Sons of Ironstorm - Book 1: Griffon's Rise

Chapter 26: Dark Powers

"And with Dark Powers did they fight against the Elves,

Magic puissant and malicious girded their loins.

Already under their boot Humans, Muraan and Quada,

Mortal races subjugated by their evil and might.

Servants of the Evil One, Masters of an Empire of Blood."

- from the Kata Na'Sylvinor pel'Elva, the Elven Histories

Bren smiled coldly as he peered through the ruined door into what was left of Urud's study. The chamber in which he and the heavyset rebel leader had watched the ambush at Drell's Gap had been nearly completely destroyed by Jerald's invading army. Pieces of what had been furniture still flickered with the flames that had gutted it. Along with the rest of the Usurper's sprawling palace, his rebel capital and most of the province, if his scouting reports were anything close to accurate.

It wasn't surprising that the rebels had been so utterly defeated, only that it had taken Jerald so long to do it. From his observations, Bren noted the Ironstorm king was one of the most powerful and intelligent commanders the sorcerer had ever known, bested only by his sire, the legendary Silvermane. Besides, Urud was a fool and an imbecile. He deserved to eke out the rest of his life rotting in the dungeons of Tal Morun.

The smile abruptly vanished. Unfortunately Urud's demise also meant Bren's plans were temporarily on hold. While his magic was still strong, it was nowhere close to what he needed to try taking over the human territories by himself. The skeletal sorcerer still needed an ally, someone in a position of power with a military force he could take advantage of. Bren folded thin arms over an equally thin chest as he mulled that over.

With the Westmarch crushed, that didn't leave too many nations strong enough to provide Bren with the alliance and resources he needed. The Scattered Kingdoms were certainly out of the question, still embroiled in the chaos that destroyed the Cadremoor with civil war. And the major kingdoms of the Hammer Peninsula weren't much better, the only possibilities worth considering currently reeling from assaults by a Talemonese army led by General Garth.

If they weren't fighting Talemon, they were battling her two allies, Galental and Mamra, both significant powers in the region. And he doubted the plans he had put into motion there would bear fruit quickly enough to weaken those two sufficiently to gain allies there.

That left the nations of the Chain Islands, remnants of the proud people that managed to stay free of the Crimson Empire and engineer its downfall with the creation of the Cadremoor alliance, culminating in the Wizards' War. The thin sorcerer couldn't help his grimace at that memory; if it hadn't of been for the Cadremoor and Charon's wizards, he'd still be sitting on the Throne of Blood, center of power in the Crimson Empire. A throne he still intended on rebuilding and sitting on once again, a new Crimson Empire around him and his enemies kneeling at his feet, awaiting their deaths by torture.

"So," he rasped in his dead voice, "that leaves me with nothing."

His words still hanging in the burnt-tasting air, Bren paused as he felt a presence draw near through the ruins of Urud's palace. It was Agdin, one of his acolytes.

"I told you I wasn't to be disturbed in my musings, Agdin," he hissed tautly as the robed mage, bowing deeply, stepped into the shattered hallway he was standing in. "You best give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now for your lack of obedience."