Chapter: 7 - Keepers Of The Eye

When Juwan saw the massive gates of the castle, he had goosebumps in his hands. The gate was made of neither wood nor iron. Instead they were made of bones and human skulls. Juwan knew that he seriously needed professional help for having obscure dreams like this. The atmosphere was getting colder.

"Why is this happening to me??" He pitied himself. Suddenly there was loud sound and the huge gate started comming down. ' Now what?' Juwan wondered. 'Who could possibly live in such a creepy castle? What kind of place is this?'

When the gate opened, there was a old man in black dress.

"Here, you are master Juwan. The Grand lord is waiting for you with the council members." Juwan didn't say anything. He calmed himself and followed the old man.

" Forgive my indecency for not introducing myself. I am Karon, the Guide. I guide the dead in the Castle." The old man said and Juwan flinched. 'The dead?? What the..' Juwan's thoughts were cut in between by Kiran.

"However you are not dead, but I guide our herets too."

'Heret? That word has been repeated twice in this dream itself. What does it mean?' Juwan wondered and followed Kiran without a word.

Karon lead Juwan into a lot of turns and tunnels. As they passed the huge hall Juwan noticed the various kinds of skulls stuck to the wall. In some way they were magnificint and creepy. At last he opened a door revealing a huge chamber with a U-shaped table in the middle. The chamber was richly decorated with occult objects and crystal balls. There was a shelf to the left filled with ancient books in different languages. There were five men and four women seated around the table, chatting seriously.

The were all dressed in black. Among them one man seemed to be nervous. When they saw Juwan they positioned themself and became silent. Karon closed the door behind Juwan and left.

"I guess, your name is Juwan. Do you know why you are here?" The nervous man asked Juwan but the latter shook his head. He badly wanted the conversation to end and wake up.

There was an eruption of whispering between the ladies.

"I object this tribunal. This young man here has no idea what he has signed up for. How can we give him so much responsibilities?" One of the women with a tattoo on her forehead spoke up.

The nervous man was taken aback.

"Silence! The papers were signed and the procedures are over. Nothing can be done now unless the previous heret decides to break it and that too before the seal is found." The man in the centre said firmly.

"But.." Another woman tried to object but she was snubbed.

" There shall be no buts. Do you understand me lady Magdalene?" The man asked.

"Yes Grand Lord Titus." The lady replied with a mild courtesy.

"Since the previous heret is dead and is out of our reach for the time being, we can't do anything." Grand Lord Titus sounded disappointed.

"Grand Lord, may be Juwan can be assigned the task of finding her. We can test his skills and solve this issue." The nervous lord put forth his idea.

Lady Magdalene also seemed to like it. The others were okay with it since they didn't have to take any responsibilities. Grand Lord Titus thought for a while and then nodded, still unsure of his decision.

"Lord Axile, since Juwan is your heret now, why not explain to him about the deep mess he has gotten himself into with his foolishness." Lord Axile, the nervous man bowed to Grand Lord Titus. He took Juwan by his hand and dragged him out of the huge chamber.

"You fool!!! Do you see what kind of a mess you have gotten yourself and me into!!" He muttered at Juwan when they were far away from the chamber. Juwan who was silent till then, opened his mouth.

"Who are you? What is this place? Why am I having such a horrible dream? Why am called a fool over and over? What the hell is going on? What did I do?"

Juwan raised his voice as he screamed out question after question at Lord Axile. He was no more scared.

"Calm down young man. Know to whom you address. I am lord Axile, one of the first members of the Keepers of the Eye. You are a heret. My heret!" Lord Axile said. Everyone Juwan had seen in the castle looked very normal but it seemed like there was more to them than what met the eye.

"Come on, man. How can you call yourself a lord? Don't you feel ashamed." Little did Juwan know that he was talking to one of the most powerful person in the world he knew nothing of.

It was time for lord Axile to calm himself. He had do something about Juwan's ignorance.

"Okay, I understand. You are new to this whole system. I will take it slow..." The next few minutes went on like an eternity for Juwan. He could understand but not cope up with what lord Axile was telling him. Juwan's head spun so fast he could fall over any moment.

"Now, I hope you understood everything. To get out of this mess you have to take up this job." lord Axile said and patted on Juwan's shoulder. He led Juwan out of the castle, to the castle's back entrance. There was a river flowing near the back entrance. The river was blood-crimson. Lord Axile clapped his hands and Karon appeared out of thin air. He bowed to lord Axile.

"My lord, what can I do for you?" Kiran asked.

"Guide him out to the mortal world." lord Axile said and Karon nodded. After that, Karon took Juwan across the river to a road covered with mist.

"Heret, from here on I cannot accompany you. You must find your own path." Karon said. Without a word Juwan got up from the boat and slowly walked into the mist. Then it started. Everything Juwan had contained in his heart spilled out. He slowly crumbled down to the ground unable to contain the rage and confusion that had filled inside him. He couldn't take on the confusion anymore. He sat on the muddy floor and screamed out his heart.

"Ahhhhh!!!" He screamed as the mist around turned into a small windy hurricane. "Why me????? What the hell is happening?" He cried. His cry lowered slowly and vanished with his vision.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hospital bed. He could still feel the tension and heat he had just felt. It was not a dream.....

"What happened?" Juwan asked the doctor, who came to his room later. The doctor had a pity look. The doctor thought to himself as he looked at Juwan's expression. He had questions but his look also told the doctor he might know something. Was he imagining things or does he really know? The doctor wondered. He didn't want to talk about Juwan's conditions but Juwan's severe look scared him. He badly wanted Jana to enter the room right then, so that he doesn't have to break the news all by himself.

" Mr. Juwan, you were admitted by your friend Jana. Our initial analysis on your health condition was very normal but as time passed we realized that it was not what we assumed it to be." The doctor said ,"Juwan, you have....."

"Cancer?" Juwan finished the doctor's sentence.

"Yes. Did you know about it already?"

"A recent revelation." Juwan smiled unnaturally and closed eyes. He slowly laid his head on the hard pillow.

'I am a dead man..." Juwan thought.

×------×-------×-------×

A trillion miles far way, in another world, Hecate was still looking into the crystal ball that glowed in a whitish-yellow color. It was the Oracle that can predict ones future. Hecate was still looking into Juwan's future when slowly the color started changing to red. Then dark red. Hecate's expression changed. The color changed to dark maroon.

"Seems like this kid is going to make all our lives very interesting." Hecate told the snake that was slithering around her hand. The color finally changed to black.

"Slow, he may be, but he is big trouble." The darkness in the crystal thickened, "May be he might bring about an end to that stupid council." Hecate chuckled and then laughed are at her own thought when suddenly the crystal ball burst into many glass pieces as the darkness couldn't be contained anymore.