Killing Phantoms

Alakroos was starting to get impatient. He had been sent by his employers to take care of a certain individual who was giving someone with quite a bit of money a headache, and so far he had only managed to fend off bothersome bugs and curious serpents as he waited at the wooded edge of where he was instructed to go. He sat at the edge of the woods with his long silver hair pulled up underneath a hooded cloak; His skin a midnight dark with slight traces of purple were the only thing showing from the cloak. He waited for his prey to show, his crossbow at the ready and armed with poison arrows of his own concoction. The description he was given of his target made it clear that he would be hard to miss; A middle aged man near seven feet tall was not easy to miss. Yet here he was still waiting.

It wasn’t long after that that a young couple, close to the end of their teens, quietly approached the cabin Alakroos was watching, stopping only to read the warning on the statue just past the main gate. He had no idea who these people were, but if they drew out his target, then the more the merrier. Alakroos took a second to check his timepiece he had hidden in a chest pocket only to discover his target had suddenly appeared in front of the guest. This man towered over his guests, long black hair flowing with the late evening breeze. There was no doubt in his mind that this was his target.

Alakroos slowly brought his crossbow up and trained his sights on his target. He made the necessary adjustments for distance and resistance quickly and took his shot when the opportunity presented itself. He watched his perfectly trained shot sail quickly over the open grassland and bury itself into a tree just passed where his target had been only moments before.

*****

Alana and Trevor had fled the capital city after things there went south quickly in search of Tremere. Trevor had met the man once before and insisted that if anyone could help them with their current situation it was Tremere. They had just passed the main gate on the property when a large formidable man appeared out of thin air right in front of them.

“You came more quickly than I expected,” Tremere said.

“You knew we were coming?” Alana asked.

“It was the logical conclusion. Stay and die an innocent woman or seek out refuge from someone like myself,” Tremere said.

“Yeah, she tried to get herself killed, all warnings from me aside,” Trevor said.

“Well, we are not out of the woods just yet. If you two would please excuse me for a second,” was all Tremere said before completely vanishing in front of them. As the shock of his sudden absence faded, both Trevor and herself could hear the vibration of the freshly shot arrow that found a new home not ten feet away from where they stood.

*****

All Alakroos could do was sit there in confusion. He could have swore up and down that that man had been standing there the second he pulled the trigger on his crossbow, and yet his shot failed to find its target. Alakroos knew better than to attempt a second shot as he started to pack up his things.

“Looks like we have another guest, although I would have preferred you to come up the drive like the others,” a strange voice said from behind him. Before he could respond, Alakroos felt his whole body instantly go numb from a freezing cold touch to his right shoulder. He wanted to run or yell or just about anything else, but he was completely paralyzed.

“Don’t go anywhere, I’d love to have a good long chat with you,” was the last thing the stranger said to him as he started dragging him across the open field. Just from the feel of the hand when it touched his shoulder, Alakroos could only assume the man who had caught him was also his target, but how did he cover such a long distance so quickly. These were the thoughts slowly going through his mind just as he blacked out.

*****

“I’ve only ever heard stories of the feats you just pulled off. You must be a Phantom aura user, aren't you?” Trevor asked Tremere as he drug his unconscious would-be assassin back to the cabin.

“That is very astute of you young man, it seems you have studied your auras,” Tremere said.

“How did you know about this man?” Trevor asked as he pointed to their unconscious guest.

“That should be a simple answer for someone who's studied auras. My high level aura allows me to sense others' auras, and his venom aura is one of the foulest out there. Why don’t we go inside while we wait for our friend to wake up”

*****

Alakroos awoke, still slightly dizzy and confused. He was seated in a wooden chair in an empty room other than the tall foreboding figure sitting across from him. He tried to move, only to find his hands and feet bound by rope to the chair.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” said the tall stranger across from him.

“Look, in the interest of time, I don’t know who put out the contract to kill you or why they chose me, heck, I’m not even sure of the pay yet,” Alakroos said. “If it’s answers you want than your wasting your time”

“I know all those answers already, Alakroos,” the stranger said. How in the world did this man know his name?

“My name is Tremere Lacroix, and I am the one who hired you to kill me. I have a very specific reason for requesting you personally, and if you care to listen, I would like to explain why.”