To Hell and Back (Hellworlder pirates)

Ch38 Schemes

Schemes

Sk'tharc flapped gracefully up to Kazlum's side, "My lord, we have noticed movement on the Hellworlders side of things. I think they are plotting something."

"That is to be expected" Kazlum said bored as he watched the scene below him. He had purchased a few healthy-looking slaves and set them loose in a pit to be preyed upon by some of his favorite pets. Their screams and pleas were satisfying to his ears. "Who have they contacted?"

Sk'tharc ruffled her feathers "Everyone, even our own council men"

This peaked his interest, he turned one of his eyes to face her "Have you spoken with them?"

"Yes, they assure me that they weren't swayed the least by what the Hellworlders had to say. But my spies have noticed some unusual 'gifts' being wired to their accounts, and Kiret disappeared for a couple of hours last night and was unable to account for the missing time. He says that he can't remember where he went, but I believe he is lying."

Kazlum turned his attention back to the pit below as he pondered what this meant, only one slave remained. A filthy and haggard human man, he stared down the remaining beasts and clutched the broken bone he had used to slay his other pets. The man let out a roar and rushed the remaining beasts.

"Have Keret and Bekki replaced, it doesn't matter whether the Hellworlders were ale to make them turn traitor or not. They are replaceable and any attempt to turn my own tools against me should be treated as an insult. Who is in line to replace them?"

"The humans Riley and Cassady, the gifts you received from Domnall. But I fear that using them in this particular case might be against our best interests."

Kazlum chuckled "Do not concern yourself with him, Domnall is a small fish in a big pond. He may have established his own little dominion over the Great Hollow, but he is little more than an old man desperately trying to hold together what little power and control he has. He exists only at my behest, if I had wanted I could have had him dealt with, and he knows this. We have nothing to fear from him"

"As you wish" she said softly.

There was a roar from the ring down below as the human pushed his makeshift bone spear into the chitinous creatures brain. It pulled its spear out of the dead creature and turned towards Kazlum, it did a strange twisting motion as it launched the fragmented bone across the arena. It landed in the center of Kazlum's chest, and the pitiful little creature had the gall to look smug.

Kazlum let out a huff as he rose from his throne and leapt high into the air to land before the little human who didn't even reach as far as his knee. The humans eyes widened, and it tried to leap through the gap in between Kazlum's legs to get behind him. But before he had even taken a single step Kazlum's tentacles shot down and wrapped around the little creature and lifted it off the ground to bring it up to his eyes

"You know" Kazlum said softly, his words dripping with cold menace "I would have let you live to fight in my pit another day, I may have even given you some females as a prize for you continued existence"

The man struggled and looked Kazlum head on "Go feck yerself, ya big ugly fucker" and spit in his face.

Kazlum didn't give the spiteful little creature another second of life, he lifted his head and brought the creature to his toothy maw and bit its head off. He did it all so fast that the man didn't even have time to scream. He tossed the body to the side of the pit with disdain as he walked back over to Sk'tharc. "Have the Hellworlders made any other moves worth noting?" he asked as the teeth within his throat shredded the head apart before swallowing it.