He stood still as stone his eyes never leaving her form. The taste of her blood was still fresh in his mouth. She would most assuredly assume he had long since left her but he remained behind, hidden within the dark recesses of the forest. The sun was climbing higher over the horizon painting the sky with soft lavenders and brilliant oranges further pushing the remnants of night away. The fast growing light stung at his eyes leaving him to take one step backwards deeper into the shade of the trees. The shade granted his skin immunity from the morning light but it granted him little relief. Just being out during the day was enough to make his skin crawl, leaving behind the impression of thousands of needles poised above his skin ready to strike. He watched as she finally climbed up off her knees and to her feet and stumbled towards the trees where the path she had taken to get to the clearing began. He silently snickered as he watched her slap her cheeks and shake her head repeatedly mumbling under her breath about infuriating gorgeous men and week knees.
He pondered following her through the woods at least until her home came into view. It would be a risky move. The shade of the trees would only protect him for so long and he had to get back with his report from last night before Liffey, his superior, got too cranky. Liffey had a tendency to break things when upset or cranky. He paced swiftly yet quietly through the trees careful to always keep Emilia within his sight but always out of her view. She seemed to calm down with every step she took away from the spring and he could no longer hear her ramble on to herself. A little disappointing - he had found her rambling to be quite entertaining. The smile quickly fell from his face as he stopped in mid step. A faint hiss escaped through his teeth as he crouched down low. He was no longer the only one following the girl.
Through the low bushes on the other side of the worn path another creature slinked out of Emilia's sight. From how it drew closer with every slither he could tell it hadn't caught onto his scent as of yet. The creature's skin was a pale, charcoal gray. Its torso was elongated and its limbs were short and bent so that its stomach dragged along the ground as it moved; at the end of each stubby appendage were three curved wicked claws. It had a long curling tail the whipped around quickly, never still. Its face was flat its eyes glittered black. There was a long slash of a mouth that curved from eye tip to eye tip and was filled with many serrated teeth. Its neck meshed into its head and torso making it hard to differentiate where what stopped and what began. The movements it made looked stiff as if it had been sitting still for a very long time but it still slunk through the under bush with speed. From the look in the creature's eyes and the drool that dribbled down its chin it was plain to see what its intent was with Emilia.
The young man issued a growl low enough to escape Emilia's ears but loud enough to catch the creature's attention. It froze in its tracks and curled up defensively scanning the trees for his position. He held his breath and counted to three. Whether if by some intuition or by chance Emi picked up her pace into a neat sprint that carried her quickly away from their hidden places in the trees much to his relief. He did not need any witnesses around for this. As the tail end of her cotton nightgown disappeared from view around the corner he sprang from his spot, his movements too quick to give the creature enough time to react.
The creature screeched and spat as his weight slammed into it his deft strong hands quickly circling around its neck. In one swift motion he snapped its head to the side with an audible crack. The creatures head flopped limply to the side but its hisses did not cease. His brow furrowed and his teeth gritted as he flexed his hands like claws and made a grab for the creature's chest. He was blindsided by the creature s tail as it barreled into him and sent him flying back a few feet. He recovered quickly and crouched down low again his red eyes alive with fury. He looked very much like a large predatory cat ready to pounce. The creature's head dragged against the ground as it spun in slow circles trying to ready itself for the next attack. He launched his body once more tackling the creature. Their bodies writhed around on the ground as he wrestled it beneath his weight careful to avoid the whip like tail. Claws dug deep into his flesh spilling his thick blood onto the dirt under them. With a roar of anger He pinned the creature and thrust his fist through its center. The creature emitted a final terrible screech before going limb completely. He retracted his hand back leaving behind a gaping hole. His arm was covered in a thick slime-like blackness, clutched in his fist was the creature's misshapen heart. It beat twice in his hand before he crushed it into silence.
He opened his hand palm up, what was once the creature's heart turned to dust followed shortly after by its corpse. He let the dust slide out of his hand to mingle with the dust pile below; the wind would take care of the rest. He lifted his right arm to his face to inspect the two large claw rakes across his bicep. He cursed under his breath in agitation. The wound would heal fast enough but now he would have to mention this little run in with Liffey. As if on cue a shrill voice echoed through his head.
'Ánrothán? Where the hell are you!' He ran a hand through his now disheveled hair with a sigh as Liffey's voice hissed at him in his head. 'You know how much I hate being made to wait! It's already morning you have five minutes to get back here or so help me I will rip out your...' Ánrothán expertly tuned out Liffey's voice before turning on his heel and dashed off through the trees. He knew he would only get lectured all the worse by Liffey once he did get back to their base for shutting out the rant but he wasn't in the mood to listen. He sped quickly through the trees not even brushing against a single leaf the only sign of his passing the slight bow in the grass that remained only moments after he went by. At the speed he was going reaching the base in five minutes would be no great task though sadly that would not console Liffey any and he was still in for good ear chewing.
Ánrothán came to a stop, his eyes restlessly scanning the surrounding forest searching for the hidden opening amongst the hallows of the trees. Even though he and his comrades had been in the area for nearly two weeks now and he was more than familiar with the area it always took him longer than it should to find the correct opening. It did not help that he could not rely on his acute senses to find it due to the ward that encompassed the opening dulling everything significantly within a 20 foot radius. He found it soon enough beneath a tree's roots that outcropped over a wide ditch. The massed together roots created a kind of canopy the few feet they did stretch out. Below the canopy cloaked by the dirt and loose stones was a narrow tunnel. The tunnel's breadth was no more then five feet across and the ceiling just low enough that Ánrothán would have to duck as he ran the length of it. The corridor held a strong musty scent that tickled his nose as he ran. He paid little attention to it. He was almost at the end now. A faint flickering light was now visible at the very end shining down from the ceiling.
Reaching the end of the tunnel he came to a stop and straightened up. He tilted his head upwards to peer through a hole where the light filtered down through. In front of him stood a solid wall and there were no ladders or ropes in sight making it seem a dead end, the top of the hole was a good seven feet up and the hole itself narrower than the tunnel. He crouched down slightly before springing back up, shooting easily up through the hole. He landed with feet on either side of the opening before once more taking off. He was in a hallway now lined with lit candles who s flames danced as he blew past. The hall was larger than the tunnel had been and he did not need to stoop down to get through. At the end of the hallway was a fork in the path. Without a pause or even a slight slowing in his speed Ánrothán turn to the left and continued on. He turned left once more at a second fork and found himself before a heavy wooden door inlaid with ancient carvings. He quickly composed himself - straightening his back, a quick run of the hand through his hair and the mellowing of his facial features - before opening the door.
He was greeted by a mixture of incenses and a thick smoke that stung at his eyes. He stepped inside and took a step to the right before letting the door fall shut behind him. The room was quite large with a domed ceiling. The walls were lined with countless bookshelves stocked full of dusty books of varying kinds as well as many rolled up scrolls. The room was dark without a single window to let in any natural light or fresh air for that matter. Many candles were scattered along tables and chandeliers hung low from the ceiling casting a weak light throughout the room. Not that his kind even needed any light to see by.
He began a slow stride to the center of the room. Standing there was a short figure dressed completely in black. Their clothes were very form fitting and a long heavy cloak was draped across their shoulders. Their hair hung down half the length of their back and was a glossy, midnight black. Their form was very slim and uniform, their height just above five feet two inches. They looked very young, no older than thirteen or fourteen years of age. Their face simply put - was beautiful though completely androgynous. This was none other than Liffey. No one was completely sure as to whether or not Liffey was a man or woman - except for Liffey of course -, no one dared to ask for risk of starting another tantrum. Most went with the safe road and referred to Liffey strictly as 'Sir' and as a he in passing.
Even Ánrothán who had been with Liffey for nearly fifteen years now had no idea as to Liffey's real gender. Every so often he seemed to lean more towards one than the other. Ánrothán allowed himself an internal chuckle as he mused over once more Liffey's true workings as he came to a stop a few safe feet away from where Liffey stood. Liffey was currently preoccupied gesturing angrily to another in the room. The man stood taller than Ánrothán and looked to be older, biologically anyways. The man and Liffey spoke together very quickly and in hushed tones, the man often bowing his head with a mumbled apology. It would have been impossible for anyone without their enhanced hearing to pick up on their conversation. With a hiss Liffey waved his hand to dismiss the man before crossing his arms over his chest and turning his attention on Ánrothán. "It's about time you got here. Care to explain where you've been?"
