Jared's legs couldn't stop shaking, they were almost rattling as they bashed against each other. He looked around the room, it was dark and there were only one or two light sources produced by the nest crystal torches.
He could see well in the dark because he was a vampire, but even vampires still preferred to see more naturally if they could. The light sources shone on those in the room. There were vampires standing by the edge of the wall, completely still.
There were four of them in total in the small room, each of them just standing there, not saying a word and just looking over at him.
'Why was I called in so suddenly, and to a place like this?' Jared thought. 'They even blindfolded me before taking me here. What could this even be about, I didn't do anything wrong… did I?'
The whole situation was making him nervous, because usually a leader would just summon someone if they wanted to ask questions, but the lengths they had gone to, to bring him to wherever he was, showed how serious the matter was.
The sound of a sliding door was heard, it lifted a part of the wall, a hidden entrance. The person walking in, Jared recognised the person well and everyone would have noticed what he looked like, he was the talk of all the vampires in the past and present.
"Sir Quinn!" Jared said, standing up from his seat and immediately bowing down with one hand across his chest.
"Sorry about this, you must be a little scared with everything that has happened." Quinn said.
Entering the room, behind Quinn, was both Edvard and Hikel. The latter went ahead and talked to the guards who all quickly left the room and the door was shut behind them, leaving only them and Jared in the room.
"This case, and the questions that we need to ask you, is quite a sensitive matter. So it's important that we have no one else listening to the conversation." Edvard explained.
The three of them went ahead and took a seat opposite Jared. They weren't afraid of him, they were all strong vampires, and Jared, although skilled for a child, wouldn't have the strength to beat a single one of them so he wasn't restrained either.
However, just as Edvard had stated, this investigation was being run in secret. Magnus was capable of starting a war between vampires, so it was clear that there were those that would support his ideals.
Especially among the other leaders and possibly the other originals as well. It was why Hikel and Edvard, who were members of the Punisher's convent, were selected by Quinn to do this task.
"We want to ask you a few questions related to your mentor Magnus. I'm sure you have already noticed but Magnus is missing." Quinn stated.
Of course, Jared knew Magnus wasn't around but he didn't know he was missing. This information wasn't made known to the public, they didn't want to scare them with anything, and especially not until they knew what Magnus was doing.
But the line of questioning would have made it obvious to Jared that they didn't know what had happened to him.
"I want you to answer the next set of questions honestly, and I would rather not use the influence skill on you to get the answers we are looking for. I trust that you are a good kid and understand what I'm asking." Quinn said.
Quinn could reasonably guess if one was lying or not by the change in their aura and heartbeat. When trying to determine if a vampire was lying, it was a little more difficult but, the younger one was, the more honest their bodies were.
The influence skill had its restrictions as well, only answering directly the questions asked, and they were hoping that asking in this way would expand their knowledge.
"I understand sir, I will help you the best I can." Jared stated.
The questioning began with Edvard and Hikel taking it in turns to ask the questions they wanted. It was questions such as what Jared and Magnus would do in their mentoring sessions, did Magnus leave the castle much, or did he ever say anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
For the most part it sounded like Magnus had treated Jared as an official student, doing well for him to learn his ways. What did come as a surprise though, was Magnus asked a lot about Jared's power.
He knew how to use the first family's ability. Finally though, it looked like they were able to make some sort of breakthrough. Jared was nervous, sweat was running down the side of his face, but taking a big gulp he spoke up.
"There was a way, me and my master… used to be able to speak to each other. A few days ago, I tried to contact him but there was no answer." Jared answered.
"A way you two used to contact, you mean like telepathy?" Hikel asked. "Then are other vampires involved in this?"
Jared shook his head.
"It's like telepathy, and works the same way, but it's not. Using a writing crystal, I would draw a marking on the palm of my hand. It would last a few days, but with the marking it would allow me and sir Magnus to talk to each other."
The leaders looked at each other, they had never heard of such a thing.
"Maybe, Richard would have known what this was, or we could talk to Vincent?" Edvard suggested.
Quinn had other ideas though, when Jared explained drawing the symbol on his hand, he noticed the shapes that were drawn.
"You can use blood aura, on your finger tip?" Quinn asked.
Jared nooded thinking it was a strange question to ask out of the blue, but he showed Quinn he was able to.
"Can you draw the symbol in the air?"
Jared did as instructed, and with his finger lit up he drew the shapes of the symbol. The other leaders were still confused, but when Jared was done, immediately Quinn drew the symbol with his blood aura in the air again.
Now all the others could see the symbol that was drawn quite cleary. It was a round large eye, with bat like wings. It was a symbol that Quinn had come to know and had seen a few times.
"Immortui..." Quinn said under his breath.
"You… you know that name?" Edvard was stunned. The originals knew of Immortui, but it was mostly through Richard Eno. Spending a long time together as the originals, they were quite aware of the one that had turned them all into vampires in the first place.
So they also knew about the being that Richard had contacted that had turned them, but it was a name that was never brought up.
"Yes, I do. This symbol is one that belongs to Immortui. It's his marking on those that follow him. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Laxmus also had a marking as well.
The more Quinn thought about it, there were other times where Quinn had seen the marking, or learned about it. Zero, the black sword, Laxmus, and now it was possible that Magnus was linked to it as well.
'All of these things, and the people they have caused great conflict, and always someone with the marking is around during it. Is it a coincidence?' Quinn thought.
There had been a question on Quinn's mind for a while now, why did conflict among the vampires, not just the vampires and the humans keep on appearing. Sure, throughout history there had always been conflict, but not at this level. Maybe Quinn was starting to see an answer somewhere.
"The marking that you drew on your own body, is it a temporary one, or do you have a permanent one?" Quinn asked.
"I always just drew the marking on my hand and it would last a few days, I would then have to redraw it as well… but Magnus, I believe he always had a marking and never had to draw one."
Going into this, they weren't sure whether or not Magnus was a threat, but now Quinn was pretty sure that Magnus would be up to something.
"Quinn, Sir, there is one more thing, something that I never understood." Jared said. "Magnus gave me one last order, when I last saw him and when I last spoke to him. He told me, no matter what, to keep the Talen Family alive."
*****
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