"Why didn't you help?" Jacob asked when he had finally caught his breath. I looked up from my book and saw Jacob still sprawled in the sofa with his eyes closed, "I'm not good at teleportation," I simply said while I started flipping the pages to get back to the purification spell. "By the way, Jovenor dropped by," I said before Jacob could counter my statement. I walked up to table at the centre of the lobby and set the book on the table. "He obviously didn't like the idea of killing the Dark mages. But he did tell me what we are supposed to do to defeat them."
The artras gathered around the book and took time looking at the contents of the pages. "Ultimate Purification," Ciara read, "it must be cast by one of the artras. One specific artra that the other artras share equal trust with. And it must be cast with…." she paused and looked at me with a somewhat hopeless look. I had read through the pages.
"Kevin, we don't have all the artras present," she said.
"I know. This only means we have to find the missing artra," I confirmed. They all just went back to their seats and flopped back into them. To be honest they all looked quite sleepy to me. So this meant we were going to sleep here for a while. I looked at the artras from one to the other until my eyes landed on Ciara. She was fast asleep. It hadn't even lain on the sofa for a minute. How tired were these guys. I wasn't feeling particularly sleepy today so I decided to take a tour of the Artarak.
…........
I spent the next three hours touring the castle. It was huge though I got distracted in the game room for about an hour. I got curious when I finally got to the room that I had been dying to see. Don't get me wrong. All the rooms I had been to were remarkable. Thinking back to the huge library that I had almost got stuck in. The weapons room that was filled with magical weapons of all kinds. A potions room, which I didn't see myself using anytime soon. This castle was all too much. But right now the room whose great big oak doors stood before me was the throne room. 'Why did the artras need a throne room?' I slowly put my hand on the door and felt magic surge through it almost like it recognised me.
The doors then began to open on their own. They opened to reveal a huge majestic throne room worthy of the name. At the extreme end stood six…no seven thrones. Wait what...
Thats not right. I walked towards the thrones slowly whilst looking around. The room was filled with tapestries that depicted ancient battles and portraits of the previous artras. I also noticed that this was the first room I'd seen that did not adjust itself to the mood of the person inside it. I walked up to the thrones. A huge tapestry behind the thrones had images of the first Siege, Jekyll and his partner, Daphne, the Homage of that time. The other artras on other sides of them. They looked happy.
I looked back to the thrones. Five of them were made of gold and the last two were made of platinum. I felt a pull to one specific throne. It was the third from right. I could tell it belonged to the Siege. But the one in the centre had the Ciara's aura. What was the Sieges throne doing next to the Alphas throne. Not that it bothered me. Soon enough I could tell which artra belonged in which throne, but none of us belonged in the platinum. Something wasn't adding up.
"Kevin," I was startled by a voice and quickly turned only to see Ciara a few feet behind me. I hadnt even noticed her come in, "lets go back to earth." She led me back to the lobby where everyone was waiting. They were dressed in what we had arrived in. They didn't look like warriors anymore. Ciara opened the portal and one by one, every one of the artras went through. All except for me and Ciara. She turned to me when I showed no signs of going through the portal. "What's the matter?"
"The throne room had seven thrones instead of six," I said.
She took some time before she answered, "Its been a long day, Johnson. Lets get home. We will find out about that another time. With that I too went through the portal.
…..................
I sat on my bed leaning against the wall going through the possible reasons their could be for seven thrones instead of six. It wasn't the first time I had noticed accommodations for a seventh artra but I had dismissed all the others thinking they were probably spares. But seven thrones didn't make sense at all. Thinking back to the training they had gone through with Ciara. Of all of them, she seemed to have a good handle on magic, though her comfort zone seemed to be with Earth magic though I had suspected she'd be better with water since it's similar to ice. To be honest she had proved to be a pain while using Earth. She claimed she had chosen to spare them and wouldnt use any ice. I hadn't exactly understood what she meant by that until we witnessed her power against Texan.
Just then I felt a draft of wind from my window. I looked to the balcony and noticed a humanlike figure. I came to check and found Ciara leaning against the rail looking towards the stars. I opened the door to the balcony and she turned to face me. "Trouble sleeping," I asked.
"Yeah, I forgot we had to sleep here too," she said.
"Well, I didn't exactly…."
"I know," she cut me off, " I was reconsidering bothering you." she said before turning her eyes skyward again. Armenville had a good view of the stars.
"Hey Ciara, can I ask you something?" I asked and she she nodded, " If you're the alpha, how is it you only came to town recently?"
Ciara sighed before she began the story, "Dad always had his job stationing him in different states, and he always insisted on moving with us. So everywhere he went, my mom, sister and I had to follow. It was about a month ago when mom and dad got into a huge fight and for the first time, mom won the fight. Dad had to bring us back. We used to live here a long time ago. We left when I was seven. I can't remember why or even much of what happened before I was seven, but dad says it was for my safety. Anyway I was too young to remember every detail even though I always feel like straining my memory for something important but I always come up blank. My sister has quickly settled in her new school though I've caught her mumbling about a dashing boy in her school. Anyways that's how I got oriented to a new school after the many schools I've been to. Wound up with friends who I have to keep in line while we fight dark mages in another world full of magic and...."
I pulled her into a quick embrace as she was rambling and beginning to hyperventilate,, "Calm down," she leaned further into my chest like she was trying to get comfy for sleep.
"I could sleep here, you know," she said with her eyes closed.
"I am not entirely opposed to that," I whispered trying to lure her to sleep. Tiredness was visible in her eyes and I wanted to help her get the rest she deserved. The alpha and Siege might be able to regain their strength quickly, but eventually, they too can get tired.
"You're tempting fate, Johnson," she whispered.
"I'm willing to try," I said and with that her body went limp in my arms. I carried her back to the bed and lay with her there covering her promptly with the intention of leaving her to sleep in my bed under the sheets while I wasn't. One problem. She was holding onto me tightly. She reacted each time I tried setting her down on the pillow. Sighing in defeat I decided I would let her sleep that way. I lay in bed for a few more minutes staring at her sleeping peacefully on my chest before I too fell fast asleep. She really was very beautiful, my last thought drifted through my mind, and I think I'm falling for her.