Connor watched as the Soul Burn Crystal continued to expand. It had already covered the entire cavern and now it spread to the ceiling, coating the stalactites like ice. The process was glorious and after a month plus of study Connor still had no idea how it worked. And while his innate curiosity compelled him to watch the corrupt energy sparking like lightning through the crystal matrix, deep down Connor didn’t really care about the process. It worked, nothing else mattered.

After setting the crystal in motion Connor had more thoroughly explored the underground complex. In addition to the massive cavern carved out to house the crystal, a maze of tunnels extended deeper under the mountains. He hadn’t gone down every tunnel, but those he checked out appeared largely empty. That was another surprise. It seemed nearly impossible to set foot in a cave in this part of the world without running into something that wanted to kill you. Perhaps the inhabitants sensed his power and had chosen to retreat. That worried Connor even more as it implied intelligence.

The clank of Mikhail’s boots across the crystal path heralded the black knight’s arrival. He’d left the armored guardian at the cave entrance to protect against any of the haunted land’s nastier inhabitants entering and making a nuisance of themselves. In truth it shocked Connor that none of the demons or undead he knew lived in the wasteland had put in an appearance yet. Perhaps Mikhail had been forced to kill something and wanted to report it. With the overwhelming power coming from the crystal blocking out everything else Connor wouldn’t have sensed anything short of a major demonic invasion.

The armored figure arrived at the entrance to the portal chamber. “A message, Master.”

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What could it be? He had a number of pieces in motion, but most of them knew their tasks and had the wit to adapt to anything short of a total disaster. He doubted it came from Morana. Perhaps one of his cult agents. Connor had reassigned several crystal birds that had belonged to dead agents to cult spies scattered here and there throughout the kingdom. One of them might have discovered something interesting.

The crystal didn’t need his constant observation to complete its transformation. The message might make for an interesting diversion. The crystal still had days or maybe weeks of growth to undergo before he could fully activate it.

Connor walked along beside his servant back to the entrance. The half dozen energy sources he’d collected so far didn’t make so much as a peep as he passed by. He assumed from the way they’d thrashed when he connected them to the energy matrix the process was quite painful. Perhaps they’d simply passed out. Whatever the cause, the quiet pleased him.

They reached the entrance and the black bird landed on Connor’s outstretched hand. He’d placed a barrier at the entrance to keep the little crystal creations from entering. He feared the energy in the cavern would cause them to shatter and he only had so many.

Connor plucked the message from its beak and unrolled it. As he read his smile grew. More targets had presented themselves. He sent the messenger back without a reply. That agent couldn’t do anything in the current situation beyond providing him with more information.

A few steps from the cave entrance Connor had carved a secure niche to hold the trunks with his collection. It took only a moment to retrieve the messenger he needed. Much as Connor would have enjoyed handling this mission himself, he wasn’t yet ready to leave the crystal unsupervised and leaving Mikhail to deal with it…He shuddered at the thought. If something went wrong Connor wasn’t certain he could set it right, so leaving someone else in charge would be foolish to the point of madness. He sent a brief message to Morana. She should have no trouble taking the new prey.