One was absorbed in her medical research and the other always vigilant to protect her sister.
As the construction of Darmoq progressed, permanent arrays joined those conjured by the Wayfinder. The Space Compressing array hindered Spirit Blink and even though Orpal could overcome it thanks to Moonlight, he was afraid of Friya’s dimensional awareness.
‘If I get close enough to kill the healer, the other one might make my dimensional door collapse, and not even Davross can resist space itself being cut. Unless Night’s crystal gets caught in the rift, we should survive but the same can’t be said for Moonlight.
‘If our tower gets cut in half, we will be trapped behind enemy lines and lose one of our most powerful weapons forever. It takes one of the many mages of the camp to chant the self-destruction spell and our life is over.
‘I want to live to savor Leech’s desperation. I have no intention of sacrificing myself for a consolation prize.’ His thoughts made Night sigh in relief.
She couldn’t help him with anything due to Baba Yaga’s seal, but that also meant she couldn’t protect Orpal from himself.
As time passed and the fortification of Darmoq neared completion, the Dead King gave up on the idea of killing one of the Ernas and moved on to plan b. Soon the people of the Empire would leave the safety of the array to search for the location of their own outpost.
When that happened, there would be no one who might be from Lutia. There would be nothing to seal Night’s power and wisdom anymore.
When that happened, the Black Night, the Red Sun, and their respective hosts would finally meet.
***
Jiera’s continent, several hundred kilometers into the mainland.
Orpal, the Kingdom, and the Empire weren’t the only forces eagerly expecting for Darmoq to be completed. It was child’s play for Vastor to get his hands on Orion’s reports about the progress of the construction work and the locations of the resources spotted by the scouts.
Thanks to the DoLoreans, the prospectors had an easy time avoiding the monster hordes in the surroundings of the camp and outrunning them when discovered. With the help of Farg, the undead, and the elves of Medolin, the people of the Kingdom had already located a few crystal and magic metal mines.
Ghouls could swim through the ground with ease like a Rezar while the elves’ Soul Vision allowed them to spot a mana geyser with a glance. All forces at play were happy to help in exchange for a share of the future mining operations.
Elves and undead also offered to cover part of the costs and workforce. With Thaymos dead and the Black Tide gone, Medolin was safe enough to establish routes to the potential mines.
The elves were eager to learn about the new prospecting spells and observe modern mining tools, like the mana blades, in action. Even at the cost of working for free. They had to make up for centuries of stagnant knowledge and a bright future in front of them.
It was the perfect moment for the Organization to establish the foundations of its private settlements.
The outposts of the Kingdom and the Empire would offer double the opportunities to smuggle resources, especially once the competition between the two countries made the security measures laxer for the sake of efficiency.
It was the reason Kigan had brought Orulm and Abthot to Jiera by flight, dropping them on the mainland before going back to Garlen. They were both ancient Eldritchs who had recently received a monster core capable of matching their unique power and could use some practice to get used to their new bodies.
Yet the real reason Vastor had sent them away was that he didn’t trust them enough to include the two hybrids in his main plan. The training in Jiera and finding enchanted mines was just an excuse to put their usefulness to the test.
The real goal of the mission was for Orulm and Abthot to show their loyalty to the cause of the Organization and the ability to restrain the impulses that fusing a ruthless Eldritch with a bloodthirsty monster generated.
Were they to lose control while in Garlen, they would reveal the presence of the Organization and ruin the relationship with the local underworld, reducing the profits from the black market until a new human liaison was found.
If it happened in Jiera, instead, nobody would get hurt and Vastor would covertly dispose of the newborn hybrids. He had no need for more liabilities and the power he bestowed upon the Eldritches was too dangerous to let them run unchecked.
“Shit. We got ourselves exiled.” Orulm sighed.
He was the second oldest Eldritch of the Organization after Tezka and, before they had received their monster cores, the strongest. After living for countless millennia, Orulm had become arrogant and headstrong, but he wouldn’t have survived for this long if he was also stupid.
He understood the real purpose of the mission and knew that this was his last chance.
“No. You got us exiled.” Abthot snarled, exposing a row of white shark-like teeth. “You always run your mouth instead of your brain and your lack of foresight has annoyed the Master one time too many.
“I’m just collateral damage. If only there was another Eldritch who had gotten their monster core at the same time as us, I would have gotten another partner and I wouldn’t be here.”
Orulm grunted, knowing that her words were true. He was used to working alone and had joined the Master’s Organization only for the promise of furthering his evolution.
The same ambition that had kept Orulm in line until he had gotten his monster core had also gone to his head after receiving it. He had naively believed that since he didn’t need the Master anymore, they were now equal partners.
At least until Vastor and his arrays had painfully reminded Orulm of the meaning of the call sign “Master”. The short, fat man had given the Eldritches their new powers and he could take them away at any moment along with their lives.
“Fine, I get it.” Orulm raised his hands in apology. “Since you are the straight-A student, what’s our next move?”
Under normal circumstances, Orulm would have taught the insolent whelp a lesson. Yet he had no idea if he was still stronger than Abthot.
Depending on the monster core, the abilities of an Eldritch were amplified by different folds and there was still no telling which one of them had the best compatibility with their own.
Also, he knew that if anything happened to her, the Master would likely suspect Orulm and kill him even if he gave the best cover story in Mogar’s history, just to be safe.
“Easy. We go to crystal and magic metal mines near enough to the outposts for our envoys to carry the materials to the Warp Gates but far away enough for our mining operations to not be discovered any time soon.” The ogre-Eldritch hybrid replied.
“Also, we need to make sure there is no monster tide, Abomination, or lost city that can mess with our human associates in their proximities.”
“And what if there are?” Orulm asked.
