“What the—?” I place my hand against the orb and saw that my hand falls through towards my grandmother who’s chained to a stone table, in her suit of armour. “Grandma!” I call and saw she doesn’t take notice of me. The orb was small and I couldn’t fit my entire arm in. “Wake up!”
There’s nothing I could do to save her, I felt so powerless and because of that I couldn’t help but felt useless. I couldn’t help her! I couldn’t save her! How was this fair? I didn’t understand why this was the case. I was so close—so very close and yet so far away. “Grandma!” I call once again, this time praying she hears my plea.
No response.
“Grandma! Please. Wake up.” I cry. Terrified I was about to lose the one person who means the world to me. She’s the only kin I had left so if she were to perish at the hands of the demons I’d be left all alone to fend for myself. No matter how mature I feel, I couldn’t help but felt frustrated at the idea that there’s nothing I could do to save her. “Grandma!” I call and this time, I was yanked from the orange glowing orb and flung onto the ground, with a thud.
My head hurts as it smacked the ground, I glanced up and saw not just one demon but several surrounding me. They were long blood red robes and I saw that their robes are lined in gold under the light of the orange orb I notice that the gold looks bronze. “The Custodians.” I gasp in realisation.
“You are an outsider.” one hums.
“You are not welcome here.” the other growls.
I saw one reach for me, “You will leave these grounds, or so help me. I will make you.”
I roll over my shoulder and stand, my head hammering from the initial bump. “Try and make me.” I declare and bring up my fists. Silence fills the air between me and the Custodians, as the sound of clapping persists through the stagnant air.
“Well done, very well done.” A voice sounds, from the darkness surrounding us. And out of the shadows crawls a man dressed in a white suit and a coulde. “You dear, really know how to put on a show.”
“Where’s the Jokester?” I question.
“You mean him?” he questions as I hear a thump beside me and there on the ground was the Jokester. “You two had been a problem for me since Prador walked that uninhabited world and called it her own.”
“I’m not that old.” I retort.
The man in the white suit, glanceds at me than at the man at my feet. “No. You’re not but he is. He’s one of the Elders. Aren’t you Rumikata?”
* * *
Chapter 15: Chapter 14
* * *
14. A Devil’s Delight
There’s nothing I find more disturbing and disgusting than this man—he may appear to be clean and well-groomed but I could tell just by looking at him this type of darkness surrounding him. There’s nothing more deadly or more dangerous than this man.
That much I knew.
I also knew by the way he held himself he was someone from a wealthy demon family. “And look who I saw.” he saids, “The little Nefaliem princess.”
“Who are you?” I question, glaring at the stranger. Then again, they were all strangers, every last one of them.
“I’m what you’d call a Philistine.”
“And what’s that?” I question.
“A Philistine was a being that has no connection to god or rather Neragarden and because of that we are the purest of demon lineage on this side of Paranella even that of the Underworld.”
“How was that possible?” I question, unsure how to react.
“It’s possible because as long as there’s a Zodiac clan there will always be the Philistine clan. You know how there’s always an equal opposite reaction, well for us—there’s always an equal energetic opposite reaction. It’s pretty much the same principle,” he insouciantly states.
There’s nothing but darkness surrounding us. This man I had no idea what he was but if he was of the Philistine than there’s going to be trouble. “What’s with the look princess? I thought you’d be happy to saw me after all; the Nindos and the Philistine clan go way back. We’re practically related.”
Blood drains from my face.
“Since when?” I question.
“Since the dawn of time precious.” He smiles a deadly smile and I felt my insides turn. There’s no way. I think.
“You’re lying,” I said.
“If I am than asked Neragarden yourself when you saw him next,” he laughs.
The ground, shifts and changes beneath my feet, within moments, I was swallowed whole and the last thing I hear was the sound of that man from the Philistine clan, “You might want to check on your bunker, perhaps . . . there’s a couple of presents there for you.” I saw the smile on his lips before I was completely shrouded in darkness. It isn’t long after I find myself on the ground on all fours. I regard the area around me; it’s dark and abandoned. Bodies lay on the ground all around me and I realise that Asashin must had returned to the others by now.
So, I pull myself to my feet and search for my companions.
There’s this darkness I could saw lurking around the area from where I stand, I couldn’t help it nor could I change it. There doesn’t sawm to be anything that will allow me to do what needs to be done. Better yet, I had no idea on where I should start. We’ve destroyed the Spartan camp and allowed the soldiers to live but the question was . . . at what cost?
There doesn’t sawm to be anything wrong with what it was now just that there sawms to be something else I was unfamiliar with at this moment and I couldn’t help but felt as though something was wrong. “We should head back,” I said, feeling that same odd yet unsafe sensation.
“You mean to the bunkers?” Asashin questions from behind me.
“Yes,” I said, turning my heel I stalk past him and head into the shadows of the forest.
“Why?” Asashin presses.
“Let’s just said, I’ve been warned something bad was about to happen or rather will happen.” I quietly confess.
“How do you know this?” he questions.
“Simple,” I begin, “a member of the Philistine clan told me.” Dante, Volvomich and everyone else are silent. “What?”
“Kalverya. You weren’t supposed to know about that.” Volvomich declares.
“What do you mean by, ‘I’m not supposed to know’?” I press my eyes never leaving Volvomich. He falls silent, “Well?”
“You saw the Nindo’s and the Philistine, are members of the original bloodline,” Volvomich saids.
“So isn’t everyone else?”
“Not exactly. Your clans’ bloodlines are pure the rest aren’t so much—you should know this. It’s the pure lineage that makes you so powerful,” he decrees.
“So what’s our connection?” I wondered as I regard my group of bizarre friends.
“You remember how Hella created the first Nefaliem?” I nod, “Well, that child, lady Prador had two children to two different men. One, Lord Dante of the Inferno and the other to Lord Virgil of Hell.”
“Okay,” I said waiting for Volvomich to continue.
“It’s apart of our ancient history, that the family that directly descended from Lord Dante was the Nindo clan and the direct descendants from Lord Virgil are . . .” he purposely trails off.
“The Philistine clan.” I gasp as the dawning realisation of our ancient ancestry mirrored each other. Then it hits me, the reason behind the familiarity of that aura—it wasn’t because of Altair. It was because of that man. “That means . . .” I begin but was cut short by the blinding glare of the sun. I realise it isn’t the sun but the replication of the sun of a reflective surface within moments; I shield my eyes from the harshness of the rays and regard the sight before me.
We’re utterly surrounded by the Gratticould.
I freeze at the sight of the armed forces. My mind takes in every detail to the point of what type of weapon they carried. It may be a little odd but that happens to me every now and again, with protozol, it’s practically adrenaline for th
e humans that courses vigorously through my veins at this moment. We’re in big trouble.
There’s this darkness I saw surrounding us and the scary part is; that it has nothing to do with the Gratticould. I step back, as fear begins to course through me, though I fight my hardest to not show it. I felt my desire to ran. Black smoke filters from through the dead forest surrounding us. I notice it surrounds the ankles of the Gratticould troops. Their feet clad in black boots, disappears under the shroud of darkness at their ankles. They didn’t notice but we do. I regard Zeanna and she nods, she knows that there’s something bound to go terribly wrong and we need to get out of here.
Then, screams resonate throughout the forest but from afar, eventually, it slides closer and closer until we saw that the troops are being yanked into the ground by large shadow hands. “Unreal,” Zeanna mutters.
I notice Asashin was quick to jump in front of Zeanna and I. “What do you think you’re doing?” Zeanna demands, I could understand her irritation at Asashin’s actions.
“Making sure you two are okay. A little thank you will do wondered s,” he mocks.
“You had the energy to mock us here, right now while that’s going on?” I question as I point behind him. He turns back over his shoulder and eyes the sight with pure shock.
I notice Volvomich and Dante clutter closer to us as the smoke begins to surround us while taking out the Gratticould in the process. “We need to move,” Volvomich orders. I felt Dante grip me around the waist not before long I was airborne. I notice the others follow our lead and I regrettably wish I could fly. In the air we fly, soaring away from the darkness of the smoke that I saw stretches hundreds of kilometres away from where we were. Even if we could ran through the smoke, it’s not like it wouldn’t eventually get us.
“What now?” Dante questions, eying Volvomich over the loud coursing winds.
“We head back to the bunkers,” he declares. I realise he knew what I knew, there’s trouble and something was bound to be waiting for us back at the bunkers. Why I decided to leave them unprotected was something that’ll forever haunt me if I do saw that something’s happened.
It isn’t long until we reach the bunkers. And, when we do I saw that there’s nothing in sight. We saunter through the wide cement halls and wander down around corners and empty rooms. “Where was everyone?” I question as I peer at the sight of an empty bunker. Then, I hear a gasp, followed by heavy panting. Unsure of what I heard, I rush to the source, ignoring the questions of my fellow comrades. As I ran down the halls, I take a right and I hear it more closely this time, not before long after, I’ve come to saw that there’s a woman on the ground, beaten, battered and injured. Shock consumes me as I realise that’s no ordinary woman but . . . “Eva.” I whisper. “What happened?” I asked as I pull her into my arms.
“There was an intruder,” she whispers, blood staining the corner of her lips. “He slaughtered so many. He’s taken so many,” she cries. “They’re all gone.”
“How do you know?”
“He left me alive to deliver the message,” she begins her face wet with tears and freshly drawn blood, “My name was Noah and I was a member of the house of Philistine.”
“Eva.” I hear Dante whisper. He moves around us and drops beside me. “What else could you tell us?”
“He was strong with unbelievable energetic majic. I’ve never sawn anything like it.” She gasps and I quickly realise she’s in pain.
“Try not to move. Rest.” I said as I scoop her into my arms and pull myself to my feet. Eva smiles at me and I saw that she’s suffering. The pain was too great. “What did he use?” I asked Eva.
“He used nothing but his energy.” she whispers and places her head against my shoulder. Not before long after we come to a room and what I saw there was a sight I never thought I’d ever saw. Bodies. They litter the ground in clumps. At the far end of the wall, I saw the mark of Altair’s family crest.
“What’s it doing there?” I whisper. Than I realise that the crest was a sign, a warning. If so does that mean that the Philistine and the Keyes clan must be working together.
“Kalverya!” I hear a voice screech.
I turn over my shoulder and there at the end of the hall stands a woman dressed in black scales with bright silver hair, “What do you want Katana?” I question, growing weary of her games, though by the sight of her I could saw she means no games.
“I want my family back! I want my people back!” she calls as she storms towards me clutching her bleeding arm. “You left us defenceless.” Asashin and Dante are quick to step between Katana and I. “Why are you protecting her, everyone here was dead, couldn’t you saw that?” she growls.
“I could saw that but not everyone obviously,” I said not bothering to glanced at her; instead my eyes remain on the family crest at the end of the hall. “Tell me, what did you do?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?” she questions and I saw her eyes dart to an unconscious Eva in my arms.
“I mean, what did you do?” I repeat. “That wound you had wasn’t done by an animal but rather by a sword, so my question remains, what did you do when he invaded.” She falls quiet before declaring:
“I was fighting him off.” she sawthes. “What else would I be doing?”
“Perhaps hostile.” I offer and I saw Katana’s eyes dart over to Asashin behind her.
“What are you getting at?” she demands, offended.
“What I was getting at is, how are you one of the many few survivors if there are any survivors at all.” I affirm. “Have you not sawn the bodies? Everyone was killed instantly. The wounds were inflicted at the right time and place severing arteries, bones and causing severe internal damage. Though, I wondered how that man, learnt about our Nefaliem physiology.” I said as my eyes land on Katana. I remember her, from when I was younger; she was around about my age and was the only daughter of the house of Versailles.
Her and our family next diversified well.
“Don’t you get it?” she gathers, “He was Nefaliem.” I let the conversation slide, as I fall quiet. “You didn’t know that did you?” she assumes. I didn’t respond instead; I felt Eva shift in my arms. “What happened to her?” Katana queries as her eyes study that other Nefaliem woman.
“She was attacked,” I assert, shooting a warning glare at Katana.
“Oh.” she saids.
“Yes oh.” Than an unfamiliar scent waffles my nose and I regard Katana, it’s a scent I’ve smelt this whole time—ever since Katana walked in on us. “Tell me something, what does this mean?” I question.
“What does what mean?” she stupidly askeds.
“This.” I said and hold up a mechanical orb, that I had summoned in hand.
“That’s a sibyl.”
“Correct.” I said. “And what do sibyls do?”
“Record.”
“Excellent,” I smile. “So what happens when I activate it?” I question.
“There will be the recording of the previously recorded footage.” I could saw the fear in her eyes. She’s aware of where I was headed. “So if I do this . . .” I said and press the side of the sibyl with my thumb and image was displayed before us of the intruder. He stops; he hears something, then hides before morphing into Katana. The question that remains is: was Katana always a traitor. “It reveals to be very resourceful.”
As the images play over and over again, I saw that the proved to be her downfall. I regard the sight in pure amusement and I could saw the look on her face. “You had to believe me, your majesty, that isn’t me.” she attempts.
I continue to smile and said, “Really?” I question and summon my sword in hand and point it at her.
“My lady,” she whispers in shock.
“Stop it Kal!” I hear Dante growl as he steps between Katana and I.
“Move Dante.” I demand, not wanting to hurt him.
“No!” he shouts as he stands with his hands beside his head. I regard him for a moment longer
before I saw something—Katana changes, her appearance becomes that of a man’s with creamy tanned skin. His black hair falls in straight blinds down over his chest and he holds a blade at Dante’s throat, morphed from his elbow down.
“Very impressive, very amusing.” the stranger declares.
“Who are you?” I question, continuing to point my prevail at the monster.
“Who do you think? My name was Noah and I was of the Philistine clan.” He smiles a dark smile and I couldn’t help but felt my scales crawl. I thought nothing could surprise me anymore but I guess that’s no longer the case. I regard the man dressed in white eye me carefully. “And you must be the princess of the Nefaliem. Lady Kalverya Nindo, I presume.”
“How do you know who I am?” I wondered as I eye the man.
“That’s simple little princess,” he saids with a smile revealing his sharp razor teeth. There’s something dangerous behind that smile of his and I knew it wasn’t because of his shark-like-teeth. It must be a trait that all the Philistine clan members shared, as I recall the man from before claiming to be a Philistine member. If this clan was as big as the Zodiac clan than I was in big trouble. “I could smell the pureblood within you.” He licks his lips and presses the blade at Dante’s throat.
I notice something ranning along the blade, the stench of it was undeniable, “You didn’t.” I said.
“Hmm?” he questions. “What’s that?”
“That’s fortix you had laced on that blade.” I glare. “Shouldn’t that harm you?”
He merely laughs at my question. I hold my sword before him and watch as he manageds to stop laughing only to smile at me once again, “No, you saw we’re not as weak as you Nefaliem. We had no weakness.” he sneers.
“Why are you here?” I question, growing agitated as I watch the fortix liquid ran along the blade, before dropping onto Dante’s scales. Dante flinches and grinds his teeth. I could felt my gums ache as I clench my teeth together.
“Other than to enjoy the look on your face. I’ve come here for a reason—to deliver a message.”
“And you had to kill so many.”
Crimson Blade (Crimson Series Book 1) Page 20
