Divide And Conquer

Chapter 6

The perpetual gloom of the Fifth Ring was broken only by the fiery glow of industry - massive foundries and smelters worked endlessly by Red Tew slaves. Overseers cracked barbed whips over the straining rows of workers, who poured rivers of molten metal to forge the weapons and monuments demanded by Prince Voraz.

Krag, one of the few Red Tews granted dominion over his people by serving as a taskmaster, strode along the foundry floor. He came upon a slave slowed by exhaustion. With a growl, Krag lashed his whip across the slave's back, bringing forth a cry of pain.

"Work, cur! Lord Voraz commands you!" Krag bellowed. But beneath his facade of cruelty, doubt gnawed at him. He had witnessed the suffering of his people under Voraz's heel for too long. Rumors of impending rebellion against the overlord had taken root in his mind.

A commotion arose nearby as a group of Red Tew workers dropped a heavy mold, sending molten slag splashing across the stone floor. Bornian guards converged instantly, spears bristling.

"Clumsy worms!" their captain bellowed. "Your ineptitude has damaged Lord Voraz's property! The penalty is twenty lashes!"

Krag watched in silence as the weeping workers were bound to posts and brutally flogged. Their wails echoed throughout the foundry. But what could he do? Defy the Bornians, and his own life would be forfeit.

That night in the squalid slave quarters, Krag sat apart, lost in thought. His friend Gell approached. "Your heart is troubled, brother," Gell said softly.

Krag gave a bitter laugh. "My heart? It withered long ago in this abyssal place." He glanced around. "But yes, doubts plague me. I grow weary of enforcing Voraz's edicts, yet I still cling to life."

"Life without hope or freedom," said Gell. "Each lash of your whip plants the seed of rebellion in our hearts. The races conspire in secret against Voraz."

Krag's eyes hardened. "Careful, friend. Such talk courts death."

"It courts freedom," Gell retorted. "The other races seek Red Tew allies to join their cause when the revolution begins. No longer shall we live as slaves and beasts of burden."

Krag was silent. At last he replied, "Bury your dangerous dreams, Gell. Voraz is too powerful."

Gell leaned closer. "You could be our hidden blade in his court. Feed us information to undermine the overlord. Forget not that you are Red Tew yourself!"

With that, Gell departed, leaving Krag to ponder his words. Could he dare defy Voraz to free his people? Or was his friend right to dream of rebellion? The choice weighed heavy upon him.

Many leagues distant in the fetid Sixth Ring, the Sea-kin gathered for blood rites, adorning themselves with grisly trophies taken from slain enemies. They danced in the murky shallows by firelight, whipped into a frenzy.

"The currents rise in our favor," the Sea-kin shaman Goljat rumbled. "Soon we shall drown the Embodiments and Voraz in blood!"

As one, the Sea-kin thrust their spears toward the cavern ceiling and unleashed trident-shaped lightning bolts that lit up the cove in a flash of energy. The display of their magical might stoked the flames of rebellion. Their day was fast approaching.

In the Third Ring, a massive Boar-tis trampled his way through a section of Voraz's prized bone orchards, leaving only splintered ruins in his wake. When Bornian guards rushed to halt his rampage, the giant creature gored them on his enormous tusks, easily tossing aside their broken bodies before disappearing into the fetid swamplands from whence he came.

And so it went throughout the oppressed lands of Xiuri' - small acts of defiance that presaged the coming storm of revolution and exacted a rising price from Prince Voraz. At each display of rebellion, the overlord's fury grew.

Within his Black Tower, Voraz brooded upon his obsidian throne. "The wretches grow bold," he sneered. "They think themselves ready to challenge my supremacy."

He rose and stalked across the hall to where the cringing Imp servant Rax attended him. Voraz grabbed Rax by the neck, slamming him against a pillar. "Tell me, slave - what whispers of treason have your sharp ears heard in the city sewers?"

Rax gasped and choked out, "N-nothing, your Highness! Your law alone governs the land!"

Voraz tightened his grip. "Do not toy with me, worm." Dark power began to crackle at his fingertips, causing Rax to writhe in agony.

Finally Voraz flung the battered Imp aside. "Useless vermin. I shall extract the truth another way." He conjured up an image within the glowing orb on his staff - the city of Xanthus seen from above. Voraz began uttering an incantation in a guttural tongue, his voice rising higher as he summoned a dark spell to scourge the land for rebels.

Suddenly blinding pain lanced through Voraz's body. His spell shattered as the orb at the tip of his staff exploded, sending jagged shards tearing into his flesh. The Embodiments and Bornians cried out in shock.

Rising on shaky legs, the wounded Voraz twisted to see Rax holding a bloodstained dagger. "Death to the oppressor!" the Imp cried. "Your reign is ended!"

With a roar, Voraz unleashed a wave of dark energy that disintegrated Rax to dust. But the damage had been done - rebellion was rising, and even an Imp slave had struck a blow against him. Vengeance would be his.

"Raise the legions!" Voraz thundered. "We shall purge this insolence in blood and fire!"

And so the race toward revolution began in earnest. Both sides hurtled headlong toward a destiny written in sacrifice and struggle. A clash to shake the very foundations of Xiuri' loomed imminent on the horizon.