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  Knight of the Black Rose

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, character, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organisations is entirely coincidental.

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  Dedication

  I want to thank everyone who supported me so far and has taken an interest in my writing, asking how I was doing and always seemed so surprised when I told them what I had achieved and always there for me, telling me not to give up and encouraging me.

  And of course I want to thank my mum and dad, they’ve always been there for me, encouraging me in everything that I do, telling me to follow my dreams otherwise later on I’ll just end regretting it if I didn’t take the chance now. So these books are my dream, and my chance, and I don’t regret a thing.

  Prologue

  It was a mild yet damp September morning in England with the sun only just breaking through the grey rain clouds that threaten to begin raining again at any moment, just like it had been doing all night long.

  Traffic speeded up and down the rain washed roads not taking care considering the weather, though they have grown up with this kind of weather their whole lives, even the predestines didn't seem to mind as a car speeded along through a large puddle spraying the whole of the sidewalk. Perhaps none of them minded because none of them actually got wet, which isn't really the point of course because someone could have and he meaning the driver wouldn't have stopped or cared about what he had done, actually he probably would have thought it funny.

  The wind suddenly started to pick up, so much so that the trees began bending somewhat with the force; the clouds over head also began to gather quickly building up, forming a cyclone. Those walking up the road noticed the increase in the wind as they had to fight to walk forward, but didn't notice what was actually happening above them until it was too late, as the cyclone took form reaching down to the ground as though it was going to grab something or drop something off.

  A young girl screamed, pulling at her mothers arms, who hadn't noticed what was coming towards her but she saw something out of the corner of her eye without looking back fully, though of course who would want too; she grabbed up her daughter and ran shouting to those in front to run also and of course to get out of her way not wanting anyone to stop her.

  They turned around wondering what was going on all of a sudden, but all they could do was just stare transfixed for a moment as in disbelief that it was actually happening to them as this sort of thing didn't really happen here in England; reality seem to finally hit them and they began to run away from it, in some sort of hope that perhaps they might be able to out run it.

  The speeding traffic behind screeched to a holt, before they started to back away from it as quickly as possible; as for those in front who could see what was going on behind them through their mirrors, put their foot down even more not wanting to be anywhere near when it properly touched down.

  The wind was howling something terrible as though there was an actual creature inside as it picked up even more speed, the air got tighter swirling up into the cyclone hovering off of the ground as if it was thinking where to land next. But as it stretched out again it seemed to convulse and then hit the ground with such speed and force that it should have ripped up most of the pavement with it; yet no debris was shacken free and taken up into its centre.

  Up above in the sky the grey storm clouds had seemed to settle once more as though they had nothing to do with what was happening below, disconnecting from the cyclone that was still swirling below; but it also was in fact slowing down becoming smaller and smaller until there was nothing left except, a dark skinned young man dressed in smart dress robes.

  He held out his hands to balance himself as he lifted his shaven head, he looked as though he was in his late teens and was in fact quite handsome even though he had a puzzled look plastid across his face as he looked around himself, taking in his surroundings. He quickly looked up at the sky but there was nothing left to show that anything had happened. He started to walked towards a sign that was up on the wall as he felt his sides as though he was checking for something, he seemed satisfied that whatever he was looking for were still there.

  The young man looked up at the sign on the wall which read 'Lingstill Street', he recognized the language but that didn't help because he still didn't know where he was, a street name wasn't helpful in he didn't even know the country or world that he was on. A car engine roared up behind him, he spun around startled by the sound as it had been such a long time since he had heard such a sound and then just stared at it as it speeded past him, seeing this defiantly didn't make him feel any better in fact it actually made him feel even worse and the growing worry of what might have happened began to dawn on him.

  He started to walk again as he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket and pressed the pin on the side of his squared face watch, he needed to find the others that was with him, and quickly.

  "Domnus to Luxis...come in..." Domnus said into his watch face, but there was no answer and no noise coming from it at all as though it was dead, just something else to make him worry at what could have gone wrong.

  As he walked he reached out with his feelings searching for someone familiar, but there was nothing just this great emptiness; he composed himself assured that he would be able to figure out what had happened and where he was. He was sure that he had been in worse situations than this before, he just couldn't remember any of them at the moment, but he was sure that there had been worse and if she was here, he was sure she would list them for him with a smile of her face.

  Domnus had been walking for over ten minutes looking for something that would give him more information about where he was, when finally there was sign of life along the road; there was a long row of houses on the right side of the road that he was on and on the left was what looked like shops of some kind. He turned towards the road and looked both ways making sure that it was clear before he crossed knowing that he might have a better chance of figuring out where he was from the shops where there would be people, and perhaps some sort of access to a computer would be good.

  There was what looked like a hairdressers, something that sold meats and the largest that sold a whole range of items; he decided that this would be his best bet for finding out information so he went inside.

  To his left was the counter with a man stood behind it with dark hair and skin talking to the group of teenage lads who were in fact all staring at him, Domnus didn't know why they were staring though he put it down to how he was dressed where as they were in t-shirts and jeans he in fact wore a white shirt with a blue embroidered knee length waist coat and nervy blue trousers that were so dark they could almost be mistaken as black. He walked down a cold aisle full of fridges which also had mirror's in them, he glanced at himself through the mirror, and stopped at the sight of himself turning to look at it directing; he touched his face for he wasn't exactly looking back at himself.

  "What on earth...?" Domnus whispered to himself somewhat confused. "Just what has happened?"

  Now he understood why they had been staring at him, it was how he was dressed because he was by all appearances the same age as the lad
s, and of course guys at his new age didn't dress the way that he was. Even though his appearance had changed, he still had all of his memories, which meant if he could figure out what had happened to him, when he returned he hopefully would return to his normal age.

  He carried on walking trying to remain calm as he came to the back wall which was covered in paper or rather books of papers that he had never seen before, they had pictures and writing covering them all. He picked up one which had a man on the cover and then he saw the date September 1993; he just stared at it wondering if this was real or if he was being tested in some fashion, but as far as he could tell this all seemed real, it felt it.

  Domnus put it back where he had found it and walked back out of the store, he needed to find Luxis, he was sure that she would also be here if he was even though she wasn't with him when he had been pulled inside of the cyclone which had ended up a lot bigger on this side.

  Domnus had been walking around for several hours unable to make contact with Luxis or anyone else, seeing as his com wasn't working, and he didn’t have any equipment of him to repair it. He had sensed something familiar but it wasn't someone he knew it was something he just couldn't place it; but that was the least of his problems, it was getting dark and he was in a place and time that he knew nothing about. He had no money on him yet he would need a place to stay and food to eat, and of course he would have to get clothes as well for this time because the clothes that he was wearing didn't really suit this point in time or his age that he was here.

  He looked around the city centre that he was now in with store's lining the part cobbled street, they were mainly clothes stores except for one which looked as though it sold food among other things; this would be an ideal place if he had money but at the moment his first need was somewhere to stay, he was sure that there should be hotels or apartments to rent other than those on the way into the centre.

  Domnus walked through the outside bus station, he had heard people passing by what this was when he saw a sign for a hotel, it didn't look much from the outside which he didn't cared about, just hoping that it wouldn't be too expensive and that he would find away to be able to pay it back. Those waiting for the buses stood in groups on the sidewalk so that you had to walk around them as they wouldn't move to clear a way, he found this behaviour quite unusual as normally everyone would just step out of his way clearing a path for him; though he did have to keep reminding himself he was much younger and it had taken years to build the respect that he had earned from others. He turned towards the glass door and saw his reflection again which reminded him that he wasn't that person any more nor was he in his own time anymore; this was defiantly going to take a lot of getting used to.

  He walked into the carpeted lobby that had one large light fitting over head in the centre of the ceiling, it didn't give off much light as though it was actually covered in dust and obscuring the light; he quickly scanned the room the sofa's on the far side with a couple sat talking quietly dressed ready to go out for the night. He then turned his attention over to the desk where a young woman stood behind it, she smiled at him as he stopped in front of her; she had shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes and had a name tag pinned to her cream shirt which read 'Allison'.

  "Good evening I was wondering how much a single room was here pre night, or if you do any offers," Domnus asked her politely.

  "Well, Monday to Thursday the rooms are £15; Friday to Sunday they're £25," Allison told him. "But we do, do offers of course; for a week £110 so you're getting a night free so if you stay for two weeks you get two nights free so it'll be £220,"

  "Well then, I'll have two weeks," Domnus told her, he wasn't completely sure what their currency was but he was getting two nights free and hopefully he won't really need to stay for so long, but he might as well air of the side of caution.

  "That's great, I'll just take your details then; when will you be staying from?" Allison asked him.

  "Starting tonight of course," Domnus told her.

  "That's fine, sorry," Allison said smiling as she typed on the keyboard and scanning the screen. "Yes, we have a room for you and it's for two weeks; all I need now is you name and payment details."

  "Ordin Domnus," Domnus told her, she looked up at him waiting; he didn't realize at first what she seemed to be waiting for and then seemed to realise and spelt out his name for her. "O...R...D...I...N D...O...M...N...U...S." He reached into his pocket of his trousers and pulled out a silver coloured card that had strange markings on it and handed it over. "Seya un morla.”

  She held the card in her hand staring at it, then she looked up at him and handed it back. "Thank you,"

  She typed some more and then she turned around to the numbered open boxes that covered the wall behind her and pulled out the key to room number 317, then she turned back around and handed him the key.

  "Evening meal begins at 6:30pm and finishes at 9:00pm, breakfast begins at 7: 00am and finishes at 9:30am, lunch is from 12:00pm till 2:00pm. The bar opens at 12:00pm and closes at midnight. I hope that you have a pleasant stay Mr Dom...nus,"

  "Thank you for your help," Domnus said before he walked off towards the lift on his right beside the stairs, he pressed the button and waited for the doors to open.

  It took a whole minute before the lift binged loudly and then the doors opened, he stepped inside of the small box mirrored lift and just stood there waiting for the lift doors to close, when he noticed a panel on the right with numbers upon them; he reached out and pressed 3; the doors closed and the lift started to move upwards somewhat unsteadily as he looked at himself through the mirror's that he was unable to hide from as every inch was covered.

  "Not actually what I had planned," Domnus said to himself. "I just hope that she's alright...where ever she is." He knew that it might not always be her fault but trouble did kind of follow her around, he just hoped that she wasn't in any that she couldn't get herself out of until he could get to her. Or if it was just him, he hoped that she would be able to help him and get him back to where he really belonged.

  The lifted binged loudly as it stopped waiting several seconds before the door slide open, he stepped out onto the beige carpeted hall with small light fittings along the walls in-between the rooms; he looked at the first room to his right which was silver with the number 302 so he carried on walking knowing now which side the odd numbers were and how far along his room would be.

  Domnus turned the corner at the end of the hall and there was his room, his pushed the key into the hole but the door didn't open, yet it fit so he turned it and heard the mechanism click and then it opened; he pushed the door open and went inside closing the door behind him.

  There was a double bed with white sheets and tables on either side, drawers facing with a mirror above it attached to the wall itself; beneath the window with the curtains open was a small round glass table with two chairs, behind him was a built in wardrobe and where he had come into the room on the right was another door, open, which lead into the small bathroom.

  It wasn't much but that didn't bother him considering that he had stayed in place's that wouldn't have even been classed as liveable by most races, though when one didn't have the local currency one couldn't really complain about the accommodations. He walked over to the window at the world below him, it was starting to rain making it look later than it actually was; he smiled slightly to himself thinking that Luxis would be cursing him right about now because she had never liked the rain.

  The smile faded as quickly as it had appeared, he knew that they would have been able to find each other or even let the other know that they were alright if she was really here, so he had to consider the possibility that she wasn't here with him and that he was in fact alone on Earth at the end of the twentieth century; but all wasn't lost because he knew of course with being human himself that there were others like him here all he had to do was find them and perhaps then he would be able to get back to his own time.

  The rain pounded on
the window in the small hotel room, the main light in the centre of the room was still lit even though it was early morning but considering the weather there wasn't really much light coming from the outside. Domnus sat at the table with a newspaper in hand checking once again if any strange events have been reported as his arrival had been, it had been all over their news channels and newspapers for days because no one could explain how it had appeared and disappeared so quickly and without it being picked up by their satellites; as he read his breakfast sat in front of him going cold and forgotten.

  "Nothing..." Domnus said to himself annoyed. "It's been a whole week, there has to have been something else..."

  Domnus seemed to have realized something and put the paper down grabbing the toast off the side plate as he stood up and fastened his waist coat, he walked over to the mirror looking at himself still in the clothes that he had arrived in knowing that he had to do something about it because this was taking a lot longer than he had first thought that it would; he'd just have to get a job somehow doing something to earn some real money.