by Nathan Parks
The Darkin wouldn’t let it go, though. He spoke up once again. “So you are telling me that the Nephelium will not be considered in your alignment proposal before this Gathering?”
Hecate now was getting curious. Why would one of Adremalech’s own Darkins call him out like this? She looked at her counterpart.
“Do you have dissention in your clan, Adremalech?”
The Overlord was getting frustrated. The blood pumping in his veins was starting to pulse in time with the music emanating from the dance floor.
“In my clan? Isn’t that one of yours?”
Hecate’s face went pale. The individual in the shadows was not of her clan. She now realized from the look on Adremalech’s face that he did not claim this figure in the shadows, either. A commotion arose in an instant as the Overlords leaped from their seats. Weapons of all kinds were pulled, swords pointing in the direction of the figure who had been speaking. Darkins moved in around their leaders to protect them, and Arioch stepped forward in a demanding stance. He had a gun pulled, and pointed it at the stranger.
“Identify yourself. What clan do you hold to? Walk into the light.”
The figure stayed in the shadows and showed no sign of moving or even that he was afraid, but spoke strongly and with confidence. “What clan do I hold to? Ah, but you see, I hold to a clan that you have stated you do not need to worry about, a clan that is ‘splintered among themselves.’”
“A Nephelium!” someone gasped.
“How did he get in here?” asked another voice. “They are outcast.”
Adremalech motioned for the weapons to be dropped. He would not be outplayed by an Outcast, and he was sure he recognized the voice.
“Step forward, Kadar. I knew that I had heard that voice before. State your reason for being here.”
Kadar stepped forward, and no one moved. He stood in the middle of the crowd and looked straight to Hecate and Adremalech. This was his moment, and he was soaking it in.
“My reason for being here? Is this not a Gathering of the Family?”
Hecate lit a clove cigarette and drew in a long breath. She held the smoke for a minute and then spoke as she allowed a grey haze to encircle her face.
“You know it is, Outcast, and you know that you are not welcome within the Family.”
“I am if I am able to argue that my clan is to be recognized-- even more so if there is to be a new alignment.”
Arioch scoffed, “You and what clan, Kadar? You should be grateful that we are allowing you to even talk and waste our time here. I will allow you the freedom to show yourself out of the club and even have a drink on the house, but you have no place here. A clan is an established unit of our kind that is able to function in power on their own. Hardly one individual constitutes that.”
“You are right, Kadar,” another voice rang out from someone standing near, “but what if . . . just what if . . . the very thing everyone thought was splintered had been mended?”
A third individual, a woman, walked up beside Kadar. “And in that mending, a healing took place, and now a unit once broken stands stronger and will be recognized!”
Now several others stepped forward.
Hecate took her cigarette out of her mouth and stood in shock. “They are all Nephelium?” she whispered. Even though she was shocked, she loved the trickery.
Adremalech didn’t have anything to say. This couldn’t be happening right now. He wasn’t going to let a rogue clan stand up and ruin what would have set him up as total successor to Lucifer’s throne. It had all been right there.
“Kadar, so you have three or more, but that still is not enough to hold a seat of power within the Family . . . and your Overlord is still in exile.”
Kadar threw a velvet bag at Adremalech’s feet. “I believe that the laws of the Family state that if any one individual is able to show validation that an Overlord of a clan has been overthrown, then that individual, by victorious rights, has the authority to lead that clan.”
Arioch knelt down and retrieved the bag and handed it to Adremalech. Several people who stood near him gasped when the contents came tumbling out into his palm.
“I believe that you have in your hand Marduk’s family crest and his ring of authority that gives the wearer of it the full authority of the clan,” Kadar stated with a smirk. “I am here as the one who has successfully taken over control of the Marduk Clan; and I stand demanding that the Nephelium be no longer considered Outcast, but returned their rightful seat of authority. There are three seats, and one has always remained empty. That seat, by lineage, is ours.”
Arioch stepped forward, his weapon pointed directly at Kadar’s chest. “You don’t demand anything, Outcast! You cannot demand anything in a Gathering in which you are not even recognized or to which you were not invited. Your welcome here is used up. I suggest you leave.”
“Leave, or what, Arioch? Leave so that you can throw your name in the basket to be voted on?”
Arioch stepped to where he was only inches from Kadar’s face. He was so close that he could feel the Nephelium’s breath upon his skin.
“Kadar, maybe you do, or maybe you don’t have enough of your kind to reestablish your clan’s power, but tonight you will not stand in my way of what you know I have worked for so long. I will have my clan tonight.”
Kadar was laughing inside. He leaned forward and whispered in Arioch’s ear, “You’re mine, Arioch.”
Arioch stepped back, enraged, but held it in. He looked straight into the Outcast’s eyes, but Kadar never wavered. He held the gaze until the club owner looked away.
Adremalech replaced the contents of the bag and tossed them back to Kadar. He looked around the room and knew that he had to be wise as a serpent in the words and actions he chose to utilize. He could not let Lucifer believe for an instant that he, Adremalech, could not squelch an uprising, but it had to be done in a way that would fall within the laws of the Family.
“Kadar, your claims are noted here at the Gathering, but you know that because you are coming as the clan leader, you come as a new clan, and we must treat it as such. You are not representing the Marduk Clan, so we will hold it to a vote. If you do not have the vote from the Family to gain the seat of power, then your only hope is that another clan will embrace you as their own.”
Kadar held his tongue for now. He knew Adremalech was toying with him. He had played his games way too many times. He knew that Adremalech understood that the Nephelium were not asking for permission tonight, but were demanding their rightful position.
Hecate motioned for one of her Darkins to bring her a small, hand-carved box made of cypress. She held it up to show everyone.
“Then we take it to a vote. From the beginning, this box has been used to cast the fate of this Family. In this very box Lucifer, Marduk, Adremalech, and I cast our votes to determine whether we would stand against Jah; and it is tradition that this is still used in determining any changes that affect the complete Family. Each clan leader and his leadership echelon are only allowed to vote, and each are only allowed to vote once. If the one asking for the seat of power currently holds one of those positions, then they are not allowed to cast a vote.
Kadar looked around as eyes met his. There was still a vibrant hate for his people. He could tell they were still considered impure, as if anything of evil could call something else impure. Within, Kadar was actually grinning. He had expected this, but he also knew that Arioch was going to help him tip the scales without even realizing it. Kadar knew the clan would never accept them back. He also knew that if he could expose Arioch and stir the pot for the lust for power all at the same time, then they all would discover what it was like to be Outcast.
“Let’s see how you like to be hunted by your own kind,” he thought to himself. “Let’s see who can be called ‘splintered.’”
Chapter Forty-Three
Hecate ceremoniously placed the box on a table in the middle of the group and then placed beside it something wrapped w
ithin a black cloth. It was the voting dagger. Each member was required to vote with their blood, binding them to that vote eternally. She unfolded the cloth from around the blade. The band in the adjoining club was playing some sort of rock mantra, and the flow created an even more eerie atmosphere. It could not have been more on queue.
Hecate raised the blade up so that the shine of the metal caught the light and then slid the edge across her palm. She looked straight at Kadar as she squeezed her hand into a fist and allowed the blood to drip from the bottom of her hand into the small groove that would take it on a journey toward marking her vote. The groove at the top would trace around a jagged symbol that represented the clans joined and then would deposit the blood in the chosen compartment. On the side of the carved box was a window where the specific voting vials could be viewed. The one that was filled the highest would be counted as the answer of the Family.
The emotion was tense within the room. The only true votes that counted were those of the Overlords, because no one from their clan would dare vote against them. They all watched as the first of the crimson liquid coated the bottom of the “no” vial.
Kadar waited.
One after the other, the Hecate leadership followed suit with their answers. Kadar didn’t care. The other Nephelium standing with him showed no emotion. They also knew what was coming. This was a show, and what a show they would give them; but time had to sift through the hourglass.
It was time for Adremalech, but he stopped and looked around. There was no way that Kadar could have really believed he would get the votes he needed, so why was he playing this game? As much as Adremalech hated Kadar, he also had always admired Kadar’s ability to manipulate. This had to be a manipulation to which they all were dancing, but what was it?
Adremalech walked toward the box as he began to sort through the steps that each had been taking tonight. What was it that this Assassin was doing? Adremalech picked up the blade in his hand and looked out of the corner of his eye at the Nephelium who were gathered there. They showed nothing. They were calm; but, then again, they were Assassins, so they were able to hold against all forms of emotion. However, this was different.
Adremalech stepped back and placed the blade back down upon the table. A whisper started through the crowd.
“I will wait upon my vote,” he stated simply.
Hecate stepped forward with some anticipation in her voice. “Wait? For what? Once the vote has been started, it must be completed. If there was any debate or doubt, it should have been addressed before the vote.”
“Shut up, Hecate!” Adremalech spat at her. “Don’t tell me what we can or cannot do! I am saying that I am holding my vote for now! I don’t like this.”
He pointed at Kadar. “He is playing us! There is no way he could have believed that they would get the vote needed. He never intended for this to go in his favor, so I can only assume that he had another reason for coming here tonight and wasting our time.
“Am I right, Kadar? What Assassin’s game are you playing? What kind of chess game did you think you would play with us tonight? Did you think with all the emotion and surroundings that I wouldn’t stop and think about any of this?” he motioned in broad movement. “Is that it? What is your game?”
Hecate looked back and forth from Adremalech to Kadar. She was growing not only impatient, but now she started getting the feeling that she was being toyed with. It was no secret that each clan had used the Nephelium for their own covert missions, and her informants had told him that Adremalech had recently paid Kadar for some information. Was this part of the payment? Was this some twist to get Adremalech to upset the balance against Hecate? She bared her fangs. She had always been a paranoid being, but why wouldn’t Adremalech vote? Even if this Nephelium was playing them in some weird way, the vote had been started.
“Adremalech! I demand you and your leadership to vote! The vote has been started!”
“I said, ‘Shut up!’”
Adremalech’s fist exploded outwardly in anger, knocking the leader of the Hecate Clan backwards into the arms of those around her. Immediately, the arsenal that had first appeared when Kadar revealed his presence was back out, but this time each clan was pointing their weapons at each other. Kadar and his small group had a hard time holding in their smiles, no matter how much they were able to mask their emotions.
Hecate recovered herself. Her eyes were a glowing, serpentine green as she stood facing Adremalech. She said nothing, but she slowly pulled back her lips, revealing her fangs. Her breathing came in long, deep bursts.
“I will consider that a direct act against this clan, and I also believe that you have paid this Assassin to disturb this Gathering today so that you would be able to keep the power you have within the Family, Adremalech. You know that if, for whatever reason, this Gathering is disrupted and we are not able to complete its objective, then you will be able to return before Lucifer with an argument that this Family does not need to be realigned!”
“Stand down, Hecate!” Adremalech seethed. “I am telling you right now that you will not come into one of my clan’s houses and begin to threaten us!”
“This is a Gathering, Adremalech, and for as long as we are in this Gathering, this place belongs to the Family! Now, vote! We will address the vote first, and all other things will fall into place once this Gathering has been closed!”
Adremalech was the head of the most powerful clan in the Family, yet here he had Hecate standing him down and an Outcast calling the shots. This Gathering was supposed to be simple. They were going to come here, indulge, meet, and then leave with nothing really changing. Hecate never cared much about meetings, and Adremalech knew he would be able to run the Gathering the way he always had since the exile. Hecate should have just been concerned about drinking the reserves dry and trying to find some young victim to dine on, but that wasn’t what was happening.
Adremalech suddenly turned to Arioch. “Vote!”
The would-be Overlord was caught off guard. “Vote? Sir, but you are supposed to . . .”
“I said, ‘Vote!’”
Arioch’s mind was racing! What in the world was going on? So much planning and getting everything in order had taken place . . . for what? He had imagined repeatedly the look of surprise on the faces of the clans as he stepped forward and announced that he was raising his own clan from the ranks of the Family. He had dreamed of the look upon Adremalech’s face as he realized that one of his own had broken ranks. None of that was happening. No, instead, this Halfling was taking the Gathering by the reigns.
“Arioch, I believe you have been told to vote.”
It was Kadar’s voice that penetrated his thoughts and brought him back to this room--the VIP room of his own club, his coven, his would-be cathedral of power--but right now, he felt like a small, insignificant crumb. Tonight was supposed to be the end of being put down and being told what he was going to do.
Arioch stepped forward. Here in his club he was god! Here in The Vortex he said what happened, and he was the one doing the demanding! It was almost in this exact spot that he had ordered his clan to fall upon Sedit for even questioning his authority! His fingers wrapped around the voting blade, and he lifted it to his palm. What could he do?
Arioch slid the blade across his palm, feeling the cold, steel edge slice smoothly through his skin and open up the reservoir of blood that lay just below it. He was livid inside. He had worked too long for this tonight. The blood ran down the lines of his hands and dripped. He watched it as if in slow motion, being pulled by gravity down toward the carving that would take it to mark his eternal vote. Suddenly, he was slammed back with a strong shove against his chest, and the box was immediately surrounded by the other Nephelium who accompanied Kadar.
“What the . . .” he exploded, but the knife pointed menacingly at his throat from one of the Assassins kept him at arm’s length.
There were many weapons still drawn in the room! Kadar stepped forward. It was all there! This
was almost going too smoothly. He looked around as he saw clan standing against clan, fully armed, and he stood in the middle with no weapon in his hand, but he was the conductor to this symphony.
“I, as the chosen leader of the Nephelium, stand, claiming our clan’s seat of power by right of a fraudulent vote!”
“What?” Adremalech screeched. Adremalech had had enough of this Assassin’s game. “Kadar, enough! I don’t know what it is that you are playing here, but look around you. You have our attention! You better make this worth your death, because there will be no way that you and your small group here will make it out of this club alive.”
Kadar responded, “The laws of the Family state that anyone wishing to hold the seat of power cannot vote; and if they do, their request is void. If there is only one more clan vying for that seat when a fraudulent vote is cast, by default the seat of power is given to that other clan!”
“You are correct on that, but are you saying that my clan has cast a fraudulent vote?” Adremalech laughed. “Or maybe Hecate?”
Kadar turned to face Arioch. “My claim is against Clan Arioch!”
For an instant, there was silence. If Arioch had wanted the Family’s attention, then he had it! This was his time to stand, but he felt so small. He wanted to peel the skin from Kadar’s body right now. He now understood everything. Kadar had been playing him from the start.
“Tell me, Kadar, when was it that you decided that you would play puppet master?” Arioch fumed.
Kadar gave an evil laugh. “When I realized a worm like you thought he could usurp the power of someone like Adremalech, I thought to myself, ‘Kadar, you’re better looking and far more talented.’ I believe that is when.”
Chapter Forty-Four
There was no more holding back. Adremalech was seeing blood red now--his own leadership attempting to take away his power, his numbers that kept their clan the strongest and the most influential with Lucifer. He yanked the gun from the hand of a clan member near him. There was nothing but rage now. There was no thinking; there was no planning--just rage. The gun fired, and it was the one shot that sent a ripple through the room, a ripple that none realized would have repercussions of eternal magnitude! With that one shot, one choice, prophecy was fulfilled; it was clan against clan. The room exploded in gunfire and bodies!