Chapter 414 - [Bonus ] A Blast
Caleb shoved his hand off his waist roughly.
"Hey!" Kaizan wrapped his arms around his shoulders as he leaned against his back. "You can always think that I am Elize."
Caleb elbowed him. "Fuck you!" he grunted.
Anastasia and Iona giggled as their men drank the demon brew.
"Ah! You wound my heart, mate!" Kaizan teased with a pout as he fluttered his eyelashes. "Do you want me to come and sit in front of you?"
Caleb clenched his teeth and looked up at the clouds. "Someone stop him, or this fortress is going to witness a cold-blooded murder!"
"Wolf!" a voice from another group came.. A demoness called Kaizan. "Come here. At least your love won't be trashed."
Kaizan turned his glance to look at the demon. He pursed his lips and sighed. "You are probably right." He got up and staggered to that group and sat behind the demoness. He stroked her bare thighs with one hand while having brew from the leather skin with the other. "You are like cream," he said in a slurry voice.
"Then would you like to whip me, wolf?" she said in a silky voice.
"Hmm… maybe…"
Ileus shook his head. His friend was too inebriated to talk sense. "Tomorrow is the last day," he said, turning his head to look at Caleb. "Once the final layout is over, I will ask General Yion to take you back to the borders of Tibris."
Caleb nodded absent-mindedly.
"Thanks for all your help, Caleb," Rolfe added. "Because of you, we were able to finish a gargantuan project like this. You can't imagine how my people are going to love it. Despite king's magic, with no water logging, there would be immense increase in the growth of crops. At least now they will be able to eat better."
"You are welcome," Caleb replied, feeling good after many days. In fact, he was feeling this good after so long that he didn't remember when the last time he had a proud feeling in his chest. Ever since he came to know how Pia ditched him to his meeting with Elize, from his succession to the throne to his wife running away, he had forgotten that this emotion existed. "You are welcome," he repeated and raised his leather skin to toast.
"I have an idea," said Iona to Rolfe. "And I really wanted to tell you about it."
"What's it?" he asked, leaning back, supporting his body in his hands.
"I have drawn a design of a windmill for the villagers. Would you like to see?"
Rolfe's eyes widened. "When did you design it?" She was always with him and he never saw her with a paper or quill.
She chuckled and looked at Anastasia, who dug her husband's pocket and produced a folded parchment in front of them. When she opened it, everyone bent over to look at the design. Inked with black, the windmill looked very simple except it wasn't. Rolfe's interest grew rapidly.
Iona removed the fur, and crawled to the parchment and bent over it with her ass in the air giving full view to Rolfe, who stifled a rumble in his chest and immediately covered his wife's ass.
"This windmill can produce a lot of energy, which can be used for other purposes," she said.
Ileus chimed in. "In the human realm, windmills can create electricity. And with electricity you can light every house. There would be no more darkness. Even houses in remote locations will be lit brightly if they install a windmill.
Rolfe rubbed a hand on his mouth. "This is— this is brilliant!" He was highly impressed. With Galahar so remotely located, this innovation would only bring prosperity.
Ileus continued to talk about its benefits and how they can convert the potential energy into electrical energy. For the next two hours, they discussed it. In the end, Rolfe said, "If only the king agrees to it…" Iona was leaning on his chest. She yawned. "Maybe he will… one day…" At that time, he thanked his stars. Lore-dom couldn't have given him a better mate than Iona who supported his vision of a modern Galahar and who was a genius in her own way. She wasn't even educated. "I will do whatever I can to further your education, Iona," he said as he kissed her temple.
Even though she was sleepy, she beamed a smile at him.
"You can send her to the human realm to study the subject of engineering. She has the knack for it," Ileus suggested.
Rolfe stilled. His grip on her became tighter. "That's a terrible idea," he said. "She is mine!"
Ileus put his hands up in the air. "It's just a suggestion!"
They sat together for a long time, till the fire converted into embers and then retired to their rooms. The men carried their women in their arms.
It was the last day of the project and everyone had reached their destination. Rolfe had instructed them all to finish it as soon as possible and then leave the place quietly. Once the water started flowing in the tunnels, there was no point in staying. The king would never come to know as to why the water wasn't getting logged. As per the discussion, Rolfe went to the backside of the palace, Ileus followed the front, whereas Yion went to the center.
Everyone was too excited and too quiet. They all wanted to finish it and go back to their lives. But everything was too quiet to be real. It was towards the evening when they were in the last phase of laying the bricks, when they heard a soft rumble above the ground. They all stopped the work and the place became deathly still. "I hope they are not king's men," Kaizan whispered.
"They could be," Ileus replied, his voice just as low. "We are beneath the palace, and I am sure there is a unit deployed on this side too."
"But why are they marching together?" he asked, as dread skittered down his spine.
The rumble grew louder.
Ileus signaled his men to stop working all together. The heavy footfalls of the soldiers grew closer. The sound left them cold and unsettled with dread. If they got caught, the king would slaughter them all. He would simply massacre them.
All at once they felt a tug of Caleb's magic. It was as if a sharp, jagged rock was scraping at it, trying to sever the thread.
They held their breath, afraid that the soldiers above would come to know about their presence. Ileus wanted to communicate with Iona via mental link, but he couldn't sense her presence. Alarmed as hell, he communicated with Caleb mentally to pass a message to Rolfe. 'Ask him to leave now along with Iona.'
'But that would alert the soldiers.'
'The movement is more on my side and General Yion's. Just ask him to leave, as quietly as possible!'
Caleb sent the message to Iona. However, as soon as he did that, a loud blast was heard that came from Ileus' side. 'What the fuck has happened?' Caleb shouted through their mental link, but Ileus had cut him off entirely. His thoughts crashed against a thick mental shield. A spiral of panic swirled through every soldier as they ducked.