Ch.8 Circle of Darkness

Dra'tor and I have been traveling about, visiting towns and villages near his city. News of nuclear attacks on towns and villages have reached us now. What surprised us the most was that some Minecraftian's had seen me in Minopor. They weren't afraid of me. They were praying to me. I sat in a room of a lodge drinking warm milk and reading the paper. Dra'tor sitting across from me with black pants on and no shirt. He had just woken from sleep not but three minutes ago.

"This is amazing," I muttered folding the paper and giving it to him. "Read the headline."

Dra'tor took the paper with a yawn and opened it. His eyes looked up at me with a look on his face that said he didn't like this. "What are we to do if Hatos reads this?"

"Let him," I said draining the rest of my milk. "I'll welcome the effort he gives in trying to kill me."

"Sell," Dra'tor said with a reprimanding tone. "That's not the way to look at things."

I sighed pushing the chair from the table and standing up. "I know. I'm just playing."

"Too early for that, my dear," he muttered rubbing his eyes. "That teleportation we did wore me out."

"Oh come on," I smiled putting my cup in the sink. "You can't handle two teleportation's?"

He groaned lying back in his chair. "Don't do that to me again. Please?"

"It had to be done," I said washing the cup in water and leaving it there. "We barely made it in time anyways."

We fell into a silence that said how we felt about the shortness of time that I had to work with. We had been lucky that the archers had kept the dragon groups at bay long enough to make the fleet almost get wiped out by their own nuclear attack. "Thank Notch that we have a good communication system."

"It saved you, the town, and the riders by a fraction of a second," muttered Dra'tor staring at the ceiling. "What if we had gotten a second too late?"

I shook my head not wanting to think of that. "Shut up, Dra'tor. I don't want to fathom what could've happened. I'm just glad that I made it in time."

Her memory recalled Hel crying out for her when she arrived. 'Sell! Sell, save us!' It wasn't just his plea for saving but it was the lives that were being killed by the fire and destruction. The pleas for help from the townspeople, the cries of the children, the heartbeats of the Minecraftian's that were barely clinging to life. "If it hadn't been for their pleas of help I don't think I could've mustered enough power to teleport that blast away like I did."

Dra'tor sat in his chair and narrowed his eyes. "How in hell did you do that by the way? I've never seen such a thing before!"

I stood there staring at my reflection in the water. "I'm not sure either but I had a teleportation made just for the blast."

Dra'tor stared at my back for a moment thinking about things. "What else happened when you merged with your skeleton side?"

I turned giving him a confused look. "Nothing else I don't think but after I merged I felt something much bigger within me than before. Like the power had jumped."

I wondered what he was thinking staring off into space. "Dra'tor?

Dra'tor flinched and looked at me. "Huh?"

"I was thinking. Since there's still some time before summer can we go about telling the other lords and stuff? See if they want to help us? If we're to defeat Hatos it's going to have to be all the Lord's, not just our band on half of Minecraft."

Dra'tor stood then folding the paper up. "You're right. Since we've been bombed by the dragons our numbers have gone down. We'll have to recruit more."

"You think they'll help us? Not many want to go to war." I walked over to the window that looked out over the village roof tops. "I know I don't want too. Yet I have to go because everyone is depending on me."

"They aren't depending on you fully. They're depending on you to give them strength and hope," Dra'tor said taking my cup from the sink and placing it upside down to dry. "Recruiting takes time and we have a bit to spend before rushing off to fight. Where do you want to go?"

"There are some people here that are a part of us, correct?" I asked looking back at him.

He nodded. "There are several around here."

"Good. We'll start with them," I said and headed off to my room to change clothes.

Dra'tor took up a cloth towel to dry his hands of water. "There's the rumors going about, Sell. Don't make yourself stick out."

"I won't," I replied muffled by the shirt. "Don't make yourself stick out either."

He smiled. "That can be taken-"

"Shut up, pervert!" I barked yanking open my door and putting on my lite coat. "Damn. You and your fucking jokes of pervertedness!"

"Give me some time to change and I'll join up with you," Dra'tor replied heading off to get some more clothes on.

I milled about waiting for him, watching life go on below in the village. Finally I heard the door open and Dra'tor standing in the living room wearing casual clothes and a lite coat of his own. "Ready?"

I nodded and left the room ahead of him. We strode down the street, passing villagers and looking about. Discussing things about the war and ideas. We suddenly caught on that we were being followed. I turned halfway as if something caught my eye to see a handful of men walking after us and stop.

"Who are you?" I asked not making eye contact but could tell by their standing and height that they were all male.

"If you are who we think you are then we are pleased to have finally met you," rasped a voice. "We sent out a letter for you to aide us in a problem."

Dra'tor kept his back to us. His eyes staring out at nothing. "What's the issue?"

"We can't speak here," muttered another male. "They might hear."

"They?" Dra'tor and I asked I the same time.

"Come. We have a better palce to speak of such things," rasped the male at the front and turned, leading the way.

Dra'tor and I followed after cautiously. On edge for anything suspicious. I wondered what it was that they were so worried about to talk in front of us out in the open. Who were these people that the older male spoke of? 'Is it one of us? Are they part of our ranks?'

We came to a stop outside a hut that was circular. The Lord's opened the door and shuffled inside quietly. I and Dra'tor lit the dark room with fire on our fingertips. The Lord's could sense that we were nervous and alert. I could feel them reading us. I read them right back, making them shiver slightly.

"We're even," muttered the leader facing me. "We're sorry for coming to you like this in such a manner but we had no other choice. It's that bad."

"What's going on?" I asked calmly. "Are you talking about how some of our own have turned against us?"

The Lord's all nodded. "How did you know?"

I recalled the time when I went to the training course with my father, friends, and family. How it almost killed us all when we found out what it truly was. That was when I had first met people that were our own and had backstabbed us. "I knew there had to be more and not just them but I wasn't sure. Now I'm wondering just how many are not on our side like they truly say they are?"

The leader handed me a book that he had made himself. "These names are the ones that are no longer part of our society. They have turned for the worse."

I took the book and flipped through it, Dra'tor over my shoulder scanning it also. "Lord Socaza. His son needs to be added to the book of names also."

"Who's Socaza?" the Lord asked perplexed. "I've been through the registration forms that each Lord had given on their records of members and I never saw any name such as that."

I looked at Dra'tor who seemed bewildered. "But…How can that be? He served Rien for…."

It suddenly dawned on me what was happening all around us. "He's been gathering data on us all. He's tricked Lord's into taking and accepting those that have been suggested or are acquaintances."

The Lord's nodded. "We've had the wool over our eyes for a long time."

"It needs to change," I said in a muttered tone. "A lot of things need to change."

The Lord's looked at me with fearful expressions. "Will you help us?"

"I'll send this out to those that are close to me. I don't need the names of those that have backstabbed us. I can sense them."

The Lord's gawked at me in shocked silence. Dra'tor took the book from my hand. "I'll tell the boy to take it. Roam and search for those that have fallen."

I nodded and left the hut without being noticed by the outside world. A feeling crept across my body that I recognized and began to follow it. I passed the hotel that I and Dra'tor had stayed the night in, a bar, a library and a few houses but the feeling was still out there. I stopped at the end of the town, exhaling through my nose.

A slight wind ruffled my hair as I stared out at the wild scenery before me. 'I wonder how Hel is? How mom and the pregnancy is going? How the town is faring from the attack? I wonder…'

An odd thought occurred to me. This feeling that I was sensing, it was moving farther and farther. One of the fallen had left the village. A villager was coming in through the gate with a bag on his back loaded with wheat. A trader through the looks of him. "Excuse me. Where's this road go?"

The man looked up with a tired and weary expression. "It forks two hundred blocks from here. The left goes to a town that hasn't been hit by the dragons like the coast had. The right goes to a stronghold area that's guarded by ogres and what have you."

"A stronghold…? What's that?"

The man ducked his head then and bid me farewell. I watched him go in a hurry and wondered what was so bad about telling me what a stronghold was? I put my hands in my pockets and trudged down another gravel road through the village. I took a seat on a bench in a neat and manicured place of the village overlooking a lake that ducks and fish swam in. An occasional turtle would surface to get air before going back under.

It was so peaceful looking at things like this. If it was only for a moment, it was nice. The same feeling that I had felt just a moment ago was faint but it was near. I strode on nearing the otherside of the village. There wasn't one but several of them.

I stood in front of a bay window at a shop where they sat talking amongst one another. I stared at them with no emotion. Just a cold look in my eyes. I lifted a finger and tapped the glass. It shattered across them, stabbing and cutting them. They pushed themselves off the floor in confusion and saw me. The villagers gathered about alarmed by the glass shattering.

"You dare call yourselves Lord's?" I said in a soft tone. My eyes glareing now. "How deceitful of you all."

Each of them thought on ways to fight me. I could see their thoughts running through their eyes as they looked about for anything, at themselves, to their partners.

"So, you've regained your memory? How convenient." A Lord grinned up to me as he slowly stood.

"It is." I said with a slight smile. "I get to pick up where I left off. I also get to do something that I should've been doing ever since I became the new Lady. Killing you all off."

It was within that fraction of a second that our fight surfaced. The villagers screamed running from the explosion that had enveloped us. It wasn't an intentional attack on them, I just wanted to scare them. To save them. It had worked perfectly.

"I see you found them," came the voice of Dra'tor who stepped next to me. "Nice work."

The Lord's, all five, stood there defensively. "Well, well, if it isn't Lord Dra'tor."

Dra'tor fixed them a death gaze, his hands crossed. "Scum bags have no right to call me by name!"

The Lord's chuckled amongst themselves, their eyes flaring with fire and cloaks as black as night covering them. "We have a name."

"What's the name?" I hissed through my teeth.

"We are the Dark Brotherhood," a male said with a small bow. "We are pleased to meet you, Lady Sell. A huge idol of your Lordships."

I stared at them before turning away. "Nice name. Where did your sixth member head off too?"

"A little errand," smiled a male. "We needed to give word on an update."

A great fireball shot from Sell's hand and exploded on the left arm of the male. The male screamed out in pain grasping his missing arm. Dra'tor never flinched at the explosion.

"That update was about Sell being back to normal then?"

The Lord's all glared and growled at us. The leader of them gave a signal, allowing them all to leave and disappear one by one. We stood there alone with him in silence.

"The Dark Lord will reign supreme above all. Don't think you've won."

I stared at him and smiled. "You really are a foolish man to be with Hatos. I'm sure he's told you all sorts of lies."

"Lies or not we will follow the alpha of this life," he replied in a hissed whisper and disappeared.

I stood there in silence with Dra'tor. "Get me the boy."

Dra'tor turned to me as his form turned back to a Minecraftian. "Why? What are you going to do?"

"He's already out running your errands, right?" I asked slowly changing back to normal. "I want to send out a national message to all. All at once."

Dra'tor fixed his hair before turning around. "Come on. I'll call him up for you."

We headed back to the hotel that we were staying at. Sitting about a lobby round table. Dra'tor had summoned Mordan who was stationed in a resting place for the night in some area.

"You called me?" the teen asked flipping his growing hair to the side.

"I want to send out a national message to all," I said folding up a written message on three sheets of paper. "Make copies of these and send them out. This is important for all."

The teen took the papers and placed them in his bag. "I will get this to them all as quick as possible, my Lady!"

I nodded in understanding and watched him disappear back to his resting area. Dra'tor looked to me from his seat at the table. "What did it say?"

"To all that serve the Skeletal race and are a part of it, here me out now. I, Lady Ananon, have come to my senses once more and have seen things that are very problematic for us all. Take fourth the black book of members that you have recorded down and take stock of those that have not been recorded. Background checks are nessicary for those that have not explained themselves. Act now!

"This is important for all! I've seen a breach in our code and whom we allow into our community. This shall be no more! We are being watched and backstabbed by the enemy that are posing as one of us! To all Lord's that lead others as Alpha, take heed in what I am proposing to you now. A war is upon us and we need all that we can use to defeat the Dark Lord!

"You must not be backstabbed like I've been months ago by a dear friend of my father's. We barely managed to get everyone out of the Nether alive, including me. Please take action to protect all that you hold dear! Protect our community!"

I sighed clearing my throat as I folded my arms to my chest. Dra'tor stared at me in silence.

"That was quite a message. You know he'll get a hold of it."

"If he gets a hold of it I really wouldn't give a damn about now. Seriously, Dra'tor. He and I will find one another on the battlefield and it won't be like any other fight you've ever seen." I yawned, tired from yesterday's work and today's surprise. "Be ready for a great war, Dra'tor. It might be our last."

Dra'tor brushed his hair from his eyes. He was in need of a haircut slightly. "Many will die."

I got to my feet. I had already come to that thought some time ago. "They know this. I know this. So do you. Will you fight anyways knowing your fate?"

"You're right about that too," sighed Dra'tor and side glanced me. "I would fight for all that I have trusted all these years. Would you fight for me?"

I chuckled walking to my room. "Need you ask?"

The door shut leaving Dra'tor alone. He smiled closing his eyes with a sigh. "Yeah. I know. You would most definitely fight no matter what the reason."

As the night fell upon the town and all Minecraftians moved indoors to sleep, a hush fell upon the town. The birds finally went quiet, the ducks in their nests, and the sheep laying down with their lambs. The cows all gathered together to keep warm and their calves safely in the middle. Everything was peaceful. Dra'tor sat outside in the small park enjoying the quite night, staring at the marine life in the pond.

It wasn't so bad here. 'After the war I'm going to come live here. I could live here forever, not having to worry about danger lurking around every corner for me.'

He rested his head back on the park bench, relaxed and at ease. It had been quite some time since he had been able to really relax like this. "This feels like heaven to me."

There was a distant rumble of what sounded like thunder. The sky was partly cloudy but no storms were coming their way for some time. Dra'tor figured it was a heat storm or something and thought nothing else of it. There was a ripple in the pond. The fish beneath the surface began to stir and swim around agitatedly.

The ground suddenly began to shake making Dra'tor grasp the bench and look about. Thunder that sounded like it was growing louder in the distance began to get worse. Dra'tor stared out in the direction and saw a glowing sky like some sort of large fire was burning. He leapt up and ran to the entrance of the town. Sure enough in the distance there was a raging fire burning.

The town's people began to wake up and look about curiously. Dra'tor called his Nightmare from the depths of the Nether and charged from the town on its back urging it faster. 'What was going on at this time of night?' He wondered as the horse topped a hill and began its descent into a valley. Gravel being slung up behind them from its hooves. It snorted hard, galloping up the hill heading towards the fiery sky.

Dra'tor could hear the shouts from the town behind him. The townspeople were getting stirred up by the sudden fire. In the distance behind him as he stopped the mare from going over the hill he turned back to see riders on horseback heading their direction. He whirled the horse about and urged it on as fast as she could run. He needed to get there before they got there to make sure that it wasn't the doing of the Dark Lord or the dragon riders.

If it had been the dragon riders he would've heard them long before he saw them. The mare cried out shaking her head from him pulling the reigns too tightly. "Sorry," he muttered patting her neck and giving her slack.

She charged on getting closer and closer to the raging fire. There was a whinny that split the air and made his mare shied out of fear. He recognized that horse cry. He hadn't forgotten it ever since he had first seen such a horse and tamed it. The mare topped the small hill and looked down in the valley plains to see a large crater with fire and lava.

The horse that had cried out stood tall staring into the flames, silhouetted. Its rider cloaked in black and white also staring deep into the fire. It was a Nightmare horse. The fastest demonic horse there was. The rider turned its hood towards him and stared him down with blazing eyes.

"Sell, the townspeople are coming. We need to get out of here."

The Nightmare was turned about and urged across the plains. Dra'tor urged the mare after them and followed behind as closely as they could keep up with the Nightmare. Not a moment sooner the townspeople arrived and stared in shock at the large hole in the ground that couldn't have been made by any person. As the town went into an uproar of the surprise that went on smoldering and burning through the night, Sell and Dra'tor left the lands behind them. Moving onto the next town or city that they would happen upon to share the news.

'It's been two months since the enemy stronghold was destroyed by me. I've now pushed the envelope between me and the Dark Lord. Of course he has many more strongholds around the world but at least I took down at least one that was contributing to his evil deeds. Yes the men I faced that day all died in the explosions. I never let a single one leave and I was happy that they were going to die to my hands.

'Backstabbers shouldn't be allowed to live but that's going a bit too extreme. Lady Ananon saw what I had to do. She forgave me. With their forgiveness I'll strive further to protect and cleanse the land of evil. With their forgiveness I'll work hard to make the night a better place.'

Our nightmare horses galloped at the edge of the sea across the beach. Water splashing up about us as we traveled the beaches, keeping off the hills and plains from view. I checked the 17th part of the map and saw that there was a town or two ahead on the Cliffside. We picked our way up the midsized slope and came out on the prairie ground where kids from the town were playing soccer and having fun. The nightmare's snorted liking the look of the tall grass to feed on.

We walked slowly across the land, the kids gazing in awe at our horses. Stepping into the town we were already met by the Lord's that lived there and were called in for a conference. I explained to them what they already knew but also told them of the dark Lord's that had turned to evil. The conference went on like all the others had gone before and we eventually left to travel on.

"Well, that didn't take long," I said quietly as we trotted away from the town.

"Almost too fast," Dra'tor said as he thought.

Movement to his left caught his eye, making him turn his mount slightly. "I think Mordan is approaching quickly. What do you see, Sell?"

I turned also and indeed I did see Mordan on the back of a nightmare. "Where did he get the horse? I thought he was weaker than me and you?"

"He's been working for a good bit," chuckled Dra'tor winking at me and urging his horse across the tall grass to meet him.

I watched from a far a little before kicking my stallion into a run and joining up with them.

Mordan smiled warmly as I approached. "My Lady. You look well."

I shrugged stopping my stallion and letting him graze as we talked. "The same as usual. What's the news?"

"The enemy isn't pleased with the sudden assault," Mordan said, his eyes flashing towards me. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

I shook my head. "Nope! Not a thing."

"They say that two people on horseback rode away from the blast," the teen said fixing his wind swept hair. "They look suspiciously like the two of you."

"Get on with the news, Mordan," Dra'tor said getting impatient.

"Well, we now have one hundred and fifty more fighters on our side."

"No doubt they'll also be a part of the enemy's forces too," I muttered.

"Also your mother had the new baby," Mordan said as his face changed suddenly.

I noticed that he wasn't smiling in any way while telling me. "What's the matter with the new baby?"

"Her name is Sen."

I was still waiting for the reason of his unhappiness. Uneasiness. "Sell and Sen? So?"

"She looks identical to you." He stared hard at me, his face a solid stone look.

"How can she look identical to me? I'm grown." I chuckled leaning back in the chair.

He handed me a picture from his pocket. I took it and looked at the infant. Something in me stirred. I'm not sure what to call it but it wasn't pleasant. Unsettling.

"Why does she resemble me when I was young?"

Dra'tor and the teen remained silent. There was something that hadn't been said.

"He adores her like she were you. Your brothers adore her just as much but they hold you much dearer than the infant." Mordan said softly. "You must meet with the Lady about this further."

I nodded staring into the eyes of the baby in the picture. "Indeed I will."

The meeting between them was short and Mordan accompanied them to a hotel that he had booked a stay in. I stood at the window in my room staring out at the prairie fields full of tall grass. The three nightmare's grazing about one another under the clear night sky. I slowly sat on the bed thinking back to the baby picture. How had Mordan gotten hold of such a picture?

Before I knew it I was in a familiar place. Ahead of me was a floating piece of land with pastel trees and grass with pastel sheep happily jumping about. I strode across the clouds that would support me and stepped on the gentle green grass of the Aether. I gazed about the land and saw a great oak that had been there many years. Possibly forever.

The wind kicked up the tree leaves and made it sway about, creaking and moaning.

"Good evening, Sell!" called out a familiar voice making me turn.

I saw Lady Ananon and her mother Queen Lyrena walking towards me. In the distance behind them stood their home.

"Good evening to the both of you," I said bowing. "I believe we have some business to discuss?"

"Come, my second daughter," spoke Lyrena as her hands gestured to the great pastel oak. "Let us make talk under this tree."

I followed after them with a small smile, striding after them upon the soft pastel grass. Aerwhales whistled above us as they swam overhead, dipping and weaving amongst one another and disappearing behind a cloud bank.

"So, Sell, what brings you here?" Lyrena asked as she settled herself under the oak and leaned against the trunk.

"Sen is my problem. She resembles me in every way," I replied getting serious. "Why is this?"

Lady Ananon's face fell. She turned to her mother who gave her a nod.

"The prophecy could've been upheld by either of you at any time. There was no guarantee that it was to be you. More or less it was to be your sister, naturally."

"Why didn't you tell me this when you appointed me?" I asked looking at them sternly. "Was it still uncertain?"

Queen Lyrena nodded her head. "We knew who the true holder of the prophecy would've been. It would've been Sen, not you. It was a chance we had to take though. The evil was getting worse day by day. You were the only thing on hand we could depend on." She frowned looking at the grass with great sadness.

"There's still your prophecy though, Sell. It's unclear but we get better readings from time to time," Lady Ananon whispered looking up at me with her blue eyes full of hope. "Please, don't give up hope on my status! Little Sen can't hold up what you're holding up right now! She's just an infant!"

I straightened up glaring at them. "She's an infant now but she'll be taking my stead one day! What then?"

"That's yet to be decided," muttered Queen Lyrena who slowly looked at me. "There's something dark foreshadowing your little sister."

I stared at them with a raised brow. "Foreshadowing? Can you explain anymore?"

The two shook their heads. "That is all we can read for now. When the time comes you will receive it yourself. From there, you will walk the true path of your destiny that has been waiting for you to walk for quite some time."

My legs felt weak for a moment. I felt myself falling backwards when hands from behind me caught me gently. I looked up to see Lord's smiling down upon me. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were killed, my Lady."

My mouth fell open in shock as I slowly recognized them all. "No…!"