Kiyor and Rowan sat side by side, watching the sunset, ready for the
inevitable night. They were sitting where they had made love. Kiyor sat
as stiffly as his lover, but his eyes maintained his emotion.
With only a slight bit of sincerity in his voice, Kiyor quietly uttered: “I’m sorry.”
Rowan didn’t react. “For what?”
“I didn’t realise how strange the Light
Kingdom would seem to you. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Rowan thought over his apology. “You
didn’t. Using your knowledge, we were able to find the location
of the people after me. We will also find out who they are.”
Relief flooded Kiyor’s eyes. “Are you sure your father
won’t mind me using his make-up?” she asked. Her lips were
black instead of the typical mauve.
He shrugged. “He always says he has too much.”
As he watched the sunset, his mind wandered back to the dream he had
the night before. He remembered pleasure before falling asleep. Then he
saw Rowan, standing under a tree filled with white blossoms on a spring
morning. She was smiling. She had her make-up of a Dark Citizen, but
wore a white dress like a Bride or a Fairy. White blossoms showered
around her, making her laugh. He was feeling more detached from the
image as he gradually remembered that it started raining around that
tree. He stared at the purple sky.
Both their heads turned when there was a knock at
the door. Rowan and Kiyor went to it, but Kiyor answered it.
“Everything is ready Mistress, Kiyor,” informed Manar uniformly.
“Then we’ll proceed,” ordered
Rowan confidently. She walked out of Kiyor’s parents’ flat
and her lover followed her.
The ladies waited patiently as Kiyor locked the
door. Manar’s eyes were focussed on Rowan in a certain way,
revealing the thought: You prefer me this way, don’t you Rowan?
Kiyor was done, so they walked along the corridor.
The car that Manar was driving rolled along and parked outside the grid
of 4 standing cars. The three that got out were the three who went away
from the apartment earlier that night. The other bodyguards were either
standing around or sitting on the car bonnets.
Hawk looked around him dubiously. “I
can’t believe that the secret hiding place we’re looking
for starts here.” On one side were smaller blocks of flats made
of brick; opposite them were family estates.
“Misat did say the journey was complicated,” informed Kiyor coolly.
“The drivers of these cars need to stay behind, the rest follow us,” crisply ordered Miss Kirilian.
The party of Kiyor, Rowan, Manar, 6 Vilkon
bodyguards and 6 Kirilian hired bodyguards set off towards one family
estate. They ignored the impressive gate and fence and walked alongside
the grand house. They were then in what could be described as a
corridor between two grand estates. This corridor went out from between
buildings to between gardens, then between buildings again as the party
went past the neighbourhood of wealthy family homes. This corridor
ended between two estates, where in front was a path then a park. They
walked through the park until they reached a church. At night, the
building was rather ghostly. They kept their distance and went to the
graveyard. The party respectfully kept to the footpath through the
place of the dead, until they came to a small stone building.
Rowan walked up the few steps and opened the wooden
door. Inside the small stone building was an ancient crypt. A plaque on
the wall commemorated the resting place. In memory of Lady Ziara
Brittion. May the Auras keep watch on her.
“Brittion?” asked Siren. “Never heard of them.”
“Their territory was lost to the Vilkons, who
reduced them to a family of servitude,” told Kiyor, who showed no
pride to the fact but seemed fed up of his family’s power.
“Where is the switch to the secret door?” demanded Rowan softly.
Manar opened up her sheet of instructions. “You press the panel Mistress.”
Rowan pushed the plaque. With the sound of stone
grinding on stone, the plaque pressed itself further into the wall,
then the crypt moved towards the building’s entrance. The hole in
the floor revealed stone steps descending into darkness.
Rowan looked at a male/female duo in their thirties;
one of her own and were clearly Dark Citizens. “You two will
guard here until our return,” she told them. They nodded and
remained where they were as everyone went down into the darkness.
When the last person went down, the crypt stayed in
its position for a moment before moving back into its former place with
the same sound of grinding stones. The guarding duo kept watch, staring
out of the door.
The stone steps kept going down in a dim light. At
the bottom was a blackish tunnel, but balls on the walls nearest them
lit up softly. It was now light enough to see, but most of the walls
still appeared black and many balls further ahead were still dormant.
“These lamps have a spell on them,”
Rowan figured out. “It is safe to assume that they react to our
presence and will light up as we walk along.”
With this in mind, the group moved forward. As they
neared the next pair of lamps, they automatically lit up. The lamps
behind them dimmed. They walked along this evenly rectangular tunnel of
automatic lamps without hesitation. They passed square chambers and
other square tunnels. A 6 minute walk brought the group to the end of
the tunnel, where they were met by a metallic door with a ring in the
middle. Kiyor turned the ring clockwise 3 times. The door pushed
inwards with a clunk. He pulled open the noisy, heavy door. Everyone
was greeted by the gentle sound of water moving through the sewer.
Rowan looked at a pair of Vilkon guards. “You
two stay here,” she ordered. They seemed a little apprehensive
with her order. The other 11 people went through the door anyway,
closing the door behind them.
“We have to walk along here until we find a
spiral carved within some blood,” informed Manar. “This
way.”
She led the group from the left side of the door.
This sewer was of ancient design: a large, rounded arch of clay with
defined clay footpaths on either side of the sewage river. But someone
has maintained it, since every surface has remained smooth. Torches
lined the walls, but inside them were lamps with the same mechanism as
the lamps in the previous tunnel. Every now and then was a dried blood
splatter. Some were so ancient and so small, they appeared to be
mud-marks.
After a few minutes, they saw a large, red, splatter
of blood on the wall. Carved on the wall, within the splatter, was a
spiral. Kiyor sat down and swung his legs into the river.
He looked at the pair of Vilkon guards behind Hawk
and Siren. “You two will stay here.” This pair, nearing
their forties, leaned against the wall without worry.
Siren glanced at Rowan. “I guess you’re glad Manar got those shoes for you.”
Siren was referring to Rowan’s plain black
plimsolls. “I had told Manar to get these,” she told Siren,
indifferent. She sat down. Kiyor jumped in.
One by one, the company jumped in and sank below the
water. Instead of following the river, they headed towards the red
light. This light was a beacon to indicate where an underwater tunnel
was. They swam into the dark tunnel.