Lord Vilnesh threw himself heavily into his plush chair, the glass he’d been holding having shattered on the tiled floor, spilling his supposed celebratory drink everywhere. Just when he didn’t think it could get any worse, another death of a Great One hit him like a shock to his system, and he literally flinched as it threatened to put him in a temporary fugue state.

  Sitting there for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity to him, he looked over at the far wall where the half-breed’s so-called family was still in stasis, and he didn’t see the subtle mental connection that his fellow Great One, Varlera, had established with him as part of the plan.

  So, that last one was her.

  It was hard to tell who all had died, given how fast their deaths had come, one right after another, but he counted a total of 9 – which was exactly the amount he had engaged in the plan to take down his spawn. No longer did he somewhat wish he could bring the wayward half-breed into the fold in order to learn about what made him partially successful as a progeny; things had gone too far for that to be a possibility any longer.

  How did things go so wrong?

  It had been such a simple plan, too, once he got everyone on board. With the expertise of Nerin and Derlona, experts in the manipulation of Primal Essence, they had begun the process of sealing off the last remaining Calamity. Their efforts produced a situation where it was next to impossible for someone to leave once they had entered, and the danger of closing the Aperture inside the Calamity was almost as significant as leaving it alone for long. Based on everything Vilnesh had learned about his offspring, he knew that this “Fusionist” couldn’t resist rushing in and closing the Calamities, so it was only a matter of time before he came to inspect it himself…

  …which was when Vilnesh’s team would be ready for him. The final communication he’d had from his team of specialized individuals told him that the half-breed had taken the bait and had entered the Calamity. Knowing that Varlera was there, prepared to mentally connect Vilnesh’s spawn with his family’s minds, thereby essentially making him helpless, it should’ve been a simple matter for 8 additional Great Ones to swoop in and eliminate him once and for all.

  He couldn’t understand what had gone wrong, however. Was Varlera not able to mentally connect with him? It was simplest to blame her for being inept, but as she was the foremost Mentalist in the entire world, he had his doubts that it was failure on her part, especially as she’d been quite sure it would work no matter what defenses he might have to protect him.

  But that didn’t leave many alternatives. Even with the help of a few slaves, to be able to take on and kill 9 Great Ones in the space of a few minutes should have been impossible. Even Lord Vilnesh, the strongest Great One aside from the Grand One, may they rule forever, would struggle against so many, and he honestly couldn’t be sure of killing a few of them before he, himself, was taken down. So, for one person to have done all of that was practically impossible.

  The Grand One could do it, of course. But that would be putting the half-breed on the same level as the Grand One, which is blasphemy just to think about.

  Vilnesh wasn’t sure how long he was sitting slumped in his chair, the shock and pain of his fellow Great Ones’ deaths echoing through his entire body. It was certainly long enough for him to be unaware of the approach of the very one he was thinking about just moments ago, at least until the door opened unexpectedly.

  The momentary flare of anger at someone interrupting him at a time like this was squashed as he not only got to his feet but then collapsed onto his knees, his head held down in shame as the Grand One walked in.

  “I’m sorry, Grand One, but—”

  “DON’T SPEAK!”

  The command was so powerful that Vilnesh felt his jaw hurting from clenching it so tight, and he had difficulty breathing because of the slightest chance that his breath might be considered speech. He couldn’t even look up at the Grand One as they practically stomped toward him, but he could still feel the heavy weight of their gaze as they stared at him.

  “I’m extremely disappointed in you, Vilnesh. You had one job to do, and you’ve failed so spectacularly that it will be a miracle if we can ever recover from such a debacle. You know what I typically do with such failures, don’t you?”

  He couldn’t speak, so Vilnesh just nodded. No one he knew of had ever failed the Grand One so spectacularly before, and those that had simply failed them with less egregious mistakes were never heard from again. The Grand One might have been disappointed in him, but he was more disappointed in himself for failing so outrageously.

  Lord Vilnesh deserved to die.

  He didn’t protest or fight his death, as he knew it was well deserved. He stared at the floor, and even as he realized he had kneeled in the shards of broken glass which were pressing against his durable skin, he ignored the discomfort as he prepared for the Grand One to carry out his fate.

  The silence stretched out to an uncomfortable length as he waited for his punishment, but it never came. He chanced a glance upward, only to see the Grand One staring blankly down at him without saying anything. When their eyes met, however, the Grand One reached out and smacked Vilnesh across the face, so hard and fast that he felt and heard his neck snap, causing him to collapse to the floor. It had been a long time since he’d suffered such a devastating blow, as no one had the strength to do such to him with just an open-handed slap.

  No one but the Grand One, of course.

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  With his spine snapped, he couldn’t move anything from the neck down. Theoretically, he could probably cast a spell to heal himself, but he hadn’t been given permission. As he felt his vision starting to fade, he thought, It’s only fair that I die like the pathetic failure I am—

  Sudden warmth suffused his body as he experienced a few flares of pain that indicated that his neck was being repaired, and soon enough he could feel his extremities again. Within 10 seconds, he was as healed as he could possibly be, and as he pulled himself up from where he had fallen face-first into the floor, he looked up to see that the Grand One had deigned to heal him, for some reason.

  “You’re a failure and a fool, but unfortunately we can’t afford to lose you right now, after your disastrous blunder. Our numbers are dwindling, and we will need every single Great One to weather the storm that is coming. What do you say? Will you obey my orders to see us through this crisis?”

  With permission to speak again, Vilnesh quickly agreed. “Absolutely! Your will is my command, Grand One. But, the storm? Do you mean, uh, the half-breed?”

  “He is but one cloud in the sky, Vilnesh. This ‘Fusionist’ has proven to be a greater foe than anticipated. While I still hold you responsible for your failure to eliminate him successfully, the fact that he has accomplished what should’ve been impossible means that we have to reevaluate our plans against him – of which you will have absolutely no hand in. I’m taking control of the situation, now that the potentially catastrophic outcome of your idea has made itself known.

  “But more importantly, do you know what has resulted because of your failure? Because I can feel it even now.”

  At first, Vilnesh wasn’t sure what the Grand One was talking about, as he hadn’t really been paying attention to anything but his own upcoming demise since he felt the first deaths at the hands of his progeny. Once he closed his eyes and concentrated on it, however, he felt it immediately.

  “The Calamity is expanding. But that shouldn’t be possible, because Nerin and Derlona—”

  “It shouldn’t be possible, but it’s happening. Somehow, the barrier of Primal Essence that they had set up has thinned just enough to allow it to expand.”

  “B-But that—” Vilnesh stopped, as the repercussions of what he felt occurred to him. He ran through it all in his mind at an exceptionally fast pace, and he blanched at what it meant. If the Calamity is expanding, all of the built-up energy within it will allow it to keep expanding out of control. If the Aperture is closed, it’ll release it all over the Kingdom and beyond, which could potentially be worse. While he didn’t personally care for the slaves that kept the Kingdom running on the backs of their labor, that much energy passing through them could end up killing hundreds of thousands of them. If that happened, then the Great Ones would essentially lose everything they’d worked for more than 1,000 years to keep under their control. Worse yet, the energy might react with the Breech and the Diregate, expanding them out of control.

  This was never supposed to happen. The half-breed should’ve died like planned, and then Nerin and Derlona would gradually deplete the energy held within the Calamity, bringing it back to normal levels and averting the danger that it now posed. But now, there was no stopping it from expanding out of control or releasing the buildup of energy into the world.

  “You see it now, don’t you? Your idiotic failure of a plan has created a cascade of effects that we might not recover from.” The Grand One sighed, as if exhausted just talking to such a pathetic fool like Vilnesh. “Yet, that’s not even the worst of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Feel for it, fool – I know that even you can sense what is wrong a little closer to home.”

  Vilnesh obediently closed his eyes once again and sent out his magical senses, attempting to discover the origin of the Grand One’s warning. It took him nearly a minute, and when he did, he sucked in a breath at the implications of what he was feeling.

  The Calamity isn’t going to kill everyone first; the Breech and the Diregate are going to accomplish that first.

  He opened his eyes and looked at the Grand One in horror, hoping that he was wrong, but he just got a nod in return, confirming his fears. “Exactly. We’ve been the bastion against the Breech and the Diregate for centuries, and the delicate balance between us and the powerful forces within each of them has been upset. We no longer have adequate numbers to keep them both properly contained, and it’s only a matter of time before they rupture.”

  Rupture. Such a possibility has always been considered, but we’ve always had more than enough of us to prevent it. But with 12 Great Ones perishing in less than a year, we no longer have that assurance.

  “What do we do, then?” he asked.

  “It’s simple. If the half-breed is so content to focus all of his efforts on the people of the Kingdom, I’m more than happy to let him do that. We’ll focus our collective power on the Breech to keep it from rupturing, while pulling back our focus from the Diregate.”

  “But that will—”

  “That is precisely the point. It’s all part of the plan to draw this ‘Fusionist’ here, so that I can take care of him myself,” the Grand One stated.

  Shaking his head, Vilnesh protested. “No, there’s no reason for you to dirty your hands with such a—”

  “Are you insinuating that I cannot handle a half-breed boy?”

  In a panic, he shouted, “NO!” before he toned down his voice. “Not at all, Grand One, but I can certainly lead those that will face him once he comes, and I won’t fail you this time—”

  “You’re right, you won’t fail me again, because you won’t be any part of my confrontation with your spawn. I have something different in mind for you.” The Grand One waved toward Vilnesh. “Now, clean yourself up and meet me in the audience hall, as I’ll be convening an emergency meeting of all Great Ones within the hour.” As the illustrious figure began to walk away, they added, “It’s time to prepare for war; and this time, we will show no mercy for those who choose to defy us.”

  Vilnesh continued kneeling on the floor for a good while after the Grand One left, coming to terms with all that had happened and what he’d learned over the last few minutes. After his near-execution and healing, he was grateful to be alive; at the same time, he was eager to prove himself to the Grand One and that it wasn’t the wrong decision to keep him alive. He was determined to throw himself into whatever role he was given, and to perform to the best of his abilities – while at the same time, he was eager to get back the dignity and power that he felt had been stolen from him by his half-breed son.

  You might not want my help, but I deserve to be able to assist with killing him.

  As he was getting to his feet, he looked at the wall where his spawn’s family was still located, and it gave him an idea. He wouldn’t be disobeying the Grand One’s orders, as he wouldn’t be doing anything directly, but he thought there was at least one more thing that he could contribute to the upcoming confrontation that would tip it in their favor.

  With that decision firm in his mind, Lord Vilnesh cleaned himself up, replaced his soiled garments with a fresh outfit, and marched himself out of the room. With his recent failures, there was no way he was going to allow himself to be late to the upcoming meeting, as there was entirely too much riding on this to play around now. As the Grand One had said, they were preparing for war, and with that war would come a chance to redeem himself…

  …and perhaps acquire his fair portion of revenge, as well.