He sat within the throne room, his right hand rubbing his temple gently as he thought over the the report he was just given.  Gabiriel stood just to his left, “M’lord what should be our course of action.”<br/>The angel stood topless, with a pair of ragged breeches and cloth shoes.  A scar that went diagonally over his chest stood out most from Gabiriel’s perfect complexion.  Dradiro had done this through his Holy Armor.  Not a feat even the strongest mage on this planet could achieve.<br/>Dradiro’s head slowly rolled up so those glowing icy hues could stare straight at the Dhampir General standing before him.  He could smell, taste the fear radiating from him, “This is why Vampires will always be superior to you muts.  I give you one SIMPLE task.”  Dradiro roared.<br/>Coming up from his throne, the deity rushed forward and was upon the half-breed within a breath.  “Fail me again, and I’ll feed you to the werewolves.”  He promised.<br/>The Dhampir nodded frantically, Dradiro waving him away the man scurried from the room.  As Dradiro slowly walked back to the throne, he could feel their belief slipping away.  “If you are so mighty and powerful, why not deal with this rebellion yourself?  Why not use that shadow magic of yours to wipe them out in one blow.”  A rather round but well dressed human interrupted, stepping out of the crowd of gathered entities.<br/>There wasn’t an immediate answer, the Umbral turned and sat almost carefully.  He looked up slowly, eyes locking directly on the human’s.  “Where would the fun in that be?”  He questioned.  “I swept through your so called armies within a month.  Took over your ENTIRE PLANET.  Yet you view me as some mage on a power trip.”<br/>Gabiriel grew nervous, knowing this being had a short temper when it came to his power being questioned.  “I want this utter defeat to be as slow, as painful, as mentally exhausting for them as well as for you.  You must earn my blessing, though the blessings I’ve given so far haven’t been enough.  But my true blessing, comes with the Chaos of War, the Fear of Death.”<br/>Now they believed, the look on his visage showed the glee he got from everything he spoke of.  “I’ve turned brother against brother, wife against husband, children against their parents.  All sacrifices to the Shadows, to their true Master.”  A tendril snaked up and around Dradiro’s shoulders, his blank form taking that of a large black snake.  It soon finished its coil, wrapping around the throne seven times to still have a few feet of length on the floor.  Those eyes opened and immediately locked into the human.<br/>Dradiro’s smirk was wicked, the round man’s face drained of color before he turned and ran as fast as he could muster.  It wasn’t fast enough, the Shadow Snake unwrapped from the throne and slithered after him with lightning speed as well as such grace it didn’t disturb it’s creator.  Engulfing the top half of the fat governor in one bite the snake coiled around him as much as needed and squeezed.  The crunch of bone, the mushing of entrails out of the humans body echoed beneath Dradiro’s laugh. “Anyone else wish to question me?”<br/>Silence other than the snake eating filled the room, everyone’s head lowering.  “Now, since we’ve settled that.  Angel boy, get me the NightStalkers your former king boasted so much about.”<br/>“As you wish m’lord.”  Gabiriel responded, bowing low and hurried off.<br/>Dradiro looked around the room, “Begone from my site, lest you end up snacks for my pet.”  He threatened with a chuckle.<br/>The room was soon empty, the snake putting its head in Dradiro’s lap.  His left hand went down, running it along the smooth surface, “We’ll bait them into making a very costly mistake.”  Dradiro grinned down at the snake, “I’ve grown bored here cooped up in this castle.  Let’s see just how eager to be rid of me these rebels are.”