CHPT 390: Home..... So Close, Yet So Very Far.....

FWOOSHH!

He hadn't moved....

Something else had though. Fast and cutting through the wind like a blade. But he didn't hear it coming until it was right behind him..... as if it had appeared out of thin air. Already in motion.

He spun around, pulse ticking like a timebomb as blood rushed through his veins.

Over a hundred feet away, at the top of the left canyon wall, there she stood.

She was tall. At least six and a half feet tall and horrifyingly gorgeous. Under the sun her pale white skin shined like porcelain-- perfect and unblemished. Her hair was a straight veil of black shadows and grey strands that stood out like rivers of silver. It looked as if it had been combed for ages. It stopped at her shoulders where it was swept behind her, giving way to her exposed neck and cleavage. The only thing stopping her from being completely naked was the near seethrough robe that shimmered and shined in seemingly all colors from under the sun. So reflective and flashy it almost gave him a headache. With the gusting winds blowing, the flashy covering hugged her curvaceous frame in the worst ways.

If he wasn't so rattled, he would've blushed... if magical hybrid wolf-shifters could. But then again, he probably wouldn't have.

Her sexual allure was too overpowering. So much so that it was almost like every part of her was screaming out to invite the unsuspecting man or woman in. A venus fly trap made human and sexual-- in a weird way.

The realization caused a growl to escape his lips. He didn't know her, but he knew of her. He knew exactly what she was. He was sure of it as bits of shiny colorful feathers matching the color of her dress flitted through the winds in his direction.

She knew of him as well. Her beautiful face was twisted into a mask of rage by his presence. Her black glossed lips seemed ready to part in a snarl at any moment.

"You.... why are you different?" Her words carried across the distance effortlessly. Deep and seductive with an undertone of anger.....pain.

Claude didn't say a word.

"They spoke of a feral boy in the woods.... not a Monster....."

"The woods. It is you...." Claude realized.

"Why are you different..... did the slaughtering of my daughters give you this much power? Hm? Was that it!?"

Her voice ripped across the canyon like the cry of an eagle.

"[The Harpies... one mentioned their mother.]"

"The one that fought Rollan." Claude realized. As he replied, the Harpies dress fluttered, revealing one of her hands was missing. It seems the Druid left a mark.

"Your information was incorrect. That is no feral boy. In fact, this is something far more interesting...what are the chances? Our worlds collide again it seems."

Claude's head flicked to the right side of the canyon in response to a new voice. Young and devoid of all ego. Like a dead tune. Despite this, everything around the sound was full of emotion-- even the song of the Banshee's that threatened to explode his mind. It's violent and dark tunes played around the voice like an unholy armor.

Claude shivered as his eyes fell on an individual no older than himself.

He was small. At just barely below six feet and thin. No fat held his wiry arms and exposed abdomen at all. And his skin was just as pale as the Harpy. Despite their size difference, he was far more terrifying.

He wore a sleeveless cloak of thick black feathers. His arms exposed and held by thick chains wrapped around his wrists. Runes he couldn't decipher marked the chains all the way down to the great-sword and Elven Crescent-Blade they were connected to. The great sword had a line of more Runes..... but they were different. They glowed black. And Death's Ambience seemed to reach it's metaphorical crescendo every time he focused on them.

"You're a long way from home.... unfortunately." As he spoke, he approached the edge of the canyon to get closer to him.

Claude stepped back while Frosty barked defensively, the man didn't seem to care.

"Very unfortunate." He emphasized in his dead tone as he dropped to a crouch from atop the canyon to look at him.

Eyes. All Claude could see were his eyes from behind the severed rune-written hand that held his face like a mask. So sad, as if he'd just finished crying. Just the eyes-- yet so much was told. The sight reminded him of times when a man had just finished weeping and settled on the idea of revenge, chaos, murder-- massacres of unspeakable proportions. Reborn from trauma in one defining moment. Claude had made such a face a few times.

The teen looking down at him seemed to be frozen in such a state.

Claude fought off a shiver.

"It's him..... I know it, my Lord." The Harpy repeated.

"I know.....he is both. He is the one who slayed your daughters..... and many more. Oh she'll love this. Probably too much." As the teen spoke, he turned his head and side eyed Claude, accidentally revealing a bit of himself that suddenly set Claude's heart on fire.

From beneath his slicked back mane of silver-blonde hair, the sharpest ears he'd ever seen revealed themselves. Adorned with black jewels and silver rings.

"[The Elven Murderer...]"

Claude had only become more confused-- and horrified.

"Tell me, why are you protecting the Druid and the Armaments?" As the Elf spoke, he crossed his arms, dragging the swords out over the ledge where they swung and hit the canyon surface, causing it to splinter and crack as if it had been hit by a battering ram. The blades were heavy.... and he wasn't bothered in the slightest.

Suddenly, Prof. Alvis' words from class found a way into his mind.

"Sss-sometimes-- haha, sometimes r-running is the only option..."

Today was one of those days.

Claude turned and took off, Frosty and Blackbeak followed urgently.

"The touch of the desert..... all the Monsters that were sent after us-- the Demons. It's him..... an Elf....."

"You don't want to talk, that's fine beast-man. I know what you are, and I happen to have someone that would love nothing more than to pry answers from your skin and bone for days on end. I'm sure you'll know her when you see her. She's a bit different from before though, I'll admit."

As the Elven murderer finished speaking, he swung his chained Elven blade and tore through reality with a mind-numbing shearing sound.

Claude turned as he ran just in time to see something akin to a Tangent entrance open up behind him.

"The fuck!?"

"Your obsession has found purpose once more....." The Elven boy said in the same deadened tone.

Words that weren't for Claude. Even now, more than a hundred feet from the psuedo-Tangent, he felt like he needed to move worlds faster.

And as it began to ripple, he knew why.

"[Dear lord, Claude run faster!]"

"I'm trying!" Claude snapped as panick shocked his soul.

"HahahAHHAHHA..... I KNEW IT!" A familiar feminine screaming voice echoed from within the Tangent, followed by a pale-skinned hand emerging.

It's nails coated in silver claws... oh the color had never been so bone-chilling.

"I KNEW I'd fiND yOu AGAIN! HAHAHAHAH!"

SHZZHZHZHHHSHSHSHSH!

Following her words, a blinding torrent of red lightning burst from her hand and crashed into them.

And then all that met him was the black stillness of unconsciousness.