"I..will...show...you...the...past..." The deep dark voice said slowly and broken.
The Bone claw rarely communicated to Quinn, at least not in a way he could understand. There were times when he couldn't understand what it was saying, and there were times when he could. Perhaps whatever it wanted to show Quinn, it felt like it was necessary.
As the black room started to change into a replica image of Arthur's old castle, and the Bone claw saying those words, it seemed like Quinn's thoughts were right. They were currently at the castle inside the meeting room looking at the round table.
It was exactly how Arthur had described it in his story. Thinking back, Quinn realised something, the tenth leader, or the previous king, also had the Bone claw. Was the one Quinn had and this one the same? Was that why it was showing him this image?
Around twenty or so men were present, some of them had fighting gear on while others just had robes. These were Arthur's trusted men and not all of them were fighters.
Both the Bone claw and Quinn were hovering in the air above the table. It was as if they were in the room with them. Like he was watching a movie but was able to be inside and move about.
"Did you get the notice?" One of the men asked.
"Yes, Arthur said he would be returning, it had his seal, and he told us to wait in this room. How he would tell us the truth about everything." Another replied.
"What if the rumours are true. What if he really is working with demons. That's how he was granted his power, and he has never changed in age." One asked.
"Does that matter? Whatever Arthur has done, he has always done it for the sake of the people. I'm sure if he did make some kind of deal, then the only person it would have an effect on is himself. I will follow him to the end. He saved our lives, all of us. If it wasn't for him, perhaps all our families, our lives we had now, wouldn't have even existed."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe other's nodded in agreement, and at the same time, a sudden look of horror had appeared on all of their faces. The man who stood in front of them was unaware of what had just appeared behind him. Out from a black portal, teleporting in, a large thick bone-like creature had appeared with deathly claws.
A swipe was made, and blood was drawn. The knights and humans were no match for the Bone claw, as it continued to go around the room, appearing and disappearing seconds later, causing damage to each and every one.
"What is this?" Quinn thought. "Is that you, did you do that... is this when Arthur had returned to the castle. Why did you do this?" Quinn shouted.
The scene continued to play out, and eventually, all of the people in the room were hurt and damaged. They weren't dead but left barely alive. When the bone claw was done, another man had entered the room.
Quinn had no reference of who this man was, but he picked each human up and activated the influence skill on them. As he did, he would describe the features of the attack to each one of them. Changing the memory in their mind.
Soon after, the bone claw in the memory had disappeared, and the scene had changed. When it changed, he could see two people walking through the forest. One of the people looked identical to Arthur. He was right, his appearance really did never change.
As for the other, it was quite a young-looking man, with short brown hair, handsome and had a gentle, trusting face. But that's when Quinn saw it. He could see the two of them walking towards the castle, and for a brief second, his face had changed.
The room went to pitch black in an instant once again, and the current Bone claw was standing in front of Quinn.
"Did Eno order you to do that, but why? And why did you choose to show me!" Quinn shouted.
But soon after, the Bone claw started to turn into mist and Quinn knew he would no longer get any answers.
Opening his eyes, he had broken out from his mediation, and he was still in the dark room.
"Arthur, he doesn't know the truth I..."
But before Quinn could think about what to do, the system had replied.
"I don't think its a good idea to tell him." The system said. "I have a good idea of why the previous tenth leader did what he did. He knew Arthur was too kind-hearted. He would have never turned his people if he didn't have to. It was the previous tenths way of making more punishers, and at the same time, it got rid of his greatest competitor for his goal.
"Doing this achieved many things, and he could also show to the other vampires his system with the punishers had worked. It was probably why during his time, the punishers effect they had on the settlement had worked so well. Because it was fresh in their head about what had happened."
"But... Doesn't he deserve to know the truth? He killed the first leader, the vampire was innocent." Quinn replied.
"And does that change anything?" The system replied. "This is the past that Arthur knows, From the way he talks about the tenth in his stories, it seems he was close to this man. Perhaps even saw him as a good friend. I believe it might even be the reason why he is happy to help you know after finding out you are not a punisher, because you have a relation to the tenth.
"If you tell him this, you risk running that relationship. I'm not saying to never tell him, but not when we don't have all the answers. If you were to tell him, it would only lead to Arthur asking more questions, and me or you don't have the answers to that. There is no point ruffling up more feathers than we already have. You need to start being more selfish and thinking about you more, Quinn."
The system seemed to be quite adamant on his opinion in this matter, but at the end of the day, he was right. The situation was still not resolved, and because of Arthur's display. It seemed like the king, and the others were more inclined to listen.
And after hearing Arthur's story, he was a more important figure in the vampire world then they realised. He was practically equal to a king and was the reason why the vampires hadn't chosen to try to get rid of the human race.
"System, this Eno person. I'm assuming he is related to you, did you know him, or his name?" Quinn asked.
"I do not, if you are thinking about what I think you are, we are not the same person. My reason for leaving the settlement had nothing to do with his, it was because of....soon, Quinn. When I know you are safe, I will tell you why I left." The system replied.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBut that wasn't why Quinn was asking. It was a long shot, but he was starting to wonder about Eno of the past. If he was tricky enough to trick Arthur into doing such things for his goal, Quinn didn't believe he would be such a person to just give up his seat of power like so.
It sounded more like he was a person who would do anything to achieve his goal. Did Eno really die? Or did he have a plan to come back at some point. It was quite possible that Richard Eno and this Eno were the same person, the Ai was an Ai after all and could have been programmed like so.
For some reason, the Eno of the past cared for humans, and perhaps when he saw they were in trouble, he introduced all the vampire technology to them to try and help them.
Then what of the Dalki? If they were like Borden, man-made, a mixture of beast and human, are they really aliens? Or something the vampires created. If so, who had made them and why. It wouldn't make sense for Eno to create the Dalki and also help out the humans at the same time.
All the thinking was starting to hurt Quinn's head quite a bit. The pressure seemed to be adding up day by day. The more information he would unlock, the more questions he had to ask and the more decisions he needed to make.
Before deciding anything, he needed to leave this vampire place with everyone alive. He had been gone quite a while, and if he didn't return soon to the others, they would probably think something was up.
Arriving back in the room, Quinn could see that they were all happily talking away. When looking at Arthur, he could see a big smile as he talked about his past with others.
'He's a good man.' Quinn thought.
A person who had always thought about others even now. Him and Arthur weren't too different either. He had been turned by a tenth leader against his will, and so had Quinn, and they both had the shadow powers.
If one day, Quinn could be half the man Arthur was, it was something he could be proud about.
"What took you so long?" Vorden asked.
"Sorry, this place is so big it was hard to find a toilet," Quinn replied back as he sat down in his seat.
"Okay, I think that's enough about me." Arthur said, "Now Quinn, is it. You interest me greatly for more reasons than one. Why don't you tell me about yourself? Who are you, are you really the tenth leader?"
Now all the eyes in the room had turned to Quinn.
*****