CHAPTER SEVEN
Marco stood surrounded by a large wall of granite rock. He shifted his eyes but found no way to escape from his current situation. The room itself resembled a perfect square. The walls stretched high, becoming one with a pitch-black ceiling. If there happened to be an exit up that way, he could not see it through the limits of the blackened veil which threw off his line of sight. He remained trapped, that much seemed quite certain even to the dumbest of minds. The walls were too sheer to climb, too narrow to sustain flight and they were dry, cracked, and bloodstained as if having been a part of countless battles. The cries of the victims ran strong and although they remained forever silent, it seemed to be a part of the very foundation. An eternal reminder to the evil deeds carried out once upon a time… it was then that it became quite clear that he no longer stood within the confinements of reality.
The hawk stood motionless, his mind traced through what little he could remember… he and Roger had succeeded in converting Amber into the Dark Robed Society, Roger had left to carry out a task he felt needed completing before the next phase of their plan could begin… however, as for how he ever managed to come to this strange place remained at a complete loss to him. How had he come to be here? Had he been lured here? Did this have anything to do with the weird bird giving off their instructions and if it did, what did she truly want? He would receive no answer to his many questions, no matter how hard he tried, he could not think of any situation which would lead him to a strange place such as this. Without a word, he slammed his wing against the nearest stone wall. His eyes widened in horror. The stone felt unusually smooth, very unlike most granite he knew from his time in the northern regions of Rio de Janeiro. But he could get past that, what scared him was the warmth of the rocky outcrops. They pulsated under his wing, almost as if they were apart of some living being. It felt to him like a huge clump of flesh, which shifted under the added weight. He began to feel uncomfortable. He could hear the wind seeping into the room from somewhere up above, an obvious take someone or something breathing. He could not hold back his fears any longer. Desperate, alone, and lost to the remainder of the world, he knew he needed to free himself. He shook his head and shook off his doubts.
"My name is Marco. I am a mercenary with powers beyond normal limits. I was promised the powers of a god. No room can hold my prisoner. I'll tear these walls to shreds if need be."
He cackled and let his eyes slit into dangerous pools of insanity. One after another, he lashed out with his wings, striking the fleshy walls. He could hear the bones in his wings snap but he felt no pain. He continued to lash out, never stopping for a second to gather his thoughts, never stopping to catch his breath, never stopping to check out the damage being inflicted on his own body. Once, twice, three times, he lashed out. His chest weaved in and out as he struggled to breathe. His eyes darkened as his insanity continued to rise. His face darkened, growing more monstrous, reflecting his evil desires for world domination. His skin melted away, becoming pasty and pale with little in terms of its true color. His naturally bloodshot eyes shifted and became a soft golden hue. With every strike, his body went through another drastic transformation. He could feel the energy within him growing. The powers of the gods surged through him – the power which he coveted offered him a tasty tidbit of what he ultimately wanted, intensifying his craving.
"Yes!" he cackled, panting but never stopping his brutal assault. "I can feel it. I'll soon be free to wreak havoc once again. No one will stop me. I shall be invincible. The Spix macaws will die, and I will slaughter those who are not strong enough to be worthy of life!"
After a couple more strikes with his wing, his efforts were rewarded. The rocky outcrop of stone shifted under the brutal attacks and gave way. The wall itself could not support its own weight. With the main support gone, it rumbled and trembled, beginning its descent to cave inwards on itself. Marco's smile widened, he turned to peer at the rest of the walls which followed suit. The blood-stained structure collapsed one brick at a time, throwing clouds of dust into the air. The hawk backed away and braced himself in the center of the room, a safe distance from the crumbling walls. The deafening roar filled his ears. He tried to block out the horrible noise but found he couldn't. Everything about it shot through him filling him with a weird combination of amazement and dread. One by one, the bricks fell, shattering on the ground which also seemed to vanish into a blackened void. His eyes widened and took a glimpse of his surroundings. There weren't any. He stood alone within an empty swirling blackness. The occasional stream of colored light would flash before his eyes, but they subsided as quickly as they appeared.
"W-W-Where am I?" he found himself asking, his voice shaky and full of uncertainty. "This place seems so familiar, but that should be impossible, I've never been here before in my life." He let his voice trail off into silence as he caught a small glimpse of something moving out of the corner of his eye. He turned his attention in that direction and found himself looking at the figure of his sister.
Her eyes glowed red as they peered out at him. The horrible smell of rotten meat, rancid moldy fish, and fire and brimstone filled his nostrils. Marco wanted to gag but found himself unable to do so. Sabrina continued to eye him. She held out her covered wings and dropped two small objects on the ground. Without a word, the robed creature beckoned him over to receive his prize. A second pair of metal winged blades, razor-sharp, and very deadly. Marco swallowed a lump in his throat and proceeded over to them. Avoiding the sharpened blades, he rescued them from the ground and slid them over his feather column while discarding his old set. He smiled and found that they fit perfectly. The comfortable restraints even made him feel much lighter than he could have ever imagined. Marco found himself curious as to why, but he dared not ask the question. Something about his sister's cold calculating eyes just sent a cold chill down the hawk's spine. He could not quite place a finger upon it, but he could tell that she held onto knowledge far more ancient than anything he had ever experienced before.
"Where am I?" Marco found the words slip past his beak. He did not really want to ask the question, but he could not control his own beak.
The robed bird did not answer. She raised a solitary wing that remained covered by a thick black sleeve. Within that instant, a bright purple mark surged across the limb which illuminated her veins and formed the perfect representation of an inverted pentagram. Her eyes drifted down to the mark and after a few moments did she finally began to speak. Her eyes cut through the darkness, illuminating further with every word she spoke to him. "We are no longer within your world, Marco." She explained,
"We are in the world of the shadows; it was here the Dark Robed Sage first sealed her powers along with the growing darkness of her time away forever. Her power has been separated into nine different marks, each one representing a different attribute. I, myself, hold one; however, you and your comrades do as well. I have granted each one of them a mark that best represents their personality. I will continue to do so, every time you find a new comrade until each mark has found its home within our world once more. I have brought you here because I have a mission for you, and you alone. I want you to travel to the land of Borneo, it is there where you will find another member of your society."
Sabrina raised her wings and pointed through the darkness. Marco followed the direction and saw a strange macaw standing there. He appeared to be a Spix macaw though very different in appearance compared to Amber. His eyes narrowed at the sight.
"I am to recruit another Spix macaw?" he asked, "Why is it that I am always surrounded by their filth?"
Sabrina's eyes glistened once more as she continued. "His name is Jollo, and he will be a big help to your plans. You are to leave effective immediately and tell your comrades that they are to meet you upon Sugar Loaf Mountain in exactly one month's time. They will also be bringing a new member of your society, a marmoset named Jose. Now, get moving. You do not have a second to waste."
Marco's eyes shot open, and he sat up from where he laid. The soft moonlight filtered down through the treetops. Amber rolled over a little confused towards the hawk's sudden awakening. The hawk shifted his attention to her. "Tell the others that I am leaving effective immediately. You are to meet me at the peak of Sugar Loaf Mountain in exactly one month's time. Also, should you meet a monkey named Jose, make sure you recruit him into our services. Until the day I return, you are free to do whatever you wish, just stay away from Jewel until the day we have reached our full strength. Do you understand?"
Amber nodded. "Right, but may I ask why you're leaving?"
Marco's eyes narrowed as his voice sank lower and more menacingly. "I am going to meet a new acquaintance of ours, a Spix macaw similar to you. He will help guide the Dark Robed Society deeper into the future."