by Adam Lynch
“And who did they say they were?”
“They didn’t. They didn’t have the time. They knew you were coming. They simply told me what I needed to know and what I needed to do.”
“Like master and brainwashed servant. You don’t find that at all suspicious? Taking orders from someone you know nothing about? No questions to be asked? Just urgencies they need immediately carried out? Now think for a moment, Ashkii. Why are they helping you? What do they want? Do you know? I’ll tell you. The captain wants me dead because he knows I’m the only one stopping him from conquering Seasons.”
Ashkii shook his head, turning his eyes away. “I don’t believe you.”
“You believe him? You don’t even know who he is.”
“I don’t believe him.”
“Then who do you believe?”
The question stumped him, surprised at finding himself speechless. “I… I don’t know what to believe anymore. I still have many questions...”
“And I have answers. Ask me anything, Ashkii, and I’ll give you the truth.”
“You told me that your mother was killed by a werewolf… was that werewolf, Rolf Valentine?”
“Yes, Ashkii. He was.”
Suddenly, several missing pieces found their places in the grand puzzle. A lot started making sense: her loss of mind when she was fighting him—struggling to keep him from ripping her apart like he’d done her mother. The blood stone chained around his neck—the price and curse of the werewolf murdering a Kiren…
“So everything you forged in the log...” he began suddenly, the thoughts suddenly coming to him. “That was all true?”
“Everything but the part about the stone becoming a compass to its shared blood. But it is true that we are known as the Kiren. It is true that when we are murdered, our blood if forever chained to our murderer’s neck. And it is true that when the murderer dies, the Kiren’s blood is freed from bondage. By killing Rolf Valentine, you have freed my mother’s blood.”
“So by leading me to believe that Rolf’s death would reveal the Hypnotist’s identity and location, you got me to avenge your mother. But why did you need me to do it? You had once killed a Valentine stronger than he, second only to Salem himself.”
“It’s because he was a vampire. Vampires, no matter how strong they claim to be are the easiest for me to kill. It’s because they pride themselves in their beauty, thirsting for sexual desire above all else. Any who is prone to sexual desire is vulnerable to me, Ashkii. That is my secret. I tell you this because I meant it when I said I loved you and do not wish for you to feel tricked in any way. Now, listen, as I will tell you how I kill my enemies. I use hypnosis to seduce them, make myself everything they wish to see in a woman or a man and exemplify it. I allure them into giving themselves to me. When they do, I poison them with a kiss or by having sexual relations. Most of my victims die by poison, and by poison alone. The evidences of death you see by anything else—whether by beast, sword, or magic—are all illusions. They are illusions I create to prevent myself from being discovered. I kept my identity as broad as possible to prevent others from stepping on to me. I was able to kill the top elites of the four regions—including Victor Valentine, Salem’s strongest vampire. I could kill any who had sexual desire. But I could not kill Rolf Valentine. Frustratingly, he had no sexual desire of any kind. That is why I needed you to kill him. But revenge wasn’t the only reason that I had you kill him, Ashkii.”
He paused a moment, thinking over everything that she had said, confused. “There is still much I don’t understand,” he began. “If you had wanted to stay hidden, why did you kill members of such high profile? Why did you leave a letter threatening all the regions and waging war with them? And why leave your mark on every victim you kill letting everyone know it was you?”
“It was for you, Ashkii. I killed the four elites to get everyone’s attention. I’m a threat needed to be taken seriously—for investigators like you to be appointed by monarchs. It was also to make a point that I can strike from anywhere, not just from one kingdom. I needed you to visit all four kingdoms for your investigation—it was so you could remove those four obstacles for me. Now, the letter—that too was made for you, Ashkii. By letting the regions know that I was a master of hypnosis, the people would know that the only way they’d hope to find me was by two things: hiring a capable investigator—I had made certain that the chief had thought you were the best choice—and hiring someone immune to hypnosis. Since no such person exists, I was the only choice. As for the mark I left on my victims… that also was for you, Ashkii. That was me unveiling clues to you about myself. I wanted you to know that it was me so you’d be encouraged—always lending you a lead of some sort. I led us to all four regions, giving you time to feel the same way I had felt about you while simultaneously having you remove those four obstacles. Now, while it was true that at times the Sky Pirate captain had breached my hypnosis net, I assure you that his sole intentions were to trick you—to kill me and remove the only obstruction standing in his way.”
“You keep mentioning these four obstacles… explain your meaning...”
“These four obstacles are tasks that I had you remove in order to ensure the success and security of our life-force barrier—that only you could take care of.”
“Because I wield the Spirit Bow?”
“Yes. In each kingdom there lied a special defense—each that stood in the way of my barrier construction. This was why I had constructed leads that had led us to all four kingdoms. In Springeria, there was Chiharu’s barrier. Her barrier had deflected nearly all things physical and magical. Even if you had surrendered the Spirit Bow to me now and I had absorbed its power, it would not have been possible for me to shatter the barrier. This is because I am unable to use the Spirit Bow in the Spirit Bow’s true form because I am not its destined wielder. I can only absorb its energy. In Summeria, there was a similar predicament: Ieronne, Watcher of the Summerian Council; the dragon whose skin could only be penetrated by the Spirit Bow by the hands of the Spirit Gatherer—as many of the legends had said. I am grateful to Yce Glacis for making my job easy by convincing you to remove the dragon and Springeria’s barrier from existence. Like Chiharu’s barrier, Ieronne’s skin had deflected everything physical and magical. This meant that I couldn’t press my suggestive thoughts and perceptions to hypnotize him like all the other animals. I couldn’t control him or harvest his life energy so he was too dangerous to not have removed. Winteria inconveniently shared the same problem: Salem Valentine. The immortal king and his artificial moon were very dangerous to my plan. Like me and what I plan to do with the Spirit Bow, the moon harvests life energy in nearly the same way. It harvests the blood (life energy) gathered to it by his people feeding on those who do not share Salem’s blood. The reason why Salem and the moon are dangerous to my plan is because if left alone, the moon could absorb all the life energy that I attempt to strip, giving Salem all the power instead of to my barrier. The immortal king had to die. You as well as I know that it was for the greater good of creation anyway.”
“How did you execute his death? It all happened so quickly… but I last remember killing Rolf Valentine…”
“As I’ve told you before, vengeance wasn’t the sole reason I had you kill Rolf Valentine. It was because I knew that his death would lead to the end of Salem Valentine.”
“So the immortal king was your target all along.”
“Yes. As you and I have both discovered, the Spirit Bow is entirely powerless against him. So I had to find another way to kill him. Fortunately and conveniently, Rolf Valentine was that perfect vessel. After I killed Victor Valentine, Salem ensured the survival of his next strongest sibling, Rolf Valentine, by having his court wizard, Oztior, plant a curse on him. The curse was that if Rolf was murdered, the spell would harvest the blood of all within an unknown proximity of his body, and then offer it all to Salem’s moon. The sacrifices were meant to offer payback for his brother’s death—a clever and
powerful curse I must say. Admittedly, I do not possess the power to conjure such spells and curses. But with hypnosis, I could hypnotize the curses to stray a bit off their course. So instead of Rolf’s curse harvesting blood for the moon upon his death, I had his curse harvest the moon’s energy in its entirety upon his death. My mark on his neck had indicated that he was mine now—and its glow had revealed that my hypnosis was active on him. Everything was set in motion. The only thing that I could not do myself was kill the bloody werewolf. The bastard was immune to my charms—but thankfully, not to your bow.”
“And the fourth obstacle?”
Kel paused, grinning as if pleased he asked.
“For years there were many whispers that the great weapon of the heavens would rain down in Autumnum. Those who heard these whispers flourished to the kingdom in search of it. But none found it—none but the one whom it had wanted to be found.”
“The Spirit Bow? Seems you have thought of everything. The civil war in all of Seasons... it was you that drove the regions to fight each other, wasn’t it? But why? To distract them from uniting against you?”
“Yes, Ashkii. As I’ve just explained to you, I needed many things done in Seasons and had to ensure that no one would get in the way. It’s for the greater good of the land. My plan will save Seasons. My plan will save you.”
“Your plan will save yourself—that’s all you really care about. And everyone else has to pay the price for it. What about all the animals? You plan on harvesting all life from this land? What about food? What about livestock? You ever thought of that? Or do you even need such things to survive?”
“I need what every humanoid needs to survive, Ashkii. I won’t harm any of the plants or animals—in exception to that serpentine dragon who had to be removed. It is because they do not offer the abundance of life-energy that humanoids offer. But surely you knew this. Why do you think vampires prefer humanoids over animals?”
“Just answer me these last few things, Kelanassa: How did you do it? How did you do it all alone? Were you alone? How did you kill four elites in four separate kingdoms at the same time? And how much of this mission have you orchestrated? You knew everything about me before you even met me, didn’t you? How else could you have known that we were alike in so many ways?”
“You’re right, Ashkii. I did know about you before meeting you. When I found you, I observed you for many days and nights, especially when you slept. Consciously, your mind has repressed and forgotten your past, but every night you slept, you dreamt of it—shouting aloud the horrors of that night. It took time to find you after I learned of the Spirit Bow and sought it out, but eventually, I did. And when I found you, I began organizing my orchestration of attaining you, the Spirit Bow, and our lifetime security. I tried to be in control of the mission as much as possible, but of course, as life would persist, many things fell out of my hands. I didn’t plan the wendigo attack on the Antelope Clan. Believe me, that was as much disturbing for me as it was for you. It also wasn’t my plan to be captured and thrown in Oztior’s dungeon—at the time I was very upset about that—but then life surprised me with pleasant opportunities. From that circumstance, we became acquainted with the White-Bloods and I was granted the perfect opportunity to assassinate Oztior—whom I had worried would interfere with my plans. Mostly, however, I admit that I was the narrator of our quest. For example: sometimes I had pressed suggestion in your mind to soothe or disorientate your thoughts—to keep you from asking questions I had not wanted you to think of asking at that time. And it was me who had sounded the alarm in Oztior’s dungeon that nobody but the werewolf had heard, using his assertiveness to draw out all the werewolves so they’d be replaced with the vampire guards; The guards of whom I then seduced, freed myself—but not before tranquilizing you to sleep without allowing you to feel it—and poisoned them. Then, to prevent you from picking up on my traditional pattern too soon, I took one of their own iron knives and finished off each of their lives with it before the poison had. You should also know that I was the one who beckoned all the animals to our aid when we needed them: the White Shuck, the mamushi snake, and even the Nuckelavee. Also, know that it was me who allowed you to find the Chalice of Prophecy so I could ensure your motivation towards slaying Ieronne. Years ago when I had found it, I masked its hiding place with illusions to ensure no one but you would find it. Then, to ensure you’d make it Springeria, I controlled what I wanted your mind to see from the chalice. And the time when you opened the Sky Pirate’s diary, I gave you all the encouragement you’d need to kill Rolf Valentine and activate the altered curse I had placed on him. Once all that was done, I tranquilized you again, making you think it was actually the gas. Then, I showed you everything about your past that I had learned from watching you sleep all the years I observed you. This was so you’d know the truth—so we’d be as one. Along our quest, there were other things that I had allowed you to see, or that I had purposely shown you, but know that it was all for us to arrive here in this moment—so we could be together, in union of understanding. Now, as far as how I killed the four elites—it took time, admittedly. I killed them all at different times, but used a timed illusion spell that kept their bodies invisible until all four bodies were ready to be unveiled simultaneously to the public. To make them appear that they were all killed at the same time and in the same way, I forged evidences using placed illusion spells like I had done with every other of my victims. Like nearly all of my victims, the four elites were killed solely by poison. You never saw that a victim’s true cause of death was by poison because I was by your side the whole time, masking the truth.”
“Unbelievable. You speak of murder like it’s an everyday trade. You’re no better than the monsters I hunt.”
“It was for survival, Ashkii. It’s always been for survival. All life I take, their life energy becomes a part of me and I become stronger, more powerful. My hypnosis has evolved, grown in strength and power, my capacity to absorb has expanded tenfold. With all the power I’ve gained, I’m able to store even the energies of the Spirit Bow itself. I’ve studied its legends carefully. I know its limits, and I know mine. I was weak when I had arrived at Seasons—the weight and survival of my people full on my shoulders. I knew my time was short. I knew the pirates would come. Eventually they would come—the same way they came and conquered all other lands, including my own. Hopeless and afraid, my strategy as a young girl for getting ready was running, hiding, getting stronger—but then I uncovered the legends of the Spirit Bow… after it had already found its wielder. Then, that’s when it came to me. I saw the possibility of a defense. I knew the power of the Sky Pirates. I knew it well. I knew what they could do—what they would do. I knew that no matter how strong I ever got, I’d never stand a chance against them, nobody would. But formulating a defense—with the help of the Spirit Bow, I knew I’d finally find sanctuary. The pirates have devastated nearly the entire world—Seasons being one of the last remaining—but my plan will save it. The land will be saved for as long as we live.”
“There are no pirates coming. You’re just trying to secure safe haven from all those in Seasons who want you dead.” He rose his bow toward her head again, arrow positioned. “And your head would rightfully serve on their platter.”
“Righteous judgment isn’t the reason you want to kill me. It’s an excuse to justify it. The truth is that you’re upset I’m not the perfect girl you thought I was. Your feelings have been awakened, wounded, and now I should die for it.”
Infused with fury, Ashkii kicked Kel to the ground. Coughing, she remained there, face in the dirt. “You know nothing about me!” he shouted, looking down on her. “You got that? Nothing!”
“I’m the only one who knows anything about you. I’m the only one who can share your burdens because I understand you. I understand what you went through. I went through it too. That’s why I feel something with you. That’s why you feel something with me. Don’t you understand? We feel something from each other becaus
e we’re connected. Our minds are subconsciously connected because of the tragic past we share. And our hearts—which can never be controlled—would they ever lie to us?”
Ashkii was at a sudden loss for words. He wanted to have something to say, to justify his hate for her and feel good in his yearning to kill her, but he didn’t. His mind went blank. Holding an arrow over her head, she sat helplessly in the dirt. Rendered at his mercy; her fate in his hands. With such power given to him, his fire was put out, his fear of her eased.
Here was his chance to end her, to end it all. Everything he fought for, worked towards—set at his knees. Never had Ashkii canceled a contract, rejecting his reward. Once a hunt had begun, it was to be finished. No exceptions.
Not for anything they’d say.
Not for anything he’d think or feel.
That was the rule of the hunt. That was the discipline expected of a hunter—of himself. A hunter must be set in his ways. Never swayed by anything his enemy would say or would make him feel.
His task was to be made simple, the rules of the hunt absolute.
But for the first time in Ashkii’s life, there was a problem. A complication.
Instead of questioning his enemy, he was questioning himself. He thought over everything she had said, everything he had learned, and everything anybody else had said against her.
This time the rules of the hunt would not protect him. The possible consequences of either decision were mountainous. But which was greater? Which was the lie? Could both be a lie? Could both be the truth?
He had not the evidence to support either or perfectly. He had but stories and prophecies.
Yet, he still had to make a decision indefinitely.
Should Kelanassa Kaliete die?
Had she spoken the truth about everything she said? Could it all be a crafted bluff? A lie to get him to give her what she had really wanted all along?
Who were the members with the purple eyes? What did they want? Had Kel told the truth about them? They certainly told the truth about her. But was it the full truth? Had Kel only told a portion of the truth? The rest being lies?
