Book 2 Chapter 22: Sam's Travels

Sam

April 5, 1787, Realm Time, Kamianets fortress, Poland/The Elven Realm, unknown date and time

"But I'm very strong now," Cedric insisted, waving his staff before making puppy eyes. "Please let go after the Russians."

Sam traveled back in time three seconds, snatched the teenager's weapon just as he finished the words, but before he made the gesture. "Very strong, huh?" he said, putting the staff on the table.

"Show off," Cedric sneered.

"He's very stubborn," Juniper said.

"I don't want to let you go after the Russians for two simple reasons," Sam said. "We're already following them with drones. As long as they don't feel threatened, they won't pillage. We have installed a second quarantine belt at all our borders, with only a few safe passages. The anti-horse virus will kill all their mounts. Then, we'll hit them from the air until they surrender. So, there's no need for you."

"And the second reason?" Cedric asked.

"I'm visiting those other elves, the… I forgot their tribe's name…"

"The High Elves?" Cedric asked.

"The Vanity tribe," Juniper said.

"Yes, those. Their King wants to talk business. I suppose it's about trade or something. If you guys come with me, that would help a lot. You know, like guides, advisers."

"They're nothing like us," Juniper said. "Mother says they're baseball crazy."

"Bat… Keep your voice down; he might hear you," Sam said. Sincerely, she didn't really seem to be of sound mind either.

"Is the king here?" Cedric asked.

"You mean Stealthed?" Juniper asked at the same time.

"I don't know. The elf was on the chopper. Once we got down, he said he'd take care of some business and vanished. One moment he was next to me, the next second, paff… nothing. Couldn't detect him anymore."

"That's some serious Stealth skill," Juniper said.

"Space magic," the elf said, appearing next to Sam.

"Shit!" Sam yelped, his body wishing to jump up.

"I did a spatial fold around myself; that's why you… Err… how do you say? Folks? Guys? Peeps didn't notice me. I spent my time doing errants."

"You mean errands," Sam said.

"I mean errants. I erred and took care of the ants. I proudly take pride in getting rid of the enemies headed toward your lands."

"How?" Juniper asked.

"Portal, child of the forest. Portal. The time was foggy, and I took the liberty to send them to a better place, where they can't harm anyone. I think the… err… people running that place might even hire them."

"I beg your pardon?" Sam asked.

"Don't worry, brother Samuel, all is under control," the elf said, picking the staff from the table before anyone could protest, and scrutinizing it. "Hm… strong stuff… Stronger than all my artifacts, only I have more than one."

The elf put the staff back and raised his right hand, wiggling his fingers. Rings appeared on each appendice, including the thumb. He repeated the move with his left hand, then came forward, kissed Juniper's hand, saying an unctuous "Milady," then shook Cedric's hand energetically while the youngster was slack-jawed.

"Samuel, king of the High Elves," he presented himself.

"Your name is Samuel too?" Cedric asked.

"Of course. Sam here is like a brother to me, and in his honor, I decided to take the name Samuel for the time being."

"His real name is Karoperos. I have known him for only two weeks, and it feels like an eternity…" Sam rolled his eyes. In hell…

"We bonded very fast," the elf said, throwing an arm around Sam's shoulders.

Behind the elf, Juniper rotated her index finger near her temple, letting out a soft whistle.

"So… How much time do you need to open the portal?" Sam said, deciding the sooner they were on their way, the faster all that madness could end.

"No time at all, brother Samuel," the elf said. "If a portal doesn't require permanent stabilization, I can instantly open them to places I'm attuned to. My family is the best at space magic."

Saying that, the elf stretched his hands forward, wiggling his fingers. Thin lines of energy shot from all of them, gathering in one spot. The man's face looked tormented, like a laborer who had worked all day on a hard, dangerous job, sweat pouring down his face.

"I have spent a lot of Mana making the last portal, so we'll have to hurry," the elf heaved as space folded and then ripped in front of him, showing another landscape. "It will last ten seconds."

Shit!

Activating his skill, Sam jumped back three seconds in time, taking Cedric and Juniper by their arms and shoving them through the wormhole.

"You have fast reactions, brother Samuel," the elf said.

"Thanks," Sam said absently, looking around.

They had arrived in the middle of a piazza built in the center of a town that could have fit in southern Italy without a problem. The light of the sun was very strong, showing shades and colors that belonged in a Technicolor movie, and the heat was oppressive. After an area where buildings were tightly clustered around the piazza, there were hills with pines, ancient ruins, villas, parks, and fountains as far as his eyes could see. Slight signs of dilapidation were evident everywhere, yet the town still had a charming vibe.

"My castle is up that hill," the elf gestured vaguely. "We'll have to walk; all teleportation is restricted except for this specific place."

"Yeah, I can feel it," Cedric said.

Even my time jump is blocked! Samuel realized. These folks are powerful!

They proceeded in the direction the elf had pointed, passing through the neighborhood with the narrow buildings tucked together first. It was divided into several slices by service alleys, with no windows, revealing only plastered walls. It was late morning, judging from the position of the sun, and people were having coffees or lemonades at the terraces al fresco laid out all over, chatting leisurely.

"This looks like Italy," Cedric said.

"Only in the movies," Sam said.

"These are the servant quarters," the elf said. "Each noble house has its own part, giving direct access to their domains, so the staff could access them faster. As you can see, the other houses' servants are lazy bums who spend their time gossiping instead of trying their best. Mine is the only clan that still has servants worth this appellation."

"Shit, Karoperos is here," a street urchin blurted before darting up the hill, in what looked like evasive maneuvers through side streets.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

They walked in silence for fifteen minutes because it was so hot that, even in the buildings' shadows, conversation was tiring. At the end of the popular quarters came a giant park, shaped like a ring, with a wrought-iron fence on the upper side, ten feet tall, and ornate gates here and there. The gate just in front of them opened wide, a line of servants waiting at attention, with a carriage ready nearby.

"Welcome home, master!" the servants said in unison.

"See? My help is the best. Always be prepared is their motto," the elf said with a satisfied smile.

"How innovative," Cedric sneered.

"We'll take the carosse," the elf said.

The carriage was as luxurious as one could expect from a king's vehicle, with a dozen horses pulling it. They rode between two lines of tall trees, with lawns and gardens to the left and right, once meant to be in the French style, neatly manicured, had changed into a wild display of layers of bushes and flowers in the English manner. The size of the elf's lands was impressive. It took half an hour to arrive at the manor.

"Told you, this is Italy," Cedric pointed at a feature near the house, which was clearly the Fontana di Trevi.

"I brought it from an alternate Earth where Rome was destroyed," the elf said. "Just wait to see the other features. You'll be amazed."

On the stairs of the palace sat a young elven girl, looking fourteen in human years, a notebook and a quill in hand, looking up pensively.

"Daddy! You're here!" the girl jumped up, clapping, then rushed to hug her father. "What a surprise! Sorry I didn't notice you; I was engrossed in studying."

"I decided to make a jump," Karoperos winked.

"What a nice pun, daddy!" the girl clapped again.

"Brother Samuel, Elves, meet my daughter, Empfindsamkeit."

Poor girl! Samuel thought.

"My name means 'Sensibility, like the literary current," the girl said.

At least that's better than Pride and Prejudice.

"We're so glad you're back home," the girl continued, the fake joy in her voice making Sam cringe.

"Then you have fulfilled your daughterly duty," the elf said.

Is he really an idiot, or is he going with the act? Sam asked himself. Hidden behind a bush, the urchin from before was biting on a gold coin.

An elven woman, her appearance in the forties, blonde and good-looking, exited in a hurry, repeating the girl's play. She was the elf's wife, and Sam instantly forgot her name.

After the presentations, they were invited to have refreshments in a loggia facing the other side of the mansion, another park filled with statues and fountains. Unlike the front lawn, this one had dozens of chickens and other domestic birds running freely. After a few minutes, the lady of the house excused herself, insisting she couldn't trust the cooks, emphasis on the plural, to prepare lunch to the perfection required for such important guests.

Then Karoperos started pointing at various items brought from alternate Earth realities, where some countries had met a sad fate. Egyptian obelisks, Greek temples, or unknown structures. On the opposite hill stood the Colosseum, and it looked in better shape than the real one.

"Is that yours?" Sam asked.

"My grandfather brought it a few centuries ago, from an alternate Earth. It's the most powerful artifact in my family's collection."

"The Colosseum has become our seat of power," Sensibility said. "We also use it to hold tournaments."

"Which brings me to the matter I wanted to discuss. You see how nice this place is?" the king swiped his hand toward the view. "Believe it or not, it's the only civilized place on this backward planet."

"Or a scar disfiguring our Realm," Juniper said.

C'mon! We're his guests. Take it easy.

"The rest is only forests," Karoperos said.

"You mean you're the only tribe with a city?"

"Of course he isn't," Juniper snorted. "We have cities as well, only they're one with nature."

"One tree house every mile, going forever," the king said.

"Hiking keeps you healthy."

"Can we stop arguing, please?" Sam asked. "We are supposed to discuss important matters."

"Indeed. I'll skip to the point. Since I was elected king, I dedicated all my efforts to improving the lives of my subjects."

"Elected?" Sam asked, suddenly interested in whether there was some democracy in that place, after all. "By who, the people?"

"The nobles' parliament," the elf said. "Commoners don't have a say; we follow common sense."

"Common sense usually means trusting the commoners," Sam couldn't help but say in a clearly offensive tone.

"How much do you know about the history of the Elven Realm?" Karoperos asked.

"Err… nothing?"

"There was a time, a millennium ago, when all this continent was thriving with cities and civilization. We had multiple species going along pretty well. Us, the high elves, normal countryside elves, the forest elves—who were more reasonable back then—orcs, humans, dwarves, lizardfolk, etcetera. Then, the geniuses of her tribe—"

"It wasn't our tribe," Juniper interjected.

"One of the forest elf tribes fiddled with things they shouldn't have. They mixed a curse with a plague to get rid of a winged lizard species that was eating their precious trees' leaves. It went wrong. The lizard mutated, and not only them, but the lizardfolks as well. It made them crazy, aggressive, and strong. They bred the winged lizards into giant mounts. Dragons. Then, they proceeded to conquer the continent. And what did the rest of the species do? They left.

"The forest elves ran over the sea, the dwarves dug themselves some fortresses into the mountains, the orcs did the same. Most of the other species perished, except for the ones who took refuge in this city, which was the last place left intact and defended by our space magic. I suppose you ask yourselves: How did we win?" Karoperos made a theatrical pause.

"How did you win?" Cedric asked.

"We identified some realms we could resonate with, not of the hospitable kind, and prepared ambushes. It was not hard; all we had to do was go out of our city, and the lizardfolk would attack. When they did, we trapped them in force fields and banished them with portals made into traps. Rinse and repeat."

"Committing genocide," Juniper said. "You sent a whole species to die on planets that couldn't sustain life."

"And what did we do after we cleared the continent?" Karoperos continued, ignoring her. "Kept it for ourselves? No. We invited the others to come back. The forest elves spread like pests, planting woods everywhere. The dwarves and the orcs now liked their mountains, and the refugees in our town were too scared to go away. Now, they'd want to found their own cities, but they can't because those mad lunatics cry over cutting a few trees."

"Mad lunatic is an oxymoron," Juniper said.

"Did I invite you here for teenage sarcasm, or help?" Sam snapped.

"Hey!" Cedric yelled. "That was mean. Take it back."

"It's okay, babe. Since the duke is so smart, he doesn't need my advice. Which would be not to deal with crazies," Juniper said, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed.

What was surprising, in Sam's opinion, was that Sensibility and her mother were not at all engaged in the conversation, whispering to each other, even after the exchange of insults.

"So you see now why we don't give rights to the commoners. They're refugees who live on our lands. They don't get to have a say," Karoperos continued.

"Yet they lived here for a long time. Maybe it's time to realize it's their home too, now," Sam said.

"You're new in your Duke job, brother Samuel," the elf sighed, "but give it a few years, and you'll see my point. The masses don't know what's best for them."

You mean your rule, evidently, Sam thought, but kept it to himself.

"And now, to the main matter. You have seen our treasures, and our touristic potential. Don't you think this amazing town and all the art and history in it are worth knowing?" the elf said.

"What do you have in mind?" Samuel asked.

"A partnership. You bring us tourists, and I give you half the profits."

"Our planet doesn't know about the Realm and other alternate realities," Sam said.

"Eighty thousand of your people returned to Earth before the portal closed," the elf said. "They, their families, the governments, and for sure many rich people know. I was not thinking of the average tourist making photos; I meant people who'd pay serious sums of money to visit an alien planet and see landmarks from other realities."

"Plus the Games," Sensibility said. "Those are spectacular."

"Indeed. We held tournaments in the Colosseum. Technically, it's an Arena…"

"Sorry?"

"A type of construct with magic. Dungeons, Arenas, etcetera?"

"Okay, I get it, go on," Sam said a bit bluntly, already tired of the previous argument.

"Once a year, we held tournaments, involving bouts and all sorts of events. We, the orcs and the dwarves, have teams who compete. It's pretty well organized, plus the Arena is one of the best of its kind. Recently, we managed to get the attention of the League of Multiverse Tournaments, and they proposed to include us in their regular seasons. Four events a year. It's a lot."

"Wait! Are there more Realms out there?" Sam asked.

"Of course they are. Lots."

"Could we visit them?"

"I did, on invitation. You will have to make a request. They're highly developed in both tech and magic, with wards against intrusions and a system of visas (or access tokens). Soon, there will be a pilot tournament in the Colosseum, with a few guest Champions from their league, and if it goes well, you could not only visit, but establish trade. Bring us tourists, Sam. Bring us a contract with a TV reality show. Anything to make us and you stand up as valuable partners for them."

"Let our guest relax, dear husband. It's time to prepare the food. Can you come to the cellar and help me choose the wine?" the Queen asked.

"I'll be back," the King said, rising up.

"Don't drink the wine; they put psychedelic drugs in it," Juniper whispered very fast when the King was at a safe distance.

"I'll throw a Cleanse on all of us, just in case," Cedric said.

I'll taste just a little, and if I don't like it, I'll refuse it.

The wait took ten minutes, and it passed slowly. Looking at the peaceful landscape. Sam even dozed off. A loud noise of broken bottles woke him up, and a minute later, the King returned.

"Are you all right?" Sam asked, because the king's clothes were wrinkled and he looked disheveled.

"I am, but unfortunately I can't say the same about the wine," Karoperos sighed. "I stepped on a bottle and lost my balance, falling over the wine shelf… I mean shelves. Plural. We have a lot of wine shelves with expensive wine… And now it's all gone," the king's back slumped.

"Water will be fine," Sam said.

He doesn’t seem so wealthy… That's why he's desperate for a deal. Fifty percent of the profits is a lot… This is a good opportunity to make lots of money.

While thinking that, Sam stared at the lady of the house, who was running on the lawn after a chicken, a knife in hand. The chicken squeezed itself into a gap in a hedge, clucking desperately while the woman tried to grab her, unsuccessfully.

I guess lunch will be late, Sam sighed.