Ninx was softly chanting words of power, over and over, a mantra that was focusing all his intention on opening the doors.
" How did the sword come to be here in Arcadia ?"asked Louise.
" I was not there ,it was a time three hundred years before my birth, I can only tell you what has been passed down, of course my knowledge of this is not complete .
What I was taught ,was the King had left the throne for a short time, a human lifetime is but a brief time ,for someone who is eternal ,and so the King became a human and went to the human world ,leaving his Kingdom to his trusted General ,Arden Shadowbrook .
Arden Shadowbrook, the man who poisoned the King on his wedding day .
The poison was a curse placed upon the wine ,the King drank on his wedding day.
A powerful curse that would bind the soul of the king, to the human world .
Locking him into reincarnating into a human, life after life locking the King out of the Lands of Night, and preventing him from returning to the throne.
The Dark Legion as you know, hid the king's armor and protected it with a guardian.
It was believed that it would be best that the sword, and the armor be separated from each other limiting the power, of the sword and the armor, as a set they are most powerful ,when brought together and are in the possession of the true King ,they reach their full power and potential .
The seven warlocks of the Dark Legion ,hid the items of the King's power.
The Blood Armor .
The sword of the King .
The crown of the King .
The ring of the king.
The warlocks hid them all ,and in an effort to protect the secret even more, not all of the warlocks hid the king's items together, some worked together to hide the ring, some hid the the crown ,and some hid the sword and the armor, but not one knew how to open all the hidden places the items were hidden in, or where they were all hidden .
Ninx is one of the last two remaining warlocks that were there ." Said Nyla
Silence fell around the group, and the only words heard came from the chanting of Ninx.
Nyla disappeared into the darkness of the forest, she had gone to hunt .
Zack gathered wood together for a fire, and Louise watched over the chanting Ninx.
Nyla returned a short while later ,carrying the body of a goat like creature , Nyla prepared the meat and seasoned it with some herbs she had gathered, and preceded to roast the meat over the fire.
Zack sat down and was looking at the door, the writing was familiar ,he could almost reach the answers he needed, but they refused to come to him and remained locked in his memories .
Feeling frustrated Zack rose and approached the fire .
Nyla cut some meat and handed it over to Zack, who quickly devoured it .
" Thank you Nyla , this is good it tastes like lamb "said Zack.
Nyla handed some meat to Louise , before noticing that Ninx had stopped chatting ,and was now standing up looking at the door.
" I have found the key my lord"said Ninx.
" Rest and eat my friend you have done well " said Zack.
Nyla brought over some food for Ninx.
"Ninx Is it true, that you were one of the ones that hid the King's items" asked Louise.
"Yes it is true , I helped to hide the king's armor and ring .
Dain helped hide the sword and the ring ,
The only thing is neither Dane or I ,know the location of the crown" said Ninx.
" We will deal with that ,when the time comes, for now ,let's just focus on what we have to do to get the sword "said Zack.
Zack and the rest of his little group, ate and rested for the rest of the night, in the morning they would try and open the doors.
The night creatures gathered, to discuss about the outsiders.
" The outsiders have broken no laws "said a large owl like creature .
" They have hunted my lord " said a silver fox.
The owl looked at the fox, and said in a clear voice that carried authority .
" The outsiders have only hunted for food, they have broken no laws" said the owl.
The night creatures obeyed their leader and continued to observe the outsiders.
Zack could sense that they were being watched, and he knew that for the moment at least there was no threat ,so he kept it to himself for the time being.
Ninx approached the large stone doors, and raised his arms slowly he gathered power to himself , from the trees and plants and even the ground magic started to flow towards Ninx .
Ninx gathered the magic ,and condensed it down into a glowing ball of golden light, that gathered at his fingertips ,he threw the ball at the doors ,and as the ball of magic fell upon the doors, Ninx said in the dark tongue" Aperi Lamuan Andantium," a loud rumbling sound came from the doors, as they slowly swung inward, opening up for the first time in a thousand years .
The group headed inside, and as they walked a light glow came from the walls and the ceiling high above them, they were inside a large tunnel, that led deep into the mountain .
"Be on guard ,I sense something alive and dangerous in here"said Zack.
" What exactly is in here "said Louise.
" There are many creatures that can be found in here, but there is one that is more dangerous than most ,a Griffin it is the guardian who guards the sword " explained Ninx.
" So I have to defeat a griffin , that doesn't sound like an easy task" stated Zack.
" My lord before you can defeat the griffin ,you will be tested by the sphinx, the creature will ask you a riddle, and if your answer is correct ,then it will allow you to proceed to the griffin for the final test, a battle between you and the griffin , however if you fail to answer the riddle correctly ,the sphinx will use it's magic to send you away from Arcadia, and you will have to start the journey to the sword over again " said Ninx .
" I see, any ideas as to what this riddle will be " asked Zack .
"My lord I do not know for certain ,but I believe it will ask you something that only the king would know" said Ninx.
" I will have to deal with that when the time comes, let's go "said Zack taking the lead and moving deeper into the mountain.
The group walked on ,and as time passed they began to notice, that they were moving downward .
From above them ,large bats suddenly descended on the group ,and attacked them with their sharp claws ,they swooped at the group ,Nyla stabbed her sword through the chest of the nearest bat.
Both Zack and Ninx slashed at the bats ,but no matter how many they killed more would come.
Nyla was trying her best ,to keep the bats away from Louise, and her teammates .
Louise could feel heat rising from her body, and suddenly she was surrounded with flames ,the flames came from her body ,slowly the flames pushed outwards , every time the bats touched the flames they immediately turned to ash.
Slowly Louise walked forward, and pushed the flames out from her .
Louise took the lead " stay behind me " said Louise.
The flames pushed out, towards the ceiling and the walls, all the bats were turned to ashes .
" Well it would appear that you are a fire starter , what an interesting power for a Vampire to have "said Ninx.
The group continued onwards towards the sword .
After traveling through passage that had been steadily moving down, for an hour or more the passage leveled off ,and opened up into a huge underground chamber ,there were stalactite and stalagmites all around the chamber, and in the middle of the chamber sat a large creature, the creature was a sphinx.
"In a booming voice, the sphinx asked," who comes to disturbed my rest."
" I do Zachary, Vincent ,Eldridge, the vampire King" said Zack .
" The vampire King , so the King finally returns , or are you a liar, and a thief trying to steal the King's sword, it makes no difference, you will be tested " said the sphinx.
" If to regain what is mine, I have to be tested, then so be it "said Zack.
Then step forward, come stand in front of me,I will explain to you what tests you will face .
Zack moved and stood in front of the sphinx.
The sphinx had the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the head of a woman with long sharp fangs, sharp claws could be seen extending from her paws, scratching the stone floor of the cavernous chamber.
" Your first test is to be asked a question or riddle, something only the vampire king and I would know the answer of.
If you fail this you will be cast from the realm of magic, removed from Arcadia,cast back to the realm where you came from.
If you succeed and answer correctly, you will be rewarded.
If you have managed to get this far, you will have to face the Griffin.
You will have to battle to the death, and kill the Griffin, before the Griffin will yield and give up the sword .
Are you ready " said the Sphinx.