The Hunter's arrow

CHAPTER 1

Memphis Eurali flicked quickly through the morning post. Nothing. Not a single letter. Hunter was meant to be sending her the information through post, but nothing had come, not yet anyway. Memphis was sixteen, she was the daughter of Fabien Eurali, her Father who worked for the DTA.In other words, the Dragon Trust Association. He was tall, strong and not afraid of anything. Talents which he passed down to his daughter.

She wanted something more of her life, she hated doing the same things every day.
Just as she had sighed and thrown the post back onto the floor, she heard raised voices, coming from the sitting room. Overcome by her curiosity, she crept up to the door and put an ear to the wide keyhole.

“You said it yourself Fabien, you said it, the day it happened, the day you thought you knew best. You believed it true too!”
“Don’t you go accusing me of anything, you’re not much better. You snide, you are a conniving good for nothing waster who spends his time making everyone else’s lives miserable! You think of no one but yourself, you are a hypocrite! You think you know everything? Well take a look at THIS!”
There was a short scratch and a rustle as Fabien presumably shoved something paper like at the man arguing with him.

Then silence. Memphis tried hard not to make a noise, she stayed still, willing for her velvet cloak to stay quiet, and not rustle. She breathed slowly as she listened to the silence in the room.
“F-Fabien, I never realised. I’m speechless, I don’t know what to say”
A voice said back, in almost a growl.
“Haven’t you said enough?”
Hunter?

Of course, the voice! She couldn’t believe she’d missed it. Memphis didn’t wait a second longer, she ran into the room, chestnut hair bouncing in curls over her shoulders, into Hunter’s arms.
“Memphis! My dear, I haven’t seen you in…….well, it must have been three years! How are you?”
Memphis knew he was putting this on. She decided to go along with it.
“Fine thank you, how are you?”
This conversation went on for another twenty seconds, then Fabien grunted: “Get out of my house”

Hunter stopped smiling and turned to Fabien, who was sat on the leather lounger, staring up at him, fire brimming in his eyes.
“Fine, if that’s how you want it, I’ll be……..seeing you”
It was then that Memphis noticed a slightly screwn up newspaper strewn across a chair over at the other side of the room. She moved closer, leaned across, squinted to read the headline.
It bore the words MIDDLE AGED MAN IMPALES HIMSELF ON BANISTER.

Her stomach tuned backflips when she read the name underneath the smiling portrait picture, it was none other than Celeus Hunter.

Fabien Eurali lay back slightly as Celeus closed the mahogany door behind him and his daughter, Memphis. Looking at the wine bottle sat on the table, he reached for his glass and started to pour. His stomach turned as it swirled into the glass, it looked like blood, dark red blood swishing and turning in a tornado of cold chilling darkness. A few minutes later, he paced over to the marble sink and poured the wine straight down the plughole.

Hunter walked briskly across the top corridors of the castle, Memphis was hurrying to keep up, she had to jog at times to catch up with him.
“Hunter?”
“Yes”
She didn’t know how to state this question, so she just went straight out and said it bluntly.
“Did you impale yourself on a banister?”
Stupid, stupid!
He came to an abrupt stop, Memphis tripped slightly as she bumped into Hunter.
“Memphis, give me your hand”

A little uncertainly, she held out a hand. She realised that it was the hand with the ring, so she quickly swapped it over. He didn’t seem to notice.
Memphis had received the ring from her long gone Mother for her tenth birthday, it was magic. She, looking back, thought that it sounded stupid, being ‘magic’ but it was, that ring had the ability to change the wearer’s appearance at will. She loved this ring, it was silver with a shimmering white stone moulded in the top, it changed colour to different light.

Hunter took hold of her arm, gently, his hand was warm and smooth, his touch careful. He held Memphis’ arm up to his face and pressed her hand against it. Her scream echoed around the grounds, looking forward, her hand went straight through and out the other side, her arm felt wet whilst it was through his head, it felt as if she was bathing her hand in water.
“You’re a……….a……….ghost”
Memphis slowly began to get her breath back.
“You see? See what I have become, see what I must do to survive?”
“I…..thought they made an error in the newspaper, I couldn’t believe it, but now? It’s true isn’t it! You went to the faeries!”
Memphis turned around, not wanting to see his face.
“Mimi”
She turned around, softened by her childhood nickname.

“I went to them, for many reasons. I had so many things I still need to achieve in my life, so many goals yet to seek. I couldn’t leave this world knowing that all I had made of myself in my time was basically nothing. Nothing I could be proud of or look back on. I had to come back Mimi, it was the only way for me”
“Accepted." He fingers were crossed behind her back. "I’ll see you tomorrow Hunter, good day”
Memphis walked away down the steps of the tower and onto the ground floor, shocked and angry, thinking of nothing but a slightly stubbly face framed in her mind. Stupid Hunter. She would never forgive him for this.