Kingdom of Fire and Fate

Chapter 11 - The New Dragons Blood Elixir

Daniel sat in the drawing room, his eyes drooping shut as his chin rested in his hand. He was bored out of his mind, being the only person inside of the institute besides Catherine's mutt didn't make for an interesting day. For an hour or so he had wished that Clara was here, they could have fun all by themselves. Fantasies of what they could do alone only kept him occupied for so long, he eventually started wandering the Nexus, trying to find anything that could interest him.

He soon found that there wasn't much to find, he knew everything on the first and second floors, and the third floor was just hallway after hallway of identical bedrooms. His last-ditch effort to occupy himself was to wait in the drawing room for everyone to come back. It was planned that everyone would meet and discuss their findings, but no one was back yet so Daniel was currently trying not to nap.

It was a losing battle, sleep overcame him as his eyes slowly fluttered shut and his head fell forward. His blissful sleep didn't last long, Clara burst into the room with Catherine and Elizabeth hot on her heels. Daniel's head snapped up, looking at the three of them with wide eyes. They were all out of breath and dirty, Clara was bleeding from one of her temples. Catherine was a bit pale, her hands bloody from stabbing the woman from the woods but also from trying to tend to Clara's wounds.

Elizabeth looked at Daniel and gasped out, "We were attacked." That snapped Daniel out of his daze, he leapt to his feet and ran to Clara. She buried himself into his chest, breathing heavily as he fussed over her. Daniel looked over at Catherine, "Tell me what happened."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but Warren and Theo burst into the room before she could speak. They looked frantic, throwing a backpack full of papers and pictures onto the table, "We found things! BIG things! Where are Eric and Hannah?" The two of them threw themselves down into the chairs surrounding the large table.

Daniel looked overwhelmed now, still holding Clara to his chest, "I don't know, what is going on?" Theo and Warren both started speaking at the same time, rambling about cults and shrines and death and Barus. Daniel tugged at his hair with his free hand, his face going a bit pale, "Woah, woah, please slow down." He was silently praying to whoever would hear him that Hannah and Eric would come back and regain control of the situation. He did not know how they did it, he felt completely overwhelmed.

The door opened and Hannah strolled in, followed by Eric who was rambling to her about modifications that could be made to the carriages. Daniel felt his shoulders slump with relief, he did not know who, if anyone, heard him, but he sent out a silent thank you.

Hannah tore her eyes away from Eric, her eyes scanning the room. Shock hit her like a truck, "What is going on?"

The room exploded into chaos, everyone talking all at once. Hannah let that only last a few seconds, her voice echoing across the room, "Alright, alright, quiet! One at a time! Daniel-" His head snapped up, staring at Hannah in shock. "What happened today here? Anything?"

Daniel let out a weak "No."

Hannah nodded and looked over at Elizabeth who was standing next to a dirty and slightly bloody Catherine, "Okay, what happened to the three of you on your shopping trip? I didn't realize shopping for dresses could be so bloody."

Catherine whispered, "We were attacked, there was a lady. She... she just wouldn't die. We kept attacking and attacking but she just kept getting up again. She kept knocking me and Clara down, she told Elizabeth that she was going to take her to their master."

Elizabeth nodded, "I want to say that the master is Silas."

Hannah nodded, "Okay, she wouldn't die. What happened, where is she?"