Chapter four

Theme: The Electrified Councils, part two

With a low, dark, guttural voice, Sinbad Bernard asked. "What's the purpose of these urgent meetings, Zibia?"

Slowly, the dark queen of bees, also known as the bee queen, rises. She cleared her throat and replied, "My Lord, there's a message from our spy in Lamarck."

"What's the content?" Sinbad asked impatiently. "Every moment we waste is endangering our lives. The keeper is nagging me. He wants us to sell our souls to him."

"If we sold our soul to him, what would we gain in return?" Alpha Adder asked.

Sinbad replied. "He will grant us power over the dead, just like he did to Lord Darius. He will do everything we requested. Just like how a father will do for his son."

"That's a good offer," Alemeth said, happily. "The middle land will fear us. We would be invisible. Especially with the fact that we are seven, we would be unstoppable. Not even the half-breed, nor the scarlet witch, nor the last descendants of the moon goddess could stop us."

With an angry tone, Sinbad Bernard screamed. "Shut up your mouth, Alemeth." Instantly, everywhere became calm. Thick tension filled the atmosphere, and a great aura started emitting from his body. Black smoke oozed out of his nose, ears, and eyes.

"My Lord, take it easy." The pale girl vampire said. She sashayed her hip toward Sinbad Bernard, sat on his lap, and rubbed his chest gently. Slowly, the aura started to reduce, and the smoke started to diminish.

At the same time, all the councils chorused, "Lord Sinbad Bernard, we are deeply sorry. Please, don't release your anger on us, but the resistance and the rebels."

"Get me one of the prisoners from hell dungeon." Sinbad Bernard yelled. His eyes flash black for a second before returning to normal.

"Right now, Lord Sinbad," Alemeth said, with respect. He was the cause of Sinbad Bernard's anger, and he must be the one to clean up his mess. Instantly, he whisked out of the meeting room.

After a moment of silence, the pale-faced vampire stands up from Sinbad's lap and stands beside him. "Shall we continue the meeting, My lord?" She asked.

"Let's wait for..." Sinbad was saying when Alemeth returned to the room with an old man.

Before the blink of an eye, Sinbad darted at the man. He snarled, hissing like a snake, and then exposed his long incisors. With one swift motion, he plunged it into the man's neck. Sinbad started sucking his blood, and he could feel all his anger diminishing. That's what he always does whenever he is angry or gets infuriated by one of his men.

After what seemed like forever, the man slumped, and Sinbad snapped his head. He allowed the man's body to hit the marble floor before he walked back to his seat.

"Let's continue from where we stopped." The woman with a pale face said.

With respect, Abishek asked. "My Lord, why don't you want us to sell our soul for the keeper?"

Slowly, Sinbad examined the faces of his seven councils, one after the other. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "We can't. We can't accept the keeper's deal. We can't sell our souls to him. Never. " He elaborated, shaking his head to support his reply.

"If we sell our soul to him, just like Lord Darius had done, that means we are playing in his game. "

"Playing his game?" Hushim asked, with confusion written on his face. The same goes for the rest of the councils. They all had the same look. "What did you mean by that?"

Sinbad Bernard began, "The onward moment we sold our soul to the keeper, that automatically made us his children. I'm sure you all know what that means. His daughter will have control over us." He took a brief pause, then scrutinised his men's faces one after the other.

They were the same beings that had been helping me from the beginning. They had been with him since centuries ago when he rebelled against Darius Rucker. They are the ones that assisted him when he was seeking dark power. They are the ones that made him meet his current sorceress, Hodesh.

With Hodesh's help, he was able to defeat Lord Darius in a duel. That's when he decapitated his head and hung it on top of a pole that was in front of the palace. When he learned from Hodesh that Lord Darius was alive again, she told him to hide with the remaining councils. They are hiding to avoid Lord Darius' wrath and making their silent action at the same time.

They were watching all the battle that was going on inside the purple dragon queen villa through Hodesh's dark mirror. They are the ones that signalled for the remaining elderly, and the supreme councils did not help Lord Darius in the war. They did that with the help of Hodesh. If not, there's a possibility that Lord Darius might escape.

Now that Lord Darius was dead, it was his turn to become the next lord. He wanted to rule. Yet, he couldn't. Why? Because none of his men, nor any of his council members, could defeat the half-breed. She's the most cherished daughter of the underworld keeper, Bildad the Shuhite.

"To avoid this, we need a vampire with pure blood. That pure-blood vampire is our previous, vicious, and deadly assassin, Marvel. She's the only daughter and firstborn of the first vampire to ever exist, Dracula." Sinbad Bernard concluded.

"Seems like I can get your point," Dark lord Gera interjected for the first time. He's the deadliest, yet speechless being amidst them. He hardly talks. But when he brings out advice or suggestions, they are great.

"If we sold our soul to the keeper, it would automatically make us his children, wouldn't it?" He asked again, and Sinbad nodded. "In return, he will grant us power over the dead. Nothing, not even silver, nor any weapon fashion, will work against us. But we aren't safe from his daughter's hand. Just like Darius Rucker."

With a wide smile, Sinbad said. "You are getting me right."

"There's something I'm yet to understand." Commander Rapha chirped in. "Why do we need Marvel?"

"The last time I spoke with the keeper, we made a deal." Sinbad begins. His expression has now turned hard. "He said if we could provide a pure-blood vampire for him, then he would fulfil our request without any conditions."

The bee queen said, "Who else thinks that something isn't right?" And everyone stared at her. Seeing this, she quickly said "Don't get me wrong, I'm saying this regarding the message I received from our spy, Hodesh from Lamarck."

"What's the message all about?" Alemeth asked impatiently, and Sinbad Bernard gave him a shut up look. Yet he didn't listen. It was obvious that he loved pissing Sinbad. He's like a parrot. So talkative.

"It is said that some strange, invisible beast has been attacking Lamarck recently." The bee queen continued. "Hodesh further said that she lost her husband, Abner, to this beast." The bee queen kept quiet, and she could feel the eyes of the council piercing her body. It was like they were staring into her soul.

Amidst the remaining councils, Alemeth was the first to ask, "Is that all?"

"No." The bee queen replied sharply. "I'm afraid, the rest is sad news. Did you still want me to continue?"

"Continue," Sinbad simply said.

"I'm sorry, Sinbad Bernard, I can't continue with the task again." The bee queen started reading the content of the letter, which was written in a memo book that she was holding. "I need a pureblood vampire to revive my dead husband. As you are reading this message, I'm luring Marvel to the altar where I will use her blood as a sacrifice for my husband to revive. You and I know that she isn't someone that can be handled easily. But don't mind, I have a plan." The bee queen finished the letter and stared at Sinbad's face.

The remaining councils opened their mouths wide in shock, followed by a loud gasp that escaped their minds. However, Sinbad wasn't surprised. He knew what was happening. He had already predicted all of this. It's the work of the keeper. He's deceiving Hodesh, just like he did to him.

He could now process everything together. The keeper sends some of his deadly beasts from the underworld to attack Lamarck. He knew full well what Hodesh and Marvel could do, so he made the beast invisible. After those beasts had killed Abner, Hodesh's husband, the keeper then appeared to Hodesh and struck a deal with her.

All she needs to do is lure Marvel to any place that the keeper chooses, and everything will be settled. That would also mean a game-over for him. When he couldn't get any pureblood, he would have no choice but to accept the deal of the keeper. That would automatically make him the keeper's son.

But he would grant them power beyond their expectations. Yet, they won't have a chance against his daughter, the half-breed. Definitely, the keeper is plotting something hazardous against the middle land.

Even though Sinbad didn't know what would happen to his soul after he sold it to the keeper. Yet, he was sure of one thing. It's for the keeper's benefit. He let out a wicked smile at the thought of that. It has now become a hot game of chess. It's not about fighting and killing. It's about planning. Only the wise ones among them will win the race.

For several minutes, no one among the councils made a sound. Everywhere was as silent as a graveyard. It was so silent that a pin drop could be heard, and thick tension filled the atmosphere.

After what seemed like forever, Abishek finally decided to break the silence. "If Hodesh isn't working for us again, why would she be revealing her plan to us?"

"That's the definition of a true villain," Dark Lord Gera replied. "If Hodesh could tell us all this, that means she knew we couldn't do anything to stop her. Or, she has thousands of plans to counter our attack. "

Clapping his hand twice, Sinbad Bernard said, "My fellow men, can we now guess what the keeper is trying to do? He wants us to sell him our souls. Can you now see that he was plotting something terrible?" He stood on his feet and started walking around the rectangle table.

"I'm suggesting that we go after Hodesh right now. We don't know her main plan, and that means we might lose." He stopped in front of the bee queen and said, "Bring me Hodesh within twelve hours."

As soon as Sinbad concluded his words, Dark Lord Gera asked. "What are the previous achievements of Marvel?" Instantly, everyone gave him a crazy look. However, they remain mute. They knew better than to argue with him. He can't do anything without a tangible reason.

Alemeth was the first to reply, "She killed a Megalodon."

"She erased the Nagari's coven from existence," Alpha Adder chirped.

"She cut the ribbon of Darius Rucker's robe without raising any suspicion. After that, she steals his middle ring from his bedroom, under his nose. Yet, no one noticed her." Commander Rapha elucidated.

"She outsmarted Athena, the goddess of wisdom. She did it twice. She lasted twenty minutes against Ares, the god of war. No one lasted more than five minutes against Ares. She beat Nadia, the Alpha Vampire from Blackthorn in a deadly battle." Abishek elaborated. "No one had ever done this before. However, Marvel did them, fearlessly."

After everyone had completed their speeches, Dark Lord Gera continued. "We have all heard of the previous achievements of Marvel. I'd suggest that we shouldn't go after Hodesh. We should go after a dangerous vampire that could outsmart Athena, the Olympian goddess of wisdom. "

"Marvel isn't the main threat for now," Alemeth argued with Gera. "Hodesh is the villain. She had just told us her plan. Why? Because she knew that we couldn't stop her. "

Gera replied, calming. "I won't blame you. You are a brainless being that knows nothing but war." After that, he faced Sinbad. "Without Marvel, can Hodesh achieve her plan?"

"No," all the councils replied at the same time.

"That's the answer," Gera declared with a firm tone. "We are going after Marvel right now. If we didn't find her before she found Hodesh, then we would all have no choice but to do the keeper's binding." He concluded.

T. b. c