The Secret King

Deev Castle

Prince Vasheron and the Deev made their way to the inner courtyard of the fortress. Standing at its center and far older by millennia than the fortress itself was a smooth and massive marble dome. It appeared to be solid, with no entrance or egress. The dome stood about twenty feet high with a diameter of twice that. The structure stood over the portion of the fortress which spanned the crevasse in the cliff below.

Vasheron was pacing anxiously, becoming angry. His second-in-command, Taois, fumed and complained in a loud voice.
"Accursed priest. How dare he keep the Deev waiting. We should teach him a lesson, make him regret his disdain for us."

Vasheron turned to his subordinate and gave a cruel smile.
"We have been waiting for over four hundred years Taois, a few more minutes are of no concern. We need Azmeritus, he is our hope for returning home. Do not underestimate him or his acolytes, they have great power. We have underestimated sorcerers before and this land, this prison, has been the result."

"Do you think he can do what he claims?"

"I do not know for certain, but a creature does not come here voluntarily without a belief in their own power. Do not forget what he did with Deeb Shatus, that was not a parlor trick!"

Taois shuddered. He remembered when the priest and his followers arrived at Xenoth, less than a year earlier. They came from parts unknown in a longboat, fearless of the Deev whom all others held in dread.

What made the arrival especially noteworthy was, that five years earlier, the same priesthood had been long settled on Xenoth and had simply disappeared. It was assumed they had died or gone into hiding. When they returned, the Deev realized that the Brotherhood might have the means and knowledge to travel freely from the forbidden land.

Azmeritus, their leader, was an albino mongoose, lithe and ominous. He was intelligent, sly, and ambitious, a dangerous combination. Vasheron had tried to threaten and intimidate the priesthood, but Azmeritus simply laughed.

One day he had accompanied the Deev to the fortress and raised his arms to the marble dome. The Deev stood stunned as a doorway opened to the interior of the seemingly unbroachable structure.

The priest ignored the Deev completely. This infuriated a Deev named Deeb Shatus who charged Azmeritus in a fury. The high Priest removed an atomizer from his cloak and sprayed it at Deeb, who dropped instantly.

The remainder of the demon warriors stood in shocked silence as the priests filed into the dome and closed it after themselves. No Deev had ever died on Xenoth, till now. It was a shock of monumental proportions to Vasheron.

Deeb's body lay in the courtyard for a week, no Deev willing to touch it out of fear of coming in contact with whatever it was that killed their comrade.

When Azmeritus reappeared, he was accorded a respect which no Deev had ever previously shown. Vasheron and the Priest spoke for hours in private and when they reappeared, Vasheron was smiling broadly.

He never divulged the specifics of the conversation except to say that they would soon be going home. To the amazement of the Deev, Azmeritus then went to the corpse of Deeb Shatus and poured a potion into his mouth. Deeb returned to the living, though unable to speak and responding only to the High Priest.

When Deeb was seen again, he was dressed in the red robes of the priesthood and showed no sign of ever having known any of his comrades. From this point on, Azmeritus was called the 'Necromancer', more out of respect than as an insult or dismissal.