THE KEEPERS ( THE ORBS OF UTAH )

PROLOGUE

THE KEEPERS (THE ORBS OF UTAH)

By MARTHA STREAMS
© All Rights Reserved

I was walking in a hallway heading to my Master's study. I couldn't stop the trembling of my hands or my shaky feet for I already knew what he was to order of me.

I couldn't escape from the plans he had for me. It was what I had been living for afterall. The moment my abilities started appearing. My family was all too happy to throw me in the hands of Master Renrik thinking he'd help me control them.

Maybe it was his charm that made them act so impulsively. His appeal overshadowed the evil that roared within him. But I could sense it very loud and clear. The darkness that surrounded him was almost hypnotising. He was now one with it and couldn't be separated from it.

I was pretty much doomed and had no hope of ever escaping his clutches. My family was dead to me and I had no one but myself.

Upon arriving at his study I stiffly knocked on a set of dark oak doors that marked the entrance to his sanctuary. The door creaked open and a servant ushered me in. I swallowed nervously then stepped in.

My gaze almost immediately gravitated to him like a magnet. He sat proud and regal on his upholstered office chair. His arms propped on the table and the tips of his fingers touching. His face was as impassive and cold as ever but even so he still looked otherworldly.

He was not handsome like most men in Utah. He was beautiful and he knew it. He knew how to use his looks to benefit him. For the many years I've lived in his home I knew what he was capable of doing. Sinking low to get what he wanted never bothered him. To him that was the true essence of gaining power. Prowling on one's weakest points. I'd know. He'd done it to me the many times I threw a tantrum and threatened to kill myself. He had a way about him that one couldn't resist. He had a way with words. This being was a leech who could suck out the good in anyone with just the right amount of swaying.

And he wasn't alone.

A cloaked tall figure stood behind him. The figure had his back turned to us. Even cloaked I knew the seemingly enigmatic figure. He was the source of Master Renrik's insanity. He was the one nokuratu who had managed to tame my Master. All I had gathered was that he had some hold on the proud Renrik. And for that I considered him the most dangerous of all the demons who had control over me.

I bowed then righted myself murmuring a greeting," My Lord. "

" The time has finally come for you to prove your loyalty to me. This is the moment we've all been waiting for and I do hope you deliver what you vowed you'd do. Out of all the spineless cowards who squirm under me you have proved to be promising. And it is why I have chosen you for this. " His deep commanding voice was hollow of all emotion.

And maybe he was truly a demon. And for the thousandth time I found myself questioning what sin had I honestly committed to anger the gods in giving me such a fate. Maybe I was just a curse. It had to be that. Why else would those I had considered family give up on me and leave me to fall flat in this cruel reality? I cursed myself for questioning this now my reality. Acceptance was the only sound option to this hell I was living.

I watched through a narrowed stare as he rose from his chair and rounded the table. He stood before me then laid his hands atop my shoulders in an almost affectionate manner. But I of course knew it was all an act. He was a nokuratu destitute of human emotions.

" Young Darkling , I've always treated you as though you were my child and it would truly pain me if you were to disappoint me. Do this for me and you will see, you will rule nations. All the kingdoms of Utah will bow before you. Your name will be recorded in history. All your desires will be fulfilled. Do this and I will see to it you live a prosperous life, one without suffering, " he said softly, his smoldering gaze locked to my stare, his words so sweet and reassuring to my ears yet I knew deep down they were too good to be genuine. He was twisted like that, preying on my need for a better life.

" I know my duty, my lord and I will not disappoint you, " I said bitterly.

" I hope for your sake you don't. It would be a great pity to kill you," he said bluntly. And I believed him so far. He had killed all those who wronged him. It was not necessarily the death in itself that was the most horrifying, no. It was what came before death that was truly scarring.

He was a nokuratu of his word.

As the dawn approached I left the dark fortress of Master Renrik with a mission to fulfill. And when I succeed all life would fall in the claws of darkness.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Copyright © by Martha Streams

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. All characters and events in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Enjoy :-)