Frayed Thread

[Marli Anderson]

Ignoring what could be in the puddles of water as she walked down the cobbled alleyway. Taking in the sweet aroma of the Caribbean restaurant, spices and chicken greeting her senses causing a momentary feeling of hunger. Suppressing the feeling deep down she pressed on not wanting to disrupt the time table.

As various passersby went about their way on towards the Crusades. Overly made up Goth’s that during the day she knew they were accountants or something completely different than what they were wanting people to think who they were at this moment. Stopping to stand near the rickety wooden stairs leading up to the second level of Darkside. The muffled grunts behind a roughly constructed lean to distracted her for a moment. Silently moving around to peer inside it caused her to shake her head. Inside a amorous couple were busy having sex, the remaining clothes they wore were stained with years of mud and assorted materials from their obvious homelessness.

"Not surprising in how animalistic humans are."

Kierwin's voice was a welcome addition to the grunting of the two "it really is. good evening Kierwin. I assume that our task is going to plan?" Nodding in confirmation Kierwin wore her usual light brown jacket. A pistol secured low on her hip in its holster "you're becoming a very valuable asset Raven Lotus, the others are quite pleased with the results and how you have grown."

Removing a brown envelope from her inside jacket pocket "this one will be a defining moment. His actions have drawn the attention of the Council with the actions he's going towards." Kierwin passed it over to her "we're leaving the methods up to you in how you wish for it to play out."

Raven Lotus opened the envelope, removing the single photo from inside she studied it for several seconds "What about Ian Rothcraft, his fate is still in flux along with his location?" she asked crumbling the picture up. "The Rothcraft situation is still being studied in how we'll proceed" Kierwin turned on her heel "be sure in not under estimate this one. His thread is something we wouldn't want to continue and" she stopped as she spoke over her shoulder "do be careful."

Hair thin tendrils of filth snaked their way through her thick glove to pierce through the photo. Doing so thousands of times until it was reduced to a pile of pulp before disappearing into a cloud of smoke as it flashed into flame "his fate is up to me now."

 

[Marli Anderson]

The image of her target fresh in her mind, Marli moved through the endless maze of Darkside. Passing sleeping vagrants huddled around a dying fire she gave them a passing glance to notice one of the vampire refugee's lurking in the shadow behind them. In her heart she felt the slight tinge of wanting to help. She stopped for a moment, deciding to just frighten the bloodsucker from this meal for now. Closing her eyes she disappeared from sight under a sudden dark cloud of filth energy, reappearing without a sound in front of the vampire.

She simply stood there staring the vampire down. The smell from it was overwhelming. Small bits of flesh remained stuck upon the metal hook hanging from its belt. She could feel the confusion from it as she stood in-between it and its next meal before the vampire growled low from under the heavy cloth covering its head. Narrowing her eyes slightly she shifted her left foot before striking out with her right hand. The blow to the vampire's chest struck with a fierce concussion. It stumbled back, tripping over an overturned bucket. The resulting noise woke up the once sleeping vagrants as they rose to look at the disturbance behind them. Her breathing was slow and steady as the flow of dark energy rises to the surface, ignoring the screams of the vagrants as they ran off into the darkness she remained focused on the vampire. Sensing the shrouded aura around it, there was nothing about this particular vampire that allowed it to remain alive. As it sprung up and rushed towards her she released a slow breath. stepping to the side allowing it to pass by. Her left hand sliced through the air. A thin blade of superheated air proceeded her upwards facing palm as it connected the area just below the base of its skull. The blade of flame easily went through the rough hand sewn leather. The smell of burnt flesh pierced the air as her hand continued its path with ease. The thin layer of wavering filth receded back into her hand. Standing up from the finishing stance she looked down to the now lifeless body, its head several feet away.

Bending down she lifted the head, tossing it out of sight. Taking care of the body was another matter. It had been awhile since dealing with vampires and she forgot in how heavy they were. Not only dealing with the normal body weight of a blood sucking enhanced human but the added weight of the many layers of clothing they wore. Pulling it back behind some garbage took longer than she expected. Knowing her timetable was very tight to begin with she redoubled her efforts in getting to the desired location and helping the vagrants from becoming a meal took a small chunk of time. Smoothing the overcoat that covered her armor she continued on her way towards the center of Ealdwic and her target.