Chapter 66

Everything went still in the presence of Kivuli. Ayasu tried to push Sahiri and Aurelia behind her. Kivuli twisted his dark form until he stood as a man. His clothes were unlike any Aurelia had seen, a long white robe with gold-threaded lapels. His face bore tribal markings from a bygone age when the lions were human. A purple glow surrounded the serpentine eyes. Rows and rows of long sharpened teeth gleamed bright against his blackened form.

Behind him was the source of the footsteps dozens and dozens of grey-skinned, bat-eared humanoids with holes drilled into their skulls looked toward the darkness for guidance. Their eyes shone with devotion.

"I am Kivuli, and who are you to trespass into my city?" A hand adjusted the spectacles, "I don't have time to entertain guests. Not when I am on the verge of my monumental discovery. The answer I have sought for so long is in my grasp." Madness held onto Kivuli's voice.

Ayasu and Sahiri stood frozen in fear. Aurelia remembered the reaction Carmen had to the Al' Miraj's horn. The Lion's fang slithered from its sheath and glowed brightly. Kivuli shielded his eyes. "Where did you get that?" He hissed angrily.

"A friend graciously gave it to me. We are here for three things," She brandished the blade at two grotesque humanoids who attempted to get past her. They raised their hands and slowly backed away.

Kivuli smirked, and his eyes lit up with glee, "Please tell me you didn't come out here for a trinket? It would border the line between ambition and foolishness."

Ayasu found her voice, "We came for void sand, Kuende, and Nyo," Allow us to take our friends and the sand, and I will ensure no one comes here again."

The little goblin creatures booed loudly, "My minions seem to think I shouldn't help you. I am of the mind to agree with my diminutive henchmen, as the Voidsand imprisoned me the first time."

"We are not here to engineer your destruction, Great Shadow. Aurelia's continent has once such as yourself in the seat of great power..." Sahiri started to say.

"Lebende Dunkelheit correct?" Kivuli cut Sahiri off and everyone wore expressions of shock.

"How do you know that name?" Aurelia demanded.

Kivuli grinned and bared his polished fangs, "Oh, Lebende came to me with a problem a few years back. Quite the excitable fellow, as I recall. He wanted to obtain my power for himself. I told him I couldn't give it to him."

The building appeared to be a college of some kind, or at least the Kianzangi version of one. Large rooms with stone benches around an area with a large amber board at the front. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him the path to darkness didn't lead anywhere he wanted to be, but he could only see the power I possessed. I never asked to be this. I wished to save my people. Yet, our history paints me as the villain," Kivuli complained. He took them into a room with glass tubes filled with a purplish substance.

Aurelia recognized it from the lizard creatures in Larylia, "The Order of the Gentle tower created hybrids, their blood looks like that." She pointed to the tubes and then gasped in horror. A younger lion occupied one chamber while the other contained an older one.

"Yes, I have your precious pride mates," Kivuli pressed a hand made of dark matter against the cold glass, "I cannot bear this existence. The void beckons me to join those who came before me. If I can do one good thing before I leave this plane of existence, perhaps the gods will spare me eternal darkness."

Another thought struck Aurelia like a bolt of lightning, "Do you know who freed you?"

"Freed me?" Kivuli seemed genuinely confused. He tapped his head in thought, "Oh, you mean the silly bottle the Lions and Hyena guarded?" Aurelia nodded, "The forger made the bottle improperly. I went along with their production and waited to escape beneath their notice."

Ayasu eyed the dark being with suspicion, "Our most proficient shaman, my teacher, Zaida, forged the bottle."

A symphony of laughter came from the minions, "My friends seem to think Zaida wasn't so holy, and that's why the bottle failed."

Sahiri frowned, "Zaida was kind and loved by all. She lived her life to please the creators above her life was spotless..." She trailed off at the sight of Kivuli shaking his head.

"Zaida hated the weak and often looked down on her flock with judgment and false words of comfort. She despised most of the pride, if not all."

"Carmen said she could make them because so great was her evil, the creators anointed her..."

"She can, but to deal with a creature of darkness would stain your soul, and yours must remain as clean as possible, princess, because you can forge the bottles as well."

Ayasu and Sahiri stared at Aurelia with astonished looks of awe and envy, "I have never been a priestess of any kind, nor have I prayed fervently to any deity."

"While this is true. Let me ask, why did you undertake this journey?" Kivuli reached in the pool of black at his feet while his other reached for a large gourd with a thick stopper.

Ayasu regarded Aurelia with strange respect, as did Sahiri, "Well, it started because we wanted to find out why a Hyena attacked my mother at dinner..."

Kivuli dumped a large handful of black glittering dirt into the gourd, "That's how you came to be on this journey. At any point, you could've walked away."

"I wanted to protect Shadowfen. Then we found out Lebende had control of the Cherish Empire, and I worried he would start a senseless war."

Another large handful of dirt entered the gourd, "Surely there must be a selfish reason for the journey?" Kivuli countered.

"I want to be taken seriously as a ruler. Back home, the people do not have faith in me. I decided to give them a reason to trust my judgment," Aurelia felt a little foolish as she let the words drift through the air.

Kivuli filled the gourd to the brim and put the stopper back into it. He held it out for Aurelia to take along with a tube with parchment in it, "The sand is yours, as are the instructions for making the bottles. You will have to do it in a sacred place."

Ayasu growled, "What about Nyo and Kuenede?"

"They have been in the chambers for too long. The moment I remove them, I will not be responsible for what they do. They came to me for help, and I offered to free them from their lion curse."

"They resisted?" Ayasu asked with a face full of rage.

Kivuli's shadowy tendrils wrapped around the trio of women, "They made their choice. Now you must make yours."

"I will return and bottle you up," Aurelia threatened.

"I look forward to the day that happens," Kivuli replied as the tendrils set them outside the city limits.