The Withered Land: Dragons and Marauders

Dragons and Marauders, Part Fifty

"Don't just stand there looking frightened and ill..., tell me something," he commanded roughly, not deigning to look his subordinate in the face.

"There's too much wreckage, too much debris. It's obvious a savage battle was fought here..."

"Is there a body? Did you discover a body?"

"No, my lord, we haven't as yet found her body. There's torn flesh, shreds ... There's blood --- everywhere. So much blood."

The big man sighed past thinned lips, his eyes squinted shut. "And the beast?"

The subordinate hesitated before answering. When he at last spoke, there was a slight quaver to his low tenor... and more than a touch of bitter regret. "The thing was actually there when first we came into the chamber. It was injured, hurt rather badly according to the reports from the guardsmen who breached the portal into the Grand Vizier's secret chambers and it was wounded, laughing around a mouthful of its own blood. It attacked them. And apparently it was not nearly so fragile a creature as we believed. Even wounded as it was, the thing slew three men, men in full battle armor carrying multi-barrel shatterbeam weapons, in mere seconds before it was repelled by a squad of Crisis Assault Troopers. It was like an animal, all fangs and talons and bloodlust. Or perhaps more like a devil. I think it was enjoying the violence. At any rate, it quickly retreated back into the remains of its shattered crystal sarcophagus and then disappeared in an explosion of hot, blinding light."

"Never mind all that. Did you find any trace of her presence? Where is she?"

"We don't know yet, my lord. There were only the pools of cooling blood. We're still searching."

Kolag Y'phree drew in a deep draught of breath and squared his wide shoulders. "Without a corpse, we assume then that she's still alive. You don't know her like I do. Her illness is not a handicap, but is instead a spur that relentlessly drives her. Her strength of will is a powerful force, it is undeniable and impossibly potent. Despite her injuries, no matter how severe they may be, Karliandras Dru'ell is still out there alive. And still dangerous. I know it. I can feel it. Double the number of men assigned to the search. Comb every building, hunt for her down every street. She is the Grand Vizier. The breadth and depth of her knowledge makes her a high-risk threat."

"What about the beast outside our city's walls? Is it wise to divert our attention away from the threat that monster poses?"

The Warlord answered with measured slowness. "The creature is under the control of forces far beyond our understanding. We don't know its true motivations. We can't waste time or resources trying to anticipate its next actions. All we can do is stay vigilant, be disciplined and organized, and be ready to defend ourselves to survive its next assault. In the meantime, we need to make sure we don't experience further sabotage and chaos from within through the vengeful actions of our rogue Vizier."

"And, if she is still alive, on the occasion that we find her," the Warlord's slender, officious subordinate began saying cautiously, "what is it you actually expect us to do with her? From what we've observed of the bloody shambles of her private sanctum, she will likely be mortally wounded or mutilated past our ability to immediately interrogate her. Of what use will she be? Frankly, I must again say that we have larger and more dire concerns..."

"For the moment, please be content to pass along the command instructions I gave you."

Nue'methnin, Kolag Y'phree's Aide de Camp, nodded and contacted his operations team leaders, proceeding to relay a curt series of orders through his armor's throat-comm. After he spoke, he leveled a querying stare at the Warlord and tilted his helmeted head emphasizing his unasked questions.