Adrani remained standing even after Huma and Rumena were convinced that Voldrak was gone and out of earshot, but she wasn't. She waited a little longer, knowing that a single word in the wrong ears could lead to her clan becoming the center of a battle that could destroy it. The slaves, however, moved outside the compound, waiting for further instructions.
When Adrani finally spoke, it was to Rumena, her tone lower than usual as she turned to face him. "You checked as I ordered?" She knew she would have done it herself if she weren't worried that Voldrak would notice.
"Yes, your grace. Your bindings on the slave are still intact. They haven't been tampered with. You still have control over her actions," Rumena replied, and that was all Adrani needed to hear. She began walking into what should have been the house of a head of the family, though all she could sense was dust and blood. On the floor, on one side of the room, lay a dead body already beginning to stink—a slave's corpse.
Adrani spared it only a glance as she continued walking toward the bed, where she came face to face with the hollowed and dried-out body of her disciple Ophari, reduced to a husk of dried skin and bone, terrible to look at. Adrani moved closer, stretching her fingers to graze a part of Ophari's leg, only to watch it crumble the second she touched it.
"He dissolved Murra into dust by extracting her essence the way we do, but the method he used for Ophari..." Huma trailed off, though the three of them understood.
"...it's something we haven't seen before!" Adrani finished, a flash of anger in her eyes as she realized how much pain Ophari must have endured before her death, reminding herself again that the man she was dealing with was not to be underestimated.
"We will work with him for now, but the both of you should be ready. If he so much as tries to take us down, blow yourselves up!" she ordered, satisfied as they clicked their staffs against the ground to show their understanding and obedience. She had explained to them both that even she might not be able to kill him.
'Tonight, I'll seduce him just enough to offer an alliance. I'll even offer him a bit of the internal energy I have stored,' she thought, wincing at the idea of how many people she would have to bleed to replenish it. 'It doesn't matter, as long as the other clans bleed as much!' A cruel gaze filled her eyes as she took one last look at Ophari's body before turning to leave the compound entirely.
"The weak die, and the strong survive. It's the way of the world," she mumbled under her breath, already thinking of the many things she needed to prepare before Voldrak's arrival.
Evening came faster than she would have liked, but by then, she looked around her private room, where she would receive him, and felt satisfied with what she saw.
The fragrance in the air was light and alluring enough to mask the aphrodisiac she had hidden in it, and her dress was sheer enough that every part of her could be seen in the slightest light.
One by one, she turned down the lanterns and had just laid down on her favorite cushion by the floor when she heard a noise by her window.
It was the light sound of feet, and she immediately sprang up to welcome Voldrak, only to turn fully and recognize someone completely different—someone who shouldn't have been in her room.
His chest was bare, with visible tattoos drawn around his arm, and his dark skin contrasted with his white teeth as he beamed at her with unhidden delight, moving closer as Adrani forced herself to remain standing.
He approached even closer, and Adrani could make out the sword tied around his waist and another on his back. He strode into her room and carefully shut the window. She didn't dare insult his intelligence by asking how he got in, even as he stopped just a foot away from her.
He was taller than her, and unlike her slender frame, he was ripped, with deep scars adorning his upper belly—wounds that should have killed him but hadn't.
"Adrani! It's been a while," he said lightly, turning around to sit in a feathered chair—her favorite.
Adrani was anything but calm. She realized that, expecting Voldrak, this was the worst possible time for Bortris, the clan leader of the Bortris Clan—closest to hers in both power and size—to show up.
"Bortris! Bold of you to suddenly show up... and alone!" Adrani responded, dropping to the cushion she had been lying on by the floor.
He wouldn't attack her, not when he could have done so while she was distracted. It was clear he wanted to talk, and she would hear him out before chasing him off. The last thing she wanted was for Voldrak to show up while they were talking.
"I'm expecting a visitor, so you might want to start talking. I don't have a lot of time to spare," she said bluntly, surprised when Bortris nodded slowly, still smiling, without taking offense.
"I heard about your visitor! He killed your disciple and a family head," Bortris stated. Adrani wasn't surprised; she knew he had spies in her clan, just as she had spies in his. But while she sought ways to defeat him and grow more powerful, he always looked for ways to crush her entirely.
"Yes, but I don't care," Adrani responded, lying through her teeth. "They were weak, so they died."
"I know how your mind works, Adrani! The fact that you invited him here means you're planning to ally with him against me."
Adrani didn't respond, simply shrugging as if to say, '...and so what?'
"...Well, that would be a bad idea, even for you."
"Go on! I'm sure you're going to tell me why."
"Because he can't be trusted! What if he comes back and kills you? You believe he's stronger than you, or you wouldn't have offered to ally with him. If I can see it, he can see it too!" Bortris continued. As much as Adrani wanted to pretend to be blind, she couldn't help but recall the cruel, dark gaze Voldrak had fixed on her when she mentioned that killing her would hurt him.
'He almost took it as a challenge,' she thought, having seen no hesitation in his eyes, as if she were dirt he could crush anytime he wanted.
"...What, are you saying that you're better?" she asked, turning to fix her gaze on Bortris, who was eyeing the glass of wine she had placed on the table, along with the exotic fruits and food she had ordered.
"I'm saying we've worked together before! Think of how much stronger we'd be if we defeated him and took his energy as our own. Together, think of what we could achieve against the other clans!"
A frown appeared on Adrani's face, deepening the longer Bortris spoke.
"But only until it's just the two of us left," she pointed out, acknowledging that they would still be enemies in the end. Still, she realized that together, they would have a chance to kill him.
"You don't have to trust me, but we all know the demon you know is better than the gods you watch from afar," he said, stretching his hand to pick up the jug of wine, pouring himself a cup, and then pouring another for Adrani. He sipped his cup as he got to his feet, extending the other cup to her.
Adrani paused, staring at Bortris and the cup he held out. A few breaths passed before she reached out and took it, gulping the wine down without appreciating its sharp taste as it slid down her throat.
Bortris might be baiting her, but she would rather side with him than with someone outside her clan, someone whose origins and power she didn't fully understand.
'I'll kill Bortris too, if I get the chance,' she swore, knowing that he would do the exact same thing—or create the opportunity if he had to.