Dakila has been asleep for hours since Euseff has left him at daybreak. He was given a candy by an elderly lady for him to follow her outside. On the way, Dakila saw a raven clawing the locks of a skylight window. It flew away when Dakila thrown the candy to it.
Entering the new room, the elder lady smiled at him and gave him another candy. They prepared him warm and soft garments and plates of newly cooked food, all were seaborne.
After changing himself and the cleaning the savourful fill, he placed his palm at the corners of the room. Finding the warmest, he sat hugging his knees on that corner while overlooking the window.
Finding darkness, Dakila slept soundless for hours.
A paper slided from the bottom of the door, it flew swaying up then gracefully fell under the bedside.
Moonrise. Waking from a suspicious breeze, Dakila saw the ragged Vittorese summer short-sleeved bodice and the breeches made from a curtain hanged at the doorsides, he knew Euseff also changed in something more comfortable.
The matured man with live mole beside his blue eyes released the locking arms from his knees and twisted the knob of Narra door, the heaviness of the wood made a creaking noise in a yellow brightness of an empty hall. The marbles on his feet and at his hand reflects the glow of the merging light bulbs and the moon peeking by the windows above.
Taking a step, Dakila saw the crowned statue by the other end and he went to have a closer look. It was a maiden of long lashes and supple lips, it was limbless wearing an illusory thin fabric to illustrate the curvy shape of its body. If it was a real person, men would die just to see such beauty.
Carressing the texture of the crown, a shiny skin-brown metal holds the broken elk horn into eight small pieces. The horn still had its original skin shedding, drops of dried blood trickled down at the face of statue.
A finger smoothens from the point of the crown, to the cheek, to the mouth, lightness hovered by the neck as the finger risen at the bossom, it flicked the protruding nipple, then continued a careful touch at the abdomen, slowly and carefully, the finger remembers each uneven texture of the skin. The skin was flawless and innocent, the finger knows. Slowly, with a chance of quickness, the finger passed all the obstacles to stop below a thin fabric where the secret was hidden with care and love. The finger pushed itself in and waited, a sound escaped.
Dakila pushed the belly button and the wall, back the statue, was pushed by the side, creating a hollow opening. The human-sized hole was dark and endless like the halls unlit, Dakila retreated his finger and fearlessly invaded this darkness.
The marbles extended this unclean place, Dakila followed its end. At the gloom of the human cave, spite of cold wind blew in and closed the marble entrance.
---
As if tranced, the members attending The Dinings were momentarily frozen at their last movements. A hush fell over the feast as the door became the focal point of a collective trance. The nobles, adorned in their finery, stood as if petrified, their eyes wide with a mix of horror and fascination. The shriek that pierced the air was like a death's call, wrenching their attention from the merriment and binding them to the spot.
In a thud of foot, "Protectors at your lines!" Lord General Tresinfort bellowed.
Some of the nobles scampered from their positions and hastily formed a strategical position barricading the most important figures in the room.
The largest honed people planted themselves from the backs of each Everlark children's seat, decorated themselves with the nearest fatal weapon they have collected. The other nobles gathered their families while some seemed emotionless.
Pulling a steak knife, Lord General Tresinfort marched towards the other end of the carpet. Few of his guards marched with him, each with sharp objects of different sizes.
Arriving at the double door, Lord General Tresinfort used his knife to widen the gap of the left door open. As the red door oversees all levels of the castle from the atrium, it was visible for everyone to have a glance behind the opened door.
With confidence, the guards outwalked Lord General Tresinfort and scattered–distributing themselves to inspect where the noise originated. Hall-by-hall, room-by-room, until they reach the empty streets of the small town.
Euseff clasped his own hands, still not recovering from the truth that they were feasting in a room of graves then there comes the scream whichever creature had created. He was to stand, but a big hand put him down his chair. A woman with her other hand at her back lined herself along with seven similarly thick-armed fellows standing at their backs.
Euseff was to speak, but Raynor stopped him and gestured to stay silent until the tension is over.
Sesar was forced by Lord Sebaste to return on his chair with utter silence, he was still skimming and searching the ballroom finding something different, his hands fiddling.
Lord General Tresinfort was already wary of the oddly open red door when it was ought to be locked when the feast started. No one is to be outside once the door closes, otherwise they are from the palace. Yet, the Helminguard Palace servants are not allowed to leave their premises at all times.
The guards reported to the general, the castle was clean and nothing was out of order and so they have began to search outside. Another guard followed initially confirming none has been reported missing.
A moment later, a guard that was late to report after searching the hall of the young lords have provided the general some development. The guard stated that he saw the man, whom accompanied the young lord Euseff, unresponsively waits by the broken window at their room while holding a paper and a dead raven.
The general did not waste the time and breached the halls to Euseff's quarter. Slipping the chef's knife at the side of his Demiri pants, he raided the widely open door. He saw the man sitting perfectly, submerged in half-darkness of the unilluminated room, looking pleasantly calm as he enjoys the rising moonlight.
Lord General Tresinfort saw the paper and a raven seemingly strangled to death by the man's hand. From what the general probed, this man did not have a word since arriving this morning and now he is holding a dead bird.
"Can you speak?" The general started, he can guarantee himself to understand twenty-four languages, including the languages of mute and deaf. He stepped by the window and inspected the broken glass.
The man can't speak nor make signs to tell his mind, Lord General Tresinfort have expected this, but he also knew this man was not originally mute or deaf. He knew this one was an outstanding Juritian scholar and so he leaned his back at the wall and just waited for whatever this man was waiting to reply. The general knows People of Extremes have this habit of doing things unsolvable for mere casual minds, by experience at first encounter, he already knows this one here belongs with them.
On the next moment, a howl of wind blew then a raven flew inside lifeless. The man vacated his chair, thrown the raven rested from his hand and the new one into a pile below the castle. Piles and piles of raven were creating small mountains. A couple of lying hyenas, bears, foxes, and few more predators were feasting happily.
Pushing the window, the general saw that windows from different rooms were also shattered and below were black mountains increasing by the moment. At the emptiness where the whispering seas rest, birds of all species were flocking towards the island at the morning of night.
The blue-eyed man sat back and scribbled on the paper he held. He handed the paper to the older man with knitted brows, searching for answers.
When the general grabbed the paper, the seated man had sticky fingers like an infant playing with sweets. Assimilating the contents, he perceived the words and symbols beyond all the languages he understood. It had circles and some shapes being explained with scriptures written neatly together to fit the entire page. Reaching the ending words at the bottom, those were the only words the general understood and he felt an unnatural terror he has not felt for years reading it. Written eloquently in the old archaic herroian:
"Yes, I can speak, but only if destiny permits me."
---
Euseff only heard that the castle will be inhabited for extended periods when the thick-armed nobles started to scout them orderly with him being at the front. He saw some nobles tasked by Lady Tresinfort and Lord Sebaste were shifting room-to-room like a burglar questing for unfound riches, some others were carrying shovels, scythes, and gardening tools as if the harvest season is rushed. He also saw the weirdly flocking birds circling high above the castle.
A rare parade of oil-powered carriages made a procession at the roads of the town, it still follows the rectangular shape of noble's steed chariot. Euseff, seven of his tablemates earlier, and an unnamed girl had to ride a carriage with a unique design to have chairs form a half circle while two nobles were to be at the driver coach.
The cushion is too soft when Euseff positioned himself, it is unlike how oiled carriages were at the big cities, this one is particularly tailored. Roaring of engine ignited to erase the creeping silence, it was still not allowed to converse. The siblings were not making awkward movements nor have the urge to pry of what had occurred, they are still and obedient.
The oiled carriages are one of the breakthroughs that changed the five continents into unimagined comforts, it runs by feeding a living oil with all kinds of liquid waste until it consumes itself. At the dawn of the Eevrian Everlast, the old empires were in constant conflicts for revolutionary resources like the Brown Citirites used in typewriting inks as it can't be erased, even if the paper is burnt or torn, the characters written by these molten black crystals can't just be destroyed easily. Another good example is the Kernaems just hundred years ago, it is kind of an explosive born at the peaceful east continent of Myrthia, this explosive are woods excreted by a living rock which can only be mined at the far west coast of Myrthia and largely at the marshes of Parise which is currently a hotbed of wars between the three empires of Renoia and the Aaromistinate of the northern continent. There was also in the decades of twelve hundreds, a plant named Luzonn that has a slimy clear stain which can create large bubbles to remove all kind of stains without water and it was only once found at the desserts at the scorching western side of Colossus Mountains.
These resources were not at the known history of the past eons, although there were meaningful evidence in some of them reaching the heights of prosperity like the Seventh and Fifth Eons. There were always theories that most of the resources they used just mysteriously went extinct and new ones bloomed at this eon. A proper evidence was at a megalith built from the Eighth Eon at Juritia, a sword with red steel as sharp as the sting of a bee left in a coffin with no bones or other remains inside, this steel is never found anywhere else. It is accepted that the reason of why only the megaliths remain this day or why there were no remains of any human to insect that was preserved is because of a great flood made of mud. That mudflood is so great that it erased histories and just buried it to solidify into stones, but the empty coffins were still unexplained.
There are names erected at these megaliths, it is assumed that these names are the royalties or important families that existed on those eons. Some notable names simultaneously mentioned were; Erostrom, Ibalois, Invograsil, Kernaemir, and Rosa O'bra. These names had records since the fifth eon, but no descendants was ever alive on Eevrian Eon.
This early knowledge, even infants knew, confuses Euseff so much, he can't put a word how to describe his mind thinking about The Romagnaye Family repeatedly said by Jacksie and Raynor. They were an ancient family that bridged the long mystery of whatever are there at the earlier Everlasts.
When Euseff was just a country bumpkin at the Vittor Region Capital, Cape Verdeen, an old and unfurnished small house of skyblue was erected between houses of Galistrician black brick. Passersby always call it a pleasant eyesore as they liked the color of the house, yet they don't want to have their homes built in bricks like it. A year has ended when Euseff just finished his first task for The Ways of Knife, he saw the Swords of Magistrate forcefully infiltrated the skyblue house. Word of the streets told the house was ransacked of all its belongings as the maiden who lives there is a culprit of having found a man being a descendant of ancient origins–all those who had contact with her will be questioned by all means.
Watching the trees be painted by the rectagular shaped shadow of a horseless chariot and then gone, a castle of three towers closer to the sea by the cliffs is larger by the seconds. Dashing the field of carabao grass, the carriage halted front the castle of grey boulder bricks twice a man.
All the Everlark children were escorted to their temporary rooms, plates of unfinished supper were served directly at their tables. Noble guards were ordered to revisit the Children's Castle and the Helminguard Palace.
Laying crumpled on the bed, Euseff heard toned down utters from one of the rooms outside.
"Me's want go cliffhouse. Me's show Lord Fennelhorn me's hammer."
"Go as you wish, it's not like I would be the one being caught by Lord Sebaste." A boy just some years older than the other refused to come with him.
"You's protect me's." The younger boy begged.
A knob unlocked at the end of the series of mahogany doors and a low tone said, "Go back to bed, Hemric. Don't make me repeat a word."
The boy had muffled cry turning tail his respective chamber.
Euseff is still absorbing all that he had encountered on his first day at this island. He just kept thinking about four things: his father, the crumpled paper thrown by Lady Tresinfort, The Romagnaye Family, and what his uncle did this time?
Forest eyes already knew it had something to do with his uncle, it has been their everyday life. However, he could be certain that whenever his uncle did deeds inconceivable, the man is getting closer and closer to what he is finding.
Someone knocked at Euseff's door and it just revealed the bluish green seas of Raynor. He placed a chair front of Euseff, rested his feet at the bed, and balanced the two legs of chair to teeter-totter on it.
"Ask." Raynor left a hanging word as he fixes his sleeping linen to elongate his neck.
"I have nothing to ask." Euseff stood and sat on the other chair.
"You clearly do, you were inching to ask many of the eventualities were are to abide subsequent an unknown disturbance on The Dinings. Come on, your big brother's got a big brain here. You can ask anything and get all the right answers."
"I wasn't..."
"Ask." Raynor leaned forward to get hold a rolled lumpfia, a minced meat and veggies rolled in rice paper. He bit on it with a smirk to Euseff, ceasing his teeter-totter.
Euseff glanced at the other boy, considering if he does need asking.
"Have you seen my father?"
Raynor's curl from his lips vanished instantly and placed the rolled lumpfia back on the plate, he repeated balancing the two legs of his chair and sighed. "Unfortunately, I did."
"What does he look like?" Euseff's voice either interested or just curious.
"I have seen a picture of him back my home with Pepito, that boy beside Arturis at the rightmost table. Pepito's mother hides it from him and me. I should have listened." Bluegreen eyes peered the smoothened grey ceiling and bent his nape at the backrest of the chair, quickening his teeter-totter.
"Was it that bad?"
Raynor sniggered, "No, no. He does not look bad for an old man preying on Pepito's young mother, Talina. He had the true black hair and piercing green eyes, Talina fell for it seeing him first time. I saw her diary, she said she really liked touching that man's broad shoulders and his iliac furrows. She even ended that page with three hearts." He laughed remembering that, he thought Talina looked so young in mind and physique for a mother.
"What's an iliac furrow?"
"That you don't ask." Raynor snorted, hinted him bizarrely.
"On that picture of black and white taken probably when he first saw Talina, his attire's ordinary. I wouldn't even suspected he's of nobility or anything like. It would best describe... he looks so lost. Yeah, he looks uncultured and lost of touch." A hark back to his memory seeing the image, Raynor just had the most accurate description of that picture after all these years.
"Did you have any other picture of him?"
"Glad to say, no. Your father's something else, I'll tell you. That picture is only one of its kind, it was taken from Talina's own heliograph using molten Brown Citirites when she follows my father and mother in all of middlelands." The picture had traces of burning and being torn apart, yet remains intact and hidden under the bed of Pepito's mother.
Raynor stood and stretched his limbs as he said while yawning, "However, if you want to have the glimpse of that old man. It's true and sensible to imagine Yules if he is older. Wait, hold on..."
Raynor lit the yellow bulb of lamp and took a closer look at the boy by his side. He scrutinized the features of Euseff and chuckled. "I guess Floren's right all along, I might really just get blind soon like Mama. How did I not notice that earlier, you're just missing a few more scars on your lips and jaw then look at the mirror. You're an imitation of your father in few more namedays. Oh, and you look ridiculous on that clown costume"
"What clown costum–"
"Your quarter's not here, Raynor." The discourteous low tone of Yules stated from the door, crossing his arms.
Raynor raised both his hands, yielding the room with a smirk and eye contact with his towerlike cousin. His head at the ribs of Yules while enfolding himself to fit the space of the door.
Yules emulated an authoritarian with protruding veins at his temple while battling eye to eye with Raynor.
"Bye, by tomorrows–"
"Scram!" Yules cut the last words of Raynor to Euseff. Raynor immediately scooted down the stairs not looking back.
Catching sight of the forest-eyed boy suddenly standing, Yules sized him up and said, "Change that hideous pants and be at the entry hall by the fourth owl hour. You're going with me and Hemric at the cliffhouse."