Lethal Beauty

XLIV - Unresolved Business

Heading to the unknown, Jessen picked himself up and started walking as the last daylight faded into darkness. The forest was luxuriant, composed of tall, broad leaves and evergreen trees. A beam of the moon's light made its way through the leaves and he could hear owl hooting waking up the rest of the nocturnal living things.

Many of the pines that grew in this part of the forest have woody vines that spread to other trees and form a network of vines over the area below. The forest floor was dark and damp and the temperature had grown colder as the night took over. Not trusting that he would only encounter one shtriga, Jessen decided to traverse the land as a cougar. The prey avoided him and the predators watched his form cautiously. He felt safer in his beastly form. Not to mention, that shtriga rarely felt their presence this way. As long as he mingled in the forest and minded his own business, he should be able to find his way out without the need to fight his way through.

As he reached the edge of an especially dense, dark bit of the woods, he quickly noticed that it was peppered with faded stone markers and immediately understood that this was a burial ground. Hiding his form in the bushes and using his coat to camouflage, he stopped dead and waited in bathed breath for any movement.

Shadows flashed in the opposite direction, leaping from one tree to another. Running in thrill. Running in high spirits.

Shtriga.

Jessen's eyes were drawn skyward and across the treetops above. The cougar lowered his head and let the leaves cover his form further as he watched the creatures soar fifty yards at a time, chasing the unknown...

There, at the glade, where the moon shines brightly was a figure of a woman. Shapely. Perfect. Her hair was long and brunette. Her cloak was deep in the mud but she didn't seem bothered by this. In fact, her fashion was so out of place. Jessen narrowed his gaze and waited as she turned half of her face to the side. She wore a Venetian mask. Odd. She appeared as though she was attending a masquerade ball rather than gathering every shtriga in the rainforest.

Another shadow emerged to her side. Tall and lean with hair as dark as the night. Yet, his very pale skin gleamed against the darkness; that he looked like a beacon of light. These two...there was something unusual about them.

Taking slow and careful strides, Jessen lowered his cougar form even more. There was no need for him to breathe air. It was something his kind did out of courtesy but it wasn't necessary. Therefore, concealing himself and obscuring his presence wasn't that difficult. Although, it wouldn't hurt to be careful and maintain distance. Just enough proximity that would allow him to hear their conversation...

"I can almost possess him," said the young man. "I can use him to get through my brother."

"Be careful. He is a lamia. Soon he would know that he was being bewitched."

The shtriga started appearing one by one. From bats hanging on the branches to the beasts leaping from the trees. A tall one with a pigtail, a rare sight since most shtriga didn't have hair and were mostly bald, came forward and bowed in respect. It was evident that the shtriga held this woman in high regard. They respect and fear her all the same.

"My Queen, you are correct. Someone did come back in that house," the male shtriga spoke.

"Where is this person?"

"He...escaped. Along with others..."

The eyes behind the mask glowed, from crimson to magenta. As if the blood within her veins become toxic. Her hand shot up around his neck. "My instructions are clear. Wreak havoc but bring me the guest."

"The hunter guild were faster," the male shtriga stared back, eyes wide with fright. "That place was too near to one of their bases."

"You said the visitor came with others?"