My tame Huskar fanned out to encircle the settlement as the fangs and I approached. They let the ones fleeing north escape but rounded the rest up and dragged them back into the central area of the town.

  It was an almost perfect duplicate of the North Star settlement, rings of massive yurts interspersed with cooking fires and work areas. The survivors were generally smaller than the giants who had formed up to defend their territory, I could only see a dozen females in the mix that Nuk shepherded into a crowd to listen to my speech. I couldn’t see anyone I’d describe as a Huskar child either.

  “I have come to reclaim the Fountainhead. Your warriors are ashes or running north like scared dogs. Bend the knee!” I barked.

  “I won’t serve a fucki-” Jandak moved and his spear plunged into the giant's throat. He used his momentum to pivot around his spear as the Huskar fell backwards and landed gracefully, lifting the leaf shaped tip free and stepping back into our formation.

  “Anyone else want to argue? Or do us poor little vermin need to prove our point again?” They all looked down and in a wave that started at the front the giants lowered themselves to one knee. Their eyes were fierce and defiant but that didn’t worry me. Once they took the deal they’d do as they were told whether they wanted to or not.

  There were one hundred and seventy three of the buggers. I went down the line and passed out over ten thousand Souls to tie them to my will. That gave me the best part of a hundred and fifty giants at my beck and call, as well as leaving nearly twenty six thousand in the bank.

  “Gather what you need to march north, you’ve got an hour,” I called out and picked at the threads binding them to me. Despite the annoyed growls they began rushing about, breaking down the camp with the same level of efficiency I’d come to know from the steppe tribes.

  “The Pagnal clan is next. They won’t be such a pushover as this lot. There’s twice as many of them!” smirked Marbo. I opened my storage space and pulled out six of the precious mana potions. Then I hastily checked the Shop but I still wasn’t able to buy anymore.

  “Won’t be a problem.” I placed three potions in my belt pouch and passed one to each of the Fangs who nodded in thanks. “How long?”

  “At our maximum pace a quarter of the day, perhaps?” said Nuk. “We'll need to carry you again, little Imperator.” He offered a hand but I waved it away, we’d be waiting a few more minutes while the Kalast got themselves organised. I sent Glimpse ahead to scout the way while we waited.

  The tundra undulated gently, shallow valleys alternating with low hills, and everywhere was covered in knee high frosty grass. Giant antelopes grazed in the distance, stalked by massive dogs and even more terrifying tiger-like cats. Everything about this place was oversized. Was it possible Narbo had had some kind of deep seated insecurity? Had he made all the vile variants? Had he been compensating for something perhaps?

  The reason for making such creatures was obvious: powerful servants to send against his now long dead competitors. But they had become distinct species, capable of reproduction. Why hadn’t they overrun the normal variants? Perhaps they suffered from the same infertility that afflicted the Huskar? Gah! No way to know for sure. Maybe the Fountainhead would help make some of this weirdness make sense to me.

  In short order the Kalast were packed up and moving under the supervision of Marbo and the other North Star clan members. Nuk along with three of his original warband had scooped up us little ones and perched us on their shoulders. We set off at a sprint, heading north as fast as their long legs and impossibly silent strides could take us. Once again my personal world became a blur of flashing tundra and rushing wind but I was watching from above as well.

  The cold air didn’t bother Glimpse and while he was a bit more ungainly than usual, having gorged on Huskar eyeballs not long before, he had sped ahead and was watching over our next target. The town was three times the size of Kalast and even from altitude I could see juvenile Huskar, only a few of them, running around from tent to tent on whatever errands they’d been assigned. Did that complicate matters? I posed the question to my atrophied conscience and got what amounted to a shrug in response. Not very helpful.

  A similar scene repeated as we arrived outside Pagnal barring the fact that the fleeing Kalast warriors had arrived ahead of us so they were already formed up in ranks outside the town in anticipation.

  Nuk put us down and I strode forward with the Fangs once again.

  “That’s a lot of the bastards. How many casts have you got of Burning Skies?” Mune muttered nervously. You couldn’t have guessed his fear from his body language, he strode along proudly like the others, but his voice quietly betrayed his worry. I pulled out a mana potion and chugged it.

  “Enough,” I said with a smile. “You guys hang back, maybe we can make this go differently.”

  “Just burn them Mond. No point taking risks,” argued Jandak. He was still sulking about the teasing over the last few days.

  “The big pricks reckon the next tribe along is twice as strong as this lot. And there’s bloody hundreds of this bunch!” Kos spat to one side and rolled his shoulders.

  “Just wait here. I can always nuke them if this goes wrong,” I ordered gently then stepped ahead of my friends.

  “What the hell is a nuke?” muttered Kos from behind me.

  “Who is your First Fist? I challenge him to single combat, unarmed!” I called out. This earned a mixture of amused snorts and angry grunts.

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  “I am the First Centurion of the Pagnal Legion!” They all looked huge but this guy put Marbo to shame. Over eight metres tall and from what I could see around his furs he was covered in scars and wiry muscle. He was slender where Marbo and Nuk were heavyset. He’d be faster, hopefully he wouldn’t be stronger. It looked like I’d come up to just above his knee if I stood next to him. I marked him down as a keeper, non lethal finishers only.

  “A legion, eh? Well it doesn’t look much like the kind of legion Narbo would have approved of.” I spat to one side and glared up at the monster. “Fight me. I won’t kill you, I want you alive. You’ll make an excellent fighter in my army!” I was worried I was getting too good at this cringey bombastic shit. It would go to my head eventually. A caw from above and a sense of amused condescension through our bond reminded me that Glimpse would keep my feet on the ground. Not to mention what Fay would do if I got a big head with her!

  “My name is Mulius and I will crush you like the insect you are!” he snarled. He passed his staff to the giant next to him and took a huge step towards me. I undid my sword belt and tossed the scabbarded blade back to Mune who caught it smoothly. I rolled my neck and flexed my shoulders.

  “See this?” I pointed to the god-mark as I advanced. “Mars wants you in my army, bloke. You don’t want to piss off the war god do you?” Mulius glanced down and narrowed his eyes at me.

  “Mars isn’t the only god we hold sacred, worm!” he leapt forward and sailed towards me aiming to bring both feet down on my head and make good on his earlier threat. Enhancement kicked in and I rolled to the side, just outside where he landed. I cast Limited Shapeshifting and my hands morphed into claws of bone and chitin. My fingers were daggers as they dug their way into the back of Mulius’ knee. I squeezed with all my might, digging my feet in to pull away from him, but it wasn’t enough to sever the mighty tendons in the ancient giant's leg.

  The Huskar jumped away and I was dragged along as my claws didn’t pull free. I latched on further up his thigh with my left hand and climbed up his back, claw over claw, until he managed a lucky swipe with his flailing arms and knocked me off. I spun away and landed on my feet just as the spell ran out and my hands returned to normal.

  I raised a blood smeared thumb to my forehead and drew a line from my hairline down to my nose in his blood, then crossed my arms and treated the fuming Haskar to my most irritating smile.

  “Come on, then,” I called nonchalantly. Mulius was enraged and he lunged at me once again. The damage I’d done to the back of both of his legs slowed him and threw off his attack. I stepped to one side and activated Enhance once more as his right fist went past me and his face loomed dangerously close above me. I was in a difficult position. I wanted him alive but alive and crippled was no good to me. I had to be careful not to injure the titan too badly.

  As his elbow whiffed past my ear I launched myself upwards, my knee intersecting his jaws that were starting to fall open as though he would try to eat me alive. The blow slammed his mouth shut with the sound of breaking teeth and shifted my momentum from rising to falling. I hit the ground and dove between his legs, my right fist flashing upwards for the ever reliable crotch-shot. As I turned he stumbled, emitting the high pitched whine I’d come to associate with a giant after he gets punched in the balls.

  “Are you going to yield? I really don’t want to kill you?” I called, backing away slowly. The Fangs were cackling away like Kril had been giving them lessons, keeping a safe distance away.

  “Yield, Mulius! He’s a Harvester! He could have rained fire on all of you! Join us!” called Nuk. I glanced back and nodded in gratitude. The words of vermin might not carry much weight but Nuk was one of them, strong even before he became soulbound, and hopefully this might sway the battered giant even now staggering to his feet, back open and vulnerable. If I wanted a killing shot now was the time but I held back.

  He turned slowly, clutching at himself painfully with one hand and shot me the meanest glare I’d ever been on the receiving end of in my life. I opened my arms and walked slowly towards him.

  “I don’t want to break you or kill all your warriors. The Kalast that ran from me have probably told you some things you think are mammoth shit. They weren’t.” I called up three fireballs from the iron rings on my right hand and launched them off to the right, immolating a decent chunk of the gently rising slope away from their warriors and leaving three smoking divots in the dirt.

  “I will take the Fountainhead for the North Stars. You can join our strength or die,” I intoned in my best Christopher Lee impression. Christ, I needed a spokesman or something. I doubted the idea of a press secretary existed here but I added it way down at the bottom of my ever-increasing to-do list anyway.

  “You have the powers of the Maker?” Mulius growled once his voice returned to normal.

  “Not yet.” I said it as definitively as I could. Honestly I had no idea if I’d ever get something similar to whatever magic the old Roman had used to make these creatures. “But I will do everything in my power to help you with your lack of children and I will give you something more than that: purpose. You won’t waste your strength fighting amongst your own and eating each other! You'll come south and join me in my war against Urkash.” The big face creased in thought for a moment then split into a broad grin.

  “Not bad for a dwarf. I want the magic though!” He knelt down and stretched out a hand towards me. I walked forward carefully and as I reached out to touch his palm he moved to swat me into the dirt. I bounced back and drew my dagger.

  “Betrayal?” I snarled, inching forward.

  “A final test, Legio. That is all. Come.” He laid his hand palm down, flat against the icy ground and nodded slowly at it. I kept my dagger gripped tightly in my right hand as I closed the distance and extended my left to brush against a fingernail the size of a dinner plate.

  I dumped the five hundred Souls to match what Nuk and his friends, as well as Marbo, had received.

  “Accept,” I said, waiting for even the slightest twitch of a muscle on the long arm poking out of his furs. I felt the bond snap into place.

  “Don’t spend them yet. Bloody hell!” Over his head glowing red letters now appeared.

  Soulbound Servant

  Body: A Mind: B+ Souls F

  “Ok. Get ten levels and split your points evenly across the body stats. Choose Life and Time as your affinities and split the remaining Souls equally between Heal, Enhance and Haste.”

  I had plans for this bloke. He was a living siege weapon.

  “The rest of you!” I yelled at the Pagnal warband. “Head back and pack up your shit! We’re moving north when you’re ready.” I turned to Malius and spoke more quietly. “Get your fifty best warriors. I’ll give them magic as well.”

  “Make them servants?” he hissed. I mentally struck the bond and he flinched.

  “It’s this or death. Despite what you are, I will give you a new purpose. The Legions of Narbo will be a force in the world once again, not just savages hiding in the wastes. Do as I said.” He grimaced but nodded and stood up, casting Heal to seal the wounds I’d left up his legs and back. He turned to the crowd and started bellowing out names. When he was done he glared at the rest.

  “If I didn’t call your name go do what the Legio fucking said you river-piss shits!” The Huskar had a way with words, I had to give him that.

  I passed out yet more Souls and grimaced at my new status. Back down to just under twenty three thousand but I now had two hundred soulbound giants. Fay and Kril were in for a shock when we headed back to the steppe!

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