The Dark-Hunters (835 page)

Photokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate light. Unfortunately, photokinetically created light doesn’t have the exact properties of natural sunlight and cannot kill Daimons, but it’s awfully handy in a dark cave, or if your opponent has a migraine.

Power Absorption
    The ability to absorb another person’s powers, leaving that person powerless. Usually that other person is not another Dark-Hunter, seeing as the proximity alert will weaken both this and the other Dark-Hunter’s powers. Daimons technically have this ability; when they drain the souls of a powerful person, they inherit those powers for a period of time until the soul wanes. Gods have this power, as they are able to absorb the powers of their defeated foes (if the foe is another god) indefinitely.

Power Bestowal (Conduit)
    The ability to bestow powers upon another person or evoke the latent powers of others. Again, this doesn’t usually happen Dark-Hunter to Dark-Hunter. But if you somehow discover you’ve been “blessed” with this particular gift, be careful whom you approach, especially humans with gypsy or god blood. You never know what latent power might be sleeping inside them. Daimons shouldn’t be a problem for someone with this power, as they can only possess the powers of the last soul they stole.

Depending on the type of power and the strength, the bestower can give a person temporary powers (usually based on the bestower’s proximity), or permanent ones.

Power Mimicry
    Like power absorption, mimicry is the ability to absorb another’s powers. In this case, however, the mimic is able to leave the other person’s powers intact. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who the other person is, and whether or not they’re on your side.

Power Negation
    The ability to cancel out or diminish the powers of others. This ability is kind of inherent in all Dark-Hunters, thanks to Artemis, since close proximity to any of your brethren results in a mutual power drain.

Power Sensing
    The ability to sense or recognize the powers of another person. Depending on the strength and ability of the senser, it could be a generic idea of the presence of powers, or the knowledge of the other person’s exact abilities. Apollites have the ability to sense other Apollites as well as Daimons, based on their blood connection to the god Apollo. Similarly, Dark-Hunters can normally sense the presence of another Dark-Hunter (if the draining of their powers isn’t a dead giveaway) and you will be able to sense a Daimon from a mile away (a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea).

Precognition
    The ability to perceive events before they happen. Sometimes it is only expressed in vague dreams while asleep, other times it is clear and occurs at will and when awake. The events seen may take place in the near future, or the far future. They are also only one of many possible outcomes—some events can be avoided if the right measures are taken.

Presentience
    Presentience is precognition in the form of more abstract senses, emotions, or feelings … kind of like a mood ring of prediction. This power is also associated with clairsentience.

Psychokinesis
    The ability to mentally will events to happen, or will objects to move. (See Tactile Telekinesis.)

Psychometry
    The more beloved an object is by its owner, the more of the owner’s energy is retained inside that object. Similarly, the stones of old houses and castles may retain some memory or recording of especially passionate events that have taken place in their midst. Psychometry is the ability to sense this energy and relate details about the past or future condition of an object, person, or location, usually by being in close contact with it.

Pyrokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate fire, or heat in general. The antithesis to cryokinesis. Pyrokinetics are especially helpful around erupting volcanoes and forest fires. Pyrokinetics are usually fire-retardant … but the sun will still kill you.

Remote Viewing
    The ability of a directed clairvoyant who can travel to a specific person, time, or place to be able to see what someone is doing, or what events are taking place. Often used by spies to overhear secret plans, or to discover the hiding place of documents or treasure.

Shapeshifting
    This power is usually limited to Were-Hunters, but not always. If a Were-Hunter becomes a Dark-Hunter, like Ravyn Kontis, he retains this power—the two are not mutually exclusive.

Sonokinesis
    The ability to mentally manipulate sound waves. A sonokinetic is a great friend to have at a concert, a crowded bar, or a political cocktail party. They are particularly useful when in need of a distraction, as trained sonokinetics are exceptionally good ventriloquists. Sonokinetics rarely ever go deaf, but if one decides not to listen to you, he or she can literally tune you out.

Spiritual Possession
    The ability to take complete and total control of another person’s body via astral projection or mind transfer. Spathi Daimons, such as Desiderius, have the ability to do this if their original body is killed and they are allowed to float about disembodied in the ether. Ghosts and other departed spirits are especially eager to possess the body of a Dark-Hunter, since it is a souless vessel in prime condition, so always be on your guard.

Tactile Telekinesis
    The ability to manipulate objects by touching them. People who are tactile telekinetics can carry massive objects with very little effort. They also have to be very careful that no one witnesses them picking up cars and cement trucks and whatnot.

Technopathy
    The ability to manipulate electrical fields and/or devices. Associated with electrokinesis and magnetokinesis, technokinetics stand apart for their particularly useful ability to fix broken electronics and corrupted computers. There are a few technopathic Squires who work on maintaining the Dark-Hunter Web site.

Telekinesis
    A matter of mind over matter. Telekinesis is the ability to manipulate and control objects with the mind, often in ways not visible to the naked eye. A telekinetic can lift and move inanimate objects; some more powerful telekinetics can also manipulate people into doing things against their will. Poltergeist activity has often been attributed to telekinetics.

Telepathy
    The ability to read the thoughts of others. Some telepaths can make themselves be heard by others, and particularly powerful ones can mentally communicate with a person or persons with no telepathic ability. All gods are telepaths, and those Apollites most closely descended from Apollo, like Cassandra Peters, have some latent telepathic ability.

Teleportation
    Just like in
Star Trek,
teleportation is the ability to disappear from one place and reappear in another almost instantaneously. Were-Hunters have this ability, and Daimons can teleport through laminas. One cautionary note: If a bolt-hole or lamina appears, don’t follow the Daimon into it. You will get eaten. FYI: Corbin has this power.

Dark-Hunter Creed

Let me give you the job description. Me, Dark-Hunter. You, Daimon. I hit. You bleed. I kill. You die.

—Zarek

We are Darkness. We are Shadow. We are the Rulers of the Night. We, alone, stand between mankind and those who would see mankind destroyed. We are the Guardians. The Soulless Keepers. Our souls were cast out so that we would not forewarn the Daimons we pursue. By the time they see us coming, it’s too late.

The Daimons and Apollites know us. They fear us. We are death to all those who prey upon the humans. Neither Human, nor Apollite, we exist beyond the realm of the Living, beyond the realm of the Dead. We are the Dark-Hunters. And we are eternal.

Just Say No

Even the devil may cry when he looks around hell and realizes that he’s there alone.

—Acheron

There are certain things a Dark-Hunter must do (kill Daimons, stay alive), and there are certain things that will get you in so much trouble with Acheron even the Shades will remember your name. There is a code of honor that’s a bit like the Ten Commandments, but less written-in-stonish.

The Fourteen Cardinal Rules

1. Never expose your powers to uninitiated humans.

2. Be a part of the world, but never in it.

3. Never be in the presence of a god.

4. Never let sunshine touch you.

5. An unconscious Dark-Hunter is a dead Dark-Hunter.

6. No significant others.

7. Never touch your Squire.

8. No family, no friends who knew you before you died.

9. Let no Daimon escape alive.

10. Never speak of what you are.

11. You cannot be in the presence of another Dark-Hunter.

12. Whatever you do to another Dark-Hunter, you will feel tenfold.

13. You walk alone.

14. Keep your bow mark hidden.

Sounds easy, right?

Well, if it’s so easy, why do we have to keep reminding Dark-Hunters about it?

1. Never expose your powers to uninitiated humans.
Exposing your powers exposes all of us to public scrutiny—you, me, the Apollites and Daimons, the gods and goddesses, even the existence of Atlantis itself (and you really don’t want to go there). For obvious reasons—like the fate of the world as you know it—it’s best if the world thinks we are all products of stories and legends, Hollywood and folktales. Never ever prove to them that you are real. More important, just weigh how badly the gods would punish you against that fifteen minutes of fame.

2. Be a part of the world, but never in it.
You
will
be forced to interact with the human world. You can’t exactly save them if you don’t interact with them, right? Just remember, you are an observer, not a participant. Leave no witnesses. Stay in the background. Be discreet with your prey. Daimons turn to dust, so there’s never a body to worry about. See? Half the work’s already done. Make sure you take care of the other half.

What to Do if Your Powers Are Seen

• Play it off; pretend nothing happened.

• Run … fast.

• Knock the watcher into next week. Literally.

• Start speaking French (anyone would be convinced they’re in a dream).

• Don’t worry about it (only if you’re Wulf Tryggvason).

• Pretend you’re David Copperfield.

• Hope you can convince Ash you just had a temporary head injury.

3. Never be in the presence of a god.
Since you are soulless, you are an anathema to the gods. You certainly don’t want to be on one’s bad side, and you don’t exactly want to be on one’s good side. Gods fight a lot. And you know, the friend of my enemy and all that. You shouldn’t come up against this too much, since all but Artemis are forbidden to lend you aid of any kind. More on that in “Great Gods All Mighty.”

4. Never let sunshine touch you.
This one’s sort of self-explanatory, really. Thanks to Apollo, daylight equals death. If you’re feeling particularly masochistic, skip straight on down to the section on “How to Die.” Go on. I’ll wait right here.

5. An unconscious Dark-Hunter is a dead Dark-Hunter.
When you are injured, you will want to sleep. It’s a natural instinct. Your body will heal in its sleep. With the aid of a Dream-Hunter, it will heal even faster.
Don’t
fall asleep outside of your safety zone. Never leave yourself vulnerable.

What to Do If You’re Close to Exposure

1. Ignore all Daimons. Saving yourself just became more important than saving the world. Besides, you can catch them later.

2. Run. (There is no playing this off.)

3. Hide. (Garages, woodsheds, public toilets, and so on.
Avoid occupied tombs.
)

4. Call a Squire. (Always keep a body bag in your trunk.)

5. Stay calm. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Oh, yeah, you burst into flames. Never mind. Panic all you want.

Remember, a Light-Hunter is a
Dead
-Hunter.

6. No significant others.
Your
only
priority is mankind. Dereliction of duty is grounds to be classified as a Rogue (a one-way ticket to total extinction). Keep your priorities straight. Significant others will distract you and detract from your oath. You’re on a nondisclosure agreement as it is with the whole Dark-Hunter powers thing, so any sort of long-term relationship is doomed from the start.

I’m not telling you to repress your urges, I’m just saying limit it to a one-night stand (with a
human,
you moron, not an Apollite for heaven’s sake and whatever you do
never
a Daimon), and move on. It’s safer that way for everyone involved. And don’t worry about having a child, or begetting one on someone else—Dark-Hunters are sterile.

The first thing a new Dark-Hunter is quick to point out is the existence of copious modern-day exceptions to this rule. Kyrian and Amanda Hunter, Tabitha Devereaux and Valerius Magnus, Talon and Sunshine Runningwolf … yes, it does happen. (Life wouldn’t be much fun if it didn’t.) Just don’t ever count on it happening to
you.
For the truly masochistic, there is more information later on, in “The Out Clause.”