Supreme Magus novel Chapter 831

Chapter 831 Opening Move Part 1

Gremlik was forced to agree with Erlik. The Grendel Dryad started yelling orders while inwardly cursing the human race for the umpteenth time. If it wasn’t for them, he would have never left Jiera and he would still retain the role in the local undead society he had fought so long to achieve.

After the fall of the human race, there was no more strength in numbers, only weakness. More people meant more mouths to feed, making the damages on the local flora too extensive and without even someone to use as a scapegoat.

No more afraid of the humans’ interference, plant folks and Fae had started to band together, hunting down the undead that had no place to hide.

To add insult to injury, the undead couldn’t even run away from their oppressors since they were also their main source of food.

Nonsentient vegetation provided them with so little nourishment that, to feed properly, undead plants caused too much devastation, allowing beasts to follow their trail and kill them as soon as the sun was up.

Back before the plague, it had been so easy to use the Courts’ riches and connections to leave all the dirty work to humans. They would capture and grow herds of plant folk for their masters to feast upon, working happily just in exchange of the hope of receiving the gift of undeath.

With their disappearance, basic food had become a luxury, and each time a member of their herd died it was almost impossible to replace them. Powerful people like Gremlik or Erlik didn’t hunt in decades, so they had no idea where to even start.

For creatures of their age, only power and status mattered, yet they had gone from being rulers to scavengers overnight. Gremlik had lost most of his thralls during his escape from Jiera. Some because he had overfed upon them, others simply due to the constant struggle for survival.

He had joined Erlik because his plan was the only way they had left to make sure that the horrors of the past would not repeat themselves.

***

Contrary to Erlik’s paranoia, it took Jirni days to extract information from the members of the Night Court of Othre and even longer to decipher the acquired intel before she could share it with the team in Laruel.

"Kaelan is dead?" Lith still couldn’t believe his own ears.

"Yes, and so are most of the undead residing inside Othre." Jirni said through Leannan’s communication amulet that was set to conference call mode.

"The old bat told us about the position of all the dimensional gateways he knew, so most of those who managed to escape from our tactical teams just walked into an ambush. Some of them had self-destructing dimensional items, others didn’t, so we had quite the haul.

"Deciphering codes and dead languages required a bit of time, so I’m afraid that I’ve got only old news for you."

They had retrieved Erlik’s last known address, but by the time Leannan and her guards stormed the place, the undead were long gone. Before leaving, the Draugr had made sure to perform a proper clean up. There was no mold nor did the treehouse show signs of suffering.

The only evidence of the passage of the invaders was that the plant folk who were supposed to live there seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

Plant folk were capable of fusing together and with other forms of vegetation. It was one of the means that allowed healthy individuals to recognize those affected by the plague. _{fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com}