The sun had long since slunk behind the mountains when Connor spotted the cave. He was relieved to find no bodies littering the ground outside. Either none of his agents had come calling or Mikhail had shown a shred of good judgment and let them be. Whichever way it turned out, a great weight lifted from Connor’s shoulders.

The snow crunched under his boots when he landed and Connor sunk up to mid-calf. It must have snowed again while he was gone. He stepped out of the snow and walked down the long tunnel to his library. He sensed Mikhail there. Connor frowned. The black knight wasn’t alone. Another weak soul force was present. Who could it be? Despite what he’d told Mikhail, Connor hadn’t actually expected any of his agents to visit for weeks.

Something must have happened.

Connor picked up his pace, not running, that would be a sign of weakness and he didn’t dare show any weakness. He entered his library and found Mikhail, drawn sword held in his scaly new hand, standing over a man in dark brown and green robes. The unfortunate prisoner spotted Connor and sighed in relief.

“Master, I have an important message,” the prisoner said.

“Silence, worm. I caught this one prowling around outside two days ago, Master. Remembering your admonishment I detained him for questioning prior to execution.”

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“Good, Mikhail, I’m pleased you paid attention.” Turning his gaze on the prisoner Connor continued, “I assume Eleck sent you.”

“Yes, Master.” The terrified man looked up at Mikhail then back to Connor.

Connor attempted a reassuring smile. With his current appearance he wasn’t certain how well he pulled it off. “Don’t worry, Mikhail isn’t going to kill you. He was just acting out of an abundance of caution. Your message?”

“Of course. Master Eleck says the project is on schedule, but he fears one of the Wise One’s followers may have discovered our work. A girl has disappeared, and hunters have been dispatched. He feels confident the girl will be found and dealt with, but wished to let you know what had happened.”

Connor ground his teeth. If Eleck didn’t get the cave ready or, worse, someone from the kingdom learned what they were doing he’d have nowhere to set up the crystal. “Return and tell Eleck if he fails I’ll send Mikhail to kill the lot of you.”

The trembling messenger popped to his feet and fled the library as fast as his skinny legs could carry him. Connor slammed his fist into the wall. Problems, problems, problems. Why did all his servants cause him nothing but problems?

He stalked across the library and sat in his black chair. “It isn’t too much to expect my subordinates to do their jobs competently, is it?”

“No, Master,” Mikhail said. “Say the word and I will punish them for you.”

Connor rubbed his face. Was Mikhail so stupid he didn’t realize Connor was talking about him too? Probably.

“I appreciate the offer, but Eleck still has important work to do. We’ll give him a chance to clean up his mess before we take more drastic measures.”