World Awakening: The Legendary Player
Chapter 123: Gorok

Chapter 123: Gorok

Gorok was bored.

He leaned back in his massive stone chair, running a hand over the smooth, polished obsidian of the armrest. A young Sun Elf with pale, frightened eyes knelt beside him, carefully peeling a piece of dark fruit and placing the slices on a small plate.

Another elf, this one with the dark skin and white hair of the Ashen clans, stood silently behind his chair, her hands clasped, her gaze fixed on the floor. Her back was covered in a fresh, intricate tattoo that was still red and swollen around the edges.

He picked up a slice of fruit and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly. The silence in the cavernous room was broken by the sound of footsteps. A human servant, dressed in simple grey robes, entered the chamber. He walked with his eyes down, stopping a precise twenty feet from the chair before kneeling, his forehead almost touching the stone floor.

"Well?" Gorok asked, his voice calm. "You wouldn’t interrupt my afternoon snack unless you had news."

"A report has arrived, Lord Gorok," the servant said, his voice steady but quiet. "From Kenchi."

Gorok leaned forward a little, a flicker of interest in his eyes. "He’s found them, then."

"Yes, my lord. He tracked the princess to the Ashen Glade."

The Ashen Elf behind the chair flinched, a tiny, almost imperceptible movement, but Gorok noticed. He reached back without looking and casually ran a finger along the raw, inflamed edge of her new tattoo. She froze completely, not even breathing.

"And?" Gorok prompted, his attention back on the servant.

The servant hesitated for a second, clearly choosing his words with care. "Kenchi reports... complications. The Ashen Elder was significantly more powerful than the intelligence suggested. He was nearly killed."

Gorok just grunted, picking up another slice of fruit. He didn’t seem particularly concerned about his best hunter almost dying.

"Nearly killed?" he repeated, his voice dangerously soft. "My best hunter, the man I send to break entire legions, was nearly killed by a backwoods elf who specializes in healing potions?" He took another bite of fruit, chewing thoughtfully. "How... disappointing. For him."

He turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on the Ashen Elf standing behind his chair. She flinched as if he had struck her. "You. Little bird. You are of the Ashen Glade. What do you know of this Elder Fena?"

The elf swallowed hard, her eyes still fixed on the floor. "She... she is a healer, my lord. The weakest of the four Elders. Her power is in life, not combat."

Gorok’s lips curled into a slow, cruel smile. He looked back at the kneeling servant. "The weakest," he mused. "And yet she forced Kenchi to retreat." He tapped a finger on his obsidian armrest. "This changes the equation. My intelligence was flawed. The princess is better protected than I anticipated."

He waved a hand dismissively at the servant. "Tell Kenchi to stand down. He is to observe from a distance and await new orders. If he engages again without my command, I will send him back to his family in a small, decorative box. You are dismissed."

The servant bowed low, then scurried out of the room, relief clear in his posture.

Gorok was silent for a long moment, lost in thought. The Sun Elf girl beside him continued to offer fruit, her hands trembling. He finally looked back at the Ashen Elf.

"It seems I have a use for you after all, little bird," he said, his voice almost gentle. She looked up, a flicker of hope in her eyes. It died instantly when she saw his smile.

"You will return to your people," he commanded. "You will tell them you escaped. You will weep and beg for sanctuary." He stood up, walking around the chair to stand in front of her. He reached out and gently traced the raw, weeping tattoo on her back. She shuddered in agony but did not make a sound.

"This mark is not just a brand of ownership," he explained. "It is a curse. It will allow me to see through your eyes, to hear through your ears. And if you even think of betraying me..." He pressed a single finger into the center of the tattoo. The elf screamed, a raw, strangled sound as the mark flared with a sickening black light before subsiding.

"...it will boil your blood in your veins," he finished, wiping his finger clean on her tunic.

He stepped back, his expression once again bored and placid. "You will find the princess. You will stay by her side. You will be her friend, her confidant. And you will be my eyes until the time is right." He returned to his chair and picked up the final slice of fruit.

"Go," he said, not even looking at her as she stumbled from the room, a single, silent tear tracking a path through the dust on her cheek. "Do not fail me."

---

Fena dipped a cloth into a bowl of water and dabbed at the gash on Liesa’s forehead. Her daughter was pale, but she was breathing.

’Alive. That’s something, I suppose.’

Across the camp, Valeria was just as still, her chest wrapped in bandages. Her bow lay next to her, snapped in two.

’My daughters are strong.’

She felt the ache in her bones. The price of her rage. She’d burned away decades of her life to fight him, and for what? He just vanished into smoke.

’I’m old now. Really old.’

The thought didn’t make her sad but she couldn’t help thinking about it.

’All of them,’ she thought. The images flashed in her mind. ’Jor, the guards, the children... gone.’ The hatred came back. ’That human boy... Nox.’ She remembered him crushing the mercenary’s skull. At the time, she’d been horrified.

’He was right.’

The thought was bitter, but true. He saw a threat and ended it. No honor, no mercy. Just efficiency. Her own honor had gotten her people killed.

Liesa groaned. "Mother...?"

Fena leaned closer, brushing hair from her daughter’s face. "Rest, child. You’re safe."

Liesa’s eyes fluttered open for a second, then closed again.

’Safe? No one is safe.’ Fena looked north, toward the princess and her human attack dog. Gorok sent one hunter. He’d send more. This wasn’t over.