Prologue
Long Ego there lived a girl who married a khan and became a queen, The khan and his queen ruled the unstable lands of the south, where greed, famine and war were prevalent, but that didn't stop the khan from dreaming of a peaceful world under his rule.
The Khan faced heavy opposition from many groups, the the most powerful of them being from other lands the merchants from the north and the Lowers from the west, after negotiations and bribery failed the lowers opened war and killed hundreds of thousands.
While the Merchants and the Khans had machinery the lowers outmatched them one to three in manpower and when the Khan realized they were losing the war he decided to face the enemy on the battlefields.
The khan left behind his queen who was expecting heirs, the queen was close to the due date by the time the khan was heavy into the war, and on a moonless night the queen had three children but to her horror, all three of them were stillborn.
The queen grief in secret for two days and two nights, she could not bring herself to give up her children, in the very depth of her grief there was hope, so she prayed to everything she knew to bring back her children although she knew nothing could be done she wouldn't give up their bodies and continued to nurse them as if they were alive.
On the third day, a creature appeared to her right before dawn, it was dark and decrepit as it stood at the foot of her bed, but it spoke with a clear and strong voice.
The creature offered her a deal, it would give her back the life of her children if she would give up her whole kingdom including the life of her khan, the queen hesitated but the creature tricked her and placed visions of her children laughing happily around her, while the creature said when the sun would come up this deal would be gone forever, even in her wildest desperation the queen demanded the khan's dream should be realized no matter the cost, to this they both agreed.
As day break came the queen almost went insane with joy as she heard the cries of her children, she rushed to them and found them alive and well, when she looked back at the creature it had disappeared and she was all alone.
Sure enough, the deal came to pass as the Khan lost his life in the war and the southern kingdom was invaded by the Lowers, in the revolt the Khans were thought all dead then the Merchants overwhelmed the Lowers and won the war unifying all the kingdoms.
Decades passed and the sons of the queen who survived marched against the lowers, they won and then becoming Khans of a united peaceful kingdom like their father had dreamed of, yet it was decided that the merchants would rule over the kingdom as instructed by the Khans they would maintain the peace simply because the merchants were more suited to lead unlike the khans.
Dominic
"I usually don't do this, I have always been pretty smart but since I have nothing better to do, I will indulge you today....so I am dying right now, no joke I am in the middle of a castle more specifically in the floor of a hallway dying.
Is getting cold, I am losing my vision and I test metal I never thought I would go out like this, granted that's something everyone says but I really never expected to be dying like this, if you ask me...not that you did. I would have bet on a stroke, even better falling down the stairs in my late 90s... alas!
Well here we are I am dying, I bet you are wondering all the questions, shit! maybe you are not but fuck it! I want to believe you are, so I don't have to go on this ride all alone, Funny now that I think about it, maybe I don't have much time left...did I mention I'm dying?
Let me take you back to how it started, and before you roll your eyes and tell me to fuck off just know I also don't want to do this I would like to just lay here and die but like I said I have nothing better to do...so here goes nothing...."
Past:
Today was a good day so far, I was never a big coffee person but today I had a cup and It was great, I stared up at the clock and it was nearly 4 pm, my shift had just started and I just dropped Rain at the bar.
I smiled to myself just thinking of him, it had been more than 28 years since I asked myself the same question and I still never had an answer "How does he do it?" I wondered, I was convinced Rain was born a menace that was created to torture me, he was a storm of chaos that consumed my existence. At night he would drink and create mayhem and destruction and in the morning he still had enough energy to keep going.
The first customer entered the lobby, she was nice-looking and had a warm smile, and she dropped her keys off and settled her tap.
I got on the phone as soon as she left and let Katherine from room service know she could go clean up the room. I was happy this season was slow not a lot of people came by as the holiday season ended and people went back home. Although I got a bonus every time the hotel was at full capacity, I had to admit I didn't like working the night shifts.
I rather stay home or better yet party with Rain even if he would torture me in the morning, going to any of his wild, painful adventures was better than dealing with crazies and drunk weirdos.
I liked the slow nights when all I had to do was ring people in and mind my business, soon enough I would save enough money for a house on the beach and I could go visit my mom at the retirement home out of state without breaking the bank.
I could see it was getting dark outside through the glass doors, I looked at the watch again, it was 7:30 I got ready to watch my favorite thriller show, I knew as soon as it ended Rain would call and interrogate me about it. He couldn't afford to miss a single episode, he was already late to the season and he couldn't watch it while he was at work.
As I started watching I saw something strange from the corner of my eye, outside the parking lot I saw a couple of expensive black cars coming in parking one next to the other.
I counted 14 of them, and a few seconds later men dressed in dark grey suits were coming in, I knew someone had registered a party of 14 but I was hoping I wouldn't be the one having to ring them in, As they got to the marble counter I greeted them and asked for their ID's and their registration codes, I made sure to not look at them too closely or make any eye contact, I figure Jackie would do that when she got here in the morning she was the brave one. I knew that was rude, but I figured a short smile and a professional tone were enough. I had learned long ago that making too much eye contact could be seen as an invitation.
One by one I gave them their room cards, and a brochure, and tried not to notice the black cufflink with a golden phoenix. I did this as fast as I possibly could, I have never been a person that believes in "bad vibes" but I definitely felt something strange I the air as they just took their things and walked away to their rooms.
The silence was intense and all I wanted to do was get this over with as soon as possible, I saw they were not staying long and I was hoping I would not be the one to do the check out when they left.
Finally, there was one left standing I restricted my eyes to his shoulders, He was very tall and slim I realize he was the only one not wearing a suit, he looked way more casual while looking expensive in all-black.
I expected he would just place his card on the counter but he didn't, he just stood there.
"Sir, may I have your ID, please?" I said, I could hardly believe I had managed to sound calm when inside I felt something unsettling just being in the presence of this man, even more so than the others.
He placed his ID on the counter and as I took it I didn't even bother to get all the details or read anything, I quickly placed his key card and other essentials on the counter when he suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward out of reflect I pulled my hand away looked up at him.
Yago
There it was, I didn't know what I was expecting but nothing of this magnitude, I was really getting bored back home and a Hunt was just what I needed, normally a few servants would do for this one but I wanted to come along, this season had been great for us but someone needed guiding, Some people needed to be reminded who they served.
I never liked being awake too long but if I was around I needed to take advantage of the situation before my brothers started asking questions or decided to wake.