Master of Dominion-Chapter 68:Last day
Beneath dark, gloomy clouds stood a black fortress shrouded in a shadowy mist. But the fog failed to obscure the immensity of the structure, especially the long, carpet-like flags that adorned the high walls which carried the symbol of a six-armed creature with a scorpion-like tail.
Within the fortress was a long, dark corridor, slightly lit by skull-like lamps that emitted a red glow at each corner of the hallway, casting shadows that hid several black-robed figures.
Thud, thud, thud.
A black-robed figure wearing a black, shoulder-length chest plate walked hurriedly towards a specific direction.
He finally reached a tall, black door adorned on both sides with the same creature insignia that decorated his right chest plate.
He knelt before the door and took a breath as slight hesitation and fear passed over his red-horned face.
"I have a report," he spoke to the door, receiving only silence in return. He knew that wouldn’t last long if he didn’t reveal why he was there to begin with
"One of the life tokens of our Master Apostle has shattered, and..." He paused as sweat crept up his brow. "It is of Drogon, Young Patriarch ,the newly assigned apostle you tasked with the mission of retrieving the scroll."
Silence stretched for a few minutes until a cool male voice called from within. "Is that so?"
"Yes, Young Patriarch. His life token shattered just a few hours ago."
The owner of the voice remained silent for a few more minutes before posing a question. "Was he able to lay the curse?"
"I’m afraid not, my lord. It would seem he either died at the claws of some beast or by a person well-versed in our ways."
"Tsk. Can his location of death be traced?" the voice demanded, sounding irritated. This made the messenger curse his luck for being the bearer of bad news.
"N... no, my lord. The priestess could not trace the location. She suspects her tracking spell is being disrupted by the coming nights."
"Huff," the voice sighed. "So the nights are here already. Hmph. Then I believe after the nights are over, it would seem I’ll have to step out for a while and get things done myself."
Hearing that, the messenger who was a Master Apostle himself bowed his head even lower in fright. He knew the reason the Young Patriarch was confined and basically imprisoned in the cursed chambers was because he had unleashed the wrath of several territories on the cult after forcefully taking over Ashwood City, leading the Patriarch to punish him for his rashness.
Now that he planned on heading to the outside world again, the messenger couldn’t help but shiver at what more he might do.
"You can leave," the Young Patriarch’s voice startled him, and he quickly retreated from the hall.
"Hmm, that legolas is more problematic than I expected. Tsk. I’ll have a word with that high elven whore once I’m out," the voice whispered after the messenger had gone, clearly speaking to himself.
....
Rael stared down at the shattered fragments in his palm. "A life token? What’s that?" he asked, directing the question to Iyvre.
"It is an artifact that carries the life signature of an apostle. Each high-ranking member of the cult carries one half of each artifact," Iyvre replied.
"Oh, you mean it tells their headquarters when a member is dead?" Rael asked, tilting his head as he examined the pieces of the life token.
"Yes, it does," Iyvre replied solemnly, watching Rael’s expression closely before continuing. "It would seem it also tracks the last location of the member."
Rael’s face remained unchanged. He clearly knew why she had mentioned that, having come to the same conclusion himself; he knew trouble was coming regardless.
"I’m sorry for the troubles my sisters and I will cause you," Iyvre added
"Nah, it’s fine. Besides, if I wanted to blame you, I’d have to blame that punk over there too," he smiled, pointing to Xaphxan, who sat cross-legged trying to breakthrough to the next tier. "But I knew you all were running from something when I invited you to stay and chose to become allies. I’m prepared to bear that trouble with you guys as long as we remain allies; moreover, it is good to have a little pressure." He chuckled as he stared at Iyvre. "It helps push me against my limits"
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. The truth was that even if he blamed them and kicked them out of his territory, the life token had probably already marked this spot as Drogon’s grave.
Regardless, he would be receiving visits from cultists. Moreover, he had no idea what would happen if he kicked out the people he had recruited or allied with since it was a Codex quest, and he really didn’t want to find out.
"Thank you," Iyvre muttered in a low voice, turning her gaze away from Rael’s golden-brown eyes. "So what now? Just this day left," she added
"Well, I do plan on adding runes to the weapons we got from the cultists, and probably say my last prayers," Rael jeered, causing Iyvre’s lips to lift in a slight smile.
"So, you’re prepared to die?" she asked.
"Honestly, nope," Rael said as he turned and headed into his longhouse, planning to inscribe the runes and also see if he might just be lucky with the Thunder Circuit manuscript.
Iyvre’s gaze followed him until he finally entered his longhouse.
"He is an odd one," she murmured
She then turned her gaze to where Yasmin and Ayobe sat in conversation only to see Yasmin was staring at her with a skeptical look, causing her to immediately revert her smiling face back to her usual stoic expression.
....
A/N
I’m so sorry for bad releases last week ,met a terrible void storm ,took me eons to wind through,but I survived
Your powstones are appreciated and golden suns help power up my machine (my mind)
And your gifts too thank you all
One more Chapter for today then hehe what we’ve all been waiting for,
The Chapters of the withered nights hahahaha
