An hour later the group of werewolves and Bultungin was standing in front of a very nondescript building. Mary had identified the building where she had sensed the Matriarch, from Google maps on Niah's computer, her best guess at any rate. Standing here though was something else.

It was an old apartment building. It looked like it had been shut down for a while. There were no lights in any of the windows, and the front door had been barred shut. The back of the building held a single metal door whose recent use was apparent.

Acharya nodded to Aiman, who opened the metal door. It was locked of course. Aiman shifted into his werewolf form and yanked the door off its hinges, before setting it down next the building and shifted back to his human form.

The group walked through the door in single file, led by Mary and Furaha. The doorway led to a metal grated stairway that led down. The building was dark and no one dared suggest trying to finding any sort of light switch. The quiet rustling of the city outside as it roused itself for the day was lost as they entered the building. Here there was no movement and very little sound, Acharya was reminded of the solemnity of a tomb.

They moved silently down the stairs, no one spoke. Their Shape shifter eyes gave them sight enough to see, even in the deep gloom. The stairs went down a long way. Acharya guessed that they were down at least two levels underground. Then their feet came to rest on the solid, even ground of concrete.

Mary moved forward with Furaha and Niah leading the group. The open dark space around them reminded them of a cave, though even their eyes were not able to fully penetrate the darkness to see the walls or the ceiling.

They were moving towards a soft glow, like that of a candle flame in the distance. Acharya saw the shadowy outline of another doorway. Mary moved to the doorway and stepped through.

As the group moved through the doorway, they stepped down a short, four step set of stairs. The light around them was enough to reveal a circular room, the steps they walked down was mirrored at the four cardinal directions of the room. The floor they now stood was covered in a glazed concrete and the walls were decorated with masks and tapestries. The tapestries were red and yellow with some blue, depicting various scenes of the African desert, and maybe an animal hunt of some kind. They had the look of antiquity and Acharya found himself wondering how much the pieces of art were worth.

The depression of the room they now stood was encircled by a raised section that rimmed the outer edges, which held a few chairs and couches. Acharya was reminded of a courtroom, or a killing pit.

The lights in the room brightened. The sudden jump from barely visible dimness to normal room lighting was jarring and Acharya found himself blinking even though the lights weren't terribly bright.

The four sets of stairs leading down into the pit, held a doorway at the top of each, and suddenly, without sound, people came through the doorways. Men and woman walked through the doorways, not speaking, dressed in robes, or jeans and shirts. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to their outfits but all of them were physical specimens of their race and sex. The women's calf muscles bulged with each step under their robes. And the men's shoulder and arms muscles flexed as they took up positions around the outer ring of the room, folding their arms, looking down at the visitors. Acharya quickly counted the men and woman as they stood in silent judgement of them, and his heart sank as he darted a look at Mary.

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The woman who spoke was familiar to them. It was Nnenia, the girl that Furaha had tried to dominate in the tech store when they had first arrived. Her lips turned up into a cruel smile, "you have failed the riddle, the punishment is death." The Bultungin honor guard began to move down the stair, encircling the group.

Niah held up her hand, "Just a moment."

Nnenia's smile faltered as the rest of the Bultungin stopped where they were. "Would you dare try to talk your way out of our laws? As Bultungin, you should at least be able to die with honor, and not try to snivel or bargain your way out of the consequences of your actions."

"I would never dream of turning against our own kind, or forsaking our laws in such a way. I ask only that you count one more time, and you'll see that we did indeed pass your riddle."

Nnenia looked shocked as she counted the intruders against the Matriarchs honor guard, "You are still two short, young one," she said with a satisfied smirk.

Niah shook her head and glanced softly behind them, and through the doorway they had entered, now stood two women, smiling as they joined the group in the pit.

Nnenia stared at the group as her face hardened, and the few Bultungin honor guard that had stepped into the room's pit now climbed their stairways to stand on the raised part of the room. Nnenia shot daggers at the group and whirled on her heels as she disappeared back through the doorway she had entered through.

Niah hugged her cousins as they joined the group. The pair were similar in height and both had their hair in braids going down their backs. "Thanks for being here."

The first one spoke first, "Are you kidding? How could I not answer the phone when my favorite cousin calls me up at four thirty in the morning telling me to meet her at some abandoned apartment building?" The three girls laughed as they hugged.

Niah replied, "I owe you one."

"Or five!" the other kidded.

"What the hell was that?" Furaha asked? "Why not bring them in with us instead of going through that whole stunt?"

"That was my idea," Acharya said. "We didn't know even if the riddle was a fair game or not. So we decided to let the Bultungin commit to a number and then we would bring in our reinforcements to match that number."

Furaha nodded with the slightest of smiles in approval, maybe these outsiders weren't as naive as she had originally thought.

The doorway in front of them was suddenly filled with the dark shape of an ancient woman, and the room became silent and somber. This woman carried a weight with her that was physically felt by the group and none of them could speak. The woman was wearing a blue robe with a heavy black shawl. Her heeled boots were sturdy and meant for more than just fancy dinners. Her long white hair hung in loose clumps and tightly knit braids that cascaded down her back over both shawl and robe.

The woman, moved with slow deliberate movements, speaking to her age. She leaned heavily on her cane, hunching forward as she walked. Her steps were echoed with the heavy thudding of her cane upon the concrete of the raised edge of the room as she made her way to what Acharya assumed was the large ornate chair, which stood in between the doorway she entered from and the one immediately to her right. The Matriarch sat down heavily on the chair. Mary could hear the phantom creaking of the elderly woman's bones as she sat down and leaned forward on her cane.

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