Alzy set up a place not far from Baldwin. The green light let him change reality to create

  a house in a matter of seconds. He had made sure that no one had been around to watch

  the trees dance into planks that glued themselves into walls and floors.

  That would have caused too many problems in his opinion.

  He planted seed and made sure that it would grow in a regular cycle. He hadn’t been

  much of a farmer before, but now it was as easy as walking.

  Did he want to farm all the rest of his life?

  That raised the question of how long could he live now. Could he keep going until one

  day he decided he had enough and that was when he fell over?

  Could he feel the effects of time if he didn’t want to?

  He decided to keep his head down and live a simple life. He doubted that anybody

  would need him to do anything really spectacular. He could hunker down and let any

  storm pass him by.

  He was sure that his control of reality around him was the equal to any magician, or

  monster, that might cross his path.

  Alzy did decide that maybe he should keep an eye on the local settlement. Baldwin

  wasn’t as big as some of the other cities that he had been in, but there was a chance that

  it could grow into something if it was allowed to flourish. He didn’t see why he couldn’t

  help it along when it needed a hand.

  And the green light made it easy to get rid of any threatening monster that might wander

  into town and start eating people.

  Baldwin’s first challenge to its growth was the Reavers of Corwin.

  Long before Alzy was born, King Corwin ruled most of the mountainous terrain north

  of his homestead. His kingdom had broken up into a huge amount of city states trying

  to control the mountains, and taxing any travelers trying to cross the mountains to places

  up north.

  Then the Reavers started coming down into the lowlands and stealing and killing. A few

  of the towns north of Baldwin had been struck and survivors had fled south from the

  mountains.

  Alzy had heard the news during one of his infrequent stops into town for a drink and

  someone else’s cooking. He never got drunk, and as soon as he felt a twinge, the green

  light stopped the alcohol from working.

  The town had a wall to keep out the weaker monsters. A bigger monster like the bull

  that Alzy had moved would go through the wood and tar like it was nothing.

  Human combatants would probably be able to slice through as fast as they could set the

  wall on fire and burn part of it down. Then it would be house to house fighting between

  killers who knew what they were doing, and scared people who might never have done

  anything with a sword.

  Alzy had no doubt that he could hold off an army of soldiers or monsters if he was

  inside the walls. Changing reality for others was a quick thought. He might not quite be

  able to handle a group yet, but he was good with dealing with a single target at a time

  until he had room to move.

  Being able to fly changed how he could bring his powers to bear. He didn’t want to

  reveal what he could do, but he wasn’t going to let Baldwin be turned into fuel for a fire

  either.

  Having chosen his battlefield, he decided that he could spend more time in town,

  bringing in his vegetables. He wanted to be ready if the Reavers did arrive.

  He doubted he would have a lot of problems with them.

  Alzy kept working on improving Baldwin, helping the farmers and ranchers around the

  town, escorting caravans through the territory until they were marches away from his

  seat of power.

  Then the warning sign he feared arrived as a family of ragged travelers in a scarred and

  partially burned wagon.

  They entered the main gate, and those nearby offered aid. One of the guards went to get

  his captain. That could only mean bad news.

  Alzy heard about things and sauntered over to stand at the edge of the crowd. He

  watched and listened to get a better idea of what was going on.

  “They destroyed Barnwell,” said the husband. He pointed back the way they had come.

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  “They came in and burnt everything to the ground. We were lucky to get out with our

  lives.”

  Alzy frowned. Barnwell was a smaller town north of Baldwin. They had a monster wall

  too. And the Reavers burned everything down. That wasn’t that far away from where

  they stood listening to the account of what had happened.

  “Any other survivors?,” asked Alzy from the crowd. He amplified his voice a little to

  be heard.

  “I don’t know,” said the husband. “We were at the edge of things and when the wall

  collapsed, we pushed out with as many people as we could. I don’t know what happened

  to the others.”

  “I can go up there and look around fast enough,” said Alzy. “Barnwell is not that far

  away. They might want to come down here to us after that.”

  “We need to know if they are coming here,” said Captain Hind. “Do you need anything,

  Alzy?”

  “No,” said Alzy. “I’ll ride up and look around. If the Reavers are gone, that will be more

  time for us to prepare. I’ll send any survivors I meet down the old trail southwest of us.

  I doubt they will be able to help us fight, and the more we take in, the more our own

  supplies will be strained.”

  “Good luck,” said the captain.

  “If they come in this direction, I’ll ride back to give warning,” said Alzy. “Don’t worry

  about that. I guess the best thing to do is shore up our defenses and send word to the

  ranchers to move their herds south out of reach.”

  “The Reavers might chase after them,” said the captain.

  “Why do that when they have all these people here?,” asked Alzy. “Get ready. The

  storm is going to be rough to ride through.”

  “Don’t I know it?,” said Hind. He turned and began giving out orders, organizing a plan

  for a siege to the best of his ability. He asked two of his fastest messengers to ride out

  to the nearby ranches and warn the herders that there might be danger from the north

  and they should be vigilant and ready to move their herds at a moment’s notice.

  If they refused to listen, the loss of all of their animals was the least they could expect

  from the raiders swooping down.

  Alzy stepped through the gate and headed into the trees. He didn’t want the guards to

  see the green light as he stepped into the air. He told north to pull him through the air,

  and he flew as fast as he thought he could.

  He stopped and stood on the air. He looked down at where Barnwell once stood. He had

  expected destruction, but not on the level he was seeing.

  He didn’t see any riders below him anywhere. He asked the green light to show him

  where the Reavers were.

  A large flash lit up for him to the north. He automatically knew the numbers in the

  group as they headed away from the destruction they had caused. He doubted there were

  so many they could overwhelm his command of the green light.

  He wondered what had caused the burning of Barnwell. The green light showed him

  various bottles the raiders carried on their belts.

  He frowned at the information. Whatever was in those bottles had burned down a whole

  town in minutes. Then they had rode in and taken whatever they could grab.

  How many people had survived?

  His green light reached out and showed him all of the survivors in reach. Some of them

  looked in a bad way. What did he do? Did he leave them out in the cold to be chewed

  up by the next major monster that showed up?

  Alzy reached out and gave them an urge to go to the south. They had to make some of

  the journey on their own. Once they were in Baldwin, he would protect them like he

  protected the growing town.

  He thought about chasing the Reavers back to their own borders but decided it was

  better to let them attack Baldwin. He had no doubt he could find them with the green

  light, but he thought it was better to let them come out in the open with as many

  numbers as they could gather and then break their siege as hard as he could.

  And their trump card was something he could use against them as long as he had his

  power.

  He kept part of reality showing him the survivors forming up into a loose line and

  fleeing south. He nodded. He could protect them from monsters as they headed across

  the country. The rest of his mind was recentering him in the sky so he could watch

  without getting involved in the struggle.

  He didn’t want to reveal his power because he knew as soon as he did, people would

  demand his time to fix things. He didn’t want to solve everyone else’s problems for

  them. He wanted to take things easy now that he didn’t have to work so hard.

  These Reavers were going to have to be handled sooner, or later. He didn’t see any way

  around that unless he wanted to flee his land and his town.

  And he was not going to flee unless there was nothing left of Baldwin.

  Alzy shepherded the survivors down to the town. He landed in the trees beyond the

  walls and walked up at the end of the line. The leaders of the group were being stalled

  at the gate. The guards didn’t want to let them in.

  He walked up to the start of the line. His green light flickered in his eyes as wounds

  were healed as he went. The people needed protection for the day, and they needed to

  help Baldwin to survive in the future.

  “Is Captain Hind around?,” Alzy asked the gate guard.

  “He gave orders not to let anyone through,” said the guard.

  “These people are from Barnwell, and their town is gone,” said Alzy. “Would it be okay

  if they set up out here, and I get them some shelter.”

  “I don’t see a problem with that,” said the guard. “Barnwell is gone?”

  “The Reavers burned it down,” said Alzy. “Tell the captain that I went up there and

  looked at things. If they use their stuff here, they will be able to set the wall on fire in

  nothing flat.”

  Alzy looked at the group of survivors. They were a bedraggled mess with no hope.

  He had to fix that.

  “All right,” he said. “We know the Reavers are going to come from the north. So we’re

  going to walk around to the south gate, and then set up a camp with its own wall for

  monster protection until I can think of something better. I have a farm west of here. I

  might have enough to feed most of you vegetables.”

  He looked the group over.

  “I will try to get some water from the wells in town to help you out,” said Alzy. “I’m

  going to help you as much as I can.”