On the Hunt

 

He was accustomed to travel, it was how he lived. He carried himself from around the land, with his long black cloak to hide both his person and the small but rich possessions he had. He had been hunting energies (actual beings, elementals, as he now knew them) for a long time, and enjoyed the lifestyle. He enjoyed the tastes of the different nexuses, each briefly coloring his spirit in a unique way. This time the hunt was a little more tedious, though he supposed this struggle was only a mirror of the possible reward at the end.

It was slow going, keeping as he was away from the population centers. He didn't want any attention from the local authorities, or the even locals themselves, and that was becoming harder the further north he traveled. He was traveling inconspicuously, only a dark-cloaked man on a shabby unassuming speeder, but something about his presence made people wary nonetheless. He had long ago shunned his trust in others, and it seemed that choice had had a rebounding effect. Of course he could purchase services when he needed them, he had no shortage of wealth, but there was never really a friendliness in the transaction.

It was just as well, he needed time to prepare his energies. He could travel faster if he wished, using the shadows in the ways he knew. It took more energy though, and he was certain he would need all his strength if he was going to confront the elemental he had seen in his mirror. He would use the shadows again, bend them to his will and bind the quarry. He had done so in his attempted capture of the girl back south, but this time he would be stronger. He would prepare his inner power and concentration, knowing now ahead of time what he was getting into. At times of great strength, he had even been able to bend his physical form into the shadows, and mingle with their quality. That kind of power would easily help him pass through the metro areas surrounding his destination. No, he thought, better to take my time and travel by normal means. I can use the space to organize my plan, and to grow my power.

He sometimes thought he could be on the path to becoming his own version of an elemental, if he developed his powers enough. They had strangely increased the more he rejected the kindness of community. He had found a sort of selfishness made his experiments more effective. It was not a demeaning of anyone else, he simply did not care about other lives. The only one he could control was his own, and so that was the only one that truly mattered. The perspective allowed for a stoic sense regarding calamity, as well as a focused mind for one's purpose in each moment. He was often a scientist; a seeker of the means to grasp esoteric knowledge. Lately though he was a hunter of bigger and bigger game, seeking the power source that would catapult his abilities to the heights they needed for his quest. If he could merge with this powerful elemental energy he was tracking, take it in to his own shadowed self...he shuddered at the thought of that potential. He had experienced the rush of power before when consuming the smaller nexuses. If those had been bits of poultry, then he thrilled at what the taste of venison might be like.

The land through which he traveled had become a mire of rocky hillocks rising above wide marshy swales. It was a pain to navigate, even on a speeder craft. He wondered what that other place was like, the one he had seen in his mirror. It had clearly been a different plane, somewhere with more flowers and delicate, naturally short grasses. He had seen trees flowering there, the blooms bursting where leaves should be! Perhaps that landscape was gentler as well. He had no disdain for this world, and had enjoyed what it had offered him throughout his life so far. If it was coming to some catastrophic end though, and a natural one it seemed as well, he had no second thoughts about leaving it behind. His true purpose was to persevere and survive. Needing to gain more power to accomplish that was only a necessary step.

-

The Man in Black found himself at the edge of a vast lake. It was not a part of the inland sea, as far as he could tell. Low green hills rose rounded along the far horizon, across a shallow expanse of murky water dotted with boats. He had just passed through a small village nestled on a rocky clifftop, where the road turned to follow a high bank out towards the water. This area was rural, but long-settled and with a vaguely proud quality to its inhabitants. There was some sort of history here, to judge by the faded “King St.” sign he had spied at the town center. It would be a good place to stay a while and regroup. Looking up the road, he had a strange sense that proceeding any further with the hunt at the moment would be unwise. As he set up his encampment and invoked the usual magics about it, he knew again that he was making the right decision. Although he could never explain the reasons for following his intuition, he had learned to always trust its guidance. This grove would serve as a base for him to grow his power and prepare for the confrontation with the purple elemental. The locals wouldn't bother him in his preparations. They never seemed to mind him settling in for a while, his shadows always took care of that.