Chapter 21 - Twilight Tower

It has been centuries since a single word was spoken within these halls. Not even a single bat, insect nor rat has dared venture down here where the power of the twin suns has never been able to reach. Shadowy forms play on the cavern walls as Miramoto descend the stone steps to The Daerkensurface from a secret chamber adjacent to the throne room. He paused when he reached the bottom of the steps to stare at the huge cavern before him. An area equivalent to three times the land area of Heung can fit inside the cavern with space to spare. Some of the stalagmites are as thick as a house and rise so high that it seems to disappear into the darkness.

Miramoto continued walking into the large cavern and made some turns that seemed random. After almost two hours of walking, and several more seemingly random turns, he finally reached the opening of a large tunnel. He entered the dark tunnel without hesitation. The tunnel has luminous moss covering most of the upper surface of the walls that gave it a ghostly-green glow. He walked on the straight tunnel for half an hour and reached a small cavern. In the center of the cavern is a stone structure shaped like a tower. It looked like it was carved from a single piece of giant vertical rock that grew from the cavern floor. We walked straight to the unguarded double doors and opened them gently. The structure is dark gray with shades that reflected the ghostly-green color of the light-emitting moss on the cavern walls. There are small circular windows on the side of the tower all the way to the top floor.

Miramoto closed the double doors gently after he entered the bottom floor. There was a single lamp on top of a circular table under the stairs that led to the upper floors of the tower. He extinguished his torch and placed it on top of the table. He took a deep breath and started climbing the stairs. His progress stopped when he finally reached the top of the stairs and came face to face with another set of double doors. He opened the doors gently and was greeted by warm air that smelled lightly of incense and green tea.

"It has been more than a moon since you've been here," a voice said. It was deep, soothing, and almost comforting. It came from a dark corner of the chamber where the single lamp near the double doors cannot seem to penetrate.

"I had no important news for you, my Lord. Thus, I decided to wait until I have more pleasant news for you," Miramoto explained after he bowed his head. He kept his head bowed as he spoke. There was silence after he spoke, and a cold wind blew to his face as if in reply to what he said. Miramoto stood near the edge of the impenetrable darkness. Once Miramoto's eyes have become accustomed to the dimness of the chamber, he noticed that the impenetrable darkness is spherical in shape, and that part of the sphere of darkness is submerged into the stone wall of the chamber. The impenetrable darkness is large enough that part of it is also sunk into the ceiling and on the floor.

Miramoto observed the darkness well and noticed that it has grown bigger since his last visit, barely four decks ago.

"And you have good news for me now?" the voice asked. Its voice sounded milder yet unbelieving. The surface of the darkness shifted like oil above water.

"Yes, my Lord!" Miramoto replied and immediately fell on his knees while he remained bowed. "My spies have tracked the location of the heir and they have identified him. I have sent an assassin to kill him," he continued. He paused and waited briefly for a reaction. He was about to speak when the darkness replied.

"Ahhh, the heir. Are you sure that the assassin you sent can take care of the heir?" the voice asked. Harshness and impatience rang subtly in the voice. It sounded like he did not trust Miramoto's choice when it comes to assassins.

"Sending him had several purposes, my Lord. He will be effective in achieving three objectives all at the same time," Miramoto replied. His face flinched as he replied. The memory of his dead wife flashed in his mind that he banished as soon as possible. He didn't want to have the slightest distraction whenever he is inside the tower. He knew that the slightest distraction could jeopardize his visit. "Aside from killing the heir, his actions would destroy the bond between him and his friends. Once destroyed, this will make them weak enough for your forces, my Lord," Miramoto explained in a plain tone of voice.

"I like that. I like that very much," the voice said so slow that it sounded like it was purring. "What is the third objective?" the voice asked abruptly. He sounded like he jumped out of bed from a nightmare.

"The third objective is to torment him, my Lord. Once he has lost all of his friends, he will start to doubt himself. Then we can move in to bring him to serve your glory, my Lord!" Miramoto explained in a tone of voice that suddenly jumped to an excited tone without warning.

"Good. Very good! You have done well," the voice said, sounding content with Miramoto's plan. Miramoto did not reply right away as he basked in the praise that he just received. "How about the rest of his friends? I very much want to get the services of the heir of the Phoenix Doctrines," the voice said in a sly tone. A rumbling sound vibrated the floors and walls of the tower as if the impenetrable darkness was mildly chuckling.

"Isn't she too old to recruit to your service, my Lord?" Miramoto asked. He sounded puzzled. The heir to the Phoenix Doctrines that he knew is more than ninety years old.

"Not her! Her granddaughter!"

"She is not the heir yet, my Lord."

"She will be. There is no other. She will inherit the Phoenix Doctrines very soon."

Miramoto thought about what the voice said, and he agreed. Mingmei and Mingmai were the most talented and powerful females to be born into the Jerboa Clan in many generations. Even more powerful than her grandmother when she was at that age. Her mother cannot inherit the Phoenix Doctrines because she came from the Scorpion Clan. It was her father that was born into the Jerboa Clan and, unfortunately, there was no powerful female member of the clan born into the generation of her father. Mingmei's grandmother is too old to hold on to the Phoenix Doctrines for too long. She will have to pass it on at the soonest time possible. Once Mingmei returns from the mission, she would prove to her clan that she is ready to move on from the death of Mingmai and take on additional responsibilities. Her clan will have no choice but to agree that she should inherit the Phoenix Doctrines from her grandmother.

"Once we get them separated, it will be easy to get one of them over to serve you, my Love. Once we get one of them, it will only be a matter of time until we get the rest of them," Miramoto replied in a confident tone.

"If your young assassin is smart enough, he will join us at the first chance that he gets. He will then bring us the Verses of the Draconic Circle," the voice said slowly in a gentle voice that toyed at the possibilities of success.

"Once we have succeeded in that first step, you will then have Mingmei and the Phoenix Doctrines. You will then be even more unstoppable, my Lord!" Miramoto exclaimed. He remained bowed but his entire body gently shook in anticipation of their future success.

"Yes. I like that. I like that very much," the voice said playfully.

Miramoto initially wanted to torture and kill his little assassin instead of sending him out on a mission. Consequently, he decided that he would be of better service as a tool for his master than as an object of his vengeance against what he suffered in the past from his brother.

"Do you have further need of me, my Lord?" Miramoto asked after he took a deep breath. He had an extremely painful reminder the last time he broke off while his master was still enjoying the moment.

"No. Bring this missive to the Omono-Ryu. Tell him that I want these complete within the current moon. No delays! I want the invasion to begin at the soonest time possible!"

"As you wish, Master! I will let him know right away!"