While Esben and his soldiers stripped the two soldiers of their uniforms and hung their bodies on the torture devices in the room, I picked up a small knife to replace the dagger I left behind before entering the stronghold. I ran my finger across the rough razor-sharp edge, filed down from countless repeated uses.
Donte shuffled uncomfortably nearby, eyes furtively glancing towards the torture devices in the room, then down at the floor. His hands clenched into tight fists. Blood dripped from the tips of his fingertips. The wounds from his missing fingernails reopened from the action.
I frowned as I watched Donte from the corner of my eye. Wren would want me to comfort him in some way, but I had no idea what to say at a moment like this. He had been alone in this dungeon for days before we could rescue him. I could only imagine the things he saw, and the suffering he had lived through. However, I knew better than anyone that an experience like this would torment a person long after we were freed from their tormenter.
Taking a deep breath, I walked over to Donte and held out my hand. “You want to help me turn this fortress upside down?”
Donte’s gaze was as firm as steel as he nodded and took my hand. Holding his hand in mine, I led Donte out of the dungeon and hopefully away from the memories of what happened there.
The mercenary, Esben, hurried after us as I ignored the stairway heading up and walked deeper into the bowels of the castle. Together, we passed dozens of storage rooms full of everything from barrels of oil, thousands of arrows, and even clothes for the soldiers. I stopped in a few of the storage rooms that held food or water reserves. I produced a small envelope hidden in the waist of my pants and carefully sprinkled a small amount of purple dust in each of the rooms.
Esben and his mercenaries proved their worth when we crossed paths with a patrol that guarded the storage rooms. Both of the soldiers were taken out quickly and quietly. I did not even have to rely on General Halott to get past them as I had originally planned.
The dead guards were stripped of their clothes and armor and within a few minutes, two of the mercenaries were indistinguishable from any other soldier in the fortress. The dead bodies were then hidden inside barrels of oil while the two disguised mercenaries scouted ahead in case there were any more patrols that could spot us.
It took a long time for us to navigate the twists and turns of the hallways and make our way down to the lowest levels of the fortress. It was a completely unremarkable chamber made of dark stone and full of firewood and crates of cut stone bricks matching the same material of the walls outside. It was a place no soldier would be visiting any time soon.
“I need quiet for a while,” I said, sitting down behind one of the stacks of firewood, “I suggest everyone try and get some rest. It will be tomorrow before we get to act. Until then, we need to stay out of sight and hidden. I will use General Halott to keep the missing soldiers and our disappearances quiet until then.”
General Halott bowed towards me and left us alone in the storage room. The mercenaries made themselves comfortable using spare clothes as makeshift beds with an ease that only comes from years of experience sleeping on the ground. Donte meanwhile collapsed next to me. I could see him shaking slightly, but I did not know if it was from the damp cold of the storage room, or something haunting him from the inside.
I frowned when he moved closer to me but decided not to push him away. I simply closed my eyes and focused on the task at hand. There was still a lot to do before this fortress fell.
Besides General Halott, I had picked seven other soldiers to be my servants. While marching back towards the fortress, those soldiers had been reassigned to various support jobs as punishment for various ‘mistakes’ they made under his command. Now, it was time for these soldiers to be put to use.
Three of the soldiers had been reassigned as cooks. Now that General Izmos had let the army into the base, the cooks gained full access to the kitchens. Immediately, the cooks got busy. Preparing meals for ten thousand soldiers plus any other troops inside the fortress was no easy task. It took an entire department of the army just to handle the task.
Thanks to the suggestion of one of my servants, tonight’s meal was a hearty stew to warm the weary soldiers. The three cooks under my command were constantly busy, bringing ingredients to the many giant cauldrons that filled the kitchens. With every new set of ingredients dropped into one of the stew pots, a small pinch of purple powder was also added. The powder instantly dissolved, disappearing into the stew before anyone could notice.
Elsewhere in the fortress, a similar scene was playing out among the other soldiers under my command. A soldier gathering water from a well dropped a small envelope that disappeared into the inky depths of the waters. Another soldier in charge of guarding the food storage overnight sprinkled more dust across everything and into the barrels of clean water provided for the soldiers. Wherever the soldiers went, more of the purple powder was spread. Before the night was over, there was hardly a single edible or drinkable substance left in the fortress that was not contaminated.
Unfortunately, not everything went perfectly to plan. As the sun began to rise, one of my puppets was busy poisoning the final well in the fortress when he was stopped by a man I recognized. His name was Okos, the adviser under General Halott that was too clever for his own good.
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“Hold up just a moment. You were one of the soldiers that came out of the mist, right? I need to perform a small test before you can continue your duties.I need to see your hand. It's only a little prick, it will only take a second.”
I frowned as Sir Okos produced a dagger and asked for my soldier to present his hand. I took a quick note of the puppet’s surroundings. It was still early and many soldiers were not moving about the fortress yet. There were no other soldiers in the immediate vicinity, as this well was far removed from the main ones used by the fortress.
I decided to take direct control of my puppet, not bothering to hide the glowing green eyes that such action created. I smiled at the advisor as he took a cautious step back when the eyes of the puppet started to glow. “You are a rather competent advisor compared to most. Honestly, I did not expect anyone to find me this quickly. Are you checking every soldier that came out of the mist?”
The knight, Sir Okos, drew his weapon as his own eyes began to glow. “Who are you? What have you done to this soldier?”
“Come on now, I thought you were smart. I am sure you can figure it out," I said as the green eyes started glowing brighter.
Sir Okos spoke with a whisper as he took another step back. “T-The Undead Tyrant!”
“Correct!” I replied with enthusiasm, “I like clever ones like you. Your skill is wasted fighting for the Avari. How would you like a new job as one of my new generals?”
“What?” Sir Okos was taken aback for a moment at the suddenness of my offer, but after a moment’s delay, he shook his head vigorously. “I will never betray the Avari!”
“What a waste,” I said, clicking my tongue, “I would have preferred to keep you alive, but a new undead works just as well I guess.”
There was fear in the man’s eyes as he took another step back. His eyes began to glow brighter with a yellow light. Without saying another word to me, he turned and ran away at a speed far above anything a normal man could achieve.
“A speed talent too? I think I want you even more now,” I said as my consciousness shifted out of the soldier and into General Halott. He was eating breakfast with General Izmos as the two of the discussed battle tactics. Less than a minute later, Sir Okos burst into the room, panting heavily.
“General! The… The Undead Tyrant, she…”
Before Sir Okos could finish his sentence, I took direct control of General Halott. With a big smile on my face, I picked up a steak knife off the table. Before the soldier could even react, I turned, stabbing the knife into his gut.
The knight blinked a few times as he looked down at his stomach. Blood covered his hands as he looked back up at my glowing green eyes.
“G-General…”
“You should have taken my offer,” I whispered in his ear before pushing him down to the ground. The man collapsed as his hands covered the wound in his stomach desperately. I sat back down at the table, completely ignoring the bleeding knight.
“General Halott, what is the meaning of this!” General Izmos shouted, jumping up in a rage.
“General Halott has not been around for quite some time,” I said while casually playing with the bloody steak knife.
General Izmos looked down at the bloody soldier then back at me. His gaze locked onto my eyes and his face went pale.
“No, No, No, It cannot be..." he said with a whisper before hearing his throat uncomfortably, "I- Immortal Empress, it… it is an honor to see you alive again after so many years. What brings you to my humble fortress?”
“My messenger warned you yesterday, but you did not listen. So, now I am here with my ultimatum. I will admit, the little knight here found me a bit quicker than I intended. I wanted to wait until tonight before we spoke, but between yesterday’s dinner, the night shift’s meals, and the breakfast the soldiers are eating now, at least eighty percent of your forces should be poisoned. My demands are simple. You are to immediately and completely surrender command of this fortress to me. Do so, and will give you the antidote. Nobody else has to die.”
General Izmos became even paler as he collapsed back into his chair. “Yesterday’s messenger… was yours?” The General fell quiet as he stared down at the wooden table.
I waited patiently with a big grin plastered on my face. After some time passed in silence, the General slammed his fist on the table, causing it to break and splinter. Plates of food scatted to the ground as the table shattered under the power of the strike.
The general stood as he looked me directly in the eye and shouted, “No! I have defended this fortress since before the Avari. I helped build these walls with my own hands. I will never surrender it to anyone, not even you!”
I sighed as I looked down at the bleeding Sir Okos on the floor. No, the bleeding had mostly stopped already. The truth was, for whatever reason, I had avoided every major organ when I stabbed him earlier. I was not even sure why I did it. The man had almost completely ruined my plans. Killing him was the normal course of action. I shook my head, pushing away the thoughts.
“Is this really the type of people you want to serve?” I asked as I leaned back in the chair. Sir Okos did not reply as he stared down at the ground. I turned to address the general. “Are you sure you want to do this? You know my power. If you try and resist, the Avari will lose nearly twenty thousand troops, and you will still fail to defend the fortress. If my information is correct that should be more than half the Avari’s standing army. The other kingdoms will not miss an opportunity like that. Your actions here could very well destroy your nation.”
“My fortress is impenetrable! I have fought off armies hundreds of thousands strong. You will be no different!” he shouted.
I raised my eyebrow as his eyes glowed with a dull brown light and his muscles began to bulge and his wrinkles smoothed. His hair even changed from white to black. Standing straight, General Izmos no longer had any resemblance with the withered old man from before. He was now a muscled Adonis that looked like he was in his mid-twenties at most.
I did not bother trying to resist as General Izmos attacked. I was completely out of poison now, and a newly created undead could never fight off someone experienced with a combat innate talent. With a single blow, General Izmos completely obliterated my puppet’s head. In a single moment, General Halott was no more.
Back in the dark storeroom at the bottom of the fortress, I tried to blink away the disorientation that came from experiencing one of my puppets die when I was in direct control. Pushing away the vertigo I felt, I forced myself to my feet. General Halott had been a good puppet and I was a little sad to lose something so useful, but in the end, he and the other soldiers were always disposable.
Donte and the mercenaries looked at me expectantly as I stretched, awaiting the next part of our plan. I grinned as the floor beneath our feet began to shake.
“It is time we end this.”