Bloodlusters Series

The Aberrations

He didn't know how it had happened but he had been compromised. For three decades, he had been responsible for one thing and one thing only, to find Aberrations. There were only three other people who knew of his existence and not one of them knew the full extent of his project, for should anyone of them be compromised, the information that they each held would be useless by themselves but together. He gulped at the thought. So how had they found him out so easily? The only way would have been if this unknown enemy that is now hunting him had managed to extract the information of his whereabouts from the three Guardians. If so, then they would surely have been killed in the process. His chest ached at the thought of his close friends lives snuffed out, all because of him.

Markus Wayne wiped his sweaty palms on the side of his pants. "I'm getting too old for this", he thought to himself. At 34, he had the look and physicality of someone who was in their early twenties. He didn't look the part of a secluded science genius but rather, he exuded that aura of primal dominance that apex predators had. But now as he watched the screens before him and the tiny figures scurrying about, all this vanished as he feared for his life's work much more than his life.

For years, the world has been ruled by mages of only the strongest pedigree. Bloodline was the key component to a powerful magus, and Markus had dedicated his life to finding out how they affected a person's power and had succeeded. He held the scroll tightly to his chest as the figures in the screen came across a huge vaulted door and he knew that they had reached him. He controlled his breathing, reaching out into his mind and shutting off all fear, focused only on the men assaulting the magically reinforced door of his lab. He counted three Caster and two Weavers in the screen. They really were not taking chances he thought before the door was blasted into the room on his right side.

The two Weavers were crouched low with a barrier of translucent gray, much like a riot shield, in their hands. The casters were not far behind as they entered the room. Markus reached into the Void and drew forth a pair of swords fashioned like the Japanese's, dai-katana the longest sword of the samurai. He slashed the orb of concentrated arcane energy one of the Casters had fired at him into half. The swords he wielded were sharp enough to cut Titanium in half like it was butter but Markus knew that the more he used Hallow, the weaker he will get and in the end, fatigue will bring him involuntarily to his knees.

The Weavers who had stood at the front, to protect the Casters were stunned to see their shields sliced in half like paper under a knife. They drew back from Markus, Weaved themselves spears using the astral energies of the Void, to hold back the huge man before them; tense muscles stood out on his necks like steel cables and his eyes that never stopped on one spot for too long.

Markus ducked under a spear thrust and drew his swords vertically up on one of the Weaver's body, slicing him open perfectly in half. The other man had stabbed wildly at him after his companion had been felled by Hallow.

The remaining weaver fell soon after, no match to Markus' superior strength and dexterity. All this had happened in less than 10 seconds and as Markus looked up from the men that he had just killed, he felt a hard blow hit him on squarely his chest and drove him into the ground. With the Weavers in the way, the Casters hadn't able to get a clear shot but now that only the four of them were left, they had taken the opportunity and had combined their arcane energy into one powerful magic missile intended to blast Markus into bits.

He tried standing up but found the pain too unbearable, the Casters seeing him unable to stand up had searched him and found what they were looking for. They left him there, semi-conscious, knowing that all was lost as he succumbed to his fate.