Calistra: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked the first chapter! That really motivated me to write on.
2 SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT
The night had come into movement.
In this new moon night darkness seemed to have definitely triumphed over the light. With the treetops being hard to make out, everything beyond was only a chaos of pale light and overlapping shadows. A coincidental watcher probably wouldn't have been able to say, where there was actually something moving and where his in turmoil gotten fantasy was only interpreting something into the restless shadows, which actually wasn't there.
But if one looked at it long enough, he'd recognize from time to time single shadowly masked shapes apparently purposeful following a pattern, which probably only made sense for those initiated, slipping along the edge of the forest and immerse again into the deep shadows and disappeared as if they'd never been there.
The sight being presented here was eerie – almost unreal. In this place something really mysterious and sinister was about to happen. Something, which wasn't meant for everyone's' eyes and ears. An expectant and tense atmosphere lay over the whole scenario.
Fire blazed up and a torch with greedy flames coming from it's end became visible. Making the dark figure holding it appear even more mystical in this flickering fire light. He was wearing a long black robe, the cowl drawn far into the face. Underneath there seemed to be nothing but all absorbing darkness.
A second torch blazed up and as an released mechanism more and more torches were lightened and put into prepared holders. Reluctantly the darkness retired a little bit and gave a view to a wide semicircle of about fifty dark robes wearing figures and the masked shape which lightened the first torch standing at the open side.
Everyone was silent and kept his head bowed. Nobody moved in fact. And even nature seemed to keep it's breath. Some minutes the gathered remained in this expectant silence.
Then the leader slowly rose his head and wiped off the cowl. Although his face was still hidden in the shadows.
An hardly audible murmur and whisper rose and broke the unshakeable silence. A strange soft chant coming from the leader and being reflected like a bizarre manyvoiced echo by his followers, which also rose their heads immediately and joined in.
At the beginning the foreign words were hardly understandable, but with every repetition the speech song became louder and more intensive. In the end it penetrated the whole glade.
"Adara mos rekali, konoss rehu jek!"
"Adara mos rekali, konoss rehu jek!"
"Adara mos rekali, konoss rehu jek!"
Everytime faster, everytime louder.
The dark figures lifted their arms to the sky. The choir of voices repeating the strange words again and again, rose even farther an seemed to strive for it's climax…
and then it rapidly broke off. From one second to another there was complete silence again.
The leader took one step forward into the middle of the circle. His face was still in shadow, but his figure gave off an indecredible aura of power and authority. The members of the breed fell on their knees in one fluent movement as one single creature.
A group of about ten in dark robes wrapped shapes loosened from the kneeling crowd and stepped in front of their leader. One of them raised his voice and for the first time since the beginning of this secret meeting someone was speaking:
"Everything's prepared, lord. Tonight we'll bring Sandman's work to an end…."
Note: I know this chapter's quite short, but with some support through reviews the upcoming ones will be longer. I know that there are a lot far better written stories than mine, but English's not my mother language so please be kind and give me a chance! I'm really trying to do a good job and a little motivation through reviews could help me a lot.