Eternal Awakening

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

The Shadows Begin to Move

Valaen Colson sat on a hard, cold, and very uncomfortable wooden stool, in the corner of an even harder, colder, and more uncomfortable room. The temperature in this underground and hidden room was even lower than it was out on the streets outside, and the middle aged man bundled up in his regal cloak and tried to keep his hands warm as best he could.

It was late; far too late if Valaen was being honest. Yet he had to be there in that horrid little room in the middle of the night, because he had been ordered to. He didn't even want to be in this kingdom! He would rather be back home and warming up in front of his hearth, rather than be stuck in an underground hideout of some criminal band right in the middle of the Eternal City, the Capital of Alysia.

Valaen wasn't alone either. Three other people, two men and one woman, stood around a small wooden table in the center of the room and bickered back and forth. These three people were the leaders of this little band of thieves and murderers, and just watching them argue with one another gave Valaen all the evidence he needed to know why they never seemed to get any results.

“Why did you have all our agents just ignore what was going on at the palace?” one of the men asked, pointing a large finger at the woman who stood at the head of the table. This man was known simply as Bastion, and Valaen didn't know his real name. He was a strong and skilled man when it came to martial combat, and the scars on his hands, arms, and even his face were proof of that. Among the four people sitting in the room, he was also the only person who had no magical affinity.

“That's a damn good question! You got in the way of a perfectly good opportunity to get our hands on a lot of nobles tonight!” the other man joined in and folded his arms across his not so big chest. This one was known by the name Mouse, and once again Valaen didn't know his real name. Although the name Mouse really summed him up perfectly though, and even his short and wiry hair and thin features made him look like an oversized rodent.

“Hell, my own agents alone could have captured at least a dozen nobles before any guards would have been able to stop them! You owe us an explanation!” Bastion yelled and his voice banged off the stone walls and came back at them again.

The only woman in the room simply stared at the two men before her, her arms folded in front of her and a slightly agitated look on her face. She didn't reply though. Instead she looked between the two men and refused to blink, like she was trying to intimidate them. Funny enough, it was actually working, and both men slumped their shoulders a bit and took a tiny step away from the table.

Wise men, Valaen thought to himself and watched on with interest. Nothing came of it though, and the woman continued to look at them and remained silent for a long moment.

Like the two men who had just yelled at her, this woman also had a code name: Disciple. Only hers struck more fear in people than the other two ever could combined. While the Copper Focus, as they laughingly called themselves, was governed by three powerful individuals, only one of those members actually held all the power themselves. And that was Disciple. She was ruthless, intelligent, powerful, and determined. What was even worse was the fact that she was a fanatic. There was no reasoning with her at all.