A MAZE OF GREED

Darius did not know what was going in his father's mind when he announced a sudden trip to the land of the shades. The father and son duo was going through a rough patch in their relationship. No matter how much Aurora tried to reconcile their rough bondage, the men's ego prevented them from taking that necessary first step.

Their carriage moved with a steady pace through the forest along with another carriage that carried Mr Hilton and Marcus. They had not brought many people with them as the Shades did not appreciate the outsiders in their territory.

The shades unlike most other supernatural breeds still lived in an age that was centuries old. They still have not adapted to the transforming times and ways of the world. Thus, their village was well hidden in the depths of the thick forest and away from the human world.

Only those who knew about the exact route could reach their village. Only Ambrose had ever been to their village before, with his grandfather and father during the great war. He was young back then and thought the Shades to be primitive creatures with the old fashioned way of living.

Centuries later, he hoped to see the slightest of the changes in their lives.

Aurora and Darius did not know what to expect. The description given by Ambrose about the village of the Shades made Aurora repulsive and bored Darius out of his wits.

The carriage stopped suddenly, and the coachman opened the small window behind him.

"My Lord!"

Aurora and Darius looked at each other in confusion, but Ambrose- as cool as a midnight breeze- stepped out of the carriage.

His family, Mr Hilton and Marcus also stepped down their respective carriages and followed Ambrose.

Everyone gasped in shock. Darius and Marcus took a defending stance quickly.

Aurora instinctively inched towards her husband, fear and confusion clouded her features.

Two giant black panthers stood in front of them at a distance of only a few feet. Their yellow eyes gleamed in the afternoon light. Their obsidian fur shone in the daylight like the light dancing on the surface of river water.

Any human would have pissed their pants in fright, but the Vampires stood strong on their ground. Those two animals observed the people in front of them.

Slowly they walked towards them. Their tails are positioned straight in an alert. They sniffed the air around.

Aurora protested when Ambrose took a long step ahead. She wanted to stop her husband but was too afraid to go near him.

Darius wanted to scream at his father for his stupidity. It was not Kinsville where the animals also knew them. This was a foreign territory of the creatures who had no good name in history because of their deceiving nature.

One of the black panthers rounded Ambrose as he stood straight and proud.

Everyone watched, holding their breaths, how the two animals communicated with each other. They whistled, growled, hissed, then purred.

Darius wished he knew what the hell they were talking about. What if there were more of these?

His eyes darted around in search of his enemies, but were brought back to the scene when he heard his father say,

"I am Ambrose Garfield- the leader of the Vampires! I am here to meet the leader of the Shades."

Darius looked at the back of his father's head as if he had gone mad to talk with the black panthers. But his doubt dissipated in thin air when the two animals nodded their head and started walking ahead.

Ambrose ordered everyone to get back in the carriage and follow the animals.

Twenty minutes of confusion filled silence later, they came out of the thick forest and in a vast opening. Darius and Aurora peeked outside the window at the scene they had never seen before in their lifetime.

The humble houses made up of stones and bricks stood covering the ground. Women were out in the opening along with their kids. The men were polishing their weapons, while some were enjoying their drinks, and were playing some games.

They were wearing some strange clothes that covered only their private parts.

Men wore short pants, their upper body bare. The women wore short skirts and tops that covered their chest but not their stomachs. Men had long hair braided at the back of their heads. Women also had long hair, arranged in multiple braids on their heads. Both men and women wore no pieces of jewellery. They had no tattoos or markings on their brown-toned skin.

And the striking part was there were no colours in their clothing or the things they used. Everything was of only one colour- black.

Aurora watched the women narrowing their cat-like cohl filled eyes at her when she stepped out of the carriage in her ankle-length peach coloured dress and diamond earrings. She stood out in that place like a bright moon in the sky filled with numerous stars.

The two panthers stopped till the passengers came to stand in a line behind them. Darius and Mr Hilton watched in awe as those two animals shifted into their human form in front of their eyes.

"Welcome to our village!" One of the men who had just transformed from a panther into a human said in his hard voice.

Aurora frowned at the lack of their mannerisms. They did not use any titles like Lords and Lady or Lady and Gentlemen. Seems like their mannerisms were also primitive, just like their way of living.

The whole villagers gathered around them. It was not every day that they received guests. It had been like decades since the last time someone came to visit them.

"Follow us!" The other man said.

Darius did not understand why they made them leave their carriages behind when the road was large enough to travel with them.

But Ambrose knew why!

They wanted the whole village to know that they had guests. They wanted them to remember their scents and looks well. That was how they worked.

He was not surprised to see that even after centuries, there were not many changes in here. The place was the same, and so were its people.

Walking through the village, Darius could feel all eyes trained on them. They held hostility, while some held a look that was too familiar to him. He could not help but smirk at a young girl's way when he felt her ogling at him. Her mother instantly stood in front of him as she barred her long teeth at him.

Shrugging nonchalantly, he followed the two men silently. Then he looked at his father. He looked calm and composed. He did not mind these people's scrutinising gazes, their lifestyle or anything for that matter, unlike his mother, who bore a constant frown on her face.

He saw a building built on a high platform. The stairs that led to it made him tired, although he was a Vampire and they never feel tired.

As all of them were supernaturals, they all reached the top and in front of the main gate of the small castle using their supernatural speed. Walking through the gate, they were led into a hall on the first floor.

As the Sunset down behind the mountains, the torches were lit to illuminate the place. Everything in the castle reminded Ambrose of the time he had last visited this place. Nothing had changed over a long time.

Darius was surprised to find they had no basic amenities, that he enjoyed back home. The overwhelming use of black in the interiors spun Aurora's head, and she blessed herself that she wore something bright in this dark place.

The two men sat their guests on the couches, that was made up of wood and animal skin. A maid poured water for all of them, at which Mr Hilton scoffed. She was giving water to the blood-sucking Vampires!

His eyes travelled to her pulsating vein in her neck, and his gums pained as his fangs threatened to come out. He licked his dry lips at the thought of the woman's warm blood. But one warning look from Ambrose made him squirm in his seat.

Five minutes later, they heard footsteps coming from the other end of the room. Soon two men- tall, slim and with distinct animal-like squinted eyes, walked into the room.

One of them was in his late sixties, and the other one was as young as Darius's human appearance.

Ambrose stood up with a smile and took two steps ahead to meet the old man with a smile. He offered his hand, but the man pulled him in a welcoming hug.

"It has been decades since I last saw you Mr Garfield! Welcome to Sanchena!" He laughed a burst of throaty laughter.

His voice did not go well with his slim form. His voice sounded like a voice of a buff man.

Now only Darius got to know the name of this new fangled village- Sanchena! Weird place, weird people and weird name!

"Thank you, Chief! I am glad to meet you again!" Ambrose smiled.

The man shook his head lightly.

"I am no Chief anymore Mr garfield. Meet the new chief of the Shadows- Cyfrin- my son!"