Crimson Rebirth

Part 37

 "How about for the injustice on the Starglow clans we put them to death?!"

 "Mass murder? From one clan to another? Death doesn't answer everything!"

 "It does when it brings the justifiable end of one clan's mistake!"

 "A mistake they didn't even know they made!"

 The court erupted in a loud uproar, opposing sides shaking fists and shouting obscenities at each other while the Brass Dragon king, Turynmis, his wife Bryssalia, and Kaiju sat at the head. The Nightwing clan were brought to the center of the floor, each one with his and her own chair to sit. Babies sat with mothers as toddlers frightfully looked around at the shouting and chaos.

 Kaiju stood up. He had a bad headache, and not having Gene nearby only made his stressing worse.

 He stomped his foot, inhaled, and let a booming roar shake the halls to complete silence. It was a different noise compared to his usual cries; it was a roar that practically COMMANDED silence from a Dragon King whose temper was close to its peak.

 Turynmis picked at his ears. He muttered, "Thank you Your Majesty..."

 He stood and approached the court. "The jury must make a decision as to the fate of the Nightwing Clan. Are they innocent of the charges, and victims of a dark influence, or are they guilty of the crimes knowing full well what they were doing...and why."

 "Found them." Gene murmured gently, rubbing her ears from the hall outside the bedroom. She could recognize that roar anywhere, even as it echoed through the halls and stairways, practically shaking the very foundation of the castle. From the sound, he was losing his good patience, and she should have expected that even his patience had a limit.

 Riskel, of the whole lot of vampires, remained coolly impassive. He was sporting a blackened eye, but the other vampire had to be taken to a healer. One of his siblings, a boy of approximately ten, nestled close to him, unsure of what was going on and why everyone was yelling, finding comfort in his calm older brother.

 And the vampire was thankful that Jewelle was with his fiance. It brought him a sense of calm to know that whatever was going to happen, she would be safe. Asmodeus would keep her safe and away from all of this chaos, chaos she would NEVER be brought into. He hadn't spoken a word since the beginning of the trial. There was no defense for what they had done, regardless of whether or not they did it of their own will, they had still mercilessly slaughtered a whole clan.

 Turynmis stood and approached Riskel. He asked the young vampire clan leader. He stated, "I'm sure you don't enjoy having to make decisions for your clan, but if you had to rule their case, what would be of your choosing?"

 Turynmis was not enjoying asking that question; his face read his displeasure of having to ask such a thing from one respectable soul to another.

 "Honestly..." Riskel said, thinking as every eye from his coven fell upon him, including those of his siblings. "It is very difficult to decide. Hungry vampires due to hibernating prey can easily be whipped into a blood frenzy, and I suspect that to be what happened. The, uh, demon gave them a face to their anger, their hunger, and the blood frenzy did the rest."

 He glanced to the little boy clutching his arm. "Then it's a matter of those who hold remorse for their actions and those who do not. And the children, who had nothing to do with it. I can personally assess to that, they were nowhere near the Starglow Clan's village. No matter what is decided here today, they do not deserve any punishment for simply existing within the coven."

 Turynmis nodded. He faced the jury, and their faces told him of their answer; they were willing to let the children be pardoned, but it was the adults who were still to be held accountable.