Ian glared at Nobos. He was fed up with his antics and stupid rules. And now he had to watch a bunch of morons battle for the right to sever his head. It was an excellent way to buy time and get the Lord off his back. If they thought he would go without a fight, they were sorely mistaken.
Nobos sat beside him and patted him on the shoulder " The first fight will be between Lord Rhos and Huriath." Nobos lips quirked in a wide grin. He was excited about the trial.
" This is the first tournament ever in the Hollow. Everyone is here to watch it. Look!" Nobos waved his hand at the arena as the crowd cheered and shouted—all sorts of creatures twisted and just as ghastly as he was.
Ian hummed, " Happy to provide you a lot with some good old fashion fun." Ian feigned amusement and reluctantly slumped in his chair, waiting for the battle to begin
" Who decides the winner? You lot can't die!" Ian quipped and clicked his tongue.
Nobos pointed at a man sitting in the chair in the arena " Lord Talgarth refused to participate! He said it was foolish, and we are a bunch of dip shitts for believing you'll ever let us kill you without a fight." Nobos amusedly said, and Ian focused on the man sitting in the chair as the two Lords took their battle position.
Ian chuckled " Have you considered that he might be right?" Ian amusedly asked, taking his eyes off the arena and looking at Nobos.
Nobos patted his leg " Of course! I'm not that stupid, but this is fun." he jumped in his seat when Lord Rhos fell on the ground and dropped his sword.
" At least you're not stupid," Ian mumbled under his breath, looking at the fight.
" What?" Nobos shouted to make himself heard over the loud crowd.
Ian looked at his feet. The mark was fading " Nothing!" he replied with his eyes on his feet.
Ian grinned when one of the runes completely faded. He looked down at the arena and Nobos and left the amphitheatre in a blink of an eye.
He appeared on the cliff of his Palace and focused his vision on his seat next to Nobos.
Nobos looked twice when he noticed he was gone. The fight wasn't over yet.
Ian chuckled and walked back to the table " I'll make you pay for that, Nobos." Ian grumbled and waved his hand at the wall.
Iris appeared on it, naked, trying to put her clothes on. Ian let out a sorrowful sigh at the sight and lent back in his chair.
She was alright, he didn't get a chance to see what happened to her, but he was happy to see she had survived just fine and a little giddy about the fact that he got to see her curves once again.
Her frame was more petite, and the hardships she had been through had taken a toll on her. Ian watched her as she slipped into her black attire. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Every part of him craved to be with her, but he couldn't. He was bound to the Hollow and its darkness. Ian waved his hand and looked at the table. Now he was more determined than ever to decipher the book and find out why Bastos had gone through so much trouble to hide its contents.
He pulled the book into his lap and began reading again. He frowned at the book when the first line he read moved in front of his eyes, changing its meaning—an enchanted book.
" What are you hiding?" Ian asked. The book and its pages burst into flames.
Ian closed the book, and the flames spent. Was it the wrong question? Ian opened the book again, but there were no burnt marks on it.
" What are you hiding?" Ian asked again, and the book burst into flames again, but this time, Ian let it burn as the pages flipped on their one at a time.
Ian waited, and when it reached the final page, the book shut itself with a thump. Ian opened it again and read the first line of the text. That wasn't there last, but it still didn't make much sense.
Maybe that was just one layer of the spell. Ian took a deep breath " Reveal!" Ian ordered, but nothing happened.
" A question it is! What are your secrets?" Ian shrugged. He thought the question was stupid, but he couldn't think of anything else.
Once again, nothing happened. It wasn't the right question, or maybe it wasn't a question.
" What do you want from me?" Ian calmly asked and pushed the book onto the table.
The book opened on a specific page. Ian pulled the book closer and searched the pages with his gaze. His flaming eyes fell on one word that morphed several times and settled on the old language " nopheris'. Ian frowned. He wasn't familiar with that word.
Ian read the sentence, but it didn't make any sense. He needed someone with knowledge of the old language. He had learnt a few words from Iris, but not enough to be able to translate the entire book.
He needed Iris. She was the only one left that understood the old language of her people.
" The mark faded faster than I expected." Nobos' voice rang behind him, only if he could roll his eyes at Nobos.
" What does nopheris mean?" Ian ignored Nobos's earlier words.
Nobos grumbled under his breath " I'm not sure! It has more than one meaning!" Nobos paused for a moment " Lord Huriath won the fight." Nobos worriedly looked at him.
Ian hummed " I see! So what does it mean?" Ian reiterated his earlier words. He couldn't give a toss about who won.
" It means kin, blood and lastly, red." Nobos finally answered the damn question.