Infernum

Outside the large wooden door of the lords’ temple, Coeus of House Tracta cautiously approached the door in his usual manner; already at the door, Ariston of House Nobilis was standing to attention waiting for the door to open.

“It is good to see you, Coeus, even if you are late,” Ariston said in a confident tone.

“It appears as if I am not the only one,” Coeus replied as he looked back and saw a man and woman approaching. Walking in unison the twins Daire and his female counterpart Danu slowly walked toward the large door, ignoring the others who were there they just stood quietly and waited.

“I would not talk of tardiness, Ariston, as even you were second to my arrival,” an unknown voice called out. Ariston quickly looked over toward the door just in time to see Aiolus change his armor un-bending the light around him and thus making himself visible again.

“Aiolus, I see you have not lost your flair when it comes to camouflage. Although it is a useless skill for a royal guard to have, I must admit that no one can best your skills,” Ariston said to him.

“Thank you, Ariston, coming from you that means a lot to me,” Aiolus replied.

Just then all five stopped talking and looked back toward the long steps that led to the temple. Just an outline of a man at first as he approached but he was instantly recognized if there was ever a royal guard who commanded as much respect as the lords themselves it would be this man… Probatus.

As Probatus approached the door Ariston, Coeus, Aiolus, Daire and Danu all turned toward him and bowed slightly out of respect. Probatus was the most revered and respected member of the guard as well as hailing from the most prestigious and oldest house on Caelo, House Condietur. He looked at the others with contentment. His suit shone brightly with symbols from all corners of the galaxy covering every inch of his adorned white armor, a tribute to his enormity. “It must be a matter of grave importance to have called so many into service. House Condietur is honored to enact the lords’ will,” he said to the others.

“Indeed,” Daire and Danu said simultaneously. Just then, the large door began to open and the six lined up in pairs and entered the temple in a military-style march.

Once inside the temple the march continued down the long hall. Probatus never wavered in his commitment, his head never turned to look upon the carvings in the walls. He was all business; they all knew that he was in a completely different class than they were, and so if he never wavered then they must not either for fear of dishonoring their houses in his presence. The sound of their footsteps in unison was amplified in this long stone hallway, there were only six of them, but the sound could have been coming from six hundred as the echoes bounced off the walls. At the end of the long hall, Probatus marched them to the center of the room and kneeled in front of the Concordat. The others quickly followed suit and kneeled as well, awaiting their orders in a very serious and time-honored manner.

“Rise!” an unknown voice called out. Probatus and the others slowly stood up and quickly acknowledged the voice as the voice of a lord. Daire and Danu looked at each other as soon as they saw the lord emerge from the shadows; this was not Lord Felix, they were shocked to see a new lord as Felix was the only lord they had ever seen in all two hundred fifty-seven years of service. Daire and Danu immediately bowed in the presence of this new lord, as did Coeus and Aiolus; Ariston took a moment longer but kneeled as the others did. Probatus, on the other hand, did not take a knee like the others; he simply bowed his head with respect, which was good enough for a man of his standing.

“I am Lord Titus, I have summoned you all here on this day of days,” Titus said, not allowing them to stand as Felix once did. Not making a sound the six remained still and awaited their orders from this new lord.

“Arise and rejoice on this day as Lord Felix has ascended and joined with his brethren on the higher plain,” Titus said in a joyful tone. The six arose as commanded and stood patiently as they waited for further instructions. “Yes, this is a very joyous occasion indeed, I think a holiday should be announced on this Ascension Day,” Titus carried on.

“Indeed, Lord Titus,” Probatus said softly with his head still down.

“Yes indeed… But there is no time to celebrate now as a travesty has occurred on this day of ascension,” Titus said in a solemn tone as he began to walk around the six. “Treason!” he yelled at the six, causing them all to look up at him. “A house has committed treason on this festive day of ascension. I ask of you; can there be a greater crime?” Titus asked sarcastically.

Probatus looked at him. “A travesty my lord, who could have done such a heinous deed?” he asked.

itus circled around until he was directly in front of Probatus and the others. “House Animosis,” he said. All six guardsmen snapped their heads up at looked at him in unison, shocked at the house name that was just announced.

“My Lord Titus, surely there must be some mistake. House Animosis is an honorable house that has always been among the most loyal in their service,” Coeus asked, ever so careful so as not to sound offensive.

“I know this is hard to hear, but believe it. Two members of House Animosis have defected, both Hope and Gabriel have gone AWOL and furthermore we have received information that they have committed the worst of all possible offenses,” Titus explained.

Daire and Danu started to speak in unison as they always did but were quickly interrupted by Lord Titus before they could speak a single word. “The traitors have defected from us and are conspiring with the daemons on Earth. Our sources have informed us that they are trying to free them from the Infernum for an attack on Caelo.”

The look on the faces of the six guardsmen standing before Lord Titus was instantly transformed from disbelief into one of pure hatred and disgust. Lord Titus recognized the looks on their faces and went on to say, “We cannot let this travesty go unpunished, House Animosis is hereby disgraced. Your task, Probatus, is to lead this group against House Animosis and scrub Caelo clean of this filth, you must destroy all traces of House Animosis’ tainted walls and muddy foundation and eradicate its members to the point of extinction.”

Probatus bowed his head once more to Lord Titus. “I see that this putrid infection of a house must be cleansed, my lord; it will be my honor to scrub this filth away. In your name, I will lead and guide these five on this quest to wipe House Animosis from the pages of history,” he proclaimed as the other five all agreed with the statement in their heads.

Lord Titus raised his hand and an orb appeared above Probatus; extending his ribbons upward toward the glowing orb, his head was filled with the name, face, and location of every member of House Animosis. Probatus stretched his ribbons to the other five and the information was shared as soon as they touched their ribbons to his. Lord Titus slowly stepped backward, disappearing into the shadows leaving Probatus and the other five alone in the room.

Daire and Danu looked toward Probatus.

“How should we proceed?” they asked.

Probatus turned to the group. “House Animosis is small, there are only 52 members; most of them are here on Caelo with only Hope and Gabriel being the exception. We will split up and cleanse Caelo of the Animosis filth,” he announced.

“And what of Gabriel and Hope?” Coeus asked.

“We will meet up on Earth in 24 hours; it will take all of us to bring down two guards,” Probatus answered.

The group agreed and then one by one they each opened a porthole and left the temple, each with a list of names to clean. Probatus thought he would start in the

Desperatus district of Caelo’s capital city Pharus.

***

Once through his porthole, Probatus had an easy time finding the members of House Animosis, as each one of them lit up in his mind as his ánimam identified each of them. He walked up to the first person on his list, his ánimam said his name was Charles and that he preferred the name chuck.

“Charles,” Probatus asked, knowing full well the answer.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Of House Animosis?” Probatus asked again, still knowing the answer.

“Yes, I am sir,” Chuck replied.

Probatus stood tall and raised his right hand, pointing at Chuck.

“Charles Animosis, your house has been reviewed and convicted of treason!” Probatus announced for all to hear.

There weren’t many people walking down the street of this old town district, but every last one of them stopped and looked at Charles when they heard that. Charles’ heart sank and a look of sheer horror washed over his face. He dropped to his knees knowing there was nothing he could do to avert his fate as he did not possess any weapons or skills that could save him from an elite royal guard.

Probatus looked down at him with pity as he drew his mighty ribbons from his back and struck Charles through the neck, severing his head from his body. He then used his ribbons to brand the symbol of the traitor into Charles’ body as it still gushed fresh blood onto the street. The symbol, a skull with six arrows of various lengths pointing away from it representing the death of all traitors no matter which way they tried to run, was still smoldering from the heat and the smell of burning flesh filled the air as Probatus left the scene on his way to scratch the other 49 names off his list.

A woman walked by shortly after Probatus had done his work and looked down at Charles. Once she saw the brand in his corpse, she faced forward again and kept walking as if nothing had happened. Obviously, the man was guilty because he was punished by the guard. Several others walked by Charles in this way; no one stopped or even wondered whether he was truly guilty or not.