Post by Amur on May 2, 2012 18:15:23 GMT -5
He was still fatigued; the trip to this hidden camp had taken him much longer than he had wanted it to. But, there was little he could do about that now. At least for now he was out of harm’s way and would be able to tend to the wound he had sustained from The Elf. Gently, he lifted his hand from the wound and very slowly set to removing his wyvern-skin chest plate; the process taking twice as long as usual, since every movement he made aggravated his wound further.
He had to take a moment to regain his breath, the usually simple action of taking his chest plate off having further drained him of energy. Damned Elf, as much as Solomon HATED to admit it The Elf had actually managed to get in a pretty good hit, and even then that was only because the hit that had caused this broken rib had actually saved his life.
Despite his mood Solomon managed a small smile at the thought, had The Elf refrained from striking Solomon as the Wyvern-kin approached they would have had him. He would have to use that to taunt The Elf with when they next met, though, he would have to word it very carefully, letting them think that this encounter had affected him too much would be unacceptable.
Taking shallow breaths Solomon began preparing the items he would need to dress the wound in order to ensure that it would heal properly. He scowled at the bruising, which was visible even through the puffy flesh –marking a long-healed but significant wound- on the left side of his torso. This was an unacceptable lapse on his part, but the Wyvern-kin’s size had been so unexpected, the growth so rapid that it had triggered a flash back, Solomon sighed –as best as he could- at least it wasn’t a worst-case scenario, not yet. As long as they were unable to piece together anything from the number of times he had flashed back, he would be fine.
“They will pay; I’ll make sure of that.”
Solomon muttered sourly to himself.
“Who will pay?”
The sound had been so unexpected that Solomon had jumped, that had exacerbated his wound which caused him to draw in a sharp, deep breath, which only served to further aggravate his broken rib further. Growling in pain Solomon once more gently raised his hand to the wound, steadying his breathing he felt the amusement of the onlooker before figuring out who it was.
“Aimé...”
Solomon grunted, how that Magnificent Avian Bastard had managed to sneak up on Solomon... Well, it was something Solomon was familiar with; Aimé managed that quite frequently, but never when Solomon had been injured as he was now... Damn, he was going to get quite some mileage out of this one, and Solomon hated him for it already.
---
Aimé hopped down to a lower branch, beating his wings gently in order to control the fall; this certainly was an unexpected sight, a sight so rare that Aimé couldn’t help but be amused by the situation. The great Solomon Latro, injured, he was never going to get another chance like this and he knew it, this would be the one-time that Solomon wouldn’t be able to rebuke everything that Aimé had to say... Well, this was going to be enjoyable while it lasted.
“That looks like a painful injury, what happened? A ‘Commoner-wingless’ was able to match your impeccable abilities? Did it sting?”
He leaned forward and tilted his head to one side, looking at The Hunter curiously for a number of seconds. That got the exact reaction Aimé had wanted, a silent glare of such rage that Aimé couldn’t help but feel an excited glow spread through his chest as he leaned himself back into a more comfortable standing position.
With their beakless-heads the expressions of the wingless were simple to read and understand, and right now the expression of rage was just too much, Aimé couldn’t help but feel happy at his first ever verbal “victory” against Solomon.
“I wonder what-”
He began, only to be suddenly cut-off by Solomon.
“There’s no need to bring this to HIS attention.”
Solomon spat, only to once more cringe and then groan in pain as his wound took its toll on his body. Aimé shook himself, ruffling his feathers in delight, how he would love to just thank whomever had made this moment possible, just to shut Solomon up once was something Aimé thought that he would never live to see. And now that he had done it, well, for now enough was enough, he had seen what Solomon was like when he was enraged, and that was something that Aimé found frightening, best not to push him too far... Aimé didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that rage, not ever.
“Ok, ok, I’m done... Just, justdon’tget-”
Solomon looked away, muttering under his breath. Aimé allowed himself to relax, he hadn’t gone too far, and that was good... After all, the chances were that he would never get this kind of opportunity again, even if Solomon didn’t kill him.
“So, what did happen, Solomon?”
The Wingless Hunter kept silent for a moment longer, tending to his wound before drawing in a shallow –and obviously painful- breath and launching himself into an explanation.
---
-[3 weeks later]-
Solomon hunched over the slowly boiling concoction he was mixing, his rib hadn’t fully healed just yet, but he was well on his way to recovery. He just had to be careful not to overexert himself and his rib wouldn’t cause him any grief, but the Wyvern-kin and its Elf, they would still pay for what had happened that night.
And already his plan was in motion. He had his prey picked out; a small, still developing village situated a short distance from a large trading city. Close enough for the city to notice when something was wrong when informed, but still far enough away that organising and deploying any kind of response would still take several hours.
In short, it was perfect.
He had spent the last several days sabotaging their messenger capabilities, and discreetly contaminating their reserve food-stock with small amounts of an alchemic sleeping compound. Even in his condition Solomon was not to be underestimated, he had planned this little “test” of his very carefully, his plan was to create a situation in which he was in complete control, and he already knew how to go about it.
He stood up, concealing a wince as his rib panged slightly, nowhere near as bad as it had been, he could actually breath normally again now, but deep breaths and even and extended time laughing caused him pain... So, he had to keep the situation he planned to create under control, the slightest hint of weakness, and he was as good as done.
He rolled his shoulders, getting ready to put the next phase of his plan into motion. The sun had long since set and in only a few hours the concoction would be complete and the vials sealed, once that was done, it would simply be a matter of waiting for the rest of the pieces to fall into place... He would show them, make them pay, and he would do it without having to confront them in combat this time.
“Aimé...”
He stated simply, removing from a pouch on his belt a small piece of cloth. He heard the flutter of wings and then felt the additional weight on his shoulder; it shifted indecisively for a moment and the settled.
“I’m not going to be able to move from here for a few hours, I need you to go back to the village and contaminate their water supply with this.”
He spoke as he unravelled the small piece of cloth, revealing the moderately sized, dark blue capsule contained within. This was the largest dose of the sleeping compound he had, the amount of water it would be contaminating would be large enough to ensure that it would be slow acting enough not to arouse suspicion. And at this time of night, it would have enough time to contaminate the water fully.
“Once you’ve done that, remain in the village, I’ll be arriving at the next fall of night to put the last step of my plan into motion. I’ll go over the last few details then.”
He handed Aimé the capsule, making sure that he held it firmly before allowing him to fly off. Well, that was the next step put into motion, all he needed to do now was finish off the tasks he had left to do here. He knelt back at the concoction he was mixing, not much longer now, not much longer at all.
---
Aimé was deep in thought as he flew; the explanation that Solomon had given him had started off good enough, but somewhere along the line had devolved into so much drivel about how he was going to make the “Wyvern-kin” and “Its Elf” pay for injuring him. And then after that he had moved onto saying how his plan would teach the “Commoner-wingless” of this village what would happen when they didn’t take the decision on where to nest seriously. Once Aimé had expressed his confusion on the matter Solomon had simply reminded Aimé that he was not a Hunter, and therefore couldn’t understand.
To be honest, Aimé couldn’t complain about that, not if it meant becoming as crazy as Solomon had obviously become... Which had become another trait of The Hunter that frustrated Aimé, the wingless was secretive far past the point of paranoia that Aimé often wondered what he was so afraid of. What was he so paranoid about that he wouldn’t trust one he considered a friend with? Aimé simply resolved that it was simply one of the ways that a wingless felt it had freedom it otherwise lacked.
He liked Solomon, but sometimes the Wingless Hunter could be so confusing that it frustrated him.
He circled the village, closely watching for any signs of lingering wingless before beginning his descent. The low number of wingless taking a watchful role to protect the nest was shocking to Aimé, how were they going to warn the rest of their numbers when danger was approaching? Something about the habitation habits of the wingless lot –humans in particular- didn’t sit well with Aimé, it all seemed so, chaotic.
He alighted, placing one of his feet on the circular stone wall surrounding the hole-in-the-floor containing the water supply of the wingless. He continued to beat his wings as he slowly edged toward the hole and then, after another quick check for any lingering wingless dropped the sleeping compound into the hole.
He stopped, using his talons to gain the purchase he needed to lean over the hole without having to use his wings to do so. He turned his head to one side, and then waited... He heard the sound of the sleeping compound hitting the water and then hopped back, shaking himself off, that had been easy, the lack of wingless had seen to that... But, now he just had time.
He looked around; if he was to wait here then he might as well make himself comfortable... Or at least as comfortable as he could get perched on a wooden rooftop, which Aimé knew from experience required a very careful eye to identify.
He chirruped cheerfully as he found what he was looking for and immediately launched himself for his new perch. He would wait here as long as he needed to, he was patient, years of being in the presence of Alastor had helped with that. But for now, with not even a single wingless to provide entertainment Aimé immediately fell to grooming, he would not allow his feathers to look messy, that was just unacceptable.
---
Solomon slowly rolled his head as he stood up; finally his task was complete, so all he needed to do now was to wait... After working off the discomfort caused by hours spent in a hunched-over position whilst doing some frustratingly tedious work Solomon was going to get some sleep, if his reflexes were dulled on top of his still healing wound then things could very well take a disastrously wrong turn very quickly, and that was not going to be something that Solomon was going to allow, he drew in a small series of short breaths.
Things were falling into place nicely, so for the time being all Solomon could do was wait, wait and rest... His time would come, he would make them pay.
---
Aimé had spent most of the day on his perch, if he wasn’t grooming, he was sleeping, or just watching the wingless as they went about their daily routines. Astoundingly Solomon had known exactly what he was doing; almost ritualistically the wingless had started their day getting water from the hole-in-the-floor. At first Aimé had almost been disappointed that the wingless hadn’t immediately started collapsing, but then, that would have been too obvious. He had already established that Solomon knew what he was doing, so he would give it time; see what developed from the stupidity of the wingless nesting here.
His patience was eventually rewarded, as he watched to wingless-chicks chase after each other he started witnessing the effects of the compound. At first it had been small things, like them opening that hole-in-their-face widely for extended periods of time –he eventually remembered that the humans had called it a “yawn”- And then, as the day continued to wear on the effects became more obvious, drowsiness, dulled reflexes and silly little mistakes that wingless would not have made normally.
Aimé didn’t envy the wingless, no, it looked like the tiredness caused by the compound was something that they were suffering through as opposed to dealing with. Clearly unable to understand what had caused them all to become so tired, it was amusing; they had no idea, no idea at all. Silly wingless, The Hunter had been right.
---
Night had once again fallen and now Solomon was ready, he had very carefully moved the stockpile of explosive vials from his former hiding place right to the entrance to the small village, and, as he had expected he had found the town completely quiet. Aimé, that Magnificent Avian Bastard had fulfilled his role perfectly, now it was just up to Solomon to put the final pieces of this puzzle together and his plan would be ready to proceed.
The village had an odd set-up to Solomon, the position they had chosen to build it in wasn’t defensible, and they had tried to counter-act that by building a small wooden wall around the perimeter. The interior of the village wasn’t too different, other than a stone-well placed roughly in the middle of the village all of the buildings were constructed from wood with flat roofs, it was the reason Solomon had chosen this place. It would be easy to keep himself off of the ground, and, with the villagers to consider would just place another obstacle between himself and his prey. He was in control, and it was going to stay that way.
Very carefully, he placed the vials he had constructed in the village entrance, keeping them out-of-sight as he began to set to work.
Even though the population of the village were drugged into a state of sleep that would effectively allow them to sleep through an earth-quake Solomon still had some trouble moving the commoners from their homes and out into the street –his rib still proving to be troublesome when it came to heavy lifting- but he managed.
He restrained each commoner individually, before binding them all together around the well in such a way that would prevent them from moving too much... Well, nearly all of them. He had to have some surprises in mind for later if he wanted to keep the situation under complete control. He drew in several shallow breaths as he finished securing the commoners in place, things were coming along nicely not there were only a small number of steps left to complete.
“Aimé...”
---
Aimé had watched Solomon work in complete silence and had already concluded that he didn’t like the direction this was heading in. But, there was nothing he could do about it, not now; all he could do was play the Wingless-hunters game and hope that he didn’t do anything too stupid... Though, judging by what he had done so far it was far too late for such a hope, whatever Solomon was planning, Aimé wasn’t sure if he wanted to know exactly what it was, not any more.
He heard Solomon call his name and immediately left his perch, hovering briefly before landing on Solomon’s shoulder. It took Aimé an extra moment to fold his wings –having to avoid touching the wingless’ head- before he was able to settle comfortably.
“What next?”
The wingless hunter remained silent as he walked back toward the ground-entrance to the nest.
“The city nearby, go there and keep watch... Come back and inform me if the troops there start making their way here.”
Aimé shook himself in frustration, but otherwise followed the instruction he had just been given. Moving from one nest to watching another was not something that Aimé particularly wanted to do, but in this case he wouldn’t complain, he didn’t want to be around Solomon when his plan was in full motion...
---
Solomon started work the second he had felt Aimé leave his shoulder, he knew already that this part of his plan would be the most tedious. But, it would all be worth it once his plan was in full motion, once he was able to show his prey that their last encounter against him had been pure luck, once he had made sure they knew EXACTLY where their place was, then all his work would be worth it, he would turn them against themselves... And it would be glorious.
Setting the vials around the village was, much as Solomon had expected a tedious and frustrating task, placing them at locations which would ensure a catastrophic chain reaction which would ultimately reduce the village to little more than a smoking crater if just a single vial fractured... He would need to drive that point home very quickly, couldn’t have them rushing at Solomon blindly again, that would mean that things had gone very wrong indeed.
By the time he had finished placing all the vials he had constructed around the village the sun had long since started to rise, and the villagers had long since started to stir. However, he still had plenty of time, only some little tasks to complete now and his plan would have started its movement... He would make them pay.
He left the village, creating a controlled fire a short way away from the entrance, this would use the last compound he had for creating The Emerald Pillar, but it would be worth it... It would be worth it.
But not yet, he needed to make sure that these commoners knew the severity of their situation.
He returned to the interior of the village, being careful to avoid his own elaborate trap as he moved to stand in plain sight of everyone he had captured. He heard angry shouts and some –admittedly- not all too bad curses thrown his way as people began to notice him, but for the moment, he ignored them and took a small black case from a pouch on his belt and opened it, picking out one of the vials as he did so.
After placing the case back into its pouch he stood smiling warmly at the crowd before him as threats of death began to mingle with the panicked shrieks and angry curses. And then, in one fluid motion, he turned and flicked the vial at the opening in the wooden wall serving as the entrance, covering his eyes seconds later.
(He had left the entrance and the area surrounding it clear for that very reason, couldn’t trigger everything just yet.)
He heard the explosion and waited several seconds for the voices of everyone restrained before him to die down. He lowered his arm; the explosion had his desired effect of removing a large section of the wall entirely. Once more, all according to plan, the vial had been constructed just several days ago after all.
He turned back to face the –now- deathly silent crowd, the –mocking- warm smile still spread across his face.
“You see that, ja? Your entire village is now filled with the very things capable of doing that, if so much as one of them goes off then the rest will follow, we will all die and this village will be replaced with a large crater. So, I advise that you refrain from moving. Your ‘fates’, if you like, will depend entirely on how my desired guests of honour respond and react to my little test here... So, start praying, you’re all going to need it.”
He sneered at them all, the effect of his words was immediate, the silence became tense as the restrained commoners became fearful of what Solomon had planned, the scene had just become delicious... But it was still missing something, and that was his guests of honour, he had little doubt that they would show up if given the right incentive to do so, and he had just the incentive for them... Like moths to a flame.
He turned and left the village once more, walking back to the small fire he had created he removed a small green capsule of highly compressed compound from its pouch and held it in his hand for several seconds... And then, very casually threw it into the fire, smirking to himself as the fire stuttered and then suddenly erupted into The Emerald Pillar...
He moved one of his plain steel knives from its concealed sheath and thrust it into part of the remaining wooden wall. He then took several seconds to secure a note to the hilt of the knife with a bright pink ribbon.
“Tread softly, for the lives of the innocent are scattered at your feet.
Lots of Love
Well, actually, I shouldn’t need to leave that now, don’t you agree?”
He wouldn’t have long; now, all he needed to do was get into position.
He moved, placing himself on a nearby roof, which would allow him to avoid the vials scattered around the village with ease as he made his way toward his selected perch. The roof of the largest building in the village, he had selected it especially because of its position a short distance behind the well, and because of the way its roof had been constructed. Almost as if it was meant to be stood on in, it came complete with some variety of solid wooden railing around –or at least very close to- the edge along with several tall poles at each corner, the position was to his advantage and the wooden railing concealed the surprise he planned to deploy later-on.
Everything was set, all he had to do now was wait, wait for his prey to arrive...
They were beneath him...
There were forever his prey...
And he would make sure that they knew it.
Once and for all.
He had to take a moment to regain his breath, the usually simple action of taking his chest plate off having further drained him of energy. Damned Elf, as much as Solomon HATED to admit it The Elf had actually managed to get in a pretty good hit, and even then that was only because the hit that had caused this broken rib had actually saved his life.
Despite his mood Solomon managed a small smile at the thought, had The Elf refrained from striking Solomon as the Wyvern-kin approached they would have had him. He would have to use that to taunt The Elf with when they next met, though, he would have to word it very carefully, letting them think that this encounter had affected him too much would be unacceptable.
Taking shallow breaths Solomon began preparing the items he would need to dress the wound in order to ensure that it would heal properly. He scowled at the bruising, which was visible even through the puffy flesh –marking a long-healed but significant wound- on the left side of his torso. This was an unacceptable lapse on his part, but the Wyvern-kin’s size had been so unexpected, the growth so rapid that it had triggered a flash back, Solomon sighed –as best as he could- at least it wasn’t a worst-case scenario, not yet. As long as they were unable to piece together anything from the number of times he had flashed back, he would be fine.
“They will pay; I’ll make sure of that.”
Solomon muttered sourly to himself.
“Who will pay?”
The sound had been so unexpected that Solomon had jumped, that had exacerbated his wound which caused him to draw in a sharp, deep breath, which only served to further aggravate his broken rib further. Growling in pain Solomon once more gently raised his hand to the wound, steadying his breathing he felt the amusement of the onlooker before figuring out who it was.
“Aimé...”
Solomon grunted, how that Magnificent Avian Bastard had managed to sneak up on Solomon... Well, it was something Solomon was familiar with; Aimé managed that quite frequently, but never when Solomon had been injured as he was now... Damn, he was going to get quite some mileage out of this one, and Solomon hated him for it already.
---
Aimé hopped down to a lower branch, beating his wings gently in order to control the fall; this certainly was an unexpected sight, a sight so rare that Aimé couldn’t help but be amused by the situation. The great Solomon Latro, injured, he was never going to get another chance like this and he knew it, this would be the one-time that Solomon wouldn’t be able to rebuke everything that Aimé had to say... Well, this was going to be enjoyable while it lasted.
“That looks like a painful injury, what happened? A ‘Commoner-wingless’ was able to match your impeccable abilities? Did it sting?”
He leaned forward and tilted his head to one side, looking at The Hunter curiously for a number of seconds. That got the exact reaction Aimé had wanted, a silent glare of such rage that Aimé couldn’t help but feel an excited glow spread through his chest as he leaned himself back into a more comfortable standing position.
With their beakless-heads the expressions of the wingless were simple to read and understand, and right now the expression of rage was just too much, Aimé couldn’t help but feel happy at his first ever verbal “victory” against Solomon.
“I wonder what-”
He began, only to be suddenly cut-off by Solomon.
“There’s no need to bring this to HIS attention.”
Solomon spat, only to once more cringe and then groan in pain as his wound took its toll on his body. Aimé shook himself, ruffling his feathers in delight, how he would love to just thank whomever had made this moment possible, just to shut Solomon up once was something Aimé thought that he would never live to see. And now that he had done it, well, for now enough was enough, he had seen what Solomon was like when he was enraged, and that was something that Aimé found frightening, best not to push him too far... Aimé didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that rage, not ever.
“Ok, ok, I’m done... Just, justdon’tget-”
Solomon looked away, muttering under his breath. Aimé allowed himself to relax, he hadn’t gone too far, and that was good... After all, the chances were that he would never get this kind of opportunity again, even if Solomon didn’t kill him.
“So, what did happen, Solomon?”
The Wingless Hunter kept silent for a moment longer, tending to his wound before drawing in a shallow –and obviously painful- breath and launching himself into an explanation.
---
-[3 weeks later]-
Solomon hunched over the slowly boiling concoction he was mixing, his rib hadn’t fully healed just yet, but he was well on his way to recovery. He just had to be careful not to overexert himself and his rib wouldn’t cause him any grief, but the Wyvern-kin and its Elf, they would still pay for what had happened that night.
And already his plan was in motion. He had his prey picked out; a small, still developing village situated a short distance from a large trading city. Close enough for the city to notice when something was wrong when informed, but still far enough away that organising and deploying any kind of response would still take several hours.
In short, it was perfect.
He had spent the last several days sabotaging their messenger capabilities, and discreetly contaminating their reserve food-stock with small amounts of an alchemic sleeping compound. Even in his condition Solomon was not to be underestimated, he had planned this little “test” of his very carefully, his plan was to create a situation in which he was in complete control, and he already knew how to go about it.
He stood up, concealing a wince as his rib panged slightly, nowhere near as bad as it had been, he could actually breath normally again now, but deep breaths and even and extended time laughing caused him pain... So, he had to keep the situation he planned to create under control, the slightest hint of weakness, and he was as good as done.
He rolled his shoulders, getting ready to put the next phase of his plan into motion. The sun had long since set and in only a few hours the concoction would be complete and the vials sealed, once that was done, it would simply be a matter of waiting for the rest of the pieces to fall into place... He would show them, make them pay, and he would do it without having to confront them in combat this time.
“Aimé...”
He stated simply, removing from a pouch on his belt a small piece of cloth. He heard the flutter of wings and then felt the additional weight on his shoulder; it shifted indecisively for a moment and the settled.
“I’m not going to be able to move from here for a few hours, I need you to go back to the village and contaminate their water supply with this.”
He spoke as he unravelled the small piece of cloth, revealing the moderately sized, dark blue capsule contained within. This was the largest dose of the sleeping compound he had, the amount of water it would be contaminating would be large enough to ensure that it would be slow acting enough not to arouse suspicion. And at this time of night, it would have enough time to contaminate the water fully.
“Once you’ve done that, remain in the village, I’ll be arriving at the next fall of night to put the last step of my plan into motion. I’ll go over the last few details then.”
He handed Aimé the capsule, making sure that he held it firmly before allowing him to fly off. Well, that was the next step put into motion, all he needed to do now was finish off the tasks he had left to do here. He knelt back at the concoction he was mixing, not much longer now, not much longer at all.
---
Aimé was deep in thought as he flew; the explanation that Solomon had given him had started off good enough, but somewhere along the line had devolved into so much drivel about how he was going to make the “Wyvern-kin” and “Its Elf” pay for injuring him. And then after that he had moved onto saying how his plan would teach the “Commoner-wingless” of this village what would happen when they didn’t take the decision on where to nest seriously. Once Aimé had expressed his confusion on the matter Solomon had simply reminded Aimé that he was not a Hunter, and therefore couldn’t understand.
To be honest, Aimé couldn’t complain about that, not if it meant becoming as crazy as Solomon had obviously become... Which had become another trait of The Hunter that frustrated Aimé, the wingless was secretive far past the point of paranoia that Aimé often wondered what he was so afraid of. What was he so paranoid about that he wouldn’t trust one he considered a friend with? Aimé simply resolved that it was simply one of the ways that a wingless felt it had freedom it otherwise lacked.
He liked Solomon, but sometimes the Wingless Hunter could be so confusing that it frustrated him.
He circled the village, closely watching for any signs of lingering wingless before beginning his descent. The low number of wingless taking a watchful role to protect the nest was shocking to Aimé, how were they going to warn the rest of their numbers when danger was approaching? Something about the habitation habits of the wingless lot –humans in particular- didn’t sit well with Aimé, it all seemed so, chaotic.
He alighted, placing one of his feet on the circular stone wall surrounding the hole-in-the-floor containing the water supply of the wingless. He continued to beat his wings as he slowly edged toward the hole and then, after another quick check for any lingering wingless dropped the sleeping compound into the hole.
He stopped, using his talons to gain the purchase he needed to lean over the hole without having to use his wings to do so. He turned his head to one side, and then waited... He heard the sound of the sleeping compound hitting the water and then hopped back, shaking himself off, that had been easy, the lack of wingless had seen to that... But, now he just had time.
He looked around; if he was to wait here then he might as well make himself comfortable... Or at least as comfortable as he could get perched on a wooden rooftop, which Aimé knew from experience required a very careful eye to identify.
He chirruped cheerfully as he found what he was looking for and immediately launched himself for his new perch. He would wait here as long as he needed to, he was patient, years of being in the presence of Alastor had helped with that. But for now, with not even a single wingless to provide entertainment Aimé immediately fell to grooming, he would not allow his feathers to look messy, that was just unacceptable.
---
Solomon slowly rolled his head as he stood up; finally his task was complete, so all he needed to do now was to wait... After working off the discomfort caused by hours spent in a hunched-over position whilst doing some frustratingly tedious work Solomon was going to get some sleep, if his reflexes were dulled on top of his still healing wound then things could very well take a disastrously wrong turn very quickly, and that was not going to be something that Solomon was going to allow, he drew in a small series of short breaths.
Things were falling into place nicely, so for the time being all Solomon could do was wait, wait and rest... His time would come, he would make them pay.
---
Aimé had spent most of the day on his perch, if he wasn’t grooming, he was sleeping, or just watching the wingless as they went about their daily routines. Astoundingly Solomon had known exactly what he was doing; almost ritualistically the wingless had started their day getting water from the hole-in-the-floor. At first Aimé had almost been disappointed that the wingless hadn’t immediately started collapsing, but then, that would have been too obvious. He had already established that Solomon knew what he was doing, so he would give it time; see what developed from the stupidity of the wingless nesting here.
His patience was eventually rewarded, as he watched to wingless-chicks chase after each other he started witnessing the effects of the compound. At first it had been small things, like them opening that hole-in-their-face widely for extended periods of time –he eventually remembered that the humans had called it a “yawn”- And then, as the day continued to wear on the effects became more obvious, drowsiness, dulled reflexes and silly little mistakes that wingless would not have made normally.
Aimé didn’t envy the wingless, no, it looked like the tiredness caused by the compound was something that they were suffering through as opposed to dealing with. Clearly unable to understand what had caused them all to become so tired, it was amusing; they had no idea, no idea at all. Silly wingless, The Hunter had been right.
---
Night had once again fallen and now Solomon was ready, he had very carefully moved the stockpile of explosive vials from his former hiding place right to the entrance to the small village, and, as he had expected he had found the town completely quiet. Aimé, that Magnificent Avian Bastard had fulfilled his role perfectly, now it was just up to Solomon to put the final pieces of this puzzle together and his plan would be ready to proceed.
The village had an odd set-up to Solomon, the position they had chosen to build it in wasn’t defensible, and they had tried to counter-act that by building a small wooden wall around the perimeter. The interior of the village wasn’t too different, other than a stone-well placed roughly in the middle of the village all of the buildings were constructed from wood with flat roofs, it was the reason Solomon had chosen this place. It would be easy to keep himself off of the ground, and, with the villagers to consider would just place another obstacle between himself and his prey. He was in control, and it was going to stay that way.
Very carefully, he placed the vials he had constructed in the village entrance, keeping them out-of-sight as he began to set to work.
Even though the population of the village were drugged into a state of sleep that would effectively allow them to sleep through an earth-quake Solomon still had some trouble moving the commoners from their homes and out into the street –his rib still proving to be troublesome when it came to heavy lifting- but he managed.
He restrained each commoner individually, before binding them all together around the well in such a way that would prevent them from moving too much... Well, nearly all of them. He had to have some surprises in mind for later if he wanted to keep the situation under complete control. He drew in several shallow breaths as he finished securing the commoners in place, things were coming along nicely not there were only a small number of steps left to complete.
“Aimé...”
---
Aimé had watched Solomon work in complete silence and had already concluded that he didn’t like the direction this was heading in. But, there was nothing he could do about it, not now; all he could do was play the Wingless-hunters game and hope that he didn’t do anything too stupid... Though, judging by what he had done so far it was far too late for such a hope, whatever Solomon was planning, Aimé wasn’t sure if he wanted to know exactly what it was, not any more.
He heard Solomon call his name and immediately left his perch, hovering briefly before landing on Solomon’s shoulder. It took Aimé an extra moment to fold his wings –having to avoid touching the wingless’ head- before he was able to settle comfortably.
“What next?”
The wingless hunter remained silent as he walked back toward the ground-entrance to the nest.
“The city nearby, go there and keep watch... Come back and inform me if the troops there start making their way here.”
Aimé shook himself in frustration, but otherwise followed the instruction he had just been given. Moving from one nest to watching another was not something that Aimé particularly wanted to do, but in this case he wouldn’t complain, he didn’t want to be around Solomon when his plan was in full motion...
---
Solomon started work the second he had felt Aimé leave his shoulder, he knew already that this part of his plan would be the most tedious. But, it would all be worth it once his plan was in full motion, once he was able to show his prey that their last encounter against him had been pure luck, once he had made sure they knew EXACTLY where their place was, then all his work would be worth it, he would turn them against themselves... And it would be glorious.
Setting the vials around the village was, much as Solomon had expected a tedious and frustrating task, placing them at locations which would ensure a catastrophic chain reaction which would ultimately reduce the village to little more than a smoking crater if just a single vial fractured... He would need to drive that point home very quickly, couldn’t have them rushing at Solomon blindly again, that would mean that things had gone very wrong indeed.
By the time he had finished placing all the vials he had constructed around the village the sun had long since started to rise, and the villagers had long since started to stir. However, he still had plenty of time, only some little tasks to complete now and his plan would have started its movement... He would make them pay.
He left the village, creating a controlled fire a short way away from the entrance, this would use the last compound he had for creating The Emerald Pillar, but it would be worth it... It would be worth it.
But not yet, he needed to make sure that these commoners knew the severity of their situation.
He returned to the interior of the village, being careful to avoid his own elaborate trap as he moved to stand in plain sight of everyone he had captured. He heard angry shouts and some –admittedly- not all too bad curses thrown his way as people began to notice him, but for the moment, he ignored them and took a small black case from a pouch on his belt and opened it, picking out one of the vials as he did so.
After placing the case back into its pouch he stood smiling warmly at the crowd before him as threats of death began to mingle with the panicked shrieks and angry curses. And then, in one fluid motion, he turned and flicked the vial at the opening in the wooden wall serving as the entrance, covering his eyes seconds later.
(He had left the entrance and the area surrounding it clear for that very reason, couldn’t trigger everything just yet.)
He heard the explosion and waited several seconds for the voices of everyone restrained before him to die down. He lowered his arm; the explosion had his desired effect of removing a large section of the wall entirely. Once more, all according to plan, the vial had been constructed just several days ago after all.
He turned back to face the –now- deathly silent crowd, the –mocking- warm smile still spread across his face.
“You see that, ja? Your entire village is now filled with the very things capable of doing that, if so much as one of them goes off then the rest will follow, we will all die and this village will be replaced with a large crater. So, I advise that you refrain from moving. Your ‘fates’, if you like, will depend entirely on how my desired guests of honour respond and react to my little test here... So, start praying, you’re all going to need it.”
He sneered at them all, the effect of his words was immediate, the silence became tense as the restrained commoners became fearful of what Solomon had planned, the scene had just become delicious... But it was still missing something, and that was his guests of honour, he had little doubt that they would show up if given the right incentive to do so, and he had just the incentive for them... Like moths to a flame.
He turned and left the village once more, walking back to the small fire he had created he removed a small green capsule of highly compressed compound from its pouch and held it in his hand for several seconds... And then, very casually threw it into the fire, smirking to himself as the fire stuttered and then suddenly erupted into The Emerald Pillar...
He moved one of his plain steel knives from its concealed sheath and thrust it into part of the remaining wooden wall. He then took several seconds to secure a note to the hilt of the knife with a bright pink ribbon.
“Tread softly, for the lives of the innocent are scattered at your feet.
Lots of Love
Well, actually, I shouldn’t need to leave that now, don’t you agree?”
He wouldn’t have long; now, all he needed to do was get into position.
He moved, placing himself on a nearby roof, which would allow him to avoid the vials scattered around the village with ease as he made his way toward his selected perch. The roof of the largest building in the village, he had selected it especially because of its position a short distance behind the well, and because of the way its roof had been constructed. Almost as if it was meant to be stood on in, it came complete with some variety of solid wooden railing around –or at least very close to- the edge along with several tall poles at each corner, the position was to his advantage and the wooden railing concealed the surprise he planned to deploy later-on.
Everything was set, all he had to do now was wait, wait for his prey to arrive...
They were beneath him...
There were forever his prey...
And he would make sure that they knew it.
Once and for all.
