"Matty, we are going to prepare to engage the Keeper. We are going to scout the area, then move in for the assault. We will call just before we go in. Be ready if we need you.

"Gotcha Allie," Matthew Albright said into the little blue Motorola radio that he had brought back with him from the boat. "And… Be careful. All of you." He made it a prayer.

"We will. We love you."

Matthew Albright felt his hand tighten around the little blue Motorola radio that he had brought with him from Long Beach, because he had wanted a way to talk to his kids when he was on the bridge of his yacht and they were belowdecks. The plastic of the little blue Motorola radio cracked under his grip.

"Right back at you," he said into the little blue Motorola radio, his voice steady as those on the other end needed it to be. "All of you." He swallowed his emotions down and kept going. "Listen to your mother, girls, and call me if you need me."

"We will Dad!" said Olivia's voice, and the little blue radio cracked a little bit more.

Matthew Albright, very carefully, forced his fingers to stop squeezing the little blue Motorola radio, and very carefully clipped the little blue Motorola radio back to his belt.

"Mom and the girls are gonna fight a boss monster?" Luc asked from where he stood next to the crafting table and the twelve brand new wooden poles he'd made on it. "Should we go and join them?"

"Not this time, bud," Matt said, forcing his voice level and calm. "Tu mama thinks they can take it out themselves, and I trust her judgement."

I always have.

"So, what, we just stay here and do nothing while the girls go and kick butt?" Lucas blew out a breath. "That doesn't seem very fair, Dad."

"No, not do nothing." Matt turned to his son, to his son watching him with young eyes free of fear or worry or doubt. "They're going to come home hungry, thirsty, and tired. So while they're out there, we're going to use our new magic workbench and start getting a home ready for them. How does that sound?"

"Like work," Luc said, making a face. It drew an unwilling laugh from Matt.

"That's because it is," Matt said, smiling and moving over to pat Luc on the shoulder. "But it's work that needs to be done. Come on, there's an old saying, from a poem I think. It was kind of famous back in one of the world wars. 'They also serve who stand and wait.' It means that even though the girls are out there fighting on the front lines, our job is just as important. So come on, let's get started on some house building, what do you say? You and Harry can help out."

Lucas's face broke out into a sunny grin. "Okay, sure! Let's do it! But look, Dad, if we're gonna make a house here, you know what we need to do, right?"

Matt let a smile bloom on his face, to hide what was happening inside him. "Treehouse?"

"Heck yeah, treehouse," Lucas said. "Come on, grab an axe. You use that Consul power thing you used before, and you and I can cut down trees. I'll get Harry to knock some over, too. He should be able to do that, can't you big guy," Luc asked, patting the big mastodon on his furry side. Harry responded by trumping softly and using his trunk to punch Luc gently in the shoulder.

"Alright then," Matt said. "Let's get going. Come on over here and I'll show you how to make a house plan." And then, just before he was about to drop his mind into the needed gear, he pulled up short and glanced up into the canopy above him.

"Billy?" he asked the tree that was their protector. "You still okay if we build something in your branches?"

"More than okay, Consul!" the leaf-rustle of the tree's voice sounded positively enthusiastic. "To have the ones I am tasked with protecting actually take shelter within my very boughs? I can't believe no one's ever thought of it before!"

"It is likely," said Toraline from Matt's hip, "That such construction would have been at odds with the form and function demanded by Mighty Caesar's architectures. The empire was to be one of very specific style, and a treehouse of the kind you are envisioning would not have fit in with such styles."

"Well that's their loss," Luc said, grinning, as he came back over with a handful of pencils and one of Olivia's treasured notebooks. "'Cause this is gonna be awesome. C'mon Dad, let's do this!"

Yes, Matt thought, feeling his mind slipping into gear and giving his son a thumbs up and smile he didn't really feel. Let's.

The preliminary sketches took shape under Matt's practiced hand almost faster than it took him to think of it. There were no coins involved, just years of experience in his chosen field. The house would not be a single large structure, but rather several smaller interconnected and self-contained 'rooms', each on their own level, connected together by walkways, bridges, and stairs. It would have to be like that. Billy's thick branches and massive canopy, while they would have little trouble supporting them, did not exactly provide for a single level surface on which to build.

"We're going to need a lot of planks for the floors," he explained to Lucas, showing him the rough sketches. "Two-by-fours and paneling for the walls. We can probably scavenge a lot of the fiberglass from the Dilligaf for paneling, and maybe even use one of the crafting stations to reshape it. We'll have to check that out."

"How are we gonna get stuff up there?" Lucas asked, looking up into the canopy. "More importantly, how are we gonna attach a floor to Billy."

Matt considered that for a couple seconds, then looked up into the canopy as well. "Billy, you're able to move your branches around a lot. Can you bring down some that can haul lumber up to where we want to build?"

"That should be of little difficulty, Consul! My branches are strong enough to withstand the blows of battering rams, they should be able to haul building materials into my canopy. I can also weave my branches together, as you see," a small branch emerged from the nearest trunk and pointed into the canopy at where a dozen different large branches had grown into each other forming almost a spider's web of wood. "I can do more if need be, to give you your solid platforms on which to build."

"Perfect," Matt said, mind now focusing on that aspect of the job. "We'll still need to secure the planks to your branches though." A pause. "If I was back on Earth, I'd be using lag bolts, screws, and nails. And I could probably whomp up something similar in the blacksmith station, assuming it functions like the crafting bench. But that would mean drilling metal into your branches, and I don't know if that would hurt you or not."

"I do not feel pain as others describe it, Consul. Shoot an arrow into one of my trunks, and I will barely notice it. Cut off one of my branches, and another will grow in its place as if nothing had happened." The branches overhead rustled as wind passed through them. "I admit I have not experienced all manner of travails. Fire, I think, would cause me great harm and possibly even pain. Similarly, an assault on my root structure would likely hurt me in a way I would notice. But what you are talking about, nailing boards to my branches? I don't think I would even notice it, much less find any discomfort in it."

"Okay, we'll do a test run before we commit to it," Matt said, thinking ahead now. "But for now that sounds like something we can try out."

"Awesome," Luc said, then quieted down and glanced north in the direction the girls had gone. "It feels kinda weird, though, doing this while they're out there getting ready to fight."

"Don't worry Luc," Matt said, waving his hand to brush away the concern. "Your mom's good at what she does. And she promised to call if she needed us." He didn't look at his son and instead concentrated on thinking forward to the project ahead. Yeah, yeah that could work. They'd need to check the forge station, see if it worked the same way as the crafting table. If it did, there would probably be a set of dyes and molds he could use to make nails and hooks and the like. And hopefully the Coins would make up for the fact that he didn't know the first thing about blacksmithing.

"Come on," Matt said, finally turning to look at Lucas. "First thing we need to do, start felling the lumber. We'll make the planks we need, get them ready, then see about the fasteners. Oh, actually," he snapped his fingers, "We're going to need more than just planks. We'll need some heavy beams too, for the foundation pieces and for the wall frames."

He led his son and his son's mastodon into the jungle just outside the clearing, taking a pair of heavy axes with them from the crafting bench. The battery chainsaw would probably have been faster, but Matt didn't want to drain the batteries until he'd gotten the solar set up and had a way to recharge them.

Although, given the way everything else is working, I could probably just Coin it and it would fill the batteries all the way back up. Still, he wanted to see how his Consul arts functioned when using different tools.

They started slowly, Matt demonstrating the proper form to Lucas before using his [Speed The Work] art. The power of the coins flowed out of his stockpile and into the three of them–Harry included, he noted–and they got to work.

It was more difficult with the axe than with the chainsaw, but much easier than it would have been without the Coins' power. The heavy thwack-thwack-thwack of axes rhythmically hitting wood was like a soothing lullaby to Matt, and he felt himself growing calmer and breathing easier as he let himself fall into the work.

It took him about five minutes to fell his first tree, and Luc's was just a minute behind him. Then he moved onto the next one, and this one fell even quicker. He wondered, idly, as his axe started biting into the third tree, if there was some kind of modifier that ticked up as he worked. Something like the more trees he felled, the easier he would find it to continue.

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The fourth tree fell. He didn't know how long it had taken, only that it had been shorter than the last one. He drew in deep breaths of air and let them out easily, savoring the stretch in his muscles and the sweat on his skin. The sun overhead filtered through the jungle canopy, casting colored shadows and keeping his sun from blistering. He made a mental note to grab sunscreen from the yacht next time he went back. Speaking of, they needed to go back there soon. The first supply run had been for necessities, but there were still plenty of loads that Harry could haul back that would be useful. He just needed to make sure that–

"DAD!"

Luc yelled his name from right next to him. Matt jerked, his next swing going wide and glancing off the trunk of the tree in front of him, the shock of the blow jarring his arms and making him stumble. He turned, staring in shock at Luc. The boy stared back, eyes wide.

"What? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Dad, I've been calling you for like five minutes! What's wrong with you?"

"Five… What?" Matt blinked. He hadn't heard a thing.

"Dude, you've gone through like six trees," Luc waved a hand, and Matt turned and stared at the felled trunks behind him. "I mean, it was cool to see you going all Paul Bunyan Dad, but when you didn't say anything when I called you the first time, I…"

Matt turned back to see Luc's eyes downcast and the boy's shoulders shaking.

"At first I thought something was really wrong. But it wasn't, was it. You were just doing that thing again."

Matt looked down at the axe in his hands, to avoid looking at his son.

That thing. Looking at the axe, then back at the line of felled trees, he couldn't even pretend like he didn't know what Luc was talking about.

"I'm sorry," he said, and his voice was hoarse and sounded like he'd just run three miles through the desert. The axe slipped from his fingers and he found himself suddenly sitting on the ground, his back against the tree he'd just missed. "I'm sorry bud," he tried again. "I'm just…"

"You're trying to run away from the scary," Luc said, looking up and moving closer. Behind him, Matt could see Harry shuffling some of the fallen logs off to the side, occasionally glancing at the two of them out the corner of his eye. "Just like you did when Mom was off fighting the wars. Just like you did when she came back and she got all scary."

Luc came forward and sank down next to Matt, his son leaning in against his side.

"I'm scared too," he whispered.

Matt closed his eyes against the tears suddenly welling up and wrapped one arm around his son's shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Matt said again, and this time he sounded normal. "I'm used to diving into work when things like this happen. And now that it's tu madre y hermanas out there… I didn't even realize it was happening."

"Do you want to call them? Make sure they're okay?"

Matt looked down at the little blue motorola radio still on his belt. For a second…

But no.

"No," he sighed out the decision and shook his head. "No, I meant what I said before. We have to trust tu madre. We don't know what's happening right now, and a radio call at the wrong time could result in all kinds of bad things happening."

He offered his free hand to Lucas, who hesitated for a second, then reached out and clasped it.

"Could you… pray for them?" Luc asked, looking up at him finally.

The question hurt, because it made him realize he hadn't done that yet.

"Absolutely," he said quietly. "Heavenly Father…"

He intended the prayer to be short and to the point, but he'd barely started it when he heard noises coming from deeper in the jungle. The sound of something big, coming closer.

"Protect our family and protect us and bring us all home safe," he said, finishing quickly and heaving himself to his feet, drawing Luc up with him. "Come on, we need to get back to Billy, right now."

They didn't run, but they didn't dawdle either. Harry, seeing them move, came with them, moving both fast and quiet for an animal his size. They emerged from the jungle, leaving the logs behind them, and broke out into a fast trot towards the sheltering trunks of Billy the tree. Behind them, whatever it was was coming closer. More than one something, now that Matt could hear it. There were at least two sets of footsteps crashing through the underbrush.

"Billy," Matt called as they got back to the tree. "Get ready, something's coming." He turned and drew Toraline from his belt and settled his feet, feeling the weight of his shield appear on his arm as well.

"I am prepared, Consul," the tree said, and Matt heard an undercurrent of ferocity in the leafy voice. "Let them come, they shall find us equal to them and more, this I swe–oh hey, I know those footsteps!"

"You know—" Luc and Matt both started to say, Luc having clambered up onto Harry's back again and with his shotgun held loose in one hand. But they didn't get to finish their question.

From the jungle, a hundred feet away, came giant stone men, stomping through the underbrush in unison. They looked like the old terra cotta warriors Matt had seen once back on Earth when the Chinese exhibit had come to L.A. But where those had been the size of regular people and had been decidedly Asian in origin, these were ten feet tall if they were an inch and looked like ancient Roman soldiers carved from marble and granite. Their eyes burned red beneath their chiseled helmets, and cracks ran through their bodies like they'd been damaged in the ancient past.

And one of them, under one carved arm, was carrying…

"Dad, that's a person," Luc said, staring. "That statue is carrying a person. And they're coming towards us. Dad, I think she's hurt! I see blood!"

"Stay back Luc, let's see what's going on here," Matt said, watching warily as the stone men stomped up to him.

"Consuls!" Billy sounded absolutely pleased. "Allow me to introduce you to your Sentinels! Magical warriors tasked with keeping the peace on Mighty Caesar's islands! They are utterly loyal to him and the empire!"

"Okay cool," Matt kept his eyes on the stone men and did not allow himself to, as his wife had once said, unpucker. To the statues he said: "So you guys are friendly, right?"

Instead of answering directly, the Sentinel carrying the girl–and it was a girl, Matt could see now–brought her forward, holding her by the back of her torn shirt like a kitten by the of its neck.

"An interloper has been apprehended up on Mighty Caesar's domain. By imperial decree, this interloper is to be delivered into the nearest bastion of Mighty Caesar's power for judgement and summary disposal."

"Tori?" Matt muttered out the corner of his mouth. "what's going on here?"

"Interloper" was a term reserved only for acolytes of the other systems. She must somehow be connected to one of the systems that opposed Mighty Caesar. The Sentinels were his private police, answering only to Caesar and his lieutenants."

"Consuls, you mean," Matt said, eyes locked onto the girl, cataloguing the injuries he saw on her unconscious form. Bruises, cuts, scrapes… her left arm hung at an ugly angle and was swelling, probably broken. And her skin had a sickly pallor to it. Probably some kind of infection.

"Yes."

"Dad. That's an elf." Lucas's voice was awed. "Look at her ears."

Matt had noticed, but pointy ears were not what he was concerned with right now.

"Thank you for bringing her to us," Matt said slowly, eyeing the sentinels. "You can set her down now. We'll take care of her."

The Sentinels, who up til now had been staring straight ahead like soldiers on parade, turned their heads with an audible grinding noise to look down at Matt finally.

"Thy authority is not recognized," the Sentinels spoke in unison. "Bring forth a representative of Caesar."

Matt and Luc exchanged suddenly uneasy looks.

"Sentinels, these are Consuls of the Empire, so recognized by the System," Toraline said, buzzing slightly in Matt's grip. "I say this with authority as Caesar's First. Acknowledge."

"Thy authority is not recognized," the sentinels intoned, and the color of their eyes started to deepen from orange to deep crimson. "Do not again attempt to receive this one, else risk being branded a Usurper and all force applied to the situation."

"Um, this doesn't sound like it's going well," Luc said, hunching forward on Harry's back. "Oh jeez, Dad she's really hurt. I think I can help her but–"

"Step back," the Sentinels said in unison, their eyes fully red now. "Interlopers are to be offered no aid nor comfort until judged by Mighty Caesar or his representative. If no representative is forthcoming, the interloper is to be demanded to the nearest rendering facility."

"Rendering facility?" Matt blinked, then looked down at Toraline. "What the heck is that?"

The sword was curiously silent, with no answers forthcoming.

"No representative is forthcoming." The sentinels said together, and the one holding the elf girl jerked her back, tucking her roughly under one arm and scraping exposed flesh raw with the motion. "Interloper will be delivered to the nearest rendering facility for termination and processing."

Termination.

Matt felt his breathing even out and his vision marrow to just the two stone men in front of him.

"Billy," he said in as even a voice as he could manage. "Can you take these guys out?"

"Yes, Consul. With ease." The tree's voice quivered with something Matt thought was a mix of anger and disbelief. "Say the word."

"Do it."

The stone men stopped moving and both heads swung to focus on Matt. "thou art defying the will and representatives of Mighty Caesar. Thou art now subject to summary judgement. Lay down thy arms and submit to Caesar's will."

"Uh, Billy? Any time?" Matt stepped back, his hands tightening on Toraline's hilt. The sentinels stepped forward as one.

"Dad?" Luc asked, his shotgun coming up. "Are we doing this?"

"Billy?" Matt took another step back. The sentinel on the left dropped the elf to the earth where she lay unmoving. Above him, the tree rustled and waved. And then…

"I… Am sorry, Consul Matthew, I cannot target the sentinels! Something is preventing me from attacking!"

The stone men took another step, their hands raised to grab. "Surrender now. This is thy last warning."

Matt swallowed. It was just him and Luc here. No trained soldiers, no backup, no all-protecting tree… Just him and his son, against two stone giants with unknown capabilities. For a second he almost complied, for a second the fear almost won.

Then his eyes focused on the crumpled form of the elf girl, broken and bleeding from whatever these things had done to her. From there he looked up to his son, and saw determination and anger warring and winning against fear in Luc's eyes.

And he heard Harry give a soft trump, that somehow sounded to his ears like "I'm with you."

He turned back to the stone men.

"My name is Matthew James Albright," he said, and was amazed at how iron-steady his voice sounded. "I have claimed this land, not for Caesar or his empire, but for me and my family. Caesar is dead, his empire crumbled, and you are following orders that no longer apply. So I'm going to say this once, just so we're all clear."

This time he took a step forward, eyes narrowed and fixed on the stone men, who now stood stock still, listening to him. He raised Toraline and pointed the magical sword right at the chest of the nearest one.

"Get the hell off my property."

The Sentinels stood stock still for a long second, the fires in their eyes flickering almost like the lights of a computer processing information. Then as one they let out deep echoing roars and stomped forward, hands closing into fists and eyes blazing crimson.

And Matthew Albright, with the power of Home roaring in his veins, with his son at his side, drove forward to meet them.

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