The group dropped down onto cold and damp dirt, seeming to be in the catacombs of the castle. Adelaide's mother, her grandparents, her great grandparents—every demon who ruled before who has died from being killed or of the Scarlet Plague** has their own private tomb down here. But, the only entrance to the catacombs that Adelaide could think of is in the courtyard next to the guard house. There are secret passageways all over the castle, but she's never encountered this one before.
“So, what's down here?” Caitlyn asked as Her, Nadia, Mark and Adelaide walked down the cramped passageways of the catacombs. The walls were damp and coated in nitre, lined with lamps to light the way.
“Well, a lot of Vorenian royalty is buried down here once they've passed one. Well, not “passed on” since demons don't have souls, but… Anyway, ladies and lords, knights, barons, baronesses, etcetera, they're all buried down here.”
“Creepy,” Mark muttered. “What about the others?”
“Princes and Princesses, Kings and Queens, Emperors and Empresses, have crypts built for them. Big, grand structures built under the ground, like the graves here in the catacombs, but larger. Much larger.” Adelaide looked over and noticed that Nadia that was so blatantly glaring at Caitlyn and Mark, but mostly Mark. Mark kept nervously glancing at her, probably worried she'd snap his neck.
“Nadia.” She warned. “Play nice.”
She faked a smile, revealing the sharp points of her canine teeth. “I always play nice.” She glared at Mark again.
Mark eyed Nadia wearily before turning to Adelaide. “I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“There's a guy up there who looks like me, startlingly so, actually. Who… who is that.”
“Oh…” her heart sank. “Him… How much do you know about demons?
“Not a lot, to be honest.”
“well, on the account of him… That's somewhat of a long story, you see…”
“We have time,” Caitlyn chimed in.
And so Adelaide told them the story as best she could. The short version. Sge told them about how Dark is the face of the King of Servilia—earning shocked expressions from Mark and Caitlyn, while Nadia kept silent—and how he had possessed Mark, and how as a result Mark is, by definition, a copy.
“A copy?” Mark repeated slowly, trying to process it.
“Yes, a copy.”
“So, I'm not a real… person?”
Adelaide shook her head before he finished his thought. “No, not at all. You're real, about as real as they come. When a demon possesses a human host, a copy of that human is made. At first it's lifeless, a uh, shell, if you will. The demon takes all the bad, evil, corrupt parts of that host and places it in that shell. Essentially, Dark is the antithesis of you.” Mark and Caitlyn looked perplexed still. “It's quite hard to explain, I'm definitely not the best source to come to.”
“But you were born,” said Caitlyn.
“Yes, I was. Demons can be be born, though it’s a rare occurrence.”
“So why are you special?” Caitlyn asked bitterly.
“I—” A glowing coming from the end of passageway caught Adelaide's attention. The glowing illuminated the walls in a rainbow of colors: brown, dark gray, blue, orange, emerald green, oil green, gold, and a deep blood red. “That's not right…” Cautiously, Adelaide scouted ahead.
“Adelaide! Your highness!” Nadia whispered harshly, walking ahead of Caitlyn and Mark. “You don't know what's down there.”
Nadia appeared beside Adelaide as she entered a huge cavern. Mark and Caitlyn were soon there, in awe with the utmost curiosity in what they all saw.
There were eight stone pedestals lined up beside each other, each holding…
“No…” Adelaide said, unwilling to believe what was in front of her.
“The Eight Relics?” Nadia asked herself. Indeed, on each pedestal was a relic, floating and slowly spinning, bathed in their respective colors. Except two, the Scepter of Ataraxia, of course, and the Necklace of Rikmai. One of pedestals glowed green where the scepter once was, and another glowed orange where the necklace once was.
“I thought they were scattered across the land. That's what the history books said.” Adelaide furrowed her eyebrows and stepped closer. Something clicked in her mind. Dark hated the fact that I wore that necklace to the ball that night… “hmm… I wonder…” Adelaide took the necklace off an examined it for a moment and held it to the orange light of the pedestal. Then, like a magnet, the necklace was sucked into the glow. She jumped back in surprise.
“No way,” she heard Mark say. Adelaide slowly backed up, heading for the entrance.
“Where are you going?” Caitlyn demanded.
“I'm going to… Find a few people that I can trust.” And with that, Adelaide turned and ran out of the cavern.
“So, she's leaving us here to die,” Caitlyn stated.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
**The Scarlet Plague—the only sickness able to kill a demon
YOU ARE READING
Royal Blood
FantasyI thought I knew my world. The people in it, the secrets they held, their intentions. . . Turns out I didn't have a clue. They lie and deceive and manipulate you without you knowing. You let your guard down around the people you trust the most, only...
