Lucy Wickshire 162 Chapter Twenty 6

They did not have time to think about what she had said as the drums stopped and a lean man in hunting garb stepped forward from the moderators. The rest were dressed in sharp aristocrat suits and adorning a walking stick; which was probably for fas.h.i.+on as none of the young healthy men needed one. The Ancients were familiar with the men dressed as aristocrats. They were some of the most dangerous men in their world; The Jhoull. They were dressed like n.o.blemen, because they really are. This is a special order of n.o.blemen trained by the next valley head of Lir. The qualification to enter their ranks is to be of n.o.ble blood.

Usually this was odd and would be seen as degrading for n.o.blemen from the Khul empire to serve under Lir Valley, but it was the highest honour a n.o.bleman in the empire could receive, to become a Jhoull. Their cold eyes combined with their n.o.ble air, brought chills to the spines of those who looked.

The man in hunting garb on the other hand, they did not know. His eyes scanned the entire arena before chuckling darkly.

"The alignment only happens once every hundred years. Oddly, it was not always so. There was a time when the alignment clock was a millennia per strike and there will come a time when it will return so. The realms out there are stronger than our little world, yet we are given ten tokens and usually it would be two to each ancient, but most clans would not be able to send those worthy enough. So, this gathering was needed. The token goes to the ten people left standing. Partic.i.p.ants! Take the stage!" the man said and those of the younger generation who wished to gain tokens stood up. They all went down to the centre stage, under the eyes of their clan; filled with approval and expectation.

Two Jhoulls walked before them and stabbed their walking sticks into the ground, then made hand sighs in unison. A door way slowly formed from thin air before them.

"The rules are simple; the tests will continue to weed out the weak, till ten remain. The moment you die in there, you have been weeded out." the man said and the two Jhoulls opened the door.

"Enter." he said and some of them hesitated for a second, while the braver few rushed in. the crowd cheered as they all started to rush in, signalling the event's true beginning.