Chapter 16

Celia smirked as a large, handsome man appeared in their waiting room, in front of her desk, at thirty minutes on the dot. He had deep, amber eyes that showed the inner strength of heavy responsibility. His hair was dark brown with a slight unruly curl to it. “Grant Samuels, I presume. Come with me, please.” Celia stood up and led him to a large office where she instructed, “Please have a seat. Can I get you anything?”

“No, thank you! I thought I was meeting with Darius,” he scowled at her. “This isn't his office.”

“Actually, I asked you here. I apologize for the deception,” Theanna replied as she appeared in the room, smiling at Celia as she discreetly left the room.

Wearing her universe stone, Thea's hair was done up in intricate braids to go along with her sleek dark purple jacket, black blouse and leather pants. With a smile she reached out a hand and said, “Theanna Prince.”

Grant blinked in surprise as he quickly took her delicate hand and shook it. “As in High Queen Theanna? Should I bow or something?” he stumbled. He found himself feeling nervous like he used to feel in front of the Lords of the Magick Consortium. This slip of a woman radiated pure power.

“No, no, don't be silly. I knew your father, well, back when I was simply Theanna Daniels, translator extraordinaire. I’m so sorry for your loss,” Theanna apologized as she led him to a small conference table.

“Thank you! How can the Magick Consortium help you? It’s not like it’s been on the best terms with the Dark Realms.”

“Innara was not on the best terms with most everyone, unfortunately. I hope to change that and that we can find a way to build a strong alliance going forward. Now, as for why I asked you here, as I’m sure you're aware, we're in the middle of a war with the Titans which is escalating quickly.”

Grant nodded as they sat down. “The Titans have always been a concern. Our magick has very little effect on them.”

“It's the same for the powers of the Dark Realms. I may have a solution, though. One that requires your help. I’ve been made aware of an extremely rare, very powerful, very deadly poison that works on them particularly well. It’s called the Ash of Death.”

Grant swallowed thickly, a look of horror on his face. As the Head Guardian of the Magick Consortium, he knew of all of the forbidden magicks. Ones like the Ash of Death were some of the most prohibited. The horror and the death it could cause were immeasurable.

“So you’ve heard of it,” Thea acknowledged by the look on his face.

“It’s one of the Forbidden. When it's discussed, it’s usually only in whispers.”

She nodded. “It has a very specific ingredient list that must be gathered in a very particular way,” she stated as she handed a folded piece of paper over to him.

Opening the list, Grant’s eyes widened. “What you need...”

“Can all be found within me. As I’m sure you know, I have Human and Daemoni blood. What you may not know is that I also have Celestian and Illuminare blood as well. What I need from you are the spells to extract my individual powers and essence as well as the spell to create the Ash.”

Grant was quiet for a long moment as he started to think while looking at the paper she provided him. “All coming from one source and from one as powerful as you, the Ash would be particularly deadly and might just stop the Titans. But, my Queen, you need to know, the spells you’re talking about are extremely dangerous, especially to you. The extraction spells will drain you but the Spell of Ash... that spell is forbidden because it can and has gone awry and the results devastatingly deadly.

“I’ll need to get permission from the Lords. With the Lord of Time still in a healing sleep, the remaining Lords have been wary of approving much of anything, but given the circumstances they might be willing to help the new High Queen of the Dark Realms against a mutual enemy.”

Theanna nodded. “My seer, Galena, knows of a space in-between the realms that is where we can work in safety and security. I know the risks, but the Titans want to destroy everything. They want to rule all and they must be stopped!”

“The Lords will require payment for what you're asking,” Grant stated thoughtfully. “I think I can help with that if you’re agreeable. We have a need that you may be able to help with.”

Theanna simply quirked an eyebrow at him as she stayed quiet, waiting for him to explain.

“Tiamat, what has become of it since its destruction?”

“It's a desolate wasteland where nothing exists. Why do you ask?”

“We're in need of a place where we can house those that break our most sacred laws,” Grant explained. “One that’s impossible to escape from as it does not abide by magick's elemental rules.”

“You wish to turn it into a prison. We would need to create a door that only you would be able to access. I would need to provide the Guardians a special mark of protection and we would need to ensure the prisoners could not escape Tiamat,” Theanna stated, thinking about that which he asked.

Closing her eyes, she commanded in Daemoni, “Damian, come to me.”

Damian almost immediately arrived, with a bow. “My Queen!”

“My love, I need your counsel. Please join us,” Thea smiled as Damian gave her a kiss.

“Of course.” Turning to Grant, he introduced himself, “Damian Prince, Theanna's mate and Prince of Ikisat.”

“Grant Samuels. Head Guardian of the Magick Consortium,” Grant smiled as they shook hands.

“How may I be of service, my Queen?” Damian asked as he sat down next to his mate.

“Would it be a feasible offer to allow the Lords to use Tiamat as a prison in exchange for what we need?” Theanna asked.

“Interesting...” Damian murmured as he started thinking of all of the pros and cons to such a proposition. “We’d need to make sure the gates connected to Tiamat from the other realms were completely sealed. The guards would need protection from us so that their souls wouldn’t become tainted. The authority to deal with any that somehow manage to escape would have to be given to us to protect the Dark Realms as a whole. Also, once they've been sentenced to Tiamat, they won't be able to leave. This must be reserved for those that receive life-sentences.”

“All completely understandable and doable,” Grant agreed.

“Then I think if we can come to terms it would be very feasible,” Damian agreed.

“Excellent!” Thea clapped her hands. “I must return to the Dark Realms, I cannot be away long during this time. Grant, I leave the negotiations in Damian's hands. He has my full authority.”

“Of course,” Grant agreed as he stood up with Theanna. “It was a pleasure to meet you and I hope this is the beginning a powerful alliance.”

“That’s my hope as well,” Thea smiled at him. As she looked into his amber colored eyes, Grant noticed a feint glow appeared in her eyes. “It's said those of the Magick Consortium have predestined mates? Is this true?”

“It is.”

“Hmmm. I see your destiny approaches whether you wish it to or not. Simply remember these words, 'be kind'. They’ll guide you far,” Thea smiled as she simply vanished from the room.

“She’s truly enigmatic,” Grant smiled as he rejoined Damian at the table.

“That coming from someone who reports to the Lords of the Magick Consortium,” Damian chuckled.

“Exactly. I find her intriguing, so very different from most in her position.”

“Most do. Now shall we work out terms that work for us both so that you may present them to your Lords?”

“Indeed!” Grant stated as paper and pens appeared before them.

~~*~~

Arriving in Tiamat, Sidian and his legion-mates, Aym and Melchom, looked around at the desolate ruins. It was a desert wasteland where nothing flourished, nothing grew. Tiamat was never the prettiest of realms but now all it reminded Sidian of was death and destruction. Sidian inhaled a deep sigh knowing that the hardest part was going to be figuring out where Azorack's palace had been located. From there he knew where to find the treasure room.

“I have this old map from Prince Damian. It shows the gate we just entered through and from there we should be able to calculate where you think we should look, Sidian,” Melchom stated as he looked at the map.

“Well, Azorack kept all his 'treasures' in a vault in his palace not far from the dungeons. Can you tell on the map just how far the palace is supposed to be from this gate?”

“Just under 14 klicks it looks like.”

Sidian rolled his eyes at Melchom. “Klicks? Since when did we start measuring distance in kilometers?”

“Well, see this little distance key here in the corner? It says that half an inch is one kilometer... therefore 14 klicks.”

Sidian just shook his head at him before Aym commented, “Man, Nihasia sure did a number on this place, didn't she?”

“She did indeed, although to be honest, it wasn't that great to begin with. Azorack was an asshole and had been for centuries. It's why I joined the Royal Guard. He tortured and killed Daemoni when he got bored of torturing deserving souls. He definitely got what he deserved. Before I was able to escape to the Queen's Palace he decided to rip my wings off one inch at a time. It took me weeks to heal properly. The fact that it was our Queen that took care of him makes it all that much better in my book.”

“No wonder you’re so loyal to our Queen!” Aym commented wryly.

“Our Queen has really made all of our lives so much better. I just don't understand how there are still some Daemoni that aren't loyal to her. It doesn't make sense. Have an issue, go to her, she fixes it. The Princes have started to behave themselves because they know she’ll kick their asses if they don't. Did y'all see her during that battle? I mean WOW!” Melchom gushed.

“Oh I know. Talk about badass! Innara would never have even thought about fighting. The prospect of breaking a nail would’ve been too much. But let me tell you, that exploding Titan was seriously disgusting and she just wiped that goo from her eyes and kept on fighting. Did you hear that Damian found an eyeball in her hair?” Aym asked.

“Oh that's gross. She refused to shower or rest until every Daemoni was healed. I’m proud to say I've sworn loyalty by blood oath. Now let's go get that Lycan Chalice and look awesome in her eyes,” Sidian smirked.

“And make Hezin look good. We make him look good, we get the choice assignments,” Melchom smirked.

“Oh yeah!” Aym agreed as they all took flight and headed towards the palace of Tiamat.