Mage And Wolf
Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Chapter 65

days have passed in relative peace. The longest stretch of normalcy we’ve seen so far.

Every morning me and Hui’Jin go and clear out the boars from the dungeon entrance to keep them from getting loose, as well as to restock the base supplies.

The Dragon Priestesses have been a huge help to the city construction, burning through half of the grade 2 mana stones we’ve collected from the boars, but large parts of the city already have refugees and base workers moving in.

The population seems to skew further every day though. At first there was a wave of non magical humans that came seeking shelter, most of them have moved on, seeking something else. But increasingly we’re seeing demi humans, mages and witches come look for shelter, citing the feeling that this city is the place they need to be.

Under a quarter of those we receive are originally from this planet, our own supernatural communities having banded together to help stabilize their home regions.

Jurgen and the Ramirez brothers have been out for the last 3 days, patrolling ’to look for new portals and keep the farmers safe’ as they put it. The base has sent over 200 people out on such missions.

The Adventurer’s Guild has been a huge hit, membership is growing steadily, and the new staff are popular with everyone, their uniforms earning them respect everywhere they go.

We’ve yet to make our own coins, but every day a merchant caravan comes through the travel gate between us and Drakon City, formerly the City of Seattle. The meat and hide of the boars, as well as any mana stones we can spare are their primary requests, but Mustard seed and powder has been in high demand.

Fortunately, it’s grown not far from here and we only needed to put out a Guild request to get a truck load of it here, packed to ship within a day.

News from around the country isn’t all rainbows though. The deep south is still having issues with giant monsters coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, as is the east coast of central America.

The East coast is mostly fairing well, but political chaos and rioting in the cities has become a daily occurrence, leading to marital law and enforced lockdowns.

The west coast on the other hand, seems to be faring well. The Witches have taken control of most of California without much complaint, with Werewolves running things from northern California up to Northern Washington where the dragonkin based around Drakon City take over.

The middle of the country has become the wild west. There’s not enough population in many areas to fully control the portals, so like our zone in the Dakotas, it’s common to see monsters running loose.

But on the other hand, armed patrols hunting them for bounties and food are also common, often from horseback, as the less magical zones are running short on fuel, with all the supply chain disruptions.

Here in Arcana, gasoline is currently in short supply, but the mages just refilled the diesel storage, adding it to the list of things available for trade at the Adventurer’s Guild.

There’s talk of a Farm Co-Op forming to stabilize the supply of goods, but the city is staying out of that, letting the farmers work it out on their own, with promises of the same terms the Adventurer’s guild gets luring many in. They’d only be saving the 10 percent the Guild takes, but that’s a lot to the farmers bringing in huge amounts of product.

Ellie and Allie, the little squirrel girls are having a grand time. They run messages between the city leaders all afternoon, spend the mornings learning to read, and watch movies or play in the pool all evening.

A much more suitable life than the 16 hour work days they were expected to do back in their home castle, and running messages helps burn off that excess energy. I thought bunnies were too energetic, but they’ve got nothing on these girls.

The first shopping district near the wall has opened today. Except for base staff who chose housing near the University in the middle of the city, everyone else seems to be settling in close to either the main gates or the Guild.

According to Narishma we’ve settled almost 20 thousand new arrivals in the last 2 weeks, and they’re all moved into permanent housing now, with only today’s arrivals still staying at the temporary residence in the city walls.

The first 3 months the city covers their rent, then they’re expected to earn their keep. But with the influx of people there’s a ton of jobs posted.

The Mage Corps has set up a job bank for everyone. Everything from supply delivery from the warehouses to house cleaners and retail workers to accountants and base security staff are needed every day to meet the growing population. It’s insane, but if you disregard the occasional mental breakdown and bout of crying, it’s going smoothly.

Most popular so far are the merchant and patrol jobs offered by the Adventurer’s Guild though. Many farmers don’t want to travel so often, so they requested visits from merchants with their shopping lists, and small towns were feeling left out, with the new city controlling so much of the supply, leading to a new demand for traveling merchants.

The merchant caravans themselves are just as varied as our population. From semi trucks loaded with goods, to caravans of horse drawn carts, if it holds product, it’s a valid merchant vehicle. Even the reservation I helped clear up north has sent down a truck driver to sign up with the Guild for merchant routes.

On my schedule for today, neatly prepared by Lala of course, is a meeting with the newly combined Dakotas legislature. This promises to be a gong show, so it’s full High Priestess regalia from the start. I have a suspicion I know what they want, and it’s not going to go over well.

"Greetings unelected representatives of the Dakotas" I greet the assembled politicians in one of our storage bunkers, decorated for an official meeting, but no civilians are present. Surrounded by armed guards, they showed up with tanks and buses left waiting outside the city.

The other Priestesses have left this to me and Karl, as this is our territory, and Karl begged off, saying he’s busy with the University today. Leaving only me, Lala and Hui’Jin present as representatives of the city.

"How Dare you call us unelected Alien!" their self appointed leader shouts.

"First off, I’m from Oregon, not outer space. Secondly, I don’t recall you holding an election. What portion of the vote did you get? Who did you run against for leader of this combined government?"

Oh, yeah they are NOT happy.

"You have no right to defy us, we are the representatives of the people of the Dakotas! We are here today to do the people’s will." I laugh at his hubris, the robes making my voice echo throughout the chamber.

"All magic using humans are hereby drafted into service of the government for as long as the government should see fit. All non human invaders" he sneers this point "are to be forcibly relocated beyond the portals with immediate effect. Under the rights of Eminent Domain, this property now belongs to the Government of the Dakotas."

"Let me get this straight. You’re planning to forcibly relocate a town full of Dragons and magic users with 20 tanks and fewer than a thousand troops?"

Angry mutterings come from their side. Obviously they never really thought this through.

"According to most recent intelligence, the forces assembled outside are the extent of their military might. The Great Falls and Ellsworth Air Bases collected most of both States former National Guard troops and declared themselves Autonomous Zones when the governments seceded and combined without a vote."

Interesting, I missed that memo. We’ll have to send out someone to say hello. Don’t want our patrols to get shot while hunting bounties.

"So, the military turned you down and you thought you could muscle civilians under the protection of the Dragon Gods?" I question with just a hint of mirth.

Before they could answer, a child’s voice comes from the door, Ellie if I’m correct.

"Your Highness, there is a group here to meet with you"

You know what, why not? "Thank you Ellie, send them in" she’s beaming with delight, I must have guessed the correct twin.

The group she spoke of comes not from outside, but from the hallways that lead to the travel portals. It includes 6 officers in Air Force Uniforms, 4 in green Uniforms with a lot of decorations displayed and 12 Native Chiefs or leaders, including one quite familiar to me, wearing a tag that indicates he represents the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Following them are 4 older men in blue business suits.

"Greetings High Priestess. For those that don’t know, I am Kanick, now overseeing most of the North Region, and chosen to be the voice for the Bands present."

The business suited group speaks next "We are the remainder of the Sioux Falls City Council. Unfortunately our city has come under attack from uncontrolled dungeons, so we’re not in a position to contribute much at this moment."

Two Air Force uniformed older gentlemen take their place. "We currently lead the Ellsworth and Great Falls protection zones."

That’s it? Alright. Guess they’re not big talkers today.

"Now that we’ve all been introduced" I begin "How about we discuss the purpose of your visit before I deal with these miscreants claiming to represent the government?"

They’re almost purple in the face now, and I can guarantee things will get ugly soon.

The older of the two Air Force commanders steps forward "As of last night, the State Government has fallen. The forces present here lost a vote to form a cooperative alliance between the groups currently present in this room and massacred their compatriots."

"Now, that is not what I expected. What pray tell was the cause of this rift?"

Kanick steps forward "Xenophobia. They wished the elimination of all magical, mythological and non human beings in the region. They did not have the support to pass it as law, but they did have the forces to level the city of Sioux Falls trying to do it anyhow."

As I recall, Sioux Falls should have had a coven of well over 200 vampires and their security forces residing there to look after the area. Hopefully it wasn’t total destruction, or the region will become a no go zone.

"We were victorious! Earth is for Humans, and you traitors to your species have no more place here!" the leader of the so called government forces shouts, his face red and eyes bloodshot.

Another tribal leader steps forward "They had many forces at first, but after eliminating the vampires by setting off an explosion that destroyed Sioux Falls and fighting their way north to avoid reprisal, they’re down to what you see outside"

"If Sioux Falls is lost, it is lost. Let the region become a no man’s land as a monument to human idiocy" I announce with a hard glare at the politicians. Not that they can see it with my hood shadowing my face, but the anger is palpable.

I see one of the rebel politicians press a button in his pocket and the alarms of the base start to sound.

Ellie comes running back in, landing in my lap and I grab her to prevent her from sliding all the way across the room.

"Your Highness, High Priestess Kal’Elouet wishes to announce that the forces outside have declared war and begun attacking the city."

"Tell her this: ’May the blessing of the War God fall upon you’. Now run quickly and give her the message" Ellie flies out of the room in a scrabble of shoes on concrete. Squirrels are seriously fast, even when they’re little.

"It seems that our guests have made their decision. Would you prefer to imprison them, or should I deal with them in the name of the God of Death?"

The forces in the room all look uneasy at this prospect. Battle might be unavoidable, but the nature of my Goddess is pretty straight forward, and they can all guess what the penalty will be.

"Unfortunately, our time here is limited. We should be returning through the gate to our homes." Kanick states after referring to the other elders.

"Yes, as you well know, a base doesn’t run itself. We will return tomorrow to discuss cooperation between our zones." One of the Air Force leaders declares.

"You guys are so screwed" the representative of the Sioux Falls city council declares before turning to me.

"As you are the ranking member present, it is up to you, Priestess"

"Hui’Jin, would you lead the rest out, I believe the councilors could do with a rest. In the secured area of the 4th floor might be best." The 4th floor contains a secure wing for ’guests’ that shouldn’t be allowed to wander. "Lala, I shall need another shower and a bath, please get the room ready".

The room will have self cleaned by now, but I don’t need Lala to stand here and watch this.