I stretched and let out a loud yawn as the sun peeked in from my windows. I grinned, today was the day. This day would mark the beginning of the Beastkin farm. With great impatience, I rushed out of bed and threw on some new clothes. My heart pumped as I imagined the Enchanters blowing up the first hill that we would flatten out today. The area where the farm would be had four of them, so it would take a few days just to get all the land flattened.

I sat at my desk reading over my notes on the various plants we’d be growing, as well as the sketch of the farm’s layout I had made. Behind me, my door opened.

“Oh, good morning Master. You’re never up this early.” Kyrrah spoke in surprise.

“Good morning Kyrrah,” I turned to greet her, “couldn’t stay sleeping, too much energy today.” She nodded.

“I understand, Freio is also very excited about the farm. Shes starting to say things like how she wants to help people like you are doing.”

“I dunno how to feel about that.” I scratched my head in embarrassment, “I’m not the best role model.”

“I disagree Master.” Kyrrah stated firmly. “Completely.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Kyrrah.” She nodded and smiled,

“Breakfast will be in thirty minutes Master.”

“See you there.” I responded and she bowed to excuse herself.

We were joined by Nalm for breakfast. Together we discussed how his Enchanters would be flattening the land using their magic. Originally I had assumed they’d just blow it up, as if they were using dynamite, but Nalm shook his head and said that would be far too destructive for such a simple task. No, they’d just cause minor tremors in the hill itself until it the earth itself broke apart. From there it’d be a simple task of spreading the dirt and collecting the rocks from the soil.

A bit boring, but it’d be far more efficient and safe without rocks flying everywhere.

Once breakfast was finished, Rolst showed up and said that preparations were all ready for today. He motioned for us to follow him and so we did. Together, we headed outside the Citadel to the main road where two wagons awaited with a horse latched to each. Inside the first wagon was provisions of food and bags that jingled with coin. Baskets full of bread, vegetables, and even preserved meats such as jerky and salted pork filled the majority of the cart however. My workers would be ecstatic to have some food, never mind the money.

Speaking of which, Rolst said that the country’s coffers would be paying for this venture. Including the workers’ wages. When I opened my mouth to protest he smiled and said that it was final.

In the other wagon were an assortment of tools we’d be using. Rakes for spreading the soil and shovels for digging and helping flatten the land. Another tool I saw that I hadn’t thought of were pickaxes. I asked Rolst why we had picks, but I felt dumb when he responded.

“Some rocks may be too big to lift, so we’ll use them to break them apart to manageable sizes.” Fuck I’m stupid, why didn’t I think of that? Rolst laughed when I hadn’t responded to his explanation, “Good to see that the wise Daen can be humbled!”

“I just never thought of that, honest.” I smiled sheepishly.

“It was actually Gollard’s idea. The man used to be a farmer in the east of the kingdom. He had to deal with problems such as this all the time.”

“I didn’t know he was a farmer.”

“Its true. Farming life can be rough in unexpected ways.” The topic of our discussion, Gollard, spoke as he approached us followed by the Enchanters. “I hope you don’t mind if I come along on this venture. Your plan made me feel a small bit nostalgic, Daen.” He smiled and hoisted a shovel.

“The more the merrier!”

On the outside I’m sure I looked positively cheerful at an extra helper. But on the inside I was gleefully rubbing my hands together. Its always best having someone work for you for free!

Once everyone had assembled, we began our trek to the Gate of Wisdom. I myself got to sit atop a wagon, perks of being young and treated like royalty. I helped Freio up to sit beside me which she gleefully accepted. Kyrrah smiled at us, but walked alongside our wagon. Sorry lady, you gotta walk. It wasn’t long until the gatehouse loomed into view, along with a group of Beastkin. As we closed the distance, I could count there being around forty Beastkin of all kinds. Lizards, Squirrels, Rats, even the Bear I had helped the other day was there. While the group was big, it wasn’t as big as I had hoped it would be.

I asked one of our guards to go back and grab some additional people to bring plenty of waterskins for the Lizard types, but Nalm stopped him.

“Any Beastkin that looks dehydrated, send to me.” He began, “I can use a bit of water magic, enough to provide them with relief.”

“Thanks Nalm.” The old man merely shrugged.

“Treating Beasts like you have will affect how people see you, boy. Some may react positively, others not so much.” His face may have appeared uncaring, but his voice spoke with an intensity that demanded attention.

“If I can change the way people regard Beastkin for the better, I’ll step on as many toes as it takes.” I waved to the crowd who parted as we passed through. All eyes looked to me as I motioned them to follow, and follow they did.

It was a group of broken looking individuals that we led north of the city. Their bodies neglected, their hair dirty, and their spirits all but crushed. But in each and every one of those that followed was the small spark of hope in their eyes. Hope that this wasn’t some trick, that what I had said all those days ago during my ceremony were more than just words. Trust was all these people had left, and that trust would be repaid.

It took nearly an hour of travel along the road and another twenty minutes off of it to reach the destination I had in mind for the future farm. Flatland rose into hilly terrain marked by a decently sized creek running between some hills in the distance. After parking the wagons, setting the horses out to graze, and leaving a pair of guards to watch the food and money wagon, we were ready to begin.

Our first target was a small hill. Merely eyeballing it, I’d place it at about twenty feet high at the highest level from where we currently stood. The group of Beastkin murmured amongst themselves as the Enchanters strode forth and stood at the base of the hill.

“Alright, just as we’ve discussed.” Nalm commanded his students. “Minor vibrations only to loosen up the hill itself. Hylip, if I see anything burst up from the earth you’re sitting the rest of this exercise out.” The student in question groaned but nodded. The rest of the Enchanters smiled. “Right then, find your center everyone.”

“Ready!” they all chimed a few moments later.

“Do it!” Nalm commanded.

The hill began to vibrate at his command. It almost rippled like the waves of the ocean as magical power surged through it from top to bottom. It looked like something amazing was going to happen. Everyone watched the hill with awe at the power being used. Then it simply just…collapsed in on itself and the dirt spread out in an even circle. It was one of the most disappointing things I had ever seen. I say one of the most, because the McDonalds artisan grilled chicken sandwich would always take that top spot.

Even in a completely different world, I was still disappointed. Oh well, at least it worked well enough and didn’t make a big mess like my idea of blowing up the hill would have made. The Enchanters, except for Nalm, all let out a long breath, with a few plopping down onto the ground to sit. I turned to the group of Beastkin who watched the display in amazement.

“Alright everyone, lets sift through that dirt and separate the rocks from the soil.” I moved a bit away and used my boots to make a small x in the dirt. “Make a pile of all the rocks here, we may be able to use them for something later on.” All at once, the crowd surged forward and began sifting through the dirt.

And I joined them. Which made some people, mainly the priestly fellows, look at me and stammer in surprise. Except for Gollard, he got down in the dirt with me. Freio joined too as she liked to do what I did. I guess I was a sort of role model for her. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I make a pretty good one.

“Blessed One…” One of the Beastkin, A lizard in fact, near me spoke in surprise. “Why toil in the dirt beside us? This is what you wanted us for, is it not?”

“I would never ask someone else to do what I myself wouldn’t.” I took an armful of rocks and dropped them off at my designated spot. A few murmurs arose at my words. All who heard me stood up a little straighter and worked a little harder. Out of all the philosophical sayings I heard of in school, that one always stuck with me the most. Granted, it wasn’t a direct quote, but the point still stands.

Fortunately, the first hill wasn’t very rocky, so we finished quite quickly. Rakes were passed out and we spread out the soil and then packed it down with shovels. While we packed down the earth the Enchanters started their work on the next hill that wasn’t quite as big as the first.

Before we broke for lunch, we managed to clear out three and a half small hills. During our break, nearly all the Beastkin ate in silence. I wasn’t sure if it was either respect or some other reason. More than a few shifted their eyes between their food and me constantly.

By the end of the day we had cleared out nearly six hills, as the last few were a fair bit bigger than the first ones. With the space we cleared, we had enough room for a medium sized field to use for harvest! And yet we still we had much more land to cover. Our pile of rocks was massive as well. By the time we were done clearing out the surrounding hills we’d have enough stone to make a road straight here.

I helped hand out the payment to those that had worked as well as distributed the remaining food. One lizard type asked if there’d be more work tomorrow, and all eyes fixated on me. I said of course there would be, we still had a lot to do. The whole way back home, we led a group of Beastkin that walked with their heads high and smiles on their faces. A drastic change from this morning.

After returning to the Citadel, we ate our dinner and had an early night’s rest.

The next day started off just as well. The wagons were loaded and ready after breakfast and off we went. This time, there had to have been nearly sixty of the Beastkin in the group that awaited us. Now this was progress, more people to work means more land cleared faster! If numbers kept increasing, we’d need more wagons with food in them, but for the time being we were fine. Everyone was in high spirits. Until we reached our work zone.

The pile of rocks we had accumulated and the dirt we padded down was everywhere. Like it had been randomly kicked around and dug up. Someone had fucked with our shit. Only a few of the Beastkin remained silent, but those that had worked all day yesterday were growling in rage. Without a word, I walked forth and began picking up rocks.

“Master…” Kyrrah whispered.

“Complaining won’t change this, only working will.” I stated simply as I dropped off a small bunch of rocks at the spot I had originally marked. “Some of you get some shovels and pad down the dirt thats clear of rock. The rest of you, help me out.” Without a word of complaint, all sprung into action. Gollard himself worked alongside me.

“Remember Daen, you stepped on some toes during your ceremony.”

“I’m ready to step on some skulls, never mind toes.” I grumbled. “This is just petty what they did.” Gollard nodded, but said nothing in response.

We made good time cleaning up, but it was still time we had to waste to get back to the original way we had everything. We had only just begun work on the first hill before it was time to break for lunch. By the end of the day, two hills had been cleared. I expected that tomorrow we’d face the same mess that we had today. While we worked, I had considered many potential solutions to this problem.

If I used sentries and guards, that would deter people. But who would want to watch and guard a plot of land? I could ask the Beastkin to keep an eye on who left the city at night, but then they may take matters into their own hands. The best solution would be to catch the perpetrators in the act and punishing them for destruction of government property and vandalism. If those were even a thing in this world. My lessons in history of this country hadn’t covered laws and punishments yet.

“Blessed One.” A voice rumbled beside me as I helped hand out payments. It was the bear Beastkin from two days ago. “A moment?” He motioned his head off to the side. He wanted to speak privately. I nodded and followed the big bear. Once we were out of earshot of the rest he began to whisper. “I will watch our site tonight.”

“Make sure you aren’t seen.” I suggested, “We don’t want a confrontation with whoever it is. Not yet. At the moment I merely wish to know who they are.” The Beastkin nodded.

“Yes. I will follow them back.”

“The Gatehouses will have sentries there letting those people in. They may be in on this petty shit.” He grinned at my harsh language. “You may have to spend the night outside the city walls so you aren’t recognized.”

“It would not be the first time I had done such.” A chuckle escaped him. “You helped my kin, Blessed One. I will do as you say.” He held out his massive clawed hand. My own, merely a fraction of the size inside his own. We shook on it.

“You’ll have to sneak away on the march back and hang out around here. See if you can hear anything they say, even better if you can recollect their appearances to me.” He nodded.

“I will do my best Blessed One.”

“Call me Daen, I never liked that Blessed One junk.”

“I am known as Troosk.” Once more, we shook hands.

*****

Troosk followed behind the wagons within the group of Beastkin who grumbled about the desecration from this morning. More than one voiced their desire to watch over the land that would help their people, but none actually did. Troosk did not fault their desire, for he shared the same, but he made a promise to that boy, Daen. Something was off about him, more so than usual. His scent was wrong for a human, and his words carried weight that only veteran hunters would have from his tribe.

Unlike Daen however, Troosk had spread the whisper that he would stay behind to watch their land. The Beastkin would keep this to themselves, as it was imperative that none follow him. As they travelled, he fell further and further behind, until the wagons and crowd were but a small shadow of their original size. With great speed, he turned and ran back to the hills that had become their future land to grow crops for themselves.

He would have preferred meat, every Beastkin would have. But animals were far more expensive than crops and took far more time to be just right for hunting. Troosk climbed halfway up a hill before laying in wait for whoever disturbed their land the day before. He was no stranger to waiting, a hunter such as himself could wait days for the best prey to arrive.

It wasn’t until just passed the hour where the moon stood directly overhead that he saw light in the distance. Torchlight. Memories flashed in his mind. Running through the forest, animals snarling at his heels as men shouted in the rain. That night, he had become the hunted. He shook his head, this was no time for reminiscing. With great stealth, Troosk hid himself from those approaching lights, his ears on high alert.

He let out a low growl when he saw the figures in the torchlight. They were Beastkin. Beastkin that had been covered in scars from numerous beatings. Slaves.

Despite the distance, his ears heard their trembling cries and their begging for forgiveness as they ruined the area once more.