Chapter 260 - The Hardship of the Hunt (1/2)

Despite his best attempts, Aegin found himself preferring the solace of night to the liveliness of day. It was as if everything was working against him. He wanted to turn one way, but his instincts would take him another. He wanted to move among the crowds and interact with the market vendors, but instead he was drawn to the side alleys where thieves plotted their next job. It was an endless cycle of wanting one thing and being drawn towards another, so much so that Aegin began to question what he truly wanted.

The answer really, was quite simple. Blood. Of course he wanted blood.

Once he reached that conclusion, he found himself stuck again in the limbo that Estode was becoming. He may have been immortal now, but he still felt time. Or at least he had yet to grow used to it not being a factor anymore. He was not about to wait in this limbo for years just to grow accustomed to his new reality. But even if he was determined to leave, he had no idea where he wished to go.

The frustration of his situation led him to become less cautious. He found himself taking larger risks, and then reprimanding himself for them. Of course, he would probably survive even if the entire population of Estode was to hunt him down – one did not simply hunt a hunter – but that didn't mean that word wouldn't spread…and he was still conflicted on whether or not he wanted to be found.

These conflicted thoughts however were decided on a night at the beginning of what the South deemed 'the winter'. The Southern Continent only saw weather that was cold enough to produce snow on its highest peaks and at it's most southern parts. Estode was neither. Sure it received a chilly wind from the sea, and it rained more than usual, perhaps, in the depths of winter, there would even be a frost on the grass when the sun rose, but in all, the weather was at worst consistent with Eldovia's Autumn.

Not that temperature seemed to bother Aegin anymore. Still, when you had little else to do, you found yourself thinking of the changes in the world that you saw less in your busy moments. Aegin had a lot of those now. He'd even stopped to consider if perhaps this was akin to what the Other had felt when locked in those mines. Why he had been so ready to hear of the changing world outside. Rather than being stuck in a cell, was more so that he himself had reserved himself to remaining unchanged? Aegin had shaken the thoughts from his head with a scoff.

On this night, Aegin was hunting closer to the docks. He'd found it easier than in the sectors of the city where the permanent residents lived. Easier because those he hunted in the docks were less likely to actually reside in Estode. If they went missing, it wouldn't be as much of a problem for the city itself.

Aegin sailed over the gaps between buildings, his footsteps on the tiled rooftops far lighter than they had already been in his previous life. He was put a shadow moving over the city towards the docks, and no one bothered to take a second glance towards him. The Bloodstone around his neck thumped against his c.h.e.s.t with nearly every step, though even those were too fast for it's staccato rhythm at times.

With a barely legible whoosh, Aegin paused on the roof top of one of the inns just one street back from the dock yards. He perched on the peak of the roof, squatting down comfortably as he closed his eyes to focus his hearing better.

He gave himself to the hunt with ease, sinking into it like one of the exercises he'd done to ready his muscles for a hard training session. Only this felt even more natural. After all, it had never been something he'd trained for.

The sounds from the inn below travelled up. Those in their rooms, moving around, softly humming, sleeping...one couple was indulging in each other passionately enough that Aegin couldn't help but spare a thought for their neighbours. He skimmed passed them to the tavern room, a few sailors still drinking, some singing a merry tune with the resident muse.

Aegin sifted further, away from the Tavern to the nearby alleys and streets. A few who had already drunk too much. A few more who were on their way to start drowning in ale. There was a brothel a few streets over that seemed to be getting just as much if not more business than the inns and taverns.