Year 5

You are sitting in a gray room at a desk with several other children your age. All of you glance at each other a lot and it is obvious that there is much curiosity, but nobody speaks. This is very unusual for you, up until now, you have only had minimal contact with others. Most of them are male like you, but a few of them are female.

Soon the silence comes to an end when a dark skinned woman walks into the room. She has long hair and sharp features. One thing you notice is that despite her long hair covering her ears you can still see that the tips of them are pointed. She must be elven, but in the pictures you’ve seen in books, you’ve never seen one with dark skin before.

“Hello children, and congratulations on maintaining dignified silence during your time by yourselves. It’s nice to see that your previous human minders aren’t totally incompetent. Still, if you were Svelk children you would’ve been much better trained by now. Ah, but it is not my place to dwell on the limitations of the lesser born. I am merely here to oversee your training into proper Eternals so that you may serve the Emperor to your fullest capabilities. Now before we begin, I suggest you all ask questions now, because this will probably be the only time I will be in the mood for your ignorance.”

For a moment nobody speaks, but when the elven lady insists, one brave soul raises their hand.

“Yes, you.”
“Are you an elf?”
“Yes, I am. While the ignorant would use the vulgar term dark elf to describe me, my kind are more properly known as the Svelk. In fact WE are the purest of the elven race. All others you may have the misfortune of meeting are merely diluted members of our bloodline. They are truly pitiful creatures really only fit for extermination. Remember this.”

“Yes, you.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is unimportant, but you and the rest will always address me as Mistress. Failure to do so will earn my wrath, and more importantly the wrath of the Emperor. Remember this.”

“Yes, you.”
“What will you teach us?”

A second passes after the question, when a small bolt of light from the Svelk’s finger tips and hits the child in the chest asking the question. He falls backwards out of his chair and on to the floor. The rest of you jump in your own chairs and look back at him. He is breathing very erratically.

“I will teach you to OBEY my commands when I give them!” Mistress shouts, she then warns the rest of you.

“Don’t you dare touch him, let alone help him! (Sigh) And here I thought you lot had been trained better! It occurs to me that I will have to be extra strict in my discipline. As to the question about what I will teach you… I will teach you to be warriors. I will teach you to be wizards if you display the talent. I will teach you to shed yourselves of weakness. I will teach you to serve the Emperor without question and kill without mercy and you will always obey for you will find strength in obedience. You will find joy in order. You will find love in murder. You shall be instruments of terror and genocide if he so wishes it. You will be Eternals…or you will die. Remember this.”

After Mistress’ speech, the child she struck down eventually struggles back up and gets back in his seat, clutching his chest and still wheezing.

“I trust you have learned your lesson?”
“Y…yes…Mistress…” he gasps.
“Good, now one more question before we begin…you there. What is your question? Speak up!” Mistress demands while pointing at you, though you have not raised your hand.

You don’t wish to disagree with Mistress, so you stumble and try to think up a question.

“Uh…er…I was just wondering when will you teach us to fight Mistress?”
Mistress raises an eyebrow and gives a smirk as she approaches you.
“Fight? And what makes you think that YOU are even ready to learn yet? Do you have even the slightest knowledge of combat tactics?”
“No, Mis…” before you can even complete the sentence Mistress knocks you out of your chair with a quick jab with her hand, the pain from your face spreads to your chest when Mistress steps on it with her boot. She digs it into you and presses all her weight on it, while the rest of your class looks on.

“Damn right, no you don’t. You weren’t even alert enough to anticipate my attack. You let me get in close and now look at you, you’re completely at my mercy. I am in a position to do whatever I like with you, while you are only in a position to beg or die. So what will it be worm? Are you going to beg for your miserable life, or should I save the Empire’s time and money by killing you now?”
> You struggle
The pain is great and you want it to be over with as quickly as possible, but you know to beg for mercy would be shameful and you don’t want to die so you desperately try to push her boot off of you. Naturally you are unsuccessful and this response only enrages her further.

“Insolent fool! I said beg or die! Those were your choices and you dare defy my orders?” Mistress exclaims and takes her boot off of your chest, only to begin kicking and stomping on you. You try to escape, but she bends down and roughly picks up by the collar. “Don’t you dare try to run while I discipline you! YOU… WILL… O… BEY!” Mistress says while slapping your face at intervals of her verbal abuse. Finally she throws you to back to the floor.

“Now get back in your seat and never defy me again! Your life is nothing! ALL of your lives are nothing! Your lives will never be anything more than warm bodies to serve the Emperor! And you will not even be able to live up to that honored status, if you do not learn obedience. Remember this.”

At this point you stagger back in your seat, aching all over. It hurts a lot, but despite the beating, you don’t feel fear, instead you feel anger. Anger at Mistress certainly, but more at yourself for being so powerless.

Time passes by under the harsh guidance of Mistress. She teaches you all that she promised she would and then some. Your lessons are not only that of a combat nature, but of an academic one as well. You wouldn’t be aware of it, but you and your classmates are probably much better educated than other children your age.

As for you, Mistress rides you the hardest for defying her. There are more than several times where she basically pits the rest of the class against you during the combat training sessions. You suffer horrible beatings most of the time, but eventually you adapt and manage to hold your own until Mistress finds yet another way to make the fight unfair. You are obedient and follow the orders of Mistress, but internally you are harboring thoughts of resentment, hatred and defiance towards her. And so what if you are? She isn’t the Emperor. That’s the only person you really have to revere.

Your personality doesn’t go unnoticed by your instructor and watchers, they make note of it and decide how you should be handled in the next step of your training.

Year 12

You are in a room by yourself sitting in a chair. Everyone else in your class has been separated for reasons unknown to you. All you know right now is Mistress is speaking with a well dressed man. They are speaking about you, but not actually speaking TO you…

“So just this one? Are you sure?” the well dressed man asks.
“Should be thankful you have even that. The last pathetic batch of humans you had me train didn’t even survive, let alone get this far. However this one is the closest for your purposes. Though by Svelk standards he would be put in the slave pits and the rest of your so called Eternals would be killed for their poor performance.” Mistress mocks.
“Hmm, yes and that’s why your own society is doing so well now. No, we will still find uses for the others. Perhaps as military officers, or even members of the Shadow Guard and they will still be of great service to the Emperor. Still, I wish we had more than just one, oh well he will have to do. We will improve the results of the Eternal Program with the next group.”

At this point Mistress begins laughing.

“Is something amusing?”
“Yes, yes it is. Extremely. You humans and your grand schemes to hold on to power, do you really believe that this Eternal program of yours is going to make a difference? Potential external threats are the least of your concerns. Your Empire is rotting from within and your territory is succumbing to chaos every day.”
“And I suppose you would be an expert on such things, seeing as your own people experienced this millennia ago and still haven’t even managed to rebuild a cohesive unified government again, while your so called lesser cousins have thrived.”
“My people were conquering this world and more, while yours were still bumbling around trying to figure out how to make fire like the pack of monkeys you evolved from! And our rulers were the gods themselves, not petty dictators who think they are!”
“Yes and again I ask, what are your people doing now? They’re a race of scattered mercenaries selling their services to the highest bidders with no sense of loyalty to anyone, but to themselves. Speaking of which, you are merely a guest within the Empire. While your services are valuable to us, if you speak ill of the Emperor again you can always be replaced by another money whore of your kind.”

Mistress’ eyes narrow and she quickly grabs the man holding a dagger to his throat before speaking.

“Fortunately for you, this job is paying very well. For that is the only thing keeping me from slitting your throat. Never speak to me that way again human…now leave so that I may train this so called Eternal.” She says and releases him.

The well dress man looks a bit shaken up, but he composes himself.
“You will keep me apprised of his progress on a weekly basis, and this incident will not be forgotten!” He says and walks quickly out of the room.

At this point Mistress turns to you, and you fully expect to receive a beating, but instead she questions you.

“So, what did you think of that little exchange?”
“It is not my place to give an opinion on the debates of my superiors. I am merely here to be trained by you so that I may better serve the Emperor.” You say.
“Yes, yes, yes, very nice safe and boring answer, but what do you REALLY think…I order you to tell me.”

You pause to gather your thoughts and then speak.

“I think it is odd that you are not an Empire citizen and hold no loyalty to him, yet you are training me Mistress.”
“Ha ha ha, yes well it is an odd situation, but not an uncommon one. You will find that many make compromises in life.”
“But Mistress, how can you tell me to believe in something, that you yourself do not believe in?”
“It’s easy. I’m just saying what they would have me say. What do I care, I’m profiting greatly from this and at the end of the day I’m the one coming out ahead. But I think you need a better example than me, a more personal one…namely yourself.”

You look confused, before Mistress continues.

“You hate me. I know you do, do not deny it. You don’t want to put up with me, yet you obey my commands without question. Why?”
“Because you are my superior Mistress, and you have been ordered…paid to train me, by the Emperor.”
“Ah, so if I was training you, and the Emperor was not involved, you would still obey my commands?”
“Perhaps I would Mistress, since I would most likely be killed by you if I didn’t obey, as you are far more skilled than I am. I would obey until there was a way to somehow kill you or even escape.
“Interesting…so you would compromise you beliefs.”

You didn’t think about it like that, but you quickly think up a retort.

“No Mistress, I do not believe it would be a compromise, I would be ensuring my survival so that I may serve the Emperor longer.”
“Ha ha, if you say so. But tell me, does the revelation that not everyone praises your Emperor discourage or shake your own loyalty to him?”
“No Mistress.”
“Why not? You surely know that all of this is propaganda. You’ve never even met your Emperor. He could be an idiotic cripple for all you know.”
“It doesn’t matter Mistress, I wouldn’t even be here if not for him. I am being trained to be an Eternal, something he himself ordered. Because of that, I already know I have been given the highest honor and a better chance than most. I owe this training, this loyalty, and this life to him regardless of what others might think.”

Mistress just nods at your answer, there is no sneer or smirk in her face this time. She has perhaps a look of semi-respect for you.

“Very well, let us begin your training Eternal…”
>
Year 16

You stand alone before Mistress face to face in the room you’ve been trained in by her for the past four years. You’re training has been grueling to say the least, you’ve been forced to fight various beasts and people using traditional weapons as well as battle magic. You’ve been subjected to harsh environment conditions not to mention the psychological torture that Mistress seems to enjoy. You can’t imagine that your classmates had training this tough.

“Today is the big day Eternal. Today is the day you get to kill me with your own bare hands.” Mistress says with her usual wry smile. “Think you can handle that?”
“If that’s what my training entails today, I shall certainly do my best, Mistress.”
“Your best won’t be good enough I assure you. Better you should just accept your death now or beg for mercy…but I believe we know you won’t do either of those things mainly because you’re too stupid to know your place.”
“If you say so Mistress.”

Mistress’ smile becomes a disappointed frown. She would prefer you to fear her, but that’s no longer going to happen so she’d at least like you to get angry which does happen from time to time. It isn’t always easy maintaining a detached demeanor given how much abuse you’ve put up with, but if you’ve learned anything, it annoys the hell out of her.

“Your attempt at remaining emotionless just continues to prove what a mindless fool you are. Attempting to show bravery when today is the day you know you’re…”

And before she can even complete her sentence you throw a punch at her face. She dodges, but doesn’t quite make it and part of your fist hits the side of her cheek, which staggers her backwards.

You press your attack with another punch, but are blocked when she throws up her hand creating a force shield.

“Too bad, that was the only chance you’re going to get.” She says and knocks you to the ground with sweeping kick to your feet.

You barely have to time to roll out of the way before Mistress conjures some sort of magical sword in her hand and tries to impale you with it. You get enough distance to cast firebolts at her, but again she blocks them with her barrier. She counters with some sort of ice cone, which covers you in frost and chills you to the bone before you can counter it with your own barrier.

Mistress is relentless with casting spell after spell and you’re getting weaker with each passing moment just trying to keep up your defenses. Mistress’ magic is not only stronger than yours, but she’s also had a lot more experience in maintaining her stamina while using it. If you keep this up, she’ll kill you for sure.

“I’ve seen better magic cast by half blind hedge wizards!” Mistress mocks and casts a poison cloud that suddenly envelops you within your own protective barrier. You instantly feel sick and stagger out of the cloud, dropping your barrier in the process.

Taking advantage of your distraction she throws her magic sword which probably would’ve decapitated you had you not had your head down and vomiting up a bit of blood at the time. As it stands you merely feel the blade graze the top of your head.

You look up just in time for her to conjure a new weapon, which materializes in her hand. You waste no time in conjuring one of your own to deflect the second attack she attempts to bring down on your head.

“Quit struggling monkey. You’re no match for me in martial combat either!”

She might be right, but just like when you were five, you’re not going to just accept death. With all your might you push her back with your weapon and then drop it only to grab her by the wrist with both hands and break it. Mistress makes a yelp and drops her weapon.

She kicks you in the crotch and punches you in the side of the head with her one good hand. You feel pain, but try to ignore it as you trade another couple of punches and kicks with her before pulling her to the floor while crushing all your weight on her left arm which you were still holding by her broken wrist. The pair of you rolls on the floor for a moment and at this point you’re severely bleeding from scratches on your face and head. She must’ve had a hidden blade on her as well because you definitely feel one go into your back and being twisted around. She attempts to bite your throat out, but you headbutt her in the nose and rotate her around with her left arm. You break it to the point where the bone has snapped out from the skin. She stifles her urge to cry out and instead tries to break free, but you’re doing the best you can to prevent her from going anywhere by pressing all your weight on her and using your free hand to reach around to choke her.

The pair of you are a mess, but that’s not the weird part, the weird part is you’re starting to get…excited.

“(Gasp) I can feel your enthusiasm…pressing into me. Well…(gasp) is it everything you expected Eternal?” Mistress asks, which catches you so off guard you release your grip from her neck.

Heavily panting and trying to push herself up off the floor with her good arm. Mistress turns her head enough so she can see your face. Her eyes still display that coldness you’re used to, but there’s something else there. Something…seductive.

“I bet right now, you don’t know whether to kill me… or fuck me.”
“Wha…what?” you exclaim.
“Don’t deny it…you’ve always wanted me in this way. I know how you’ve looked at my body lustfully during our training sessions. I know your violent primal urges. All the hatred you’ve built up over the years for me could only be unleashed in this way. The need to conquer and defile your enemy in every way imaginable. And who am I, but your enemy? Finish it Eternal or am I mistaken and you’re lacking in that simple task as well?” She says and begins to laugh.

Her taunts, her laughter, everything about her are enough to put you over the edge. The twisted thing is she’s right. You do feel some sort of…the word isn’t attraction…you don’t know what the correct word for it would be, but you feel it.

You release her arm and painfully pull the bloody dagger out of your back to slice the back of her form fitting clothing and rip most of it off of her. While she continues to taunt you, you toss the dagger aside, proceed to pull down your own breeches and thrust into her roughly from behind.

From there it gets surreal as she goes from continuing to taunt you and what are presumably sounds of ecstasy. She even demands that you to continue choking her. All of this puts you in such a state of confusion that you have a hard time even finishing. This whole experience is quite unknown to you as you’ve only read about such activities, but certainly never engaged in them. Surely, it isn’t always like this?

When you’ve finished you briefly collapse backwards which is all the time Mistress needs to gain her advantage. She grabs the bloody dagger you pulled out your back and stabs you in the leg with it. You think she was aiming higher, but you managed to drag yourself out of the way in time to avoid such a grievous injury. Unfortunately she still manages to cast some sort of force spell and slam you against the wall with it. You can’t move no matter how hard you try. Mistress, naked and bloodied from your battle approaches you with one useless broken arm and her other hand up keeping the spell with the cruel smile on her face you’re used to seeing.

“Look at you, you’re already spent.” she remarks getting closer to you as you feel her spell continuing to crush you into the wall.

“All right. That will do. I don’t know what the point of all this was, but I’m putting an end to it right now.” Mr. Mol suddenly says. You didn’t even see him enter the room, though you were sort of pre-occupied.
“Mmm, interesting that you waited until after the floor show before putting an end to it Jacob. Did our actions excite you as well? Maybe you could’ve joined in or perhaps you just like to watch. Yes, I imagine watching is something a eunuch like yourself is only capable of.”

Mistress releases her spell as Mr. Mol comes closer to the pair of you. You slump to the floor exhausted.

“The Emperor says he’s ready now and there is no more need to test him.” Mr. Mol says.
“Maybe not for your precious Emperor, but I needed to test him for myself.” Mistress replies.
“For what purpose?”
“Just to see if he was up to the challenge, but he was severely lacking in every way just as I suspected. Take your creation Jacob, I am done with him.”

Still in discussion with Mr. Mol, Mistress isn’t paying attention to you at all. You are beneath her notice now and you aren’t sure if that makes you madder than the fact that she just defeated you in battle when you thought for sure you had her beat. You stare at the dagger in your leg and think how easy it would be to use it on that bitch while she isn’t paying attention.
> You stab Mistress with the dagger
Mistress has been playing sadistic sick games with you for years and now she’s just “done” with you? There is no way you’re going to let her continue to walk this world.

You pull the dagger out of your leg and as quietly as you can you stand up. Unfortunately Mr. Mol spoils your surprise attack by noticing you and speaking.

“You. Report to the medical…hey what are you doing?” he says realizing that you’re now rushing as fast as you can with dagger in hand.

Mistress turns around just in time to stop you plunging the dagger into her. She casts some sort of lightning bolt into your chest with her hand good hand, which throws you back into the wall. Your whole body goes into a convulsion from the shock.

“Insolent worm! You dare to continue with your foolish attempt to kill your betters? Since you obviously failed to learn this lesson, I’m going to have to teach it to you again!” Mistress shouts before unleashing another lighting blast and this time she hits you with a continual charge.

Your body begins to sizzle from the inside out and the last thing you hear is Mr. Mol screaming at her to stop as the Emperor wants you alive.

“The Emperor’s just going to have to make a new Eternal then, because this one’s done.” She replies and kicks your blackened burned body.


Year 16

You stand alone before Mistress face to face in the room you’ve been trained in by her for the past four years. You’re training has been grueling to say the least, you’ve been forced to fight various beasts and people using traditional weapons as well as battle magic. You’ve been subjected to harsh environment conditions not to mention the psychological torture that Mistress seems to enjoy. You can’t imagine that your classmates had training this tough.

“Today is the big day Eternal. Today is the day you get to kill me with your own bare hands.” Mistress says with her usual wry smile. “Think you can handle that?”
“If that’s what my training entails today, I shall certainly do my best, Mistress.”
“Your best won’t be good enough I assure you. Better you should just accept your death now or beg for mercy…but I believe we know you won’t do either of those things mainly because you’re too stupid to know your place.”
“If you say so Mistress.”

Mistress’ smile becomes a disappointed frown. She would prefer you to fear her, but that’s no longer going to happen so she’d at least like you to get angry which does happen from time to time. It isn’t always easy maintaining a detached demeanor given how much abuse you’ve put up with, but if you’ve learned anything, it annoys the hell out of her.

“Your attempt at remaining emotionless just continues to prove what a mindless fool you are. Attempting to show bravery when today is the day you know you’re…”

And before she can even complete her sentence you throw a punch at her face. She dodges, but doesn’t quite make it and part of your fist hits the side of her cheek, which staggers her backwards.

You press your attack with another punch, but are blocked when she throws up her hand creating a force shield.

“Too bad, that was the only chance you’re going to get.” She says and knocks you to the ground with sweeping kick to your feet.

You barely have to time to roll out of the way before Mistress conjures some sort of magical sword in her hand and tries to impale you with it. You get enough distance to cast firebolts at her, but again she blocks them with her barrier. She counters with some sort of ice cone, which covers you in frost and chills you to the bone before you can counter it with your own barrier.

Mistress is relentless with casting spell after spell and you’re getting weaker with each passing moment just trying to keep up your defenses. Mistress’ magic is not only stronger than yours, but she’s also had a lot more experience in maintaining her stamina while using it. If you keep this up, she’ll kill you for sure.

“I’ve seen better magic cast by half blind hedge wizards!” Mistress mocks and casts a poison cloud that suddenly envelops you within your own protective barrier. You instantly feel sick and stagger out of the cloud, dropping your barrier in the process.

Taking advantage of your distraction she throws her magic sword which probably would’ve decapitated you had you not had your head down and vomiting up a bit of blood at the time. As it stands you merely feel the blade graze the top of your head.

You look up just in time for her to conjure a new weapon, which materializes in her hand. You waste no time in conjuring one of your own to deflect the second attack she attempts to bring down on your head.

“Quit struggling monkey. You’re no match for me in martial combat either!”

She might be right, but just like when you were five, you’re not going to just accept death. With all your might you push her back with your weapon and then drop it only to grab her by the wrist with both hands and break it. Mistress makes a yelp and drops her weapon.

She kicks you in the crotch and punches you in the side of the head with her one good hand. You feel pain, but try to ignore it as you trade another couple of punches and kicks with her before pulling her to the floor while crushing all your weight on her left arm which you were still holding by her broken wrist. The pair of you rolls on the floor for a moment and at this point you’re severely bleeding from scratches on your face and head. She must’ve had a hidden blade on her as well because you definitely feel one go into your back and being twisted around. She attempts to bite your throat out, but you headbutt her in the nose and rotate her around with her left arm. You break it to the point where the bone has snapped out from the skin. She stifles her urge to cry out and instead tries to break free, but you’re doing the best you can to prevent her from going anywhere by pressing all your weight on her and using your free hand to reach around to choke her.

The pair of you are a mess, but that’s not the weird part, the weird part is you’re starting to get…excited.

“(Gasp) I can feel your enthusiasm…pressing into me. Well…(gasp) is it everything you expected Eternal?” Mistress asks, which catches you so off guard you release your grip from her neck.

Heavily panting and trying to push herself up off the floor with her good arm. Mistress turns her head enough so she can see your face. Her eyes still display that coldness you’re used to, but there’s something else there. Something…seductive.

“I bet right now, you don’t know whether to kill me… or fuck me.”
“Wha…what?” you exclaim.
“Don’t deny it…you’ve always wanted me in this way. I know how you’ve looked at my body lustfully during our training sessions. I know your violent primal urges. All the hatred you’ve built up over the years for me could only be unleashed in this way. The need to conquer and defile your enemy in every way imaginable. And who am I, but your enemy? Finish it Eternal or am I mistaken and you’re lacking in that simple task as well?” She says and begins to laugh.

Her taunts, her laughter, everything about her are enough to put you over the edge. The twisted thing is she’s right. You do feel some sort of…the word isn’t attraction…you don’t know what the correct word for it would be, but you feel it.

You release her arm and painfully pull the bloody dagger out of your back to slice the back of her form fitting clothing and rip most of it off of her. While she continues to taunt you, you toss the dagger aside, proceed to pull down your own breeches and thrust into her roughly from behind.

From there it gets surreal as she goes from continuing to taunt you and what are presumably sounds of ecstasy. She even demands that you to continue choking her. All of this puts you in such a state of confusion that you have a hard time even finishing. This whole experience is quite unknown to you as you’ve only read about such activities, but certainly never engaged in them. Surely, it isn’t always like this?

When you’ve finished you briefly collapse backwards which is all the time Mistress needs to gain her advantage. She grabs the bloody dagger you pulled out your back and stabs you in the leg with it. You think she was aiming higher, but you managed to drag yourself out of the way in time to avoid such a grievous injury. Unfortunately she still manages to cast some sort of force spell and slam you against the wall with it. You can’t move no matter how hard you try. Mistress, naked and bloodied from your battle approaches you with one useless broken arm and her other hand up keeping the spell with the cruel smile on her face you’re used to seeing.

“Look at you, you’re already spent.” she remarks getting closer to you as you feel her spell continuing to crush you into the wall.

“All right. That will do. I don’t know what the point of all this was, but I’m putting an end to it right now.” Mr. Mol suddenly says. You didn’t even see him enter the room, though you were sort of pre-occupied.
“Mmm, interesting that you waited until after the floor show before putting an end to it Jacob. Did our actions excite you as well? Maybe you could’ve joined in or perhaps you just like to watch. Yes, I imagine watching is something a eunuch like yourself is only capable of.”

Mistress releases her spell as Mr. Mol comes closer to the pair of you. You slump to the floor exhausted.

“The Emperor says he’s ready now and there is no more need to test him.” Mr. Mol says.
“Maybe not for your precious Emperor, but I needed to test him for myself.” Mistress replies.
“For what purpose?”
“Just to see if he was up to the challenge, but he was severely lacking in every way just as I suspected. Take your creation Jacob, I am done with him.”

Still in discussion with Mr. Mol, Mistress isn’t paying attention to you at all. You are beneath her notice now and you aren’t sure if that makes you madder than the fact that she just defeated you in battle when you thought for sure you had her beat. You stare at the dagger in your leg and think how easy it would be to use it on that bitch while she isn’t paying attention.
> You resist the urge
As much as you would like to, you know it would be folly. You’re in no condition to attack again and you’ve already underestimated her enough today. Besides, she’s probably expecting you to attack her, perhaps even hoping you will just so she has the excuse to kill you.

In the meantime, Mr. Mol has stopped speaking with her and points over at you.

“You. Report to the medical ward and get yourself healed up as quickly as you can. You’ve got an important meeting soon and the appropriate clothing for it will be provided for while you’re there. And for the Emperor’s sake, put your damn pants back on before you leave this room.”
“Uh, yes sir.” You say sheepishly.

Mr. Mol gives a disapproving look and shakes his head before walking out the door.

You pull the knife out of your leg and stagger up to retrieve your pants. While putting them back on, you see Mistress near the door casting some sort of spell over her broken arm. She appears to be healing it all on her own and within the moment it takes you to get over to the exit, she has healed it completely. Once again she turns her attention back to you.

“Too bad you can’t heal yourself so easily, but I couldn’t teach you all of my tricks now could I? Mind if I have my dagger back? No wait, why don’t you keep it as a reminder of our quality time together…and your complete and utter defeat.” Mistress says with a big grin.

She sees your hand tightening around the handle of the dagger.

“Do it. I know you wanted to earlier when my back was turned to you.” She grabs your hand with the knife and presses it in her stomach and then moves it upward between her breasts. She presses deep enough that the point is cutting her skin a bit. “Thrust that blade deep into me. This is your best chance Eternal.”

You want to, you REALLY want to…but this is just another head game she’s playing. There’s some sort of trick, you know it.

“No, I am to report to the medical ward immediately.” You say trying not to look into her eyes or focus on her naked body.
“Ah yes, duty calls. Very well. Another day perhaps.” She says and then lets go of your hand only to rub up against the side of you and press her lips near your ear.

“You were right not to do it. I would’ve killed you. And this…my dear Eternal, is why you will never beat mommy. Remember this.” She says and licks the side of your face followed by a sensual kiss to your lips as her hand rubs your chest.

Once again your hormones impede your better judgment and the temporary distraction is just another tactic for her to hurt you in some way. She suddenly bites your lip hard enough to draw blood and then spits the blood back in your face laughing the whole time.

It is at this moment that even within your short amount of years on this world, you can’t ever imagine encountering a more cruel and twisted creature. If there are other such people, beings, or whatever, Mistress has managed to completely desensitize you to the point that you aren’t going to be surprised by them.

But then maybe that was one of the things she was trying to teach you.

With Mistress’ laughter still ringing in your ears, you exit the room holding your bleeding lip and head to the medical ward. While you’re waiting you examine your last “gift” from Mistress. It is a very fine weapon and probably svelk made given that its blade is made of an uncommon material. You want to say its mithril, but you can’t exactly be sure since studying various types of metal wasn’t really in your schedule. It certainly isn’t common steel that’s for sure. As for the hilt you can’t even guess, except that it’s some sort of dark metal, sturdy and has a simple design. You eventually put it away when the medical mages are ready to help you.

You’re healed relatively quickly by the medical mages. Apparently you are not to waste time lying around in a bed, as this meeting of yours is very important. When you put on the new clothes that have been provided, they are of a higher quality cloth and definitely fancier than what you’re used to.

You don’t have wait long before Mr. Mol arrives.

“There you are, hmmm well you look presentable enough I suppose. I trust you’re all healed up and feeling better?” Mr. Mol says looking you up and down.
“Yes, much better sir.”
“Good, because you’re going to meet the Emperor himself. This is a great honor for you Eternal, I hope you realize this.”

This revelation that you’re going to meet the Emperor in person is more than enough to put you in better spirits.

“Of course sir. I know that the Emperor is all-powerful and all seeing and I should be grateful for my existence to him. And I am.”
“Well, don’t tell me, tell him when you meet him. Let us be on our way.”

You follow Mr. Mol outside, something you rarely do. You’re usually cooped up inside the training facility all the time. A carriage waits for you and you enter it with Mr. Mol. Along the way to the capital Mr. Mol tells you how you should act and various other things to expect. The one thing he doesn’t tell you is what the Emperor looks like, but you suppose you’ll find out soon enough.

When you reach the capital Qale, it’s just as big as you’ve heard. Though you sort of thought that everyone would be dressed similar to you and the place would be practically paved in gold. Not that you’re disappointed, but it’s just much…different than you expected.

The palace on the other hand is as impressive as you thought it would be. The inside and out. Royal guards are everywhere and you see more than a few people in the fancy clothes similar to your own and Mol’s. You expect to enter a grand throne room, but Mr. Mol tells you that the Emperor hasn’t used the throne room in all the time he has known him. In fact, from what he’s heard, the Emperor hasn’t used it in centuries since he rarely meets with anyone directly anymore except with a few trusted associates.

With this sort of information, you truly realize what a really rare opportunity this is and how proud you are that you’re getting to experience it.

After going down a long stairway and through several corridors, you eventually come big empty room with a giant sturdy silver door with two equally large black statues on either side, which are made of some sort of crystal. They appear to be warrior figures of some sort, but when you look at the face, they have none; or rather their face is that of a skull. Each one carries a battle-axe in their hands, which arc over the top of the door.

Mr. Mol approaches the door and whispers something and in a few moments, the door creeks open just enough for the pair of you to enter.

The room opens up and all you see are shelves and row after row of books. You’d almost think you’d stepped into a library of some sort. After the rows of books the room opens up to a more spacious area, which consists of luxurious furnishings from the carpet to the tapestries on the walls. And there in a fancy leather chair sits an old man in a robe reading a book. You draw his attention when you and Mol approach and stands up.

Is this the Emperor? If it is, your perceptions have been challenged again. He doesn’t look anything like the figure you imagined.

“Ah, Jacob. Good of you to be on time as usual. And this…this must be the one I’ve heard so much about! So am I everything you expected me to be? Well? Speak up son!”
“Uh…yes my Emperor?”
“You’re a bad liar son. I thought your previous teacher would’ve taught you better in that regard. Oh well, you’re still young and I can probably teach you better than anyone.”
“Teach me my Emperor?”
“Of course teach you, you’ll be learning everything you need to know from me from now on.”
“I…I’m honored my Emperor!”
“And you can stop with that my emperor nonsense every time you address me. I’m not Mistress, or whatever the hell that svelk bitch is calling herself these days. I don’t demand some sort of power trip formality.”
“Of course my…of course.”
“Ha ha! They told me you learned quick! Now let’s get to…eh? Jacob you still here? Don’t you have something important to do?”
“Yes, but I needed your input sir, it’s about the shadows, something needs to be done with them.”
“Don’t you have those other two eternals to use as spies? Wasn’t that your idea?”
“Yes, but…”
“Well don’t bother me with it again until you find out more. Now leave us.” The Emperor says and waves Jacob away.

Jacob looks like he wants to say more, but he stops and instead just nods and makes his exit, leaving you alone with the Emperor who turns his attention back to you.

“So, back to you son. Where do you see yourself in say…oh five years?”
“Well, I suppose on the battlefield destroying your enemies and serving you of course.”
“Of course you would, if you were some grunt destined for sword fodder. No you’re destined for much greater things. That, I promise you. But we can talk about that all in good time for right now I’ll bet you have some questions of your own. Go ahead, ask me anything and I assure you there is no question that will be too personal. If you ask something I feel you do not need to know then I shall not tell you. Simple enough right?”
“Yes, sounds reasonable.”
“Good, so why don’t you start?”

The first problem is that you don’t even know WHERE to start. You eventually do ask some things you’re curious about and the Emperor is very forth coming with information. You do not want to take advantage his kindness though so you stop after you feel most of your curiosity has been sated. Besides, there will be opportunity to learn more later.

And so the Emperor begins his process of mentoring you…
>
Year 19

The day of reckoning is coming soon for all traitors; particularly the shadows and you’re just itching to play your part. It was you after all that influenced the Emperor on such an important decision. You just wonder what that role will be since the Emperor is currently explaining part of the plan to you and you’re still not entirely sure of how this is going to play out.

“But isn’t the military already going to wipe out the shadows?” you ask.
“I told you son, I had a contingency plan for the shadows a long time ago. Our military isn’t even going to be involved for the most part. Maybe a few soldiers to mop up a few escapees, but their subterranean fort called Gloom is also serving as their handy underground tomb…heh that rhymed. Anyway what I’m saying is I have an old alliance with the derro and the fort the shadows are currently using as their headquarters was originally created by the derro who abandoned it because there wasn’t any worthwhile mining prospects in the area any longer. The derro still know every secret passage and inch of that place and can launch a surprise attack at anytime. And before you even ask, yes they’ll be MORE than enough to finish off the shadows. Personally I wish I could use them against the Felkans, but that’s not meant to be since they don’t do favors like this on a regular basis.”
“Can we be sure to get all of the shadows though? Won’t a lot of them be on topside?”
“Well we’re trying to coordinate the attack so there won’t be a lot of shadows on the surface at the time. However we do keep track of their patrol routes and schedules, we even try to keep track of their unofficial patrol routes that they seem to prefer. Basically the derro will get most of them underground, the more tedious thing isn’t getting rid of the shadows, it’ll be wiping out any of non-shadow sympathizers they’ve recruited to their cause. I might use specialized teams to take care of that…in fact I think I’ll put you in that group. It’ll give you an opportunity to put those combat skills of yours to good use! And it’ll also give you a good opportunity to be in demonstrating your ability to lead since I’m also putting you in charge of it.”

You don’t know what to say. Not that you’re displeased with such an opportunity, its just you really weren’t expecting it.

“I won’t fail you Emperor.” You remark.
“Of course you won’t since it’s not an option, but as I said I have complete faith in you. Now I’m going to tell you right now all of them have got more battlefield experience and in some cases several decades, but don’t let that intimidate you. YOU are in charge. Never forget that.”

The Emperor goes on to explain that while you’ll be working with a specific group, you naturally won’t be working without the full support of the Empire. He states that there will be other groups like yours scouring the countryside for shadows and any other potential rebel types.

“Most of those scum are probably going to be hiding out in that backwards swamp province of Delerg, so that’s where you’ll be heading. It’ll probably be a good idea to do a purge anyway, so you’ve got full permission to use whatever means to stomp out anyone who even remotely is showing signs of rebellious behavior. The derro are still getting prepared, so you’ll have a little time to get to know your team before we stop this misguided revolution before it starts. You’ll head to Delerg in a couple days and await further orders there.”

Your trip to Delerg is an uneventful carriage ride, though it does give you time to see a little more of the Empire countryside. Along the way you read up a little more about the Delerg area and how it used to be the original home of the shadows. It was there where the Emperor first made his alliance with them. You also refresh yourself on the shadows themselves and how they typically go about fighting. Their favored tactic is to remain cloaked invisibly and then launch a sneak attack followed by hasting themselves to finish off anyone else.

When you reach Delerg you stop in a rundown town appropriately called Sinkhole. From there you are told the rest of your team is meeting you there. No sooner have you gotten off the carriage when you’re approached by a large scarred orc in battle armor.

“You the Emperor’s boy?” he asks in a gruff tone, though much more coherent than you were lead to expect from his kind.
“I am in his service and was sent here, if that’s what you mean. Who are you?”
“All business, I guess you’re him. I’m Captain Gruz at your command I suppose since I’ve been informed that you’re in charge of this thing. The most of your command is in the local barracks. The svelk mercs have been busy scouting though, better that they stay out our way until its time anyway.”
“Wait, svelk mercs?”
“Yeah, they’re trying to find any hidden safe houses and such that the shadows might have scattered about in the deeper reaches of the swamp. Figured you knew seeing as you’re buddies with the Emperor and all.”
“I’m not his buddy, I’m his dedicated agent who is honored to serve him to the best of my ability!” you say starting to get annoyed by the orc’s choice of words.
“Okay, I meant no disrespect…I will say though you need to lighten up a bit lad. Even the other Eternals I trained weren’t quite as serious as you seem to be.”

While this is news to you that he was a trainer to some of your other classmates, you don’t see as that having any bearing on how he should tell you how to behave.

“Well YOU didn’t train me, because I surpassed my classmates! I survived ordeals that would’ve most likely killed them! So do not presume to tell me how I should act!”

Captain Gruz’s stoic expression cracks a bit, you at first think his face is going to turn into an expression of anger, but instead he smirks a bit.

“Mistress trained you didn’t she?” he asks.
“Yes, and what of it?” you snap.
“Nothing, just explains some things. Come then, I’m sure you’ll want to talk to the troops and enlighten them how you’re going to be running things. Now I know this is your first command, but don’t worry, I’ll be here to give advice and make sure the rest of the troops take you seriously.”
“If I want your advice, I’ll ask for it captain. And the troops should be taking me seriously regardless of your presence. I am here by the orders of the Emperor himself! That should be more than enough motivation for them to obey my commands!”
“…I suppose so sir.” Gruz answers though you get the impression he’d like to say more.

When you and Gruz enter the barracks, you’re welcomed to a surprising sight. It’s filled with orcs! First svelk mercenaries and now orc troops! You didn’t know you were going to be leading two distinctly different races! When Gruz notices your expression, his own is one of amusement. The other orcs stop their loud discussions and begin to study you. They appear unimpressed.

“Ey cappin’ ooo dis humie in da fancy leather armor? You get ‘im from the local ‘orehouse fer me? Har har har har!” one orc says which is followed by loud laughter from the rest.
“Alright everyone calm down this is…” Gruz tries to interject, but you stop him.
“I can speak for myself!” you say realizing that you must take an aggressive stance. It is clear that the Emperor put you in this situation to force you to deal with surprises and how well you can handle commanding unruly troops.

“All you need to know about me is that I am your superior for the duration of this operation and you will cease behaving like the near mindless beasts you are and start earning your keep for the Empire by following my orders!”

This works on a few of the orcs, but the outspoken one has decided to keep pressing the issue of challenging your authority.

“Beast iz it? I’ll have you know ima fookin’ lady!” the orc says standing up. To be quite honest you thought the orc was male, but between the battle armor and ugliness of all of them they all look alike to you.
“I don’t care what gender you are, you WILL follow my orders or…”
“Or whut? Whachu gonna do?” the female orc says getting closer and staring down at you ready for a fight.

You look over at Gruz who just gives you a look that expresses “Hey, you said you didn’t need my help.” and you’re right you don’t need his help. You know how to handle this.

You scan another orc who is egging on the loud female. The orc looks fairly formidable and is on the larger side (though they’re all bigger than you).

“HEY YOU!” you shout out to the orc.
“Huh? Whut?”
“You male?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” You say and immediately attack him after pushing past the female orc.

While this battle could be over within seconds if you used magic, you can’t do that here. The orcs need to respect your natural battle skills if they’re going to properly respect you. Of course you need to beat said orc first and one you’ve decided to make an example of isn’t about to just let that happen and readies his morning star.
> You go for his eyes and face
You attempt to slam the pommel of your sword into the orc’s face, but he anticipates that move and blocks it with ease. Using his strength he manages to push you away so hard that you end up tripping backwards over a small stool on the floor. Now that he has a bit of distance he swings his morning star at you and you just barely manage to get out of the way before it crushes the stool you just tripped over.

You grab the chain of the morning star in an attempt to take it away from him, but he jerks back so hard that you end up being pulled with it and land right in front of his feet. Then you get a hefty steel boot to the face, specifically the nose…which unfortunately due to the angle of the kick, the bone inside goes inside you brain.

You convulse on the floor, gurgling and bleeding from the nose and mouth for a few seconds before dying.

Captain Gruz is naturally furious at his subordinate who insists that he didn’t mean to kill you and can’t help that humans are so weak and squishy. Ever the wily one, Gruz tells some of the other orcs to get rid of your body and ultimately blames your disappearance on the svelk scouts. The svelk being who they are, are not believed when they protest their innocence and those that don’t immediately flee are rounded up and executed by the Empire.

The Emperor laments your death for a few days, but soon comes to the conclusion that if you were dispatched so easily then you must not have been worthy anyway.


Year 19

The day of reckoning is coming soon for all traitors; particularly the shadows and you’re just itching to play your part. It was you after all that influenced the Emperor on such an important decision. You just wonder what that role will be since the Emperor is currently explaining part of the plan to you and you’re still not entirely sure of how this is going to play out.

“But isn’t the military already going to wipe out the shadows?” you ask.
“I told you son, I had a contingency plan for the shadows a long time ago. Our military isn’t even going to be involved for the most part. Maybe a few soldiers to mop up a few escapees, but their subterranean fort called Gloom is also serving as their handy underground tomb…heh that rhymed. Anyway what I’m saying is I have an old alliance with the derro and the fort the shadows are currently using as their headquarters was originally created by the derro who abandoned it because there wasn’t any worthwhile mining prospects in the area any longer. The derro still know every secret passage and inch of that place and can launch a surprise attack at anytime. And before you even ask, yes they’ll be MORE than enough to finish off the shadows. Personally I wish I could use them against the Felkans, but that’s not meant to be since they don’t do favors like this on a regular basis.”
“Can we be sure to get all of the shadows though? Won’t a lot of them be on topside?”
“Well we’re trying to coordinate the attack so there won’t be a lot of shadows on the surface at the time. However we do keep track of their patrol routes and schedules, we even try to keep track of their unofficial patrol routes that they seem to prefer. Basically the derro will get most of them underground, the more tedious thing isn’t getting rid of the shadows, it’ll be wiping out any of non-shadow sympathizers they’ve recruited to their cause. I might use specialized teams to take care of that…in fact I think I’ll put you in that group. It’ll give you an opportunity to put those combat skills of yours to good use! And it’ll also give you a good opportunity to be in demonstrating your ability to lead since I’m also putting you in charge of it.”

You don’t know what to say. Not that you’re displeased with such an opportunity, its just you really weren’t expecting it.

“I won’t fail you Emperor.” You remark.
“Of course you won’t since it’s not an option, but as I said I have complete faith in you. Now I’m going to tell you right now all of them have got more battlefield experience and in some cases several decades, but don’t let that intimidate you. YOU are in charge. Never forget that.”

The Emperor goes on to explain that while you’ll be working with a specific group, you naturally won’t be working without the full support of the Empire. He states that there will be other groups like yours scouring the countryside for shadows and any other potential rebel types.

“Most of those scum are probably going to be hiding out in that backwards swamp province of Delerg, so that’s where you’ll be heading. It’ll probably be a good idea to do a purge anyway, so you’ve got full permission to use whatever means to stomp out anyone who even remotely is showing signs of rebellious behavior. The derro are still getting prepared, so you’ll have a little time to get to know your team before we stop this misguided revolution before it starts. You’ll head to Delerg in a couple days and await further orders there.”

Your trip to Delerg is an uneventful carriage ride, though it does give you time to see a little more of the Empire countryside. Along the way you read up a little more about the Delerg area and how it used to be the original home of the shadows. It was there where the Emperor first made his alliance with them. You also refresh yourself on the shadows themselves and how they typically go about fighting. Their favored tactic is to remain cloaked invisibly and then launch a sneak attack followed by hasting themselves to finish off anyone else.

When you reach Delerg you stop in a rundown town appropriately called Sinkhole. From there you are told the rest of your team is meeting you there. No sooner have you gotten off the carriage when you’re approached by a large scarred orc in battle armor.

“You the Emperor’s boy?” he asks in a gruff tone, though much more coherent than you were lead to expect from his kind.
“I am in his service and was sent here, if that’s what you mean. Who are you?”
“All business, I guess you’re him. I’m Captain Gruz at your command I suppose since I’ve been informed that you’re in charge of this thing. The most of your command is in the local barracks. The svelk mercs have been busy scouting though, better that they stay out our way until its time anyway.”
“Wait, svelk mercs?”
“Yeah, they’re trying to find any hidden safe houses and such that the shadows might have scattered about in the deeper reaches of the swamp. Figured you knew seeing as you’re buddies with the Emperor and all.”
“I’m not his buddy, I’m his dedicated agent who is honored to serve him to the best of my ability!” you say starting to get annoyed by the orc’s choice of words.
“Okay, I meant no disrespect…I will say though you need to lighten up a bit lad. Even the other Eternals I trained weren’t quite as serious as you seem to be.”

While this is news to you that he was a trainer to some of your other classmates, you don’t see as that having any bearing on how he should tell you how to behave.

“Well YOU didn’t train me, because I surpassed my classmates! I survived ordeals that would’ve most likely killed them! So do not presume to tell me how I should act!”

Captain Gruz’s stoic expression cracks a bit, you at first think his face is going to turn into an expression of anger, but instead he smirks a bit.

“Mistress trained you didn’t she?” he asks.
“Yes, and what of it?” you snap.
“Nothing, just explains some things. Come then, I’m sure you’ll want to talk to the troops and enlighten them how you’re going to be running things. Now I know this is your first command, but don’t worry, I’ll be here to give advice and make sure the rest of the troops take you seriously.”
“If I want your advice, I’ll ask for it captain. And the troops should be taking me seriously regardless of your presence. I am here by the orders of the Emperor himself! That should be more than enough motivation for them to obey my commands!”
“…I suppose so sir.” Gruz answers though you get the impression he’d like to say more.

When you and Gruz enter the barracks, you’re welcomed to a surprising sight. It’s filled with orcs! First svelk mercenaries and now orc troops! You didn’t know you were going to be leading two distinctly different races! When Gruz notices your expression, his own is one of amusement. The other orcs stop their loud discussions and begin to study you. They appear unimpressed.

“Ey cappin’ ooo dis humie in da fancy leather armor? You get ‘im from the local ‘orehouse fer me? Har har har har!” one orc says which is followed by loud laughter from the rest.
“Alright everyone calm down this is…” Gruz tries to interject, but you stop him.
“I can speak for myself!” you say realizing that you must take an aggressive stance. It is clear that the Emperor put you in this situation to force you to deal with surprises and how well you can handle commanding unruly troops.

“All you need to know about me is that I am your superior for the duration of this operation and you will cease behaving like the near mindless beasts you are and start earning your keep for the Empire by following my orders!”

This works on a few of the orcs, but the outspoken one has decided to keep pressing the issue of challenging your authority.

“Beast iz it? I’ll have you know ima fookin’ lady!” the orc says standing up. To be quite honest you thought the orc was male, but between the battle armor and ugliness of all of them they all look alike to you.
“I don’t care what gender you are, you WILL follow my orders or…”
“Or whut? Whachu gonna do?” the female orc says getting closer and staring down at you ready for a fight.

You look over at Gruz who just gives you a look that expresses “Hey, you said you didn’t need my help.” and you’re right you don’t need his help. You know how to handle this.

You scan another orc who is egging on the loud female. The orc looks fairly formidable and is on the larger side (though they’re all bigger than you).

“HEY YOU!” you shout out to the orc.
“Huh? Whut?”
“You male?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” You say and immediately attack him after pushing past the female orc.

While this battle could be over within seconds if you used magic, you can’t do that here. The orcs need to respect your natural battle skills if they’re going to properly respect you. Of course you need to beat said orc first and one you’ve decided to make an example of isn’t about to just let that happen and readies his morning star.
> You go for his legs
The orc assumes you’re going to go for his head, but unless you’re trying to kill them, merely smashing an orc in the face with anything less than an iron maul is likely to just piss them off, so while he guards up, you strike at his legs.

Naturally he’s still armored down there, but he’s taken a bit off guard when you duck down start chopping your sword at his shin protectors. Since your own face is now closer to his feet the orc attempts to kick you in the face and that’s what you were hoping for. You drop your sword and catch his foot so he’s at your complete mercy. The orc is already so off balance that you barely even need to shove him so he crashes to the floor.

As he tries to get up, now you smash a heavy-duty wooden chair over his head. It doesn’t break the first time, but when you do it again three more times the legs you were holding loosen enough that the rest of the chair flies from your grasp. While his helmet is protecting him somewhat, the repeated impact of the chair to his head is still enough to keep him dazed. In fact he ends up spitting out a couple of teeth. Despite this, he still seems as if he’s going to continue to oppose you, but you see him briefly look at Gruz who seems to give him a certain look back. The orc then puts up a hand as if to say he yields. You accept his capitulation.

Victorious, you’ve made it quite clear you are not to be questioned. The rest of the orcs stop their jeering at you and a few go over to help their companion. Gruz walks over to you and his expression is now one of being impressed.

“Well I guess you definitely walk the walk. You recognized that by beating the head in of one of the bigger males that you’d earn more respect than beating the female that was openly mocking you. You also weren’t trying to kill him, which shows that you were just trying to establish dominance rather than punishment. I’m guessing the Emperor must’ve told you about orc culture?”
“Not really, I just sort of guessed.”
“Ha ha ha ha! Well I suppose we usually aren’t that hard to figure out. Though you might have more problems on your hands now. Looks like you impressed the lady over there.”

You look over where Gruz is pointing and it’s the same female orc that was mocking you earlier. Again its difficult for you to tell exactly, but from Gruz’s suggestion and the way the orc is blinking (fluttering?) her eyes you can only make one conclusion.

“She’s…she’s not flirting with me is she?” you ask in hesitation.
“She was flirting with you the moment you came in the door!” Gruz laughs.

Not wishing to think about that any further, you call everyone to attention and explain how things are going to be done in an organized manner and how you don’t want to leave anything to chance when it comes to this mission given that it is of vital importance to the Empire. They seem to understand, though Gruz sometimes reinforces the point to them in a more direct manner. You ask Gruz when the svelk are due to arrive back with their report and he says they should be back within a day or two.

Seeing as you haven’t much else to do, you just wait for the svelk and your orders to proceed with your mission for the next couple days. You don’t interact too much with the orcs though you do converse with Gruz about minor things concerning the mission as well as your increasing annoyance that the svelk still haven’t reported in yet.

“We’re paying these fools good money to do a job, is it too much for them to act like professionals?” you exclaim.
“With the svelk? It’s too much to ask them to do anything. Though it is rather odd they haven’t reported yet. Even they tend to obey the rule of money unless someone else has offered them more.”
“Wait, what are you saying? You think the svelk are in league with the shadows and were bribed?”
“Probably not. The shadows aren’t known for hording wealth and anything valuable they might own is probably sacred to their god or something. I’d be more inclined to believe they got themselves discovered and perhaps even ambushed. For all we know they’re all dead and we’ve just tipped our hand.”
“Well, we’ll continue to wait for the official word, besides the svelk have been the ones doing the scouting correct? We can’t very well attack anything if we don’t have a target.”

Gruz nods at your decision and goes back to what he was doing. Another couple days pass and at last the svelk do show up.

“Ugh. Tyren, did we really have to come back to this place? The stench of these green beasts is offensive.” One of them says as he enters.
“I know, but apparently the person we’re supposed to report our findings to should be here now…hey any of you foul smelling gentlemen seen our fearless leader yet?” this Tyren shouts. You guess he’s the svelk captain.

As irritated as the orcs are by the svelk’s words, you’re more irritated by them for everything else.

“I’m in charge of this operation, and where the hell have you been, you were supposed to report in days ago!” You exclaim.

Tyren looks at you as if he’s unimpressed by you barking orders at him and continues to remain dismissive.

“So we’re here now, is it time to attack or something?” he replies.
“No, but as I said, you should’ve reported in days ago.”
“So what’s the big deal? Maybe you’re not aware of this, but scouting this swamp isn’t exactly the quickest thing to do.”
“I don’t want to hear your lame excuses! You could’ve easily sent back a single messenger to give me an update!”
“Couldn’t do that, I needed all my men in case we ran into trouble. Dangerous business out there, I’m sure you know.”

The svelk has an answer for everything and him giving an arrogant smirk the whole time isn’t helping matters. It reminds you of HER and you begin to get angrier. Captain Gruz starts to notice and even interjects trying to smooth things over.

“Tyren I know it’s difficult, but you might want to rein in the whole smug svelk act that your people are so proud of. This man isn’t just your superior, he’s a direct rep from the Emperor himself.”
“Maybe he’s YOUR superior orc, but he’s not mine. Nobody fucking tells me how to do my fucking job. And I have a very hard time believing that this young whelp is a representation of anything other than a sign of how desperate the Empire is getting for officers!”

Something within you snaps and all you can see is a svelk you want to kill for all the shit Mistress put you through.

“Fucking bitch!” you utter and unleash a small ball of flame into the face of Tyren. He screams in agony as the flesh on his face burns. The rest of the svelk are taken by surprise by this move, though they don’t do anything to stop you. You kick Tyren to the floor while he desperately tries to put the flames on his face out. You help him put the flames out by smashing his face in with your fist repeatedly. Unlike the tougher orc bone structure, the bones of a svelk aren’t as resilient and you can hear the crunching sound of his nose, jaw and skull cracking as you continue to do major mayhem on his face. Tyren’s face is a mass of burnt gory meat at this point yet you still aren’t done. That’s when you take your dagger and scoop his eyes out with it. As you carve out the two bloody orbs, the shrieking is enough that the residents of Sinkhole who happen to be walking outside the barracks quickly run home in fear.

Your actions while excessive are probably made slightly more disturbing due to the fact that you’re muttering incoherently and making small giggling noises the whole time you’re doing them. It’s enough to establish to everyone that they’re obviously in the presence of someone who isn’t just in charge, but also may well be a madman. One things for sure, after Tyren’s makes his last gurgling pleas while you’re slitting his throat and you’re up to your forearms in his blood, nobody is thinking about pissing you off now.

You stand up from your bloody work feeling surprisingly much better. Happy even.

“Remember this.” Is all you say to the group of svelk, before you turn to go to your own private quarters.

The next day Captain Gruz gives you the scout report from the svelk. You thank him and go over some strategies since you’re feeling in a better mood now. Gruz is all too willing to give his opinions on how certain places should be approached and handled. He really does have some good ideas. Makes you wonder if you weren’t being a little too hard on him when you first met him.

“Captain, when the orders come in, I want you to be in charge of a second team. We’ll cover more ground that way and they’ll be less of a chance for potential rebels to escape.” You say.
“Are you sure sir, you don’t think we’d be better off keeping a larger force together? I’ve always found that it’s always preferable to have more numbers than you potentially need. But you’re in charge of course.”

Just as you’re about to discuss and ponder the pros and cons of each plan, a messenger walks in. It’s the official orders. Looks like the time for planning is over.
> You go with your plan
While you’re sure Gruz probably means well, you were put in charge of this mission and you’re not going to second guess your own judgment, which has been sound so far in dealing with the situation.

“We’ll proceed with my plan and split the team up into two strike forces with you commanding one of them.” You say.
“As you say sir.”
“Did the svelk report say they saw any actual shadows at any of these places?”
“Not at most of the locations as they seem to be just safe houses for normal rebels, but there was one in particular which seems to be more of an actual armed camp that they saw more than a few of shadows hanging around.”
“Okay then, I’ll take the svelk and attack that place first and your group can concentrate on the regular rebel locations.”
“Are you sure you want to do that sir? I mean being alone with all the svelk?”
“I’m well aware of their treacherous nature, but as you just saw I am not intimidated by them. They just saw that as well. Besides, they’re being paid well for this job and I trust that their greed along with my example of their leader is not going to incur any more disobedience or grand standing.”
“Probably not sir, but just be careful.”
“Noted. Anyway, let’s get going we’ve got traitors to purge and I’m anxious to see it through.”

You and Gruz get the troops ready. You give a quick briefing of the plan the pair of you take your respective groups and part ways. After a march through the swamp you reach your first target and it does indeed resemble a small military compound. It’s really just a walled village though. You’d guess that this particular place is so far from normal civilization that this just went unnoticed and the shadows eventually just subverted the entire place or at least started placing sympathizers there.

You order the attack and all goes well. The svelk and yourself easily scale the walls though given how pathetic the opposition is though, you almost wonder if you couldn’t have taken this place all by yourself. You still haven’t seen any of the rumored shadows in this place though and that slightly concerns you. Did they already flee, or did they just cloak?

“Keep alert! There may be shadows still lurking about!” you shout as you cut down one of the rebels.

No sooner have you said that, when you sense something amidst the chaos. A feeling like you’re being targeted…

Unfortunately you still don’t know where the attacker is located until its too late. A female shadow decloaks and fires a bolt that sinks into your chest before you can move out of the way.

Shadow bolts tend to be dipped in a poison and this one is no different as you begin to feel the affects. Fortunately being an Eternal you’re immune to it killing you, unfortunately it still is enough to start making you feel dizzy.

The female shadow is moving faster than anything you’ve ever seen and she’s moving right towards you.

You order the svelk in a slurring tone to fire their crossbows, but nobody answers your call. You can’t be sure if it’s due to the fact that in the chaos nobody could hear or understand what you said or if the svelk have conveniently decided to not follow your orders. In any event you’re on your own.

You block the shadow’s attack with a force shield and follow up with a stream of fire from your other hand though the shadow easily dodges your attack. You feel two sharp pains in both of your sides and at first you think the shadow has moved so quick that she’s gotten behind you to stab you, but it turns out it’s a second shadow that has snuck up on you.

In the end it doesn’t really matter as the result is the same and you collapse face first into the ground. A final blade through your back finishes you off for good.