"Please step back,” the guard
instructed.
His two fellow guards moved to the center of the gold doors and grabbed onto the handles. Throwing their entire body weight into it, they started to move the doors slowly. I had expected a deafening roar from the hinges, but as they opened, they were completely silent despite their immense weight. It made sense though. The Chithula would only have the finest things. As the golden doors opened, I saw into the main audience chamber. Never having been this far before, I craned my head to see inside. During my last meeting with the Chithula, a high-ranking official had met me just inside the front entrance. A routine case involving a wayward Werewolf, the creature had sought asylum within the Chithula's walls. It was my job to retrieve the wolf, so I asked if they would release it into my custody. I was told no on the spot and sent on my way. After coming to the Chithula, the wolf seemed to vanish completely off the face of the Earth. It seemed their protection was all-encompassing. So much so that the beings in their charge were never heard from again. No one, and I mean no living soul anywhere, ever spotted the wolf after that day. When I couldn't retrieve him, his name was added to the global Brimstone database in case he skipped the country. To this day, the wolf hadn't been captured or surveiled. Anywhere. Which was odd about Vlad.If he was indeed in the Chithula's protection, why did I find him loitering in a bar? And how did a Vampire like Vlad come into the protection of such a powerful
organization in the first place? These were just some of the questions I had for the Chithula, assuming
he didn't kill us on the spot.
The audience chamber was slightly less opulent than the main hall but no less impressive. The dominant color was again white marble, yet there seemed to be less of it. A thick, black rug ran from the mouth of the room to an elevated platform at the rear. Inhumans of all shapes, sizes, and breeds lounged in lavish furniture against the walls. All dressed in the finest fabrics and the most modern styles, this was the Chithula's court. These Inhumans worshiped, and obeyed. Nothing more. They chattered as if their lives meant something not realizing it was all a façade created by the Chithula. He wanted people to rule, and these Inhumans came willingly.
I saw him then. Walking out of a large door at the rear of the platform, he was magnificent and awe-inspiring. He was Chithula, one of the most powerful Ifrit on this plane of existence. He was completely engulfed by flame, making his hulking outline appear only as a black shadow beneath it. His head had two long curved horns that swept forward from his temples and terminated near his jaw. His eyes appeared as two glowing coals in his eye sockets while his mouth was wide and filled with angry, jagged teeth. His powerful arms hung almost to his knees, while his massive hands looked as if they could crush me with little effort.
"Did anyone bring marshmallows?” Karl asked under his breath. I reached down and smacked the Goblin across the back of his head. “Shut it, Karl. One more outburst like that and we'll be roasting you over the fire.” I let my eyes gloss over black and showed my fangs. “I hear Goblin is an acquired taste, but I'm very open-minded." As Toby chuckled softly under his breath, Karl shrank back from me for the first time since we met. I returned my attention to Chithula.
Ifrit, one of the three classes of the Demon species known as Jinn, were powerful creatures of fire
His two fellow guards moved to the center of the gold doors and grabbed onto the handles. Throwing their entire body weight into it, they started to move the doors slowly. I had expected a deafening roar from the hinges, but as they opened, they were completely silent despite their immense weight. It made sense though. The Chithula would only have the finest things. As the golden doors opened, I saw into the main audience chamber. Never having been this far before, I craned my head to see inside. During my last meeting with the Chithula, a high-ranking official had met me just inside the front entrance. A routine case involving a wayward Werewolf, the creature had sought asylum within the Chithula's walls. It was my job to retrieve the wolf, so I asked if they would release it into my custody. I was told no on the spot and sent on my way. After coming to the Chithula, the wolf seemed to vanish completely off the face of the Earth. It seemed their protection was all-encompassing. So much so that the beings in their charge were never heard from again. No one, and I mean no living soul anywhere, ever spotted the wolf after that day. When I couldn't retrieve him, his name was added to the global Brimstone database in case he skipped the country. To this day, the wolf hadn't been captured or surveiled. Anywhere. Which was odd about Vlad.If he was indeed in the Chithula's protection, why did I find him loitering in a bar? And how did a Vampire like Vlad come into the protection of such a powerful
organization in the first place? These were just some of the questions I had for the Chithula, assuming
he didn't kill us on the spot.
The audience chamber was slightly less opulent than the main hall but no less impressive. The dominant color was again white marble, yet there seemed to be less of it. A thick, black rug ran from the mouth of the room to an elevated platform at the rear. Inhumans of all shapes, sizes, and breeds lounged in lavish furniture against the walls. All dressed in the finest fabrics and the most modern styles, this was the Chithula's court. These Inhumans worshiped, and obeyed. Nothing more. They chattered as if their lives meant something not realizing it was all a façade created by the Chithula. He wanted people to rule, and these Inhumans came willingly.
I saw him then. Walking out of a large door at the rear of the platform, he was magnificent and awe-inspiring. He was Chithula, one of the most powerful Ifrit on this plane of existence. He was completely engulfed by flame, making his hulking outline appear only as a black shadow beneath it. His head had two long curved horns that swept forward from his temples and terminated near his jaw. His eyes appeared as two glowing coals in his eye sockets while his mouth was wide and filled with angry, jagged teeth. His powerful arms hung almost to his knees, while his massive hands looked as if they could crush me with little effort.
"Did anyone bring marshmallows?” Karl asked under his breath. I reached down and smacked the Goblin across the back of his head. “Shut it, Karl. One more outburst like that and we'll be roasting you over the fire.” I let my eyes gloss over black and showed my fangs. “I hear Goblin is an acquired taste, but I'm very open-minded." As Toby chuckled softly under his breath, Karl shrank back from me for the first time since we met. I returned my attention to Chithula.
Ifrit, one of the three classes of the Demon species known as Jinn, were powerful creatures of fire