Chapter 07: The Storm

Game of Dice and Dominos (Domino Series #1)

"That is impossible! Nobody knows where she is! We don't have any leads, and we've been searching for her for years!" Dark growled. "And even if you do manage to find her in time, have you really led yourselves to believe that the heir of Everlune will agree to this half-witted plan of yours? You hope to execute a plan based on wishful thinking?!" he scoffed. His dark, gruff voice resounded throughout the room almost like thunder. He stood up as if he were about to storm off, but Zara grabbed his wrist just in time to stop him.

"I happen to know her highness' current whereabouts," Rory retorted. "Leave that part up to me. Don't worry, I only need Zee and this guy for back-up." -- he jerked his head towards Marcus -- "You can just stay here, sit back, relax, and enjoy the action."

"And why should I follow the orders of a mere anomaly?" Dark stepped forward as if challenging Rory to a duel.

He grinned slyly in response and said, "Well someone's gotta babysit him," -- he gestured to Timo, who in turn groaned and whined "Hey!" which everyone ignored -- "And I don't think you'd trust one of us for the job." Dark only managed a defeated sigh.

"That settles it, then," Zara chimed, shattering the tense silence as she ran her hand through her hair. "You guys bond a little while we're gone." She wiggled her fingers at Timo and Dark, a motion to wave them goodbye, then she disappeared into a door with Rory.

Marcus was right behind her when Dark stopped him in his tracks with a firm tone, "Vanderfield." As soon as he spun around, Dark tossed a peculiar glinting object at Marcus, which he caught with finesse. Looking back and forth at the jingling object and back at Dark, Marcus gave him a look and cocked his head.

Dark jerked his head upwards, "Give that to Zee so I can monitor the scenario. Make sure to keep any hostile activity away from her, understood?"

He pouted and furrowed his eyebrows. "You only worried 'bout Zee, huh? What about me, Darcy 'ol pal?" Marcus said, feigning a hurt look while he brought a hand to his chest which earned him a snarl.

When Dark's expression remained unfazed, Marcus snickered then tucked the object away. It resembled both a golden monocle and a cog, but the object was already in Marcus' back pocket before Timo could properly identify what it was.

"Aye aye, captain." Marcus mocked a salute before turning his back. This earned him a glare from Dark, but he didn't spare a backwards glance to receive it before going through the door to join Zara and the others.

Dark's cold gaze lingered at Marcus even after he disappeared into another room. He sighed and seemed to be lost in thought, but immediately jumped out and jerked his head to the sound of Timo's voice.

"What..." Timo hesitated, unsure if it was the right time to ask, "was that? What you gave Marcus."

"An Oeil de Centa-AAHHH!" Dark jumped again, but this time he was frightened by a girl next to the door that they came in.

"Oho, what's this?" the girl who was standing next to the entrance feigned shock and gasped, "The great Spencer Ashton is suddenly all jumpy?"

The girl still had that expression of mock disbelief as Dark hurried to compose himself. Her face was covered with splotches of make-up that made her face resemble that of a raccoon's. On her head she wore a headdress that would give anyone, at first glance, the impression that she had ears sticking out at the top of her head rather than the sides. Her hair must have been tied up and hidden under the headdress since Timo couldn't see it. Either that or she cut it short.

"Spencer Ashton? Is that your name?" Timo asked, feeling a little dauntless knowing that his identity protected him. His wariness grew knowing that Dark -- Spencer -- was working under a fake name. Come to think of it, Zara was too.

Dark -- Timo decided that it was a more suitable name to call him -- ignored him with a scowl and turned to the girl with the same cold expression, "And who?"

Timo couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something strangely familiar about this girl. She appeared to be about his age, and her fiery energy seemed to be supporting his guess.

"You need to set-up the oeil, right? I know where you can find a Voyant Device," she retorted with a smug expression. Spinning the heels of her tall, worn, boots, she opens the door and looks back at them. Jerking her head, a motion telling them to follow her, she disappeared through the door. With an apparent shard of contempt, Dark had no choice but to follow the raccoon-masked girl.

They were back in the crowded hall as they followed the girl through a series of corridors. She led them into a room filled with peculiar hardware and gadgets. Almost all of the equipment in this room had either golden or a bronze shine, much like the object -- the oeil -- that Dark tossed Marcus earlier. 

Nearly all of the gadgets had cogs fastened on the and, what seemed to be, plastic tubes going through them, which reminded Timo of the veins and arteries transporting blood enabling a heart to pump. Perhaps it served the same purpose, only the tubes would pump energy instead of blood.

All of the curious objects in the room looked like antiques, however, Timo had never seen any of them in his life, in pictures or otherwise.

"What are these?" he asked, struck with awe as he gazed at everything in the room. A chuckle was the only thing that answered him. It came from the raccoon-masked girl who was leaning at the door-frame, a smug grin plastered on her face.

Timo was about to open his mouth to demand what was so funny when he heard Dark's deep voice resonate from the other end of the room.

"Both of you, get over here this instant!"

Timo jogged to where Dark stood to see him attach another monocle -- an oeil, he suspected -- to what appeared to be the camera of an odd-looking portable computer -- a Voyant Device, Timo suspected. Half of the monocle's frame resembled a cog which fit perfectly when placed against the Voyant Device's camera.

As soon as Timo arrived at his side, Dark caught a glimpse of him but quickly went back to fidgeting with the Voyant Device. When Timo didn't hear any footsteps following him, he glanced over his shoulder and jumped when he saw that the raccoon-masked girl was right behind him. He shook it off and instead focused on Dark's work.

"Are we going to watch the fight through this screen?" Timo inquired.

"I should hope so, if I could get this thing to work," Dark answered, without looking up, in a tone that suggested he was trying to hide his frustration.

"How does it work?"

"I'm glad you asked," It was the raccoon-masked girl who answered, she was now right beside him. "Each Oeil de Centaure comes with a pair. Together they're called the Yeux de Centaure. Half of the Yeux is with Zara and the other half is this one," -- she gestured to the Oeil attached to the device -- "Zara's Oeil would be used as a monocle. Don't worry, she will barely feel it and it won't come off unless cancelled once it's spellbound to her." she answered the question before it left Timo's lips.

She will barely feel it... Timo wondered what it meant. But then, he remembered the chains that appeared on his wrists when he tried to step out of the carpet.

"The other Oeil should be attached to a processor called the Voyant Device," she continued, "You see, the right piece of the Yeux is the dominant piece. Whatever it sees can be seen through the left piece as well."

Her explanation was interrupted when Dark grumbled under his breath, "Zara, wear the damn Oeil piece."

"Well someone's got a temper," Timo heard the girl mutter, clicking her tongue. But, Dark seemed to have either ignored it or not heard it.

"Anyway," the girl continued, clasping her hands together, "looking through the left Oeil piece is really blurry, kind of like a projector when you don't

To adjust it first. That's where the Voyant Device comes in." Timo glimpsed the device to see nothing but a black on its screen. If he squinted, he could almost see Dark's reflection.

"When the left piece is attached to the front camera part of the device, whatever that camera sees will output on the screen."

As soon as the girl is done explaining, a static brought the once black screen of the Voyant Device to life.

"Eh voila! Looks like your girlfriend finally decided to establish a connection." Dark stiffened at her remark.

"--don't have to fight, mate! You can end this applesauce business right here, right now and nobody has to get hurt," a male voice snarled. It was Rory.

"Hmm, that didn't sound like Darcy's girlfriend," the girl mused, crossing her arms, propping her chin onto her hand.

The Voyant Device screen showed, who Timo guessed were, the Everlune soldiers. They wore silver-grey armor -- similar to the medieval knights' armor, shining in the moonlight, making a declaration that will be stained with blood later on. 

A rose-like emblem is imbued on their chest plate. The only distinctive difference their armor had compared to medieval knights were their weapons -- the Everlune soldiers had guns.

"Go back to the woods where you belong, filthy rodents!" the soldier barked, his tone full of venom. Hoisting his gun on his shoulder, the metals clang together as if a beast had crashed down, growling at an unwelcome visitor to leave. He must be the commander, for he wore a flowing cape, purple under the dark night, that engulfed him an aura of supremacy.

And all the other soldiers behind him chortled at his remark.

"Aye, we didn't come here to talk shit. We came here under the direct orders of the highness herself." Rory sneered.

The soldiers guffawed, their armor clinking at their movements.

"The Everlune heiress is long gone. Nobody's seen her in 16, 17 years. What makes you think she'll show up to give a buncha lowlives a hand?" the commander turned around and threw one last spite, "Just cut the bullcrap and stop meddling with human affairs if you know what's best for you and your band."

A chain sliced through the air. The hook at the end of the chain landed right next to the commander's foot.

Rory whispered something to himself. He must be talking into a mouthpiece. As Rory reeled back his hook, the commander slowly turned around.

"You asked for it, you runts!" The last words the commander uttered before his words dissolved into beastly grunts.

Screaming. Yelling. Rage, like nothing Timo has ever known. He had never seen what a battle looked like, his eyes had never seen so much chaos since--

"CHAAAARGEE!" 

The battle field was painted red. The rage was red. Everything was red. It reminded him too much of the fire that took his parents.

He heard Rory mumble something again, before throwing his hook at his target. He ducked. Reeled back his hook. Then threw it again.

"LOOK ALIVE!"

He swung the chain around and around. Soldiers tripped over the chain. Anomalies hopped over it. Another screech. A yell. Bones breaking. Cracking.

"DUCK!"

Gunshots fired. Metal clanking against metal. Cries in pain. Groans in agony.

AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!

The images grew blurry as Rory hustled in the fight, muttering senseless words, drowned by the rage of battle. Drowned by--

CRASH! Lightning struck. BOOM! Thunder roared.

AWOOOH!

A howl pierced through the blazing night. The fighting ceased. Time had stopped to hear it again.

Awoooh!

Another howl came, echoing through the silent void of stars. The wind carried the sound across the battlefield, a warning to those who would not choose to stop and listen to it.

"Aww hell yeah! Here we go!" Timo whipped to the intruding cheer. It was the raccoon-masked girl.

The image on the screen turned to face the source of the howl. The battlefield remained tranquil, but the fear was deafening. Lightning struck. Thunder roared. A howl pierced for the last time before a grey wolf padded into the moonlight, and in Rory's view. Metal clanked and thumped. The image spun around to see all the soldiers dropping their weapons. Dark muttered something under his breath in disbelief. But Timo heard him loud and clear.

The Everlune heiress has arrived. 


~**~

[Word Count: 2390]

Hey guys, it's almost 12 am but who cares? I finally finished this chapter! (and got away with not having to write a proper fight scene yet again *looks chapter 5 and the smoke bomb i put in there* xD)

I wanna thank yall so much coz GODAD reached 1k reads today!! With 1.4k comments as well!! OMG that's really huge, I never thought it would happen xDD. If you're still here after like six chapters, thank youuu!!! Here's a cookie!! *hands u a cookie* 

Let me know what you think of this update! Keep le critiques coming xD

I'd love to read your comments and a vote lets me know if u like ze update!!

See you in the next chapter (hopefully xD)!!

xoxo

-axeli ❤️

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