Dark Chronicle Chapter 2

He was not screaming in pain this time. He was shivering in the cold. The stray, he would steal for food if he could. Perhaps rob a local who dared pass by? The lightning struck somewhere but not him. He arched his back against the cold hard slab of a surface. His head knocked against the wall.

A loud bang sounded. Dex began to wish he didn’t hit his head against the wall like that. The bang echoed. His senses were picking up movement coming from behind him. Dex on instinct reached for the blade that wasn’t there, as if he would kill the being who would sneak up on him. His eyes stayed focused and alert as the gated door opened beside him.

A face came out. A werewolf. Not the one who had helped him escape, this one was not transformed. A servant, not a slave. He was dressed well. Very well! He even had a dignified air to him. Dex understood immediately, this was a noble’s dog! A very wealthy one.

“is anyone there?” It asked. The werewolf looked ignorant than turned right at Dex. “Who are you!?” It demanded, “Who sent you? What clan do you belong too?”

“I am Dex.”

“I don’t know that name.”

“I am cold and hungry. Please, let me in.”

“Who do you serve?”

“I… I am a slave.”

The creatures eyes went crazy.

A womans voice was heard. “What is all this commotion? The lord is trying to sleep. I swear, if you wake him I will curse the…”

The werewolf turned to the voice behind the gate. “There is a gargoyle who claims to be a slave. He is huddled up infront of the main gate and doesn’t appear to have a master.”

There was no response from the feminine voice. After a few passings, a woman dressed in red, a witch most likely came out.

“No, I don’t think this is a Wraith.”

Dex stared her right in the eye. She bent down to him. She then continued, “His broken wing, folded right through the bone, they would not have use for such a gargoyle.”

“A ploy then?”

“From them? If they had gargoyles to throw at us, they would have used them on their first strike.”

She grabbed his arm, his face stretched wide. “You see these,” she said, “bite marks, battle bruises. But this stitching is interesting. It is the same on the wing. I would venture this was done by a…”The witch saw she was causing him harm, so she stopped. “I am sorry.”

She leaned forward and smiled like a woman would to a child.“What was your name again.”

“My name is Dax.”

“My name is Annya. It is nice to meet you. Now lets end this rain for you.” She helped him up and escorted him inside Exa Castle.

She guided him by the hand and as if a magic ray of warmth came over his body, the rain seemed to cease. He heard the drops outside but the light that surrounded him lied about the dry weather. He almost slipped on a step.

“Pardon me,” he said, catching himself as he fell. Annya however was nice enough to let him rest his good arm on her shoulder and helped him back to his position. He thought of her as a saint, but his instinct told him of a dark nature that lied in her. This was a creature of vengeance, whoever she was, this Annya. He let himself consider that there must have been some great pain in her life that caused the storm colored aura. She hid it well though.

“My lord has heard that someone has been brought into the palace.”Someone had come from the top of the stairs. A beautiful vampire came down. She was modestly garbed which he felt was a shame. He tried to stand proud for her but he couldn’t.

“Who is this gargoyle? Why have you brought him in?” The vampire woman roared.

“Be calm Bianca, this is just a wounded we found outside.”

“This is no place for strays!” said the one referred to as Bianca.

“I believe we have nothing to fear for letting him rest and heal during his stay.” Annya then bowed with respect. There was a small level of tension in the room. Dex was no fool, he could feel it. Plus the natures of the two were so near condescension. There was something else in the room that did not feel right. Dex was strumming through his different instincts and realized someone else was in the room, watching.

Two grey figures dropped behind Annya, they had weapons. One of them was breathing heavily. The heavy breathing was hostile intent. Dex, who was leaning on Annya squeezed just a bit out of pure instinct. Annya felt the pressure. “We are alright.” She smiled at him, it was an attempt to calm him down. Dex regretted that he was in no condition to save himself.

His head turned to the best of the strength he had in him. The two gargoyles looked at him. The hostile one was the one on his right. The intensity was there, perhaps an overzealous nature. Dex was trying to make sure that it wasn’t going to attack and at this situation it seemed only focused on making sure Dex was not a threat, but on a simple order, would kill. Bianca, the vampire lady must be holding Dex’s life in her hand. The other, the left one, seemed mostly to be calm.

“I am sure Master would approve.” Annya gave Dex a wink. Annya was clearly trying to get him to stay, he did not know why. He wouldn’t peg her as the mercy type.

“And how would you know what the master would or would not approve?”

“I am his advisor, he will approve what I advise him to approve.”

“He is not your dog.”

A noble looking figure came down from the stairs. He gazed over his guest. “Annya!” He bellowed. Everyone instantly bowed in submission to him.“Annya, I hear you say I approve your advice. Very well, do you vouch for this one?”

“He is of no harm my lord.”

“Very well, find him a place to rest. How long shall he stay with us?”

“His wings are broken my lord, he would die as soon as he would step out.”

“What say you then on the limit?”

“Until he can fly my lord.”

Dex did not have the gall of the moment to tell her that his wing was broken beyond repair. He was stuck like this, no remedy could work. The lord looked to Bianca. “I want your opinion.”

“My lord, we are introducing an unknown element into the house. Surely if he is of ill design, we may regret open arms to a weakling.”

“Annya, your rebuttal?” The lord asked.

“We have 13 fine warriors who protect, we have 10 servants of wolf nature, we have two humans with great weaponry, and five other vampire vassals who are under our house right now, I think we will last the night, much more last several weeks if need be. At the first sign, he will be a corpse.”

The lord looked back to Bianca, “final words?”

“He is an outside, masterless stray. We have a full force, no need for a 14^th. This house and our clan name has a reputation to uphold, and we will not keep it by letting in masterless wounded animals.”

Annya bowed and said, “I agree with everything she said, however my advice stays.”

“Very well, I side with you. But know its in faith only. Now I shall go back to sleep, if anyone wakes me after sunrise, know that I am well versed in the art of vengeance and justice.” The last line was said with a level of sarcasm. Even Dex smiled.

The figures left leaving only Annya and the gargoyle Dex. The gargoyle leaning on her shoulder than said, “I think we won.” She then turned into the self that he thought she was. “Now comes the hard part. We must fix you and quick. Rest for the day, because after tomorrow comes, your hard work begins.” The look she gave him was cold, a hint of compassion and mercy, but business was on the forfront.

He blinked once. When he opened his eyes they were in a different room. He blinked again. When his eyes opened again, he was on his back, alone, in shear black. No light, no noise, no souls. It was a dream come true. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Outside of Dex’s unknown room, in Annya’s personal chambers, the sun was beginning to rise. A shadow appeared outside her sliding door. “Who is it?” She commanded. Annya knew it was Bianca, however she wasn’t going to spare her the dignity of knowing. “I said, who is there?”

Bianca’s voice came through, “It is I witch.” Annya smiled, “I knew you would come, you are welcome to my room. Come.” The door slid open and Bianca bowed before she came in. Annya pointed openly to the place infront of her table, “You may sit there.”

Bianca did as she was told. “I take it you have something you wish to discuss? I hope you are not upset by the outcome of our debate.” The vampire shook her head. “Good,” Annya responded, “I did not want to anger you.”

“It is about the stray. I am wondering what caused you to go out of your way for him?”

“A simple question, but a not so simple answer. You see Bianca, Dex, the stray as you call him has a strange element to him. Naturally there is a high level of curiosity on my part which may contribute. The second note I take on the situation is the most revealing, and that is his wounds. Did you notice how stitched up he was?”

Bianca nodded.

Annya continued, “like he was sown together almost. Incomplete though.”

“I am sorry, but I don’t follow.”

“The broken wing, a broken arm, and some other smaller stitching, as if they were shattered in more than one places. The only thing that connects them together, if they are connected, is the stitching. But the stitching reeks of dark magic.”

“Dark magic, you mean…”

“I don’t know what that means Bianca. However fundamentally, Dex’s body does not make sense. It is broken, battered, and has magical seals on it, or atleast the stench of dark magic. Why would a stray, foraging for food have magic attached to him? I don’t know the answer, but I do want to find out.”

“What do you know of him, you have been with him longer?”

“His name is Dex, he was in a fight with a Werewolf, the marks and the full moon obviously tell us that much. I would say either he has been a stray his life, or he is an escapee from some gang lord. Either way, he will tell us when he wakes.”

“And you don’t see any potential threat he could have on our house?”

“The lord of the Wraith Clan is smart, however it is not her magic I smell on him. But you are right on one thing, we need to watch him close. I have a feeling what ever use he has in this world will come to light when he heals.”

“Can you heal him, Annya?”

“I shall return in three days.”

“What!?” Bianca yelled.

“I will have a secret meeting with Witch Violet, the head of the Coven, this case may very well fall into her territory.”

“But would you trust her with something that concerns our clan?”

“As much as I stand by our lord, I must report and answer to the judgement of the Coven.”

Annya took out a piece of paper and started writing a letter. “Our lord, will no doubt wake early knowing there is an unknown element in the palace. I want you to deliver this to him. On it is all the advice I can give for the next three days. However, he is, should he wish, and I will advise he do so, send a messenger to the palace, to reach me and update me on the following new information received about out guest. I can then reach him back.”

“And what should I do?”

“Make sure her doesn’t trash up the mansion. The lord would not forgive you any time soon.” Annya handed over the paper and left.

Bianca looked out at the rising sun, she wished she could sleep forever in darkness. The day outside was quite. A few local inspectors were called in to investigate the massacre at the tavern in which ten lives were claimed. The Dark Clan was soon informed of this information by noon. The inspectors noticed the cages, and the tattoo markings and figured ultimately that it was simply a turf battle, however they were shocked to find the dead body of a foreigner on the mountains of Exa. Another fact that laid puzzling was that there was only one gang that operated in Exa at the moment, which made the idea of a turf war less believable. All this was reported to the vassal Lord Braken, of the Dark Clan who in turn filed a full report of the incident.

By sunset, the agents of the Dark Clan had moved out into the streets. Informers were rounded up and the Dark Clan realized the only new information they had on the case was that the slaves owned by the gang, were going to be auctioned off to a foreign general who had a not so nice reputation.

The death of the gang leader was not expected, nor was the Dark Clan ready for his demise. They had a vampire posing as a historian infiltrate the gang, but he was not heard of since. One by one, there were individuals kneeling outside the main chambers of his lord, Garo, each with information of the night and day previous. As the first ray of darkness set itself upon the sky, Garo woke.