Elemorts

Chapter XXXIII - Irons in the Fire

The manor was a realm of its own. It rose starkly against the night sky, with its thick, gray stone walls adorned with flowing banners and flags in red, blue, and gold, bearing the owner's emblem.

On its top were structures inspired by architecture from the various periods in Karomozian history. The front prominently featured rotund, ivory domes with golden spires on top, displaying the splendor of the city-state of Tawan. The flanks were dotted with slender towers lined with intricate parapets, a style incorporated owing to a brief capture by the Maloran Empire. Every floor had spacious balconies protruding out from numerous stained-glass doors and windows.

Behind the manor, the Tawan Bay stretched across the horizon, dotted by specks of lights from watercraft of all kinds. Luxurious yachts and ferries were docked at piers, bobbing up and down with each tide. The bay was surrounded by a natural harbor of sloping cliffsides lined with other exquisite mansions.

Gardens with finely cut fresh grass stretched across either side of the manor, resplendent with shrubbery teeming with colorful flowers imported from Trezon and Honax. Little bioluminescent mushrooms from Eddenmusk lined the cobbled pathways snaking through the gardens while hedges encircled the boundaries. Luxuriant trees and vines were trimmed into spheres, circles, and arches.

The winding driveway led from between craggy mountains and passed underneath an opulent marble arch before encircling a massive fountain sitting in front of the entrance to the manor. It was made of white marble and bore the owner's emblem in gold all around its base. A dozen water spouts spewed about ten feet into the air, lit by red and blue lights. They converged in the middle and fell as a single stream to be collected into a vase held by a statue sitting atop a high pedestal.

Media crew was gathered around the fountain as each reporter vied to have the most magnificent background. Luxury sedans, sports cars, and stretches skirted around the fountain and dropped their high-profile passengers in front of the entrance steps before proceeding toward the parking spots adjacent to the gardens. Camerapersons and reporters alike rushed to accost the celebrities and dignitaries as the camera drones bathed them in rapid flashes of light.

The guests wore sharp and sleek suits and lavish gowns of silk and velvet. It was a never-ending loop with them — they got out of their vehicles, waved at the media, and said a few things to the droves of reporters before parading down the red carpet and climbing the steps to the entrance.

"Finally!" Heraclark said under his breath as their stretch passed underneath the marble arch toward the fountain.

He wore a navy tuxedo jacket over a cerulean dress shirt and black trousers with a navy bow tie. His shoes were black with navy straps. He had styled his blue-black hair into brushed-up spikes.

The stretch circled the fountain at a snail's pace as media crew hounded it from all sides, apparently with a death wish to get run over by it.

"You guys ready?" Pinz inquired.

She wore a satin gown with a white bodice, red, puffy short-sleeves, and a red, layered, flowing, floor-length skirt. A tilted orange sash with a bow on the side was at her waist, with two strips of orange fabric dangling onto her dress, while a matching fabric wrapped diagonally around her bodice below the chest. An orange choker with a bow adorned her neck. She wore her pigtails in wavy ringlets, secured by orange bows.

"For the past four hours, yes," Heraclark replied.

Presently, the stretch stopped in front of the entrance.

"Alright, then. Good luck, guys!" Pinz said as she took a deep breath.

"You too. We are counting on you," Doxonica said.