It started with a glance. Laerack did not know the handsome stranger with the blue eyes, but when they passed and the stranger casually glanced at him, he felt as if the gaze pierced him to his bones. Laerack felt as if his whole life had been read in that one glance. He shivered. As he continued on his path he felt a wave of arousal and curiosity wash over him. He shook himself for feeling such strong feelings after a simple glance. He chastised himself, “what is wrong with me. I am not a 16 year old boy anymore.” His mind was in conflict with the very real response of his body. His breathing and pulse increased. He felt faintly flushed and a very familiar stirring in his loins. Shaking himself harder, he continued on his way feeling oddly conflicted about his feelings. He dared not look back to see if the handsome stranger was watching him.
Laerack had no idea the glance Devik gave him was not so innocent as it had looked. When Devik saw him he felt his own wave of emotion. A distinct feeling of deja vu mixed with an odd sexual attraction. Devik had scanned him and found the man clearly thinking of Devik. Even now as he walked away the stranger was fighting the urge to turn and see Devik staring back at him. He warred with himself as he walked away. Devik had plucked this from his mind with little effort. Delving into a human’s mind and grasping his thoughts came easy. It was second nature to scan any human he encountered. Humans were an interesting mix of emotions and actions. Capable of so my compassion and honor, and yet capable of incredible destruction. These beings were as complex and diverse as Devik himself. Truth be told, Devik was fascinated by them.
Devik let a small smile curve his lips as he caught a last thought from the stranger. It was surprising erotic. Devik had no hangups on sexuality. He had been straight, gay, and all the flavors in between in his long life. He often found himself most attracted to humans of his sex, but there were no boundaries in his mind. He often avoided the hangups that came from loving a human. He had succumbed more than a few times in his long life. The outcome was always the same though. Convert them in someway to extend their lives or watch them die. No matter which choice he made it always turned out poorly. He would lose them to the base emotions that often ruled those he turned, or watch them slowly decay away and die while he barely appeared to age.
Devik shook himself out of his thoughts. He had seen this human before, but where? “My memory is failing me more and more these days“, he said to himself. “This memory failure is becoming a problem! Why are there gaping holes in my memory?” Devik contiued walking, his dark cloak flowing around his talk dark form as if defying the wind. Devik was in a brooding mood and he would brook no distractions. Perhaps, it is why he did not notice the figure in the shadows watching ever so intently as he walked away. The figure remained motionless, as if a statue, for fear of alerting the powerful being to his presence.
Finally as Devik rounded the corner, Jarem let out a great sigh of air. He had been holding his breath. He knew if Devik had laid his piercing blue eyes on him he would have been a dead man. Jarem was trembling. “I have to report back. The council must be told. It is happening again. The creature is nearing the crisis point. We must find a way to make contact without drawing his fury.” He slipped back toward his car, parked safely behind the building. Jarem had read the stories of the last crisis point. It was centuries before he had been born; however, it was required reading for all watchers. Anyone joining the Council of Ages were required as part of their intense training to be intimately aware of the entire archival history of their order. Watch and listen but never intervene. To do so would court death. Observe and report but never ever be seen. The fear of death was the least of your worries.
The Council of Ages had been around for thousands of years, maybe longer. New documents uncovered in Kyro indicated even longer than even the archives listed the Council’s history. Devik predated the earliest known human cultures on the planet. For all anyone knew, he predated humanity. No one knew for sure. What was clear, there was a very real threat in letting Devik slip back into his dark persona. The last time crisis point erupted, Devik had spun out of control for almost 4 centuries. It was a random act of chance that swayed his mind, and heart, and brought him out of the darkness. No one knew how old Devik was. He was ancient and powerful beyond imagining. He was single-handedly responsible, even though it was not clear if he knew it, for every fairy tale boogeyman in human mythology. The vampire, werewolf, demon, angel, even many alien conspiracies all spawned from Devik. And the myths were not always wrong. Many of these creatures did or had existed at one time because of Devik.
Jarem knew he had to make contact with the Council as soon as possible. His driver was waiting with the vehicle running. Jarem had a penchant for smooth sleek vehicles. As he slipped into the back seat of his silver Jag, the tension left him. The clean smell of the interior leather comforted him as he motioned for the driver to flee. The fear that had tightened all his muscles into knots was only now beginning to subside. He reached for a drink. He rarely condoned drinking on the job but he needed to steady his nerves and his thoughts. He needed a clear head to consider his next step. He knew he had to act and soon.