The hunter (??? POV)

The hunter waits in darkness. Sight is stolen from him, and with it, any sense of time. How long has he waited? Ages. Forever. His shattered mind can barely comprehend time as it is. Still, he was told to wait, and so he waits.

Then, sound. Voices. They would be inaudible to anything normal, but he is anything but. Voices, and footsteps. Someone approaches. Two someones. Listen. Voices.

“I beg you, Victoria, do not do this! Releasing him is a disaster waiting to happen!”

“A disaster?! You aid our enemy in escaping, along with our captive enchanter, and you speak to me of a disaster?!”

A smack of flesh. A grunt of pain. The hunter shifts in the darkness, the scent of fear reaching him even here. Good. It is good to be feared. Fear makes prey clumsy, aids in the hunt. Is it time? Finally?

“Victoria, if you let him out, the Great One will know you’ve been keeping it down here.”

“The Great One is not your concern, Kaeli. You gave up that right by helping the enemy. All you are now is a tool. As for what the Great One knows…it matters not. We need them tracked down.”

The hunter feels a twinge at the term “Great One”. Familiarity? Affection? Obedience? The hunter is unsure. Still, unimportant. Soon. Soon.

There’s a clank. Then light. Blinding, after so long. The hunter tries to shield his eyes, but cannot. Ahh yes. The bindings. Slowly his eyes adjust. Two blurry figures. One radiating fear, the other a familiar, corrupt insanity. The second steps forward.

“It’s time, ancient hunter. We require your aid.”

A smile spreads on the hunters face.