05-05-2015, 05:50 PM
The girl retrieved some contraption that Elias didn't recognize until it was fully opened up. Murder was a tad drastic, but what else could she do with a bow and arrow if not shoot him like a deer? That she tied a rope to the arrow ripped a gaping hole in that theory. Unless she intended to stab a full grown man through the chest and drag him into the water, then she wasn't going to aim for him. Yet she took her stance, drew and aimed. Whether she meant to hit him or not, he mistrusted anyone's accuracy at that distance. He quickly left the rock and moved a safe distance away just as the sliver of black arched across the sky.
With a loud thump and spray of snow, the arrow pierced its mark and the rope went lax across the river. Elias' jaw was dropped open. That shot was impossible! With barely a sliver of can sticking out of the snow as a target, at that distance, with cold muscles an Olympic archer shouldn't be able to execute such accuracy.
His brows drew low as he returned to the river. She had to be a power-user. Nothing could explain the miracle of what he'd just witnessed. He sensed nothing of the sort to indicate the use of power, but he did not assume there were not multiple kinds. Some could be undetectable to the others. Why not?
If she was a power-user, why exactly was a young girl in the middle of the wilderness? He'd seen no evidence this past week of another soul along the river, not even the old man that warned against disturbing the river spirits. A power-user adept with tactical weaponry suggested devious intent. Did she know about the trace object that was the secret war of governments? A scout, maybe. Or worse.
He had questions that he did not care to shout. While the girls gathered their trashy prize, Elias hefted his pack onto his shoulders with a grunt. The warmth keeping the air at a comfortable temperature faded and he put the focus of all his intent into the river itself. He'd done this once before, walking on water. That day with Tony when the creature in the water spit projectiles out of the ice, he'd darted across the frozen surface, bracing his steps as he ran with power. At that time, snow brushed from the surface, clearing his vision as he tracked the shadow darting beneath until it was lost to distance and superior speed.
There was no need for such theatrics today. Yet he called the water into his mind, power blossomed from within until his fists curled with its intensity. Water hummed within his grasp. His heart beat strong and deadly intent as he took that first, confident step off the snowy shore and onto the icy surface. He felt like God. Ice thickened before his path. The waters streaming down the middle of the unfrozen river churned, frosted, and hardened. He crossed safely, and as soon as he stepped upon solid earth once more, behind him, all returned to its previous state. The king had come to claim his domain.
For the most part, he ignored the littler, and shyer, of the two girls. It was the bow-woman that he approached. His height dominated over her presence, a black icicle amid the virgin white foreground. He let the pack slide from his shoulders. It fell to the snow with a loud thump.
"Alright. You have my attention. Why are you out here? What special interest does this river hold for you? The same as it held for the Americans? Some undiscovered energy source? Weapon?"
The scrutiny of his gaze tightened, studying her, but he did not overtly threaten despite the harshness of his appearance. If she turned her power against him, he did not know how he would react. If she claimed naivete, he would demand an alternative explanation.
With a loud thump and spray of snow, the arrow pierced its mark and the rope went lax across the river. Elias' jaw was dropped open. That shot was impossible! With barely a sliver of can sticking out of the snow as a target, at that distance, with cold muscles an Olympic archer shouldn't be able to execute such accuracy.
His brows drew low as he returned to the river. She had to be a power-user. Nothing could explain the miracle of what he'd just witnessed. He sensed nothing of the sort to indicate the use of power, but he did not assume there were not multiple kinds. Some could be undetectable to the others. Why not?
If she was a power-user, why exactly was a young girl in the middle of the wilderness? He'd seen no evidence this past week of another soul along the river, not even the old man that warned against disturbing the river spirits. A power-user adept with tactical weaponry suggested devious intent. Did she know about the trace object that was the secret war of governments? A scout, maybe. Or worse.
He had questions that he did not care to shout. While the girls gathered their trashy prize, Elias hefted his pack onto his shoulders with a grunt. The warmth keeping the air at a comfortable temperature faded and he put the focus of all his intent into the river itself. He'd done this once before, walking on water. That day with Tony when the creature in the water spit projectiles out of the ice, he'd darted across the frozen surface, bracing his steps as he ran with power. At that time, snow brushed from the surface, clearing his vision as he tracked the shadow darting beneath until it was lost to distance and superior speed.
There was no need for such theatrics today. Yet he called the water into his mind, power blossomed from within until his fists curled with its intensity. Water hummed within his grasp. His heart beat strong and deadly intent as he took that first, confident step off the snowy shore and onto the icy surface. He felt like God. Ice thickened before his path. The waters streaming down the middle of the unfrozen river churned, frosted, and hardened. He crossed safely, and as soon as he stepped upon solid earth once more, behind him, all returned to its previous state. The king had come to claim his domain.
For the most part, he ignored the littler, and shyer, of the two girls. It was the bow-woman that he approached. His height dominated over her presence, a black icicle amid the virgin white foreground. He let the pack slide from his shoulders. It fell to the snow with a loud thump.
"Alright. You have my attention. Why are you out here? What special interest does this river hold for you? The same as it held for the Americans? Some undiscovered energy source? Weapon?"
The scrutiny of his gaze tightened, studying her, but he did not overtly threaten despite the harshness of his appearance. If she turned her power against him, he did not know how he would react. If she claimed naivete, he would demand an alternative explanation.