Chapter 36

     Aurelia glared at the termite-ridden chair Mashek brought into the room for her. He turned red at the sight of it. Lord Bathory clapped a wrinkled hand over his eyes, "Mashek, throw it in the fireplace, and get another one," He gave Zinjo and Aurelia a weak laugh, "Haha, as you can see I don't put much stock in shiny baubles or furniture. I'll have no use for things when I am dead."

  Mashek rolled his eyes and left the room. "Lord Bathory stood with his guest, "I'll sit when we all do," He stood behind the desk, "Seeing as we are all after the same creature. Perhaps we should start by recreating the witch trap bottle," He placed the original on the desk.

   The crystal container created a prismatic effect on the desk, and letters were etched into the side, Aurelia could smell the evil intentions on the artifact. She balked and took a step back from it, "I can still smell the wretched darkness,"

   The blond-haired Zinjo stepped forward and gave the bottle a sniff, "Hmmm, Kivuli."

   A quill scratched across the page as Lord Bathory wrote down everything, "Enhanced senses, intelligent, the bite is transmissible." He dipped the quill into the ink bottle and, pulled out a fresh page, "Thank goodness I haven't sent the Kludde chapter in for binding, I find it disconcerting they are all over the world." 

   "Which is why we want to seal them up. I refuse to have my kingdom attacked by one of these creatures or worse have them among my council," Aurelia clenched her fist in determination. "How do we make the bottles?"

   A near-empty book cover plopped on the desk and Lord Bathory flipped through the pages like some mad evangelist proselytizing to the masses. "A-ha I found it," He flipped the book around for Aurelia and Zinjo to read. Zinjo looked over at Aurelia and sighed, "I do not know how to read, dark princess."

   If someone painted Lord Bathory's expression at that moment it would be worth a thousand words. "You haven't been shown the joy of the written word?" 

   "No," Zinjo's one-word response summed up how he felt, indifferent, "Kianzangi has no alphabet just pictures..."

  "Hieroglyphs?"

   "Can we please get back to the matter at hand," Aurelia growled loud enough the men thought twice about speaking again? She scanned the page, "Crystal made with sand of the void, runes of the ancient Lemurians, tears of a divine creature?" 

   "Rather fanciful isn't it?" Bathory said with a grin, "And yet we can surmise the ingredients exist because the creature was trapped before." He pulled out a map of the known world, "He pointed to a rather large landmass, "We live here, and Lemuria is on one of these Islands," his finger slid across the page to a large group of islands. And then his finger pointed to another large mass of land, "I'll assume this is Kianzangi here."

   Zinjo Shrugged, "I wouldn't know, we only mapped Kianzangi and did not bother to venture beyond."

   "Interesting, your people prefer to remain ignorant of the world at large...Your majesty?" Lord Bathory stopped mid-sentence because Zinjo's predatory stare leveled on him. 

   "Yes, Lord Bathory?" Aurelia asked in a sweet tone 

   "Your large friend is making me feel quite uncomfortable."

   "That tends to happen when people call him ignorant."

   "I was just merely stating his people have no interest in other cultures..."

   Zinjo transformed and roared, "Perhaps it is because you think of me like some animal, rather than a person. Yes, I am a werelion, but that also implies I am half-human. It is people with your attitude that prevents us from joining the world at large."

   The chair behind the desk knocked against the hardwood because Bathory hid behind it, "I see your point. Please forgive me. I get so excited about new knowledge I forget people have feelings."

  The yellow eyes of   Zinjo softened, "You are forgiven, in the future be more careful of your words and I'll tell you everything about Kianzangi that I know."

   Aurelia saw an opportunity, "The word we are all looking for is anyway," She rolled her eyes, "Now if you two are done acting like little boys, perhaps we should give our adult selves to stretch our legs. Where do we find the void sand?"

  Ironically it was Zinjo who answered the question, "We have a place filled with black sand known as the dead place, could that be what the book speaks of."

  Bathory read through the list again, "Listen to this: Void sand is distinguishable by its black appearance, it is exceptionally rare, and a holy person must forge the bottle." He pushed his spectacles back up his face, "We should assume no ordinary holy person will do. I think it will be someone who has suffered greatly and still worships at the temple and practices the tenets of their religion."

  "That's a tall order, especially on this side of the world. I know plenty of priests who follow their natural inclinations, with certain parish members looking for absolution."

  "Ayasu has suffered and still sings the praises of  Buluku, the mother of all. Perhaps we could persuade her to take the bottle?" Zinjo suggested. 

  Aurelia opened and closed the Parasol, in thought, "I think it's our best shot considering we have to stop off in Lemuria anyway, assuming anyone still lives there."

   Scrolls shifted and moved, small clouds of dust kicked up in their wake, "I know I put it around here somewhere," Bathory growled as he turned the desk into a warzone, "Here it is, he held a slender tube up and handed it to Zinjo, "I don't know how accurate it is, but I will say treat this tube-like gold. It's supposed a map of Lemuria about a hundred years ago. So don't blame me if the details are inaccurate."

  "Which brings me too, how are we going to cross the ocean. Hiring a ship is fearfully expensive, Shadowfen has used up its budget for expeditions this year."

   "My Budget is tapped as well. These people are dedicated to the preservation of knowledge. Lebende Dunkelheit, burned all the libraries to keep the people dependent on him. I seek to avoid such a tragedy."

   Zinjo put his hands on Aurelia's shoulders and smiled, "I believe we will have to work for our fare. Plenty of traders are looking for warriors. As a pair of werelions, we shouldn't have too much trouble finding a ride. However, it would be easier if we found an expedition to join."

   "Where would we find that?"

   "Shadowfen of course, some of the most respected archaeologists live there. I have a friend looking for the next adventure, Marshall Rouse, He writes about his forays out into the world. I'll give you a letter of introduction. He'll jump at the chance to visit a foreign land."

    "What will you do in the meantime?" Zinjo asked in a harsh tone.

    "Simple, I will gather information as to the whereabouts of these Kivuli, as you called them. Remember we need more than one bottle."

    Aurelia stopped at the door, "We have a couple of men who can help gather information, one of them is a werehyena, interested?"

   Lord Bathory nodded, "Absolutely."