"Are you well, my lord?" he asked.
"Quite well. There is a dangerous prisoner outside who requires your immediate attention. See to it."
"It worked?"
"It worked excellently. Make sure you retrieve that disk from Darl and bring it to me right away."
"Yes, my lord."
Word got out in the camp about the successful raid, news that bolstered the morale of all the soldiers. Darl was taken to the commander's office where he was agreeably silent, being fast asleep (my doing) and now under the tender care of Commander Resvalan herself. She'd already summoned her personal healer to see to his broken ribs. Doubtless he would have some confusion when he woke to find himself a hero with his friends for something he did not remember doing, but his monetary reward would likely more than compensate him for the inconvenience and embarrassment.
I quit the furor gathering around Resvalan's office for an unused barracks house nearby. It was the same one where all the slaughter had taken place a month ago. The troops refused to sleep there, so it had been converted into a storage building while they made do with other buildings, preferring their discomforts to the cheerless memory of blood and death here.
All the cots were gone but two, and one of those was occupied by the unconscious form of General Vychen. He looked ghastly, his face gray from the garlic. Six of the camp's largest guards stood over him, one holding a cloth cone just above Vychen's nose and mouth. It was permeated with liquid garlic, and was meant to keep him quiet. Like all of our kind, Vychen had no need to breathe, but as the stuff evaporated the guard dribbled more of the noxious liquid onto the cone so that its fumes would seep into the general's throat.
On Vychen's chest lay the Krezk holy symbol, which effectively held him in place. As it was atop his leather breastplate, he suffered no immediate burning damage from the thing. Were it on his bare skin, the reaction would have been most spectacular. I had no such weakness for either of the things, which was fortunate for us all, else I might be too distracted to begin the next phase of my plan.
Just to be certain that he was prevented from mischief, Vychen was also lashed fast to the reinforced cot by two inch thick ropes that I had specially prepared in the work room of my castle. They were soaked with a solution which I had developed meant to prevent him from dissolving into a mist or shrinking to the form of a bat or wolf. I wasn't sure if it would work, but thus far nothing untoward had happened.
Tied fast around his brow was the leather strip. The stone on the gold disk was milky white again.
"Are you sure you're up to this, my lord?" asked Aldrick.
"Darl was the one to take all the punishment from the fight; I am quite hale."
"There are other ways of being weary."
True, my mind was somewhat battered from all the mental work of forcing my will upon Darl, but the boulder, as they say, was rolling down the mountain, too late to stop. "Just remember your instructions. It will be the same as before, but more so.
"Yes, my lord," he said unhappily. "I only wish there were some other way. For you to risk controlling that-that creature…"
"We do what we have to do, commander. My magic will keep me safe from his influence. Now see to your own duty."
It must have been a terrifically unsettling thing for him, but he did nod, ready to carry out his orders.
I went over to Vychen, and the guard with the liquid garlic and cone moved out of the way. From my lead-lined box I drew out another flask of the same potion I had given to Darl, only this one was ten times stronger than the dose he had consumed. I lifted Vychen's head so his mouth dragged wide and poured the stuff down his throat. The stone flashed bright and went blood red again.
Vychen's reaction was considerably stronger and more alarming to watch than Darl's. The general's unnatural strength soon turned the cot into so much tinder, and he rolled and flopped around the floor like a beached pike, his convulsions too violent for anyone to approach. The ropes helped to some extent, but the wide-eyed guards kept a prudent distance.
I watched impassively until the fit was over, then retired to an alcove set up to offer me some privacy and sat down to stare at my crystal.
Though I could have easily taken over Vychen's will with my own via hypnosis, I had no desire to be so open about my ability with witnesses about. True, I could alter their memories to suit my wishes, but it seemed best to keep things simple. Besides, my hypnotic control of Vychen might stop at the border. This method, as the test had proved, was more reliable.
I brought up his image in the crystal, shut out all other distractions, and forced my way into his vulnerable mind, creating a reprise of what had happened earlier. There was a nasty disorientating moment of roiling chaos, then I was suddenly inside Vychen's suffocating misery.
He was so far gone from the trauma of his assault that I had complete control of him without the least bit of resistance. I shrugged off the burning ropes and got him to his unsteady feet. My guards had crossbows with wooden bolts ready to shoot, but through Vychen's lips I hissed out the password and Aldrick called them off.
Next I had Vychen stagger over to a wash basin to soap away the burning residue of the garlic from his face. My face for now. This prosaic task used up a solid ten minutes of my precious time, but it was most necessary so that he could function properly. The water was a salty solution and did finally dispel the last of the clinging stink. I dried off with some relief to take in the apprehensive faces of the guards and Aldrick. Perhaps they were thinking I'd give in to Vychen's monstrous nature and attack them for their blood. True, his body did ache with hunger, but I was well in charge of it.
One of the men came forward bearing careful copies of Vychen's elaborate armor and clothing. I shed myself of his garlic-tainted attire and donned the new.
"Are you all right, my lord?" Aldrick asked as I hurriedly dressed.
"I believe so," I rumbled.
"How do you feel?"
"Strong." Which was the truth. Vychen was physically more powerful for his larger body.
"Will you-"
I held up one hand. "Enough. I've no time for questions. If all goes well we'll know within the hour. Until then no one is to disturb me. No one, Aldrick." I nodded toward the alcove, then from the box helped myself to a small packet of magical supplies I had prepared for this phase of my attack.
Then I thoroughly startled my people by assuming the form of a bat and darting out the open door of the barracks.
Vychen had no trouble crossing the border and beat swiftly north to reach his camp, his perceptions filtering back to me where I sat quietly in the barracks. I had anticipated that he might fight my influence once inside Darkon, but I was ready for him. His flight faltered and his view spun, but I held firm to my dominance of him. Somewhere deep within his conscious Vychen was screaming with rage and terror, perhaps in hope that his precious Lord Azalin would hear and come to his rescue. I could not discount the possibility and made Vychen fly all the faster. Azalin would be aware of this latest entry into his land.
It would have been more quick to use a scroll spell to travel this distance, but I wanted an opportunity to survey the area rather than through the useful, but limited crystal. If things did not go right, then soon my own small army would meet with Azalin's on this very ground. Besides, a scroll would not have gotten me through the magical protections of Vychen's tent, and it was important that he regain entry unnoticed.