Information
Kristianyo
Legacy Name: Kristianyo
The
Galactic SheetaOwner: AmethystWallflower
Age: 10 years, 11 months, 1 week
Born: April 22nd, 2015
Adopted: 10 years, 11 months, 1 week ago
Adopted: April 22nd, 2015
Statistics
- Level: 50
- Strength: 51
- Defense: 46
- Speed: 16
- Health: 47
- HP: 47/47
- Intelligence: 6
- Books Read: 6
- Food Eaten: 10
- Job: Kennel Cleaner
The Kristianyo Manor was a large building lost in the middle of the woods of Vermont. Somehow surviving beautifully through centuries of humid springs and hot summers; the soft colors of the paint never fading and the wood never weakening. The large three-story home sat on a 50-acre piece of land that had been owned by the same family since it’s construction in the early 1700’s. A well-hidden, long, winding dirt road branched off the main highway leading to the manor, only known by those who knew what they were looking for. The family that inhabited the manor was capable of growing their own food in their large gardens behind the home, a water well that sat dangerously close to the surrounding thick tree line provided them with all the water they needed.
When the property began to come into view, flowers bloomed in clusters of bright colors that looked methodically placed around the front, lush grass grew at an even level which only accented to the overall peaceful look the building held. It seemed to be constantly bathed in soft light and emitted a welcoming warmth during the day. If it weren’t for the comforting feeling that consumed anyone who approached the manor, the entire scene would seem out of place compared to the wood that closed in tightly around the immediate edges of the property. As the person would walk closer, however, those beautiful flowers began to wilt and die, the grass turned yellow and brown before dying away to dirt, the vegetables in the garden began to rot, the paint on the outside of the manor faded and chipped away, the wood became ridded with termites and the entire building seemed to barely be standing on its foundation.
It was brilliant magic to cause the manor to decay before the intruder’s eyes; it was the same magic that kept the turn-off to the road nearly impossible to notice. If the manor rapidly dying didn’t deter the intruder, the overgrown shadow of a barn owl took care of the problem often enough as to not disturb the home-owner within. When the giant bird rose, it was nearly transparent but consisted of a thick, swirling black smoke that was in constant motion. Deep maroon eyes gleamed brightly against the form and polished, a pointed beak curled from amongst barely distinguishable feathers. The creature’s screeches could be felt more-so than heard and its unwavering stare could be felt the moment someone approached before even being noticed.
The few stories that surrounded the manor were mixed. Some described the paradise-like appearance of the property while others described the beast and dilapidated structure. If one was lucky enough to hear a tale from each side, they would notice that the story that described the beauty never described the interior of the place. It usually went that a traveler stumbled upon the manor and so struck by its serene beauty and isolation, decided to leave it and wonder elsewhere. However, the darker stories usually were taken with a grain of salt by the listener as the ones in the tale usually never came back out from the home and were thought to be dead. Plus, it’s much more pleasant to imagine a large manor in the woods of Vermont being a type of fairy-tale paradise rather than a hidden nightmare from hell.
The inside of the manor was a comfortable and appealing mixture of the two images outside. It was dark and cluttered with stacks of leather bound books, bottles of odd colored liquids, vials of different powders, a mixture of statues and charms, candles filling nearly every inch of each of the shelves along walls and surfaces of the large tables. Small fist sized orbs of blue and white flames bobbed silently in the open space above the heads of any potential persons inside. Tucked away in the back-left corner of the main living space sat a set of dark wooden stairs that coiled upwards leading to the second floor where the bedrooms where. Opposite the stairs rested a hallway that led to the large kitchen and beyond that was a side door leading out to one of the gardens.
Kristianyo considered the day ahead of him a massive chore. He had let his stocks of nearly everything run dangerously low and he needed to revive just about every spell on the place. If he pushed it off any longer his little paradise in Vermont would be found by Merlin knew what and he’d be forced in a magical war that seemed to focus itself in this particular state the last few decades. He could move further away from the war, but that was honestly more work than reviving a few spells; he had been in the same spot, mostly hidden, for close to 320 years now. He only occasionally let humans see his home out of entertainment from the stories they created, but he ended the rumors before they got too far out of ear shot and lately it’s been too magically active in the area to entertain himself with the locals.
After a good amount of mental psyching up to get him in the mind set, Kristianyo managed to force himself outside and go into the small town and collect what he needed. Most of the local businesses had everything he needed, but the plants were usually found in his own gardens after learning how to grow the exotic foliage to minimize time away from the manor. Plus, there was this coffee shop that currently had this barista that made the most perfect cup of coffee he had had in close to a century and that was a pretty good tipping point in the decision process. In his manic cravings for caffeine he had once done his best to recreate the barista’s masterpiece of a drink, but he eventually failed, broke down and went to the shop and bought the original. A large, of course.As he made his way down the many hidden flights of stairs, low mumbles could barely be heard coming from him and by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs large, curled ram horns had uncomfortably slid back into his skull, beneath his deep navy-blue tresses. The physical changes he was required to make these days were another reason he rarely ventured out from his property. He couldn’t be bothered to consistently wears large hats or hooded sweatshirts, so Kristianyo was quick to learn a spell that could shield the public from the perceived abnormality. Letting the chills from the spell ride themselves out down to the soles of his feet, the mental link was awakened between him and the familiar lounging outside.
‘I’m going out for a coffee.’ His head turned to either side, looking for his usual travelling jacket then headed out the door just past the creature.
‘Sometimes I think you just like to ogle at this young girl that happens to work that counter.’ Abyss opened one large, maroon orb to stare at his back. ‘You claim you frequent for the coffee, but you come home with her face in your head.’ The tone she held was half mocking and half curiosity.
From the tips of his shoes that casted shadows over the first step cascading down to the overly colorful lawn, his hands buried deep in his jacket pockets, Kristianyo stood at a striking 6ft 7in. He looked back over his shoulder, at the familiar that had been with him his entire life. ‘There is no hiding anything from you, is there Abbs?’ He gently turned on one heel, facing the owl entirely. He sighed, a small eyeroll accompanying it before diving into explanation. ‘I noticed it the first day she was working, and I saw her. I couldn’t place what it was, so I ignored it. Over the several years she’s been employed at the café it all but disappeared. Suddenly, in my last five visits or so, I’ve noticed her emotions slowly filling the space like fog.’
Abyss cocked her head to the side, giving the effect her head had turned clockwise in more than just a tilt. ‘That is indeed strange. Is it not the case that humans can project emotions like that?’
Kristianyo ran a hand through his hair, mildly scratching at the base of where one of his horns would be. ‘Precisely. The odd thing about it is, not only can I not place what she is exactly, but I don’t think she realizes she’s not like her friend…’ There was a small pause, ‘Rebecca I think her name tag said...’ His eyes squinted slightly, looking beyond the owl as if he could see the girls name tag floating behind her, his voice drifting away a bit.
The familiar stretched out her wings in a slow reach, readjusted her footing on the wooden railing surrounding the porch and narrowed her own eyelids to the wizard. ‘Do not think you are going to bring the woman here. How do you know she is not part of the war?’ Abyss made no attempt at stopping the paranoia from filling her words. ‘You see this woman possibly three times a month until recently, how are you sure she doesn’t have all the time in the world to lure you from your paradise and into some sort of misfortune?’ She leaned forward toward him, staring deep into his soul through the galaxy that swam in eyes, in the way only an owl can, ‘You are not a stupid man, Kristianyo. Don’t let her think you are.’
Kristianyo refocused his eyes to look directly back into the deep maroon ones of Abyss. He was sensing the challenge she was presenting him, and he was all for it. ‘You and I are no longer young, AbyssGlider.’ He paused at using her full name to gauge her reaction. He was let down when he didn’t receive even the slightest beak click. However, he continued. ‘We also both know at this point when someone is trying to portray the idea of stalking prey, regardless of how coy they assume they were being. This woman genuinely has no idea she’s secreting these emotions, and that being the case I fully believe she will attract the war to not only herself, but unavoidably to us as well. It has been exactly one week since I had last gone, and you are more than welcome to accompany me to see for yourself, but if this continues to grow at this rate it’s going to do a lot more harm than not to proceed to ignore her beyond this visit or the next.’
This got a loud snap from Abyss’ beak. It was a sharp sound that could only be compared to a dry bone snapping in two from sudden pressure. ‘I will not go out there and leave this home unprotected for something as minor as a woman who does not know who or what she is. You can go play modern detective and threaten your own life, but until it is actually proven to me that interfering with her will benefit us, I will not play into the charade.’ With that, the enormous bird of prey tucked her beak back under her wing and glared at her life-long companion before closing her eyes with finality.
It was clear to Kristianyo that Abyss had ended the conversation and was beyond it. He chuckled to himself and descended the steps and through the gorgeously manicured lawn that turned brown and dead at his back. He spent the entire walk lost in his own head thinking about the girl at the café. Somehow, she seemed increasingly more… fluid. He didn’t know exactly how the word fit to her just yet, but when he put the word to her there was no removing it from her. In the last weeks she had gone from a city hardened young woman, to a creature who was struggling greatly to keep not only her emotions in check, but also whatever magic that was awakening in her. Said unchecked and unmanaged magic was a beckon to the very things that sought to extinguish people like Kristianyo from their homes. He understood Abyss’ concerns. The move, should he choose to act upon it whether it be now or in the near future, could and quite possibly would propel him from the shadows and into the thick of the battle he has spent so much time and effort avoiding. But beyond the immediate threat, there was a thread connecting him to this barista he was currently unable to identify and so far, was lucky enough to hide mostly from Abyss.
The familiar chime echoed throughout the coffee shop and announced Kristianyo’s entrance to the gum-chewing teenager behind the counter. When the girl looked up from the cellphone in her hands, she immediately began typing in his order into the register and moved to make the drink. By the time he reached the counter, leaned against the wood to take a survey of the room and settled on the feeling that something wicked lurked close by, a pop and hiss noise of the coffee machines sounded just behind him and pulled him back to human reality. He spun on his heel and cash that wasn’t in his hand before was being slid over the slick countertop.
“Thank you very much, Damany. I’ve tried to make these damn things myself at home, but I just can’t. I’m convinced you put drugs in it to keep me coming back.” Kristianyo grinned at the young woman, clearly impressed at the joke made in attempt to hone in on her age and sense of humor and ignored the blank stare. “Keep the change, sweetheart.” He let out a breath of amusement as her overall demeanor lightened a few shades at the simple mention of a $14.05 tip. Not before pushing the wad of gum into her cheek, she thanked him, pocketed the change and returned to her phone with a smile. It went the same way every time he came in. He would try and crack some sort of joke or attempt small talk and she just wouldn’t have any of it. The girl had worked there for the last three years and the most Kristianyo has been able to pull out of her is a handful of sentences. Otherwise, it was blank stares until she got the eventual, and by now expected $14.05 tip, but damn that girl could make a coffee.
Instead of making the trip mildly worth it beyond the drink by sitting and enjoying the general ambiance of the place, Kristianyo decided to waved goodbye to Abel who happened to catch the wave and return it and leave the café for home. The weather was cold, the drink hot in his hands and the sense on extreme anxiety was thick in the air around him. Slowly bringing the cup to his lips and draining just a small bit from the cup, Kristianyo carefully surveyed each of the people walking about and living their lives. It was rare, this type of extreme anxiety, nothing of his own making. ‘Especially with this magical potion from the Wicked Witch Damany.’ He thought to himself, a grin across his lips before taking another sip. His thoughts lingered on her name briefly before pure rage swept over him like a wave of warm water. He stopped walking about fifteen feet from the café entrance when the woman brushed past him, her focus entirely consumed on the task ahead of her.
What cemented him momentarily in place was her face. He knew her face and all the blood history behind those cherry red eyes. Although, he had not seen Sentinelle since just before the disappearance of her Queen. She had either been too focused to notice him or she did not recognize him through her determination to get to wherever it was she was headed. Opening the link between him and Abyss was a highly difficult thing to do at the current distance, but he would be able to get a simple message through with little effort. ‘Sentinelle.’ One word. That’s all the owl would need. That was the only word he sent before letting the link fade to a comfortable thinness again.
It was all of ninety seconds. All hell broke loose in a minute and a half. It was obvious that Sentinelle’s presence was a disturbing one even in humans. Many that she passed in her obvious constant but contained rage subconsciously took the hint that it was time for them to take the very small window they were being granted and get the hell out of potential firing range. Kristianyo absentmindedly set down the half full coffee down on a public mail drop box and followed at length as Sentinelle forcefully entered the café he had just left. In the beat of that 90 seconds the people inside the café could be heard screaming almost immediately and they all flooded from the front doors, employees littered amongst them. It was when he saw the black and sad attempt at gold embroidered aprons that he realized who the mercenary was there for and he had possibly 40 seconds at this point to get to Damany before Sentinelle did.
With intense concentration combined with movements too fast for a human to fully process, Kristianyo had pulled an apparent normal chalk from the inside of his travel jacket and scribbled a small image that started as a constellation but morphed into a set of runes that bled into his hand. When the image was gone, he closed his fist around the pain it left behind in his palm and he disappeared from where he stood. When he reopened his hand, he was inside the café staring straight into the enraged expression of the killer, his horns now in full view as well as the galaxies in his eyes.
“Kristianyo! You guard the girl!?” Sentinelle roared through the eerie silence. “You hide in the darkness of Vermont, VERMONT for demon’s sake, for this,” She thrust out her weapon to point the tip of it threateningly at the girl that stood frozen and alone behind the counter, “…this girl who does not even know what she is!?” She was near the point of laughter at seeing the wizard here of all places.
“No, she just happened to be lucky enough to be a neighbor.” His body language was the opposite of the killer’s, even in the immense danger him and Damany were in. “The fact that you want her tells me she would highly benefit me. Self-ignorant or not, I think it unwise for her to either go with you,” He paused and looked at the weapon the demon held in each hand and back up to her anger ridden face, “Or be killed.” He risked looking back to Damany and was greeted with the expectation of Sentinelle coming at him at such an unnatural speed she was a blur that was on him before he could reach a hand back to touch the girl.
Pain spread from the point of impact on his lower back up toward the space between his shoulder blades at the force Sentinelle used to shove him out of her way. Dishes and glassware rained down over him but in a speed that closely matched the demon’s he was up again with the small chalk pressing constellations and runes into his palms. Kristianyo’s eyes remained glued on Sentinelle as she greedily raked across overturned chairs and tables to get to the girl. Ignoring the pain from being thrown he closed his fingers around the dissolved spell and disappeared, only to reappear yards away and next to Damany, grabbing her wrist and reclosing his fist and disappearing again. This time taking Damany with him.
When he reopened his hand, he and Damany were just inside the protecting line surrounding his property. Immediately Abyss was on them and the agitation she felt was radiating off her like a rolling heat. Her eyes flashed from Kristianyo who looked to be in pain however minor, to Damany who was teetering on the edge of total panic and hysteria. ‘Obviously,’ Abyss seethed, ‘the war has been brought to us.’
‘What would be nice, Abbs, is if you could be sure Sentinelle won’t be able to find us here. Let me know what spells and precautions I need to increase with our guest here.’ Kristianyo arched his back forwards and backwards in efforts to stretch the clearly already bruising muscles and tissue. In the silent communication between the two, it had gone unnoticed that Damany was basically at the point of having a full-on mental breakdown she had spent the several moments struggling to keep at bay, but gave up at the appearance of a black, mist-like owl half the size of Kristianyo.
Abyss said nothing in reply to the command but rose into the air to do as she was asked. With minor pain etched all over his face, the wizard held out a hand to the panicked woman and attempted to calm her. “Welcome to my home, Damany. I must sincerely apologize you had to be introduced to the world this way, but it seems that the world has other plans than for you to learn whatever it is you need to learn in your own time.” When she didn’t take his hand, but clutched her own close to her chest, he resorted to wiping the fresh tear that escaped her ocean colored eyes and smiled as warmly as he knew how, before lowering himself into a bow. “I am Kristianyo, and the large owl was my Familiar, AbyssGlider. Call her Abyss if you’d like.” He rose to his full height but did not reoffer his hand. “I think it best you follow me inside. I cannot be sure Sentinelle cannot fully find us until Abbs makes full rounds of the place.” It was then that he began walking toward the manor and through the front door, where he disappeared amongst several faintly visible glowing bobs of flame.
When the property began to come into view, flowers bloomed in clusters of bright colors that looked methodically placed around the front, lush grass grew at an even level which only accented to the overall peaceful look the building held. It seemed to be constantly bathed in soft light and emitted a welcoming warmth during the day. If it weren’t for the comforting feeling that consumed anyone who approached the manor, the entire scene would seem out of place compared to the wood that closed in tightly around the immediate edges of the property. As the person would walk closer, however, those beautiful flowers began to wilt and die, the grass turned yellow and brown before dying away to dirt, the vegetables in the garden began to rot, the paint on the outside of the manor faded and chipped away, the wood became ridded with termites and the entire building seemed to barely be standing on its foundation.
It was brilliant magic to cause the manor to decay before the intruder’s eyes; it was the same magic that kept the turn-off to the road nearly impossible to notice. If the manor rapidly dying didn’t deter the intruder, the overgrown shadow of a barn owl took care of the problem often enough as to not disturb the home-owner within. When the giant bird rose, it was nearly transparent but consisted of a thick, swirling black smoke that was in constant motion. Deep maroon eyes gleamed brightly against the form and polished, a pointed beak curled from amongst barely distinguishable feathers. The creature’s screeches could be felt more-so than heard and its unwavering stare could be felt the moment someone approached before even being noticed.
The few stories that surrounded the manor were mixed. Some described the paradise-like appearance of the property while others described the beast and dilapidated structure. If one was lucky enough to hear a tale from each side, they would notice that the story that described the beauty never described the interior of the place. It usually went that a traveler stumbled upon the manor and so struck by its serene beauty and isolation, decided to leave it and wonder elsewhere. However, the darker stories usually were taken with a grain of salt by the listener as the ones in the tale usually never came back out from the home and were thought to be dead. Plus, it’s much more pleasant to imagine a large manor in the woods of Vermont being a type of fairy-tale paradise rather than a hidden nightmare from hell.
The inside of the manor was a comfortable and appealing mixture of the two images outside. It was dark and cluttered with stacks of leather bound books, bottles of odd colored liquids, vials of different powders, a mixture of statues and charms, candles filling nearly every inch of each of the shelves along walls and surfaces of the large tables. Small fist sized orbs of blue and white flames bobbed silently in the open space above the heads of any potential persons inside. Tucked away in the back-left corner of the main living space sat a set of dark wooden stairs that coiled upwards leading to the second floor where the bedrooms where. Opposite the stairs rested a hallway that led to the large kitchen and beyond that was a side door leading out to one of the gardens.
Kristianyo considered the day ahead of him a massive chore. He had let his stocks of nearly everything run dangerously low and he needed to revive just about every spell on the place. If he pushed it off any longer his little paradise in Vermont would be found by Merlin knew what and he’d be forced in a magical war that seemed to focus itself in this particular state the last few decades. He could move further away from the war, but that was honestly more work than reviving a few spells; he had been in the same spot, mostly hidden, for close to 320 years now. He only occasionally let humans see his home out of entertainment from the stories they created, but he ended the rumors before they got too far out of ear shot and lately it’s been too magically active in the area to entertain himself with the locals.
After a good amount of mental psyching up to get him in the mind set, Kristianyo managed to force himself outside and go into the small town and collect what he needed. Most of the local businesses had everything he needed, but the plants were usually found in his own gardens after learning how to grow the exotic foliage to minimize time away from the manor. Plus, there was this coffee shop that currently had this barista that made the most perfect cup of coffee he had had in close to a century and that was a pretty good tipping point in the decision process. In his manic cravings for caffeine he had once done his best to recreate the barista’s masterpiece of a drink, but he eventually failed, broke down and went to the shop and bought the original. A large, of course.As he made his way down the many hidden flights of stairs, low mumbles could barely be heard coming from him and by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs large, curled ram horns had uncomfortably slid back into his skull, beneath his deep navy-blue tresses. The physical changes he was required to make these days were another reason he rarely ventured out from his property. He couldn’t be bothered to consistently wears large hats or hooded sweatshirts, so Kristianyo was quick to learn a spell that could shield the public from the perceived abnormality. Letting the chills from the spell ride themselves out down to the soles of his feet, the mental link was awakened between him and the familiar lounging outside.
‘I’m going out for a coffee.’ His head turned to either side, looking for his usual travelling jacket then headed out the door just past the creature.
‘Sometimes I think you just like to ogle at this young girl that happens to work that counter.’ Abyss opened one large, maroon orb to stare at his back. ‘You claim you frequent for the coffee, but you come home with her face in your head.’ The tone she held was half mocking and half curiosity.
From the tips of his shoes that casted shadows over the first step cascading down to the overly colorful lawn, his hands buried deep in his jacket pockets, Kristianyo stood at a striking 6ft 7in. He looked back over his shoulder, at the familiar that had been with him his entire life. ‘There is no hiding anything from you, is there Abbs?’ He gently turned on one heel, facing the owl entirely. He sighed, a small eyeroll accompanying it before diving into explanation. ‘I noticed it the first day she was working, and I saw her. I couldn’t place what it was, so I ignored it. Over the several years she’s been employed at the café it all but disappeared. Suddenly, in my last five visits or so, I’ve noticed her emotions slowly filling the space like fog.’
Abyss cocked her head to the side, giving the effect her head had turned clockwise in more than just a tilt. ‘That is indeed strange. Is it not the case that humans can project emotions like that?’
Kristianyo ran a hand through his hair, mildly scratching at the base of where one of his horns would be. ‘Precisely. The odd thing about it is, not only can I not place what she is exactly, but I don’t think she realizes she’s not like her friend…’ There was a small pause, ‘Rebecca I think her name tag said...’ His eyes squinted slightly, looking beyond the owl as if he could see the girls name tag floating behind her, his voice drifting away a bit.
The familiar stretched out her wings in a slow reach, readjusted her footing on the wooden railing surrounding the porch and narrowed her own eyelids to the wizard. ‘Do not think you are going to bring the woman here. How do you know she is not part of the war?’ Abyss made no attempt at stopping the paranoia from filling her words. ‘You see this woman possibly three times a month until recently, how are you sure she doesn’t have all the time in the world to lure you from your paradise and into some sort of misfortune?’ She leaned forward toward him, staring deep into his soul through the galaxy that swam in eyes, in the way only an owl can, ‘You are not a stupid man, Kristianyo. Don’t let her think you are.’
Kristianyo refocused his eyes to look directly back into the deep maroon ones of Abyss. He was sensing the challenge she was presenting him, and he was all for it. ‘You and I are no longer young, AbyssGlider.’ He paused at using her full name to gauge her reaction. He was let down when he didn’t receive even the slightest beak click. However, he continued. ‘We also both know at this point when someone is trying to portray the idea of stalking prey, regardless of how coy they assume they were being. This woman genuinely has no idea she’s secreting these emotions, and that being the case I fully believe she will attract the war to not only herself, but unavoidably to us as well. It has been exactly one week since I had last gone, and you are more than welcome to accompany me to see for yourself, but if this continues to grow at this rate it’s going to do a lot more harm than not to proceed to ignore her beyond this visit or the next.’
This got a loud snap from Abyss’ beak. It was a sharp sound that could only be compared to a dry bone snapping in two from sudden pressure. ‘I will not go out there and leave this home unprotected for something as minor as a woman who does not know who or what she is. You can go play modern detective and threaten your own life, but until it is actually proven to me that interfering with her will benefit us, I will not play into the charade.’ With that, the enormous bird of prey tucked her beak back under her wing and glared at her life-long companion before closing her eyes with finality.
It was clear to Kristianyo that Abyss had ended the conversation and was beyond it. He chuckled to himself and descended the steps and through the gorgeously manicured lawn that turned brown and dead at his back. He spent the entire walk lost in his own head thinking about the girl at the café. Somehow, she seemed increasingly more… fluid. He didn’t know exactly how the word fit to her just yet, but when he put the word to her there was no removing it from her. In the last weeks she had gone from a city hardened young woman, to a creature who was struggling greatly to keep not only her emotions in check, but also whatever magic that was awakening in her. Said unchecked and unmanaged magic was a beckon to the very things that sought to extinguish people like Kristianyo from their homes. He understood Abyss’ concerns. The move, should he choose to act upon it whether it be now or in the near future, could and quite possibly would propel him from the shadows and into the thick of the battle he has spent so much time and effort avoiding. But beyond the immediate threat, there was a thread connecting him to this barista he was currently unable to identify and so far, was lucky enough to hide mostly from Abyss.
The familiar chime echoed throughout the coffee shop and announced Kristianyo’s entrance to the gum-chewing teenager behind the counter. When the girl looked up from the cellphone in her hands, she immediately began typing in his order into the register and moved to make the drink. By the time he reached the counter, leaned against the wood to take a survey of the room and settled on the feeling that something wicked lurked close by, a pop and hiss noise of the coffee machines sounded just behind him and pulled him back to human reality. He spun on his heel and cash that wasn’t in his hand before was being slid over the slick countertop.
“Thank you very much, Damany. I’ve tried to make these damn things myself at home, but I just can’t. I’m convinced you put drugs in it to keep me coming back.” Kristianyo grinned at the young woman, clearly impressed at the joke made in attempt to hone in on her age and sense of humor and ignored the blank stare. “Keep the change, sweetheart.” He let out a breath of amusement as her overall demeanor lightened a few shades at the simple mention of a $14.05 tip. Not before pushing the wad of gum into her cheek, she thanked him, pocketed the change and returned to her phone with a smile. It went the same way every time he came in. He would try and crack some sort of joke or attempt small talk and she just wouldn’t have any of it. The girl had worked there for the last three years and the most Kristianyo has been able to pull out of her is a handful of sentences. Otherwise, it was blank stares until she got the eventual, and by now expected $14.05 tip, but damn that girl could make a coffee.
Instead of making the trip mildly worth it beyond the drink by sitting and enjoying the general ambiance of the place, Kristianyo decided to waved goodbye to Abel who happened to catch the wave and return it and leave the café for home. The weather was cold, the drink hot in his hands and the sense on extreme anxiety was thick in the air around him. Slowly bringing the cup to his lips and draining just a small bit from the cup, Kristianyo carefully surveyed each of the people walking about and living their lives. It was rare, this type of extreme anxiety, nothing of his own making. ‘Especially with this magical potion from the Wicked Witch Damany.’ He thought to himself, a grin across his lips before taking another sip. His thoughts lingered on her name briefly before pure rage swept over him like a wave of warm water. He stopped walking about fifteen feet from the café entrance when the woman brushed past him, her focus entirely consumed on the task ahead of her.
What cemented him momentarily in place was her face. He knew her face and all the blood history behind those cherry red eyes. Although, he had not seen Sentinelle since just before the disappearance of her Queen. She had either been too focused to notice him or she did not recognize him through her determination to get to wherever it was she was headed. Opening the link between him and Abyss was a highly difficult thing to do at the current distance, but he would be able to get a simple message through with little effort. ‘Sentinelle.’ One word. That’s all the owl would need. That was the only word he sent before letting the link fade to a comfortable thinness again.
It was all of ninety seconds. All hell broke loose in a minute and a half. It was obvious that Sentinelle’s presence was a disturbing one even in humans. Many that she passed in her obvious constant but contained rage subconsciously took the hint that it was time for them to take the very small window they were being granted and get the hell out of potential firing range. Kristianyo absentmindedly set down the half full coffee down on a public mail drop box and followed at length as Sentinelle forcefully entered the café he had just left. In the beat of that 90 seconds the people inside the café could be heard screaming almost immediately and they all flooded from the front doors, employees littered amongst them. It was when he saw the black and sad attempt at gold embroidered aprons that he realized who the mercenary was there for and he had possibly 40 seconds at this point to get to Damany before Sentinelle did.
With intense concentration combined with movements too fast for a human to fully process, Kristianyo had pulled an apparent normal chalk from the inside of his travel jacket and scribbled a small image that started as a constellation but morphed into a set of runes that bled into his hand. When the image was gone, he closed his fist around the pain it left behind in his palm and he disappeared from where he stood. When he reopened his hand, he was inside the café staring straight into the enraged expression of the killer, his horns now in full view as well as the galaxies in his eyes.
“Kristianyo! You guard the girl!?” Sentinelle roared through the eerie silence. “You hide in the darkness of Vermont, VERMONT for demon’s sake, for this,” She thrust out her weapon to point the tip of it threateningly at the girl that stood frozen and alone behind the counter, “…this girl who does not even know what she is!?” She was near the point of laughter at seeing the wizard here of all places.
“No, she just happened to be lucky enough to be a neighbor.” His body language was the opposite of the killer’s, even in the immense danger him and Damany were in. “The fact that you want her tells me she would highly benefit me. Self-ignorant or not, I think it unwise for her to either go with you,” He paused and looked at the weapon the demon held in each hand and back up to her anger ridden face, “Or be killed.” He risked looking back to Damany and was greeted with the expectation of Sentinelle coming at him at such an unnatural speed she was a blur that was on him before he could reach a hand back to touch the girl.
Pain spread from the point of impact on his lower back up toward the space between his shoulder blades at the force Sentinelle used to shove him out of her way. Dishes and glassware rained down over him but in a speed that closely matched the demon’s he was up again with the small chalk pressing constellations and runes into his palms. Kristianyo’s eyes remained glued on Sentinelle as she greedily raked across overturned chairs and tables to get to the girl. Ignoring the pain from being thrown he closed his fingers around the dissolved spell and disappeared, only to reappear yards away and next to Damany, grabbing her wrist and reclosing his fist and disappearing again. This time taking Damany with him.
When he reopened his hand, he and Damany were just inside the protecting line surrounding his property. Immediately Abyss was on them and the agitation she felt was radiating off her like a rolling heat. Her eyes flashed from Kristianyo who looked to be in pain however minor, to Damany who was teetering on the edge of total panic and hysteria. ‘Obviously,’ Abyss seethed, ‘the war has been brought to us.’
‘What would be nice, Abbs, is if you could be sure Sentinelle won’t be able to find us here. Let me know what spells and precautions I need to increase with our guest here.’ Kristianyo arched his back forwards and backwards in efforts to stretch the clearly already bruising muscles and tissue. In the silent communication between the two, it had gone unnoticed that Damany was basically at the point of having a full-on mental breakdown she had spent the several moments struggling to keep at bay, but gave up at the appearance of a black, mist-like owl half the size of Kristianyo.
Abyss said nothing in reply to the command but rose into the air to do as she was asked. With minor pain etched all over his face, the wizard held out a hand to the panicked woman and attempted to calm her. “Welcome to my home, Damany. I must sincerely apologize you had to be introduced to the world this way, but it seems that the world has other plans than for you to learn whatever it is you need to learn in your own time.” When she didn’t take his hand, but clutched her own close to her chest, he resorted to wiping the fresh tear that escaped her ocean colored eyes and smiled as warmly as he knew how, before lowering himself into a bow. “I am Kristianyo, and the large owl was my Familiar, AbyssGlider. Call her Abyss if you’d like.” He rose to his full height but did not reoffer his hand. “I think it best you follow me inside. I cannot be sure Sentinelle cannot fully find us until Abbs makes full rounds of the place.” It was then that he began walking toward the manor and through the front door, where he disappeared amongst several faintly visible glowing bobs of flame.
Pet Treasure
Celestium Ore
Its Alive Sticker
Gourd Witch Potion Experiments
Pet Friends
AbyssGlider
My Familiar
Damastor
The Hidden Treasure