Impossible Retribution

[McIan]

Damian felt the rumbling sound of magic power pulsating at his feet, below him, on a lower level of his castle. For the first time in a long, long, time he felt afraid. He believed he knew the source of the sound and he did not like it at all. He hurried from the rooftop of his castle where he had been watching another of the many rituals and oblations to the powers of darkness he served, the anti-virtues, they may be called… one, in particular… and he headed quickly downward.

He was too late.

A gate had opened into his very castle, one he believed to be impregnable. No outside, hostile, force had ever been able to penetrate within. All who had tried had been frustrated and quit, or persisted and were destroyed.

He found himself surrounded by a quartet of dark elves. He started to call for his guards but he saw them lying insensible, if not lifeless, upon the floor in the great hall… even his brute guard lay prostrate. Several poisoned darts hit him at once but he merely brushed them away, the poison doing nothing to him. But that was only the preliminaries. A mix of powerful spells, cast by powerful mages, much stronger at it than he, immobilized him. He tried to assume a gaseous form as his vampire powers endowed him at such times, but that failed too. They had come prepared for anything he tried, for they knew him well; he had bartered with them on many occasions, and they had actually aided in the castle’s construction. He merely smiled.

That was my first mistake!

Damian did not recognize the drow as they had covered their faces in the darkened cowls of their hoods, but he did know a voice – Grand Master Rassitor, when he spoke to him. “You were a fool not to have prepared for our coming, brother. Your little plan failed. Oh yes, you managed to have many of us eliminated, but once we take you back and you confess to your treachery, WE will gain the upper hand. Matron DeBleiss will have failed and will be branded a traitor for having allowed our enemies to enter the city to do her bidding.”

Damian could not speak, but he said it all with his eyes. I will confess nothing, drow!

As if reading his mind, the Grand Mage approached him, stabbing him just short of his heart with a wooden stake. One small push and his unnatural life would end. “You will confess! If you do, you will live. If not, you will die, never to return. We will remove your head and burn your flesh. Think on it. Seek no escape. I am just as happy to kill you as see the Matron die.”

They bound him both physically and magically, sealing his mouth as well, so that he could cast no spells.

For the first time in a millennia, the Elder, Scaramandine, knew fear.

 

[McIan]

Enemy Within

Matron DeBleiss, accompanied by her court advisors, strode purposefully through the halls of her mansion in Targrancimon, the drow city. First, she had been summoned to appear before a court of her peers to answer criminal charges, and it was no request. Then she had received word from her spies that a witness had been found who would testify in that court that she had allowed enemy soldiers from Undithal into the city – a high treasonable offense. Even though she had the strongest position of all the other matriarchs in the city, she was heavily outnumbered when pitted against the rest of the drow Houses, all of whom despised her mightily. This could mean the end of her and House DeBleiss.

“Who is this person and where is he being kept?” she asked one of her priestesses, an older female named Obdani. “He must be found and slain. It must look like suicide as well,” she added.

“We are searching for him now. We think he is being detained in the Mage school,” Obdani replied. “We still have one spy among them who might be able to get to him.”

They entered an expansive chamber, its walls adorned with gilded tapestries that glimmered even in the diffused light. A throne made of expensive, rare, soft wood gathered from the surface world, made comfortably plush by velvet dyed purple, was her destination. She sat down heavily on it and faced her advisors. She reminisced for a moment, thinking how wonderful it had felt to first sit down in the chair having framed and destroyed its previous occupant so brilliantly.

“I am sure it is that rivvil who involved me in his vengeful plot.”

“Word has it that he is no rivvil any longer, Matron… but drow himself,” Obdani corrected timidly.

DeBleiss paused for a moment. “I was not sure why he solicited us for his little plot but now it becomes clear: he sought vengeance on the mages for having duped him. They are a clever, humorous lot. Wish that we had completed the job of destroying them all!”

Obdani never understood her mistress’s obsession to destroy the males of Sorcere, since without them and their formidable skills, the city would be quite vulnerable to attack. She merely nodded.

“Find our spy and order him to kill the witness! Hold his family hostage until he succeeds. I must appear before the council in two days. See that the witness dies before then… and be sure it appears as a suicide!”

Obdani bowed and departed to make contact with the spy.

 

[McIan]

Striking a Deal

The cell in which Damian was housed was made special for beings like he. There were some wards that even he did not recognize and when broken, not only inflicted intense pain, but replenished themselves immediately. Further, attempts to defuse them only resulted in their activation once more. He soon learned they were put there to induce docility… but that was not in his nature.

This is humiliating! Who would have dreamed four Drow could have brought me down so easily! It is my own fault; no one should ever imagine themselves entirely secure!

He sat on a small bed, the item least needed by him. He pulled back the woven sheet to reveal a thin layer of rancid earth, taken from his coffin at the castle.

They even thought of that!

The door to his room was two-inch thick adamantine, the hardest metal known. It had a thin window-slit which was kept covered. The walls, ceiling and floor of the room were all adamantine also, but there were no sharp corners as they blended together seamlessly. It was as if it had been poured into the room as liquid and then allowed to harden. It was also a dead-magic zone, making spellcasting impossible. Furthermore, when he tried to change forms as his vampiric skills and necromancy spells allowed, he was instantly jolted by waves of electricity, rendering him incapacitated for a few moments. He was truly and firmly imprisoned.

The wound in his chest where Rassitor had stabbed him was healed but some pain remained. He mused on how close to real and permanent death he came. That thought aroused a new feeling in him – one of sheer helplessness; a reminder that he, too, was no god and certainly not truly immortal.

What use is vampirism? Immortality?! Bah! It’s a lie. Only gods are immortal.

He had a lot of time and with it he mused back on his deal with the godlike being in Destard which gave him his vampiric powers and longevity.

Even it lied to me. I knew then it was only using me to satisfy its immortal hunger to be entertained by something, someone… anything! Boredom plagues it. It needed not my friendship or fellowship; it only needed me for entertainment!

A comical image came to mind. He laughed out loud.

All this time I thought I was doing something important for myself, while all the time I was merely nothing more than a court jester, a clown dancing before its king!

His reverie was broken by the door opening suddenly. He looked up but did not move, knowing the wards would slow or stop any attempt to fight or flee.

“Dharzhal!” he exclaimed. “I should have known! Come to mock me?”

The dark elf who had been his friend entered the room silently. The door closed behind him and locked. “Not hardly milord. I came to entreat you to aid us. It is by my influence that you are given a reprieve. You will soon appear before a council comprised of powerful Drow. You must testify that you provided the Orb which permitted the enemy soldiery to invade the city, and that it was Matron DeBleiss who did so. I am afraid they may use spells, or worse, to ensure you speak the truth. Therefore I apologize for that pain. But we have made arrangements for your escape and return to the surface world, to your castle in fact, once that is done.”

Damian laughed. “What good is it to be released to return to a place where your people can come in and out as they please? No! I will do nothing until I am assured they cannot do this again!”

“Milord, you are in no position to barter this time,” Dharzhal reminded him.

“How was it done, then? Mayhap I can prepare my own defenses.”

Dharzhal thought for a moment. “You hired me to help build the castle, to make it impervious to outside attack. With my mage friends, we did that. What you did not request is that we make it so against inside assault. We alone have the means of entry built into it. The only way you can remove that is to destroy the castle and rebuild elsewhere.”

“Yet that would remove the protection you placed on it from outside attack… clever.”

Dharzhal nodded. “You can do that, of course. Or, you can take my word that we will never use it again, unless you give us reason to.”

Damian considered his friend’s words carefully. Relocating would take a lot of time, resources, and energy that he did not wish to expend. That, along with the loss of powerful wards, would leave him as vulnerable as anywhere else not having magical defenses.

“I agree,” he stated. “Might I ask one favor, old friend?”

Dharzhal nodded.

“Allow me to write a letter to my queen, Virani. I will only give her assurance that my detention will be brief. I imagine she is… perturbed… to find me missing. She is not… gifted… with calm and patience under duress. I don’t know what she might try to do.”

“I will ask on your behalf. I can promise you the letter will be carefully examined. Do not reveal anything that might lead her to come looking for you, or it will never reach her,” he warned.

“I can do this.”

Dharzhal bowed slightly. The door opened as if by some telepathic signal. He exited as it shut and locked behind him.

 

[McIan]

Witness Elimination

“When broken, this small sphere will illuminate the room with the light of a hundred suns. It will not burn nor start a fire, but will blind instantly and, as an additional benefit, disintegrate a vampire. Take it to his cell and cast it in. It will fit through the viewing slit,” the drow male explained, handing the object to the one to whom he was explaining its power. They had met outside the mage school, Sorcere, within a modest, out-of-the-way, building known to harbor thieves and criminal drow of all sorts.

The recipient, a drow High Mage named Kelvearn, took the item, nodding. “My Mistress will remember the deed and grant you a boon, above what I have given you,” he promised. “It will not need to look like a suicide, as she asked… for if there is no body, there is no witness.”

* * *​

The day of the trial Kelvearn finally managed to discover where Damian was being kept. His high standing allowed him some access to the cell, but he remained some distance away, hidden. That is, until a messenger in his employ came to guide away the guard standing by the door. Once he was gone, Kelvearn moved to the door, opened the slit cover, and dropped the object inside. Being totally sealed, he heard the tinkling of broken glass but could not see the expected flash of light that its destruction birthed. Every section of the room would be, within a millisecond, bathed in the light of suns, so bright that it would leech the color from every object within.

No vampire could survive that.

As he turned to hurry away, the corridor was suddenly filled with drow mages, all pointing various weapons at him.

“We have suspected you as a traitor for some time now, Kelvearn. Now we know for sure,” Dharzhal stated. “Seize him.”

Kelvearn raised his hands to surrender but smiled nonetheless. “It does not matter now. I have spared my Mistress and my House destruction. It was worth it.”

“Is it?” Dharzhal replied, his face expressionless. “You should wait until after your fate is decided before you say that. You might change your mind.”

Kelvearn’s smirk vanished. “Why?”

Dharzhal pointed toward Damian’s cell door. “Put him inside and lock the door,” he ordered. The acolytes obeyed. Once the door opened, Kelvearn saw Damian sitting on his bed, staring at him. Kelvearn, eyes wide with horror, turned to look at Dharzhal. “How??!! How did he survive?!!”

“Then you now admit you tried to kill him.”

Damian rose from his bed. “Who is this fool?” he asked. “Why is he here?”

The mages bound Kelvearn’s hands and shoved him inside.

Dharzhal peered in, looking at them one after the other. “He is dinner,” and closed the door.

A grim smile crossing his face, Damian then bared his fangs.

Dharzhal heard Kelvearn’s gurgled cry. A part of him felt pity, but it quickly dissipated. He was tired of being taken for a fool. Every mage worth his salt should have known that a dead magic zone defeated all magic, including that of sun globes… for certain every would-be assassin should… that is, unless he did not know that was the case.

 

[McIan]

The Verdict

“It is done, Mistress,” Kelvearn stated, standing in the presence of Matron DeBleiss. “The witness is dead. It appears as a suicide. You now have nothing to fear from a summons,” he added.

“Afraid?! Who’s afraid? But good work my servant,” replied the Matron, sitting back in her throne. “You shall be rewarded once this is over.” She waved him away. “Go now and fulfill your part at the trial. It is distasteful, but necessary. When they find out Dharzhal is among them, at the trial no less, they will catch on and arrest them all. We shall still turn this to our advantage,” she explained.

“I live only to serve House DeBleiss.” He affirmed, before bowing and leaving to attend the trial.

* * *​

Matron DeBleiss had refused to see the officials sent to escort her to the trial. It was not normally done as the act would surely count against her. She was relying on Kelvearn’s testimony to reverse the charge of high treason back upon the mages themselves for harboring the renegade, Dharzhal. But she reasoned, correctly, that for her to be there would make her vulnerable to immediate arrest if anything fell through. Therefore, she lied, feigning serious illness, to remain aloof.

The court convened. The charges were read. Witnesses were called. Damian took the stand. He did so with a calm, confident, attitude, convinced that Dharzhal would not have lied to him about his freedom if he testified against the Matron.

“State your name,” the prosecutor ordered.

“Damian Racsen, though when I was hired by… the Matron… my name was Scaramandine.”

“Move to strike that!” the lawyer for the Matron interjected. “He must first be made trustworthy. I propose he receive the proper methods to ensure he is not lying, as is my client’s right to insist.”

“Despite the fact that your client, in not being present, has shown contempt for these proceedings?” the prosecutor retorted.

“It is her right,” the lawyer insisted. “When he is shown to be a liar, her wisdom in remaining in bed, sick at home, instead of being dragged here like a criminal, will be vindicated.”

The judges conferred in whispers briefly and then agreed to the request. The ranking judge motioned to an attendant nearby. The drow moved to Damian and offered him a vial of liquid. “Drink this,” he ordered.

Dharzhal had told Damian that there would be pain, and the nature of it. He therefore did not hesitate but imbibed the bitter substance. He had some resistance to poisons and other noxious chemicals but this was unlike any he had tasted. Being used to mesmerizing others, he now found himself in that condition. But that did not help the pain in his stomach, which grew worse by the minute.

“State your name,” the prosecutor repeated.

“Scaramandine, the Elder. But since the change, I am Damian Racsen.”

“This change. How was it affected?”

“Mages from Sorcere aided me in becoming… fleshly, and alive. The price was my human form. Clearly I am now Drow, like all of you.”

Moving quickly, the prosecutor continued. “Have you ever communicated with Matron DeBleiss?

“Yes, I corresponded and met with her personally.”

“Where and when?”

“In my castle on Malas, the surface world. This was some months ago.”

“What was the substance of that conversation?”

“I asked her to help me take revenge on the High Mages of Sorcere for changing me into drow. She told me she would help me do that as she wanted them… most of them… destroyed also. I am skilled in the creation and enchantment of crystals and gems into orbs of power. I made two of them, exactly alike. I gave one of them to her and its twin was sent to the mages at Sorcere. She knew they were linked and intended to use hers.”

“What else did she say?”

“She told me she would give hers to an unnamed ally from Undithal. The orbs were linked but also timed. When the time ran out, they would open a gate to each location of the other. She said when that happened, Undithallian troops would enter Sorcere and wipe out that ‘nest of traitors’ for her. Their price was whatever magic items they could haul away.”

The prosecutor turned to the council. “This accounts for the body of a dead Undithallian soldier whom they missed in carrying back to their city with the rest of their losses. Besides that, we have several witnesses who survived and can corroborate this evidence. They have already given their testimony, that which gave rise to these charges against House DeBleiss.”

The DeBleiss lawyer stood up in protest. “This is all a monumental lie, orchestrated by her enemies! It is no less than a pathetic sham, a conspiracy, to defame and damage House DeBleiss! I motion to dismiss this case immediately. The evidence is totally lacking.”

The prosecutor waited until he finished. “We are not finished here. There are other witnesses,” he said.

“The proceedings will continue,” the chief judge dismissed the motion.

The lawyer saw his chance to turn the tables. “We have a witness ourselves! One who will confirm all this as a blatant attempt to discredit House DeBleiss. He himself is a High Mage and overheard the entire plot unfold within Sorcere.” With melodramatic flourish, he extended his hand to a door to his right. As if on cue, it opened.

Kelvearn stepped in, smiling, and moved toward the witness stand.

* * *​

“Mistress! We are surrounded! There are a thousand troops stationed around us! What shall we do?!” the drow Captain cried as he rushed into Matron DeBleiss’ throne room uninvited and unannounced… something he knew to be punishable by death.

The Matron rose suddenly out of her chair, her worst fears realized. “Position our warriors along the walls; prepare for an attack!”

“Most have fled, surrendering themselves, hoping to be spared,” he replied. It was clear his morale was completely shattered in the face of hopeless odds and a lost cause. “It appears High Mage Rassitor is among those leading them. He has asked to address you.”

“I will not speak to that iblith! I order you to go out under pretense and kill him yourself!”

“I will be dead long before I reach him, Mistress!” he protested.

“If you defy my order you will be dead sooner!” she threatened, glaring at him hatefully.

He hesitated and then bowed, leaving the room. Followed by her primary retainers, she stepped upon a teleportation tile which took her to the pinnacle of her tower where she could see if his words were true.

It was worse than she feared. She saw the banners of all the other houses visible among the myriads of drow soldiery and mages. Clearly, they had come to bury her and her House.

Not without a fight, you won’t!

She still had strong forces at her command; many who did not believe they could find mercy if they surrendered. They had steeled themselves, preparing for the coming onslaught that they knew none of them would survive.

Appearing suddenly behind her was Kelvearn. Noting his arrival she turned to speak to him. “What happened at the trial?! How can this be?! Did they not believe your testimony?!”

He approached her slowly. “That they did, Mistress. They believed ever word of it.”

She pointed to the massed army below. “Then why this?!!”

“They believed me when I told them all of your entire plan, beginning to end, and they decided to expunge the traitor among them,” he calmly explained. “You!”

Her eyes widened with a mixture of horror and fury. Before she could speak or react further, he was upon her. Taking her by the throat with one hand, he picked her up and tossed her over the rampart. She fell, screaming all the way down, only silenced when her body struck the ground with a resounding crunch of breaking bones. The rest of her retainers froze momentarily but when a few moved toward Kelvearn, he vanished into a mist which dissipated quickly.

Her Captain who went outside witnessed her apparent suicide and immediately surrendered his forces, despite knowing there would be a massive purging and scattering of the few members of House DeBleiss who survived it.

High Mage Rassitor smiled inwardly. He and his allied mages, loyal to the Black Prince, had triumphed over an insufferable, relentless, enemy. That prince, still incognito at his side, leaned over and whispered into his ear. Rassitor nodded in agreement. Dharzhal departed quickly to pay a visit to his former master.

 

[McIan]

Bartered Freedom

“You are both free to go,” Dharzhal stated. “You have my… our… good wishes. I am sorry it had to be this way, but I know for certain it could have been much, much, worse. Our people are not known for forgiveness. It took much even for me to permit this to happen. I do not ask for thanks even if I imagined I would receive it. All I ask is that you never again seek to intrude upon the affairs here. Revenge is the delight of all drow and if you play it with them, at some point in time, you will lose. If you do not believe me, just ask Matron DeBleiss.”

Damian stood alongside Kelvearn, his new vampire convert, the one he had made and directed to betray his Mistress. “Where is she now?”

Kelvearn answered. “I think she is being cleansed from the pavement outside her domicile.”

Damian’s eyebrows raised as he looked at him. “Your handiwork, perchance?”

Kelvearn nodded. “She was as light as a feather,” he commented. “But she did not fall like one,” he added, a devilish smile crossing his face.

Dharzhal suppressed a grin. “His act of eliminating her was instrumental in saving the lives of many. The battle would have been long and costly. As it stands, many of House DeBleiss have been spared her fate, including Kelvearn himself.”

“Then I, too, aided in saving lives,” Damian noted, “as I instructed him to rebel against his former Mistress.”

“You did. We hoped you would, but we did not expect it. In choosing that course, the balance of your life swung in favor of life. I made sure you got the credit for her demise, at least among my peers in the academy,” Dharzhal admitted. Then he stated, “As for your journey back, we cannot gate you to the surface, but we can send along an escort if you wish?”

Damian shook his head. “I can manage myself. It will take some time, but I will find my way home.”

“What of me, master? Shall I go with you?” Kelvearn asked him.

Damian paused to consider the question.

Dharzhal spoke up. “Sadly, he cannot stay here. His… needs… would eventually overcome his good sense and he would be destroyed,” Dharzhal explained. “He must go with you at least to the surface. I will bring the soil he must have to your castle using “our” special means… which must remain a secret from you. I still know my way around, and the passwords to the wards. I will not take anything nor tarry, I swear.”

Damian nodded. “Very well, he shall go with me. I can find a place for him. What of you? Will you ever return?”

“I will remain here until I am certain all things go well. There are still some enemies and suspicions. However, it may be that I return to the surface world someday. Time will tell.”

Damian placed his hand on Dhar’s shoulder, and he did likewise to Damian… a sign of guarded friendship. Completing the gesture, Damian’s eyes narrowed. “You will keep your promise that your friends will not intrude again into my domain, nor interfere with my work, yes?”

“You have my word. Stay out of our business and we shall stay out of yours… unless it is an enterprise profitable to both of us. I will be the sole messenger, in any event.” Then he added a word of warning. “I almost forgot to tell you. One of our number, a mage named Jexmir, has vowed revenge against you. He departed for the surface world to find you and has not been seen since. He is not a High Mage, thankfully, but he can be formidable as he is gifted with precognition… his premonitions often transpire though not always. That ability would have saved us from the plot had we listened to him.”

“Thank you for the warning. I will be watching and on alert… this time,” Damian replied.

“Aluve,” Dharzhal bade them as he departed.

Kelvearn following, Damian exited the room. The moment he did, he felt a resurgence of his powers, both natural and unnatural. They shape-shifted and set out on their long journey to the surface.

~ FINIS ~