Yawning and wide awake, running and walking slowly; everyone here had a different time they had to be at their destination. If they were late, they were stuck waiting for the next to arrive and if they were on time, they were sitting comfortably waiting to arrive at their new destination. The Denver airport was busy and very packed with people trying to travel to different places. Denver had the largest airport and it lived up to its reputation; very overwhelming. Crowding near the baggage check desks, Ally, Markel, Ocyris and everyone else stood saying their goodbyes to Tanto and Ely.
"Tanto, I'm trusting you with E.P. Labs ok." Markel said and smiled as he hugged him.
Tanto embraced Markel in a tight farewell. "You have nothing to worry about, but someone else wanted to say goodbye to you."
Markel looked at Tanto, questioning who it could be. Tanto looked behind him and ushered for the person to come forward. A young girl with long blue hair and silver eyes had stepped forward; shy and about to burst into tears.
"Howler?" Markel raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I wanted to say bye to you guys before you left. Plus, I wanted to make sure my fellow wolf was ok." Howler said as she looked over to Frost. Frost walked up to her and smiled.
"We'll be ok." Frost reassured her.
Howler smiled and suddenly wrapped her arms around Frost. "You take care of Markel for me ok, and if you ever need anything don't be afraid to contact me." She said while fighting back her tears. Suddenly from behind Frost, Ocyris spoke up.
"Little Howler, is that you?"
Howler looked back and her eyes squinted. She didn't quite recognize who was talking to her for Ocyris was in his Oryan disguise. "Um, who are you?" She asked, letting go of Frost.
Ocyris looked down, remembering what form he was in and nodded in understanding. "It's me Howler. Ocyris."
Howler looked at him in disbelief. "No way, it can't be you. Prove it." she said crossing her arms and waiting for the proof she required.
Ocyris nodded and suddenly made only the 'V' tattoo on his forehead appear. Howler's eyes filled with tears and her mouth had turned into the biggest smile that she's had in years. Ocyris made the tattoo disappear as Howler ran to him and embraced him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and squeezing as hard as she could. "I can't believe it's you. Why are you here and in that disguise?" she questioned; speaking with her head buried into his chest.
"Something terrible has happened and I had to come back to retrieve Miss Analise here." Ocyris said and gently pulled Howler from him. "When everything is said and done with, I'll come back and get you and His Excellency can help you with your sickness ok."
Howler's eyes teared up even more and a knot started to form in her throat. "Can he really do that?"
Ocyris nodded with reassurance. "I will probably need to convince him, but I do believe he'll be ok with helping restore all of it, if not, most of it."
Howler cried even harder and dropped to her knees; not knowing if she could believe it or not. Ocyris knelt in front of her and lifted her head to look at him. "We'll be back ok. Be patient until then and help Ely and Tanto with everything you can."
Howler nodded and wiped her tears and stood to her feet. Everyone gradually got around to saying all their goodbyes and gave their hugs. Waving them off Tanto, Ely and Howler watched as the group checked in their bags, got their tickets and walked off towards security. A sweet moment turned bittersweet as they got through security and were no longer in the three's line of sight. Tanto place an arm around Howlers shoulders and lead the way out of the airport with Ely right behind him, leaving their friends with the hard part and going back to the lab to protect everyone from what might come.
****
Waiting in their terminal for their flight, Ally and Analise sat on the floor leaning up against the window that looked out over the taxiway and the airport apron. Markel sat in one of the seats as well as Frost and Hedix. Ocyris stood next to Ally and looked at the planes that were taxiing their way in and their way out to the runway.
"Hey Ocyris." Frost tried to get his attention.
"Respect him please." Ally said and glared at Frost.
Frost rolled his eyes "Fine, Hey Lord Ocyris." He said again.
Ocyris looked at Frost from the corner of his eye. "What is it Frost?" he asked; slight irritation in his voice.
"Why can't you just transport us there? Why do we have to fly?"
Ocyris turned around and looked at Frost and Hedix. "I need for us to go somewhere first. Analise and Hedix are the only ones here who don't have a lick of magical power. So were going to go find one of my friends and he's going to teach them some stuff."
"That still doesn't explain why you can't just poof us to wherever we have to go." Frost said and leaned his head back.
"I need to preserve my power, plus if I do it right here, people will notice." Ocyris said.
"Speaking of people. What about ours' Lord Ocyris. Aren't you going to tell them that you're alive?" Markel questioned.
"I will tell them when they have a home to go back to." Ocyris answered.
"Well then. Hey, I have a question. What are you guys anyway?" Hedix asked looking at Markel, Ally and Ocyris.
Markel and Ally glance up at Ocyris. "All of that will be explained later. I have to get permission to reveal that." Ocyris said.
"Some royalty you are." Frost whispered with attitude and disrespect.
Ocyris gritted his teeth and tried to keep his composure. "Listen Frost, I may be royalty, but I don't have the authority it gives. I gave up that right, in order to serve my brother. The one thing I do have though, is the authority to kill you where you sit with just a blink from my eyes. Do you understand me?" Ocyris voiced, full of the intent to kill him.
Frost had a chill of fear run through his spine and choose to shut his mouth before he ended up dead in the airport. The last thing he wanted was to end the line of his clan by being killed by a prince from another race. "So, um, who is this person they have to meet?" Frost asked, trying to get back on Ocyris's good side.
Hedix went to the edge of his chair and Analise looked up at Ocyris when he started to speak. "His name is Tech. He's a friend of me and my brother. He's part of the spirit realm."
"How come we've never heard of this person Lord Ocyris?" Ally asked as she stuffed a chocolate covered pretzel in her mouth.
Ocyris looked at Ally as she chewed. "My brother and I kept him a secret, and for good reason. Tech comes off as a shady character, but he's a powerful person and we need him by our side right now." Ocyris said. Suddenly over the intercom of the terminal.
"Attention passengers of flight 555, please have your boarding passes ready and your belongings gathered, we will be boarding in five minutes. Thank you." The attendant from the front desk spoke through the mic, hanging it up afterwards. Ocyris picked up his backpack and put out a helping hand to Ally and Analise who were sitting on the floor. With them now on their feet, Markel, Hedix and Frost were at their feet and waiting to board. The attendant came over the speaker once more.
"Attention all passengers of flight 555, we are now boarding. Passengers that have first class tickets please begin the boarding process now." Ocyris and everyone had lined up and started to board. Scanning their tickets and following each other through the tunnel that led them to the plane, the group made their way to their seats and had gotten comfortable. Markel, Ally and Ocyris sat in one row and Hedix, Frost and Analise had sat right beside them on the other side of the isle. First class on an airplane was a lot better than the economy class; the seats were wider, and it was a lot quieter with better snacks and movies. Frost and Hedix looked over the pamphlet that described the exits and the safety procedures for in any case the plane was to go down or have complications. Analise looked out the window, since she had the window seat, and a let out a sigh. Frost, who was next to her, looked over at her; he could sense her nerves.
"You ok Analise?" Frost asked, as he leaned back into the chair.
"Um, yeah. I'm ok." Analise smiled; her smile hid a lie.
"You know I can tell that your nervous. You can talk to me." Frost reassured her.
Analise looked down and nervously played with her fingernails. "It's just everything is happening so fast. I'm a human, I don't know how to handle all of this."
Frost gently placed his hand on top of hers to stop her nervous nail playing. "Analise, everything is going to be fine. You basically have four supernatural creatures protecting you, and apparently there's going to be five once we see this Tech dude. So, don't worry. We wouldn't let anything happen to you. Plus, if prince over there is as powerful as I think he is, we're all-in safe hands." Frost said, his smile reassuring.
Analise smiled as well and continued to look out of the window. The plane had finished boarding and the flight attendants were running through the usual procedures with the seat belt and the oxygen mask. The plane was taxiing to the runway and within minutes the plane was up in the air. Between the four hours it took to get to their destination, Frost, Hedix and Analise had fallen asleep and were asleep most of the flight. Ocyris, Markel and Ally were all up talking about the good old days and how things were going to work once they met up with Tech. After a long silence with nothing but the air from the vents above the seats and the static roar from the plane's engines, a flight attendant had come over the speakers.
"Attention passengers, the captain has just informed me that we are 10 minutes away from our destination. We are being to descend, so if everyone could please follow the buckle light and buckle up and place your food trays up and make sure your belongings are securely underneath your chair. Thank you." The attendant hung up the mic and everyone had begun to follow the instructions they were giving.
Ally leaned over to see if the three sleeping were awake: nope still asleep. "Brother are they buckled?" Ally asked, trying to see from her window seat.
Markel, who was in the aisle seat, had looked over at the three; checking to see if they were buckled still. "Yeah, they're fine." Markel reassured Ally and leaned his head back on the chair.
Suddenly over the intercom "Attention passengers, we are now coming in for a landing. Do expect a few bumps." The attendant announced and as the plane hit the ground the attendant came back on. "Welcome to Virginia, we are now pulling into Richmond International Airport. Temperature outside right now is about fifty-five degrees and it's only going to get colder as the night progress. When we come to a stop and the captain has turned the seat belt sign off, please make your way safely off the plane and make sure you have all your belongings. Thank you for flying with us at delta and have a great rest of your evening." As the plane taxied to a complete stop, everyone had begun to disembark the plane and make their way out into the terminal. The six came out of the plane as well and began to walk along with everyone else. Ocyris then stopped in the middle of the terminal, after mostly everyone had exited.
"Markel, Ally, Frost, Hedix and Analise, from here I can transport everyone to where we need to go. Gather around and stay close." Ocyris said waiting for everyone to gather.
"Wait won't everyone notice?" Hedix asked, looking around to make sure no one was staring at them.
Ocyris smiled. "No one will notice. Now, everyone prepare yourselves, you will have the wind taken out of you for a moment, if you're not use to it." Suddenly Ocyris's eyes began to glow and the floor began to pixilate beneath them and within seconds, the six had been on the front yard of an abandoned mansion. The white paint of the two-story mansion had been peeling and the wood had been so decade, that it was amazing that the place was still standing. The place had a wraparound porch that had two access points; one set of stairs directly in the front and a set of stairs to the side where the driveway had a cover over it. The lawn wasn't even green but was a dried light brown that crunched when someone walked through it. The windows had been boarded up with rotting plywood, some still had glass on them, others had glass that remained around the corners of the window seal.
"Wow, this place is terrible. Where are we?" Frost asked looking at the mansion is disgust.
"This is Tech's place. Come on, follow me closely." Ocyris walked slowly up to the front door. The front door had its original stained glass on the front, but the doorknob was missing and there was no doorbell. Ocyris slowly opened the door as it creaked with every movement; the sounds echoing throughout the place. When everyone had got through the door, the inside was just as bad as the outside; or so it seemed.
"Tech!" Ocyris screamed as he walked around trying to find him.
Suddenly "May I help you?" a voice came from behind the others.
Analise and Frost had looked back but saw no one there. "Can I help you?" the voice asked again. Analise looked up and down but still no one was around, the only thing that was there was a porcelain doll that was dressed in an old, ragged dress and had cracks on its face. Analise looked closer at the doll, drawing her face closer and closer, until. "Can I help you?" came from the doll. Analise shrieked and ran to the only person that was near her, grabbing their arm and hiding behind them; Hedix. Hedix and everyone quickly looked back and saw the same doll.
"What happened?" Ally asked, walking towards Analise.
"That doll spoke to me?" Analise said, point at the doll and trying not to sound too crazy.
"Oh please, dolls don't talk." Frost said picking up the doll.
"What do you mean I can't talk." The doll suddenly said, causing Frost to throw the doll up in the air and run behind Hedix as well.
"Um, you're a wolf, I'm a human. Why are you hiding behind me?" Hedix asked and watched as the doll hit the ground; only to make another crack in the dolls face and now its arm.
"Listen, I can do everything else except talking haunted dolls." Frost said and looked towards the doll, which Ocyris was picking up, holding it from under its arms.
"Tech, knock it off and come help me." Ocyris spoke. Suddenly, black smoke began to emerge from the dolls mouth, forming into a person wearing a black cloak with a hood.
"I don't recognize you." The figure spoke; everyone staring at him because he literally just came from the inside of a doll.
Ocyris then got rid of Oryan and appeared as himself. "Recognize me now Tech?"
The figured started to laugh manically and suddenly removed his hood. Tech had dark purple hair that was short and spikey but had two long skinny braids coming down from the back lower part of his head. His eyes were closed and a scar that stretched from ear to ear and over the bridge of his nose "You have some serious explaining to do Ocyris. Like, where have you been, and what you've been doing? And why did you bring these people inside of my house?" Tech spoke in a tone that was low and frightening.
"I do believe you know about what happened about a day ago?" Ocyris began, following Tech as he walked through a door that led down to a basement; ushering the rest to follow him.
The stairs that led to the basement weren't like any other stairs. These stairs felt like they went on forever and they also went down in a spiral. The hallway was dark and every step the group took felt like the walls were caving in and the space was becoming smaller and smaller as they got closer to the bottom. Everyone's vision was encased in complete darkness and they were forced to hang onto one another as they descended the stairs. Suddenly coming into view at the end of the stairs, candles had begun to light up a hallway. The candles were strategically placed in carved out mantles that were in the wall. The further they went down the hallway a door had come into view. The group wasn't even near the door yet as Tech had raised his hand, allowing the door to swing open by itself, letting a bright red light eat away at the yellow and orange candlelight that filled the hallway. The group neared the door and entered the threshold, to the right of the door as they walked in, one couch, two single chairs and a coffee table had sat in the middle with two ordinary end tables at each end of one of the couches. To the left of the doorway, was something no one in the group, besides Ocyris, had seen before. Shelves crowded with specimens that were floating in jars, from eyeballs to fetus like things. Desks were below the shelves and were cluttered with test tubes and beakers with a variety of different colored liquids in each of them, but the one thing that spooked everyone the most, was the collection of dolls in the far back that hung on the wall from the ground up.
"Holy shit dude!" Frost said and jumped back; scared out of his mind.
"What is it Frost?" Tech asked, turning his head in Frost's direction.
"You have dolls everywhere. Why? Are you some sort of creep?" Frost said, only to get smacked in the back of the head by Hedix who was glaring at him.
Tech chuckled slightly and turned his head back towards the wall. "Dear Frost, I'm a dark magic and voodoo mage, wouldn't you normally suspect that I would own a few dolls."
"Yeah, but not this many, like this is too many dude." Frost continued to stare at the wall in horror.
"Call me dude one more time Dear Frost and I will make you into one of those dolls and have you in my collection. Is that understood?" Tech smiled deviously.
Frost shut his mouth and stood back with Analise, who was also creeped out, as everyone followed Tech farther back and closer to the dolls. "Ocyris, you want to explain to me what the surge of energy I felt a day ago was." Tech said and sat down on a bar stool that was in front of a desk.
Ocyris stood next to Tech and looked down at the book that was in front of him. "I forgot you read in braille."
"You're evading my question Ocyris. What happened and why are these people here?" Tech said and closed the book, turning his head in Ocyris direction.
"You want the long version or the short version of the problem?"
"Short."
Ocyris looked at Analise who was hiding along with Frost behind everyone else. He then looked back at Tech who was calmly waiting for Ocyris to explain. "Aaron isn't going to be back for three days or less. The barrier on my brother broke and I have two humans here who need some magically guidance."
Tech raised his eyebrows and nodded in understanding. "So, a war is going to begin again and you're going to your brother to protect him, but you want the humans to be able to defend themselves if worst comes to worst?" Tech explained in his own words, hitting the nail on the head.
"Exactly." Ocyris agreed.
Tech directed his attention at Hedix and Analise. "Hedix, Analise come here." Tech ordered.
Hedix looked at Ally and whispered. "How does his know our names?"
Ally shrugged and suddenly Tech answered for Ally "I'm a dark magic mage. I had someone tell me your names."
Hedix looked at Tech wide eyed and cautiously walked up to him, with Analise right behind. "Come closer." Tech said waving a finger in the 'come here' motion. Hedix and Analise took steps closer to Tech. Tech was a few inches in front of them but suddenly, within a blink of an eye he was gone. Hedix almost jumped out of his skin when a pair of ice-cold fingers were placed on his temples. Hedix was then brought down to his knees with a surge of energy that ran through his body. Tech still had his fingers on Hedix's head and was mouthing something as Hedix's eyes began to glow.
"What the hell is happening?" Frost said, trying to make an advancement towards Hedix, but was forced to his knees by a shadow that extended from Tech and attached itself to Frosts feet. "What the hell is this?!" Frost said looking down at the shadow and then back up at Tech, who was done with Hedix and was suddenly in Frost's face.
"That was my shadow. It stopped you where you stood. You're going to be a problem, aren't you?" Tech said as a smile ran across his face.
Frost suddenly felt a chill run up his spine as he looked down to see the shadow that was once on his feet was now rising on his legs and was almost at his waist. "What are you doing?" Frost questioned, his voice shaking slightly from fear.
"I'm taking care of a problem Frost; I can't have you questioning every move I make." Tech smiled as the shadow continued up.
"Tech stop." Ocyris chimed in, stopping the shadow.
Tech turned away from Frost and walked over to Hedix with the shadow retracting and going back to him. Frost let a breath out and looked at Hedix, who looked totally fine. Frost stayed where he was at and just continued to watch Tech in silence. Tech stepped in front of Hedix and stood there silently, placing his hands above his head and breathing ever so softly. Everyone in the room was silent and only the sounds of the liquids that were pouring into beakers could be heard.
"Hm, Hedix, are you aware that you might be somewhat of a supernatural being?" Tech questioned and removed his hands from above Hedix's head.
"Um no, I wasn't made aware of that until now." Hedix said and stood up; watching Tech make his way over to the wall of dolls. Observing Tech, he seemed to be talking to someone or something. Tech then pulled a doll with blue hair, a pin stripped hat on its' head, clown like makeup on its eyes and an elegant white dress from the wall and placed it gently on the table so it sat up. Tech then placed two fingers on the dolls forehead and blue lines began to appear on Techs arm, as if it were cracking. The lines were being transferred to the doll, making the doll's eyes glow. The glow faded and Tech had backed up slightly.
"Crystal, are you there?" Tech asked the doll.
Suddenly the doll on the desk had begun to move; its arms twitched, and the head tilted to each side, as if it were stretching its neck from being stiff. "Yes, I'm here." A female voice suddenly spoke from the doll. Everyone in the room was shocked and stared at the doll as it took to its feet. Ocyris looked at the doll closely and then looked at Tech.
"Who is this Tech?" Ocyris asked.
"This is Crystal. She's one of the three contracted spirits I have, and she's also a spirit guide that helps me with different things." Tech said introducing her.
Crystal nodded her porcelain head and curtsied to everyone in the room. "It's nice to officially meet everyone."
"What does she mean by officially?" Markel asked.
"She's just a spirit that I put into a doll. She could already see each one of you, but now she's allowed to talk to you, and you can actually hear her." Tech said and picked Crystal up and placed her on his shoulder. "Crystal, can you do a favor for me?"
"Of course, Sir Tech. What is it?" Crystal asked, looking at Tech with her brown porcelain eyes.
"I have already figured out what Hedix is, but I need you to tell me why. Can you do that?" Tech asked.
"Yes of course. I would just need Mister Hedix to hold me for a few." Crystal instructed. Tech nodded and turned his head towards Hedix.
"Take her Hedix and hold her for a little. Don't be scared, she's harmless; unless you piss her off." Tech said and handed Crystal to Hedix. Hedix gently took ahold of her and held her like a newborn baby. Crystals eyes began to glow and stayed that way for a couple of minutes. Everyone in the room stared at Crystal; Tech continued about his business, reading his book that was on the desk. Crystal's eyes immediately went back to normal after the few minutes had passed.
"Sir Tech." Crystal called out.
"Yes." Tech answered and walked over to Hedix.
"Hedix's family on his mother's side were from a long line of witches and his father's side were psychics." Crystal spoke; surprising everyone in the room.
"Really, I didn't know that." Hedix looked at everyone, alarmed at the fact that he had been supernatural all this time and he didn't even know.
"Hedix, have you had any weird dreams or anything that has come off abnormal?" Tech asked, rummaging through a book shelve full of unique items.
"Now that I think about it. I did have a dream when Frost was in the hospital." Hedix said, placing Crystal back on the table and looking at Tech as he handed him a giant book that was as heavy as a brick.
"Jesus, what is this thing?" Hedix asked, shocked from the weight as it pulled him down slightly.
"That my friend is a grimoire. You will be studying under me until the time is right. Now Analise, I did sense that you have an important role to all this nonsense. Am I correct?" Tech said as he redirected his attention to Analise. Analise nodded and looked at Tech's eyes that were slightly open but looking down; a chill ran down her spine, and she quickly looked away.
"Don't look directly into them my dear. If you investigate them for too long, something will happen to your soul." Tech said and motioned Analise to sit down on the bar stool that was underneath Crystal, where her feet were dangling.
Analise sat down slowly, kind of freaked out by what Tech had said about his eyes and then looked around at everyone. Markel and Ally were sitting over where the couches were, trying not to get in the way of everything. Ocyris was standing right behind her, leaning up against the wall, and Hedix was standing over by Frost as they were looking at the cover and the back of the grimoire. "What are you going to do Tech?" Analise asked as she watched Tech go over to the table of beakers, grab one and bring it over to the table.
"Don't worry dear this is just my tea, but I am going to run a few soul scans on you to see what I can do and what I can't do."
"What do you mean by that?" Analise questioned, slightly nervous.
Tech took a sip from his beaker and then set it down on the table. "From what I understand, you play a vital role and I need to know what I can teach you without corrupting your soul."
"What do you mean?" Analise hesitantly asked.
"Your role in all of this requires your soul to be pure. Since half of your soul is connected to the mage that worked for His Excellency, I need to make sure I do not damage that part of you in order for everything to work properly down the road. My line of magic can corrupt it if I teach you to wield something wrong. I need to read your soul to figure out what kind of magic I can teach you." Tech answered.
"How are you going to do that?" Analise asked.
"I'm going to take a little bit of your blood into my hand and I will perform a reading like that. If I take too much, then all will be lost."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You sure do have a lot of questions. Has Ocyris not explained everything?" Tech said while grabbing a small needle from the desk.
Analise shook her head. Tech turned his head towards Ocyris and shook it in disappointment. "Well, I'm sure he will in due time."
Tech then took Analise's hand into his and pricked her index finger with the needle. Slightly bending her finger towards her palm, the blood began to drip down and pool into her hand. Tech then put two of his fingers in that pool of red liquid and the eyes that were once closed were now fully opened and the black abyss he had for eyes had lines cracking going through them. The lines were fading through the colors of the rainbow and then suddenly stopped, as pink had shone through the lines. Tech removed his fingers and closed his eyes as the color disappeared. He then handed Analise a towel to clean off the blood and then walked over the table of beakers.
"Well Tech?" Ocyris questioned.
"I can do a series of things, but I will have to be careful. So, you and Hedix over there will be training with me for the time being, but until then I do need to speak with Ocyris in private." Tech said as he wiped his fingers clean.
"Markel, Ally, can you take everyone upstairs for a few? We'll be there in a minute." Ocyris said.
Markel and Ally nodded and stood up from the couches they sat on, taking everyone upstairs and leaving Tech and Ocyris alone. Tech waited for a moment to make sure everyone had made it up and the door to the basement had shut. Once the door shut, Tech sat down on the bar stool and directed his attention to Ocyris. "Do you know if His Excellency has awakened fully or if the seal was just released?" Tech questioned.
Ocyris stood straight up from leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. "I only sensed that the protective barrier was released. If he has awakened fully, he sure hasn't tried to contact me in any way."
Tech nodded and pulled another doll from the wall; a voodoo doll that looked like it was wearing a gas mask. Doing the same thing he did to put Crystal into her doll body, light purple lines on Techs arm had appeared and disappeared into the doll. Within minutes the voodoo doll was up and moving. "Julian?" Tech asked.
"Yes, Sir Tech?" the doll spoke; in a low whispering tone.
"I need you to do something for me. This will require keeping me updated on everything that happens and serving as a line of communication. Can you do that?" Tech asked.
"Yes, Sir Tech, I can." Julian answered.
"I'm going to send you to the location of His Excellency. His seal was broken, and I need to know how much time I have to train the humans." Tech informed.
Julian nodded.
"When you get there, contact me with vision and voice." Tech demanded.
Julian nodded again. Tech then placed two fingers on Julian's head and two fingers on Ocyris's head: getting the location from Ocyris. Within minutes Julian's doll had vanished, and Tech waited silently for Julian to report. The long wait was terrible but suddenly Techs eyes opened and flashed white, a vision was released from his eyes like a projector. Julian's doll had been standing on the coffin that was used to hold His Excellency. The coffin was fully opened, but no one laid inside.
"What's going on Julian?" Tech questioned.
"No one's in the coffin, Sir Tech. I can find him and get back to you with a report."
"Yes, find him. We need to know urgently if he's still in the tombs. Can you tell from just sitting there?"
Julian went quiet for a moment to concentrate and home in on any magical presences that was in the tomes. "Yes, he's still here." Julian reported.
"Find him, and report back." Tech commanded.
"Yes." Julian said, the vision ending with Tech's eyes closing.
Ocyris had bent down and placed his head in his hands; thinking the worst possibly scenario had come true. "If he was out of the coffin, how come he didn't contact me?" Ocyris questioned with fear behind his voice.
Tech then placed a comforting hand on Ocyris's shoulder. "He might be too weak to contact you. Julian will find him and report back. Don't worry that pretty little head of yours." Tech said, grinning a little.
Ocyris looked up at Tech and then stood to his feet. Suddenly, Ocyris and Tech sensed a wave of someone's presence on the lawn outside of the mansion. Along with the feeling, Analise's voice had called out from upstairs. "Mister Tech, Lord Ocyris! We have company!" Tech placed a hand on Ocyris's shoulder again; as if to say, 'stay here' and had suddenly disappeared from downstairs and appeared upstairs right next to Analise and Hedix who were hiding behind an old couch while Markel, Ally and Frost were outside, staring the visitor down. The visitor was standing in the yard and looked at the three standing in front of him.
"Identify yourself." Markel ordered the visitor.
"Tech where are you?!" the visitor called out; completely ignoring Markel. Suddenly Tech emerged in front of Frost, Markel and Ally in a ring of black smoke that had formed on the ground.
"What do you want Rex?" Tech asked.
"I thought you might know where the artifact is. My committee told me to come here and question you until you told me."
"And what happens if I don't tell you?" Tech asked in a calm and low tone.
"Then you'll have to force me to leave, because I'm not leaving without an answer." Rex threatened as he pulled a flaming axe from thin air and began to swing it around in his hand.
"Well then, I guess I'll be forcing you to leave." Tech said as black smoke began to form around his feet.
"Bring it on."