The Plan

In another part of the city Blake made his way to the entry of the Dark Guild. There was a dark shield around the compound which he passed though easily. If he had not been pre-approved he would have been shut out.

After dropping the slave carriage off at the cells he ran towards a large manor house in the distance. It was near the central part of the area and was lavishly adorned. When he arrived, he waited patiently at the entrance after asking a guard to get the young master.

Despite being of a fairly rich birth Blake was afterall a mortal in the compound and had very lowly status. After over an hour waiting out came Lance. Lance walked out with his head held high and a sneer on his face.

"What do you want?" he asked in a short tone to Blake.

"I found the boy young master! he was at the slave market and had tried stop this shipment" Blake was excited as he told Lance. This was his ticket back into the good books for Lance.

"The trash from the Space guild?" Lance asked. He was asking himself if it was it a coincidence that Ares was involved in his business once again.

"He was trying to stop the shipment, this one even had the girl you requested in it." Blake added a look of adoration on his face.

Lance was frowning. The girl was part of his plan and nothing could go wrong. Whilst it wasn't complete she was one of the last few requirements. Lance clicked his fingers.

The Dark Spellcaster appeared next to him out of the shadow.

"What happened?" He asked the spellcaster without any manners.

The man frowned; despite being a retainer for Lances family he was after all a Spellcaster and commanded respect across the city.

"Just some boy trying to save a slave, he would be gone if not for some trash Space guild Adept who got in the way." He frowned. He had only realised after ending him he had only managed to kill a clone. He was still annoyed at how the Adept had escaped.

Lance scowled.

"There can be no witnesses." Lance said looking towards Blake.

Blake had a moment of realisation as he screamed and tried to run. The Spellcaster clicked his fingers and a black shadow swallowed Blake making his whole body disappear.

"Nox. I want you to find out about this kid and the Space Guild Adept. You have one day." Lance said to the Spellcaster. At least this time he had asked someone competent he thought.

"As you wish" Nox said disappearing.

In the Railway Ares had just finished explaining how Jessica had been taken. The carriage had fallen into silence.

"You all have to come to the Space guild its the only place safe" Ares said. He had briefly asked Mars and his family were approved to come to the guild.

Carl had a dangerous look on his face as he spoke to Ares.

"Take Kate and your brothers, I will follow you later." He said to Ares. Chris and the others voiced their complaints but after a sharp bark and glare from Carl they all reluctantly agreed.

"Carl, you can't get her out. They have magic and you're only a mortal." Ares said trying to convince him. Ares hadn't given up on Jessica but he didn't want to give the others false hope.

"I know, I know. I am just going to speak to a few old friends." Carl said. He put his hand in his pocket and retrieved a red gem Ares had never seen before.

"This is an emergency communication gem, its only good for an hour so only use it when you need to. I have the other gem and will be able to speak back. Use it in an emergency." He said to Ares.

Ares was feeling downcast. His short visit to see his family had led to more and more events spiralling out of his control. Before Carl left Ares pulled him into a tight embrace and told him to be safe.

Ares then made the walk back to the guild with Mars and his family in tow. At the end of the railway he took a glance back into the railway and saw Mr. Cleaves staring at him from a distance a slight smile upon his face. Perhaps one day he would return with Alex he thought to himself as they left.

As Carl got out of the railway he entered an broken down derelict building and made his way into a basement. He walked to the centre of the room and then used his hands to dig a black box from beneath the flooring.

After opening it there were two items within it, one a large metallic arm with a red glow on it and the other a silver gem. He lifted the arm and placed it onto his stump and there was a click before the hand of the arm clenched and closed. He then rubbed the gem and a hazy figure came out of the gem.

"Scarlett Arm I didn't expect to hear from you again." An ethereal voice said.

"I need to speak to the king" Carl said in a solemn voice.

"Await further instruction." The voice said with the figure disappearing.

Carl stared blankly at the wall. Hopefully this request wouldn't cost too much he thought to himself.

When Ares and the others arrived back at the guild Mars took them to another part of the city and said that he would let Ares know when they were settled. Whilst it was sudden Ares was happy in the knowledge they would be close; he would make sure to visit them soon.

The visit to the surface had only highlighted to Ares his lack of power, he knew he needed to get stronger and quicker. The upcoming mission was soon and he had to see the Dark Guild again but first he had a deal to keep.

Not wanting to wait any longer Ares made his way to the office of Warlock Solis.