Back at the statue, the group were hard at work with the deer. Several cook fires either boiled pots of venison stew or grilled slabs of red meat. Somewhere among the trees Nigel had turned into a squirrel and was looking for a place to watch the meal while hidden.

  “This plan is stupid. Who doesn’t check their food for bones before swallowing?” Scout muttered at Steve as they cut wild green onions into the stew pot.

  “Hey, you didn’t have a better idea. And those chunks of bone in this stew are horrifying.” Steve whispered back.

  The sound of horses and wagons interrupted all conversation. Eight gnolls rode in a wagon and another gnoll drove what was clearly an attempt at a carriage. The cart was clearly the height of the gnolls’ skill in wood working, but also creaked like it could have fallen apart in a strong wind.

  Fenton rode in the carriage with some effort to look regal. He wore a blue robe with a high collar and more jewelry than normally expected. Three necklaces jangled as the carriage bumped up the dirt road and from the sparkle it looked like each of his fingers had a ring on it.

  Steve worried that each piece of jewelry had a different enchantment that would make Fenton harder to kill.

  “Hello, hello to you all. It’s so refreshing to see you all in person. I hope you don’t mind if my gnolls take care of that so we can compare it to my other treasures. And then we can discuss the situation in greater depth.” Fenton waved and called out as his carriage came to a halt.

  The gnolls drove their wagon to the statue behind the cook fires. All eight jumped out of the wagon, unloaded a table and began to set it with plates, bowls, and folding chairs. Once the table was well set, Fenton corrected the gnolls at least three times; six of the gnolls carefully lifted the statue into the wagon.

  “My gnolls are so very useful now. You wouldn’t know it to look at them now, but only a few short months ago they were chasing bones and grubbing in the ground for roots. And now they have talented craftsmen, they are building a stronghold, they have made boats and take fishing seriously. It is truly marvelous what I can do with a basic AI.” Fenton came down from his carriage and the two remaining gnolls stood behind him to either side.

  “They are very impressive, they seem incredibly strong.” Sage commented as the six gnolls had significantly less trouble moving the statue than they had.

  “Some things not even I can fix in such a short time. The smell of meat drives them wild, can we feed them before they make a scene?” Fenton cringed at the drool one of his guards dripped on the ground.

  “Of course, yes.” Sage answered. Payton and Scout hurried to collect the bowls. Steve ladled stew into the bowls. Four at first and expecting to serve eight gnolls.

  The six gnolls turned the wagon back the way they came and drove away with the statue.

  “Pardon, maybe you should call for your guards to return. We have made plenty for all of them.” Sage spoke suddenly and Steve glared daggers at her back.

  “Please, don’t panic. My gnolls have worked very hard to make the forest safe. You and your violin are completely safe with me. I would never risk damage to our negotiations.” Fenton stifled a laugh and approached the table. “Or perhaps you meant, I needed guards for you? How quaint of you. I did not expect someone so dull, but I’m sure you weren’t picked for your intellect.”

  “Excuse me?” Sage asked. The cheerleader voice was gone.

  “Oh darling. I will explain everything, but my guards are quite hungry. And you,” Fenton pointed to Ryan. “I’ll take my steak here presently, assuming that you caught the hornless hart?”

  Ryan left off cooking the venison steaks and took a plate from the table to serve the largest steak on the grill.

  “Hold,” Fenton held up one hand when the gnolls went to approach the table and the bowls of savory stew. “If you just let them do anything they like, they get lazy and start reverting to their original, uninspired state.”

  “You have them well trained.” Sage complimented Fenton, but the glow was out of her voice.

  “I’m glad you approve. Everything is so much better with the proper guidance. This does smell good,” Fenton sat delicately on the folded stool. “Now, eat.”

  The gnolls practically leapt to the table and began sucking down the savory stew. They immediately slurped up a bowl each and grabbed a second bowl. Fenton shook his head at their messy display.

  “You see what I mean? Beasts, not that most of us are much better. You for example,” Fenton took out silverware and began to cut his steak. “You don’t seem to understand your part in this. See, the Prime Minister took power. She saw an opportunity and took it. I, on the other hand, already had power before that whole mess on Earth. I directed a corporation bigger than your little Exile movement. And that woman is starting to recognize who is who in this arrangement.”

  “Oh,” Sage let the sound slip. She was confused by the scene before her. Aside from Fenton’s monologue, the gnolls were crunching right through their plan.

  “Yes, it’s just as mother predicted. But back to your concern for my safety. Killing me will be part of your position. I imagine watching you play that violin while nude will be engaging, but we will have time to discuss that in detail later. My most recent upgrade to myself is ingenious. When I die, I will respawn with another level. It was a lot of work and the system AI fought me right up until an hour ago. So I will need to die every other day or so. And if you died, it would serve you well to understand that caution is important.” Fenton placed a slice of the steak gently between his teeth and began to chew.

  The gnolls had finished both bowls of stew and were licking them clean without any sign of choking. They both stopped, shook out their hair like dogs, and curled up on the ground to sleep.

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  “Worthless. Can you believe this disgrace?” Fenton stopped with a bit of meat halfway to his mouth. “No matter how I help them, they’re still worthless.”

  Fenton ate the meat off his fork and turned to stab his nearest guard with the fork. An arrow startled him into dropping the fork by piercing that hand. Fenton lurched out of his seat and clenched his wrist. One of his rings flared with a blue light and the arrow dissolved to motes of light. The wound sealed and the ring fell off in several pieces.

  “How dare…” Fenton glared at Scout where she was drawing another arrow, but the bowl Steve threw hit him in the face hard enough to interrupt whatever he was saying. Another ring burst into light and the broken nose slid back into place.

  Payton jumped onto the table and brought her ax down on Fenton. It struck a white dome that became visible at the point of impact and cracks spread from that point.

  Fenton darted away from the table and pulled on one of his pendants. The chain broke and the pendant flew towards Payton. The air around the pendant filled with white spots and then jagged lines of electricity connected the spots suddenly. Payton stumbled and fell off the table, her clothing smoking from the sudden heat.

  Sage’s violin cut through Fenton’s snarls and the beginnings of three lightning bolts appeared over the retreating man. They struggled to form into the pillars of lightning like before and then winked out. Another of Fenton’s pendants broke and scorched his fine robes.

  Fenton’s left hand curled into a claw and he thrust it towards Sage. Spittle flew from his lips as he snarled the spell out. Three orbs of fire shot from between his fingers in quick succession. Two struck Sage in the stomach and chest while the third flew into the trees beyond.

  Steve threw his shield across the table and it struck the shield dome like Payton’s ax. The white cracks reappeared and spiderwebbed over more than half of the dome.

  Ryan sailed over the table with a flip and extended his leg through the dome. Pieces of the magical shield scattered as Ryan ploughed into Fenton. Three rings lit up and snapped as Ryan rolled over his target.

  Fenton thrust both hands out and flames spread around in him in great orange sheets. The table caught fire, the chairs caught fire, and even part of Ryan’s uniform robe caught fire.

  The flames passed over Payton and she sprang at Fenton with her ax ready. The blade passed through Fenton’s wrist. The rings on that hand all flared and broke without restoring the hand. The trim on Fenton’s robes glowed and the golden threads slithered out of the fabric. They wrapped around Fenton’s injured arm, reaching out to the hand, pulling the two back together and healing them.

  Fenton screamed louder when the hand was reattached than when the ax took it off. Scout’s next arrow took him in the shoulder, but he hardly noticed it. Three of his remaining jewelry glowed.

  “No one should have this much bling!” Steve shouted and threw a burning chair at Fenton.

  Large ghostly forms blossomed out of the jewelry and three ethereal bears rose around Fenton protectively.

  Scout’s third arrow threaded between the guardians and struck Fenton’s stomach.

  Lightning gathered again and this time Fenton was too distracted to attempt to counter it. Three jagged columns of lightning passed through Fenton at the same time, forcing him to the ground with a sickening crunch.

  The bears faded and then blew away on an unfelt wind. The last remaining jewelry snapped and the lapels of his robes tore away from the rest of the fabric. The body began to fade, but then stopped while partially faded. Instead it sunk into the ground.

  “Did that work?” Ryan asked, patting the last embers out on his clothes.

  “That is not how any of you look when you die.” Scout collected her arrows and kicked some dirt on the spot where Fenton fell.

  “Is anyone hurt?” Steve asked.

  “My sister.” Payton was going through her sister’s bag quickly, scraping to find a healing potion among all the things in the Yawning Space bag. Ryan rushed to help, but wasn’t quite sure what to do. From Sage’s left shoulder to her right hip, she was burnt and blistered through holes in her shirt and armor.

  “Pour the potion directly on the wound, I’ll do what I can about deeper injuries.” Nigel ran out of the treeline and began his healing chants as soon as he was close enough.

  “Hey, Fenton had cheater tools in the gnoll village. You should go take care of them.” Scout watched the two sleeping gnolls anxiously.

  “Alone?” Steve hesitated a moment and then took off at a run. Of course he was going alone. Sage was injured and needed Nigel, Payton, and Ryan for now. If the gnolls woke up Ryan was going to have to help Scout to deal with them. And he still didn’t have a sword.

  The gnolls had no idea they should have been hostile to Steve. The guards let him pass into the camp and a merchant was kind enough to point to where Fenton’s mansion was being built. All of the workers had abandoned their work and were drifting away when Steve approached.

  The mansion was only a first floor at the moment, but it was clearly intended to be as grand as Fenton’s ego. While the gnolls lived in rough tents and used latrines, Fenton’s mansion had a stone foundation and glass windows.

  “Hey, where are you guys going?” Steve stopped a worker gnoll as it left the worksite.

  “I want to go back to the hills. This is too close to the sea.” The worker muttered and didn’t wait another moment. He joined the other stripped gnolls leaving the settlement going north.

  Steve pushed open the door and let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside. The entry was still a work in progress, but candles still lit the windowless space. Stairs led upstairs to the open, unfinished second story. Two doors were unfinished that led off the entryway and one door that was finished.

  Not just finished, worn. Settled. The door looked like it had worn a comfortable groove in the floor already. Everything else looked like it was still being built, but this door looked like it had been transplanted from an established building. A heavy oak door when everything else was made of local pine.

  And it was locked. A large iron plate that was already scratched from the key missing the keyhole too often. The keyhole was as big as Steve’s pinky, meaning this key was large. Not something easy to hide. And this was a construction site, not the ideal place to hide a key. It was much more likely the owner would keep it on their body.

  The body that had just dissolved into the grass while the shipboard AI messed with it.

  Steve grabbed several of the rough planks waiting to be nailed together as doors and leaned them against the corner of the entryway. Large shavings and woodchips huddled around the tools that had made them, but Steve liberated them too for his woodpile. The large candles that lit the interior came right out of their holders on the walls and three of them had enough flame to catch on the kindling.

  Steve left before the flames migrated from the wood shavings to the planks. No one was coming to put out this fire and he didn’t want to hang around to babysit it.

  “Excuse me, are these your horses?” Steve interrupted a spotted gnoll who seemed confused. He stood near a wagon with its team and a recently unloaded marble statue. He seemed torn. He was supposed to do something with the statue or wait for someone to tell him what to do with the statue, but he couldn’t remember who that was. Or why he cared.

  “Horses? No, horses aren’t good eating. I need to find my tribe.” The gnoll’s confusion changed to irritation and he pushed Steve out of his way.

  “Won’t say no to a ride home.” Steve mumbled to himself and had a little spring in his step as he began the process of turning the wagon around. Slowly, he managed to take the wagon back to his waiting friends. Nigel had a much easier time convincing the horses to pull the wagon back to Bent Spoon