16 YEARS AGO
“Nani ga okotte iru no ka,” A woman with icy white hair asked her husband as she stared into the burning building that stood not so far from them. The flames that leaped off the building, giving their all with pirouetting sparks and crackles warned the woman that danger might be close. She looked down at her son and proceeded to unsheathe the katana that dangled by her hips. “They have found us!”
Her husband, an Asian American man who looked thirty and had platinum blonde hair similar to his wife however remained calm. His hands were wrapped tightly on a katana that hanged around his waist but he continued to observe. The packhouse was desolate. Someone had arrived and attacked before their arrival. While it was in his nature to believe that the Crow pack had been attacked because the information had reached the wrong ears that three relics would be seeking asylum in Crow territory, the man’s mind remained clear. No bounty hunter would attack blindly if they were unaware that the prizes they were looking for were not even there in the first place. This was not about them and that meant it was something much worse.
“Tora,” The man whispered. “This is not about us. The Crow was attacked not because of us. This might be a fight between opposing werewolf factions.”
Tora however did not buy into her husband’s theory. Werewolf or bounty hunters, It made no difference. Everyone was an enemy. The only ‘weird ones’ they had managed to trust was Alpha Lucien and even at that, Tora still walked on eggshells when it came to trusting the Alpha of the Crow pack. Those were things that were bound to happen when you have been hunted all your life. Plus, it did not make sense why Alpha Lucien would be targeted by a rival pack. He was building a utopia for the werewolf community and word from the nights told her his ideologies were supported by many. As Tora continued to rack her brain on what the truth might really be, a flash of moonlight momentarily blinded her. Her instinct took over and she lifted her blade where the wind directed. There was a loud clang. Tora blinked and was shocked to know her flighty nature was right. The culprit, a bulky man whose eyes were pitch black had aimed for her head hoping to slash the whole thing off with his battleax swore at his failure, jumping back right before Tora could counterattack. His dodginess was however myopic as he was not counting the man in his equation. Tora’s husband pulled out his katana and landed a hit at the man’s leg. It sliced through like a hot knife in melted butter.
“You damn werewolves!” The man shrieked, half laughing when he saw the damage inflicted on his right leg. “I will kill you.” The man promised, before proceeding to leap for his ax which had slipped from his grasp when Toga’s husband had taken his pound of flesh. Again, the man was too slow. As he reached for his ax, Toga’s katana swiped at the fellow’s neck, cleaving it off perfectly. Blood spilled from the man’s stump before he finally collapsed on the earth, his hand resting perfectly on his ax.
The couple observed their immediate surroundings for a few moments before they spoke again.
“Chase, he was human. That can only mean he is a hunter.” Tora said, sheathing her dagger and pulling her son close. Chase walked up to the lifeless body and began to investigate, looking for clues that could suffice why the man chose to attack them and regard them as werewolves. Tora pacified her son while her husband did his little investigation. She hated that her young child had to be accustomed to blatant murder. It was not normal. None of this senseless play of power was right but it was the fate the universe had dealt them, this was what it meant to be one of the seven relics.
“Tora,” Chase called.
Tora looked in his direction. “What?” she asked, shielding her son from having to look at the man’s corpse for the second time.
“This hunter has runes tattooed to his body.” Chase disclosed. “Was that why he was so careless?” her husband added. “It is kind of shameful that the hunters are now relying on witches. Even much disappointing that witches now do their bidding.”
“Nani?” Tora had never that tiny bit of detail from the words of the night. Hunters hated every supernatural in their testament. Witches were no exception. So the fact that this dead one was inflicted with runes had her wondering. Hating herself for letting curiosity get the better of her, Tora begrudgingly walked over to the body whilst covering her little one’s sight with her free hand. Chase was right. The dead hunter was riddled with runes. They were about ten. It made her wonder if this one was even a hunter, to begin with. But the golden wreath insignia of the hunter faction debunked the thought of the man being a bounty hunter. He was a bounty hunter alright. One who now dabbled with the supernaturals. It was hypocritical to see and Tora was almost glad she killed the man until she noticed a foreboding rune. It was a spider rune burned right into the man’s chest. A predator rune, Tora thought. It made no sense. What was a hunter doing with such a rune? They had their ways of discovering werewolves. What creature was the man trying to sniff out? The doubt that had been seeded into Tora’s heart sprouted and her eyes continued to flick across the many runes etched unto the man’s body in a bid to find a connecting point. Tora’s eyes almost popped out of their socket when she caught a skull rune etched on the man’s lower abdomen. A reanimation rune. That was the last straw.
“Chase,” Tora faltered, realizing almost too late what was truly going on.
“What?” Chase stood, facing his wife and turning his attention away from the corpse. Tora watched the spider rune burn a brilliant red while the skull rune glowed green. The hand on the battleax twitched and the second Chase turned to see what made his wife jump, the battleax plundered his chest.
“NO!!!” Tora screamed, unloading her katana and going for the killing strike once more. This time Tora was the myopic one. Her opponent, a headless corpse was far smarter. He swerved left at the last moment and Tora’s slash hit nothing but the wind. The headless body pulled out his ax from a dazed Chase and swung it in Tora’s direction with the sole aim of bashing her head in two. Tora knew she would die if she did not let the beast free. Heat raced through her veins like adrenaline as the ancient power within surged free letting her body radiate a blinding blue. Her movement became quicker and she managed to block the reanimated hunter’s killing blow.
“Perfect.” A voice chuckled. “ Nine-tailed foxes and three of you at that.”
Tora looked around, searching madly for the speaker. Lo and behold, it was the man’s decapitated head talking. Except for this time, it was not him. The speaker was a witch puppet-ting the reanimated body. A powerful witch who had planned this perfectly. Tora momentarily looked at her son then back at her husband who was barely hanging to life. They were going to die. They were all going to die. Unless…
“You can have me.” She blurted.
“And why would a relic go down without a fight?” The voice retorted, doubtful.
Tora dropped her katana to the earth to prove her point. “Because I want to bargain.” She answered. The reanimated persona did not attack her, implying that the puppet master was considering it.
“What could you ever offer me?”
“My beating heart,” Tora replied. “A dead relic is all you need but imagine all the power lost. I will offer myself to you as a living sacrifice if you let my son go.”
The puppet master stopped, eyes narrowing. Its scheming mind acknowledged that the kitsune was right. “You wish to trade your life for your son’s?”
Tora nodded.
“Deal.”