Free Dawning by Vivi Anna Page A

The glass was enchanted and acted like a communication
device.
    “You will get
all the information you need once you are in the mortal realm.”
    “I have to go
to the human city?”
    O’runa nodded.
“Yes, what needs to be found is in the city.” The chancellor stood,
ending their meeting.
    Cupping the
case in his hand, Dashrael stood as well. “I won’t fail this
mission.”
    The chancellor
grinned. It possessed no warmth. “Oh, I know you won’t.” Before
Dashrael could read into that statement, O’runa continued. “You are
one of Nightfall’s best trackers. You take the missions all others
fail at. We are counting on that.”
    Dashrael bowed
his head and made his leave. The thrill of the hunt making each
step determined. He was the best for a reason. Discreet, loyal, and
fierce. The qualities of someone who was determined to make a name
for himself. And he would not fail, no matter the
circumstances.

Chapter
Two
     
    It was raining
when Dashrael walked out of the ocean and onto the deserted beach.
He was thankful for the dreary day so he could move from water to
land without an audience. A tall scaly man with long bone-white
hair and eyes was not so easily explained away in this day and age.
Not even in such a progressive city as Vancouver.
    Once on the
beach, he took out a vial from his leather breeches, popped the top
and drank the contents. It was bitter on his tongue. Within
minutes, his appearance changed to something as innocuous as a tall
man with long blond hair, green eyes and regular pale skin. His
clothes now consisted of a pair of jeans, t-shirt and a long black
trench coat. It was a simple fae elixir called glamor. With it, he
was able to alter his appearance to match his environment, the area
and the time, which was 1981 he believed.
    Dashrael
buttoned up his jacket against the cold rain, then took out the
leather case. He opened it. Inside was the plain mirror, but he
knew it was so much more. He tapped the right hand top corner three
times then waited. It didn’t take long before an image materialized
in the glass. A man. A mortal by the looks of him. He tapped the
surface again, and a name and address appeared.
    Jason Decker,
2504 Larch Street.
    Dashrael slid
the case back into his pocket then surveyed his surroundings. He
needed to get onto one of the streets. From there he could navigate
the city without a map. He had a mental compass inside and could
find just about any address just from instinct. He could find any
person on land or water. Every creature radiated an
electro-magnetic field and he could attune to it. It was one of the
many skills he possessed that made him so useful to those in power.
He was one of the best trackers and hunters in Nightfall.
    Once he walked
across the beach and up onto the street, he bent down and pressed
his fingers to the cement. He could feel the magnetic signature of
the earth, and through that all the individual lines connected to
the people living in the city. Concentrating on his mark’s face,
Dashrael was able to pinpoint his exact location. Thankfully, it
wasn’t too far from where he was on the beach. Pulling up the
collar on his jacket, he set about hunting down the mortal Jason
Decker.
    About an hour
later, Dashrael was hunkered down behind a wall of bushes alongside
a stylish bungalow on a quiet residential street. Lights were on in
the house, giving off a warm inviting glow. He peered through the
leaves and through the side window into what would be the living
room of the house. There was movement in an adjacent room. Dashrael
could see the shadows moving on the hardwood floor but he had yet
to obtain a firm visual on Jason Decker. He couldn’t report in for
further instructions until he did. Because he possessed an
abundance of patience, sitting here in the bushes in the rain to
wait didn’t bother him. During another mission, he’d waited in the
same spot for over a day for his mark to return home.
    Fortunately, he
didn’t have to wait