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Confrontation | Chapter 13 →
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I stood there, staring at where the stranger had so recently stood, dumbfounded. Had he lead me to my death on some foreign world? Was his taking me here only to have me fall under the might of the undead and these 'Brilhado' he mentioned? These thoughts plagued me as I stood there, wondering what to do next.
In a matter of moments, I had gone from watching the Vandarian army take over my home to being stranded in this cruel, desolate world. I reflected back on what it was the stranger had told me.
I heard suddenly voices in the far distance and saw there a strange wavering portal and considered for a moment making for it, but I realized that I had no idea where it was this portal led or what purpose it served. I saw a group of the undead and, at their head, one of the lavender-winged angels. These were the necromancers, did the stranger say? I continued to move closer, but slowly, when I caught a sight that caused me to pull up short. There at the distance, was that Darin, the Vandarians' leader? I was almost certain that it was, but he was attired now in the colors of Deren.
The melodic tones of the angel demon dispelled all doubt from my mind. "Greetings, Darin son of Liam, Governor of K'eld Ner, servant of Tralin King of Deren. On behalf of his majesty The'Galin, I welcome you to his world and to his service."
'Governor of K'eld Ner?' I wondered, 'What is K'eld Ner, and Tralin the Drakel leader of the school of thought was now king of Deren? What had happened to Draynor? I had just left the battlefield moments ago and Darin was very much in the employ of the Vandarians. What was this madness?'
"I will never serve The'Galin! I shall resist the Devourer with all of my strength!" Darin shouted, his voice clearly angered.
"Your strength," the demon replied, "will be a great asset to us, Lord Darin."
I was extremely confused. What was happening here? When had Darin accepted service to the throne of Deren? Wasn't he one of those militant democrats?
"We can use it in your current form," the demon said coolly, "or we can alter your form to one that is more amenable to service. You do not have Tralin servant of Lorithia to disrupt our magics here as he did with the renegade Draynor."
These creatures had done something King Draynor and that is how Tralin had become king, I realized, trying to make sense of a Drakel ruling a human kingdom.
"Service taken by force," shouted a shorter figure which I dimly recognized as dwarven, "is no service at all, it is enslavement!"
"True," the demon immediately replied, "yet it is service nonetheless."
Darin made some sort of gesture at the dwarf, but he seemed not to notice, and presently Darin himself was absorbed with what the demon was saying as well.
"Willing or not, it makes no difference," the demon continued icily. "All that matters is control. All that matters is victory. What place have codes of ethics and morals in a world so decayed that it must be destroyed and created anew."
"It is not the world that is decayed, Brilhado, it is you! You are the force of decay! You deal with The'Galin despite owing your very existence to the Light Lord! You betray your lord and your people! You are the worst of your breed... trafficking in undead?! What does a Brilhado know of undeath?" Darin nearly shouted, his voice defiant.
"Such bile, such animosity and contempt you have for us, Lord Darin," the demon began and, sensing the danger present, I backed away slightly.
Even as I moved away the -- Brilhado, was it? Yes, I think so -- the Brilhado continued his soliloquy. "How could you find service to our lord The'Galin to be so detestable? After all, he only wants to control the rabble to protect that he values from the storm of greed and incompetence. You have long served our Lord The'Galin, Darin son of Liam. Your malice has long fed him in the cold and dark. It has long nurtured him while he waited. Your malice, Lord Darin, gave us the strength to summon an army of undead, your plotting and machinations the power to kill that insignificant human king who made such poor decisions about the division of Drakel and human cultures."
I began to feel sorry for Darin, and this surprised me, for had I not just moments before entertained very similar thoughts about the Vandarian? Had I not vowed his destruction?
"Your malice, Darin, marks you like a beacon, and though you pretend to have reformed, indeed, even if you truly have repented of your sins, the mark is already there..." the demon continued unabated, and I noted the vacant stare which Darin now considered him with a chill. "Now you have come to us... after so recently having been inside the walls of the Drakel K'eld they call Ner... You who let one of our own, the one you call Giliara enter. Well, both you and Giliara shall return to your true master's service. Of this you can be assured... for you have served us yet again... Your anger toward us... It makes your emotions readable.... It makes you weak... However, it also gives us time to surround you on all sides. We shall strip you of your venom toward The'Galin. We shall make you loathe purity and light. We shall make you enjoy the stench of your own decaying flesh and revel in the sensation of the millions of crawling maggots swimming thorough your animated corpse. Moreover, your soul shall not be freed. It shall join in the damnation and depravity, but first, between the three of you, we shall get a very accurate map right to the door of K'eld N'er... It is for this reason that we brought our vassal Myr to this place. We knew not the precise bearing. We knew not the exact defenses. Now, Lord Darin, we have its governor to share in the siege and destruction of his own city. Better, we have the dwarf Sigarin of Alorin, who knows the locations of every walled city, every domed city, every De'me'thar village, and every elemental Caster outpost. The ancient and noble Drakel race have remained hidden for centuries in defiance of their true master. They have broken the covenant they swore with Xilar and hidden in the depths... But we shall have them... and all because you have given them to us..."
Draynor had been killed, the Drakel had been made king, Darin had become governor of a "Drakel City" and had given aid to a renegade light demon? I tried to make sense of all of this even while shuddering at the content of what the Brilhado threatened so cavalierly.
"Darin!" another voice called, not once, but three times, and finally the man I considered so shortly ago the most detestable man in the world turned toward the voice even as the source of that voice grabbed him and pulled him into the shimmering portal. The demon reached out and grabbed the arm of the dwarf, but he quickly shook it off and ran into the portal himself. I was surprised to see that the necromancer did not immediately pursue them into the portal himself and instead stood there, waiting. Then it dawned upon me the reason that this might be. They did not know how to get to this K'eld Ner and they planned on following Darin back to it.....
I watched the creatures milling there by the gate with a sense of total revulsion. Had it been creatures like these that destroyed the Vandarians? Had it been creatures like these who came to my aid? What had I gotten myself into when I accepted the help of that strange voice?
"Terrors beyond your imagining......" the stranger said, suddenly at my side again, and I nearly jumped out of my skin in surprise. "The'Galin may be a pathetic coward, but he is also incredibly dangerous and incredibly powerful. Have no doubt that the Uncreator will not be satisfied until Lore is reduced to a world much like this one."
"Where did you go?" I demanded, looking at the stranger. "You left me here to their mercy."
"They were distracted by the portal. As to where I went, you pay little attention. I was speaking with that group myself."
"They plan on following them," I conjectured, but really had no doubt somehow that this was their intent.
"Yes," the stranger replied, "they do."
"We need to do something to stop them."
"There is nothing we can do here and much that must be done elsewhere."
"Well, at least they escaped intact...." I said.
"They did not escape intact," the stranger replied. "Did you not see the Brilhado grab the dwarf as he fled?"
"I saw it, but the dwarf easily pushed the Brilhado aside."
"That does not matter. The Brilhado already had used his magic... Sigarin was rotting from within. Even as I left them, Xander had to cut his throat from ear to ear to prevent his return as undead."
"What?!" I shuddered. "That's horrible."
"Indeed, yet absolutely required. It reminded me of something I saw once in Fair Harbor, actually."
"Fair Harbor?" I asked, mystified.
"A faraway city. Yes, indeed, it was horrible, as are the creatures that follow them and it is you who gave them their first reentry into our world. It was your words the world has to thank for this. Stand tall, Galrick son of Glenn, for you may have heralded the end of the world."
I stood there in utter silence, for I could not deny that all he said was true.
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