Cold Blooded

Chapter 24

Eira sat in the infirmary for a few more days until she was deemed medically clear to return to the general population. The cold girl sat the bed, running her fingers over the scars on her neck. The events with Sar kept running through her mind; she couldn't understand how someone so kind could turn so fast. Eira was snapped out of her thoughts when a person entered her room; it was Nerugo. After he was taken off of Right Hand duty, Nerugo was assigned to supervising certain groups of children, Eira just so happened to be in one of his groups. "Doctor? Is she ready yet? We need to take her up to the throne room" the Doctor nodded, too busy in his work to respond verbally. Nerugo grabbed Eira by her arm and lifted her off the bed. He lead her out into the hallway, it was so quiet in that moment that you could hear a pin drop. "What's going on?" Eira asked, noticing that Nerugo seemed more stressed than normal. "It's time. The Dark Lord has chosen who he wants to be in his elite group. The Inner Circle, you could call it" Nerugo respond through clenched teeth, he clearly had a problem with this decision. Eira felt her heart stop, "I thought we still had a few more weeks of trials" she exclaimed, Nerugo brushed his hair back with his free hand, "That's what I told him, but he said he has all the data he needs to make a decision". A million thoughts ran through Eira's head, "What happens to those who don't get chosen" she ask hesitantly. "They either get sent to the knights building  to begin knight training, or they stick around to get used as meat shields in the next war" Nerugo explained as he threw open the throne room door and placed Eira in with the other children. Eira swallowed the lump in her throat; she had just been in the infirmary for weeks, unable to participate in the trials that took place during that time, which means she wasn't as trained as some of the others. The Dark Lord sat perched up in his throne, once again shrouded in a dark shadow with Russell standing by his side in the place Nerugo once stood. No one spoke a work, they were all too afraid to. The Dark Lord let out a menacing chuckle, "Welcome back, everyone! Thank you all for waiting so patiently for me. Now, some of you may be confused as to why this meeting is happening now. That's a simple question to answer really, I cut our evaluation period short because I already know who the best of the best are. I knew from the beginning, your aura's reached me and there were a select few whom I could not forget." The devious man began, making hand gestures as he spoke. "After a the first few trials, I could tell that the ones who resonated with me were the strongest of the bunch. I knew that after a few short obedience lessons, these children would be beyond loyal to me. And I was correct" he continued, an evil smile spread across his face, however only Russell could see it. The heinous man stood from his throne, "Seven of you were chosen, each of you a successful project. Each a machine built into our design. Russell here, The Manipulator, was the first to be drafted. The second child chosen, Project Darkness, could not be here with us today for this event. He's already out completing a mission for us. That leaves 5 of you. 5 out of the 500 in front of me." He exclaimed. The children turned to look at each other, worried glances and fearful shivers filled the room. Nerugo stood in front of the crowd, "Now, children. The instructions are simple,  The Dark Lord will call a Project Name and a corresponding number. If you hear your number, you come to the front and sit on your knee's and await your next instructions. Am I clear?" He called, pointing down to the the space on the floor right in front of the large staircase where the chosen 5 were intended to sit. The large group of children nodded in unison. Nerugo turned to face the Dark Lord and gave him a thumbs up. The Dark Lord chuckled once more, "Good! Then let's begin!"