The curtain slid across its rod accompanied by a faint scraping. As it went the swath of sunlight that was beaming in through the window grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared, choked off by the thick drapes, plunging the room into darkness. Kyriu smiled, if you could call it that. It was more a spasm of relief as drawing the curtain shut rendered his room into the dark conditions he preferred. He was still prickling from the news that the runner had delivered to Lozan. The gist was that Tagan had escaped into the Knalb mountain range and they didn't have any idea if he would be recaptured.
It was bad enough that he had returned to Brankin Huoh to find out that Tagan had escaped but to now learn that Tagan had gone beyond the reaches of the Citadel infuriated him. Such incompetence. Hadn't he impressed upon Lozan how important Tagan was? He would have to ensure that future commands were explicit in every facet.
Kyriu had returned to his room, brooding ever since, trying to think of a way out of this mess. The easier the better but no answers seemed to be coming to him. He had mulled over the idea of going to find Tagan on his own. After all, he could manifest into this world at will. The ritual that he had Lozan perform was not necessary; it only served to surrender their power to him. The rituals had nothing to do with him coming into this world. Kyriu could come and go as he pleased but when he did so without the spell work surrounding it, he would be weak and only able to stay for brief periods. Even with all the resources he had at his disposal, it could very well take a long time to find Tagan. And if was able to locate them, there would be little he could do to apprehend him or stop him from fleeing in a weakened state.
Deep down Kyriu knew what he needed to do. He needed to contact the leaders of his race, the people that he reported to. They should be able to give him the guidance he needed. Only they knew the factors that were in play so it was logical to assume that they would be able to show him the way.
It was for this reason that he had drawn the blinds to his room. Darkness was necessary for casting the spell that would allow him to reach into his realm and get the clarity he was seeking.
With the curtains closed tight, Kyriu set to work. He cleared a large space on the floor of his room, shoving tables and chairs and the like to the sides of his room. Then he put a large stone bowl on the floor in the middle of the clearing he had made. Next he went to the table in the corner of his room and took the large black candle that was on it, placed it in the bowl and lit it with a quick spell. Then he sat in front of it with his legs crossed making sure that he faced south. He took a moment to clear his thoughts and put aside the anger he felt with Lozan. He closed his eyes and focused his mind on the bowl and candle burning inside it. In his mind he started the incantation that he needed to open a connection to the Draepkos world. Deeper and deeper his mind sank as the words of the spell formed in his mind and rattled from his forked tongue in a monotonous tone. The words were coarse and difficult to master but he had used this spell many times and was aware of the toll they would extract from him. He made sure the key words of the spell were flicked out with force as if he was spitting them from his mouth. After several repeats of the incantation was complete Kyriu could feel his being press up against the barrier that kept this world separated from his. As he did the flame of the candle flared in a bright plume, so bright Kyriu could see its light through the seam of his closed eyes and he squeezed them tighter, not wanting to let in a single bit of it. The light from the candle continued to grow in intensity, like it was about to explode. When it seemed the plume could take no more, could not field another molecule of restraint, the flare snuffed itself out and the room was plunged into darkness once more.
Kyriu opened his eyes and could see the candle had melted, forming a black pool in the bowl. It was darker than shadow, darker than pitch. A black so complete it seemed it could swallow everything into its endless depths and still have room for more.
The pool writhed and slithered like it was teeming with snakes just below the surface. Kyriu could feel the energy coming from the bowl and felt relieved. It was always a comfort to get to this place. The dark energy consoled him, reassured him.
Kyriu intensified his gaze on the bowl. His eyelids drifted to almost shut once again while the wax pool continued to teem then went still as if it had died. Kyriu was deep in trance now. His slatted eyes were locked, a red gleam seeping out from them looking for the darkness of the bowl. He needn’t look too hard as the energy from the bowl was drawing him in like a magnet. He could feel his essence drifting from the physical toward the blackness. As it connected with the wax, he could feel a biting cold. The wax was not liquid or solid anymore but as light as air, ethereal. His essence sank into it, into the nothingness that the bowl housed. Once he was immersed, they joined him. From the fringes of this space he could hear them moving about in clicks and clacks; communicating in whispered hisses in the darkness.
"Tagan has escaped." Kyriu addressed no-one, yet everyone.
A powerful being moved toward Kyriu. "We know this."
"What am I to do? I don’t know if the humans can capture him again."
"It is unimportant now for we know their intention." The Draepkos king was emotionless when he delivered this news yet it was something the Draepkos and the Mrüg had long desired to know.
Kyriu perked up when he heard this. He had been busy attending to his assigned duties and had not been to his realm long enough to have heard any new news. "Our spy has been successful then?"
"A hurried message."
Kyriu couldn't believe his ears. How long had they worked to get that spy in position? How long had they bided their time, lurking in the shadows and periphery of existence, waiting for their time, time when they could reveal themselves in full once again and take open control of all the realms. "What is their objective?"
"They are seeking the stone."
Kyriu was aghast. The stone. He knew which stone the king was talking about without it being named. It made sense but the Amber Eye was fraught with danger for anyone to use. It was hated in this world and was only spoken of if it was accompanied by the foulest of language. If the humans were to find it they could shut the Draepkos realm out forever. No more access to the humans and their fragile, frightened minds that generated the dark energy they so craved. "But nobody knows where the stone is. It was lost."
"There was one that was sent to find and recover it."
"Rean Le." It was the Mrüg that had made her journey so impossible that she had to abandon it altogether. Doing everything in their power to trip her up, confound her and above all else, make sure she never found the stone. Going so far as to try and kill her but they were no match to her skill with blade and bow and failed. When Rean Le had given up hope of finding the Amber Eye, she disappeared altogether. Kyriu thought she had died.
"Yes, Rean Le. Our source discovered Tagan was told to find her."
"No information on where Rean Le is?" Kyriu was hopeful they could get to her first.
"Dwenar Gliv is all we know."
"So what do I need to do?" Kyriu asked.
"Let Tagan find Rean Le and be there when he does. Capturing her would be more than we could have ever hoped for. With her in our possession we could force our way into the other realms. Meyu Kwi would give much to have Rean Le back, unharmed."
"I will not let you down."
"I know you won’t." The Draepkos king dismissed him.
Kyriu felt his being drift away from this realm. He could see it shrinking away as he pulled back into his earthly body. With a jolt he opened his eyes to full. Everything was blurry for a few moments while his eyes adjusted. He reached out to the bowl in front of him and felt the wax had returned to solid form. His fingers caressed the top of the wax the way one would touch their spouse and he longed for all this to end. No more having to drift in and out of this realm, herding these pathetic humans. He wanted be done with it all.
Kyriu put his room back in order and then opened the curtains. The sun was still out bu
t had moved across the sky a fair distance, telling him a large amount of time had gone by while he had been in trance. He turned and went to find Lozan. Preparations needed to be made.
Chapter 24