Hey look, a chapter, and it didn't take multiple months!
Cue the apocalypse.
DARKNESS IN CHIMA
Part Three: The Next Phase
Chapter VII
Sunday June 16, 2019…
Breakfast at the lion palace was served at sunrise. Chima did not have clocks, but sunrise was about 7:00, a time that comes early after only three hours of sleep.
You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.'
But Mack was used to not sleeping much; he hadn't slept more than a couple of hours a night for about a year ago, when the war against Rikayla started. Of course, the fact of his dream running on repeat throughout the night did not make it easier to find rest. He didn't know how many times he woke up and fell back asleep only to see the vision again—he stopped counting after five. In his anxiety, Mack had only his prayers to comfort him.
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
When his mind was too tired to form its own words, he defaulted to reciting the Psalms he knew. He continued to mumble Psalm 91 as he made his way to the dining hall. where all the palace residents and guests would have breakfast.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
After breakfast, the Guardians (minus Lloyd and Kai, who would be on patrol) would join the Fellowship of Chi and meet with Lagravis to begin an investigation into the events of the previous night.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
When Mack was a child, he was a Christian. Now a man, he wasn't sure. He wanted to believe in the promises of God, but as a teenager he found himself dissatisfied with the shallow teachings of the church he was raised in.
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling-place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
Nothing seemed to mean anything, and none of his teachers could answer any difficult questions. To them, everything was "just" a symbol, and nothing was real. And that weak, empty catechesis was not something he could believe in.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
But the promises of God… they were just too good to throw away. Mack decided that whether Christianity was true or not, the promises of God were, if nothing else, comforting. And so, he memorized Scripture and recited it when he needed comfort, while continuing to pray to a God who may not have been real, but who he desperately hoped was listening.
Exhausting many avenues of Christianity over the last couple of years—Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, nondenominational—Mack felt he only had one other place left to look for answers to his metaphysical questions, but his faith crisis would have to wait. First, he had to somehow thwart the darkness rising in Chima. So, for now, the promises would have to do.
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
Mack finished the psalm as he reached the dining hall. The rest of the Guardians, along with Morro and Nya, were already seated at a table when Mack arrived, so he took a tray, thanking the server, and joined them.
"You okay?" Zee asked as soon as Mack sat down.
Mack sighed. "The dream, again. Nonstop."
The Guardians were quiet.
"Guys, this has me very concerned," Mack did his best to keep the fear out of his voice for his friends' sake, but his next words were frightening regardless of the tone he used. "I can literally see the dream right now, in the back of my head."
Again no one responded. Jay subconsciously grabbed Nya's hand, feeling an instinct to protect her.
"Something is happening, right now," Mack said. "Something big."
"I think…" Pete ventured, apprehensive. "I think I can feel it. There's something building."
"I sense it too," Lloyd said. "Whatever we got called here for, it's coming soon."
Mack took a deep breath, relieved he wasn't the only one with this feeling of dread. "Just be ready. Speaking of which…"
"Right," Kai stood up. "Patrol time. Come on, Lloyd."
"Yep," Lloyd also stood. "See you guys later, be careful."
"You too," Morro replied. "Don't worry about the trays—we'll get them."
"Thanks bro," Kai grinned, softly punching Morro in the shoulder.
As Lloyd and Kai were leaving the dining hall, Laval and Laterus entered. Laval didn't like to be treated like royalty when it wasn't necessary; as such, he preferred to eat his meals in the dining hall with the rest of the palace residents, a move that made him very popular among the higher-ups in the tribe.
It hurt Laval's heart that one of these lions could be a traitor to the Lion Tribe.
Laval shook off the dark thought and took a tray, then he walked toward the table where the Guardians were seated. Laterus followed, which seemed to annoy Laval.
"Laterus," Laval groaned, "you need to rest. You were on guard at my door all night."
"But, Laval, after last night—"
"Hey," Laval interrupted his exhausted guard, "I'll be with the Guardians. You've seen what they can do; if I'm not safe with them, no one's safe anywhere."
"I suppose you're right…" Laterus gave in. "Very well. I'll take a few hours to rest."
"At least four," Laval said firmly.
Laterus nodded, smiling. "Four it is. Thank you, Laval."
"Have a good rest, my friend. That's an order!"
The rest of the Fellowship arrived in the dining hall shortly after Laval, and after finishing breakfast and some small talk, the Guardians and the Fellowship withdrew to the Chi chamber to meet with Lagravis and talk about what they would do next. When they reached the chamber, they saw Lagravis, a few guards, and Li'ella and her adopted father Tormak, who was a retired security officer who previously worked in the court of the fabled Phoenix Tribe.
"Good morning, everyone," Lagravis greeted the party. "Let's get started, shall we? I've brought in Tormak to help investigate. I've frankly never seen better detective skills than his."
"You flatter me, Lagravis," Tormak shook his head. "I'm just happy to help."
"What should we do?" Cragger asked on behalf of the rest of the Fellowship.
"I think the best way for you all to help," Lagravis replied, also speaking to the Guardians "is to fan out and assist the continuing repairs. The attack left our defenses severely damaged, and seeing not only the Guardians but also other representatives from other tribes helping out will be a good boost of morale."
"One question," Razar raised a hand before the group moved to leave the room.
"No, Razar, they're not paying us," Eris rolled her eyes.
The Fellowship managed to drag Razar out of the chamber before he could pitch a fit over being consigned to render free services. Mack stayed in the chamber, but the rest of the Guardians left the chamber with the Fellowship.
"So," Laval said, "our guards didn't note any pre-attack security breaches in their report, so it looks like we were right that they used the tunnels to get into the temple."
"The secret tunnels are activated by touching the Sigil of the Lion Tribe to an entrance at either end," Lagravis explained for Tormak's benefit. "Only high-ranking tribe members wear rings with the sigil, so that narrows it down somewhat, but it was a… complicated night, and we have many factors to investigate."
"So," Mack picked up Laval's line of thought, "the first thing we need to do is pinpoint exactly where the raiding party entered."
"I'm on it," Tormak smirked.
He immediately went to work, intensely studying the floor of the Chi chamber. He followed a winding path to a particular place on the west wall.
"I think they came in from here," he said. "Is this one of those tunnels?"
"Let's see," Lagravis walked over to the wall and touched his ring to it. The wall shuddered, and a section of it slid to the side, revealing a tunnel.
"I'm gonna follow it," Tormak said in a way that invited no disagreement.
"Be careful, Dad," Li'ella called after him, but the tracker cat had already disappeared into the tunnel.
"Laval and Li'ella," Lagravis addressed his son and his paramour, "there is another tunnel near the south gardens. Would you go and make sure it's secure? Mack and I will wait here and work with Tormak."
"Sure thing, Dad," Laval nodded as he and Li'ella left the chamber.
Tormak scurried through the tunnel for about five minutes, then he saw light. Soon after, he emerged into a small cave and then a grassy field. He looked behind him and realized why the lions never saw the raid coming.
The cave was in a hillside that faced away from the palace; it was well hidden from view and ran beneath the palace moat, making use of a natural isolated cave system.
Tormak inspected the ground around the cave and saw tracks of clawed feet not belonging to any of the mammalian, avian, or reptilian tribes. He knew they were made by large arthropods, and though he had never seen a Crawler, the only bugs big enough to make such large tracks would have to be the size of the other animals of Chima, and the Crawlers were the only explanation.
Satisfied with his findings, Tormak reentered the tunnel and made for the Chi chamber.
About twelve minutes after he first entered the secret tunnel, Tormak emerged again and reported what he observed.
"This is definitely the tunnel they used," he explained. "I found signs of… well, big bugs at the other end, and the dirt is disturbed as though it was used within the last day."
At that point, a realization struck Mack—a realization with horrible implications. He had to voice his concern, but it had to be handled with care.
"Lagravis," Mack spoke up, "I hate to even suggest this, but it's occurred to me that all of the elders and scholars were in the residential wing of the palace, and the top military officers were fighting in the courtyard, but Laterus was up in the map room. I think Tormak and I should take a look up there."
Longtooth, one of Lagravis's most decorated guards, huffed in response. "I hope you are not accusing Laval's Chief of Guard of betraying the tribe.
"I'm not accusing anyone," Mack replied, not backing down. "But we need to be sure that we can exclude him. And if we can't…"
Lagravis placed his hand on Longtooth's shoulder to calm him down. "Mack is right, Longtooth. This is a frightening situation, and we cannot be too careful."
The lion king then turned to Mack and Tormak. "Come, I will show you to the map room."
Lagravis promptly took the pair up a long winding staircase to the map room, which was near the very top of the palace. Feeling he should check on the progress outside, he left the Green Ninja and the tracker cat to investigate as they needed.
Both carefully surveyed the room, Tormak searching for physical evidence and Mack sensing for any residual energy of Laterus's presence to see what that could tell him.
"There aren't a lot of prints," Tormak observed. "For what he had just witnessed, I would think you would see evidence of a lot of pacing while he was up here."
Mack nodded but didn't reply. He was about to offer a possible explanation when something caught his eye: an irregularity in the wall exactly opposite the door to the circular room.
Mack walked over to the wall and knocked on it twice. He heard an echo. Hollow? he thought.
"Hey, Tormak—I've got something," Mack said.
Tormak came over as Mack was pushing on different parts of what both were starting to suspect was actually a door. Mack noted the different levels of resistance to his pushes on different parts of the alleged door, trying to find where the hinges might be.
"Do we need the Sigil?" Tormak asked.
"If it was a secret tunnel, I wouldn't have just—"
Mack was interrupted when one of his pushes seemed to be in just the right the spot, and the door opened to reveal another staircase going down.
"… seen it."
"Well, we should see where that leads," Tormak said, hoping his hunch was wrong.
It was dark, so Mack lit a small fire in his hand to guide them (well, really just to guide himself, since Tormak had excellent night vision).
Mack and Tormak walked through the door and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, they reach another small door. Mack opened it to reveal the Chi chamber.
The door they had just opened was right next to the door was the tunnel through which Tormak had determined the Crawlers entered. Stepping out and looking back at the door, they see that the door is totally hidden from view, blending into the wall.
"Look at this," Tormak remarked. "You could come down, stick your hand out, touch this stone with your tribe sigil to open the tunnel, and slip back inside."
"Yes," Mack agreed. "And if you're lucky—or smart—you would do it during the chaos after Worriz's body was discovered but before the guards were put on high alert."
Tormak shook his head. "By the time the guards got settled here, the Crawlers were already coming through the tunnel. In the panic, they might not have noticed that this entrance was open."
"And all this panic was because Laterus found Worriz's body in his quarters. The attack came less than 10 minutes later."
Mack took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"So, how do we tell Laval that the chief of his personal guard squad is a traitor to the tribe?"
Tormak let out a very small chuckle. "I think I'll let you deal with that ugliness while I tell Lagravis what we discovered. I should also find my daughter."
"And get a couple of Guardians together and send them here," Mack instructed. "We need to arrest Laterus immediately after we inform Laval and Lagravis, but if we amass a bunch of lion guards to do it he might get suspicious."
"Is that really your call?" Tormak frowned.
"No, but we don't have a choice," Mack replied in a matter-of-fact way. "He's currently in his quarters on orders from Laval to rest, so he could be making his next move right now. No time to argue about whose call it is."
Tormak conceded that Mack was right and ran off to do as the Green Ninja had asked. A smirk appeared on his face. I like that guy, he thought as he hurried to his task.
It didn't take long to deduce that the violence of the previous night did not touch the gardens. No flowers were trampled, and no soil was disturbed; there was no way the scorpion army was there.
"Laval," Li'ella said softly, "I think the gardens are secure. Could we talk for a minute?"
Laval's heart raced, as it always did when Li'ella was around. "Sure, what about?"
"Well, how do I put this…"
"Just say what's on your mind, Li'ella."
Li'ella sighed. "It's okay to be scared; you know that, right?"
Laval was taken aback somewhat by Li'ella's words.
"No one would think less of you for being scared, with everything that's happened."
"It's not—" Laval hesitated. "It's not that I'm ashamed of being scared. But I have to be a leader right now. The tribe needs me."
Li'ella took Laval's hands in her own. "Just don't forget to take care of yourself, okay? I know the tribe needs you, but so do I."
Their snouts almost touched, but then they heard a noise. Laval whipped around, placing himself between the noise and Li'ella, and he drew his sword on…
"Mack?" he rolled his eyes as he saw the Guardian standing a foot in front of him. "How did you get so close without me hearing you?"
"I'm a ninja," Mack replied, nonchalant. "Laval, I think we know who the traitor is. We need to go—some Guardians will meet us in the Chi chamber. Li'ella, your dad talking to Lagravis, then he'll be looking for you."
"I'll stay here," Li'ella said. "He'll find me."
"Who is the traitor?" Laval asked.
Mack took a deep breath. "Laval, it's Laterus."
Laval said nothing for a moment, a look of disbelief on his face. But then he thought about everything that had happened, and it began to make sense. Worriz's corpse in Laterus's quarters, Laterus being up in the map room while everyone else was fighting the Crawlers in the courtyard…
As he thought, Laval's face contorted into anger, and he began to growl. It was only Li'ella's hand squeezing his that kept him from becoming more feral. Laval looked at Li'ella and only slightly calmed.
"I have to go handle this," Laval said darkly.
"Don't do something you'll regret," Li'ella showed concern in her voice. She was also shocked that Laval's most trusted guard apparently betrayed the tribe.
"We need to go arrest him, now," Mack insisted.
"Let's go," Laval sheathed the sword he had previously drawn and walked out of the gardens with Mack.
Laval and Mack reached the Chi chamber at the same time as Lloyd and Kai, being the ones who Tormak had found and sent to help with the arrest. Tormak was with them, and he informed Laval and Mack that Lagravis was aware of the situation and approved of the arrest; Lagravis would stay outside so as not to arouse suspicion.
Laval thanked Tormak and told him that Li'ella was in the gardens. He didn't know where the gardens were, but the tracker cat assured Laval he could find them. Tormak wished the group luck and departed.
"Well," Laval addressed the present Guardians, "let's get this over with."
Laterus was resting in his quarters. It had been an hour since Laval had told him to retire for a while. He didn't rest at first, as he had business to take care of first. Once he sent the intel regarding the state of the palace and the city at large via the telepathic communication established by the shadow (something he found disturbing, but that he figured was necessary), he finally felt he could rest.
He had a tightness throughout his body, but he thought it must be as a result of the very little sleep he had managed to catch over the last couple of nights.
Laterus had almost fallen asleep when he felt the tightness graduate to a sharp pain. Just as soon as he had registered the pain, his door was kicked in.
When the dust settled, Laterus saw Laval and three of the Guardians.
"Laterus!" Laval pointed his sword at his guard. "Don't move. You're under arrest for high treason."
Laterus attempted to stand up in defiance, but before he could respond, the pain overtook him, and he cried out and collapsed to the floor.
Laval was about to rush over to Laterus, but Mack grabbed his arm.
"Wait," the Green Ninja cautioned. "Don't touch him."
Mack moved past Laval and knelt by Laterus, inspecting the now convulsing lion. His veins were turning black.
"What's going on with him?" Laval asked, all anger gone, replaced with fear.
"We've seen this before," Mack replied. "He's been attacked with darkness."
"I'm ready to destroy it, on your call," Lloyd said.
But Mack's response was chilling. "I can't pull it out of him. There's too much…"
After a moment, Laval asked, "What do we do?"
Mack quickly made a plan. "Lloyd, hold your hand on the top of his head. The darkness will resist you as the Guardian of Light; maybe we can push the darkness away from his mind long enough to get some information out of him before the shadows overwhelm him."
Lloyd did as Mack instructed, using his body to support Laterus in a sitting up position as he held the lion's head in his hands. Laterus stopped convulsing.
"Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?" Mack asked, kneeling down so that their faces were only a foot apart.
"Y—yes," Laterus growled. "Green Ninja."
"You don't have long, so listen to me. You've betrayed your tribe, and now you've outlived your usefulness to the enemy, you're paying for it. I can't help you. You have one chance to make this right. Tell me about the Crawlers—their plans, everything."
"Go…" Laterus gasped, "to hell."
"Look at Laval," Mack pointed to the horrified lion prince. "Look at him, look at who you betrayed. Do you want him—and your tribe—to remember you as a traitor? Or will they remember you for doing the right thing in your last moments?"
"Laterus, please," Laval begged. "For the tribe."
Something in Laterus's eyes changed. Mack could see that instead of just waiting for the relief of death, Laterus had something to live for before the darkness took him.
"He came to me," Laterus said, fighting for every word, "and he said, 'Join me or the prince dies.' I had to. I h—had…"
Laterus almost passed out, but Mack kept him awake with a slight shock of lightning to the lion's heart.
"Stay with me, Laterus," Mack prodded. "Tell me about the Crawlers, everything you can."
"He offered the Crawlers revenge. He has found a power, a power that has laid dormant in our world for eons. He has awakened it, and he will use it together with the power of Chi to bring Cavora down and destroy Chima."
"You should've just let him kill me," Laval spat. He would rather be dead than know that Chima would be destroyed to preserve his life.
Laterus continued. "He promised the Lion Tribe safety in another realm. Now that I've done my part of his plan, now that he has our Chi, he is killing me with the same power that will destroy us all."
Laterus began to convulse again.
"I'm losing him!" Lloyd shouted, strain in his voice.
"Who is 'he?' Who do the Crawlers follow?" Mack asked, desperate to know the identity of this mysterious enemy leader.
Laterus sputtered, then he let out a harrowing shriek and convulsed so violently that Lloyd could barely hold him down. The traitor then fell silent and still, eyes open and mouth agape.
"Laterus!" Laval called out. He wanted to rush into the room, but Kai held him back.
"He's gone," Lloyd sighed as Mack closed Laterus's eyes.
"Are you alright, man?" Kai asked Laval, who seemed to have calmed so that Kai felt he no longer needed to hold the lion prince back.
"I'm fine," Laval replied. "He was a traitor, and he died like one. But I suppose he did some good in the end."
"I just wish we could've gotten more out of him—I just couldn't hold off the darkness anymore," Lloyd said apologetically.
"It's alright, Lloyd. You did good," Mack encouraged the Golden Ninja. "At least we know the main points of their plan."
"Bring Cavora down, destroy Chima…" Laval repeated Laterus's words. "Who has the power to do that?"
"According to Laterus, Chima does," Mack thought aloud, puzzled. "We need to do some research."
The word research gave Laval an idea. "Maybe the Eagles will have something. We should head to their library right away. But first, you said you've seen this kind of attack before?"
"Yes," Mack replied before telling of one of the more disturbing feats of power the Guardians witnessed during their war with Rikayla. "Before we fought the Battle of the Sea of Sand, a professor was dropped at our door suffering similar symptoms to what you just saw—but not nearly as severe. But the person who did that to him is dead now."
"We thought Rikayla was unique," Lloyd said, "but it looks like there must be more baddies out there with that same dark power.
Mack shuddered slightly. "I am deeply disturbed at the prospect of more dark entities lurking in the unknown."
"Well…" Laval searched for the right thing to say, "I guess for now we focus on this one, right?"
"I suppose you're right," Mack gave a slight smile.
With that, Laval and Mack rounded up the Guardians except for Zee, Pete, and Jay, since it was their turn to patrol the palace.
Deep in the Outlands, in a great shadowy fortress, Tenebris stomped down a long hallway. The scorpion and bat soldiers patrolling the fortress bowed as their new master walked past, and they felt some sympathy for whomever Tenebris was looking for.
Rikayla's weakness was her humanity; though diminished by the corruption of the Realm of Madness, her humanity remained just present enough to give her a certain aversion to taking life outside of battle. She would only kill on the battlefield, and that was her undoing.
Tenebris was not human. He understood that death was the only unfailing tool to instill fear in one's enemies and allies alike, and he understood that there could be no loose ends. Perhaps if Rikayla had killed the professor instead of just infecting him with an ounce or two of dark power, the Guardians would not have found the courage to build an army and defeat her.
That is why the wolf had to die, regardless of his tribe's pathetic obedience in hopes to spare him. That death ensures that the most powerful tribe in Chima after the lions are effectively out of the equation.
That is why, despite Scorm's fervent opposition, Tenebris was fine with sending dozens of Crawlers to their deaths at the hands of the Green Ninja. That instilled a fear and anger of the Guardians, which worked to inflame a greater fighting spirit in the Outland soldiers. Though, Tenebris noted, Scorm questioning me will not pass without retribution.
It did not matter that Laterus was exposed as Tenebris's mole. He had done his part, and the lions caught him on the day Tenebris was already planning to kill him.
It did not matter that Chima would learn of his plan to reduce their civilization to smoldering ruins. There was nothing they could do to stop him, and the fear that knowledge brought them—along with the betrayal and death of Laterus—would make them desperate and sloppy, contributing more to his already inevitable victory.
There was only one part of his grand scheme that had not come to fruition yet.
Tenebris reached his destination, a door at the end of the hallway. He entered and the mutant freak inside paused his work.
"Master," Reegull greeted the shadow, "to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Reegull," Tenebris sneered. "Every aspect of my plan is proceeding on schedule, except for the aspect with which you have been entrusted. You had better have some progress to show me."
"Ac—actually, master," Reegull quaked, "I was hoping you would stop by soon. I feel very good about my progress with the machine; I think it's time to try the transfer again."
"Good," Tenebris said with a sinister grin. "Walk me through it as we go. In precise detail."
"Oh, master!" Reegull beamed. "I'm so pleased by your interest in my work!"
"Get on with it," Tenebris growled.
Reegull gulped. "Yes, yes. Alright."
One could swear Reegull made a chicken noise as he grabbed a Chi from a large container next to a table with a table. On the table was a harness hooked up to what looked like a car battery. There were tubes coming off the machine that connected the machine to a metal rod.
"So first," Reegull explained the process, "we will put one of our many Chi into my beautiful harness. Then, we will have you hold this metal rod connected to the harness. Now… channel this great new power of yours through the hand holding the rod, and we will see if the machine is correctly calibrated to pull off the transfer of your power into this Chi. The only thing left to do is hit this switch…"
The transfer had failed five times before, but now, on the sixth attempt, Reegull cackled maniacally as the Chi slowly changed in appearance from a soft white glow to a sinister black with purple swirling inside.
When the transfer was complete, Reegull fell silent and held his shaking hands over the abomination he had created, appearing to have a reverence for it.
"It is… perfect," the hybrid whispered.
Tenebris slowly took the Chi and raised it up in one hand, feeling the weight of the power he held.
"Reegull," the shadow declared, "You once made warriors into birds. Now, I will make warriors into gods."
"Yes!" Reegull screeched. "Gods! We make gods!"
Tenebris put the Dark Chi down on the nearby table, and Reegull stood there admiring it.
Tenebris walked around Reegull and put his hand on his shoulder. "We…" A blade suddenly protruded from Reegull's chest as Tenebris stabbed him with his sword, gifted to him years ago by the Overlord. "… are done."
Tenebris wrenched his sword free and slowly lowered Reegull to the ground, kneeling beside the dying freak of nature.
"I know you feel betrayed, afraid," he whispered coldly as Reegull gasped for air. "So did the lion, and the wolf before him. And the scorpion will feel it soon. But if you knew the fate that I have in store for this realm, you would thank me for this. No one survives what is coming."
"Wh—why?" Reegull gasped. "Why, master?"
"The Apex will be coming to Chima in a few months. With the power I have found in this realm, I will be able to release the true master of the shadows from his confinement in the Ethereal Divide. And the charred ruins of Chima will make quite an offering upon his return."
Reegull tried to speak but coughed up blood instead.
"Don't worry, my friend. For the help you gave me, I'll petition the Overlord for a statue in your honor."
Tenebris stood and watched Reegull as he croaked out his last words. "Reegull? F—famous?"
With that, Reegull stopped struggling. Tenebris shoved the body into a corner where it would be out of the way and began turning Chi into Dark Chi, one at a time. When they were all converted, it would be time to mobilize his entire fighting force to march on the lions.
Tenebris estimated it would take two days.
"After I control the lion temple," he snarled as he finished his second Dark Chi, "this realm's days will be numbered."
Funny story: this chapter was supposed to be a shorter one… oops.