Victor of Tucson

Lesh’s enormous two-handed cudgel, Belagog, whistled through the air with enough momentum and weight to pulverize a granite boulder. He wasn’t trying to break a boulder, though; he was trying to smash Victor’s skull. Unlike a boulder, Victor wasn’t planning to stand still for the tremendous blow. He stepped forward and to the left, inside Lesh’s swing, moving much faster than anyone his size had a right to do. Lesh immediately saw his mistake, and his eyes widened as he lifted a clawed foot to rake Victor’s thigh in a bid to buy himself a fraction of a second and a few inches to recover.

Victor’s epic axe skill showed as he adjusted his hack. He’d been aiming at Lesh’s exposed ribs, but he swooped the blade downward, and Lifedrinker screamed, black smoke billowing from her smoldering edge as she took aim at Lesh’s outstretched knee. Victor wasn’t berserk, but he was running Inspiration of the Quinametzin. He had his strength and agility boosted with Sovereign Will, and Lifedrinker was imbued with a shard of his spirit. Lesh saw the blow coming, but he couldn’t evade it. Still, he twisted, following the momentum of his two-handed swing, trying to minimize Lifedrinker’s impact.

When she cut into Lesh’s knee, despite the dragonkin’s potent defensive spells, his dense, scale-covered flesh, and his quick reflexes, Lifedrinker bit deeply, slicing into the meat of his thigh and Lesh grunted and roared, “Gods be cursed! Again?”

Victor laughed and lifted Lifedrinker. She boiled the blood off her blade, sending it into the air as more black smoke. “First blood!”

Lesh growled but lifted Belagog to his forehead, bowing to Victor. “Well done, Lor . . . Victor. Perhaps another . . .”

“That’s it for me today, Lesh, sorry.” Victor let his Inspiration drop, and as he began to relax and talk, Lifedrinker calmed as well, the smoldering heat of her blade fading. He and Lesh had been sparring almost every day since the colony's founding, and Victor enjoyed it, but he was spending far too much time on the practice field for his taste. Between bouts with Kethelket, Lesh, and Valla, he sometimes found an entire morning slipping between his fingers. There were so many other projects he wanted to work on—things like studying the spellcrafting books Valla had gotten from Tes, experimenting with new affinity weaves, and, most importantly, helping the colony to grow so that they could open up world portals.

“That one will sting for a while.” Lesh rubbed the cut on his leg, but Victor wasn’t worried; Lesh was the only opponent he never really tried to pull his attacks on—the big dragon-blooded warrior healed almost as fast as he did. Big was an understatement. Lesh stood nearly ten feet tall and was even stockier than Victor. They both enjoyed fighting each other because if Victor didn’t enrage himself to titanic proportions, they were pretty closely matched in strength and size; it was the only time Victor could go all out and not reduce himself with the Shape Self spell Tes had given him.

“You told me it was fine if Lifedrinker ignited. I didn’t complain when Belagog cracked my collar bone . . .”

“I’m not complaining!” Lesh shook his head and spat some black, tar-like saliva at a grouping of nearby stones. It sizzled for several seconds. “I’m paying you a compliment!”

“Ah, all right. Good, ‘cause you know, it’s fun for me when we go all out like that, right? I can feel myself improving, too.”

“Aye, me as well.” Lesh looked to the west, toward the Silver Sea. They were atop a hill, not more than a mile from where Victor had planted the colony stone, and they had a good vantage of the various ongoing construction projects. He gestured to the southern edge of the budding colony where Earth Casters were working to erect massive stone pillars in a rectangular pattern. It was the framework for something Rellia called a travel pavilion. “I heard they’d set up the first portal to that city many of you hail from. What is it again? Parshi Gables?”

“Persi Gables. Yeah. I guess we have a connection to Rellia’s estate there now, which means we’ll see a big influx of new colonists. I think she’s planning to get the portal to Gelica up and running today or tomorrow, too.”

Lesh nodded, thumping Belagog head-first into the soil. He leaned on the metal haft, and Victor watched the head sink another four inches into the well-packed ground. “Which will speed the growth. Perhaps you’ll soon have access to world travel. You must be pleased.”

“I’ll be pleased as long as we can get Edeya some help before it’s too late.”

“She seems stable. I believe you were correct; the witch who snatched her spirit has no immediate plans for it. Either that or she waits for the girl’s body to die so she can get the last fragment she left behind.”

Victor frowned. Thinking about Edeya always put him in a bad mood, largely because it reminded him of his guilt. Lifedrinker had cooled sufficiently, so he held her over his shoulder, and his new harness snatched her, the enchanted leather straps wrapping around her and pulling her snugly against his back. The volcano had destroyed his old harness, and Rellia had commissioned this new one for him. She’d, of course, brought several talented Artificers along on the campaign.

Lesh had seen Victor’s mood turn sour. “I don’t mean to pester you with unpleasant thoughts. I only bring up the topic because I’m eager to help. I’m eager to see your friend made whole.”

“Ah, yeah. No, I appreciate that, Lesh.” Victor had resigned himself to the fact that he’d have a small entourage when he traveled to the “hub world,” as Lesh described it. Naturally, Valla intended to go with him. Lesh insisted that he had to follow Victor no matter the destination, and then there were Edeya and Lam; the self-made noblewoman would hardly let Edeya out of her sight.

In the two weeks since the founding, Victor had gotten to know Lesh pretty well. At first, he’d tried to talk the dragonkin into going home. The giant warrior spoke fondly of the many battles he’d won, the social standing he’d gained, and the wife he’d left behind. To Victor, it seemed crazy to throw all that away to follow around a man you’d traveled through the universe to kill. To Lesh, it was the only honorable choice—if he couldn’t kill Victor, then he had to follow him. He had to learn from him, and he had to make an ally of him. Victor didn’t see the logic but chalked it up to cultural differences. The simple truth he couldn’t argue with was that Lesh was stronger than anyone else he knew, at least on Fanwath, and Victor figured he’d need the help where he was going.

“Are you going to study your spells?” Lesh was used to Victor using that excuse to end their practice sessions.

“Not today. Today, I’m going to see the Shadeni clan off. Yesterday, Rellia and Lam finally signed off on their settlement location, and Tellen doesn’t want to waste any more time; he’s eager to get some structures built before Fall.”

“Ah, yes. The people with the red skin?”

“Right, though not everyone with red skin is part of their clan.” Victor started walking toward the sea and the bulk of the new construction. He was still living out of his travel home, and it was set up in the courtyard of the keep Rellia had been building around the colony stone. He waved one last time to Lesh, and the man’s green, reptilian eyes narrowed as he grinned and nodded.

“I’ll get you next time!”

Victor shook his head and chuckled. “We’ll see.” He and the others who’d been using the hilltop for sparring had worn a trail in the hillside. As he walked down it toward the little gravel pathway that would take him more directly into the settlement, he took in the view, letting his eyes traverse the various projects Rellia and her engineers had begun. The travel pavilion was impressive on its own, but it seemed insignificant in the shadow of the keep being built atop the central hill.

Magic made everything faster, but it was especially apparent when it came to building large structures. The Earth Casters were pulling massive stones from the quarry the surveyors had found in the mountains to the south and, again using magic, were carving and transporting them to the settlement much more quickly than even modern construction equipment might have done back on Earth. Victor had to admit that he didn’t know much about large-scale construction, but he’d watched some big buildings go up in Tucson, and he’d seen how it took months before the outer shell looked like an actual building. That wasn’t the case here.

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The keep’s foundations had been dug and filled with stone footings in a single day—hundreds of yards of trenches, dug down twenty feet or more to solid bedrock, then filled with stone footings magically melded together without the need for mortar. Days after that, the outer walls had been built with enormous metal gates fit for an emperor’s palace put into place. Rellia had commissioned the gates back in Gelica, and they’d been carried in one of the capacious supply wagons.

Victor appreciated her preparedness, especially with regard to how quickly she’d built the keep wall around the colony stone. If, for some reason, they were attacked, they were already in a position to defend the stone. The keep itself wasn’t going up quite as quickly. It took planning to build the foundation, digging out the basement levels, and ensuring the infrastructure was in place for water and sewage. These were all things that had interested Victor, and they’d eaten away many afternoons as he wandered around observing, asking questions, and, of course, meeting with Rellia and Lam to “approve” this or that project.

They were still governing the colony as a triumvirate, though Rellia and Lam had plans to change that in the coming month, as the friends and family members of the legion came through the portal in their thousands. Victor didn’t know all the details, but he knew there’d be a sort of elected republic, but elections wouldn’t be open to just any citizens; voting citizens had to hold land in the Free Marches, and those holdings would determine the weight of a person’s vote. Naturally, Rellia, Lam, and Victor, being awarded the most land from the conquest, would have the most influence, but it was a commodity that could change hands.

Rellia was sharing a large portion of her claim with Lam, and the three of them, Victor included, were awarding parcels to the veterans of the conquest, including the Naghelli, Shadeni Clan, and all of the support personnel. To Victor, it didn’t seem like much; the most significant awards for general troops were only a hundred acres, and some support personnel would only receive a single acre. People like Borrius would receive thousands, and some of the nobility from Rellia’s family would see more than that, but those were all coming out of her share. Victor was going to have a stretch of land numbering in the tens of millions of acres.

Because Victor had recruited the Naghelli and Shadeni, he’d agreed to award them land from his share. On the one hand, he didn’t care because he had plenty, more than he’d ever wanted or could conceive of using. On the other hand, he didn’t care because he liked the idea of having them close. He liked Kethelket and his people, and he felt they deserved it; it felt good to give it to them. The same went for the Shadeni, only doubly so.

Victor had lobbied with Lam and Rellia for a large tract of land that ran along most of the southern mountain range and then up the coast of the Silver Sea. There was an old-growth forest near the mountains and plenty of seaside hills where he might build a keep with a view. Grasslands stretched for a hundred miles north of the hills and forests, and Victor liked the idea of having so many different sorts of land to call his own. More importantly, he thought they’d accommodate his friends nicely; the agreement he’d come to with Tellen granted the Shadeni a million square acres of grassland and forest to call their own. Kethelket and his people were eager to claim some territory in the mountains near the forest, and Victor thought that would be fine.

He couldn’t take all the credit for choosing his lands—Valla had come up with the idea of building a road and maintaining a garrison at the southern pass. It would put him, or, more likely, whomever he left in charge, in control of further exploration into unclaimed territory. His lands would meet with Rellia’s, which began near the Sea Keep and encompassed the primary settlement.

When he and Valla had made their proposal, Rellia hadn’t been hard to convince. She wanted the northwestern lands, primarily because she wanted to be in control of the colony stone and the pass to Ridonne. Lam, also, had been easy-going; she had her eyes set on vast tracts of farmland that abutted the eastern mountains. All in all, so far—Victor had the urge to knock on some wood—the fledgling colony and its triumvirate of leaders had been running smoothly.

As he contemplated the state of things, Victor rounded the last hill before the expansive, cleared area where Rellia’s engineers were laying out the new town square. With the sea as a backdrop and surrounded by the scaffolding of a dozen new buildings, he saw the Shadeni wagons and the bustling activity of nearly a thousand people as they readied their caravan. Some butterflies began to stir in his belly as Victor thought about meeting with Tellen, Thayla, and their family. He’d hardly spoken to Chandri since she’d recovered, and he might not be a genius when it came to reading women, but he felt like she harbored some severe animosity.

“I wish I knew why.” Victor had no problem finding fault with himself; he blamed the disastrous final battle and the assault on the Glorious Ninth on himself, but he couldn’t find anyone else who’d admit to harboring the same opinion. He wouldn’t blame Chandri if she were angry with him about that, but he didn’t think that was it. “Whatever,” he grumbled as he reached into his Core and let some Energy out to cast Shape Self. He shrank down to a more comfortable six and a half feet and hurried his steps toward the front of the caravan, where he saw his old wagon and the two vidanii, Thistle and Starlight. If nothing else, he was eager to see Deyni.

He hadn’t made it ten steps before jogging footsteps approached, and he turned to see Nia running his way. The former thrall of Dunstan had come through the battle unscathed, and she’d been working as something of an aide for Victor in the weeks following the colony's founding. It hadn’t been his idea; she’d approached him and asked to swear into his household guard, something Valla found very amusing, but also, after she’d relaxed and thought about it for a minute, a good idea—Victor would have to establish some sort of governance and militia for his territory.

Nia was sharp and determined, and there was just something Victor liked about the scar-faced, dark-eyed woman. Her personal tale was tragic, but she never seemed down or tired or less than enthusiastic about any hard work. “Lord Victor!” She held up a thin leatherbound volume. “You’ve received a response!”

“Ah! Really?” She held the Farscribe book Victor shared with his cousin, Olivia. He’d written to her about their victory and about their plans for the Free Marches, but he hadn’t received an immediate response. Afraid he’d put the book into a ring and forget about it, he’d given Nia the task of checking for a response twice daily. He slowed his pace to a stop and waited for her to catch up, then took the book. “Did you read it?”

Her eyes flew wide with shock, and her tone bordered on outrage, “I would never!”

Victor laughed. “Relax! I’m not accusing you, and I never said you couldn’t. Still, I guess it’s good you didn’t. Thanks for your discretion.”

“Of course!”

“Well, let me check it quickly before I get tied up with the Shadeni.” Victor flipped the pages to the last written-in one and began to read:

Victor,

Well done with the Free Marches! Congratulations! I’m sorry it’s been a few days since I received your message, but I was rather busy with a challenge of my own—something we can talk about next time we’re together. My response was further delayed by my having to communicate with First Landing via another Farscribe book. It took a few days to relay the significance of your victory and for the Council Parliament to come up with a proper response to your good news. Forgive the cross out—I’m still getting used to the new system.

Along with the new government, First Landing has expanded. It seems we’ve unlocked the option to purchase town stones from the colony stone, so two new settlements are being developed out there in the frontier. As much as I was against it, some of the low-affinity species we rescued from another world—this is a very long story I’ll share with you sometime—have decided to found their own town half a day’s journey north of First Landing. Thanks to the colony stone providing the town stone for them, they’ll be a member of our budding, as-yet-unnamed, and unofficial—more on this in a moment—new country.

Similarly, we’ve purchased another stone to make the mining community south of us official; the people have decided to name it Clearwater because of a lovely little stream that flows through the canyon. You can imagine the Ridonne Empire won’t be pleased if they catch wind of our steady growth. You know that my friend, the aptly named champion of our people, Morgan Hall, traveled to the capital, Tharcray, to treat with them, right? Well, that’s another very long story, and it’s not resolved yet, but Morgan’s last message to us was something along the lines of, “The Ridonne have their hands full.” Still, he cautioned us to stay in the frontier and to keep a low profile as we continue to expand.

You know humanity, Victor. We’re working to replicate much of the tech we lost to the System with Energy-based versions, and frankly, if Morgan’s right and the Ridonne are too busy to bother with us for much longer, I feel we’ll be in a position to demand our place in this world when they finally get around to us. That’s without considering you and your allies in the Free Marches. What a great name for a country, by the way!

So, on to the business at hand. I’m going to be tied up with some academy work, a special project for my sponsoring professor, for another month before I can take a break. The Coun Parliament has appointed a very good man, Alec Green, a dear friend of mine, to visit you as an ambassador. You mentioned that your friend, Lady Rellia, will be opening portals from Gelica and Persi Gables to your new settlement. I was going to send Alec to you with one of Morgan’s tower portal stones, but we, too, have some artificers who’ve finally reached the skill level required to create them.

Would it be possible for Alec to travel through Persi Gables to you? If so, he’ll bring a portal stone, and we can set up a direct connection to First Landing. If we did that, you could visit! Wouldn’t that be great?

I’ve rambled on enough for now. I’ll await your response about Alec and directions for how he might access the portal in Persi Gables before I get lost on another tangent.

I’ll look forward to your reply.

With affection,

Olivia Bennet

“Jeez.” Victor snapped the book shut. “I thought I was already busy.”

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