by Doug Burbey
A yellow, leathery-skinned demon, with dulled claws standing barely to Bezzid’s mid chest, approached and knelt. Frax emitted contentment in his decades of obedience to Bezzid as ze raised hands up.
“Horde Master, portal ready.”.
Bezzid pushed aside the simpering caster servant and entered the portal chamber with Frax close behind.
Standing in the middle of the chamber, he let a drop of blood fall on the activation point, feeling the draw from hirz reserves as the portal connected. If hirz personal magic had been greater nothing would have blocked hirz ascension to power.
The small portal glowed stronger and pulsed as magic navigated the distance between the realms, seeking out his intended target on the other side of the veil walls. Bezzid grumbled with impatience for hirz human slave to answer the portal summons.
After a frustrating pause, the reflected face of the human’s female mage slave appeared from within the orb. Having to utter a single word to this slave creature was an insult. Such an insult Bezzid only tolerated because it suited his immediate needs. But it would have to be punished eventually. It would be repaid to the Horde when Bezzid ripped the life from this worthless being and consumed hir thereby returning what ze stole.
"Report to me slave." Beezid growled in the best human English ze could manage.
"Oh, you’re a biggie. Um… Marcus isn’t here. But he did say to be polite and super friendly if you called." The slave's voice echoed through the veil from within the portal.
Bezzid still could not firmly grasp many of the strange words most humans utter. With the ridiculous weakness of the lack of a unified species language, and the human inability to understand empathic thought, he struggled with the nuances in the intent of a human speaker. These annoying traits helped them hide their lies and intent from each other as well as from Bezzid. But even without understanding all the words, Bezzid did understood human speech contained hidden betrayals.
"What is the status of preparations?"
"Grumpy Guss you are. What preparations? "
Bezzid sent forth annoyance, then spiked to anger when ze remembered the human slaves were deaf and blind to the undertones. "Speak clear and true human! Tell me, are we ready?"
"Oh no idea, but Marcus did say that if you got all huffy to tell you that he will get back to you. Where did Frax go? Is he there with you? I like Frax. He’s funny."
Bezzid barely restrained hirz rage against the loss of time, a Horde resource that now needed to be replenished after hirz master's latest squandering of blood and power.
"Why?" As Bezzid empathically pushed out his angry disapproval even while though he knew it would not travel across the realms to strike the appropriate fear into his slave, even if ze could sense it. But hirz own body demanded ze project anger and displeasure towards this heretic human female slave regardless.
"All he said was that ‘Shit happens.’ Do you have pretty flowers over there on your side? I can’t see. Always wondered though. I bet they are neat and pretty."
"Bezzid knows of this ‘shit happens’ word, you despicable slave. Bezzid understands your words. Shit does not happen to the Horde!"
"Well it appears it happened to the Horde last time you guys crossed over to our realm, from what I could tell."
Every ounce of Bezzid's energy that was focused on repressing his anger so he could tolerate communicating with heretics nearly fractured at those words. Caught off guard, Beezid's body began to shake and without an outlet to unleash on, he would lose control of the portal and his form.
"Frax!" Bezzid bellowed while radiating empathic fury and a demand of obedience.
Frax scurried into hirz master's chamber compelled by the commands radiating from hirz better. Ze immediately prostrated hirzelf submissively in front of Bezzid while radiating the fear and obedience.
Bezzid gestured the portal closed as he roared, then glanced down and thrust both of his clawed hands into the exposed back of his simpering servant. Ze relished the release of pent up emotions and the tactile pleasure of this claws penetrating a weaker hordling. Skin, flesh tearing and claws grinding over bone.
How dare this slave insult the Horde? This heresy must be sated.
Bezzid flexed hirz arms and pulled at the back of hir servant tearing it open, breaking hirz spine and spraying hir with blood and gore, as it thrashed under hir in hirz death convolutions. Bezzid felt his fury abate slightly after hirz kill. Hirz thoughts began to clear once again.
More resources wasted. The humankind will pay for these insults. That they are so blind they do not know their betters is not tolerable.
Bezzid closed four wide set eyes as mouth tendrils absorbed the servant’s blood from hirz claws. Ze radiated an empathic demand for immediate attendance and centered hirz thoughts as ze waited.
A new servant demon ran quickly into Bezzid's presence. "Yes Lord?" it garbled as it simultaneously radiated willingness to serve and obey. Then the servant started to emanate fear. Bezzid noticed the new arrival glancing at the eviscerated body at the feet of hirz master.
Bezzid pointed a bloody claw at the body beneath him. "That was Frax." Then ze pointed at the newly arrived servant. "Now you are Frax. Have casters start arranging horde portal resources. Soon back to war."
Bezzid turned hirz back on the servant and returned hirz attention to resource computations marking a new pattern on the side margins.
Grast humans! Now Bezzid is one less servant soldier, than a moment ago, for no value in power at all. So wasteful and unthinking these humans are. At least the Fae understand the calculations of balance.