9.

 

“Everything is going according to plan, this is fantastic,” the Jornel said, grinning excitedly as he and Master Kin hid outside of Lisa’s house. They were quiet as they watched Norris get back into his car, leaving his fated mate to return back to his home. “Master Kin, I had no idea that everything would be so successful. I’m very excited about all of this.”

“I’m not sure why you doubted anything,” Kin said, raising his eyebrow at his minion. “Everything we do, we do for a good purpose. And this is the only way we are ever going to be able to find the Dragon’s base. We have to be able to get the artifacts. Without them, they are going to be very weak and vulnerable. There is even the possibility that they will not be able to shape shift any longer.”

“That would be great! How is that possible?”

Kin sighed. “There have been several other groups out there who are getting rid of the Golden children, and with them out of the way, locked up in a vault in the center of the universe where their magic cannot escape, we truly have the advantage. It is confined there, and the Dragon shifters are growing weaker by the day. Can’t you feel it?”

“I can definitely tell the difference. We do not have very much magic of our own to speak of, but truth be told, it is something we have always been able to sense. This part of the fabric of the universe. It is what is considered normal. Without it, there are many changes that are made. Magic is important. Without it in the air, we are all forced to compromise and take the change in balance into consideration.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“So, what do we do next, Master Kin?” the Jornel asked. “I am getting restless. I would love to take more actions that have great results. This is very exciting.”

“He wants to go on a date with this human. We anticipated that. We even set up a spot for them to have their meeting. Perhaps this is when the union will truly take place. Once it does, and even right this moment, we have to be working carefully to track them to their lair. It is going to be the safest place. We will have to put the female in danger. But it isn’t time yet. We are still waiting. They haven’t had their first official courting event. That’s what the flyer was for.”

“I was sure they were going to make their bond official tonight,” the Jornel said, his voice slightly disappointed.

“These things take time. Why else would we have created the event for a week from the car accident and not a day after?” Kin looked judgmentally at the little man and tsked. “I’m surprised at you.”

“I just really believed it was going to take place tonight. I guess I was wrong,” the little underling said sadly, frowning to himself.

“We did not want anything too official to take place tonight. We knew there was going to be friction between the two of them. And even if it were to have transpired tonight and the sacred child had been conceived, they would be in another vulnerable state and it would ultimately serve our purpose as well. We could use his emotional frequencies to manipulate him. It’s quite easy to do.”

“Oh, I see. If he has his mate, it will be easier to use her against him. That makes sense.”

The Jornel nodded, his high spirits returning once more.

“Yes,” Kin agreed. “Especially if they were to procreate tonight or sometime in the near future and there was a child for him to consider. Those cursed Golden children certainly make their parents more overprotective than they would be under normal circumstances. He would be very easy to manipulate then.”

“A parent’s love for his child is impressive,” the Jornel said wistfully. Kin narrowed his eyes at the little man, who quickly tried to wipe all traces of sentiment from his face.

“In any event, it is easy to utilize for our gain. We would know exactly what his moves would be at that point, and I do intend for us to use that against him in the future. It’s going to really teach those good for nothing Dragon shifters a thing or two about messing with the divine order of things. They’re going to regret ever having meddled.”

“They certainly will,” the underling agreed, though he wasn’t entirely sure what it was they had meddled in besides simply trying to restore peace and harmony in the universe. Peace that, according to Kin, would make everybody into carbon copies of each other and eliminate the freedom of choice and action. “It was very clever the way we orchestrated the car accident, don’t you think? You truly are a master at what you do. I am very honored to work by your side.”

“Stop with your flattery or I’m going to have you replaced with someone who doesn’t talk so much,” Kin said, shaking his head. The little man clamped his mouth shut.

Truth be told, Kin really didn’t mind having his ego stroked in this way. At least, not often. Still, it delighted him to be able to burst the little man’s bubble. What else was he good for?

“I’m sorry, Master Kin,” the Jornel said, bowing as his profuse apology bubbled from some deeply sincere well within him. It was irritating, and Kin dismissed it quickly.

“Anyway, you are correct. It was a very useful spark of intuition that set this up. We knew the Loni descendant was going to be meeting with her friend, and we also knew Ken would be more than willing to help us to deceive the Dragon shifters. He may not know where their base is, but he does know each of them better than we ever would. He wanted to help. He would have convinced them to go to the club even if Norris had not shown an interest.”

“He has been very helpful for the cause,” the Jornel said with a deep nod. He was very pleased to have made any progress whatsoever toward bringing Chaos to reign in the universe. Whether he understood what it truly meant or not. And if he didn’t, maybe it was just his own damn fault for being so easy to manipulate. Kin couldn’t be held responsible. All he had done was preach the theories of Chaos and the followers swarmed around him in droves. It couldn’t be helped. He used them for what they were worth and that was simply that. 

“And the best part is, I didn’t even have to give him anything remotely valuable in exchange for his loyalty. All he wanted was the green Earth paper. Money. I had no idea just how malleable the human species could be. If I had known, maybe I wouldn’t have bothered to bring so many of your useless species with me down to Earth.”

The little underling was quiet for a moment, and then laughed nervously. “Yes, humans can be quite useful.”

Master Kin glanced sidelong at the useless little man, his mind wandering to the plethora of resources he’d had to invest in so that he could count on keeping these silly little creatures alive. While they were very beneficial in strategizing and carrying out his plans, he wanted to get rid of a large portion of them. He had far too many now that his plans were well underway.

Their brainpower had allowed him to get this far, certainly, but really, he didn’t need that many Jornel on Earth with him. He needed a few that he could trust for their brainpower, and that was it. He wasn’t going to waste the fuel to take them back to their planets. He would have to come up with something else. Some other way of getting rid of them. In fact, he had a budding idea that was just beginning to flourish in his mind. A good plan.

A cruel little smile began to part his lips as he looked back down at his companion, considering the potentially unfortunate fates of about half of his unsuspecting crew. It would be a sacrifice, surely, but it was one that would serve a greater purpose.

Their loyalty to Chaos would allow them to die honorable deaths, as far as their own goals were concerned. And he was going to get what he wanted.  That was really what mattered most here out of everything. It was a win-win situation. He wanted to make sure that everything he did was done with purpose and was executed flawlessly. Or, at least, as flawlessly as possible. He wanted to put an end to the Dragon shifters and their obnoxious species; an end to the universe that had betrayed him and left him alone rather than guiding and supporting him. He wanted revenge for the cruelty that was heaped upon his shoulders. He wanted to strike back and punish those who thought they had the right to punish him. What else could be more important than that?

“All right,” Kin said cheerfully, his eyes intent upon his minion now that he was happily plotting the little man’s execution. “Now that this has been successful, we should start working on the next course of action. We have to set up the club where they are going to meet. We have to lay down the clues for them to follow. It’s going to be a massacre, and it’s going to be glorious.”

“Yes, all hail Chaos!” the Jornel exclaimed happily.

Kin held up a finger to silence him.

“But before that, we need to make sure they are able to lead us to their secret base. With those artifacts on Earth, none of us are safe. It is highly likely that we will all end up surrendering to their power and Chaos once again will be held back for another century. We cannot let that happen. We are the stewards of the age of Chaos, so let it reign!”