The glyphs merged back into the wall, isolating Ryleh and Vincent in the small room. Without much hurry, the Scribe picked up a globe of Gaian standing on his desk. He caressed it with a look of utmost love.
-"Beautiful, isn't she, Eldridge? So much land, so little time."
He put the globe back onto the desk. Now, Cain's attention was turned to his guest.
-"Luckily, we don't need the time. That's one of the benefits of living under a powerful monarch's wing. Another little perk is the occasional bone the master throws to his obedient dogs, such as, say, a piece of land... Maybe an entire continent...
"So how unfortunate is it that our leader's mind was touched during his time in the dimension hole that he had to survive in? No man's sanity could survive several months' worth of isolation, all alone in that little world. Even now, he is up in his chamber, whispering words of utmost madness to himself. It was I who was pulling the strings behind every single operation you may have heard of, while he remained the purely symbolic leader of Kandarin. If you do not believe me, ask anyone on the street - the Sovereign has not been spotted in a while, even at public executions - one of his favourite pastimes.
"One thing that remained intact appears to be the Sovereign's eternally quenchless blood thirst, though. He is as eager to take over the world as he always has been, driving his armies of undeath before him. I'm sure you know what happens when a man with power has an... an exhaustive desire for something - that man gets what he wants. It is simply a matter of time.
"I can see that you are a man of opportunity, Vincent. I plan to strike the Lich down once the subjugation of the world is complete. If you happen to help me, perhaps we could split the land he has taken in half.
"If, however, you decide to decline... Well, that is your business, really. If you start asking questions, word will spread, but no one will believe you. Moreover, I might take that as an act of hostility, and, say, announce you as the public enemy of mankind...
"Choose now, Vincent. Simply think of the possibilities that my proposal will open up for you. I'm sure you've controlled your share of power as a general in the Crimson Empire, but it is next to nothing when I speak of controlling half of the known world!"
--- --- ---
Meanwhile, deep below Kandarin in a secret laboratory...
-"AACH!!!! SHE'S BLOVING UP, HERREN!!!"
-"Herr Bauer, calm yourself! The portal's simply opening up, nothing has gone wrong!"
-"But look! The NGO vortex, she isn't closing!"
-"Yes, Herr Bauer, YES, that's the point, it's not supposed to close! That's the way we're taking the Hammer out to the Aether!"
The circular barrier in the vast space below was holding against the powerful tides of gravitation coming from the NGO vortex. One by one, the mammoth pieces of the Hammer were lowered inside, helped by the undead creatures immune to vacuum. Several hours later, the Hammer was entirely in space.
-"The work is not finished just yet, gentlemen," said Von Göth. "It almost is, but not quite yet."
All four senior scientists - Orff, Von Göth, Bauer and Pfitzner - approached the Binding Glyph. They proceeded to take off a small stone from their necklaces. The gems appeared to have been sliced off from a whole - and when the scientists united them above the Binding Glyph, they formed into their original self. It was an almost perfectly smooth, round orb the size of a grape. Once its pieces fit snugly together, it gave off a light static shock, just enough for the scientists to draw their hands away from it. The stone, as if propelled by some invisible force, lowered into the tablet. In a flash of blue, it vanished upon touching the sacred glyph.
As soon as that happened, a large panel made of all sorts of coloured tubes, static charge capacitors, and gauges suddenly sprung to life with activity behind the scientists. The tubes channelled some sort of blue liquid, the capacitors buzzed with electricity, and the gauges raced around their scales.
-"It is done," announced Orff. "The weapon is activated."
--- --- ---
A guard approached Kain.
-"You don't look like you belong to the general populace," he said grimly. "Unless you have important business here, I suggest you make yourself scarce."
