I sighed as I looked at the twisted and burnt remains of Meledors face. It had been a bit of a waste to lose him, but it was worth it.
The zombie he was now was a lot more underwhelming than apprentice mage. It swayed from its place just in front of Antheol, now nothing more than a gofer for me.
Still, I had aquired a magic user who was reasonably close to the same league as Dar'Khan Drathir. A master sorcerer with knowledge nearly unmatched in the arcane.
Even without Antheol, the knowledge in the tomes he kept would be worth the risk I had been forced to take. Both were almost as valuable individually as everything else I had aquired combined.
Antheol knelt, unconscious before me. His wounds taking there toll. A whistle brought out Tim and Nyssa from there hiding places just outside of the wards, and of easy view. I had placed them there on standby in the circumstance I was overpowered and the trap failed.
"Heal him, and then grab every book you can from the sanctum."
Without hesitation a wave of green energy flew out from my druids hands, bathing Antheol in its warmth. I heard the snap of bones realigning themselves, before Antheol stood up, gingerly rubbing his annoyingly perfect jawline.
I sent a wave of arcane energy his way, and with a grateful look he absorbed the magic, before following my other minions lead and overseeing the gathering of his knowledge for transport.
When each of us had an armful of books on different Arcan concepts we trudged our way back to Sunsail, where my forces waited with the addition of a single apprentice in the form of Ralen.
Three troll witch-doctors, nine necromancers, one master mage, and one apprentice mage now existed within the ranks of my "teachers."
They would both tutor me on the particulars to their respective fields, and aid me in the theory of how they intersect. Normally a comprehensive education, even one as imbalanced as the one I was parcing out for myself, would cost thousands of gold.
Not only was I getting it for free, but I was getting it nearly 24/7 and under near constant supervision. Perfect.
With that kind of help it would hopefully accelerate my rate of growth even further. A few more months and I could expand my abilities and my available forces, building a wall around me and those I had enslaved.
It was only a matter of time before I slipped up and someone figured out why these people were following me, if someone hadn't already, and having an army surrounding me as I learned would be a good way of preventing that.
Most preferably, we need a place to hide now that being in Eversong was growing more and more dangerous.
I had an idea for that. It was time to leave.
The trail back was growing darker as night came upon us, and we moved with as much speed as we could muster throughout the golden woods.
When we reached my makeshift fortress we were greeted with the horde of the undead I had put together. It consisted of a group of magically charged and readied zombies, accompanied by a few skeletons made from my body being mummified and improved.
When we returned to Sunsail two of the ships were readied for transport, and I had 6 necromancers and two witch-doctors overseeing the undead on one ship, and the rest of my party settled on the other.
I set fire to the anchorage before we left, leaving nothing for my people to recover or salvage.
On first instinct I wanted to head for Kalimdor, set up shop in one of the many alliance abandoned fortresses, but there were too many risks this early on.
Kalimdor promised a number of warlocks and other dark casters, but it was also a place I was most likely to run into the Darkspear tribe of trolls.
They were allied to the horde, and very familiar with the technique I was using to keep people in line. They would know at a glance what controls my minions, and it would take a fairly simple ritual to steal away all I've gained.
When the time comes, and my current stock has no more use Ill make certain to find the assets in horde territory I was looking for, but for now at least I could not leave the Eastern Kingdoms.
If my minions turn on me now, before I've learned all the can offer me, I'd be slaughtered without a second thought.
So, we set to travel further down the coastline, and make our way to the next resting place I would be overseeing.
It would be several months at sea, but the low numbers of those actually alive on each crew meant we could go quite a while without making landfall.
I was traveling now to access the use of a kind of magic I was now uniquely equipped to learn and use.
Remarkably enough the acquisition of such magic users to teach me the tricks of their trade also presented an opportunity at wealth, and a place to temporarily at least call home.
Our destination would do a fine job of keeping me hidden, of leaving me a mystery.
I would see to it no one knew what I was capable of, until everyone knew what I was capable of.
We traveled now to the human kingdom of Stormwind, a hostile territory, but one unprepared for an enterprising Elf like me.
For now we sailed, avoiding pursuit and the revenge of my people. I would pirate were I could, learn all the magister could offer me in so little time, and most importantly plan for my uncertain future.
We sail now for Westfall.