The Lordly Ones

-Mercy On Your Soul

Their captain never saw us once. Her eyes barely registered us before she it was too late. She gargled on the blood that sprayed her throat and her pale fingers fidgited as they scrambled to close around the arrow that had pierced her fading white skin. Lines of red trickled down her neck. She fell to the floor pitifully and limp, like a dropped toy, like a puppet with cut strings. She tried to speak, to give orders. She gargled on her empty words. Truthfully, the hunters could shoot the children down, picking them off like flies but where was the fun in that?

The Rainmen needed the chase. They needed the pounding of their hearts to convince them they were alive. They needed it to live. The hunt made them one. They became a blur, there was no way to distinguish between where one of them finished and the other began, they became like a rolling mist, unstoppable, blood pumping as their veins throbed in their arms. They flexed their fingers. What would be the method? How would they dim their prey's eyes this time? Once they had began there was no stopping them, it was either them or the children. And death was never an option for Kanixi.

The blood pouring from their teacher's throat shattered the woods' charms on the children, making them scream. The first droplets of blood had fallen. They had set the undeniable future, they had forced the unavoidable present.The woodland floor would be stained red by the end of the crussade. And by the way the children's eyes had grown so huge made it obvious that there weren't even two teams, it was a one-siden war against ants. It wasn't even challenging enough to be called a hunt.

They watched with eager eyes and clenched fists. And how we laughed as The Ink Children fled. Their once solid unity the charm had given them, breaking. They split up, like animals. Thinking only of themselves. Males fled alone, easy pickings as they would slowly fall one by one. The females stayed in a pack. But no matter. Their combined strength was only about worth one male. Besides, they had to stay together and so the speed was diminished.

Now, which one will be mine?

Kanixi's heart lept with the drums of the other troops joining them. It was silly, really. But the drums helped their sick game lurch and swell with even greater effect than before. They were hammering like the beating hearts of the prey. The 'Thunder' and 'Lightning' groups merged with the 'Rain' group. The 'Rain' group was Kanixi's, the hunters. By the time you felt that it was there, it had already started. Only the wise would care to look for clues. The 'Lightning' group were the assasins, the knife that would be above you before you knew it. And lastly, the 'Thunder' group, the guards.

Their strength in your ears much too strong for even the brave to fight. Their Thunder, Lightning and Rain, a deadly mix. Kanixi's body jittered, unable to stay still. His hands quivering with the excitement of the hunt. His eyes, darted around in a crazed blur. Desperate to get one before the rest.

Which one is mine?

His eyes swept the area like a bird of prey from his nest in one of the trees. They darted from the males at first, the popular choice for most of them. They could pick up on the females later. From his perch he could see all the directions in which they had moved. The males were still going. One had even outrun a few, his hair as long as a human girl's, bursting from his low ponytail as he ran. It wasn't long before a male fell and the others realised that they would have to stay with the females. They would die either way.

The females had gotten surprisingly far without much attention. A few hunters had given chase. However, most were after the males, all three groups colliding against each other, desperate to make their mark on this sure to be historical event. But the girls had done pretty well. Worthy prey. For females anyway. One hunter had even fell over, making Kanixi smirk. Sure they weren't males but they could be fun. He'd just have to make sure that any of the others wouldn't have any other thought on their mind. A mix of human and fey would not be wanted. But the 'Thunder' group was well known for their love of beating the 'weaker sex' down. A few hunters joined the chase, hurrying him into a descision.