Obsidian (2022)

1. The Land Wrapped In Ashes

Chapter 1

The Land Wrapped In Ashes

"It's not about what makes humans kill, but what had prevented them from doing so."

Kieran leaned on the dining room table, watching the Jaaku Mountains burn in glory, the scarlet clouds smearing the pale moon. His skin crawled with excitement.

Blood-red liquid exuded over one of the Jaaku Mountains. The mist surrounding it to the top evaporated, leaving a clear view of the volcano eruption in the night sky. Slow and steady, but it swallowed half of the dark mountain.

One of a kind in the world, his island delivered results every time. Like a proud father, Kieran watched over the mountains that would melt and harden in a single night, the lava never reaching the city. It was a miracle of nature.

When news will get out about the lava changing the slope again, his city would be crawling with adrenalin junkies and they will pay great amounts for special licenses to climb the world's deadliest mountains. It was a perfect way to wrap up the evening.

Kieran picked up a cloth from the table and wiped his steel daggers in size order, then placed them in their designated place on his suit.

Loud stomping came from the hallway and then ten guards burst into the dining room panting.

"Sir! Urgent news."

The panicked guards choked in surprise looking down at the laid bodies next to Kieran's feet.

"From whom?" Kieran asked and proceeded with placing the daggers in his suit.

The oldest guard pushed ahead through the other guards. "Both the Head inside and outside informative agents have arrived in the city and the news they delivered is disturbing. They are in your office, waiting."

Kieran stepped forward. "Tell me what the threat is."

The guard reached for his throat like he had a burning itch he couldn't control. "The island is in danger. That's all I was told to say."

Kieran took out a new eye patch and removed the one he previously had on. Some of the guards glanced away, disgusted at the eerie eye. Where should have been a vivid color, there was only a pale circle of what was once a blue eye. And behind him, the ten bodies laid on the floor weren't helping the menacing sight.

They pressed their sleeves to cover their mouths as the rotten stench of blood was spreading and grabbing at their throat.

"Should I discard the bodies' sir?" The oldest guard asked.

Kieran glanced behind him, his mouth curving in a frown. His eyes closed, heavier than all of his weapons combined. "Do it before I'm back."

"Yes, sir!"

Saluting him with a bow, no one moved, until Kieran was out of their view.

His boots thumped on the oak floor and his sleeves scraped his coat with a rasping noise. Kieran's days of being unnoticeable were long gone and the more power his walk held, the more he was feared.

Outside the enormous hall windows, he could see the rocky obsidian mountains.

His residency was large enough for his several troupes but small enough, to be hidden. It was a firm home, surrounded by sharp rocks on the sturdy roads, up the dry mountain where there was always a faint haze of steam in the air.

His home looked like a temple but was used as a cover-up, by the last residents. It was built as high as possible on one of the Jaaku Mountains, to avoid visitors and provide solitude. As the new owner of the place, Kieran enjoyed the isolation the mountain gave him. Especially when it came to his visitors at night trying to kill him.