The Hunter

Foolish Games

Finn planted one end of her polearm in the ground and watched as the younger wolves that had attacked her and all of the people in the clearing looked between the older wolf, her and the woman that had called on them all to stop. The expressions ranged from horrified to vaguely unsettled bafflement and Finn was fairly certain that there was more at play than a cult. Which was an odd thought she realized, but no less true. She gave the woman her attention.

"Been a long time Clara, you still keeping up with your spell-crafting? Or putting focus to the politics I hear you got into?"

Clara was frowning. "Small talk? Ok Finn, I'll follow your lead here. I still make the meanest coffee this side of the grave." 

"Awesome. Think you could make me one of these?" She dug into her pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper, handing it to Clara. Before Clara could unfold it and read it Finn added, "Confidentially if you don't mind."

Clara raised an eyebrow at Finn as she unfolded the paper. As her eyes took in the request she looked horrified and looked at Finn. "You can't be serious."

"I'll take a health potion too if you have one lying around. I'm losing a fair bit of blood right now." Finn said and eyed one of the younger shifted wolves that had begun to creep around for a better attack angle.

"Attacking me is actually punishable by death for shifters, and if you manage to kill me you cannot imagine the punishment coming for you." She told the younger shifter and all eyes were drawn to him. He stopped but crouched and growled. A shimmer over the fire announced to Finn that the visitor she'd been expecting had shown up. Nothing like Hunter blood spilling to signal the council something was happening.

"Elizabeth." Finn greeted and Clara, her back to the newest arrival in the clearing, curled her lip in angry disdain before schooling her features and turning to the older witch.

"Well? Finish them then." Elizabeth said to Finn, ignoring everyone else in the clearing. Finn raised an eyebrow and wrapped her magic around the older woman in slipknots, ready to pull in the instant the woman started what Finn was now positive had been the plan all along.

"Gloria, I need you here please." Finn said, and she heard the girl behind her stumble to her side. "Don't think, just answer, can you do that?"

"You need information from the chronicles. And with everything that's been going on I haven't really learned to get what I want, so if I don't think I should get what you're asking for just because I think I need it." Gloria said and then blinked as she realized that was it exactly. The realization started to calm her down.

"Exactly." Finn winced as Elizabeth tried calling in a gale and then cursed like a sailor when she realized Finn was ready for her. Finn was getting too close to her limits for her comfort, but no one here would know that for sure.

"You can't do that Finn, I'm the council!" Elizabeth finally stopped cursing to rage at Finn.

"You are one member of the council, and for the last time Elizabeth: I do not answer to you or any other single person." Finn said coldly, then she turned to Gloria. "What's her stake in the cult?"

"Nothing, her daughter is the other person running in the riding that Clara is running in. If her daughter is elected she thinks she will have control of the council and the Province of Saskatchewan. She plans on using that as a stepping stone to building a Fountain of Youth." Gloria blinked and looked at Finn. "That's a thing?"

"It is, and it's dangerous to attempt and more to actually accomplish." Finn sighed and looked to Clara. "I'll meet you all at the hotel, please have that coffee for me. I need to get this one to a holding cell until the council can decide what to do with her." She toed the older shifter gently to make him raise his eyes to hers. "I mean all of you. I can only ignore you so much. Do you understand me?"

He nodded and stood, accepting the help of his sons. Everyone left the clearing, although there was a lot of talk about running and calling the RCMP to deal with dangerous criminals like Finn and Gloria. As Clara left hearing range Finn heard her doing her best to keep people calm.

"Lizzie." Finn said and smirked at the nearly feral rage that sparked in the other woman. "You had to know this wasn't going to go your way.".

"It's not going to go your way either." She spat and three more shimmers announced the arrival of the rest of the council. "She's gone rogue. She is helping the cult." Elizabeth accused as soon as the other council members were fully in the clearing.

"She's not." Gloria said and held up a thin volume that she held out to Finn. "I thought you might need a transcript."

Finn laughed and then doubled over with a pained cough. It took her a moment to recover. Pietro reached for her but she batted his hands away and stood up. "A transcript is just the thing." She held it out to Pietro. "I know she vouched for you and this is going to cause you problems, but I'd vouch for you in her place. You've done good things for us all since you joined the council." Finn said and watched as Pietro read whatever was in the slim volume Gloria had summoned from the library. When he was done he passed it on and each council member in turn read it, their expressions going from confused concern to degrees of rage Finn couldn't recall ever seeing on the faces of the majority of the council before.

"Finn, I can see that you're in pain. Can you take her someplace and hold her for a time? We'll have to convene a full meeting." Amahle asked and Finn nodded.

"I'll have the house hold her." She used her polearm to draw a door beneath the witches feet and then looked at Elizabeth. "I suggest sitting down." She said. When Elizabeth tugged at the magical bindings around her again Finn tapped the door with her toe and it opened, dumping the older witch unceremoniously into a bright room with no distinguishing features.

"I have to say, I never suspected she was actually any good at political games, but this was certainly a well laid plot." Galina, the fourth member on the council, spoke in her thick accent that always reminded Finn of warm soup and embers in a fireplace. She turned to direct a stare at Gloria. "You are now under orders-" Finn cleared her throat and Galina nodded at her, correcting herself. "The council highly suggests you either learn how to summon information from the chronicles at will or that you have concise notes in time for the meeting. In my experience this will take us at least a month to organize." She shot a glance at Finn, taking in everything from the way she was standing to the amount of her blood that was soaking into the earth, before she shook her head and disappeared. 

Finn turned to follow the path back to the town, certain the rest of the council would follow Galina's lead and go back to wherever they had been before they were called to the clearing.

"Are you going to turn?" Gloria asked, still where she'd been standing in the clearing and Finn winced as she turned to look at the younger girl.

"Turn where? This was the way we came in."

"No, I meant into a werewolf." Gloria glowed and Finn realized the girl had pulled the campfire to herself. She smiled when she realized Gloria actually thought she could kill her if she was going to start shifting. 

Shaking her head Finn turned back down the path. "Immunity to lycanthrope comes with the job title."