Anomaly

„Worked!", the newcomer said in a low voice that could have been mistaken as a cats purr.

„A Pantherian? No, wait, her skin is to light, and that voice! Even her eyes are green!"

„Hm? What are you talking about, Loras?", Aya asked curiously.

„Ah, right you aren"t familiar with other races then humans, if I"m right she should be a pantherian, a tribe of beastman."

In front of them stood a small girl, around the same size as Aya. Her skin was fair and light while her hair was midnight-black and reached only down to her chin until it changed into black fur that covered her neck, a part of her shoulders and front, as well as her whole back down to her tailbone where one could see a long, elegant cattail moving through the air. Her head was adorned by a pair of beautiful cat ears that moved attentively left and right as if to not miss the smallest sound, while her bright green, almost glowing, eyes looked at the rest of them with a sharpness that didn"t quite fit the rest of her cute face, only to be further strengthened by her cat-like pupils.

„I can see that she is a beast person, I"m not blind!"

„Ah, right, I still can"t wrap my head around how your people managed to come up with races that don"t exist in your world while still getting the names mostly right."

„Hey, it"s not nice to talk in front of her like this! My name is Julia, what is yours?"

„Shade."

„Urgh, we won"t get anywhere like this, you are a Nightwalker, right?"

„Nn.", Shade nodded her head.

„Well, I never thought I"d ever get to see a nightwalker. Nightwalker are an extremely rare mutation that can happen in the pantherian tribe. Normally pantherians are rather large and muscular, with rather dark skin and much less fur than her. Also, they have mostly yellow, rarely blue eyes. Pantherians are said to be some of the best naturally gifted a.s.sa.s.sins combining great stealth and a high amount of explosive strength. A nightwalker is different in many points, they are much smaller and less muscular, their eyes are green without exception and their beastly blood is much stronger. That is shown in their eyes, giving them great night vision, their fur, and their b.e.s.t.i.a.l instincts. On the other hand, it"s said that it makes talking very hard for them, as we can obviously hear. Considering their abilities there are also differences as well. For one they have an extreme affinity with the darkness element in terms of magic. On the other side, their explosive strength is much lower but they are even faster, more agile as well as stealthier. Also, it is said, when a nightwalker is born in a pantherian family the child gets taken away immediately to start their training as a.s.sa.s.sins while the family gets a reward that"s enough that the next two generations could live of of it without having to ever lift a finger. I don"t know anything about the abilities of a fully trained nightwalker, only rumors, the only thing that is known is that they almost exclusively use bow and arrow, very rarely do they use blades and even then it"s said that they are using arrowheads. Some of the still most believable rumors would be, that they can hide from a person on an open field, just by staying out if their field of vision, or that they are so fast with their bows that even if they stood right in front of you, you would have an arrow stuck in each eye before you could even think of drawing your sword! In short, they are, without exception, extremely dangerous individuals!"

During the entire duration if Loras explanation Shade would only nod in affirmation every now and then or utter a satisfied and proud:

„Nn."

When they tried looking at Shade, they realized that she was long gone from where she was before. Instead, they heard a low purring sound from Aya"s direction, when they looked to her they saw a picture that didn"t quite fit with the earlier description, as they could see Aya petting and stroking Shade"s head that laid in her lap who was the source of the purring. Both had a rather satisfied expression on their faces.

Truly, the legendary stealth of a nightwalker!

„Hoh, he says you are dangerous.", Aya said to Shade, still not stopping to pet her.

„How come you know so much about them?"

„*cough* *cough* Well, I am the first prince of a kingdom after all. So I need to know such things as I could get involved with them at any time. No matter if I am on the giving or receiving end of their service, as they are the best a.s.sa.s.sins you can buy for money."

„Oh, right, you said that something ‚worked" when you first came here, what did you mean, Shade?", Aya continued.

„Ritual."

„A ritual? Ritual of what kind?", asked Aya further.

„When Nightwalker turns 15, offering service to G.o.ddess with ritual. Almost never works, but for me, did."

„Eh, you are three years younger than me?", Aya asked her in astonishment and with a tinge of sadness.

„Three years older?", Shade asked back, with the same astonished face that Aya had, unknowingly rubbing salt into her wounds.