by Ian Haywood
I looked around the room and finally saw her laughing at me.
“That’s how quick I was that night when I made your so called parents crash! They didn’t have a clue what hit them and obviously the emergency services had no idea either – I wiped away your tears, knowing damn well that I was responsible for their deaths. It was like a dream come true – I had to watch over you and in befriending you, I managed to get you to agree to let me move in with you. You were like a lamb to the slaughter! Everything was going well until Zephal and Lucius stuck their noses in! As long as you stayed in the mortal world, you would be weak and your powers would never come to the surface, but of course Alana had to go and spoil it all by discovering that you existed. Her biggest mistake was coming here to tell us of her plan before sending Lucius on his way to track you down. Of course we were already one step ahead and we were planning to take you from Lucius before you stepped through the portal.”
“Obviously you didn’t do a great job because Lucius managed to get me through!” I mocked.
“That may be the case,” Tanya replied, “but I will personally make sure that you never make it out of here again! The Realm Guardian was the one who watched over the portal and he was secretly one of us and he was supposed to have held you off long enough for us to take you back, but Zephal ruined our chances of doing so by killing him back at the church.”
It was then that I realized that Tanya was referring to the creepy vicar and just the thought of recalling the moment when he touched me in the church sent a shiver down my spine.
Zephal had killed him in spectacular fashion by throwing him through the stained glass window and it was now obvious that the vicar did not survive.
And then I remembered that when the vicar grabbed me, I spotted a tattoo on his wrist.
A tattoo that I had seen a number of times prior to that.
The Coroner.
The nurse.
The taxi driver.
I had even remembered seeing it on someone else once.
And I was looking directly at her.
It was all so obvious now – they were the people who Tanya was talking about.
And she even possessed the same dragon tattoo, but it was on her back – and I had caught a glimpse of it when we were having a discussion on what Tanya should wear before going out one night.
What Tanya had just told me reminded me of what Alana had said previously.
She also spoke of a group of people who knew of my existence and they went under the name of the Disciples of Draig.
Are they the ones who brought me here to Tanya?
I was determined to find out if my hunch was correct.
“Who’s Draig?” I asked Tanya.
Tanya just froze and looked me directly in the eyes.
“To me he was a hero, but for you he could be your worst nightmare!”
“Where is he now?” I asked,
“Like I told you before, Gereziac killed him – but his memory continues to live on!” came the reply.
Tanya did indeed mention that a few minutes ago – and she also mentioned that she was the lover of Draig’s brother.
“So who is this Draig’s brother that you say loves you so much?” I once again questioned Tanya.
But before Tanya could answer, a deep voice came from behind me.
“Me.”
I turned around to see the tallest, most muscular man that I had ever seen in my life and he completely dwarfed me, leaving me to stand in silence completely shocked by what was standing in front of me.
The silence ended when he told me his name.
“It is time that I introduced myself – I am Mortus.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Gereziac took no chances when taking Alana as his prisoner and ensured that there was no chance of her escaping by tying every one of her limbs with ropes that were attached on the other end to one of his soldiers.
So if she did think of attempting to flee, then she would stand no chance of succeeding.
It was plainly obvious that Gereziac wasn’t in the mood for playing any more games and what he did to Lucius back at the secret hideout was evidence of that.
Alana’s place of sanctuary was well gone and she was now in Gereziac’s territory and she was sure that she wasn’t going to receive a warm welcome from anyone that she encountered from now on.
The last time that she had been here was when she managed to steal the Great Book from under Gereziac’s nose and in doing so, sparked the new battle between her and Gereziac after discovering Naomi’s existence.
She had quite a number of secret allies masquerading within the Elders of the Great Council and Alana knew that their actions would be her only chance of escape from Gereziac’s grasp.
Whatever happened, there would most definitely be blood spilt and she was depending on others to make sure that none of it was going to be hers.
As Gereziac and his men led Alana through the streets that led towards the Great Chambers, more and more soldiers began to appear to welcome their comrades back from their mission.
Inside, word had spread of Gereziac’s impending return and the Elders were beginning to prepare themselves in order to take their places when Gereziac called for them.
But not everyone was interested in Gereziac right now.
Who was this woman joined by rope to some of the soldiers?
Alana was unwittingly starting to attract quite a few onlookers as she was paraded through the streets that led to where she was to be tried for treason.
And ironically the man who she had wanted to hurt so much was the one bringing her to face justice.
Not only had Alana committed treason by trying to removing Gereziac by force, but she had also put Naomi, the next in line to succeed him, in danger too.
Everyone knew that there would be no other sentence for doing what Alana did but execution.
Zephal had already left the procession and was taken to receive help for the injuries that he had sustained back at Alana’s not so secret hideout.
But one thing was for sure – when Zephal gets better, those who had taken Naomi from him had better be ready for some retribution.
The small number of onlookers who had started to appear soon became a large mob and they were turning their attention towards Alana in a much more aggressive manner.
In fact, if it hadn’t have been for the soldiers surrounding her, then Alana would be in a far worse situation than the one she was in right now.
Gereziac immediately recognized this and feared that if he didn’t get Alana into the Great Chambers as soon as possible, then he may not get his chance for her to face justice as the baying mob may dish out their own.
Stones began flying through the air towards Alana and the force of the crowd pushing forward was now beginning to get too much for Gereziac’s men to hold for much longer.
But all hope was not lost yet as they had managed to reach the massive stone steps that led towards the entrance of the Great Chambers.
Everyone ran up the steps as fast as they could, dodging the missiles that were being thrown towards them and Gereziac and his men were relieved to have made it to the sanctuary of the Great Chambers.
However, Alana was not so happy – for obvious reasons.
It may have been a dangerous situation for all involved, but Gereziac understood why his people had re-acted in the manner that they did because of the hatred that they all felt towards Alana.
After all, she was trying to break everything that the Great Council stood for – which was making sure that everyone within the immortal world was treated fairly and equal.
But she wanted Gereziac’s throne for herself and even though in the time since Gereziac became King there had been an era of peace, there were many who wanted to topple him.
And that’s where the Great Council came in.
Gereziac gathered the leaders of each of the races within the lands and made them Elders.
Elders represented their
people and helped to found laws and make decisions that would be considered fair and democratic throughout the lands.
Holding such power meant that a permanent place should be made for them to conduct their duties and Gereziac ordered for the Great Chambers to be built – and what was created didn’t fail to impress in the least.
This was where every decision was to be made – where every law was passed and where justice was fairly served to those who did wrong.
Not only did it house the most powerful men in the immortal world, but it also held something that was considered to be the most powerful thing to exist within the vampiric world.
The Great Book.
This was where history was written even before it actually happened in a language that very few people even understood.
Those who could read it were considered to be Prophets and these people would be employed by the Elders to advise them of what dangers lie ahead.
But now its whereabouts are unknown since Alana managed to steal it from its pedestal and she wasn’t going to tell anyone where it is hidden right now.
For Alana the future is impossible to predict – and for everyone else, it should be the same too.
But right now the Elders were beginning to make their way towards their seats within the Great Chamber to hear what Gereziac had to tell them.
And as each one entered the room and saw who was accompanying Gereziac and his men, every one of the Elders knew what was about to happen next.
Alana had finally been caught.
And now she was about to be put on trial for treason and it was every Elder’s duty to make sure that she was treated fairly, but it would be fair to say that virtually everyone knew what the verdict was going to be for such a heinous crime.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Gereziac ordered most of his soldiers to return to their barracks, but kept the four who had been bound to Alana and he waited for all the Elders to be present before presenting himself to them.
As the last one took his seat, the whole room fell into silence as everyone listened to what Gereziac had to say.
“Gentlemen, as you know there has been a dark shadow over us for a number of years now and the person responsible for this has managed to elude us for quite a while. But very recently, word got back to myself from a contact of Zephal’s informing me where this person was secretly hiding out. Thanks to this important information, we have managed to infiltrate her secret hideout and also managed to apprehend her.”
One of the Elders stood and spoke.
“And who is this person?” he asked.
“Alana.” Gereziac replied.
Another Elder stood.
“And what crime is she accused of, Gereziac?”
“As you are all aware, she wants to topple the Great Council and remove me from my position.” Gereziac replied.
The Elder nodded his head.
“So am I correct in saying that treason is the charge?”
“Indeed.” Gereziac answered, “But even if she was successful, the bloodline would not be broken and someone else would take my place.”
The Elders gasped at what they had just heard as they were led to believe that Gereziac was the last remaining vampire with claim to the throne.
Gereziac knew that his secret was now out and if he didn’t say anything, then Alana would tell anyway.
“Because of the dangers that existed within our lands, I kept a secret from yourselves for a number of years. It was not meant maliciously, but to protect what we have managed to achieve. You all know that I was once betrothed and before my late wife’s death, we had a child together – a girl. I promised to protect that child from harm and did what I thought to be right at the time and moved her as soon as I could to the protection of allies within the mortal world. As you all know, the Great Book recently disappeared from its podium and it is Alana here who managed to infiltrate our security and obtain the Great Book from us. She discovered my secret within its pages and she sent one of her men, Lucius into the mortal world to fetch my daughter back without me knowing. But I sent General Zephal to stop their mission from succeeding and if it wasn’t for Zephal’s bravery, then my daughter would not be alive today.”
The first Elder spoke.
“And where is your child now?” he asked.
“She is not with us, Dormus.” Gereziac answered, “It seems that Alana has managed to lose her to the Disciples of Draig!”
Gasps filled the air at the mention of a group that everyone thought had died out years ago.
“Yes gentlemen, they still exist to this day – and they have your Princess!”
Dormus was incensed by what he had heard.
“I can’t believe that those vermin managed to continue to this day! They were pure evil and there is no doubt that they will not surrender your daughter without a fight!”
“Indeed!” Gereziac added. “But we must concentrate on our prisoner here before we take action. It is my belief that Alana knows more than what she is letting on and I am hoping that she will see sense and tell us.”
Dormus agreed with what Gereziac said.
“And maybe in doing so, get her punishment lessened.”
And with that, Alana suddenly erupted.
“You will get nothing out of me, you sons of bitches!” she yelled, “You are the lowest of the low and I don’t have to bow down to any of you! The Great Council is a joke! You are just as responsible as I am for deaths within the Sumarian Valley and you sit here dictating to everyone what they should do because you decide it. You have the audacity to bring me here against my will and judge me? You bunch of hypocrites! I can’t wait for the day that the Great Council exists no more and I long for the day when Gereziac and his precious daughter are dead!”
One of the Elders suddenly rose to his feet and slammed his fist down on the table in a display of anger towards Alana.
“You will remain silent and show some respect to your King!” he shouted.
Gereziac had indeed been crowned King, but he preferred not to use the title all the time as he wanted to be reminded of his humble beginnings in order to stop him from changing into someone he didn’t want to be.
He even had a Queen once and what happened to her was horrific.
She was well loved by the people and they seemed to be the perfect couple, but one day the Elders discovered that she had led a double life.
She was everything anyone could want in a Queen, but evidence emerged that she was involved with something that had been banned throughout the very lands her husband ruled over.
Witchcraft.
And no matter who you were, the law states that everyone must be treated as equals and no matter how powerful he was, Gereziac could not even stop her from standing trial.
She was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Gereziac had no choice but to stand back while someone took his own wife’s life.
She was burnt at the stake in front of the people who had once adored her – cheering on as the flames around her grew stronger and taller until they completely engulfed her, resulting in her slow excruciating death.
And that was how easily everyone could turn against you – one minute you are a hero and the next you could be someone’s worst enemy.
The long line of Elders began to talk amongst themselves and the quiet mumbling soon grew into a crescendo of voices and it was starting to become difficult to hear what anyone was saying and that was when Dormus spoke out, silencing the others as he did so.
“Is there anything else that Alana would like to add before we come to our decision?” he asked.
But all he got from Alana was utter contempt.
“Only that I hope you all burn in Hell!”
Dormus was way too old and experienced to respond to silly threats and he continued on normally regardless.
“The Elders will now take a moment to consult amongst each other.”
And all of the men rose from their seats and made their wa
y to the other side of the room where they formed a circle, secretly deciding Alana’s fate.
The Great Council have always had a policy of never bringing weapons into the Great Chambers to ensure that proceedings are always carried out peacefully.
But some were concealing weapons within their robes right now and it was only a matter of time before they were used.
After a few minutes of discussion, the circle broke and one by one the Elders made their way back towards their seats – except for half a dozen who remained still.
This was noticed by Gereziac immediately and he wondered why they were acting in such a strange manner and just as he was about to question them, chaos spread throughout the room.