Chapter 33
Rage
"Incompetent fools!" Hasbarie roared, bashing another reanimated corpse in the head with his staff, bursting it into pieces and spraying blood across the room. The body crumpled to the floor. Hasbarie pointed his staff at the ground and another corpse appeared in front of him, meeting the same fate as the others.
At least thirty bodies lay before the Dark Wizard. Hasbarie's rage came to a boil over the failure of Calial and the Draith Lord at Dead Marsh.
Someone will pay for this. But who? I cannot do anything while I am confined to the Onock. I must leave from here and take matters into my own hands.
Hasbarie stood, covered in the black blood of the Breathless, chest rising and falling like the waves of the ocean, trying to understand how his Priest had failed him.
At Dead Marsh, Hasbarie's forces outnumbered The Saviors and the Wizard's companions, but they somehow slew them, as well as Calial and the Draith Lord. The most upsetting part of it all was the fact that The Saviors did not defeat his Priest and the Draith Lord, but rather it was a single individual, Jeszekia Venumroot. She accomplished the impossible task and did so with a simple bit of alchemy.
I will not tolerate such insolence. This will not happen again.
He pulled the crystal from his throne, placed it into the palm of his staff, and jammed his staff into the floor.
"Show yourselves. Now!" Hasbarie screamed.
A portal appeared before him. Within a matter of seconds the three other Dark Priests, Pader, Soth, and Azzer appeared.
"Calial has fallen," Hasbarie said, in a hushed voice.
"We are sorry, Lord Hasbarie," Azzer said, hoping his apology would quench Hasbarie's wrath.
"You are?" Hasbarie asked, raising his brow. "Tell me something I do not know. You are worthless!"
"Has-Has-Hasbarie," Pader choked out. "We live to serve you. What can we do to right this wrong?"
Hasbarie's pale white face wrinkled and tightened. He reached inside of the portal, grabbed Pader by the throat, and pulled him through.
Pader landed face down in a pool of black blood. Hasbarie stepped on the back of his neck and held him under.
"What you can do, is not... fail... me... again!" The Lord of the Dead boomed, pausing between each word and pressing his foot down harder on the back of Pader's neck.
"We will not," Soth said. "Do not hold Calial's failure over our heads. He has always been the weakest amongst us."
Hasbarie stared at them as Pader's feet kicked and twitched. He pressed his boot down even harder.
"If Calial were here, I would reanimate him just so I could kill him myself," he paused. "Pader will be a sufficient substitute."
Hasbarie lifted his foot and stomped it onto the back of Pader's head over and over again. The Dark Priest's feet went still and his body limp. Hasbarie rolled him over onto his back. He touched Pader with his staff. Pader's eyes shot open. He coughed violently, expelling a great deal of the stagnant blood from his lungs.
The Dark Wizard waved his staff and Pader hovered above the ground. Hasbarie approached him.
"P-p-p-please," Pader begged. "I am sor-sor-sorry."
Hasbarie placed his hand on Pader's head. The Dark Priest screamed in agony. Hasbarie removed his hand. A steady stream of blood snaked its way from Pader's head, following Hasbarie's hand like a serpent under the spell of a flute. The Dark Wizard waved his hand to the side, splattering Pader's blood on the wall, and the Dark Priest collapsed onto the ground.
"I possess complete control over life and death. It would be wise if my Priests remembered that," Hasbarie said, as he watched Pader's blood trickle down the fleshy wall. "My Priests claim their loyalty, their love, to me, yet they fail me. What does that lead me to believe?"
"We will not fail you," Soth said, falling to his knees.
"We shall see," Hasbarie said.
The Dark Wizard ran his hand over the bloody wall, absorbing Pader's blood into the palm of his hand. He approached the fallen Priest, pointed his hand at him, and released the blood into Pader's gaping mouth. The Priest's eyes shot open again, and he sat upright.
"Get out of my sight!" Hasbarie yelled.
Pader scrambled his way back to the portal and jumped through to the other side. Hasbarie snatched the crystal from the palm of his staff and the portal closed.
The Dark Wizard stood, motionless, for several moments. Fury clouded his mind. He could not stop thinking about the failure of Calial and the Draith Lord. The Saviors were in his clutches, but somehow escaped once again. The Wizard was even rendered useless during the battle, his magic had become depleted defending the marsh, and still, they prevailed.
A Priest, a Draith Lord, Shadowmen, Breathless, Hethern, Vraymen, and a Gargantuan. Hasbarie dug at the soft flesh of his skull with his long nails. All those creatures could not capture the marsh or even destroy The Saviors, not even one of them. Hasbarie paced around the throne room. But, they came close. If not for the Raptilian and her poison, the outcome would have been much different. My unopposed reign over Calencia would have begun today. The Saviors will only grow stronger. I need. . . I need more troops at my disposal.
Hasbarie stormed out of the throne room, heading for the center of the Onock.
"Mother!" Hasbarie cried, bursting into her chamber. "Mother!"
"What is it, my son?" Mother asked with her watery voice.
"We did not secure the marsh! The Saviors defeated my Priest and the Draith Lord. You said the Draith Lord was unconquerable!" Hasbarie yelled. "You said the marsh would fall, and a few of The Saviors, if not all of them, but they did not."
"Do not worry, Hasbarie. It is not over yet. Keep your mind focused on the ultimate plan. We need a new crystal, and not just any crystal. If any crystal would work, we could reconstruct your old one. No. We need a crystal pulled from the chest of a Master Wizard. Be patient-"
"No! No! No!" Hasbarie roared. "I am tired of being patient! I will deal with them myself. I will rip the crystal from Locmire's chest with my own hands!"
Mother wrapped a tentacle around his neck. "Do not be foolish," she said, tightening her grip. Hasbarie shuttered at her touch. "I know you become more restless each day, but you must do nothing to jeopardize your well being. We are not strong enough to defeat them just yet, but we will be. All we can do is keep challenging them as they attempt to complete their quest. If we are lucky, one of them will fall before they enter the valley and march on the Onock. If a single Savior dies before they enter our domain, all hope for Calencia is lost."
Her tentacle wrapped around his neck several times. He tugged at the fleshy appendage, attempting to break free of her unloving embrace. His feet dangled above the ground.
Mother realized that she was showing Hasbarie too much tough love and released her hold on him.
Hasbarie collapsed onto the ground and clutched at his throat. He blinked his eyes repeatedly as he looked up at her. He made his way to his feet and spoke.
"If you," he cleared his throat. "If you ever treat me like that again, I promise I will destroy us both."
He could hear Mother's heart beating throughout the Onock. Its walls thumped with each pump.
"I am sorry, my son, but you frighten me when you speak that way," Mother said, stroking his head. "Is a Mother not permitted to fear for her son?"
"I suppose," Hasbarie scoffed.
"You know that I would never harm you. I just worry about you. Without a crystal, your life-force will dwindle away if you wander from the Onock. Any mother would react the same," she said.
"You are right, Mother. I acted foolishly." He kissed her tentacle. "Can you forgive my stupidity?"
"Hasbarie, you never need to ask for my forgiveness. I am your mother, and a mother can never stay mad at her child for long," she replied.
"This has all been very frustrating," Hasbarie told her. "The Saviors are proving more capable than I believed. I underestimated them once before. I will not do the same this tim
e."
"Do not worry, my son. They will fall. We are much stronger than before and becoming much more so every day. Stop dwelling on lost battles. A war is not won during a single encounter. The plan is in place. They do not understand. You should focus your energy on the next task at hand," Mother told him.
"Fogarth," The Dark Wizard said with an ever widening smile.