Chapter 40: Treachery
Within the walls of the royal palace tumultuous undercurrents were brewing.
Ḥāmin troops rushed in every direction and from the sky it looked as if little white ants were running about the palace grounds.
Squads of the white robed Ḥāmin stood in perfect formations and practiced drills in the palace courtyards. Above and around them trucks and helicopters moved to various locations around the palace.
In the center of all of this commotion stood the monumental central palace.
Standing as a permanent reminder of the Khalid Dynasty's power, the palace's pristine white towers reached towards the sky. Their golden domes reflected the sun's light in a way that would blind anyone who would dare gaze for too long.
Deep within one of these beautiful towers a horrifying treachery was developing.
Two men were facing each other while sitting down on identical plush sofas. They were in a luxurious room that could only be described as a high class lounge.
However, the room was shrouded in a darkness that hid its opulence. The only light in the room emanated from a large screen that took up half of a wall.
A white robed guard stood off in the corner, his eyes showing his disinterest in the two men's conversation.
"Brother, why must we wait before we make our move? The palace is in such a state of commotion that no one will even notice before it's too late." said a voice.
"Easy now, little six. The time will come. Do you remember what father used to say?" asked another voice.
"Show no mercy to our enemies?" the first voice asked.
The second voice clicked his tongue, "No, you damn fool." He shook his head, "He would say that patience is a virtue."
The man then stood up from his seat, and turned to the giant screen on the wall. The man's frame was massive, and even in the shadowy room his stature and power were evident.
On the screen was something unbelievable, something that not even King Zain himself would have been able to foresee.
At the focus of the screen was a towering stone pillar, on top of which stood two figures. Yellow light flashed around the surface of the pillar, and the figures seemed to be dancing around it.
If one were to look closely they would even be able to notice a small figure climbing up the side of the pillar!
However, this figure was beneath the attention of the two men in the room. Their attention was solely focused on one of the figures atop the pillar.
A sinister smile appeared on the face belonging to the second voice.
As he focused on the screen, the light bouncing off of his golden pupils made him look all the more frightening.
***
While sinister plots were underway within the palace of the Khalid Dynasty, thousands of miles away a jet black plane with sleek edges and sharp angles sped through the sky. This strange plane was propelled by two propellers on either wing and a large engine in the back.
Mounted on each wing were dangerous weapons systems, all of which were currently activated. A swivel turret scanned the horizon, while large missile batteries hid within the wing's complex mechanisms, ready to unleash payloads that could devastate a city at a moments notice.
Within this plane held a powerful spatial-compression artifact. Indeed, the plane was more than just a tool of travel and could also serve as a mobile base of operations in a time of need.
Complete with quarters for half a dozen crew, and an adamantium-alloy frame —the mythical-grade artifact was more akin to a spaceship than a plane.
Within the ship's large cockpit, Muhammed reclined against the captain's chair while lost in thought.
In front of him two Ḥāmin were seated at different consoles. These white robed men had trained to operate this ship for their entire lives, so Muhammed trusted the two to fly the craft while he let his mind wander.
'This expedition will surely either set me above all of my brothers, or plunge me deep into the depths of hell where I shall never return. Literally.' he thought to himself, a bitter aftertaste in his mouth after his meeting with Greed.
Whenever he thought about what dangers this journey might entail, anger welled up within his heart. After all, this whole endeavor was simply to placate some ancient being's wrath against his foolish brother.
'Second brother, you ignorant halfwit, if I lose my life in this fool's errand I will haunt you forever.' he thought angrily.
Suddenly, Muhammed turned his chair around to face a white robed figure standing behind him.
Seemingly remembering something, he said, "Zahra, send a missive to the palace. Inform the family that terms have been reached with that old, sinful bastard."
He shook his head, "We still need to run some errands to pick up supplies for the expedition. Hopefully none of my idiot brothers do anything rash while we are gone."
Zahra smiled gently at Muhammed, if anyone were to see her eyes they would notice how her bright, yellow gaze seemed to look at Muhammed with what seemed like admiration.
Furthermore, they would be surprised to hear what would be said next. For Zahra, despite being a Ḥāmin, said three words!
"At once, Master." was all she said, but her voice was so beautiful that it sounded like a lullaby, and hearing it instantly put Muhammed in a better mood.
***
Back within the walls of the Khalid Dynasty's central palace, Amira's courtyard stood proudly among a dozen others. The mansion's size was impressive even by the standards of the others within the Royal palace.
Deep within this residence, past the numerous white robed guards and sprawling corridors, a large metal door contained the mansion's Gravis chamber.
Past these doors held a seemingly endless sea, within which stood many towering stone pillars.
Atop one of these pillars three figures dashed about, moving in what at times looked like a dance, and at others an erratic frenzy.
This was mostly because Draco was one of those figures, and he was dipping, ducking, and dodging like his life depended on it. Technically, his life did depend on it, but he was so used to risking his life in the frigid rejuvenating waters below that it hardly registered as an afterthought.
His mind was too focused on avoiding the orb's beams to worry about anything else.
He knew that the sphere's attention was about to be directed at himself, since he had just watched Amira swiftly twist out of the way of an incoming blast.
Bracing his legs as he prepared to maneuver, Draco waited for the prime moment to dodge.
After so long within the chambers confines, the timing of the orb's attacks were becoming muscle memory at this point.
The only problem was that the orb was now attacking the three of them at a much more rapid rate, leaving little time between attacks to prepare themselves.
This mattered little to Draco, for he had to either be ready to dodge, or be ready to swim.
He knew which option he preferred.
Draco saw his chance and didn't hesitate, he leapt into the air, his legs rolling behind him as he flipped sideways over the golden beam of energy. The beam flew directly through his legs, dangerously close to his prized jewels, but ultimately past him and off into the distance.
Landing with a thud, Draco let out a breath and caught Amira's eye over to his side, giving her a wink.
He figured he had been within this strange chamber for at least a few days, but it was hard to tell considering it always remained daytime, and he hadn't gotten hungry the entire time.
It was something that puzzled him greatly, but little did Draco or the two girls know, the chamber held many mysterious secrets.
Although Draco had not eaten a single meal since being in the chamber for days, he did not experience any signs of weakness. In fact, Draco felt stronger than ever!
Just by being in the vicinity of such a large body of rejuvenating water the trio's bodies and minds were nourished by the vitae flowing around them. It served to invigorate their cells, and supply them with energy so that they could endure extremely long periods without food.
Strength rippled within each of Draco's limbs, and due to the intense pressure atop the spire his body moved like he was strapped down with heavy stones.
His superhuman strength was the only reason he could even move atop the stone pillar.
It was hard to learn to control his strength in such an environment, but after doing so his ability to control his movements increased tenfold.
Unknown to Draco, every time he fell into the chamber's waters, his pores were also flooded with different compounds that were rebuilding his skin, bones, and tendons at the cellular level.
Every time Draco was hit with a blast of energy from the golden orb, it served to further open his body's meridians to even more of the compounds within the water.
Such a powerful compound could even evolve Draco entirely, or mutate him into a creature of nightmares if absorbed in too much of an abundance.
It was in truth a stroke of luck that the Khalid Dynasty's founding progenitor placed the Umbra within the chamber's sea, for if not Draco might have just decided to stay down there instead of climbing back up.
Thankfully, the fear of the man-eating abominations lurking in the depths of the sea was a good enough motivator. Otherwise, with enough time Draco himself might have mutated into a similar creature.
The trio continued to dodge the orb's attacks for another few hours before stopping.
Whenever the three unanimously decided to stop, usually caused by Draco's pleading, Amira would run up to the sphere and give it a light smack against the side.
After doing this, the spherical device would abruptly stop spinning and fall down into a hole that would open up in the stone floor and close behind it.
Draco thought it was all actually very anti-climatic the first time he saw it.
To Draco this whole process looked like magic, but he imagined it was probably some type of science that he was too smooth-brained to comprehend.
With their daily workout completely, Draco prepared to lay down in his designated spot on the hard stone floor.
For days he had tried unsuccessfully to lay down next to Amira. Unfortunately for Draco, Sada's persistence in being a nuisance made it impossible.
Eventually, he resigned himself to laying down in the corner, with Sada lying between him and the gorgeous princess he wanted to cuddle with.
The three of them slept like rocks, exhausted after days of intense training with little rest in-between.
However, unbeknownst to the trio, their every move was being watched and recorded.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone