"The other demons under your command are one thing."
The Ancient One looked across the room at Taylor, the others...
...and the dog.
"Their strength is limited. More importantly, they obey you without question. I can believe you have them completely under control."
Completely under control?
Evenson nearly winced.
He wondered how anyone would react if they got up in the middle of the night, walked past their computer, and found a husky using its paws to place a massive online order for gourmet dog food through their internet banking account.
After witnessing something like that...
Maintaining the illusion of complete control became surprisingly difficult.
"But they’re different."
The Ancient One’s gaze shifted to the Eredar twins.
"Both their race and their power suggest they’re anything but ordinary."
Powerful.
Highly placed.
Members of the same race as one of the Legion’s greatest commanders.
Everything about them screamed senior leadership rather than expendable soldiers.
"That’s true."
Evenson nodded openly.
"Archimonde the Defiler, the destroyer of Dalaran, was one of the Burning Legion’s two supreme Eredar commanders."
He gestured toward the twins.
"And they once served as aides to the other."
The Ancient One looked unsurprised.
Exactly as I thought.
"But," Evenson continued, "that was a long time ago."
"Now we’re partners."
"Partners?"
She remained unconvinced.
"From what I’ve observed..."
"...you’re the junior partner."
She distinctly remembered Evenson respectfully addressing them as "my ladies."
Evenson scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Well..."
"They are a little stronger than I am."
He paused.
"Actually... more than a little."
"But don’t worry."
"They’re completely trustworthy."
"I’ve... thoroughly tested them."
Claire, who had quietly adhered to the philosophy that adults should talk while children listened, suddenly froze.
Her mind supplied an interpretation that Evenson had absolutely not intended.
...Tested them?
Something about that sentence felt dangerously open to misunderstanding.
The Ancient One ignored Claire’s widening eyes.
"Can they really be trusted?"
She didn’t bother hiding her skepticism.
"What reason do I have to believe demons like them?"
"Enough!"
Aurecess’s furious shout shook the room.
Her eyes blazed with wounded pride.
"Eredar..."
"...are not demons!"
The Ancient One blinked.
If you’re not demons... then what am I looking at?
Saloras closed her eyes.
"When you speak of our people..."
"...you speak only of what we became."
Her voice carried the weight of ancient memories.
"Tens of thousands of years ago..."
"Our homeworld, Argus, was the brightest jewel of magical civilization."
"The Eredar were wise."
"We sought only knowledge."
"We devoted ourselves to understanding magic."
Her expression twisted with hatred.
"Then Sargeras came."
Aurecess clenched her fists.
"He promised us power."
"Eternal life."
"And a glorious crusade that would carry us to the edge of creation itself."
Saloras lowered her head.
"Our leaders accepted that promise."
"It was the worst bargain our people ever made."
Listening from the side, Evenson struggled to keep a straight face.
These two deserve awards.
If memory served, they’d once been apprentices to Sathrovarr himself. They might not have rivaled Archimonde or Kil’jaeden in strength, but they’d been steeped in fel magic long before either of those famous names rose to prominence.
Still...
They certainly knew how to deliver a speech.
Aurecess raised a hand.
A projection of a ruined world appeared in the air.
Fel fire and shadow covered its surface.
Immense whirlpools of green energy twisted endlessly across the dying planet.
"We sacrificed our own world."
Saloras’s voice trembled.
"And became servants of the Legion."
"Under Sargeras’s command..."
"The once-proud Eredar committed atrocities beyond counting."
Aurecess continued quietly.
"One day..."
"We finally awoke."
"We realized the Legion’s gifts..."
"...were only chains."
Saloras nodded.
"So we rebelled."
"We were hopelessly outnumbered."
"The only path forward..."
"...was to find allies."
Aurecess lifted her head proudly.
"But we’ve never abandoned one belief."
"We will reclaim the legacy stolen from us."
"Argus will rise again!"
Saloras declared.
"Our day of vengeance draws near!"
Then, from the corner of the room...
"Selama ashal’anore!"
Everyone turned.
Evenson stood with one arm dramatically raised toward the ceiling light.
He slowly lowered it.
"...Sorry."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I got carried away."
The atmosphere collapsed instantly.
There really was a difference between a master manipulator and an incorrigible goof.
One needed elaborate illusions, emotional storytelling, and theatrical lighting to move an audience.
The other could accidentally derail the entire performance with a single sentence.
After a moment, the Ancient One inclined her head.
"My apologies."
"I misjudged both of you."
Following the twins’ heartfelt confession and the vision of Argus’s destruction, she no longer doubted their sincerity.
Saloras smiled faintly.
"It’s all right."
"You aren’t the first."
"And you certainly won’t be the last."
The Ancient One nodded before turning back to Evenson.
"So."
"What’s your first step?"
"Uniting humanity is a worthy goal."
"But slogans alone won’t accomplish it."
"You must have an actual plan."
"I do."
Evenson folded his arms.
"Humanity needs guidance."
"But the age of mysterious prophets suddenly appearing from nowhere is long gone."
"If we want to step out of the shadows..."
"...we need a public identity."
"We need influence."
"Only then will people listen."
"So..."
He smiled.
"I started a company."
The Ancient One considered that.
It actually made sense.
In the modern world, a successful corporation wielded enormous influence.
Then she looked around the fortress.
Around the worn furniture.
Around the thoroughly unimpressive surroundings.
...Please don’t tell me this place is the company.
If so...
Earth would probably be conquered several times before it became a Fortune 500 business.
Evenson caught the look on her face.
He immediately launched into what he privately considered the most shameless lie he’d ever told.
"For countless generations..."
"My predecessors accumulated extraordinary wealth."
"So much wealth that I couldn’t possibly spend it in several lifetimes."
The Ancient One found that entirely believable.
An organization that had existed for thousands of years could easily amass staggering fortunes.
Ancient relics alone would be priceless.
Then Evenson remembered the six hundred billion dollars that had slipped through his fingers before he’d ever had a chance to touch it.
His heart twitched.
"I invested..."
He forced the words out.
"...every last bit of it into the company."
The muscles in his face trembled.
He raised one finger dramatically.
His voice cracked with genuine anguish.
"I..."
"...didn’t spend a single cent!"
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