Reveal

"I think we're gonna get to play with the cosmic space dragon. He's funny, but he needs better manners."~ Zoe, The Aspect of Twilight

Did you like the last chapter? It was different from what you normally get. And it was fun to write.

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BOOM

Talon stepped out of the shadows outside the tomb and watched as it collapsed in on itself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the floating coffin fly off into the endless sand and then he heard a vengeful roar echo.

The two creatures that had exited the tomb.

Cassiopeia had stopped screaming now. Her eyes closed. Talon looked at her face, that had taken a green hue.

"What manner of destruction have you brought upon this world sister?" He muttered. He had seen how easily the crocodile like creature had ripped through the armored soldiers. Their torso's separated like a hot knife through butter.

He had waited for the two of them to leave before moving to save his sister.

He could have moved earlier but that put him and his sister at a greater risk.

Talon wouldn't die easy but his sister? She was fully human. And humans were fragile.

He took a step forward and slipped into the shadow between two grains of sand. That was how he covered large distances. Jumping in between any kind of shadow.

Within minutes, he arrived at the residence in Urzeris. 

"Cassiopeia?" He heard a voice ask as he placed her in her bed.

Talon walked out of the room and into his mother's vision. "Call a doctor. She has been poisoned within the tomb she was exploring.

"You!" She glowered. "What have you done with my daughter?"

"Saved her life and brought her back alive." Talon spoke. "Do you think sending her into the crypt without any measure of safety was a good idea?"

"She is my daughter." Soreana said. "Not some mutt like you. She will not perish to traps."

"Maybe not to traps but mountain sized creatures?" Talon asked. "Do you think she would live against something like that?"

Soreana's anger disappeared as fear took hold, "Mountain sized?"

Talon nodded. "Massive creatures. One looked like an animal. A Crocodile. The other was a floating coffin. It spoke."

She faltered as she took a few steps back. "They..... They were alive?" Leaning on the wall behind her, She asked, "How?"

"How what?" Talon asked as he too leaned against a wall.

Soreana looked up at him, "How are you here?"

"She sent me a letter about something." Talon explained, "And I saw it fit that I arrive personally to take care of this."

Soreana frowned, "What matter requires your personal arrival?"

Talon shook his head, "You do not need to know." He turned to the corridor, "Come." He ordered.

Soreana was taken aback at the strength behind his words, "Are you ordering me?"

"Yes." Talon replied as if it was the most natural thing in the word, "Your planning and plotting means nothing to me."

Soreana despite being angered, chose to follow him, 

"Call the nearest doctors and send them to my sister's rom. " Talon ordered the servant who stood at the corners. "Make haste."

The servant nodded and dashed off.

"You and me will have a long chat about this mother." Talon said as she led her to the study.

He sat at the main seat.

"That is not your seat." Soreana spoke through gritted teeth.

Talon looked her in the eyes, challenging her authority, "The head of the Du Coteau family is?"

"Not by blood." She shot out.

Talon shrugged, "By creed."

"What creed?" She spat, "Katarina is a better assassin than you."

"Then your days with the flower group have truly blinded you." Talon said, lazily resting his head against his palm.

"Y... you knew?" Soreana asked dumbfounded.

Talon picked up one of the ornate blades on the table and twirled them around, "I'm the reason all of you are alive today."

An expression of disbelief formed on Soreana's face. "You did no such thing."

"Cassiopeia believes that she was the one stopping all of the assassinations. But it has always been me." Talon muttered. "Always. Every hidden blade aimed at your throats. Every single drop of poison in your food and drink. All stopped by me."

"You were not even here." Soreana couldn't accept that.

"Maybe not in person." Talon answered, "Davos!" He called.

A man in servant uniform walked in. "My lord." He bowed.

"Sertus?" Soreana asked.

"Davos." Talon corrected.

"You had a spy in this place?!" Soreana went silent.

Talon shook his head, "Not a spy.... but protection. And not only one."

"How many more?"

"All of them." Talon answered honestly, "Every single one. And every other person in this quaint little town. All protection. Keeping you alive. And to this day.... they seem to have done a pretty good job."

Soreana let out a shaky breath, "Then why didn't you save Marcus."

Talon raised his other hand and cast a shadow on the desk. He then let the ornate knife fall. Without a sound it sank into the darkness, disappearing from view. "Whose life in this family matters the most?" He asked staring at the shadows.

"My daughters." Soreana answered without question.

Talon nodded, "Now what would you do if Marcus had planned to kill one of them?"

"Then I would spend the rest of my life as a widow." Soreana answered. "No..." She said as she put things together.

"He tried to have Katarina killed." Talon said. "A way to get to Swain."

"He wouldn't." Soreana refused to believe it.

"But it is the truth." Talon replied. "You can ask your daughter yourself. Though she does not know of my actions to keep her safe."

"What of the Black Rose?" She asked.

Talon chuckled, "Your little flower group? I have attended quite a few meetings." He looked at her with a cheeky smile, "Hidden of course. How else do you think I know of all the plots on your life?"

"Why?"

"You may not see me as such..... but I see you as family. You picked me off the streets, gave me a life. And for that I will keep you alive."

Soreana's mind reevaluated her plans, she had a new pawn.

"Though I will not be acting as your tool mother." Talon smiled as he could predict her thoughts. He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a dangerous crawl, "Now..... tell me.... what were those creatures? Your answers now will determine whether you life past this moment or not."

For the first time in her life, Soreana, who had stood strong against ever thing that came in her way, faltered. Fear bubbled inside her as she looked at the man sitting in front of her.

Meanwhile, at the collapsed tomb.

Sivir's body fell through the floor and into a large cavern. Thudding against one of the angled rocks it slid and fell onto a platform.

Blood poured out of the body, filling in the indents on the golden platform. One with a very peculiar symbol.

SHINK

As the blood filled the entire symbol, something awoke. Ancient magic rumbled. A pathway opened and the blood flowed into it.

Another body, a pale husk of what it should be, waited at the end of the pathway, as if waiting for the blood to flow into it.

And it flowed.

In second the blood flowed into the body.

Thump Thump

A heartbeat echoed in the silence.

THUMP THUMP

It grew stronger.

THUMP THUMP

The body rose into the air, as color returned to it.

THUMP THUMP

The body's eyes opened. A green gem formed within the body's chest. Omah had awoken once more. His body returning to its original splendor. His hair reforming on his head, spinning itself into the braids it had once been.

In his confused state, his eye landed on the body in front of him.

The blood within him and the woman resonating.

This woman..... she was of his blood.

Now she lay dead.

He took his first breath in a millennia and floated toward the body.

"Family could be trusted. Only family." Despite not having full clarity, Omah functioned on that instinct.

A cloak rippled into existence near him, covering his naked form.

Lifting her body, he turned.

He had a new mission. One that took priority over all else.

Omah must take her to the Oasis of the Dawn. The Mother of Life.

Family must life.