The great black doors slammed shut as Rizaran walked in. His brother Gricazin stood in the center of the room playing with a card in his hand. The light fell across the room in a ghostly manner. Dark jagged walls and tiled floors hissed as a great evil blew through the air
“You’re slightly late my brother,” Gricazin spoke between his teeth. He slipped the card into his holster that hung off his belt.
“I apologize,” Rizaran whispered mockingly.
“You never apologize.”
“I know,” Rizaran smiled. He moved swiftly over to the chair at the head of the room and sat down. “Shall we discuss the business you have?” Gricazin rolled his eyes, but moved his heavily clothed body of robes to the head of the room, where he to sat down at a chair.
“Our plan is moving along. Slowly, we have come to possess the twelve stones of Arune; their powers are now ours. I have secured them in a room underneath this lair in which only a selected two may enter.”
Rizaran smiled. “Us.”
Gricazin nodded. “I have also located Jason Deran, the wielder of flames himself and the current possessor of another powerful artifact.”
“The necklace of Tamaris.”
“You know you’re information. I will give you that brother. We realized earlier he would be a threat. You know of his history correct?”
“I do,” answered Rizaran. “His father, who he did not know, was a wizard…but perhaps even more important…his father was a descendant of Arune. Jason does not realize this. Anyhow, Jason Deran began engaging in matches at a very young age. He is nineteen now. He has not appeared on any map for two years. At age sixteen through seventeen he hit the tournament world hard and fast. He left everyone speechless. None the less, his experience is the reason why. People should have seen it coming.”
“Yes,” Gricazin agreed, “for it was in younger years that he battled ruthlessly underground against the outlaws. He went up against the leader of the Haunets, a complicated and powerful group of earth wielders. Jason Deran has fought numerous beings from the realm underneath us. There is no limit to which he has competed. Jason has even fought ancestors of ours. He knows a lot. He knows more than he pretends to.”
“You forget that Mr. Deran was also trained by Jerald Deran, a man much like himself.”
“No Jerald was better than Jason. He will always be better than Jason.”
“If you say so,” Rizaran responded. “So where can we find our nonexistent friend.”
“He is staying with Uranijin, the old wizard who lives in the world outside of ours,” Gricazin answered. “But he is not our only threat.”
“What?”
“That my exact word when I learned of another.”
“Who is he?”
“Tyler Rammings.”
“You mean the spoiled rich bastard?”
“I did not want to believe it to be true either,” spoke Gricazin.
“But how?” demanded Rizaran. “How can he be any good? Are you sure his opponents are not paid off? Opponents are paid off. The damn committee decides who wins what today. So how can he be a true wielder of fire?”
“What you say about being paid off is true but Tyler put an end to it last year when he came onto the scene. Deviously, he took a bribe to lose, but in the end stuck it to the guy who was supposed to win. That ended everything. But he is good. He beat Grenile, the most powerful wielder of water.”
“Oh…I remember now.”
“Yes,” Gricazin agreed.
“But still the guy is rich.”
“But he has great beliefs and values. His money does not alter who he is.”
There was a long pause.
“He too was trained by Jerald Deran.”
“What?” Rizaran stood up outraged. “How? When? What? How does he have connections to him?”
Gricazin shook his head. “I have yet to figure that out.”
Gricazin stood and walked over to Rizaran who had walked halfway across the room in anger. “This means will need a third brother.”
Rizaran looked to Gricazin. “You already know about Darin Davalin?”
“Yes,” responded Gricazin with a smile across his face. “I already know about Darin Davalin.”
Tagged brother, card, center, doors, evil, Gricazin, hand, light, manner, Rizaran, room, tiled floors