The Gifted Masters: A Silver Century

Chapter 3 ♦️ Beast

Chapter Three ♦️ Beast

     Christine crunched the snow with each lingering step, and her crossbow eventually returned to her hands to reload. The subtle fog surrounded her like a thin blanket in the night but she fearlessly moved through the gray wonderland. The cold-bitter breeze nipped Christine's skin, she was heedfully waiting for the mysterious beast to cry.

Her dark eyes were wide, her pupils dilated, letting in the light from the luminous moon. Christine was about to send another wave of energy so she could locate the creature but quickly held back, not wanting the advantage of her magical abilities. Even without using her power, she was already a skillful dragon slayer and seeker. A professional Razor Shin hunter and eliminator of Evansce, Christine didn't want to end the game so quickly because of her title and not wanting to kill a creature.

The cool breeze continued the flutter of leaves, the sound of rushing water still constant around her, louder here. She took a sharp breath, her eyes grazing over the winterland, and that was when she heard the distressed beastly cry again.

The mysterious dragon's call lured her deeper into the meadow, goosebumps slowly formed on her shoulders. For a second, Christine thought she felt the creature's gaze on her, lurking nearby, but realized it wasn't. Her goosebumps faded as they occurred; it was the different unseen eyes, the second energy that never harmed her.

Christine gritted her teeth, seemingly annoyed at the feeling. The lady had the anonymous companion for as long as she could remember. She only began to notice the ominous presence a week after the Dragon Blockade. A long time had passed since the event, so she was already used to the mysterious presence at this point.

Long ago, Christine thought the energy followed her because she was a survivor of the wreckage. She believed that the lost souls of her fleet were haunting her. But they weren't; it was the spirit of someone or something alive. One who wasn't present at the attack—maybe someone who watched the disaster from afar, but who knew. She didn't understand the sad feeling that protected her from afar.

Figuring out which energy was watching her shouldn't have been hard. Two energies appeared a week after the Dragon Blockade, but she knew how to differentiate them because she felt sad by one, and felt alert by the other.

Right now, however, she thought she was sensing both, which baffled her since that never happened before. Christine took a deep calming breath when she felt a headache make its way. Why did both energies appear tonight? Only she was aware of the mysterious flares that no other have felt. She rubbed her forehead, trying to make the ungrateful memories fade away of her lost loved one.

Moments passed as she waited for another call, and just as she was hopping off a tree trunk, she heard a desperate, dismantled wail.

As if on cue, Christine leaped towards the sound without hesitance. She jumped over a hedge of prickly bushes, landed on her feet soundlessly, and continued the sprint, listening to the wind. Christine suddenly slowed her pace once the rush of water got stronger. She jumped over a small boulder, her crossbow in hand, whirled around and stiffened.

Her eyes widened and stared at something with astonishment.

It was a dragon, nothing similar to a Razor Shin. A dragon of a rare sight. Christine had seen this beast many times before, but others were unaware of its existence. Although Christine never saw its entire appearance until this very night, this dragon would always disappear in the next blink of her eye. This beast had watched Christine from the shadows, but just like the anonymous being, it never harmed her. Christine knew very little of this dragon, but she could have sworn that this creature was originally double in size than it was right now.