Ileus: The Dark Prince

I read in Vilinski's library," Anastasia shrugged as she tried to not blush any harder. "And I wonder who is the largest vokudlak in the kingdom. Between you and Kaizan—."

Ileus raised his eyebrows and cut her off. "Anastasia, if there is a larger vokudlak in the kingdom, remind me to kill him, for now I am only going to think that my wife is thinking about his shaft!"

"Shut up!" she slapped him on the chest and his laugh rumbled.

They appeared right in the backyard of a beautiful building in Level two.

Ozin's house.

The backyard was a kind of a small woodland. Several magnolia and lavender jacaranda trees and shrubs, each of them trimmed neatly lined the periphery. Squirrels were running around to collect the nuts to prepare for winter hibernation. Canaries atop the tree branches were their cacophonous self.

"Why are we here?" asked Anastasia as Ileus set her on feet.

Ileus drew a circle of invisible shields around them. "Because this place is least suspicious!" Ileus said as he stared at the house in front of him.

The others stepped out of the portal right in the invisible shield.

"I just received the news from the king and the queen," said Haldir.

"What news?" Ileus frowned.

"You two are going to attend the first dinner tonight along with the nobles and some faction leaders and that the queen wants Anastasia to attend the lunch with her and a few important ladies. The High Priestess will be schooling Anastasia on various things."

"Gods Mother!" Ileus looked at the sky and exhaled. "Then we have only a few hours to complete the job," he said. "And it would be better if you go back, Anastasia."

"What?" she retorted. "This is the third time you are asking me to go back. Are we about to fight now because I am going to decline again? I don't want to twiddle my thumbs while you are out there!"

"You are such a turn on!" Ileus said as he grabbed her and kissed her temple. Then he turned to Haldir. "Haldir—I want two Mozias to stay here at the meeting point and he will be patrolling the area. I want another one to go to Draven's house and keep a watch over there." He looked at Kaizan. "You and Darla are going to come with us because we can't depend on magic all the time. We need brute werewolf force."

Kaizan rotated his head and one could hear bones and muscles cracking. "Let's go!" he said with a fierce look in his eyes. It was as if he was ready to shift.

As two Mozias broke from there, the rest of the group walked towards a small arched lattice door, not even a meter tall, that was fixed in a wall. Ileus put his palm in the front and chanted, "Aftah." The door creaked from the hinges and then fell down on the other side. However, before it could hit the ground, Kaizan had caught it. He held it and the others crawled inside. Haldir was the first to go, followed by Anastasia and Ileus and then Darla. Kaizan crawled in the last and put the door back in its place.

Haldir had waved his hand to form an orb of yellow light in front of them. The orb glowed brightly for all to see ahead of them.

The tunnel seemed to be carved into stone. The musty and damp smell hit their noses. They continued to crawl on their knees and hands for about half an hour when they reached a wider opening. When everyone landed on the hard stone floor of the opening, they saw three openings ahead.

Haldir pointed to the one on the right side. "This one goes to Draven's while this one in the center goes to Solon's house. Now I am bewildered as to where this one leads to?" he said pointing to one on the left.

"We will take the one on the left," Ileus commanded.

The rest all kept their mouths shut wisely without asking him a question even as curiosity and trepidation ran high. They all silently followed Ileus through the tunnel on the left.

It was after a long time that the smell of copper and fire and wax and dampness hit them.

"Ugh!" Anastasia blurted as she sniffed something she hated and suffered for three days—putrid meat. Her body clenched with tension and she felt bile rising up her throat.

Ileus was beside her in a heartbeat. "Ana," he whispered with worry.

"I am fine," she replied as she pushed the bile back down. She had to overcome this.

The tunnel in which Haldir led them rose higher into darkness. The walls now had unlit torches and some very hideous artwork started appearing on them—blotchy. It was so abstract that it didn't make sense. Ileus' breath hitched. Anastasia's mind became numb. "Is it what I am thinking it is?" she asked as fear cruised like ice through her blood.

Ileus didn't reply. His neck muscles corded and nervousness radiated from his body.

After a long time for what seemed as if the whole sand hourglass had turned, they came to stop inside a larger room that was supported by pillars that were made from black stones. Dried blood smeared the pillars. The floor beneath them was strewn with… small bones and shredded, rags. The stench was awful.

"Oh my god!" Anastasia said in a jittery voice.

Ileus turned on his heels to scan the room. He narrowed his eyes looking towards a corner. "Over there," he said and everyone whipped their heads. They strained their eyes to see what was there.

Haldir walked closer to the corner and then suddenly stopped. He held his hand up in the air for all of them to stop.

"What is it?" asked Darla.

"This place smells of necromancer magic!" Hadir said in a voice laced with frustration and anger. His chest heaved not because he saw what was over there, but because his spies missed the presence of this place. How come they never came to know about it earlier? This was definitely not under Ozin's or Draven's house. This wasn't even beneath Solon's house.

As if sensing his questions, Ileus said, "We are beneath the house of the Minister of Education, Circe!"

Goosebumps prickled her skin, and Anastasia pressed her hand to her mouth. She remembered Circe from the council meeting. She was the most cordial woman and Anastasia liked her a lot. In fact, Circe even showed her support to Anastasia in her own way. What deception? What betrayal? No one could think that a woman like Circe would be into all this.

"This is horrible!" said Anastasia. How could she misjudge a person so much? She looked at the expressions on Haldir's face and knew that someone was about to see his worst side once they were out of this place.

And now all of them knew that they had entered a place where someone practiced necromancer magic. And necromancer magic was banned in Draoidh.

Haldir took a step closer to pierce his vision in the darkness. There was an elevated black stone that was carved into a hollow basin and in it was water.

"Shh," Kaizan said all of a sudden. "I hear footsteps. There is someone coming."