Chapter 32
“What do you mean you’ve been58Please respect copyright.PENANAM3soUoenFe
expecting me?” Vander asked as he climbed the stairs. Shea followed a step58Please respect copyright.PENANAtzXijgHIdE
behind him unwilling to let him be alone with a man she didn’t know.
“It’s as I said.” Humi had a58Please respect copyright.PENANAuMwPZJSHXJ
faraway look in his eyes. Humi was a strange man. He had short brown hair and58Please respect copyright.PENANAIEeWaddLv6
light blue eyes. He was a portly man, but Vander could feel a strength from him58Please respect copyright.PENANAzPQsZTwjtk
he couldn’t quite place. He wore a long blue robe, different from the one he58Please respect copyright.PENANAjxL0AYetcr
wore at the wedding. This one was light, made from simple cloth, with a moon58Please respect copyright.PENANA4bwLBAOYod
stitched on his chest.
Despite being a58Please respect copyright.PENANA6vFDoJ6Kof
member of Humjir’s temple, Vander didn’t know much about him other than the58Please respect copyright.PENANATxpkhpl9I4
fact that he frequented the castle to talk to the former King, but it was58Please respect copyright.PENANAd1zSR7XxH1
always behind closed doors away from prying ears. The wedding was the first58Please respect copyright.PENANAgxrq7eizpv
time he had seen Humi in years. There was a smell to him, like Malcolm, yet58Please respect copyright.PENANA3pRzyLhN95
different. However, Vander had difficulty explaining the feeling to himself.
“You can smell58Please respect copyright.PENANAiXaa2Ey9fs
the shard of Humjir inside of me, young Unna’tun.” Humi smiled as if reading58Please respect copyright.PENANA508dqrZpLw
Vander’s thoughts.
“I thought the gods only had one58Please respect copyright.PENANAcc4pBPVQIa
shard at a time?” Vander asked. “I thought Cuvera inherited it when his father58Please respect copyright.PENANApNpnbKCGkm
died.”
“That’s what you’ve been told,58Please respect copyright.PENANA32PK2jESSc
but, like many things, it’s wrong.” Humi turned around then started to walk58Please respect copyright.PENANA6UQDCjAUSt
deeper into the temple. He didn’t speak to Vander, but Vander knew that he58Please respect copyright.PENANAjbuWAkITpq
should follow. Only then would he gain the answers he sook.
“Why aren’t you afraid of me like58Please respect copyright.PENANAYoV4vtknGb
everyone else?” Vander asked him. Humi paused for a second but kept walking.
“Because I know you didn’t kill58Please respect copyright.PENANA4cZG11uNV8
Malcolm.” He explained. He didn’t share58Please respect copyright.PENANAwkf05lZPwJ
how he knew, but Vander thought that it had something to do with why he had a58Please respect copyright.PENANAatEBVZGKa4
shard inside of him. Another mystery he wanted solved.
Humi lead them deep into the58Please respect copyright.PENANA7oDaQFQwR9
temple. Despite the later hour, Vander expected other acolytes to be here, not58Please respect copyright.PENANAsW5zRCiFep
just Humi. However, he couldn’t smell or hear anyone else inside. He asked the58Please respect copyright.PENANAnA04yRvTeO
priest about it, but Humi kept walking, ignoring the question entirely. He58Please respect copyright.PENANA5ZCZEDUXgI
instructed Shea to keep her wits about her, but to stay close in case they were58Please respect copyright.PENANA4jgvz8zupD
walking into a trap. Malcolm may have said to trust this man, but Vander58Please respect copyright.PENANAiGGw0GuMfQ
trusted Peyton and had been betrayed. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
They were taken down a long58Please respect copyright.PENANAM7JQue5iXp
hallway where it looked like portraits of all the past kings and queens were58Please respect copyright.PENANASakM8UlxC0
placed, however they looked slightly different than what he had seen in the58Please respect copyright.PENANAnsT3elBlZu
castle. These people had pupilless eyes while their hair had a blue hue to it.58Please respect copyright.PENANA6WubjBp7IR
They must have been previous shards of Humjir, but why did they resemble58Please respect copyright.PENANACRoTMTxYRB
Eluvia’s monarchy? More questions with no answers, they pushed on.
After about ten minutes of58Please respect copyright.PENANABKGZZdFIi5
walking, they finally came to one of the paths that would lead them to Humjir’s58Please respect copyright.PENANAORxbKMqutg
pool. Vander could smell fresh water, something rare within the city walls. The58Please respect copyright.PENANAhgBNXFF0Qi
fresh water he had ever smelled was in the middle of the forest, but somehow58Please respect copyright.PENANAC5FOH4Ctvm
this was fresher than that. He wondered why that was, but before he could ask,58Please respect copyright.PENANAkTE173IJzt
Humi turned down the hall beckoning the two of them to follow.
“It is best if we talk here.”58Please respect copyright.PENANAXQZgqsW00M
Despite being outside, Vander had the sneaking suspicion that they were in an58Please respect copyright.PENANAyCJDBmywGk
enclosed space, cut off from the rest of the city. The fact that Humi’s voice58Please respect copyright.PENANAIes5OsKYqR
didn’t echo when he talked was further proof of that.
“Where is here?” Vander asked. If58Please respect copyright.PENANAWmFqRnrWzF
Humi was impressed he had picked up on it he didn’t show it.
“A special area, even for Humjir.”58Please respect copyright.PENANA4gSNI37oO9
Humi explained. “When he passed down the hall we entered this sacred space.58Please respect copyright.PENANA67PDfxe1i3
Only those with a shard, or who are bonded to a shard, may enter.”
“Then what is the pool anyone can58Please respect copyright.PENANA7SYa7kfkHV
enter to worship Humjir?” Vander asked.
“Just that, a pool.” Humi58Please respect copyright.PENANAW2DZxJTAgE
explained. “A specially crafted pool which we clean daily to make it feel as58Please respect copyright.PENANAxGM5bfWCRh
special as possible, but this is the true space that Humjir himself had created58Please respect copyright.PENANANdKV1kafvR
a long time ago.”
The pool itself was immaculate.58Please respect copyright.PENANAfXbD73jnCm
There were no borders to keep the water in, however, it still stayed within a58Please respect copyright.PENANA3p07X24Gc5
perfect circle. There was a large rock formation that poured ice blue water58Please respect copyright.PENANAO3wwyl876y
into the pool. The area around it had a blueish hue, like it reflected the58Please respect copyright.PENANAx2EENJsDuX
color of the water inside. Vander took a careful step towards the edge to peer58Please respect copyright.PENANAR4E8rJA2Er
into the depths. He saw several large fish swimming around, but the biggest58Please respect copyright.PENANA4M14PFx3lv
surprise was the full moon shining in the depths despite it only being a58Please respect copyright.PENANAq7FdY4wS9H
quarter moon in the sky. Vander felt drawn to the pool, but Humi grabbed his58Please respect copyright.PENANAQmW7UxY9SN
arm pulling him away.
“Many have lost themselves to the58Please respect copyright.PENANA7v2AUbTRcL
depth’s, Vander.” He spoke. “It’s best, especially for you, to stay away.”
“Why?” Vander asked.
“You know the story of Atza’s58Please respect copyright.PENANAubUP4Izvnk
wrath because Humjir used his pool to spy on Unna?” Vander paled as he58Please respect copyright.PENANA8LbUDmV4V3
remembered that story. He could hear Unna’s laughter in his ears when he read58Please respect copyright.PENANAInCLBcQiVX
about it. “If you peer inside, you could enter her realm and that would be very58Please respect copyright.PENANAFeKkrgVWSg
bad for you.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen.” Shea58Please respect copyright.PENANAyBOmETwGup
growled.
“There wouldn’t be much you could58Please respect copyright.PENANAipBwKrCJZV
do about it, little shadow beast.” Humi answered. “Yes, I can hear what you58Please respect copyright.PENANAbDsTbwIKVN
say, but that’s only because we are here where my powers are stronger. Now,58Please respect copyright.PENANAvRZ676Klan
let’s talk before we run out of time. You’re here because you read Malcolm’s58Please respect copyright.PENANAWF6g78GU1K
note inside the book.” It was a statement not a question, so Vander answered by58Please respect copyright.PENANAIW4Mwi6VUU
nodding his head. “Where is the book now?” Vander pat his chest where the black58Please respect copyright.PENANAc1EatL2iAZ
book was sitting in his pocket. “Good, make sure you always keep it on you.58Please respect copyright.PENANAmQvX4OgE15
Don’t let anyone near it unless you can absolutely trust them.”
“I understand, but why all the58Please respect copyright.PENANAKi4UxMUitK
secrecy?”
“That tells me you didn’t read the58Please respect copyright.PENANA1Pt6yujoTi
book in it’s entirety, but I supposed that’s alright,” Humi smirked. “You were58Please respect copyright.PENANAoE8A9jIix3
curious about Unna, so you likely read that first to pass the time until you58Please respect copyright.PENANAs1qLGkM21O
came here. But to answer your question, I’ll have to ask one. Have you heard of58Please respect copyright.PENANAHiZ5786pfD
the Black Order?”
“No?” Vander frowned. In his58Please respect copyright.PENANA1dbOrsnM1v
entire time as a Blade and holding the shard of Unna, not once had anyone58Please respect copyright.PENANAZC2LVjBORG
mentioned them. “Who are they?”
“Not surprising,” Humi sighed.58Please respect copyright.PENANA5sBpH4SC1T
“Their name has changed over the millennia, but they have been around since the58Please respect copyright.PENANAVjPEZV6P5v
Great War. They were the human who were on Darkness’s side and vowed to one day58Please respect copyright.PENANAw0ykREn5fq
return her to this realm.”
“Now that you mention it, they58Please respect copyright.PENANAeAqPrmqgEy
sound familiar.” Vander explained. “I thought they were eradicated.”
“We thought so too, but for the58Please respect copyright.PENANAhr3kUqzuxm
past century we have noticed them appearing all over once again.” Humi said.58Please respect copyright.PENANAgO1tXZetyL
“We aren’t sure who they are, we have some suspects, but until Malcolm’s58Please respect copyright.PENANAOeuIKpg2rw
assassination, no solid proof. It appears Peyton could be our link.”
“Why would they kill Malcolm?”58Please respect copyright.PENANAuEyaYjDrG9
Vander asked. “He’s the King of the most powerful country, with an equally58Please respect copyright.PENANA8Yl2DKJ7Ay
strong successor. There would be no point on angering us.”
“Ah, but there is a point.” Humi58Please respect copyright.PENANAo0NLezBhfv
smiled. “Malcolm held Humjir’s shard inside of his body. They needed that as58Please respect copyright.PENANAOaoZss4dzf
part of their plan to awaken the Darkness.” Vander shot him a quizzical glance58Please respect copyright.PENANARwIldCsO3m
causing Humi to sigh. Vander could feel the man’s impatience with him, but he58Please respect copyright.PENANAYbbFAQTAf0
couldn’t see what these facts had to do with each other. “They need the shard58Please respect copyright.PENANAvhXykGWNrl
of each god to unseal her. It was their power that took her out and it will be58Please respect copyright.PENANADNJBVJXFwp
their power to release her once again.”
“Wait.” Vander frowned. “If that’s58Please respect copyright.PENANAtU53A6XKbd
the case, then why are shard holders running around amok? Why not place them58Please respect copyright.PENANAxBxhhj2fiA
under guard to protect them?”
“Would you be able to control58Please respect copyright.PENANAJ3NMdM6bJB
nobility and keep them confined?” Humi shook his head. “It was attempted many58Please respect copyright.PENANAkX0giQjMnJ
centuries ago, but it went about as well as could be expected. So, they came up58Please respect copyright.PENANAGIPrfvmOAI
with an agreement. No one would know who the shards are, except for those in58Please respect copyright.PENANA14DgLDSNhz
the know. Each stronghold would have two within their walls, however Atza’s58Please respect copyright.PENANA2I5HzMXaZl
shard didn’t trust that we could protect her, so she went somewhere else. They58Please respect copyright.PENANAKS055IwWPJ
founded the country of Bricen, and only those in the royal family knew who it58Please respect copyright.PENANAbU8EmPCrkf
would be.”
“But why would the order act now?”58Please respect copyright.PENANAu3sRfJgsDs
Vander frowned. He racked his brain to figure out why when the past events came58Please respect copyright.PENANAfFqUG77UbU
flooding into him. “Because all of the shards are together.”
“Correct.” Humi grimaced. “We are58Please respect copyright.PENANAs9OaHfMZjM
all at risk, but no one knows it outside of our little group. Our little safety58Please respect copyright.PENANAwmxXHspUni
net ended up dooming us all.”
“Not even the shards know who each58Please respect copyright.PENANAyalj0yen51
other are?” Vander asked. “I thought we could all sense each other.”
“No, that’s why you are special58Please respect copyright.PENANAFstdUldHNH
and why Peyton likely wanted to ostracize you from everyone else.” Humi placed58Please respect copyright.PENANARcRhycONMV
his hand on Vander’s shoulder. “It hasn’t been much of secret when you became58Please respect copyright.PENANAp5ED4lYdem
Unna’s shard, it hasn’t happened in many, many years and most don’t survive58Please respect copyright.PENANAGym2xrY49l
very long. The fact that you are still alive is testament to your willpower and58Please respect copyright.PENANA55c5ZGKPwF
Malcolm’s ability to keep it a secret, but it’s out in the open now. If they58Please respect copyright.PENANAgJj0Dc8ldT
get ahold of your gifts, it will doom us all.”
“So, what should I do?” Vander58Please respect copyright.PENANACquW07Sqp8
asked. “I can’t just abandon my friends and family to go on the run.”
“No, you can’t.” Humi sighed.58Please respect copyright.PENANA90EueFUr4K
“They know who you are and will go to the ends of the earth to find you. All we58Please respect copyright.PENANApbZBisSKrb
can do is protect those here until they leave, to give us time to think of a58Please respect copyright.PENANAtPAxtMnIZS
solution.”
“Can I ask you something else?”58Please respect copyright.PENANAikSg3dYYKJ
Vander asked. Humi nodded. “How do the Green Serpents fit into this? I mean,58Please respect copyright.PENANA5ua6K3ZWhg
they were the ones who poisoned Malcolm and tried to assassinate me. What is it58Please respect copyright.PENANA0OqC8BGFNa
they want?”
“The only thing Malcolm and I58Please respect copyright.PENANAWqLCbVZs0O
could come up with was that they were hired to do a job.” Humi explained. “Lure58Please respect copyright.PENANAFt891Xy7eL
you out of hiding so they can kill you and part of it worked. Now they must58Please respect copyright.PENANA9zQenmeLDg
find you, but it looks as though you found them first.”
“Three escaped, but I’m sure they58Please respect copyright.PENANA9mVqOl3tsO
have a plan.” Vander explained. “But they have sent someone else after me. I58Please respect copyright.PENANAiGOABlyJec
found a note in the house explaining that someone called ‘Fang’, has been sent58Please respect copyright.PENANAidpy1ubgQ7
after me. Have you heard of them?”
“No,” Humi frowned. “But they have58Please respect copyright.PENANA2dqtUTzhbe
been especially sent for you, then you need to do a better job of hiding before58Please respect copyright.PENANADv0rGT8AU4
they find you.”
“Oh, it’s far too late for that.” Humi58Please respect copyright.PENANAsbvvM4WpQl
and Vander, startled by the noise, looked up to find a figure squatting on top58Please respect copyright.PENANAmj305Vs6us
of the fountain.
They were dressed58Please respect copyright.PENANAznDrXG3QFU
in an all-black uniform that had a greenish hue to it. Vander could tell that58Please respect copyright.PENANAfxuRmAgxC9
the armor was well crafted with metal plating underneath it. The leather58Please respect copyright.PENANAoCm6bCf8hx
vambraces were holding numerous weapons, Vander could smell poison emanating58Please respect copyright.PENANAanPJSifLTY
from them, and they had a sword slung across their back. The hood over their58Please respect copyright.PENANAGdwXI6ehLu
face obscured their looks, but despite that, they were still wearing a green58Please respect copyright.PENANAwK6XSx80DS
mask with a serpent painted onto it.
Vander went for58Please respect copyright.PENANA6pE3UjVAn7
his sword, but Humi stood in front of him. “It’s not your time.” He whispered.58Please respect copyright.PENANA9E8hKV94D3
He opened his robe and removed a whip that had been wrapped around his waist.58Please respect copyright.PENANAdhv2LHHCwI
“The fact that they got into this sanctuary means Humjir’s power is weakening.58Please respect copyright.PENANA9E5RdGMhWf
It will take time for the shard to take effect in someone new. You must be58Please respect copyright.PENANArRoEV4oNUd
alive to protect them.”
“I can help you.”58Please respect copyright.PENANAAtU9yPEM8S
Vander hissed. Shea grabbed onto his pants to drag him back.
“Protect the58Please respect copyright.PENANAcDK7FQ6Wvw
book!” Humi smiled. “This is not where you die young Vander. You still have58Please respect copyright.PENANANaxEQtN4Os
plenty to do, please allow me to see my friend in the afterlife knowing I58Please respect copyright.PENANAswT6Iu5p8V
helped protect our home.”
“Can you take58Please respect copyright.PENANAojuowXCxRw
them” Vander hesitated.
“Never fear.”58Please respect copyright.PENANApIkZbf4PeK
Humi smiled. He cracked the whip as he stared down the assassin. “You’ll have58Please respect copyright.PENANAB3nJGxGzNE
to get through me to get to him.”
“No problem.”58Please respect copyright.PENANA9i9AyNu81a
Vander thought he could hear the assassin grinning from behind the mask.
“Take this with58Please respect copyright.PENANASd0nXgvgTw
you as well.” Humi held out a vial of water towards Vander. “Once you are safe,58Please respect copyright.PENANA1b89fBASJZ
drink that. Only then will you know what’s at stake.” Vander took the vial then58Please respect copyright.PENANA2jySM1I5fn
slipped it into his pocket. He opened his mouth to say more, but Shea once again58Please respect copyright.PENANAuDzWZrFf4d
pulled on his jacket.
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“We must go.”58Please respect copyright.PENANAxH9zHQxO1H
Vander allowed himself to run as this was the only option available to him. He58Please respect copyright.PENANAchrA9BHC0o
prayed that Humi would survive, but it was unlikely. Humi was right, however,58Please respect copyright.PENANALqM9v9FUGZ
he had to protect the book and the secrets that lay within. If it helped save58Please respect copyright.PENANAkI1kAva31I
this city, he would do whatever he could.