Occult of Strigoikirk(The Fifth)

Complete parts:

1. Occult of Strigoikirk(The first)
2. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Second)
3. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Third)
4. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Fourth)
5. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Fifth)
6. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Sixth)
7. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Seventh)
8. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Eight)
9. Occult of Strigoikirk (The Ninth)
10. Occult of Strigoikirk(The Tenth)
11. Occult of Strigoikirk(Grand Finale)

 “What is happening?” Aaron bangs his hand on the table, startling Audra and Lonzo.
“That’s expected.” The eagle-turned-man is walking with a slow pace while one of his handmaiden is covering him with a robe and the other is tightening it. Once they are done, they bow in front of him and leave.
“Where are we?” Aaron snaps aloud, making it clear he is no mood of a gossip.
“Relax, brother. Or shall I say ‘bro’ as they’ve abbreviated it.” He looks over his shoulder at the table where Aaron’s friend are glaring at the two men.

   As Aaron’s brother makes his way, a man comes running in & speaks in a language that Aaron fails to recognize. His tone is rushed and coated with shallow breaths. The only word Aaron understands is when the man addresses his brother as “Majesty”. Majesty’s mood is changed in a snap and he drags Aaron by his elbow into another room.
“Come with me—” Aaron’s attempts to free it are in vain, he is much stronger than tiny Aaron. Like I have a choice.

**

   On the table, the food is untouched. A sense of tension is covering everyone’s mind.
“Isn’t this an illusion?” Randy shrugs,     “I haven’t really lost two of my best friends, have I?”
Lonzo puts a hand around Randy’s shoulder and wraps him in a hug.
“No matter how many times we’ve fought, I’d never wish something like this happen to any person. Let alone Stephen and Matthew. This is real, my friend. More than anything can ever be right now. And the worst of all, it’s the fact that it isn’t over, yet.”

**

 The lavish room that Aaron is brought in certainly belongs to his brother.
“Marvellous.” Aaron snaps out of the trance on his cue. “Isn’t it? It took 2 days to complete but a lot more time than that for me to earn it.” His expression is scorned. The candle lit atmosphere gives him a halo effect and somehow Aaron’s attitude towards him is changed.
“What do you remember about me?” Another question, bah! I thought he was going to answer my questions.
“What about you?” Aaron answers after a thought.
“Good, just what I hoped.”
“You wanted me to not remember anything about you?” Aaron tilts his head, the knots getting complex with every minute.
“Yes. That isn’t the point, however. My magic is trust-able. So, let’s start where it started. I’m Asher, your elder—” “Brother.” Aaron takes a seat on the king sized bed and leans in for a tale he would surely want to hear.

**

After 10 minutes of comforting each other, Lonzo, Randy and Audra have made peace with their circumstances and have decided to be ready for any worse situation. The maids that helped the eagle-man return. Lonzo and Randy have a tough time keeping their eyes off the overexposed cleavages and sleek hourglass figures. The robes that the maids wear only cover their breasts and a tiny area around the hips, unlike the man who welcomed them. Realizing that they’ve been staring for quite a long time they shake their heads. Surprisingly the maids are gesturing Lonzo and Randy to follow them. Without hesitating, Randy gets up but waits for Lonzo to accompany him.
“Come.” The handmaidens return, giggling and take him holding his hand in their own.

**

   Surprises of the day will never end, Audra knows and thus when she is made to sit near the door of a wide-spread forest along the river that is ignited by strange objects underwater she isn’t much surprised. After checking the temperature of water a maid comes to her. Without any word she begins to strip Audra off the dirty clothes filled with mud. It was something Audra wanted to do since she got out of the stony slide but she didn’t hope someone else to do it for her.

Embarrassed and bare she rushes into the water and just the touch of it makes every muscle of her body relax. The water level is hardly up to her abdomen but she folds her legs to conceal herself. The maid that guided her over here is igniting her dirty clothes in a hearth across the tiny pond. Once she’s done, she steps in the pond and makes Audra sit on a platform near the shallow end of it. Initially, the maid starts with cleansing her feet with a rocky scrub and now begins to massage her smooth back. With every minute Audra’s queasiness is ebbing and is being replaced by a feeling of comfort. Why isn’t this permanent. With a deep sigh she rests her head and closes her eyes.

**

“I wasn’t a part of the Earth?”
“Ah, this isn’t one of those dumb mortal’s movie, brother. I’m talking about humans, you weren’t a part of those humans. You were born like me, a strigoi.”
“Born a Strigoi? Ioan told me Strigois are undead people, like zombies!” At this Asher laughs rolling on his back.
“I don’t know who this Ioan is but he sure has a great sense of humor. Zombies are nothing compared to us.” His vision sharpens in an instant, the hair on his bronze colored body grow with a rapid pace. His hands turn to paws and his back bends into an arch. Within the blink of an eye Asher changes into a bear. Aaron bounces off of his seat and hides behind the bed.

When he pokes out to look if the bear is gone, he is staring at a naked Asher.
“We Strigois are shape-shifters and we can do magic. Those humans have various names for us. Wizards, Necromancer, Alchemist, Enchanter and Strigoi. The name Strigoikirk was given to the village that you stayed in because those humans are the descendants of our worshippers—” Aaron is ever so thankful to the maid that comes in and stops Asher from speaking another word. It isn’t that he doesn’t want to know more about what he is, but he cannot bear to stare at a naked man for so long, having a conversation with him would be a far-fetched idea.
“Come, Aaron. It’s time for us to get clean.”
“But, what about—” “No buts, brother. I can’t bear that human stench coming from you.” And with a disgusted face he walks out of the room leaving behind a spellbound Aaron.
“Do I need to tie a leash around your neck or can you follow me yourself?” Asher screams and for some reason Aaron doesn’t mind listening to his elder brother, after all family is what he has been fancying all his life.

To be continued…
PS- I know I’m late, again. But this time I’ve complete the further parts! “The Sixth” will be posted on next Saturday. Thanks a lot for the support and being an avid reader. Kudos to you!
©The Honest Fabler
©Cover Credits- Google Images