I was on the verge of disappearing. My battles were on dozens of fronts, with power in my hand, always alert, anticipating the movements of others. I was not just anyone. In me resided the power of hundreds... thousands of people who fell before me. But suddenly, emerging from the dead I did not rule, there was that bastard—that damned meddling human. He left me without magic, without strength, condemned to disappear. I, the powerful Lich, reduced to a weakling as I was when I arrived at this continent.
Necromancy had a price. Yes, I could obtain the bodies and part of their strength, their magic. But for this to work, I also had to possess their bodies, their bones. But without strength, I used what I had left just to maintain myself in this un-life. I began carving control runes into small beetles that had a tiny amount of magic. Once I had a cloud of dead, I could launch my attack at a couple of lesser reptiles. Their venoms served me greatly. I lost almost my entire squadron, but finally, after a day of battle, the animals were dead from asphyxiation, as their skin was too hard for simple insect bites to affect them. From my refuge, I saw everything, directed it. That venom was soaked into the insects, and I used them as bait to spread the infection to several animals that were so stupid they did not notice their prey was dead.
Four years recovering, poisoning insignificant humans, moving them away from places where their kind might notice and send to erase my presence from the earth—but that was not going to happen! Fortunately, I achieved this in time—a modest army and power for when the gods invaded us. I sought in their presences—pedestrian and impossible to dominate. Unfortunately, allying with a god was not an option. On the other hand, I traveled to see the king's son. After how he handled things, I feared he was not up to what I needed either. But coincidentally, while one of my creatures was being devoured by a queen spider—it was always a risk, as they are hunters and their acids dissolve all types of venom they might carry—I felt another presence—weak, not yet a modern consciousness, more like stacked primitive egos. That was where I hit the jackpot. I was facing a deity in the process of disappearing—Arach, the fool of the caverns.
I still laughed when, through insects, I began sending her messages. I almost spat when she took my control lessons as if they were oases—she should have evolved given the enormous magic consumption she made of those miserable ones. A branch of my species—completely idiotized, without the quality, the luxury, the elegance that characterized us. But they were not my responsibility. I was not going to free them from Arach like that. I needed them as magic reserves, as incredibly old beings who only reached the age they had thanks to our genes and nothing else. They were useful waste—they would give me the distraction I needed, especially if I wanted to get some of the dangerous beasts of the Chaos Hordes.
Morgana was a personification of distrust. She kept her part of the deal, yes. But beyond that, I could not get any additional agreement with her. Always evasive, always seeking her own goals. She rarely stopped to deal with me. I understood—she was much stronger now. Every year, she increased her strength but diminished her overall control. Many of her creatures reproduced at impressive speeds but limited themselves to invading the mountain. At first, I did not understand, as her creatures' development would be faster on the surface. But now, with the discoveries of dragon bodies that I could not possess and that were now slipping out of that damned black dragon's control, she appeared with her desire to take them, to corrupt them, leaving me out of the competition—I could not allow that! That was why Arach traveled with her troops to the Crystal Plains. That was why I prepared her. Thus, her elves would attack underground. The creatures they eliminated would be far from their kind. That way, I could use my servants to mark them, to prevent them from being consumed by the horde before being poisoned, to keep them from being reanimated only to be food for them, to expand my power into chaos... but I had to be careful. She must think her troops consumed her allies. For that, I would use Arach. She must be facing chaos on the plains, only then could I distract Morgana long enough.
I could see my prey. She had been fighting for several days against some stupid dwarves who, thanks to them, had not continued the Lady of Chaos's advances. But today, it ended. I glimpsed an enormous attack force traveling to those tunnels. There went some of the things called Abominations. If only one of those died and I could take control of it before it was devoured—heavens, that would open my possibilities for triumph, for vengeance.
The fight had begun. These dwarves had help from one of those inferior elves. She did not fight badly but was still very young and impulsive. They had another strong companion—a dwarf who concentrated everything into each impact. The good thing about these was that they did not damage my merchandise too much—muscle damage, cut muscles, exploded viscera—none of that affected my plans. My dealings with them were not in such fragile parts. Their bones and cartilage, tendons and nerves—those I could move at will. Or I could, but that siphon my enemy used left me incapable of doing things more than one at a time. The elves had arrived—aberrant things, thin, tough as dogs and vermin living in the slums. It was not time yet! I had to see if Arach had arrived. Not having my own magic exhausted me. I focused now on the plains, far from myself—both sites—so as not to be responsible in case my allies suspected me.
There went Arach. Her army was large. Besides the queen spiders, hundreds of venomous ones, thousands of small carnivores traveled across the plain. I knew Morgana would not use magic on them—not like that. They were food for her troops. I saw them rise in the distance—worlds of living matter, forming the Chaos army. Against that, the stupid spider would not be a rival. I only hoped for enough time for my purposes to be achieved:
The dwarves would eliminate those elves once they killed dwarves and creatures, so I could take the bodies of three species.
Arach would eliminate some, but I did not think it would be a fair battle, so I hoped to take the corpses of the spiders and their small vassals. Here, I would not take chaos troops... it would be too obvious.
With this in hand, I could recover the dragon bones and subject them to my will. That would give me enough troops to invade the keep, massacre everyone, and have true forces.
The confrontation would be brutal—like watching a thorn and a splinter. Whoever ended up hurt would be beneficial for the Lord of Shadows, Master of Death, the nightmare of his enemies—it would be the return of the Lich!