The Dark-Hunters (834 page)

After all, what doesn’t kill you … just really pisses you off.

How It All Went Down

When you’ve spent a lifetime being betrayed by everyone around you, it’s really hard to let that go.

—Acheron

I’m guessing you forgot both the white stones and the breadcrumbs, so you’re probably a bit hazy on the details of what brought you to the gingerdamned house. Let me recap.

You were wronged. Big-time. Happens to everybody … but what happened to you was beyond forgiveness. Beyond redemption. Someone deserved to pay, King Solomon style, and karma would have had no problem with it.

The part you didn’t know about—behind the scenes, under the skin, in the ether—was that when a soul is wronged so unjustly, it cries out. And it’s not just a baby’s cry, or that noise you make when you hit your thumb with a hammer. It’s the sound of ultimate betrayal: the sound a heart makes when it’s breaking, the sound of the sky falling. It is the voice of the Phoenix when she rises up from the ashes.

That sound echoes in the ears of the gods, and most of them wave it away like an errant fly.

Except for Artemis.

To Artemis that’s the sound of another job applicant filling out the paperwork and requesting an interview.

She came to you in that moment. You’ll remember her: tall, red hair, body to die for, and the aura of a snake? (If you are a snake enthusiast, I apologize.) She offered you your last request: She offered you an Act of Vengeance. In return you swore your allegiance to her and her cause, to become a soldier in her nine-thousand-year-old army against the Daimon parasites who prey upon the earth.

To seal the deal, you gave her your soul. (That’s usually how bargains with immortals go down, so don’t go feeling particularly unique.) She laid her hand upon you and extracted it—you have her double bow-and-arrow symbol marking the spot, but you won’t remember the pain. It’s a bit like childbirth that way. Some memories you just don’t need to keep.

After Artemis took your soul, she brought you back to life. Immortal life. Yup, you could quietly live forever now, with no fear of disease or death. (Only your life from this point will now be loud and messy, so you may want to be careful. See “How to Die.”) You were born again as a Dark-Hunter, and you had twenty-four hours in which to exact your revenge.

If you ultimately decided not to take advantage of that window of time, I am obligated to tell you that you can’t go back. The road only goes forward, and there are no second chances. For better or worse, Artemis has your soul until Shadedom or Rebirth.

The part that no one is forcing me to tell you is that I admire you. It takes a person of extreme moral character to walk away when faced with the opportunity to lower themselves to the depths of their greatest enemy. That act takes a person with a seemingly endless capacity for love, and there are few enough of us in the world. I value that. And I commend you; no fine print, no strings attached.

What You Got Out of the Deal

I can hear your heart beating faster, your blood flowing through your veins as you sit there wondering whether or not I would really hurt you.

—Kyrian Hunter

You may think you’re a vampire. You are not. You cannot fly and you cannot turn into a bat (one particular Dark-Hunter sorcerer notwithstanding). Unless you were formerly a Were-Hunter, you cannot shapeshift. Do not try either of these things at home or anywhere else. You’ll just look stupid. And trust me, with cameras being what and where they are in this century we will all laugh at you for decades to come.

There are thousands of Dark-Hunters. No two Dark-Hunters are alike, and no two Dark-Hunters have the exact same combination of superpowers. Like snowflakes. A few things are pretty constant, though—such as the traits Dark-Hunters were given to mirror the Daimons, so that they may better track their enemy.

Almost all Dark-Hunters’ eyes are jet-black and, like an eagle’s, densely packed with light-sensitive sensory cells. You will rarely see a fellow Dark-Hunter without a decent pair of sunglasses. It’s one of the first things I recommend you pick up for yourself. If you have a Squire (you lucky dog), this may have already been taken care of for you.

Speaking of dogs: You now have pointed canine teeth, ones that you will eventually learn to stop cutting your lips on. In time you will also train yourself to know instinctively the exact degree of a smile that will conceal this feature … and the degree in which to show it to its best advantage. You will become a master of the difference between a laugh and a threat, but you have to give yourself time.

And if you’re lisping, don’t worry. That doesn’t last long. Just don’t try to intimidate anyone verbally while it remains, otherwise you might damage your ego. And our reputations.

Just because you have these teeth does
not
mean you have to drink blood. (Dark-Hunters who do so are called Feeders, and to say that Acheron frowns upon the subject would be a gross understatement.) You started out as a human, so you do not need blood or human souls to survive. The basic physical human needs still apply, however. Dark-Hunters, when they’re not busy working, normally eat three meals a night. And yes, they still have to go to the bathroom.

You will be unable to cast a reflection; this is a power Artemis bestowed on her Hunters as the perfect camouflage. Some Dark-Hunters report that they can cast one if concentrating … but again, that takes time. For now, don’t worry about what your hair looks like. The Daimons you dust can report you to the fashion police in hell.

As you have probably discovered already, your vision is not your only heightened sense perception. (And yes, that smell
is
you … you should probably go take a shower.) You can smell and hear and think and see and feel more than any human, more than any animal … possibly more than anyone save a Were-Hunter, or a god. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but the
more
of the world that’s currently jamming itself into your brain right now will quiet down as you learn control. Trust your biological clock: You will know now when the sun is setting and, similarly, when it’s about to rise again.

Each Dark-Hunter possesses a certain degree of mind control—use it wisely. Each also has the ability to heal quickly, often within twenty-four hours. Quicker, if a Dream-Hunter is involved. Which is a good thing, because while you—as an immortal—are immune to addictive substances, you are also immune to anesthetic. When you are injured, you will feel a natural urge to sleep. Go with it. Just make sure you’re in a safe place where the rising sun won’t turn you into a fried crispy Hunter. Remember, you will sleep for quite a few hours so take precaution before you succumb to it.

Now that you have none of your own, you are particularly sensitive to the presence of a soul, which is how you will be able to instantly discern the difference between an Apollite and a Daimon, and how you can feel a baby’s soul inside its mother’s womb.

Other powers you might develop include psychic abilities like telekinesis, mind reading, and precognition. (Once you have the ability to see the future, you will never lose it. So if you’ve had it before, no worries—if you just now got it, good luck.) You could also have healing powers, or control over certain elements. There’s no way to tell until you use them, so keep an eye out. Pay attention. And be careful.

Powers That Be

With my background and genetic makeup, buddy, you’re lucky I’m as normal as I am.

—Katra Agrotera

You can’t be sure which of these you will develop with your new birthright, if any. But definitely be on the lookout for signs. Better safe than sorry.

Keep in mind, too, that gods have one, many, or all of these powers. When you’re thinking about giving one a piece of your mind, consider what the consequences might be.

Aerokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate wind and air flow.

Animation
    The ability to bring inanimate objects to life or to free a person from petrification.

Astral Projection
    The ability to separate and control one’s astral body. The out-of-body experience can be achieved by dreaming or deep meditation. Astral projection is sometimes considered a form of telepathy or clairvoyance. Remote viewing is a specifically directed form of astral projection. Depending on the strength of the projector’s ability, the astral body may even be able to interact (speak or move objects) with its surroundings.

Atmokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate changes in the weather, up to and including the bringing or banishing of pressure systems, clouds, rain, storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

Aura Perception
    An aura is the spiritual energy field that emanates from a person or object. Most often, auras convey the feelings and emotions of the person or object involved in a range of colors. An aural perceiver has the equivalent of a permanent mood ring decoder for everyone and everything in his path.

Biokinesis
    The ability to heal, or perform other biological manipulation. A biokinetic can knit tissue together just as easily as he or she can stop a breath, or a heart.

Chlorokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate plants. A chlorokinetic also sometimes has a bit of clairvoyant ability, but only in regards to plants. The plant can “speak” to a chlorokinetic, conveying sounds, images, and sometimes even the entire passing of a sequence of events.

Chronokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate time. Weres can surf the Rytis to travel through time, but the rest of us seem to be slaves to this relative.

Clairaudience
    The ability to aurally perceive words or sounds originating on the spiritual plane. Clairaudients are also able to hear sounds at low and high frequencies not audible to the human ear.

Clairsentience
    The ability to perceive the atmosphere or origin of a person, place, or thing by way of feeling; often associated with psychometry. Clairsentients are also called empaths. Always trust the “gut feeling” of a clairsentient.

Clairvoyance
    The ability to visually perceive events that are taking place elsewhere or sense places that are not in view. Some clairvoyants can also see certain types of spirit or foreign energy. The term
clairvoyant
often includes both clairaudients and clairsentients. Clairvoyants are usually also able to see auras.

Cryokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate ice, or cold in general. The antithesis to pyrokinesis. Cryokinetics are especially helpful around avalanches and icebergs. They are also immune to frostbite.

Divination
    The art of predicting the future. (See Precognition.)

Electrokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate electricity and electric fields. Trained electrokinetics are able to produce force fields as shields for protection. As a rule, Were-Hunters seriously hate these people as they tend to make them change forms. So if you have this, give our furry friends a break and stay away from them.

Energy Blasts (Godbolts)
    If someone blasts you with energy, that someone is a god, or has somehow acquired god-powers. A Dark-Hunter has never been known to develop this power naturally.

Ferrokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate metal. This power was especially valued during the Middle Ages, with all those innocent, tasty knights in armor running around.

Geokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate the earth. Especially powerful geokinetics can cause or stop earthquakes and active volcanoes.

Gravitakinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate gravity. Usually considered generic telekinesis, unless the gravitakinetic has the ability to manipulate his
own
gravity. Which would just be way cool.

Hydrokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate water. Hydrokinesis is useful for purifying water when trapped on a deserted island, and summoning or finding it when lost in the desert. Especially powerful hydrokinetics can calm tsunamis, hurricanes, or storms, but generally it is not in the hydrokinetics’ power to actually cause these things to happen. A hydrokinetic can, however, control waterspouts and the direction a river can travel. And considering that the human body is about 75 percent water … it’s not as wimpy a power as you might think.

Magnetokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate the magnetic field; usually associated with ferrokinesis. And the X-Men. But please note, we have much cooler wardrobes.

Mediumship/Necromancy
    The ability to see and communicate with the dead. Some mediums need an object through which the spirit can communicate, like a Ouija board. Some mediums are possessed by the spirit, and it communicates through them by speaking or automatic writing. Some simply see them, and talk to them or feel their emotions and intentions. Since you’re a Dark-Hunter, you never want a spirit inside you. You have no soul and it will take possession of you, which is not a good thing. Remember what happened to Alexion. You guys don’t have the same regenerative abilities he did. You will be terminated.

Omnilingual
    The ability to quickly memorize and/or decipher any foreign language.

Omnipotence
    The ability to do anything you want to. Again, reserved for the gods, so try not to make any of them angry. And stay out of Ash’s way.

Omniscience
    The true know-it-all, an omniscient literally does see and know everything. Again, this power is pretty much limited to the more powerful gods, like Zeus. Or Acheron, who will never share his knowledge with you, so don’t ask.