Story: 
Shadowdarke--- Hunters: Quarry Scented

by J. Darksong

        I was on a routine mission. Well, as routine as these missions can get, anyway. My
job was simple recon--- just scout out the area, and keep a watchful eye on any possible
problems, and report to the others. I wasn't a big enough deal to the higher-ups in the
organization to be considered for the really IMPORTANT jobs, but I hoped that would one
day change. I mean, all I needed was one chance to shine, to really stand out. I had
lots of potential, and never had there been a more dedicated agent than yours truly.
        So why was I stuck playing look-out aboard an airline jet for a bunch of roughneck 
wanna-bees that couldn't hack it in the REAL military? "Sometimes, life is just not fair," 
I said aloud, shaking my head.
        "Excuse me?" the young man sitting in the seat beside me piped up. Damn, nice going.
Perfect way to keep from drawing attention to myself, start talking out loud to myself! 
Shit, Janice, no wonder your superiors don't give you the important assignments.
        "Oh, nothing," I said dismissively, hoping the guy would take the hint that I wasn't
in the mood to talk. Unfortunately, he didn't get the hint.
        "I believe you said, 'life is just not fair', a feeling I can well relate to. Hi,
my name is Darke. Jonothan Darke. And you are?"
        "In a pissy mood," I retorted, glaring at his outstretched hand. "Listen, I'm sorry
if I woke you up from your little nap, but I don't feel like talking right now. I'm busy
wor---" I caught myself just in time, and quickly changed the subject. "uh, I'm busy 
wondering whether I am going to make it back home in time. I missed my regular flight, and
had to take a stand-by. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll just sit here and glower silently."
        Okay, so I was being a bit harsher than my usual self. But I had a lot on my mind, 
and I didn't want some boring guy distracting me. Although he was kinda cute. Oh FUCK,
Janice, three years without a boyfriend, and you pick NOW to let your hormones get the
better of you? C'mon girl, get a grip! 
        Just in time, too. I saw my target enter the plane, walking right past me on his 
way to his seat. Thirty-eight B, just as my superiors had known. I glanced sideways to
see if my seat mate had drifted back off to sleep yet. He hadn't. In fact, the bastard
was sitting there, watching me with a bemused look on his damn face! Fuck. Just what I
really DIDN'T need, an audience. I sighed in resignation. Looks like I'd have to use
the heavy artillery to get rid of this pest.
        "Excuse me again, Mr.... um, Darke was it?" I said lightly, all smiles. "I hate to
bother you again, but I was wondering if could reach me that magazine in the fold in 
front of your seat." Nodding, he leaned forward to reach for the magazine. Just what I
had waited for. I placed a hand to the back of his head and PUSHED with my Talent,
whispering softly, "Sleep... you stupid fucking pest." He twitched a bit, looked back
as if startled, then closed his eyes. Another brilliant sucess, I thought to myself
smugly. That should keep that guy out for the rest of the trip. Now, to focus on my
target again.
        I closed my eyes and let my consciousness expand. It�s kind of like ESP, this 
Talent of mine. Not all that strong or powerful, I couldn't read other people's minds
or anything, but I could mentally 'tag' someone and find them later, instantly. A
psychic bloodhound, my superiors called me. Frankly, I didn't care what they called me,
just so long as the paychecks never stopped. There. I had 'tagged' my target, some 
rich kid named Albert. Now, in the unlikely event that my two partners failed in the
abduction, and the kid managed to escape, I could track him down no matter where he
ran.
        *Interesting.*
        "Huh? What?" I jerked around, looking to see who had spoken, but there was no one
there. I glanced at my seat mate, but he was still sleeping soundly. I calmed my beating
heart a bit and took a few breaths. This kind of shit always made me a little jumpy, but
this was the first time I had actually started hearing voices before. Okay. Relax and
focus on the job. All you have to do is keep an eye on this guy while the other guys
do the abducting. A cakewalk. So... why was I starting to feel like something was about
to go wrong?
        A male flight attendant walked by on his way to the front of the cabin. Even in the
regulation dress, I could tell he was no flight attendant. Contact number one, who's code
name was Panther, stopped as I raised my hand. "Yes?" he asked. "Is there anything I can
get you, Miss?"
        Hey, the nicest ol' Panther had been to me in ages! Seeing him playing the part of
a public servant was a really nice touch. I smiled warmly and gave the counter sign. "No,
thank you, I have everything I need for the moment, but I think one of the passengers 
up at the front needed some assistance." He nodded, scowling for a second to let me know
his feelings about his role in things, then he was all smiles again as he worked his way
down through the aisle. I didn't see contact number two, who's code name was Hyena, but 
I knew she was there somewhere, in the crowd. A back-up, in case the first Hunter missed,
even though I had never known Panther to miss a target. Ever. Then again, if he had, he
wouldn't be alive for me to know him anyway. The superiors were very strict about that.
        I sat back and relaxed as the flight attendants did their usual pre-flight check,
telling everyone how to use the seat belt, where the emergency exits were located, all
the standard bullshit. I only half-listened. I'd been riding these airlines for years,
as well as the military kinds, and I knew as well as anyone what to do during an
emergency. My job was over now, all I had to do was simply sit back and enjoy the rest
of the flight, and watch to see if anyone unknown made contact with the target. 
        "Your standard 'cakewalk', right?"
        I turned again, to find my seat mate sitting there, head propped up on his fist, 
smirking at me. Okay, now I was a little freaked, as you can understand. I may not be
the most prized member of the organization, but I know my Talents, and can always
depend on them. So naturally I was surprised to see this guy I had sent off to dreamland
awake and talking to me after only five minutes. I calmly, and rationally questioned
the guy to see how he had managed it.
        "W-w-what the hell? How did you... what did.. how the fuck are you awake?!?!" 
Okay, so maybe I wasn't QUITE so calm and rational. But you get my point. This kind of
thing just doesn't happen. 
        "Hey, relax. Calm down," he said smiling. "All that tension isn't good for you, 
you know. Such a beautiful woman as yourself is much to young to die of a coronary."
        I kinda did a double take at that statement. Either this guy was just a big 
flatterer, or he needed to get his eyes checked. No one, in all my years, not even my
mom-- the lousy two-bit slut!-- had ever called me beautiful. I mean, I was no looker,
I knew that. With my short-cut mousy-brown hair, my dull brown eyes, my small 23 B cup
breasts, and skinny, short, wiry frame, I was hardly a Victoria Secret model. I looked
more like a 'bull dyke' than many of the gay women I knew. Shit, my last 'boyfriend' had
been a one-night stand with a guy at work, after we had both gotten wasted at a bar.
        Yet, looking in this guy's deep dark eyes, I could almost feel that he was sincere.
I know it sounded crazy, and maybe it was, but I felt somehow that he meant what he said.
Under his deep burning gaze I felt my pulse speed up slightly, and my breath quickened.
Despite myself, I was getting aroused, and my panties began to grow damp. But... I was
on a mission. I couldn't let myself get distracted.
        A low moan went up a few seats in front of us, and a female stewardess walked over
as the call light came on. They were at the seat right in front of my target, so I 
reluctantly shifted my attention from my seat mate back to he target. After a moment, the
stewardess came over to our row, and stopped right in front of me. "Excuse me, sir,"
she said, looking at my seat mate. "A passenger up in row thirty-six C needs your help.
He is having a mild heart-attack, and he left his pills back home. Please, sir, can you
take a look at him?"
        I turned and looked at my seat mate again, as if seeing him for the first time. My
suspicions returned with a vengeance then, wondering if this was some new trick to get 
close to my target. "Why do you need HIM to look at this guy?" I asked the flight 
attendant.
        Darke sighed wearily. "Because I am a doctor, why else?" He got up from his seat
and followed the flight attendant over to ailing man. Oh well, ask a stupid question,
I admonished myself. I got up and followed him. I don't know exactly why, since I was
supposed to keep a low profile and not attract attention. Maybe I was getting up to 
keep a closer eye on my target, to make sure no one made contact with him. Or, maybe
it was just to see this strange man at work, treating this guy with a heart-attack. 
Whatever the reason, I was out in the middle of the aisle before I even knew what I
was doing, following behind him, like some little puppy on a leash. Strangely enough,
the flight attendant didn't order me back to my seat, either. 
        "Okay, what have we got here?" he asked, as he squatted down on his knees to 
look at the patient face to face.
        "Ohhh... ohhh... it's my heart," the man said wearily. He was an older man, about
sixty, on the plump side, and slightly bald. His face was red as a beet, and sweat was
dripping off him like raindrops. Even from where I was standing, I could see his chest
heaving irregularly. It looked as if just breathing was causing him great pain.
        "Shit!" I said in a low soft voice. "This guy is toast."
        "Perhaps not," Darke said, frowning. He just sat there, thinking, as if he were 
trying to make some big decision. At the time, I had no idea just how right I was. Finally,
he nodded to himself, and turned to the flight attendant. "Excuse me, please. I'd like to
return to my seat. There is nothing wrong with this patient, it was just a case of 
indigestion."
        I blinked. Was he serious? I was no doctor, but even I could see this guy had one
foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. I started to say something when Darke
turned and placed his hand on the man's chest. For a single moment, it was as if time 
stopped. I felt like I was inside of an oven, with the temperature turned up to the
max. All around me, I could feel.. power, of some unknown source, flowing, streaming 
like the wind, towards one spot, one goal, one person.
        The doctor, Jonothan Darke.
        For that instant in time, I felt, rather than saw, the raw energies tapped into
this guy, this unknown stranger, flowing through his body, down into his hand, lying 
on the sick man's chest. As I watched, fascinated, entranced by it all, the man heaved
slightly, and I swear I saw a flicker of a spark leap from the doctor's fingertips. Then,
suddenly, it was over. The intense heat left, and time began flowing normally once more.
The stewardess blinked, woodenly, as if just waking up from a nap, then smiled. "Of 
course, sir, sorry to have bothered you." She turned to the man in the seat. "And you,
sir? Is your stomach feeling better now?"
        The man blinked as well, and I was shocked at how much better he looked in such a
short amount of time. His face as normal, his eyes bright and shining, and his breathing
and pulse seemed to be coming back down to normal. "Why, um, yes, stewardess," he said
with surprise. "As a matter or fact, I feel just fine now. Sorry to have spooked you.
Could have sworn I was about to keel over. Must have been indigestion, just like the 
doc said."
        I followed the man back to our row, where we sat down again. For the longest time
I just sat there, stunned, not really knowing what to say, just trying to figure it all
out. Meanwhile, Darke sat reading a magazine, as if nothing unusual had happened at all.
After a few moments I couldn't stand it any longer, and I pulled the magazine from his
hands. "Okay, what the hell was all THAT about?" I said heatedly.
        "Hmm? What do you mean?" he said, eyebrows raised.
        "Don't try pulling any of that crap with me," I hissed softly. "I was there in the
aisle with you, remember? I saw that guy. His heart was about to burst out of his fucking
chest! Then you place a hand on him, and then... then... hell I don't know what happened,
but it felt like a damn oven in here for a second! And... and something went OUT of you
into that guy and BOOM! Just like that, he's fine. And now you try and play it off as if
nothing happened? Bullshit! What are you?"
        He turned and looked at me again. And if I thought his gaze was riveting before, it
was nothing compared to now. I gasped, the breath caught up in my throat, as I stared 
back into his eyes. I felt kind of like a fly caught and mounted on a bug catcher's
desk. It was as if my entire self, mind, body, and soul, were being X-rayed by this
man's gaze, with him looking through every nook and cranny of my being with a microscope.
Inexplicably, I felt my panties getting damp again, my arousal at being so closely 
examined, at feeling totally helpless under his powerful gaze, rising exponentially.
Finally he blinked, and the spell was broken, and I breathed in ragged, gasping breaths.
        "Hmmm," he said after a moment, "maybe there is more to you than meets the eye."
        "Huh? Hey, don't change the subject. We were talking about YOU..."
        Darke shook his head. "No, actually we weren't. But we will, eventually. For now,
I wish to know more about YOU. For instance, I want to know why you and your two comrades
are stalking your target, the man in seat thirty-eight B. And why, of course. And about
yourself, personally, with your strange Talent for marking people so you can find them
instantly whenever you want, and how you can FEEL my own power. And don't even think of
signaling your two friends to help you."
        Funny, that is just what I was about to do. This guy seemed to be one step ahead of
me. And after having a glimpse of just what he could do, I don't doubt he could pick all
the information he wants right out of my brain if he wished. So why is he asking nicely?
        "I ask nicely because I would rather hear it from your own lips," he answered aloud.
"You know it is useless to lie to me, anyway, so if its a choice between the easy way, and
the hard way, I would rather try the easy way." On that, at least, we were on one accord.
"So start from the beginning. But softly. We wouldn't want your friends Panther and Hyena
overhearing."
        Damn. "Okay. Well, I am mostly just a 'grunt' in the organization, so low on the
totem pole that I am given such wonderfully exciting jobs as playing back-up for the
undercover OPs. So I don't know everything. But the whole organization deals with 
extortion, wringing money away from the rich upper-class to line our own pockets. We're
mostly special operatives, with military training, or like me, with special Talents.
I was actually recruited for my skills and my military training, but after undergoing
a series of special tests, they gave me this current job as a watchdog, and the code
name of Bloodhound."
        "Who is the head of this so-called Organization?"
        I shook my head. "I dunno. I never met the guy. All I know is what my superiors
tell me. I do a job, and I get paid good money for it. No questions asked. All I DO
know is that no one ever leaves the organization... not of their own free will, anyway.
The only ones I know of have all left the same way: In a pine box!"
        Darke nodded slowly. "Okay. Sounds innocent enough." Hah. The organization being
called 'INNOCENT'? The idea was ludicrous. We were all crooks. Not that I cared much,
a job is a job. But we could hardly be called innocent by any means. "What I mean," he 
added, "is that it is obvious now that all this was just a coincidence, and that I was 
never a potential target myself. I've heard recently that several of my people have 
disappeared, taken down under mysterious circumstances, and finding myself sitting next 
to Kinspawn so soon after my last encounter... well let's just say that I had to be sure."
        Kinspawn? What the hell? "Listen," I said, trying to regain control of the
conversation, "are you with the competition or something? I don't know what your game is,
but---"
        "You want answers, don't you?" Darke responded. I was starting to get annoyed with
the way he kept finishing my sentences before I even spoke them. And yes, I wanted answers.
I had come to accept my own Talents, and that there were others in the world, like me,
that were Gifted with psychic abilities, that ESP was a very REAL phenomenon, and that 
all of those wild, crazy stories on Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings on network TV might
not be so crazy after all. But this guy... this man was seriously out of my league.
        "Understanding a situation doesn't always help," he said in a low voice. "In fact,
the less you really know what I am talking about, the better. Knowledge has a price, my
dear, and the price I charge is perhaps higher than you would wish to pay."
        Maybe I should have paused for a second to consider what he was saying. I knew
this guy was weird, and a bit freaky, and if I had taken the time to THINK about what 
he was saying, I probably would have taken his warning. But that's not my style. I am
the type of person that jumps in head first and THEN wonders if there is any water in 
the fucking pool. 
        He reached out his hand. "Take it," he said softly, looking straight into my eyes.
"Take my hand, and you'll have all the answers you need. Just know that once you do, 
there is no turning back. You can forget your old life, your family, your friends.
Everything. You can also say goodbye to your 'Organization' because you won't be 
seeing them again. Except, perhaps, when they come to hunt you down for turning on them.
So, if you are not completely sure, just sit there, close your eyes, and forget that
you ever saw me."
        The nerve of this prick! I thought angrily. "You have a lot of confidence in 
yourself, pal! Assuming that whatever you have to tell me could convince me to turn on
my own people. Well, you don't know me, or my organization." I reached out and grasped
his hand. "So come on, give me your best shot, and we'll see if it's all you... you...
HOLY FUCK--"
        It was like before... time stood still while he Touched me, only this time, I was
the focus of his strange power. My breath caught in my chest, as a blazing warmth seemed
to issue forth from his hand into mine, and through my entire body, like an IV of nitric
acid flowing into my veins. If I could have screamed I would have. It felt in that 
instant as if my entire body was on fire, centering on my breasts and my waist, and
my... you know, down there! It was all I could do to keep my sanity under the onslaught.
And then, he started with my mind...

        Images, feelings, sensations, flowing into me... oh GOD!!! Burning... so hot... so
FUCKING hot... lonely... jaded pain, why won't they love me? Small, skinny, ugly, stick
man, homely... a woman, a beautiful woman.. his smile, so handsome, oh God, oh GOD please
love me! cherish me! Make me beautiful, to him... FOR him... oh oh oh shiiiIITTT!! Burning
burning burning! Between my legs, harder, HARDER!! Fuck me, fuck me, fuck... no LOVE me!
LOVE ME LOVE ME LOVEMELOVEMELOVELOVELOVE

        ...And I came to abruptly, naked as a jay bird, lying half in the middle of the 
aisle, panting a bit, wondering just what the hell happened. Rolling over onto my side, 
I became aware of Mr. Darke's presence at my side, and I looked up to see him smiling,
dressed in his birthday suit as well. He stroked my chest lightly, and I shuddered in 
pleasure. All the feelings I had experienced a moment ago came back to me again in a
flood, and I closed my eyes and bit my lip to keep from moaning. "What.. the hell did 
you do to me?" I asked weakly.
        "Do you mean, mentally, or physically," he said with a smirk, pinching an engorged
nipple. I glanced down at his hands and gasped aloud. Now I know what he meant when he
said PHYSCALLY! "You had a slight hormonal imbalance, one that shunted your development
during puberty. I HEALED the damage and sped up the cycle a bit. I trust you like the
results?" Like them? I LOVED them! I had BREASTS now, not little B cup, but a healthy
D size. The way he was stroking them now, and letting his fingertips caress the nipples
made me nearly melt into his arms. 
        But it wasn't just fancy plastic surgery; I had changed inside and out. I FELT 
more feminine now as well, softer, gentler. I had always been a bit of a hardass, 
tough to be around, scornful, cynical, arrogant. I hadn't been attracted to anyone
sexually, in a long time. Now, my body felt charged, brimming over with sexual energy,
and having such a handsome, naked man lying beside me, it was all I could do to keep 
from pouncing on him and begging him to fuck me six ways from Sunday! Still, as much
as I had changed, I was also still ME inside. I summoned up as much aloofness as I could
and glanced at him. "You did this... to me. To my mind as well as my body. You're MAKING
me want you this much, aren't you?"
        He laughed softly, circling his fingers around my left breast, as if it was the
most interesting thing in the world to him. Yet I didn't pull away from him. "Let's
just say I---" I let out a gasp as he rolled the nipple between his fingers "---tweaked
what was already there a little bit. You had broken self-esteem, and I fixed that too,
as well as improving your whole attitude towards sex. You DO realize you are lying
half out in the aisle in a very crowded airplane, don't you?"
        "Yeah, so? I don't give a da--" Then I realized what I was saying. Naked, in a 
very public place, at that moment I really didn't care if anyone saw me or not. It
didn't bother me. I knew that was wrong, somehow, but I just couldn't care about it.
Even stranger, I felt... giddy. Excited. My old body may have been something to hide
under layers and layers of clothes, but this NEW feminine, sexy, hot fucking bod was
just made for people to ogle. With an effort, I pulled my hands away from my cunt.
        He laughed again. "I find you interesting. I am searching for someone, someone
that I simply HAVE to find. And soon. Perhaps with your tracking Talents, you can
succeed where my own Talents and resources have failed. Once we land, you and I are 
heading to a place I know around the outskirts of New York city. That's as far as
I was able to track her, but I am hoping that together we can pick up her trail."
        It wasn't a request. I WAS going with him whether I liked it or not. Not that
I could much fight my increasing fascination with him. But the small part of me that
was still the OLD me managed to croak out, "But... but what about my mission? What
about Panther and Hyena? They'll never let me just walk away."
        A stewardess walks by then, stepping over our outstretched limbs, but saying 
nothing at all, as if it was an everyday occurrence to see two people lying naked on 
the floor of a seven-forty-seven. She walked over to her station and strapped in just
as the Fasten Seat Belt light came on, and the captain's voice spoke, saying that we
would be landing in JFK Airport in five minutes. Darke was starting to get dressed
again. "Don't worry about them. For one thing, you don't look anything like you did
when you stepped onto the plane. Your hair, your face, your bust and waist sizes are
all completely different now." He handed me a small mirror, and I gasped at the changes.
Somehow, he had turned back the hands of time. I looked younger, softer, and sexier
than I could have ever dreamed! 
        For a moment I cursed the doctors that had told my mother that my hormonal 
imbalance was beyond their grasp, that I would adapt, and learn to live with a sexually 
stunted body. If only those fucking bastards could see me now!
        "Second," Darke continued, breaking me out of my thoughts, "they will shortly have
more important things to worry about that a missing, low-level tracker." Almost before he
had finished speaking, Hyena and Panther, dressed as flight attendants, went running down
the aisle, with Panther checking seats and Hyena checking the bathrooms. I glanced over
at seat thirty-eight B and found the target... GONE! I closed my eyes and stretched
out my Talent, but it insisted that the man was right there, the same as before, sitting
in his seat. I opened my eyes again, and saw an empty space. I turned to my seat mate.
        "Okay, now how the HELL did you do that?" I asked, shocked. "He's no one to be
seen, yet my Talent tells me he is sitting right there! What did you do to make him
disappear?"
        Instead of answering, he man just handed me my clothes. "Get dressed, we'll be
landing in a few minutes." Fuming slightly, I did as he bade, and slipped my clothes
back on. "As for the so-called 'trick', its done the same way that I convinced everyone
else not to notice us writhing in sexual abandon here in the back row. Perhaps I'll 
teach it to you later on."
        The plane landed with no problems, and Mr. Darke and I exited the plane. He 
picked up his luggage; I, of course, being along on the flight as part of a recon
job, had no luggage. "I'll have to see about getting you something to wear along the
way," he said with a frown. "In the meantime, we need to go pick up the car I had
ready, and hurry off to the spot I mentioned earlier. I'm anxious to see if you can
pick up the trail." Nodding I followed him over to the counter. Just as I was walking
to the door, a man running by knocked me off balance.
        "Hey, watch it you big dumb---" The rest of my retort died in my throat as I looked
up into Panther's angry face. I was literally shaking in my shoes here. What if he 
recognized me somehow? What would he do to me if he knew I had totally abandoned the
organization? What if...
        "Hey, what are YOU staring at, you bimbo slut?" he growled menacingly. "Out of my
way, bitch, I'm in a hurry." He shoved me aside and continued on, with Hyena running 
not far behind. I let out the breath I had been holding. They hadn't recognized me.
I was safe.
        "Come along, Janice," Darke said, picking up his keys from the desk clerk. "We
have no time to waste dawdling." Smiling, I followed behind him, walking out into the
unknown.




        The figure in the black tweed suit at the phone booth slid back into place as
soon as the two had walked by. Dialing the number he had been given, he waited until
he heard the tell-tale clicks and beeps that signaled the line was secure. "Jackal
here. I need to speak with the Mistress please. We have a situation." Pause. "Yes,
I'll hold."
        A few moments passed, and the man glanced through the window of the lobby to see
the man and woman slip into a waiting car and drive off. Hearing a woman's voice on the
end of the line, he sighed softly. "Mistress? This is Jackal. I'm here at JFK, as ordered.
We have a situation, ma'am. Panther and Hyena have lost the target." Pause. "No, I 
haven't debriefed them yet. They merely called in a code thirteen over the secure channel,
meaning the target was lost and in motion. They are scanning the area now, trying to 
reacquire him. But ma'am, that is only part of the---" Pause. "The tracker, Bloodhound?
Yes, ma'am. That's what I wished to report on. Moments ago, I saw her leave the airport
with an unidentified man. She was... well I don't know how it happened, but she has 
been physically CHANGED somehow. I wouldn't have recognized her, had she not been wearing
the same clothes as before." Pause. "Yes ma'am. I Mindscanned her briefly as she walked
by, and it seems she HAS been turned somehow. I didn't recognize the man, but he must
be pretty damn good. I tried to Mindscan him too, but all I got was static." Pause. 
"Well, no ma'am, it didn't occur to me to follow him. I thought I should report in 
the loss of the target and of Bloodhound first, but I..." Another pause, during which
the man winced painfully. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry ma'am. I'll get right on it. From the
brief glance into Bloodhound's mind, I saw their destination. But, what about Panther
and Hyena, and the lost primary target?" Another short pause, and the man's frown was
replaced with a smile. He patted the sliencer-equipped snub nose in his pocket.
        "Yes ma'am," he replied eagerly. "I'll see to it personally, as soon as they are
debriefed." Hanging up the phone, the dark man in the black suit walked out of the 
airport, heading to the rendezvous point. He had one little detail to clean up, then 
he could begin following Bloodhound and her mysterious guardian. Jackal smiled wickedly.
It had been some time since his last hunt, and he was more than eager to start.

(The End.)