Coveted [New/Revised Version]

THE DRAGON'S DUNGEON

     Sky sat in the large office eyeing the luxurious paintings hung all over the walls. He heard of the Chancellor Manor before but somehow before these events he never pieced together the clues. Maybe it was because Chancellor Manor was built long before the Jaydens settled in Westmyth—before he was even thought of being conceived—that he never considered this could be where Samael was hiding out. It made sense after all. Whenever his family came back to Westmyth, they always came back home.

He glanced down at his phone again. It was almost one a.m. He shut his eyes and an image of Aaron standing in this very room flashed through his mind. The doctor was surveying the room then making for the desk, rummaging through the drawers without particular care. His head quickly snapped up and the image was lost to Sky. A powerful sensation said he was here but Sky didn't see him. The very logical part of him thought he didn't want to know the reasons a warlock as old as Samael would have Aaron in his home when he evaded them for as long as he had.

Sky cracked his knuckles.

Where is this guy?

The gangly boy who escorted him in stood next to the open doorway, shifting his weight uncomfortably. He looked around nineteen or twenty with long, stringy, oily blond hair and a massive amount of scars on one side of his face. From Sky's earlier scrutiny, he determined the boy was a warlock. It was clear the boy was really far gone into the Craft by the abnormal electric blue hue of his too round eyes. The boy glanced down at his own phone and mumbled a few unintelligible words under his breath.

A dark shadow loomed at door of Samael's office. Low growling trickled in before a black, stealthy, ferocious looking panther sauntered in. Its yellow eyes remained trained on Sky as it leaped up and lounged on the polished mahogany bureau feet from him. He didn't know how to react. It was irrational considering he could kill it before it did any real damage but he felt uneasy under its gaze.

It swung its tail lazily back and forth before resting its head on its front paws. The panther's eyes never left Sky's just as his never left its. Tensely, he undid one of his buttons. All of a sudden, his shirt was too stuffy. He glanced over just in time to see Samael make his entrance.

He scowled at the boy standing next to the doorway. The boy stammered something in a foreign tongue to which Samael only replied with a nod of his head. Other than a change in suit color—which was currently white with a black dress shirt and red tie—he looked just as Sky remembered him from the Lake Luc battle. He greatly resembled Iris and it was eerie. His mossy eyes glittered in a way Sky prayed hers never would as they fell on him.

"Miles," he addressed the lanky boy. "Leave us."

"You really shouldn't keep human servants," said Sky conversationally. "You never know when a vampire might come along and slaughter them."

"I wouldn't go sinking my teeth into them if I were you." Samael answered in the same tone. "I slip them a special brew that would... well, let's just say it'd leave you a crumpled mess before your next coherent thought entered your mind."

"Who said I was going to use my teeth?"

Samael chuckled then walked to his desk. The panther lifted its head to look up at him. "Hello Pickles. Did you miss daddy?" he crooned. He began stroking its fur softly and the giant feline purred at his touch. From that brief exchange, it was clear who its master was. After a couple more strokes, Samael turned from the panther and started toward Sky.

"You've come an awful long way Mister Jayden." He sat. "I imagine this must be important."

"You know who I am?" Sky blurted out before he could stop himself.