by Quinn Loftis
~
“Where is Alok?” Lorsan asked Tarron as he stood in the lab. He had left the throne room in a fit of anger after Cassie had collapsed. She was growing tolerant of the level of Rapture and was requiring more and more in order to maintain the euphoric state.
“Is there no way to maintain the potency for longer?” He asked his lead chemist. “She is requiring the drink more and more often in order to keep from having withdrawals.”
Tarron continued to mixing and pouring and studying the color of the mixture in the beaker. He finally looked up at Lorsan. “It will affect each human differently. Some will not require more to keep the feeling, others will, it just depends.”
“So nothing can be done?”
Tarron shook his head. “You need to try it on more humans, not just the girl.”
Lorsan sighed in frustration. “Fine, get some sent to Sereg; it’s the largest of my casinos. Have our people there choose some lucky winners and give away a couple of free nights at the hotel. Make sure they have plenty of spending money so they hang around. Begin by giving the drug to these people first. Tell them that the hotel is trying out some new drink “specials.” Watch them closely as you give them the Rapture and let me know how it goes. I will let Dorien know that you are coming; he has been acting as the CEO of Sereg.”
Tarron continued to watch the red liquid, staring at it as a parent stares at a child.
“It’s beautiful, and powerful,” he told Lorsan. “It will bring the humans to their knees.”
Lorsan watched as his lead chemist’s face morphed into one of greed and malice.”
“What did the humans do to you to make you hate them so?” Lorsan asked.
Tarron’s face went blank as he began to pack up some of his things.
“They mean nothing to me,” he grumbled. “I am simply doing what you asked. You want the humans to spend more money so that you may have your luxuries and power in their realm and I am delivering that to you. They are mere puppets, a means to an end.”
Lorsan heard his words, but believed none of them. Tarron hated humans, hated them with a fierceness that he didn’t understand and he didn’t know what had brought the dark elf to feel that way. He would need to keep his eye on Tarron to make sure that his own personal desires did not interfere with his plans.