Thinking back on it, she now realized that it all would have been so obvious if only she'd paid attention. He hadn't even been that careful in covering his tracks. When Raven collected his information and his lackeys, he left a trail of magical breadcrumbs everywhere. If only she'd paid attention.
Hawk had always been an excitable whisp. Growing up in the city instead of the country gave her a unique skillset that no other creature in the magical realm could boast. She was most proud of her ability to blend with the humans, but her tracking skills were nothing to sneeze at, either. The city also gave her a short attention span. She grew bored easily, which probably explained how she had missed seeing the obvious.
When Raven hit, he hit hard. Every magical creature in the city felt the impact. Those who survived went into hiding. Hawk lost her best friend, her brother, and her mentor in one fell swoop.
For some reason, her first encounter with Raven kept looping through her mind. It had been the day of her 2000th birthday, celebrated at a whisp bar in the heart of the city. Uninvited, the dark whisp had sneaked into the party and sat in a corner, watching her, waiting for a moment to speak with her in private. As soon as she left the room, he appeared behind her and spoke softly of frightening things. Thoughts and feelings that she'd never told anyone about, dark urges that preyed on her mind each night, desires that she knew would lead only to disaster. He promised her the fulfillment of her heart's desire. Only her training with Elprup, her mentor, had prevented her from falling for this temptation. Her heart was sorry to lose the opportunity to test her darker abilities, but her mind knew that to follow this stranger would be death for many, perhaps even herself. Angrily, he allowed his true intentions to show for a brief moment, berating her for her "foolishness," before storming out through the back door of the magical bar. His final words should have told her volumes about his plans for the future. "You could have saved them all."
Hawk checked her boots, her wrappings, her hooded cloak, anxiously tightening something here and loosening something there. The chains attached to her cloak clanked and swung with each movement. They would be well-used tonight. She had trained with them for a millennium in order to hone her skills, tracking errant whisps and fighting invading creatures of all powers and skills. She had developed a reputation for being almost unstoppable. When Hawk was hired to find or stop someone, it was better for them to give up right away. The magical chains moved as if they were part of her own body, capturing, blocking, twisting. She had become known as The Reaper of the Whisps, a well-deserved title. Those unfortunate creatures who did not rate a living bounty were often never recovered at all. Only a trophy of their capture and elimination returned with Hawk the Reaper.
This memory gave her courage for a moment. She could face Raven alone if she had to. She was The Reaper of the Whisps, the terror of all magical creatures, the queen of the city. Raven would be the one to tremble at her feet tonight.
A breeze fluttered her aching wings, and she remembered that she had limits, as well. Raven had found one of them when he sent that poison gas battalion to keep her flying low. Flight was never entirely necessary in the city. Skyscrapers and flagpoles provided enough launching points to keep a whisp in the air between leaps and bounds. But closer to the ground, avoiding the humans, the vehicles, the many obstacles became too difficult even for The Reaper. The truck had hit her too hard and too fast, and before she could recover, Raven's lackeys had swooped down to finish her off. By the time she awoke, the damage was done, and the magical realm in the city was devastated.
Hawk winced, the physical pain combining with the emotional anguish to make her feel positively helpless. How could she do this alone? Raven seemed to know just how to counter her, how to keep her off her guard. Perhaps if she could convince him that she had changed her mind, that she wanted to join the winning side....But surely he would see through such a ploy. She had to think; she had to stop giving in to her fears. She was The Reaper; she was Hawk. She could out-think and out-maneuver any creature in the city.
Her eyes lit up when she realized that was true. She had been running on emotion, fear and hatred, the darkness in her own heart. But she had resisted temptation once before by relying on her mind. She had to do that again. To save what was left of her home. It could be done, and it would be.
As the wind whipped around her on the top of the highest building in the city, the shadows danced across her face, obscuring her features and giving her a demonic look. Tonight, she would be The Reaper of the Whisps once more. She would strike fear into the hearts of her enemies, and they would know abject terror. She would make her own destiny and save her world. She smiled, sharp bright teeth glinting in moonlight. The hunt was on.
