Chapter 21:
[Zergiel’s POV]
The rise of the sun entering the tent awoke Zergiel from his slumber. With a cruel smile he got to his feet and peered through the window of his blank tent to glare at a red sun. There had been bloodshed and that knowledge alone was enough to bring warm thoughts. For the past week there had been red suns to awake to and he found it the most beautiful sunrise. He wanted to keep it red every morning and knew that at the start of the war it would be. There was little happiness that could be found for him but a red sunrise was one such event that sparked his softer side.
Once he had happiness in the arms of his beloved but those times were long past. He could still remember the sweet scent of lavender in her blond hair. The memories of her sparkling blue eyes still haunted his dreams into nightmares. Without her, he was nothing but an empty shell. It took so much effort to fill the void inside of his chest. He chose to fill such a void with pure hatred, hatred towards his former friend, Karceoles. If it had not been for him his love may yet still be alive.
He pounded his fist on his cedar desk that rattled in objection, startling his slave in the corner. She shivered in her chains as he looked at her. A cruel smile filled his face and he motioned her towards him with his finger. With a gulp she complied and shakily walked towards him. When she was in arm’s reach he grabbed her and thrust her to him. Even with a slave and all the lust he could muster, there was still no comparison to his love’s touch. The woman before him was beautiful, even now with the scattered scars all across her body. Zergiel had to put them there as she would not listen. If there was one thing he couldn’t understand, it was a resilient slave. She was not supposed to have a mind anymore, but only do his bidding and anything he required to make his life easier.
She had been a gift from his draeyk army after storming a selection of villages. He was careful in choosing which villages to destroy. There were some that were so far away from others that they could go by unnoticed. However, one of them was important to his cause. Legnath, he had foreseen a warrior in that pathetic city that could destroy everything he was planning. There was no prophecy, as there seldom was any such thing further than one boy will rise to greatness. Still, he made sure to use his magic to his benefit to find if there was any such person that could be strong enough to destroy him. His answer was hazy as he thought it would be, but it did show that the danger was in Legnath and so he made the only logical move. He destroyed everything in Legnath. Everyone… except his slave… she was kept by the draeyks as a prize for their victory. She did not matter, as he couldn’t even remember her name.
He touched her skin again feeling the rough edges of her body masked by scars. Her black night gown was barely there anymore as so many tears covered it. All the tears were from his whip as he beat her. She would do good most of the time by getting him his meals and keeping everything tidy. Yet, every time he forced himself on her she would fight back. She would claim that dead or alive she will still remain true to her husband. Such talk was pitiful when he was buried so far in the soil now that even the rats would not want him.
He stroked her red hair behind her ears and rubbed his thumb on her freckles on her cheeks. She shivered a gulped closing her eyes. The fear radiating off of her was soothing to Zergiel.
“Are you going to resist me this morning?”
She shook her head and tears began to fall down her face.
“Good…” Zergiel whispered.
Zergiel walked into the dungeon though the hidden hatch inside of his tent. The hallways underground were dark but he let his zylek glow with a purple light so he could see forth. He didn’t need too much light as he was accustom to seeing through dark places. The air was damp and his hands clammy as he slowing made his way through the tunnels using his zylek to guide him. He could hear swirls of magic and his face lit up with eagerness and he continued faster.
The path was hard against his feet with sharp stones pressing through the soles of his boots. Nobody knew of the secret passage, not even Arria. It was his secret alone, besides what was inside. He crept through the last alley which curved back south until it ended with an enormous marble door. Smiling broadly he pushed it open with swirling black magic from his zylek.
Inside he saw scorpions scattering the ground everywhere with some fighting each other. He was careful to avoid the vicious creatures as he made his way forward to three necromancers that sat drinking ale in celebration. Behind them was a cage with thick steel bars with thousands of nacropis’s scurrying around fighting each other.
“Have we succeeded?” Zergiel asked.
“Yes master. We have found the cause of their hostility lies in their instinct to kill anything that threatens them. Normally other scorpions would threaten them. Therefore we altered their perception of each other. They will still fight, but do not kill. If we had some humans we could test their reaction to them.” Valender straightened the wrinkles of his sleek purple robes.
“I do believe Arria arrived with some new allies… perhaps we could use their assistance in this matter.”
“Yes… that should do nicely.”
“Slevvik… go awake Arria and inform her to bring forth ten of our newest allies. Be sure the ones she chooses are the closest to humans.”
“Yesssss sssire.”
Slevvik was an experiment gone wrong for Zergiel. The poor man stood only five foot with a charcoal scaly face. His frame was more human than draeyk but he was an even mix of the two. He had greasy straight black hair that hid his slit sandy eyes. With a sliver of his tongue the man left the room to do his master’s bidding.
Zergiel stepped forward to observe the cages holding the scorpions and was amazed with the quality of work his necromancers had done. They had received scorpions from all the regions of Calthoria and some that even appeared as if not from the land. The dark wizard wasn’t a fool and knew there were other lands across the world, but nobody from Calthoria had been able to make it that far out. If there were other lands they were too far to travel as far as anybody had found. There were desert scorpions, jungle scorpions, stone scorpions, fire scorpions, ice scorpions, and so much more.
The stone scorpions fascinated him that they could appear transparent around any stone surface. They were quite the formidable foe to appear nearly invisible. Both the fire and ice scorpions were his favorite as the elements surrounded them. Frost encircled the sapphire ice scorpions while steam rose off the fire scorpions. Zergiel could only wish all the dragons hadn’t gone extinct in the war of the last century. Still, scorpions were making a great addition to the races of the land.
His eyes were lost in a swirl of colors as the creatures fought each other resiliently. They did not seem to wear from energy and would circle in who they fought and always come back to the same. It almost seemed as if the creatures were training for battle.
“Impressive.” Zergiel whispered.
“My lord… Arria arrives.” A slither came behind him.
Zergiel turned around to see Arria give him a slight curtsy before offing her guests forward. The majority of the group was humans. There seemed to be a few with slight variations either adding horns or so much hair that it seemed more a beast than man. Each curtsied so low that their heads nearly touched the stone floor.
“Welcome my new allies. You have come to see if you are worthy to join my cause.”
“We are worthy my lord.” A human rose to look Zergiel in the eyes. The man’s eyes were the deepest violet and fiery to the core.
“You will fight for me?”
“Yes.”
“You will die for me.”
“Yes…”
“Then let it begin.” Zergiel shifted to face the cage and a smile appeared on his face was more at the fighting scorpions. “Arria, do not be rude. Invite our guests in.”
“Yes my lord.” Arria bowed.
She turned to face the others who were now cowering with a smirk on her face. Her hands moved to her scabbard where she rested her hand on the hilt of her flamberge. The men before her didn’t seem to flinch or attempted to flee in any manner. Instead they seemed to accept their fate and walked forward. Arria escorted them to the door of the cage as the necromancers opened it. As soon as they all made it inside the door was locked and Arria stood back next to Zergiel.
The nacropis’s inside the cage suddenly stopped their attacks toward each other and turned to face the new members of the cage. They seemed to inspect the new creatures with the five senses. Zergiel turned and nodded to the necromancers.
The necromancer in purple robes with the darkest hair stepped forward. Valender. “Kill them.” It was a whisper but a chilled one that seemed to breathe a tingle of frost through the air.
Without a second of hesitation all of the nacropis’s leaped forward and in mere minutes the humans weren’t only dead, but torn to shreds. The creatures seemed hungry as they began to eat the flesh to leave only bones scattered upon the floor. Zergiel’s smile was almost as wide as Arria’s.
“I want one… can I have one?” Arria asked.
“These are not pets…” Zergiel said.
“Still… I want one.” Arria sighed brushing the white hair from her eyes.
“Valender… give her a dead scorpion and the reviving powder.”
The necromancer reluctantly obeyed placing a dead scorpion sealed in plastic into a red pouch, and gathering some powder to place in a small purple pouch. His grip held tight as Arria snatched it from his hand.
“Be careful… this is not a toy.” The necromancer snapped.
Arria stuck her tongue out as Zergiel grabbed her shoulder to take her to a more private location. The three necromancers began whispering to themselves as they tossed cautious glares Arria’s way. The dark wizard cleared his throat and looked at her intently.
“Arria… this strong warrior… tell me… what do you know about him?”
“I have not heard much my lord. I have heard he comes from a village destroyed of all humans besides himself. There is also rumor that he lost both his son and wife to draeyks that raided his cabin. His sword… it glows crimson when he attacks.”
“He survives…”
“My lord… surely you cannot be afraid of this mere human.”
“No… do not be foolish… yet he is not to be underestimated.”
“Yes my lord.”
“Arria… I have a special mission for you regarding this new threat of ours.”
Arria bowed, “I am yours to command my lord.”