Chapter Fifteen: The Fork in the Road
I'm still, still as the rock that I sit on. My life has gone far from where it was. For some years I remained the long arm of Saetan's law. I was the one that he would send when no one else would do. But many griefs were heaped on my head. My brother, Casey, joined me in the realm far to soon. He had died in defense of a Kaeleer Queen, a woman who he claimed were what Queens were supposed to be. They built a monument to him there, next to the one that he had the built for me. Apparently Casey found my body after my spirit had left it, and saw that it was properly attended to. All his holdings, vast as they are, in Terreille were left to my little bird. But she's not so little. Casey says by the time that he left she was well established as an assassin, and as a whore. My lady always was a survivor, it's good to know that she took my words to heart and learned to watch her own back. I sit and I remember the past. I have nothing else, I have no future, I'm dead, and I have fulfilled my destiny. As I told Titan long before she became Queen of the Harpies, I will never meet my lady again.
"Hello?" A soft, feminine voice echos into the darkness that always surrounds me.
"What do you want?" I growl, making no attempt at being polite
"I seek the Hunter of the Blood," she replies formally.
"Which fool told you to seek him?" I don't like having my peace disturbed, I get so little of it. The life I've lived does not lead to an easy mind.
"The Queen of the Harpies is no fool."
"No she's something worse. She's a meddler." I sigh, "What do you want?"
"I told you, I seek the Hunter of the Blood."
"I am he. Now tell me what is it that you want from me, lady?"
"I simply wish to talk."
"Nothing is simple with Queens. The more powerful you are the more complicated. And I sense that you a re the most powerful, that you are Witch."
I hear a gasp, maybe I shouldn't have revealed what I know. Finally, she gathers her strength and answers me. "Yes, I am Witch. And I come to ask something of you."
"Then you know nothing of me. I serve no Queen, not even you."
"Then, I ask that you listen to me, for all of those that live, and will live in all the realms."
"I am listening."
"A great evil has been brewing, and has finally erupted. Now I have only one way to save all those who would lead all the races into the future. I must gather all my strength, and all the strength of many others and purge the realms of all the tainted Blood."
"If someone had done something before this point, then you wouldn't have to."
"How can you be so cold?"
"My life was not the most sheltered. It has left me no delusions." "Titan said you were an honourable man, who would help me if I asked you correctly. When I asked Mephis about you he said that you were a dangerous man and I should avoid you. But what of your family do you not wish to clear the dishonour your brother heaped upon their name? "
"I did that when I killed my brother and saved my lady."
"Your lady? Will you not do this for her. Dangerous man who cares for nothing I do not believe you are, nor does Titan, or else she wouldn't have sent me to you."
"I am a dangerous man, and I will help you. But not for your reasons. I will help you because I sense that my lady finally has her happiness, and I will not deny her that."
"You lady?"
"My little bird. I will tell you no more. If this must be done, then it must be done quickly. Come."
I escort Witch back to the circle she is building, no the web, and chose a place that guards her back. I can't have her dying when the peace I am seeking for those who live in the realms and my heart is still out of reach.
Soon the web is assembled, and the power starts to flow. I have no Jewels to contribute, but I have my own power. The power that has sustained me this long, the power of my mind. I focus on one thought as I open my self to the power of this web, and it rips me to shreds, and then as I greet the Darkness I feel the thought merge with the Jewel, and I know that she will be safe, and happy, and am content to let go. I know no more. I am no more. The Hunter of the Blood is dead, well and truly dead, let the rejoicing begin.
End Chapter Fifteen
I'm still, still as the rock that I sit on. My life has gone far from where it was. For some years I remained the long arm of Saetan's law. I was the one that he would send when no one else would do. But many griefs were heaped on my head. My brother, Casey, joined me in the realm far to soon. He had died in defense of a Kaeleer Queen, a woman who he claimed were what Queens were supposed to be. They built a monument to him there, next to the one that he had the built for me. Apparently Casey found my body after my spirit had left it, and saw that it was properly attended to. All his holdings, vast as they are, in Terreille were left to my little bird. But she's not so little. Casey says by the time that he left she was well established as an assassin, and as a whore. My lady always was a survivor, it's good to know that she took my words to heart and learned to watch her own back. I sit and I remember the past. I have nothing else, I have no future, I'm dead, and I have fulfilled my destiny. As I told Titan long before she became Queen of the Harpies, I will never meet my lady again.
"Hello?" A soft, feminine voice echos into the darkness that always surrounds me.
"What do you want?" I growl, making no attempt at being polite
"I seek the Hunter of the Blood," she replies formally.
"Which fool told you to seek him?" I don't like having my peace disturbed, I get so little of it. The life I've lived does not lead to an easy mind.
"The Queen of the Harpies is no fool."
"No she's something worse. She's a meddler." I sigh, "What do you want?"
"I told you, I seek the Hunter of the Blood."
"I am he. Now tell me what is it that you want from me, lady?"
"I simply wish to talk."
"Nothing is simple with Queens. The more powerful you are the more complicated. And I sense that you a re the most powerful, that you are Witch."
I hear a gasp, maybe I shouldn't have revealed what I know. Finally, she gathers her strength and answers me. "Yes, I am Witch. And I come to ask something of you."
"Then you know nothing of me. I serve no Queen, not even you."
"Then, I ask that you listen to me, for all of those that live, and will live in all the realms."
"I am listening."
"A great evil has been brewing, and has finally erupted. Now I have only one way to save all those who would lead all the races into the future. I must gather all my strength, and all the strength of many others and purge the realms of all the tainted Blood."
"If someone had done something before this point, then you wouldn't have to."
"How can you be so cold?"
"My life was not the most sheltered. It has left me no delusions." "Titan said you were an honourable man, who would help me if I asked you correctly. When I asked Mephis about you he said that you were a dangerous man and I should avoid you. But what of your family do you not wish to clear the dishonour your brother heaped upon their name? "
"I did that when I killed my brother and saved my lady."
"Your lady? Will you not do this for her. Dangerous man who cares for nothing I do not believe you are, nor does Titan, or else she wouldn't have sent me to you."
"I am a dangerous man, and I will help you. But not for your reasons. I will help you because I sense that my lady finally has her happiness, and I will not deny her that."
"You lady?"
"My little bird. I will tell you no more. If this must be done, then it must be done quickly. Come."
I escort Witch back to the circle she is building, no the web, and chose a place that guards her back. I can't have her dying when the peace I am seeking for those who live in the realms and my heart is still out of reach.
Soon the web is assembled, and the power starts to flow. I have no Jewels to contribute, but I have my own power. The power that has sustained me this long, the power of my mind. I focus on one thought as I open my self to the power of this web, and it rips me to shreds, and then as I greet the Darkness I feel the thought merge with the Jewel, and I know that she will be safe, and happy, and am content to let go. I know no more. I am no more. The Hunter of the Blood is dead, well and truly dead, let the rejoicing begin.
End Chapter Fifteen