The Neanderthal was standing nearby in the water, pretending to fish. She looked up at him with a mischievous smirk. Tex rolled his eyes and marched towards Utu.

  The warrior woman had successfully started her fire. Now she was busily sharpening a stick to cook her fish with. She’d already cleaned and gutted it, and washed everything with water. The fish sat neatly on a stone.

  Utu was sitting on her heels, carving the stick.

  The scene was strangely domestic. He could almost picture her wearing an apron.

  Tex crouched beside her, studying her soft cheek, her downturned eyes, and her pouting lips.

  “I’ll make this fish for you,” she mumbled. “We’ll eat, and then go our separate ways.”

  “No, we won’t,” Tex said, putting his arm around her waist.

  Utu carved the stick more vigorously, anger returning to her face.

  Tex brushed her hair back behind her ear and kissed her cheek. But she gave him a perfunctory shove.

  “You don’t want me… You like elf girls.”

  “I like cute girls,” Tex hummed in her ear. He took a firm hold of her hips and ran the tip of his tongue over her lobe. Utu’s breath hitched.

  He kissed her on the cheek, holding his lips there for several seconds. This time she didn’t push him away, and she accepted Tex’s hands as they explored her arms, her chest, her back.

  When he lifted her animal skin and started kissing her voluptuous bum, she fell onto all fours and stuck her ass in the air, bearing everything.

  He urgently undid his belt and shoved down the denim — it was so heavy and uncomfortable that it felt like he was shedding a coat of chain mail.

  His stiff cock bounced free and hardened even more as he lined up with Utu’s wet entrance.

  He fucked her raw and hard, pulling her hair and smacking her ass and tits. Utu’s moaning and panting resounded over the rocks down to the shore.

  Maybe it was just because of how good she looked bent over, but Tex again surprised himself with the amount of semen he put into the warrior woman. It just kept coming and coming.

  As soon as he finished, Utu’s demeanor completely changed. She resumed her cooking, but she was smiling ear to ear, and she even started singing.

  The women gathered around with hopeful expressions on their faces. They quietly cooked their fish, but they became increasingly joyful as they saw how satisfied Utu was.

  Although she never made a formal declaration, by the end of the meal, everyone thoroughly understood that Tex was now their chief, and Utu was subordinate to him.

  The women all bubbled with excitement, beaming smiles at each other. Once the meal was over, the formal declaration came.

  Utu stood before Tex, bowed her head, and took a knee. Then she proclaimed, “The Prophesied Hero has truly come!” and kissed his hand.

  This made Tex a bit uncomfortable, now that he was in a more sober state of mind. But Zila, Bmimi, and Grendel lined up to do the same thing, each one of them bright with enthusiasm.

  Tex could see that it was a tradition and it had meaning for them, so he went along with it.

  After this was finished, Grendel came up to Tex, lugging several waterskins that were so full they were spilling everywhere.

  “Lord Tex,” she breathed. “Would—would you like me to... to wash your feet?”

  Tex gazed at her in amazement. First, Lord Tex? Was that his title now? And second, wash his feet?

  “That isn’t necessary,” he blurted out with a chuckle.

  Confused, little Grendel looked at the ground, awkwardly clutching all the heavy waterskins. Such a mortified look came over her cute face that it almost broke Tex’s heart.

  “That would be great, actually,” Tex said quickly. “If you really want to, I… I’d appreciate it.”

  Grendel’s face brightened. She immediately went into a flurry of activity, setting down the waterskins and having Tex sit on a rock. Then she assiduously washed his feet, never once looking up.

  After she was finished, she arranged the empty waterskins in a neat row and stood up, still averting her eyes.

  Tex stood up. “Thank you very much, Grendel.”

  She finally looked at him, and Tex smiled into her eyes.

  A huge smile broke out over Grendel’s cute little face.

  “You’re welcome, Lord Tex!” she gushed.

  ***

  Tex was eager to speak with Utu and the other girls, now that everything was settled. There was so much information they’d be able to share with him. But the day was wearing on, so he decided to hike out of the canyon first.

  The sun was already making its way towards the watery horizon when they emerged from the canyon.

  Climbing a rocky slope, they observed the river flowing into the ocean. Pterodactyls soared over the glittering beaches, where the tide was rolling out. To their right, the canyon’s slopes descended into an aspen forest.

  That was north, the direction they needed to go to reach the village of Fimm. The village wasn’t visible from where he was standing, but they knew it was across from the Isle of Shayla.

  Now that he looked closer at the little island, he thought there was something spooky about it. It rose out of the blue water like a fortress, and the sea around it seemed almost too still. Suspense hung around it, the kind you might find outside a dragon’s lair.

  Utu and the rest of the girls came and stood beside Tex. The warrior woman didn’t seem to mind now if the other girls walked in front of her or behind her. She seemed to look at them almost as equals, presumably because she was no longer the leader.

  Utu followed Tex’s gaze to the Isle of Shayla. She shuddered.

  “That is a cursed island,” she said darkly.

  “Not exactly what I wanted to hear,” Tex said with a wry grin.

  Utu’s forehead creased with apprehension. “Why?”

  “Because that’s exactly where we’re going.”

  She gaped at him. “Where — Not the Isle of Shayla?”

  “Yes, the Isle of Shayla.”

  Grendel, Bmimi, and Zila were shocked and disturbed by this news. “But why?” Grendel exclaimed. “Why would you go there… the home of a dread goddess!”

  Emi’s lip quivered for a few seconds, and then she burst out: “It’s because of me! I… I have a sickness… We hope I can find a cure on Shayla’s island.”

  Except for Utu, the girls expressed an outpouring of genuine feeling for the little elf. They gathered around and hugged her.

  Grendel said, “Emi, if that’s where you need to go to find a cure, then that’s where we’ll go!”

  But Tex explained that all of them did not have to go. He and Emi could make the journey alone.

  “There’s a lot I’ve been wanting to ask you about,” Tex said. “Like the Village of Fimm. You know that place, of course? We plan to go there first, and then…” He paused as Utu’s grew darker.

  “Of course we know of Fimm,” Utu murmured. “It’s the old elf settlement. It was from there that elves ruled this island for countless seasons. But that was long ago.”

  “We were hoping some elves still lived there,” Neesha said.

  “Well, you’ll be disappointed. We’ve all heard stories about Fimm at its height — colorful totem poles, beautiful boats that brought fish and tea, and the haughty elves who thought they would rule forever. But that is all in the past. No one alive can remember a time when Fimm was not a ruined, haunted place.”

  Emi and Neesha accepted this news stoically. “Well, it’s no surprise,” Neesha said. “We knew it would most likely be abandoned.”

  “But it’s not abandoned,” Utu said. “Not anymore.”

  A hateful look came over her face.

  Chapter twenty-two

  “THE OLD ELF village is no longer empty,” Utu said. “A tyrant lives there now. His name is Alok.”

  The day was wearing on and there was much to discuss, so they found a spot to stay for the night.

  Once they set up camp, everyone sat under the swaying aspens. Tex worked on his skull-crushing club while Emi and Neesha finished up the animal skin covering they’d been making for Tex.

  While they worked, Utu told them the story of Alok.

  In short, the Aramantha chiefs had all become tyrants. The most powerful was Alok, an ambitious and ruthless young man who became a chief by challenging his own father and decapitating him.

  Soon after that, he underwent a ghastly transformation. His good looks became disfigured, his skin turned gray, and “his eyes flashed like moonlight on black water,” as Utu put it.

  Alok had become a sorcerer of Night Magic. This was the Magic of Destruction, the same kind used by Kdar Tol.

  Wielding this awful power, he took over two additional tribes, one of which was Utu’s tribe, the Rama, led by gray-bearded Randaval.

  “Randaval was the last good chief,” Utu said. “He was like a father to us.”

  Grendel, Bmimi, and Zila all agreed warmly.

  “Randaval respected the old laws. He limited his harem to three women. And the men of his circle were limited to two — but some were well content with one.”

  “Makes sense,” Tex said. “There’d be less conflict that way.”

  “Yes. All the Aramantha tribes were like that in the old days — when everything worked the way it’s supposed to.”

  In Aramantha society, every boy was cast out of his tribe at 15. That’s how the bachelor groups came to be; the young men would band together to struggle in the wilderness. Many died. But the strong survived, grew into men, and competed for women to breed with.

  “That’s how we have stayed strong and vigorous,” Utu said, clearly directing a barb at the elves.

  However, there had always been some men who fled from the unforgiving life of the bachelor tribes.

  They took another option.

  They left their homeland and journeyed to Darkoveld — into the arms of Kdar Tol.

  “But why would they do that?” Emi cried.

  “That’s easy,” Utu said. “Have you not heard about sex slaves of Darkoveld? Hundreds, even thousands, of women waiting for any man who can make the journey. No fighting, no struggle is required. They only have to bend their knee to the Necromancer of Darkoveld.”

  However, until recent times, few were willing to undertake such a perilous risk. For long ages, the Aramantha’s brutal system functioned. Utu swore it was the reason her people stayed fit and didn’t fade away like the elves.

  But it finally broke down when all the chiefs became tyrannical. Each one wanted to appropriate every last woman for himself. The chiefs made their inner circles smaller and smaller, and killed or cast away larger and larger numbers of men.

  Alok now ruled three of the five Aramantha tribes, and the other two chiefs were just as ambitious and ill-intentioned as he was.

  Tex scratched his chin. “Here’s what I don’t get. Why don’t the bachelor groups all band together and overthrow Alok and the others?”

  “Because he grows more powerful by the day,” Utu said. “They fear him, and with reason.” She took a deep breath, trying to control the rage bubbling inside her.

  “Alok came to our village last winter. Randaval didn’t have a chance when Alok challenged his leadership. Of course, Alok didn’t follow the rules. He struck him down with some invisible force… When Randaval was down, he picked up a rock and... The worst part was that he was laughing the whole time.”

  “No one could do anything to stop him,” Grendel whispered, balling her fists.

  Tex sat in silence for several minutes, deep in thought.

  The situation was even worse than he’d realized. He already had a necromancer and hordes of Skrillings after him. Now there was a megalomaniacal sorcerer-tyrant thrown in.

  Tex sighed. “You said Alok is staying in the old elf village… Why?”

  “It’s a good question. Everyone fears that place. It’s creepy. Legend says a nymph lives in the surrounding forest, awaiting the return of the elves. We think it’s for that very reason that Alok is interested in it. He wants to add a dryad to his harem.”

  “Who doesn’t want a nymph in his harem?” Tex muttered sardonically.

  “It’s not just because they’re beautiful,” Neesha said. “They can grant many advantages to a mortal lover.”

  Utu continued telling Tex about many things, with Grendel, Bmimi, and Zila adding details of their own. As they talked, the last rays of sunlight disappeared, and the stars shone like pinpricks in the darkening sky.

  By the time they finally finished, their faces were swimming in the watery light of the moons.

  Grendel and Bmimi were already asleep, but Tex sat in silence, going over everything several times in his mind, weighing every piece of information.

  A plan emerged.

  After that, Tex was finally satisfied, and he could sleep… almost.

  “There’s one thing I’m still wondering about,” he said. “Where did Alok gain this Night Magic? Do you think he’s working for the Sorcerer of Darkoveld?”

  A breeze whispered through the aspens, and Tex could sense growing anxiety among the girls. They seemed afraid to answer.

  “No,” Utu finally whispered. “They are not in league with one another, but… they both serve the same master.”

  Tex could almost smell the fear now.

  “I’m sorry,” Tex said. “But who would that be, exactly?”

  The girls squirmed uncomfortably, shooting angry glances at Tex.

  “In the name of the gods, Tex!” Neesha hissed in exasperation. “Don’t you know? She means… him.”

  She emphatically looked at the ground, using her eyes to point to the world below.

  Chapter twenty-three

  BABY STEPS.

  That was the key to Tex’s plan. Baby steps.

  As things stood, he had no hope of beating Kdar Tol. Alok was a much lesser adversary, but he was still a sorcerer.

  What I need is a low-level boss, Tex thought, treating it like a video game.

  That’s where the other chiefs came in. There were two, and one of them was very close.

  His name was Fogu, and he was just a short walk away, as it turned out. They’d seen the smoke from his village when they were on the mountaintop. Utu and the others knew the location very well.

  It was just at the bottom of the canyon’s slopes, nestled on the edge of the aspen forest. It wouldn’t even be much of a detour to go there.

  Tex decided to challenge him. If he couldn't beat Fogu, there was no point in trying to kill Alok.

  Descending the hills, they hiked through the forest in the early hours. Tex was now dressed like a caveman, in his newly made animal skin wrap. It was much more comfortable.

  By mid-morning, they emerged into a small field nestled between hills.

  Rustic dwellings were clustered together in the shadows of the hills.

  Tex was intrigued to see that the houses, such as they were, were made from massive bones piled together. They were the same shape as igloos, but bigger.

  The roofs, which came to a point in the middle, were covered with grassy soil so that the houses resembled little hills. Women milled about outside these structures, carrying baskets. Slabs of meat hung over a long, smokey fire.

  “As I said, don’t expect him to be surprised,” Utu said. “No bachelor would dare challenge Alok, but they aren't so afraid of Fogu, since he isn't a sorcerer. He has defeated several challengers since last summer.”

  She cast her eyes around the clearing. “I’m sure Yarolk and his men are not far away. They keep a close eye on Fogu, hoping to catch him in a weak moment.”

  Tex strode into the village with his girls following behind.

  The village women looked up from their tasks, still holding baskets on their hips or attending to the fire. They were dressed similarly to Utu and Grendel, and they had the same tawny skin tone.

  Their eyes widened as they looked Tex up and down. When they saw the elves, they shrieked and gasped, staring at Emi and Neesha as if they were unicorns.

  Two men had been sitting side-by-side, sharpening spears. They stood up and marched towards Tex, clutching their spears.

  “I challenge Fogu! Tex bellowed. “FOGU! If you are here, come out and accept my challenge — like a man!”

  Tex added the last part for good measure. Now that the chief’s manhood was called into question, there was no way he’d refuse the challenge.

  The two men slowed their pace and lowered their spears.

  “Challenge Fogu?” one of them scoffed. He looked at Utu. “Who is this fool, Utu? Don’t tell me you’ve taken him as a chief?”

  “She has!” Tex said.

  “His name is Lord Tex, and you will show respect if you know what’s best for you!” Utu said proudly. “And yes, he is our chief.”

  A flurry of rapid whispering grew among the village women. More emerged from the huts, some of them with men.

  To Tex's surprise, he saw an Oyko woman poke her head out of a hut, her unibrow frowning. Tex almost smiled, because she reminded him of Zila, although she wasn’t as cute.

  One of the men eyed Tex with an insolent scowl. “Where do you come from?” he demanded.

  Tex didn’t like his tone. “Is Fogu here, or what?”

  “I am here!” a deep voice boomed from the other end of the village.

  A barrel-chested man stepped out of the last hut, carrying a gigantic club. A nasty expression deformed his broad, bearded face. He wore a headdress made from the upper jaw of a lion. A normal man's head would have disappeared inside it, but it fit Fogu's enormous skull perfectly.

  Three women followed him, including a beautiful blonde who stood close to his side, holding her chin high with lofty scorn.

  The towering hulk fixed his eyes on Tex, looking him up and down. He was not afraid --Tex could see that plainly.

  It’s true, he doesn’t seem surprised. Just cranky that I dragged him away from his time with his ladies.

  “You challenge me?” Fogu said irritably as if Tex was a fly buzzing around his head.

  The chief walked to within five paces of Tex, highlighting just how big he was.