Victor's withered fingers unconsciously rubbed the textured steel throne, the cold touch unable to suppress the simmering rage.
The council chamber was suffused with the stench of fear and decay, the air stagnant. Under the dome, the hanging torture stakes swayed with the light like flickering specters.
"...three more outer node ports were seized by those apes," the messenger's metallic scratching voice sliced through the silence, his hunched figure wrapped in a black cloak, "'Dusk Fang' clan's beast master team barely held for two days before being completely annihilated...average casualty ratio...ninety-seven to one." That final number was like a drop of concentrated acid splattering into a pan.
