Afterglow

Chapter 4 - ESSO

AL IXER'S POV

As soon as I was able to smuggle myself into the abandoned house, I quickly told Mr. Hawk to proceed. Whenever I wave my hand in the direction where he should go, he takes off rapidly off my shoulder, and I continue to stroll slowly along a straight hallway. Mr. Hawk is adept at working in confined spaces.

My companion has been with me since I was a child, and through all of the time we have spent together, not only has my power and ability continued to grow, but so have my abilities. When it comes to resizing and attacking, Mr. Hawk's timing has proven to be superb and extremely important in missions such as the one I am currently engaged in.

The fact that the entire abandoned house was covered in darkness gave Mr. Hawk an edge in his attempts to move quickly around the abandoned house. Only a few rays of light shining through the cracks in the roof and through some elements of the home are sufficient to allow me to see around corners and into tight spaces.

The entire structure had been devastated. Each room of the house, with the exception of the dusty flooring and cracked walls, has been devoid of any evidence of life. However, this cannot be the case. Surely, the two White Steorras that I just happened to see earlier aren't the only ones in the vicinity.

This location was supplied to me by a courier from the Earth Safety and Security Organization. It's impossible that they sent me here for no reason. It's a shame. In the event that those cretins brought me here solely to waste my time, I swear I will kill them as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Those ungrateful parasites couldn't give a damn if we had been defending them all along.

Since I am just a colonel, the only Black Steorras who can attend the virtual meetings are those who are in higher positions, such as my father. While I'm so interested in learning everything which is being discussed in those virtual meetings.

However, based on what I've heard from my fellow Black Steorras, the ESSO's officials don't have faith in us. Despite the fact that we have been safeguarding them for years, they still do not have faith in us. They have every reason to be skeptical of us, but we, the Black Steorras, are the exception. We have already demonstrated our commitment to protecting the Earth from our own people.

As I sighed, the images of ESSO's folly from my head were banished from my thoughts. I'm on a quest, and no one can help me. Thinking about such things will do absolutely nothing to help me right now. I need to cleanse my thoughts and concentrate on what lies ahead.

In the meantime, I'm still wandering about the abandoned house. Because it was so large, I needed to cover every inch of it. Mr. Hawk's assistance saves me time by searching every room of the abandoned house, which saves me time from having to look all over the place myself.

A White Steorras hideout seems to be the location that was delivered to me, according to the information I was given. However, I've been searching for minutes now and have yet to come across any signs of life in this place. I'll be the first to know if this deserted house has served as a hideout for the White Steorras.

But nothing, not even a trace of a footprint on the dusty floor, will suffice as proof that someone has been here, however there is nothing at all. It appears like the two White Steorra that I spotted earlier are simply passing through.

"Tch, this mission stinks," I said. "It was a complete waste of time for me to come here."

Prior to visiting this abandoned house, I conducted extensive research into human dwellings, as their homes are vastly different from our home in Steorra, where everything is entirely powered by advanced technology. However, the house I'm currently in is filthy and dusty, and it's not a pleasant environment. No matter what happened to this house, it is obviously not a safe haven for anyone looking to get away.

Until I turned around and took one step, which proved to be my biggest error, I noticed the steps leading down to an underground space, which I believe humans refer to as a basement.

I'm going to take a fall down a flight of stairs. Crap!

Everything happened in such a short period of time. My forehead has already been banged on the wooden stairwell before I can even transfer to a secure location. My body continued to stumble down the stairs, making me dizzy, until I felt the cold concrete in my back and the dust on the floor that was now adhering to the palm of my hand.

"Ugh." As the agony in my head persisted, I groaned a little louder. It's so painful that I'm considering taking a nap, even if the dust in this house is already sticking to my perspiration-soaked skin.

Falling down the stairs is such a clumsy move. If any of my friends are present, they will almost certainly laugh at me or make fun of me because they have known me for so many years. It's a story that I'll get tired of hearing.

"Tch. Coming here was a complete waste of time for me." After much deliberation, I decided to eventually get up from my prone position on the thick layer of dust in the basement.

Oh, I'm absolutely going to share this with my father. He has a right to know how nasty the ESSO's officials have been to us in the past. It's not a problem that we're squandering our time defending the world, but after witnessing how conceited the ESSO's officials are toward us, I'm beginning to dislike the people who live on the planet we're attempting to protect.

So disappointed, I went through my garments and removed the dust that had stuck to them. "I despise this abomination of a house. They are as dirty as this place, and so are those authorities."

I groan and swivel my head to have a look around in the basement. This aspect of the house had almost slipped my mind. Everything in here is dusty and full of dirt, which has already gotten into the room through the little windows.

As I continue to look around the room with my eyes, I'm becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the situation. To be more specific, to what is still in here. Everything is covered in a thick layer of dust, yet certain objects are covered with white sheets that appear to be untouched.

"What was the point of sending me here in the first place?" I stated it in hushed tones till my attention was drawn to something.

From the inside of a small convenient box, there is a green light that is constantly flickering and blinking. Curiosity piqued my interest, and I began to walk slowly and discreetly towards it. Every one of my steps makes a faint thump against the dusty hardwood floor beneath my feet.

Until I got close enough to notice that the green flashing light is now blinking at a much quicker rate than it was previously. And then it abruptly erupted before I could even get close to it, the explosive produce flashes of light together with it's strong force.

It was so powerful that I felt as if I was about to fly through the air together with the strong blow until I felt my back hit the wall with powerful force.

Feeling dazed, I tried to move a little bit while I continue to hear the ringing sound in my ear that is slowly fading every passing seconds.

"Ugh, fuck." I coughed as the dust in the entire room continued to fly around due to the explosion, which I knew was probably put by those White Steorras in the first place.

The ESSO's officials and their idiocy caused me to be really enraged before, but now that I've almost lost my face as a result of their idiotic explosion, I can confidently declare that this abandoned house is a White Steorra Hideout, as previously stated.

They most likely planted this bomb so that if someone came to this location looking for their trail, the spy would be despatched immediately. However, because I am infused with the blood of our Ancient Steorras, it will take more than a simple bomb to bring me down.

Those little s**t. If I come across to White Steorra wandering around, I will absolutely finish them off. No one has the authority to detonate an explosive device intended to murder me and get away with it.

While my back was hurting from standing up, I slowly rose to my feet. Even though the agony persisted, the ringing in my ear persisted as well, making me groaned in frustration.

To keep myself from falling, I strolled approached a wooden chair that was caked with dust before sitting down on it for a while.

I'm taking some time off to recharge my batteries. I'm quite aware that I'm not in the best of places to relax, but Just one minute will do.

While I was resting, I heard Mr. Hawk's screeches, which caused me to sigh before responding to him.

"I'm down here," I muttered before feeling a section of my ear and when I looked down at my finger, there was blood on it. "This is completely ridiculous. Now, I'm bleeding through my ears."

I heard Mr. Hawk's screeches once more, so I raised my left hand for Mr. Hawk to land on it. After feeling his talons on my hand, I waited for him to approach my shoulder and stand on it.

"Did you come across anything?" I questioned, not paying attention to Mr. Hawk's movements as he attended to my injured ear.

Mr. Hawk's response blended with the ringing in my ears, which is now gradually diminishing as a result of the medicine Mr. Hawk is administering in my ear. It's a piece of amethyst. A purple stone with healing capabilities that has been charged with the energy of a gifted someone such as myself who works with medicines and has the power of light.

It's a good thing that Dad has Mr. Hawk well-trained.