Chapter 44

Ben sent Rayner and his officials off to draw up the document for the Alliance and deeds for the land near the border. While Devina and his officials took care of the details, she showed him around the temple while discussing the details of Ben's project.

Ben and his party stayed in the temple for the night and left the Varene Dynasty the next day. Outside of the Varene capital Ben placed down the stone slab with the teleport formation, he had made near Silvana's housed and connected with the formation in Dragonshome in the bunker on the training field. He sent his soldiers and officials back to Dragonshome and placed the formation back into his inventory.

When he was finally alone he used Zoom to teleport near the western Varene border. He searched around and found a decent area to break ground on his project. For the next couple of weeks, he went back and forth between Dragonshome and his project site.

When it was finished Ben had built a nice looking town that had a wall all around it. Inside the walls, the town was divided into three sections as he had explained to the Priestess Matriarch.

Zone one is the workshop zone where the men work during the day. Zone two is the temporary housing were the women life until they become pregnant. Zone three is the Maternity section were the pregnant women live and undergo daily checkups from highly skilled female doctors.

Ben provided the city with the level five female doctors and a garrison of Avalon female soldiers. It was now up to the Varene officials to find men and women who would move into this town. It would not be long before an assortment of goods began to roll out of here in carts toward the Rodara region capital city where they would be sold or shipped to other regions.

If this project worked out he would introduce other ideas to the dynasty later on. Ben wasn't even concerned if it would become a large money making project. This whole thing was more to develop a relationship with the Varene Dynasty.

His way of thinking had always been that he would rather be allied with his neighbors for the peace of mind. Back home on the continent, the three western kingdoms had cut off all communication, so they were always a constant problem that needed to be monitored. He had to send off spies to keep an eye on what they were up to and always worry if they would one day try something stupid. If he could have an alliance with them he could be at ease knowing there wasn't anything on that continent to worry about.

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A week after finishing the project town in the Varene Dynasty Ben was surprised by a report Rayner related to him. Apparently, a diplomat from the Broven Empire which is located just east of the Lunia region had made an appearance in the Lunia royal palace.

The emperor of the Broven Empire had sent his diplomat with a humble message requesting to meet the Avalon King. The message stated he had heard of Ben's glorious victories in the western kingdoms, and he wished to meet him with the possibility of establishing a trade treaty or even an alliance.

Ben was used to dealing with arrogant rulers who he would end up having to fight that this humble message from a large empire caught him off guard. It actually had him wondering if it was a trap of some type at first.

He was all for establishing an alliance with this large Broven Empire, but he couldn't let their kindness blind him. Ben took a few days to think it through and decided he would meet this emperor but, he asked for permission to enter the Broven Empire with his troops.

He claimed for "security" he wished to bring along a few of his men. The wilderness roads were lined with dangers, and he would need protection as he traveled to the Broven capital city. Ben had thought about meeting him on the border of their regions, but he would then need to build a place for them to meet and it would take weeks for the emperor to plan out his journey. It was easier if he just directly traveled to him and if it was a trap he would be sure to be prepared for it.

Ben sent a message through the teleport formation to the palace in the Lunia capital. The Broven diplomat had to return to the emperor and then travel back again to Lunia stating Ben had permission to bring soldiers into the Broven Empire.

The way he stated his message he never specified how many soldiers he planned to bring. Ben only said he would bring them for protection making one think it would be a small squad of men who could defend against bandits along the way. Ben had other plans though he was planning to bring ninety percent of his men and if he walked into any trouble they would have the muscle to fight their way out of it!

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Broven Empire, palace council chambers.

A man who looked like he was once muscular, but had put on weight sat at the head of a large table listening to reports from his officials.

This man is Emperor Landon Lockwood. He was now in his mid-fifties and has the appearance that when he was younger he would have been a handsome man with a warriors build. Years of sitting on the throne had added pounds onto his frame and now his hair was beginning to gray around his ears.

Emperor Lockwood wore a concerned expression as he listened to the reports coming in from the western kingdoms.

"The rumors are verified to be true your majesty. An unknown kingdom had made an appearance in the Caegon Dynasty less than a year ago. They helped defeat an invasion by the Rodara Kingdom and, then they turned around to invade and conquer the Rodara Kingdom." A Broven spy explained.

Emperor Lockwood's brows creased as he asked, "What about the three northern kingdoms west of us? Is it true they also fell to this...Avalon Kingdom?"

The spy nodded and said, "The Botodor, Aithereal, and Lunia Kingdoms had been squeezing the Rodara Kingdom for food at ridiculously low prices for years. They did not attempt to investigate the military strength of the Avalon Kingdom and invaded the Rodara region. They made the assumption they could invade with superior numbers and siege a number of towns and the capital city of Rodara to force the Avalon King into submitting to their demands."

The emperor sighed and asked, "I take it their plan did not go as they planned then?"

A diplomat sitting at the table then spoke. "We have heard talk from survivors of the men sent into the Rodara Kingdom of what had happened. It...is hard to believe what they have said, but the men who fought from all three kingdoms have made the same claims. The Avalon Kingdom not only has troops who are highly trained and equipped with unbelievable gear, but they also have frightening beasts who fight alongside them. Giant Cats four times the size of a man who can rip a soldier in half with a swipe from its claws, Tall massive gray creatures with a long hose like nose that stomp on men as they charge and slash them with long blades attached to the tusks on their heads. Then there are two creatures straight out of the worst of nightmares. They are all black with red spikes down their backs. They look like a fifty foot long lizards with an evil appearance. These giant lizards do not need to attack just their aura alone is enough to break a man's will in seconds."

Another official then interrupted, "I've heard the same tales, and they also have iron tubes that shoot out smoke and destruction across the battlefield. Whenever those iron tubes roar they blast apart groups of men leaving only shredded remains behind. The Avalon King used these nightmarish forces to eliminate the combined armies of the three kingdoms. Everything then went quiet throughout the winter until spring. Then like an unstoppable force, they swept across the three kingdoms and conquered them one after another."

"On this continent, this Avalon Kingdom now reigns over twenty-four towns and four large capital cities. The land they now control is three times more vast than our Broven Empire. They are a force not to be taken lightly, and they are now right on our western border. If they found a grievance with us they could sweep across the empire before we even realized they were here. My opinion is we should do whatever we can to establish a friendly relationship with the Avalon Kingdom. If we could use a trade treaty to develop a trusting rapport or better yet establish an alliance with them it would be in our best interests."

The Emperor scanned the faces of each of his officials, and they also agreed with this statement.

Emperor Lockwood replied, "It seems we should do all that we can to tie ourselves to this new powerhouse. What truly scares me is we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg with this kingdom. Who is to know how big they truly are? They are obviously not from this continent, so they must have an established kingdom on some other far off continent. Our sailors have explored the waters around this continent for hundreds of years and never found anything but more water out there. This means not only are they strong, but they can sail across thousands of miles of ocean to reach the same place every time. They are truly a mystery that makes us wonder just how deep they go."

"I have to make a few tough decisions on how to approach this Avalon King. Let's wrap of this meeting for now and once I've decided I will send a diplomat to arrange a meeting with them if they are willing." Emperor Lockwood sent everyone off and remained alone in the now quiet council room thinking over everything he had just heard.

''I have a way to truly unite my Broven Empire with the Avalon Kingdom. Before I decide I should at least explain the situation to my family. If we can form an alliance with Avalon it will secure our western borders and provide us with a fearsome ally to join with against the arrogant eastern empires. The problem is this Avalon Kingdom is so strong they may not be interested in forming an alliance, and if they do not every alliance lasts forever.'

'There is only one way I can think of that will bring us together in an inseparable bond and I can't take no for answer. This is too good of a chance to miss!'