Of Shadows and Darkness

Chapter 19

We walked down a narrow hallway, the floor and walls made of wood and decorated with paintings of forests, waterfalls or ships. Earl Alfred made a sharp turn right and opened a door and walked in. There was girl in a brown dress sitting at the table furiously typing on her laptop. She frowned in bewilderment when the earl beckoned me to enter.

"Who is this?" Her bobbed black hair swished when she tilted her head.

"This is Tristan," said the earl pointing at me. "Tristan, this is Cinnabar."

"You can call me Cin. I heard about what you did yesterday, making a mess in the fortress," she smiled but she looked just as confused as I did.

Behind her a bookshelf filled with thick leather bound tomes took up one entire wall. Large rectangular copper plates were mounted on the remaining walls with symbols made of dots etched into the metal. I walked past the earl to the window across the room from me. There was a forests just outside the building which seemed to go on until the horizon which was edged with a mountain range. The closest mountain had a flat peak covered in snow.

"Is that a volcano?" I asked.

"It used to be," said Earl Alfred. "It's one of the few things that differentiates this world from your's. It hasn't been active in over a thousand years since one of our ancestors killed it."

"He killed a volcano?" I asked, certain I misunderstood or misheard him.

"Yes, but don't ask how or why," interrupted Cin before the earl had a chance to speak. "Boss will use any opportunity give a lecture about our people's history and it's honestly not worth it. By the way Boss, Dr. Canaan is here so you should go meet him. You know he'll wait however long it takes to meet you."

Earl Alfred sighed. "Dr. Canaan can wait until tomorrow if he pleases. He's so stubborn."

"You're also stubborn," smirked Cin.

"I'm only stubborn when I'm right and when it matters," rebukes the earl. His tone was assertive but not harsh. He seemed just as stiff when he talked to Cin as he did with me but not as distant.

"Yes Boss," nodded Cin. Everything she said had a hint of sarcasm. "By you've got meet the him, he's a guest after all."

The earl seemed to transform when Cin said 'guest', his posture became straight and his lips straightened into a line. Maybe it was a demon thing. I recalled how Gregor's family acted before, no matter how begrudgingly they entertained their guests. The earl mumbled curses and turned on his heels and left slamming the door behind him.

Cin whistled after he left. "Grumpy, grumpy," she snickered.

"What was that about?" I asked nodding towards the closed door.

"Nothing much," hummed Cin putting her hands into the pockets of her dress. "The Suther magicians and the Apophis people have...bad blood. A few days ago they found an old weapon which was gifted to the Suther magicians centuries ago but it is originally an Apophis heirloom so there is a debate over who it belongs," said Cin.

"So what are they going to do?" I asked. It was

"I don't know, but Boss isn't going to give it away. He'll probably spend their entire meeting just goading Dr. Caanan on until he gets upset," said Cin

"That's... very petty." Earl Alfred had elegant mannerisms and an intimidating atmosphere so I didn't expect him to do something so immature.

"Their entire relationship is them being petty and passive aggressive towards each other. They have an unhealthy rivalry, constantly trying intimidate and display their superiority. But that's most of the politics between the old magic families," said Cin and called me over to her with a cock of her chin. "Sit down Tristan, let's have a chat."