Chapter 25: Silver

We were packed up ready to go on our next adventure.

It was late autumn, and we were looking forward to going and seeing how our new village was developing. Tara had sent me countless reports and thanked us for the power systems. Volt, one of the shifters from the City that had married into my family, was an electrician, so they didn’t need a crew to come set up the systems.

I scratched Hornville, Barton and our homestead from the list of towns needing an electrical crew. Volt had planned to get the homestead fixed up first. They would then transport the leftover parts to Hornville and get it going, then do Barton where they would need to spend a lot more time.

Tara had called me that morning to tell me they had little trouble setting up the system at the homestead and my spouses thanked me for the clothes washing boxes, as they had missed them. They had done everything in their power to help just so they could get them going.

I had to chuckle as they had already told me this the night before. They had used their magic to help, and the installation had been greatly sped up. Tara’s team was packed up and planned to meet up with me in Hornville in a couple of days. Bea was going with them to help.

When I contacted the other Bulls, they had me organise the electrical teams. One was going to do Trail Town, the Hoofs and the Blacks. Another was to go to Southport, and they would do the Roans and Hearts. I suspected the hint to permanently base some people there would be taken up.

The next two teams were going to Milton and Central. They would also pick up the rest of the homesteads and help with Charcoal Bay. These two teams had agreed to move permanently to Midton and Central.

They were both family-run businesses, and the competition in town meant they couldn’t expand unless they moved. When I suggested it would be nice to have people in Midton and Central to maintain the systems, they both agreed to move.

It was nice to know some people could see the sense of moving to where the work was. The families were very excited by the prospects and sent an initial crew to get started while the rest organised the shifting of the businesses.

Word had also got around that the towns were getting electricity and this meant more jobs on offer as businesses in them upgraded. I wouldn’t say I caused a mass migration, but Warner reported that some leases were not being renewed, as people were moving.

Depleting Horn City of people didn’t bother me. Cherry, one of the androids who helped around the wharfs, said that we get a dozen new residents every time a ship turned up. So, shifting some people out was not going to hurt Horn City at all.

We were planning on leaving in the morning, but that got postponed during the afternoon. Captain Hail was back. Greta, Sable and I couldn’t get to the wharf fast enough. Excitedly, I called Cora and told her. She laughed and asked how many people did she need to send?

I awkwardly had to tell her that I wouldn’t know until I got to the ship. She told me to call back when I did know. She would let Bea know as she was already in Hornville.

I loved these organisers.

I had to hug Silver when I saw her.

She happily hugged me back and told me they had some interesting stories to tell me. However, they had a special job to do first. She suggested Greta come with us. She picked up the crate she had on the deck with her, and we headed to the citadel.

I called Rose and said we had a present for her and asked if ‘The Tank’ was ready? She squealed with delight and cut the connection. Rose, Garnet, Scarlet and Magenta were in the Controllers room when we arrived. They were fussing around, and their excitement filled the room.

Silver stopped and looked at my androids. “Bron, there is something very different about your androids,” she said.

“Yes, I’m sorry, but the new power supplies have sent them loopy. They are all in love,” I sighed as if it was a disaster.

“In love?” Silver asked.

“The crystals Bron gave us to use were filled with love magic,” Scarlet qualified with a chuckle. “We are even finding that we are selecting partners. It has been a most interesting time.”

“Master Bron even gave us ideas as to how we could express our feeling to each other without embarrassing the humans. Now we have the thirty Androids like us all powered up we have conducted some exciting experiments.”

“See, they are all loopy,” I said.

“Do you have more of these crystals, Bron?” Silver asked me.

“Yes, I’ll give you a bag. Garnet said they were very powerful so you many have to be careful how many you use for different things. Do you want some ordinary ones too?” I asked.

“Please. They will more than pay for what we have brought you, so please don’t think you will owe us anymore. We haven’t had access to Quaz crystals for a very long time,” she told me.

I was delighted that I could provide something she did need. We had a gazillion crystals in the chambers below. Rose had found where they had grown down a cleft and into several other natural chambers that were near the Ring Room.

The fumes from the magma had been sucked down the cleft and the creatures, as she called them, had taken advantage of this and spread down into the other chambers. The heat wasn’t as intense, so they had grown massive. Rose had a whole safe full of what she called good quality crystals. She was more than happy to give Silver a crate full to take with her.

Silver was delighted and started removing the small tank from the crate, “So what I have here was worth all the effort to get her for you. The wizard we met had resurrected her controller twice. So she knew exactly what was needed.”

“She was a very interesting person. It is a shame that she is sick. Something is wrong with her magical items. She seems to have kept the sickness in them contained, but she was a very sad woman. She has a Pix wizard’s box.”

Silver very carefully lifted the strange structure out of the little tank and placed it over one of the gold discs in the big tank. She kept up her story as she worked.

“Unlike Genteli wizard boxes, the Pix boxes tend to partner up. The other box is broken, and she hasn’t been able to find a wizard to help her fix it. I felt very sorry for her. Her consorts are worried about her state of mind. Though, she was happy enough to help us.”

“I hope she doesn’t give up as she is a long way from home. She says she comes from another planet that she called Earth. She left her son behind when she accidentally transported to Topaz Island, and she misses him greatly.” Silver was happy the creature she called a Controller was in place.

She handed me an organiser similar to the ones we had, “Bron, you need to say these spells to fully activate her. She is alive but needs these spells to help her connect to the systems here. Wizard Crystal has placed several spells on her, but you need to provide the spark to help her.”

I read through the spells. They were more complicated than I was used too, “Greta, I will need you to be in contact with the being and with me when I say the spells.”

Greta put her hands in the tank and touched the soft flesh that surrounded the towers. “Daddy, can I touch too?” Sable asked me. I nodded at him.

Rose picked Sable up, and he leant into the tank to touch the being. I added my hands and started the spell. “Oh, my!” Greta exclaimed.

“Wow!” Sable added in excitement. “Bloody Hell!” was my rejoinder.

The rush, when she sparked, was awesome. The colour of her flesh brightened into a brilliant coral colour. The little feelers at the tops of the towers lengthened and waved around in the nutrient enriched tank water. We waited to give her time to work out where she was.

“She looks very healthy Bron. Do you have those special magical crystals on you?” Silver asked as observed the new controller.

“Yes, I don’t go anywhere without my satchel. Greta grabbed hers as well. So we have three full bags of the older crystals. Three of the newer ones I’ve had for a week and a half, and then there are our belts too,” I told her.

“Belts?” Garnet asked with interest.

I lifted my shirt to show her. “They give us a quick boost, so we don’t use as much of our energy. We nearly always draw from the belts first. We only need a little energy to connect to them. This way we don’t exhaust ourselves.”

“I don’t really know how much energy I have to draw from, but I never get tired anymore. Even these spells, as difficult as they were, didn’t drain me.”

“Me neither,” Greta added. “I know they have lowered, but I still feel that I have a lot in reserve.”

“Daddy, look!” Sable said excitedly. We looked into the tank, and the being was gently pulsing with life.

“Hello. My systems will take a little longer to complete the diagnostics, but I’m very pleased to be here. What do you wish to call me?” a soft female voice said.

“Hi, I’m Bron. The people here call me High Mage Bull Bron Horn. I will be pleased if you call me Bron. Sable, what do you think we should call this pretty creature?”

Sable rolled his eyes at me as if I was being silly. He still had a hand in the tank, and he was gently stroking a tower. “Daddy she already has a name. She was being polite. Her name is Candy. I like her name. She looks like fat sticks of yummy candy.”

We all chuckled at Sable’s assessment. “Thank you young master Sable. I like my name too. I do feel very different this time. I seemed to have gained something. It may sound strange, but my inner feelings are very different, broader as if I can feel things to a depth I’ve not experienced before.”

“Bron used his love crystals to spark you. The new power supplies that we thirty androids that you last built, also have them and we too are more alive,” Magenta told Candy.

“Very interesting, I’m integrating your server. I can see you have had long periods of inactivity. I too have been gone for a long time. I have much to catch up with. I’ll give a full assessment of things that require repairs. The replicators seem to be the major system that is missing,” Candy told us.

“I believe we have the parts to fix it. My controller, Ochre, was able to produce them for me. My name is Silver, and I come from Ochre City on the west side of the continent Federation.”

“Hum, it has taken some effort as the satellites were shut down. I have managed to contact her. It is a poor connection, but she knows you are here Silver, and that your mission was successful. She is also happy that you are safe.”

“We are delighted to be able to communicate with each other again. It seems the boost that Bron has given me has made me stronger. The new crystals you installed in my primary supply have also assisted me to grow healthy quickly. I am so pleased to be back.”

“We are ecstatic to have you back, Candy,” Rose said with emotion.

“So now the city has a controller again, your other androids will become more efficient, yes?” I asked Rose.

“Very much so. It has been hard work trying to use them without Candy. We can concentrate on our other duties now. Your councillors seem to like having us around, and the ten sisters assigned to them are kept very busy,” Garnet told me.

“Hum, now that is an idea I like. It will make it much easier to keep up with the needs of the people here if the decision makers have their own android. If the other towns were powered, we could place androids in them too,” Candy commented.

“It is happing as we speak,” I told her with delight. “Rose and I found some generations units in storage, and they are being installed in the towns,” I told Candy.

“With our new power supplies, we can take the portable re-chargers as back-ups. There is no reason we can’t spread out. We don’t wish to activate all the androids here except for those tasks the humans don’t like to do. We can take a crew with us,” Magenta said aloud to see what my response would be.

“You won’t hear any objections from me. You have been doing well to integrate yourselves without upsetting too many people. If you can see a niche you can fill, then you have permission to do so,” I told them.

I knew I had made them happy, so I was happy too.

We left Candy and the androids to get themselves sorted out.

Rose came with us back to the ship to see what needed unloading. Silver took me down to the hold to see the presents she had brought me. “What the hell are they?” I said.

Silver giggled, “They are called camla. They are versatile animals. Good for fleece, skins, milk and meat. They do well in high rocky conditions. You said your new village had such conditions and many of the other Bulls have similar land unused. This island had extensive mountain ranges that they will do well in and not damage the land.”

“You herd them just like your cattle. You cut their fleece just like the woollies. I brought you five different coloured herds. They don’t require dyes to colour the threads. If you do wish to dye them, the white ones are best, so I brought you more of them.”

“Most of them should go straight to Hornville. We can take them with us when we leave. The cluckers and snufflers too,” I said. Silver agreed this was a good plan.

Most of the rest of the goods could go to the homestead and Cora, and Fran could work out what to do with them. I only planned to take a small percentage of them with us. Captain Hail had similar stock that he planned to sell in Horn City. I told him that worked for me too.

He had a lot of clucker chicks and snuffler pups that he was planning on selling locally for the farmers to have their own fresh eggs and meat. He said they alone would pay for the trip. The rest was pure profit. I noticed they had a lot of grog and knew he would have little trouble selling it.

He, Dazzle and Tom, happily joined us at the residence later that day, after they had unloaded the cargo they had purchased under assignment. They regaled us with their adventures over the months I hadn’t seen them.

Rose took Silver and her five sisters to be fitted with the new power supplies. They would also catch-up on android things, as far as I knew. Rose had already shared the joke about grinding metal and requiring lubricates with Silver. She cracked her up in the process.

I’m kinda glad I missed the rest of their discussions. I had a suspicion my ears would burn as bright as my face. I truly didn’t wish to hear about android sex. I’m not sure they have learned to differentiate between rude, and crude, and polite reference. Either that or they liked to see me blush. I’m beginning to suspect it is the latter.

I’d joked with Greta that it was just a well that they didn’t have picture recorders in our room. She replied by asking me how did I know that they didn’t. She then giggled at my anxious look. She paid for that remark later I can assure you.

I had a lot of fun smacking her sexy arse with my hips in punishment. I did wonder fleetingly if the androids were watching. However, the excited cunnie my cock was thrusting into made me forget all about them recording me in action until much later.

We stayed the extra day to sort out getting the stuff from the ship to where it needed to go.

We took three long days getting the camla to Hornville.

The lovely new road would have made the trip a lot quicker if we hadn’t had to herd animals. Honey had even provided nice wide grassy verges for the herds. The carriages and carts had an easy time on the road and happily rolled alongside the animals.

I had called ahead, and they had several paddocks waiting for us and even a barn for the snufflers and cluckers to be put in until we distributed them to their new homes. Our appearance caused a lot of excitement.

Having fourteen androids with us was only part of it. Rose told me that she was permanently assigned to me. Scarlet was assigned to my girls, and she had gone with them to the homestead. The ten normal ones with us would form part of the work crews with their two supervisors, Blush and Wine. They would also look after water and sanitation.

The hundred odd people already living in and around Hornville had no objections to them sorting out these vital systems. We got put into one of the new homes. Tara said they would expand it later if I wished. Else if I wanted a home built in another location tell them where and what I wanted.

We had a five bedroom establishment, and as far as Greta and I were concerned, it was more than what we needed for a part-time home. Harry had also come with us. Pam and Peta were happy to stay in the residence in Horn City and maintain it.

Harry and Sable were inseparable so it made sense that she or rather I should say he, came with us too. He tended to spend more time in male form since he started looking after Sable. Harry was eighteen now, but he had a habit of acting a lot younger than I did at the same age.

He was as much as calf as Sable at times. He did look after him well all the same, and he didn’t let Sable talk him into doing anything dangerous, so I let them have their fun. He rode well enough and kept a close eye on Sable.

I was a little surprised he didn’t seem put-out leaving Pam and Peta behind. I suspected they treated him a bit like a calf and it irked him. He was delighted to come adventuring with us and couldn’t pack a bag fast enough when asked if he wanted to come with along.

We were thrilled to have him as Sable could be a handful and Harry was very good at diverting the boy’s insatiable appetite to know about everything and anything. I was delighted to find Harry could also turn into a catalo, and he got a lot of practice at form shifting to keep up with Sable when he was a wolf pup. I think the ring helped.

I didn’t spend long at the new house, as I wanted to see then the new power system in action. I found it an interesting system and Rose explained that as the town grew they could add to it. She suggested if they did, it would be better to set up a second one on the other side of the city.

We could then maintain what she called a ring system and reduce voltage drops, and she used a lot of other electrical terms that I had no idea what they meant or why they were important, so I did do a lot of head nodding. They even planned to link up with Midton.

For me, the fact my people were happy with having the new electrically driven conveniences in their homes and businesses, was all I cared about. Volt told us they had worked out how to set up small units that could be put on the farms to run machinery.

They could even be used to boost the power requirements for some of the industries that had already planned to set up in town. The smithy, tanners, bakers, grocers and the new dairy were all planning to use other new machines that the androids had informed them would assist with their production methods.

I knew the costs would be coming out of my accounts but considering what was in them, and that I still had boxes of coins and jewellery in my magical box I wasn’t terribly worried. I made sure I deposited a box of the coins into the town’s coffers to be used for the town’s requirements.

Tara was the new Mayor of the town, and Mian became the treasurer since she ran the bank anyway. I told them they could hold elections for the other positions, but I wanted them in these positions for the foreseeable future. I didn’t get a lot of arguments from the new townspeople and unlike Horn City; this was a family owned village.

Barton was only two hours ride away from the village. I spent a lot of time meeting with the councillors there, discussing how to integrate the new electrical systems into the established town and addressing many of their other problems. At first, they were reticent and in some cases downright hostile.

Honey had already stirred them up when she came through. Apparently, she wasn’t big on negotiations. She told the council and locals that the Bulls and I wanted new main roads to connect the towns, and that was what she being paid to do.

She did try to cause as little disturbance as she could, and they did a lot of the main roads work through town at night when the locals were off the street. The machine she had also laid drainage pipes, so she made sure they went in as she progressed.

When I told her about the electrical system, she had added pipes for cables too. Our conversation on the organisers was getting easier, and I think she knew I didn’t have a grudge and that I did care that she was happy doing the vital job she was doing.

The locals were not so pleased that the old Village Green became a major road intersection. Honey had created a sort of large squarish ring around the outer edge of the Green, so the four major roads linked into it. It still left a nice central area the locals could use to congregate in when they had parties or town meetings.

She had even added paths across the green so the people could walk across the Green to the other sides without having to walk around it. The locals all had to agree that they did enjoy not having a tonne of mud being tromped into the stores and the new roads made it a lot easy to get in to, out of, and around town.

Honey had extended the roads out of town to the east and the south for about a klick. She had not long left town, and she was heading to Trail Town. The other crew was on its way to the Bay and Hind’s homesteads and Midton.

I mentioned to Rose after one meeting that it was a shame we didn’t have another road layer to send to Central and then to Southport. Rose said that now that the big replicator was fixed she would see what the sisters could do.

She mentioned that a smaller machine, which was designed for fixing roads in towns, was also in the system as well as a bridge builder. I had to smile at this reference, as I’d stopped several times on the trip to the village to build wide bridges at several crossings that had very shoddy contraptions over them.

Honey had mentioned that at several river crossings she hadn’t paved them and that this was an issue, which I still had to sort out. I couldn’t personally build all of the bridges we needed. Rose suggested that she should organise Magenta to get people trained on the new machines and formed into crews.

It wouldn’t hurt if they trained locally to encourage the people to stay local. They could then send the required machines to the towns. The new machines would become permanent fixtures, as roads always needed fixing and new ones for outer suburbs would be required in time.

The locals could sort out their own schedules once they were trained. I liked this idea and suggested it at the next meeting I had with the councillors. I mentioned to the citizens of Barton that the other roads would be fixed and told them of our plans.

It hadn’t taken me long to realise this was the true bitch. They did love having the better roads along the main thoroughfares. However, it made the rest of town look provincial, and that didn’t gel with their idea that they were a progressive town.

Honey had fixed the main roads in and out of town, but all the side roads that went to homes and businesses off the main roads were still in a crappy state of repair. The locals who fixed the roads had a hard time just keeping them pothole free. The area got a lot of rain in heavy downpours, and the run-off was a particular problem they had to deal with.

Mayor Wanda, who happened to be one of my grandfather’s full-blooded sisters, had been particularly upset that Honey had refused to pave the road to her house. She had berated me for having a Hind in charge of such an important project. The fact that Honey told her to take it up with me also seemed to be a sticking point.

I had learnt that Wanda hadn’t been happy to learn that I had challenged Warh and won. She considered me a jumped-up little upstart. Her trying to talk down to me as if I was still a calf and wet behind the ears didn’t endear her to me at all.

She seemed to be under some misguided belief that I would do as she wished, she being the older and more experienced than me in her opinion. She even had the audacity to hint that she felt I had cheated to defeat her brother.

She got me so cranky at this point that I flashed her with my dragon eyes. Now that was interesting! For some reason, these eyes seemed to have a type of hypnotic effect. I could feel that she desperately wanted to look away, but she was not able too. Her sudden fear of me was so palatable I could taste it.

She had become so pale, and her body shivered uncontrollably. I did get worried that she would void her bladder. Her fear also had a decided effect on me. It thrilled me. I wasn’t real happy about this. I guessed that once the dragon’s hunting instinct had been aroused and it was bloody hard to rein it in.

I had to fight my body’s desire to change form completely. I knew bugger all about dragons, but I did learn that letting my dragon free, might not be a good idea when I was trying to appease someone.

I was also learning that I had a low tolerance for bitchy people. My experiences with Lady Di had taught me a little about how to deal with them. However, in this case, Wanda had gone too far in her veiled attacks upon my honour.

I shut my eyes, took several deep calming breaths, and once I was in control, I then looked at Wanda again. I was just about to apologise for my behaviour when she bowed her head to me, “I’m sorry Bull Horn. I should have realised that you wouldn’t hold that title if you hadn’t earnt it.”

She was visibly shaken, and I felt the shock and disquiet of the other councillors at her strange reaction to my look. Wanda had ruled this roost with an iron tongue for near on forty years. Even hearing her apologise had them all wondering just what powers I had.

Most of them hadn’t seen the look that I had given her. One of those who did, said, “I noticed the ring, Bull Horn. I’ve also heard rumours that you are no ordinary magic user.”

I’d been negotiating with these people on and off for a week, and I guessed other rumours had made their way to town about the changes in Horn City and my involvements. The fact that I had an android at the table with me had also created a lot of conjecture.

It was commonly believed that when the androids had roamed the streets in the past that they obeyed no man or mage. It had soon become apparent that they worked for me and this had stirred up all sorts of strange rumours. When I had mentioned several androids would be allocated to this town to help out, I got very mixed reactions.

A Bull wasn’t supposed to interfere too much with the towns. They had been allocated a set area that was under the local council’s control. However, a lot of the lands that were farmed and that supported the towns were still under the control of the Bull whose property it was located on.

This caused different problems. These people paid for their leases to the Bull but also expected the town to provide services that they weren’t officially paying for, except through the sales of the produce in the towns.

Apparently, it has caused a lot of tension in the past, and the issue still did. I knew it would be something we would have to address at the next Bulls’ meeting. I might even invite the Mayors to the meeting, as they would have to be involved in any decisions we made.

I looked at the man who had made the statement about my powers. Since it wasn’t a direct question, I just smiled at him. Rose, however, decided to answer for me, “Bull Horn is the High Mage. He wears the items that are assigned to the High Mage who rules this Island.”

“So it has been for many thousands of years, even before your people came to this island. As long as Horn City exists, then the wearer of these items will be the High Mage of Green Island. As far as the cities controller Candy and we androids are concerned, Mage Bron has been an exemplary ruler.”

“He takes into consideration the many problems that have been laid before him, and he looks for a path that benefits his people but also manages the resources of his lands, so the people don’t exhaust them. Only a fool would work against his wishes.”

Personally, I thought she had laid it on a bit thick, but the looks of contemplation I got would later prove that she had at least got them thinking about their jobs and not just their personal wants and desires.

Things started moving into positive territories after her chat to the councillors. Even Wanda backed off. She still hated me, but she was a Horn. She was smart enough to know not to take the bull by his horns. I could only assume she’d had a momentary lapse and forgot who my grandfather had been.

She’d not had as much to do with him in the previous twenty years and had glossed over many of his not so redeeming actions during that time. I think she also started taking a bit more notice of what the rumours were saying about me.

I did know that Sable fascinated her. My son had the charm of the devil. He’d bat those extraordinary long eyelashes at you and give you his winning smile. I wondered what he would be like once he realised females had more uses than feeding him and playing games with him.