She wasn't really sure who had made their safe haven a hunting ground but whatever the reason, it meant they have been compromised and she wondered at the stars that guided their paths.
"Hold her tight and don't move from here until I come back to get you"
Now that sounded painfully farmiliar and Hannah couldn't conceal her worry beneath the prayer of safe return.
"Look at me Hannah" and she did " I will come back for you, thats a promise" he wanted to say more but he knew whoever was in his compound could sense his presence and that being said, they could detect his companions. He held her face and assured her with a smile but he could still detect her anxiousness.
What bad fate!
He glided with his handmade plastic sandals on the sand and a soft wind blew in his trail, wiping all evidence of his foot ever stepping on it.
He was sure he never went around looking for trouble but whoever had made an effort to bring trouble to his resting place will reap the fruits of their hard work and he was going to make sure of it.
He raised his left hand and started a sabd storn that could only circulate in close vicinity. He didn't want lower beings thinking his place could ever become a hunting ground. He smiled inhaling the charged air around him, they were all in it for a treat. He moved with the swirl of the dust that accumulated with every step he took until he had a clear idea of how many bones he had to break for the night ahead.
Foolish minions!
He felt rage coursing through his veins which immediately popped out of his face, no longer hiding in plain sight. He felt disrespected and whatever their reason for doing so, they were about to come face first with an awakening. He was no weakling and their bad for ever thinking otherwise. He made a bellowing sound that was a beckoning which none of them were powerful enough to resist.
He snickered.
These can't be minions seeking mob justice, he focused again while casting his perception on a wider range. These were minions sent to test him. Well he was going to give them a full report. They all came staggering towards him, their hooded heads hanging low as if in a deep bow.
"Who sent you here?" he questioned them which sent their bones shivering from the sheer strength of his aura. None of them could utter a single word!
This was frustrating . . . sending broken spirits that are not resting peacefully in their graves to come and test him? Somethong about the chosen method irked him. Who would pull out something like this and then he registered the fact that he had missed a summoning.
The minions seemed to say something in what only came out as gibberish to him so he tried to think.
Caiphus!
He sensed his presence a little too late and he knew it. Only one person could untie anything he had tied to a knot behind a veil and still being it forth. These hideous creatures were just a distraction.
He cursed loudly before snapping his fingers to see the minions turn to ash that floated to the stream in unison. Caiphus always resorted to something unimaginably drastic if he missed his summons, what a bad coincidence that the two little females were in his care and that was exactly the kind of leverage Caiphus would take pleasure in exploiting. He liked throwing tantrums like a spoilt brat, the only difference being his tantrums came with inhumane consequences. What does he want with him?
"Brother" he greeted the other male infront of him. It wasn't hard to tell that these two males were siblings and that Caiphus, although boasting of power and authority, he was younger to Salem.
"What an unpleasant surprise, Caiphus . . . to what do I owe the unsavoury luck to host you today?" Salem couldn't hide his distaste from the other male who insisted on their kinship.
"I was around the vicinity and then a thought struck me . . . I have a rogue brother living like a hell hound in the woods and thought I could swing by . . . it is the hunting season after all" he said in a feigned wistful voice which didn't go unnoticed by the brother who wished he hadn't come to begin with.
"Ah . . . being surrounded by morons must be hard especially when you know no better yourself"
"Don't tell me you still hung up on the fact that our father chose me as the head of the damily to oversee everything" Caiphus gloated.
"I can't imagine a fate more worse than being mentally caged in the name of a promised paradise because father is still very much in charge little Caiphus. You are nothing but a herd boy to him and the rest of the family" now that got the gloating spirit dampened before he chuckled dryly.
"And here I was thinking you didn't care . . . but then again, I never thought you would take the role of the priests and go arpund saving little damsels in distress" he saw a nerve tick on his older sibling's jaw and knew he was on the right path " or does she mean something to you?" he said cocking his head to the side while raising his fingers that had extended to talons "come here little lamb" she was no match for this male's magic by any stretch of imaginations so she followed the call, helpless to decide otherwise, her body moved with the hand gestures made by this new addition to the 'family'.
"I can't seem to read you . . . who are you" Caiphus inspected the redhead infront of him, raising her so that she stoid on her toes, she looked no less than an appetising snack to his eyes.
Salem reigned in the tide unfurling on his insides at Caiphus's casual display of the lust he had for the little female knowing the odds were impossible on his side.
"I am nobody" Hannah answered lowering her gaze from the prick's prying stare.
"Must be" he muttered to himself before flicking his hands to the side to have her drop down like a bag of potatoes.
"What have you been up to, brother" he said shifting his attention completely away from the female who whined softly in the ground behind him. He took two more steps so that he stood facing his half brother at eye level.
"Nothing you would find interesting for someone like you" he replied, seemingly oblivious to the thick tention rowing back and forth between them.
"I should be on my way now . . . you wouldn't happen to mind if I borrowed the girl for the night, would you brother?" he said half heartedly as if daring him to decline.
"I am no herd boy Caiphus and the 'girl' has a mouth of her own so feel free to ask her" he was not going to let Caiphus belittle him in his compound so he threw the dare right back at him in double stacks.
"You're putting me on the same level with a female? A female below me at that? You must know me better than that" he was vexed but he tried to keep his cool to prove a point to his older sibling.
"That is for you to decide and for me to waych unfold so what's it going to be, brother?" He taunted him and saw the screw twirl in circles till it hung by the last swing.
"I will be back . . . and I won't be nice the second time around"
He was mortified and vexed beyond comprehension and Salem knew that.
That self-proclaimed, good for nothing bastard thought he had it all figured out. He was in it for a surprise!