Scorched Earth

Harbinger sighed hard as he looked to the schematics he had been given. This was not what he imagined or wanted, but according to the old mage it was the safest route.

Safest route? Who cared about that? It was becoming very obvious that the delicate balance that had served his kind for years was not going to remain. Even if he killed Metas, the actions Silas took had shattered the peace and unrest was boiling.

He had two options from here:

Take out the skilled and those without families. Seal the rest. Let the lack of oxygen kill them slowly, and once it's done - use the whole thing as an example to the rest of them about dreaming to step out of one's place again.

Or...

He could go scorched earth. If they had all the dangerous human weapons, why not just use them all and be done with it? Wipe out everything and all the chaos surrounding him. The Ferals weren't going to back down, and there would be war, famine, disease, sadness - and a destroyed planet.

If they were just going to do that anyway, why not remove the problem? Life was the problem. All life, too. From the ashes, a new world would be born, and perhaps this time, magic could flourish and a new order could form.

A perfect order where the strong survived, and the earth renewed itself.

Why not? It was clear that everything was spiraling into disorder anyway. Metas and Silas had stirred the pot enough to knock down one of the legs of his operation, and now it was teetering over the edge of disaster.

There were things bigger than this, anyway. Part of him was hoping to be able to quell the tension between nations, but the longer the days rolled by with no one willing to be Alpha under Harbinger's watchful eye, and they were lacking direction.

This was what led him to make the worst move one who wishes for power can do; he appointed himself as Alpha.

No one said a word, either. What was the alternative? To everyone's knowledge, Metas and everyone who followed him were dead. It caused a lot of once happy nobles and court members to become fearful and quiet.

Instead of feeling like the powerful class they were, now they felt like puppets or dolls forced to put on a happy face lest they receive a punishment as dire as it was rumored Lara's had been.

Most of the soldier class were unwanted pups who had been adopted by the ranks and trained into obedient, killing machines. Harbinger treated them very well at that, so what did they have to lose from his leadership?

A happy Harbinger, was a happy brigade after all.

It wouldn't last forever, and the Alpha-General knew it. He had read enough history to know that without the contentment of the upper class, there was no true rule.

He had spent so much time grooming the public to accept Silas, that he had completely forgotten to make himself look more approachable.

No... that wasn't it. He just didn't care to. What does a giant care about the opinion of ants?

Now, as he looked down at the disturbed colony, he suddenly realized that perhaps had the ants not seen the giant as such a threat, they wouldn't have stirred so much.

Oh well. It was disturbed now, so all he could do was move forward or stomp on the remnants.

With nothing to really 'move on' to, the idea of wiping out everything and letting nature take hold seemed more and more tempting. I mean, why not?

Food was running out.

Kingdoms had fallen.

Sides had been taken.

Why go on when there was too much chaos to be quelled appropriately?

Yes - why?

After his mind finally unwound itself and he made up his mind silently, he looked up to the old wizard and hide the grin he wanted to grow so badly upon his face.

His eyes said enough however as he mused out casually, "Jhinto, this is some of your best work. I still have a bit of his blood, so this will be fantastic. You said it would stun him? If we got enough blood from him to put into a time-spell bubble, we can use it for a very long time. Who needs the blood of the firsts alive?

"Well....sir, we do... I still think it best to keep him alive and restrained somewhere. Should we lose our line to the first, we'll have to dilute the bloodline by having outside kingdoms marry into our court. We'd have a lot of hybrids..."

"Ah, who cares anymore? Aren't half the vampires just genetic freaks by now? They willingly splice themselves from what I hear. Their society is so divided that they have two 'kings' in the same territory. It's immeasurable chaos over there. We can't afford that. I am sure with time, we can figure out a blood spell to create life from what we have," Harbinger looked up to Jhinto to read his expression.

Luckily, the old man was far more wise and better at acting than Harbinger would even give him credit for. He smiled instead of letting the abhorrent expression he wanted to spread over his face. In fact, he knew how to cheat smile-lines and give off the scent of true, honest feelings.

He let the happiest memory he could think of fill his mind as he spoke lies through his teeth, "that's actually a brilliant idea, my Alpha. You wouldn't have to keep looking for a new protege every time when you can just make them."

Harbinger, who sniffed the air in order to read the mage's intentions smiled as his nose inhaled true delight. It matched Jhinto's face as well, which meant the old magus was finally trusting him. Fooled into being lured into a false state of security.

The reality couldn't be further from the truth - and if the Goddesses were watching all of this unfold, they'd do everything within their power to thwart the evil man's plans - for at this point, Harbinger was no better than the power-hungry humans who also claimed that violence somehow led to order.

It never did. It wasn't going to start now.

Harbinger could try to play off that he was agreeing to Jhinto and he in return - but the old magus knew well enough that the Generals eyes were burning with madness.