Skull And The Fangs

He left?

Kylian's hand lifted to touch the door but he paused.

His silvery eyes ran over the red brick building and he sighed. This house is his home yet he feels so reluctant to enter it.

All the insides of the house replayed what was his past, what he fears.

The past isn't what he feared actually, but the dark events that made it up.

The massacre. The deaths. The struggle. The animosity swirling in it like a legendary snake. 

It bites at every inch of his very soul.

The living room occupied by walnut furniture pictured his village back then, centuries ago. It's surrounded by huge walnut trees.

The library, filled all over with portraits, books, scrolls, maps and his mighty diary, made shiver run down his spine.

He didn't want to see or remember the memories these things held. He feared it.

'I should be able to face this.'

His eyes cut to his wrists, to the dark ink running in curves of a language unknown to him. The runes work against who he is but help him personally.

Things should be easier this days.

Then his mind reminisced what the lady, Christa Richardson said earlier at the bar.

'not bad'

"Sinking deep into your thoughts, while your fellow men are on their heels to the Archipelago."

(Written by Bright Theophilus)

Kylian paused. He knew the owner of the voice at once.

How won't he? He has been friends with the owner for two centuries now so how won't he.

"Archipelago?" Kylian raised an eyebrow.

"There's a claw glow, man. You know Caius ain't that cool."

'not again'

"I was just getting home, you know," Kylian responded, calmly.

"Always with an excuse," Heald murmured and turned away from Kylian's back.

"Will be on my way now. Getting late already."

"Very well then, I'll be on your trail."

Swoosh!

The wind howled, signifying to Kylian that his friend had left.

He groaned in frustration and he gazed at his pristine fingers. No glow.

'What's this all about?'

'This fickle will get me in trouble one day.'

Then with the sway of the wind, he vanished. 

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.. Night Hills ..

… The Archipelago ...

Dark and shrouded by crawling plants and woods, the cave welcomed vampires.

Inside the rock, cold and dimly lit, bodies in cloak waited in a circle around the rock podium.

Kylian was right beside Heald. Both under their beige cloaks.

Murmurs hovered in the air as they awaited their leader. Of course they should be.

This will be the second fang glow in one month. So unusual.

Kylian felt a pair of eyes piercing his soul and he gazed around. Then he found it.

Across him was a figure wrapped in scarlet red cloak. And he's alone, unlike the others that were parked together.

(Written by Bright Theophilus)

Kylian's eyes locked with the figure's. They held each other's gaze, none of them tried to break it.

Heald noticed this and he nudged at Kylian. "You know him?"

"No."

"He's-"

"Adrian."

Heald's words got stuck when a figure appeared before the scarlet cloaked figure.

The young vampire that read them the laws, at the last meeting. Bellerin, that's his name. He's a born vampire of just half a century.

The scarlet cloaked vampire, Adrian teared his gaze from Kylian and looked down at Bellerin, whose frame is much shorter.

"Hmm?"

The young vampire whispered some words to him. Their whispering went on.

Kylian could only frown. Heald saw it as a normal thing so he turned to other vamps and murmured along with them.

Heads arched, murmurs disappeared and whisperings quietened as Caius made his appearance on the podium.

Bones the old and a man holding a snake staff in his left hand flanked him.

A sinister aura emanated from the broaden snake head of the staff.

Caius' sharp eyes wandered among the bodies shrouded in cloaks of various colors.

"Another vampire was killed."

Murmurs hovered. Caius' raised his hand and silence descended.

He moved his gaze around and continued. "There was a death in a college down our city. Two vampire presence were there. One is the dead vampire. He was hunted down by Aro."

Murmurs that portrayed the shock they all felt, soared.

"The other should be among us now."

"Leader." 

Silence settled and Caius' attention shifted as a vampire called from the crowd.

"The dead fellow in the college was stripped of his organs. No vampire could have done that. So how is it our of concern?"

"Because Aro uses every single chance he gets to do what he wants. We are the dominant coven in this city and his eyes are upon us. The second Vampire present there will be our sacrificial lamb."

"Very well."

"Yes."

"Well said."

"So shall it be."

"It shall be done."

Several growls filled the air in support to 

Caius' opinion.

"But how are we certain, my brothers, that the second presence is amongst us?" 

Another voice came.

Caius turned to the place and his eyes found Kylian's.

Caius' figure flashed and he stood before Kylian in a split second. "The kid. His name is Lahm."

(Written by Bright Theophilus)

Caius' eyes watched Kylian. The latter didn't even blink.

'Lahm. Poor Lahm.'

He thought.

"He was there. He's one of us, isn't he? There's a higher chance of the other being one of us. The longer Aro stays, the more brethren we'll lose."

His figure blurred and he appeared on the podium again.

"Let the process begin."

The wizard stamped his staff to the ground and a wave of power burst out.

The whole coven seemed to be thrown in a trance. Then the wizard began moving around.

"When my staff reaches the vampire, it'll transform into a snake," the wizard says as he moves from one vampire to another.

Soon the wizard reached the semi circle and approached Kylian's position.

Kylian appeared to be calm on the outside, but his inside could be referred to as a trembling building right now.

No one paid attention to him, but one person did.

Across him, the figure wrapped in my scarlet cloak fixated his gaze on Kylian.

His eyeballs had a peculiar glint like it reflected what's happening deep in Kylian's soul.

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A lone lantern lit the lair. A chair and a table. Both alone in the dim light of the old lantern.

A figure emerged from the shadow, clad in an emerald cloak.

He stopped by the table and stared down at the sheet on the table. At the sketch he drew.

(Written by Bright Theophilus)

The sketch of a sin, a must-kill, a sketch that commissions extermination.

On it were two figures. One's dead while the other still sees the light of the day and the dark of the night.

But then, as he looked, the sketch of the second one alive, disappeared.

His green eyes narrowed as he inched closer, to get a good look.

But it's still the same.

The sketch has disappeared.

His eyes widened. His body trembled.

"Sk, sku, skull?" 

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.. The Archipelago ..

Kylian stood.

The wizard continued his search.

'One. Two. Three. Four.'

Kylian counted as the wizard got closer and closer.

There's no doubt, this will never end well.

Kylian looked again and he found the eyes once again. The eyes in scarlet cloak.

It watched him in great intensity. His eyes wandered to Caius. 

Caius' eyes is on him too. Bones the old, the same. His eyes were solely on Kylian.

Kylian's eyes twitched. This is bad.

"Caius!"

Heads turned to the entrance. Caius' did too. The wizard's step faltered and his head turned as well.

It's the young hunter.

His chest rose and fell in disarray.

But his face held a bright smile. An excited one.

"What is it you are here to say, hunter?" Caius' calm tone came.

"It's Aro. He left."

....