Blood and Knowledge

Damien stood in front of an unassuming wall as a vial containing a red liquid rested in his right hand. Damien threw the vial at the wall, and soon, the wall started to tremble as blood like vines started to come out of the wall and pushed open the wall. The wall parted and a dark pathway came into view. Damien walked forward as four hooded figures followed behind him.

After a few moments, Damien stopped at the crossroads and spoke

"Check the whole area." Damien ordered.

The four hooded figures vanished from their spots as they swiftly looked around the place.

A few moments later the hooded figures returned and one of the hooded figures with crystal indigo like eyes and sword-like eyebrows stepped forward and knelt as he spoke.

"There's no one here, my Lord."

"Anything worth reporting?" Damien questioned.

Another hooded figure with light brown eyes stepped forward, he too knelt as he spoke.

"There is a room inside that can be worth checking out."

Damien looked towards the hooded figure as he spoke with a nod.

"Take me there."

The hooded figure bowed his head and started to walk as the others followed behind him.

Soon, they reached an ordinary room with grey wooden chairs with a table placed inside. It was dimly lit.

Damien walked forward and his eyes fell on a claw of night engraved on the table, it was pulsating with a Verdigris glow. He moved forward and touched it. Soon, his eyes started to tremble before finally settling a few moments later, a single sentence rang in his head.

"May the world be purified with blood, May the moon burn in crimson." The voice was ominous and it had a fanatic tone to it.

Damien's eyes widened when suddenly

*BOOOOOOM*

A huge explosion took place within the room.

The space at the front of the wall started to ripple and a purple hued portal started to form. As soon as the purple portal was complete four hooded figures walked out of it, all of them had an expression of horror and shock. Damien too walked out of the portal, his hands were clenched into fists as a single word left his lips.

"Damnit…"

***

In the garden of Kinten villa, Anna sat on a black wooden chair and sipped tea from the white porcelain teacup she held in her right hand as she questioned White who stood behind her.

"White, how much do you know about the runes?" Anna asked, her tone full of curiosity about the runes.

"Not much, Miss Anieal." White answered truthfully.

"I see…" Anna nodded and continued.

"Then tell me everything you know."

White nodded as he started to speak

"Runes are a set of characters that allow one to impose their will upon the world to produce results which they otherwise should not be able to, such as creating fire, water, air, ice, and more from nothing. They also allow us to form barriers, create enchantments and similar phenomena. That is why runes are often said to be the language of gods and creation." White concluded.

Hearing that, Anna raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Is that so?" she questioned, intrigued by the part 'The language of gods and creation.'

"Many believe so." White said his tone was indifferent.

Anna felt something was amiss with his behaviour today, she however didn't pursue him about it.

Anna nodded as she questioned.

"What do you think?"

"An unawakened's opinion doesn't matter when it comes to the mysteries of the awakened." White replied with a bitter smile on his face.

Anna, hearing that frowned, however she didn't say anything and just sipped her tea in silence.

Azor was a strange place even though it was always covered in the blanket of moonlight, the day-time and night-time could be easily differentiated by the way people, birds and other living beings of Azor functioned. It was strangely a beautiful place and Anna wanted nothing more than to travel around and know more about this place. However, she was too weak to do that. That's why she could understand White a bit. However, she knew that soon she would be able to travel around the world without any issue but White was different. He was unawakened thus he had his limits. Even if he was stronger than a Seeker, he was still just a human—albeit a strong one.

Anna had mixed feelings about this after all, She knew how talented White was in the art of combat and assassination. He was so talented that he was the third ranked spy, even though there were many seekers within the ranks of the spies of Starborne family.

They remained silent for a few moments before Anna finally broke the silence as she stood up and spoke.

"You should go back for today." Anna said in an authoritative tone.

White looked at Anna and bowed his head as he spoke.

"As you wish, Miss Anieal."

Anna nodded and started to walk towards the entrance of the villa.

White stood there as he looked at the departing back of Anna and turned around to leave.

Anna walked through the hallway as her steps echoed within the lavender-blue walls of the villa. Soon, she stopped in front of an old looking wooden door, the door had golden engravings on it, which gave it a luxurious look. Anna pushed open the door and walked inside.

As she walked inside a room with multiple shelves filled to the brim with books, many were old and many were new. The room was illuminated by the crystal-like chandeliers hanging up above. Anna walked towards the centre of the room where sat an old man with white hair and few black strands had donned a servant's uniform. He was focused on reading a book so he didn't notice Anna. Anna walked forward and tapped on the clean wooden table which had a few books and ink vials placed on top. The old man put down the book he was reading and turned towards Anna, when his eyes fell on Anna he hurriedly stood up and bowed towards her as he spoke.

"Miss Aeliana."

"Sir Librarian." Anna too greeted him with a small smile and nod.

"Why are you here, Miss Aeliana?" the librarian questioned as he continued to bow, he had a look of confusion while looking at Anna.

"What? I can't come to my brother's library?" Anna questioned back, her tone had unhidden amusement to it.

"O-of course you can." the librarian hurriedly replied as he broke the bow.

"Haha! I was just teasing you, Sir Librarian." Anna said with a slight chuckle.

Hearing that the librarian straightened his back as he questioned.

"What kind of books are you looking for?" the librarian spoke as he took out a bundle of paper which had a list of all of the available books.

Anna turned her head as she looked at the shelves and finally spoke.

"I was looking for books related to runes." Anna said as she turned to look at the librarian.

"That…" the librarian spoke as he put down the bundle.

"What's wrong?" Anna spoke with a raised eyebrow.

"There isn't any book related to runes within the library." the librarian said as he grabbed the book he was reading before.

Anna, confused by the librarian's words, asked

"How can that be?"

"The books related to runes are under the strict control of The Star Council." the librarian said as he looked at Anna.

"I see…"

After saying that Anna turned and left the library, while moving through the hallways Anna fell in deep thought.

'Should I really learn runes?' Anna questioned herself but no answer came to her mind.

'I'll talk with brother about it.' She finally made the decision to ask Damien about it as he knew about the runes more than White.

Anna then put her thoughts to the back of her mind and went to train like usual.