Valda stepped forward as if to strike but instead walked past Arkhan, stopping at a rough boulder and slowly lowering himself until he was seated upon it. His sharp eyes never left the Dreadlord and it was clear he was ready to fully hear what Arkhan had to say.
"The Supreme Lord of Undeath. He who can never be killed," Arkhan finally spoke once more, "He who was a god himself. How could even one begin to plan to kill Him?
For years a hunted down every piece of information. When I was killing for Him I was also looking for anything I could use. As I tore apart the bodies and souls He deemed fit to die, I also grasped whatever information out of them I could. Many times He came close to realising my true intentions......but always I managed to avoid revelation.
One day finally I had it. Ironically enough it was one of His rages that confirmed the final key. Cold, calculating He may be, but He can also have a temper like the very depths of Hell itself. He needed to make Himself whole again, to stop His spirit being spread across the ether and thus weakening him. Moments before He was killed for the first time He infused His dark soul into every part of His being including His armour and even His crown. He knew at the time He could not stop Alcadizzar and took precautions to ensure He would be reborn as fast as possible."
Arkhan paused, chuckling coldly,
"How He has come to rue that mistake. He did not anticipate the man-god and His second defeat at the man-god’s hands, nor the powers in this world that would grow before His second resurrection. With His spirit in such a state He could not regain His full power and thus was unsure whether He could take what was needed by force. Yet without being made whole again He could never be stopped, never be fully destroyed.......and I could never be free.
I knew what needed to be done."
"Make him whole. Bring back his crown and his claw. Valda said, not a question but a statement.
"Yes, but it had to be done in a way not to arouse suspicion. He has been on this land for long enough to see many things, and such is His foresight for a time even I wondered if he could truly read minds or see into the future.
I needed to enlist one who could work outside the confines I did. Then one day a vampire arrived, one who was truly arrogant enough to think he could test the Dark Lord, and yet surprisingly did indeed manage to pass the many tests laid in his way. You even surprised me Valda."
OOC: For those who had not read Valda's history, check here: https://www.vampirecounts.net/Thread-The-Chronicles-of-the-House-of-Valda
For a moment a flicker of surprise came over the vampire's face, which disappeared just a quickly though not before Arkhan noticed it.
"Oh yes Valda," Arkhan said softly, "do you think the Dark Lord is in the habit of allowing a vampire to rampage through his castle? Did you not wonder why you were not attacked all at once instead of facing increasingly difficult challenges?
By this point I had regained some standing with the Dark Lord. Whilst some of the other Dread Lords had come and gone, I had been there the longest and He seemed to finally think I had learnt my lesson. My words had some influence and I persuaded him to test you rather that destroy you outright. As one of the undead perhaps He could use you......but in the end you were my pawn more than His."
There was silence, both knowing that Valda was thinking of what happened after he defeated the Supreme. The agreement he had come to with the Dark Lord.
"He always knew you want to destroy Him. Even as you looked into the pits that were once His eyes and lied to him," Arkhan's cold voice cut into Valda's thoughts, causing the vampire's head to snap up and stare into the Dreadlord's cold eyes, "oh yes, did you really think He could miss something so obvious, though you thought you had hid it?
Did you really think He has not known what else you have been up to? Your meetings with the Dark Elf King? Tell me you are not so naive?" Mocking laughter followed, soft like the shifting of the sands.
"You were allowed to leave in His service, following His instructions, hearing His words whisper in your head, guiding you finally to the claw.... that is what you thought, yes?
You were wrong.
He is much more subtle than that, something which those who are twisted to His cause normally find out too late. Those who work for Him in the world do not even know they do so. No, though the voice you heard sounded like Him, the commands you heard were mine.
All the time you thought you was using Nagash, taking His advice and turning it to your own use, it was I who was using you. And you performed perfectly. You recovered the claw, you somehow managed to break the Crown out of Altdorf, a feat even I had thought almost impossible. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together.
Now it was time to enact the second part of my plan."
Throughout all this Valda had somehow managed to remain calm, though his tense fist betrayed the anger within him. Still his thoughts were clear enough to guess what was coming next.
"You needed someone to destroy Nagash when He was whole once more."
"Well done," Arkhan said mockingly "yes if He was made whole, I needed a powerful force that could truly challenge Nagash and finally destroy Him.
But this could not be any ordinary force. It needed to be one that could overcome the terror of facing the Supreme Lord, one that could fight the battle of attrition, one whose commanders could match one on one those who lead the Legions of Nagash.
Only one of those could I easily control and manipulated above all others, and so like the gardener my father had been long ago, I tenderly cultivated my fragile flower, until it grew into the might that is now the Vampire Council."
At this Valda shook his head,
"No," he said, "you may be right about me, but I have fought both with and against the Council. There is no leader for you to manipulate, they are more fracticious than a horde of greenskins. You truly try to claim you created the Council?"
"I did not say that," Arkhan snapped, "the Council came about of its own accord, but I am not one to let an opportunity pass by. But along the way I watched it grow in power, pushed it in the right direction, tested them." Seeing Valda's face still remaining unconvinced Arkhan shook his head,
"You still do not believe. Perhaps you will think different when you see past events from a different point of view……
Milosh and Lesa. Of course as far as the Council was concerned when I kidnapped them it was purely to recover the Claw, which was partly true. I of course need to make Him whole again.
But I knew of the Sentence's plan as well. You knew him better as V'azrin, the insane piece of filth Necrarch. A disgusting creature as most of your kind are, but his brilliance cannot be denied. The plan was quite masterful and what the Council do not know is that has it run its true course it would have succeeded, of that there is no doubt. Originally when the ritual was due to be completed, Milosh would not have turned straight away. He would have secretly gained control of the Carsteins who would have them positioned themselves near key Council members. Then with a combined attack of Reapers those members would have been slaughtered.
I could not allow that plan to come to fruition. Did no one think it odd that I actually left the Lahmian to live and took her husband? Shewas by far was the bigger threat, any revenge would have come secondary to removing her. But more important to my own plans was that the Council was not destroyed, so Milosh was taken and V'azrin's plan was interrupted to a fashion......oh yes he truly cursed me that night.
However the Dark Lord was more forgiving once he realised the potent tool Milosh could be turned into. As the Innocence he was truly a devastating force and….well let’s just say the part he played was more of his own accord than some would think.
The Destruction of the Violet Citadel Not a battle I was personally involved in, but one that could have been the end for the Council has it succeeded, even without my presence. After you pursued me in attempt to gain the Crown you will no doubt recall of the Dreadlords that came assist me, half of which returned with me to Nagashizzar whilst the other’s rode on to the Violet Citadel.
But that was not their orders. All of them were supposed to continue onwards whilst I returned with the Crown alone. Yet I knew at that point the Council were not ready....nor would they ever be. Even now they would not be able to fight the all of the Nine Dreadlords of Nagash at once. So I commanded half to return, and yet again you proved to be useful Valda, as your unexpected presence ensured I had a valid reason to demand an escort.
The Battle at the Border Princes The first time the Council faced the power of Nagash, and even then they came very close to losing everything. Eventually it did dawn on them it was nothing but a test, or was at least intended that way.
You of course know the result of the battle, but there were some questions that the Council should have asked.
Such as why were not all the Dreadlord’s present? Perhaps it was because there were rumours that a large army of the Nehekharan’s was mobilising? Completely false of course, but whilst I may have created it, it was not I who relayed it to the Dark Lord, thus I was saved his wrath when he found out how false it was.
Or why did the army suddenly retreat when victory was sure? It may have had something do with the report that a large support force for the Council was approaching, and by that point the rumour of the Tomb King army had not been disproved. Again it took just the right word in the right ear.
Perhaps most unusual of all, is why the Innocence did not flee the field with the rest of the army? Why did he remain isolated, easy pickings for the Council? Was it to tempt them into a position to take control of the Council as it looked like? I will tell you know it was not, although that is one secret I will reveal last.
At any rate, the battle did what it was intended to do. It was I who originally suggested the “testing” of the Council. Admittedly it nearly backfired as I had overestimated the Council’s strength and tactical abilities. However it did what was necessary. It gave the Council the bitter taste of defeat. It made them realise there were not indestructible, and that if they were to stand a chance of winning they needed push harder.
The Insurrection in Nehekhara How convenient at the same time that the Council were fighting against Nagash, that an insurrection started with the city states of the Tomb Kings? That instead of the Tomb Kings staying out of the War against the Dark Lord as they intended to do, they were in some way forced to act?
Convenience had nothing to do with it. Nagash had for many years slowly twisted scores of the Liche brotherhood to His cause. Some of the city states were more successfully in combating this, Khemri for example due to Settra’s ruthlessness. However it was never His intention to use these secret sects so early, the last thing he needed was to push the Tomb Kings to support the Council. No, as far as He knows somehow the secret commands were miscommunicated and the cabal leaders started a revolt the Dark Lord never ordered. I had to remove no less than twenty-eight of the Liche’s myself to ensure it could not be traced back to me, but I was successful.
Once again some of results were pure luck, the arrival of the Council and the rise of a new champion blessed by the Nehekharan gods. Oh at that point I did indeed wonder whether those worthless deities realised they were giving me exactly what I needed. A focal point to spur these rotting and senile kings into action.
Which lead to my last and final act.
The Black Pyramid The Dark Lord ordered us to quash the threat of the Champion once and for all, and I assure you if I had remained with the Jailer that would have been the case. But the fool of a Dreadlord, for all his smug honeyed tones did not even think to question when I divided our forces into two and left him with a force far too weak to stop Settra’s army. My reason that securing the Black Pyramid was paramount was enough for him.
I was not fully lying though. The final piece in the puzzle that is the resurrection of Nagash. Even if he is fully destroyed, even if his claw and crown are rendered down to their base elements along with the rest of his body, he would have returned. The Pyramid was his ultimate keep-safe. As long as it existed he would always come back in one form or another.
Finding how to breach its core perhaps took longer than anything else. Hundreds of years and countless trips from beyond the grave, yet I secretly visited it constantly, working tirelessly until I finally found how to bypass its locks. In there I found the dark crystal He created so long ago to power the structure, a baneful creation that collected the power that the pyramid drew, and used it to power the wards and other arcane uses.
I could not destroy it. Potent magick or an artefact was needed, but the sort I can use was only sustenance for its terrible hunger. It needed something pure and clean, and that is when I realised the Champion could be useful once more…..and so you know what happened next. Without me none of you would have found the entrance inside, and of course who do you think released the trapdoor under the Champion to take him directly to where he was needed?”
The silence was deafening as Arkhan finished. The fact that was Dreadlord had infact been secretly supporting and helping the Council all this time was something that even Valda needed a few minutes to digest. To the vampire deceit was almost second nature, and he had spent many centuries mastering the arts of lying, of subtle manipulation. Yet it was nothing compared to what Arkhan had managed to achieve.
Under the nose of Nagash, the Dark Lord himself, he had managed to control and manipulate the greatest enemy his master had ever faced. He had managed to make Nagash whole once more, to remove his power of resurrection and even ensure the enemies arrayed against him were powerful beyond imagining.
One point nudged Valda’s thoughts, and he glanced up at Arkhan.
”What of the Innocence? You said his secret would be told last.”
”Ah yes.” Arkhan replied, ”quite possibly the most daring of all the subterfuges, that even I was unsure of.
As far as the Council was concerned Milosh was taken, was broken and was turned into the Innocence against his will. He was then set upon the Council as one of Nagash’s hounds. Correct? That was not the case.
What would you say if I told you Milosh knew what he was doing the entire time, that the only time he was truly controlled was when V’azrin took over his mind along with all the other Carsteins?”
By now Valda had thought that he could not hear anything else that could have surprised him, but this was something else.
”I would say that you lie, even though no doubt you will prove me otherwise. He loved his wife like no other, he would not willingly harm her.”
”True. Very true. His love for his wife was indeed a potent force albeit sickening. But think for a moment……
The Infiltration into Nagashizzar. Entirely unexpected. When Milosh was taken I have never considered that they would have the gall to infiltrate the lair of Nagash. However again they came close to death when most of the Council were caught, over powered. They were easy targets. Yet they managed to escape…..how? Not by their own skill, that much is certain. They were quite lucky that I managed to have Milosh intervene. Whilst they momentarily fought against him he was constantly eroding the wall behind them. By the time he slammed them all against it, it was weak enough to push them into the river beyond, and thus lead to escape Nagashizzar.
The Battle of the Violet Citadel. Seemingly he was intent on destroying the Lahmian. She had always been a key target of Nagash, especially when she destroyed Mannfred. But apparently he failed in that task? Or could it have been that by taking the task on himself he could ensure that whilst he hurt the Lahmian to keep up appearances, he could make sure none of the other Dreadlords actually succeeded in destroying her?
Then there was the “accident” where his attack collided with the Sentence’s, saving some of the Council from certain destruction. Need I say more?
Vekarin’s escape from Nagashizzar. Banespke awoke after his interrogation to find his bonds had mysteriously been released. Of all the Dreadlord’s there was one that could bypass the arcane wards the Sentence placed on his domain, by funnelling himself through a vent into the room.
Then later, when confronted by no less than the Verdict, Guilt, Sentence and the Judge, again it seemed a stroke of luck came when the Innocence lost his temper and attacked, which was deflected by the shield Banespike has stolen. Had Banespike thought for moment he would have realised that the Innocence’s attack, as an elemental force, would not have been deflected like normal magic. Still it was not questioned and once again Milosh’s actions allowed a member of the Council to escape certain death.
Standing Alone Finally we come to the question, why did Milosh pretending to be the Innocence separate himself from the rest of Nagash’s forces when they retreated?
To tell you that is to tell you what happened when I took Milosh from his wife. He was prepared to die for his wife, but I saw the worth one of his abilities could have to my cause, and asked him if he was instead prepared to live for his wife instead?
I gave him the option, that I would turn him into a tool, a potent tool but too nonetheless, to be commanded by Nagash and do his bidding. But instead of wiping his memory as Nagash expected, Milosh would retain it and use his position to protect his wife and the Council as discreetly as possible. At first he was more than wary, but after I explained a few key points, similar in some ways to how I speak to you now, he soon realised there was no other way. He knew it was either this or torture and death at the hands of the Dark Lord. So he accepted and proved to be a more valuable ally than I could have ever expected. He knew what I did was for my own purely selfish reasons but he did not care, he could still help his wife this way.
But there was one thing even I was powerless to stop. V’azrin’s plan was carefully watched by Nagash, and there was nothing I could do to stop the rituals that were carried out to slowly turn him into the puppet master that would control the Carstein bloodline. All that could be done was warn him when the time drew near to its completion.
It was before the battle that my spies confirmed that Milosh was ready. It was then he decided that he had done what he could, and so when the battle ended he made himself an easy target, in hope the Council would destroy him before he could be used.
Unfortunately that was not the case as V’azrin managed to get to him, the result of which nearly tore the Council apart. Again it was fortuitous I had indeed let the Lahmian live, as it was she that destroyed her husband and V’azrin and saved the Council”
”So what now?” Valda questioned, back on his feet once more as he looked at Arkhan’s back. The Dreadlord was looking into the distance , to where somewhere in the distance Nagashizzar stood, ”Do you go to fight at the Council’s side?”
Cold laughter echoed around the sands from Arkhan, the Liche turning to look at Valda,
”Did you not listen to what I said? You think I did all this to help? To help your wretched kind, or indeed anything else on this world?
I did it for myself and nothing else! I do not care if this world rips itself apart trying to destroy Nagash, all that I care is that I am free of him. To face him now is to risk that he uses his powers to place my spirit in eternal limbo, something that cannot be undone even if he perishes.
No, as far as the Dark Lord is concerned I fell today, trying to protect his precious pyramid. He does not have the time to summon me back now, not whilst he is preparing for battle. But this will be his last battle and after that he will never return, and so will neither will I.”
”You are so sure the Council will prevail?” Valda said, ”they may yet fail.”
”Perhaps, but that is why I have one last task for you Valda,” Arkhan said, his blade twisting in his hands, ”something that will give the Council the edge they need.”
Valda looked as it to argue for a moment, but even he realised that if this task was one that would truly help destroy Nagash, it was not something he could refuse, however much he detested being used once more. He listened intently as the Dreadlord spoke, and realised Arkhan spoke the truth. With this information he truly could help turn the battle, but the question was whether he could succeed. He was after all now only one vampire.
”You will not help?” he questioned. Arkhan’s dead cold gaze simply stared back.
”No. This is where I finally rest, where my path ends, as it should have done all those years ago. I have told you all I will, now it is time for you to leave.”
The two arch-enemies stared at one another for a moment longer. Each hated the other, but there was also begrudging respect there for the skills and iron will each possessed. It would be the last time the two warriors ever met.
”I said leave. Now for the last time I will die, by my hand alone.” Arkhan snarled, his cold voice brooking no more argument. Finally with a dip of his head Valda slowly walked away, the last thing he saw as glanced back was Arkhan fulfilling his last words, plunging his own sword deep into his rotten heart.
The Black had finally been released.
