Eye of Prophecy

Chapter Aon: Scorched Earth, Chaos and Carrion

*** Having discovered Wattpad I have become enthralled by the amazing stories that I have discovered here.  After much deliberation (with the voices in my head, :) I decided to post my stories here in an attempt to share those voices in my head with others.  That being said, the stories that I offer you are 100% mine, okay, voice number one, stop, no I'm not trying to take all the glory,  so please respect the copyright so I don't have to go into details about the "poor man's copyright" lol.  Also, they are offered to you, "raw," so with the barest of editing.  But trust me, I do my very best to offer you work that does not slay the English language or hurt your eyes. I'd LOVE to know your thoughts, and have you vote, or comment, that way I'll know if you even want to read more, lol.  Also, as I've posted several stories, and it's rather impossible for me to update them all simultaneously, I'll be looking at votes, comments as a sign of which work you guys want updated first, second etc, etc.

And, last but not least, I love and respect all you authors and readers out there.  It's an amazing feeling even being able to share these works with you.  Okay...so blah blah blah, lol, let me introduce you to Del...a very determined young lady in a very determined world.***

Chapter Aon aka Chapter One:

Another day, another carcass on my front lawn.  Some suitors bring you chocolate, some bring you flowers...mine left dead bodies at my feet.  Nothing says "I love you," like carrion.  Yup, it was just another day in the Outerlands, the lovely prairie of death and the dying that I called my home.  I looked up, the sky was streaked with orange and red, like the streamers of old at a death match.
"Couldn't even wait until a respectable time before you dropped dead bodies at my door," I muttered.
"Talking to yourself again, Del? You know, if you took one of those boys up on their offer you wouldn't be so lonely that the only person you can talk to is you."
A deep frown carried itself across my face.  I could feel it.  Hell, if I felt it anymore, it would become a permanent fixture.
"Get lost Sheriff." I crossed my arms and glared at him.
"Awe now, Del, you used to call me Dale."
"Yeah, and I used to think you weren't an asshole.  Funny how things change with every kidnapping attempt you let slide."
Dale took off his worn hat and swept it out in a mocking gesture.  "You're hurting my feelings, Del."
"Ask me if I give a shit." I turned my attention back to the carcass.  "Gonna clean this up?" I rolled my eyes when I saw the befuddled expression on his face.  "Didn't think so.  Is it safe to assume that you don't care about the body, or the fact that this is the fourth one this month?"
"Again, cookie, if you took them up on their offer, they'd stop bringing you presents."
I could feel the heat spreading through my body like burning flames.  It was followed quickly by frost, like cold fingers brushing up against my spine.  I knew my power was leaking by the fear that flashed through Dale's eyes, and the fine sheen of sweat I could see appear on his brow. 
Whoa, Delphine, rein it in.  I took a deep breath and pulled my power back and inside of me, where I imagined locking it up tight in that solid protective sphere I had learned to create out of sheer necessity.
"Don't call me cookie, asshat.  I'm not into gifts that bleed, and I'm definitely not into a load of scruffy, mangy dogs that want to breed a litter of puppies from me.  You can tell Alpha Main I'm not interested, again, you can tell him again.  Since it's clear that he's not listening, also," I flicked my wrist and conjured a ball of flames to my hand.  It danced above my palm, "If you come here again and call me cookie I'll barbecue you."
Dale's nostrils flared with anger,  His hands bunched into tight fists at his side.  He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.  It was clear he wanted to attack, but knew that he was outmatched.  Maybe the sheriff wasn't quite as stupid as I had first thought.
"That smart mouth of yours is gonna get you gutted, Del.  And even your bag of tricks isn't gonna keep you safe forever.  Eventually your luck is gonna run out and you're gonna need me, and The Pack."
"Keep dreaming.  And I mean it, you tell that Alpha of yours to keep his dogs away from my house, and away from me.  And no more dead bodies.  I'm not a wolf.  I'm human.  And I'm definitely not a cannibal, so these grand gestures are not appreciated...in fact, they're downright disgusting, and super fucking gross.  If I want to eat I'll rustle up my own meal, oh, and it won't be..." I sniffed, "...an eight hour kill."
Dale grinned then, and it wasn't a pleasant grin,  "If you're human, I'm the fucking Fairy King.  Human's don't know how long a body has been dead by," he chuckled, "sniffing it."
I stiffened.  Damn.  Point to Dale.  "Get off my fucking lawn shithead."
"God, you've got a mouth on you, girl."
"Yup," I conjured up more flame, "and two very capable hands that like to throw shit at annoying men who can't take no for an answer! Are you hard of hearing? I said, get off my lawn." I watched as Dale shot me another murderous look before running off.  I leaned against the pillar on my front porch and began to chew on my bottom lip.  This wasn't good, nope, not at all.  The bodies kept on coming, and it was clear that Alpha Main wasn't giving up.  He was like a dog with a bone...I laughed...dog with a bone.  It was ridiculous, but hey they say laughter is good for the soul.  Dog with a bone...he was the Alpha of the largest Pack around, and my joke was stupid at best, but for a second it relieved the tension that was strung taut throughout my body. "Delphine, how do you get yourself into this shit?" I murmured low to myself. 
I had moved to this small town in the Outerlands to avoid all this political power struggle shit, and here I was, right back in the middle of it.  What did I expect though?  I was female, presumably alone in the Outerlands.  That was enough to send every male of courting age, and even above courting age running to my doorstep.  It didn't matter that I had no interest in their barbaric idea of courting, or claiming in this case.  Or that I actually had a family, sort of, and that they were even more fucked up then all these guys chasing me around.  All these idiots saw was a female of breeding age who had magic at her disposal.  All that in a pretty package made me the flavor of the hour.  It didn't seem to matter how far I fled, or where I fled to, I attracted idiots like bees to honey. 
I cursed my existence for about the hundredth time and took a seat on my rocking chair.  Like me, it was worn out and tired.  Unlike me when it got too worn out to go on it would just break and be thrown away.  Sadly I didn't have that luxury.  As worn out as I was I had to keep going, I had to keep running and or, fighting.  It wasn't in my nature to take it lying down.  And it definitely wasn't in my nature to quit.  Sometimes I wished I could, but the very nature of my blood made that impossible. 
I was a Legacy.  It was stupid as shit, but in this fucked up world people put stock in stories and ancestry.  And I had ancestry and stories to spare.
A Legacy is a family with strong magical roots.  Sounds so simple, right? WRONG! Yes, there was a crap ton of magic in the world now, ever since The Tearing.  The Tearing, the name wasn't very original, but it fit the bill.  Thirty some years ago the end of the world as we knew it came in the guise of a magical apocalypse.  This magic tidal wave tore through our world and opened pretty much every portal known to man, and beyond.  The creatures that lived in the Outerworlds, Underworlds, Prairie Lands and Hereafter, they came pouring through the portals.  These creatures, monsters, whatever you want to call them, they were stronger, faster, and had magic, something that most humans didn't have.  They decimated the human population and after they had had their fun, they realized that there was a resource they hadn't totally taken advantage of yet—humans.  So, these monsters stopped killing humans for kicks and began using them.  They took over our world.  They "let," let being the operative word here, humans keep a semblance of government and structure and even kept some of the job descriptions the same.  Law enforcement, military, government, as cracked as it may be, we still had those jobs in the wold, but everyone knew that the monsters were the ones in charge, the ones holding the strings to their human puppets.  If I had been a normal human I'd probably be dead too, scratch that, maybe I'd be dead.  I'm pretty plucky, and I'm a stubborn bitch, probably too stubborn to die easily.  But I'd definitely wouldn't be alone, wandering around the Outerlands.  I had a tremendous amount of magic, and even though I kept it locked up tightly in that wellspring within, it often leaked...no matter how hard I tried I couldn't help it.  My magic was a part of me, as natural as breathing and keeping it trapped was not natural.  My magic didn't like to be trapped.  It sought ways to escape and that's why I kept having...yup, dead bodies tossed onto my front lawn, pesky unwanted suitors and unnatural and Others constantly harassing me.  The only thing I had going for me, other than my magic (which yes, was formidable) was the fact that no one (except my demented family) knew exactly what I was, or the reach and scope of my magic.  They just saw a young, pretty girl with magic and didn't bother looking any further.  Thank the Goddess for small favors.