you, the one that did not speak, kept their head low and never ever caused any issues. Silent and always seen but in the shadows of the scene. They have kept their eyes on you this whole time. Reporting back to your siblings through the grapevine.” Merna was huffing and puffing, close to out of control. “For a very long time … they have been working at gathering what they need to get rid of you … a very LONG time Chaos! And you sat here thinking you are invincible all because the darkness has no beginning nor ending.” Merna’s voice was starting to crackle as her emotions were getting out of control. I placed the gobet and lock on the table, grasping Merna. I started to rub my fingers up and down the back of her neck. I thought about what Merna was saying, “they swore a legend to me. They know the price for betrayal.” Black smoke came out of my nose. “That means shit!” Merna whined as her forehead was pressed into my chest. “If they overthrow you, your wrath means nothing!” Merna was breathing rapidly, “You have a lot to worry about … if the whispers are correct, you are in more danger than you think. If your siblings get their way, you will be chained, locked up and never to be seen nor heard of ever again.” I looked at the locks that were in my hands, “you did this?” I was huffing and puffing. “How … did you do this … Merna?” It had dawned on me and I was sure I was not going to like the answer. I could hear Merna taking a large inhale, “They would not be in my possession if I had not … I listened to my mother! This is why I was close to being late!” I let out a low fumble, “MERNA!” Merna tried to take a step away from me but I would not let go of her neck. Glaring up at me with the pretence of innocence, “Mother warned that you will either gain an army or my actions will be disastrous for all kinds. And I have to admit, the individuals that I freed … they are just as powerful as you.” Merna attempted to move wavy once again with no success. I gripped a bit harder, “MERna!” Merna started to twiddle her thumbs, “it was a group of sorceresses that did the spell work to lock up the individuals. The thing with spells is …” “Speed up the story!” I brought Merna closer to me as I whispered in her ear. “You see … there is always an expiration date, where the magic starts to deteriorate.” Merna snorted, “one thing all of you have in common, you do not think anything can happen to you. No one can outsmart you!” I wanted to argue with Merna about her last comment but I had other things on my mind. “Conclude the story Merna!”Bobbing her head, “It is difficult to travel in your realm, I have to feel my way through all of the matter.” Merna started to chuckle, “I do love a new challenge, I just didn’t realize how difficult it would be.” I let a low rumble out causing Merna to wiggle, “how did you get to my realm without me knowing you were there?” Merna started to chuckle then cleared her throat, “When I want too … I can mask my energy! It is not that hard to fool those that do not want to see what is actually there. So … I can hide in plain sight!” Merna shrugged her shoulders, “plus no one ever notices me!” “You might be small, my little pet …” Merna’s eyes started to shimmer, smelling the air around her. I got a smell of flowers. It reminded me of walking into a field of flowers and the aroma hitting my nose. “But you can’t hide from me!” I sniffed the air again, “Flowers!” “That is what I smell like?” Merna started to giggle, “I have always wondered what my scent would be. Though, I do know that when I lose control the scent changes to decay. I have only smelled it three times in my life, it is not pleasant and sticks with me for several days.” Merna paused, “Do you want to know what you and Ashur smell like?” I allowed Merna to take a step back up a bit, “do you know why you smell us?” “Doesn’t everyone have a signature smell?” I chose to relax my demeanour by sitting back in the chair. Merna’s reply told me what I needed to know. “Do you know who I need to question?” “When I crossed paths with Tizqar … I wondered how many I overlooked, you know … I could not read. It was not until I broke the lock in your land that I understood more.” She took her seat again. Patting my lap, Merna hopped up off the chair and was sitting on my lap. Snuggling into me, “The area that I stopped at … it started to tell me stories. That is when I realised some of the faces were the same ones that are here. They were younger then but the same individuals.” I started to stroke Merna’s leg, knowing her story was not over. “Now I have a mental image of their faces in my head. The voices told me who I need to pay attention to.” She summoned her goblet into her hand. “they told me that regardless of how talented I am … there are others with the same skills and they have been working with them. Can you believe they called me a baby?” Her face was scrunched up as she pouted. I had to point out, “When compared to us, you are just a baby!” I studied Merna, “The voices were not wrong … we have been manipulating powers for aeons!” Merna moved my goblet with her mind to my hand. I filled my mouth with the wine. “I want you to identify every single kin of mine who you see in your mind. From there I will question them … You obviously can move around undetected, find the others and do something similar to this task!” I glared at Merna, “How many more can you free?” Shifting on my lap, “The proper question should be, how long will it take me to listen, judge and execute my plan!” Merna finished her drink and exhaled. “With the restraints you want me to follow, I will be dead before I can reach each and every single individual. You let me slip out of here and do my thing … one month maybe a bit longer!” Inquiring “What Protection do you have?” “I work alone!” She had a flat tone. The thought entered my mind, “This is not the first time for you to do this?” Raising her brows, “Heading into the abyss, yes! Unlocking chains … no!” Merna gave me a cocky grin, “I have been travelling in and out of all realms since I was a wee little human born. No bigger than four feet tall.” I thought about the whole situation while swirling the remaining wine in my goblet, “you are going to visit your mother!” Merna tilted her head to the side, “For what purpose?” Not clueing into my implications. “Merna you are an intelligent female!” Merna understood what I was getting at, “OH!” I leaned into my chair, “First, you are going to tell me who has betrayed me. After that, you are going to spend a month with your mother.” Taking a sip of her drink “I can manage that!” “You will be back here the day before the moon is at its highest! Not a second later!” I made it clear that I was not going to tolerate any tardiness. This felt like a really bad idea. Something that I should not allow Merna to do. I could tell that Merna was going to argue a point of hers. She had her pointer finger up in the air with her jaw lowered. One glance at me, her mouth was closed. “I want a report!” I added it to my list of demands. I feel uneasy about letting her leave my side. “I would not expect anything less. I would like to bring it to your attention. Something I am sure that you already understand … time is a lot different in each location that I visit.” She cleared her throat, “the chances of not being back when you desire me back may be an issue. I also am not sure if I could receive a link from you so far away from this location. We are not blood after all!” I thought about what Merna had said, there was some truth behind what she said. “How did you get back today while still being on time?” Shrugging, “Mother knew what I was doing, also she knew when I had to be back, she gave me a warning.” “Where are the prisoners located?” I had forgotten the location she had mentioned. “There are a few in the abyss … somewhere! They are everywhere, mainly located in the outer regions of this universe.” Merna started to toss her head back and forth rapidly, “your siblings went all the way on trying to hide the locations. Never staying in one spot for long.” “Some of those beings I placed in their prisons, the evidence pointed to the crime that they were accused of!” I was now wondering if I had been fooled about that as well. Merna started to hum to herself. “I saw a few that seemed to be your handy work, those are not the ones that I have in mind. The individuals that I speak of, I do not think you know about them. I believe that your siblings hide them in plain sight without your knowledge.” “I know everything that is going on in my domain!” I stubbornly defended myself, knowing that at this point my siblings had made a fool out of me. It was Merna’s turn to raise her brow, “seriously?” I grunted, “What do you mean?” “It is good to know that all of your bloodline is full of ego and delusions of superiority complex!!” I gave Merna a warning growl which only caused Merna to laugh. “Think about it for a second … your domains are vast with no beginning, no end … so you're telling me that you have eyes everywhere? There is no chance at all that your siblings could never slip past you? Be honest with yourself if not with me!” Merna challenged me. “This discussion is over with!” I was not going to hear another word on this topic. Merna smiled up at me, “which sounded good to me! I think we both need a bit of unwinding time!” Merna pushed my cloak off of my shoulders as she shifted her position on me, facing me. “I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and for once in this life … I feel ill-equipped and lack a great deal of knowledge and education!” “Should I be concerned?” I grasped her lips with mine. Breathing heavily, “I am listening to everything that is being told to me … moving with caution. If I continue like this, I will be fine and come back to you in one piece!” Merna was staring at my lips. Brushing her lips on mine softly. “I need to de-stress … no more talking!”