Guards led Rin down the long corridors of the Delvar Keep. He was still not trusted by Zinlar to wander alone despite pledging his loyalty. The steady march of plated armored men was a rhythm he had not gotten used to since being held captive in the castle. Rin had a strong distaste for the sound of clinking metal.
The barrage of men stopped in front of two large double, ornate doors carved with weeping angels and suns. Pulling on the iron handles, the doors opened outward with a heavy draw on the hinges revealing a grand dining hall, lined with chairs. The smell of various wines, meats, and trays of vegetables and fruits decorated the long table that took up the length of the room. The seats were occupied by five other persons, all seeming to be waiting patiently before they were able to feast.
Rin didn't recognize any of them except one, a golden, curly-haired female with illuminated green eyes. Her skin was a subtle hue of gray and she only wore the dress that he had found her in weeks back in the snow. Her skin had cleared and the mauled bite marks on her skin were merely white scares in various crescent moon-like shapes across her arms, legs, and neck.
Seeing her alive haunted the Darkwell man and he was hesitant to enter the hall. The guards had to give him a light push to get him to step into the room. He stumbled in, and the large doors shut behind him leaving him alone with the six in the room and a few guards.
Once shut, a large creature stood from his seat. His large bull-like head had long, curved horns that stuck out the sides of his head, and his body, covered in a dark brown, wiry fur, appeared fit and muscular. No fingers were on his hands as he held them out toward the head of the table. Instead, they were two split black hooves that still wiggled at the top joins and a thick stubby thumb stuck out from the base of his hand. He was covered in black leather armor that hugged his figure closely. From where Rin was standing, he could see the bull had the lower half of a bull and a tail that flicked quickly in and out from behind him. A large double-headed battle ax hung on his back and gleamed in the candlelight.
The bull's black eyes settled on Rin. "Sit, Ravathor, we have been waiting for you," his voice boomed through the area, several octaves below a normal human's tone. He may have made the room vibrate like thunder rolling through if he were to sing.
Rin walked carefully to the spot he was shown at the head of the table, five sets of various colored eyes on him as he paced the room and sat down. The bull then sat, the sturdy wooden chair creaking under his weight.
A woman to his left, a brunette of built stature and an angular face, with a fire in her eyes, stared Rin down intently. She was dressed in black, metal-plated armor with fracture-like cracks, rusty in color. Near her spot was a helm with fiery wisps of fur coming out of the top. A large bastard sword leaned against her chair with the same fiery veins. Her skin was an ashy brown, almost red.
"So, he has finally awakened," she said in her deep, rough voice. "Ravathor himself, the legend of all the dark council who brought down the Kingdom of Zaniah, and he's a scrawny fellow with fangs and looks like a scared dog with his tail between his legs."
A low rumble of laughter erupted around the table. Rin frowned. "I'm not a scared dog," he said defensively.
"You look like you haven't eaten in days," said another woman on the other side of the bull-man. She was slender with an elongated face and long, pointed ears. Her skin was a dusty dark gray and her hair was long and white. Her pale blue eyes gazed at him. At closer examination, he could tell they were fringed in red. Her hourglass frame was hugged tight in a black leather corset and pants with a billowed white shirt low enough to show her well-rounded chest. A silver spider necklace on a thin silver chain hung around her neck.
"I have yet to have anything considered substantial or nutritious for my vampiric body," Rin said, then reached for a goblet and wine.
"Here, sir, try this one," came the nasal-toned voice of the last guest while picking up a bottle of wine and trying to hand it to Rin. He looked more or less like a rat; hunched over, with a hooked nose, jutted front teeth, and beady eyes, all covered by a hood over his head to hide his balding head and gray, wiry hair. The rest of his round, stout body was covered in robes, and small vials were attached to a belt that spilled over his stomach. His hands were skin and bones, and his fingernails a bit too long and very unkept, for they were splitting at the ends and yellow.
Rin felt disgusted by his appearance and waved off the wine. He didn't mean to be judgmental, but nothing about the small rat man felt right to the lord. "This wine will suffice," he said, pouring himself a glass of the vintage he had already selected.
"Pay no mind to the rest of the council, Rin," the golden-haired girl said and used her hand to turn his chin toward her. "I'm Annabelle Caine. You know my brother, don't you? The little kitten? I heard he traded you to us for my soul that Myrkatha took."
"I'd prefer not to be reminded," Rin said bitterly. "My life is not worth someone else's."
"Albranis makes the most questionable decisions. But even more so, I question why you did not kill him and the others when you had the chance to, Ravathor," the elf woman said.
"And you are?" Rin questioned. "I don't know who any of you are, yet you speak to me with such disrespect."
"Oh, do let me introduce myself. I am Alora, also Sylthara, the goddess of lust, beauty, and vanity," she answered, with a smirk crawling across her lips.
"I am Ajax, now Taurion, the god of death and the underworld," the large bull-man answered.
Annabelle giggled. "I already told you my name but I have recently awakened as Evorik, the goddess of greed and consumption."
The rat man bowed. "Clarence, now Rathus, the god of poison, famine, and sickness."
The last woman snorted. "Thaloria, the goddess of war. My former identity is not important. I will live up to my image as a wrathful, spiteful goddess."
"And what of Myrkatha? Don't they also sit on the dark council?" Rin asked.
"They walk among the shadows, hidden out of sight. They have paid for their freedom to do as they please. They will not be joining us," Ajax rumbled lowly. "I believe we have other matters to take care of. I suggest we cut to the chase."
"I couldn't agree more," Alora agreed. "We will all set out as a unit per Zinlar's orders to find the key to the Kingdom of Zaniah and the other kingdoms. Each one of us was promised a branch of the kingdom. Our task is to figure out which of the eight kingdoms we wish to rule as our domain, though we all know that the Kingdom of Zaniah is promised to Ravathor."
"Do we know where all the kingdoms are?" Rin asked curiously. How much work had been done already to recover the lost kingdoms?
"The keys to each kingdom are still scattered across Celestara," Ajax answered.
Thaloria continued the notion. "With the members of the light council seeking the sealed souls of their former kings and queens, it is only a matter of time before they all search for the keys to their kingdoms. It is why we must know which kingdom we are to become guardians of."
"Myrkatha insists on keeping the kingdom of Orphia hidden from any council member, light or dark. It is believed that Albranis is the only other god that knows of its location," Clarence spoke up. "That is more reason to strip him of more information if we can before we kill him."
Annabelle laced her fingers under her chin and smiled deviously. "I say we capture him, then. If it's not been said yet, I know some things about Kitten that you all may not."
Heads turned to the goddess of greed. "What sort of things are we talking about?" Thaloria asked.
"Well," Annabelle said, tracing her finger around the rim of her goblet. "Kitten tried to push his awakening onto another soul, and he was cursed."
Alora looked the most flabbergasted out of the bunch. "You mean to tell me the host that Albranis chose wished not to become a host?"
Annabelle nodded. "He did it because he loved the host of Faelira."
"Faelira has found a host?" Ajax asked, shocked in his tone. "It was said that she didn't have a host yet."
"She does, she just has no memory of being the host because Kitten was mean and blocked her memories," Annabelle mused. "But he didn't want to live with his mistakes. So he tried to pass his awakening onto another. He suffers from necrosis. Even if we do not kill him, it will be more likely that he dies on his own."
Rin couldn't believe what he was hearing. When murmurs erupted from around the table, his head darted from side to side, trying to hear what everyone was saying. He cleared his throat, earning the gazes of the other council members. "If Albranis is to die faster than we expected, it would only make sense to capture him and strip him further of his knowledge before doing away with him. It's best, though we force him to use his abilities. A curse of necrosis can only mean that he may not be the first to awaken into the god of all gods, can we agree?"
The members all looked around at each other, nodding their heads in agreement and muttering to themselves.
"Excellent," Rin said. "Then let us discuss the branches of the Kingdom of Zaniah."