As the seats around the long table were all taken and filled up in the dark, dimly lit chamber hall, everyone turned quiet, looking at the elderly skink standing at the helm. He was wearing a long white satin robe, with golden threaded embroidery adorning the edges. At the center of the chest, the lavish threads gathered, drawing out the vague silhouette of what seemed like a dragon's head as it was roaring at the sky itself.
The skink, unlike the norm of its kind, had deep red toned wrinkled skin. The scales were smooth, fitting in like pieces of a puzzle. For the average onlooker, it could really seem as if they were truly similar to that of the bareskins and acted as unified cells of an organism.
His eyes were glimmering with a stained, darker yellowish light as it gazed at the many high-profile leaders of Ugburg.
"[Reptilian] Zuruk! What are we even doing here discussing? The failure of that big hunk of meat failing to do a simple task as squashing some ants?!"
A big-bellied male skink couldn't take the looming, ominous silence and the invisible pressure any longer and spoke up. His tone carried no hints of respect or reverence, unlike how it was painted towards the general populace. He sounded arrogant, disdainful even, though it was impossible to tell if his tone was aimed at the High Priest, or perhaps the missing Saurus lizard instead.
Ever since the mission that the High Priest dispatched, saying it was the 'will' of the Ancient One and was assigned to Zokor for carrying it out, they had heard nothing back from the monstrous general.
Apart from learning about the crushing defeat of the Temple Guard's army from local hearsay, they got no official reports back. Officially, the Saurus General was still counted as 'MIA', meaning it could still be alive but missing currently.
Though, knowing what kind of a monster that lizard was, they were all but certain, he was no longer amongst the living. Still, they kept silent and retained the status quo. For now.
Listening to the impolite, haughty tone of one of the obese, fat, and disgusting looking man, Zuruk expression remained unflinching. His glimmering, ominous-looking glowering gaze slowly traveled over the room, eventually landing on the frowning head of one of the major, leading powers of the city.
His eyes were sharp, his gaze was like the sharp, deadly tips of spears. The room's already heavy air, suddenly felt denser for the obese man.
For a brief instant, it was as if the faint light flickered in the High Priest's gaze. Though it may have very well been just an illusion, a product of their troubled minds.
The obese figure's eyes turned wide with shock and surprise, in the very next moment. He suddenly felt as the air was no longer breathable. He began to choke, gasp for air, he grabbed his neck. The arrogance almost immediately vanished from his face, he looked at the old skink, the High Priest with begging eyes.
Seconds passed, his strength was slowly being used up. Soon, he felt his legs, his knees no longer capable of withstanding his weight, they wobbled, and buckled a moment later. He fell back down on his chair, still clutching his throat, desperate, begging, and pleading with his eyes to the heartless, emotionless looking man.
Finally, just as the color was starting to pale from the man's face and despair have begun to finally set in, the old priest's emotionless face finally moved. The right side of his lips began to curve, transforming into a crooked, evil smirk.
The same illusionary flicker flashed across his gaze once again, though unless one focused on it, it would have been missed yet again. High Priest Zokor blinked once, turning his attention away from the man and focusing on the rest instead.
Still, in the next moment, as if confirming it was really his actions that almost snuffed the life out of the disobedient skink, the invisible pressure suddenly eased up, allowing the obese patriarch to breathe the stale but vital air once more.
With the pressure lifted, he coughed violently, greedily inhaling the air he suddenly found much more precious than even just a few minutes ago. He slumped down on his chair a moment later, heavy beads of sweat perspiring on the man flops of fat on his skin, as well as his face as he now looked terrified, fearful to be in the presence of this terrifying entity.
High Priest Zokor, didn't even speak a single word from start to finish of this scene. His face showed no emotion, no twitch could be seen with the exception of the still present crooked smirk that showed itself only at the very end.
He did not respond to the queries of the man, seemingly it went ignored.
His eyes traversed the matching looks of the others present, not bothered by the varying emotions visible in them. Most looked troubled, some edging towards sadness and sorrow, some towards growing anger… Though there were a few excited-looking gazes, mostly from the few females present in the room, they were the minority.
One shocking revelation that could be observed was that unlike how the general populace was told, there was not a single truly honest, and reverent gaze cast on the old man. Fear and terror dominated them all, they were by no means as unified as they were portraying publicly.
After what felt like an eternity, but at most could have been a minute the High Priest slowly opened his mouth and began to speak in his raspy, rough-sounding voice.
"[Reptilian] I welcome you all. I appreciate you all responding to the call, and have come to receive the words and will of your God." He coldly spoke, making his friendly-sounding greeting just that much more out of place. Awkward even.
Giving a slight pause, he continued as his eyes slowly darted from the far right to the far left.
"[Reptilian] After the recent events, I have spent all my time communing with the Ancient One, and asking for his guidance. I begged for his overwhelming brilliance to shine again, and bathe us, feeble folk in his holy light."
He carefully scrutinized each and every expression as he gave his speech, taking a note for each flinch of their facial muscles, each flicker in their eyes silently.
Breathing in a large gasp of air, he slowly exhaled it before exploding into a loud roar-like exclamation.
"[Reptilian] …I can proudly tell you all, that… HE HATH RESPONDED!" He panted as if he had run several miles suddenly. A growing, almost crazed-looking smile slowly began to emerge from the corners of his mouth.
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