“This way, my Chieftain,” he said, long ago granting me this name as was the old ways of his people. His voice was hoarse but not from disuse, it was this way from what had been done to him at the hands of Westerners intent on stealing his father’s lands many years ago. Since then, his vessel had been healed the moment he had been destined to become the fallen, doing so in the name of revenge.
For the moment he discovered his own life after death, he ripped the wings from his vessel the second he tried to break free of the bonds still wrapped around his reincarnated body and tamed the very manner in which he had died.
Tortured and wrapped in thorned wire before being thrown into the river to drown.
Needless to say, after this two things happened. The first was that when I heard of his history, I felt inclined to offer him a position at my table. The second was happily aiding him in executing that revenge.
But as it turned out, he was the best damn tracker in existence. Which meant the second he took in the scene around him now, he started to piece together what had happened and played it out in his own mind as if it had been recorded and put on rewind. It was a tracker’s way and a skill used to retrace a person’s steps or past movements. The gifts were those similar to a seeker, but instead of being gifted the sight of the past and the future, a tracker could only see into the past.
It was due to their talents in picking up a lingering energy left by a person’s soul. He could tap into the unique signature left behind and watch the person’s aura act out the past like the ghost of a vessel was actually still there. Unfortunately, for most trackers there was a fairly small window for this to be achieved before that person’s steps were lost over time. Or that they were simply overwhelmed by the presence of far too many others. Hakan, however, well he was one of the only trackers who could eradicate all other auras in his way and pinpoint the one he wanted. Doing so even as far back as six months in a crowded space.
It was this strength that made him the best there was. A talent I had been gifted the option to exploit many times over in the past and if truth be told, one even exercised on Keira when the occasion was needed to find her.
Which was why I trusted his account implicitly, no matter how strange it first started, something that began in the bathroom.
“Well, it’s got to be said, Sire, that girl of yours certainly has a unique way of killing people,” Clay commented as we stepped around one dead body that looked to have been killed with an electrical cord. This was from a broken lamp, a piece of which was still embedded in his cheek, telling me she had first hit him with it. Gods, but just the sight of her kills had me worried, proud and fucking hard all at the same time. I could only hope that when I witnessed this account of past actions, that by the end of it I was satisfied that she had done all this unscathed.
“It started in here, my Chief…”
“Let’s forgo the formalities for the time being, yes.” I said holding up a hand knowing I didn’t have the fucking patience for all that Chieftain, my Lord, Sire shit right now. He nodded before disappearing inside the bathroom where there was a man lay on the floor, strangely covered in white foam and blood.
“You were saying?” I remarked with a raised brow at Clay’s earlier comment about Amelia’s unique way of dissipating her enemies.
“Yeah, well she left this shithead alive,” Clay scoffed as if disappointed. On the other hand, I thought differently.
“And lucky for us, for now we have someone to torture,” I said unable to stop myself from cracking my fingers when they turned into fists by my sides. But that would have to wait,
“Hakan, if you please,” I said nodding for him to proceed, something I knew had started when his eyes turned as black as the strip of ink across his eyes. Then they started to flicker from white to black, looking now as if he had an old black and white film flickering out the scene in his mind and we were getting a mere glimpse at it.
Then it stopped and his eyes snapped back to his usual dark shade.
“I…um…well.” This was all Hakan said and for once, his opting for few words said wasn’t through choice.
“What is it!?” I snapped as I didn’t have the fucking patience for it either!
“I think it best I show you my…Sir,” he said stopping himself with just a cautionary look sent his way.
“Proceed,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, this ought to be good,” Clay commented just before Hakan started to bring forth the ghosts of their auras for us to watch. It was as if an invisible body had been surrounded by smoke, allowing its shell to be seen.
I swear just the sight of her aura taking shape had me tensing and having to resist the irrational action to reach out and try and touch her. Then I was forced to watch as she attacked the other smoked figure after it first rose up from the unconscious piece of shit still breathing on the floor. Hers was white, and his black, which I could see started off holding a gun to her. Then she disarmed him, with the aid of…
“Is that shaving cream?!” Clay took the thoughts right out of my head as he watched what I did when the smoked ghost of her raised an arm as if spraying something in his face. Clay had at this point walked over to the star patten left on the counter and brought a fingertip to his nose as his curiosity got the better of him.
“I wonder how this…oh, never mind.” Clay was cut off when we all saw that after swiftly breaking his arm, she then slammed his head face first into the counter, creating a burst of cream and blood splatter to decorate the stone top. Then, as another aura burst into the room, from what I perceived was to be the man that now lay dead in the bedroom, she opened her mouth and spoke to him. Now I found myself intrigued to know exactly what it was she said to him before she let go of the now unconscious man whose aura quickly slid back down to the floor. Floating down like a wave, it disappeared on top of where her victim still lay slumped to the side and indeed, still breathing.
Well, not for long, I thought with some satisfaction.
After this she retrieved what I can only assume was a gun and started firing. I looked to the doorway, to see the new aura move out of the way of the flying bullets. But I could see for myself that none had been on target, not if the wide array of bullet holes in the walls were anything to go by. So, instead, she used the weapon to her advantage and decided to throw it at the mercs head, knowing she had a better chance, seeing as her aim with a gun was shocking.
Fuck me, but after tonight then I was considering our second date to be at a fucking gun range, just to be sure she could use one, for I hoped never again!
The aura stumbled back on impact and then unbelievably I watched as her own aura charged the man, taking him down to the ground.
“Whoa, look at her go!” Clay commented enthusiastically as we both followed Hakan into the bedroom. He had halted the re-enactment until we were positioned in the room so we could continue to follow the fight. This was where things got more difficult for my girl, and even I could see the added texture of features the ghost of her showed. The strain in the shadow as it vibrated, humming with tension. Especially when she started to reach whatever was closest to her in desperation to beat her opponent.
I swear but it felt as if I was watching it in real time and found myself trying to anchor myself to the spot, so I wouldn’t step forward and try to intervene. This was by far one of the hardest things I had ever forced myself to experience, as unlike all others, this I did so willingly. Because I needed to know. I had to know just what she had endured at the hands of these fuckers!