The merging process of the crystals seemed far from successful and each attempt ravaged Orpal’s body.
“Not necessarily in this order, of course.” Orpal panted, the fit of pain was gone and he now realized to have given away too many details of his plan. “I expect you, my brother, and my sister to hide like the cowards you are so it will depend on which one of you I find first.
“I’m giving you this warning not as an act of courtesy, but because I want you to spend your final days in misery like I did while Thrud kept me prisoner. I want you to watch that gods-damned video she released and know that what she did to me I’ll return it to you one hundred-fold.
“I want you to struggle, toil, and run, knowing that nothing you can do is going to stop me. I will find you wherever you are and I will kill you!” Orpal’s pupils dilated and his lips opened in a crazed smile. “I will wash my humiliation in your blood and dry it in your ashes!”
Then, he started to laugh. At first, it was barely a giggle. Then, it rose into a bellow and lastly into a maniacal fit of laughter.
“You got the gist of it.” Erslan stopped the video. “For what is worth, he goes on laughing for almost three more minutes before he remembers he’s still recording and cuts off the video.”
The Dawn King lowered the volume and fast-forwarded the hologram until its end. He did it because he knew Lith didn’t trust the Undead Courts and because Erslan hoped Lith would notice something in the video they had missed until that point.
“This is why we hired these idiots.” The Blood Warlock said after giving Lith control of the amulet so that he could rewind and fast forward to look for clues. “Undead have great knowledge and resources but Forgemastering is not our strong point.
“We can do it, but it takes us much longer than an Awakened, and right now we can’t afford the luxury of time. The Incontinent King was so considerate to inform us of his plans and we had not one minute or ingredient to waste.
“We called the best of the best…” Erslan said while looking at the assembled Forgemasters, having a hard time not coating his words in sarcasm. “Because if Poopie there succeeds in assimilating Dusk’s crystal, we’ll face someone who holds the power of two Horsemen.
“And that’s the best-case scenario. Everything you’ve seen and fought was a countermeasure against his known spells, bloodline abilities, and tower.”
Lith thought about the lack of life forms on his way there, the arrays draining the world energy, the darkness-infused golems, and the technique developed by the Dread Knights and their living allies.
‘Those were anti-Dragon techniques they have probably developed hoping that they work against a Vurdalak as well.’ Lith thought. ‘That’s why some of those things were easy for me to overcome. I wasn’t their intended target.’
“What do you make of this message?” Erslan posed it as a question, but Lith knew it was a test.
“First, Meln is full of shit but you already knew that from the first video.” Everyone laughed at his joke.
Awakened, undead, humans, and beasts. Thrud’s dying wish had come true and nothing was left of Orpal’s reputation. From the less fortunate to the noble youths, he was a laughing stock to all of them.
“Second, he is not even close to succeeding in merging Night’s and Dusk’s crystals. Not only did they break without even being touched, but just keeping him alive requires Night’s full focus.
“If you notice, he always says ‘I’ instead of ‘we’ and there’s no trace of the Horseman. We both know that Night is crazy, not stupid. That’s Meln’s schtick. She would have never allowed him to make that call.
“I’m betting that she is gone from his mind for a while and that she was too busy keeping the crystals together to make him reason. The pain must have driven Meln to the brink of madness and there’s nothing Night can do about it.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Erslan nodded and Cyrra with him. “Did you discover anything about his hideout?”
“Though a hologram?” Lith replied with a snort. “The same as you did. Meln is underground, probably inside a cave deep enough to escape notice from someone using Life Vision.
“He needs a secluded space so that no one can hear him scream. That’s it.”
Lith could see from the Dawn King’s eyes that he had passed the Blood Warlock’s test.
“I can’t offer you our help.” He said. “We have yet to finish our own preparations and keeping the Dawn and Night Courts together is already a hassle.”
Cyrra snarled. She hated the Dawn Court almost as much as she hated Lith.
Almost.
“What I can do is offer you my communication rune. If the Incontinent King comes after us first, I’ll let you know. All I ask you in return is to do the same.” Erslan offered Lith his contact rune. “We tried to warn Dawn but she refused our calls.
“We don’t have the time to send someone to the Eclipsed Lands. Also, our people wouldn’t probably be allowed to come back for security reasons and we can’t lose one more undead. Especially after today.”
He waved at the ruins in front of the fortress that Fae and self-repairing spells were already mending.
“I can do that.” Lith exchanged runes. “I have one question. Did Meln really do all the things he claimed in the video? Was he really so charismatic and foresighted?”
Cyrra the Banshee burst into a cruel laughter that echoed throughout the cave.
“Tell me another as good as this one and I might forgive you.” She said amid bloody tears of hilarity. “Of course not. The three Horseman unified the Courts, each following its respective founders. Poopie simply took the crown after Dawn and Dusk disappeared.
“Dinner was already cooked and served. His contribution amounts to eating and using a fork is something even a toddler can do. It was Dusk who contacted Glemos for the Harmonizers.
“The Hushed King and the Tyrant Lord were both great experts in manipulating life forces. Dusk knew that we needed to increase our prowess to conquer the surface and passed part of his research to Glemos.
“The Incontinent King reaped the fruits of their labor and tried to pass them as his own. Everyone knows that he didn’t give a flying fuck about us. He only wanted a powerful army to impress Thrud or defeat her if everything else failed.”
“I see.” Lith nodded, finally understanding how Glemos had so easily adapted the Harmonizers to the undead’s life force. “Don’t worry about Dawn. She can look out for herself but I’ll warn her anyway, if I see her again.”
Lith had no reason to give away his friendly relationship with the Horseman or Baba Yaga.
‘I don’t like her much, but Dawn is helping Solus build her telepathic defenses and gives Light Mastery tips to the kids from time to time.’ He thought. ‘Also, if she kills Meln for me, all the better.’
