A MAZE OF GREED

Darius looked ahead, a corner of his lips stretched upwards. A giant tree as tall as a two-storey building waited for Darius after his successful attempt at saving his life.

The earth could not encompass its thick and long roots. They pierced through her chest, peeking out at the outside world. Its enormous trunk was thicker than the length of the largest carriage Darius's family possessed.

The rough outer skin was covered by moss at places. And its canopy spread in all four directions inviting hundreds of people to stand under its shade.

The gigantic tree stood calm and wise- a gateway to the magical kingdom of Crinudel.

Darius jumped on his two feet and patted his horse on the back.

"Let's say hello to our old friends!"

Darius held the reigns in his hands as he walked his horse towards the tree. Darius noticed the eerie silence covering the place like a thick blanket. The vultures had left his trail.

As Darius neared the giant tree, he admired its enormity and the centuries it had spent safeguarding an undiscovered majestic world.

Darius stopped at a hand's distance from the tree trunk. He recalled the last time he had been there. He raised his right hand and placed it on the rough and uneven yet sturdy surface.

He could feel the soft vibrations in his palm as the giant tree evaluated if the guest was deserving enough to enter the new world waiting for him behind this gate.

Darius stepped back when he heard the rumbling sounds. He saw mesmerizingly a hollow forming in the centre of that enormous girth. It extended long enough to let him and his horse pass through it.

All he could see inside was darkness and, no sound came through that hollow.

Darius and his horse walked through that hollow. Darius heard the path closing on its own, and soon they were engulfed in the darkness. Yet they kept moving ahead until they saw the bright light ahead that led them into the Kingdom of Crinudel.

Darius pumped his fist in the air as a celebration of victory. Entering the Crinudel was the only tricky part for him as he was pretty sure that he would easily gain Painite once he met the right person.

But that was not the end of his struggles, as he still had to cross the third layer of security of this kingdom.

In front of him was a large white gate. The purple boungvelliea sprawled on its design like snakes. Darius could not see anything besides that gate, as only the white light filled up the surroundings.

As he had anticipated, two of the vultures landed on the ground in between him and the gate. They had white bald necks and heads. Their black tough beak was curved at the tip. They had long, broad wings. The upper layer was of brown colour while the downwards layers were off in the colours of grey and black.

They stared back at Darius with a stare that could send shivers down his spine if he was a human.

The two vultures joined their wings in front of their heads and, Darius saw something that could be considered a wonder. Their bodies slowly transformed as their feathers began disappearing. Hands took shape in the place of their wings. Their heads enlarged, taking a human form.

Their size grew, and within the next few seconds, one man and one woman stood in front of Darius. But they were not completely transformed. They still had their faces elongated into their black beaks. They both were bald and, their hands were covered by small feathers.

Their private parts were covered by tightly fitted golden plates, indicating they were the royal guards. Their large and elongated eyes were of yellowish colour with black pupils.

"The Vampire prince Darius!" The man said, stepping ahead in a ringing voice.

Darius hated how these birdies sounded.

"I want to pass through this gate." Darius told confidently.

"You have to tell the reason of your visit. Crinudel rarely recieves the same guests frequently." The woman stood beside the man as she observed Darius keenly.

She then shifted her glance to his horse, to which the animal replied by an unimpressed snicker. The woman narrowed her eyes into thin slits at the animal but chose to not react to it.

"I want to meet your leader. And we do not have king and princes." Darius grumbled.

He did not understand why some of these supernatural breeds still followed those old traditions of Kings, queens and princes. In his world, the only persons beholding those titles were humans because they did not like to feel inferior.

They already had an inferiority complex due to a lack of supernatural powers. So to prove that they were no less, they carried on this tradition of beholding such royal titles. It was a nonsensical act, in Darius's opinion.

For him, there should only be a leader- a powerful amongst them and the supreme one.

"And we do not have leader but have King and queen." The woman retorted.

"Fine! Are you going to let me go inside?" Darius needed a good shower after not getting any for the last two days.

"Reason of your visit?" The man asked.

Darius' jaw ticked in irritation. "I will tell that to your leader. It is confidential!"

The woman opened her mouth to correct him again, that they did not have a leader. But then she thought better of it. In the outside world, they referred to the head of the supernatural breeds as leaders. So it was useless to argue with this devilishly handsome man with no heart.

"I am afraid that you can not enter this gate unless you give the reason for your visit." The man was adamant on his stand.

Darius cursed under his breath. He took a minute to think about it.

"Fine! My reason of this visit is getting something from your leader which is very very special. And no its not your leader's life or anything on that line. Your leader has already given it to me once and I want it again." Darius told.

The two human-looking vultures shared a look. They could not ask in detail according to the rules. The woman nodded at the man, and he again transformed into his vulture form. He flew inside by flying over the white gate, leaving the woman behind to keep an eye on Darius.

"Want to get acquianted with me?" Darius raised his dark brow playfully.

"Not in this life!" Came her sharp reply.

"Ouch!" Darius put his hand on his chest, under which he had no heart.

She glared at him for his sarcastic joke.

A minute later, the woman's curiosity got the best of her. She hesitantly asked Darius, "Can I... touch it?"

Darius was amazed that she was interested in a horse out of all the animals when she practically lived amongst them.

"It is my favourite horse, my pal! This beast does not like anyone touching him except me." Darius said while running his hand through his horse's shiny hairs.

"Just once please? I have never touched one! I mean not the one like this." She requested.

The man was taking time in carrying the permission. What would Darius do in that time?

"Fine! But what will I get in return?" He had a devilish smirk playing on his red lips.

"What do you want?" The woman asked suspiciously.

"Well... I like women... a lot! Especially the fiesty ones." He drawled, looking at her with droopy eyes.

"So what should I do? Get one for you?" The woman was furious. In Crinudel, people always treated others in respectable manners.

Although she had never stepped a foot in the human world or the towns of these other supernaturals, she had heard how nasty and disrespectful the vampires were. And werewolves? They were the worst of them all. They were barbaric and lacked morals- things that the Centaurs had always avoided bringing into their culture.

"Well I would have asked for you but..." Darius got some evil satisfaction in getting on others' nerves.

"But what?" The woman hissed.

"But you are not of my type. I have better taste than you." Darius shrugged his shoulders as if he had not just insulted a woman in the most disgracing way.

She ran towards him in fury, but Darius was quick to hold her hand before it harmed him in any way.

Without a word, he brought her hand near his horse and the moment her feathers touched the horse's shiny skin, her anger dissipated within a second.

The woman was fascinated by the feel of it, as she kept running her hand over his horse. Darius watched amusedly while she enjoyed it. The smile on her face made her look beautiful, even with that hard beak and bald head.

-"There is beauty in everything. We just need to find it."-

A female voice rang in his mind that twisted his insides painfully. Grace! She would have been ecstatic to be here, he thought.

The woman noticed the changed expressions on his face.

"What happened?" She asked genuinely.

"No woman- beautiful or fiesty- can ever make me fall for her." He whispered as if he was telling himself in realisation.

"Why?" She asked slowly.

"because-"

The woman could not get the answer as the other man returned. She hurriedly went back to her previous place.

The other vulture transformed back into its human form.

"Lord Darius, you are allowed to go inside!" He told.

When Darius passed through that white gate, the woman saw a completely different man without a trace of the man she had just seen.