Empire of Shadows

Chapter 5: Desmond

Rows of mages stood in the open field under the burning merciless sun. In the center, nailed to the ground, was a luxurious pavilion, where heads of each clan were seated. The air was stirring with loud voices of disciples, creating an exciting noisiness.

Arriving late on championship's field, Haylee was lectured by her older brother, who was already annoyed and regretted of participating.

"Where have you been? The hunt is about to start!" His eyes screamed of indignation and his mouth was about to drop thousands of well-known curses.

"It doesn't matter," breathless, she leaned on Harvey's shoulder. "We have to talk about yesterday."

Desmond winced at the memory. He woke up today with an awful headache and if not the magical pain killers, the successor of Light Clan would've been laid in bed all day. So it really turns out I can't drink.

"What exactly?" clarified Haylee's twin.

She only moved her hand to the side, where a large oak tree grew. Where no other disciple could overhear us. Smart. They quickly came to the spot with curious faces.

Blonde sighed before telling, "Do you remember how I danced with Philip Dark?"

Two brothers nodded together. "Yeah, we do. What about it?"

"I did it for a reason. When he was close enough, I spotted the rhomb-shaped seal Desmond mentioned earlier," young girl noticed how he nervously shifted.

"Did you take it?" the older one at once asked straightforwardly.

"No, that's the problem. I didn't know what to do with it. I just followed and observed him," shrugged Haylee, "so that's why I wanted to talk."

"Originally, in our mother's theory, Desmond had to just watch Dark Clan and its disciples and then report back. But, I guess our plans changed," discoursed Harvey.

"Yes, when I, due to carelessness and stupidity, told you all this," stared in anger at the ground inheritor of Light Clan.

"Des, don't be so hard on yourself. In my opinion, it's even better now. You'll not have to carry this burden alone," supported him the younger brother, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Back off," the youth threw the hand away and pondered. This was my task. And I failed it. I am such a fool. Mom won't ever trust me with any clan doings anymore if she finds out.

"What do we do with the seal then?" bitted her lip Haylee in impatience.

"No, you don't do anything," intervened Desmond, pointing out a finger, "it's my responsibility to inform our mother, so I'll do it. Alone."

"Wait, what if he does something out of hand? We could prevent him," tried persuading him Harvey.

"How? We don't even know what this seal does. Destroying it would be stupid. And taking it away is risky. It could cost us reputation," reasoned his position the older one.

"Justified, however we may take it so that he doesn't notice the loss," cunningly smiled silver girl.

"How are you imagining this?" grumbled Desmond, folding arms over chest.

"We just replace it," she said it with such an ease it would seem she was talking to a small child.

"Right," got her idea another twin, "and I can help with it. You meant creating the illusion."

"Yes, truly. You create a fake illusion of the seal when we take the original piece," interpreted Haylee.

"He'll know the replacement, I'm sure he touches it sometimes. He'll spot the forgery when he won't feel the gem stone," stubbornly stated the older brother.