The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (44 page)

My feet struggled over the deep cobbled floor and I was glad when I reached the narrow corridor so that I could steady myself on the walls. I continued down and the air felt tight and muggy. The damp walls made my hand
s
slide from them as I felt my way along for support. Then as I turned a corner the
light that had come from the prison could no longer be seen and plunged the tunnel corridor into darkness.

I froze and leaned on the wall until my breathing calmed. I counted to ten before forcing my feet to move on. I had to use my other senses to find my way out of the darkness and I started to concentrat
e. My nose filled with the scent of wet stone and my touch only proved the reason. It was my ears that gave me hope as I started to hear the hum of chanting and then my eyes saw a gentle glow of candle light work its way across the walls. The bright end told me I was near to where I woul
d no doubt find the girl and who
held her. I gulped the frightened lump, forcing it down my tight throat and moved into the next room.

Here my eyes came into contact with my destination….

The Temple.

Chapter 20

Impossible Reasons

I walked closer inside where the brightly l
it temple hall hurt my eyes which
had become accustomed to the dark. I stood still
,
blinking franticly so as not to be taken by surprise
, hopin
g that one of the pillars I hid
behind was e
nough of a barrier from the dro
ning voices that filled the room. My heart nearly stopped and my blood froze from being so scared.

The chanting wasn’t like anything I had ever heard. Not only was the language strange and very unnerving but it seemed to
be passing between demonic lips.
Its loud echoing felt as though
it could crack the walls and destroy cities with o
nly a few words. I couldn’t cho
k
e down the
fear that kept rising back up m
y body like a growing
illness
. It kept getting louder and louder which proved to be too much for my fragile human ears.

I could feel the marble floor beneath me vibrate and this was the only reason I hadn’t yet crumbled to
it l
ike a frighten
ed
child. Nothing could compare to this moment. I had never experienced terror like it and I had never prayed so hard for it to be just another horrible dream.
But as
I felt the beads of sweat roll
down my trembling face
,
I knew that no amount of hope in the world would make it so.
My body shook so violently that I thought it would crumble into pieces.

Only when a great roar cut through the
other voices did it all go quiet
. This finally made my senses return
to me
,
along
with my resolution. I decided to move further round as now I knew I was still completely out of sight. I walked slowly
to the next massive pillar which was like a master
piece in its own right. Painted blood red at the bottom, turning into flames of orange and gold as it curled upwards to the painted sky on the ceiling and dome. My eyes followed the story around the room that was a great war be
tween Heaven and Hell. There were
Angel warriors
on horseback
attacking winged Demons
from a flaming sky
.

The painting was so skilled and accurate that I almost thought them real enough to touch. I shuddered at the idea that this could actually be based on a truth. An unknown war that humans were utterly oblivious to
o… t
hankfully!
The
shiny
floor looked like liquid and the reflection
of the painted heaven gave the marble a bluish tinge making it resemble
a lagoon.

Finally
,
once I had finished looking around my magnificent surroundings, my eyes fell on the imposing figures that were stood around the room like a secret
cult meeting. Each cloth
ed in
red robes
that matched
Hell
’s
representation they stood by. My mind counted seventeen red bodies draped from head to foot in blood velvet
then followed on as the next set of six bodies wore purple with thick gold symbols at the bottom
.

This
reminded me of a strange
display
of the signs of the zodiac
combined with ancient runes
. These weren’
t quite the same as the men who
had taken the girl but I soon came across them as my gaze rested at the top of the large ci
rcle that all the bodies created
. At the top was a huge st
one slab that acted like an alta
r and it too was covered in carved sy
mbols that matched the robes.

I could feel my sweaty hands slip from the smooth cold marble that I tried to keep hold of. I was far too close now and knew this was very wrong but my will to turn away
,
wasn’t half as strong as my will to stay. I bit down on m
y lip and rolled it back and to
,
through my
teeth.
If I hadn’t been here witnessing this cult based nightmare
then I’m sure I would have felt the pain
I was causing myself
.

Instead I focus
ed all my attention and energy o
nto the scene that was being played out in front of me like a sadistic opera. The group was clearly waiting for something or more like someone and I had a s
ick feeling it was the girl who
I had made it my mission to save from her cruel fate.

I didn’t have long to wait
for the crescendo as
a huge tall cloaked figure walked out through what looked like a series of guards that bowed respectfu
lly as their
master passed
through
. He dominated the room and
like a Mexican wave at a football game
, all the robed cult
followed suit and fell to their
knees and started the mind numbing chanting again forcing me to place my shaky hands over my ears.

The deafening
beat rattled my mind like thousands of war horses charging into b
attle and I could feel my courage
getting beaten with every step. I looked on through a watery glaze and held on with shaky limbs. They all started to sway as the momentum increased
into a powerful finish and as
before a great roar projected off the domed roof and echoed about the room
,
creating a deadly silence that followed. I peered round again to see
the leader of this demonic choir hold up his hands as he demanded the rest to stand once more.

His imposing figure
wore an all black robe that draped
long over his face. It was decorat
ed by one large gold symbol,
positioned over his chest. It was the same circled sym
bol that mirrored the stone alta
r he stood in front of.
It reminded me of the different moon cycles all intertwined.
Then it hit me where I had seen that symbol before. I looked down at my palm and saw
the half moon with a V shape attached to
it.

The skin had dried blood around the edges but the deep red shape could be seen easily. It was unmistakable. The same symbol was not only on my hand
,
thanks to that strange
vine
entrance
,
but it was also on the back of my neck under my hair line
. H
iding there like a dark secret, waiti
ng until this moment to make it
s reason
s known. A birthmark that sealed
my fate and brought me here to find my true path. That thought terrified me far more than the demons before me. I was in no way part of this sick and twisted cult! I wouldn’t allow myself to think it. Then it hit me….what if the man in black was Lucius?

What
if this had been
his plan
all along,
to get to me? First to control my dreams and then to play on my insecurities. Sur
e
ly if he’d had access to my mind t
hen he would know my past. T
hen
all
that was left to do was to make me hear the girl
’s cries and I would come running
. Just like he said “I will not have long to wait and you will soon come to me”
. I started to shake
yet again
at the thought.

The man terrified me to my very core and to make it even worse
,
I was also a little bit fascinated with him. Lately I had
been trying to reject the idea and
banish it from my mind like some law I was br
e
aking. It felt against nature thinking about him but in some sick twisted way
,
I was drawn
to him like bees to pollen
.
This forced me to be more afraid
of myself and my own irresponsible
actions. I didn’t know what I would do when faced with the man that haunted and consumed my dreams but when I thought of him and his lips to mine it made me quiver with both revulsion and a burning hunger.

I tried to put it all down to his powerful mind control and wished more than anything that I was strong enough to push him out and once again gain control over myself.

I started to look at the black figure a little closer and the size of his frame matched that of Lucius. He was tall, with squared shoulders but I couldn’t see any of his features as most of his robe covered his body and face. My mind raced with thoughts and way
s that he could have penetrated
the fortress that was Draven’s home. Then my hands flew to my mouth and the pa
nic hit me. What if he had over
powered Draven so
mehow? It was the man himself who
told me that Lucius was the only one that was equal to his power and being able to control the mind of anyone, including Draven
,
was sure to have an advantage.

Before I knew it my face streamed with tears as the image o
f Draven been over
powered by Lucius got stronger
in my mind.
I was about to turn around and run away, forgetting or more like not even caring about the girl that I had come here to
rescue
. Now my main concern was the man I
loved and the overwhelming feeling that I had walked straight into a trap.

I turned my back to the pillar and could feel the beads of sweat from my back roll down and turn to ice as it came into contact with the marble. I shuddered as I leaned my body’s weight against it for support while I thought a moment about what to do next. I needed to find Draven at all costs but would I have enough ner
ve to even move from this spot?

The seconds that ticked by felt like a lifetime and just when I had my mind set on getting out of this
hell
,
the demonic voice of Lucius brought my attention to full alert and made my blood rush through my veins like
a
liquid
inferno
.

I turned to look back at the cloaked followers and realise
d
they were all waitin
g for something to happen. Their
heads all turned to one side of the hall to an opening that
,
at first was invisible but only when a snow white woman emerged could the entrance be seen. At first the bright light behind her just made her glow like a heavenly entity but when it faded back to where it came from
,
the features of an old woman could be made out.