Star Beings: Dawn

Bloodhound

The moment I step inside the palace, a flood of memories overwhelms me. I died in this place. I still remember how it felt, my innards spilling from my abdomen and my lungs giving up on me. I can feel Hade gingerly take my hand, assuring me that everything is alright and reminding me to breathe.
In and out, Ani.
In and out.
The panic subsides, and I open my eyes again. There's a single string of black no more than twenty feet away. The fact that it's still here means one of two things:
One of the two remaining shadow lords was here recently...
Or an absurd amount of magic was used in that spot within the last week.
I step towards the soul strand, my hand hovering over it. I need to know what happened, and maybe this can help me.
As I grab the string, I'm transported into the past. Corinna stands in my place, hands raised. Cain is nowhere to be found. The entrance is otherwise empty, but I can hear the sounds of the troops outside.
Corinna mumbles something and opens her eyes, which have turned black completely. Her hand is outstretched towards the entrance to the palace. I walk towards it, and I am met with a strange and disturbing sight.
There's a hole in the ground. Except it's not a hole... it's a swirling black portal. I watch people try to scramble away, only to be sucked in anyways. I hear terrified screams, and pleas for help which Corinna does not respond to. After a few horrifying more minutes, the screaming stops.
There's no one left.
Every single soldier has been sucked into that portal, and none of them came back out.
What the fuck did I just witness?

I come out of my trance to find Hade still holding me. They look concerned, maybe even scared.
"Are you alright?"
"Corinna... she... She opened a portal. None of her soldiers are anywhere near here, in fact I'm not even sure if they're alive," I mumble. It wasn't even the issue of many of those people once being under my own command that concerned me. It's how Corinna opened that portal...
And where it leads.

I move back towards the string, but Hade stops me.
"Maybe you shouldn't-"
"I'm not gonna touch the thing, calm down. But this will lead us to Corinna... we have to follow it."
"Anai, considering what you saw we may need some time to consider this." I hear Natalie say.
"No. This thing will be gone by then. We need to go now!" I shout, taking off and following the string. I hear about four or five people shout my name at once, followed by the sound of ten pairs of shoes sprinting after me.
I leap down from the rocky edge of the courtyard, landing on a tree limb and climbing down easily. The moment my boots hit solid ground, I'm back to chasing the trail.
But I know the Star Beings aren't far behind. I can hear the sound of a heavy pair of platforms following close behind me. They get closer and closer, and I feel more like prey than a runaway star.
"ANAI!!!"
I vault over a tree stump, almost taking a tumble as I do so. I glance back at Hade, and that's my crucial mistake. Their mouth is open, and I think they're trying to warn me of something.
That something is an unexpected overhang and a five food drop onto the forest floor below.
For a brief moment, everything is black. Then I open my eyes again and see the faces of Hade, DJ, and Natalie staring down at me with varying looks of concern. My head is spinning and my forehead feels wet. I reach up and touch it and...
Yep. That's blood.
Fuck.
"You ok, Anai?"
"Other than the head injury and possible concussion? Yeah, totally." I sigh.
Hade curses under their breath and helps me up, healing me almost instantly. The world is no longer a carousel of colors and blurry shapes, and my head no longer aches as though I had drank two gallons of vodka the night before.
"Thank you, Hade. Now let's go."
"Anai, there ain't no way in hell we're gonna chase after Corrina without backup."
"Well if we go and get backup, DJ, we won't be able to find her. Now let's go," I state, brushing myself off and continuing on deeper into the woods.
"We're gonna fuckin die out here, ain't we?"
"DJ!" Lane whispers aggressively. I hear DJ laugh at her girlfriend's annoyance.
"Just sayin, darlin. We're kinda fucked if it starts raining, too."
I hear Lanette sigh, and then it's quiet again. DJ isn't wrong. The storm clouds are directly overhead, and it looks like it won't be long before we're all soaked.
Well, at least it'll wash the blood out of my hair.
I follow that string for over a mile before I get the bright idea to grab it again and see what happened in this area.
At least, I think that's how it works.
Only one way to find out!
I hear Hade yell at me as I grab the strand, but by then I'm too far into the trance to actually hear what they say.

Corinna and Cain are walking alone in the forest. The elder doesn't talk to the younger. He doesn't even bother looking her in the eye, in fact. They walk silently, and at one point Cain finally speaks.
"So you sent them all into the shadow realm?"
"Of course I did. You should know that, considering you can hear them."
"I can't anymore. They all died fairly swiftly from what I can tell... the shadow selves are ruthless."
Shadow what? What the fuck are they talking about?
I don't get a chance to find out. The vision changes. I'm somewhere else now, somewhere further down the trail. Corinna is sitting across from Cain on a high up yet sturdy tree branch. She's reclined against the base of the tree, her eyes shut. She's... napping?
"Corinna," I snarl. She stirs from her sleep, looking around in a panic.
Holy shit, that actually worked?
"Corinna, I know what you did..."
The Shadow lord seems terrified by the sound of my voice. This is fun, it really is. I tug on the string ever so slightly, causing Corinna to jump in surprise.
"Run. Run while you still can... The bloodhound is on your trail."

I open my eyes, still holding onto the string. There's a smile on my face. I can't help it, honestly. It's fun seeing the person who killed you in cold blood spooked.
"Anai?"
"They're still in the valley. Come on, we need to keep going."
I hold onto the string as I walk, slightly tugging on it every once and a while. I can almost feel Corinna's panic as I do so. One strong tug and...
No, I need to wait. It'll only make my revenge all the more sweet.
A fat raindrop hits my forehead, the water running down my face and dripping from my chin, red with blood.
The storm is here.
Time to let it pour.