The Divine Tower was built like an old Wizard\u2019s tower, complete with a balcony overlooking the south and a roof one could walk on. Right now, Dr. Borg and her Council were sitting in a study, sans Yamta. \u201c\u2026I wonder how she\u2019s getting on?\u201d mused Tormo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been gone for a while now,\u201d remarked Remsu as she laid her head on Shefarn\u2019s tail, letting him stroke her hair. Dr. Borg looked up at the ceiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, I hope she\u2019s having fun with that present I gave her,\u201d she said as she indicated to Tensam that she wanted one of his tentacles around her waist. As he coiled her waist, she continued. \u201cThe man DID upend one too many of her operations and-\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDamn Rokalla!\u201d snapped Yamta\u2019s voice as she stormed into the room with her hands soaked in black Orc blood. \u201cDamn him and damn his silence a hundred times!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs everything all right?\u201d asked Tensam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, everything is NOT all right!\u201d replied Yamta. \u201cHe refuses to bow; he refuses to drink! Did you know that we assigned him one of the best pain technicians?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2018Pain technicians\u2019?\u201d asked Femfaf. \u201cIs that what we\u2019re calling torturers now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope not!\u201d shuddered Yulduk. \u201cThat sounds WAY too pretentious!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe guy considers himself an artist,\u201d explained Yamta. \u201cYou know how they are with self-aggrandizing titles for their profession.\u201d Yulduk sighed in relief as Yamta continued her rant. \u201cOne of our very BEST torturers! I felt certain Rokalla would break under his ministrations! The guy worked for two hours, not a sound! I told him, \u2018Give me a cry, Rosanzi! A shout, a whimper, a scream, anything!\u2019 All he could get was silence, so I got into it myself! You know the old saying; \u2018If you want something done right, do it yourself\u2019. Well, that was the idea, anyways, but you can see for yourself how well THAT went. If I didn\u2019t know better, I\u2019d say Rokalla was a mute! Silence, that\u2019s all he gave me!\u201d Yamta washed her hands in a basin of water. \u201cI\u2019m beginning to see your annoyance with him, Doctor. How you put up with him this long escapes me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had other duties to temporarily distract me from that annoyance,\u201d replied Dr. Borg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s next for Rokalla?\u201d asked Shefarn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, towards the end,\u201d said Yamta as she took a cloth and dried her hands, \u201cI thought to myself, or maybe I said it aloud, it WAS just me and him for a while, \u2018Let\u2019s hack all his limbs off! Maybe THAT will get a reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, he\u2019s limbless?\u201d asked Tormo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, he passed out after he lost both his legs,\u201d muttered Yamta in annoyance. \u201cBlood loss and shock, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s inconvenient,\u201d sympathized Scorpo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll get back to it when he\u2019s conscious,\u201d remarked Yamta, \u201cand THIS time, if he remains silent, I mean, silence! SILENCE! Where\u2019s the fun in that, I ask you all?! He\u2019s so insubordinate. We can\u2019t have him, of all Orcs, challenging our authority like that! I know you made a present of him to me, Doctor, but if I don\u2019t get my scream, he\u2019ll have to be killed. I hope you understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCompletely, Yamta,\u201d assured Dr. Borg. \u201cHe\u2019ll make a fine example of our authority.\u201d She then got up, letting Tensam\u2019s tentacle fall, and took the basin. She then poured the contents onto a pot of flowers. \u201cThey need extra nutrients,\u201d she said. \u201cLife and death in perfect order, that\u2019s our goal.\u201d Just then, an Orc Revenant woman stumbled in, looking very terrified and hopeless. \u201cMs. Trulmar, are you okay?\u201d asked Dr. Borg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, Doctor, I\u2019m not,\u201d replied the Revenant. \u201cI just got a frightening intelligence report. Realmfleet has just made a very\u2026disturbing advance against us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow so?\u201d asked Tensam as he and Shefarn entered their water chairs. Trulmar\u2019s speech was halted in a few places as she struggled to get the words out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of our spies\u2026saw Arsha and Oyed enter the Crypt of Crelima the Mad\u2026and come back out\u2026with a jewel in her hand. \u2026After that, archers killed Oyed\u2026and a massive fleet of enemy ships\u2026set a course for our position.\u201d The Council easily guessed what the jewel was and hoped against hope they were wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo!\u201d pleaded Dr. Borg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m\u2026afraid so. The spy went into the Crypt\u2026and saw that the Talkwen Stone was\u2026missing from the Crown. \u2026The last thing the spy could ever report\u2026and, in a way\u2026I\u2019m glad it\u2019s over. \u2026I think I\u2019ll stay here and read. \u2026The fleet should be arriving any time now. \u2026I imagine the end will be\u2026quite violent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNO!\u201d shouted Dr. Borg as she and her Council dashed towards the southern balcony. They looked out at the horizon and saw several shapes getting larger. Dr. Borg activated a telescopic function in her eye and got a good look at the shape leading the others. It was the Endeavor<\/em>! Fury gripped Dr. Borg\u2019s mind and heart as she activated the comms. \u201cBATTLE STATIONS!\u201d she commanded. \u201cRED ALERT! ARM ALL WEAPONS!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCy, we\u2019re outnumbered and outgunned!\u201d protested Tensam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t care!\u201d snapped Dr. Borg. \u201cWe still have the means to make our own lunar eclipse!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll have the eclipse generator set for a lunar eclipse right now!\u201d called Jansha. She dashed off to get the machine online. Dr. Borg glared out to the south again as the fleet approached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cArsha Royana will NOT foul the ritual!\u201d she declared. \u201cWe WILL ascend, but NOT in Oyed\u2019s name! All life will fight in OUR name! A legion that will rival any army ever made, and the enemy will hear them will come, for they will chant our name! WE! ARE! GODS!\u201d She then laughed like a lunatic. A flying robot then arrived on the balcony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. Borg,\u201d it reported, \u201cthe Endeavor<\/em> is hailing us. They wish to offer us the chance of parlay.\u201d Dr. Borg then steadied her breathing and calmed down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey want us to parlay with them?\u201d she asked. \u201cI won\u2019t parlay with anyone who would besiege us while we do the right thing! Open a channel and forward it directly to my comms!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Divine Tower was built like an old Wizard\u2019s tower, complete with a balcony overlooking the south and a roof one could walk on. Right now, Dr. Borg and her Council were sitting in a study, sans Yamta. \u201c\u2026I wonder how she\u2019s getting on?\u201d mused Tormo. \u201cShe\u2019s been gone for a while now,\u201d remarked Remsu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,238],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-5303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-three-realms","category-the-three-realms-book-5-the-final-fight","tag-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5304,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5303\/revisions\/5304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}