GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The Voice in his head declared, "CARNAGE will be made manifest through you regardless of your opinion about it."

Xigger's eyes flashed with uneasiness. He gritted his teeth in determination.

"There's no use regretting now." He told himself.

"That's right. Regret is futile at this point." The voice in his head read his thoughts and replied.

He can't regret it now. It won't change anything. He already took the bait of power. It was dangled in front of him at the moment when he needed it the most. He took it and he turned into an ancestral vampire. Now he has to do the bidding of this strange and powerful being.

It loathed him to be under the control of someone else since he was an Alpha of alphas before. Even worse is that his thoughts are not safe from this entity. But he got the power he wanted and he has not yet taken revenge. So there's no room for regret yet. Maybe he'll feel regret after he is done with his revenge.

Xigger can also read the minds of lesser entities so it is not a surprise that the one that calls himself the Supreme of Carnage can read his mind. That's just one of the many prices he has to pay for the power that he received. 

Xigger doesn't have any privacy of thought. His mind can also be tampered with. It is not being done now so that he can maintain his sense of self. But it can be done later or when he refuses to fulfill the will of CARNAGE. Any freedom he has now is but an illusion of it. 

"What will do you about your descendant that you sensed?" The voice asked him.

"I will take him with me and protect him. I don't know how he managed to survive to this day. But no loved one of mine will ever be in danger again." Xigger promised himself.

The voice inquired innocently. "What if he doesn't want to come with an abomination like you?" 

"He doesn't have a choice. I am his father. Sons listen to their fathers."

"Hmm. Sons listen to their father." The voice in his head laughed and mocked him. "But you don't look like his father anymore. He certainly wouldn't recognize you if he had seen you before. You are also not a Warrog anymore. So you would be this strange abomination that wants to kidnap him? Why should he listen to you?"

"Because I am stronger. He must listen because I am stronger than him. Then he will come with me and I'll protect him."

The laughter of the voice in his head increased. It asked him, "How is that different from kidnapping?"

Xigger became irritated at that point. He is both irritated at himself and at the powerful entity he is enslaved to. He wanted to say, "I don't have to explain myself to you."

But that isn't true. So he reined in his irritation and he explained, "It is different because I love him and will care for him. I only mean to do him well. My intentions are kind."

The voice wasn't satisfied. It continued to needle Xigger. "Is that really good for your son? How will you protect him? The surface belongs to the wood elves and the Underdark is full of bloodthirsty beasts who would like nothing more than to have a taste of fresh meat. And he is fresh meat by the very definition of it. You're just a weak ancestral vampire. You don't have the strength to protect him at all. Maybe it is best to leave him alone."

Xigger screamed inwardly at the voice in his head. "I am not leaving him. If I need strength, then I will find strength. If I need more strength then I will find more strength. That's all there is to it."

The voice in his head didn't get angry. It laughed merrily and loudly. It spoke as it cackled, "This is good. I can use this. It is good that you want strength. Strength can only be acquired through Carnage and bloodletting. The will of CARNAGE will be fulfilled. It seems that your descendant will be useful to me after all."

Xigger barked at the voice. "You will stay away from him. You promised you wouldn't touch my descendants."

"Yes. I promised not to act against your loved ones directly or indirectly. But you don't have to worry about me. I am not your enemy at all. By the looks of it, I am the only friend and helper you have in the world. Your enemies are around you and you are all alone in the world."

Xigger snorted and continued his journey. 

The voice spoke to him again. "You have to hurry with whatever you're going to do. The wood elves have already sensed you. They have sent a contingent towards this mountain range. They seem to be scouts for now. They are few in number. Then again, they don't need numbers if they have strength. I can't sense anyone particularly strong but I can't be sure. The surface is the domain of that God-forsaken White Bitch."

The voice began to rant. "She can cloak herself and prevent me from sensing her so she might as well be close by silently watching you. Something with so much life should be so obvious to me. It should be like a torch in the dark. Then again, it is entities that have mastered life that can hide themselves very well. I hate that White Bitch."

Xigger nodded absentmindedly as he listened. He ignored the ranting but he took the warning to heart. He might hate his current situation as a subordinate but he has to admit that his boss is very competent.

Warnings like this have saved his life several times. Sauron couldn't put him down for more than a day but there are others out there in the plane that can put him down for much longer or maybe forever.