Greetings Readers
I'm having one of those clients who has pushed me to the edge of insanity. They are constantly rewriting the project, causing me to lose interest in the subject completely At least the rest of it is pretty much copy in their recipes and then be done with them.
Anyway, you're not here to listen to me complain. Here is the continuation of @zakludick's post on Part 62. This are starting to heat up! Pardon the pun.
“They will be as soon as the guards change over, and our loyal warriors take their place. No one will suspect a thing.” Said an elder priest.
“Good, good. The prince is clearly tainted through his uncle, he will serve our cause.”
“What about the other boy?”
“What about him?” sneered the high priest.
“He is one of us.”
“Is he? He too is tainted. Flames burn taint away, and to save his soul, it needs to be put to flame.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you questioning me?”
“No sir.”
“Good. We move tonight.”
Derric and Magna searched high and low for the lever that would open the door Adiran told them about, but they were unable to find it. Several times they had nearly been caught by the roaming undead and once by the massive creature with the damaged blade.
“I can’t wait anymore. I must find my….” Magna immediately thought of the Teneblum instead of her brother, “I must find Teneblum.”
No! We must stick to the plan.
Derric pulled at her hand with his teeth and directed her toward the gate once more.
“We’ve searched here already!”
At eye level, yes, but did you see that creature? Perhaps in this world, the switch would be at its eye level and not ours.
Magna had to admit that that was a good point, but then she hit Derric with a curve ball, “And how do you suggest we get to eye level.”
The wolf paused in his step and Magna heard language she had only ever heard once when she had stumbled into the soldier’s mess when she was young. Then Derric dragged her into the shadows and pulled her down until she squatted.
Can I trust you to stay?
“I guess, what are you planning?”
Trying to figure out what I can turn into that can fly, be heavy enough to pull a lever, but small enough to not be seen.
Derric sat down and scratched at his chin with a front paw. Magna dared not smile as his purple claws made his fur fly. He was frustrated, and she knew it, he was reflecting what she felt.
“How about an albatross?” she queried as she looked up and saw birds flying overhead.
Derric rolled his eyes.
I can try, but those things flying above aren’t normal birds. Even though I can’t see them, I sense they aren’t normal.
“Need I remind you that you aren’t normal.”
Fair point. Let’s see if I can do this.
The wolf took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as he did, he seemed to deflate into a mat before two sets of wings sprouted from his back. His forelegs pulled inward and then started to shape into wings, as his lower legs became skinny, scaled, and clawed. His snout sharped and became hooked, and his eyes turned black. Then the rest of his body began to fill out, but at the same time shrink and sprout white feathers.
Once Derric was done, Magna could only stare at him in disbelief. He looked like an unholy mixture of a raven and an albatross.
Am I terrifying?
The bird-like creature spread its wings with a caw.
“Shh! Yes, now get the job done.”
Derric gave a single flap of his double wings, and he was airborne. As he looked around the courtyard and watched the creatures below him move around. Magna was well hidden, he wasn’t concerned about her, but he was in the open. He could easily be spotted, he needed to find that damn lever and quickly.
Then something caught his eye. A young man was looking out over the courtyard and seemed to be looking directly at him in wonderment. Derric was ready to fly to safety but stopped himself when he got a closer look at the man. The resemblance was uncanny. He knew immediately who it was.
Without a thought to his mission, he banked down to fly to the open window. The young man leapt back and warily eyed the strange bird. Adrian wasn’t even surprised by the weird creatures which inhabited this strange world anymore. He watched the strange bird land on the window, and it tilted its head to look at him. Then it spoke.
Adrian, I assume.
Adrian’s eyes grew wide, and he could only nod dumbly.
Magna will be pleased when I tell her.
“Oh no you don’t!” roared Rhyn as he leapt from the bed and scuttled over to the window.
Derric seemed unperplexed by the wingless dragon and leapt over him to land in his human form. He grinned at the two and asked, “Do either of you know where we can find the lever to let Adiran and our crew into the castle? You know, to help save you and all that.”
Lucien had been dining with the queen when one of his shadow guards materialized next to him.
“My Lord.” The life drinker knelt by his side.
Lucien cast an eye over the rest of the dinner party, but no one seemed to notice that the soldier had appeared. He then returned his view to the soldier and nodded his head once.
“The priests are making their move, just like you said they would.”
“Just like Adiran predicted. If he knew those idiots were to be a problem, he should have dealt with them earlier instead of just cursing them.” The life drinker rolled his eyes and then added, “Have you deduced their plan?”
“They wish to sacrifice the prince and his life bond to the fiery one.”
“Of course, they were going to. Humans and their affinity for fire.” Lucien growled a little before turning to Mary, “My Queen, something has come up and my attention is needed elsewhere. I will only need an hour.”
Mary’s attention snapped to the guard at Lucien’s side, and shuddered, she hadn’t even sensed the creature. She could barely see it as it shimmered in and out of existence before her eyes. She looked at Lucien and weighed her options for getting a straight answer from him. She knew she was unlikely to get one, so she only nodded her head and whispered, “Don’t scare my people.”
“I swear on your son’s life, it won’t be scaring that I plan on doing.” Lucien grinned, and Mary swore his fangs were significantly longer than before.
Lucien got to his feet and bowed deeply before following his soldier.
Zak knows how I feel about the head priest in this story. I'm going to make it as difficult for the old codger as possible to get what he wants. Over to you bud.
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