She begins to move but can’t. Pain and fear and panic start to take hold. Am I still alive? The blood…my blood is stinging my eyes. It’s so hard to take a breath. I can’t move. I’m still tied up. Tyla you are starting to panic. Only humans panic. You are not a human. You are a third generation Athanean Soul Reaper. Think! Think Tyla!! Fall back on training. Even like this I can hear Master Rytosen “Relax, Tyla. Think. Take account of the damage done to you.” What seems like mere seconds to the outside world, she falls into a sleep like trance for several minutes and begins an account of the damage her body sustained. I can barely see. Hearing is good. Jaw is sore but it’s not broken. My shoulders are sore from the fall but nothing is out of place. Arms are good. Hands sore from the fight but nothing is broke. It’s so hard to breathe, ribs have to be broke. My right leg is throbbing…its broke. “Knowing what is wrong is not enough. Know also where you are, how to leave, and how to escape if you are trapped. They will come after you.” Her trance is over and she knows what she must do next. I’m reaching out with my senses. I know it is night and that we are in a forest somewhere. He is hurt because I can smell the foul stench that is his blood. I smell another…a Hunter?!? My Master would be so disappointed right now. I’m captured by a Skrill. This slimy reptilian bureaucrat had to have help but whom? I’m in and out of consciousness now, I need to escape. My talons should cut these ropes.
The Hunter she smells is Traxil. He is also an Athanean but from a different family. He has been trained in the hunting and tracking of animals and people. He has been off world for awhile now tracking this particular Skrill. He followed them here to Earth. Seems Tyla had a job to complete here. Jondee, the Skrill, has been following her and attacked her as she exited her craft. He sent the Lox first. A creature made of mist he wouldn’t have been seen. I am surprised Tyla didn’t pick up his scent. The Lox has a damp moldy smell. She has a black seamless suit on. Looks as if it were sprayed on her, every inch is covered. She is still just lying there, barely breathing, beaten to within an inch of her life. The Skrill stands over her watching and waiting for her to scream out. She won’t give him the satisfaction. She is a Soul Reaper, trained from birth to live with pain. An assassin with the ability to take her targets soul. With her experience and reputation I would have thought her to be older. She sure did take a beating. The attack was swift. I don’t believe I would have been able to fend them off myself. She has some grit for a youngling. Jondee moves closer to her and whispers something in her ear. She grunts and spits blood onto his face. He smiles and wipes it off. He stood and walked toward a tree stump where he placed his gear. Unraveling a rolled cloth Traxil was able see what he was retrieving. Jondee’s gear consisted of many blades, in different sizes and shapes and portable torture devices. He’s going to kill her.
Jondee is a Skrill. Skrills are reptilian humanoids from the plant Voss. They are, by nature, not violent but due to in breeding that nature has slowly changed. I thought she was good. I went through all that trouble to hire the Lox and I barely even used him. I don’t even see why she gives anyone so much trouble. She is so tiny. I didn’t expect capturing her would be so easy. I mean, I am very good at this tracking thing but the fighting. She got a few hits in. I’m still bleeding from my side. I wonder how she liked me telling her my next targets…her family. Oh, well I guess it doesn’t matter because she is going to die here.
He turns toward her with a blade in his hand and walking slowly, he plays with it slicing the air. He bent down so he may stand her up and look into her eyes as he killed her. In an instant her hands are free and she pushes his hand holding the blade to the side as her other hand slices at his throat and then thrusts into Jodee’s stomach. There was no sound. Jodee fell to his knees. She slowly raised her hand, fingers skyward and palm to him, and it began to glow. The veins of her body started to pulse with light as if light were being pushed through her body until all were lit in a steady glow. And slowly as Jodees life escaped him his soul was pulled from his body into hers. He is there still kneeling on the ground, head face down, slumped as if offering a sacrifice to Thanos, our god. Her hand slowly moves down as her gaze moves to Traxil’s position. He doesn’t move. Her body begins to sway and she passes out.