Chereads / Cordis Tempus / Chapter 2 - Chapter 9

Chapter 2 - Chapter 9

"How's it going over there dear?" a woman's voice spoke softly on the other end of the phone.

"It's going, but I have to say, seeing Markel again, it's heartwarming." Oryan spoke, placing his hand over his heart.

The women let out a tiny, sweet giggle. "Oh love, I believe that."

Oryan laid back on the bed he was sitting on and enjoyed the silence and the quiet sounds of his wife's breathing as she continued to work on the other end of the phone. Oryan's room was like most of the dorms here at the lab. One desk that had one lamp, and a bed that was pushed up against the wall closes to the door, but something about Oryan's room seemed a lot more relaxing. Maybe it was the radiant white moon light that shone through the rooms window and casted onto the end of the bed, covering Oryan's feet in a white beam of light.

"When do you need me to come back with her?" Oryan's voice cut through the silence.

"You have about a week before I go, but it could be sooner. I would prefer enough time to do what I need to do, instead of having to rush. Understand?"

"Yes dear. I'll be back soon. Be safe and let me know if anything changes."

"Yes dear. I love you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Oryan said, lifting the phone from his ear and watching the phone call ended on the screen. Oryan sat up and adjusted himself to sit on the edge of the bed. Placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, Oryan let out a sigh of frustration. A week to explain to everyone what was going on and get them back to his wife; and that's if they agreed to go, he knew Markel and Ally would, but would Analise?

"Alright, I have two days to get them to agree and two days to get them to my wife, so she has three days to do what she needs with Analise." Oryan talked to himself quietly as he tried to form a plan. "One day at a time. Now let's get some rest." Oryan stood up and closed the curtain to the window, covering only half of the moons light. Walking over to the mirror that was connected to the wall kitty-corner to the desk by the window, Oryan looked at his reflection. Blinking once, his hair soon grew longer on both sides, having them the same length; mid-back and the white had faded to gray and then black at the ends. His dark green eyes had shone in the mirror; for them being a forest green they shined like a dark emerald gem.

"Let's hope I don't have to have that revolting disguise to much longer. I looked like a thug who joined the military forces and bitched out halfway through." Oryan said disgusted as he blinked again and reverted to his disguise just in case someone had walked into the room throughout the night. Walking to the bed and laying down. Oryan closed his eyes and drifted off into the world of his dreams.

"Oryan!"

"Oryan!"

A female voice yelled through the closed bedroom door followed with a series of knocks. Oryan slowly opened his eyes and saw the same ceiling above him that he saw last night.

"Oryan!" the female yelled again.

Oryan put his thumb and pointer finger on the bridge of his nose and let out a slow deep breath. This wasn't the way he was accustomed to waking up, so the day had already turned annoying before it even began.

"Oryan! Wake up already." The female yelled for the fourth time, but this time even louder and with a series of knocks that were louder than the first three sets.

Oryan sat up and let the silence of the brief pause between the knocks and the name calling flood the room. He closed his eyes once more and suddenly had a visual on the female outside of the door. It was Analise and she seemed to be in a hurry. She was tapping her foot and holding a brown clipboard with papers attached to it. Opening his eyes and swinging his feet over to the floor the knocking began once again.

"Oryan!" Analise's voice became louder, but as soon as Oryan's feet had hit the floor with irritation behind them, a shock wave effect rumbled through the door and sent Analise flying back into the wall behind her, causing her voice to come out in a cry of pain. Oryan suddenly shot up from the bed and opened the door with haste to find two other scientists hovering over Analise, making sure she was ok.

"Oh my gosh, I am terribly sorry Miss Analise." Oryan said, pushing through the two scientists and kneeling beside her.

"What the hell was that?" Analise managed to speech through her loss of breath.

"I'm not use to having a schedule or having someone knock on my door. I was fondly annoyed with the knocking and accidently sent my shock wave through the door, not knowing it was you." Oryan looked at her; lying about the not knowing it was her part.

Analise looked at him; kind of terrified that he had that much power to send an invisible force through a door and to send someone flying off their ass. "Alright well, we have special training today, so please get ready and come down to my lab. I'll escort you to the training area when you get there ok." Analise said as she was helped to her feet by Oryan.

Oryan nodded and walked back into his room after making sure Analise had made it around the corner. Closing the door and leaning up against it, Oryan ran his fingers through his longer hair on the one side and looked out the window; the sun was trying to fully appear into the room from the curtain that was only open halfway. Looking down at his bed attire, Oryan snapped his fingers and was in a new outfit for the day; black pants with the black boots he had on before, a plain black t-shirt and a white lab coat that flowed down to the floor. "I like this coat better. It has something I'm used to." Opening the door and shutting it behind him, Oryan had slowly made his way down to the lab that he was in yesterday with Ely and Analise. While he made his way down, he decided to take a few detours along the way; managing to become the new eye candy of the science department by the girls that made contact him while he was exploring. Finally making his way through the lab doors, Analise and Ely had been sitting there waiting for him. Ely looked back to see who it was.

"Finally, dude, holy shit. Could you take any longer?" Ely asked irritated.

Oryan raised an eyebrow, thinking how Ely had the nerve and the audacity to talk to him like that. "Yes, I could've. You're lucky I even came down here. If it weren't for Miss Analise banging at my door like the SWAT team, I wouldn't be down here in the first place."

Ely stood up and came face to face with Oryan's forest green eyes. "Seriously, you have the nerve to come to this lab and learn from us, but you can't even show up to actually participate in today's activities. Why don't you go back to where you came from if you don't have the motivation to even get your lazy ass out of bed." Ely grew balls as he stood up to Oryan; getting close enough to his face to feel his faint breathing.

Oryan cocked his head to one side as one of his eyes twitched with anger, but before Oryan could get a word out or his hand around Ely's neck, Analise had stepped in between them; her back towards Oryan.

"Ok boys let's not start. Ely stand down, you don't know who Oryan is or what power he has ok. Just stop." Analise said; for she had already felt a small fraction of his power earlier.

"Really Analise, you're defending him?" Ely asked annoyed.

"No, I just don't want you to get hurt. Oryan is obviously something supernatural and you're a human Ely, so trying to act tough in front of someone you don't know fully, is pretty ballsy wouldn't you say?" Analise said and looked back at Oryan who was standing calmly behind her with his hands in the pockets of his jacket and his one eye still twitching slightly. "Oryan, do you have anything to say or add?" Analise asked, trying not to start the argument again.

Oryan looked at Analise with softness in his eyes, but his attention was directed towards Ely and his eyes became somewhat intimidating as they narrowed and glared. "All I have to say is, if you ever speak to me like that again, Miss Analise will not have time to step between us, for my hand will already be around your throat, caving in your trachea, and watching as your skin turns blue and the oxygen from your lungs becomes no more." He said with malice behind every word.

Ely turned pale and quickly made his way past Analise and Oryan, making his way to the training grounds for their annual health and fitness tests. Analise was pale too just from hearing the words Oryan spoke but quickly regained her composure. Analise turned around and looked up at Oryan.

"Come with us. You can participate with us if you'd like." Analise said, shaking a little in her voice.

"Do I have to, or can I just watch from the side lines?" Oryan asked as he walked along side Analise as they made their way to the training grounds.

"You can watch."

"Will Markel be there?"

Analise nodded. "I hope so. Just because he owns the place, doesn't dismiss him from his training."

Oryan smiled. "Trust me he doesn't need training." He whispered to himself; almost laughing at the fact that she though Markel needed training.

Oryan and Analise had walked outside to the training ground where everyone had been taking their abilities test. Many of the supernatural beings were being tested on their transformation abilities, fire power of any kind and strength; anyone that had wings or flying capabilities were tested on their flying and their agility when it came to obstacles in the air. Analise looked around to see if she could find Frost, knowing that he was one of the supernatural and with him being new to E.P. Labs, he was due for a test or two.

"Oh, I found him! Come on Oryan I want you to meet some people." Analise said and continued to walk towards Hedix and Frost who were standing near a bench as they waited for Frost's turn to be examined.

"Frost! Hedix!" Analise called out while she waved in their direction.

Frost and Hedix looked towards Analise and waved. "Hey Analise, how are you?" Hedix said as he stood up and embraced her in a friendly one-armed hug.

"I'm good. I have someone studying under me for a little while. Guys meet Oryan. He came here from New Orleans." Analise said and motioned towards Oryan who stood behind her, hands still in his jacket pockets.

"Hey man, nice to meet you I'm Hedix." He said and reached out his hand.

Oryan looked down at his hand and took it into his own. "Oryan." He introduced himself.

Frost then walked over and stretched out his hand as well. "Frost"

Oryan took longer to take Frost's hand but when he did, Oryan had a familiar shock run through his spine. "A Northern Ice Wolf?" he questioned beneath his breath. Oryan let go of Frost's hand and looked around to see if he could see Markel anywhere, no luck.

"Frost, you're turn." An instructor called out to him.

"Alright. Ok guys, watch me?" Frost smiled and ran towards the instructor that guided him into the training area.

The training area was a clear glass dome with a dirt field and surrounded by a chain linked fence; only authorized personal were a loud beyond the chain fence. Frost entered the dome and stood in the middle. Hedix was watching intently as the instructor was talking to Frost. Oryan was also staring at Frost; waiting to confirm the shock he got a few minutes ago.

"I've never seen him transform before." Hedix said, anxiously watching Frost getting ready.

"Really? How long has he been your partner?" Analise asked.

"Only three years." Hedix said.

"Oh yeah, you guys were in the human sector." Analise said as an alarm sounded; initiated the start of Frost's test.

Hedix quickly diverted his attention to Frost; Oryan's attention never wavered. Frost stood there silently in the middle; his head down and his breathing controlled with his eyes closed. Suddenly Frost opened his eyes and a blue beam of light had filled the entire dome, blinding everyone temporarily. The light faded allowing everyone's vision to adjust. When their eyes came to, everyone saw a wolf standing on his hind legs measuring at about 7 feet from tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, then suddenly coming down on all fours; dust kicking up from the impact of Frosts weight. Frost was pure white in color with the tips of his fur frosty blue. His eyes shone a bright, light icy blue and teeth as sharp as freshly sharpened knives. Hedix was in complete awe at the fact that his best friend and partner was now in his true form. Oryan stood silently; he had just confirmed that Frost was the last of his clan. The instructor had Frost complete a series of tasks, from going back to standing on his hind legs and placing his paws on the instructor's shoulders to running, jumping and his fighting abilities while in that form. While Hedix and Analise where immersed in their excitement at Frost's cheap parlor tricks, Oryan turned around and walked away from the area. Going around and looking at everyone's training, his phone suddenly rings; Aaron.

"Yes, my dear?" Oryan asked.

"Did you find anyone yet?" she said, her voice sounding as if she was worried.

"I found a lot of people. What do you mean?"

The phone went silent with irritation for a moment. "Have you found Markel or anyone else that you can reveal yourself to?"

"Not yet dear. It's kind of hard around here. Markel nor Ally are anywhere to be found at this point and Miss Analise has been hounding me all morning."

"What does she look like?"

"Miss Analise?" Oryan took a brief pause. "Looks just like her. I'm surprised Markel hasn't noticed yet."

"Really? Well hurry up Dear. I don't have much longer, and I would like more than a day to complete what I need to."

"Ok." Oryan said and hung up the phone. When putting the phone into the back pocket of his pants, he suddenly collided with another person. "I am so sorry." He said looking at the person he had bumped shoulders with. "Tanto?" he said in shock, not really believing that it was him.

Tanto looked at Oryan in confusion "Do I know you, young man?"

Oryan went silent and looked down. 'Do I tell him?' he thought to himself. 'I'm going to have to.' He thought again. Oryan looked up and suddenly his voice was in Tanto's head.

"Tanto, you should know me. Fire demon Tanto from the Island of Fotiἀ Palἀti. You came to my palace to serve us along with Sir Markel and Madam Ally."

Hearing Oryan's voice in his head, his heart beating so fast from hearing a voice he hasn't heard in years. Tanto looked at Oryan with widened eyes and tears that immediately fell from them; his mouth partly opened from shock.

"Don't say a word. I need to talk to you privately. Is there somewhere we can go?" Oryan's voice sounded through Tanto's mind.

Tanto nodded and quickly walked towards the building leading Oryan to an area of the lab that was abandoned. There were no lights and no electricity, just the rays of the sun peering in from the holes in the walls and broken windows. The area was the skeleton of the very first shack that was use for the original creator of E.P. Labs. Tanto looked out of every hole and crevasse as Oryan made his way into the broken-down building. As soon as the coast was cleared, Tanto instantly took to his knee; bowing before the first prince of the kingdom he served, Prince Ocyris. Ocyris looked down at Tanto and smiled, then transformed out of the disguise of Oryan and appeared as himself. A 6-foot 4 tall male, with a slim but fit build and an intimidating presence. His long white hair that had faded from grey to black at the ends had hung freely to his mid back with a 'V' tribal tattoo in the center of his forehead, his dark but bright green eyes had shone like an emerald. The clothing he was in vanished and a royal advisor uniform that consisted of a long wizard like robe that flowed down to the ground, and a gold 'V' shaped belt around his mid torso had appeared on him, the colors green, black and white.

"Tanto rise." Ocyris ordered putting his hand out as a gesture to get up.

Tanto stood to his feet with tears still running down his cheeks. Ocyris smiled as tears also ran down his face and opened his arms; welcoming Tanto in a friendly embrace that was long needed.

"Lord Ocyris, what are you doing here? Why are you here?" Tanto babbled.

Ocyris back away from the hug and took Tanto by the shoulders "Listen, I know you have many questions, and I don't blame you, but I need your help."

Tanto nodded, wiping his tears and turning back into his old, serious self. "With what Lord?"

"I need Miss Analise." Ocyris said looking at Tanto; seriousness had clouded his eyes.

"Why?"

"I can't explain right now. I'll explain when I have Miss Analise and a few other people in the same room. Can you gather them for me?"

"Yes sir, when?"

"Tonight, I will let you know through mind. Now I must return to that revolting form before Miss Analise notices I'm gone." Ocyris said as he transformed back into Oryan. "Keep my presence a secret for now. I will tell you the time to meet me here with the people I tell you."

"Yes sir." Tanto nodded and calmly walked out of the abandoned area, looking around at his surroundings making sure no one saw him; his heart still racing from the excitement and the shock that the rumor of Ocyris being dead wasn't real, but the question was, was His Excellency dead or alive? And what was about to come for the future?

Ocyris had gone back to Analise's side as Frost was exiting the dome from his training. "Oh, there you are Oryan, I was wondering where you went." Analise smiled and looked at him.

"I was just exploring, that's all. Met a fascinating individual though, I believe his name was Tanto." Ocyris smiled innocently.

"Oh yeah, he's one of the patience here. He's one of the oldest and wisest ones here." Analise smiled. "Oh, Markel is here. Didn't you want to see him."

Ocyris looked at Analise with Oryan's eyes. "No, it's ok. The matter can wait. What do we have on the agenda for today Miss Analise?" he asked looking at the clipboard she was carrying.

Analise looked down at the clipboard. "Well, we're going to go to another lab and see if they have the research I ordered done, and then back to my lab to look over and test new options." she said flipping the pages.

"Well then let's get started." Ocyris smiled.

"Alright Let's go. Great job Frost." Analise said and waved bye to the guys and made her way off with Ocyris right behind her.

The day had gone by with Analise and Ely showing Ocyris how things worked around the lab. The different functions of each machine and how-to product medicine from a once life-threatening virus. Ocyris was ill impressed by all of this; he had no need to learn all of it for he already knew how. Dragging on for way to long, the sun had finally made its way behind the mountains, producing a sky of yellows and pinks. Ocyris was walking towards the room he was assigned and stopped in front of the door.

"Tanto." He said through mind.

"Yes Sir?" Tanto's thoughts responded.

"Gather everyone and meet me where you took me earlier."

"Yes sir. Allow me five minutes."

"Granted. I'll be there in five."

Their thoughts went silent and Ocyris entered his room. As he opened the door and stepped in, without warning, an overwhelming sense of death had loomed over; making him fall to his knees. "No, this can't be happening now." He whispered through the tightness of his chest, clenching his shirt. Ocyris closed his eyes and try to connect to Aarons thoughts; static had come through. "Fuck!" Ocyris screamed and as the words reached the ceiling, Ocyris had sensed the raw power of a force that had been sealed away for years. Being forced to his knees even more and holding his chest tighter, Ocyris looked around and looked down at his hands; they were shaking, for he knew what had just happened and what was about to happen. "Ok, I should have some time to explain things and then hopefully this goes as planned, cause the worst possibility came true." Ocyris whispered to himself. Grabbing the things, he needed, he began to make his way down to Tanto.

"What are we doing here?" Frost said leaning up against an old wooden beam, that was sure to fall.

"Who knows." Hedix looked at Frost, grabbing him by the forearm and yanking him off the beam so that it wouldn't fall.

"Tanto what's going on?" Ally questioned, yawning right after.

"Please just wait here. He should be here soon." Tanto said looking around anxiously as Ocyris walked through the threshold.

"Oryan what are you doing here?" Markel asked with his arms crossed as he sat next to Analise and Ely on a bench that was so far beyond its years, it was amazing it was still together in one piece.

"Well." Ocyris looked at Tanto and Tanto nodded his head and took his place behind him.

"Tanto why are you standing like that?" Markel asked; Tanto standing with his arms behind him, just like he did when they were in the palace.

Tanto didn't say a word and stood silently. "I have some explaining to do and I believe Markel and Ally will be the ones that are going to be in a state of shock." Ocyris began.

"And why do you say that Oryan?" Ally stood up from the bench; more awake.

"Search for a new life here until further notice. Blend in and do not reveal who you are." Ocyris spoke in a dialect no one in the room understood but judging from Markel and Ally's reaction, they understood him fully.

Markel looked at Ocyris like he was insane; his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. Ally's eyes had formed tears that quickly began to run down her cheeks. "Do you know what I said?" Ocyris asked.

"You said the same message that played for us when we arrived here on earth, but how would you know that language Oryan?" Markel asked; tears forming in his eyes as well, trying to piece together what he thought was the truth.

Ocyris looked down and suddenly his Oryan disguise dissipated and Ocyris was standing in front of everyone in his true form. The room had gone silent and everyone was wide eyed with shock, for different reasons other than Markel and Ally. Suddenly, Markel and Ally had taken to their knee with their heads down. Everyone looked down at them and then looked back at Ocyris who was looking down at the two.

"Stand." Ocyris ordered in the unknown dialect.

Markel and Ally took to their feet and their tears hadn't stopped falling from their eyes, that had now changed from the dull colors they were, to the neon colors they were meant to be. Markel's a neon purple and Ally's a neon blue. Everyone was surprised to see Ally and Markel crying, but more shocked that Markel was crying. Markel, being so weakened by the shock of Ocyris standing in front of him, had fell to his knees once again and placed his head in his hands, crying hard but silently; his tears seeping through his fingers and onto the floor.

"Lord Ocyris what are you doing here? What's going on?" Ally managed to ask through her tears.

"I'm here to retrieve Miss Analise." Ocyris said and looked at her.

Analise looked at him in disarray. "Wait, why me. Who are you first off?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Markel took to his feet, quickly drying his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Analise, you're looking at the first-born prince of our people and the royal advisor to our king." Markel said, trying to get rid of the knot that formed in his throat. Then, Ely's face had suddenly gone pale when hearing what Markel had just revealed. Markel looked at Ely and furrowed his brow in question. "Ely, you ok?"

Ely didn't say a word and just stared at Ocyris with his mouth partly open and his eyes widened with disbelief.

"Ely?" Hedix asked, making an advancement towards him.

"Ely, do you feel sorry for what you said to me earlier?" Ocyris cut through, grinning evilly.

Ely was still silent. "What do you mean Lord Ocyris?" Markel asked as he glared at Ely.

"Oh, we had a little disagreement earlier, which Ely managed to disrespect me." Ocyris informed.

Markel snarled at Ely and was about to have a few words with him, when Ocyris raised his hand. "No need Markel, I do believe Mister Ely is regretting his actions."

Ely nodded and then bowed to Ocyris the only way he knew how, his hands at his sides and a full ninety-degree bow. Everyone in the room including Ocyris let out laughter. "Ely please stop, it's ok." Ocyris said through his laughing.

Ely stood up right and looked at everyone laughing at him; his face turning red with embarrassment, but as soon as the fun started it quickly ended. "I have important news that I need everyone on guard for." Ocyris cut through the laughter, ending everyone's fun.

"What is it Lord Ocyris?" Markel asked.

"A war is about to begin again, and I only have a limited amount of time until something terrible happens." Ocyris said and then suddenly fell to his knees by an unseen sheer amount of force, holding his head in agony; his face wrinkled in pain.

Markel and Ally ran to him as Tanto knelt beside him "What's wrong Lord Ocyris?" Tanto asked worried.

Ocyris kept quiet and let the pain subside before saying anything. Rubbing his temples as soon as the pain was gone, Ocyris got to his feet once more and looked at everyone in the room. "I need all of you to come with me, all except for Tanto and Ely. My brother is in dire need of assistance."

"Wait, His Excellency is alive?" Markel asked, his heart racing from the possibility.

"Yes, he is. He won't be much longer though if we wait here." Ocyris said, every ounce of seriousness and urgency behind his words.

"Why?" Ally's tone got serious.

Ocyris went silent. "I'll explain as much as I can right now. My wife Aaron was protecting my brother and she has now died quicker than expected. The spell that she casted to put him in a state of paralysis is now gone and the power that he has plus his hearts power has just been released. My brother is weak and not mentally or physically capable of keeping 'his' voice at bay because of the amount of time he was kept under paralysis. If that happens and 'his' voice reaches my brother, my brother will be taken over and everyone on this planet will be in grave danger."

"And if 'he' takes over, a blood covered war will begin again" Markel finished.

Ocyris nodded, agreeing with Markel's statement.

"But what does Analise have to do with this? And how does this affect us?" Ely asked, looking at Analise, who was just as confused as he was.

"Analise is a descendent of the original mage that sealed the voice of my brothers' heart. My brother needs you Analise, to put the full power of his heart under a seal that can't be broken unless he wills it to be broken. You are literally the key to his heart." Ocyris then directed his attention towards Ely. "Ely, this whole situation affects you and everyone on this planet, because my brother is the keeper of a clock that holds a spirit that controls time and space. Everyone, from the supernatural to humans will all be in the cross hairs of my brother if this spirit takes over."

Analise and Ely had gone silent from the news; so silent you could hear pin drop. Both were in fear for their lives and shocked because Analise was the one who had the power to stop some of it.

"So, I need to save your brother's life?" Analise questioned.

"Yes, because if you don't and he gets taken over by this spirit everyone on this planet will be dead or every close to death and Markel, Ally and the rest of his people will perish without a ruler and have their home destroyed for good."

"Wait so, you want me to decide between everyone dying when your brother loses control, or, Markel and Ally not having a home anymore. This may be selfish of me, but wouldn't it be better to just let your brother go? Markel and Ally have been living here for years, they have a home." Analise said, immediately regretting what she said as Ocyris had suddenly appeared in front of her and lifted her up off the ground by her throat; her feet kicking and her hands around his wrists, trying to free herself and trying not to die from strangulation. Everyone in the room made an advancement towards her, but no one dared to try and stop a prince of a race they knew nothing about.

"My brother, whom I had almost lost when he was first born, is stranded weak and practically almost dead. This clock is the key to his survival. If he dies, there is no one to keep that clocks spirit under wraps and keep humanity alive. So, decide to save my brother and keep that clock protected or die by the hands of me or by the hands of someone who can breathe you out of existence once he takes control." Ocyris warned as his dark green eyes shone with intensity, making Analise fear for her life.

"Lord Ocyris, please let her down. This isn't like you." Ally said and placed her hand on Ocyris's; the one choking Analise.

Ocyris looked at Analise who was slowly turning blue. Releasing his grip and dropping her to the ground, she regained her color and began to cough; harsh enough to give her a sore throat for weeks. In the mist of her coughing, Analise had time to think. "What do I need to do?" She asked through her coughing.

Ocyris looked down at Analise, regaining a calm composure. "I'm not going to tell you right now. All that you need to know is that you're needed and urgently, but now that my wife is gone, it's going to be a problem."

"Why?" Hedix asked, giving Analise a helping hand to put her back on her feet.

"Because my wife was supposed to help Analise with what needs to be done, but my wife won't come back for another three days."

"You said your wife died." Frost said, glaring in question.

"My wife is a phoenix. She comes back from her ashes within three days or less. So, we would have to find my brother before 'he' takes over, or worst-case scenario, fight 'him'." Ocyris looked at Analise. "Will you help me revive the family I will soon lose, or risk everyone in the world dying at someone else's hand?"

Analise looked at everyone in the room. She was unsure why she was even thinking of agreeing when she had no idea what she was getting into, but with everyone looking at her, their eyes saying, 'if you do it, we'll do it', Analise had to agree. Analise looked back at Ocyris. "Where is your brother located?" she asked rubbing her throat.

"The catacombs beneath Paris."

Analise took the deepest breath she could and let it out slowly. Looking at Ally and then Ely, she grinned with slight nervousness. "Well, let's get going. I've always wanted to see Paris."