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Dhampir Hunter - Chapter Fourteen
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“Feeling better?”
Cirrus nodded, glancing over the fire at Arcane. He’s slept much longer than he’d intended and even though it was still raining, the marked lack of light told him that afternoon and early evening had long since passed. He blinked away sleep and stretched, being careful of the stitched wounds beneath the bandages. He was hungry. “Anything to eat?” He also noticed that his mouth felt as if it were made of cotton. “Or drink?”
Arcane tossed him the water canteen. “I’ll see if I can’t find us something to eat.” She drew one of her blades and started out into the thick woods on a hunt.
This was where being a dhampir came in handy. She could easily sense the heartbeat of nearby animals. And there were two rather strong sounding rabbits in the near vicinity. Smiling, she moved silently through the brush and easily caught the animals off guard. She quickly dispatched them, skinning them while she was at it. It wasn’t until she was on her way back that she felt it.
The distinct feeling that she was being watched. Without a second thought, she continued back to the campsite. “Can you cook these?” she asked, keeping her crimson gaze on the woods that stood just beyond the touch of the fire’s light.
“Sure,” replied Cirrus. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure. Just stay here.” She jumped upward with an uncanny strength, the leap gaining her a perch on a thick tree branch. Her gaze narrowed and even in the moonless night she could easily make out the outlines of the trees, branches, and leaves. She also saw the outline of something that didn’t belong. She drew her other sword and leapt at the figure, wielding her dual blades with deadly grace.
The other figure, a male, drew his sword and deflected blow. For an instant their faces came so close that Arcane was able to get a look at his eyes, which mirrored hers in color. Her momentum forced them apart, each leaping backwards to compensate and regaining balance on separate tree branches. The man’s voice rang out in the darkness, a baritone that Arcane could barely hear over the steady hiss of the rain. “I was wondering when you would notice me.”
“Who are you?” called Arcane. She was in no mood to exchange witty banter with the mysterious man.
“A friend,” came the reply.
Arcane had the distinct impression that, whoever this man was, he meant them no harm. Nonetheless, she didn’t like being followed. “I don’t need anymore friends, so get lost.” Sheathing her blades, she turned to leave.
“The castle that you seek is to the north. Its where you will find your friends,” said the voice. It was followed by the barely audible sounds of a stealthy retreat.
Arcane shook her head and returned to the camp to find both rabbits cooked and ready to be eaten. She knelt down to retrieve the one that Cirrus had left for her before resuming her seat across from him.
“So what was it?”
“Nothing,” replied Arcane, with a dismissive gesture. She needed information from Cirrus and she didn’t want to get sidetracked talking about passerbys with vague information that could be valuable to the task. “I need you to tell me about the demons that attacked you back at the Barbaroi’s castle.”
Cirrus’ face darkened a bit. He obviously didn’t like being reminded of it. He told her about the whole thing, being careful to leave nothing out. By the time he was done, Arcane was nodding. Before speaking she chewed and swallowed some of the cooked meat.
“Sounds like one was a shade-traveler. An upper level shadow demon with the ability to not only move through shadow but to move other things, and even people, as well. They’re tricky but can be dealt with. The girl…she’s might be a problem.”
“Why?”
“Human firestarters don’t normally live that long. They can’t sustain that level of power for more than a year or two after coming into it.”
Cirrus nodded, but still didn’t see her point. “So why does that make her a problem?”
“Because she can only be one of two things. The first is that she’s just come in to her power. Killing a firestarter releases a massive amount of pyrokinetic energy and tends to ignite and burn everything in the immediate vicinity.
The second option is that she’s already dead and that talisman you told me about is not only protecting her, but anchoring her soul to the body she’s inhabiting. The talisman seems to make it impossible to kill her directly. Either way, this is going to have to be a very dangerous and possibly violent operation.”
For the first time since Cirrus had been in Arcane’s company, he grinned. “You mean fun.”
Arcane just shook her head. “Now I know why Eve glares at you so much.”
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