[ One day before the Trial of Champions on the remote world of Krz'tak ]
"Even the last Draconian has now joined the ranks of the Nazgrim, Lord Jorfaz."
The ashen Nazgrim knelt before the mighty form of his master, as he had so many times before. The corrupted Titan had bestowed upon him and his people a magic that was unparalleled in the cosmos. At all times, the magic ran through his entire body like a living being, while the black veins that decorated his body periodically flared up and went out again.
While he had to give up what he had once been in order to obtain this unimaginable power, it was the only way he could avenge the Draconians who had died.
'If it serves my revenge, I am willing to bear any sacrifice!'
For far too long, those beings who posed as gods of the cosmos had taken more than they were entitled to. Through his master Jorfaz, Nazim soon realized that the Titans were the highest beings in the known cosmos, but not the creators of that cosmos.
Rather, they were like guards. Guardians who, in the eyes of the Nazgrim, betrayed their purpose by heaping torment and death upon the mortal races should they fail in the trail imposed by the Titans.
"The time of our vengeance will come soon enough, young Nazgrim. Not long now, and we shall bring chaos to the entire cosmos, wherever the Titans may flee!"
Nazim swallowed. It was almost as if the corrupted Titan before him could even read his mind. Then again, he was finding it harder and harder lately to hold back his anticipation of the chaos to come.
"Forgive me, master. Knowing that I am only one day away from my revenge makes my blood boil. I feel a growing urge to step through the portal and rage in the Pantheon."
"And you will. But only on my signal. It would be foolish to underestimate our opponent, so I will provide a suitable distraction."
In a hasty movement, Nazim looked up at the burning Titan. He had assumed that they would storm the Pantheon at the coming dawn without even allowing it to come to the next test.
Not that he cared much for the other mortal races or their fate anymore. Vengefulness and chaotic magic left no room in him for sentimental feelings or pity. No, he had hoped to enter the Pantheon as soon as possible to eradicate the Titans.
There were not as many Nazgrim as there once were Draconians, for which the Titans were to blame, but with their newly gained power, Nazim was sure they would easily pose a serious threat to the divine beings.
"A distraction, my lord? We don't leave immediately at dawn?"
Only a few days ago, he would not have dreamed of speaking so blatantly to Master Jorfaz. But Nazim noticed that his thirst for revenge as well as his haste struck positively with his master. Though he was still a lower being, the Nazgrim differed from anything the mortal races had ever known.
"It would be exceedingly foolish to advance into the territory of our enemy, just like that. But I have already devised a plan to cause the greatest possible chaos among my kin. You make sure your army is ready tomorrow when I call them, that's all you have to do."
"Yes, Lord Jorfaz," Nazim replied.
Before his eyes, his master formed a gigantic portal through which he left the world of Nazgrim before turning his attention to his own tasks. Prince Jorfaz had made him the 1st commander of the Nazgrim, and thus, in the absence of the corrupted Titan, he was the supreme leader of this new kind of army.
While there was no fighting among them as to who was more worthy of the position of deputy leader, his people still needed leadership. In the few days since their change, they needed to build a fighting force that no one had ever seen before. For many of the former Draconians, it was unusual to turn away from their simple weapons for dark magic.
Some of them tried their hand at weaving their weapons with the dark magic. The Nazgrim were strong, no doubt, but there was still much to learn and Nazim was one of those.
While many of his people devoted themselves to training, he left the village where the Nazgrim currently lived and headed for one of the closer volcanoes in the area. When they practiced magic, they risked the destruction of the village in the worst case if a spell failed, and so he and some of those he appointed to his council took up training away from the village.
His footsteps sank deep into the ash-covered ground as he trudged up the volcano. Even from a distance, he could make out other figures, glowing purple, lined up all around the volcano.
At first they seemed to discuss, but fell silent as Nazim approached them. All eyes were now on him.
"Are there any new orders from the master?" one of his kin asked.
Nazim merely shook his head and turned to face the Nazgrim, who was known as Ingra. Ingra was one of her people's scholars, so it was hardly surprising to Nazim that she also excelled in the field of magic.
Some others might have considered the cunning and skill of his subjects a risk, but the Nazgrim were a new race. They saw the light of day anew only a few days ago, and so it was necessary to share their knowledge among themselves.
"We await the call of the Master on the Day of trial. When the time comes, we will pass through the portal and get our revenge."
"That means we won't leave at dawn as planned?" asked Krogaz.
Krogaz was one of the strong and stalwart Nazgrim. Even before his change, he possessed tremendous strength and held great grudges against the Titans of the Pantheon. As Nazgrim, however, he laid down his faith in his weapons alone and focused on the gift of magic given by Lord Jorfaz. Revenge and the hunger for power were what drove this Nazgrim.
"No. The master has something special in mind without revealing more," Nazim explained. "Until then, we continue to devote ourselves to magic. Reports, Ingra. What progress is there in the Council of the Violet Dawn?"
The name of his own magic-savvy council was plainly chosen, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. On the contrary. In the very near future, they would all utter that name in horror. For the Titans, it shall become the worst term since the day of their creation.
"We are slowly but increasingly achieving results, Lord Nazim," she replied.
Toward the volcano, she reached out her hand with the inner surface facing upward and caused a small ball of shadows and lightning to form within it. Wilder than many a storm, the shadows and lightning danced with each other while not moving out of shape.
In the next breath, Ingra turned her hand and pointed the inner surface at the bubbling lava in the volcano in front of them, whereupon the shadowy ball shot toward the lava while a tail of shadows followed it.
In a minor explosion, darkness and lightning spread out, pushing away all the lava at the point of impact, and a few meters away, the dark energy danced away over the seething death. Nazim was amazed at what Ingra had accomplished in such a short time.
The other members of the council, who had already enjoyed a performance of her ability, complimented her once again excellent performance with moderate applause.
It was noticeable that during the accumulation of the magic as well as the actual use of it, her body glowed a permanent purple instead of just flaring up for a short time.
"That is indeed an excellent performance, Ingra," Nazim nodded.
He let his gaze sweep once over those present at the volcano. A total of five Nazgrim had earned the position as council members of the Violet Dawn. Though all Nazgrim, even those who had remained behind in the village, trained their stakes, those gathered here aspired high.
When his gaze met Krogaz, he paused briefly. Still, the former warrior carried on his back, but something did not fit the picture.
"Krogaz, my friend. How is your progress? Is there anything you would like to impress the council with?"
Krogaz smiled. Like Nazim, he let his gaze wander over the other members of the council. Of all the council members gathered here, he had been the only one still shouldering a weapon. Nazim was even more eager to see the results of his ally.
"I have found a way to combine the magic of our lord Jorfaz with weapons. This combination allows them a power unlike anything we have known before."
Without waiting for a response from the others, the burly warrior drew the broadaxe over his shoulder and presented it proudly. Like the bodies of the Nazgrim, it was inlaid with the marquetry that reflected the flow of magic in its body. The purple inlays glimmered steadily and a somber aura surrounded the broadaxe like a breath, a veil.
Connecting objects alone was something that fascinated Nazim. But he was even more curious about the power Krogaz spoke of. Spellbound, he followed the sharp blade that Krogaz rammed into the ground in front of him with a powerful swing. A wide and long crack appeared and spread several more meters forward, deep into the volcano, before the earth came to rest beneath them.
The crack was several meters long and almost a meter wide, and they were still in the early stages of discovering their powers. What would their progress be like in the near future?
We will teach the Titans what it means to feel fear. Fear of being wiped out all at once!'
Moderate applause fell another time. These attacks themselves would not be enough to wipe out the Titans, that much everyone on the council knew. But there was no need for that. While they would take care of whatever the Titans threw at them, Lord Jorfaz himself would take care of the hated false gods.
One by one, they would fall and be forgotten quite soon. For the Nazgrim, it was first and foremost important to accumulate as much knowledge as possible as quickly as possible, so that most of the newly created people would not die away in the very first battle.
Nazim, however, was pleased with the results. Even if the Titans were to call upon the champions of the mortal races for defense, they would be no match for the Nazgrim people. Not after they received this new power.
"There is one more thing, Lord Nazim," Ingra hooked in.
Again, the scholar extended her hand over the bubbling lava, but this time with the inner surface down. At first, it looked like nothing was happening and Nazim wondered if he was missing something. But then he realized what was happening.
Smoke was coming off the lava and flowing into the scholar's hand. The inlays on her body glowed brighter than ever before, while the lava seemed darker and weaker. Almost as if Ingra was draining all the energy from the lava and adding it to her own magical power.
"Amazing," he murmured.
Within seconds, a considerable amount of the lava had dissolved and become part of the magical power.
"The effect is only temporary, but draining living energies allows us to increase our power many times over for a period of time," she explained.
For now, Nazim would only keep this knowledge within the council. Should too many become aware of it, there could be conflict. Besides, the greed for power in all Nazgrim increased with each passing day. In the worst-case scenario, they would kill off their homeland and leave only death behind.
"This ability will certainly come in handy for us tomorrow in the Pantheon! I want you all to learn it, including you, Krogaz," Nazim ordered his council.
"The others, however, shall be denied this knowledge for the time being. The first thing to do is to build up the Council of the Violet Dawn and lead it to an unimpeachable position. Only then will we advance our entire nation."
While there were no signs of infighting yet, that didn't mean they wouldn't follow.
After Nazim distributed his orders to the council, he made his way back to the village, while the other members fell back into discussions and explanations.