A lone man sat at his desk. He was bouncing his leg impatiently, waiting for the news he’d been expecting all day so that he may make his final report before the day's end. His lord had already been waiting for hours, and if he made him wait 

any longer, it could cost him his life.

Finally, a sharp beeping noise came from the artifact sitting on the man’s desk, and he practically dove towards it. He activated the artifact, and a voice came through.

“Mawds. Are you there?”

“Yes, I am here. What are your reports for today’s events?”

“The mission was somewhat successful. The chosen heroes are still weak, but will grow in power just as expected. They were able to defeat most of the bandits.”

“And what of the other planned event?”

The voice hesitated, then continued speaking.

“Although the death of Michael Blackwood was planned in advance, it did not happen the way we originally wanted. In fact, it’s better that it happened the way it did. He was dragged into an aberration zone and it closed with him inside. One of the heroes, Levi Devereux, was interrogated in his participating role of Michael Blackwood’s death, but because he was manipulated into seeing Michael as an aberration, the entire thing was seen as Levi being controlled by the same aberration that dragged Michael into the zone, instead of one of our own.”

“Thank you. Our lord will be pleased with this information. I will reach out soon. Keep your communication artifact close.”

Mawds deactivated the device, and stood up from his desk. He knew he needed to hurry to inform his lord of what he was just told. He put on his outer robe over the rest of his clothing, and hurried out of the room.

He proceeded to quickly walk down the dark hallways towards the central chamber, his way being barely lit by the sconces on the walls. He knew that the man he was going to see would be angry at his lateness, but being contacted this late in the day wasn’t his fault.

Mawds stopped at a large set of ornately carved stone doors that had two guards, one on each side.

“Ah you’re finally here Mawds,” One of the guards said. “He’s going to be quite upset about your tardiness. In fact, maybe we shouldn’t even let you in at this point.”

“You know you can’t get in my way Quincy. Open the doors. Now.”

Quincy looked at the other guard, and after a moment, they slowly swung the stone doors open. One the other side, was a large room with lines of hooded men and women on both sides of the room. At the far end, was a throne, and sitting on it, was the man Mawds had come to see.

“Mawds, you’re finally here,” The man on the throne growled. “I expect you have a good reason for making me wait this long?”

Mawds ran to the center of the room and immediately kneeled.

“My apologies for the lateness my lord. Our informant just contacted me a few minutes ago, and I rushed here as soon as I received today’s report.”

“Well? Did our plans go according to expectation?”

“Not quite. Although the majority of the bandits were eliminated as expected, the death of Michael Blackwood happened much differently.”

The man on the throne sat forward.

“Oh?”

“Yes my lord. Instead of the leader of the bandits killing him, he was dragged into an aberration zone, after one of our own made the hero Levi Devereux hallucinate Michael as an aberration. Of course, this was perceived as being caused by an aberration instead of human interference.”

The man leaned back once more, and smiled.

“Good. They truly are a smart one. Using an aberration zone to their advantage like that. Now, leave. And next time, sprint here if you must. I will not excuse any more tardiness from you. If you are late one more time, I will personally separate your head from your shoulders.”

“Yes my lord.”

Mawds stood up, and turned to leave.

——————

The man on the throne sighed as he watched his subordinate leave. He looked down upon the hooded men and women on either side of the room, bowing in his presence as if he were being worshipped. He knew that they did worship him as a god, and he reveled in this fact.

Suddenly, the soft voice of a woman caused him to turn his head to the side.

“My lord, did today’s plans go well?”

The man smiled at the woman, and gestured for her to come closer to him.

“Yes. In fact, it went even better than expected. Michael Blackwood is now dead, and was made to look like an accident. That makes our plans even easier to accomplish.”

“And what of the five heroes?”

“They will continue growing in strength, just like we want them to. After all, our plans involve their power.” The man then held out his hand to the woman, and she took it in her own hand. “Now, how about we retire to my private quarters?”

The woman gave him a seductive smile.

“My lord, you truly know how to make my heart race. I would love that. After all, I am yours to use as you see fit."