As Richard learns of the representatives letting themselves be talked out of further investigating Jagang, he was livid. Sheep! All of them! If only he had been able to attend the meeting, things may have gone differently.
Wizard's Rule #1: People are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want it to be true; or they're afraid it to be true.
Nothing could explain their actions better. Clearly it was easier to go along believing nothing was happening, that we were in a time of peace than to admit that Jagang posed a threat. A very dangerous threat.
I will deal with this, thought Richard. He had already set up a meeting with Jagang.
It was not without risk, but he knew that Jagang would want to make a spectacle of his death. He wouldn't die today.
As he enters the camp, he sees the kinds of men employed under the Imperial Order. Brutes, barbarians, savages. Thousands among thousands of tents and cookfires were spread across the valley. The size of the army was unimaginable.
As he makes his way to the center of the camp flanked with men of the First File, he sees the dirty, miserable conditions that these men live in. Fights, yelling, clatter of steel and screams of women are heard throughout the camp. It didn't matter how many men were lost, there were plenty to replace them in the Old World. The Imperial Order gave no value to individual life.
Reaching the large Leadership tent, he ducks inside passing many guards on the way in. The men of the First File waiting outside, though they were not thrilled.
There stands Jagang. With completely black eyes, he turns to look at Richard. He is short in stature and bare-chested, wearing a fur-lined vest and trousers. Gold adorned his neck fingers and head. Muscles rippled from beneath his vest. He wore a condescending smile. His hate defined him.
"Welcome" say Jagang. "Take a seat."
Richard sits in one of two leather-backed chairs beside a wooden table.
"I've come to extend a warning" Richard says grimly. "Retreat back into the Old World and the penalties will be less severe." In his mind, Jagang had already committed himself to this fight with the crimes committed and innocent lives taken. Richard wouldn't stop until he saw this man dead. But now was not the time to state it.
Jagang laughed.
"What makes you think there's anything you can do? D'Hara and the rest of the New World will fall unless they bow to the Order. Even united, you stand little chance.
It will be a new dawn for mankind, the dawn of the age of man without magic to taint men's souls. All men will rejoice to be part of the glory that is the cause of the Order. In that new world of man, all men will be equal. All men can dedicate themselves in service to their fellow man, as is the will of the Creator."
"All men have the right to choose freedom. To live their lives for themselves." says Richard as he gets up from the table. "I wanted to give you a chance before the Order is ground into the dust."
Jagang, still seated, smiled. His inky black eyes fixed on Richard. Shapes moved within his eyes, a storm brewing within him.
In an instant, one of the royal guards launched in a mad rage towards Richard. He nimbly stepped out of the way and slammed his head into a chest nearby. Though he was without his sword, he wasn't helpless. He knew it was Jagang that controlled the man for he was a Dream Walker, a deadly weapon created from a man first seen thousands of years ago. How one existed today, he didn't know.
Richard turns to leave without a backwards glance.
"You don't have much time." Jagang laughs.
As he makes his way outside of the massive camp, men of the First File falling in on each side, his only thoughts are how to get rid of this demon.
Dear spirits, how can it be done?
No one has died.
It is now
Night 6.
Night Deadline 10 PM EST. (I get to sleep in tomorrow!
😀)
Aydindril
4.
@DVMDream
5.
@devyn
Hartland
2.
@UFprevet12
4.
@Mad Jack
5.
@WildZoo
5.
@98cats
Tanimura
1.
@Cyndia
3.
@epivetlove
4.
@VetAshley2117
The People's Palace
1.
@kaydubs
2.
@Chillbo Baggins
3.
@Frozenshades
Altur'Rang
1.
@StartingoverVet
3.
@Flim Flam Man
4.
@thedrjojo
5.
@WhtsThFrequency
--------------------
Underworld
WillowLeaf - Darken Rahl
hedgiehog - Citizen of Westland
Gwenevre - Dell Brandstone (Chase)
allieh8607 - Warren
tuckervet - Denna
Ashgirl - Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander
magbags - Jensen Rahl
dyachei - Nathan Rahl
swingnsave - Verna