Hsu’s hands shook and his face drained of color. When he attempted to get to his feet his knees buckled, keeping him floundering on the floor. “M—my lord?”
The Emperor swept his index finger over the room towards the prone chamberlains. “You are to take these weeping old women to the square and have them whipped—each of them one hundred times! When it is over, you shall have a new job—to watch over that square so that no foreign assassins will ever escape your attentive gaze!”
Hsu knelt again, sobbing. “Please! Please!”
The Emperor shot to his feet. “Guards! When the last is whipped, mount this old fool’s head on a spear in the square so that he may remind others against treachery. Carry out my orders!”
Soldiers flowed through the open door and lifted Hsu and the weeping Chamberlains and bustled them out. When they were gone, two guards remained in the chamber and sealed the door.
The Emperor looked over at his guest and noticed that he was still in pain. “Are you going to die, magician?”
“Oh, eventually Emperor.” said Danhieras, massaging the back of his neck while grimacing. “—But probably not today.” He hooked a thumb at the wall behind him. “For some time I’ve lost my touch going through walls and my head feels like it hit all of them on the way over. It does save time but I think I’ll be walking back to my quarters. …If you don’t mind me asking—why was I summoned here today?” Danhieras opened his left palm and produced the wooden token, now charred and crumbling.
The Emperor clucked in disapproval and walked to the large map behind his seat. It showed the still unconquered regions that he intended to unify. “News of the black hordes,” he tapped the map with his finger. “This time, only three day’s journey from here.”
The pain in Danhieras’ head began to throb. “That doesn’t leave me with much time. Have you sent out riders to investigate?”
The Emperor sat back down and nodded. “Twenty of my best. I fanned them out in an attempt to count the size of their army.
Danhieras looked at the map and saw the large red circles painted on nearby towns. “Have they begun making contact with the villagers?”
The Emperor gazed at the map for a few moments lost in thought and then lowered his eyes. “My riders have found those three villages razed to the ground. There were probably no survivors, as there were no bodies to count.”
“Hardly. These people were mere serfs—farmers and the like. None had even the weapons to put up a fight. One of the comments my rider had was particularly disturbing. Some of the surviving farm animals were bitten by something.”
“Bitten?” said Danhieras. “By humans or by other animals.”
“It’s hard to say. He said the bite marks didn’t look human, and thick black liquid ran from their wounds. Worst of all, the animals that were affected were changing, and that even the sheep began feasting on their own flock.”
