Muddy Waters (1)

A grey-haired boy stepped out of a dark alley and walked into an inn. He walked up the steps of the building till he stood before a room. Without knocking he opened the door and walked into men who immediately stood in salute at the sight of him.

"You sure took your time," a dark-haired girl said and she looked up at him with steel monolid eyes. Her round face was so small it could be cupped in one palm, but the smile on her face was so wide one could not tell if she was annoyed or pleased.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"I have sent someone to them," he answered.

"You were always good at controlling the waves. The fontaine name is not lost on you," she said.

"Why though?" he asked.

"Why what?"

"Why stir such a thing. A lot of people could die if it is true,"

"And another name could be made too," she answered.

"The boy is dangerous, Li'er,"

"Why do you all call him a boy? He is a man," she smiled even more pleased

"He can have us killed,"

"He can make a good spouse. Taking him back will make for a good show, will it not with that sister of mine?" she snorted.

"Must it be him?" he asked, one could not tell what the look in his eyes meant.

"Di Tang, energy like seen in the tomb, we have a lot of it back in our world. Ours is even denser than that of the tomb. Why else will we come every time? Maybe since the one here is less dense we can finally see what lies at the heart of one. That way we can know how to navigate it. But for there to be a person that can take that energy and make it his own, someone who can produce that energy at will; our clan will be prosperous,"

"Quite noble, these ideals," he said to her righteous stance.

"As my right hand, of course," she said and he sighed.

"I will keep an ear out for when they will hunt him down. Let us hope what you gave them will not be traced back to us or else forget taking him back. We will not be able to keep our lives," he turned and walked away. Seeing his leaving back, she sighed.

"So temperamental," she continued to snack on her nuts.

Deep beyond the forest mountain range where Ed and Nti Anem resided, a clan sat at the bottom of a valley. The stone walls were so well crafted; one could almost see it in colour. People moved around as daily life continued without care, till a tall man dashed through the streets towards the largest estate at the Edge of the clan. The guards at the gate stared at his frantic form passing and frowned, worried that something had gone wrong. The tall man dashed all the way to the centre halls till he was blocked by guards there.

"Move quickly I must meet the elders," he rebuked those blocking his way.

"Section chief, you cannot enter. The council has already begun, you know the rules," the guards said.

"There is no time for that. This is an emergency. Go in and tell the elders the young master has been taken and the tomb is gone," he spoke so loudly, that those inside could hear him. The guard froze as he heard those words.

"Let him in!" they heard orders from within, giving way for the section chief to rush into the large hall. He ran before the clan head seated up a level higher than others and knelt.

"Speak!" the muscular man sitting in the clan head seat in finely tailored robes ordered.

"The young master was taken at the tower in the city of desire. By the time he was dragged away, his daitain had been destroyed and he could barely move," the section chief reported.

"What about his shadow; that self-realization master?" someone asked.

"How could he let it happen?" another asked.

"The shadow was killed. Even the entire last floor of the tower was destroyed no matter how the tower master tried to stop it. He could not be stopped," the section chief explained.

"Who is it?" the clan head asked.

"They called him rankless on the tower. He was but a spirit-merging junior," the section chief answered and the elder's faces turned black.

"You wish to say that a spirit-merging junior killed a soul realization master?"

"Impossible!"

"Since when has such a person shown up in our world?"

"Enough!" the clan head ordered quiet the entire elders, "Speak clearly," he ordered the section chief.

"They took the master because they wanted to extract the eternal fire from him. The boy was accompanied by two others. One is called the blood queen and the other is called an observer. They did as their name intended. The woman killed so mercilessly, that she left pools of blood in her wake. The observer did as said, observed. The rules of the tower could not bind him as he moved unhindered," the section chief explained.

"Impossible. We had to pay a big price to let a soul realization shadow enter the tower. The tower master had to agree before we could send him,"

"The light realm has a restriction on the level of those that can come from other worlds. Someone that powerful cannot come in,"

"Unless he is from our world,"

"Someone dare provoke our clan?" the elders were rowdy.

"Do you know where he went after?" the clan head asked calmly, the frown on his brow betraying his emotions.

"By the time I left the tower, word is, someone took the tomb. Form description, it is both of them," the section chief said.

"Took the tomb?" the clan head's frown deepened.

"I thought you said there were three of them?" someone asked.

"The girl was left behind in the tower and they moved ahead. Word is, he jumped from the bridge right to the centre of the tomb. He broke through all the wards and entered unhindered. After some time, the tomb vanished and only he sat there. They said he broke through inciting heavenly lightning that was dished out by the nine guards. They even said that the observer is an energy manipulator,"

"That is but a myth," someone rebuked.

"Word is, he flicked his hands to use his power. The energy does not come from his core. They said he bound the nine heavenly guards down to keep releasing heavenly lightning,"

"Binding the heavenly guards? Impossible!"

"What nonsense is this story?"

"The entire world now knows of it. There were thousands of witnesses,"

"Prepare for battle," the clan head stood abruptly and the elders stood with him. The anger they felt was the same.

," they say the boy could use the energy from the tomb. All who stood before him, the representatives from all the powers have died. The gates to the tomb are locked. The energy he released to kill them still lingers, is what the gate masters say. They warn that anyone who goes, do so at their own risk," the section chief's words caused silence to return.

"He can use the energy?" the clan head paused.

"Yes, clan head," he answered. After a while, the clan head sat back down and asked him to leave. He bowed and left in hurry. When he stepped out, the guards used their eyes to ask if what he said was true. He held a solemn look as he left the large estate and walked back to his residence on the other side of the clan. Many bowed to him as he passed. His solemn face remained till he walked into his room and shut the door.

"You are quite the actor," a deep voice startled him.

"I did as asked," he answered looking at the person's shadow behind the screen.

"Did they suspect you? Ask how you could know this?" the voice asked.

"No. But how do you know this? You said yourself that no one walked out alive from the last floor of the tower that day," he asked and the voice did not answer.

"Forgive me. What about my son?" he asked, holding back his panic.

"As long as you do as told he will return to you. Now, what are they doing with this information?"

"They immediately entered a meeting,"

"Good. If you do as told, you could even get a promotion for providing the weapon to handle that boy," the voice said.