10 The Darkness Lurks

In one of the cities of the federation, a muscular man stood on the roof of one of the skyscrapers. His rippling muscles were on full display as he was only wearing a pair of ragged pants. His eyes were fixed below the skyscraper on the lights that fluttered like the stars in the sky. The moon shone with a brilliance vibrant light above his head. His hairs shone with the same brilliance of the moon as they fluttered in the winds.

"I wonder how people were able to achieve all this. Just a few thousand years back they knew no better than taming a few animals but now, they control nature and its powers to this extent. It surprises me." The main said in a soft tone. "What do you think? Don't you think they are pretty impressive?" he questioned while still keeping his gaze fixed at the beautiful cityscape that shone with might.

"This is the strength of humanity my lord. Many call it knowledge, some call it science. No matter what the name, this is the work of our many generations." Said a woman behind the man. She wore a black slit dress and slowly walked towards the man. "Knowledge… How wonderful…" the man said in deep thought. "What news do you bring black?" he said as he looked at her through the corner of her eye.

"I have a name you know my lord, please don't call me black," the woman said with a pout. "I thought the humans of now liked it when they are called with… what did you call them… code names." He said as he looked back at her with genuine confusion.

"My lord where did this information come from?" black asked as she thought to herself what books she had given to the lord. "I found a more convenient method of finding information, its called the interweb. I never thought that it would ever become so easy to look for information." The man said explaining everything. "My lord, there are a lot of unnecessary things on the Internet, please refrain from them," Black told the man.

"So what did you find black?" he asked as he looked at the woman with a serious expression. "I believe I have found him my lord…" black said as a crow came out of her shadow and sat on her finger. In its beaks, it held a silver hair. The man picked up the hair and examined it closely when suddenly the hair started to glow.

"Good job black, make sure you keep a look at him. No matter what, don't approach him until the time is right. We have to wait for the iron to get hot before we strike." As the man ended, black simply kneeled on one knee and with a nod dissolved in a shadow. "I still have more information to collect." The man said as he turned around and vanished from the spot.

Meanwhile, Eric stood amongst the mess he called his home. "Hey buddy can you wake me up early tomorrow?" he asked the clock as the bright triangle on the middle of the thing shone and it beeped in response. "Thank you! Can always depend on you!" he said as he collapsed on the bed amongst the clothes and books.

"This should make for an interesting battle," he said as he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Lost in his dreams Eric failed to notice that the shrunk carpet that he had was now was glowing with a golden glow. The glow was so strong that it emitted through his pocket into the room and slowly the light started to grow more powerful and as it engulfed the room in a single flash a loud thud sound came from the next room breaking Eric's sleep.

"Wha-" Eric sprang up in alarm. Waking up to look what had happened, Eric slowly walked to the next room. 'I hope they are not burglars…' he thought to himself as he slowly approached the other room on his tiptoes. The room was dark and seemed like it was an endless pit, thinking it was nothing but his imagination from the shock of the sudden sound Eric switched on the lights of the room and as the light-filled up the room, a chill ran through Eric's spine.

In front of him were at least a twenty dead crows, lying in his room. "What the…" in disbelief Eric watched as he noticed one of the crows still struggling. His one wing was bloody and with the other, it slowly dragged itself towards the window. As Eric looked at the unbelievable sight he couldn't think straight for a couple of minutes as he could not come over the initial shock and as he saw the crow slowly dragging itself leaving behind a bloody trail he came out of the shock.

Slowly walking towards the half-dead bird while avoiding the already dead ones, Eric first looked at the window. "It's locked," he said to himself as he checked the lock before opening it. "How the hell did these even come in here and why are there so many of them!?" Eric asked himself. Still not sure what to do, he decided to call the owner. The owner was a woman known for her short temper and power. She was a well-known builder and property dealer and nobody dared to break any rules which she made.

"Umm… Hello, miss owner? Sorry for calling you so late… There seems to be a problem… Yes, please take a look at it…" Eric said as he lowered the PDA and looked at the whole scene in disbelief. The owner lived on the top floor on the same building as Eric, so she reached the place quickly. She was a dark-skinned lady, yet it only added to her beauty. Her hairs were black with hints of bluish colour in between. She wore a long coat and had a cigarette between her lips. "This better be important kid, I left something very important for this," she said as she walked in.

"Take a look for yourself please," Eric said as he walked her to the room. Looking at the floor, the owner furrowed her eyes as she exhaled a puff of smoke. "Where do you think these came from?" Eric asked her. "Don't know kid, but for sure it's not a good place," she said as she walked towards the half-dead crow. "This one looks alive, I'll be taking it." She said as she picked up the half-dead bird in her palm.

"Taking it? You are a kind person miss owner but what about these?" Eric questioned as he looked back at the woman who was now at the doorway. "I'll take care of it, for now, close the room and don't let anyone near it. Later kid." She said as she walked away. "But how am I supposed to sleep with a bunch of dead birds next room!?" Eric said at the now empty doorway. Finally giving up he went back to bed, thinking that it was all a bad dream and he will wake up from it soon.

Closing the door behind her, Thelma threw the injured crow onto the table that was present at the corner of the room before starting to bind her fists with white tape. "I dislike the blood of beings as lowly as you touch my skin. Before you die, you must tell me everything lets first start by how you found him?" as she finished the crow turned into a shadowy smoke before turning into a man. The man wore pitch black robes which were half torn and missed his right arm. There was visible blood towards his right side and it almost looked like someone slashed him with a sword.

Walking slowly to the man, Thelma slowly raised the man's face by his chin and looked straight into his eyes. Her eyes were dark and just looking into them the man couldn't help but shudder with fear. "Tell me everything you know." She said in a commanding voice. The man slowly opened his mouth and a faint voice could be heard. "I didn't think you would be this important but the more the merrier. I had some questions to ask you too" she said as she turned around to see a woman in a black high slit dress idly standing behind her. In her left hand, she held a black paper fan with which she hid her face.

"Thelma Blumen, I never imagined that you would be here but for them to send you… You cannot stop the silver key from completing its destiny." Said the lady. Without saying a word Thelma plunged onto the women. The instant this happened, the lady threw her paper fan towards the half-dead man and as Thelma grabbed the lady's head, it simply vanished into black smoke. "Tsch" clicking her tongue Thelma noticed that both of the intruders were now gone. Taking a puff of smoke from her cigarette she left the building.