“Good work Tuko,” Kory said sliding off the giant spotted yellow salamander’s back.

The doors and gates to the Leslock Penitentiary were still sealed shut, but it was hardly a prison anymore. The Minotaur had gone into a rampage and the interior of the prison had been reduced to rubble. A lot of work needed to be done to make this his fortress – the heart of his thriving country.

The Minotaur’s unmoving body lay before him but no one was in a mood to celebrate. Even dead the thing looked terrifying to look at. The monster had singlehandedly taken on the combined army of his Party and the mercenaries. Bodies lay strewn about across the entire prison yard and mercenaries rushed about hoping to find at least the bodies of their companions – nearly a hundred of them had joined to fight and only a few of them survived the day.

It had been a tough battle and the losses were too great. Even though the mercenaries had suffered, he knew it could have been much worse without his loyal beasts with him. Kory could feel his anger boil up as he looked at the scene around him. All this because he could not finish the fight quicker. All because he was not strong enough. And now he had to suffer – watch and pretend to care about these leeches’ feelings.

The giant Minotaur was dead and Leslock Prison was now theirs to take, that’s all he cared about. As far as he cared, the only reason these unfilial opportunists had even joined was the promised rewards. None of them would have even blink before chopping his head off if someone offered the right price. The only loss, as far he was interested in was his two tamed-beasts and thirteen of his Party men lost their lives. But as the head of his fledgeling country, he knew what he had to do.

He climbed atop a broken pile of rubble and voiced, “Everyone! We have defeated the damned monster! We did it and I can’t thank each one of you enough,” he paused, Kory could feel everyone’s eyes upon him. “But at what cost? So many of my friends, brothers and sisters. It sickens my heart; the Catastrophe has taken so much from us. Our lives upturned without rhyme or reason and now…and now even my new family gets taken away from me.”

The yard was completely silent. Kory recalled back to the first time he had tried to calm a crowd. It was the silliest of things – the name of the City. That alone had him almost killed. Just the thought sent shivers down his spine. He looked around now, people looking at him with expectation in their eyes – it was intoxicating.

“I will not let my family’s death go to waste. I have decided, this place – Leslock Prison will be the new headquarters of the Salamander City. Everyone here, everyone, will have a place to call home here. Along with that, I am personally awarding everyone here the title of an Esteemed Citizen, a Word-Transmission Scroll and a reward of 200 Ungas. This won’t bring them back, but let everyone know the sacrifices our brothers and sisters made to make,” the crowd of sell-swords were already jubilant. Nothing moved their hearts more than selling themselves, even their grief.

Kory scanned through the cheering crowd. He was sure most of them could see straight through his bullshit, but few would let it show. If the rewards were not enough to sway their hearts, the precedence he had set with mutineers.

“Oh come on,” he clicked his tongue as his eyes landed on two faces. Unsmiling and stone cold. He could get them killed with one order. But he needed them alive and well – at least not right away.

-----------

In just a week, the Leslock Prison was slowly coming together into the fortress he wanted it to be. Kory was amazed at how efficient construction could become with the right magic. As he stared down from the prison warden's office to see the mages at work. The thought did cross his mind many times that week if he had should have tried becoming a mage. But they were nothing more than daydreams. He had made his bed; he was a Beast-Tamer he couldn’t give up his precious beasts for anything in the world.

His eyes withdrew from the large windows to a Word-Transmission Scroll glowing at his desk. It was time, he sent his reply back and seated himself. These could become his future recruits – he had to project strength. He took a deep breath.

The door opened as his secretary ushered the two in. The young girl dressed in a black turtleneck and loose tunic pants walked with a spear on her back; while the young man with the unkempt beard and military attire had only a short knife by his hip. Kory was surprised by the confident slow pace of their walk-in.

“Good morning Miss Samira, Mr. Jay,” he said urging them to sit, “How have you been doing? I hear you have not even collected your rewards for your bravery at taking over Leslock. Is there a problem?”

The two of them were brought into the city by one of his Party-man, singing praises about their combat skills. That was more than a month ago. But he had still not been able to figure them out and puzzles never interested him. Certainty was his preferred choice.

“You tell me how we are,” Jay shot back, “You stole the Word-Transmission Scroll, bastard and… Fuck you, man.”

“I am sorry Jay but didn’t you give me the Scroll?” Kory said, putting on a surprised look.

“Yes. But then you duplicated it and distributed around,” Jay shot back jerking Samira’s hand away.

Kory could feel the tug of a victorious smile pulling at his lips. But he stopped himself. “I didn’t know I couldn’t do that.

But I should compensate you for that.”

“I don’t want your money,” Jay spit out.

“How about a tamed beast? You wanted one the last time. I will give you two of them. How does that sound?” Kory offered. If it was just their strength, he would have rather taken the normal route. But these two knew of things about his city that even he didn’t. He had questions he wanted answers to. Like how did they know that the monster in the Leslock prison was a minotaur? It was a locked-in dungeon – impossible to come out of once you enter. The only explanation was that the two had some special Skill.

“Sam, I told you it was pointless coming here,” Jay said looking at Samira and then looked at Kory and added, “We don’t want your beasts. If I remember correctly, the last time we asked – you asked us to ‘scram’. So thanks, but no thanks.”

“I know you feel wronged Jay. Tell me what I can do for-” Kory sounded sincere but stopped midsentence. Before hurrying on, “You guys take your time and let me know your answer, okay. Tell me what I can do for you. We will talk later once again, okay and consider joining the Party, it can help move things along.”

Kory stood up from his chair motioning the two towards the door. Jay and Samira shared a confused look between themselves when suddenly the door opened and a large man with long hair and a handlebar moustache walked in. Kory could see in Jay’s surprised look that he knew who the new guy was. It wasn’t surprising. Afterall from what he had heard, Bill Conor was quite a popular guy on the streets. Rallying the ‘victims’ of his rule – calling them to take arms.

“I am sorry guys. As you can see, we have an impatient guest,” Kory explained.

Jay grunted and stood up immediately and walked off without another word. Samira still had her wits by her to wish him goodbye before walking out. Kory was impressed, he could hardly wait to have her join the Party, it was always an asset to have a level-headed person in the team.

“I hope I didn’t interrupt the supreme leader Kory Gibb’s fancy meeting,” Bill said sitting down on the chair with a smirk on his face.

“I am delighted to hear you have joined the Party Mr. Bill Conor,” Kory replied loud enough for the departing duo heard well. Although he did feel slighted by Bill’s interruption, maybe it would work out for the best – a transformation story of the mutineer becoming a loyalist. It could probably sway the duo's hearts too.

“Not for long, you won’t,” Bill responded with a confident smirk.

“You know why I like you, Bill? You are honest about your hatred. Can I tell you a story?” Kory leaned back on his plush chair.

“Sure, I will familiarize myself with my future office in the meantime.”

“Did you know the salamander Tuko was my pet before the Catastrophe? But once it evolved it become so big that my entire house crashed under its weight and then when I survived that, he tried to burn me alive – the thing hated me,” a smiled escaped as he thought back to the day. “I don’t think you were here when it happened, but you must have heard about the First Mutiny, right – the one about naming the City? But what most people don’t know is that I was actually against naming the place Salamander City.”

Kory enjoyed the surprised look on Bill’s face as he processed the information.

“How was the feast yesterday?”

“It… was good. The honey glazed ham was nice,” Bill replied pensively. The confusion and creeping doubt were palpable.

“Good, good. We do have a few luxuries, but they only take place when someone new joins the Party. I can’t force anyone to become a Party member you see.” Kory hummed happily and sat upright. “I just realized I didn’t forget the previous story. I didn’t want Tuko to represent my City. Naming it Salamander City would be like celebrating my attempted murderer. The only reason Tuko didn’t kill me was because of Abeha- my queen bee. She has been so crucial for the City and only a few even know of it. Only Party members ever know of her true contributions, like in arranging yesterday’s feast,” he stopped.

“What do you mean?”

Kory watched silently as Bill’s face changed emotions – from confused to surprised to mortified. There were gossips abound the city, but there was no way anyone could know for certain. After all, the only way to know was to become one.

“Is tr-true? I-It can’t be!” his voice stuttered before reaching the penultimate emotion- anger. Bill stood up in fury and slammed his hands against the desk. He shouted on top of his voice, “What did you do to me? What was in the food? No, no. I will kill you. Undo it, Kory! UNDO IT!”

He quickly sent a message to his secretary, the Word-Transmission Scrolls were coming in handy, calling for ‘security’.

“Don’t worry Bill. Things won’t be too bad. You won’t be able to hurt me or tell on me, and you have to have to protect and obey me. But despite all my attempts, I can’t force you to like me or tell me your secrets. It’s a bummer.”

“You bastard!” Bill rushed at him but fell on his face before he could reach him. A rope had appeared below his feet tripping him over – the security was already here.

Kory walked up from his chair and crouched beside Bill lying on the floor.

“It’s okay. It’s your first day, so I won’t take it to heart. But don’t repeat this,” he said ruffling his hair. “Don’t worry I won’t mistreat you; I take care of all my beasts.”

It was a risk to let Bill know about it instead of waiting out the two day gestation period, but what use was having the Leslock Prison if not for situations like this. Walking back to the chair he ordered his men to lock Bill up in a prison cell for the next two days – only then he would become a true Party member.

As the crowd cleared from the room, he closed his eyes in content. Now the only other ones left to recruit were those two, there was no one else in the City deserving of his Abeha’s eggs. It had been a good day. But a second later his eyes snapped open as he dashed through the door – a notification had popped up.

[Blessed Exchange will open shortly.]

[The portal can be accessed in the next 12 hours. Everyone is encouraged to participate and no entrance fee will be charged.]

“Hold Bill down, don’t let him go. Send them a message,” he screamed as he rushed down the corridor.