Dark Interests Ch. 01

"Bokipse," growled Bower from behind his tiny desk, not looking up from the piece of paper he was reading.

Bower was an immense man, broad of shoulder and thick of gut. His large bowling ball shaped head was shaved, the skin leathery and scarred. A particularly deep scar gave the man a butt chin. Heavy brows sat over dark, deep set eyes. He wore a grey shirt, the buttons straining to contain his girth as he sat hunched over, thick sausage fingers flipping from page to page.

"Hey Bower. I need your help."

Bower placed the paper down delicately before glaring at Aaron. The space mage didn't take offence, Bower glared at everyone.

"Waddaya need?" the hunter asked, his voice sounding like gravel in a blender.

"I've got to go find a possible candidate."

"Ya? And waddaya need me to do?"

"I could use some...ahem...muscle," Aaron said, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Bower regarded the smaller man from under his brow, taking in the nervous energy and the stale smell of sweat. With a grunt of confirmation he heaved himself to his feet and grabbed his old battered coat from the back of the chair. With practiced ease he swung it round his shoulders as he walked around his desk, and one of the sleeves clipped a stack of files and sent it all sliding across in desk in a mess. He ignored it.

"Ready."

Aaron let out a relieved sigh. He enjoyed working with the large man. Most people would think Bower slow, or a brute, but he wasn't. Hidden behind the muscle and fat and grunts was an intelligence that attacked problems from directions most people didn't know existed. It's what made him such an excellent Hunter. No one who crossed the Clave or the Countess could escape from him. Plus he had a ton of experience, going on his ninetieth year of service in fact.

It was a simple enough process for the magician to pull the hunter with him through space. His destination was to the east, the spot he had felt was the epicenter of the ripple. He felt his exit shift as his destination contained solid matter already and they popped out of the air next to a fence post. One on each side of the post actually, the barbed wire hung under the arm Aaron had used to grip Bower's shoulder.

Aaron looked around as the Hunter held onto the post to keep himself steady. They were standing in a grass pasture with sunlight streaming down on them. There were a few trees here and there spotting the landscape, but for the most part it was knee high grass. Fences, the posts sticking up from the sea of green like broken teeth, lined the properties and Aaron could make out a break in the green sea where a dirt road lay a little way off.

"Hate that," Bower said, pushing off the post and standing steady. "Where are we?"

"I don't know." Aaron looked around, hoping to catch sight of something he would recognize or maybe a giant blinking sign saying where they were. No luck. "But this is where the energy ripple originated, I think."

Bower took a deep inhale before snorting. "Cow country."

"Gee, you don't say," drawled Aaron as he stared pointedly at a cow a few feet away munching on some grass. One limpid brown eye watched them as its tail swayed slowly.

Rolling his eyes in exasperation Aaron relaxed, letting his body go loose as he got a sense of the magical landscape. He could feel it now, the residue from an incredible magical aura. It still lay over the ground like a gossamer blanket, weak but present. He took a deep breath and almost coughed. He could smell it, a sweet musky odor that tickled his nose.

"Yup, this is the spot," Aaron muttered.

Bower nodded his head in agreement. "Can smell him. Powerful."

"I told Countess Karnstein I believed he was best classified as Black. What do you think?"

Bower spat on the ground before nodding his round head slowly. "He's a Black"

"The Countess wants us to bring him and whatever is sheltering him in. I can't feel his magic though so I'll have to rely on you to track him."

"Sure," Bower said, removing his jacket and tossing it aside before reaching for the buttons on his shirt. "Shouldn't be hard to track his scent."

***

Daemon was lying on his bed fiddling with his new medallion when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Fishing it out he checked the caller ID and smiled when he saw Elina's name pop up.

Tapping the green button he answered.

"Hey babe!"

"Hey yourself," Elina said through the line, her voice smooth and light. She was an incredible singer. "What's up?"

"Not much, just laying down...waiting for tonight."

"Me too!" She laughed. "Is it strange that I'm more eager than I am nervous?"

"I dunno, but I feel the same way. Maybe it's cause we're both ready?" Daemon said, rolling over so the phone was between his ear and bicep.

"I like the sound of that. Oh hey, I just wanted to let you know that I might be a little late finishing up at work, no more than an extra hour. Sid had to go home sick, so I'm closing."

Daemon looked at the clock on his bedside table. It was only a little after four, so calculating the extra hour she needed plus the travel time from the music store to her home in the valley and then give her another hour to get ready and shave her hoohoo, he had another four hours to kill. He'd already trimmed and groomed in preparation.

"Sure babe, so I'll pick you up around eight-ish?"

"Sounds great." Daemon could hear her smile through the phone. "Okay, I gotta get back to work. Love ya!"

"Love you too."

With a smile on his face Daemon put the phone on his bed side table and got up. His back popped as he stretched out his muscles.

The couple had just graduated high school. Elina making it to the top of the class as usual, something that still made Daemon glow with pride. While she had picked up a part time job at the Rammerjammer Music store in Eastridge, a tiny little place that was desperately holding onto the vintage music scene, Daemon had opted not to work. Well, technically it was Amanda's idea.

As soon as Daemon had turned eighteen, Amanda woke him up with a kiss on the brow - leaving a lipstick mark he found much later to her great amusement. The kiss was followed by a slice of his favourite death by chocolate chocolate cake, and his mother's grimoire. The large white leather-clad book had been surprisingly heavy when it landed on his stomach.

So, for the past two months Daemon had divided his time between school, Amanda, magical studies and Elina. Now with school out of the way and Elina working he spent most days sitting at his simple wooden desk pouring over the book of magic. The only break he took was to go downstairs and find Amanda to ask her a question or to grab something to eat.

With a few hours to kill Daemon once more settled down in front of his desk, and the spindly wooden chair creaked alarmingly as his weight bore it down. He retrieved the grimoire from his top drawer and opened it to the marked page.

Daemon was not a good tinkerer, he didn't have the patience and fine hand eye coordination required, but when it came to magical constructs and building complex frameworks and spell schemes in his mind, he excelled. His iron will and determination could hold even the most intricate of designs, the only flaw though was that he wasn't allowed to channel mana through it. The same medallion that kept his magical aura suppressed also kept his awareness of his mana suppressed.

To remove it was the same as sending a flare into the sky and running around in a circle yelling his name while he waited for the Clave to come after him. So he immersed himself in theory and prayed for the day he could take the Medallion off.

Of course the young man wasn't going to just sit around and pray though. He had a plan. He focused on the book in front of him and started to read.

AURA - An etheric emanation produced as the byproduct of a person's life force mixing with their innate power. Best seen through mage sight or another magic sense.

All living creatures produce an aura of their own, often of varying sizes and shapes that are dependent on the individual. Most notable examples include a Mage's aura which may appear as a cloud of smoke surrounding them, its density and volume dependent of the Mage's magical talent (Mana coupled with Experience). Therianthropy is another example, the aura of an individual may take the form of the animal they can shift into.

Aura may also contain a 'flavour' to some sensitive individuals. In 1655 the ghoul known as Edward Chambers was put to death by fire for the crime of multiple unjustified murders by the Clave. When asked why he killed his victims he stated 'their auras repelled me. I had no choice but to remove their offence from my vicinity."

"Here it is!" Daemon said, tapping a subheading with one thick finger.

Aura Concealment.

- Also known as Aura Shielding. It is the art of concealing, suppressing and preventing an aura from being sensed by another individual. This allows an individual to conceal their strength, alignment, health, etc.

Daemon studied the diagram his mother had drawn. Her personal notes were scribbled haphazardly in tiny penmanship and he smiled, thinking of her as a young woman, pouring over the book in much the same way he was doing now.

His mother had made a note on the side with the word 'substitution' underlined twice. She had changed the 'inverse' branch of the framework with a 'withdraw' one, altering the meaning slightly. The new branch would circle back to the center before branching out into 'blind' and 'distract'. Then it got more complicated after that.

Daemon jumped when he felt a light touch run over his shoulders. He turned around to face the smiling face of Amanda. She had changed into a loose white shirt with the words 'will remove for cake' stenciled in bright pink letters across her breasts.

"Oops. Sorry." She leaned over him, pressing down on his shoulders for support so she could see what he was reading. "Aura Concealment huh? That's a neat one, although the way your mother changed it...sometimes I think she just liked to make things complicated."

She studied the diagram, her eyes squinting as they traced the shape before reading the notes. She mumbled something about horrible handwriting that had Daemon smiling to himself, mainly because he wrote a lot like his mother.

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm?" Amanda hummed, clearly absorbed. "Oh, I was just meaning that your mother liked to experiment. It made her one of the best life mages around...it was also what attracted your father. Well that and she had a great ass!"

"AMY! Eww!"

She cackled evilly. "Aww, I remember when you used to call me mom...the good old days."

He still did on occasion, but as they had matured and grown up around each other so too did their relationship.

"Anyway, the standard Aura Concealment spell works a lot like your medallion. It's what I modelled it after in fact. If you want to get technical though, it's more of an Aura suppression that falls apart once you use mana, and it's a fairly easy bit of framework. Most kids learn it since it's rude to have your Aura just hanging out there for everyone to see." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Daemon, earning a smile. "But notice how your mother has added this here? And changed the branch work there and there? Oh and that whole section is new."

Daemon followed Amanda's slim fingers as she pointed from one note to another before circling what looked like little legs on the diagram.

"It looks like a root system. It'll let the framework sink in and grow with you, allowing it to exist in conjunction with your use of mana. You wouldn't have to worry about it falling apart as soon as you used a spell or something. This is actual concealment...although I guess enough stress could still break it."

"Mom was a badass, wasn't she?"

"Oh yeah she was...she was a pretty awesome best friend as well." Amanda patted Daemon fondly on the shoulder, her green eyes warm with love as she smiled at him. "You remind me a lot of her. Calm and peaceful and then there's that explosive temper."

Daemon stood up, pushing Amanda back due to his size alone. Scooping her up, he crushed her slight frame against him. Her feet were left to dangle in the air.

"You know I love you right?"

"Well your love is smothering me!" Amanda croaked out. "But I love you too," she finished when he dropped her. "Don't you have a date?"

"I'll get ready in a bit. Can I borrow the truck?"

"Sure honey...no sex in the back seat okay!" Amanda teased.

"Christ you have a dirty mind! Wait!...the truck doesn't even have a back seat."

"Whatever!" she called over her shoulder as she walked out of his room.

***

Aaron was sweating profusely, his knees wobbling, his mind racing. It was taking all of his self-control not to teleport away. Far, far away.

A very large, very hairy, very naked creature stood salivating in front of the quaking mage. The snout towered above Aaron's head, its jowls vibrating as it growled at him. Thick strings of saliva dripped from the creatures open maw. Teeth as long as Aaron's hands were bared in a snarl.

It stood on two powerful legs, the muscles bulging as the werewolf kneaded the ground with its claws. Its arms hung loose at its side, each long spindly finger ended in a talon. Thick black hair, glossy and short coated the creature from head to toe, thicker on its back and around its neck and sides. The fur lightened to a soft grey around its barrel shaped chest and down its abdomen.

Aaron, already short to begin with, was at navel height to the creature. He only had to roll his eyes downward to see the uhh...low hanging fruit, as it were.

"L-like I s-said," Aaron stuttered. "I need to speak to your Alpha."

The werewolf refused to budge. Instead it lowered its snout and inhaled deeply, its wet nose almost buried in the Space Mage's short brown hair.

"Get your Alpha, pup!" barked Bower as he pushed through a bush behind Aaron, tucking his shirt into his pants.

Aaron half expected the wolf to slash his throat open and attack Bower but it just turned around and loped off, disappearing into the forest.

"I had it handled," he said to Bower, pulling at his coat sleeve.

"Don't!"

Aaron froze mid step. He had been ready to move forward, intent on following the wolf to its Alpha but at Bower's command he stopped. A wave of relief washed through him at not needing to follow the creature but he hid it well and instead turned to glower at the Hunter behind him.

"These are wild wolves. They guard their territory jealously. Wait for the Alpha's permission to move deeper."

"I don't see why we have to meet them," whined Aaron. "The source of the ripple was magical, not bestial."

"Can you sense the source now?"

"Well...no, but what does that have to do with this?"

"The pack will know the community. And a threat to it," Bower rumbled, scratching an armpit.

Aaron considered his companion once more, a little more respect coloring his view of the man. If the pack could point them in the right direction he would put up with it. Especially since Bower had lost the scent he had been tracking from the cow pastures.

"Your friend is correct," a voice croaked out from behind a tree. "Forgive my voice, it's been a while since I've spoken with a human's tongue."

A man stepped into view. He was naked, his dark skin marred with mud and dirt. Long matted black hair hung about his face, twigs and leaves sticking out of it like a crown. Intense amber eyes bore into Aaron's own before the mage dropped his gaze, having no intention of challenging the Alpha. The man stumbled forward, his body was lean, with very little fat, the strands of his muscles standing out in sharp relief.

That's one dangerous hippie, Aaron thought to himself quietly.

"Been a while since I have used human form," the man said. His voice cracked on 'human' and he shook his head. "I know you are not here for us. We are registered with the Clave and abide by the accords. None of mine have tasted human flesh."

Bower nodded his head, a brief dipping of the bowling ball as it were, in a sign of respect. It was the only show of deference he offered though.

The wild Alpha found his hackles rising at the affront. The dovetail jackets they wore along with the initials stenciled across the breast made him think twice about attacking, and the sense of controlled power radiating from the large bald man made him decide against it.

"W-We are looking for someone," Aaron began once it became apparent Bower wasn't going to say anything. "I'm not sure if you felt the magical ripple earlier bu-"

"We felt this ripple. A wave and a crash and then gone again."

"...uhh, yes. A wave and crash." Aaron was starting to doubt the naked dirty man's sanity. "Anyway...we were wondering if you knew, that is, if you could tell us if you knew who it was."

The Alpha shook his head making his hair swung about, raining clumps of leaves and soil. "The scent is unknown. The power not familiar. The pack does not leave the forest, the accords do not allow it!"

Aaron could tell from the jittery movements and darting eyes, so much like a drug addict, that the Alpha wanted to change back to his beast and run free once more. Thinking furiously he asked, "Do you know of anyone else around these parts that may have the answers?"

If the Alpha could just give him a general location, his senses would pick up the supernatural.

"Fixer. Builder. Maker. Witch!" the Alpha growled, his vocal cords going rough as hair started to push through his skin. Aaron nearly threw up when the man collapsed to the ground, his body twisting unnaturally, loud popping and cracking sounds ensuing as he started to change. One hand reached out, the finger twisting and snapping as it pointed away from them. "Town!"

A large hand settled on Aaron's shoulder as Bower turned him away from the gruesome sight and pulled him along.

Fixer? Builder? The words the Alpha had said floated around his head as he thought through the implications. Witch? That was just a derogatory term for a female mage, it was a little rude of the Alpha to say it in the first place, Aaron thought, feeling a little miffed. Then it clicked.

"A tinker!" he said a little too loud, his voice bouncing off the trees.

Bower cast a sideways look at him, pushing a branch out of the way as he kept walking. "Yes."

Pleased with himself the mage puffed out his chest. A wolf's howl tore through the late afternoon air.

"Why do you think they live like that?"

It was a moment before Bower actually replied, his voice more sober than Aaron had ever heard. "Sometimes the beast is too strong. Sometimes you need to be the beast to believe you're strong. Humanity is hard. The Wild is easy."

"I guess you're right," Aaron said, casting one final glance over his shoulder to the pack he couldn't see and the creatures that gave up on their humanity. His sudden bout of melancholy was pushed aside as a dawning sense of dread overcame him. "NO!"

"What?" Bower asked as his eyes scanned the tree line for danger, his large body suddenly taunt.

"I don't know where the town is! Only a rough direction." The little man almost burst out into tears. "I CAN'T TELEPORT! That fucking bigoted werewolf! If only he had told us how far! GODDAMMIT!"

"Good! Walk!" And the unsympathetic Bower lead the way.

***

Daemon looked at himself in the mirror. He was wearing a simple black vest that stretched tight across his broad chest and hugged his slim waist under a white collared shirt with the top button undone and the sleeves rolled up. He kept his dark hair short on the sides with the top and back just a little longer with the whole thing pushed back off his face. Self-consciously he scrubbed his hand against the light stubble that dotted his square jaw and framed his lips. Elina liked it though so he didn't shave it off very often.