Inheritance © Barbara Boot 2020. Published by DR21 Publishing. All rights reserved.
The new housekeep is making his way up the driveway to see the front door is wide open. He trots up the four steps and knocks on it as he enters the grand hallway. The ceiling and walls are decorated with carving of flowers to birds. He is just taken away by the sunning craftsmanship he does not notice Master Guardian is making his way down the white marble staircase.
It is not until he hears a deep man’s voice saying, “Morning son,” he looks in that direction.
The young man quickly removes his hat when he sees the stunning man before him, his long black hair frames his emotionless face making it appear very pale. The man’s stunning blue eyes seem to stare into his very soul.
Then from out of nowhere he is tap on the shoulder and that same deep voice asks, “What’s the batter lad cat got your tongue?”
“No,” he replies with a laugh. “Forgive me I am Marcus Old. I am your new housekeeper.”
There is almost a hit of surprise within Master Guardian’s handsome face, his dreamy eyes open slightly wider and his thin black eyebrows rise.
The man hears a deep laugh and the voice says, “No offence, you are a man. We have never had a man housekeeper before.”
“Yes, I am well aware of that sir-”
“Sir?” interrupts the deep voice, “I have a name, I am Fedor. Or as my host calls me Darkness.”
This is when Marcus remembers what his mother told him, the gods Darkness, Shǒuwèi and Celest do not like to be referred to as sir. He performs a deep bow and says, “My apologies Darkness.”
“It’s quite all right. You are nervous.”
Guardian steps off the last step, he places his hands behind his back and says, “Now my son you should not feel obligated to take on this job. Your mother only became housekeeper as away to thank us. We do not expect her children to follow in your parents footsteps. You are free my lad. Free to take on any job you like.”
“Speaking of your mother, how is she?”
“Very well. The treatment Dong is giving her is really helping her back.”
“Glad to hear it,” says Darkness. “Even so she should have told us sooner.”
Marcus emits a soft laugh and replies, “That’s my mother, she is never one to complain. Father told her time and time again to inform you gods before the pain got too bad. She never did.”
“Another problem is, she hid it well.”
“That she did my host. Even Yiska did not pick up on her discomfort.”
The young man clears his throat and says, “Well the thing is she did not want to let any of you down.”
Guardian shakes his head and says, “Bless her. All right you may take over for your dear mother. However, I must say my lad, you have big shoes to fill. Your mother was an excellent housekeeper. I trust she has told you about this place?”
“Yes, she has. I even have a list,” replies Marcus, removing a small roll of paper from his cloth pouch.
“Excellent,” says Darkness. “Well, I am willing to give you ago. What do you say my host?”
Marcus watches the Soul Drinker’s full pale pink lips form into a small smile and replies, “Shì, I am also willing to give you ago. Only because you are an Old and considered family. Celest?”
The young man looks to the god’s left side, he places his hands together and asks in a soft voice, “Please Hisashi, give me ago?”
Guardian nods and replies, “Shì, he is nodding. Right we will leave you to it. Help yourself to tea and food.”
“Call or scream if you need us.”
Marcus looks to his right when he feels the warm presents and asks, “Scream?”
“Wait your mother neglected to tell you Raven is haunted?”
“No, not all Darkness. She warned me many times. It’s just that I do not believe you will hear me scream.”
“You say that now. Wait until you find yourself trapped and the heavy steps you hear are getting closer and closer. Then something grips your arm so tightly it makes you cry out in pain. Soul is a terrible man in live and in death, he haunts this house and he will attack you without just cause. You must stand up to him, give in to fear and he will walk all over you. Understand?”
Marcus swallows the lump of fear in his throat, he nods and replies, “Yes, Darkness. I completely understand.”
“There’s a good lad. Remember if Soul does trap you, you are to tell him off the same way you would a child.”
“I understand Darkness.”
“Good. See you later.”
Marcus watches the Soul Drinker give him a nod then in a blink of an eye he is gone. He decides to make a start in the kitchen, he uses the pan of hot water to clean the dirty dishes that have been left by the sink. Looking out in to the garden the young man sees that is filled with kinds of herbs and his eyes a drawn to two women who seem to be looking at a large piece of paper and every now and then they look back at the building.
One of the women spots him staring at them, she gives the smaller lady a nudge and they both wave to him. Marcus waves back and sees they are making their way inside.
The back door opens and the taller one of the two walks over to him and says, “Good morning I am Chris and this is my brother Yiska.”
They all bow and Marcus remembers his mother warning him some of the gods are both sex, he gives them a smile and replies, “I am your new housekeeper, my name is Marcus.”
The smaller god emits a soft laugh and asks, “Really?”
Chris shakes his head and snaps, “Yiska!”
“What? He’s a boy and boys are messy, Shǒuwèi, is a perfect example of that. Unless you have a bit of feminine in you?”
The young man is taken away by the god’s unusual eyes, he has seven pupils going across them in a line. The three centre ones seem to move closer together, where the outer ones appear be looking around the room.
“Yiska now look what you have done, you have made the poor lad lost for words. Ignore him Marcus, I’m sure you will do an excellent job.”
“Why thank you Chris,” replies the young man, performing a shallow bow. “May I ask what are you both looking at?”
“Oh it is a plan we found of this very Manor,” replies Chris, setting the large piece of paper down on the table. “This is the east wing, it has been not only sealed inside, but also every garden leading to it have been locked.”
“We have been trying to work out from this where the boarded up doors are so we can mark the section of wall they lie behind.”
This makes the young man look at them all confused and he asks, “Why has it been boarded up?”
The gods laugh and Chris replies, “That’s the thing no one knows. Sir Guardian did not long after he moved in here with his second wife. And for some reason he will not talk about it, even his own grandson, our dear brother cannot get him to spill the beans.”
“I see, how fascinating. It sounds like you are dealing with a good mystery.”
“You’re not wrong there lad,” replies Yiska, winking his left eye. “This place is full of them. For example keys have a tendency to just appear in the most unlikely of places. Your own mother found one once whilst she was in the library sticking out from between some books and another on top of a bookcase. She also found them under the kitchen sink and in the fireplace in the drawing room.”
“Yes, she told us they just seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere. It makes you wonder what happened here.”
“Something terrible happened here,” mutters Chris, wrapping his arms around his body.
“He means the castle that once stood here. All I can gather it was something dark and terrible which took out half of the building, killing everyone within. The half that was left was engulfed in fire and the poor victims were burned alive.”
“My word son, what you are trying to do scare the poor lad out if his wits,” comes a deep voice.
“Dad! No of course not. I was just telling him what happened here.”
Marcus sees the well-built man in also both his ample size chest rises as he takes a breath and says, “Do not let what my son is telling you fight you dear boy. I’m Josh, I’m also Chris’s uncle.”
They bow and the young man replies, “No he did not frighten me. I find it all really fascinating. Plus it also explains why this very hill was whipped off the map.”
“It certainly does my lad. Now come along boys leave him to it.”
“Yes dad.”
“Uncle I think we have found another hidden door.”
“Well done. Show me.”
They all head outside into the back garden and Marcus continues tidying the kitchen before he moves on into the hallway.
He sets the bucket of hot water down on the floor, wrings out the cloth and makes a start on cleaning the carved wood around the front door. Then out the corner of his eye he sees something go pass the open doorway to his right. He turns to face it to see the long narrow corridor lies empty. Marcus just shakes his head and continues to clean along the skirting board that leads to that doorway. He is rinsing the cloth when he begins to hear the door at the far end of the corridor start to creek open; his eyes are drawn to a shadowy figure standing in the gap and a moment later it is slammed shut.
“Oh my goodness,” he says under his breath and thinks, could that have been Soul?
Marcus then taps the side of his face and says to himself, “Get a grip, do not allow him to frighten you.”
“Wise words son,” comes a voice from behind starved of emotions.
The young man turns around to see it is the legendary masked Dragon Límíng wù, he performs a shallow bow and says, “Good morning my lord.”
The masked Dragon walks over to give him a pat on the side of the face and says, “No matter how many times I told your mother to call me by my name she still insisted on call me that. I hope you are not going to be the same?”
“No, Límíng. Oh yes, I am to give you this,” he says, rummaging around in his cloth pouch.
The masked Dragon sees he pulls out a white stone that shimmers from green to a firry red that is nearly the same colour as his hair.
“Mum said that this holds power?”
“Yes, they can. It depends where it has come from. Yiska will have a better idea than me. Do you know what this is?”
“No, and nether does my mother.”
“It is a fire opal. I have to admit I can sense the energy within. They are used for a number of things mainly protection against danger. I must rest assure you son you are in no danger. Soul may make you think that, he is just trying to scare you.”
“I understand. Mother said this is yours now.”
Límíng wù eyes grow wide and he gasps, “Shénme?!”
Marcus takes a guess that the masked Dragon is saying what and replies, “Yes, she knows it will be in safe hands with you and it is a token of her thanks.”
“My word, she should not have done this. Did she by chance tell you how she became in possession of it?”
Marcus shakes his head and replies, “I’m afraid not. Father thinks it may have been given to her by a noble woman who adored her as a lover.”
“Ah I see. I cannot blame her either as your mother is a very attractive lady. Forgive me I should not such things.”
“No, it is all right as she told me if she was not with my father you would have taken her as lover.”
Límíng wù laughs and says, “I cannot believe she told you that. Now I am the one who is uncomfortable. Anyhow, I will leave you to it and please inform your mother thank you. However, her good cooking would have service.”
Marcus watches the masked Dragon wink his left eye, he gives him a smile and replies, “I will be sure to pass that on to her.”
“Bless you dear boy. See you later,” says Límíng wù and he heads off down the corridor.
The young man carries on cleaning the hallway, once he is done he heads back in to the kitchen to exchange the water for some fresh, then carries on down to the next room. He opens one of the double doors and steps inside to see the room contains a large table up which lies some kind of game. There are tiny figures from people to monsters, a castle and a forest. Each tree has been made with paper and wire. The level of detail is just amazing, each of the people are dressed in robes to armour and it is clear the dragon has scales.
“I wonder what kind of game it is?” he mutters, setting the figure with pointed hat back down.
Marcus goes on to clean out the large fireplace and dust the room. He is about half way around the room when he hears a loud thud come from the room above. It is closely followed by a dragging sound. This just make the young man look up at the ceiling for a moment in wonder who it could be, then he carries on.
By lunch time Marcus is in the drawing room, he is fascinated by the unusual stringed instruments, he checks his list of warning his mother gave him to find they are only to be cleaned with a dry cloth to remove any dust and caution must be taken with the Gǔqín (long 7 stringed instrument) for it is countless centuries old and do not pluck the strings for it will bring Límíng wù in to the room asking you what are you doing to my Wǔyè méiguī (Midnight rose)? For this instrument was given to him by Prince Fusu son of the First Emperor of China.
This makes Marcus take extra care when cleaning it. He is just moving on the another harp like instrument when the door opens and Shǒuwèi asks, “Care for something to eat?”
“Yes, please.”
“Come on through the kitchen when you are ready.”
The young man watches the god turn to leave and he quickly asks, “Shǒuwèi, I hope you do not mind me asking why did you chose to remain here?”
“Wèile shénmì... Mys-tery.”
“Mystery?”
“Shì. This place is full of it,” replies Guardian, raising his eyebrows. “There is still a lot to be jiēlù de... Dug up... Bù, nà shì bùduì de.”
“Do you mean uncovered?”
“Shì. I hopeless with English when Darkness is not with me. He in kitchen.”
Marcus performs a slight bow and says, “We got there in the end.”
Guardian nods and replies, “Nǐ shuō de duì, érzi. There I go again Duìbùqǐ. Sorry.”
“It is quite all right. Come, let’s go for lunch.”
The Soul Drinker gives him a nod and they walk together down to the kitchen.
“Marcus, take a seat,” says Límíng wù, as he sends a bowl of rice over to Yiska.
The young man nods and takes a seat next to Chris who gives him a smile and asks, “Tea?”
“Yes please.”
Josh sets a bowl of cooked vegetables down on the table and asks, “How you getting on, dear boy?”
“All right. I am about half way round the drawing room. The instrument in there are amazing.”
“They certainly are. Are you able to play an instrument?”
Marcus shakes his head and replies, “No. However I would very much like to learn how to play the clavichord.”
“Then you are in luck,” replies Darkness, “Our host plays one. Did you not see it in there?”
The young man looks at him all shocked and asks, “Really?!”
Guardian nods and replies, “It may look nothing more than a writing desk on the left hand side of the room.”
“Oh my goodness, I cleaned it and did not realise.”
“Not to worry dear boy, it is easily missed when it is all shut up. I’lll show you after lunch.”
Marcus nods and replies all excited, “Yes, please.”
They all begin to eat their meals when the back door opens and a young woman enters.
“Mirth, my dear you are just in time.”
“I see Límíng. I’ll just be a moment.”
The masked Dragon waits for her to be near his chair by the range and asks in a soft voice, “Do you need any?”
The young lady’s cheeks flush and she replies in a whisper, “No, not for a couple more weeks. Oh that is something I would like to ask you about.”
“Ah after lunch we will go somewhere private,” whispers Límíng wù, giving her a wink.
Mirth gives him a nod, then trots out of the room to return a moment later and takes a seat at the table.
“How are the bees?”
The young lady gives a happy smile and replies with a voice full of joy, “They are doing very well Darkness. I have put out in a new hive. Hopefully they will make a new colony soon.”
“That is wonderful news my dear. Plus I see you did not get stung this time.”
Mirth giggles and replies, “No, thankfully not. The new smoke is keeping them nice and calm. Thanks again Chris.”
The nervous god bows his head and replies, “You’re welcome my dear.”
The young lady looks across the table to see a black man dressed in working clothes is looking intently at her, she gives him a warm smile and says, “Good day.”
Josh shakes his head and says, “I’m so sorry my dear allow me to introduce you to Marcus Old. This is Miss Mirth Blackwood, our local bee expert.”
The young man frowns and mutters the lady’s surname.
“Yes, my family saved your uncle and his family from the slave trade,” says the young lady, with a smile.
“Yes... My goodness, small world. So you live in the village?”
Mirth shakes her head and replies, “Not exactly, I live on the outskirts in a big house that was left by my great grandfather. You may have heard of Honey Bee Manor, also call just Bee Manor?”
Marcus nods and replies. “Yes, I have heard of the place. I just did not know who the owner was.”
“I see. Well now you do,” says the young lady, giving a happy smile.
Everyone laughs and the young man replies, “I must pay your family a visit.”
Mirth quickly finishes her mouthful and says all excited, “Yes, please come for afternoon tea and cake.”
“I would like that very much,” replies Marcus, smiling back at her.
They all go on to finish their meals then carry on with what they were doing apart from Límíng wù and Mirth who head to one of the rooms in the tower.
Guardian shows Marcus the clavichord, the inside of the lid has been decorated with flowers and he even goes on to play him a piece of music whilst he carries on cleaning. Marcus cannot get over how well Shǒuwèi plays it is clear he has been playing for a very long time. By the time he is finished the lovely tune is also coming to an end.
“That was beautiful,” he says, placing a hand to his chest.
“Xièxiè,” replies Guardian, performing a slight bow. “I am happy to teach you the basics.”
The young man performs a deep bow and says, “I would like that very much.”
“Just let me know when you are ready,”
“I will do,” replies Marcus as he walks out of the room.
Once he has got another bucket from the larder along with a fresh dust sheet and makes his way to one of the most haunted rooms in all of Raven Manor; the library. More strange things happen in this room than any other in the house. This is were most of the keys have been found, on top of bookcases, inside hidden compartments within the walls and desk. This is room where his own mother encountered Soul. He stands for a moment in the doorway looking in to see if he sees the shadow and to see if the door gets slammed in his face.
But nothing happens. Marcus starts to walk between the tall freestanding bookcases to the large fireplace and as he begins to clean it out, he gets this overwhelming feeling he is being watched. The hairs upon the back of his neck start to rise, then he hears heavy footsteps coming through the wall. The sound of door to the tower creeps open, making the young man practically jump to his feet and he stands ready to face Soul.
The heavy footsteps get closer and closer and when they are no more than a few steps away, Marcus shouts, “Leave me alone!”
The footsteps come to a stop, the room grows cold and the door to the corridor slams shut.
The young man is not about to let Soul scare him, he stands firm and says in a bold voice, “Harm me and you have the others to contend with. So you had better stay back.”
Was it his imagination or was it real, the room now was so cold he could see his own breath, even goosebumps start to appear upon his bare forearms. From out of nowhere he feels an icy cold breath upon the left side of his neck making him back away to see nothing is there.
“Stop it Soul! You cannot scare me,” he says in a firm voice. “So you might as well give up.”
Then something cold as ice grips his left forearm, he cannot only feel the thin fingers but see them pressing into his skin. This makes him quickly pull his arm away and snap, “I said leave me alone!”
All of a sudden things return to normal and the next thing he realises the side of his his face is is being held to a very war chest and he hears a soft man’s voice asking, “Are you all right son?”
Marcus steps back to see it is the legendary masked Dragon, he takes a deep breath and replies, “Yes, I’m fine Límíng.”
The masked Dragon gently pats the side of the young man’s face and says, “Looking a bit peaky, what you need by lad is a nice cup of tea.”
“I have just the very thing,” says Josh as he enters the room. “Here we are my boy, now you drink up as the warmth will make you feel better.”
Marcus nods and with a shaky hand he takes hold of the cup and asks, “Why does he do this?”
“Simple to scare you out of his home,” replies Límíng wù, “He forgets this is no longer his house, he left it to my son. You did the right thing standing up to him.”
“I was only doing what I have been told to do by my mother and Darkness don’t give into fear, stand up to him.”
“Well it did work, it made him hesitate long enough for my dear shūshu to get to you,” says Josh, encouraging him to drink the cup of tea. “It will calm your nerves.”
The young man nods and takes a sip to find it is completely different and unlike any tea he has had before. This makes him take another sip, this time he holds the tea in his mouth for a moment to absorb all the flavours, but the thing is he does not recognise any of them and it begins to make him wonder what is in it as he does begin to feel warmth within his tummy and throat.
“That’s it my lad,” says the Annihilation Deity, patting him on the arm. “We will soon have you feeling much better. The colour is already returning to your cheeks.”
“My word, what is in this?” Marcus asks, staring into the light brown liquid.
“Ah I’m afraid dear fellow that is a secret,” replies Josh, winking his right eye.
Límíng wù shakes his head and says, “That it make the lad look all disappointed. All you need to know my dear boy is it is nothing more than a blend of herbs that helps the body to relax after a bit of a fright. I take it you are beginning to feel all warm?”
The young man nods and replies, “Y-yes... Is that normal?”
“Shì, perfectly normal. Now go ahead drink up,” says the masked Dragon, tapping the rim of the cup.
Marcus does not ask any more questions and does as the gods are telling him. His whole body beings to feel all cosy and warm. He gives them a smile and says a moment later, “I feel much better.”
“Glad to hear it. However, you do not have to go back to work straight away, you are welcome to take a break.”
“No, really I’m all right Límíng.”
Josh gives him a concerned expression and asks, “Sure?”
“Yes, quite sure.”
“All right then we will leave you to it.”
The Annihilation Deity nods, he then takes the empty cup from the young man’s hand and walks out of the room.
The masked Dragon gives the young man pat on the arm and turns to leave when he hears him call his name, “Límíng.”
“Shì, son,” he replies, turning back to face him.
“Forgive me for asking, but is that a game which is set up in the quiet room?”
“Shì, it is. It is one of Fedor’s fantasy games. The boys and I have been playing it in the evenings. They can go on for days. You didn’t move any of the piece did you?”
Marcus starts to look uncomfortable and replies, “I picked up the wizard but I put him back where I found him... Well I think I did?”
The masked Dragon gives him a pat on the shoulder and says, “Not to worry, Yiska has an incredible memory, he will soon put things right. It is our fault not warning you to not touch the game that is laid out on the table.”
The young man goes on to check his mother’s list to see it is not on there, it makes him mutter, “Strange?”
“I see your mother did not tell you. I think I know why, she left it up to Fedor to tell you all about his fantasy games and to show you. Come to think of it that is why he did not say anything he wanted you to ask him about it.”
“Oh I see and I intend to do just that, as it looks really interesting.”
“Glad to hear it son. Is there anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
Límíng gives him another pat on the arm before he returns to the tower.
Marcus continues cleaning the library, he is dusting the desk and notices the shelves running along the back and sides are covered in pot Chinese dragons ranging from small to big and in the centre is a man who looks a bit like a beast dressed in a stunning Hanfu.
Checking his mother’s lit she has written take extra care when cleaning the dragon statues and do not lose the dragon king’s (man statue) magic ball.
The young man takes another look at the statue to see the god is indeed holding beautiful almost clear crystal ball. The bottom prat near his palm has what can only be described as a dark red cloud with whips coming off it like arms.
“That is amazing... I wonder what it is?”
Marcus gives it a gentle clean setting it carefully down on the deck, then goes on to gives each of the statues a clean and makes sure he places the ball back the way he found it.
The young man cleans the bookcases down to the two long windows situated on either side of a long fitted bookcase that appears to be filled with scrolls and bamboo books. He looks out into the long walled garden to see the grass is filled with daisies and dandelions. He expected to see nicely kept borders, but inside they are filled with what most people would consider weeds along with flowering plants. All of them are been visited by bees and butterflies. He had never seen a garden so full of them before, could having weeds be a good thing he thought looking around. Marcus can hear the Raven’s harsh calls echoing around the grounds, but he is unable to spot one. Until one lands directly in front of the window making him flinch.
He laughs and says, “Don’t do that.”
The Raven calls, it stares at him for a moment before it goes hopping off down the lawn. It starts to peck at something in the long grass and looks back towards the window.
This makes Marcus open the door expecting the large black bird to take off but instead it hops round and pecks again at the same spot.
“Have you found something?” the young man asks, walking slowly over to the bird.
The Raven seems to answer with two loud calls and looks down at the grass.
Marcus crouches to see it is a black ring is sticking up through the blades of grass, he takes hold it and draws it out to discover it is a key. A funny shaped key, for the end, that goes in to the lock, looks like a small square.
“Ooh that is strange. I guess you have no idea where this goes?”
The large black bird’s head tilts from side to side as it listens to him and emits a soft croak as if to say, don’t ask or I have no idea.
The young man rises, he places the key in his cloth bag and says, “Thanks little one I’ll take to the gods.”
The Raven gives a few calls then takes off over the wall.
Marcus heads back inside as he is pulling the door closed he sees a shadow being reflected in the glass. He immediately turns around to see of course nothing is there. The young man just shakes his head and goes on to finish off the cleaning. Eventually arriving back at the fireplace. They young man makes his way through the house to the kitchen to get some clean water and cloths before making a start on the landing.
Guardian is on his way back from the bathroom to see Marcus is busy cleaning the windowsill, he walks over to him and asks, “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I am fine Shǒuwèi. I’m glad you are here, a Raven found this in the library garden,” he replies whilst drawing the key from his cloth pouch.
“Another square key?”
Marcus could have sworn he heard a hit of confusion within the Soul Drinker’s voice, he also seems to frown a little and is a bit hesitant to take it.
“So you have come across more of these?” he asks watching, him nod.
Guardian points his hand at the key and replies, “This is number two. The first one was found in the now locked north gardens. Just like you a Raven showed us where it lay. Darkness is brining it to us.”
Marcus watches the door that lies in the centre of the library open and he hears Fedor’s deep voice come through his Shǒuwèi’s chest, “Here we are my host.”
“It’s different.”
“So it is my host.”
The young man sees there are more teeth on the one he found and it appears to be slightly bigger.
“I wonder what they open?”
“No idea,” replies Darkness. “They do not fit any of the door locks. We recon they are left over from when the castle was here. Then comes the question why have they not just turned to dust from being in the ground for centuries. The answer is we have no idea. Yiska suspects it is something to do with the unbalanced nature of this place that makes objects just appear.”
“Ah so in away it is almost like they are suspended in a pocket of time.”
“Well said, dear boy. That is one way to put it. To quote Yiska, every so often that bubble of time pops and that’s why we find a key or scroll or picture that we can say for sure was not there before. Ooh.”
Guardian holds his hands at the near the sides of his face, wiggles his slender fingers, his eyes open wide and he too says, “Ooh.”
They all laugh and the young Soul Drinker goes on to say, “Anyway, this was a good find. Well done Marcus.”
“Thanks. I was surprised though the Raven did not seem to be afraid of me, it really wanted me to find that key.”
“You will find most of them are very friendly, they are intelligent creatures,” replies Darkness. “Do you know what they represent in Greek mythology?”
Marcus nods and replies, “Yes, they are associated with Apollo. They are said to be a symbol of bad luck, and were the god's messengers in the mortal world. According to the mythological narration, Apollo sent a white raven to spy on his lover, Coronis. When the raven brought him news his lover was being unfaithful to him, Apollo scorched the raven in his fury, turning their once white feathers black. In my culture the raven is revere as a guide. This is the other reason I followed it.”
Guardian points his hand to his the empty air beside him and says, “You were not expecting that.”
Darkness laughs and replies, “Not at all. I’m so pleased your parents have told you the tale. In Chinese and Japanese cultures, the raven is a messenger of the gods and also represents the sun.”
Marcus’s eyes light up and he says with a voice filled with intrigue, “It is fascinating what just one bird can mean to so many different cultures.”
Guardian nods and replies, “It really is. Anyway, we will leave you to carry on. Call if you need us.”
“Or scream and we will coming to you.”
The young man performs a slight bow as he is patted on the arm by Fedor. He watches Shǒuwèi head back inside his room and the door slowly closes behind him. Marcus then carries on cleaning the landing, from there he heads down the corridor to the bathroom. The large room is decorated with water dragons, there is a bath near the window and a small iron heater that warms up the water. On the other side of the room is a set of old looking draws, the top of which is coved in all different bottles of most likely cleaning oil and his eyes are drawn to the tool the Greeks use to scrape the dirt from their skin. Even the floor with its stunning tiles has been designed so that you can clean yourself first before getting in to the bath.
Marcus starts by cleaning the beautiful blue flowered wash basin along with the shelve being careful not get the bamboo toothbrushes covered in soap, he places the tray they are on, on the set of draws. It suddenly dawns on the young man, there is no razor, he looks up and the shelf to see he is right there does not appear to be one.
“Now that is odd, when Shǒuwèi is a complete man... Unless, he just keeps it somewhere else?”
Marcus just shrugs his shoulders and carries on cleaning the area, before moving on to the bath to discover that it is very clean including the toilet. Checking his mother’s notes he sees he needs to check on the heater before he leaves the room and throw in another log if needed.
Wrapping the thick cloth around his hand, he pushes up the latch and opens the little door to find a nice heathy fire is burning away and thinks, Shǒuwèi must have put one in when he was in here, closing the door and places the cloth back on the hook in the wall next to the heater. The young man takes one last look around before he makes his way down to the Soul Drinker’s door and makes sure to do a soft tap.
“Come in Marcus.”
The young man enters the room to see the Soul Drinker is seated upon the foot of a fourposter bed in front of a large round table and appears to be making cards.
“Is there anything in here you would like me to clean?”
“The fireplace,” replies Darkness, “however, you are more than welcome to leave it to Josh as you have done enough already.”
“No, it’s all right. I might as well do it whilst I’m here,” replies Marcus as he makes his way over to them. “Shǒuwèi, may I ask you a personal question.”
Guardian smiles and replies, “Wánquán méiyǒu, qǐng jìxù.”
“He said, not at all, please continue.”
“Do you shave?”
The gods all laugh and for the first time he hears Hisashi speak, “Wareware ga suru hitsuyō wa arimasen.”
“My dear friend said, we don’t have to. And he is right. This is one of the biggest mysteries when it comes to us Soul Drinkers,” says Darkness with a hint of laughter. “Even though we are yes, entirely male, we are not because we do not grow facial hair, chest or back hair. Nor do we have thick arm hair. Show him my host.”
Guardian nods and pushes up the right sleeve of his Hanfu to revel a bare arm.
“Watashitachi wa mada joseidesu.”
“So true dear friend, Celest said we are still women. He is correct, going back in our evolution we did once use to be the same as the other gods. Then for some reason our bodies stopped producing children and we became male. However, the female is still within us, this is why we are not like you with lovely stubble, thick arm hair and chest hair a woman or man would like to run their fingers through.”
Marcus emits a nervous laugh and says, “I do not have that much chest hair and no matter how hard I try I can never get a clean shave. It always looks like I have not bothered. I hope it does not offend you?”
Guardian looks to the others and asks, “Why would it offend us?”
“Too right my host, for it is normal for a man, man to have nice stubble.”
The young man flinches when he feels a set of invisible fingers and thumb stroke the end of his chin.
“Sexy ay Celest?”
Marcus hears a soft laugh and Hisashi replies, “Uun.”
Guardian looks to his left as he laughs and emits a long, “Oooh,” to show perhaps Fedor was in trouble.
“Nope? I’m sorry to inform you, you are not my dear good friend's type and if I keep this up he is going to be hiding behind the curtain. Marcus, dear boy you do not have to look tidy when you are cleaning, your dear mother wore a tatty dress that had holes in the sleeves.”
“Yes, you are right Darkness, but this is all about first impress-”
“Stop you right there,” says the invisible god, whilst pressing a finger to the young man’s full chocolate lips. “You are perfect just the way you are, my dear sweet boy. You do not have to do anything to impress us, because all we are bothered about is how you do the job, you are so willing to take on. I must say you are doing a great. No a splendid job. Is that not so, my host, Celest?”
Guardian nods and replies, “A fine job.”
“Hai. Taihen yoku dekimashita.”
“Celest said, you did a great job,” says Darkness, patting the young man’s shoulder.
Marcus is so relieved to hear the gods say this he asks with a voice full of excitement, “So do I become your first male housekeeper.
The Soul Drinker looks to the others and replies, “Shì, you get the job.”
“Oh thank you so much all of you. Right I’ll get this fireplace done.”
They all watch him use the poker, to poke all the ash into the tray below, Guardian clears his throat and asks, “Marcus may we ask you a personal question?”
“Yes, by all means.”
“Do you have a lover?” Darkness asks.
This makes the young man cough and turn around to face them. “Well no, not at the moment,” he replies, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Ah so you have had a boyfriend? Girlfriend?”
“Y-yes, when I was in my teens I did have a girlfriend... But nothing came of it.”
“Oh I am sorry to hear that son. Do not get so nervous son we are not trying to set you up or anything. It’s just that Mirth is asking Límíng questions about you. She is quite taken with you.”
“Wǒ tóngyì, lǎo péngyǒu. Come on Marcus, you can tell us boys what do you think of her? Even though it was a brief encounter.”
The young man starts to laugh and replies, “Wow I really feel I have been placed on the spot here. All right, she seemed a nice young lady, great charm and personality and she seemed very kind.”
“My, my aren’t we an observant one, you got all that from her over lunch?”
“Yes, Darkness.”
“He is a quick study.”
Guardian and Fedor both laugh laving Marcus wondering what Hisashi had said.
“I completely agree with you dear friend he is a quick study when a lady is to your liking? She certainly my cup of tea.”
This is when the young man sees Shǒuwèi as though he is about to hit Fedor, but instead he makes the sound of a whip as he brings his hand down and Fedor emits a cry of pain.
Guardian does it a second time and says in his own language, “Mirth, is still a child.”
“Not with that nice full round-”
“Hit him again my host,” says Celestial.
The Soul Drinker goes on to pertained to hit Fedor with a whip another two times and says all firm, “Calm yourself.”
“Yes, my host. I have learnt my lesson. You are quite right she is still a child.”
Marcus is looking at them all confused and asks, “Why how old is she?”
“She will be nineteen at the end of summer,” replies Guardian, watching the young man’s eyes grow wide. “I know she looks older than that.”
“Mmm I would happy pluck her.”
Then Guardian seems to climb on someone, pinning them down on to the bed and says, “Don’t you dare deflower her.”
Fedor starts to laugh and asks, “Ooh is that a threat my host?”
“Shì, it is. So behave yourself and treat her as your daughter. Hmm?”
“Yes, my host. I must say I am quite enjoying you being on top of me.”
They all laugh and Guardian sits back down on the bed. They all seem to clear their throats and Darkness apologises, “Sorry about that. So is Mirth your type of lady?”
Marcus laughs and replies, “No, I am not one for large breasts and she has quite the chest on her.”
“She sure does. She’s a healthy girl. You don’t know what you are missing lad, to have your face lost in them is just wonder-”
Guardian starts again to pretend to whip Fedor, who like before cries out in pain.
“Ooh the more you do that the more you turn me on.”
“Right the cold poker please dear friend.”
“Dōzo my host.”
“Xièxiè nǐ, qīn'ài de péngyǒu. Shhhhhh,” says Guardian as he pretends to stick a poker into Fedor.
“Ooh that’s freezing! Stop it! You are both mean to me. Help me Marcus, tell them it is healthy for a straight young man to eye up a woman even when he cannot have her.”
“Yes, it is very heathy. She is a very attractive young lady, just a bit to big,” says the young man, pointing his hand to his own chest as though he was cupping a pair of nice breasts.
“I think he also needs to be hit with the ice poker,” says Celestial, pointing his hand at him.
“Agreed,” replies Guardian and thrust his hand towards Marcus.
They are surprised the young man plays along, he puts up his hands to defend himself and says with a voice full of panic, “Please Master Shǒuwèi don’t punish me.”
Then a lovely light blue stone hits his let knee and he hears Fedor say in a firm voice, “Shield of protection!”
Guardian looks to Celestial, he nods a few times and the next thing they hear is a soft voice say, “Kin’da min sa.”
The Soul Drinker does an evil laugh and says, “The shield shatters to a glittering dust and I now can get you Marcus. Shhhh.”
“Ahhh! Noooo!” cries the young man, pretending to be in pain. “Ah that is cold!”
They all start to laugh, but Guardian’s quickly turns to a cough and Darkness says, “Easy my host.”
“I’m all right old friend. That was fun. Glad you played along Marcus.”
“Well it was fun. So you all do this a lot?”
Guardian nods and Darkness asks, “You must have noticed our game in the quiet room?”
The young man places the stone on the table and replies, “Yes, it looks amazing.”
“Well it is a game just like that you have to think on your toes, it is one of strategy, stealth and battles. You are more than welcome to see the climax we are just preparing for, as we found we did not have enough cards to go around.”
Marcus is shocked and he kind of gasps, “You do all of this yourselves?”
Darkness emits a soft laugh and replies, “I have been playing these games for centuries, ever since a Light Grey Dragon taught me. No, game is the same for we always make them up or change them as we play.”
The young man gives them a happy smile and replies with a voice full of wonder, “I see. Well I am one for a challenge and yes, I would very much like to see the climax.”
“Then welcome aboard my lad, after we have made these we will carry on. You still have enough time to clean out the fireplace.”
“Yes, right,” says Marcus as he carries on and cannot not help but think was that a test to see if he is the right person to play their games? “I should tell you all I did pick up the wizard,” he says, bowing his head.
“It’s all right,” replies Guardian. “You have every right to take a look and it does not matter if you did not place him back right, Yiska is our Map Keeper, he will soon know and put it right.”
“Funny enough your dad said roughly the same thing,” says the young man, whilst he pours all the ash into a bucket.
Celestial begins to check his cards and asks, “How many magic cards do we need?”
“Six,” replies Guardian, who also goes on to count the ones on the table. “Shì you have five. They are lovely by the way.”
“Arigato my host. Let’s see... I could do an earth card? Summon a stone creature or something like that.”
“A stone creature would be great, dear friend,” replies Darkness, as he puts the finishing touches to his monster card. “I also need to do just one more.”
The young Soul Drinker begins to see images of a shadow creature with red eyes, long arms and claws. He looks to his right and says, “Shì, do it as we have not had a shadow monster in a long time.”
“You’re right my host we haven’t. All right I’ll draw it.”
By the time Marcus has sorted out the fireplace the gods have completed the extra cards they need in order to complete the game and he sees one of them is being burn around the edge with an incense stick to make it looked aged.
“They look really good,” he says, picking one up to see it is a storm card.
“That’s kind of you to say as they are not our best work,” replies Darkness, as continues to the burn the one he is holding.
The young man is shocked to have hard that, he holds another one up and says, “This is outstanding. I wish I could draw and paint like this.”
A soft giggle can be heard, which makes Guardian looks to his left and says, “He’s hiding now.”
Marcus realises the one he is holding must has been done by Hisashi and he has been warned he is a very shy man who only gets worse when a handsome man like himself compliments on something he done. He gives him a smile and only makes things worse by saying, “I’m telling you the truth it is stunning.”
“Now you’ve done it,” says Darkness, as the left-hand curtain quickly closes.
The young man places his hand near his mouth and apologise, “I’m so sorry Celestial. I never meant to embarrass you.”
Guardian smiles and replies, “Not to worry he will be soon back to himself in a bit.”
Marcus nods, he watches a small fireball appear from out of nowhere to relight the incense and he asks, “Please my I help you?”
Darkness hands him the lit stick and replies, “By all means dear boy. You do not need to do it the same as us. Do your own designs.”
The young man gives him a nod and starts to carefully burns the very edge of the card only to be told by Hisashi, with Shǒuwèi and Fedor translating, to make them a little bit bigger and longer.
When he is done he holds it up towards the left curtain and asks, “How does that look?”
It is slightly drawn back and hears that same handsome young man’s voice say in his language, “Perfect.”
Guardian translates and says, “I agree, you have done a great job.”
“He definitely has a steady hand.”
“Thank you all of you. Darkness, I have been told that by my parents and other members of my family. I’m just a very patient person.”
“I certainly agree son, you are very patient. I’m willing to let you do another one.”
Marcus looks at him all shocked and asks, “Are you sure?”
“I would not be saying otherwise. Go ahead because you have proven you can follow instructions and you are keen to see the game.”
“Yes, I sure am. All right I’ll burn another one,” says the young man, picking up the incense stick only discover it has gone out. “Oh?”
“I’ll sort it,” says Darkness taking it from him. “Kin sa mun da.”
Marcus is amazed when he sees the same small ball of flames appear hovering slight above the table. It is unlike any fire he has seen before, the bottom half is as red as a setting sun and the top is made up of flames as wight as snow. The stick is place in them and within seconds it is relit.
“There you go son.”
“Thanks and may I ask how did you do that?”
“Should we let him in on our little secrets?”
Guardian’s eyes narrow and he replies, “I think we can trust him. What do say Celest?”
“Hai, watashitachi wa kare o shinrai suru koto ga dekimasu.”
“All right, is was done using a Phoenix Stone, also called a fire crystal. It was given to me by my grandfather Hēraklês and I have used it ever since to light fires and incense. They are incredibly rare stones. Here I’ll show it to you.”
Marcus sees a stunning reddish orange stone get placed upon the table and Darkness continues, “Go ahead pick it up it won’t hurt you.”
The young man suddenly hears his mother’s voice telling him to treat crystals with respect and always hold them though as though it is an egg, in other words very gently. He does just that and is amazed to feel how light it is as it structure makes it appear heavy.
“It is beautiful, I like the way it reflects the light, funny enough like flames. Now I see how it got one of its names.”
“The reason they are call Phoenix Stones is because of the flame they produce when viewed from the front looks like the bird that appears in Greek Mythology. Here I’ll show you what I mean.”
Marcus watches the stone get lifted off his palm, it disappears and just like before when Fedor speaks the words the ball of fire appears and this time it does seem to take on the shape of a bird.
The gods see the young man’s eyes are sparkling with winder and Guardian says, “Is it not just magnificent? A simple looking stone can produce such a thing.”
“It truly is amazing that a none Fire God can produce fire pervading they have one of these on their person.”
“Too right dear friend,” says Guardian, going on to translate what Celestial had just said.
The young man nods and replies, “I agree Celest it is amazing.”
The bedroom door is opened and Yiska asks all excited, “How you all getting on with the new cards?”
“Aah no peeking,” says Darkness, using his abilities to turn the Dreamer around so his back is to the bed.
Yiska sighs, “Uncle.”
“Go on out, out. We are almost finished.”
“All right I’m going,” replies Yiska, slightly raising his hands and walks out of the room closing the door behind him.
“That was a hit gēgē is wanting to resume play.”
They all nod in agreement and Marcus and Darkness carry on burning the edges of the cards.
Once they are ready they all head down stairs and wait for the young man to get rid of the fire ash outside before continuing on to the quiet room to find Chris, Yisak and Límíng wù are all seated one side of the table.
“Marcus here you go my boy, you can sit beside me and watch the climax unfold.”
“Why thank you Darkness,” he replies performing a slight bow as he takes a seat.
Guardian adds the cards to each of the decks and gives them a shuffle. Then Chris picks up the two odd shaped dice gives them a shake in hand before letting them roll across the board only to loose one behind a row of trees.
“You have twelve dear boy,” says the masked Dragon, moving it next to the other one.
The young Annihilation nods and moves the wizard to the right amount of squares and says, “Oh no a monster.”
“You find yourself surround by vicious dog like creatures,” says Darkness in a dramatic voice, “their sharp can easily tear the flesh from your bones. Do you sacrifice something from your food to distract them or try a freezing spell?”
Chris looks at his list and replies, “Yuck I have two chickens, they go to them.”
“You sacrifice your food?”
“Yes, Dungeon Master.”
“Very well. You have gain two stamina, three luck and one strength point. Whilst the dog like creatures happily fest on the food you make your escape move ahead one square.”
The young Annihilation Deity claps his hands and then moves the figure one space.
The game continues long in to the afternoon only to stop for the evening meal once they are done they continue to play it.
Marcus finds it to be very griping and he hopes they reach the castle without having to fight any more monsters or strange creatures, and traps.
Then he remember they are yet to bring out the shadow monsters and thinks, any minute now they are going to bring them out. All the players were gathered in the hallway of the castle Fedor had already set the sense once the door had closed behind them they were plunged in to darkness.
“All of you begin to see glowing red eyes all around you,” he says, “What was lurking in the shadows?”
A grey mist starts to surround the playing pieces on the board making Marcus wonder how where they doing this?
Darkness begins to release a deep throaty laugh and says with a husky voice, “Here we are again. I have a little surprise for you all, my new minions cannot wait to play with you.”
The mist around the figures begins to change in to small figures with long legs and arms.
“Go my shadow monsters. Go and play. Bring back my ring.” Darkness then returns to normal voice, “These are no ordinary shadow creatures, there was something different about them, you all quickly scramble for a light source, something that would hopefully disperse them.”
Chris places a tiny crystal fragment inside the top of the wizard’s staff, when he gives it a top it begins to glow.
Yiska places a small cloth bag on the table, opens it and brings out a tiny lamp. He hands one to Límíng wù and they both place them on their figures.
“Ooh clever thinking,” says Fedor in the same deep husky voice. “You may think that will keep my little pets at bay... You are wrong for these are shadow tyrants.”
Yiska rubs his hands together and says, “Ooh a real challenge. If these creatures touch the light stones they will go out forever. Let’s see, Chris use Huǒguāng.”
The young Annihilation Deity nods, he gives the wizard a scroll and says, “Min da un’sa ka lin ta.”
The little crystal in the top of the staff begins to glow brighter which makes the mist creatures around them move back.
Marcus looks to them and asks, “What did you do?”
Chris emits a soft giggle and replies, “We used the Firelight spell, it can counteract any shadow creature rendering them to dust.”
“I see. Ooh so you are all going to make it?”
“Ah wait and see,” replies Darkness and continues in his dramatic voice, “You all quickly make your way to the steps of the tower only to remember half of them were destroyed in the first encounter with the dark mage.”
Chris starts to chew the side of his left thumb, whilst glancing down at his notes and mutters, “Will it work?”
“What dear brother?”
“Shì, do not leave us in the dark,” says Límíng wù, giving him a playful nudge.
The young Annihilation Deity giggles and replies, “That,” pointing the first fingers of his left hand at the page.
They both take a look and Yiska replies, “Ooh yes, ask the Dungeon Master.”
Chris nods and asks, “Dungeon Master, am I able to use the regenerate spell on the tower?”
Guardian nods and Darkness replies, “Yes, because you can use it for anything.”
“All right, what do I have to do?”
“Pick up both dice and roll an even number.”
This makes the young Annihilation Deity laugh out laud, he shakes his head and says, “You are mean uncle. Marcus, he knows full well I struggle to get another even number when I use both dice.”
“In that case my dear boy, I will make a deal, if you get odd on your second go I will still allow it.”
“What? Are you feeling all right uncle?” Chris asks, looking at him with deep suspicion. “Why do I have a feeling I am going to regret this... You are going to make me your pet?”
Darkness laughs and replies, “No. All I am doing is helping you out, otherwise we will be here all night.”
“Fair point,” says Yiska, handing his brother the dice. “Go for it.”
Límíng wù gives him a pat on the arm and says, “You can do it dear boy.”
Marcus cannot but help look at the young Annihilation Deity’s nice ample size chest as it rises when he takes a deep breath and has to remind himself he is a man.
Chris gives the dice a shake in his hand then rolls them across the table, the first one lands on the number four and the other one wobbles a bit before it too lands on four. This makes him look to Shǒuwèi who interacts with his eyes to his left and winks his right eye.
Yiska gives him a pat on the back and says, “See you could do it.”
“Yes, with a little help.”
Guardian smiles and says, “He is pointing his hand to his chest and shaking his head.”
They all laugh and Darkness says, “You are successful the tower is completely restored. Gain six magic points and three points to the rest. The party continue up the steep stone steps to the top of the tower all the time preventing the shadows tyrants from touching their light crystals.”
Marcus is socked to see a small tower with a room at the top appear on the table. The level of detail is just stunning. All the game characters are placed inside the room with the myst still surrounding them.
Límíng wù clears his throat and says in a slightly louder voice, “Once again we meet dark mage. Now release the princess.”
The mist parts and a woman figure appears with a sparkly jewel hanging from a chain around her neck.
“Oh brave knight, please save me,” says Yiska in a woman’s voice.
“I will dear petal. For this time we have the greatest weapon,” replies the masked Dragon, going on to place a scroll in the his figures hand. “Guāngmíng zhī lóng I summon you!”
Marcus looks to Yiska all confused and the Dreamer kindly whispers, “Dragon of light. Best weapon against the dark mage.”
“Ah I see. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Darkness begins to moan and says, “No this cannot be? Who are you knight to hold such power. Who are you?”
The mist swirls around the figures to gather into on massive ball above them and Límíng wù says, “That will not help you. The knight throws the ring in to the air so Guāngmíng zhī lóng catches it within his mouth crushing it between his teeth. Bits of it rain down which get destroyed by the light that is radiating out of the dragon. With one swipe of his paw he disperses the mist and proceeds to suck it in through his nostrils.”
“Nooo! Such power. Who are you knight? Are you the son of the great Tàiyáng fǎshī? Who are you? Who are you?”
The last bits of mist disappear and Darkness continues in his dramatic voice, “At long last the dark mage is defeated, the princess is finally free and light is restored to the land. However, the identity of the knight remains a mystery for he disappeared soon after returning the young lady to her parents, leaving them hoping he returns one day. The end.”
Everyone claps and Marcus says, “My goodness that was good.”
“Glad you enjoyed it, dear boy. The only problem is it is very late,” replies Límíng wù. “What would you like to do? For I am happy to take you home.”
The young man has a think and replies, “And disturb everyone. No, I think it is best for me to remain here. If that is all right?”
“Of course it is,” replies Darkness. “I may I suggest you sleep in our room, otherwise you will be kept awake half the night by footsteps going past your bedroom door to doors slamming within the sealed east wing.”
The young man looks at them all confused and asks, “Why won’t I hear that within your room?”
“Because their room is the heart of the house,” replies Yiska. “It acts as a barrier against everything which is not entirely in this realm. That is why they do not hear anything, where on the other hand other members of the family report hearing what they said to other things, like the sound of something being dragged across the floor which sends a cold shiver down your spine.”
Marcus’s eyes grow wide when he remembers what he heard whilst he was in the drawing room and he replies, “In that case I think it is best I stay with you three.”
“Great,” says Shǒuwèi. “We will go in to the den and you take out bed. Or the other way around.”
The young man looks at them all confused and mutters, “Den?”
They laugh and Darkness replies, “Come.”
Guardian goes on to give his dad and brothers each a hug before he walks out of the room.
Tother they head upstarts to their bedroom where Darkness goes on to open a hidden door in the top right hand corner of the room.
“There you go,” he says, pointing his hand inside.
Marcus peers inside to see in shaft of light from the lamp on the fireplace a set of steps disappearing into blackness.
Guardian hands him the lamp and says, “We are right behind you.”
The young man slowly makes his way up the steep narrow steps to see they lead to a door, pushing it open to reveal a room containing a double bed.
“This is amazing. Why have a hidden room?” he asks, looking around.
The Soul Drinkers all laugh and Guardian replies, “That’s the mystery we have no idea.”
“Yiska spotted the hidden door and worked how to open it. Except all mechanism was frozen and the ropes had dropped to pieces centuries ago. When Límíng was able to get it open and followed the stirs up to find this. It was like a dream, we never thought it would be an entire room. In time it became our den to get time apart from each other and to also offer to family like you.”
Marcus performs a slight bow and replies, “Thank you Darkness. I think I will remain in here tonight.”
Guardian smiles and Hisashi replies, “Daremoga itsumo sore o aishite iru.”
“They sure do dear friend. He said everyone always loves it.”
“Mysterious hidden room, of course everyone is going to love it. It is just amazing. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“You’re welcome dear boy. We will leave you to it,” says Darkness.
Guardian points his hand to the chest of draws on the far side of the room and says, “Night robes are in there, just help yourself.”
“Ah thank you,” replies Marcus, performing a slight bow.
The young Soul Drinker gives him a pat on the arm on his way out of the room and few seconds later the door closes behind him.
Marcus goes to bed with the hope that he too will one day join the family in a game as that was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
Over the next few months the family get used to having him around helping them maintain the Manor along with other member his and the Ellwood family. Marcus goes on to discover more keys in the library, drawing room and one he discovers under the sink when he was looking for some cleaning cloths. Darkness, Shǒuwèi and Celest also allow him to play an easy version of the fantasy game which only lasted the day to complete. But as the years go on they become more of a challenge as Darkness was not afraid to put him on a good quest which sometimes lasted for days. When he finally found the woman of his dreams he still carry on working for the Manor and play the game he enjoyed with gods. Until he had children of his own to look after. Then his youngest brother Tacitus took over the job of housekeeper.
The end.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
