"You're late Rose," the voice of a male echoed through the quiet library. From behind one of the shelves, Rose appeared, looking stunning as usual.
"I was only doing as I was told" She replied, her voice peaceful and comforting at the same time.
"Has he lifted the curse yet?" The man asked, his gaze not for once lifted from the book which it was fixated upon.
"It's a work in progress, even though the book has been bound" Rose answered
"Bound?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.
"By an Infernal Judgement. The chains of hell. Only the caster or a more powerful spell can break it" She educated.
"Don't tell me things I already know, Rose. Tell me how is he faring with the curse"
"Since the book's been bound, there hasn't been much effect. It did seem he's not quite ready to be the curse's vessel" She replied.
"He's ready, he just lacks knowledge and strength" The man said this time rising from his seat and dropping his spectacles. The resemblance was striking, if he was a bit younger one would barely be able to tell them apart. Daniel was an exact copy of his father, Jeffery Bruce.
"One more thing Mr Bruce, a member of the Brothers of Stigma resides with him, they can destroy the book with the power they wield and exorcise the curse if so desired" Rose said. His movement stopped for a while before a grin appeared on his face.
"You should have led with that. You should work on your information skills" Jeffery said before walking past Rose.
The smile on her once glowing face contorted into a cold one as she walked into the darkness provided by the gigantic book shelves.
††††††††††
Daniel's training has been going well so far, he could now cast minor spells like teleportation and fire spells at the cost of his own blood, and if not for Angus's healing capabilities, he would be in hospital seeking a blood donation by now.
Angus had been staying been staying in his place for the past few days now, and they were quite compatible with each other. He was completely normal, except for his ceaseless prayers. He was a good teacher with a nice sense of humor. While Richard was the exact opposite.
Richard was a totally different person whenever he was the one to teach, he took everything literally and didn't give room for jokes. Daniel couldn't blame him though, he was only like that because his family was also strict on his training. Richard was the one to carry on their family's legacy after all, so his training wasn't the easiest.
Anna Jones sat a few yards away from where Daniel sat, but he had barely taken notice of her. He was occupied with all the thoughts of his training. She hadn't accosted him nor Richard since after the gym incident but her death stares haven't ended yet. The bell for recess rang through the speakers on the wall and the students filed out of the class even before the teacher could finish his last sentence.
"What do you know about Anna Jones?" Daniel asked Angus who was currently stuffing himself up with food.
"I don't really know much about her, she's weird and creepy" Angus said as he looked over to where Anna sat. "Apart from her being a nature sorcerer, I don't think I have anything else on her" He said.
"What of Nature sorcerers, do you know anything about them?" Richard inquired. They were the only sorcerers who could go toe to toe with the strongest of the Infernal Judgement, so he needed every info he could get on them.
"Well, they're the only sorcerers compatible with the Brotherhood as they believe in the story of creation and basically worship Eve for her sin. They believe that the source of their power would be relatively short if only tied down to the Garden of Eden. The vast nature outside the garden was a much more powerful source, so basically, Eve was the first Nature sorcerer according to their belief. They can easily manipulate the forces of nature at their command and are very formidable foes in battle. I can tell already that Anna is still training, she could be more dangerous the next time you encounter her" Angus explained before taking a bite out of his apple.
"What of this Grimoire, what do you know about it?" Richard asked, he was the inquisitive one after all. Sorcery was in his blood and he had accepted it fully, the only remaining thing was to fuel his knowledge on it and surpass his limits.
"I haven't heard or seen anything like that not until when you two showed up with it" Angus replied, "How did amateurs like you two get your hands on something so powerful, the monks feared it" He questioned.
Everywhere fell silent for a moment and no one spoke. The sudden movement of Anna Jones however broke the silence.
"She moving, where could she up to?" Daniel asked without reference.
"Umh, to class?" Richard replied "lunch's almost over" he reminded with his watch.
"You're overreacting" Angus added just before the bell rang.
He was uneasy throughout the rest of the class, the teacher had called him back to life twice but it couldn't be helped, he was sure something was up with Anna Jones but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He ended up getting two hours detention after school because of his divided attention. And now Angus and Richard had to wait for him to finish.
Two hours finally ended and he had just met up with the other two. He never retrieved his car from the church so they had to take public transport which was stressful and unreliable at the same time. The bus stop was a bit farther from his residence so he had to trek to get there. There was however a shortcut through a dark alley but he had never dared to take it, especially not when night was already upon them. Angus had decided otherwise and Richard had concurred.
Angus had conjured an orb that illuminated their path and everything seemed fine until the light went off.
"That's odd" Angus said as he tried to illuminate their path once more but failed. He had just realized, a curse was in play, the harbinger of darkness.