Smoke rose from the East, as the towns along the road to the Rhydian Pass lay razed from the massive horde being driven across the open plains and hillsides.
The glicks, daemons, and other creatures massacred all who stood in their path, while the fire trolls set the houses aflame. Townsfolk slept silently, motionless in pools of their blood and shit. Creatures gnawed on the remains that the horde left behind, leaving little more than piles of bones and tattered clothes lying about.
The Masked One left destruction in his wake as he went to Coltend Castle, which was now in sight. The palace gleamed in the sunlight as it always did, though what lay within was less than the cheerful place it once was. He gazed over the griffin's mighty neck, observing the devastating force beneath him.
This will end quickly, he thought.
A few hours later, he reached the eastern gate and was met by a few hooded figures who stood watch atop the high walls. He bid Oryxe to fly up to the same height as the top of the wall, and watched the figures shuffle uncomfortably in the presence of their visitor. Their cloaks fluttered in the wind produced by the massive wings.
"Mourtis is expecting me," he said, his voice enhanced by mana so he could be heard clearly. "The city has already been taken, so what business do you have here?" one of the hooded men shouted. "You have no idea who I am, do you? This all came to fruition by my hand, planning, and will. Now, where is Mourtis?" the Masked One spat back. The two men began to tremble at the realization that he was the true orchestrator of the chaos beneath them.
"He's inside, but he told us not to let anyone through," the other hooded figure said shakily. "You insolent filth, I own you and everyone inside. Now, be good, little foot soldiers and open the fucking gates!" he ordered. The hooded man flinched at the command's brusqueness and authoritarian tone. "Y-yes, my lord," he said.
The man barked the order down to the ones beneath him, who speedily opened the gates. The Masked One landed his great beast, dismounting soon after as the horde gathered behind him. He peered inside the opening gates and saw no living soul besides the hooded figures. No bustling of merchants; no stable boys chasing horses back into their stables.
The once-mighty capital of Codrean had fallen and was now little more than a husk of its former self, a dead city.
"Ah, it's good to be back," he exhaled after breathing deeply the smell of death and decay in the air, speaking to no one in particular. "Thank you, Oryxe. You may return to Valdis at your own discretion," he gave the great beast a short bow. The griffin quickly nodded its head and screeched loudly as it beat its wings, soaring quickly into the air.
The Masked One passed between the gates and spread his arms wide, letting off a disturbing cackle. The hooded figures, slowly approaching the inner rampart's barrier, began to tremble more than they ever thought possible. He looked up and noticed they were glaring at him from above, but quickly hid themselves from his gaze.
He grinned under his mask, and his eyes glowed their bright violet once more, as mana flowed from the dark sphere in the sky, enveloping him instantly. He condensed the raw mana to both his hands and outstretched them to pull the two above him. Dark tendrils of violet mana flew out like a shipmaster's whip, latching themselves onto the hooded figures and tearing them from the ground.
The two were suspended in midair for what they felt was an eternity. The Masked One lowered his hands, maintaining the spell without the need to keep his hands in the air. "Mourtis should have told you by now that I am not one to be trifled with, so why are you acting like children?" he asked, glaring at the two hooded figures who squirmed, feeling their bonds tighten around them.
"I will not have this kind of insubordination from anyone, especially not lowly foot soldiers such as yourselves. I hope you don't have families waiting for you somewhere, because this example I am about to make of you will not be painless," he said with utter darkness in his voice. The bonds were tightening and beginning to tear into flesh. "Please, my lord, forgive us!" one of the men shouted.
"Forgive you?" the Masked one asked, tilting his head to the side a little. "A parent might forgive their child for acting brashly, but as I am neither your father nor an admirable person, I never forgive," he said in a low voice, tightening the bonds even more.
The two men screamed until their eyes burst from their sockets and their tongues exploded. They gurgled their blood for a moment as they smashed into the stone floor. He quickly turned to face the hooded figures nearby, who'd gathered to see what the commotion was about. After witnessing their friends' harrowing deaths with pale faces and horrific expressions, they immediately fled in terror.
"I think that will suffice," he muttered with a hint of satisfaction, moving deeper into the city. The other figures who hadn't fled in terror left with their heads bowed low. He walked down the street, observing what had once been a bustling city, which now smelled of death and decay.
His enlarged figure cast a long shadow onto the ground beneath him that extended over the ruins as he made his way to the palace, though not a soul was to be seen along the way. Only a handful of scavenger birds and rats nibbled on the lifeless corpses still in the shadows of their homes.
He passed them without a care.
A short while later, he reached the palace steps. Another figure stepped out from behind the wall and greeted him properly, along with six others, all clad in the same dark robes as the one in front. The leader held a wooden staff with the mark of Mideia etched into it. The leader leaned heavily on it as he slowly made his way forward.
"My lord, I have done all that you have requested, and it is an honor to meet you in the flesh," Mourtis bowed briefly, then looked at the Masked One from beneath his hood, who met his gaze. "Where is the queen?" the mage asked flatly. "She managed to flee our little coup; however, one of my men struck her in the shoulder with an arrow. She will likely not survive much longer if infections take hold of the wound, my lord," he said, bowing his head low quickly.
"I ordered her not to be harmed. Do your men enjoy not following orders and suffering punishment?" the Masked One asked in a low voice as he stepped forward. "Two of your men have already had a taste of how I deal with insubordination, although neither of them will be willing to disclose that information, unless you have a necromancer among you," he said.
"The fact that she was harmed was none of my doing directly, my lord," Mourtis felt a cold chill run down his spine. "I ordered my men to leave none alive in the palace, except for the queen. She should have been captured alive and remained unblemished. It would seem as though my men are dumber than I thought," he said with a sneer directed at the others.
"The culprit will be dealt with when we find him, I guarantee it, my lord," he said with a short bow. However, the Masked One didn't say anything in return and walked past the crooked old man and the others who followed him. The dark master pushed mana into the crystal he'd taken from the socket in his saddle, and commanded the beasts to pour in from the gate, slaying the remaining hooded figures as they found them throughout the city.
"My lord! You can't do this! I told you I would find the ones responsible for her injury!" Mourtis shouted after hearing screams coming from the direction of the gate. "Your stupidity and carelessness regarding my orders will not be tolerated. I recall giving explicit orders, and now, the queen is gone. As a result of your men's insolence, the only holder of the key to get me what I came for is now gone, wounded, and will probably die sooner than I can find her," the Masked One snarled, making Mourtis blanche with fear.
"I don't care about your men in the slightest. I only needed them to extricate the ones who might have stood in my way," the Masked One said, producing a scarlet claw as he slaughtered half of the hooded figures surrounding Mourtis with a single swipe. "Now that I've made my point, show me to the throne room," he ordered. Mourtis caught up to his new master as quickly as he could, while the ones who followed him ensured none of the creatures would disturb them.