Chapter 13 Chapter Ten Gathering Darkness

The half-orc Durga clearly despised the goblin Glock in front of him.Their respective tribes have been at war for as long as memory can remember.Together they lived in a valley on the Spine of the World, fighting for land and food with their warlike savagery. And now they are standing on the same ground, their weapons not drawn, they were driven to this spot by a force greater than the hatred between them.Nowhere else, at any other time, have these two races been so close and yet at peace.But now, under the threat of silence and dangerous surveillance, they had to cooperate as they were ordered to put aside their differences.

Durga and Glock turned and walked side by side to the building where their future masters were. They entered the Crystal Tower and stood in front of Akar Kessell.    Two more tribes joined his growing ranks.Legions of goblins of several different races dotted the plateau on which this tower stood; Spiralgun goblins, Slaughter orcs, Tonguecut half-orcs, and many others who came to honor him as their lord.Kessell even controls a large army of ogres, a handful of trolls, and more than forty verbeegs: smaller giants generally considered the lesser of the giants.But they are usually not stupid, nor timid, the only shortcoming is that they are very selfish.Thieves, although they are the most inconspicuous of the giants.

But his crowning achievement was to make a group of frost giants Frost Giants (Frost Gaint): a race of giants who live in the ice and snow and have the power of ice.Walk right in, eager to please the ruler of Crenshinibon.Kessell had been content with his life in the Crystal Tower, as all his whims were obediently carried out by the first goblin tribe he encountered.These goblins can raid trade caravans and replenish human females for the wizard's pleasure.Kessell's life at the time was comfortable and easy, the way he liked it. But Clinshinibon was not satisfied.The Crystal Shard's thirst for power is insatiable.After it has acquired something, it settles down for a while before asking its master for a larger conquest.It doesn't speak out against Kessell, who has the final say in the ongoing battle of wills between them.This small crystal shard contains incredible power, but without the ruler, it is like a sharp sword without a hand to draw it from its sheath.So Crenshinibon enforces its will through manipulation, which projects visions of conquest into Kessell's dreams, allowing Kessell to see what power can do.It had put on the nose of the once humble apprentice a carrot he could not refuse - respect.

Kessell's identity was once a spittoon for Luskan's egotistical wizards (and his own sense of them all), so he was easily captured by such ambitions.He'd knelt in the dust next to important people's boots, so he longed to be able to turn the roles around. The Crystal Shard often reminded him that now he had the chance to make his dream a reality.So long as he possesses this most precious crystal, he can be a conqueror, he can gather a crowd, and even the wizards of Sorcerer's Tower will tremble at the mere mention of his name. He continued to be patient.He had spent years learning how to cunningly manipulate one tribe of goblins before moving on to a second.He had subjugated a dozen clans, and it was an even greater challenge to convert the inherent enmity between them into a common cause of allegiance to him.He used to subdue one at a time, and he didn't dare to find another group of people until he was sure that these people obeyed his will wholeheartedly.

He's had such good results that he's now confidently summoning two hostile clans at the same time.Turga and Glock had already entered the Magic Crystal Tower, and both of them were looking for a way to kill each other without angering the wizard.However, after a brief discussion with Kessell, they began to talk like old friends about their future glory fighting in Akar Kessell's army. Kessell retreated to his pillow, thinking about his good fortune.His army has really taken shape.He has frost giants as his battlefield commanders, ogres as his battlefield guards, sub-giants as his death squads, and trolls, despicable and terrifying trolls, Can be his bodyguard.And by his calculations so far, he has an army of ten thousand fanatically loyal goblins capable of carrying out his plans of destruction.

"Acar Kessell!" he yelled at the maid who was manicuring his nails while he was meditating.This girl's mind was destroyed long ago by Crenshinibon. "Long live the tyrant of Icewind Dale!" In the far south of these tundras, settled people could spend more time in leisure and contemplation than in earning a living.Wizards and future wizards are not so rare here.Those true mages, lifelong students of this wondrous craft, practice their craft with due respect for magic, always with a heightened awareness of the possible consequences of casting a spell. Unless filled with greed for power (which is very dangerous for a mage), true mages conduct their experiments with aplomb and caution, causing little harm.

Yet those would-be mages, who are magical in some way, perhaps find a scroll, a profound spellbook, or a magical object, and often wreak havoc. That is what happened that night somewhere a thousand miles from Acar Kessell and Crinshinibon.A young apprentice wizard with a bright future is given a diagram of a powerful magic circle, and he finds the magic to summon.Fascinated by this power, he found out the real name of a demon in his master's secret notebook. It is this young man's special preference to summon entities from other worlds to serve here.His master gave him permission to summon imps under his own supervision, hoping to demonstrate the potential danger in action and to emphasize once again the importance of caution.In fact, these demonstrations only made the young man more interested in the craft.He had asked his master to let him try to summon a real demon, but the wizard knew he wasn't ready yet.

The apprentice disagreed. He drew the magic circle that day.He is very confident, so he didn't spend the next day checking those mysterious words and symbols, (many wizards would spend a week) and didn't want to use it to summon other weaker things, such as little devils, to test this magic circle . He is sitting in the magic circle now, his eyes are fixed on the flame on the copper basin, which is regarded as the gate to the abyss.Smiling overconfidently, the future mage summoned the demon. Errtu, the mighty daemon heard his name dimly from far away in the other world.Normally, the behemoth would have ignored such a faint call; the summoner simply didn't have enough strength to make the demon obedient.

But Errtu was delighted to hear the doomed call.Years ago, it had felt a surge of energy in the physical world, which he believed would be the culmination of a quest he had begun a million years ago.This demon has become very impatient to wait in recent years. It is very eager to have a wizard to open the way for it, so that it can come to the physical world to find it. The young apprentice felt drawn to the hypnotic dance of the flames in the copper basin.The four flames gathered into a single flame, like a candle dozens of times larger, which swayed mockingly back and forth. The hypnotized apprentice was not aware that the density of the flames had increased significantly.The flame jumped higher and higher, flickered faster and faster, and its hue gradually shifted to hot white.

Rock back and forth.Rock back and forth. It shook faster and harder, fast enough to provide strength to support the powerful entity waiting on the other side. Rock back and forth.Rock back and forth. The apprentice is sweating.He knew that the power of this spell was beyond his control, the magic had taken control of the whole situation and had a life of its own.And he didn't have the strength to stop it. Rock back and forth.Rock back and forth. He saw dark shadows in the fire, huge claws, and batlike wings.And it's so huge!Big by the standards of their kind. "Errtu!" cried the young man, compelled by the need for magic.The name was not fully confirmed in his master's notebook, but he could clearly see that this was a powerful demon, second only to those demon kings in the power hierarchy of the Abyss Demon Realm.

Rock back and forth, rock back and forth. Now he saw a monstrous, monkey-like head, with the belly and muzzle of a dog, and the teeth of a boar; great, blood-red eyes glared at him from within the flames.Acidic saliva hissed as it dripped into the fire. Rock back and forth.Rock back and forth. The flames grew suddenly, and Errtu stepped out.The demon didn't stop to think about the terrified young human who had foolishly summoned it.It began to walk slowly along the magic circle, to find out the size of the wizard's power. The apprentice finally calmed himself down.He actually summoned a big demon!The incident made him reassess his confidence in himself as a wizard. "Stand before me!" he ordered, knowing that a firm hand was necessary to control the creatures from the lower worlds. Errtu, completely undisturbed, continued on his way. The apprentice is getting more and more angry. "You have to listen to me!" he yelled. "I brought you here, and I have a way to torture you! If you obey my orders, I will let you go and let you go back to your dirty world! Stand up for me now!" The apprentice despises it, the apprentice is vain. But Errtu found a mistake in the pattern of the mysterious text, and this fatal flaw made the magic circle not perfect. The apprentice was killed.    Errtu felt the power of the Material Plane more clearly, and he had no trouble seeing where it emanated.It flew over many human cities on great wings, causing commotion wherever it was seen, but it had no interest in pausing to admire the chaos unfolding below. It traveled straight and full speed, flying over lakes and mountains, and over vast wastelands.It flew to the Spine of the World, the northernmost mountain in the Forgotten Realms, and the magical gem he had found for many centuries.    Kessell knew it was coming before his army scattered in terror under the shadow of the demon plunging down.Crenshinibon had told him of it long ago, and the living magic gem had anticipated the actions of the demon from the Lower Worlds, which had coveted it for countless centuries. Kessell wasn't worried, however.In his tower of power, he is confident that he can take on a foe as strong as Errtu.He can also take advantage of this matter.He is the orthodox ruler of the Crystal Shard.The thing had been attuned to him, and like so many other magical items left over from the world's beginning, Crenshinibon could not be taken away violently.Errtu intended to dominate the gem, so it dared not stand against Kessell so as to provoke Crenshinibon's wrath. When the demon saw the crystal tower, acidic saliva flowed from its mouth. "How many years?" it exclaimed triumphantly.Errtu saw the pylon clearly, for the daemon was not of the Material Plane, and it flew right past it.Kessell's goblins, not even giants dared to stop it. The wizard waited for Errtu in the main wing on the first floor of Crystal Gate, surrounded by his troll guards.The wizard knew that these trolls were of little use against fire-breathing demons, but he hoped that the monsters would enhance the demon's first impression of him.He knew he had the strength to knock Errtu far away with ease, but the Crystal Shard taught him otherwise. That demon will be very useful. As Errtu walked through the narrow doorway into where the wizard was, it stopped suddenly.Due to the tower's remote location, the demon presumed an orc or giant would possess the crystal shard.He intends to threaten or deceive these low-intelligence creatures to obtain the magic gem, but it sees a human in a robe, generally speaking, it should be a wizard, and its plan has to be terminated. "Welcome, strong demon," Kessell said politely, bowing deeply. "Welcome to the humble house." Errtu growled in rage and moved on, oblivious to the consequences of doing so in resentment and envy of the smug man. Clinshinibon reminded it. A sudden flash of light began to flicker from the walls of the tower, and the image of Er was enveloped in the light of the twelve suns in the desert, and it was very painful.The demon paused and rolled its sensitive eyes.The light quickly dissipated, but Errtu stood where he was, not daring to act rashly at the wizard again. Kessell smiled smugly.The Crystal Shard supports him.Filled with confidence, he spoke to the demon again, this time in a much harsher tone. "You are here to get this." He took out the magic crystal shard from inside his robe.Errtu's eyes narrowed, staring straight at the thing he'd longed for. "You can't have it," Kessell said bluntly, putting it back under his robe again. "It's mine, I found it, and it won't recognize your right to it!" The fatal flaw in Kessell's personality, stupid pride, always pushed him down a path that was sure to be tragic, making him constantly Taunt the helpless demon. "Enough!" an inner feeling warned him, and he guessed the voice was coming from the Crystal Shard. "It's none of your business!" Kessell snapped back loudly.Errtu looked around the room for a moment, wondering who the wizard was talking to.Obviously, the trolls weren't paying attention to him.As a precaution, the demon used several detection spells, fearing the presence of invisible attackers. "You are taunting a very dangerous foe," the Crystal Shard insisted. "Although I protect you from demons, you are destroying the relationship between a valuable ally!" Kessell began to see the possibility, as was usual with Clinshinibon communicating with wizards.He decided to give in, which would be beneficial to both him and the demon. Errtu pondered its plight.It couldn't kill the impudent human, though the demon liked the action.And it can't accept leaving here without getting the magic crystal shard, which has been its life goal for centuries. "I have a suggestion, this is an agreement in your favor." Kessell deliberately seduced it, avoiding the demon's eyes that wanted to kill him. "Stand by my side and be the commander of all my armies! With you at the head, with Crenshinibon's strength, and Acar Kessell behind them, they will sweep the Northlands in no time!" "You want me to work for you?" Errtu smiled. "You can't control me, human!" "You miscalculated the situation," Kessell retorted. "Think about it, this is not service, but joining a campaign that destroys and conquers all! You will have my highest respect, mighty demon. I will not claim to be your master." Kessell was guided by Clinshinibon's subconscious instructions.Errtu's less threatening gesture showed some interest in the wizard's proposal. "Think about what you could be paid in the future," Kessell continued. "According to your lifespan, human beings won't last long. After Akar Kessell is no longer in this world, who will get the Magic Crystal Shard?" Errtu smiled wickedly, and bowed before the wizard. "How could I refuse such a generous offer?" said the demon in his frightening, out-of-this-world harsh voice. "Let me see what lies in the path of our glorious conquest, wizard." Kessell was almost dancing.His army was finally truly complete. He got the commander in chief of his army.