Aethelu took her pup to the beach and stood before the Mother of Waves, the master of magic, medicine, and navigation among the Dobhar. She held the sleeping Aldreda in her arms while the Mother of Waves pored over her with a magic circle. Eventually, the magic faded and the Mother of Waves took a deep breath. Aethelu held hers as she waited for the verdict.

The Mother of Waves smiled at her.

“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen but…as far as I can tell, she’s perfectly healthy. Better even, her mana seems to be…elevating her somehow.”

Tears filled Aethelu’s eyes as she gripped Aldreda closer to her. The sleeping pup shifted closer in her sleep. The Mother of Waves’s face then turned serious.

“On the other hand, her mana density has increased, farther than her body can currently handle, and has taken on an attribute to boot. The gem on her forehead seems to be concentrating the excess, so there shouldn’t be an issue but…I would recommend she begin learning the mystic arts as soon as possible. She will need training and practice to handle her own mana.”

Aethelu nodded and thanked the elderly woman profusely. She then saluted to her, Uscfrea, and the other elders, before departing. Once she left, the Mother of Waves frowned.

“Spellbreaker, I do not wish to say this, but I fear it must be said…”

Uscfrea frowned and crossed his arms.

“I know right? That’s suspiciously similar to a monster’s mana core, is what you want to say?”

The Mother of Waves slowly nodded.

“We must keep an eye on her, and see how she grows.”

Uscfrea sighed and shook his head.

A cure for the Dread Plague…but that turned a Dobhar pup into…something else. What, exactly, they were not sure. They knew the mana core was similar to that of a monster’s. But the mana itself…that was something they recognized. Something every inhabitant of this world instinctively recognized.

Holy mana.

The attribute of the Aesdes themselves. The power that protected the world and suffered no evil or intruder. The power that cannot be acquired, but was rather granted by the Aesdes to those they consider worthy. And the power that no monster has ever wielded, at least as far as the Dobhar knew.

And now granted to a pup by a wandering mercenary, in a ritual that may have changed her into a different species entirely.

Once again, Uscfrea found himself questioning who exactly he had bound his people to.

But…

Aethelu’s relieved face passed through his mind.

He didn’t think he regretted that choice just yet.

The elder Uscfrea had fought with scowled.

“I still cannot believe you bound us to some human. And now we are letting her turn pups into monsters!”

Uscfrea didn’t even glance at him.

“And what would you have us do, Hunsig?”

Hunsig narrowed his eyes.

“What we have always done. Hold to our traditions. Keep to the seas, to our home. Fight, endure, and grow strong. Not to languish on land as slaves to a human.”

Uscfrea turned to look him in the eye.

“Hunsig, I’d like to paint you a picture. Do you remember what Our Queen did to the Dread Orcas?”

Hunsig begrudgingly nodded.

“Now, imagine that again, only this time it is the Dobhar in her sights. Imagine each of those beams cutting through our people while she remains up in the sky. Imagine the ships of the Home Fleet burning and sinking into the waves. Imagine our warriors desperately reaching for the sky and being knocked to the ground.”

Uscfrea’s eyes narrowed.

“Because, as I already told you, that is exactly what she did to end our assault on the Empire. And exactly what she will do if we break the oath I have sworn to her. So ask yourself, would you rather those spells protect the Dobhar…or end them? If you have a way to stop all that, then be my guest. Go, challenge her for leadership of our people, as is our tradition. See for yourself why she is now queen.”

Hunsig’s face scoffed.

“Big words from a coward. Are you not the ‘Spellbreaker’? Why do you fear her?”

Uscfrea held out his hands.

“Notice anything missing, Hunsig? In case you haven’t realized, I already fought with her and I lost. And if you don’t believe my words, you’ll understand when you meet her yourself.”

Uscfrea turned around to look at each elder in turn.

“This is not the situation I wanted, and not one that is easy to accept. But know that this is ultimately in our favor. Yes, we have lost our freedom and our pride. Yes, we have bowed to a human. Yes, we are beholden to this stranger. But think of what we have gained.”

Uscfrea motioned around at the beach and the cliffs beyond, including the Legion fortress at the top.

“The Empire has acknowledged this as our land, they will not take it from us, nor accost us while we are here. The Selkies have been forced to agree as well, no longer do we need to fear their hunters. We have all this to do as we please from now on.”The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He grinned.

“And Our Queen is generous…naive even. She has set us free, to rule ourselves as we please. All she asks is that we respect her allegiances and help her search for a couple of humans. If we can accept that…then we are free to build a new home for our people, and to become as strong as we want.”

He looked to the Mother of Waves.

“And now, no more pups need fear the Dread Orcas striking them from the deep. They can grow safely on the land, until they are strong enough to fight back, and prove themselves worthy in fair challenge.”

She smiled and nodded back to him. He turned back to Hunsig.

“So, what will it be, ‘Elder’ of the Dobhar? What does your wisdom tell you? Shall we insist on blood, betray our oaths, continue to fight, and watch Our Queen destroy us entirely? Or will we take the opportunity to grow stronger than we’ve ever been, all while Our Queen rains destruction on all who would threaten us?”

Hunsig grit his teeth but said nothing. Uscfrea grinned at him.

“Well, if you feel yourself growing weak and infirm on this land, feel free to return to the seas on your own. That is no trouble for a strong and traditional Dobhar hunter, right?”

With that, the Dobhar began to move onto the land, landing their ships upon the beach. NSLICE-00P continued to patrol the perimeter until a better part of the ships had landed, and the remainder moved close enough that she could monitor them from land. Once they had, she returned to Uscfrea.

As she did, she took out the Sea Dragon-bone Axe, holding it in her hand. Uscfrea had spoken with her on the way here, and specified she should hold it while greeting the elders. She didn’t understand why, but as her protocols and records had nothing to say on the matter, she saw no reason to refuse either.

She landed on the beach in front of Uscfrea and several older Dobhar. Their eyes widened as they saw the axe in her hand. They glanced at one another. One of them grit his teeth.

But in the end, all of them bowed to her. Uscfrea spoke.

“My Queen, what is your command?”

“Command: Friendly Uscfrea Ymmason is designated as role ‘Steward of the Dobhar’. Primary directive is to relay this unit’s instructions to Dobhar units, additional major directives include defense of Dobhar units, defense of this unit’s home base, and development of Dobhar unit capabilities.”

Her robotic eye glowed and displayed a holographic image of the persons of interest.

“Command: Specific instructions are to search for these persons of interest, and inform this unit of any related intel. Additional instructions include complying with the terms of the agreement established between this unit and entities ‘Empire’ and ‘Council of Hunters’.”

“As you command, My Queen.”

And with that, NSLICE-00P gave the commands she had discussed with Uscfrea earlier. Her own particular requirements were assistance with her primary objective and compliance with the negotiated agreement, the designation as steward was Uscfrea’s idea. But NSLICE-00P found that an acceptable suggestion, having Uscfrea as her liaison was ideal, given that she had already negotiated with him and had him listed as an official subordinate.

Uscfrea turned to the elders and grinned.

“You heard Our Queen. She has commanded we protect her people and her lands. So let’s get to work.”

With that, the Dobhar accepted NSLICE-00P as their new ruler, and Uscfrea as her Steward. Uscfrea set to work immediately, having his warriors set up camps for the people. The Dobhar warriors had started to understand the necessity of doing so…but they still weren’t particularly efficient at it. So NSLICE-00P landed near Uscfrea after one of her patrols.

“Observation: Dobhar are currently attempting to build shelters?”

Uscfrea nodded, jumping only slightly when she suddenly landed behind him.

“Yes, My Queen.”

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered. She was no architect, but she did have some relevant protocols in this case. While she was never intended to build structures, she often needed to infiltrate or destroy them in the past. Or, perhaps more importantly, to avoid destroying them unintentionally mid-combat. So she did have some ability to analyze buildings for structural integrity and had some building layouts recorded in her memory.

So she looked over the Dobar as they struggled to set up sticks in the sand.

And her analysis of the Dobhars’ work was…

“Analysis: Dobhar constructions lack structural integrity and meaningful insulation.”

Uscfrea heaved a sigh.

“My people’s ‘building’ experience consists of tying driftwood and bone into basic rafts. It will take us some time to adjust.”

NSLICE-00P ran through the calculations. Part of her agreement with Uscfrea was the establishment of a secure home base of the Dobhar. Her protocols and records indicated that adequate and defensible shelter was necessary for a secure home base. And by simulating the building ‘techniques’ the Dobhar were currently displaying, she predicted they would not produce what she defined as a secure home base.

And that was a problem, as she could not resume her own search for the persons of interest until the Dobhar were secure.

“Recommendation: Empire-built structure in the area would suffice as a shelter.”

Uscfrea shook his head.

“It would, but it's too high up the cliff. My people still need ready access to the water. We cannot carry the pups up and down those cliffs every day.”

This area was a wide, sandy beach leading to a tall cliff, that stretched for miles in either direction. The Legion keep had been built along the easiest and most convenient path up the cliffs…but it had been designed to keep foes down on the beach and so had still been built up at the top. Which meant it was not at all accessible from the beach and vice versa. The Dobhar were just trying to build some basic shelters right next to the cliff, where they would be safe from the tide but still have access to the ocean.

“Acknowledged. Statement: Then this unit will provide construction assistance.”

NSLICE-00P formed dozens of magic circles along the cliff face, for both the Pitfall Spell and the Earth Wall spell. She then used Spell Fusion to combine them and got to work.

The spell Earth Wall has leveled four times and is now level 8!

The spell Pitfall has leveled four times and is now level 8!

The skill Earth Magic is now level 8! Spell Choice available!