The Man From The Shadows

The Man From The Shadows

The Scorpion’s sting – series part 10 -

Olive woke up to whispering just outside of her door. Still somewhat asleep, she sat up and looked around, before looking at the twins that were asleep on the bed next to her. Both of them were still there and sleeping soundly. She heard the whispers again and she silently stood up slowly approaching the door to hear what they were saying better.

“Why can’t we just take the child?” Dean from before coldly asked. “She can’t keep him safe and there are too many assassins around here.”

“We do not steal children unless we have no other choice, my son. You should remember that.” The man quietly told his boy. “We don’t know how long it will take the Snow Demons to get here. There may still be time to convince her that letting us take the boy, is safer than trying to protect him herself.”

“What will happen if we can’t convince her?” Dean asked almost too quiet for her to hear him, even with her ear pressed to the door.

“Then we’ll have no choice, but to take him.” His father sighed, he didn’t seem to be too keen on that idea, but that didn’t change the fact, that they were trying to figure out how to take her son.

“And what about his twin. That one doesn’t have the hunter spirit in him, He’s more assassin than a hunter.” Dean grumbled, “Might be better to put him out of his misery, to spare him the life of an assassin.”

“Never speak those words again. We do not harm the innocent.” His father growled and then there was, a whack and the kid grunted. Olive stood up straight and silently took a step back. She didn’t trust these two. She looked over her shoulder at the two sleeping boys and toyed with her lip as her eyes shifted around the room. She needed something, anything that would help her protect her children. She would kill the two hunters before she allowed them to lay a single finger on either one of her precious boys.

(Where is Raleek when I need him?) She mentally cursed and rushed toward her wardrobe and pulled it open, to see what she could find. Many things had been left in this place, surely, she could find something of use.

“Are you having difficulty finding your room?” Wolfme’s voice came from in the hallway, and she could hear him walking towards her unwanted guest.

“No, my son and I were just establishing rules of polite society.” The man quickly explained away why they were there.

“Then I’m sure that you know, your room is at the other end of the hall.” Wolfme calmly said as he stopped in front of her door.

“Yes, we were heading that way.” the boy’s father stated, and they started walking down the hall the way that Wolfme had come.

Olive, closed her eyes and exhaled, thanking the universe for Wolfme’s arrival. Then she walked toward her bedroom window and looked out, willing Raleek to hurry up and return. It was early morning, and the sun hadn’t started to rise yet so, the white-covered area, seemed peaceful, almost tranquil, but inside this lone building, tension coiled through the air, and it was only a matter of time before it claimed its victims. She absently rubbed her arms to ward off the sudden chill that seemed to grip her body.

Sighing, Olive was about to return to bed, when her eyes caught movement in the snow. Unsure what she saw, she looked out the window in the direction and found herself confused. The snow looked like the wind was causing it to spiral up off the ground, but there wasn’t any wind, the other things that wind would affect remained perfectly still. Trying to make sense of it she leaned closer to the glass and placed her palm against it. Suddenly frost formed where her hand was, and she gasped jumping back slightly and looking around. What the heck was going on? This wasn’t natural and why couldn’t she see anything? Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she snapped her attention back to the spiraling snow, and instead of it being only snow, an ice blue figure was suddenly standing there staring up at her with cold dead eyes. It didn’t blink, nor did it make a move.

Her heart began to pound rapidly, and she took an involuntary step back. With a blink of an eye, the form was gone, and she stepped towards the window once again thinking that she had imagined it all. Suddenly the figure was slamming against the glass with its palms and feet on the corners as it looked inside the room. Frost spider-webbed across the panes and a sharp-fanged grin spread across the twisted and corrupted features tinted with blue. Blue veins seemed to glow as they began to rise against the skin of its face. She was shaking as she stepped back a couple of steps hoping that the window would keep it out, but when its dead gaze turned towards the twins, she could hear the glass cracking from the frost.

She screamed when the cracking spread out across the glass and shot towards the bed to get the boys so, she could run. She didn’t have time though, as the glass exploded inward. All she could do was use her body to shield the boys from the glass shards, as the creature shot into the room and rapidly spider crawled onto the wall and then the ceiling of her room. Oli screamed bloody murder and she cradled the boys against her, her eyes darting around the room to try and locate the entity. When she finally spotted it, it was perched in a dark corner and suddenly sprang at her. She screamed, throwing one hand up out of instinct while she held the boys in her other arm. There was a loud thud, followed by hissing, snarling, and thrashing of black nails against an unseen force that seemed to suddenly encase them in a small protective barrier.

Gasping her eyes darted around taking in the translucent blue energy. She had no idea what was going on, only that it seemed to be keeping the demon or whatever it was at bay. She looked at the boys and her eyes grew wide, Oli wasn’t screaming anymore, instead, his eyes were a vibrant glowing green, and Ra’s was glowing gold. Both, boys, stared at the creature as if it was nothing. The thrashing of the entity increasing in strength and noise pulled her attention back to it, just as Wolfme and his wife burst in through her door, breaking it off its hinges.

“What the hell…….” Wolfme breathed, he had never seen anything like the creature that was attacking before and wasn’t sure how he should react. “What is that?”

“It's dead.” Was the only answer his wife gave before she pulled her weapons and leaped toward the creature, ensnaring it in a rapid and lethal fight, using the shield around Olive and the twins as a platform, to keep her between the creature and them.

She held up for quite a while, but even she wasn’t a match for the beast, and it sent her flying across the room. She hit into the wardrobe cabinet causing it to shatter from the force, broken piece of wood ran her throw and she fell forward to her knees, panting. Wolfme raced in and tossed some seeds at the creature as he dove into a roll snatching up her fallen sword in the process. Coming out on his knees in front of the shimmering orb, he held the sword up using one arm to steady the blade as he thrust it forward, into the demon’s heart, as it went for Olive and the boys again. It stumbled back surprised as if it hadn’t even seen him coming. He narrowed his eyes dangerously and slowly stood up ripping the blade free of its flesh to steady it on his arm once again.

“No, Wolfme…” his wife grunted as she pulled the wood out of herself and staggered to her feet. “You can’t beat it. Get Olive and the kids and go.” She tried to command him, but he wasn’t listening to her, instead, he was focused on his opponent as the seeds began to take root in its flesh and start to grow.

For a moment it appeared that the blood vines he was growing in it, would consume it as they snaked and coiled around the creature's body, at one point it was completely covered in the plant life and it was beginning to contract, but suddenly the vines froze and shattered. A brief look of shock crossed his features, but he quickly masked his face and slowly began to circle, around keeping the creature's attention on him. Those vines were his strongest attack, but if he could keep its focus on him, his wife might be able to finish the job.

Just like he knew that she would, his wife rushed in with the deadly intention of killing the creature once and for all, but it spun around at the last second and sent her flying across the room again. This time she hit the shield that surrounded Olive and the boys. It seemed to vanish upon her approach, and she slammed into Olive who managed to move the boys out of the way. Noticing that the shield was gone the creature shot toward the boys at lightning speed once again. Instinctively, Olive grabbed the knife that Doe was still holding onto and leaped into the way, using her body weight the plunge the blade deep into its gut. Black blood sprayed out splattering her face as she twisted the blade and ripped it upward. The creature howled in pain and backhanded her knocking her to the floor, with a gash on her forehead, as it tried to pull the dagger free. Olive scrambled back to her feet and grabbed up one of the broken pieces of wood, rushing in the break it over the creature's back. It whipped around and sent her flying out the window, she hit the roof with a thud and rolled down it, falling to the frozen ground outside. Dazed she pushed herself up, ignoring the pain that racked her body as she gently reached up to touch the gash on her forehead.

“Oli.” She breathed and tried to walk, but her legs grew wobbly, and she fell to the snow again. This time she didn’t bother to stand up and just started crawling toward the porch to get back inside. Her vision was blurry, and it was hard to make out the objects that were around her.

“Olive!” She heard Wolfme call out the window.

“I’m here….” She breathed and realized he wouldn’t hear her. If he thought she was too hurt, to respond he would leave the boys to come and help her and she couldn’t let him worry about her at this time. “I’m…... I’m fine. Just kill that thing.” She finally managed to call out loud enough for him to hear right before the pain caused her to throw up and crumble to the snow once again. Her whole world was spinning, and she was fighting desperately to get it to stop.

“Hang in there,” Wolfme called back. “We’ll get there in a moment.”

Wolfme

Wolfme had rushed in to help Olive but wasn’t fast enough to stop the strike that sent her out the window and just as he was about to strike it. The thing backhanded him, and he hit the wall near the window, so hard that his breath was knocked out of him, and he was gasping for air, for a moment. Seeing that it had the upper hand, the demon stalked toward the bed, and the now crying boys, who were trying to crawl away. It reached its large, clawed hand down toward, Oli and Doe used what little strength she had left to throw herself into the creature knocking it back a few steps before she hit the floor unable to continue.

“No.” Wolfme, breathed and tried to push himself up, but wasn’t able to. The creature went after Oli again and then exploded, spraying the room with its frozen black insides. Wolfme turned his gaze toward the broken door, as his vision started to fade. Standing there was the hunter and his son. The man had his handheld out with his fingers in the form of claws. His hand looked like it was smoking with a wisp of violet spirit energy. The boy lowered a uniquely carved crossbow to his side and looked at the scene.

“Well, that was fun.” The boy evenly said rolling his eyes as he looked at his father. “I told you they couldn’t protect him. It almost killed them; our only option is to take the boy.”

“That is the last option.” His father chided and quickly walked over to Wolfme, who was holding his side, finally able to breathe normally once again. “Take this, it will heal you, so you can heal them.” He said stuffing some herbs into Wolfme’s mouth and making him swallow them. “We have no choice, but to take the boy. More will come and you cannot fight them, you’re not strong enough. What we do is for everyone’s good. We can protect the boy and the creatures will follow us.”

“I won’t let you take them,” Wolfme grunted as he painfully stood up and retrieved the sword. Aiming the blade at the man he clumsily moved between them and the twins.

“We’re not taking both of them, only the one.” The man stated easily knocking the sword aside since Wolfme was in no shape to fight. “The herbs I gave you will only give you a small measure of time to save your wife and the mother before it renders you unconscious. If you don’t save them before that time, they will die, from blood loss, before you awaken again.” The man explained as Wolfme swayed on his feet. “Dean, get the boy and let us leave.”

“Pleasure,” Dean said and walked over to pick up the toddler, pulling him away from his brother. “It's for your, own good.” He softly told the other boy, when the kid went to wailing and reaching for his brother. Then without another word he headed for the door, leaving Ra to waddle after him, falling every couple of steps, only to stand back up and continue holding up his arms for the return of his brother.

“Come little one, you won't even remember him.” Dean’s father softly said lifting Ra and placing him in the closet so he wouldn’t fall down the steps. Fortunately, there was a small section of the bottom of the doors left, to serve as a pin of sorts.

Wolfme fell to his knees unable to stand anymore and crawled over to his wife to use some potent healing seeds on her wounds. By the time he was finished with her, his eyes were too heavy to keep open and he toppled over unconscious.

Olive

Olive gasped and her eyes flew open as something was shoved into her mouth and she was forced to swallow it. There in front of her holding his hand over her mouth was the hunter, and in his son's, arms were, her son Oli. She tried to struggle to get free, but whatever he shoved in her mouth left her all but paralyzed. She felt groggy and sluggish.

“I’m sorry, but this is the best thing for the child.” The man gently said letting his hand fall away from her mouth.

“You won’t be saying that when his father stops you.” Her voice sounded distant to her as she narrowed her eyes at the man, unable to do much else.

“The man upstairs?” The man asked standing up a pitying look on his face as he shook his head and walked over to take Oli, out of his son's arms. “Let’s go.” He told his boy and they started to walk away.

Olive willed herself to stand despite how heavy she felt and used the railing to pull herself up. Using all her energy she stumbled after them, continuously falling and pushing herself back up, until she couldn’t fallow anymore and fell to her knees, screaming as loudly as she could, for them to bring him back. They ignored her and her vision began to dim as they reached the halfway mark between the tavern and the tree line. Oli was screaming for her, and she desperately tried to get to him, but couldn’t. Her sight was shifting in and out of blurriness and she could have sworn that she saw Raleek and some children exiting the trees.

“RALEEK!” She screamed unsure if she was hallucinating or not. “THEY HAVE OLI, STOP THEM!” She fell to her knees again. “Please,” She begged before she slipped into darkness.

Raleek was verily awake when he and the children stepped out of the tree line. The sun was still down, but it would be rising soon enough, and he had caught sight of the tavern. He had been so relieved to have seen it, since that meant he could finally rest, from this trying adventure. Even the children were dead on their feet and struggling to stay awake. His relief was short-lived though. The moment they started across the clearing that surrounded the tavern, he heard Olive screaming his name and something about somebody taking Oli. He looked around unsure what she was talking about, and that was when he spotted a hunter and a boy. They were quite a distance from him, and he had to narrow his eyes and focus his hearing. Olive’s screams were confirmed by Oli screaming for her and that was all it took. He was filled with rage and energy as he handed Rabbit to Allaya so, he could go after the man who was taking Oli.

“Keep heading towards the tavern,” Caleb instructed the girl, the second Raleek shot off at full speed. Then he shot off after him, of course, Raleek was too fast for him to catch up to. “Raleek, their hunters, you can’t just kill them,” Caleb shouted increasing his speed.

Raleek was beyond reach, though, and was sliding into a spin directly in front of the man before, Caleb even had a chance to get the words completely out. With a sharp twist, Raleek was instantly behind the man, using his mouth to stab something into the back of his neck. Then he stood with deadly calm and Caleb had to slide to a stop in his disbelief. The man

seemed shocked and dropped to his knees as Raleek stepped around him, keeping his back to the man.

“Raleek,” Caleb called and shot forward once again. He slid to a stop as the boy slid to his knees next to his father.

“What you feel is the Scorpions sting, its venom races through your body, stilling away your natural-born abilities of the hunter. While it coils around every fiber of your inner body, taking away your ability to move.” Raleek darkly growled in a low deadly tone, before he started walking toward the tavern with Oli cradled in his arms.

“You have given him a death sentence.” The boy shouted, yanking a crossbow off his father’s belt. “We fight the supernatural and they come after us as well.” The boy growled aiming at Raleek’s back.

“Coming after my son, was your death sentence.” Raleek hissed and kept walking.

“You’ll die by my hand this morning.” The boy shouted and was about to let loose a bolt. Caleb rushed forward and kicked the crossbow out of his hand, before catching it and aiming it at the boy's temple. The tip of the dart pressed against his flesh, the boy spun around and hit the crossbow, only to have Caleb spin around palming his knife as he did. Using the spin he, sliced a thing cut into the boy's cheek just below his painted eyes and re-aim the crossbow before the kid saw it coming.

“I would stop while I was ahead if I were you.” Caleb calmly warned. “The Scorpion’s venom is the name of a potent poison, but it can be stopped. Your father will never regain his abilities, but he may someday walk again if you get him to Salt River flat within ten days. So, I suggest that you get him and get moving, or he’ll be a permanent paralytic.” Caleb explained and lowered the crossbow handing it back to the boy. “Go.”

“You’re a hunter, why do you side with a worthless assassin?” Dean growled trying to pull his father up off the ground.

“Because that worthless assassin, just kicked your dad’s ass.” Caleb pointed out. “Seems to me he’s not the worthless one here.”

“You’ll regret this someday,” Dean said. “Assassin only kills, they don’t care about others.”

“You could have fooled me if you hadn’t come after his son, then you would have been allowed to leave unharmed. Seems to me that you should probably be grateful, to still be breathing.” Caleb smirked putting his hands in his pockets as he nodded his head in the direction that Dean should take his father. “Besides if that time ever comes, I’ll handle it.”

Without another word, the boy drug his father away, and Caleb watched until they entered the tree line and then headed out after Raleek, who was nearly at the Tavern doors now.

When Raleek got to where Olive had fallen in the snow, Allaya and Rabbit were sitting next to her and Caleb was jogging up behind him. He immediately handed Oli to Caleb and motioned for Allaya to take Rabbit inside, as he crouched down and picked Olive up, cradling her against him as he stood up and followed the children inside.

“Go check on the other children,” Raleek instructed Caleb when he noticed the destruction that was up the stairs. He gently laid Olive on the couch and pulled out his weapons as he approached the steps. He didn’t feel like there was still danger and he come to believe that the destruction was done by the hunter who had thought it wise to steal his son.

“WOLFME!” He roared once he was sure, the threat was indeed gone. He was going to severely maim, torture, and kill the man for not protecting his family. The only response he got was the muffled sounds of Ra, screaming for Oli. The sounds of his son crying spurred him into taking two, to three steps at a time.

He shot into the only room that seemed to be a battle zone and found black blood, and other things splattered all over the room. Some of the gunk dripped from the ceiling and he dodge it as he headed for the closet where Ra, seemed to be screaming from. The toddle stretched out his arm for him when he saw him, and Raleek bent down to pick him up, before looking around the room more. Then he found the unconscious Wolfme and Doe, laying in the middle of the nasty mess.

“What happened here?” He quietly asked, the damage in this room was unbelievable, and the black blood, could only mean one thing, ‘A Snow Demon’, he had only ever seen one once and it nearly killed him.

“Raleek…...” Caleb called as he jogged into the room and froze. “The others were hiding in the pantry. They are worried.” He continued after a moment of silence.

“Right.” Raleek swallowed, all he wanted to do was go and finish killing that hunter for what he had done to his family, but he couldn’t at the moment. He was the only adult conscious enough to protect the children at the moment, and he would have to repair the damage in this room. Not to mention cleaning it up before one of the older children other than Caleb saw it. “Take Ra and go downstairs. Make sure that the place is locked up tight, while I take care of this, and Caleb, keep the others downstairs.” He ordered.

Caleb nodded and took the baby before quickly heading back downstairs. Raleek crouched down and looked at the mess he was about to have to deal with. First, however, he was going to have to get Wolfme and Doe, out of the room and into their beds. They looked like they had been treated for their wounds and only needed the opportunity to sleep it off.

Olive

Olive came too, with Raleek sitting on the floor next to the couch, his arm resting on his upraised knee while he gently cleaned the gash on her head with his other hand. The warm washcloth felt nice against the throbbing of the wound. The orange glow of the fire danced around the room, indicating that it was nighttime again. The crackling of the flames was almost cozy and threatened to pull her back into sleep.

“Oli.” She quietly asked forcing her eyes to stay open. Raleek gave her a small, tired smile and leaned slightly to the side so that she could see, all the kids asleep on the floor and cushions. Oli and Ra were sound asleep between Rabbit and Allaya, the four of them sharing a fur blanket. Wolfme’s kids were also asleep in the room. “Thank you.” She whispered tears shining in her eyes. He sat the cloth down and wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb.

“You know, if we’re going to keep doing this, you are going to have to learn how to fight.” He softly teased, as he started washing the gash again. He had cleaned it when he first found her, but it was time to clean it again to keep it from getting infected.

“I know.” She quietly agreed and propped herself up on her elbows. “Will you teach me?” She asked as he let his hand drop away from her cut.

“Yes.” He sighed tossing the washcloth onto the small table next to him, before reaching for the salve and clean dressings. “Once you are healed up.” He added and started dressing the wound. His tone was soft and quiet as if he was trying not to wake anyone up, but there was something different in his eyes. She only caught a glimpse of it before he hid it away.

“The last time we were in this situation, it was me who was tending to your wounds.” She said looking at him. The comment caused him to look at her face once again and he smiled his slightly crooked smile and then adverted his eyes a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “Almost a year ago.” She added when she noticed that he was trying to keep his sudden shyness hidden.

“Yeah.” He finally agreed and finished up what he was doing. “I guess we’re even now.” He added. She sat up a little more and caught him a little off guard at how close her face was to his. His mind went blank, and he froze.

The room seemed a little hot at the moment and her cheeks were a little flushed. She leaned in a little more and their lips were nearly touching, and he panicked. He quickly stood up and cleared his throat as put some distance between them.

“All done, you should probably rest.” He softly said. He hesitated for only a second before he quickly left the tavern in need of fresh air.

Olive blinked rapidly and she looked around in disbelief. What just happened? They have been together for almost a year and the first time they could share a meaningful kiss; he panicked and made a quick getaway.

Raleek

Raleek took a deep breath and exhaled as he leaned against the porch railing and folded his arms. He was too tired for this right now. He tried to clear his mind as he stared up at the night sky, but his thoughts kept returning to Olive’s flushed features and her lips. Cursing he pressed his palms against his eyes and rubbed them, trying to wipe the image away. He just needed sleep and it would be fine, the images would stop, and everything would return to normal.

“It’s about time you get back here.” Doe’s raspy voice came from behind him. He spun around to look at her. She was moving slow and looked to be favoring her midsection, where she had been run through. Although most of the wound was healed, there was still some healing that would need to take place, before she was able to move normally. “I supposed you saved our lives.” She grumbled leaning against the railing next to him.

“No, that hunter saved your lives, I just tended to what was left of your wounds.” Raleek coldly stated. He was even too tired to put his normal dislike into his words.

“She watched for you, every night the entire time you were gone,” Doe smirked as if she knew what had his mind reeling at the moment. “I would dare to say that she missed you if you weren’t such an idiot.”

“Who?” Raleek feigned stupidity. “How did a Snow Demon and a couple of hunters get a jump on you anyway?” He taunted pushing off the rail to face her. “I thought you were better than that.”

“Well, while you were off playing around, I’ve kept us all safe. If you want to throw, verbal punches here.” She growled narrowing her eyes at him.

“I would rather throw physical, but that will have to wait until you all, have had time to heal up real nice before I wound you again.” He growled back, and walked around her to go back inside, no longer wanting to sit out there and let her read him like an open book. He hated it when she did that.

“At least let me thank you for saving Wolfme.” She stated causing him to pause in his actions.

“I only saved him so that I can kill him later,” Raleek told her. He had intended his tone to be more venomous, but it came out simply quiet and without animosity.

“The only one who will be killing my husband is me.” She hissed slamming her shoulder into his as she stormed past him and back into the house where it was warm.

Raleek smiled a little, once she was inside and no longer able to see it. He was glad Wolfme was around, but he would never let anyone know that. Especially not her. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and then went back inside himself, to find a place to sleep. He silently walked towards the couch only to find that Olive asleep and he silently exhaled walking over to sit on the floor and remove his shoes. Then he laid down and closed his eyes.