Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (room on the broom read aloud txt) 📗

mass combat scenarios will break rank and attempt to flee. If the enemies are Undead, the Queensong does not induce Terror, but instead deals double damage. Level 30: Armor of Darkness I

Your queen dragon uses her intense connection to the Darkness and Life elements to protect and fortify your allies. The queen, her rider, and all allies within range of the dragon’s Queensong gain +250 magical armor, immunity to fear, +25% attack speed, and regenerate 10 HP per second for 10 minutes. Ally melee and ranged attacks deal damage to Incorporeal enemies, and all affected allies deal double damage to Undead.

My eyebrows climbed further and further toward my hairline as my HUD cheerfully narrated this absolute BEAST of a Path. Healing a hundred or more people at a time? Hundreds of people dealing double damage to Undead? Me being me, my first response was to kick myself. If I’d trained her harder, been BETTER at this damn game, we could have had some of those advantages when we’d fought the Demon.

“Idiot,” I muttered. I was about to assign Karalti’s Lexica for her... but then hesitated. When she was younger, I’d have done it without a second thought. But now? It didn’t feel right. She needed to choose for herself.

“Hrrn?” Vash glanced over at me.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Nothing I can fix right now. All I can say is, gods help the Demon if he ever tries to pull shit in Myszno again.”

A few minutes later, the doors at the end of the hall opened, admitting the commander of the Orphans Company. Taethawn the Bleak was easily the tallest Meewfolk I’d ever met. Archemi’s cat people were generally well over six feet tall, but from his clawed hind feet to the tips of his triangular ears, Taethawn pushed eight feet of long limbs and lean muscle. His ears were heavily chipped, pierced with mis-matched rings, and his eyes were different colors: one blue, one yellow. He didn’t wear any clothes to speak of, just pounds of jewelry and weapons: rings on his fingers, toes, and tail; silver claw sheaths, bracelets, chokers, and two jeweled scimitars. His modesty was preserved by his short, sleek coat of grimy white fur.

“How good to ssssee you again, Your Grace,” Taethawn purred, sweeping into a bow in front of the dais. He had the thick musical accent common to Meewfolk who had emigrated from their island homeland to the mainland of Artana. “I had heard rumorsss of your untimely demise. Those tales were exaggerated, I see.”

“Just a little bit. I was out hunting down your pay,” I said. “According to Mr. Kingdom Management System here, we owe you two weeks of back pay after clearing out Vyeshniki for us. Good work, and thanks.”

“Oh, believe me, it was our pleasure.” He gave me a slow-eyed squint, just like a pleased cat. “It is not often we can engage an enemy that is so dessserving of punissshment. My men were able to make a fitting example out of the bandit leader, to the delight of the Alderman of Vyessshniki.”

“Good to hear. Do you have enough men to rotate out for a second house-cleaning campaign?” I asked. “We need to retake Bas County, also in the south of the province.”

The Meewfolk made a show of thinking about it, pacing back and forth with his tail lashing. “It dependsss how many men you require. We have been campaigning for monthsss. My infantry and light cavalry are exhausted, and require at least another week of rest to heal injuriesss and regain energy and morale. I have little more than specialist unitsss available for deployment: a few hundred elite infantry, some heavy cavalry, bombardiersss.”

“How many all up?”

He shrugged. “Perhapsss eight hundred.”

I frowned, tapping my lip. The Royal troops Ignas had sent with us were still relatively fresh, but that still only gave us just three thousand soldiers.

“Eight hundred might be all we need. We’re hoping the scouts that Suri sent return tonight. Solonovka isn’t too far by air, so we should know within a day or two. I’ll tell you what: I’ll pay your back pay and cover the Company for another two weeks regardless of how many you can field, but keep those eight hundred soldiers ready to deploy. Suit you?”

Vash, who had taken position to the left of the throne, shot me a curious glance.

“Cover... the Company?” Taethawn arched his tail into a curious question-mark shape. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly, your Grace. You mean the entire company?”

“Yup. We’ll pay the soldiers for their leave,” I said.

Taethawn blinked at me. “You would... pay them while they rest? Not just for the ones you plan to use in battle?”

There was an awkward pause.

“Well, yeah,” I said. “I’m not going to stiff your soldiers for needing to take some downtime. They get full pay while they recover. Why?”

One of Taethawn’s ears flicked. I heard him sniff the air a couple of times before he cocked his head. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Why?” I repeated. “Is that a problem?”

His eyes widened, and he held his hands up, claws sheathed. “No, not at all, Your Grace. You are simply the first human lord to have ever made such an offer, without trying to... ahh... how shall I say...?”

“Nickel and dime you?” I asked.

“Yesss, Your Grace,” he said, sweeping into a low bow. “It is exceedingly generousss for you to pay my Company while they are on leave. Normally, we are sssimply ordered to leave the territory which we served, and we retreat to Sathbar and ressst. If the lord is feeling charitable, he flies us there... at our expenssse.”

“Well, screw that,” I said, leaning back into my chair. “I’ll brawl with merchants over the price of wheat, but not the health of your men. Your soldiers will get their full wage during rotation.