Xenagrosh let him complete the metamorphosis, so that all those present realized what kind of monsters they had dealt with until that day and that their new partners were even worse.
The moment the monster stood over 2 meters (7′) tall, spreading a killing intent that added grey streaks to Wren’s hair and wrinkles to his eyes, Xenagrosh tapped the Korvak’s forehead with her finger.
The Hollow Mist Chaos spell that she unleashed spread inside the creature’s body and turned it into ashes before he could emit a single wail.
All the humans in the room seemed to have aged a decade and even though the Korvak was gone they were still frozen in place.
“Anything else I should know?” Wren bit deep into his lower lip to overcome the terror that had paralyzed his limbs and reaffirm his leadership.
“No. Everyone else in here is clean.” Xenagrosh sniffed each one of those presents, identifying many of their hobbies and vices, but none of them was relevant to the mission at hand.
“As the new head of the Red Gorgon, I accept your terms.” Wren stood up and shook hands with Xenagrosh while the others were still unable to even blink, too afraid that a new horror would unfold the moment darkness clouded their vision.
Soon, they would spread the tale of the meeting, turning both Wren the Unflinching and Xenagrosh the Slayer into legendary figures of the underworld.
***
Later, that night, Wren brought Bytra and Xenagrosh with him under the guise of two mercenary mages he had hired. The meeting with Tolmen took place in the local branch of the Dusk Court, in front of the undead masters of the Red Gorgon.
Wren had sowed discord among the ranks of the cartel, demanding both a change of the terms of the deal with the undead and of leadership. After a failed attempt on his life, Tolmen Ironheart had been forced to ask for the help of his patrons.
When the rumors about thralls hidden among the cartel spread around, the Red Gorgon belonged to Wren in a matter of hours, leaving Tolmen with no allies in Palaron beside the undead.
He hoped that they would kill his rival and prefer continuity in the management of the Red Gorgon. Little did he know that the killer had failed on purpose, to force the undead to open their doors to the invaders of their own will.
If the assassination succeeded, Wren would have become the new boss and the Dusk court wouldn’t have given a damn about who was the leader as long as the flow of gold and food didn’t stop.
That way, instead, he wasn’t just plotting against an insignificant human, he was daring to threaten the Court, demanding audience from them as if they were peers.
That was something the undead couldn’t overlook, so they had invited Wren and his followers as their guests, to make an example out of them. Their slow, agonizing death would show the rest of the underworld what happened to a human who didn’t play by their rules.
Xenagrosh admired Wren’s guts to enter the tiger’s den with no defence but her and Bytra. The two had known just for a few hours, yet the man was already willing to put his life in her hands.
‘I must give it to him. Wren is a scumbag, but he also has an iron will. Besides, who am I to judge?’ Xenagrosh shrugged. ‘It would take him several lifetimes to commit a number of atrocities that could come even close to my own.’
“Why did you request this meeting? The Dusk Court and the Red Gorgon are long-time friends. There’s no animosity between us except that you bring at this table.” Lethe, a gorgeous vampire said.
The meeting took place in the Court’s Main hall. It was built to resemble an underground amphitheater that had an oval layout and seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium
Wren and the vampire were at the center of the scene, each with only their personal bodyguards on their side.
Half of the Hall was occupied by the undead and the other by the members of the Red Gorgon. In theory, it was meant to treat them as peers, but the truth was that the Dusk Court wanted to have as many witnesses as they could.
A single undead was capable of terrifying dozens of living beings and without any magical abilities, being exposed to the Court’s collective bloodlust made the members of the Red Gorgon feel like fish out of water, gasping for air.
“Friends? What kind of friends puts spies inside our very homes? You betrayed our bond of trust first and now you dare question us? We work while you grow fat and our consciences pay the price for it!
“You ask for us to provide you with innocent teens, beasts, plant folks, and even children that you feed upon. I say that’s enough!” Like most of those presents, Wren couldn’t care less about innocents as long as he got paid.
Yet they were an excellent subject to rally even the worst crowd and spark what was left of their indignance. Besides, it offered the bunch of criminals a perfect scapegoat to wash their hands of all the blood they spilled.
It was like saying: “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do it for the money. You did it because the undead forced you to.”
Lethe was stunned at those words. She looked at the head of the Court to signal that something was wrong. Their plan had been to let Wren renegotiate the terms of their deal and then kill him for breaching the etiquette.
Even if he acted flawlessly, they could kill him because by attacking Tolmen he had betrayed him and in turn the Court as well since he was their representative. It was a paper-thin argument, but it was how the Undead Court conducted its business for centuries.
Yet the human was attacking them directly, demanding to break the deal instead of asking for more favorable conditions. It was akin to a lamb sharpening the tools of a butcher before questioning his mother’s honor.
Uria the White Lady dismissed Lethe’s worries with a sneer. They had searched their guests before letting them in and she knew most of them very well. Aside from the two strangers, the least of the Court’s members would easily be able to slaughter them all.
‘Unless one of the girls is Manohar or the Empress, there’s nothing to fear. The former is still trapped in the Kingdom while the latter is in the Empire’s capital. This Wren must be tired of living.’ She thought.
“Then we both agree, the line has been crossed.” Lethe said with a wolfish smile. “Yet it’s you who broke the pledge of honor by attacking your master, you who desecrated our hallowed halls with your poisonous words! Your end will be a warning for all those foolish enough to comply with your madness.”
The vampire moved with such a speed that Wern was able to see her attack, but not to react in time. Lethe expected him to cry or wet himself, but after what Wern had witnessed during that same afternoon, the vampire looked terribly small to his eyes.
Xenagrosh intercepted Leth’s slender wrist with her left hand, trapping it in a grip stronger than a steel vise.
