Chapter Two: Sunset and Pirates

The day went by without much more talk between me and the Golden. I guess her grandparents lived about twenty miles south, and she had been driving to see a friends when the collector ambushed her. She barely made enough fire to escape, and had been running for the past two days out in the wilderness.

Also, since I'm 'mean' or something, I guess I'm not worth talking to. Which is fair, but I am putting myself out there for her. And I can only read the same lobby magazines. So some talking would be appreciative.

So I basically started talking to her without her responding. Literally, it was like talking to a wall. With my legs crossed, and staring at some German model - this dude was hot - I was rambling on about how difficult it was to freaking convince the Dragon of Tell Rock to give me a piece of cursed gold so I could harness its soul for a scrying glass necromancers used to make on a regular basis.

"--and I said, 'listen, it's just one piece, one piece. That's all I need'. And he said, 'Bro, I can't. This is my good treasure. My top shit'. And it was nice shit. So much gold and silver. Not to mention the rubies! I wanted it all. But alas, I knew the most to gamble for was a gold coin."

"Shut up! You are so annoying." Blas flicked her head at my, fiery hair still unkept, fair skin back to it's normal color. "Why are you talking so much? What did I do? Huh?"

"Er--, would you like to tell a story?"

Blas rounded in her dark wooden chair, eyes burning with literal fire. Somehow maybe that wasn't the correct thing to say. Who knows. I'm not much of a people's person. "You are about to make a deal that decides your fate, and possibly mine. Aren't you afraid? Or able to take it seriously?"

"Uh. Well. Who really cares? My fate is my own. I'll pick and chose how it goes." Didn't what's her face make it clear? None bother to care about me anymore. Minus my few friends. "Plus necromancers aren't remembered very fondly in this present age. And I'd simply fight them if they try to bring you back into it. So like, what's there to lose for me?"

"You'd fight for me?"

What, did I stutter? "That's what I'm doing right now. Collectors are disgusting creatures. I must set aside personal opinions and feelings - and ignore those pointed at me - if I wish to become a hero. Once Talimus enters through that door, I must become a force that can't back down."

Who knows what was going through her head. It seemed like she was having good thoughts. That's good. Can't have an angry girl spread bad things about me, even if it's to this small town.

But whatever she was going to say, was interrupted by the door opening and my new friends walking on in. Talimus kinda reminded me of a man who thinks he gets what he wants. Big mistake.

"Well well, there's my new treasure." He came over, Love right behind. The fireplace was roaring. Kinda like my opinions right now. The warlock sat down in the chair we set up, Love joining him. The table between us could not have been enough space.

"Alright," I said casually. "This is how it's going down."

Love slammed her fist onto the table. "You don't get to speak unless Talimus says so."

"What? Is he paying you extra to tell me that?" I raised a brow. "Bounty hunters aren't known for their........ability to follow orders. You must be desperate."

The witch tightened her fist. No, I don't think money is affecting the situation here. Or maybe I'm wrong. But bounty hunters don't let their bosses be controlling in a 'I'm supreme leader' kind of way. For the most part.

I wonder if a debt had been bought. Meh, who knows.

Talimus laughed, then noticed Hugh in the background. Ignoring him, he continued. "How then is this going to go down?"

"Tomorrow morning, nine am, we all meet in front of this inn. I then travel half a day east, into the wilds, and Love travels half a day west. Once we get that far, the hunt begins. We are allowed to use any weapons, magic, and abilities we have available. The girl stays here, and you aren't anywhere near her. If I come back and find out you bothered her, then we are going to have issues."

Love decided to finally say something relevant. I still think she must be a pirate. "And we are to bring the other back unharmed?"

"Yes. I don't hurt you. You don't harm me."

"When do you believe this will end? How long lad?" Talimus asked.

I shrugged. "Time length I'm not sure. But I suggest you come to the front of the inn every morning around sunrise. That is the time I suggest either of us bring the other back around."

Love wiped at her dark skin, trying to contain some type of emotion. Maybe joy at getting to hunt a necromancer. Maybe anger at myself. She gave nothing away. "I believe that is fair."

"I do concur," said Talimus. "Though, I do have a concern."

"Yes?"

He got closer, leaning in and smelling up my nose with perfume. "How do I know you won't bail?"

Now Blas spoke. "He wouldn't."

"But he might." Talimus pointed a white hand at me. "There's no guarantee he won't leave. Then we might never find him."

I figured this might come up. "You want insurance?"

"Yes lad. I do. So what can you offer that is worth coming back for?"

I laughed. Oh, this is going to be good. Reaching into my satchel, I brought out a family heirloom. "This is a knife known as the Fearful Blade. It is one of the most dangerous and powerful necromancer artifacts still intact. And as I'm sure you're aware, necromancer objects are highly collectable. Especially those on the black market."

"Oh. I don't collect relics dear boy. At least not necromancer relics." He licked his lips. "I'm more of a.......memory collector. Things worth more alive."

"Ah. I understand." Welp, that didn't work. Tucking away the knife, I went to plan B. "Then I offer the Gold as insurance."

Blas obviously was not pleased, almost on the verge of chewing me out in an angry fashion, but I beat her to it. "If Love can't find me in over a day, and there is suspect that I am no longer in the area, then you can have the Gold. But that's only if the 'Huntress' can't find me. Which might be possible....."

Listen. Bounty hunters don't like having their skills insulted. And while Blas looked mad, Love looked pissed. "I most definitely can find you child. In less than a day."

"Really? Because I've never heard of you, Love the Huntress." Now it's time to solidify this deal. "So? We have a deal?"

Talimus spoke over both his bounty hunter and the Gold. "Sure lad. I'll take that. Oh, what fun. I shall enjoy crushing you boy."

"Bitch now get the fuck out of here. I'm tired of looking at your ugly ass face."

The three left, Love still giving me dirty looks. Fine, I don't care. Bounty hunters are predictable just as they are scary. She smelled like nature, so that at least gave me some clues as to who or what she is.

Hugh all of a sudden pushed me over, a nice curved wand pointing at my face. "You liar! The deal wasn't to put the girls life at risk."

"Woah now, Captain Fun-Times," I said, arms up in defense. The ground was not a good place to be looking at the business end of a wand. "Listen. It's just to prevent the man from betraying us. I don't plan on running away. And if you kill me now, then there's no one to fight the bounty hunter."

Hillside was too small. There were no heroes living here, and definitely no Hidden strong enough to take on Love. It didn't take a genius to figure out she could kill without remorse, which means I'm the only person who could play in her field. Sometimes I question people's intelligence.

"You should have told us what you were planning! This isn't some game," Hugh shouted, probably waking half the inn. A few heads turned at the front desk, but then went back to their business. "I knew you'd be trouble."

"Okay. First off, I thought the Fearful Blade would be enough. Clearly I was wrong," I said truthfully. "Second, you have to learn to speak to collectors. They want items of rarity. It's not just about price, or value. It's about getting it all to themselves. If you give them the idea that what they want can be theirs, it's easier to manipulate them. They're gamblers. With an addiction. So, please, put the wand away."

Hugh and his brown mustache huffed, but not before lowering the wand. The few people on this floors kept their vision anywhere else, not wanting to anger the inn keeper. He still gave me a stink eye, which I was starting to not appreciate.

"You are testing my patience."

"Oh no. Should I be scared?" Ugh. Why do I say stupid things? Oh yeah, because people say stupid things. "Or should I not care?"

I guess the answer is too care, but I think Hugh was smart enough to know to not mess with me. He moved away, muttering to himself. Leaving me with Blas. The Gold also gave me angry looks.

"You should have told me first."

"Would you have agreed?"

She shrugged, trying to find something to say. "Maybe. I think it's a good idea in keeping him in line. And you."

"Oh," I said. "Then I'm sorry. You deserve better than that. And I was out of place. How about I buy you dinner? 'Cause I'm starving."

Blas gave me a once over. Looking for some fault in my words. What did she see, you think? Truth? Lie? Whatever it was, her stomach growled and her eyes went from sceptical to hungry. She sighed. "Yes. Please buy me dinner."

"Sweet. Because there's a great restaurant down the street." We went off, to fill our bellies, and to forget the evening.

XXXX

I sat on the floor with back on the wall in my little room. The small space included a bed, a small dresser, a nightside table with a lamp, and a tiny desk. Next to me was the door, and my feet hit the side of the bed. In front of the bed was the bathroom door. Which was where Blas was, taking a shower.

With my Expand backpack beside me, I was writing in my journal. Near the end - I'd have to get another soon - I wrote on the top of the page with pen. The Gold fit nice well. The first few sentences were clear and precise.

The Gold - or Golden - is a rare breed of witch or warlock with eyes of gold and a caller organ. Very strange that that would be apart of the deal. The Gold is an expert in what appears to be raw fire elemental powers. Or at least more refined, as I've yet to see the one before me use her powers. Curious that the color of eyes would lead to a certain type of power. Though, thinking about it, with my black eyes, it kinda makes sense. No, actually, it doesn't.

Eventually Blas came out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her body. She went to reach for her jacket, and noticed the set of clothes I had placed out. "What are these?"

"Huh? Oh, I thought you might want something clean to wear for the night. I had a spare pair of sweats and a t-shirt, and while they might be big, are probably better than those grimy things."

She examined them, sniffing them carefully. I must smell like death. Or a nice orange scent. "I suppose they'll work for the night. Though all black isn't really my kind of style."

"Yeah. I kinda figured. Though they'll sure highlight your gold eyes." I watched as she picked them up, bending over a little. Some cleavage showed, but not enough for me to care. Blas went back into the bathroom to change, and in a moment she returned, wearing my clothes. As I suspected, they were too big. But she seemed pleased to not be wearing gross clothing anymore.

The witch plopped down on the bed, looking at the ceiling, then leaned to face me. "I don't understand you. For such a mean guy, you are sure doing nice things."

"The world is a mean place, with nice things in it. Shit happens." My pen moved carefully, hoping to get some answers. "So can I ask you about Golds?"

"Uh, sure. Seems like a weird topic choice though."

"I've never heard of them, which is why I'm asking." The search for knowledge has now grown, and shrunk, all in the same day. I bit my lip. "So is being a Gold hereditary?"

"Yes. Though sometimes it can skip a generation," she said. "Which is probably why it's rare. It's not likely to just randomly show up anywhere."

Writing that down, my pen was still moving as I asked, "Are there other eye colors? Or just gold?"

"I'm pretty sure there are others. Silver, Sapphire, Ruby, all associated with another elemental power." She shrugged. "I've never met one though."

"Wonder why you guys aren't just considered magi," I questioned, thinking hard. "It's obvious you are more powerful than a normal witch. Still magi's eyes. Caught in time. What the hell? I--I wonder if your descendants are both magi and witch/warlock."

Blas didn't know, from the look on her face. In fact, she seemed interested in my book, from her shifting glances. "Are you like some kind of researcher?"

"Yeah. Guess you could say that." No. Just a collector of information. Wait...... "Anyways, so you control fire?"

"Er--more or less. It's just easier to summon than anything else." Blas curled her hair with one finger, and then asked a question I hated answering. "So what's it like being alone?"

"I'm not alone. You're in the room," I said, pointing at her.

Ah, it didn't work. "No no. What's it like being the last?" She blinked fast, but the question was far from innocent. "If you truly are the last."

Oh, I was. The magi made that very clear. "It sucks. But then I get over it."

Her German accent made me feel like she was being sincere, but I couldn't tell. "You get over it? You are not sad at being alone? Or never getting to see your family again?"

Well damn. I wasn't until she brought it up. "Sad? Every once and awhile. But a lesson my mother taught me was the past is death, and I conquer death. I must overcome the past to move to the future. Anger, vengeance, sadness, grievance, all must be forgotten if I want to survive."

Though, I'm still pretty angry large portions of the time. Mainly because people treat me like a freak or a kid. And since I'm both, it pisses me off more.

"Vengeance? Against who?"

"Uhh, against everyone. You think your witch blood makes you innocent when it comes to the genocide of the Necromancers? You think the Earth Hidden weren't apart of the brutal slaughter of my people? Of the practice of killing children for sport? Or ripping apart elders just for a laugh? Because they were, and I could be trying to destroy anything in my way." My head swung back and forth. "No, I do not get sad, because that would lead to revenge. And you don't want that."

I closed my journal, putting it into my pack. Standing and stretching with a groan, I reached into my Expand and found my towel. And shampoo. Expands are so useful, since they are larger on the inside. Fucking Doctor Who bullshit up in here. But I digress.

Taking my quick shower, I was drying myself and reminiscing about when I used to take longer showers. Back when I was starting to learn how to kill. And I tried feeling better by taking like half-hour long showers, but now I keep it around ten. I'm used to killing, used to death, and don't really need my guilty showers anymore.

My sweats felt nice, and I wrapped my shirt around my neck. I don't sleep with a shirt on, because it annoys me. And being annoyed angers me, so I try to avoid those situations as much as possible.

Walking back into the now dim room, Blas looked at me with a weird look. No, not at me, but at my chest. Shit! Did I miss some dirt?

"Crap, do I have filth on me still?" I thought I had gotten everything. My hands traced my stomach, feeling around, not seeing or touching anything. Oh, then what the hell? Blas's face was red. Fuck, is she sick now? "Hey you okay? You look red, do you need like an aspirin? I got a few."

The girl must have had a brain fart, because she just muttered some incoherent nonsense. Taking that as a no, I sat down in my spot again, getting my blankets ready. Maybe she saw my tattooes, and was shocked by that? Still, she said nothing.

"Hey Blas, could you turn off the light?" I asked as I got out my small laptop. Luckily this tiny ass inn had internet. Booting up with a small hum, I clicked onto the internet, and typed in this simple thing:

Love, the Huntress.