“The Kingdom has developed a spell that can spot the blood core in our thralls and with the undead of the Eclipsed Lands forming an alliance between the Kingdom and the Empire, we’ve been cornered.
“Even if somehow we manage to send our elders to Jiera, our traitorous cousins will spot them and at that point, they would be fish in a barrel.”
“I do have a plan.” The Blood Warlock said. “A plan you all should have already considered on your own since it’s the only way we have left to turn the tables of fate and escape annihilation.
“This is not a matter of riches or power anymore. Our survival depends on it. If we don’t take a stance, we’ll be wiped out and the only trace left of the Undead Courts will be a footnote in history books.”
“What are you talking about?” Ezhman said with a sneer. “There is no magic formula to solve our problems. We have taken a streak of bad decisions that have led us to lose power, influence, and numbers over the past four years.
“It didn’t happen overnight. If we want to regain our strength, the best course of action is to avoid further losses and rebuild our power from the safety of the shadows.”
“And how long do you think that would take, exactly?” Shelk’s voice oozed spite and sarcasm. “Centuries at minimum. Millennia, even. And for what? To make up for four goddamn years!”
An awkward silence befell the room as the representatives of the Undead Courts pondered those words. With the Eldritches of the Organization on the prowl and the loss of the reinforcements that would soon return to Jiera, the Courts were at their wit’s end.
After the Master’s Organization had become the new ruler of the criminal underworld, the undead had seen their influence and income greatly reduced. They were still afloat, but only thanks to their cousins from Jiera who had failed to find a place in the Eclipsed Lands and had no choice but to take part in the conflict.
“Four years during which we’ve gone from being the shadow government of the three Great Countries to a bunch of refugees.” Shelk took the silence for his cue and resumed talking.
“Dawn, Night, Glemos, and lastly, Thrud. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. We have played a major role in our downfall, always betting all our chips on one leader or another and assuming they would win.
“Each time, our trust proved to be misplaced and we lost a good chunk of our power until our strength was spent and now, we are cornered against a wall. Yet there is a common element in our defeats and if we remove it, we might ascend just as quickly as we fell.”
“Which is?” Anmira furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Lith Tiamat Verhen. Our misfortune started when we crossed paths with him in Othre and from that moment onward we could never catch a break.” The Blood Warlock replied. “If we don’t kill him, there’s no future for us.”
“I admit that Verhen is a pain in the ass, but I fail to see how killing him would make things for us any better.” The Vampire said.
“Think about it. The Organization started hunting us down after Night’s failed assault on his house.” Shelk pointed out and the others nodded.
The Undead Courts had no idea that Lith had nothing to do with the relentless war that the Eldritches waged against them. It had been the Horseman of Night’s repeated attempts to kill Zinya and her children, the family that Vastor loved like his own, to trigger the Organization’s wrath.
The undead almost killing Vastor first and then Orpal sending Zinya the Future card had only made things much, much worse.
Eldritches had a long memory, infinite life, and no care for material losses if it meant achieving their vengeance.
The reason the Undead Courts had found themselves on the back foot was that the Organization hadn’t hesitated to lose money and influence in order to expose the Courts’ bases and annihilate them.
“Now, I don’t know if Verhen has some sort of control over the Abominations or if he’s the fabled Master himself, but consider this. If I’m right and we kill him, the Organization will leave us alone.
“If I’m wrong, our position won’t get better but it won’t worsen either. At least we’d have taken down our nemesis and dealt a blow to the Organization’s pride.
“Also, consider this. Trains, elves, monsters. According to the few people we have left inside the Royal Court, the whole plan to colonize Jiera revolves around Verhen. If we kill him, the production of Trains will slow down.
“The elves might go back on their word since the man they’ve sworn allegiance to is no more. Without Verhen to mediate between the Kingdom and Zelex, it will take us but a spark to burn the bridges between humans and monsters.
“There will be chaos in the Kingdom, chaos in the Council, and chaos in Jiera. The Undead Courts have always thrived amid chaos because while the living fight among themselves, they give us plenty of food and their dead join our ranks.”
“You have a point.” Ezhman pondered. “If Jiera’s colonization is postponed indefinitely, the undead who abandoned us with the prospect of returning home would return to our fold and boost our numbers.”
“Not only that.” Anmira said. “The death of the Supreme Magus would trigger internal and external strife in the Kingdom. The fear of the monsters and of a second War of the Races with the elves will give us access to the noble households again.
“Our gifts and power will put the nobles at ease and turn them into our puppets.”
The room went into an uproar as the magic formula seemed to materialize in front of their eyes. One answer to all of their problems.
Much to everyone’s surprise, right when the enthusiasm of the members of the various Courts peaked, Shelk raised his hand, demanding silence.
“Please, before making our decision, I need you to understand how dire our situation is and why I think that this gamble is necessary for our survival.” The Blood Warlock said.
“What most of you failed to consider is that just like we have many grievances against Verhen, he feels the same toward us, if not worse. Back when he was a Ranger, we had no reason to fear a blue-cored Awakened human.
“Even an elder like Kaelan could have killed him with ease so Verhen kept away from us. Back then, he used the army as a shield against us and we backed down simply because the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.
“After Verhen left the army and joined the Council, we clashed multiple times yet again, he was forced to play on the defense. We attacked, he survived, but he never tried to get back at us.
“Not because he was afraid of us, he simply had no choice. We were many, he was one. Verhen couldn’t waste his time traveling Garlen in search of our city branches and even if he did, we would have outnumbered and outmatched him.
