"Are you sure about this?" Victor said his voice quiet in the darkness of two am. Victor stood near Dorian, as did Terry. Darius, Helena, Simeon, Amaya and Laurena stood apart behind them. They all stood sever feet away from the castle just ahead of the line of forest that lined the whole estate.
"It'll be fine." Dorian said glancing at Victor. Dorian cupped his mouth. "SILAS YOU DRUNK BASTARD! IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO REPAY THAT FAVOR YOU OWE ME!" Dorian said screaming as loudly as he could. Victor blinked twice before glancing at Dorian. "Was that really necessary?" he asked. "Wait for it." Dorian said, pointing to the sky. There was a spark of light in a circle that spiraled around in a tight circle that got bigger and bigger, until it became the shape of a whirlpool. Out of that whirlpool ran what looked like multicolored galloping horses, that ran through the sky spreading stars in their wake. As they approached the ground their shape changed and it became clear they were wolves.
One of the front wolves stood up and became a man wearing tight leather pants and a knee length brown leather jacket. He visibly shook, and as he did a bolt of lightning struck just behind the pack of wolves who all threw their heads back and howled.
"Well, well, well." The newly formed wolf said, clapping his hands together. "If it isn't my favorite disgraced prince, and Victor," he said his eyes shining. "Don't you look old."
Victor scowled. "It's always a pleasure to see you, Silas. How has immortality been treating you?" Victor said. "It suits me fine." Silas said rolling his eyes walking towards Victor and Dorian. "I assume you called me forth to help settle this civil war you find yourself embroiled in." Silas said.
"It's not really a Civil war." Victor protested. "Witches are conspiring against you in the South, there are Vampires planning on overthrowing you in the East, and hordes of wraiths about to descend upon you from the North."
"Technically the Vampires are no longer conspiring against you." Dorian said, glancing at Victor. "Although to be fair, I had no idea about the wraiths from the North." He said. "That's the beauty of how we travel." Silas said smirking superiorly. "We see everything from one glance in the sky. Although I've never know Kieran to be fond of your leadership." He said narrowing his eyes. "He wasn't, he's not bound to be fond of anything right now seeing as he is without a head." Dorian said. Silas smiled, walking past Dorian and Victor to gaze upon the rest of the group. "Nathaniel's finest assassins, I would've never thought would stand behind you." Silas said looking back at Victor before his eyes went back looking past Darius and Helena to gaze upon Terry and Laurena, both who were standing side by side. Looking every bit, the brother and sister that they were. "Those blue eyes, definitely nothing demon in their eyes." Silas mused to himself. "Children of the beautiful Gianna, no doubt." He said before his eyes went to Amaya who raised her eyebrows as his eerie green eyes met her silver ones. "A witch of the darkest sort, here in the castle!" Silas said, clearly making fun. Amaya rolled her eyes. "Don't be crass. You know I'm only here for Dorian." She said. "And no doubt, you have made those intentions very clear to Victor." He said turning back to look at Victor and Dorian. "I will help you of course." Silas said. "Not because I honor my King." He drawled glaring at Victor, before turning to look at Dorian. "But because, if it wasn't for you, I'd been dead a long time ago."
"So, does that mean you still owe me a favor?" Dorian said smirking. Silas growled softly, "After this is all said and done, we are all going to want beers." Silas said sighing, he turned looking at his pack making a soft whistle. Two of the wolves sat up straighter, transforming into two women, one with long straight brown hair wearing jeans and leather tank top that stuck to her skin. The other had long curly black hair, wearing dark red leather, from boots all the way to just before her throat. The red leather clad girl made a short whistle and the rest of the wolves howled once, before they all ran into the woods. "This is my second in command Rai, and her sister Mina. They have led many battles with me, and they serve as my counsel." Silas said. Dorian bent his head towards the two girls as they approached. "So, if Kieran is dead as you say, what makes you think that whoever took over won't be thinking of waging their Vampires into war?" Rai asked looking carefully at the people that Victor had assembled in the courtyard. "Because the person who took over, is one of ours." Dorian said. Victor glanced at Dorian. "Bram is friends with the new coven leader." Dorian said. "I think friends might be overstating things." Laurena added from behind him. Dorian turned sparing a look of warning at her. Mina, turned to look at Laurena with interest. "You are the lost princess, aren't you?" Mina asked shrewdly. "She doesn't look very lost to me."
"So, the witches already made their first move?" Silas enquired as he took another sip of the dark sludge that served as coffee down in Vemos. "Yes, they kidnapped my son Raphael."
"Eliza sent the blonde twins to tell us that she was going to kill him in three days if we didn't bring Nathaniel back." Dorian said. "That's a normal tactic for the witches, they believe that by the removal of heirs they can take the power from any kingdom." Silas said. "There's been many cases of children going missing thanks to that particular coven." Mina added. "Likewise, the easiest way to deal with them is to take away their power."
"You mean their magic?" Darius asked.
"Can that even be done?" Helena asked her eyes narrowed. "It can be, but it takes a certain talisman to do it." Simeon said. "A talisman?" Darius asked, taking a bite, of leftover bread. It was early morning in the castle, Victor had gone to make a report to the Court of the situation they now found themselves in. War, even in Vemos, was a serious matter. Darius, Terry and Helena all sat crowded around the table listening to Dorian, Silas, Mina, Rai, and Simeon all discuss the different ways to deal with ending the war before it even started.
"Yes, the talisman would work for the witches but we still need to retrieve it, and it won't solve the problem of the hordes of wraiths that are coming towards us from the North." Dorian said. "The Wraiths are easy. They are shadow creatures and everyone knows the best way to deal with a shadow creature is to keep it locked up in a box." Silas said.
"And what box would keep hordes of shadow creatures contained?" Rai asked, her eyebrows raised.
"A Skyphos." Darius said, smugly.
"A Skyphos is not real." Helena said narrowing her eyes at her brother. Darius rolled his eyes. "There is a rumor of a Skyphos that was used in the ancient times to hold the shadow dragons that sometimes formed when an overabundance of wraiths occurred in the Kingdom. The Skyphos has to be real." Darius said. "I didn't know you had such knowledge of the myths of old." Dorian said his eyebrows raised. "My dear brother is obsessed with them." Helena said whacking Darius in the back. "The Skyphos is real." Amaya said as she walked into the room. She glanced at Dorian. "I'm surprised you don't remember those stories. If I recall the tales of the ShadowSpires, the serpents with wings were your favorite tales as a child." She said. Dorian scowled. "Again. I was a child."
"Any volunteers for that mission?" Silas said.
"Oh, I am so all over that." Mina said grinning wildly.
"I'd like to go with you as well." Terry said. "I'm going to let Victor know about that. Before we make any concrete plans. Terry you better come with me, you are already on thin ice with the whole witches' fiasco." Simeon said as he rose from the table. "Come on Mina, let's go to the library and see if we can't look up the actual myth." Darius said. Amaya grinned, winking at Dorian as she left with them both.
"What about the Talisman?" Rai asked looking at Silas. "The talisman is the Forest just north of the eastern mountains. Near the Vampires cave." Silas said looking at Dorian. "Cassie and Bram should come with whoever goes for the talisman. Cassie is good at tracking and Bram is friends with the New Vampire leader, Christian." Dorian said, answering Silas's unspoken question. "You should go. The Vampires aren't fond of our kind. I will ask the King for permission and then head towards the North, we can scout out where the wraiths are coming from and be ready when Darius and Terry come with the Skyphos." Silas said nodding at Rai, who sighed. "It would have been nice to annoy the Vamps but I suppose your right." She said, getting up from the table. Dorian rose as well glancing at Helena before he left. Helena turned to look at Silas who was already looking at her. "What." She asked her eyes narrowing at him. "You were extremely quiet, I'm surprised that you didn't volunteer to go with him." Silas said gesturing at the door that Dorian had just left.
"Dorian is not my first concern. Are you positive the Skyphos is real?" Helena said eyeing down Silas. "Don't you know by now that there are no such things as myths. At least not here in Vemos." Silas said. Helena rolled her eyes, she'd seen plenty of war, in her time as an assassin in Nathaniel's court. Sometimes the prevention of war seemed futile. Terry and Laurena were so young, so naïve in the ways in which Vemos worked, they would have to learn if they wanted to survive in Vemos. Helena watched as Rai and Silas exchanged some words in Spanish before, Rai got up leaving Silas. Sometimes Helena wished she was like one of the wolves, their life was far from easy. Generally, they went from conflict to conflict, but she craved the comradery they shared. They knew each other so well that sometimes when Silas was about to ask Rai for something she was already leaning forward with it in hand. She envied that closeness. She should've had it with her own brother, but she knew they were too manipulative to be that close. She wondered if Darius would even want her with him, to find the Skyphos.
Laurena's Bedroom
Dorian walked up the gilded staircase that led to the royal bedrooms, ignoring the stares of the court people who were still milling around the foyer of the castle. Court had ended while they had been in the kitchen discussing strategy, and Dorian knew the reason they lingered stemmed from curiosity. The need to know what was going on when they knew that the King had to have a plan in place to stop this oncoming war. If they only knew. Dorian got closer to Lauri's bedroom and immediately, intuitively knew that something was very wrong. And as he stepped across the threshold of her room, he knew what it was that was wrong. "Oh god. Please tell me you both aren't becoming friends." Dorian complained, his eyes closing. Lauri and Cassie turned around, both dressed the same way they had been when they had gone to the mountains of the Vampires.
"Don't be a hater, Dori dear." Cassie said. "Shouldn't you be happy that I'm making friends, and not just moping around in the castle?" Lauri questioned him. "Not if your friends are going to cause me more grief." Dorian said.
"If you have any sense at all, you are going to be headed straight back to where we were last, the forest of the eastern mountains is where the necklace of the Strigoi, the only living talisman that can completely strip witches of their powers." Cassie said.
"You seem to know a lot about this talisman." Dorian said narrowing his eyes. "A lot more than you do apparently. Or did you forget that the talisman can only be used by either a human purity, or one with angelic roots?" Cassie asked.
Dorian raised his eyebrows, and then immediately closed his eyes. "NO."
"Yes, which means, Lauri has to come with us." Cassie said. Dorian looked up once more glancing at Lauri who was staring unabashedly at him. "Are you serious right now? This is a completely bad idea."
"No, it's a bad idea to go without her, and in any case the King already signed off on this." Cassie said. "What?!" Dorian said his eyes widening. "Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?!" Dorian complained, running his hand over his jaw.
"This is happening whether you like it or not." Cassie said. "If it makes you feel any better, Victor said that both me and Terry need more experience in the world of Vemos, and apparently he thinks you and Terry are spending too much time together. His words, not mine." Lauri said. Dorian scowled. "This is a bad idea."