The tableau held for a moment, deep inside the earth of the Deep Warrens. The lines of powdered Travel crystal across the floor all glowed purple, and Asnandi’s Key sat dead center of the perfectly circular stone room they were all in.
But nothing happened as they all stood, and sweat broke out on the foreheads of the two goblin researchers.
“Damnit!” Veltress screamed, extending her bat wings. She hissed, and her claw flashed out and slashed across the left goblin’s face. It screeched and fell to the ground, blood spilling from its cheek onto the grey stones as the goblin writhed.
Kruegar didn’t visibly flinch, but he worried. Despite having brought back Asnandi’s Key—which had made everything better between him and Veltress—Kruegar couldn’t help but fear her. She was personally powerful, and here, surrounded by her armies and lieutenants, she was nigh-undefeatable.
And Kruegar had watched her kill multiple allies and servants who had failed her. She was always kind to him, but he knew, deep in his heart, that he was utterly disposable to her.
Kruegar had given honest thought to abandoning his war against Leo in its entirety. Kruegar was honest enough with himself to admit that he was oh-and-two playing empire games against Leo—and now Leo had bottled him away from the Inner Sea, with Steelport’s fleets and Leo’s own ‘merchantmen’ sinking the very few boats he had put out. Kruegar was making great strides in conquering the tribes around him, but even they were starting to ally into huge coalitions that would take far longer to conquer. And he couldn’t get the slave—or any, really—trade going fast enough to compensate for his people’s own numerous deficiencies in production and skills.
He wanted to take his remaining three friends, as well as his new buddies, Marglaz and Bogrith, and head out to the world to find a new continent where he could build an empire without the opposition.
But Veltress wouldn’t allow it—and Kruegar’s gut churned with the knowledge that she was stronger. For the moment, even her nation was stronger, although she never did much to improve it, a criminal waste in Kruegar’s mind. But he knew she was playing a different game. Her goal was to bring Irkuhkt’s power and lieutenants to this world, not rule it herself.
And she was failing at that goal and enraged because of it.
There was a knock at the door to the ‘research’ center they were in, and Marglaz stuck his head in. “High Chieftain Kruegar?”
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Kruegar turned. Marglaz only interrupted him for important things, he knew. While the interruptions usually irritated him, at the moment, he wanted anything to distract Veltress from her rage.
“You have something of importance, Marglaz?” Kruegar asked, making his voice sound as deep and sure as he reflexively could.
Marglaz nodded, a light smile playing across the orc’s features, revealing his pronounced canines. “Yeah, I do. Someone is here, and you really want to meet them.”
Kruegar raised an eyebrow. He was tempted to just demand the information from his subordinate, as he didn’t appreciate games, but he really did want to be away from Veltress for a moment.
He settled on an imperious, “Lead me to them,” instead.
Marglaz nodded, and Kruegar headed out into the tunnels of the Dark Warren. The tunnels and caves they walked through reeked of goblin, and everything about the decor screamed ‘goblin’ to Kruegar as well. Some of it was almost what he would have expected—the weird palisades in every area for each tiny family or sub-clan, the larger caves with mushrooms, the huge concentration of them.
But nothing prepared him for how wretched these creatures really were. They slept with their wargs in the open—and both warg and goblin defecated just… wherever. Piles of trash became places mushrooms grew from for extra food. Every dripping stalactite was a resource to be fought over. More than half the goblins had no clothes, just existing in the warm tunnels. Life was cheap—Kruegar has witnessed more than one murder. Goblins who gained a level were common, but the corpses were even more common.
It felt like the orcs’ way of life to Kruegar—rely on a few tricks and massive breeding to try to overcome a complete lack of anything resembling a plan to advance. Kruegar couldn’t help but think that with even a modicum of effort, these people could be the backbone of an empire, much like his own orcs.
But Veltress obviously didn’t care. Kruegar wondered if he could somehow use that to his advantage someday. If he could break out of the bind his people were in and somehow merge with the goblins here…
Kruegar shook himself from his dark thoughts as he reached the waiting room. It was slightly better than the squalid caves he had passed through, with a table, chairs, and a decent statue to Irkuhkt. Also, the trash didn’t spill into the room.
But the stench did.
Marglaz went to the far door and opened it, and two people walked in.
Kruegar was shocked as he stared at them.
One was a human male, tall and muscular, with black hair and black robes. The other was an elf, five and a half feet tall with white eyes and bronze hair.
Audrey—or Wylla. And her man… Felix, I think.
Kruegar wanted to be intimidating but was still too shocked. He stared straight at Audrey. “What brings you here, of all the places? Weren’t you supposed to be somewhere jerking Leo off by now?”
She smiled, a baring of the teeth that didn’t reach her eyes. “Well, about Leo… We’re taking a break, you might say. And it occurred to me that you might need a portal expert. It’s not quite the same as learning it from the ground up, but I know everything Wylla knew.” Her smile widened further. “And conveniently, you know I was a brilliant researcher before.”
Kruegar felt his own mouth twisting into a dark smile at her pronouncement.