The Old Family

(23)Whirlwinds in the Dark

Shadow growled at the leader of the Pazári, his long teeth bared and his red eyes glowing with anger.

"I offer a proposal..." Vikard was momentarily taken aback by my calm, yet self-assured words. I tucked my hands behind my back and smiled politely. Shadow continued to growl at the madman, its hunger for malevolent scoundrels growing.

"A what?"

"A proposal, you twat." Dolos repeated my offer to the merchant leader and looked to us with a disgusted expression, as if to say 'how dense is this man'?

"What on earth could you offer me that I don't already have?" The cocky leader asked with a malicious smile and extended his hands up as if to show off is splendor.

We looked around with disinterest.

"He does realize we're royalty, right?" Nemesis whispered to us as we pulled our noses up at the barely luxurious décor.

I mean, I'm sure it was rather lavish and ostentatious, but it was no Tundra.

"It's not about offering you something you do not posses, but rather letting you keep something you've grown to clearly love." I grinned up at the man with ease.

Vikard rested his swords at his sides and narrowed his eyes down at me in suspicion. "And what is that, precisely?"

"Your life."

We drew our weapons all at once- as a family.

I swiped my long sword across the air, Nemesis readied her spear, Apate drew her bow and arrow and Dolos clutched his two daggers close. Autolycus followed our movements and brought his sword close to his face, narrowing his eyes at Vikard in hatred.

Shadow chirped to get Vikard's attention and when he looked over to the floating, black entity, it was smiling with its jagged teeth, all in a pearly white row and its hand giving him a small wave as if to say 'I'm still here too'.

Vikard gulped.

With one hand in the air, he beckoned a new flank of his army closer, to help him, but they were hesitant. The Old family wasn't just a name- it was a status. It had influence and power. Our family was power.

"So let me see if I've got this right?" Dolos asked with a snarky tone; "Our mother asked you to help her find the Gorgons and take Moros on a wild goose hunt, knowing that he'd bring all of the ingredients right back to her so that she could combine them and use the magnified weapon to steal immortality from the gods? And she promised you one of her daughters to marry if you helped?"

Dolos looked to each of our faces and grunted in realization. "Is it too late to change my vote? Bitch has got to go..." He muttered, but behind those dark, joking eyes, I saw pain. He was shattered.

"I... I can't believe that she would do such a thing?" Apate whispered as Vikard's men stalked towards us, their knives drawn and their expressions filled with fear and dread. They weren't going to last and Vikard knew it. He was backing away slowly.

"Believe it." Nemesis said with a sad tone and squeezed her sister's shoulder.

I turned my attention back to Vikard, who was now looking around frantically, trying to find a way out of this mess he'd made. "I suspect you never quite thought of the fact that we'd all be here, did you?"

"Yeah, it was a pretty dumb idea..." Autolycus crossed his arms in agreement with my words. "They're the Old family, vlaka. What did you think was going to happen?"

"Nyx made me a promise!" Vikard shouted at us, like we were the ones in the wrong.

I laughed loudly; "Nyx makes deals. Deals that never last. Don't be fooled, Vikard."