Single post in Shadow Collectors

She hadn’t been ninja-silent while getting up, but fortunately no third lashing. Could this meister still see her somehow? Couldn’t he hear her move around? Maybe he was too far away to pinpoint her position. Shannon tried to dull the low rustles of clothing shifting against her body, but her motions hadn’t regained any sense of steadiness yet. Carefully pressing her right hand against the container, she stood as still as she could manage and listened. Silent seconds passed. Correction: near-silent. The rhythmic pinging hadn’t started to let up yet, but it wasn’t the first time she’d had to ignore it to focus on separate target. Still, she couldn’t hear anything like movement. Then again, she couldn’t hear movement before either… not until those stamping footsteps came charging at her. Shannon’s eyes popped open. He did have a light though! Using her fingertips to guide her, she quietly tipped to the edge of the container and rounded its corner back towards the way she’d entered the warehouse. She silently hoped the dim light bleeding from outside wouldn’t alert the meister of her position as she stepped past. All she had to do was make the shadows her best friends… because she knew exactly where the right container was. Crossing the room to reach that container was another matter entirely. She assumed it wouldn’t be long before this guy remembered his light. But since Shannon wasn’t sure where he’d hidden himself, she could only hope that when he did turn it on again, she wouldn’t be caught in its glow. The annoying pinging started to become distant. She had to hurry. Reaching into her pouch, Shannon yanked out her flashlight after an idea hit her. Time to find out how quick and quiet she could really be. Blindly allowing her fingers to slide across the container’s metal surface, she found its next edge and carefully crouched. Her back and side flared up. She barely suppressed another wince and felt moisture forming in the corners of her eyes. Exhaling slowly through slightly pursed lips, she pitched her flashlight underhandedly toward the middle of the warehouse. A silent second passed, long enough for her to duck back behind the container. The flashlight clattered against the floor. The thin ribbon whipped through the air. It didn’t connect with anything and vanished a second later. But Shannon spotted where it originated… in the direction the pinging guided her, just a few meters overhead. How was that possible? Could he teleport? Levitate? A beam of light appeared, aimed in the direction she had thrown her flashlight. Shannon held her breath, wiped her eyes and watched. Without her weapon, she wanted to avoid all conflict. She silently leered as a barely visible silhouette drifted towards her flashlight like a geist. This was her chance. Nearly on her toes, Shannon carefully crept around the corner of another container once sure she was out of his peripheral. Now completely shielded from view, her tipping hastened because of the fading pings. Her rune’s power was wearing off fast. She only had seconds before it would completely abandon her. At the back edge of the next container—that felt wooden against her fingers—Shannon paused to peek her head out. The room had gone dark again. Shannon swallowed hard. No way would he fall for the same trick again, not that she had anything else to throw. With no other diversions coming to mind and no idea where he was, Shannon just had to go for it! With the pings slowing in frequency, she ran as fast as she could. Shannon’s side burned intensely from the heavy exertion. Heavy footsteps thudded across the floor. “Please!” she pleaded through a half-whisper with her right hand stretched out into the darkness. Her palm suddenly pressed against a solid object. A sharp pain cut through her wrist. A deafening roar filled her ears. Something very hard slammed into the back of her head. Shannon fell forward. Her forehead clanged off the container as her body fell limp to the floor without the slightest moment to wonder if she had succeeded.