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“The Council shall commence!”
I snuck into the back of the planning room quietly, informed by Arcanor that the high lord was about to hold a conference with the corrupted lords of Grozorg. Still shocked by Zor’s transformation, I fumbled my way in, almost giving my position away.
Tyrannust had gathered all eleven lords, or overlords, as they were now addressed in their corrupted forms, in his planning room. They were to discuss problems regarding Grozorg, and solutions to follow, according to Arcanor. I crept alone into the room, and scrambled up to a tight spot near the corner of the tall ceiling to hide in, a perfect position to see what was going on without being seen.
The long grand room was dimly lit a dark shade of blue, to my favour, the only source of light from three magnificent cerulean chandeliers placed neatly in a row above the long obsidian conference table below. The last overlord had just arrived, and the rulers sat in obsidian chairs oversized even for their dark form, around the long, slim black table. I was shocked to see what the Almega had done to the overlords. Before, the Lords of Light and Order were of noble blood, elegant and highly revered. Now, the Almega had clearly overtaken, corrupting and tainting the golden white robes and armour into a dark black with another single colour that resembled their representative elements.
Tyrannust walked in - no, he drifted in, clad in his golden-black armour. As he sat down on a grand throne prepared for him at the head of the table, all eleven overlords rose and bowed down unanimously, heads nearly grazing the brim of the heavy table. The overlords were incomparable to the titanic Tyrannust in both size and power.
“Sit,” Zor commanded abruptly.
Silence filled the room; evidently, none had understood why Tyrannust had suddenly arranged the occurrence of the conference.
Zor, the Almegamancer, stood to the right of Tyrannust, nearly matching the high lord’s height. He began on Tyrannust’s mark.
“All majesties and kings, domain-rulers and overlords, welcome to the council hosted by your lord and majesty, the sixth in reign, High Lord Tyrannust!”
The eleven overlords shifted, glancing at each other uncertainly. A small applause came from Helterium, the overlord of water, and the rest of the overlords followed, applause echoing within the grand room.
“Your High Lord Tyrannust wishes to offer you a proposal,” Zor continued, cutting off the applause. “Evidently, Grozorg is at its prime, a pinnacle of its success! However, this proposal by your High Lord Tyrannust VI is sure to forever change the land of our Grozorg - of course for the better - and all will be promised a reward in return if their cooperation is granted. Of course, I will personally see to those that do not consider his proposal,” Zor paused. “May Grozorg continue to prosper in glory!”
Tyrannust stood up, rising from the shadows to take a bow, and the overlords followed suit,
“However, there is one matter to address first, as instructed by your high lord,” Zor continued. “As all of you have heard, Lord Cryann has fallen to the clutches of death. But I am not here to discuss this loss. Rather, my intention is but a simple demonstration of the unfathomable powers the high lord has granted unto all.”
Tyrannust cupped his hands together to reveal a blue sphere mysteriously floating upwards from his palms. The overlords glanced at each other, filled with interest.
“This,” Zor resumed, “is the soul of Lord Cryann. Of course, the high lord couldn’t just simply hand him over to death.”
Overlord Nythar smirked quietly, quickly silenced by a deadly glare from Tyrannust.
“Now, watch the capability and potential this new element possesses, and what immeasurable glory it rewards!”
Tyrannust stood up and lifted both hands. A blue flame immediately consumed the blue orb in his palms. As he raised his arms higher and higher, a black smoke engulfed the flames.
“Rise, Overlord Cryann!” Zor commanded.
Tyrannust snapped his wrists downwards quickly, and suddenly, a human seemed to appear, standing in place of where the blue light once was. There stood Cryann, reincarnated from his temporal death. He was corrupted, face twisted and body built much bigger than before, a result of Tyrannust’s dark element. Cryann stood there, a deranged face with hollow eyes that gazed into nothing. The crowd gasped, some in awe, some in shock. Wicked grins broke among the chaotic faces, and speechless reactions assured Tyrannust of their satisfaction.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a slight movement in the corner of the two walls opposite of where I was crouched. Quickly glancing across from me, I caught a glimpse of Tarsus, crouched in the same position I was in, hiding in the shadows of the dark ceiling across from me.
“Tarsus!” I snarled quietly. “What are you doing here?”
A guileful look was exchanged by him.
“What are you doing here?”
“That’s what I asked, you fool!” I growled.
“Don’t think you’re the only one hot on this. I’ll beat you to it!”
“I’m way ahead of you, dammit!”
“The world will forget you - the world will hate you - when I reveal to them what you did with Zor!”
At the mention of the Almegamancer, I winced backwards.
“You...you were there?” I stuttered in disbelief.
“What do you think? You really thought you were ahead? Look around, my men are all here!”
He was true, I realized, as I peered into the shadows around him. I cursed bitterly to myself. The Night Guild was camouflaged across the top interior surface, like patient arachnids from their webs, listening eagerly to Tyrannust’s conversation.
“Dammit!” I hissed in frustration. “Damn you and your guild, Tarsus!”
“One step ahead. That’s the best joke I’ve heard from you, Ulterium!”
“Shut up!” I snarled, almost too loudly. Thankfully, the ceilings were erected very high above the ground, concealing our exchange.
The conversation below came to a point about King Fulcan. I missed most of the details spoken in the period between my talk with Tarsus, and there was nothing to do about it now but hope that the information wasn’t important.
“It was Fulcan from the beginning?” Overlord Helterium of Water bellowed in a deep voice.
Overlord Pyrrhus of Fire nodded. “Of course it was! How were we to not have suspected?”
“What worse could he have possibly done than murder Cryann?” Overlord Erakin of Electricity asked.
“Of course it was the King of Light himself,” Zor sneered.
“What?” I whispered out loud, enraged. “They’re blaming...Fulcan?”
“You didn’t know?” Tarsus overheard, answering my thoughts. “The high lord was placing the blame on your beloved king since day one. I would’ve done the same if I were him,” he added with a snicker.
“Damn you,” I snarled through gritted teeth.
The meeting continued for another hour and a half, the partisanship growing all the more. Dusk was approaching when the convocation soon ended. I caught some details, something about Overlord Naterra taking a move and something about a preparation the night before. I had lost all interest in the meeting, all because of Tarsus, and all my thoughts were concentrated on plotting something against the leader of the Night Guild. As the group of overlords dispersed, the high lord proceeded to drift to another room, so I crawled along the ceiling and into a ventilation shaft to follow him. Lo and behold, Tarsus decided to follow me.
“Will you stop following me?!” I whispered hoarsely to Tarsus. “Why do you always have to do what I do?”
The rest of his guild had probably decided to wait until the room cleared to exit through the main doors; it was only him behind me. But the way his armour brushed against the metal shaft sounded like his entire guild was with him.
“What are you talking about? I was gonna follow Tyrannust,” he replied. “You just went first!”
“Damn you! If you don’t turn around right now...”
“What are you gonna do?”
I stopped in my tracks and turned around, forcing Tarsus to abruptly cease motion as well.
“Turn around right now,” I demanded through gritted teeth.
Tarsus shoved me to the side and continued his crawl. I quickly pulled his legs towards me and he wrapped his arms around my neck in a swift response. Holding me in a headlock, I jabbed my elbow into his ribs, forcing him to release me. Stumbling around him, I kicked backwards forcefully into his skull and he gave out a low growl of rapid curses.
I continued through the simple shaft, regaining my former advantage. The shaft was wide enough to possibly fit three grown men, and I picked up the pace to ensure my advantage over Tarsus. With ease, I snaked through each turn and twist, peering down barred pieces of metal at occasional points built into the ventilation labyrinth. Tyrannust was a few meters ahead of us, floating to another room. Through another series of right turns and left, I finally reached his destination.
Tyrannust had made his way to his royal bedroom. A large bed lay at the center of the room, cloaked in black. Perhaps it was gold or white before, but now it was simply black, as was his entire room.
The room was more foreboding than Nythar’s island, I thought grimly. I had grown up on Nek Roluun, and if Nythar’s island was frightening even before the transfusion of Almega on Nek Roluun, Tyrannust’s room was worse than a living nightmare. On the contrary, Tyrannust found no other place like home.
He proceeded to a small table on the far side of the room; scrolls and maps messily spread across. Facing his table, he turned his back towards me, so I took a few paces further in the vent, pushing myself against the barred window to catch a glimpse of his works. Tarsus forcibly moved around me, trying to peek at the scrolls as well. At once, the vent that had concealed the two of us burst open, and we tumbled clumsily behind the Almega high lord.
His back was turned towards us, but he stopped in his motions. Tarsus and I looked at each other, fear overtaking confusion and hatred. No one twitched a single muscle as we crouched bare behind Tyrannust.
Tyrannust turned around slowly, his wretched eyes boring into ours. At once, two guards hobbled in, hurriedly binding us with fetters and shackles.
“I thought you said this was your suggestion,” growled at Tarsus. He returned the glare with a curse as we were ushered towards an inescapable dungeon.