Graven was having a conversation with Horace in one of their hideouts after finishing his rounds of their family businesses for three days straight.


    "How''s the security of the whole town of South Pond?" he asked his right man.


    ??


    "Everything is good so far, my lord!" Horace replied.


    "No signs of the vampire bats return?" he asked.


    Horace shook his head. "So far... our men haven''t seen the bats presence around the town and other neighboring areas..."


    "Good! I will tell you something about what happened on our trip," he said. "I told our men not to tell another soul about what transpired on our trip to Wimborne Vige," he said.


    "I''m all ears, my lord. Please tell me what happened," Horace said eager to know everything.


    Graven released a deep sigh and cleared his throat. "When we found the castle... it was already abandoned and it looks dpidated. When we enter the castle, there was algae, cobwebs and the roof and walls have cracks and holes on them. No one is residing in that area anymore for many years. Then we saw strange ck liquid on the floor inside the castle, that''s when I sense a powerful aura originating somewhere..." he said, pausing for a moment.


    Then he continues... "The powerful aura ising closer and I was frozen on the spot by it, then the ground where I stood up opened up and swallowed me whole... Calder and the others also suffered the same fate. When we regain consciousness, we found our hands bound by chains, and our bodies were submerged with the ck liquid from the neck down to our toes..."


    Horace''s face was serious while listening to his master''s narration, his eyes were glowing with horror. "What happened next, my lord?"


    Graven sighed. "Instead of Reba, we stumbled upon a 1000 years old vampire king who is cursed and imprisoned beneath the castle, he finally awakened after a long time of slumber and he wants Laura back because only her blood can free the cursed king from beneath the ground. It turns out that the ck liquid was the king''s life source, he can''t leave the castle''s underground because the ck liquid will die outside the castle..."


    Horace''s brows knitted together. "My lord, what is Laura''s role in all this?" he asked, confused.


    "Laura is the king''s soulmate. She reincarnated several lifetimes and got intimate and married several men including my brother and me. Her blood is the only one that can bring the king back to life and free him from the curse that cast upon by his arch-enemy to him 1000 years ago..."


    Horace''s eyes widened. "Wait...so... Laura is the king''s woman?"


    Graven nodded his head. "Yeah..." he replied and continued his narration. "The king offered me and our men that once we can bring Laura to his side we will rule the world alongside with him as his reward...but if we don''t follow hismand we will die because he had nted a poison in our bodies using the ck liquid which turned out to have a poison that can kill us and if we don''t return to him and report once a month, he won''t give us the antidote," Graven concluded his tale.


    "Oh, my lord... you mean to say that you and the others will report to that cursed king once a month so that you can keep your lives?" Horace asked in shock.


    "I already went to my friend the healer to have the ck liquid analyze so that he can create a cure or antidote for the poison in our bodies. Hopefully, he can create an antidote soon before the poison will attack our vital organs inside our bodies," Graven said.


    "Oh, that is troublesome, my lord!" Horace said sadly.


    Graven looked at his right man. "The reason why I tell all you this is because if something bad happened to me, you have to help my father with the businesses and make sure the whole South Pond Town is protected. There is no one whom I can trust, only you!"


    "Thank you for your trust, my lord. I swear in front of you that I will take care of your father and the whole town of South Pond," Horace said.


    "Good! I can finally breathe easily..." Graven said. "And one more thing... when Laura and I arrived in her town, we got married there..." he said, breaking the good news to his trusted man.


    Horace''s face brightens in glee. "That''s awesome, my lord! Congrattion on marrying Laura! I''m happy for the two of you!" he said happily.


    Graven smiled a bit. "Yeah, it''s a happy asion indeed," he reminiscence about the happy moments he spent with his wife, but his happiness didn''tst long, a somber expression nketed his whole face.


    Horace noticed the sadness in his master''s eyes. "What''s wrong, my lord? Why you look so sad?"


    Graven sighed. "My brother Luke was finally resurrected and hees on the day of the wedding, good thing he didn''t destroy the happy asion and left without saying a word to me. I found him outside the cave. Due to anger that I married his beloved woman, he severed our sibling ties. I thought he was no longer interested in my wife, but after I left Laura in Bay Meadow, he went there and abducted my wife. Until now I''m still searching for my wife everywhere," Graven said.


    Horace was horrified after learning everything. "Oh my, In just a short period...Reba was gone, then Laura is missing and now you and the others are poisoned with the ck liquid ckmailed by the cursed king! This is not good!" he said, shaking his head.


    Graven nods her head. "Yeah... we haven''t found Reba yet and now Laura is missing and this problem with the cursed king is the cherry on top because it would mean death to me and the men if we can''t find a cure for the poison..." he said.


    Horace released a deep sigh feeling pity for his master. His wife is missing kidnapped by his brother and his life is also in danger. "The problem is adding up on top of another, my lord. I''m sad to hear all these..." he said in a disheartened voice.


    Graven breathed deeply. Their only problem before is finding the missing Reba, now Laura is also gone! Then there''s the pressing issue of the cursed king and the ck liquid, he was overwhelmed with the sudden influx of problem.


    "My lord, what if worsee to worst and you can''t find a cure for the ck liquid, what you''re gonna do?" Horace asked finding his master''s problems tooplicated to solve at once.


    "If worsee to worst... I will make myself the cursed king''s ve all the while nning his death. The only way to stop him from world domination is to kill him for good, that will be the time that my men and I will be free from the effect of the ck liquid," answered Graven.


    "But what if there is no cure even if you are serving the king for a long time, what will you do, my lord?"


    "I and our men are willing to die with the king, we have to finish him one way or another even if means ending our lives with him," Graven said gravely.


    Horace sighed. "I hope there will be an antidote soon, my lord!" he said earnestly.


    "I hope so!" Graven replied. "I''m leaving now to find my wife, Reba, and my brother in other ces..."


    "You are going alone, my lord? Do you want our men to help you in finding Laura?" Horace offered. "Bring at least several of our men so that finding them will be much easier, and quicker," he suggested.


    "No need for now. I will find them alone, but after two weeks that I still can''t find them then I will need our men''s help," Graven finally said. "I will wait for the healer to give me a mechanism that could disrupt the concealing method used by my brother and those who captured Reba as well. Sending men to find the missing women is useless as of this moment," he added.


    "Okay, my lord, I understand," Horace said.


    "I''ll go now, if something urgentes up, don''t hesitate to send the messenger bird to inform me," Graven ordered.


    "Yes, I will, my lord!" Horace responded.


    A few minutester, Graven vanished from the room.


    Graven appeared in the air of the Woolgera Town which is located near the ocean. He was hovering in the air in his invisible form trying to detect Laura''s scent.


    It''s gonna be a long night again, finding Laura and Reba is like finding a needle in a haystack.


    He hovered near the houses in the western part of the town hoping to detect even a tiny scent of his wife and Reba.


    Argh! This is a frustrating task because he has no clue where the women have been taken by their captors!


    He hoped that his friend the healer can help him in creating a tool that can counter the concealing method, it''s the only way he can find the women faster. If not - then checking every town and every house is the only way to go, but it might take him ages to find them if he will take this route.


    But he must persevere in finding them!


    Enough of musing, time to go to work!


    He will hover down near the roofs of the houses and establishment hoping he can detect the women''s scent no matter how faint they are.


    His heart was bleeding inside yearning for the time he will see his beloved wife again.


    "Wait for me my love, I''ll see you soon!" he murmured to himself.