This room in the Vilkon mansion was the same one where Kiyor presented
his family elders with the mysterious amulet. This time, a number
of chairs lined the walls on each side, with four chairs in a row at
the head of the lines. Three of the head chairs had elders seated in
them. The one that was empty, as well as adorned with a cushion, was
the only empty chair in the room. On the other chairs, key members of
the next generation, including Sassaren, were seated.
Two bodyguards opened the entrance doors. Outside,
the most elderly Vilkon could be seen supported by two maids.
“Terra Vilkon!” announced the bodyguard
earlier identified as Scarab. “Our most prestigious elder.”
This sharp, yet weak, elderly lady allowed herself
to be trudged along, for her elderly frame could not bare any haste.
She sneered at the sight around her. She shook her head.
“Factions!” she hissed. “This was
not what my husband, or his father, envisioned. How will the Auras
shape the future of this family?” One of the seated Ladies
scoffed. “Don’t believe in the Auras?” asked Terra of
no one in particular. “They have more power over this world than
you think,” she threatened.
When she was finally seated, the two maids stood behind her.
The dark-skinned elder spoke first. “Let the
meeting of the Elders and Faction Leaders begin. Scarab, any news from
Vangelion?”
“The Caprulon family have been completely
murdered. The servants all tell stories of seeing various family
members enter rooms for their businesses and tasks, but an hour roughly
passes before all the servants and bodyguards realise they have not
seen any members for some time. That is when the bodies of the family
and a couple of bodyguards are found, all killed by stabbing. As one
household member described it: it was as if the attacker had travelled
during the day and killed them in their sleep.”
The Vilkon members had eyebrows raised in amazement. “Who leads the territory now?”
“The leadership is being contested,”
answered Scarab. “But some of the territory has been bought by
the Tirenth family.” He was signalled to continue. “There
was also a failed murder: 2 nights ago the Brendant household was
suddenly being shot at by roughly 7 people, possibly more.” Some
of the people seated began to laugh. “One attacker shouted for
the second son Tyrain to appear, but the Brendant snipers instead shot
5 of the attackers and the rest ran away.”
Dorania shook her head. “How messily done.” She was in her
study. From her desk she looked up at the secretary in front of her.
Despite his blonde plait, the secretary’s head resembled a skull.
His eyes were green but were decorated with black paint. “Any
other news from Vangelion?”
“No Mistress.”
“Well then, any answers to my offer?”
“The Tirenth family refuse, however there has still been no answer from the Maltov family.”
Dorania nodded knowingly. “They continue to deliberate.”
Kiyor emerged in the round pool and swam to the edge. He climbed out.
Rowan climbed out after him, then Manar, then the rest of the
bodyguards. Waiting for themselves to dry a bit, they looked around. In
front of the pool were three rectangular, smooth tunnels. The left
tunnel curved left, the right tunnel curved right and the tunnel
straight ahead climbed slightly upwards. The walls were dark green and
two bright green glowing torches seemed to highlight this fact. One
torch was on a stand between the left and front tunnels and the other
was on a stand between the right and front tunnels. On the walls around
the pool were carvings of demonic angels.
“Auras,” murmured a guard, staring at the carvings.
“We need to go straight ahead,” told Manar.
“I remember a certain trap here,” reported Rowan.
Manar took out the little plastic folder with the
instructions inside. “Until we pass the ruby, we must think of
blood,” she told them.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Rowan easily accepted.
They walked along this tunnel. Small emeralds were
built into the walls; they twinkled softly, showing the way along the
dim tunnel. For some, it was a walk in a corridor. For others, it
seemed to take an eternity to walk along here. After several minutes,
they saw a ruby hanging down, connected to the ceiling by a black
chain. Each person walked under the ruby; some relaxed afterwards. The
man at the back froze. The ruby started glowing, making the onlookers
curious. Blood fell out of his mouth and his dead body collapsed. Only
the Vilkon guards had shock on their faces.
The party carried on. The tunnel ended shortly after
the ruby and opened up into another chamber. It was a large,
cuboid-carved room. There were six door-less arched openings on each
side; each had an emerald twinkling above every door. In front of them
was a large ramp of cement, which rose up and led to an opening above.
They walked to the right and stopped at the fourth ‘door’.
Hawk and Siren were left here and the six remaining walked along the
tunnel.
This tunnel was coloured navy. Lined along the top
were orbs, glowing a soft royal blue. This tunnel carried on being
straight, until it gradually descended and turned right. It coiled like
this for a while. As they walked along the tunnel, they heard faint
whispers. Every now and then, they saw wispy clouds, which vanished as
quickly as they appeared.
“They’re ghosts,” observed the guard at the back.
“Naturally,” told Kiyor. “People have died here.”
After walking through the coil, the tunnel
straightened. The line of orbs ended and the tunnel opened up into a
dome. Kiyor and Rowan went through first. Manar hung back with the
other guards.
“Remain on the perimeter,” she ordered.
“We want to be able to get out on a moment’s notice.”
The room had changed from when they had seen it.
Where the banners were hanging, there was nothing. The only light was
coming from the altar. A big, white candle was on it and was lit. On
either side of the altar were stands with banners on them. The banners
were black and had red moon symbols at each end. What was strange about
the place was not only how much it had changed, but also the eerie
atmosphere. It had a feeling of lots of activity taking place or had
taken place…and it should be taking place, but it is hidden.
Nothing at all happened in the graveyard. Dark Citizens merely saw it
as a memorial to great beings gone by, or its history to aspire to. But
these two knew to always keep alert: one never knows what could be
lurking in the dark.
The man shifted from his guarding spot. “I gotta go,” he grunted.
She made no reaction as he stepped out and went to
the side of the little building. A soft, splashing sound could be
heard. When the splash was done, she then heard the usual
muffle…then a thump. This was curious. She made one final sweep
of the place before investigating.
As she went to the side of the building, she
didn’t search for her partner. She followed the protocol of
making sure no one else was around. Surprise was obvious when she
didn’t find him standing. She looked down to find his dead body
sprawled along. On his chest, drawn with his own blood, was a moon
symbol. The shadows were teasingly quiet.