Chapter 8 - The blackheart

The stone started vibrating as it began to turn pitch black, the skies were rumbling as black clouds covered the sky. The stone tablet, known for it's sturdiness, began to shake vehemently as though there was a beast trapped inside trying to escape. Everyone's faces paled in trepidation as they thought they were under attack. Only Zephyr's parents and the mage knew what was going on. All of a sudden, a black light from the stone tablet fell on Zephyr and permeated into his body, after which everything came back to normal. 

Different shades of shock and fear were written on the faces of everyone present. Zephyr stood there as he exuded a certain pressure that forced everyone to their knees. "It's the black grade talent with the legendary black heart!!!" Jim exclaimed as he bowed to Zephyr in both fear and reverence. After a short while, Zephyr stopped exuding the pressure as he lost consciousness. As he was about to fall to the ground, King Andy appeared and held him up; carrying him in his arms and giving him to his mother as he was already sleeping soundly. 

"With this, the test has come to an end. Carry on with your daily activities and not a word of what happened here today is to leave this place. It is for the safety of our kingdom that this must remain a secret. We shall all gather at the mage academy for the mana test in two years' time; please make sure our children are prepared both physically and mentally by then." "Yes your Majesty!" King Andy left after addressing everyone. "Jim, my husband and I would like a word with you." Queen Martha said amidst their departure. 

Back in the palace; as King Andy and his family were making their way back, something else was happening… 

"This is troublesome. The appointed time is still far away but this will be an obstacle on our path!" 

"Nobody expected him to obtain the black heart. We both know that Murdock mainly wanted that black heart. That is why he had King Belarus of the North deal with that old codger Orion while he carefully plans his acquisition of the black heart." 

"I say we kill the boy, Luca." 

"No Stella. I know how much you hate your sister but I say we send word to King Murdock first and wait for his decision. I will not allow you jeopardize our plans just because of your hatred. The kingdom will be ours at the end of the day so we need patience if we want to succeed. Do you understand?" 

"Yes, I do." 

"Good. We will send word to King Murdock by nightfall. If we do anything now it will alert Andy and he will know that King Murdock is involved which will lead to him having to deal with a full-blown war. It will be worse for us because we will be exposed and we both know how Andy is when he is furious." 

"I understand. We need to get them when they least expect it." 

"Exactly. I knew I chose a smart woman. It seems they have returned, let us end this conversation here for now. I will be the one to send word to King Murdock tonight."