The Hunter

The Hunter

Rain watched each of the people at the auction. The individuals who continually won their auctions were dismissed. They didn’t stink of desperation enough for Rain. She also rejected the people who were here for the spectacle of watching the slaves being mistreated, like the couple sharing her table.

She was glad to note that Ome looked profoundly uncomfortable in the current situation. It spoke well of his character. That didn’t stop Rain from kicking him under the table and giving him a look. She couldn’t afford for him to ruin this just because he didn’t fit in with a group of soulless villains.

Returning to the room, Rain continued to thin out the candidates. Anyone who looked like they had a class was out. So were those who didn’t bid on anything. By this point, she had narrowed it down to a small handful of people, and with no other way to narrow down her search, Rain picked the person who looked like they would be easiest to make contact with, the lone man who had been sitting at the table when Rain entered.

He had bid several times exclusively on young girls and lost every time. With each loss, he guzzled more liquor and complained.

“Arkit! I'm Lord Isster! My Father commanded one of the largest navies in the islands! I deserve these girls.” he slurred, slamming his cup on the table as he was outbid yet again. “You people are nobodies. You should let me have what I want!”

Every time he opened his mouth, Rain felt her plan get easier.

Rain had started to realize that the information she had gotten from her past self had some serious holes and didn’t understand how things worked in the isles, but in this case, it pulled through for her.

She could feel that the more entitled a person was, the more they felt the world owed them, the simpler it would be to control them. All she would have to do was offer him everything he felt he deserved - for a small price - and he would gladly accept.

It was time to start.

Sliding a needle out of her sleeve, Rain pricked her finger under the table. She waited as a drop of blood welled up, then reached for the glass of alcohol in front of Ome. As she grabbed it, she made sure to scrape her finger across the rim of the glass so her blood ran down into the drink.

Standing Rain took the drink to Lord Isster and placed it in front of him with a bow.

“My master wishes to offer you a drink. Someone of your stature deserves better treatment than this.”

“Finally, someone recognizes who I am!”

Rain watched the man from her bowed posture. Surely he wasn’t dumb enough to drink something given to him by...

Apparently, he was.

Rain forged the connection as the fool drained the tainted glass.

“What are you still doing here? Unless you have more for me to drink, go away!”

“I ain’t never want to see that again!”

“I hope you never do. Good luck with your life, Mr. Ome.”

Rain left the man where he stood looking ill. If she was being honest, she didn’t feel much better than he had. Why people would frequent a place like that for fun, she would never know.

Rain continued to walk aimlessly, looking for an empty place to warp away. But it seemed that tonight, she had chosen the wrong way. The crowd only seemed to be getting thicker.

Curious about what was happening, Rain slipped through the pack of people to get to the front of the crowd. When she finally squeezed through to the annoyance of the people around her, she found the source: the body of a man wearing the hat of a merchant. He lay on the ground face up. He was clearly dead, but the only marks on him were dark veins covering his face originating from his temples.

“...and now Fin, why are they killing all the merchants?” a man to Rain's right was saying to one of his friends.

Apparently, this was the third death like this in the last week. From what Rain could tell by the muttering, everyone had thought the first two might be a new disease. However, now that a third body was found, with all of the victims being merchants, it was clear they had a dangerous black classer on the loose.

***

It wasn’t until the early morning hours that Rain felt the connection with Isster solidify, indicating that he had finally gone to sleep. And about time, too. Rain had been waiting for hours. What had he even been doing?

Regardless, Rain needed to wait a few more minutes to be sure he was alone. Then, hoping he hadn't found the coin she had left in his coat, she warped to it.

When space unfolded, Rain found herself in a fine room that bore the wares of age and neglect. The fine carpets were matted in the areas of greatest traffic, and the furniture had lost its gleam. The coat Rain had left her coin in was slung over the back of a couch, and Isster was passed out on a bed reeking of alcohol. He apparently hadn’t had time to change or get under the covers.

No one else was in the room, allowing Rain to ease her tensed muscles. With how loudly he was snoring, she would have no problem moving around. Any noise she made would be drowned in his cacophony.

Quickly scouring the room, Rain found what she was looking for: a loose board on the bottom of his wardrobe. Prying the board off, Rain placed a bag with forty old coins inside the dusty hollow. Then, she produced a book from her cloak. The book had a firmly molded crimson leather cover imprinted with interweaving runes. Rain had picked it from her library specifically for this. Looking at the drunk, Rain whispered.

“I will lend you this book for one day or until you read one page from it.”

She wasn’t sure if she actually had to say the terms for her ‘Lend’ skill to work, but since she didn’t have to worry about being overheard or waking him up, she figured it couldn’t hurt.

That done, she placed the book next to the bag of coins and set the board back into place. Then, she hid her bonded ver under Isster’s bed.

Perfect.

Rain warped back to her room. It was time to start the show.