ENTER THE SHADOW MEN

Chapter 1

London, England 1532 A.D

He stood in the middle of the chambers awaiting confirmation of the news that he heard over a month ago. The Slayer that resided in the Land of the Celts was slain by a gang of demons. Apparently they had captured and murdered her watcher to provoke her to their trap. This was nothing new to him or his order, a death of a Slayer never surprised him. He has seen 9 Slayers come and go in his life time, and he has lived a very long life indeed. When ever he had heard that there was a Death of a Chosen One, he knew that a Potential would be awaked with the powers immediately continuing the duties of the previous Chosen One. It was the natural order of things, at least in his world as he new it. No. A Slayers death was never shocking. Not to him, what was shocking was they had been sign of a potential being activated. There was however rumors that they Pandora's Box had re-activated. If the rumors were true then this only meant one logical conclusion, that the re-incarnation of the first slayer was now walking the earth. The Priest sent his fastest and most loyal servants to Africa to confirm the rumors of the Pandora's Box.

He stood looking out the window towards the olive gardens when he heard frantic foot steps heading his way. He turned towards their direction; a young boy of 14 years was quickly approaching him with a scroll in his hand. As he approached the old man he handed the scroll to him.

"Message from Brother Francine's, Me Lord, I' am afraid the news is not good" the boy said between breaths as the old man began to read what the scroll said. He looked at the boy with a frown.

"Summon the Watchers immediately; tell them to meet in at the grand hall at once." He ordered the boy

"Yes Me lord!" The boy said as he ran of to call the summons. The Priest went on and continued looking out window gathering his thoughts of the letter.

An Hour later the Watchers Council was in large room waiting for the priest arrival. They knew what the meeting was about and were already in a heated debate over the latest rumors.

"How can we be possibly sure that there won't be another Slayer, there has been instances that month's have gone by before the new Slayer was discovered. I'm sure she will pop up as usual." Said one of the Watchers who was dressed in a European monk attire

"But, what about the rumors?"

"What about them!" The monk spat "I can't believe that there is any amount of truth to these speculations, and any one who believes them to be true is a damn fool!" he concluded.

"Then I suppose I am a damn fool, because I believe that they are true" The old priest said as he walked in the door. Staring down at the young monk

"Your grace, you can not poss....." He was cut of by the old priest.

"Yes I do!" He stated plainly "When I heard that there was no news of a Slayer being awakened I had my suspicions, I sent our agents to Africa to investigate the caves in which the Pandora's Box was being held at" He said as he took his seat at the head of the table. "According to the Knights, the demon essence in the Pandora's box has been re-wakened. This only means one thing." He said in much quieter tone. "The re-incarnation of the first Slayer is alive!"

"The First's Curse is real!"

"What are we to do!!"

"We have to find her!!"

"How she can be anyone!!"

"How can we find her she can be anywhere?"

They were all in a frenzied panic at the recent news. Bringing order to the Hall, the old priest slammed a heavy bible on the table to get the Councils attention. Once he had order in the Hall, began to speak on the current problem. "Yes, the situation is grave and we can not ignore the fact that once again we are faced with the threat of The First attempting to return. Now of all times would be the most opportune time for him to try since we no longer have a protector." He stopped to glare at the council as he stood "As we speak of this I can assure you The First has realized this as well, we must act now. The knights are bringing the Pandora's Box back to us." He continued, walking around the table "Which leaves us with one thing left to do. We must awaken The Shadow Men." This earned him very strong glares from the rest of the council members. "I know what many of you are thinking ' these men are nothing more than savages after what they did to the first Slayer' and I know that most of you are opposed to their ways. However I know that all of you agree that we do need The Slayer. Yes, they are savages, but they are the only ones with the knowledge and the power to re-evoke Siyamia's re-incarnation." He concluded.

"It would seem that you are correct on this matter Your Grace, we have no other choice but to Summon them." said another member of the council as he stood from his chair. "I second the motion and agree to proceed." The other members of the council stood one by one in agreeing to this decision, some were reluctant, but all agreed that there was no alternative.

"Excellent!" said the priest "According to the messenger that came earlier today the Knights planned to follow him 4 days after his departure, so with luck on our side they should be here by the weeks end and will receive them in the Catacombs below." The old priest said adjourning the meeting.

4 days later.....

The Watchers Council went below the church to the Catacombs; in this place was a place of many great secrets. One was the final resting place of the Shadow Men; whom long ago they were given the gift of immortality. When these 3 men where chosen thousands of years ago their purpose was to guard the demon entities of the Pandora's Box, however, when they created The First Slayer, the power of the box became useless. Theywere sent to a higher plain of existence until the time came for them to fulfill their purpose once again.

The Council encircled a seal on the ground that was in the center of the chamber. The seal had a pyramid in the middle with 3 circles on each end in the middle of the pyramid there was a box. There were hieroglyphs outside the pyramid of language from long ago. As priest began to chant a scripture from a book, the circles on the seal began to grow darker and the pyramid had a slight glow. The hieroglyphs began to move and the suddenly shadows emerged out the circles. Slowly they began to materialize into three human figures. The Council stared out the three men with dark skin. Each wore clothing that matched of those worn by the ancient Egyptians; all three of them had a staff each adorned differently. These were The Shadow Men. They stared at the Watchers for a very long time before the one Old Priest spoke started to speak.

"Forgive for summoning you, however the time has come." The Old Priest said

The Shadow Men stared at the Priest then spoke to him in the same language that was spoken not tong ago.

"Yes, we know, we have felt the balance shift." Said the Shadow Man in the blue outfit.

"We have been waiting for you to call us forth, we are ready to proceed" Said the second Shadow Man. Dressed in orange and brown

"My Lords how can that be done, we do not where she is or what she looks like, she can be anywhere!" Pleaded the Priest

"Leave that to us, we will find her, the earth has ears and eyes, and it will tell us where to look. Give us the Pandora's Box" Said the third Shadow Man "We fulfill our obligation, the lineage will continue forth" he continued has the chess was brought to them

"Do not fret my friends we will not fail, we will get to her in time" Said the first Shadow Man smiling at the council before the shadows and engulfed the room embracing it in darkness. When the shadows returned to normal The Shadow Men and the Pandora's Box were gone.

Looking at the space where The Shadow Men once stood the council wondered if there was any truth to what they said. How will they be able to find a girl that could be hiding any where on earth? One thing was for certain they were no longer involved. The irony behind this was that they were created to keep an eye The Slayers and the Potentials. How ironic now, they were cut out of the loop. The Shadow Man took matters in to their hands and the only thing left to do was to wait.

Cotswold England... The Deeper Well – Site of the Final Prison Resting Place of the Ancient Demon Gods.

Standing over a wooden bridge looking down a large abyss, The Keeper of The Deeper Well went by her days duties as if there were clockwork; the demonic forces have been of balance since the death of The Slayer in the land of the Celts. A powerful evil presence had been rising since which meant only one thing. The First was on the rise, and most likely like herself, it was aware that the Re-incarnated soul of The First Chosen One was roaming the earth. Chances are that The First had sent its own agents to find her. As she made her rounds guarding the sarcophagus of the Old Ones, most who where loyal to The First, were imprisoned in this place long forgotten by the world of man. Realizing her own thought, she moved across the bridge that was suspended over The Well to other side of the cavern. She walked through a tunnel to an underground chamber that looked like a library. As she walked in she noticed that the shadow's started to shift around her. She wasn't the least bit surprised as she continued her way to the final destination.

She made her way a Silver Box adorned with precious stones, and symbols from long ago. Feeling the presence behind her, she greeted her guest's with turning to face them.

"I have been waiting for you." She said before speaking an incantation over the box, opening it. She pulled out of scroll from the box; she turned around to face her visitors, The Shadow Men.

"You know why we are here" Spoke the leader of The Shadow Men

'Yes." She said plainly "I have what you want, here" she said handing over the scroll.

"You haven't read the............" The Second Shadow Man said before he was cut off by The Keeper.

"Of course not, what do you take me for! I am no fool! Besides, even if I wanted to look at the scroll I couldn't. The Seerer of The Powers had a binding spell placed before giving the information to my men; he wanted to make damn sure that if it fell in the wrong hands, it couldn't be used. The seal on this can only opened by The Shadow Men and the information is for you three and you three only." The Keeper state rather plainly.

"Very Good." Said the Third Shadow Man opening the seal reading the scroll.

In the scroll was the location of the person they were searching for, to their surprised the information was vague. Nevertheless it did tell them where to start and it narrow the options down. Each of the Shadow Men took a turn to read the scroll. The Scroll read:

Siaymia, First of The Ones, walks the Earth as flesh and bone

Living among the Humans she is not, for you will find her under a different companionship

Traveling with a Demon of Silver Hair, one of two, the last of their kin.

The Island of the Eastern region is where she walk, land of the rising sun.

Beware, darkness is aware of her presence. The First's essence is strongest there.

The Hellmouth in land is active, for the demonic aura there is high, The Seal is has weakened.

Find her you must, time is of the essence. Preservation of the linage must be a done.

The Shadow Men disintegrated the scroll and turned to The Keeper.

"We will take our leave now." Said the First Shadow Man. "Keep alert you assistance may be required again" He concluded before they disappeared.

"As you wish, I will be here." She said before they left. There was nothing left for her to do except to resume her charge. Still, she couldn't take her mind on what the future would hold if they should fail.