Chapter 15 Unknown Unknown Markous was distasteful, taking a childish temper tantrum as the others left. At what age does a child grow up and become a man or woman? The profanity and slurs he directed at Merna irritated me more than they should have. This was beyond tactless; I will make an example of him. I growled, which made Markous spin around, hunting for the location that the sound came from. But, I remained in the darkness, the ray of light still lingering on the field he stood on! The urge to make an example of this waste of existence raged to the surface of my being. Yet, I still have to wait, I reminded myself! I did tell Merna she had until the moon was at its peak to get to the road as a whole. That in itself was a bond. An agreement that might prove to be a challenge in itself for me. The wind blew with a reminder from my sister, Gaea. I growl in aggravation! ‘The other human borns, you could do with as you see fit, but Merna was off limits!’ She warned me. I gave my loyal servant a toothy grin, “Lure this human born away from here, in the opposite direction of the road. There you know what to do!” My hunters bowed their heads and began to work. “Keep an eye out on this site!” I told my tracker, “inform me of when the group returns. I have to make arrangements for my new guest.” “Guest?” My tracker questioned me. I growled slowly, “are you questioning me? Should I remind you of your place?” “I didn’t mean to disrespect you master, it’s just we haven’t had a guest in over a millenia. You have never liked having anyone in your domain longer than necessary.” “I have kept you around for far too long! Maybe I should terminate your position.” I hissed at the tracker. “If that is your wish, though, it would sadden me, not to be working with you further.” The tracker pulled out his dagger, ready to terminate his position. I pivoted and ready myself to leave this location, “complete the task I gave you, then we will talk about your position.”I have plenty of trackers, yet this one has been with me since I won the right to the claims of this region. It was he that aided me in my victory. I thought for a while! I will not terminate his position, but I will flog him. A reminder never to question me ever again. I had strolled into my lair with my eldest sister to greet me. “Hello dear brother!” She smiled at me. I walked past her as if she was not there. “You can drop the act now sister, why are you here?” I asked as if I did not know. “You are not one for games, so do not act as if you have no idea why I am here. You can not claim the hybrid as yours!” She used a tone that worked on our other brothers and sisters, but this tone of authority would not work on me. A deep low growl erupted from my throat, just a warning, but it was enough for her to take a step back. I stomped back towards my sister, making it so that she backed up into the door I had just entered. “Remember who you are speaking to, D.E.A.R sister.” My tone was unmistakable. I was not buying her attitude and making it clear who was in charge of this family. “The human born …” She started. I fought the urge to wrap my fingers around her throat. “I am going to assume our dear little sister did not tell you or the others of my wishes?” “She. did. not!” She spoke slowly. “I know what she is!” I gave my sister a smile that made her visibly shiver. “I know she can’t be collected the traditional way ... but I also know I found her on my land, which means I have the right to win her over.” My eldest sister thought about the words that I spoke, “What does this mean for the hybrid?” “We all have the right to a personal consort!” I pointed, reminding her! My implications were clear. She studied me for a while, which irritated me. “It has been so long since we had any grievances with you that I have almost forgotten you existed!” She paused for a second and then smiled, “I believe that we are all entitled to a consort!” She cooed. "Yet I would have thought you would have chosen an equal ... one of our own!" “Sister,” I held on to every ounce of patience.“I see what I see; you can not change that!” She clicked her tongue, “One year!” Egotistically my eldest sister smiled at me. “There are no deals to be made!” I was holding on to my last shred of forbearance. “I was not implying about making a deal with you dear sweet brother, I was telling you how long you have before she makes her decision!” She smirked, knowing that she knew something that I did not. Pointing out a fact, “Remember it is you plus the rest of our brothers and sisters that require the hybrids to join you, not myself. I have more power than all of you combined together.” I returned the attitude to her. "Someone is full of themself!" She laughed, “IT will leave once she realizes your true nature. The only thing that stays with you is death, destruction and slaves! The human born is intelligent enough to figure things out for herself. And not to mention your temper! You can only hide that for so long, then you will explode and she will come running to us … where IT belongs!” She sounded so confident in her visions. “She won’t!” I was basing my words solely on a thought. A thought that was strong enough for me to proceed with this ridiculous notion. “Remember this, your visions are fickled, half-truths at best. Many times your visions have been inaccurate.” Again I pointed out a fact. Shrugging her shoulders, “I have been working on these skills for over a billion of years. My accuracy is improving. You would have known this if you came out of your... dwellings more often!” Glaring around our surroundings she snarled. My sister was about to leave, and she crossed her arms in front of her body, and softly chucked, “One year … brother!” With a crooked grin; she disappeared from my sight. I gritted my teeth and hissed at one of my female slaves, “get the guest chamber ready by high peak.” I watched as the female started to run off. “Wait!” I bellowed, and the girl stopped, “I have changed my mind, don’t prepare the guest room; get the room beside mine prepared. I want to keep a closer eye on Merna.”