Chapter 13.9

Caridin stalked the empty halls of his fortress.

This place once echoed with the sound of life, now only a silent awe radiated through its old bones.

He heard people scurry away from his magnificence, his radiant power. They feared him and right they should, he was furious.

His people had failed him, all of them were useless incompetent, spineless and traitorous.

When he returned from the farce he had slain his prised forgotten, they had been useless.

His advisers told him filling his retinue with forgotten would rile the other factions, make them sloppy, predictable.

Those same advisers were now broken and discarded. There were many more like them lining up to take their place at his side.

Losing the auction was of little concern, he had been preparing quietly for decades now, all he had to do was accelerate his plans.

Once he discovered who had stolen the auction in his absence his forces would act swiftly.

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The fools thought him weakened, exhausted from centuries of conflict. They had no concept of the power he held stored away for when the time was right.

His master, the fool had even let slip how he himself could grow stronger then anyone else. Even now his cores eagerly absorbed the fresh essence from the fools he had slain.

It was only the beginning, the more he cleansed himself the more powerful he could become. Soon he would stand at the pinnacle, far above anyone else his world had ever seen.

He would show Alea his might.

Wrest control of the wonder and then this world would have no choice to but to submit to him.

He would take the boy, show him the true reality of all life, show him his true power.

Not long after he left the event had finished successfully, but the system failed to announce which nation had gained control.

It did not matter, it was just a matter of time until his spies reported.

Sietra, the eternal bitch had been suspiciously absent. The Sage taking her rightful place. The old fool was historically neutral so he doubted the el’vei scum were too serious about the auction.

Unless…

Yes, that made sense, they were backing The Houses.

That could be troublesome.

The dwarves had no home, no allegiance to anyone but themselves. They infested every nation like weeds, their ancient halls long forgotten.

He barely tolerated them in his empire because they made themselves useful for the right price.

They valued family above all else. That was a weakness he had cast aside long ago, a weakness he could easily exploit.

Yes, he would have to act sooner than he had planned, he was tired of the long game.

Finally he would cleanse his world.