On Hallowed Ground

The mortal world. For more than twenty years, Elise had dwelt upon its surface. Strange then that she had never once noticed how wretched a place it was, nor dreamt that creatures born of nightmares stalked the twilight shadows.

Perchance it was no mere coincidence then that it was only now, when she stood numbered amongst those thrice damned hordes, that she realised just how foul and loathsome a place the world of her birth was. Could it be that it took senses born of death to perceive the true nature of the mortal realm, or mayhap it was the case that the transformation after death and the disintegration of her soul chain had altered more than just her form. Perhaps her mind had been twisted every bit as much as her body, and now perceived her former home through the murky miasma formed of betrayal and hatred.

Regardless of the reason, the world stank. Even high atop Dom Sankt Bartholomäus, where nary a mortal ever set foot, the stench was palpable, seeming almost to threaten to engulf Elise with its hateful caresses. Down below, on the Domplatz and the Bendergasse, it would be worse; an all engulfing shroud of noxious sentiment and the bitter, hateful stench of the still living. It was worse even than London, for there the mortal masses had sprawled out along the banks of the Thames, whilst in Frankfurt the Main served to do little but condense the masses into tighter confines, making them seem like little more than cattle in a pen to one with such a rare vantage point as that which the Hollow had claimed.

Like cattle....

Yes, that was a good analogy, and Elise found herself contemplating it further as she gazed down upon the scurrying mortals. To one such as her, they were cattle, food just waiting to be culled in the corral. And who better to conduct the cull than one such as her, a creature born of the death of an entire country? And who could possibly stop the cull? The Quincys? The Shinigami? No, there were far too few of them to watch over a world such as earth; it was only the fickle whims of fate which could stay her hand, just as they had upon the streets of old London town.

Here, hundreds of miles away, the mortals would not be so lucky.

Against the evening’s black sky a lone figure stood against the sky dressed in black, he had tracked a weak hollow for a little over five days before finally executing it. Felix fingered the pommel of his sword as he closed his eyes, So far I have come that beast may have been weak, but it took me almost all the way to Belgium. Who would of thought a farm boy like myself would be here AFTER I died. he chuckled yet his hand still reached up to rub the invisible rope mark. Turning his head Felix looked to the horizon; something had drawn his attention that direction the energy was almost pure hunger and malice.

In a fluid motion Felix stood and placed his scabbard back over his back; with a frown he started off in the direction of the energy his hair whipped around his face as his feet flew over the ground. There is only one creature that walks in the shadow of man that can give that type of power and if the feeling in my stomach is true I will bet I am going to end up right in the middle of a concentration of humans. Felix put on another burst of speed as his hand grabbed the hilt of the sword on his back checking to make sure it was clear to draw in a hurry.

Within fifteen minutes Felix had made it to the city of Frankfurt the energy enveloped the area, So much hunger and hate wherever the beast is it will feast soon. With the grace of and lithe of a feline he lept to the rooftops drawing his sword as he let his spiritual power bleed out into the air, If I can’t pin point it I will attempt to lure the beast to me…

Far below the Hollow, the human inhabitants of Frankfurt went about their daily business, comforted by the blissful ignorance in which they lived. Not a one of them, not a single mortal soul, could ever have dreamt of the monster in their midst. And perhaps that was for the best, for what normal person could have slept soundly in their bed knowing that creatures such as Hollows stalked their world, preying upon those whose spiritual energies whet their monstrous appetites? No, the ignorance of mortals was a kindness without question, and one that was so cruelly stripped away in the final moments of those poor souls doomed to die as a Hollow's prey.

It was for one such soul that Elise waited now, a soul whose spiritual energy had been enough to draw her attention from across the city. She had stalked it across the city, soaring high above the rooftops as her eyes studied the streets, searching for a glimpse of the one fated to die beneath her talons. So far, she had caught but a glimpse, the merest flicker of motion as a form disappeared into the sanctified interior of the grand cathedral.

For many a minute, she had debated following, weighing up the delicious irony of butchering her prey within the consecrated halls of Dom Sankt Bartholomäus against concerns of getting sidetracked within the labyrinthine corridors of the cathedral and missing her prey altogether. In the end, prudence had one out, and she had descended, dark wings flapping against the wind as she fallen into a crouch atop the worn head of a grotesque gargoyle. From there she had watched impatiently, passing judgement on the mortal masses with the arrogance only an immortal mind could summon forth. But now, as the sky darkened and the great bells of the cathedral began to toll, the door far below swung upon and a form emerged. There was no need to study the emerging figure in the halflight for unnatural senses told Elise what more mundane ones could not; this was her prey. The spiritual energy was unmistakeable.

Wasting not another moment, the Hollow launched herself from her crumbling perch, tattered wings unfurling in a spray of ichor, as she swept down from the heavens, eyes fixed squarely on her hapless target. It was time for the rending of souls.