02-04-2015, 09:18 PM
As Nik climbed into the back of a dark SUV. Clandestine sort of activities were always powered by black SUV's. They were reasonable necessities, but he did find the melodramatics tiresome after a while. Then again, he was the one running around in a mask picking fights with low-born gods. Perhaps the melodrama was fitting.
The next individual on his list was a hot-headed twenty-four year old named Rahim. Within the safety of the car, Nik studied the boy's file as they traveled. Despite his ill-temperament, he was salvaged from an otherwise decent family in former Turkey. Rahim had some pharmaceutical habits as well. He's been several days out of his normal life. The withdrawals were likely stretching his minds to its limits. Nikolai would be careful. Paranoia could shove a man over the edge.
The cars rolled to a stop at a corner in a residential neighborhood. Many of the city's homes were built in towering apartment complexes, but this was one of the few that reminded him of his childhood. There were sidewalks, snow-laden trees, and actual yards. Rahim was holed up two houses down. Nikolai doubted the boy was invited inside by the family that lived there out of the kindness of their heart.
As soon as he left the car, he took the light of the universe into his grasp and every sense of his body flared strong. The moment he did, a reciprocal pulse of energy swelled from the house nearby. Rahim knew someone was coming and meant he was advanced enough to sense another god. Nikolai would be careful.
He approached the house's back door, he found a curl of power had already melted the locking mechanisms. A bare touch of his fingertips and the door shoved inward. Nikolai found himself in a dark kitchen, but his heightened senses saw the remnants of a fight clearly. The pulse of energy remained steady from the center of the house. Strange that he wasn't moving. These individuals were suppose to be screened so that they weren't too unbalanced to handle the situation, yet volatile enough to spark conflict in the city. If Rahim were another Valdir, Nikolai was going to be pissed.
He carefully rounded the threshold between the kitchen and the dining room. A barbed tangle of weaves were ready to thrash out at anything in defense, but he was not here to destroy Rahim. He was here to incite conflict, not decimate the kid. A few more steps.
He stopped along the wall to study the layout of the darkness beyond. A large - no two large - shadowed lumps sat on the floor. One of them was Rahim. He pulsed with power. Next to him was what Nikolai thought was a great dog curled up with its head in Rahim's lap. Featureless behind his mask, Nikolai frowned, studying the remainder of the room. That was when he found two other bodies, or what remained of them, strewn around the perimeter.
Had Rahim killed everyone in the house except the dog? It was a good start, but-
He froze when the 'dog' lifted its head. Its skin was sucked against the bones of its warped skull. The globes of its eyes were bright against the coal black its skin, when they turned upon Nikolai, his breath caught in his throat. It was no dog.
It stretched out its forelimbs, gangly and knobby like branches reaching for a victim, and light glimmered on the two long fangs protruding from its mouth. It licked some sort of satisfied, gummy noise and went back to sleep. Rahim pat its leathery skin and looked upon his visitor.
"And who are you?"
He asked, lethargic sounding.
Nikolai was certainly not going to answer. He would be the one to demand answers. Especially when a boy knew how to tame a monster of legend. "How have you come by such a pet?"
He rounded the room, carefully keeping his distance from the long arms of the rakshasa.
Rahim curled his palm around the creature's skull, soothing it. "He was hungry. I was hungry. We helped each other."
Nikolai studied the remains of the creature's recent meal. "But a rakshasa?"
He did not recall much of their legend, because frankly he didn't care to remember the details, but images of these creatures were burned into his mind. There was no mistaking what it was.
Calling the creature by name drew Rahim's attention. He stood, careful to let his pet sleep without him. He approached Nikolai with the boldness of a challenge. "Rakshasa? You're Atharim aren't you? An Atharim and a god. How fascinating. We didn't know if the Atharim would hunt down one of their own."
Of everything Rahim could say, he did not anticipate confrontation with the damned Atharim. "I am not Atharim,"
his voice was empty. "Are you Atharim?"
It didn't matter if Rahim was, but Rahim should not know such things. How had he tamed a Rakshasa? It seemed his question struck a similar nerve for his laugh struck like the bite of a snake.
"A masked man, Atharim and god who knew exactly where to find me. Are you the one responsible for bringing me here?"
Nikolai was at a loss. The kid knew about Atharim, monsters and gods? He seethed something foreign under his breath. "Memento mori"
. Was that Latin? Nikolai turned back just in time to realize the slick smile on the kid's face twisted deadly. Rahim was summoning a force strong enough to pull down the house.
A flick of his hand and the kid was thrown from his feet. The force of his body hurled against the wall knocked everything from the walls. Panes of glass shattered on the floor all around him. The Rakshasa flung to all fours at the noise, and ripped through the darkness toward Nikolai.
Stumbling backward, Nikolai whipped a razor-sharp blade forward. The resultant gash leaked an arc of red from the creature's body. It's scream burst through his mind, and the flash of its fangs was the only warning of its retaliation.
Nikolai had enough. Blocks of power and the creature was caught and crushed to death. Nik was careful to avoid the mess as he rounded upon Rahim.
He grabbed the kid by the shirt and yanked him to his feet with talons of power. But the kid's head fell limp against his shoulder. The brute force of the throw had killed him. "Damn."
Nikolai said, irritated.
The talons of power held the kid high when Nikolai yanked a necklace from the corpse. At first he thought the symbol was an oroborous, but closer inspection found something else altogether.
He put the charm in a pocket and let the body drop. As he left he set the place a blaze. If anyone was interested enough to investigate, the skeletons would be found in the ashes, raksasha among them.
Edited by Ascendancy, Feb 4 2015, 09:49 PM.
The next individual on his list was a hot-headed twenty-four year old named Rahim. Within the safety of the car, Nik studied the boy's file as they traveled. Despite his ill-temperament, he was salvaged from an otherwise decent family in former Turkey. Rahim had some pharmaceutical habits as well. He's been several days out of his normal life. The withdrawals were likely stretching his minds to its limits. Nikolai would be careful. Paranoia could shove a man over the edge.
The cars rolled to a stop at a corner in a residential neighborhood. Many of the city's homes were built in towering apartment complexes, but this was one of the few that reminded him of his childhood. There were sidewalks, snow-laden trees, and actual yards. Rahim was holed up two houses down. Nikolai doubted the boy was invited inside by the family that lived there out of the kindness of their heart.
As soon as he left the car, he took the light of the universe into his grasp and every sense of his body flared strong. The moment he did, a reciprocal pulse of energy swelled from the house nearby. Rahim knew someone was coming and meant he was advanced enough to sense another god. Nikolai would be careful.
He approached the house's back door, he found a curl of power had already melted the locking mechanisms. A bare touch of his fingertips and the door shoved inward. Nikolai found himself in a dark kitchen, but his heightened senses saw the remnants of a fight clearly. The pulse of energy remained steady from the center of the house. Strange that he wasn't moving. These individuals were suppose to be screened so that they weren't too unbalanced to handle the situation, yet volatile enough to spark conflict in the city. If Rahim were another Valdir, Nikolai was going to be pissed.
He carefully rounded the threshold between the kitchen and the dining room. A barbed tangle of weaves were ready to thrash out at anything in defense, but he was not here to destroy Rahim. He was here to incite conflict, not decimate the kid. A few more steps.
He stopped along the wall to study the layout of the darkness beyond. A large - no two large - shadowed lumps sat on the floor. One of them was Rahim. He pulsed with power. Next to him was what Nikolai thought was a great dog curled up with its head in Rahim's lap. Featureless behind his mask, Nikolai frowned, studying the remainder of the room. That was when he found two other bodies, or what remained of them, strewn around the perimeter.
Had Rahim killed everyone in the house except the dog? It was a good start, but-
He froze when the 'dog' lifted its head. Its skin was sucked against the bones of its warped skull. The globes of its eyes were bright against the coal black its skin, when they turned upon Nikolai, his breath caught in his throat. It was no dog.
It stretched out its forelimbs, gangly and knobby like branches reaching for a victim, and light glimmered on the two long fangs protruding from its mouth. It licked some sort of satisfied, gummy noise and went back to sleep. Rahim pat its leathery skin and looked upon his visitor.
"And who are you?"
He asked, lethargic sounding.
Nikolai was certainly not going to answer. He would be the one to demand answers. Especially when a boy knew how to tame a monster of legend. "How have you come by such a pet?"
He rounded the room, carefully keeping his distance from the long arms of the rakshasa.
Rahim curled his palm around the creature's skull, soothing it. "He was hungry. I was hungry. We helped each other."
Nikolai studied the remains of the creature's recent meal. "But a rakshasa?"
He did not recall much of their legend, because frankly he didn't care to remember the details, but images of these creatures were burned into his mind. There was no mistaking what it was.
Calling the creature by name drew Rahim's attention. He stood, careful to let his pet sleep without him. He approached Nikolai with the boldness of a challenge. "Rakshasa? You're Atharim aren't you? An Atharim and a god. How fascinating. We didn't know if the Atharim would hunt down one of their own."
Of everything Rahim could say, he did not anticipate confrontation with the damned Atharim. "I am not Atharim,"
his voice was empty. "Are you Atharim?"
It didn't matter if Rahim was, but Rahim should not know such things. How had he tamed a Rakshasa? It seemed his question struck a similar nerve for his laugh struck like the bite of a snake.
"A masked man, Atharim and god who knew exactly where to find me. Are you the one responsible for bringing me here?"
Nikolai was at a loss. The kid knew about Atharim, monsters and gods? He seethed something foreign under his breath. "Memento mori"
. Was that Latin? Nikolai turned back just in time to realize the slick smile on the kid's face twisted deadly. Rahim was summoning a force strong enough to pull down the house.
A flick of his hand and the kid was thrown from his feet. The force of his body hurled against the wall knocked everything from the walls. Panes of glass shattered on the floor all around him. The Rakshasa flung to all fours at the noise, and ripped through the darkness toward Nikolai.
Stumbling backward, Nikolai whipped a razor-sharp blade forward. The resultant gash leaked an arc of red from the creature's body. It's scream burst through his mind, and the flash of its fangs was the only warning of its retaliation.
Nikolai had enough. Blocks of power and the creature was caught and crushed to death. Nik was careful to avoid the mess as he rounded upon Rahim.
He grabbed the kid by the shirt and yanked him to his feet with talons of power. But the kid's head fell limp against his shoulder. The brute force of the throw had killed him. "Damn."
Nikolai said, irritated.
The talons of power held the kid high when Nikolai yanked a necklace from the corpse. At first he thought the symbol was an oroborous, but closer inspection found something else altogether.
He put the charm in a pocket and let the body drop. As he left he set the place a blaze. If anyone was interested enough to investigate, the skeletons would be found in the ashes, raksasha among them.
Edited by Ascendancy, Feb 4 2015, 09:49 PM.