Sacra Mortem

-Oriana

My mind was silent, my senses heightened, I was in my own little reverie. Surrounded by dimming light in the distance, I could hear rhythmic droplets in it, and a light breeze picking up. I could feel everything melding together, in their own little pockets; like another set of chakras.

I could feel the restless energy inside dwindle. My meditation was coming to an end when I could feel a mental presence approaching the room I was in. I slipped myself back from my reverie, feeling my toes and fingers wiggle. My eyes fluttered open and the cloudiness slipped from over my eyes.

As my reverie cleared my vision, showing the dilapidated inside of the cabin I was in. I slowed my perception of time around me as the door opened and in he walked. His back turned to me as he rummaged through a beaten bag before he stood tall and sighed deeply.

"Putas, nescio vos sunt hic."

'You think I don't know you are here.'

I stood fast, time no longer under my control as I lost control over his perception of his environment too. He could see me. I reached for my waist holster when I felt the air thicken, he was taking advantage of the cold.

"You know- you can't- can't kill me." I winced, my throat feeling dryer by the second.

"Ah, sed ego vobis noceat, et mihi probatam ego sum bonum ad eam."

'but I can hurt you, and I have proven I am good at it.'

I slowed him down, his actions; I'm still not ready, he knows all my tricks. He was right, he could hurt more than I could hurt him. I stopped time around him completely and took off into the surrounding woods. I knew the farther I got from the cabin he would slowly catch up to the movement of time. I was so close, and he was still able to see past my defenses.

__

I awoke in the city, the noise of it all reminding me that I was getting closer to those that could possibly help me and them in return. It wouldn't be easy. They most likely had no idea I existed. He promised me that due to my 'extraordinary' ability I would be kept a deep secret, only a need to know. But a lot had happened since I last saw him and he made me that promise.

As I cut through a park I felt a presence trail behind me, it felt different, like it didn't want to be doing what it was doing. I walked faster, slowing the perception of time around me, and mixed in with a large group of people. I slipped in with a tour group and when I neared an exit I took it. I watched from the shadows of an alley as 2 people met up just where I slipped into the tour group and began scanning the crowd in a normal-looking manner. As I stood in the alley I could still feel eyes on me, like the 2 I was watching weren't the only ones. I began scanning the crowd and when I reached a food vendor cart just 25 feet from the 2, I caught a pair of eyes starring at me.

Time to go. I turned blindly and ran down the alley. I took each step faster than the one before it, trying to keep time slower but my heartbeat was hammering in my ears as I sped through the narrowing pathway. The footsteps were receding quickly, I was losing them. I eventually hit the end of the ally and ran up to a fence that closed it off. As I scaled the chainlink material and vaulted myself over I could hear a whisper in the back of my head. It was a nagging, itching whisper- I felt a pull along with.

I stood there for a minute and scanned the street, I couldn't find anyone out of the ordinary. I flipped my hood over my head and took off down the street. The whisper getting quieter and quieter. The pull that accompanied it slipped away. As I reached the street corner I noticed that everything felt different, some of the people on the street seemed too quiet mentally for it to be normal.

I slowly walked down the street, keeping my eyes fluttering between a couple across the street and a man sitting on a stoop a few feet from me. My attention was split and I was unfocused, I didn't notice the presence behind me till after I passed the stoop. My eyes widened, and I slammed my hands together -completely unnecessary if I was focused but I wasn't- a bright silver light emitted from my chest and spread over the street. The whole street froze mid-action, the birds flying overhead stopped mid-flutter. I spun on my heels and saw a man standing a foot behind me his hand coming up for my shoulder. Behind him, the man on the stoop was rising, and the couple across the street was looking right at us.

Shit. I turned fast and took off down the street. I kept running till I found a part of the city that wasn't affected by my time wave. I waved down a cab from the side of the street. When the driver pulled over I looked in the mirror maintaining eye contact with the driver and my eyes clouded over a bright black, "You're gonna drive me out of the city, forget about me and not tell a soul."

He droned a 'yes' back and we took off. I sunk into the seat- so much for finding them.

__

When we reached 5 miles outside of the city I had the driver pull over and I hopped out. He turned around and drove back into the city. He's gonna be so confused when he snaps out of it.

I kept my head down and walked by the roadside. I looked at the signs on the road as I walked, they weren't actual road signs, they were small and insignificant if you didn't know what you were looking for. There were marking made in trees, marking in the ground, and then there was also the silent pulling. There it is again.

I pushed through the tree line and then it hit me. The whisper in my head was a pounding boom. The pull in the back of my head is now at the forefront of my thoughts.

I heard a rush from my left and I spun to see what it was. I felt the air leave my lungs and a burning sensation encase my body before my reverie once again engulfed my vision.

⥈⥈

-Wren

We had just made it back to Callow Plateau, the trees surrounding the giant raised rock gave us our cover as we enter from the riverside. It wasn't always cozy, but it was home, it kept us hidden and covered from the prying eyes that didn't want us around. We worked together using our abilities to either keep people away, making the plateau look as inconspicuous as possible, and keeping track or defending against those who come too close.

I had entered into our central room where Serilda had been waiting for us. The second I enter through the archway her face lit up, and she bounded towards me, energy in each step.

"Warry! How was it? Was Quent right, did his vision come true?" Oh man, Quent, I don't know how you deal with her energy right away.

"You could just ask him, he's right behind me." And just like that, Serilda left my side and zoomed out of the central room to go question Quent about our failed venture. His visions didn't always turn out to be true, but the ones that did were never good.

I continued my way through the central room and down a flight of stairs and through a doorway. The door was almost closed when I heard Serilda shriek, I dropped my bag and ran back up the flight of stairs and through the central room. I made my way into the kitchenette-style room and saw Serilda on the floor in front of a passed-out Quent, he was getting another one of his visions. He was vibrating on the floor and just slightly gasping for air.

"Shh- Don't look," Scooping Serilda off the floor I pressed her tear-stained face into my shoulder and placed her gingerly in the central room, "Yara, Omari! Get in here," I called them knowing one of them would take over looking after Serilda and the other would help me with Quent.

"Seti, why don't we head around back and we can sit by the river, play with the frogs and pick some flowers ok." Omari grabbed Serilda's hand, calling her by the nickname Quent gave her by accident. They headed out through the entryway while Yara and I headed into the kitchenette-style room to check on Quent.

He was still on the floor, the shaking was less noticeable, and his breathing was evening out. We rolled him over so he was laying on his back. I had Yara prep the couch for him along with a towel, a trashcan, and some water.

When Quent came too he bolted upright, his eyes fading through a shade of silver I've never seen before his eyes were the clear amber color they always were.

"It was her again! That girl from my last vision. I don't know why I keep-" Quent stopped, his forehead covered in a layer of sweat his eyes swiping left then right, "Someone's close, really close."

"Shit."

"Where's Seti?"

"Omari took her outside-" We both bolted upright, and with Yara following right behind, we took off through the entryway.

Yara stayed at the plateau in case whoever was here got too close. Quent continued down to the river's edge to get Omari and Seti while I stayed near the halfway point. Quent let me know when he reached Omari and Seti, telling me that they'd be heading back to plateau quickly. I sat by the tree waiting when Quent sent me a whisper, "They're close to you, right between you and the plateau. I can't tell if they're a Render or not."

I jumped out from behind a small tree line and I caught someone walking through the other end ahead of me. I ran forward through the trees and past pieces of rock. When I got a few feet away- just past the previous treeline I saw her hair whip around her as she spun on her heels. I heated the air around us, to push her back- blooming a quick spark at her chest to knock her back. As she fell back she bloomed a silver aura all over her body like marble.

"What... the fuck?"

Omari appeared through the brush ahead of us with Yara behind him. They looked at me then at the glowing, radiant woman. They seemed shocked- we had seen plenty of different Renders with many different abilities, but this was new.

"What do we do?" Omari asked as he stepped closer to the strange woman.

"What do you mean?" I gave him a pointed look.

"Wren we can't leave her." Omari nodded

"Look, guys, we don't know what she was doing out here, we don't who she is- what she is! We have no way of telling if she is running people or if we should run from her."

They each gave me a look before I rolled my eyes and gave in, "Fu- fine. You're right. If Quent hates this it's your asses not mine."

'Hey Quent can you hear me?'

'Of course I can hear. What do you need?'

'So we found the person, but we're gonna need your help. I need you to come to the rock clearing just between the plateau and the river.'

'On my way'.

The air between Omari, myself, and Yara was awkward. We had never before dealt with a Render such as this, we were out of our depth, and we knew it.