by S L Gassick
Shui stood in front of the mirror, rearranged himself, brushed through his long hair, put on some high-heeled shoes and walked out of the bedroom and into a long marble corridor with many doors, his stilettos clicking against the floor. A well-dressed, elderly butler came up to him, his eyelids so heavy, they were almost completely closed; a haggard, tired, leathery face that adorned no smile but carried a look of complacency.
“Sir, the rest of the leaders are waiting for you in the dining room.”
“Thank you.”
“And Sir …” The butler mimicked wiping his mouth. Shui realised he still had a small blood stain on the corner of his mouth.
“Oh. Thank you.”
The butler nodded and Shui walked down the marble staircase with his head held high.
CHAPTER TEN
Cyrene was annoyed that no-one was being told what was going on and the people of Norheath were starting to get scared. It had been almost a week now since the burglary and there had been rumours coming in from all over that there were monsters roaming about killing people.
Immediately, people started feeling wary of the Titans that lived among them. Unfortunate Titans would often look hideous, scary or monstrous but be completely calm and well mannered, never resorting to violence. They had become a race more reliant on physical strength rather than kyu power and had developed skills in hard labour, so they were given the lesser paid jobs. They were treated as the underclass, the unsophisticated and yet they were the ones that kept everything running like clockwork.
In Cyrene’s eyes they were always welcome and she felt that there was a harmonious relationship within the village, but there was no denying that there has always been a social stigma attached to them. Now, these rumours of monsters were starting to make people feel uneasy and had caused an escalating tension within Norheath. The Titans were becoming more scared than the villagers and some had fled, which was as good as a confession to some.
It was a complete mess and only Theus could sort this out. So Cyrene had decided to visit his office and confront him, but when she arrived she found him fast asleep.
“Excuse me Sir … Sir!” she said, shouting slightly. Theus was startled awake and looked around him as if forgetting where he was. He looked at Cyrene, rubbed his eyes and yawned.
“Yes Cyrene? You’re looking lovely today I must say. Like a daffodil! What can I do for you?”
She was annoyed. She was wearing a bright yellow puffy blouse tucked into a matching pencil skirt and wasn’t sure if he was complimenting her or not. “The people are restless, Theus. They are saying that there are Titans out there going crazy and killing people! You have to instil some peace!” she exclaimed.
“Oh are they? Oh dear.” Theus yawned again.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Do not talk to me in that tone young lady! Now see here,” Theus suddenly looked extremely agitated, “they are correct, there are things out there killing people, but it isn’t Titans. Now I’ve already had an important meeting about it a few days ago and we are trying to resolve this situation as quietly as possible. There is to be an announcement tomorrow morning should I see it fit to do so.” Theus then stretched back in his chair and yawned. Cyrene hoped it was because he had been working so hard that he was so tired.
“Also,” she continued, “Hemero, Nayakax, Rose and Phin haven’t turned up to class and I think it’s very suspicious. I visited their parents and no-one is at Phin’s, and Rose’s parents say she’s staying with Hemero, but I can’t find him anywhere either. And Nayakax’s family don’t seem to even care.”
“I know where they are. Now stop snooping and leave them be.”
“Well, where are they?”
“They are on a mission. One which they believe they had the choice to go on, when in reality it had already been chosen.” Theus stated, suddenly looking rather solemn.
“What do you mean?”
Cyrene was confused but Theus just sat there in silence.
“What do you think of Hemero?” Theus suddenly asked.
“Well… his work ethic is somewhat, well, non-existent. He can’t sit still for five minutes, his homework isn’t up to standard, his kyu isn’t nearly as well matched as the others…”
Theus laughed. “Good!”
“What do you mean, ‘good?’” Cyrene asked.
“He must learn to be humble. He’s a special boy Cyrene, he’s more powerful than you think. His powers have been limited for a reason; I placed a restraint curse on him when he was but a baby.”
“Why would you do such a thing?” Cyrene said, clearly shocked.
“Hemero is … an unusual case. We found him as a baby and took him in because his small body was shining brightly, like a small star, with kyu like we had never seen. It was during the aftermath at the Great Massacre of Hullala – where his whole clan, all of them, wiped out. Save for one. In a small hut, we found him, little Hemero, in a room covered floor to ceiling in blood, yet there he lay unharmed, with no bodies [DG16]to be seen – nothing.”
“That is strange. But you were at Hullala then? Why have you never said? So, do you know why the Dark Clans killed so many of them? It’s just… I heard the people were a peaceful, neutral tribe, not even necessarily attached to Gaea and had been left by the Dark Clans because they were of no use. Why then were they slaughtered?”
“How can we guess what occurs in such evil minds?” Theus gloomily replied whilst getting up and staring into a small fireplace. There was a brief silence.
“So will Hemero be ok?” Cyrene asked.
Theus suddenly brightened up. “Oh yes, he is currently following our Knights. It will be a good test for him. The curse has been lifted now, so he will find himself getting gradually more and more powerful. There are people that believe he is something quite… unique.”
“You don’t mean… he is the next Gaea?” Cyrene whispered for some unknown reason.
“Oh no. Nothing like that! A great warrior maybe, but heavens no! Not Gaea! We shall not be seeing him for quite some time I feel.” Theus jollily laughed until he coughed and picked up a tissue on his desk before spitting into it.
“And Theus… what of the others? Phin, Naya and Rose?”
“Well,” Theus stopped laughing and sat down at his book as if this was the last word, “we will have to wait and see won’t we?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“How far are they, Hemy?” Rose asked.
“Not far, don’t worry. I won’t let them get away!”
The group had been trekking for over a week now and were trying to remain in high spirits. The Knights they had been following were extremely hard to keep up with and the darkness of this forest they found themselves in, especially at midnight, made it almost impossible to see each other. Nayakax was impressed that Hemero had been able to track them when he could not; he felt slightly jealous and awkward that he was to follow a classmate of lesser ability. But he had felt a change come over Hemero since they left - something he could not put his finger on.
Rose felt the same way. She had worn a more practical outfit than a dress since she left the Valhalla. She now wore black leggings and a small green skirt and matching top and shoes. But she was slightly anxious that she had no armour on whatsoever and what would happen if they ran into these monsters Phin and Hemero had been talking about.
Phin had got to the point where he felt he just didn’t care anymore. He was tired and fed up. He didn’t want to continue this ‘mission’ of Hemero’s and would rather have let the Valhalla deal with it themselves. It didn’t help that the whole journey seemed to be uphill and with every step he took, he considered saying something. But every time he looked up to his best friend Hemero, he did not have the heart to let him down and so continued further. But over the last few minutes, Phin had noticed Hemy was looking rather strange and bewildered.
“We’re lost aren’t we?” Nayakax was first to voice.
“No Naya, I know where w
e’re going.” replied Hemero, struggling further through the long branches that clawed at them. The twigs and sticks were brushing so harshly against them that it felt like knives cutting through their skin. Nayakax couldn’t handle having to go any further in these conditions if they were lost.
“I don’t think you do Hemy,” Nayakax stopped as Phin bumped into him from behind, “I completely lost track of them hours ago but believed you knew what you’re doing, stupid as that might be, but we are going too slowly now. We’re lost.”
Hemero stopped climbing and turned around with a fierce look staring deeply into Nayakax’s eyes; even he didn’t expect Hemero to turn around so angry. “Be quiet,” Hemero sharply stated.
“Don’t you tell me to…” Nayakax began – Hemero put his finger against his mouth as from out of the distance there came a long groan.
Phin looked horrified and started trembling uncontrollably. Rose made a little cry. Hemero grabbed hold of Phin and looked him right in the eye.
“We’re fine Phin,” Hemero assured him, “It’s coming from below us. I need you to keep moving so we can get away as fast as possible. The Knights are just over the hill, if it gets too much we’ll just shout for their help. Okay?”
Phin nodded silently, his lip quavering and his eyes held tightly shut. Hemero looked past Phin’s shoulder to Rose.
“Okay?” he asked. She nodded back and he continued moving up the hill with Nayakax closely behind him.
“You’re lying Hemy,” he spoke softly, “I can now sense at least five of these Undead ahead of us, not behind us.”
“We have to keep moving Naya, they might take too much notice of the ones we are following rather than of us. If not, then we need to get as close to the Knights as possible before it’s too late, and pray they hear our screams.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Shui was exhausted, but today was important. This would be a real turning point for the future of the Dark Clans. As he continued towards the meeting, he descended a short wooden staircase and almost tripped. He wondered if he should get rid of it. Perhaps something like a slope? It would save on any drunken falls or the hangover in the mornings.
The entire interior of Shui’s abode was done in extravagant elegance. Flowers, art and exquisite furniture lined every nook and cranny with all their wondrous colours contrasting to the luscious cream that adorned the walls. As he turned into the corridor leading to the dining room he caught two of his subjects peeking through the doors.
They were dressed in the issued armoured uniform with the sign of the Dark Clans emblazoned on the front. It shone with its black sheen and red detail, their weapons hung safely to one side of their belt and a small black pouch containing personal belongings on the other. Both of them had the stereotypical ‘Dark Clan’ characteristics – pale skin with dark hair, but one of them had his hair greased back and the other let it flop forward hiding most of his face.
“Is it really them?” the greasy one asked the other.
“Yeah! Look! See… that one there is Domini, the Headmaster of Calathus, the next most powerful Valhalla after Norheath. Who knows what he is doing here?! There’s the infamous Goolu, one of the mightiest warriors of the Dark Clans… look, and there talking to him! … Scrathios the Third! King of Elacin!”
“Who?”
“Cracking hell! You don’t know him?! After Master, he must be the most powerful leader of the Dark Clans!”
“Exactly!” Shui spoke up. “After Master!”
The two subjects looked shocked and suddenly bowed and murmured apologies.
“Oh get up you two! Show me in, I have no time to waste! And…” Shui raised his head and closed his eyes as if he was bathing in sunlight, “make it grand!”
The two subjects didn’t really know what would be required to make it grand but decided to just open the door. As the doors creaked open, Shui remained in the same posture. All four people sitting at the table stared at Shui posing in a long, red strapless dress and dark rouge lipstick.
Goolu was a mountain of a man dressed in a purple top underneath a thick layer of armour encrusted with the symbol of an eagle. His bald head looked rather strange alongside his bushy, black eyebrows and a beard underneath. He tutted in disapproval and shook his head.
Scrathios resembled something of a weasel, his features were pointy and sharp and he had buck teeth. It was quite an unattractive sight. His clothes were clearly expensive, yet crafted in a style that was no longer the fashion. It consisted of a bright golden tunic, heavy brown belt and brown leather trousers. It was ghastly. In his effort to appeal more regal, he instead appeared more like a thief in stolen clothes. He muttered something to his assistant beside him, an elderly man in simple peasants clothing, who then shook his head.
Domini, the Headmaster of Calathus, remained completely still. He looked as old as Theus, wearing the same plain attire as the Norheath Headmaster but in a light blue. His hair was short, white and messy, as if he’d cut it himself, his skin slightly jaundiced and sagging and his eyes were so dark and deeply set, it was almost impossible to see whether they were even open or not.
Shui raised his hand above his head. “Hello my dear guests! Yes, I am here! Please don’t get up.” Shui walked into the room knowing no-one would have stood up anyway, and took a place at the head of a long rectangular dining table laid out with silver dishes full of fine fruits and with silver goblets full of warm red wine. “My, my, Goolu, you look divine! Is that a new shirt under that armour?” Goolu, not knowing how to react merely nodded and felt quite embarrassed.
“Now to business! I have called a meeting for my fellow local Dark Clan leaders because, as you may already know, I will soon be in the possession of a highly powerful artefact that the Valhalla of Norheath has kept quiet about for a long time!”
“How did you find out about it then?” spoke Domini.
“Ah! And to my next point. For those of you who do not know this man, you have definitely heard of him, he is Domini, the Headmaster of Calathus.”
This suddenly caused an almighty uproar. Goolu pulled out his sword, Scrathios started glowing a deep gold colour of kyu. Domini looked fearful and drew his sword which started glowing a dark blue, the guards that were hiding in the shadows within the room then pulled their swords out, their kyu’s burning different bright colours.
“Enough!” Shui shouted, his dark, purple kyu outshining the others. They all sat back down. “What were you doing before I came in? Just sitting in silence?”
Nobody answered - confirming his suspicions.
“Domini,” Shui continued, “is a guest in this house. Though his people may have killed many of ours, he is crucial to our defeat of Norheath and is risking everything by just being here!”
“It is true,” old Domini finally spoke, “I do not wish to be in league with you devils either, but the reign of Theus must come to an end. His rule has turned the rest of our lands to ruin. When Shui contacted me, I of course refused, until he told me about this artefact. Theus did not tell me or any of the other Valhalla’s about this, and only until I heard the stories of the Undead did I discover he was right, I just had not realised the power was in Norheath. I also thank Shui for not letting any of my people come to harm as part of a truce, albeit a temporary one.”
Shui raised his glass in appreciation and took a sip of wine as Domini continued: “the people of Norheath have turned Gaea into an excuse to muscle into the rest of this world. Everybody knows it is Theus’s wish that his Valhalla be the capital of Earth, that it should be he who people pay their respects to. I feel then that he must therefore no longer believe in Gaea and for this he should pay. I am not saying I wish to join the Dark Clans, but at this very moment in time, I feel we can benefit each other by putting our past encounters behind us and looking towards the future.”
“Well said,” Shui clapped and smiled, “which is why this man is here. He has already helped me infiltrate Norheath and put the pieces into place.”
&
nbsp; “How has he done that?” asked Scrathios.
“He told me about a little dirty secret Theus would rather keep hidden!”
“And what is it?” grunted Goolu.
“Let’s just say, not everyone there is playing for the same side.”
The others looked at each other hoping someone else might allude to what he was talking about. Just then a young man rushed through a side door and whispered something into Domini’s ear.
“Gentlemen,” the old man announced, “I must take your leave. We have a rather pressing matter at hand back home.” And with that the two men vacated the room, leaving the dining room full of Dark Clan members in absolute silence. Shui laid back and drank some more wine, soaking in the slightly discomforting atmosphere.
“That was, of course, all nonsense I would guess,” said Scrathios after a long pause.
“Of course. Well, some of it,” Shui replied and took another small gulp of wine.
“How did you even hear of this artefact anyway?” Scrathios asked
“How do you think? The Queen.”
To which a murmur floated across the room. Scrathios was first to speak: “that’s your answer to everything – the Queen! I am still sceptical of this Queen of yours. Especially since I am a king. What is she a queen of exactly? How come she speaks only to you? Who is she?”
“All in good time. I do not see, Scrathios, why you believe yourself to be a true monarch seeing as you descend from someone who decided one day to just be a king. It is not divine power like my Queen. But if I was you, I would not speak badly of her, for she knows all. She had spoken to me about this artefact for a while, but told me to wait for the appropriate time. It is the first step of many.”
“Would you care to share what the rest of these steps are?”
“In all honesty? I don’t know. I don’t know what the gameplan is at all. But I believe in her and that’s all that matters.”
