Draupnir Tales

The Hunters and the Hunted

"Should we let him know we're on to him?"

"Now where's the fun in that? The enjoyment is in the chase and capture, not the fear!"

Whispering voices were audible from my place deep in the alley. I hang in the darkness, watching, waiting. The two figures hover near the walls of the alley, looking out into the dimly lit street.

Had I not known better, I would have assumed it was someone else they were speaking of. But I did know better. Lucky for me, the speakers were oblivious to my location. They seemed to think I was roaming the street, which I was, shortly prior to overhearing a small portion of their dialogue.

"Where is he? He should have passed this alley by now!"

"How should I know! Doesn't he live near here?"

"Yes. Unless he ran away from home... At which point he's unpredictable."

I never had a home. Not that you could know that.

I face-palm as I notice one of the figures flinch. I sent that thought, albeit accidentally.

"He's close by. He heard us," the voice shivers, hardly a breath.

"How do you know?" Suspicion from his counterpart, though his voice lowers as well.

"He spoke to me..."

It was unintentional, I swear.

Both figures stiffen at my now purposeful invasion of their minds.

"Where are you?"

Not your business. Close enough to hear and see you without being seen.

They bolt from the alley, unsurprisingly. Once they are gone, I sigh, realizing I had been holding my breath. Had they heard me, found me... I hate to think what would have happened... What I would have been forced to do...

I release the brick of the building I was perched on, dropping silently to the concrete below. My cloak fades, the fabric dissipating into the surrounding air from whence it came. I could not explain how I was able to accomplish this feat if I tried, I still do not know.

My fingertips graze the red-black brick as I lurk out of the alley. A filmy encasement materializes around me, invisibility of a sort, matching my movements.

I stand under the street lamp, deliberating. Do I go home, or do I leave entirely? Home, as I call it somewhat jokingly, is barely a suitable shelter, and I am alone. Leaving entails forsaking all I have ever known, all I assumed I would ever know.

But those people... I call them Hunters, and I have no clue what they could do to me. Not long ago, there were others like me, living with me, but they are gone. I do not know what happened to them or where they have been taken, only that it was the Hunters who took them. All the things I might be able to do to them, it might be futile if they are truly Hunters, like those who took my friends...

Leaving is the best option, in the morning I'll gather my few things and disappear from this place.

Nothing more could be done. Later, perhaps it would be safe to return. Perhaps leaving would prove more disastrous than remaining, but I would figure that out afterwards. I do not know what the world beyond this single city entails, but I will risk that discovery.

I slink home, thinking along the way about departing and what I will need for the journey. Even as short as the trip will be, it will be exhausting. Moving discreetly always is, especially as I will need to steal the provisions, using more energy.