- Invitation Status
- Not accepting invites at this time
- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Writing Levels
- Advanced
- Prestige
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Female
- Nonbinary
- Transgender
- No Preferences
- Genres
- Fantasy (High, Low, Modern, Any), Romance, Supernatural Creatures, Fairytale Retellings, Mythological, Heroes' Journeys, Fandom (Bioware Games). Open to Trying Different Genres.
Nike
The barrier disappeared once again. Nike focused her efforts on suppressing the fire. Burning down half the forest with the crazy, wind man standing in front of her would not have good consequences. She took deep, measured breaths, gritting her teeth when she felt an ache deep inside herself. It was something like the pain she felt in her legs after a good, hard run only not within her physical muscles. It went deeper than that.
She might have tried harder to understand the unusual sensation were it not for the man who began chanting. He spoke in some strange language, at once foreign and eerily familiar. She glanced up and saw the man writing symbols of light in the empty air in front of him, forming them into a circle. She might have called the feeling that swept over her déjà vu, but a prickle of fear soured it.
He sent the circle forward with a gesture. Her eyes followed it while she tried to keep herself still. It began its work shortly after. Some kind of intangible force pressed in on her from all sides, pushing some part of her into a small ball. The sensation radiated from the same place as the ache. The same place the fire burned from. She fell forward onto her hands, grateful she'd been kneeling for this. Pain and relief rushed through her as she abandoned her measured breathes for panting. The fire around her dissipated until nothing remained but ash. With it gone or contained, she felt warmth begin to come back into her limbs.
She would have been happy to leave things there, but the man continued his work. Physical pain manifested as the pressure she felt earlier turned became physical and began to press down on her body. It increased with every breath, threatening to snap her bones for an unknown purpose. She let out something between a groan and a growl, losing her ability to concentrate. Her survival instincts began to kick in.
Then something within her broke. She dug her fingers into the loose gravel and squeezed her eyes shut. She could feel the fire within her body again. She tried to pull it back into the ball, but another part of her pushed to free it. The man tried to keep going with his ceremony, shouting something she couldn't hear over the blood pounding in her ears. The pain doubled and she clenched her teeth to keep from screaming.
The fire came bubbling out of her as the freezing burn gripped her again. The physical pressure disappeared as the man turned his attention back to the fire. "Shit," she managed to cough out, forcing herself to look up and see if the man had accomplished anything. She noticed his glasses had gone from his face, perhaps a casualty of her fire. Her eyes widened when they came to his. His irises were gold with a ring of silver surrounding them. Like nothing she'd ever seen before.
He pushed the seal forward again. She closed her eyes, relaxing when the gentler pressure returned. The burning sensation retreated as something settled onto her arm. She opened her eyes and found that black marks that had formed. Not exactly a planned tattoo, but alright. In time the pressure lessened and left her. Warmth flooded her weary limbs as she fell onto her side.
She worked to catch her breath, enjoying the absence of pain. After a night of running and fighting that fire, it was utter bliss. The blue tint left her skin as her body began to recover and she gradually regained her composure. Soon only exhaustion remained.
She managed to sit up, eyeing the man who had at once cured her and caused her a great deal of pain. She moved her feet beneath her; prepared to fight should he decide to come at her again. Then she broke the silence. "What the hell are you?"
Zien
Zien watched the girl go, slapping his hand over his face and muttering a string of curses in Korean. He silently vowed never to work another case with Hendricks, not for all the money in the First Bank's vaults.
Kims started after the girl immediately, shooting the pair a disapproving look as she did. Zien appreciated her act-first-ask-permission-later attitude. Some of the other newbies could be so dependent on orders. He needed more of her sort of confidence on a day like this. His patience had already bottomed out. He started after the pair, deliberately ramming into Hendrick's shoulder as he went.
The other agent stumbled back and glared at his adversary. "Watch it, Okuma!"
Zien followed the screams up the stairs where he found Kims with the girl. The agents exchanged a glance over the crying girl that told Zien what had happened. He could understand the girl's distress, but he had no time for sympathy. "Get her down to the paramedics," he said, more as a formality than an order. "I'm going to see what they found."
Kims nodded and knelt down by the girl. "Come on…"
"Diana," Zien informed her before disappearing into the room.
"Diana," Kims repeated gently as she began to lift the girl. "You need to be checked over."
Zien stopped near the door to keep out of the way. Calvin straightened up when he saw the G.U.A.R.D.S. agent. He crossed the room to where he stood while his colleague continue to document the room. Zien noted that the room looked no better upon second inspection. If anything, the markers allowed him to see the mountain of evidence that something terrible had happened in the room. His eyes strayed to Xander once before Calvin stopped in front of him.
"Okuma, figured you'd be here somewhere." the sandy haired man gave Zien a strained smile. "Hendricks screwed up again, eh?"
Zien was in no mood for office gossip. "What'd you find?"
Calvin glanced at his tablet, flicking through his notes. "Evidence of a Class B demon with several E's in its retinue. Massive amounts of discharge suggests death or…"
"Possession," Zien muttered.
Anderson confirmed his suspicions with a curt nod. "Lee might've taken it down. He took quite a beating though. I'm guessing most of the blood is his. That girl must've put up one hell of a fight. Have you checked to see if she's possessed?"
"She's clean. But there was a sister." Zien examined the signs of struggle in the room, noting a rather large pool of blood near the wall. If the other girl had gotten out of the house without becoming a host, she wouldn't have made it far. He pulled out his phone and sent out an alert to start a neighborhood search.
Calvin scanned his notes. "Really? Damn. This case just gets worse and worse." He stopped near the bottom of his list. "We've got a second energy signature I can't account for. It's a big one, maybe Class A, but I can't figure out where it could have come from."
"Send me a copy. I'll check for an I.D." Zien stepped further into the room, stepping carefully to avoid disturbing it. Most of the scene read like an instruction manual. Straight forward attack with a potential possession. No tricks, no nothing. But that energy signature and the unusually small amount of demons that had managed to take down a seasoned hunter kept Zien from setting on the obvious answer. Something felt off about it all.
Calvin scratched down a few other notes. "Not much more than that. There's still a bit more to sort through. Too bad about the kid. I always wondered what Lee was doing in retirement. Can't say parenthood ever came to mind."
Zien glanced at his old master's body before he started back out of the room. "Keep me posted." He decided to check on the girl while he waited. He owned Xander that much.