soldiers to protect them would do nicely. Once the dragon’s supervised visitation was over, he’d fly north again to join them. Peter had no intention of allowing Selena to get away.

She was probably dead. The explosion which tore apart her farmhouse had been so massive that he couldn’t imagine anyone surviving the strike at point blank range. She had to be dead, and that made him a little sad. It felt wasteful, certainly, to have killed someone with so much life in her.

But once he had her control stone, his Domain would rank up. Each vassal state boosted his Domain. He’d gone from tier two to tier three once he’d taken the ratkin and Turner as vassals. Then Camp Johnson, the orc Domain, and Carver’s had made three more. Once he had one more control stone, he’d rise to tier four, and Peter looked forward to seeing what they would do for his Domain and his people.

The dragon circled the farm a few times, building up altitude, then arrowed south toward KingsHaven at top speed. She could fly quite fast when she was properly motivated, and nothing seemed to light her fire more than her child. Understandable, he supposed, although he didn’t have children of his own. Perhaps someday, if he could find a worthy Queen who wouldn’t turn on him.

A quick trip to the south, and then a return. He’d get the control stone, along with all the other crystals Selena had socketed. He knew her well enough to understand just how strong the woman was. She was tier ten, with a tier eight Lightning Bolt spell as well, and stat crystals that were possibly even superior to his. Once she was dead, all of those crystals went to the victor, and he looked forward to seeing how strong he would be once he had them.

Selena might have decided not to join him, but her strength and powers would be his anyway.