The runes were adjusting little by little. Everything had to be in place. The magic was more similar to elven magic, so its runes had similar compositions. Arranging them was the problem—let alone energizing them. But for now, I had the power of all those elders. So it was best to go with that protégé of mine.
The contract of a Death Knight was tremendous—forgetting the power I required to make it work, this enchantment was elven. It was used on people with such deep hatred that they required lives to be sated. I did not intend to use it on anyone. But when I saw him on the plains, living his grief—but not sunk in it—facing the act of getting up, of continuing to work, at the same time not discriminating against those who by appearance seemed enemies, recognizing who were truly enemies, and more than that, maintaining that fury against the truly responsible and not turning it into a fire that would consume him—that was why I made the contract. But it was dangerous—very much so.
The mountain's location was much higher than it was, at least on the maps these primordial elves had. So, added to everything I was finding out, it painted a disconcerting picture. Was he the only living dragon here? Why, after his death, had we not seen other dragons? And the most dangerous of all—how to make this continue? To be honest, I was not interested in having dragons in the skies while the Lich and Morgana invaded the continent.
The runes were almost ready for the jump. The magic feeding the castle would take me without risk—not like those cursed with that Deathbringer business. I remembered some of those warriors; they were forced into the contract. Many were humanoid species living in absolute slavery. None had affection for their captors, but they refused any attempt to receive benefits from them. They knew the price of accepting the garbage they handed out—always cursed and at a high price. That was why they were bound and forced to be furious—usually by presenting their families and torturing them slowly. The worst was those who failed—those who did not have that recalcitrant, prolonged hatred, those who surrendered—those were of no use, and they killed the rest of the family for weakness.
But a few kept hating more and more. Then the king gave his approval, and sent them a vision telling them to surrender to vengeance, to bring death to those who hurt them. None refused, but they had no objective in mind. The elves made sure he could not see them even if he was by their side, so he irrationally threw himself at everything and everyone. I once fought one of them. He was not very powerful or skilled, but his rage, his source of fury, kept attacking me even when his bones were broken and marrow oozed from his back from a blow I delivered there in desperation. He kept shooting furious looks from the ground until he caught fire. Such was his anger that the body could not withstand the power the curse gave him, and it burned to the bone. That was the only time I was afraid on that isle.
I left Chapatrueno his consciousness, gave him power, but also responsibility over it. No one should decide for us who is the enemy or the ally, whom to defend, for whom to die. I did not know what would happen when he finally brought death to those who caused him pain. I knew there were more things to hate. Would he rise to the occasion? Or would he simply fade without purpose? In any case, first I had to save him and the dragon, which must have been unfortunate, listening to a megalomaniac who sought power and perhaps spoke with him for millennia, little by little wearing down the dying dragon's resistance and then taking possession centimeter by centimeter of its body, while trying to attack its spirit.
Finally, I had everything ready. If I were more prudent, I would test before sending myself. But I did not have the necessary time. The dwarf had already begun fighting that dragon shell, most likely controlled by the Lich. I had to get there before one of the two ceased to exist! Unfortunately, only that dwarf had the power—not to eliminate the primordial black god, but to save it.