Kingdom of Illusontis

Queen Niamh, stood at the window of her chamber with a wine glass in her hand, looking at the setting sun. A deep frown lingered on her face. The wine glass was full and looked like she hadn’t even taken a sip. Her deep thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. She reeled back to her senses, put the glass down and said in a soft voice,

“Come in.”

A girl entered, short, a-lined bob reddish brown hair, snow like skin, nails painted black. She bowed and said,

“All ready, my Queen.”

Niamh, smiled and replied,  “That’s great Euphenia. You are my most trusted sorceress. I want the culprit found. Otherwise you know how it’s going to affect Illusontis.”

Euphenia, “Be assured. We will get into the bottom of this.”

Niamh, let out a breath of relief, came and hugged her, saying, “What would I do without you sister.”

Euphenia hugged her back warmly, except her gaze turned into a dark one with an evil smirk, unbeknownst to Queen  Niamh.

Queen Niamh and Euphenia were half-sisters through their mother, the late Queen Celestine. In Illusontis inheritance passes through the maternal line. Celestine’s marriage to Niamh’s father was arranged during their teenage years. They had a blissful life until Niamh’s father’s death in a sorcery accident. Niamh was only four years old. Celestine was heartbroken going into depression, but found solace in the company of the young royal librarian, as she liked to read books. Their company gradually turned into an affair, which left Celestine pregnant. But the librarian was not ready to  become a father so he vanished one day without anyone’s knowledge. The queen gave birth to a second daughter and named her Euphenia. As they grew up Celestine treated both her daughters with equal love and care. Euphenia proved to be a fast learner and more efficient than Niamh but the latter being the legitimate child she was already destined to be next in line of throne. Though the Queen never distinguished between her daughters, people’s opinions differed. Euphenia, being smart understood it all too well. While on the outside she maintained the image of the prefect daughter, sister and princess of Illusontis, on the outside she grew dark and evil filled with deep hatred and malice towards her mother and elder sister. One day suddenly the Queen died of unknown reasons and almost immediately there was an attempt on Niamh’s life on the day of her coronation. It was foiled however and the assailants were caught, but they committed suicide as soon as they were apprehended, so who and why did they attack the heir apparent was never found out.

Years later now, Niamh rules Illusontis with Euphenia and their maternal uncle Lord Cornelius. The royal family comes from a long lineage of sorcerers who were the priestess and keepers of the temple of the sun god Uraos in the ancient times. They were the protectors of the mystic, ancient and powerful bracelet of Uraos. Made of pure gold the bracelet depicts a dragon eating its own tail, which represents the ‘cycle of life’. However the main power of the bracelet came from the blue sapphire stone called the Eye of Life , which held the power of pure force of life, in the eye of the dragon. Uraos projected his power from this bracelet as the supreme creator. But his daughter Serkhet, the goddess of death became evil and wanted the power of Uraos for herself, driven by jealously and envy of her twin sister Iseret, the goddess of life, as she was chosen to rule over earth, after Uraos has withdrawn from his long rule. She gathered followers from both the immortal and living realm and stole the Bracelet to use it to raise an army of undead creatures unleashing mayhem and destruction. The high priest of Uraos betrayed him and helped Serkhet to create blood sucking vicious humanoid creatures, called the Beasts, a process which affected her as well. The evil magic came at a price and Serkhet paid it by becoming the first vampire, living off human blood and vulnerable to sunlight. Soon she raised an army of Beasts and vampires, mortals who were turned by her. She struck her father and sister Iseret to take them down. However Iseret put up a strong resistance and defeated her. She took away the bracelet, destroyed her armies of undead and turned her body into stone imprisoning her in the Forest of Damnation.

After the war the world had werewolves, vampires and sorcerers alongside humans and it was chaos until Iseret under the guidance of Uraos helped restore order by separating all into different kingdoms of their own. The Bracelet of Uraos was kept under the protection of the sorcerers of the Uraos’s temple thus it was in Illusontis, until five hundred years ago. Since the Pact was about to be signed due to excessive intermingling of the species, half-breeds had to make quick choices as to which kingdom they will choose to stay. Amidst the commotion, one day it was discovered that the Eye of Life was missing from the Bracelet. Till now there was no sign of the Gem, no matter how much the kingdoms tried. Then one day after about fourty years later, the then Queen of Illusontis, Leora, along with the then Cresian King tracked the Gem to a ninety years old human lady. She lived with her widowed daughter and a grand-daughter. Accidentally, the old lady and her daughter were killed. They both made the granddaughter run to save her from being captured and killed. But she was caught thinking that she was running away with the Gem and mortally injured, and all that was found on her was a white crystal pendant. She was left to die on the streets by the Cresian royal guards. Even the passers-by refused to help her. She later passed away without treatment and excessive blood loss. It was a dead end in the search for the Gem of Aeylet. All the kingdoms gave up its pursuit thinking that the Gem was lost for good, being the most important piece of the bracelet.

With the latest development of the Beasts being created again, Niamh was worried. She knew her ancestry well enough and the secrets they had. But what she was most baffled was that how the Beasts are created without the Bracelet, since it was safely being guarded by the strongest of the sorcerers of Illusontis. She even thought of the re-emergence of the Gem of Aeylet but even then it will require the Bracelet to be used. Also according to the reports of the Nightshaders from Cresia the Beasts were killable with weapons. This wouldn’t be possible if they were made by using the Bracelet. Because according to the legends the Bracelet along with the Gem holds the ultimate power to create and destroy the creatures. No other sorcery or scientific experimentation, till now has been able to achieve that. Niamh thought to herself, that no matter what she has to find out the truth hence she agreed to send her sorcerers to aid the Nightshaders.

Niamh, sat down with Euphenia and offered her with a glass of wine speaking,

“Eu, there is something, I must discuss with you and you only. It is to be only known by you.”

Euphenia, “What is it sister?”

Niamh, “Remember the story our mother told about the Bracelet of Uraos, the supreme Sun God?”

Euphenia, “Yes, it is fabled to give the wearer the ultimate control and power to create and destroy life.But I heard that Eye of Life, the sapphire stone, was destroyed”

Niamh, “It wasn’t destroyed actually. It was a story made up to cover the truth that the Gem is missing.”

Euphenia’s eyes went wide with shock. Till now she has been exhausting out her powers on the Bracelet to work, not knowing that they are missing the ultimate key.

“Missing?” she asked bewildered.

Niamh, “Yes, our great-great grandmother along with King of Cresia tracked it to an old human lady. But upon searching they found nothing.”

Euphenia’s eyes narrowed with the new shocking information she just received. No wonder the Bracelet of Uraos is not in its full potential. But she has to make sure that Niamh doesn’t get the air of the fact that the ‘real’ Bracelet is with her. It has been the long, desire of Euphenia to strike back and take all that was rightfully her. So she acted well to get along with her sister and prove to be the perfect confidant. Sometimes back she stole the real Bracelet and has placed a fake in its place. Being the second Princess and most trusted by Niamh she was free to go in and out of the Keep, the dungeon which hold several magical and powerful artifacts, protected by heavy wards of magic. Only Niamh and Euphenia were free to go in and out of it without supervision.

Euphenia as a child was inclined to forbidden magic and took great interest in the goddess Serkhet and her myths. She started to seek and practice dark magic as her faith in Serkhet grew and one day she was caught by her mother. However, the Queen grew sick and died a few days later and Euphenia continued her practice in secrecy. Since then she has devised her own sinister plan in overthrowing her sister and in the bid to do that she secretly joined leagues with the banished Prince of Vladmore, Rhain, by giving him the bracelet to create the Beasts. But both of them never could figure out as why the Beasts were mortal. With Niamh’s piece of information she now finally understood where they were missing. So she made preparations accordingly and with the fact she will be going to Cresia Euphenia, started to chalk out her next move in finding the sapphire Gem for the Bracelet.

Euphenia returned to her chamber and locked the door putting up a spell so that her activities inside would not be known. With that she magically teleported through her astral projection to Rhain who was hiding out in an abandoned countryside shack in Cresia. She relayed the information about the Gem being last tracked to Cresia four hundred years ago. Rhain listened to it and then spoke,

“It was lost, they say?”

Euphenia, “Yes, the woman they thought had it, as per her mother and grandmother, did not have it on her when they checked her.”

Rhain, frowned and asked, “Perhaps they got the wrong information.”

Euphenia, “It was tracked by our great-great grandmother through magic, there was no mistake in that.”

Rhain, after pausing for a few seconds, asked, “What happened to the woman they caught?”

Euphenia, “She was bled to death. These Cresian soldiers left her to die after injuring her mortally.”

Rhain, “When did this incident happened?”

Euphenia, “About nearly four hundred years ago, I guess. Why?”

Rhain somehow felt uneasy with what he just heard and did not answer Euphenia’s question. They made some detailed plans according to what they came to know. Rhain will continue to look into the family of the killed family five hundred years ago and see if any link to the lost Gem can be found. Euphenia will work closely with the Nightshaders and proceed with the plan.

After Euphenia ended her astral connection with Rhain, she laid down on her bed, deep in thought. The expression on Rhain’s face after he asked about that human family four hundred years ago. Rhain has always been mysterious, thus Euphenia sometimes found it hard to trust him. But till now he has never sabotaged her plans and their partnership was in a manner still steady. She, however, could shake off the bizarre story of the human family. Their family of sorceresses was known for their impeccable magical prowess. It cannot be that Queen Leora made a mistake or was misguided. It is in their blood to feel the Gem and no matter how long it took they were able to track it. But after that incident, it was said the sorceresses could not feel its presence hence, they kind of concluded that the Gem might be lost or destroyed for good. Nevertheless, Euphenia could not bring herself to accept it and something about the human family kept bugging her, especially the granddaughter. Deep, in thinking Euphenia, muttered to herself,

“Who are you exactly?”

At the same time, the door of the interrogation room at the royal palace of Cresia opened. The apprehended werewolf, injured and strapped with silver chains looked up. Two electric, icy blue eyes glistened in the dark as someone stepped inside through it. As the lights came on, he looked at the vampire princess of Vladmore and his eyes were filled with terror as she approached him slowly.