Viren fumed. Throwing his staff into a corner of his cavernous hideout he tore off his mantle and chucked it at the wall.
He screamed, alleviating the pain caught in his chest.
"Calm yourself", the empathetic, deep voice in his head said, "You've achieved your goal. Why are you upset?"
"Achieved my goal!?", the mage yelled into the darkness, "I have wiped out the elven army! But at what cost?! I should have been there, standing with my human comrades, blasting lizard after lizard from the sky!"
There was a warm chuckle. "And die with them? I think not. You would not have been welcome there. The fools do not appreciate the danger that Xadia poses as well as you and I do.", scoffing, the voice shifted to his other side, "Even now they stand at the Breach, as you saw, tipping their dead over the sides. Together. You cannot believe the cattle would have welcomed a voice of reason such as yourself."
Viren breathed heavily, dropping to the ground. The spell used to raise the gestalt of Thunder from the dragon's ashes had taken a massive toll on him.
"Aaravos", he started, more collected, "They are clinging to peace. Why? They make such sacrifice. Such effort. Why? There should be fighting all along the border now!"
"You are wondering whether you are doing the right thing, provoking a war."
"How could I not? When the Moonshadow came to take my king - my friend - the others were blind to the danger. Now I myself am not sure that danger even still exists."
Aaravos' presence became more full, as though he was taking a step closer. "They are clinging to the status quo", he said, smirking, "Oblivious to the fact that they are bedding down with the worst creatures to ever walk the earth.", the smirk faded for a single word, "Dragons."
A hand seemed to caress Viren's cheek, "Oh, sure, my kin may have willed themselves to peace. One wonders how long it will take the dragons to notice, sending soldiers of the Lux Aurea or agents of the Lucid to thoroughly disturb their efforts", snark crept into the voice, "Reality will come crashing down on the cattle, then, with the keen edge of a butcher's knife."
Viren thought on this and nodded slowly. After what he had seen, there was no doubting the truth of the claim that the dragons were a terrible enemy to have.
"We shall make more plans", Aaravos continued, drifting through his headspace, "And one of them will succeed. The scales are balanced. Nothing could be more… tenuous. For now, I suggest we both take a well deserved and much needed rest. Until tomorrow."
Viren got up, listening to Aaravos' presence fading. Sitting in the dark did not become him, so he lit the sconces on the walls. Compared to his secret passages and laboratories at Katolis Castle, this was pitiful, but it served. An unused water cistern, remodeled to serve as a damp but safe home.
To his left was his dirty but comfortable cot. To his right, a workbench, covered in books and various glass devices. The setup he had used to purify the dragon king's ashes. There had not been much left of his vertebrae after firing. No matter, the mage did not need a second disaster. A lighter hand was required.
For the moment, he resolved to rest, as his friend had suggested. The full truth was that he was exhausted, having spent weeks agonising over his delicate work.
He sat on the cot, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Brushing aside the horrible truth of it, he felt pride at his accomplishment. The shadow had far exceeded what he'd thought possible in term of destructive power.
Laying down, he felt carried away, to wonder about his children.
He'd had no news of them.