Even with the condensed version of events and a datapad with more detailed information, it still took about four hours to unveil the entire situation to The Wise One and Kara, and they were completely shocked by it.
The Wise One had been glad to have told Hunter to pretend that he didn't know anything, because his story was just as enlightening to him as it was to Kara. He never imagined that this side-along organization had been so prolific throughout The Order's domain and having a record of the people they had killed, the current orders for assassinations, and the future targets they were to keep an eye on, really showed that both he, and The Order, had been well and truly corrupted by Dark forces.
“Hunter, I have to thank you for bringing this to our attention.” The Wise One said. “You have my word that we will look into these last two training camps as soon as possible.”
“Will you be sending Master Moor?” I asked and Kara took in a sharp breath and shook slightly.
The Wise One chuckle coughed at her reaction. “Yes, I wouldn't trust anyone lower in The Order's structure with the task.”
“I'd like to go with her.” I said and Kara's mouth dropped open at the offer.
“If it is possible to send you along, it shall be so.” The Wise One said. “Unfortunately, we must now address the matter with the council.”
“He left, didn't he?” I asked and The Wise One nodded. “How long after Kara's ship exploded?”
“A week.” The Wise One said. “I am tempted to send someone after him, or to warn those around him of his... actions... but, it is better that he believes that he got away with it for now.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then I realized what he meant. “You don't want me to tell the council.”
“No. They won't believe you, even with your evidence, because of Kralish's orders.” The Wise One said. “On their own they didn't mean much. Combined in the way he gave them and executed in sequence, made anything you brought to the council become suspected as fake.”
“They won't even believe their own Presence detection.” I said and he nodded.
“They are going to sentence him to death for it.” Kara said.
“No, Hunter is right. He is too valuable to remove from the playing field. He will most likely be imprisoned for the next ten to fifteen years.”
“You want me to accept that.” I asked and he nodded. “Why?”
“To give Master Moor and I time.” The Wise One said. “The data you've collected from so many sources is quite prevalent. Even with our enhanced mental abilities, it will take months for us to go through it all.”
“Then what?” I asked. “You expect me to just sit in prison while you and Master Moor try to clean up the mess?”
Kara took in another sharp breath at her title. She didn't tremble this time, though.
“Yes. Be a model prisoner. Don't cause trouble. Don't antagonize any of the other prisoners or the guards.” The Wise One said. “I will personally install several key people in certain areas of wherever you are sent.”
“How will I discover them, whoever they are?” I asked, quite stupidly.
The Wise One laughed and it sounded like he was throwing up. He slapped a clawed appendage on the top of his desk several times, too. “Ha! I needed a good laugh! Thank you.”
“We should go to the council chamber and face them together.” Kara said and stood.
I stood as well and she gave me an apologetic look. She regretted her automatic reaction to distance herself from me, especially since I had actually done a lot of good with my actions and not the surpreme evil she had thought it was.
“It's getting late.” The Wise One said. “Why don't you retire for the night and I will inform the council you will attend to them tomorrow.”
I smiled. “You want me to walk out of here and not use Stealth.”
The Wise One chuckle coughed. “It should get quite the reaction.”
“All right.” I said. “It was nice meeting you again.”
“Likewise.” The Wise One said.
Kara and I walked over to the door of the office. When I reached for the door handle, The Wise One spoke.
“One more question.” The Wise One said. “Hunter, did you destroy the focusing crystal sacred site?”
“Yes.” I admitted and Kara gasped.
“It really was you?!?” Kara asked.
“Why did you do it?” The Wise One asked.
“I raided it for focusing crystals, then when I tried to leave, I was informed I was about to be captured and killed. I ordered the destruction of two ships in orbit, a fast courier and a fast cargo ship, then I ordered the mine to be bombed with missiles.”
“No!” Kara said loudly.
“I couldn't let anyone send out a message about the raid and you know how volatile unrefined crystals are.” I said and gave an apologetic look to Kara. “I didn't realize how... energetic... the destruction would be.” I turned to face The Wise One. “Now we all know what happens when a sacred site is hit with multiple ship missiles from orbit.”
The three of us were silent for almost a full minute.
“You didn't know it would destroy the planet.” The Wise One said.
I shook my head. “The crystals were apparently so deep that they reached the molten core. That information isn't anywhere in anything I've found.”
“That's because no one knew.” The Wise One said. “How would we even go about measuring down inside the core of a planet to see how far the crystals go?” He let out a sigh. “It's too bad that the data of the aftermath was lost with Kara's ship.”
“You mean this data?” Kara asked and pulled out a datapad with a copy of the information on it. “I always take a copy of important data now.”
“Here's mine as well.” I said and took out a data chip. “It was... just watch it. You'll see.”
The Wise One accepted both items and stared at them, so Kara and I left the office. As we walked to the front part of the office and to the secretary's desk, I put a hand on Kara's shoulder.
“Hold on for a minute.” I said and stepped over to the secretary.
She looked up at me with surprise as she saw me with her own eyes. “But... I thought...”
“I need a favor.” I said and walked around the desk, then I turned her chair and I bent over slightly as I put my hands on her shoulders. “Can you enter into The Order's main database and give me access to everything?”
“What?” She blinked her eyes at me and I shared a calming technique with her as well as some Presence. She caught her breath as her Presence accepted my energy eagerly. “Oh, Goddess.”
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
“All those people I killed were assassins, spread out over thousands of worlds.” I said and she stared at me with her mouth wide open in shock, because the Presence didn't waver. “I want to do the same thing on all of the worlds that The Order has access to.”
“You... you want me to...”
“Help me rid the universe of evil.” I said and knelt on one knee. “Please.”
She put her hands on my hands, that were still on her shoulders, and she gave them a squeeze and moved them off. She turned back to her desk and typed several commands, much too quickly for me to read, then she moved her chair out of the way.
I took out my broadcast device and quickly hooked it up to the standard port in the console, then I did my own typing. After a minute, every screen, intercom, and communication device on the entire planet emitted the detonation signal. A dozen people died instantly and their deaths were reported immediately. The notification appeared on the console's display and both Kara and the secretary saw it.
“That's on The Order's home planet after I had already sent the signal before.” I said and typed up another few commands, then gave Kara a brief look and then looked right at the secretary. I saw her determination and I heard her thoughts. She was happy to help rid the universe of assassins, so I smiled at her and hit send.
Nothing happened right away, since The Order's messaging network was quite a bit slower than my own. I wasn't sure if it was because their technology protocols were a lot older than mine or because their processing speed was far inferior to mine. Either way, it was going to take a long time for the signal to be sent to everywhere The Order had their offices, temples, and compounds. I excluded the sacred sites and the two remaining training camps, of course.
I unplugged the device and tucked it away and turned to her. “You've helped me purge a scourge that no one really knew existed.” I said and took her hand, then I leaned forward and gave her a light kiss on the lips. “Thank you very much.”
The secretary's face was bright red. “You're welcome.”
“I'd suggest changing your passwords and things, just in case.” I stood up and let her hand go.
“You didn't see it anyway.” She said confidently.
I smiled and nodded, then Kara and I left the building. Everyone that saw me reacted in some way, mostly negatively. They had only heard the bad part of the story, that I had killed millions of people, so I was bombarded with hostility and mental threats. I deflected everything and greeted people with smiles, pleasantries, and hand waves. That just made them angrier.
“Hunter, stop antagonizing people.” Kara whispered as she led me to her living quarters.
“But, they expect me to.” I whispered back. “Hello!” I said and waved enthusiastically at the next Order member we passed.
“Why are you still alive and so many others are dead?” She asked angrily.
“I didn't have a suicide charge in my head that I could detonate.” I said with a grin. “Bye!”
The woman stopped walking and stared at me, because the Presence didn't waver.
“Oh, Goddess.” Kara sighed and shook her head as she opened the door of the building. “Get inside before they decide to come here and lynch you.”
I chuckled and we went inside and up in the lift to the right floor and walked over to her apartment. We went inside and Kara set the security notice to inform her if anyone approached the door. It was then that we both felt something and we turned to look out the wall of windows.
“What the heck is...” Kara started to ask as the powerful Presence approached at breakneck speed. “Oh, Goddess!” She exclaimed when a circular Presence Barrier rushed towards the window and then stopped just in front of the glass. The green energy became opaque and we saw that a four foot tall pink-skinned pixie-like alien floated in the center.
“Lashina.” I said, almost in awe.
Lashina's long flowing silver-white hair had come undone and it floated around behind her as if it was in water. Her Presence surged when she locked eyes with me and I felt a huge tingle go from the top of my spine and all the way down my back. It made me shiver and she smiled, because she knew it was a good reaction.
She opened her hands and hundreds of small Presence Blades appeared around her and swiped at her faster than lightning. They completely shredded her robes and underclothes in an instant and then faded away as the tattered cloth fell off and landed on the bottom of the barrier.
“Oh... my.” I whispered as she completely revealed herself to me, then she floated towards me through the wall of windows.
“WAIT!” Kara yelled too late.
Lashina's Presence Barrier, enhanced by the shield pendant I had given her, easily pushed the feeble windows, wall, ceiling and floor out of the way. She stopped five feet inside the apartment and reached a hand out to me.
I didn't hesitate as I reached out and my hand went through her Presence Barrier and I clasped her hand. The small Presence Blades made another appearance and shredded my clothes as well. I protected the bags of holding and the hidden belt I wore and she smiled as she felt my slight mental admonishment.
Huuunnnnteeerrrrr. Lashina purred into my mind as she saw what I looked like now and that I was very ready for her. Oh, Hunter!
Oh, Goddess. Kara thought and tried not to stare at me being completely naked in front of her.
I ignored her and stepped into Lashina's barrier and took her into a hug, then I added my own Presence to the barrier. The green color changed to bright blue and became solid, then I kissed her. Lashina moaned as our energies merged and then she broke the kiss and gave me frantic eyes.
“Kara, I'll be back in the morning.” I said, because I recognized that look, then Lashina made the solid Presence Barrier smash back out through the wrecked wall and we disappeared from everyone's sight.
*
A short time later, a lot of people in the compound, both Order members and guards, couldn't help but notice that the East Forest Glade started to glow with Presence. That had never happened before, for as long as anyone could remember, and when people tried to go to Lashina's office to ask her, since they knew she had been around for over a hundred years, it was empty.
Most of the council members felt the disturbance and passed it off as an errant anomaly that didn't affect them, and that was true for the most part, except for the fact that it was caused by two individuals and not by a freak of nature.
Kara on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on. She stood at the edge of her destroyed apartment, almost in awe, as she felt the energies being manipulated and tossed around in the forest. She never suspected that Lashina was powerful enough to elicit a change in the forest's ambient energy.
The Wise One was in his inner sanctum and had entered a closed meditative state, because he didn't want to experience the things going on inside the forest or feel the ripple in the Presence the two beings cavorting within it were causing. He knew that having someone as powerful as Lashina around was going to cause problems eventually, which was why he usually kept her close by and limited her exposure to the outside world.
The last thing he wanted was for her to learn new skills that she could apply her ridiculous amount of Presence to. He never imagined that someone else coming there would give her the very thing he had tried to deny her. Experience in Presence wielding.
*
Lashina was in heaven.
The Marcus / Aaron / Ullir / Hunter person she had known was no more, and what replaced him was a being that she couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams. His expert Presence use and his centuries of experiences filled her mind, while his body filled hers to the brim. She overflowed with knowledge, love, sex, and Presence, and she came over and over again as they made love over and over again.
Lashina was swept away by the ancient being she was with. Normally, she would have been the ancient being who swept away those before her, like she had with Hunter when they finally got together after his seventeenth birthday. Now, she didn't care that he was six hundred years older than her and she gave herself over to everything that he was, everything he had been, and everything he would become.
Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, and hours became all night.
The next morning, two very exhausted people cuddled in the middle of the clearing by the river. Grass, dirt, trees, large boulders, and even a part of the riverbank had been torn up and altered while they had played and chased and had sex. They had spent a significant portion of the Presence they had, as well as used a good portion of the forest's Presence to enhance their experience.
“That... was so much... fun!” Lashina panted. “Hunter, you... I can't believe...”
“Yeah.” Hunter said and hugged her close. “I'm just sorry that it's not time for us to be together.”
“I know.” Lashina said. “I was prepared for a few decades from now, since that was when I had guessed you would be back here.” She said, then her voice dropped to a whisper. “I don't know why I acted this way when you showed up this early.”
Hunter chuckled. “I know why.” He said and gave her a kiss. “It's the same reason I reacted so badly when the council took Emari away from me when I was eleven.”
Lashina looked into his eyes and her mind delved deep into his psyche, and he didn't resist her at all. He let her look and explore and see everything he had ever done and she loved him so much because of that.
“You really aren't afraid of me doing this.” Lashina said.
“After what we did when we slept together for the first time?” Hunter asked and then laughed. “We barely left the bed for a week!”
Lashina tried to stop herself, then she laughed. “I was so hungry for you back then!”
“Then?” Hunter asked with a grin.
“All right, I still am!” Lashina admitted and then kissed him passionately. “I couldn't help myself!”
“I can feel how much you need me to share with you.” Hunter said.
“I didn't know I needed it so badly until you showed up.” Lashina said.
Hunter used Presence and felt her all the way inside and up to her brain.
“Ohhhhh! Mmmmmm!” Lashina moaned at the sensations. “Don't stop!”
Hunter closed his eyes and did that old 'checking her all over' trick she had taught him using Presence. He held in his laugh at how young and naive he had been to not see the pleasure she had gotten from it.
“I loved that about you.” Lashina said and Hunter opened his eyes. “You thought you were so far ahead of everyone and you still missed a lot of basic things.”
Hunter chuckled. “Now I know better.”
“By the Goddess, yes you do.” Lashina said and rolled over on top of him.
“I thought you were exhausted.” Hunter said with a smile.
“I can be exhausted later when you leave.” Lashina said and kissed him.