Mane, Lam and Lily were led into the mansion of the City Lord. They bypassed several rooms, and each hall they were led through was its own. None of the halls were of the same design, or even had similar decorations. Each hall was masterfully designed into masterpieces and each carving and decoration was unique with no other replica. Mane and the twins couldn’t help but marvel at how novel and beautiful each hall was. Mane was the most affected of them all. That was because he thought that he had seen all there was to see since his parents were extremely wealthy themselves. But he had been humbled by the several different artful pieces placed nonchalantly in each hall. He didn’t know what most of the carvings were made of, but with his senses he could tell that they were dense and precious materials.
They followed behind the leading guard quietly, not speaking a word – only observing and admiring the mansion which was several times more glorious on the insid
“You had no intentions of visiting me so soon. So what changed?” Sutton, the Lord of Asher City was seated on a chair that was as equally stunning as the others. He was seated with his wife and daughter – with his wife on his right side and his daughter on his left. They were facing Mane and the twins. And as fate would have it, Mane sat in between Lam and Lily. This is made it so that both of them – man and boy – sat facing each other directly. “Don’t you have any manners, Sutton? Before one starts to question their guests, one must first offer them something to eat. We can discuss our issues as we partake in what is before us.” Anna chided lovingly in a soothing voice that calmed the nerves of Mane and the twins. Mira looked at the feast before her with furrowed brows. The snacks and drinks could be ignored. They were delicious delicacies, and they were expensive. That much was true, but compared to what was next to them, they were very trivial accompaniments. For next to
Mane, Lam and Lily sat silently and listened to City Lord Sutton speak of the Legend of the Black Dragon Of The East. Although they knew the legend, they didn’t interrupt. Rather they chose to listen silently. They knew that City Lord Sutton needed to use the story of the Black Dragon’s legend to build up to what they really wanted to know. Soon, what they were waiting for came up, and their ears perked up just a bit more – an instinctive reaction – when they realised that the information they were waiting for was coming up.“Many believed that the Black Dragon roamed the world in his last days, and that he died somewhere unknown – a place where nobody knew his name or who he was. But the history archives of the most well-grounded First Class Cities say otherwise.”City Lord Sutton paused here to take a sip of some wine. Mane and the twins couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Intentionally or unintentionally, City Lord Sutto
City Lord Sutton and Madam Anna had stunned expressions on their faces upon hearing the exclamations of the three teenagers. This was the first time they had ever revealed such an expression since the informal meeting between the two groups began. Mane, Lam and Lily were too surprised by the person who had just come in that they failed to take note of the expressions of City Lord Sutton and Madam Anna. Mira dutifully stood aside when Ivor came in. Although she was surprised that Mane and the twins knew this man, she was more terrified of him than she was surprised by the revelation. If it wasn’t because they had no choice than to ally themselves with Ivor, she would have wished that her parents didn’t contact this dangerous man. His legends were extraordinary, but his callous heart which was hidden by the genial smile on his face was just as scary as his legends. “You know Sir Ivor?” Madam Anna asked with a bit of reservation. She didn’t look as comfortable as she did when t
City Lord Sutton and Madam Anna had stunned expressions on their faces upon hearing the exclamations of the three teenagers. This was the first time they had ever revealed such an expression since the informal meeting between the two groups began. Mane, Lam and Lily were too surprised by the person who had just come in that they failed to take note of the expressions of City Lord Sutton and Madam Anna. Mira dutifully stood aside when Ivor came in. Although she was surprised that Mane and the twins knew this man, she was more terrified of him than she was surprised by the revelation. If it wasn’t because they had no choice than to ally themselves with Ivor, she would have wished that her parents didn’t contact this dangerous man. His legends were extraordinary, but his callous heart which was hidden by the genial smile on his face was just as scary as his legends.“You know Sir Ivor?” Madam Anna asked with a bit of reservation. She didn’t look as
The Grand Tourney was an important event in Asher City, and every citizen of this great city loved the tournament that featured several other First Class Cities. As such, the Grand Tourney was held with much adulation and praise, and the money that went into organizing the tournament was no small sum. Every First Class City that participated in the Grand Tourney was a sponsor of the tournament. Only the city that housed the most recent winners were spared the heartache of dipping into their coveted pockets and contributing to this great tournament. Amongst the many expenses that the money gathered from the first class cities were used to cover was housing accommodations for the participating teams. Each city was given a mansion, and the teams they sponsored had to share this mansion. Only the teams that reached the Semi-Finals of the Grand Tourney were given their own mansions.These mansions were lavish and beautiful, and were assigned based on the discretion of the Asher Ci
Every house had secrets. And the mansions each team resided were no different. It was up to the one staying there to discover these secrets. More often than not, such huge mansions had their own secret bunkers or escape rooms. Some had tunnels that stretched further than the eye could see. Others were built over water sources, and had exits that led to creeks. The Orange Team’s mansion was no different. Their secret was a simple one, and it would bring envy to any person. It was a very useful secret, especially for those who operated in the shadows like them.Their secret was a secret bunker which was connected to an underground exit. It had been discovered the moment they moved into this place. Black Hand did a sweep of the building to root out any hidden appliances or traps that may have been set up. They were competing in the Grand Tourney, but they hadn’t forgotten that they were in enemy territory. Just like they had their own hidden agendas, their enemies ma
Dark clouds had gathered, and with their appearance the rain that followed was no surprise. The dark clouds hugged the sky greedily, pushing the sun out of its dominant position and taking control of what was not originally theirs. They drummed mightily, these dark clouds, their thunderous roars giving birth to several streaks of lightning that flashed across the now carpeted sky. The winds ragged and howled, and the rain fell heavily. It fell with such recklessness that one would have thought that it sought to wrought vengeance on the earth below for being so far away from the sky were it usually slept peacefully.Those who were walking the earth down below scampered to safety, for no one was foolish enough to go against the wrath of nature. The sky roared thunderously, and lightning flashed towards the earth, coming dangerously close to a few people who ran even more frantically upon escaping this near death encounter. Some of them tripped over themselves, whereas others sl
The Lightning Phoenix kept charging forward, its figure nothing but a blur. Its hasty advance was partly fueled by the fact that it had been delayed by the Lightning Snake. It had wasted some time killing off the beast and consuming its corpse. The other half of the reason was that it had just come face to face with the most frightening existence that a Sacred Bird could have come across. It had come face to face with the one known as The Beast Slayer; The Devil Maker; Destroyer Of Kings; The Ghostly Paragon; and most famous of all; Basileus!That man was known for his driving desire to possess the corpses and blood of precious beasts. He had killed many, and several members of its race had fallen victim to him. The Lightning Phoenix was not foolish enough to believe the claims of The Beast Slayer that it was spared because it was a precious beast. Which of the beasts that had been killed by the Devil Maker had been average? Which of the beasts that had fallen prey to the Gho