Til Death Do us Part

[Brother Prime]

Simon ran for many hours that night, reaching the abandoned farm just before daybreak. He felt better, as he heard no sounds of approach from behind, and had not for a good length of time. If he was lucky his hunter had abandoned the hunt, or had grown weary and given up the chase.

Still, he would not hide in the farm house, that would be the first place any smart tracker would look. Instead he made his way to the nearly fallen stable on the outskirts of the farm. The front wall was missing completely, the roof coming down from all sides. The place would barely keep him dry, but it seemed the best place to hide, for now.

Digging under the molding straw in a long empty stall, Simon lay in wait, in case his pursuer had not given up, just yet.

[Nightshade]

After concealing himself, Simon would have noticed if he'd looked up that the stars in the sky had been blocked, obscured by something that threw a jagged, angular shadow towards his hiding place. Nightshade stepped beneath the overhang, boots rustling softly over the hay, his gaze appearing to provide its own strange illumination.

"Have you stopped running, prey? Are you ready for this to end so soon? Are your legs too tired to carry you on? I will make this swifter and cleaner than you have for any of your victims, I promise you."

[Brother Prime]

Simon would utter a sound that would be foreign to his own ears. It was a sound reserved for those he hunted, a sound, that indicated...fear. Simon screamed as he rose up from his hiding place, the huge hammer swinging. Whether it was good aim, or good fortune, the hammer impacted with the last standing support beam of the barn. The roof began to shake and groan in protest, even as Simon was running out into the night.

He paused for a brief moment, to watch the building collapse on his pursuer. As the rubble toppled down over the angular creature left inside, Simon made his way toward the Broken Dagger. That was where his prey would wait, and where he too would be safe.

[Nightshade]

As the running, lumbering figure of Simon stumbled frantically towards the Broken Dagger Inn, the ragged roof of the barn exploded upwards in a cascade of rotting wood and shingles. Half of the roof swung away from the center to slam into the ground, the other cartwheeled in the opposite direction, rapidly disintegrating. Nightshade strode through the wreckage, seemingly no worse for wear, making straight for the trampled trail left behind by Simon.