ANABELLE:
Darkness. Total and absolute darkness. That is all I could see, that was until there was a sudden light with orange, red, and yellow undertones illuminating off the walls and casting shadows over everyone's faces.
I turned around and noticed Raina holding a flame in the palm of her hand and scanning the walls, as if looking for something.
"H-how are you doing that" I whispered, my voice cutting through the silent room like a knife cutting butter. Jasper turned around from studying the wall on the left side of the small room they were in, his eyes opening wide in shock as he noticed the flame in Raina's hand, Jack simply ignored everyone and continued scanning the walls.
"Hmm" Raina hummed in question turning to look at me and Jasper. She followed our line of sight to the flame in her hand and smiled brightly "Magic" she said mysteriously.
"Hey, check this out," Jack said, staring at a spot on the wall that's to the far left of the wall facing south. Raina walked over, followed by Jasper and me. we looked at a raised dais with some kind of statue of a dragon with its wings spread out and fire coming out of its jaws, the fire wrapping itself around a staff with some kind of stone resting at the top of said staff,on each side of the dragon on the wall there was a hand-sized circle just below each of the dragon wings, with a smaller dragon stamped into each circle, its mouth open, carved into the wall, as if waiting for something to be placed there. And a thick layer of dust resting on every surface. It looked awesome.
"Wow" Jasper says, breaking the rest out of our transfixed states.
"yeah" I mutter. Raina stepped forward, studying the statue intently, she placed a hand on one of the circles, after wiping the dust off, and pushed it. Nothing happened. Raina sighed and removed her hand. Jasper went forwards and stepped up onto the dais. Checking the walls surrounding the statue for any type of clue. I was picking at my nails, and Jack was munching on a cookie. I've no idea where he got it from. This was all super weird for me, I mean I haven't left my house in like 5 years and now this? It's crazy, welcome, but crazy.
"Hey guys, check this out" Jasper calls out from his spot on the dais, crouched on the floor by the wall. we go over and see some kind weird writing,
Αγριος
Εκφοβιστικό
Ερπετό
Τεράστιος
"What language is that?" I asked, It's the same one that's on the pendants, and it looked very familiar.
"Greek." Jack answers, Jasper and me turn to look at him, while Raina is studying the writing.
"how do you know-" Jasper asks "-Do you speak it?" he questions.
Jack shrugs "A little, Raina knows more than me, I can only speak a few sentences." he answered. I stayed silent, turning to look at the writing again. Why can I read Greek? I haven't studied it since my parents were taken from me, that was years ago, and yet I can still read it. Jasper also looked at the writing. Raina was tracing her fingers over the letters and whispering under her breath, before turning to everyone else.
"Agrios, Ekfovistiko, Erpeto, Terastios." she pronounced each word slowly, "that translates to Ferocious, Intimidating, Reptilian, and Enormous." she grabs a rock from the floor and writes the words out in the dust.
Ferocious
Intimidating
Reptilian
Enormous
It's probably a riddle of some kind. I don't like riddles. Raina continues speaking "Each of these words can be used to describe a dragon, and if you take the first letter of each word, and put them in order, it spells FIRE." she writes this down in the dust.
"So all we have to do is find a dragon and fire." Jack concludes. Really? Me, Raina, and Jasper look at him with the 'are you being serious right now' look. Then I remember the circles with the dragons stamped into them, with its jaw opened and how it looked as if the dragon was waiting for something to be placed there.
"maybe" -I start- "Raina should try using her magic fire on the circles with the dragons stamped into them." Jack opens his mouth in an 'o' shape, and nods "yeah, let's do that."
Raina rolls her eyes but goes along with my plan, she stands up and goes over to one of the circles, she summons a flame and places it in the dragon's mouth. It lights up. She does the same to the other circle and waits. For a moment nothing happened, then the stone on the staff started glowing and spinning wildly, there was a weird grumbling noise and the statue slowly moved back into the wall, turning in a circle, it reveals a set of stairs leading down. woah. Raina stepped forward after a moment of hesitation, and as soon as she placed a foot on the first step, torches lit the rest of the way down.
She looks back at Jack then takes another step down. Jack shares a cautionary glance with me and Jasper before he too follows Raina down the stairs. Me and Jasper are quick to follow. Man, I feel like I'm in a play. After I take two steps away from the opening, the statue turns back to normal.
—---------------------------
August 5, 1417
Dark Nation, Tyrin's Castle, Office
UNKNOWN:
I hold back a sigh as I sweep the floors and dust the shelves in my mistress's office, with an emotionless mask on my face. I don't dare make a sound. Lest I be punished. I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to accept a job in Lady Tyrin's household.
When she found me in the streets, working to have enough money for at least a loaf of stale bread, she offered me a job as a servant for her family. I was cautious to accept, Lady Tyrin doesn't have the best reputation, servants rarely last a whole year with her.
But it was getting close to winter, and I was desperate, so I accepted. Said lady is currently sitting in her chair behind her desk, marking papers. She doesn't spare me a glance, for that I'm thankful. I've been a servant for the Tyrin household for about a year and a half now.
Long enough to learn the rules that are there but never said out loud. And one of those rules is to Never. Bother. Lady. Tyrin. Not that it matters now. My mentor, Gabriel, taught me everything he knew.
Gabriel used to work for the king of the neutral nation, before he retired and came here, at least, that's what he said, but I'm positive that there is more to the story. He never told me what he used to do, but I knew he wasn't a servant. No servant would have as much knowledge on different poisons as Gabriel.
I've always wondered why he chose to come here as a servant and when I asked him about it he always answered with the same thing,
"Because, servants are always overlooked and can get away with a lot more than most, especially in a household that doesn't care about them."
I have to agree. I'm not sure what I will do with this knowledge, but I have a feeling it will come in handy in the near future. What with me planning on leaving the Dark Nation. Before the only thing keeping me here was Gabriel. But he died about a week ago. Now there's nothing. I plan to leave in the night, when everyones asleep. I've already packed my bag with the essentials and hidden it in my room. Now I just have to wait for nightfall.
—------------------------------
Knife, check. dagger, check. money, check. food, check. water, check. extra clothes, check.
Nightfall came about 2 hours ago. Everyone's asleep except the night guards, but they shouldn't be too hard to pass.
If I had a window I would go through it, but I don't, so instead I'm gonna go through the servants entrance/exit, by the kitchen. That particular entrance/exit leads to the garbage dumps, just behind the castle, the only ones who use it are the servants who take out the trash. Therefore, there are rarely, if any, guards posted there.
Of course getting to the kitchen is another thing entirely. Since it's on the other side of the castle, I have to be extremely careful not to run into anyone, mainly the night shift workers and especially not the guards.
I sigh, going over the plan in my head for the millionth time, and absentmindedly playing with the rings on the silver chain around my neck, like a necklace. The rings are the only things I still have from my parents. Aunt Bethany gave them to me when I turned seven, told me they were my parents wedding rings, she died a year later, leaving me to fend for myself.
My fathers wedding ring was gold, with emeralds going in a single line around the entire ring, and one single diamond, bigger than the emeralds, in the center. My mothers ring was also gold, and it looked like two rings attached to each other. There was an emerald in the center, with smaller diamonds surrounding it. The rings were clearly expensive, and would surely give me a lot of money should I sell them, but I couldn't bear to part with the last memory of my parents.
I sigh again, I've been doing that a lot lately. I grab my bag and pull up the hood of my black sweatshirt, my jeans are also black. I walk towards my door and put my ear against it, listening to see if anyones nearby. It's clear. I slowly turn the door handle and push open the door, slipping out of my room as silently as a ghost.
I start down the hallway, hiding in different alcoves if I hear someone coming. I'm almost to the kitchen before I hear the clank of metal and hushed voices coming my way. I look around, trying to find somewhere I can hide, but I can't. There's a wall on both my left and right side. I scold myself mentally for putting myself in this position. Thankfully I notice a blue vase large enough for me to hide behind. It's not foolproof, but it's the best option I have.
The voices are getting closer, and I quickly move to hide behind the vase, pushing myself flat against the wall. Hoping and praying they won't look in my direction. The voices are just around the corner now, I recognize one as Ser Oswald, a knight of the Tyrin household.
"What do you think the meeting between His Grace and Lady Tyrin was about?" he asked,
"I don't know, could be anything." I recognized this voice as Ser Richards, the Commander of Lady Tyrins guard.
"I don't know, but don't you think it's suspicious how often they are having one on one meetings?"
Wait what? What are they talking about? I leaned closer to better hear the conversation, unfortunately I leaned into the vase making it tip over, I quickly grabbed it to stop it from hitting the floor and breaking but it still made noise, compromising my position. I held my breath as I heard the footsteps stop and the talking seized.
A few moments went by before I heard some whispering and one set of steps coming towards me while another set went the other way. I continued to hold my breath as I heard the footsteps get closer over my irrationally fast heartbeat. I was tempted to play dead when I noticed the brown, leather, guard boots stop in front of me. But it was too late and as the guard moved the vase out of the way I felt my heart skip a few beats.
I looked up and into the eyes of Ser Richard. My own silver-gray ones were wide with the fear I failed to hide. Ser Richard grabbed the collar of my hoodie and pulled me up from the floor. Yep, I'm gonna die. Ser Richard grabbed my hood and pulled it down, revealing my face.
I noticed his eyes widen with surprise before going back to his normal stern expression, which confused me. I've known Ser Richard for most of my time here, and though he's one of the kinder guards he's still very strict and stern, very little can surprise him so much so that he shows it on his face. The only thing I can think of that might cause surprise is the strand of silver/white hair amidst my dark brown. But no, that doesn't seem right. My expression of fear became one of confused curiosity. I was still afraid but I didn't show it. I tried to figure out his emotions but it isn't possible. The guys good at hiding what he's feeling.
"What's your name?" Ser Richard asked, his voice deep and smooth. I just stared at him. He grew impatient and slammed me against the wall, still holding onto the collar of my shirt.
"What. Is. Your. Name." I gulped. I knew I had to answer his questions if I wanted even the slightest chance to live. "Damon." I said quietly. I noticed a flicker of surprise in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. Why would my name surprise him?
Ser Richard looked pensive for a moment before letting me go and turning around, taking a few steps down the hall, before looking back at me. "Follow me," he said, and started walking again. I contemplated running the other direction, but thought better of it. Ser Richard led me to an empty room a little down the hall.
Once inside he closed the door and turned to face me. "So Damon, want to tell me why you were sneaking around the castle at 2:00am?" he asked accusingly. I didn't answer, simply kept my eyes on the floor. Richard didn't like that.
He grabbed the collar of my shirt and shook me a bit. "Answer me boy!" he almost shouted. Before stopping, though, he didn't let go. Confused, I look up to see Richard looking at the silver chain necklace around my neck. I gulped, he took the chain in his hand and took it off over my head. I stood still, frozen. He studied the two rings and a myriad of emotions crossed his face. Shock, sadness, confusion, hope, and guilt? I don't really know. He let go of my shirt and took a few steps back.
He looked up at me. "Where did you get these?" He asked. I blinked, confused by this turn of events, before registering the question. "T-they belonged to my parents. My aunt gave them to me." I stuttered slightly. He looked back at the two rings. "Where is this aunt of yours?" I looked down sadly, "dead" I say simply. I look up and am surprised by the flicker of sadness in his eyes.
"Πώς ήταν το όνομά της?" (what was her name) he asked
"Bethany" I say, now I'm even more confused. I know he spoke in a different language, one I haven't heard nor practiced since my Aunt died nearly eight years ago, yet I understood him perfectly.
He smiles slightly and hands the necklace back to me. Then he knelt down and removed something from a hidden pocket in his left boot. He hands it to me. It was some kind of pendant with a dragon on it and two words underneath the dragon. Ser Richard stands up and points to the pendant "Hold onto that and say the words written on it out loud followed by the word 'Βόρειος', (north) it will take you somewhere safe, when you get there show whoever you come across first the pendant and then say 'Ο σιωπηλός πολεμιστής με έστειλε' (the silent warrior sent me) then ask to speak to the Αρχηγός Alpha, (Alpha leader) when you meet the Αρχηγός Alpha, show him the two rings. He'll help you from there."
Richard says. I look up confused, "I don't understand." I say "why are you helping me?" I ask. Richard smiled sadly, "I made a promise, I intend to keep it." he turns around and places a hand on the door handle. "Wait!" I yelled as quietly as one can, "A promise to who?" I ask, He turned back to look right at me, his eyes filled with both sadness and happiness "your parents." He said, his voice just above a whisper. I gasped quietly, "you-you knew my parents?" I asked in a whisper, my eyes brimming with unshed tears. Richard nodded silently. "Can-can you tell me about them?" I asked quietly, mentally berating myself for trusting him so easily.
But still, All my life I've wanted to know more about my parents. What were they like? What did they look like? Were they happy? And here is someone who says he knew them. Of course Aunt Bethany knew them too, but she rarely if ever talked about them. Richard shook his head slightly. "You don't have much time, the Αρχηγός Alpha can tell you more about them." He said, I sighed, disappointed but nodded. I looked down at the pendant and remembered what Ser Richard told me to do.
I took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, and read the two words on the pendant out loud, hoping beyond hope this isn't a trap, followed by the other word Richard told me to say. "Asfalís Drákos Βόρειος" and then I was gone in a flash of white light.
—---------------------
Ser Richard watched as his friend's son disappeared in a flash of white. A lone tear sliding down his cheek. "Good luck, o vasiliás mou." He whispered.