Chapter 539 Prelude To Dread

[Capital of Mastorn, "Voguesdeil", "The Heavenly Keep"]

The chamber hummed. There were no windows that allowed natural light to seep into the exclusive domain, yet a natural radiance still existed due to the nature of the material used in its formation.

Inscribed on the magnificent walls of a natural, pale-white shade, cast over by the orange light were many writings of past, present, and future happenings.

"The Gospel of Gaol"—his very abode held such tellings.

The ceiling was morphed into an aspect of the cosmos; as if no true ceiling did exist except the void of space and it's shining stars, and soaring astral energies.

Around the man seated in his abnormal, circular chair, violet lights trickled and danced in the air as he seemed to watch something unseen in the winds; his head twitched as he caught onto something seen only by his eyes.

Then, he stopped.

"It is coming."

The slender, enigmatic man wrapped in silver bandages all across his body stated, standing from his circular chair amidst the quartz, mystical chamber.

It was a mystical room, even in the world fond of magic, overlooked by the hanging cosmos.

In the same, vast room as the man were two guards of high renown, turning to face him as he uttered those words.

"What is coming, Sir Gaol?" The tall, burly man with hair of a mixed platinum and black asked.

Gaol stood tall with a lanky body hardly seen as the only, hardly-visible parts of his skin were obscure beneath his pale head, but his skin was even paler than snow itself.

"I can see it in the air," Gaol spoke with words made of mysterious air, "Bloodlust is aimed towards me. I am being hunted. Sought. Targeted."

The other of the two guards stationed, who had been leaning against one of the tall, rectangular pillars of radiant, seraphic stone, held a wide smile as his stringy, crimson hair cascaded down the black-feathered pauldrons of his light armor.

"You're telling me there will be people to kill?" The man with long crimson hair asked, standing up as his build was recognizably short and slim, yet he held an aura larger than himself.

"Rather soon, I feel," Gaol answered.

The other, calm man who towered over his crimson-haired colleague stood tall, "Is it assassins from another kingdom? Perhaps an elite squadron of combatants?"

"It doesn't matter who or what they are! Let 'em come!" The short, crimson-haired man of youth called out, waving his arms around frantically.

The platinum-haired man dressed in a black cloak and light, lavish leather beneath looked disgusted at his colleague's thirst for battle.

"I cannot see such things yet. Perhaps they've just entered the boundaries of Mastorn, but they're not in the capital, as I can't see them or hone in on their presence–all I can see is the bloodlust set in my future," Gaol explained, slowly stepping towards the two.

Stopping, the man dressed in abundant, enigmatic wrappings of silver material looked to the platinum-haired, reserved man who held his steel-formed gauntlets crossed over his chest.

"Evo," Gaol said to the man.

"Yes, Sir Gaol?" Evo knelt down immediately before the one with all-seeing eyes as soon as his name was said.

The pale, hooded man slowly placed his lanky hand atop the knelt warrior's head, "Tell Captain Ajax we will need more men at the Heavenly Keep."

Evo nodded, standing himself back up as his black cape fluttered in his movements, allowing the natural luminescence of the fantastical quartz to reflect off of his pearlescent sword hilt.

"What should I tell him, exactly?" Evo asked.

Gaol was silent for seconds before answering, after seeming to sniff the air, "The bloodlust is quite thick. Perhaps it is one, perhaps a dozen, however–they are quite capable, nonetheless. Inform Captain Ajax that we will need a member of the Seven stationed here."

"One of the Victorious Seven?" Evo's eyes widened just a bit.

"Just for the coming week," Gaol assured him with his hoarse, lingering voice.

Without any intent to question the one with all-seeing eyes, Evo sat out, pushing open the towering, thick doors of mystically-enchanted quartz as he descended a plethora of stairs.

It was clear that the energetic, red-haired man seemed almost impatient that this entire conversation transpired without a single thing being said to him.

Gaol stood for a moment, holding his hands up as the magenta eye tattoos on the back of his hands shined briefly, "Extermus."

The name called brought the attention of the smiling, crimson-haired man of short stature.

"Yeah?" The crimson-haired, youthful man with skin scaled in scars looked at the slender, hooded man.

"You understand why I asked for more protection, don't you?" Gaol asked him.

Extermus looked up at him with his toned, sleeveless arms at his sides, though his stance was hardly "lax" as he always seemed on edge, "Izzit that yer' scared?"

Gaol only looked at him from behind his shadow-inhabited hood for a moment, causing the disheveled curve to the man's lips to begin to shift.

Now a wide, ear-to-ear grin of sheer ecstasy sat on Extermus' lips, "Izzit that ya' want me to slaughter them?"

"That's exactly correct," Gaol nodded in confirmation, "That's your language, is it not? The "Melody of Bloodshed", Extermus? They've underestimated not only my unparalleled eyes, but they've underestimated you, haven't they? If you're here guarding me, and they intend to attack, isn't that a direct undermining of your strength, Extermus? It's an insult to you. Or perhaps, it's a direct challenge, Extermus. Maybe they wish to see what you're truly capable of. A proper challenge."

Gaol knew exactly how to manipulate the one-track-mind of the violent, violence-lusting man who was almost bubbling up with a mixture of rage, joy, and ecstasy, fuming from his pores.

With an excited jump into the air, the short, young-in-appearance man with lengthy, crimson locks that reached down to his lower back soared several meters into the air before landing back down on his tightly-laced, black boots.

"I've been waitin' for this! Point me in tha' direction, Boss!" Extermus said, already ready for action as he stood at the doorway of the chamber.

Gaol held his hands together, looking into something unseen once more as he mumbled to himself indistinctly.

"...Audracia should be the most likely point of singularity; the crossroads in which your claws will reach these unknown hunters," Gaol informed him.

The man was almost as red as his hair with excitement as his tanned complexion became vibrant as he smiled wide, matching his bright-orange eyes as he almost seemed like a dog ready to be freed from its leash.

"Hunt them, Extermus."

–Those were all the words needed to be said as if a magical incantation freeing the restraints from the man as the moment those words audibly spilled from Gaol's lips, Extermus propelled down the colossal steps of the Heavenly Keep with blinding, aggressive speed.

"If these strangers of Mastorn should make it past the "Melody of Bloodshood, Argonaut Extermus", then they will have one of the Seven waiting for them at my doorstep. It is a fatal mistake to think my life is one capable of being taken," Gaol spoke to himself, seating himself in his personal, lonely throne.

In my hundreds of years of serving this kingdom, not one assassination attempt has even surpassed the doorstep of the Heavenly Keep, he thought.