Just a few feet closer and Senka would be able to guarantee her prey a swift and painless death. Being sure to keep her head below the cover of the waist deep grass and her bow trained on her target, she cautiously closed the distance between her and her unsuspecting victim. It was more of a precautionary measure than necessity, since she could easily make the shot from this distance if she had to. After all, Senka regularly hit targets much smaller than this one from much greater distances. But she saw no point in taking such an unnecessary risk. All she needed to do was get a tad closer, then she could take down her prey in a single shot; thereby saving herself the hassle of hunting it down a second time when a less than optimal shot allowed it to foolishly try to escape.
Groaning internally at the thought of trekking even another foot through this cursed grassland in this exhausting heat, Senka crouched lower and continued forward. Using slow, carefully placed steps, she managed to shave another five yards off the distance. Satisfied with the angle of her new position, she dropped one knee to the ground and prepared to make the kill shot. Unfortunately, just as she was about to release the arrow, a cool easterly breeze touched the back of her neck, slightly lifting the long dark strands of her ponytail. Cursing under her breath, Senka dropped to her belly and took cover, just as the stag’s head jerked up from where it was grazing and turned her direction.
Thankfully the grass was tall enough to keep her hidden, despite her not so camouflaged black attire. Regardless, Senka didn’t dare move a muscle, as she watched with bated breath, as the massive beast flared his nostrils and scanned the open field for the source of the foreign scent. Twice his gaze passed over the top of her, lifting her hopes, however when the treacherous breeze blew across her back for a second time, Senka knew immediately the gig was up. Ears shooting upright, the stag’s head whipped her direction. Then, with nothing more than a stomp of his hoof to warn her of his departure, he turned and bolted across the field.
“Son of a…”
Jumping to her feet, she locked her elbow and nocked an arrow as she tracked the animal across the field. Knowing she had only seconds until he was completely out of range, she pulled the string back to her chin, exhaled a slow breath, and released. The arrow flew true, hitting the stag at the base of its neck, and sending the once majestic beast tumbling to the ground.
Fearful he would return to his feet and resume his escape, Senka nocked another arrow and took off in its direction. Nearing his body, she could clearly see the beast was still breathing, but even so he did not attempt to stand. Still she was not one to take foolish risks. Keeping her arrow trained on his rapidly breathing body, she rounded the massive animal and approached its head. It was then she realized the extent of the damage her shot had inflicted. Lodged deep into the stag’s spinal column, the arrow had managed to completely sever the nerves in the spine, leaving the beast alive but paralyzed.
No longer an escape risk, Senka slipped her arrow back into the quiver strapped on her back and shifted her attention to the fear-filled expression that stared back at her. “So sorry my friend.”
Throwing her bow over her shoulder, she reached for the eight-inch blade she kept strapped to her thigh. “I meant to make this easier for you and me both… but unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned.” Kneeling beside the beast, she ran her hand down the smooth brown fur on his neck until she located his bounding pulse. Then placing the tip of the knife over the artery, she paused and met his gaze once again. “Sometimes all we can do is try to make the best of a shitty situation.” And with that said, Senka shoved the smooth blade directly into the frantically beating artery.
Blood poured forth from the wound and it took mere seconds for him to bleed out. Waiting patiently until the last signs of life faded from his eyes, Senka stood with a heavy sigh and wiped the blood soaked blade on the leg of her fitted black pants. While she absolutely loved to hunt and the rush she got from the kill, she much preferred to dispatch of her prey from a distance. After all, it was one thing to kill from afar, but to look something or someone in the eyes as you robbed them of life, that was so much more personal and intimate.
Anxious to get back to her tribe of Northern Wanderers after being gone for the last several weeks, Senka turned her attention to the sky above. Using the position of the sun to quickly calculate the approximate time, she reached over her shoulder and pulled free her umbrella from the harness strapped on her back. With a simple push of a button, she freed the oversized canopy, and sighed as a blanket of darkness engulfed her overheated body.
Being a Shadow Mage, or a Night Stalker as most people referred to her dwindling race, she was blessed with the unique ability to manipulate shadows and therefore had always felt more comfortable in the dark than in the light. Using the power of the shadows, not only could she cloak herself and create protective fields, but Senka also had the ability to flash herself anywhere in the world she could envision in her mind. And the more darkness she had around her, the stronger her power became. Meaning at night, when the world was cloaked in a blanket of darkness, Senka’s power was at its strongest.
But that didn’t mean she was completely vulnerable in the day time, it just meant things became a bit more tricky. With shadows being the only true form of darkness available in the daylight hours, all her abilities hinged on her being able to find shadows large enough for her to draw power from, a feat that was especially complicated when it came to flashing. For not only did she need to have a shadow large enough to wrap herself in to initiate the flash, but she also needed to have another on the other end to exit out of. Thankfully the first part was not a problem as long as she had her trusty umbrella. A token of thanks from her camp’s leader, Lady Zae, for Senka’s hard work and devotion to their tribe, Senka carried it on her person at all times. The oversized canopy created a shadow large enough for her to initiate a flash from anywhere she happened to be and had saved her ass more times than she cared to think about.
And honestly the second part usually wasn’t that big of a deal either, especially if she was flashing back to camp. There she had several preassigned anchors already set up. Not only that, but Senka had also spent the last few years watching and dedicating to memory the size and direction of the every shadow, every tent and structure within the camp created at every hour of the day; information that came in especially handy when she was moving something as large as this deer and her normal anchors wouldn’t suffice.
Needing to get as much of the umbrella’s shadow as she could over the enormous stag’s body, Senka adjusted her position and angled the canvas slightly forward. However when she did, a large beam of light suddenly broke through the darkness and disrupted her shadow. What the hell? Furrowing her brow, she shifted her gaze up to the umbrella above her and was infuriated to discover a large jagged tear extending the entire length of the pristine black canvas.
“Chloe.” Senka growled as she lowered the umbrella to better investigate the damage. Upon closer inspection, Senka realized just how extensive the damage was. “Damn it! I’m going to wring your prissy little neck when I get home.” Senka screamed into the empty field, even though there was no one, including Chloe, around to hear her.
Just a few days before she left on this hunting expedition, during a recent rain storm, Chloe, Senka’s little sister, came to her and asked to burrow her umbrella. Normally very protective of the device she viewed as every bit as important a weapon as her knife and bow, Senka initially refused her request. However, as the day dragged on with her trapped inside the tent with her sister, forced to listen to her incessant whining, when all she wanted to do was rest and read a book, Senka finally relented. Reluctantly handing over her prized possession, she made Chloe swear on her life that she would care for the umbrella as if it were her only child; a request which Chloe responded to with an exaggerated eye roll.
“I should have known.” Senka huffed studying the tear a little closer. It could easily be patched with a bit of fabric once she got home, but that wasn’t going to help her current situation any. There was no way she would be able to use the fragmented shadow to transport both her and the stag back to the camp, it just wasn’t large enough.
Glancing over her shoulder, first at the field surrounding her and then at the setting sun, Senka’s frustration only grew. This field was barren. There was nothing anywhere nearby with a shadow she could use, and even if there had been, there was no way she would have been able to drag this beast of an animal across this terrain. Realizing she had no other option but to sit here and wait the hour or so it would take for the sun to set, Senka groaned and raked both hands through her hair, inadvertently pulling several large pieces loose from her pony-tail.
“Good thing I wasn’t under attack or I would be dead already!” she screamed into the nothingness around her.
Brooding like an insolent child, Senka tossed her quiver and bow down, and flopped cross legged onto the ground facing the deer. “Why does she always do this kind of crap to me, huh? I do everything I can to take care of her and all she ever does is take, and take, and take. And do you know what I get in return for my trouble?” she asked, staring into the lifeless eyes of her prey. “I’ll tell you what I get. ‘I’m too tired to help cook tonight Senka.’ ‘I don’t feel well Senka, can you do the dishes?’ Or my favorite one, ‘I didn’t realize when you asked me to do the laundry you meant today Senka.’ ” Throwing her hands up in the air, Senka collapsed into the lush grass behind her. “Is it really too much to ask that just once in her life she think of someone other than herself?”
Raising her head, Senka frowned as yet again silence was the only answer the stag offered. “Should have known you would take her side,” she huffed, blowing a few stray strands from her face. “Everyone always takes Chloe’s side, why should you be any different?”
Chloe had been a thorn in Senka’s side since the day she was born. Growing up the youngest in the family, and the only one who didn’t inherit their father’s Night Stalker traits, Chloe was spoiled beyond imagination, mainly due to their father having no clue what to do with her. At a loss as to how to teach his daughter to use their mother’s Seer gift after the woman abandoned them, he pretty much resorted to letting her do whatever she wanted to do. So while Senka and her brother were forced to spend hours a day learning to perfect their skills and train in weapons use, Chloe spent hers tucked safely inside their tent with her dolls, dressing them up and brushing their hair, and doing whatever else spoiled little girls did with dolls.
Fast forward a few years and Senka had been left alone to deal with Chloe, who had since turned into the spitting image of their mother. And she wasn’t even exactly sure how that happened. It was like one day they were all laughing and enjoying dinner together, and the next her father and her brother had vanished. Knowing Chloe didn’t stand a chance on her own, Senka chose to stick by her side. But though she spent these last few years trying her hardest to teach Chloe what she needed to know to survive, Chloe still fought her at every turn, leaving Senka at a loss. As a last resort and an attempt at giving her sister a somewhat normal life, and have one of her own, Senka finally surrendered her nomadic life style and moved them into the Northern Wanderer camp a few years ago.
Now sixteen years old with long blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and a body to die for, Chloe was beginning to catch the attention of many of the camp’s young men. She was also training with one of the camp’s Seers to use her gift, which surprisingly turned out to be quite a powerful one. Meaning with any luck, in just a few years her sister would either be self-sufficient or married, and she would finally be free to live her life the way she wanted.
With that thought in mind, Senka interlocked her arms behind her head and made herself comfortable in the soft bed of thick green grass. There she spent the rest of the daylight hours entertaining herself by turning the innocuous white puffs overhead into deadly weapons while she contemplated the various different methods she could use to enact her revenge on her sister.