Immortal

19. The game continues

I landed in the woods. Somewhere north of home. Something still felt wrong but by now I was chalking it up to mild paranoia. My mistake, of course, once again since nothing ever went smoothly. I landed into an ambush and that's when I realized that this wasn't just someone watching me. It was calculated, they planned this for awhile, which meant I had been their target without knowing it for a much longer span of time. That fact limited my routes of escape by more than half.

Shit.

"Where you headed too in such a rush." The voice of a male broke the silence. He sized me up as he approached from the shadows of the forest. I could see his outline just barely. My wings were still extended and there was no use hiding them now. They'd probably seen me land. "Wings." He laughed. "perfect bonus." He was dressed in black tones to blend in with the area around him. His facial hair was slightly overgrown. He wore a hat of sorts I hadn't seen before but it was his eyes that bugged me. They were a red tone, almost pink hue and looked like snake eyes. They were fixed completely on me and something about them made it hard for me to move away. He made a hand signal. I was surrounded on all sides, there were at least six to ten others with him. I considered taking flight again. I looked around for just enough of an opening to extend my wings fully. I needed to give myself enough space for a running start.

"You Gotta keep an eye on those rumors." He warned me and I stood still. "They're the reason you're here. The reason for our chat today." His voice dropped to a whisper and he produced a knife. I could see he was chewing on something when spoke but I couldn't make out what it was. "Don't try to fly away, if you do and we catch you again your wings will be our token prize." I didn't like the sound of that threat. The knife in his hands also looked sharp enough to gouge out wings.

"What do you want." I finally chose to speak up. I slowly folded my wings inward out of sight and pressed them tightly against my spine. "We're here to make you an offer to join our cause." He spoke in a kinder tone, the other guys backed up. None of them crowded me too much. "Im listening." I kept eye contact with the main guy who began to circle me the way predators circled prey.

"Its not an offer actually its more like an initiation. You're apart of the team, I'm just here to inform you of it." He grinned when he spoke. I knew I should have chosen my words carefully but something about me never liked being ordered around by anyone. I could call it a toxic trait, but nothing quite beats the shock and disappointment I get for saying the wrong thing.

"So I don't get a choice?" I questioned innocently and he answered fast. "No." He stopped moving. His stance was open, anyone could land a good shot on him with the way he stood. Although I didn't move, something seemed too easy. It was almost like an invitation to attack,he was beckoning me inward. "What if I refuse?" I decide to ask anyway even with knowing that the choice was declared an impossibility.

"We'll make you wish you could die?" He smiled but the tone to his voice sounded like a question. The context invitation of 'would you like to learn what it feels like to die?' Hung in the air. There was a shared mild snicker that went around the group. To me it felt like all of them where just one giant braincell, and without the ring leader they couldn't function.

I smirked. "Well I've got some bad news, you're already pretty late to that party. I've had that wish for awhile." His expression changed from a smile to disappointment. "More now, after meeting you morons." I added.

"So you're a smartass." His tone sounded like a greeting. Two seconds later I was doubled over, with the feeling of having every ounce of oxygen being squeezed out of my lungs. I didn't see him move, and he already had his fist crushing my diaphragm. The impact of the blow felt way worse then the damage it actually caused. He pulled his fist back, and it collided with the side of my face. I felt metal hit my jaw and I saw black spots for a moment. I staggered backwards from the impact of the punch, I could taste blood in my mouth. He had metal grafted into the knuckles of his right fist. The metal had cut into my cheek and I felt the sting as blood trickled from it.

I spit it out the blood in my mouth and winced readjusting my sight that felt fuzzy for a few moments. Once it cleared, I kept quiet. I mentally calculated the benefits of joining them in my silence. My jaw ached but no worse than any other beating I'd taken in the past. The group was mostly males from what I could make out. I could learn things from them that I wouldn't have the means to do on my own. It would open an avenue of resources with a price. This was a situation I could benefit from while they made profit off me. I stood upright and stared at the leader dead in the eyes. I saw the tiniest hint of a flinch, he wasn't used to being looked at in the eyes.

I didn't make an auditable acceptance to their draft pick. I just stood my ground and waited for their next move. I noticed a mark on his hand, a black spiral almost like a burn mark. One that was held on his hand longer than it should've as if done on purpose to prevent the skin from healing properly. I knew the mark, it was the symbol for the black sun.

I knew who they all were. Just by the exposure of that one symbol. Eliam had told me about the gangs of the sector after he confessed all of his withheld information. Another bit of information that was only shared for sake of telling me to stay away from them. I didn't know who Eliam's source was on where he got all his information. Still Eliam knew how they went and looted areas, districts, even other sectors on occasion. They were the shadows of our sector, and I had no doubt that they controlled a good portion of the area. What they looted they kept a portion for themselves and distributed the rest illegally to everyone else.

I had absolutely nothing to prove to anyone, yet I had a hell of a lot to learn. This would be educational. "You gonna run?" The ringleader broke the silence and I relaxed my posture.

"No." I answered calmly. He stared at me long and hard making sure I wasn't bullshitting. As he did I saw a brief discomfort or intrigue. Others might've taken the chance to run but I stood in place. I waited. "So what now?" I started to ask, but I felt one of them brush a little too close. Instinct kicked in, I elbowed them in the chest hard. I heard a gasp and felt a hand on my shoulder. Two moments later and they were in front of me sprawled on their ass. I heard them groan mildly. I saw a hood of sorts thrown a few feet from me.

I almost apologized. All eyes were on me, burning holes into my clothes. I could feel the tension rolling radiating off them. I sensed them all move to their fighting stances ready to kick me into submission. "I don't like being touched." I stated to ease the tension. "Im not running so whats the point of the hood?" I questioned the ringleader. He acknowledged and respected my request not to be touched. The others backed off, and helped the one I knocked down back to his feet.

"Hm." He mulled over a thought of sorts and sighed. "Very well." He stated cooly. "Lets get going then." He turned his back and began walking deeper into the forest. They all followed and for a moment I paused and looked back in the direction of home.

Eliam would come looking. I knew, Alaric might do the same. I set those worries aside and turned my back on the direction of home and followed them into the shadows.