Chapter 5: Lure [1]

A Chapter by Andrew Akuna

Had to split this one. my main characters are in two different places

Lure (Pt.1)

Alright, its risky, but seems to be the only way. Longinus thought as he removed his collar.

Longinus, at this point, had given up on asking Xero to leave his home, so now he would resort to trickery. Convincing himself that it would be a test of the panther's heart, Longinus decided to leave his collar, his anchor, behind and go to leave the forest alone. The idea was for Xero to find the collar after he left, and attempt to return it. By the time Xero caught up they would both be in the city.

Longinus reached into his shirt and took out a piece of paper and held it against a wall. He held his paw about an inch away from the paper and waved it over the paper. Words wrote themselves on the paper.

Xero

    I give up. I guess the city just isn't for you. I'm going on. I'll see if i can get to Vlad and see if he'll help me. Right now, the only thing i have is your conspiracy theory, so i'll follow that until something disproves it. it's been fun, see you in eternity. maybe the next time we meet, we'll be friends.

               Until we meet again,

                          Longinus.

"D****T!" Xero roared, holding the note in one paw and Longinus's collar in the other. "DOES HE HAVE A DEATHWISH?!" At this point, Xero had realized that the collar was Longinus's anchor.

Longinus was gone. It had been about six hours since the note was written. Xero assumed that by now, the wolf was in whatever city he was trying to get Xero to. He growled and fell backward. Vines darted out from the branches around him, catching him and holding him up.

"Why do I even care?! I don't like him!"

Come to me...

It was the same voice from the dream. The collar pulsed, making Xero drop it. Xero stood up and summoned a pair of black daggers.

"Who's calling me?!

Come to me... Brother... The collar pulsed again.

"...Are you telling me to follow the wolf?"

Go...

Xero nodded and dismissed the daggers. He jumped to the second floor where his bed (hammock) was. There was a makeshift coatrack made of thick vines that protruded from the wall. On the vines were a black, hooded cape and a white mask like the one Longinus had broken a few days earlier. He grabbed the cape and mask and put them on, then sent the vines back into the wall. When the vines were gone, he waved a hand over the wall, making it open as if pulled apart by invisible hands. Inside the wall was an array of different assassin-type weapons. Xero took out a set of throwing spikes, a satchel full of shuriken, and a modified sniper rifle. This rifle was made to fit over his right arm like a gauntlet and worked off his magic. When he had everything, he made his way to the first floor.

"Poison, poison, poison. WHERE'D I PUT MY POISON?!" A vine twisted from the wall behind him and a purple flower bloomed from the end, revealing a small reagent bottle full of an clear liquid. Xero took the bottle and thanked the vine before it went back into the wall.

"Okay, poison, rifle, needles, stars. Thats everything." He grabbed the collar from the floor and unbuckled it, then tied it to his right arm. The collar pulsed again, this time making his arm react by igniting the tattoos. "Excellent, lead me to the mutt." He threw on his hood, slipped his arm into the sniper gauntlet, and dashed out of the house through the front missing wall.

"Silva Sepultura!" Xero called behind himself. The vines inside the house stretched to the outside and twisted up around it. When the house was completely covered, the vines dragged it underground.

Xero reached the lake and jumped out over the water. Two black spheres formed under his feet. When he reached the water, the spheres held him above it as he skated across. The collar pulsed again, this time, yanking Xero's arm.

"S**T!" Xero reached the other side of the lake and sank into a shadow. He slithered rapidly across the ground, quickly reaching the edge of the forest by moving through the shadows. The collar pulsed violently once more, this time, dragging him out of the shadows and toward the brick archway that lead to the outside. "Black Halo!" Every shadow between Xero and the gate lifted and swirled into a massive shadow ball around his body. He added his own speed to that which the collar was dragging him, letting him hold that arm back. When he reached the archway, he ran right through it, ripping it to shreds and igniting trees around it in black flames. If not simply to do the right thing, I have to make sure he lives to find out who's been calling to me...

Beyond the forest was a long tunnel leading into the open countryside. Inside the tunnel, Xero gathered all of the darkness he could from the lack of sunlight, building the power flowing in the sphere around him. When he reached the end of the tunnel, he was fired out of it like a bullet. The force destroyed the end of the tunnel, sealing the forest away. Xero was too distracted to notice. Now his mind was occupied with the fact that Longinus was dying and so was his power since there were no more shadows.

Out here was very bright. It was a beautiful day with no clouds, just perfect for destroying a shadow dependent like Xero. There were a few farm houses in view, but aside from that, the land was clear. Xero ran by the houses, burning them away as he passed. From the sky, he would appear to be running from a spreading plague that turned the green countryside into a blackened, barren wasteland. In truth, it was the panther's rage-enfused power.

As Xero traveled, he began to see the small buildings of a little rural area. "Ooh, perk. I get to scorch a few humans on the way--" The image of the small boy from his past appeared in his mind. "Damn conscience!" He reached the edge of the town and vaulted over it, blackening the sky as he crossed. He could hear the residents commenting on the darkness.

Longinus's collar began violently pulsing again.