Tattoo

TATTOO

by: lovelycrazy


PROLOGUE: Tattoos and Strangers


“I can’t believe I’d let them do this to me.” Devara scrunched her nose in mild disgust as she stared at the figure tattooed on her left wrist. She’d always been a person who values cleanliness, especially when it comes to her body, and currently, having a 2 ½ by 1 ½ inch tattoo violates that self-imposed virtue.

“Devara, dear, stop complaining. It can’t be helped.” Jamie, her best friend, rolled his eyes as he tried to stop Devara from pouring alcohol and scrubbing her wrist clean…and raw. “Mr. Jones specifically mentioned ‘no tattoo, no entry’ at this seminar we were required to go tomorrow. Besides, it’s just a henna tattoo. That’d wear off in three months.”

“That’s the point. The tattoo lasts for three months but the seminar barely takes three days. It’s not even an hour since I got this one and I’m already itching to wipe this clean. J, I don’t think I could last for a whole day. How much more in three months?”

Jamie went to his friend and gave her a hug, all the while patting her head. “Don’t worry, Dev. I know you’d make it through this. You’re a stubborn person, not to mention proud. If I find the tattoo missing before its usefulness expires, we both knew that would be a blow to both your tenacity and pride.”

Devara pushed off Jamie so she could see her friend’s face. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to decide whether the statements before were compliments or just plain mocking.

Jamie yelped as Devara pinched his nipple before she pulled away from him. He opened his mouth to ask what that was all about, but Devara beat him to it. “You were mocking me, but I’ll let you off with just that.”

Jamie rolled his eyes with such exaggeration that Devara couldn’t help but roll her eyes, too, but she stopped mid arch.

“Wait, what time is it?” Devara and Jamie both took a glance at their wrist watch and found that it was almost time for their lecture with the infamous Mr. Jones. Quickly grabbing their things, they rushed to the east wing where the audio visual rooms were at. Unknowingly, both were praying they make it in time or, at least, before Mr. Jones. If not, they shuddered.

---

“There’s no other way…or place, rather.” As Elder Thomas spoke this, all other counselors visibly stiffened. He was referring to the ‘Other world’ where a wielder’s inner self that possesses the supernatural abilities is not only weakened but would also be more aggressive which may lead to a wielder losing his mind and going into rampage. Not to mention, crossing over is extremely dangerous and may result to a certain and painful death.

“Our King’s mate was foreseen to go into ‘heat’ in three cycles of the moon. We must find him by then.”

“Who, might I ask, should we send there?” asks Elder Adam to the other two.

“And how many of our wielders does this mission require?” The remaining counselor, Elder Wilbur, asked, looking between his fellow counselors.

“Only three. I have received a word with the Commander and he mentioned these men.” Elder Thomas made a motion with his hand and a holographic image of three men appeared in the middle of the table where all the three highest-ranking counselors sat. Seeing one of the men was the commander himself, one counselor, Elder Adam, asked.

“Won’t the King notice the commander’s absence?”

“No. The Commander told the King in his report that he’ll be in the palace in three day’s time to complete the search. But, honestly, it has already been completed early this day. The commander himself volunteered for this.”

“Then why…” Adam sighed and shook his head slowly. He could not decide whether to be amused or be infuriated. This clandestine meeting was merely to inform them of the real reason behind the commander’s absence and most probably to oversee things in his absence.

“Wait, when are they to set off?”

Thomas sighed as he closed his eyes. He massaged the bridge of his nose as he felt his headache worsen. “I forgot to tell you that they had already set off even before I read the Commander’s letter.”

“That insufferable…” Wilbur trailed off as he, too, sighed. No use in cursing the man when he was not around to hear or that he was currently facing a certain danger for their King who had no knowledge of the mission. All they could do now was hope for the best or else, they’d have a hard time explaining this to their ruler…who was currently leaning on the door.

Since when has he been there?

---

Two days and a half have passed, and they have yet to find a glimpse of the man bearing the mark of their King’s other half. Chrome cursed for the umpteenth time as he felt the weight of the near absence of his abilities. It made the search particularly challenging. Not to mention, his inner self was trying to break free every turn of the day. His other two companions were luckier as they have each other to calm their inner beasts. Lucky couple.

He sighed as he tried to calm himself by thinking of the redeeming qualities of their mission. First, not all of the people here bore marks on their wrists. Second, they only had to look for the gender resembling wielders – that is, the males of the human species. Lastly, they retained some abilities like night vision, advanced senses, strength, and agility, and cloaking which, by far, has been the most useful as it prevents humans from seeing them as they check out each of the damned human male’s wrists.

He almost wants to roar his frustration out.

“AaaaaaHhhhh!”

“Yeah. Just like that.” Chrome told himself as he heard the scream of someone from a distance. He stopped in his tracks, however, as he realized the scream sounded pained and not frustrated. He sniffed the air and sure, he found the tangy scent unique to blood. But there was an underlying scent there. Something similar to his kin.

Serpents! And…

A wielder?

It was faint but he was certain it was a wielder’s. But the scent was foreign to him, so it’s neither his comrades. Maybe… He wasted no time as he bolted for the direction where the scream came from and where the scent of blood became sharper.

---

“Who the hell are you people?” Jamie said as he tried to cover Devara from the people who seemed to have just killed the person lying on the ground, bathing in his own pool of blood. They were just strolling in the park after their lecture and were betting on who could erase the henna first when they heard a blood-curdling cry behind the trees near the forest. When they saw a man fall limp to the ground and the blood on the hand of another man previously holding the unconscious guy up, they immediately dialed 911. Devara had just spoken the situation and address to the operator when they noticed the three towering men had surrounded them without their notice.

“Uhh, Miss? Could you tell the police to hurry it up? They’ve discovered us and we’re kind of surrounded.” Devara whispered to her phone while keeping an eye on the persons surrounding them. Don’t mistake her. She and Jamie knew how to fight, but something tells her these men were dangerous.

The call ended, as well as her phone, as the piece of technology fumed and then burst into several pieces like a mini bomb after she dropped it like a piece of hot potato. Devara stared, incredulous. She didn’t know what made her do so but she took a glance at the person nearest her besides Jamie. Maybe it was just her imagination but she could almost swear she saw the man’s eyes glow an eerie yellow. She briefly and subtly shook her head in an attempt to clear it. When she took another glance at the man’s eyes, she found his pupils were slit like a cat’s. Devara blinked and blinked and when it didn’t change, she took in the other man’s eyes. They were also slit. The two men in Devara’s view seemed to notice her confusion, however expertly she hid them, as they smirked, a smirk full of malice and which Devara decided she didn’t like… at all.

“Ugh! Dude, you’ve got to have some real obsession of snakes.” Jamie declared after seeing the man in front of him flick his forked tongue much like snakes do. “Ow!”

“Stop taunting them.” Devara hissed after she elbowed her friend lightly.

“I’m not taunting them. I’m buying us time.”

“Then quit stating your opinions on their physical attributes. You might just end up provoking them. Besides, I have a feeling they’re…” Devara trailed off as she tried to reign in her nervousness.

“What? They’re not quite human?” Jamie supplied sarcastically. Devara just glanced uneasily at him. Jamie doesn’t see his friend like this unless the situation was really very dangerous, and situations are very rarely dangerous to someone like Devara.

“Look, Dev. Just because they’re freaking tall, have forked tongues and slit pupils, and…whoa! Unbelievably fast” Jamie jumped away from the guy who, in the blink of an eye, was standing directly in front of him.

Working on autopilot or perhaps on instinct, Devara kicked as Jamie cleared the way thereby hitting the man square in the jaw. That kick should have been paralyzing for a normal human but the man was merely dazed. Thus, adding one more point in consideration of these men’s humanity. The man flicked his tongue before hissing as his lips slowly curled up into an evil grin.

She stepped away and directly stood on guard, but the unknown men’s speed served its purpose as one man was already waiting for her on the other side and immediately delivered a strong blow to her chest that if she was not quick enough to cover the area, it would’ve broken her ribs. As it is, it only knocked her a few feet away.

The next seconds were a blur of figures and sounds. One moment, an enraged cry came from her best friend Jamie whose hair somehow grew longer and lighter and was quite inhuman himself. What with the abnormal speed and strength that even surpassed those of the suspicious men and eyes that glow faintly in the dark.

Devara watched as her friend single-handedly beat the crap out of the unknown and serpentine men who, somewhere along the way, sprouted scales, claws, and fangs. She paused, mesmerized by the grace Jamie exuded but quickly got off her feet to help when she saw one man caught Jamie’s right forearm with razor-sharp claws. Somebody beat her to it, though.

This stranger looked more intimidating than any of the men Devara had seen in her 19 years of life. He towered over everyone present. Devara thought he must be at least 6’4 and very fit. Not to mention, the man seemed really ticked off by something. He looked ready to kill and she really thought he was a hairsbreadth away from actually doing so. As it is, he just settled with breaking the three guys’ bones, to which Devara was thankful as Jamie seemed to be returning to normal or, at least, to his senses as far as the now normal eyes and inactivity could tell. His hair remained long and lighter, though.

When Jamie saw the unconscious men lying at his feet and the scratch on his forearm, he frowned and looked up to find Devara looking at him with concern and a stranger who just threw the last of their three attackers to a tree a few feet away from him with just one arm.

“What…happened here?” He managed to croak out before his vision spun and eventually turned black as Jamie passed out. Luckily, the stranger was on him before he hurt himself some more.

“Jamie!” Devara screeched in horror as thoughts of all the horrible reasons why her best friend just collapsed like that ran inside her head. Unintentionally, she shoved the stranger away from his friend’s prone form with quite a force that left the man stunned as no human with such petite physique should possess such strength.

---

Chrome watched the human woman, who just shoved him, with a puzzled mind. Things he could not explain just keep on happening from the last few minutes. First, why are there Serpentines here and who is this lone Wielder? Second, why had he felt so angry when he saw one Serpentine slash the man – what’s his name? – Jamie. And third, why is this woman so strong?

For a moment, he kept wondering about possibilities until his eyes landed on the mark on her left wrist. A cross tangled in intricate patterns of vines, the symbol he’d been looking for since he had been commander of the Dragon King’s army and that was years ago.

He stared and stared until he was certain his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. Unconsciously, he snagged the woman’s wrist and ran his thumb over the mark. A tingle – the mark was genuine. He could hardly believe it; he found his king’s mate.

“Hey, what the hell’s your problem? Let go!” Chrome jerked back to reality as the woman snatched her wrist back and glared at him. “I’m really grateful with your help but if you’ve got a phone, could you please call an ambulance? My friend really needs some help.”

As if possessed by some unknown force, Chrome knelt beside Jamie and looked at Jamie’s wrist. His breath stuck in his throat as he recognized his own mate’s marking. Chrome carefully traced a finger over the mark and felt the same tingle, only stronger and quite arousing, of a genuine mark.

“Hello? Mister, do you have a phone?” Devara once again broke Chrome’s musing.

And as if only realizing the gravity of his mate’s condition, Chrome felt his insides plummet to the ground as he was gripped by fear. With a surge of energy, he called for Nathan and Chris, his two other team mates on this mission. He felt their presence already nearby, so he quickly grabbed a hold of his mate’s body and proceeded to carry him to where Nathan and Chris were both creating a doorway to their world.

“Hey! Where are you taking him!” Devara demanded as she gripped Chrome’s shoulder with such bruising force that Chrome definitely had no doubt who the person was.

“To someone who could heal him.” Chrome answered almost curtly as he stared his king’s mate down hoping she’d somehow be intimidated and back down. No such luck, though. She only narrowed her eyes which took the time to glow menacingly at him. “Your Highness, I’m begging you. Serpentine poison spreads rapidly and if we do not hurry, it might be too late.”

Devara was taken aback by the man not only addressing her as ‘Your Highness’ but also by the sincerity behind the man’s tone and expression. She loosened her grip and eventually nodded.

They arrived at a clearing where another two strangers stood. Devara looked around expecting to find an ambulance or maybe a clinic. There weren’t any, though. She was about to ask the stranger earlier when her vision was assaulted by such bright light that she had to close her eyes. She could feel the wind picking up pace around her until she could almost swear she was floating. With how bizarre things have gone for the previous minutes, maybe she really was. No way of finding out, though, as she would never risk opening her eyes. She’d be blinded either by bright light or stray debris.

When everything stopped to a stand still, Devara finally opened her eyes and immediately went to his friend’s aid, oblivious to her surroundings which had changed drastically. From a clearing in the park to a grand throne room complete with the King, his counselors and a few royal guards.

“Healer! I need a healer. My mate is poisoned by Serpentine claws.” Everyone gasped for various reasons, but healers along with the King immediately rushed to Chrome, their commander’s aid. Meanwhile, Devara paid no heed with the ‘mate’ comment as she thought it merely suggests a friend or acquaintance.

When the healers worked on Jamie, Devara knelt beside her friend, holding his hand as if trying to hold him in place. A few seconds later, the healers declared everything clear. Devara was incredulous at first, but upon seeing the color return to his friend’s face, she released the breath she hadn’t remembered holding.

Chrome motioned to lift his mate, Jamie, up, so Devara also stood. But the moment she did, her world suddenly started spinning rapidly and she, too, fainted.

The King who was standing nearest Devara and was watching the human closely caught the falling body and lifted him up with great ease.

“Follow me.” He told Chrome and the healers before he turned away from the throne room and walked towards the exit and the royal wing.

The counselors, except for Thomas, Adam and Wilbur, were left wondering of the turn of events. As they watched the retreating backs of their king and commander, both carrying unconscious humans, Adam whispered to both Thomas and Wilbur.

“I haven’t seen the mark, but if the other one was the commander’s, then the other one should be him.”

“Most probably.” Thomas agreed as Wilbur nodded in silent agreement. The mission was, more or less, successful. The king’s mate, a beautiful young man, has finally been found.

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A/N: So, this is the first story I've published here. What do you think about it? Please tell me by leaving a review...and you could also rate this one. Depending on the results, I may continue with the story.