*Master* “Pirapancam!” I waited for a response, “I want to know the nature of Merna!” Still nothing, “Merna’s nature is starting to slip out of her skin!” “Ahhh!” Pirapancam materialized in front of me, “Dear brother you know I can’t tell you! Why must I repeat myself to you.” She whined. “There is more to Merna than you are telling me, be forthcoming!” I was done with her half-truths and hidden meanings. “Do you not find Merna to be fitting? Is she not the perfect consort?” My sister smiled sweaty. I knew more than ever she was hiding Merna’s nature from me. “Pirapancam!” “Fine!” Pirapancam crossed her arms in front of her chest. “The purpose of Merna and her siblings is to bring back the balance, something that our dear siblings have been messing around with.” She unfolded her arms and strolled over to me. “You all think that since I do not make my presence known that I have no idea what is going on, though I do. Our siblings have been collecting and taking what energy they want and do not replace what they have taken. They are interfering with the natural law of balance. I will not stand by and do nothing. I sent my creations to earth to learn the laws and to strive for a better living. Merna on the other hand is different!” I snorted, I knew firsthand how much trouble that woman could be, “How?” Pirapancam sighed as she strolled closer to me. “She broke away from me over twenty-two thousand years ago …” “How is it possible for you to lose her?” This was not something I was expecting to hear, “Wait … What? You are telling me that she is not a new creation!” I fought to control my facial expression, “reincarnated?” “Oh dear brother, do not look at me like that! I find Merna … when she uses her powers!” She exhaled. “But no! She has lived and died more times than I can count. The point is, her nature never changed, she is still life and death … a perfect balance, just like my other favourites. Merna though has evolved on her own. Which makes her my favourite of favourites! Gathering skills from each life and carrying those skills onto the next existence. Everything she does and knows is from life beforehand. In this existence she is mastering each skill. is not this exciting? I do not even fully know how powerful she is. Merna never liked to display her skills … unlike the others! Merna is an exceptional creature, until you took her from the Earth realm, I had no idea of her location.” My sister clapped her hands together, “we had a bit of a fight a few weeks before you found her!” “Merna told me that she spoke to the land on a regular basis plus you as well.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, “I thought you told me …”“Merna does! Mainly she wants to know how she can help us and make things better!” Pirapancam smiled, “Dear brother, you have to understand … I can not tell you what is going to happen because everything around Merna changes faster than what the seer can tell me. Merna is a rogue, she doesn’t follow the rules nor the regulations. She only sees law, order and justice. And I know I said I was trying to warn Merna … which I was not lying about. I was searching for her. It just so happened that you found her before I could!” “Let me get this straight!” I was rubbing my temples pushing my temper down. All I wanted to do was yell at my sister. “You are telling me that you created several children, let them lose on the Earth realm and you had no idea where Merna was, do you not believe this to be careless on your part.” I was starting to move my hands around rapidly as I spoke. “We always keep track of what we own and create!” “Merna is the only exception, she is … the rebel of the bunch, she never listens … always does what she wants. To tell you the truth she is kind of taxing at times.” Pirapancam looked stressed. “She does have a strong personality!” Her hands were on her hips, “even I can not contend with her when she gets into a mood!” I snarled, “Tell me about it! Yet Merna has proven over again several times to be resourceful and quick on her feet!” PIrapancam started to vibrate her chest as laughter dared to break loose, “It sounds like you like my creation!” “Only when she obeys!” I crossed my arms in front of me, “besides the fact you lost track of Merna and she evolved … without guidance … with boundaries … What makes her different from her other siblings?” “Just like ourselves each of us has attributes similar to the other. Like ourselves, half of us work better in the light, while the other in the absence of light. Merna works in all levels, proficient in all of her workings. Her accuracy is astonishingly high, which is why I believe you two are perfect …” “Pirapancam!” I growled a warning. “Merna is reincarnated … What is her original bloodline?” “I can not tell you that!” She became secretive again. “Pirapancam, you know that I do not like secrets and lies!” I huffed and puffed. “I can not tell you the original strand but I can tell you this, I only added in the redmints of DNA from my body. Everything else she did herself. Moving from one life to the next, she did it!” My sister's eyes softened as she glared at me, “I do warn you … if you do not want to keep Merna as a consort after she finishes her job … let her go!” “What do you mean and what job?” I raised one brow.“Merna will deal with our siblings in a fashionable manner that will stay within the laws that we lead by. For what do I mean … my seer sees Merna’s fondness for you!” “Do not you think that is a little cryptic of how she will deal with our siblings?” I studied my sister for a second, I was not about to admit to her the growing bond between Merna and myself. “Merna does not show fondness for anyone but the human born Camile!” I cleared my throat. “Think about it for a bit dear brother! She is a rogue, having been on her own for a very long time. Never making a relationship … always on the run! How do you think she would make a connection of fondness … she will never profess her emotions to you, they will be actions! And when it comes to Merna dealing with our siblings, did she not tell you already how she plans to start dealing with them?” Pirapancam started to laugh followed by a mischievous grin. I no longer cared about what Merna could do to our siblings, “tell me what she feels?” My sister held her midsection as she laughed at me, “Where would the fun be if I told you everything!” “Pirapancam!” I growled again. “Ah look at the time … I have to go!” With a snap of her fingers, my sister had departed. “Mother is like daughter, irritating!” I grunted as I started to make my departure back to my room. Pirapancam laughed as I left.*Pierre* I had finished up in the bathing room when I went back to the hunter's quarters. “Pierre!” Wematin bellowed my name. “EH!” I yelled back letting him know that I heard him. “You are being sent out on border control!” Making eye contact, “Joox, Raine, Yenos, and Archaimband … you are joining Pierre.” Wematin brought his attention back to me. “You are the leader of this group.” I raised a brow, ‘I work alone! I do not have time to babysit children!’ I linked to Wematin. I could hear him laughing in my head, ‘consider this a test! The order came from our boss, when he says that you are working in a group you do so.’ I groaned internally! “Saddle up ladies and meet me in the weapons room for your briefing!” Wematin bellowed, he headed in the direction that we were to meet. Archaimband waited for the second to give me a death glare and slammed his shoulder into mine, ‘your time of fame is coming to an end bastard!’ I gave Archaimband the same energy back, ‘so you say!’ I did not waste my time any further dealing with an insolent prick. Gathering what I thought I would need, with heavy feet, I strolled towards the weapons room. Wematin waited long enough for everyone to be in the location. “The consort has found evidence that there is movement in the far Northern parts of the Master’s domain. Your job is simple. Apprehend the trespasser and bring them here. If fate should have it and the trespasser should die in the process of apprehending them, that is fine with the Master as well.” I glanced over at Joox, a well-known changeling, he had the skill to take the form of everyone s/he had ever killed. Raine was a master in tracking and knife throwing. Someone you do not want tracking you, he is one of the top recruits for being an assassin. Yenos, a halfling, is aiming to be part of the assassin guild. Great hunter and a good tracker but needs to get the chip off of his shoulder. Archaimband is a human born like myself. He is a man of few words. Excellent hunter and an even better tracker, he has applied for the recruitment of the assassin guilds several times. The only thing that I can see that doesn’t play in his favour, he has no patience when it comes to hunting and moves at the wrong time. We all nodded our heads understanding the assignment. Heading in the direction of the exit, we all started to shuffle our feet.Getting my attention, “Pierre!” Wematin said. “You have further instructions!” We waited for the others to leave the area. ‘If anyone in the group starts to act suspicious, you are to report your suspicions to me.’ I glared at the floor for a second, I wanted to speak of my suspicions but decided for now I would keep my thoughts to myself. “That will not be an issue!” Portalling to the terrain that we were to cover, I pointed in the direction that I wanted each head to be. Joox was the only one to challenge my authority. Strolling over to Joox, “I get it, you do not want to take orders from the new recruitment especially someone that is human born. BUT if Wematin wanted for you to be the leader of this group, he would have made you the leader. So you have a choice to make. One, do as I say and forget this act of rebellion or two, I will report you and Wematin will take care of you.” I took a step back out of his face, “I believe we both know that everyone would rather deal with me versus Wematin!” ‘It is just a matter of time for someone to slit your throat while you sleep!’ Joox changed his appearance to blend in with the surroundings. In no time Raine found a female portaling outside of our border. Yenos was closely positioned to him. With the assistance, Raine captured the female serf and took her back to the dungeons. Under the cover of the woods, I kept my eyes always searching for danger. The only thing that I found suspicious was Yenos. Not fully focusing was not enough for me to link Wematin, I would wait until we are back, find Wematin and ask him if Yenos has issues fully focusing on tasks that are given. The hairs on the back of my neck started to stand on edge. Instinctively my eyes jotted around looking for the disturbance. The sound of a branch breaking brought all of our attention to the direction where the activity was coming from. Joox was the first to spot a male assassin. It appeared as if Yenos was going to assist Joox then decided that he would remain where he was. There was a struggle at the start of their encounter but Joox was able to take down the male assassin and take him to the dungeons. We were all in position when we spotted Merna taking her walk around the border. ‘Is the consort supposed to be out this far?’ Yenos linked me. ‘I do not know!’ I watched as Merna observed the area where Joox had been not too long ago. ‘She is good, but nothing like us!’ ‘Who trained the consort?’ Achaimband inquired. I started to internally laugh, ‘you did think I would not teach Merna how to protect herself. There are dangers everywhere!’ I told the group.‘It is unsafe for a female to know how to fight?’ Achaimband linked, ‘they do not have the strength that we do as males.’ The remainder of the group agreed with what had been spoken. I watched Merna intently wondering if she was still using the skills I had taught her. I wondered if she remembered the drills we went through. I would hide and she had fifteen minutes to find me. She was good, but not great! Half of the time she would not find me even with her special skills. Merna’s hand started to glow with white light. With a smile on her face, she nodded her head once at Achaimband, Yenos and myself. Her voice was in all of our heads, ‘I can see that you made it here, I will continue on my way.’ ‘She is good!’ Archaimband commented, ‘but it is still too dangerous for her to be out here!’ ‘I would say that she has a good chance of surviving. Did you smell the power that is radiating off of her!’ Yenos pointed out. ‘Merna does not need to be stronger than her opponent, she just needs to stab them in a vital area to gain the upper hand!’ I linked with a smile on my face. Yenos shot his head towards me, ‘is the Master safe with her around?’ I internally chuckled as I watched Merna stroll away without making a sound, ‘I taught her everything I know.’ The sense of pride was building, I was proud of her and what she has accomplished. ‘No one will get close enough to harm the Master … while Merna is around. She will handle the issue swiftly! Merna has always been a fighter.’ Soon after Mern had left there was more movement in the woods. It was Achaimband that located the next trespasser, it was a female serf. The female spotted Achaimband rate away and started to run in the location that she had come from. Opening a portal the female serf successfully was able to get away. ‘We can’t get them all!’ I told Achaimband, ‘next time display more stealth so you are not spotted rate away.’ Achaimband glared at me with much hatred, but he could not say that I was wrong. If he did not believe the female to be weak and easy prey, we would have captured her with little to no issues. All around us, we could hear movement. It was coming from outside of our border and behind us. Yemos Achaimband and I were on high alert. I gave the order of who was to check out what location. Several portals had been opened with a mixture of serfs and assassins. Yemos hissed, ‘Achaimband this is what happens when you display impatience, that female serf disclosed our location.’Is it possible that Achaimband is a spy?’ I thought to myself. I did not have time to think about Archiamband being a tractor, we were in trouble. I needed to de-escalate the situation quickly before things got out of hand. Yamos started to hunt, finding a male trespasser, there was a bit of a struggle but before any damage could be dealt to him, he killed the male. Archaimband found a female crouching in the bushes, with his dagger he killed her with one gab to the chest. I spotted five male assassins heading in my direction. I spotted the leader easily. He was giving orders to the others to spread out. Going unnoticed, I waited for the opportune time to make my strike on the leader. As I stepped out of my hiding, a twig snapped under my foot. I hissed internally, as only one out of the five heard me. The male pivoted and spotted me rate away, Yemos was the first to come to my aid, taking down one of the five, I had the other! When there was only one assassin left, Archaimband came to our aid. “Where the hell were you?” I hissed at Archaimband, Yenos was just as ferrous as I was. “I was hunting over there!” He pointed to the location that he had come from. “And I was able to kill a female serf.” “Show us!” I ordered. One look at the female and Yenos and I could tell that Archiamband had been fucking the dead female! Yenos and I glanced at each other with anger. “This is unacceptable behaviour!” I wheezed trying to keep my temper down. I took one more look at the dead female, “We are heading back! We need more heads!” Yemos nodded his head once and opened a portal. “Come on! We can handle this!” Archaimband protested. Pushing Archaimband towards the portal, “We are going!” I spat.