Cold Blooded

Chapter 15

It wasn't long until Nerugo was waltzing his way back towards Eiras cell with two guards accompanying him, he took the keys and unlocked the door. "Come now, dear. We don't want to be late, now do we?" He said in a weird, overly friendly tone. Eira raised a brow, "Late for what, sir?" She asked nervously, thinking it was another nasty experiment. The smug man opened the door and motioned for her to come out, "The Dark Lord has issued an important meeting, we must attend. You're coming as my special guest" he explained. Eira said nothing and walked out of her cell. She walked with Nerugo and the guards and soon they found themselves in the throne room with all the other children. The Dark Lord sat in a large black and purple throne shrouded in a dark shadow that obstructed the details of his face. Beside his throne stood a familiar head of red hair, it was Russell. He looked a little older now, but overall he had the same Russell look. Nerugo moved Eira through the large group of children and placed her against the wall near the throne with a few other children. Russell stood blank faced as The Dark Lord began to speak, "So these are our finalists! Such a strong, powerful group we've ended up with. You should all be very proud of yourselves!" He started, "Now, as all of you know, the rebellious nature shown by some of you is still very much a thing after all these years. So, we've been working on some obedience techniques for a while now. They have proven to be quite effective so we're ready to put them into effect for the rest of you. Some of our success stories are lined up just over here, Numbers 345, 1921, 878, 445, 900, and 121!" The Dark Lord explained, gesturing over to where Eira and some of the other kids stood against the wall. "And of course, Russell here, who has probably shown the best results!" He started again, placing a hand onto the young boys shoulder, "Which brings me into my next point. Russell has been promoted to my new Right Hand" he exclaimed. Nerugo's eyes went wide and his face went red with anger. He stormed up the steps that led up to The Dark Lords throne, "Sir! This is absolutely ridiculous! I have been by your side for years, I'm trustworthy and loyal! HE .... He is just a child!" Nerugo shouted angrily at the sitting man, "Watch your tone, Nerugo! Unless you would like to settle this with Russell on the battlefield!" The Dark Lord answered sharply. Nerugo's face went pale white and his breath got caught in his throat as Russell stared him down from the other side of the throne. Nerugo swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly backed away down the stairs, "You know ... you're right, sir.. it's your decision" he stammered. The Dark Lord huffed, "I apologize, children. Now, let me wrap up our meeting with my final point. Russell here will be a new challenge added to your trials and a new punishment if you misbehave. Hopefully this'll encourage you to try your best and not become disobedient like some others we've had in the past." He explained as he stood from his throne and looked at the sea of children before him. He smiled evily down at them, "I wish you all the very best of luck for the near future, young ones.
You are all such valued mechanisms of our fine tuned machine, I would hope not to see anyone try to break us." He said ominously