AGNPH Stories
 

Shadow to Guardian by totall

 

Chapter 2

SHADOW TO GUARDIAN
CH 2


As he pulled up the gate he was met by the local guards. Not paying them the least bit of attention as they complimented him on another job well done. He had heard all this before and would probably hear it from the rest of the base personnel. Pulling out his badge from within his vest they nodded to him and raised up the gate and the barrier fell into the ground, while the electric fence behind it was turned off and pulled aside by a machine.

Giving her a gentle nudge he road onto the base and to his private small hanger. The doors to the hanger were already open, as if awaiting his return. He would have to go to the chief later to be debriefed about his mission, but for now he pulled out his gear and went to his workbench and placed everything on the top. Once he was done with that he returned to his horse to remove the saddle and the rest of his gear and gave her a thorough brushing. Once he was done with that she trotted off to her enclosure to where a fresh bucket or oats and barley awaited her. Once she was settled he returned to his workbench.

He pulled out a small notebook and wrote into it the date and the creature he had shot. Under that he put down everything else about the equipment and then adjustments he thought he would have to make later.

Pulling out the two darts he shot the thing with he placed them in a container that hung over the workbench with the image of the creature above it. Since he started this job this creature was the most uncommon target he had to take out yet. Looking over the different containers he noticed that he still hadn't come up against several dozen other creatures. Nodding at his work he was interrupted by a knock that came at his door to the hanger. Cursing under his breath he made his way over to the door only knowing that their was some snot nosed punk on the other end to say that he needed to report to the general to make his report and be debriefed.

Opening the door he was startled to find his commander on the other end with a big smile on his face. "That would make three in two weeks. If this keeps up you'll have an even bigger paycheck than me." With that the two start to laugh and he ushers in the man.

"I would have to say that this is certainly a grateful change general." As he follows the greatly decorated man over to his workbench where the general looks over the different containers. The hunter makes his way over to the small fridge and pulls out a bottle of scotch and a chilled glass and pours it half full. He walks over to the man and offers him the drink. The general swishes the drink around a moment then takes a drink.

"Quite the impressive collection that you have here, but I have to wonder about this one." He taps a container with the glass and turns to me. "I know that you've come up against this type before, but I don't see the darts that you use to subdue them with in there." The man taps the container that has a picture of a orange shinned, blue under-winged, dragon. "Though when I send you out to take care of them, you never call back in to have it removed." The man slowly turns to see the vanes in the mans eyes grow a little darker color, several vanes in his forehead bulge, and his fist clenched.

"That monster is one that doesn't deserve to live after what it did to my family." The general walks over and places a hand on the hunters shoulder.

"I know it hurts son. Many people have lost loved ones while these creatures started going rogue, and that's why we are here." The hunter looks up to the man and gives him a stiff nod.

"And that's why I will continue to do what I do." A brief flashback flashes in front of his eyes of his family being killed then eaten by that demon. "Even if it costs me my life." He claps the hunter on the shoulder a few times before he swallows the rest of his drink in one go and hands him back the glass.

"And that's why we need you. Not for the sake of sacrifice, but the way that you hunt. You know, in all the US, you are the greatest and deadliest of all the hunters out there." The hunter looks down to the glass then up to meet the generals eyes.

"And that's why I charge what I do." The general nods to the man and walks around the small hanger. The flaming horse is in a pen off in the last quarter of the hanger, happily munching on something. As the man approaches the horse, she stops eating and looks at the man while twitching her ears this way and that. He doesn't stop there but continues to look around the hanger.

Most of the walls are covered with maps of different states that have different marker points on them. The maps show all the states in the US and some abroad. Many of them are marked with different colors and in some the same color shows more than others. When he looks closer at the maps he can see that there are different symbols as well as dots on them.

Looking over the different maps he notices that the last mission had been a significantly harder one since that creature had been a higher level than normal. If he didn't know better he would say that this hunter is almost obsessed with his missions, or maybe it's just he's desperately looking for the one creature that killed his family. Turning around he notices the man looking deep into the glass.

"Why don't you let the boys take care of the next few missions. It looks like you could do with some time off." This caught the hunter off guard as he quickly shakes his head.

"But why general? I haven't been injured in any missions lately and I feel like I'm getting closer to that monster." He throws his left arm back and points to the wall of containers. "And you know that I'm the only one who can take on those high levels anyways." The other man nods as he remembers several missions back that he sent a full platoon after one and not one returned.

"Alright, I'll keep you on but I don't want any other creatures injured like the one that just came in from your last hunt." The other man gives him a quizzical look. "The last one you sent back came in with a few broken ribs and some internal injuries. Is that understood!" He nods to the general. Just then a siren sounds inside his hanger, indicating that somewhere out there another one had gone rogue. The two men nod to each other and quickly run off to the command center.
Chapter End Notes:Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended
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