“
I
hate this place,” Prince Lewis said.
He, Leodor, and Leah were in the crypts underneath the largest of the Sects cathedrals in the city of Burgess. It was the same crypt where Leodor had arranged a meeting with Arcayis the Underlord before. He swiped his hand through a cobweb. “Please get on with it quick. I prefer the company of the living and not the dead.”
Leah moseyed through the temple’s underbelly with a seductive gait. She bent over and lifted a very tall candlestand. “I like gruesome places. I walk by a sarcophagus and wonder how a person died. After all, death is my business.”
Lewis opened his arms to the woman, who crossed the room and filled his arms with her body. He kissed her deeply. “It’s so very comforting to have you by my side again, Raschel. It was a shame to put an end to Leah. I was very fond of her. But I’m much fonder of the crown.”
Giggling delightedly, Raschel opened her hand and showed off the ring on her finger. “Yes, the Ring of Tarsus makes my evil deeds so much easier to execute. Literally. You should have seen your former love when I drained the life from her bones and took it for my own. Talk about gruesome.”
“If the two of you are quite finished bragging about your exploits, I could use your hands over here,” Leodor said. The older mystic tugged on a great cloth hanging over a very tall mirror. “It’s snagged.”
Lewis and Raschel yanked the cloth away and dropped it on the backside of the huge mirror. Lewis snarled at the twisted figures wrought in iron around the rim. “I hate this twisted thing too.”
“I don’t know,” Raschel said as she tapped her fingernails on her chin. “I think it would look very nice in my new chambers inside the castle.”
“Yes, when you are queen, you should need a mirror that will match your ego.” Lewis put his arm around her waist, lowered his hand to her rear, and said, “And when will I get to see my ravishing Raschel again? This body is fine, but yours is much more… sensual.”
“When it is all over… and that should be soon.”
Leodor finished setting up all the candlestands. Each one had a small skull on its top. He said a mystic word, and a green flame came to life in the shape of a tiny burning imp that danced. It jumped from candle to candle until all the stands were aflame.
“Everyone stay within the triangle,” Leodor said.
Lewis and Raschel stepped inside the frame.
Leodor drew invisible symbols in the air and chanted at a feverish pace.
The trio’s reflection in the dark mirror warped and twisted. The dull colors swirled like a vortex and slowed, then a new image formed and became clear. Standing inside a cavern was a very tall hooded wraith in dark ghostly robes. A man with receding blond hair, maroon shirt, and black vest stood with a pistol on his hip. They were accompanied by a bare-chested horned halfling who bulged with muscle and smoked a cigar.
Leodor cleared his throat and made quick introductions. “I am Viceroy Leodor, once banished, now reinstated mystic of the Sect. This is Prince Lewis of Kingsland and our colleague, Raschel, from the Brotherhood of Ravens.” He bowed. “We are humbly at your service. Especially you, Great Fleece, Master of Shadows and the Sect.”
“Let’s not forget who the true master is here,” the halfling said as he ran a finger inside his collar. He huffed out a smoke ring. “I’m Big Apple, and this is Lord Hawk, leader of the Shell.” He hopped up onto a wooden crate. “Tell me all that is happening. I don’t need any more slipups like the last time.”
“Us being branded was an unforeseen circumstance, but now that King Hector has liberated us from the Brand, well”—Leodor shrugged his scrawny shoulders—“we are back in business. The moment this happened, we did not hesitate to contact you either.”
“And you were wise to do so,” Big Apple said. “So, where is King Hector now?”
Leodor chuckled. “He and Melris the Elderling are seeking counsel with the Elders. At the same time, King Hector rallies his armies. He plans to march on the Spine to roust you out once he learns of your location.”
Big Apple and Lord Hawk chuckled and grinned at one another. “Feel free to let them know exactly where we are. At the tip-top peaks at the bottom of the Spine. Let him try to march an army all of the way through South Tiotan, where we are strongest.”
“He’ll send ships,” Prince Lewis stated.
“Let him. We’ll be ready and waiting for him,” Big Apple huffed out rings of smoke. “And how is King Hector these days?”
“Everything is going according to plan. The crown’s stones are too powerful for him to manage. They are making him mad with power. The Crown of Stones’s gems are only meant for individual use or to function as a whole. Otherwise, they create a great deal of imbalance to the wielder’s mind. That is why King Hector removed the Brand from us. He was overconfident in his power. Unknowingly, he exposed himself. Still, there is the matter of the other stones. I would not be surprised if he doesn’t petition the Elders to help seek them out.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. The king can search all that he wants, but he will never find them.” Big Apple grinned impishly. “The white diamond and yellow fire gems do exist, but they are not in this world. They are secure in the other world, called Earth, and he will never find them. Heh heh heh.”
Leodor gave an approving nod. “It’s no wonder that we have not been able to locate them.”
“No, we have been working on this conquest a long time. I’ve thought of everything,” Big Apple said. “I can’t believe that King Hector is so delusional that he wants to invade my home. This couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. The old fool rushes to his death. But feel free to kill him at your earliest opportunity.” He looked at the assassin, Raschel. “I’m sure you’ll have a dozen opportunities between now and then.”
“Dozens, actually,” she said. “I’m only waiting on the perfect moment to strike.”
Prince Lewis pushed forward. “And the Crown of Stones—what is to become of it?”
“That is not something that you need to concern yourself with,” Lord Hawk said. He had his thumbs hitched in his gun belt. “We’ll take care of the crown. After all, there will be a new king ruling all of Titanuus.”
Prince Lewis puffed up and said, “But I get Kingsland and the House of Steel. That is the arrangement, correct?”
“You will have your little castle and the southern tip of the lands,” Big Apple said. “Things will happen so fast it will hardly matter. A new era comes to Titanuus. It will be amazing.”
“And what about these otherworlders that are invading? What are their plans?”
Big Apple shrugged. “We’ll guide them as we please. The important matter is securing the functionality of the Time Tunnel and the other portals.”
“I thought the King’s Steel that I sent you was more than enough to get it working,” Prince Lewis said.
“Oh, it’s an ample supply, but the more we have, the longer we can keep the tunnel open, the more we can make. The process is almost perfected,” Big Apple said.
“Almost?” Prince Lewis stated. “I’d assume it was finished.”
“The tunnel is, but there is still one part that the men of my world have not mastered. But I think they have almost figured it out. That’s why we still need Abraham Jenkins and Ruger Slade alive. They hold the key,” Big Apple said. The image in the mirror warped. He glared up at Fleece. “Can’t you keep it open longer?”
The towering figure clad in dark wavy robes slowly shook his head.
“This will be the last time we have to speak,” Big Apple said. “Let us lure King Hector into a false sense of security. Lead him right to us in the peaks. We’ll leave a trail to our location. Once you make it to the lair, we will see you there. Oh, and bring the sword too. Our new alliance would like a trophy.”
“What about the Elders?” Leodor asked. “Is it not possible that they will help?”
“Those monsters? I hardly think so. They are very selfish, but one never knows. If they get involved, we will be ready,” Big Apple said.
“And Ruger Slade? What do we do with him?”
“After we kill the king, we’ll deal with him later. Let him rot in his cell for now.”
“And the Henchmen?” Prince Lewis asked.
“Pfft,” Big Apple laughed. “They are useless without their leader.”
The images in the mirror faded.
The bright candles went out.
As the trio of villains covered the mirror, Prince Lewis smirked and said, “I just can’t wait to be king.”