Jericho Francis Cain gripped the rosary in his hand, a gift from his mother who died giving birth to him. Growing up in the orphanage, it was the only thing he truly owned. Jericho gripped it for its reassurance while he listened to the chiefs go back and forth about some colonists from Britain. Again, he was reminded of the orphanage. He had to fight for everything since the day he drew breath. The midwives thought he was dead when his bleeding-out mother put the cross around his neck, and he drew the breath of God. From that day, he had his cross and the power to slay demons and see the spirits of the departed. God's power lived inside the cross like it had once lived in the tabernacle. Over time it had changed, petrifying from gods grace. 

 

Not every word from the good book was 1 to 1 with the world he saw, but he forgave the writers and translators for their transgressions as he forgave those he transgressed against him. Revelations matched some of its monsters with the beasts he saw and often enough fought. He gripped his cross in anticipation of battling the heathen as a soldier of God. Soon he would girdle himself in the armor of his faith.

 

Jericho focused on the conversation between chiefs. His understanding was a little off, but he heard the chief of chiefs Tamanend refuse to call upon the others of clan turtle to squash the man who thought himself a Viking.

 

From his position, evil and injustice were personified in Silas Flex.

 

Silas Flex, an orphan like himself, was betrothed to lady Mary Grisham, the flower of lower Delaware. A poor farmer who could barely use his land was more worthy than himself to the heathen wizard. The full bringer gripped his cross tightly. Jericho had gained some wealth, trapping and exploring the new world for wealthy patrons.

 

When he approached John for his daughter's hand, the lord wizard refused him as if a heathen wasn’t honored to have a Christian man.

 

Jericho hadn’t handled the rejection well, and one thing led to another before the wizard used his pull with the elders to remove Jericho from the town. The fullbringer only had the clothes on his back when he left and soon found himself in the company of savages. Cain did the good Christian moral deed of preaching everything he remembered from the sermons he read or heard.

 

They couldn’t understand him. It was humbling when he realized the savages only had a few English words between them, and he struggled to learn their language.

 

Since those days, he worked on translating the bible into the savage language using phonetics. After learning enough of the local language to get by, he learned the savages were respectable, peaceful people. When one man offered their daughter to him, he politely refused them. Chastity was a virtue he wouldn’t lose until he married. Despite the distance, he hadn’t let go of his old flame for Mary, and God had delivered a mighty hammer to smite his foe.

 

He sat behind Chief Nenacheehunt, the man who took Jericho in and offered his daughter. He activated his full bringer revealing it to be a long sword, and pushed its point into the ground.

 

He spoke in their savage tongue. “Lord Nenacheehunt, we don’t need them to wipe away this threat like the great flood slew the giants of old. They are less than twenty men; we have 20 times their number, and my skills are great. We can ride them down when the snow melts while they plow their fields.” Cain said.

 

The chief of chiefs, Tamanend, didn’t look happy, nor did the warriors stand in the man’s defense. But, at Lord Nenacheehunt’s word, he would slay them to put the good chief in power. If that was what it took to run down his rival, he would do it and beg God for strength and to be filled with righteousness.

 

By all accounts, Silas was a wizard of some power who could slay men without touching them. Even so, no power could contend with the might of the lord. Jericho’s Shepard was with him, and he wouldn’t shirk his duty to rid the world of evil.

 

“Our friend William Penn failed to convince the man to give up the girls. Instead, he claimed them like a raider from another tribe.” Lord Nenacheehunt said.

 

“By the words of the survivors and William himself, they ambushed Silas on the road and slew one of his men. His reaction was to slay nearly every man of fighting age and take 25 virgins from the tribe before leaving with their best horses. What if he is ready for the attack, sells the horses, and purchases fighting men in preparation for an attack?” The Chief of Chiefs said.

 

Jericho felt God’s wrath spread along the edge of his blade, and the savages backed away from him. “Mine is the blade that guards ancient Eden and strikes down evil. No matter their numbers, God’s will shall be done. No purchased men will stand between my blade and the raider’s heart.” Cain said.

 

…

 

Over the last week, posts had continuously poured pure liquid spirit energy into the lake on his property. At first, he hadn’t had much in the way of results, but he was hopeful. Silas dunked a piece of paper covered in a single structure in the water and watched it change from white to an incredibly light shade of blue. Silas placed the piece of paper in his basket with the others and planned to compare them with the others later.

 

The post had the symbol that was the mate of the formation he carved into the hollow’s flesh. After he trapped the hollow in its grafted flesh, it recovered its malevolent spirit energy over time. Silas couldn’t have it escaping, so he used its recovering spirit energy and purified it to supplement his lake and land.

 

His lake was where all the animals on his property drank from, so it made sense to fill it with spirit energy. Since he had spirit energy in the lake, he no longer needed to distill the water from cow pee. One hollow shouldn’t be enough to increase the spirit energy in the water. Fortunately, he had the ingredients he needed for the Lazarus pit prepared.

 

Corpse puppets were malignant spirit energy factories. While they wouldn’t produce more than the hollow individually, they could make a difference if he could get enough. On top of that, he could attempt to seal a hollow inside of them.

 

He turned around when he felt a familiar spiritual signature. Chepi was out and exploring the farm again. After three weeks, he let them travel his property as they pleased while they stayed within the fence. They had each developed a low level of cultivation. In a few months, they may reach the double digits. After teaching them the cultivation basics, he stopped teaching them and decided to run an experiment.

 

Silas wanted to see if they would develop unique techniques in the future. He saw one make a needle hover, but that was it.

 

“Silas, I had something I wanted to tell thee. Methinks thou will like it.” Making them learn English was a good idea. He didn’t often pat himself on the back, but her voice was beautiful.

 

“I could use some good news. Today has been slow and grinding.” Silas said.

 

“My flowering is late four days,” Chepi said.

 

He embraced her in a warm hug and spun her around. Then he kissed her deeply before leaving her on her feet to stumble.

 

“Tis good news indeed. Mayhap we should celebrate, my crushed grapes have begun to ferment, and I have the ground sugar cane and yeast to make some fine spirit wine.” Silas said.

 

Silas froze in thought for a moment. Maybe he shouldn’t give her any alcohol until the baby was born. The water they drank was cleaner than anywhere else in the world. He distilled it instead of only boiling it.

 

He heard the call of an eagle before it swooped down and took a dead fish from the lake. Some fish couldn’t handle the transition from normal to spirit water. Fortunately, they were also spawning and growing rapidly. Silas tossed diced guts, breadcrumbs, and old meat into the lake, and the fish stripped the surface clean.

 

As for the eagle, it and its mate had made a home in a Giant Sequoia that had begun to grow taller with spirit energy.

 

“Thou should kill it, and we will make thee a fine headdress,” Chepi said.

 

“Where will I wear it to the play coming up of King Lear?” Her smile hadn’t left her, and Silas kissed her again. “Don’t tempt me. I will never hear the end of from my betrothed even after we art wed,” Silas said.

 

Chepi lost her happiness at his betrothed’s name. “What will become of us after she had married, thou?” Chepi asked.

 

“She will be the head lady of the household. That means it will be her job to organize and see to the home. Mayhap I should have held out for an Ottoman princess for an official marriage. They art used to concubines in the household.” Silas said.

 

“What if she doesn’t like us, and what about our child?” Chepi said.

 

“If she is unreasonably mean, I will discipline the little witch with my hand to her bottom. Mary hasn’t shown herself to be belligerent, but some homes have certain ideals that survived from ancient Rome. One man, one woman kept a lot of competition over women to a minimum, and male scarcity helped.”

 

“Husband, thou can tell me the story of those people tonight if thou wish, but I need an answer,” Chepi said.

 

Chepi smiled, showing off her dimples in a display of soft power. His hormones were those of a sixteen-year-old with practically infinite stamina. If he didn’t have 1000 and 1 things to do daily, he wouldn’t leave their bed. 

 

As for her calling him husband, she was his war bride, which had to count for something. Something fought for was often more precious to a man than something given unless the gift was from someone special.

 

“All of my children will learn from me everything I teach them, will all equally hold a place dear to me, and no matter who their mothers art, they art mine. One or two will inherit this place from me when I decide to leave and start a new place.” Silas said.

 

His next spot would probably be in Mississippi or Louisiana. Silas was thinking about making a port and going into shipbuilding. He could also take what he learned to form his current land and apply them with hopefully fewer mistakes. Silas was also thinking of going ahead and building something like the internet with fractals, but that was a decade-long project. His descendants would enjoy a porn-free internet when they entered their preteens.

 

There was so much to do, but less than a year in with his land, he was mostly building the groundwork.

 

“And if she wants to get rid of us?” Chepi asked.

 

“I will tell her no and refuse her sex until she caves. That’s the advantage of 10 other brides. I can withhold sex from one quite easily. Don’t think of unionizing, or I’ll raid some Iroquois villages so they can compete against thee. Or mayhap I will build artificial brides.” Silas said. 

 

“Methinks thou art struggling when thou should relax. Take the rest of the day off and visit us together early tonight. Tis thy day of rest tomorrow. Hurit and Doli wish to try something new.” Chepi said.

 

Silas kissed her again and pushed a hand through her long black silky hair.

 

He had taken a hammer and chisel to build a tub from the nearby quarry. It was covered in formations to heat and clean the water. Even a few lead pipes cycled the water out and removed any remaining filth before returning it.

 

They had thoroughly enjoyed the gift, and he planned to purchase some scented soaps next time he went to town. None of them had thought to ask for such a gift; he had done it because he wanted to. He also added a water basin to clean their hands before eating.

 

Silas sent her home and took Dotty to a large, mostly stone and clay hill. He built a barn on top of it and stashed dozens of bodies for raising. Then, it was time to raise his corpse puppets and get some work done.

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