Empire Of Souls 168 Gifts From Beyond 2

"You use the word 'mortal' a little too much. I don't know exactly who you two are. I am just an ignorant Barbarian after all, and if it wasn't for my master, I would have died as such. That doesn't mean that I will sit here and allow you to continue to look down on my people. We 'mortals' as you say may be weak, but we have the potential for greatness. What can those of you who only see things from the top understand about us, who have to crawl from the dirt? You may be stronger than me now, but that is only temporary." 

Grobak had steeled his nerves and his anger was showing. Although he knew these two were more powerful than him and might kill him for his words said in anger, but his rage wouldn't allow him to back down. Anathema eyed Grobak with killing intent and was about to lash out at him, but she was held back by Cladem. Cladem was much more calm and he eyed Grobak with appreciation rather than anger.

"You are an interesting mortal. I can see the fire of ambition in you and the spirit of a warrior. I can respect that. My apologies if we seemed disrespectful. It wasn't meant in such a way, it is a matter of perspective."

Anathema smacked away the hand that had been holding her back and said with anger, "We do not owe him an apology or an explanation. You would lower yourself Cladem? We are Da.."

"Silence. Regardless of what we are, we have our mission to complete. Even if we can not see eye to eye with them, we should be a little more tactful. There is no need to show disdain to those who struggle with all they have. There is honor in this. You children of Conquest are always like this, it is in your nature so I am not asking you to change. Just be mindful of why we are here. In the end, we all will return to nothingness and there will be no distinction between any of us."

Anathema glared at Grobak before turning away, "Fine. I will try to be more…. understanding."

Grobak's eyes scanned the two of them back and forth with some confusion. He didn't really understand what they were talking about or their strange manner of speaking which was much more formal than he would expect from two such powerful beings. At the least he found Cladem to be tolerable, Anathema not so much.

What really astonished him was their size and bearing. Both Cladem and Anathema were tall enough that their heads reached Grobak's chest while he was mounted atop the Giant Wolf. The Giant Wolf was already quite large in size and Grobak was not small himself. This put them easily at over ten feet tall or greater, as large as the Ogres among the Barbarians. However, while Ogres looked like large, uncivilized brutes, these two had a majestic and refined bearing. Grobak remembered these weren't their true forms and he could only imagine what they must be like. Nonetheless, he truly admired their bearing and poise. It was something he himself aspired to have, being the n.o.ble Orc that he knew was somewhere deep inside him.

With a shake of his head, Grobak grinned once more. He had been angry at their words, but he was suddenly reminded of the ten thousand souls from the Advanced cla.s.s beings that were housed in his body. Once he returned to his master with this gift, he would surely be rewarded. This put him in an excellent mood and he chuckled.

"I think you two don't realize what a great gift you have given my master indeed! Hahaha!"

This shift in his mood was too sudden, "Is there something special about it? Just a bunch of insects that were easily crushed. Could your master not even do this much?"

Anathema didn't hold back her sneer, only to be reprimanded by Cladem once again. She just shrugged and continued to walk beside the Giant wolf.

Grobak scowled, but nothing could erase his sudden good mood. He was imagining what kind of rewards he might get. Nonetheless, he couldn't let the slight pa.s.s.

"What do you know? My master is unfathomable! If he were here, these few sc.u.m wouldn't even last a moment. You two are powerful, but do not think that my master is any weaker. I would advise you to show a little more respect, you should know that he is watching everything even now."

"He's not wrong, Anathema show some respect. Have you already forgotten our master's words? Although you children of Conquest are too brazen and easily irritable, you should learn an ounce of restraint. Your master would not be pleased if your words and actions lead to us being misunderstood. Also, we do not know much about this master of his. We have only heard a few things and have come to see for ourselves his true nature. A display of your master's strength would be an excellent suggestion Grobak. We are beings who respect strength, whether they be friend or foe. It is all the same to us. You should ask him to provide us with some friendly compet.i.tion, this would go a long way in earning our respect."

Anathema grunted, but this was a tacit acceptance of Cladem's words. She realized she was being too irritable, but the entire trek to this mortal plane had been both tiresome and filled with many frustrations. It was bad enough that she had to come to such a place and serve a mortal, but they had even lost two of their companions in the process and had been hounded through numerous levels of h.e.l.l.

"I am looking forward to seeing this master of yours." She finally said and Grobak grunted with satisfaction.

"Don't worry. He has already seen you, and you will see him soon enough. When the time comes, don't cream yourself when you witness his majesty!"

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

Even Cladem didn't interfere this time and Anathema gave Grobak a good beating, much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of Grobak's warriors. Even though they were amused, they pretended like they hadn't seen anything. The sight of their chief being beaten by more powerful females had become an almost common sight to them.

As for the Barbarian newcomers, they were witnessing Grobak's bad luck when it came to females for the first time, and they weren't sure how to react. They were smart enough to follow along with the others who were pretending not to see anything after seeing that murderous look Grobak kept flinging in their direction, even as he was being beaten black and blue.

____________

"Aleks, why are you frowning? Did something happen?"

Aleks turned to look at Lenia as the two stood overlooking the ongoing construction within the center of their new capital city. Although they called it their capital, it wasn't yet anything so grand. However, from seeing all of the ongoing construction and the skeletal frame of future buildings, one could see the eventual grand scope of this future capital city. There were many slaves, servants and laborers moving around rapidly and completing their work with diligence. With a frightening DemiG.o.d in their presence, who would dare slack off?

"It's nothing. Grobak's temper has gotten him into a bit of trouble again. Which reminds me. I have noticed lately that my maids have been slowly replaced, is that your doing Lenia?"

Lenia suddenly became fl.u.s.tered and red with slight embarra.s.sment. Although in front of her soldiers she had built up a reputation as an ice cold commander with little tolerance for any disobedience or failure, in front of Aleks she had always been different. She still couldn't shake that timidness she felt when around him even though she had been trying hard to overcome it.

"I don't know what you mean.." she finally blurted out.

"Why did you do it?"

Seeing that Aleks already knew the truth, she didn't deny it any longer.

"I found more suitable servants, befitting of your status." she answered with shyness.

Aleks only stared at her, his expression hidden beneath the mask. This only made her more nervous and embarra.s.sed.

"Don't do it again."

"Yes master! I mean, yes Aleks!"

Aleks waved it off, "Things went well with Grobak, but I am concerned about the Dragon twins. Their time limit is up and I haven't heard anything as of yet from them."

"Could they have betrayed us?" asked Lenia with concern.

"No, it is most likely that they have run into some trouble. With the Dragon King having submitted to me, there is no way they would turn against me. They are young and arrogant. It is not difficult to imagine that after encountering difficulties, they would try to resolve it by themselves. Didn't you see how eager they were to prove themselves?"

Lenia nodded, "Then what should we do? Should I have the army prepare to move out?"

"I will consult with Lariel first."

Aleks replied before walking back towards his palanquin. 

Lenia watched him go and didn't follow, she was still feeling embarra.s.sed by his chastis.e.m.e.nt.

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?"

A voice startled Lenia and Nelay appeared from somewhere unseen.

"Shut up, I don't want to hear it."

Nelay scoffed, "Well, I don't blame you. Even if your motives were foolish, not just anyone deserves to be by our master's side."

Lenia turned around to stare icily at Nelay, "And are you the one that deserves to be by his side?"

Nelay shrugged, "Maybe."

The two women glared daggers at each other, but they soon both stormed off. Lenia returned to her soldiers while Nelay disappeared once more.