33

  Omar and Luna gathered themselves and made their way into the tomb. They brushed passed the open doors and could see a cavern with no bridge leading to the other side. Their minds boggled, as below them was a thousand-foot descent to their impending doom. The bridge to the other corridor was at least two hundred feet across the way.

  “You can throw me that far, can’t you?” Luna joked.

  “Not even on my best day.” Omar assured. “But how are we going to get across. Were stuck I suppose. The walls are slick around us.”

  Luna noticed the answer. Her heart stopped for a moment, seeing a familiar sight. Three symbols and a hand key. “She demands a third sacrifice indeed.” Luna gulped. Omar noticed it and rolled his eyes in disbelief.

  “Absolutely not.” He answered. “Not you.”

  “Come now, Omar…” A voice in the shadows leaked. “Surely a man with an oath like yourself understand what is required.”

  Omar pulled his sword out. “Who’s there.” Luna pulled her knife out as well.

  The long shadows around the cavern began to move, with a scent of smoke and echoes blocking the location of the voice. A figure approached from the doors from which they came from. A silhouette against the dying light around the two. Omar tensed, recognizing the shape of a person he once knew as human. A once trusted ally, now a ghost of his past that haunts him. Each step h took towards Omar was a shared memory between the two.

  Omar lunged forward putting the man against the wall with Luna’s knife to his throat. “Shay!”

  “The same Shay Greybeard.” The dark elf laughed. His rotten teeth smelled like fowl regret. He looked at the blade and laughed. “Are you really going to kill me, Prince Omar?”

  Determination, anger, and regret all clouded Omar’s mind as he tightened the distance between the blade and Shay’s throat. The weight of his accusations pressed Shay further to the wall. Compared to Omar, Shay was half his size, but remained the same height. Silence fell between the two men, before Omar backed away, handing Luna her knife.

  “Who is this man, Omar?” She asked curiously concerned.

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  Shay fixed her hood over his head, dropping it down his spine. His long silver hair was in a ponytail as he walked in circles with Omar around Luna. “Yeah, Omar. Tell her who I am. Surprised you wouldn’t tell her about your best friend – “

  “You do not deserve such a title. And you know it.” Omar winced.

  “Still mad daddy got what he deserved?” Shay scratched the wound Omar carried with him. He turned to Luna, examining her up and down. “Phew. Omar, I didn’t know you had it in you. And I barely had to help you like old times.”

  “Watch yourself, assassin.” Omar warned.

  “What?” Shay laughed. “I only had to push you two together a moment ago. I am not evil. You know this.”

  “I do not believe anything from you assassin.”

  Luna interrupted the two bickering men. “Holy shit. Stop. What is going on?”

  Shay and Omar gingerly held their tongues. Neither one spoke further to each other. Shay approached Luna, dropping to a knee, grasping her hand. “My name is Shay Greybeard. Before I recently joined the Spectors as their assassin. I was Omars best friend and his fathers bitch!”

  “Watch your tongue!” Omar jousted at Shay.

  Luna held him back as the two argued again. “Enough.” She stopped them both. “Why have you come here? Your with the group were trying to take down. Why shouldn’t we kill you?”

  Omar stopped her. “No.” He halted. “Not him. Not yet.”

  Luna gasped. “Okay then.” The situation resorted itself for the moment.

  “Thank you.” Shay sarcastically joked. “To answer your question. A group of us are already here. I was told to scout ahead for my party, via this new fucker we have for a vice commander.” He rolled his eyes. “They are going for the purification stone. But sense I ran into you both, maybe I can assist the two of you.”

  Luna and Omar looked at each other not buying it. “Why would you help us, Shay?” Omar questioned him.

  “Believe it or not Omar, I value our brotherhood since we were kids. Almost two decades of friendship doesn’t go away easily you know. You may not understand my actions now, but maybe one day you will. The Spectors. Or Lugal… have a mission to unite the world themselves under their banner. They crave power and absolution and dominion over the entire world. They want the heavens, hells, and the land between to bow to them. Most world leaders have aligned with our group, even King Phizer…” Shay hinted.

  “My father!?” Luna snapped. “He works for you all?”

  “I am not a Spector like Omar says I am. I have my own ambitions, and the Spectors help me get closer to achieving them.” Shay explained. “Your father and brother both work for the Spectors. As does Grand Bay’s family, Glamis’s General, the Queen of Sakaria, Rokia’s military, the black devils of hell, some archangels. The list goes on. All we have to do is unite Gaia and the Pale King to the cause.”

  “Pale King?” Omar winced. “Who even is that?”

  Shay dropped his head. “You are the fool I remember. There has been an individual who caused issues for the organization that serves the blade. We call him the Pale King. A Prince who is a Diborn, but has the means to lead a revolution if he wanted to. His father was our greatest enemy also. Sound familiar?”

  “Omar?” Luna asked. “He is the Pale King?