The New Order (32 page)

CHAPTER 30
LORD TENEBRIS

B
lackraven was having trouble hiding his giddiness. The time had now come, the time Blackraven had waited for since he had first joined the Noctem Alliance all those months ago. Even the fact that he was sitting alongside the idiot bull-man Minotaurus couldn't put a damper on the sheer elation Blackraven was feeling.

Blackraven had just made his allegiance to the Noctem Alliance public, causing all of Stan's forces to reel in shock. The information he had relayed from Element City had helped the Noctem Alliance gain control over the entire server of Elementia, with all of the republic's forces being pushed back to one stronghold. Due to his brilliant planning, the Alliance now had four high-ranking government officials as well as an entire village of lower-level players to bargain with.

There was no doubt in Blackraven's mind that he was now Lord Tenebris's favorite servant. The fact that he was being called to an audience with Lord Tenebris clearly indicated that at long last, Lord Tenebris would use his own divine might to bestow wondrous powers upon Blackraven.

The one thing that confused Blackraven about the entire situation was the presence of Minotaurus beside him. Despite being in the Alliance since its inception,
Minotaurus was nothing more than an exceptionally powerful grunt, with little to no brain power to speak of. That being said, Blackraven was sure there was an explanation.

Of the four of them who had first joined the Alliance, only he and Minotaurus were left. Caesar had been betrayed and murdered by Leonidas, who was now on the run, a fugitive from both the republic and the Alliance. Perhaps, in light of all that was going so well, Lord Tenebris was feeling generous, and had decided to bestow powers on to both of the remaining founders.
Yes, that seemed reasonable
, Blackraven thought with a smile.
Who knows, perhaps Lord Tenebris will order us to test our new powers by hunting and destroying Leonidas.

There was a faint click, and the iron door swung open. Blackraven's heart gave a leap, and he jumped to his feet. It took every ounce of his self-control not to sprint out of the waiting room and into Lord Tenebris's chamber. Instead, he walked in respectfully, took his position in the middle of the chamber, and sunk reverently to one knee, with Minotaurus doing the same beside him.

In due time, Blackraven sensed a presence in front of him. A moment later came the deep, calm voice.

“Greetings, my friends.”

This was the cue. Blackraven raised his head, and looked toward the source of the sound. It was dark in the back of the chamber, with no light to speak of. Blackraven could barely
make out the outline of a player standing tall within the blackness. Blackraven's heart raced. As far as he knew, Lord Tenebris had never revealed his appearance to any players, even within the Noctem Alliance. However, Blackraven had a suspicion that today might be the day.

“Greetings, your highness,” replied Blackraven, his voice as humble as he could manage.

“Yeah, greetings, sir,” Minotaurus's dumb-sounding reply came alongside him.

“I would like to congratulate you,” the voice of Lord Tenebris said. “Due to your efforts over the past weeks, the Nation of the Noctem Alliance is now by far the largest and most powerful that it has ever been. For this reason, you have earned the satisfaction of I, the great and powerful Lord Tenebris.”

Blackraven shuddered. This must be a dream! He was being directly praised by Lord Tenebris himself! Words could not describe his excitement.

“I am a benevolent leader,” Lord Tenebris continued, “and therefore, I see fit to reward my followers for their loyalty and hard work. This is why I have called you before me, the Great Lord Tenebris, on this day. It is time for you to receive your reward.”

Blackraven was focusing every iota of energy he had on standing still. This was the most exciting moment of his life.

“I shall begin with you, Minotaurus,” Lord Tenebris announced. A moment later, an arm extended out of the darkness. It was a typical blocky Minecraft arm, with tan skin and a turquoise sleeve extending just beyond the point where darkness enveloped the arm's owner.

Blackraven watched in awe as the arm extended straight out, straight toward Minotaurus. The bull-man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and began to levitate into the air. As he rose higher and higher, Blackraven's anticipation escalated at an exponential rate. He was positive that some sort of divine essence would fly out of Lord Tenebris's hand, endowing Minotaurus with the power of a deity.

Instead, the fist of the hand clenched. Minotaurus's head flew backward, and a ring of items burst out around him before his body fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

No sooner did Blackraven comprehend what had just happened to his colleague than he found himself levitating into the air by some unknown force, a hand outstretched from the darkness toward him. Blackraven felt no rush of divine power enter his body. Rather he felt as though a hand was clasped around his throat. He tried to raise his arms, only to find that they had been pinned to his side by the unseen power.

“My lord,” breathed Blackraven uncomprehendingly, “what are you doing?”

“You have earned my satisfaction, Blackraven,” the emotionless voice rang out from the darkness. “Therefore, this will be painless.”

Then, all at once, Blackraven felt his head moving backward at the speed of light, and everything went black.

Lord Tenebris glanced down at the bodies of his two remaining followers, lying on the floor alongside their rings of items. Lord Tenebris was, truthfully, sad to see them go. Blackraven had been a great asset in the grand scheme of things, while Minotaurus had been unwaveringly loyal, if also relatively useless. Lord Tenebris did have an agenda, however. Allies never stayed true allies for long in the game he was playing. Besides, Lord Tenebris had always preferred to work alone, something far more reasonable now that Blackraven had done his job.

As soon as the bodies and items of the two players had despawned, Lord Tenebris called in his next conference.

Lord Tenebris found a good deal of amusement in the fear and awe displayed on Captain Drake's face as he entered the chamber. It was not altogether surprising, though. Never had a player so low-ranked as the captain been called in to conference with the great and powerful Lord Tenebris before. This would soon change, however. Lord Tenebris had plans to promote the captain to the rank of general soon, as he was
now short three of them.

“Greetings, Your Excellency,” whispered Captain Drake in a deep bow.

“Greetings, Captain,” replied Lord Tenebris. “Now, present to me your reports on the conditions of the prison and the front line.”

The captain faltered for a moment. Lord Tenebris saw a glint of horror in his eyes before he began to speak. “Well . . . your highness, um . . . The front line is holding up most excellently. . . .”

Something has gone wrong in the prison, I know it
, Lord Tenebris thought. He knew himself to be acutely decisive, and he knew how to read a conversation.

“What has gone wrong in the prison?” Lord Tenebris asked, his voice still unemotional as ever. “I assure you, Captain, that whatever punishment I shall give you for your error, it will be far worse should you withhold information from me. I suggest telling me the truth, and the entire truth.”

The captain stammered and sputtered for a moment before finally taking a deep breath, looking straight at where he judged Lord Tenebris's eyes to be, and gave the report.

“There was some sort of explosion in the high-security block. It killed Councilman DZ and allowed President Stan to escape. Councilman Charlie and Commander Crunch are still detained.”

As Captain Drake winced in preparation for the inevitable blow, he couldn't see that Lord Tenebris, still shrouded in shadows, was not angry. In fact, he was delighted.

So
, Lord Tenebris thought.
DieZombie97 is dead. And Stan is still out there somewhere. I guess that my fun isn't quite over yet.

“Captain, I am charging you with no punishment . . . yet.”

Captain Drake looked up, hardly daring to believe his ears.

“I am charging you with the responsibility of finding and capturing President Stan on your own. I want him alive. If you succeed, then you shall have no punishment.”

Captain Drake fell down into a full bow, sobbing in relief.

“Oh, thank you, merciful Lord Tenebris, you are far too kind. I deserve a leader far less merciful than you.”

“This is true,” replied Lord Tenebris nonchalantly.

“I . . . I do have one question, however,” replied Captain Drake, looking up. “I understand that, as of your last announcement, you appointed me the new head of the Noctem Alliance's armies. Do you still wish me to command the armies while I carry out this task for your majesty?”

Lord Tenebris's face slowly broke into a huge grin.

“That will not be necessary, Captain,” said Lord Tenebris slowly.

“Then . . . who will be the new commander of the armies?”

Lord Tenebris gave a slow, spine-chilling laugh before responding.

“That, my Captain, shall be myself. I have determined that I have been a dormant player in this game for far too long. The republic is in critical condition. I intend to bleed them out, to keep them in their position for as long as I can, and to watch them suffer. And I want to see it firsthand.”

And with that, Lord Tenebris stepped forward, out of the darkness, and into the light of the chamber.

Captain Drake's jaw dropped.

Lord Tenebris looked almost identical to a new player. He had dark brown hair, a turquoise shirt, and blue pants, the standard look for a Minecraft player unchanged by skins. On whole, he bore a striking resemblance to President Stan. Except for the eyes.

The sinister, empty, white eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

AUTHOR'S NOTE

FROM THE AUTHOR

Thank you for reading
The New Order
. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did enjoy it, please tell your friends, and write an online review so that others can enjoy it too.

—
SFW

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