The sky was red though the sun was still up. A man was standing before a huge, old yet elegant building. He was tapping the stone path beneath him with a silver cane inlaid with gold.
The man had a sharp but elegant appearance— sharp blue eyes, jet black hair and pale white skin—wearing a Victorian three- piece suit of black color and slight golden embroidery.
With the cane in his left hand, he opened the door and a huge hall was before him.The whole hall was filled with men in formal attires, but only a few looked as charming as the man in black and gold.
Smiling brightly, he walked across the hall.
"Lord Darius, you have finally arrived." said a middle aged man with black eyes and light brown hair that had turned slightly grey.
"Greetings, Mr. Neil." said Darius in a jolly tone, reaching out his right hand towards Neil.
"Greetings, how have you been my lord." said Neil while shaking hands with the young man before him.
"Have all the preparations been done for the expedition?" questioned Darius.
"Of course, of course, how could the preparations still be pending with all the funding of yours." Neil chuckled.
"Hahaha, it is the effort that matters not the money. Without your work, it wouldn't have been possible to complete the preparations in such short time." said Darius.
"You bought me with that." said Neil.
With this, both burst into laughter and the whole hall echoed with the sound.
They continued their discussion for some time.
"Lord Darius, I think you should rest now. We have to leave at 6 tomorrow." said Neil, showing concern.
"Yes, you should take some rest too. It wouldn't be much of a journey if our captain is fast asleep, would it?" said Darius.
"Hahaha, of course, of course" said Neil.
With this, Darius took his leave.
After he left, a young man appeared behind Neil and said, "Who is that man?"
"He isn't just any man, fool. He is the eldest son of our only viscount." said Neil with a displeased tone.
"yeah yeah, what ever. And why does he want to tag along? Can't he send his men with us? I mean, we are not gonna run away with his money" said the boy carelessly.
"Leonald, I think you are no longer interested in continuing the voyage. Shall I inform your father?And I think this voyage is not for money. He is tagging along for something else, I'm certain of it." said Neil with certainty.
"Oh dear unc, why do you always bring up my father? You know what, you should not threaten your beloved nephew like that." said Leonald while leaving.
"Oh God, I shouldn't have bought him along." sighed Neil.
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Darius' carriage stopped outside a large mansion. He walked inside. Everybody was fast asleep. He quietly slipped into his room and freshened up. After that he decided to sleep and in no time he was asleep.
Suddenly, Darius opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by fog, trees and clouds. He looked at the sky and what he saw was unimaginable.
Even in broad daylight, the sky was covered with pitch black clouds, letting not a single ray of light through it. He wasn't even done looking that he was startled by a loud thunder and soon he felt tiny drops of rain falling from the sky.
He tried to look around a bit more and a temple caught his eye. The temple was made of black stone. There were large statues of a lion at its entrance.
Just when Darius was about to step inside, he woke up. He was panting.
"Ahhh, not again... Why don't these nightmares leave me alone... Forget these nightmares, the headaches that follow are worse." Darius uttered painfully.
After that he couldn't sleep at all, he kept thinking. He tried connecting the dots and he found something in common:
"Storms! Yeah, in every dream things were different but storms were common." Darius exclaimed.
*knock* *knock*
Somebody was at the door.
"Is it morning already?" he wondered.
"Come on in." he said.
== == == == == == == == == == == == ==
There was a big crowd at the viscount's residence. Darius was preparing to leave. His father —Viscount Dunn Dyer— was still trying to convince his son not to go. His mother —Lady Marian Dyer— had her eyes swollen due to endless crying.
"Darius, my son. Why are you so resilient towards this expedition? If you want the treasure so bad then why don't you send your men instead?" cried Lord Dunn Dyer
"Father, it's not about the treasure. It is important for me to be part of this expedition. I will return safe and sound, I promise." said Darius.
"Honey, please listen to your father. What if something happened to you? What will happen to me? And if you are so resilient, take me with you." said Lady Marian wile showing concern.
"Mother, nothing will happen to me. I will be safe and I am not some kid anymore. So you don't need to come along, ok?" Darius assured her mother.
"Where are Elara and Ethan?" questioned Darius.
Ethan was Darius' younger brother also second born while Elara who was their sister and third in line.
"They left early. Their academy started early today." replied Lady Marian.
Darius' face saddened a little but he didn't let his smile fade, not even a little.
He hugged both his parents, bid them farewell, and boarded the carriage.
On his way to the port, his mother's tearful face and father's pleading words echoed in his mind.
"I'll miss them." he muttered.
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~ To be continued