Divided - Book Five in the Fated Saga | Page 8

was
given to select few, and none were ever told that Fazendiin lived just a few steps
away.
Currently, only one person knew of this hidden meeting place, and his arrival meant
one of two things: either his job was completed and successful, or more likely, that it
had failed and there would be further delays.
In order to keep his home secret, Fazendiin never used the blood sacrifice gate to
enter this cloaked meeting place, which sat on a hillside overlooking a lake far below.
The meeting place was circular in shape, windowless, and came to a point in the
middle. To get to it, one had to climb a steep hill, following a narrow pathway from
the lake to the top of the hill. But to see the pathway and the building, one also had
to sacrifice blood.
Colby trudged along, behind his father. Fazendiin may have been hundreds of years
old, but he walked with the gait of a much younger man. He also stood over six feet
tall, so his stride was longer than Colby's, and he had to take two steps for each of
this father's.
Fazendiin followed a hedge which ran alongside the front gate. Elisha, Colby’s
catawitch, came sauntering up to his side, jumping into his arms.
A few more steps along and they took a turn, inward, following a small pathway
deeper into the gardens which surrounded the estate. Currently, every plant was in
various states of decay, as frost had killed everything a week before. The gardener
had been busy for weeks harvesting what both Colby and his father would eat that

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winter. Colby shuddered. Not because of the food. Not because of the impending
winter, sure to come. He glanced back toward the estate. The thought of spending a
long winter here, locked away inside with only his father and a grandmother that
could only move from stained glass wall to another stained glass wall... it was just
more than he wanted to think about.
“You have me, don't forget,” Elisha shot into his thoughts.
“Of course,” he said back to her. “But I know you don't want to be stuck here
anymore than I do!” Colby secretly admitted he was glad of the irritating girl,
Meghan, and that he could sometimes listen in on her thoughts, as this would at least
provide him entertainment. Elisha grimaced, not caring for this new fascination of her
master's.
Fazendiin came to a stop in front of a towering rock, left behind from a glacier long
ago. It was split in two and the tops were covered in prickly bushes, mosses and dying
vines, which turned brown after freezing.
The lower part of the split rock was sunken into the ground. Fazendiin walked to
the center, where it had split, stepping into the crack, disappearing. Colby followed
without hesitation. Upon his next step, Colby entered a circular shaped room. In the
center stood a round wooden table, scratched and nicked from years of use. Six chairs
surrounded the table. They were tall-backed with intricate carvings. Only upon close
inspection could one decipher the carvings: faces, frozen in a single moment of
extreme duress.
Hanging over the table was an equal sized chandelier, which held hundreds of
flickering candles.
The room appeared to be empty other than the table, chairs and chandelier.
Colby glanced back at where they had entered, but all he saw now was a bare wall.
Colby took a seat, while Elisha hopped onto the table, sitting statuesquely to his
side.
Fazendiin took the seat next to his son, ordering, “Show yourself, KarNavan,” to
their invisible visitor.
The Striper leader materialized, seeming to peel away from the wall, the reptilian
stripes he was so aptly named for forming on his skin. “Master,” he bowed. “I bring
news.”
“Sit,” bid Fazendiin.
KarNavan bowed his head again and took a seat on the opposite side of the table. As
he did, he nodded toward Colby. “Young master,” he greeted.
Colby frowned at KarNavan's use of the term young, but returned his greeting with a
silent nod. He never spoke in these meetings. He held his breath, however, in
anticipation, as it had been KarNavan that had taken over his mission; the one his
father had recalled him from in order to continue his schooling.
“I see