SIDEKICK

Chapter Twenty One: Blood on the Dancefloor

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Blood on the Dancefloor

Cries of surprise fill the dark. There is a certain panic as there are confused murmurs amongst the party.

I can hear High Master Thorick’s voice among them barking orders. “Fix the problem immediately!” he snaps and scurries of feet push their way across the room. "The lights you fools! The lights!

A few seconds later, my eyes squint at the sudden brightness and I use my hand to block the stream of light. I blink a few times. My vision returns to normal and my hand lowers.

On upper balcony, a man stands alone. There are more surprised outbursts from members in the crowd. Suddenly, about half of the crowd crouches into a fighting stance, their fists tightened and their lips pulled back into a snarl.

People start to step back, leaving circles with one person in the middle as if the person was diseased. The Cat is in the centre of the room, giving a little chuckle.

The man on the balcony is shockingly tall, over six’ five easily. Not only that, but he’s tank. Not shockingly tank like Shin, but you can feel his strength even from where I am. His blonde hair is smoothed back and a clean beard compliments it, his piercing blue eyes move from one end to the room to the next. He’s dressed in white pants, black shirt and his white dress jacket moves smoothly as he spreads his arms wide.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the man’s voice booms across the room. Its calm, neutral almost enchanting, but somehow the sound of his voice makes every hair on my body stand on end. “Hello.”

“Mikhail!” a man in a blue suit snarls from the crowd. “What is the meaning of this?!”

I stare up at the man.

So, this is the famous Mikhail.

The leader of Deity.

Mikhail rests his hands against the railing. “I’ve come to discuss an issue that seriously needs to be addressed. High Master Thorick,” he names the man. High Master Thorick raises his head to Mikhail. I can feel his anger from way over here.

“High Master!” Mikhail smiles as he lifts his hands mildly up and pats them back down on the rails. “You were throwing a party! Such an affair. I see Light, Dark, Earth and Water. Even Radiance is here. Yet… why wasn’t my clan invited to such an extravagant gala? I sense favoritism amongst the Council.”

“Mikhail!” Thorick shouts back. “Your intrusion is highly inappropriate! Come down here at once!”

“‘Intrusion’? Why do you call it an ‘intrusion’? This is the ‘Greeting of the Clans’, not the ‘Greeting of the few invited.’ I do recall… Leon!” he calls out to the white haired teenager near the Cat.

The guy removes a thick book resting under his armpit and flicks it open to a page. “Part 198, Sub-section 34, paragraph 4 states: The Greeting of the Clans is a compulsory event. All clans and their branches must attend; no excuses will be accepted even in the most amazing of circumstances unless issued a pardon. Failure to attend will result in immediate discipline by imprisonment equal to 30 days and the budget substantiated to one quarter of their original value.”

“See?” Mikhail replies. “No pardon was given to us. We were just following protocol. No rules broken here. But no formal invitation was offered to us which is why Deity is so…” he frowns comically. “Disappointed. You must understand.”

“How did you even get inside?!” Thorick roars. “Every entrance is heavily monitored! No one has been able to enter without  prior knowledge!”