1st part of CUSTODES ANIMARUM, The Eye begins here...

Chapter 1: Captured…

1^st of August 2006 marked six months of continuous futile attempts by the Eye of capturing a mysterious bounty hunter known as the White Bolt. Rumours and unverifiable intel from his employers suggested that his real name may have been Vincent. No one knew for sure. He usually wore a neck gaiter or a face-mask hiding the bottom half of his face. His eyes were described as grey and lifeless. And his weapon of choice – a silver coloured katana which radiated electric charge, appeared unlike any known weapon. Most astonishingly, however, he had been adjudged one of the fastest men the Eye had ever come across.

The enigmatic man was elusive and avoided confrontation. But of the few who met him in battle, only two survived. Both of these were expert Martial Artists of the Eye ranked Zaatsu – the highest designation and rank, achieved only by the most skilled. The two faced off against the White Bolt and were unable to defeat him. It was only when the back-up squad arrived that the bounty hunter was forced to escape.

The bout proved to be the single greatest source of intel regarding the White Bolt. The Zaatsus were able to read and study the enigmatic man thoroughly during their battle which lasted nearly a half an hour. His battle awareness and prowess rivalled theirs. His Ki Manipulation felt far superior. It was mesmerising. He would charge, de-charge, and even throw Ki blasts far more quickly than even the Zaatsus could manage. He fought focused, poised, and without hesitations. It seemed as though he had been well trained and was well versed in many different styles of combat. Some so strange that even the Zaatsus could not recognize. But his speed remained his greatest weapon. He was quick in all departments. All his senses were super attuned and made him counter the two adversaries with evident ease.

But who trained him? The Eye had no record of ever training a man like that. In fact, they were unsure of how someone could have learned what the White Bolt knew. Moreover, even the Order, the sister organization of silent spiritual defenders, denied any involvement with the mysterious man. People around the world had completely denied any involvement with him.

In the six months, many spies had also been deployed to gather information but the reports that were turned in were conflicting. Some suggested that he was nothing more than a smart wizard or a Cultist gone rogue. These were easily rejected. But then what was anyone to believe? There was nothing else to go on.

The bounties he took were just as random as his methods of completing them, which made it extremely difficult to track him. Furthermore, word in the underground black-markets was that for the same tasks he would charge a lot less than any other bounty hunter but demanded to be paid upfront. And sometimes, he would just walk off with the cash never to be seen by the employer again.

What placed the White Bolt on top of the Eye’s priority lists, however, was the fact that he had begun collecting remnants of the Xoitique Diamond, one of three Celestial stones of immeasurable mystical powers. These stones were once broken down by Mystics of the Eye to keep from falling into the wrong hands. Furthermore, he had stolen several Scriptures of the Dark Arts from the many safekeeps around the globe. Written by the infamous legendary sorcerer Rasalhague himself, these banned works of unholy research had been hidden away in the deepest corners of the world. Their location was not common knowledge. In fact, it was not even uncommon knowledge. Only a handful of people knew where they were. So, then how did the White Bolt locate them? It had left the Eye’s leadership scratching their heads.

It was still uncertain who the enigmatic bounty hunter was completing these tasks for. Maybe, it was not a bounty at all. But nevertheless, the Eye was not about to let him have his way. Therefore, they had now deployed their best – a special hunting party called the Zeta Squad, led by the young Zaatsu, Master Hugo Baylis. This slender, 32-year-old, master tactician had a knack for bringing much stronger opponents down. So much so that even the senior most Zaatsus would shy away from sparring with him. He led a team comprised of disciples, along with hand-picked experts, making it the perfect attack squad.

Predicting the bounty hunter’s next target, the Zaatsu went and acquired 3 remnants of the Xoitique Diamond from a hidden safe house in Tallebudgera, suburb in the city of Gold Coast, Australia. Sure enough, it did not take long for the bounty hunter to arrive looking for the remnants. This resulted in a cat and mouse struggle that lasted for hours.

After several attempts, Vincent realized that his opponents were more than a handful and were not about to back down easily. With depleted strength and the fear of an impending defeat, he decided to retreat, hide, and rest till he could fight again. He hid himself underneath a thick line of trees on the bank of the Tallebudgera creek. Realizing his intentions, Hugo divided his squad into multiple smaller groups and the search began.

Early hours of Wednesday, the 2^nd of August – it was cold, and the night was dark. The moon had set, and the stars were shining bright. Owls howled as a gentle breeze blew. Conditions were terrible for a search mission, but the Zeta Squad remained steadfast. Most of the members searched on the ground and along the river while Hugo and one of the squads took to the trees. But it was difficult. The sheer number of natural creatures and plantation in the area, and the water, meant that it was nigh impossible to search for a single unique suppressed Ki signature. Therefore, they were forced to rely on their eyes and ears more than their ability to sense Ki.

One of the groups felt a movement in the woods and decided to check. It comprised of 3 prodigious students of Hugo himself – Camille Baylis, Hugo’s younger sister and an up and coming Spotter for the Eye, Ella Clay, a young and extremely perceptive Mystic, and Marcus Bernthal, the last true heir of the family once famous for their control over the fire element. All three held the rank of ‘Sokidu’ – a second grade master of the Martial Arts, second only to the Zaatsu.

Their plan was simple: locate the target and let the others know. But with the situation as it was, each squad had at least once given a wrong call to gather in the two hours of searching. Hence, deciding to not call anyone unless they could confirm the White Bolt’s presence, they split up. Ella took North, Marcus took South, and Camille went straight in. The youngest of the group, 21-year-old Camille, was considered the weakest fighter in the squad but her expertise lay elsewhere. Spotters were known for their mastery in gathering intelligence through covert means, making them the backbone of strategic information acquisition. And her specialized skillset was exactly what such a mission required.

Using a Ki blending enchantment Camille moved unnoticeably in the shadows, or so she thought. An inaudible whisper was first heard and then she felt a tap on her shoulder. She lost all control over her Ki flow!

She tried to turn around, but the edge of a sword came and sat on her neck. She was certain it was Vincent. But surprisingly, the sword was retracted and whoever it was, moved back.

Camille slowly turned around. “You’re the w-white b-b-bolt,” she mumbled as the bounty hunter took a couple of steps back and sat down.

‘He looks so young,’ Camille thought and then noticed that the mask had been removed. She took a good look at him top to bottom – frosty white hair hanging down to the shoulders, light brown eyes, a scar on the right edge of the chin, pale skin, and broad shoulders. He was wearing an all-black attire – half sleeve shirt, trousers, a scarf, and tabi boots.

‘He looks only a bit older than me but then why does he have white hair?’ Camille was confused. ‘Does he colour them that way just to put people off? Well, he’s doing a fine job putting me off! I should be thinking of a way to call the others!

She was still as a rock, unable to come up with any solutions. How could she? He had placed her under a spell which was stopping her from accessing any Ki.

‘I could scream,’ she thought. But as soon as she inhaled to let out a scream, the bounty hunter said, “Don’t even think about it.” Camille stopped. “I would hate to kill you, miss Baylis,” he further added.

‘His voice, it’s so calm.’ The young Sokidu stood contemplating in silence. ‘That’s not right. Something isn’t right. How does he know me? Why does he know me? What is he doing?

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Trying to recuperate…”

“What?”

He was sat leaning against a tree trunk and did not seem bothered at all about the fact that there were people hunting him. He even closed his eyes and dropped his head.

“Hey!” Camille said, gaining his attention. “What’s going on?”

“You tell me,” he replied.

“What have you done to me?”

“I sent some of my Ki into your cognitive receptor stream. A tiny energy surge, if you will. It has numbed your senses.”

“That’s why I’m unable to control my Ki…”

“Yes.”

After a short moment of silence, the White Bolt looked at Camille and said, “Why don’t you sit down? No need to strain yourself.” She stood wide eyed and dumbfounded as he continued after a slight pause, “Take this opportunity to rest your body… recuperate.”

‘He’s supposed to be one of the deadliest people alive,’ Camille thought. ‘This is wrong. Why is he talking to me like this? Why is he treating me this way? What does he wanna do to me?’

She was still standing, so he looked away. Camille kept talking to herself. ‘Direct confrontation without control over my Ki would be foolish. Screaming also seems pointless. Through this thick covering of trees, the others probably won’t even hear me. Plus, he’s so fast he'll kill me before I’d even move my lips.’

Understanding she had no other choice; she sat down kneeling. “How do you know my name?” she asked, slowly.

The bounty hunter looked at her and replied calmly. “It would be considered foolish to go into battle without gathering at least some intel and info about your adversaries,” he said. “Weren’t you briefed about who I was before you came after me?”

“Yeah, well… I guess so.”

“Blonde shoulder high shags, not that tall, snitch, is the weakest fighter in the group… youngest Baylis.”

“Oh… did you memorize that?”

“Just need to be aware of who’s who before engaging. That's why memorizing the visual characteristics becomes far more helpful than the names. Like, the dark side-fringe haired man, just under 6 feet tall, about my height, leading the group from the centre… that’s the main threat, Hugo Baylis. The red short-haired, tall, clumsy, and cautious fighter is the strong opener I have to be careful of. Bernthal, right?”

Camille nodded.

Vincent nodded back and continued. “The blonde cocky guy, about the same height as Hugo, with the quiff and the shave who will engage headfirst is the weakest link in the squad. I believe that’s your brother?”

She chuckled. “Wow,” she said. “Weakest link, huh?”

“Then the tall brunette with the wedge up front and centre with the captain in a direct confrontation is the Mystic. Ellin, I think. No. Ella.”

Camille nodded once again.

“The rear end always belongs to the Magicist who is also not very strong. She is the not so tall one with the dark undercut which I think is a bit too conspicuous. And then you people always have a bunch of stowaways.” He looked away once more.

“Where did you learn all that from?”

Vincent took a moment than took a deep breath and whispered, “Anything can be bought from the store of life…”

Silence prevailed for a few moments before Camille figured that it would be better to keep talking with him. That way she could, maybe, understand something more about the bounty hunter. “Are you going to kill me?” she asked, in an almost whispering tone.

The White Bolt took his time to look back at her. “Are you worth killing?” he reciprocated in kind.

“But will you hurt me?”

“Will you?”

A further few moments of silence passed and this time the roles were reversed. Camille was sitting with a bowed head and Vincent was observing her. Seeing her clenching her fists in her lap he said, “So, will you tell me your name?”

She looked up as he looked away. “Camille,” she replied. “Camille Baylis.”

“Well, Camille, what do you do? Are you a Zaatsu?”

“No.”

“A mystic?”

“No.”

He waited.

“I’m a Sokidu,” she eventually said.

“So, why do they call you the snitch?”

“Because I read people very well.”

“Interesting… and what else? A spy?”

Blinking incoherently, she mumbled, “Y-y-yes.”

“Spotter,” he said with a smile and looked away again saying, “Not a very good one I see.”

It shocked Camille what the bounty hunter had said. ‘He knows about our ranks and designations,’ she thought. ‘He even knows all of us so well. He knows I’m supposed to be good at spying. Does he know about my missions as well? Does he know I was sent to gather information about him 2 months ago?’

“It’s your hands,” he said then looked at her. “It’s always the hands,” he stressed with a shake of the head.

She gulped and asked, “What about them?” He did not say. “Are they telling you I’m a spy?” she added.

“No,” he replied with scrunched eyes. “You told me that…”

“Oh…”

After an awkward moment of silence, she asked again, “So, what about my hands then?”

“You shouldn’t be a spy. That’s… not your thing.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re more of a leading character than a spy.”

“Hey! I’m a great spy! I’ve completed many missions, you know! I have a great record of bringing detailed information back to my superiors. I only lack a little in combat strength, but as a Martial Artist and as a spotter, I am more than capable.”

The White Bolt was taken aback by her animated response. She continued undeterred, “You don’t even know me,” she said. “How would you know if I’m any good? You got a lucky break and scrambled my Ki flow, or I would have shown you!”

He smiled then chuckled. Camille stopped and looked at him. ‘He has such a wholesome smile,’ she thought. ‘It’s so bright. Could he be that good at hiding his true nature?’

He looked away once more, so she asked, “Why are we sitting here, Vincent? It is Vincent, right?”

“Hmm,” he nodded. “I’m waiting…”

“Waiting for what?”

“There are marker spells around the area… tracking your team’s movements. When I’ll see an opening, I’ll leave.”

“What about me?”

He looked at her but did not say a word.

“Are you going to let me go?” she further asked.

“Who’s stopping you?” he said as he shrugged. “You’re free to go…”

“What?”

“You are not a threat to me right now. And I’m not in the habit of spilling needless blood.”

“But…” she stopped, and he smiled. “What?” she asked.

(Read the rest of the chapter in the next episode)