Chapter 150 - A New Gathering

Overall, the operation was a complete success. The battlefield still smoked in places as we pulled out. Fires smoldered where the fire skeletons had scorched the ground, goblin bodies littered the ground in every direction, and the broken palisade wall slumped inward like the ribcage of a fallen beast. I’d ordered my undead to finish destroying the walls. Since we weren’t going to occupy this space, it made sense to ensure nobody else was going to take it over and turn it into future problems for us. 

But we’d done it. We'd won.

We gathered what we could before leaving—crystals first and foremost. The living fighters who’d come with us, ratkin and humans alike, were thrilled when I handed out one or two crystals each. They were all tier two, three, or four stones. Good gains, especially given the low risk of the assault. We hadn’t lost a single person to the goblins, so these were gains without cost. It wasn’t enough yet, not nearly. We needed thousands more stones before we’d be as strong as I felt like we had to be. But it was a start.

Two of the biggest prizes were mine.

The goblin mage had dropped a rare reward: a spell crystal for Lightning Bolt. No way was I wasting something that powerful, but I didn’t have an open spot for it. Not without trying something fairly drastic, anyway.

In theory, I could move the stones from one spot to another. So I ought to be able to take some of the higher tier black stones and merge them into one of the other socketing points. Three whole points were stuck on black stones right now. If I could merge one set of them into another, I could reduce that to two, and open up an entire point for a new color.

Ever so carefully, I pulled my NightVision stone. It held, and didn’t shatter. That left the socket open in point two, which allowed me to move the Drain Life and Health to Mana stones out of point three, over to point two.

I did that. It still left me without NightVision, so I tucked that one away in my bag for the time being. The third point was then empty, which let me socket the yellow Lightning Bolt spell there. Of course, I already had another yellow stone—Flight! Which meant I could move that stone over to the third point as well, setting it into the second position.

By that time I felt like I’d been playing more than enough Tetris with my crystals and called it quits. I still had an open point, but I wanted to reserve that to see if there was another color I could add that would be worthwhile.

There was more, too. The control stone I won was my fourth. When held next to my other spare, they merged. The resulting tier two stone merged into my existing cluster—and just like that, my Domain leveled up. That triggered a major upgrade.

The Farm was now tier three.

I could feel the difference the second it happened. The radius of my Domain stretched outward, snapping into place with a kind of low, seismic hum that I felt in my bones. It was a lot bigger now, easily double what it had been before. My borders had to be running right up against the other nearby Domains, at this point.

The defenses improved, too. Even at this distance I could sense that the old skeletons that had appeared to help defend my Domain were gone—replaced by four dozen tier three skeletons. I’d have to look into them more once I was back home.

Magical Stones

Point 1: Black Stone (Tier 6) - Control Undead 

Point 1, Second Ring: Black Stone (Tier 5) - Augment Undead

Point 1, Third Ring: Black Stone (Tier 10) - Animate Dead

Point 1, Fourth Ring: Black Stone (Tier 3) - Dark Pulse

+

Point 2: Black Stone (Tier 7) - Animate Dead

Point 2, Second Ring: Black Stone (Tier 5) - Heal Undead

Point 3: Third Ring: Black Stone (Tier 6) - Drain Life

Point 3, Fourth Ring: Black Stone (Tier 3) - Health to Mana 

+

Point 3: Yellow Stone (Tier 8) - Lightning Bolt

Point 3, Second Ring: Yellow Stone(Tier 2) - Flight

+

Point 4: Clear Stone (Tier 6) - Will

Point 4, Second Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 6) - Agility

Point 4, Third Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 7) - Stamina

Point 4, Fourth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 6) - Strength

Point 4, Fifth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 5) - Intellect

Point 4, Sixth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 5) - Will

Point 4, Seventh Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 6) - Charisma

Point 4, Eighth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 8) - Stamina

+

Point 5: EMPTY

+

Point 6: Green Stone (Tier 3) - Stoneskin

+

Control Stone (Tier 2) - Domain Active

Spare Stones

Black: Animate Dead x11, Augment Undead x5, Contagion, Contagion (Tier 3), Control Undead x22, Curse (Tier 3), Curse x2, Drain Life x4, Harm (Tier 2), Harm x15, Heal Undead x2, NightVision (Tier 2)

Clear: Strength (Tier 5), Strength x2, Agility x1, Intellect x7, Will x3, Charisma x8

Green: Healing Infusion (Tier 2)

Brown: Alchemy x2

Domain: Tier Three

We moved out quickly after that. There was no point lingering. Plum and Sue took up the rear guard as we marched homeward, with Clay leading the main body of fighters. It wasn’t a long walk, just a few miles through mostly clear territory. Still, nobody complained when the farmhouse finally came into view, smoke rising cheerfully from the chimneys and our half-finished walls cutting bold lines across the rolling fields.

We were home, and it felt good.

The next few days passed in a blur as we struggled to get things in order before the other leaders arrived. The inner walls were nowhere near done, and the outer walls were just lines drawn in the dirt. But my zombie horde did their part, steadily adding stones to mortar and mortar to stones, building up the walls one chunk of rock at a time. We wouldn’t have the job done before the other leaders got there, but it would be a start.

All too soon, it was the day of the meeting. I was out in the main courtyard when I sensed the first riders approaching along the old highway. Kara stood beside me, arms folded, her sharp eyes already narrowing against the morning glare. The sun was barely up, the fields still dusted with dew, and the air held that crisp, clean bite that said autumn wasn’t too far off.

“They’re early,” Kara murmured.

“Better early than late,” I said, my heart picking up a little.

I didn’t want to admit it out loud, but I was nervous to be playing host this time. A part of me, the part that still remembered being just a med student struggling to pay tuition, felt absurd even thinking about greeting the leaders of neighboring Domains like I was one of them. But I knew better. I was one of them. And after last week’s win, I had the bones to prove it.

The lead rider pulled closer, kicking up a thin cloud of dust from the half-worn road. I recognized the man even from a distance: Carver. His familiar battered leather coat flapped in the breeze, and his face was set in that same calm, watchful expression he always wore. A few other riders flanked him, but Carver rode ahead of them, as if announcing himself by sheer presence alone.

I stepped forward to meet him as he reined in his undead horse near the gates. He swung himself down with an ease born of practice, tossed the reins to one of his men, and gave me a half-smile. “Selena.”

“Carver,” I said warmly, reaching out to shake his offered hand. He gripped mine in return, firm and solid.

“Your place is coming along,” he said, glancing past me at the rising stone walls and the distant outline of tents and small houses inside the Domain. “In more ways than one. I felt it when you upgraded to tier three, so you should assume everyone else nearby did, too.”

“I figured they might.”

“Painting a target on your back, aren’t you?” Carver asked, his face showing concern.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You know I have more crystals than anyone else in the nearby area. I already have the biggest possible target on my back. I hardly think this added to it.”

“Fair point. How’s the construction going?” Gideon asked, changing topics.

“We’re getting there. Faster now, thanks to you,” I said, meaning it. “I owe you for sending your guys to teach us how to build properly. Without your help, this would’ve taken twice as long.”

Carver gave a dry chuckle. “I got lucky, picking up a bunch of construction workers early on. They know their craft. Glad we could help. You being stronger makes us stronger, too.”

“Well, I’m very grateful,” I said.

Carver nodded once, then leaned slightly closer, his expression sharpening. “How’d things go at KingsHaven? Did they respond well? I don’t like playing blind.”

I blew out a breath, not bothering to hide my exhaustion. “That’s complicated. They’re strong, stronger than we thought. Their walls are complete. Their guards are well trained. They’ve even got their own internal trading network starting to form. And they’ve got trained casters with good ranks.”

Carver’s mouth tightened slightly, but he said nothing, waiting.

“They’re not enemies,” I said. “But they’re playing the long game. I can feel it. Right now they want an alliance, but it’s on their terms. We’re going to have to be very careful with them.”

Carver grunted. “That matches my gut, too. Good instincts, Selena. Stick with those. Trust your instincts. Because the ones who smile the widest are usually the ones hiding the sharpest knives.”

I gave him a quick, grim smile back. “Yeah. That’s exactly the sense I got.”

He nodded again, as if that confirmed something important to him, then glanced over his shoulder as his men began settling their horses near the side paddocks. “Others won’t be far behind. You hosting everyone inside the walls, or setting up tents outside?”

“Inside,” I said. “At least the leaders. I want them to see what we’ve built. I want them to feel it.”

Carver smiled, just a thin curl of his lips. “Good.”

Carver and I didn’t have long to stand there soaking in the morning air before another cluster of riders appeared down the road. This group was bigger. Cleaner, too—their horses well-fed, their gear polished, and some of them had actual banners fluttering neatly in the light breeze. We’d seriously crossed over into full Hollywood fantasy flick here.

Kara stiffened beside me. “That’s Air Guard.”

I nodded. I recognized them as well. Their arrival was expected...but not in that strength.

“They brought extras,” Carver noted quietly.

“Yeah.” I squared my shoulders and stepped forward.

The first figure to dismount was a woman I recognized immediately: Delores Robertson, the elected leader of the Air Guard’s town. She was a small, sharp-eyed woman in her early fifties, dressed in practical gear with a simple badge of authority pinned to her breastplate. I hadn’t known her long, but from the little I’d seen, Delores was a no-nonsense, level-headed, difficult to impress woman.

Beside her rode Colonel Turner, his salt-and-pepper hair visible even under his helm. He gave me a crisp nod as he handed his horse off to a handler, then turned to the strangers in their group.

Carver gave us some quick introductions. The extra folks were from the Army Guard base just north of them. General Adam Jefferson, commanding officer of their base and new Domain leader was there with Major Donna Packer, his right hand. Both wore newer armor than most of the survivors I’d seen, heavy plate that looked like it had been forged from something heavy. Their eyes were sharp, scanning everything with a professional coldness that made the hair on the back of my neck prickle. They were here to evaluate us, and the alliance in general, to see if they wanted to join.

“Welcome,” I said. “Glad you made it safely.”

Delores offered her hand, and I shook it firmly. “You’ve been busy, Selena,” she said, glancing at the rising walls and the bustling construction work.

“We’ve had some help,” I said, flashing Carver a brief grin.

Turner offered his hand next. “Good to finally see the place firsthand,” he said, his voice gruff but not unfriendly. “You’ve built more than most.”

“Still a work in progress,” I replied.

General Jefferson and Major Packer also shook our hands, albeit in a more reserved manner. That was fine. If they wanted to play things formally, I could do formal.

“You’re all very welcome,” I said smoothly. “We’ve prepared accommodations inside the main house for the leaders. Your soldiers are welcome to camp inside the walls. We’ll have food and water brought to them.”

Jefferson finally spoke, his voice deep and polished, the kind you could imagine echoing across a parade ground. “Thank you. We’ll want to do a walkaround later. See what you’ve done with the place. This is the tier three Domain, yes? The only tier three Domain?”

“So far, anyway!” I said. “And I’ll be glad to do a tour later, after everyone arrives. We’re still expecting more guests from KingsHaven to the south.”

As we started ushering them inside the gates, I couldn’t help but glance southward. There was no sign of Peter Eddings yet. A small, uncomfortable knot twisted in my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I was hoping he came—or hoping he didn’t, but either way, the next few hours were going to be interesting.