Everywhere.
That's where Vyrl needed to be, where he was needed the most.
Everywhere.
When you could commune with death itself, you became as omnipresent and omnipowerful as the metaphorical being itself; your consciousness transcended such trivialities as place, and your power become more than the sum of your physical cells. Vyrl was needed everywhere, but he could also
be
everywhere, and everything at once. The power was overwhelming, the surge of triumph a majesty of brilliance. All worldly feelings and desires faded away.
What he needed was a place to hide. Lexius called it cowardice, but it was practicality -- when you were everything, everything was you. He was, as things stood, weak. Oh, he had all the strength and power of a vampire in the peak of its life, but he was small, and avoided physical combat wherever possible. If he attempted to commune with dozens of undead warriors at once -- if he attempted to reach beyond his immediate surroundings and influence battle throughout the siege -- then he would have to split his focus away from his immediate surroundings, away from his own sense of personal safety.
He needed to be close enough to the dead to control them in battle, but not so close that he might be discovered and killed, unable to defend himself, where his armies would collapse into dust moments after. The siege would fall, then, the intruders gaining valuable footholds -- no, it was not cowardice that moved him into the dark siderooms, but practicality alone.
Lexius. A wiser man might have questioned why he had not been given orders. A wiser man might have imagined there was a reason; only a fool would see the insult and nothing more. Lexius was the perfect example of why power should not be hereditary. For the most part, Vyrl enjoyed the power Lexius held; his many, many vices made him simple to manipulate when the need arose. His anger might pose a problem, however -- it might do to hide from him as well.
22-Dec-2019 17:54:11