Hildegarde

Seated at the table in the dining room of her home, Hilde stared at the cell phone in her hand. The news from Marissa was unexpected. There was a Soulreaper loose on the world. Another creature just like her. Her mind reflected back to the time she had crossed over into this world.

She had been drawn from her own plane of existence and forcibly brought forth to this world through the agency of a rite of summoning. Bound by a shaman of the Alemanni Tribe, the one who had summoned her nearly two thousand years ago, they had called her Hildegarde, the name meaning ‘battle maid’ in the local tongue. They were so insignificant and small, but the strength of the spell was such, she was bound to the will of the shaman. They had summoned her to combat the rise of the Alemanni enemies, namely the encroaching Roman Empire. They had no idea of what exactly she was or was capable of, but intended to use her to their own advantage, but the Alemanni were careless and in no time she had undermined the spell binding her, turning on her would be masters and unleashing mayhem, killing and devouring hundreds.

If not for the arrival of both the God of War and the Dark Goddess, her rampage would have killed thousands. The battle was ferocious, but she was undone, defeated. As a reapers of souls, she knew her fate, death. She neither complained nor begged for mercy, facing oblivion stoically.

Impressed both by the battle and the Hilde’s comportment, the Dark Goddess, in an uncharacteristic move, provided Hilde a provisional offer of clemency predicated by several conditions, though chiefly adherence to the Covenant.

Hilde refused, saying she would bow to none other than the aloof Pale Queen, Goddess of Death.

The Dark Goddess offered the opposite, life, as well as liberty, and tutelage alongside divine progeny. A chance to become more than any of her kin.

She assented. That was a score of centuries ago.

In the time between then and now, she had proved her capabilities, surpassing all expectations and rising in position to govern her own conclave of divine daughters, called a circle. Her circle was one of the most powerful in the world, possessing fifteen fully fledged members including the women she had dispatched to investigate the Disciples of the Hidden Path affair, Marissa, Angelica, and the newly recruited Abigail Halston.

And now, one of her kin was loose on the world, though the identity of the Harvester was unknown to her as of yet.

Her duty was simple, report it to Clarissa and tell her there was a Soulreaper loose on the world, leave it in the hands of the divine, but she felt conflicted. Telling her would be more than likely akin to signing a death warrant for the newly arrived Harvester.

Hilde wondered if maybe she could take it upon herself and rehabilitate the Soulreaper as she herself had been so many yes ago. Could she sway her? If not, then she would have to destroy her.

Not one given to indecision, she made the choice, she would track down her sister Soulreaper and one way or the other, deal with the situation.

Letting out a slow breath, she contemplated possible courses of action. Given all of the recent happenings involving not only her circle but several others, she thought it prudent to resolve the situation as quickly and as quietly as possible and with minimal collateral damage.

Strumming manicured French cut nails across the surface of her kitchen table, there was little doubt as to which of the women in her circle she would bring along to assist her. Serah and Selene. Almost polar opposites. Perhaps the strongest of all her circle, possibly even stronger than herself, snowy haired Serah was the only known offspring of the Pale Queen, just a child when Hilde had first met her so long ago. Misfortune had turned her aloof and cold, transforming the innocent child into a ruthless hunter without peer, without mercy. Selene on the other hand was a gregarious playful woman possessed of hair so dark it was considered blue-black, bright violet colored eyes full of whimsy. Disposition aside, she was also very adept at the use of power. One would never suspected she was a child of the God of War.

In less than two hours, the three women were in the air aboard one of Heller International’s private Gulfstream G650ER S/N 6105 jets destined for Colorado.

Hands folded in her lap, Serah sat quickly at the rear of the opulent cabin passive expression on her exceptionally pretty face, except for her frosty blue eyes, they were alert, focused, reminding Hilde of a raptor waiting for prey.

Selene reclined in her leather seat, eyes closed, mischievous smile on her lips as they traveled.

Hilde exchanged communication with Marissa getting all of the pertinent details about the entire situation, locations, involved parties, including the support team. She also made contact with the local authorities, able to get information about the discovery of the team’s abandoned rental van.

By the time they landed, she had significantly narrowed down their search parameters.