Hiding in the trash sucked. An obvious revelation, some might say, but Pecta was currently learning this the hard way. The sounds of the Flow Celebration drifted faintly through the alley. Laughter, music, and singing. It wasn't pleasant to think of the joy that other people were experiencing, while he was squatting between rotting food and literal shit.
For the hundredth time, he cursed his willingness to help others. That willingness was the reason for his current suffering. Since Vindict couldn’t leave Seran for the foreseeable future, Pecta had decided to gather information about his companion’s predicament. This had led him into the twisted world of Seran’s underbelly.
At first glance, it seemed simple. Most criminals weren’t organised and stuck to petty crime. No big drug deals, no slave trade, or anything like that. The Desert Vipers were an outlier, circling above the rest like birds of prey, picking off individuals who had incurred the wrath of someone with a lot of money. Or, in other words, nobles. Easy to understand, right?
Seran was tame compared to other cities Pecta had lived in. It probably helped that none of the big political players had a finger in the city. If the Creator’s Church or Noctus’ Dream were here, it would most likely result in a daily bloodbath.
Well, that simple balance changed a few years ago. As one terrified thief had put it, people started disappearing. Nobody important, just a few hobos and prostitutes, individuals who weren’t missed. People chalked it up to simple coincidence, but over time it became clear that something strange was happening. Soon, people turned to the city guard and the Desert Vipers for help, but they were unusually dismissive of it. In the end, nothing was done about it and the disappearances continued.
When Pecta first heard about it, he had two possible explanations, both of equally bad. Either a monster or a cult. Sudden disappearances? It sounded a lot like a monster was regularly feeding or a cult was collecting its weekly quota of human sacrifices. There were rumours and people claiming to have seen something, but the stories varied wildly and came from less than reputable sources.
Pecta had asked Lilith about them, but she had just shrugged and said that she had no idea what he was talking about. He wasn’t sure if these disappearances had anything to do with Vindict, but they were the only lead that he had. From what he had gathered, there was no known pattern to these cases, other than the fact that they usually happened no more than a week apart.
So he had spent the last couple of days staking out locations that were solitary and frequented by the homeless. Was it cruel to use them as bait? In Pecta’s opinion, no. Whether he was there or not when they disappeared, it wouldn’t change anything. However, there was a chance that he could find out who or what was making them disappear and put a stop to it. Thus far, he had had no luck.
Sighing, he shifted in the garbage. Today had been a very promising day. With all eyes on the festival, it would have been easy to kidnap a few dregs of society without anyone noticing. But apparently, that wasn’t going to happen, because the festival would end soon.
Suddenly, a muffled scream filled the air, ending as abruptly as it had begun. Perhaps the kidnapper had decided to strike. Pecta rose quickly and hurried quietly towards the source of the sound. When he reached a corner, he carefully peeked around it.
Two figures were standing over the body of a beggar, with a thin needle protruding from his neck.
They were dressed like ordinary citizens, but Pecta could tell from their bulky frames that armour was hidden beneath the clothes. One of them quickly looked up and down the alley before turning to her partner. “Why the hell did you let him see you?!” she hissed at him. The other figure shrugged. “Just relax, nobody saw us. And even if someone did, what are they gonna do? Now-“ He removed something that looked like a carpet from his bag. “Stop wasting time and help me roll him up. You know that the Facility Lord hates it when the shipment comes late.”
The woman grumbled, but helped her partner wrap up the beggar's body. She kneeled down and fiddled with something until suddenly a blue glow emanated from the carpet. When it stopped, the body was gone. Or rather, Pecta couldn’t see it anymore. His eyes just glanced over the spot where it had been. Only the fact that he had seen it, kept him from thinking that his imagination was playing tricks on him.
He swallowed. That certainly hadn’t looked like the work of a Chosen. More like magic. Pecta wanted to curse and rejoice at the same time. First the mage in the desert and now this. That could not be a coincidence. One mage was rare enough, but two signified something bigger. Something dangerous.
At least he could cross a demonic cult from the list of suspects. The magic they used differed from the one he had seen here. Although, Pecta only had experience with one such cult, so the possibility was still on the table.
Focusing on the two figures again, they picked up the hidden body and left. They moved quickly through the winding alleys of Seran, with Pecta following. He wasn’t on Lilith’s level, but his upbringing in Wirmaw had taught him to move unseen.
Sometimes their path would be crossed by other people. Poor citizens going about their business, homeless people sleeping by the side of alleyways, and the occasional thug. None of them even glanced at the body, their eyes automatically diverted by whatever spell had been cast upon it. One unfortunate thug tried to rob them. The confrontation ended in a broken neck and a further confirmation that these people were not to be trifled with.
They finally excited into a more crowded street, somewhere in the richer part of town. The body wasn’t noticed, but their clothes and the way they carried themselves were out of place, which led to them being stopped by a patrol. The leading figure pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to the guards. Pecta couldn’t keep the shock from his face when the guards saluted and continued on their way.
The man put it back in his pocket, but not before Pecta caught a glimpse of it. A large chunk of the paper was covered with a mark consisting of a lizard's head against a yellow background, with a golden crown on its head. The crest of the City Lord. Pecta stopped himself from gulping again. This was getting worse and worse. Still, he managed to remain undetected and continued to follow them. The night was beginning to turn to day, which meant that the streets would soon get crowded. As the two figures approached the palace, he had to stop out of fear of being discovered. There were just too many guards.
Instead of going through the main entrance, the kidnappers moved around the palace, frequently having to show the guards their pass. Nevertheless, they made it through and disappeared around a corner. Pecta debated whether or not to follow them, but decided it was too risky. As he turned to leave, he pondered what it all meant.
These heretics seemed to be working under the City Lord, regularly kidnapping those who would not be missed. Pecta clenched his fist in anger and reached for his neckless of Persa. He didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter. Preying on the weak and helpless - a despicable act, only done by vile monsters and nobles.
But how did a City Lord from a backwater city in the Scorching Barrens have control over at least two mages? Pecta doubted that an ordinary City Lord had that much influence, which meant that something bigger was at play. Did they work for Zalfanum, trying to undermine the Kingdom of Sanktrum? Or maybe the Empire? And what did Vindict have to do with any of this? Or was this even related to him? Hurrying back towards the hideout, Pecta had more questions than answers.
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“Are you certain of this?” Wane asked for the second time. Amarum barely managed to suppress his eye roll. “Yes, Guild Master, I clearly saw Lilith with another member of Noctus’ Dream. They both had the signature bandages.” Wane frowned, and he could see that the other Guild Elder was doing the same.
“Noctus’ Dream is trying to push us out and cease control of Seran,” Lyn stated. An obvious conclusion. Amarum nodded. “Exactly. Why else would they hide their presence from us and have a spy in our guild?” He looked Wane directly in the eye, not even hiding the small smirk on his lips. “Let’s face it, sending a disgraced member of their organisation as punishment was just a ruse. A ruse that we fell for.”
It was obvious that the ‘we’ was just a formality. Everyone knew that what Amarum actually meant was that the Guild Master had screwed up. Wane turned his back on his subordinates and gazed out the window. The night was still dark, and the sun would not rise for another couple hours.
It had been his decision to accept Lilith as a member of the Desert Vipers. Wane had grown up in the city of Wirmaw, where he had made a connection with someone from a cell of Noctus’ Dream. When Wane moved to Seran, they kept in touch. Over the years, this person rose through the ranks to become the leader of his local cell. The Guild Master wouldn’t consider them friends, but they were good acquaintances.
So, when a letter arrived, asking him to look after a member of Noctus’ Dream who had been temporarily expelled, he agreed. Noctus’ Dream assassins were notoriously skilled, and he had thought that having one under his command wouldn’t hurt. What he had gotten had been… alright.
Lilith was disrespectful, lazy, and a troublemaker, something that he wouldn’t normally tolerate. But overall, she was competent. Very competent. She completed every job flawlessly, even if she was very selective about what work she would take on. The revelation that she was a spy came as a surprise and, even worse, undermined his authority.
He thought of his associate in Wirmaw. Would he have sent an assassin to take control of Seran? Absolutely. He and Wane understood each other well, which meant that they were both aware of their ruthlessness. And as much as Wane disliked Amarum, he knew that the assassin wouldn’t lie about what he saw. This left him in a conundrum.
Openly declaring war on one of the most powerful assassin groups in Sanktrum by raiding their lair wasn’t a good idea. Neither was letting them fester. He already had his hands full with the whole mission to capture that monster and-. An idea began to form. Why not solve one problem with another?
He turned back to his subordinates with a bright smile on his face. “This revelation is unfortunate, but don’t worry. I have long since suspected that Lilith is a traitor and have prepared appropriate countermeasures.”
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“They want what?!” Eleura barely managed to contain her anger. Not because of the request, but because her assistant had woken her in the middle of the night. “The hired assassins want to change the contract for the job,” the assistant spoke in a bored tone, as if she had not just disturbed her boss’s sleep.
“They want to lower the payment in exchange for taking care of one of their problems.” Eleura scratched her scales in irritation. “Those damn-.” The Administrator cut herself off before she could finish her outburst. These assassins had proven to be a massive disappointment. They were no closer to finding the experiment than when they had started their search. She had even considered terminating their contract, but in the end decided to keep them searching. The Overseers were starting to breathe down her neck and she needed all the help she could find.
She sighed and waved her assistant away. “Have Entar deal with them. He will handle it.” As long as it wasn’t Werth or any of his cronies, she didn’t care. Speaking of Werth, she still had to find a way to make him pay.
With that out of the way, Eleura raised an eyebrow at her assistant. “Was that all, or is there anything else that made you decide to wake me up?” Her underling looked down at the clipboard in her hand. “The City Lord has also expressed his desire to meet with you and his displeasure with the way things are going.”
The dryam rolled her eyes dismissively and shrugged. “That old fart will accept the way that things are going one way or another.” What else could he do, call the Creator’s Church? That would require him to explain why he had been working with the institution for over a year. No, sooner or later the City Lord would just shut up and keep taking the money that they paid him. Her assistant watched her go before shrugging and going to find the Head Site Enforcer.
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When I woke up, I found myself slumped over the table with an open book underneath me. It seemed like I had fallen asleep while reading. Very unusual, considering my lack of need for it. A clearing of the throat made me jump and look around wildly. Pecta was seated across from me with a very unamused expression. “Ah, hello!” I exclaimed while composing myself. “How was your investigation?”
My companion raised an eyebrow. “Good, good, I made quite a bit of progress in figuring things out. And you, how was your nightly excursion?” He looked at my clothes and the books on the table. A little embarrassed, I realised that I hadn’t bothered to change and was still wearing my getup from last night. “Well-”
“Was it Lilith’s idea?” Pecta interrupted me. His tone was calm, but Sense State showed a different story. He was very upset.
“I- yes, no,” I mumbled indecisively. While it had been her idea, I had agreed to it, so both of us were to blame. A glance around the room showed that my partner-in-crime had already left, probably before Pecta’s arrival. Avoiding eye contact, I explained to him what had happened last night and received a frustrated sigh in return.
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He crossed his arms before putting them back on the table and tapping rhythmically with his finger. “Do you realise how stupid that was?” I tried to answer, but he mercilessly interrupted me. “You've done some risky shit since we met, like trusting a Shadow Hand, or talking to a god, but this takes the cake. Do you know why?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “Because it was avoidable. The other two things happened by circumstance, and I can’t really blame you for them, but in this case, I can definitely do so. By Persa's grace, you acted recklessly!” Pecta sighed and leaned back, seemingly trying to calm himself.
At his pause I interjected. “I know it was reckless, but being locked in this room drove me crazy! Do you know what it feels like to spend so much time alone because your companions don’t have time for you!?”
Slowly my guilt turned to anger and all my thoughts came pouring out. “Do you know the feeling of being unable to control your fate? I spend hours thinking about you being caught, about the assassins coming to hurt us, and about the people hunting me. Do you know how it feels to spend so many hours in uncertainty of what will become of you? Of the events unfolding outside that you have no idea about and much less control over?!”
My fury seemed to stoke Pecta’s anger as he clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it against the table. “Oh, I am more than familiar with that feeling,” he hissed bitterly. “But that does not give you the right to endanger us all! I know how uncomfortable it is to be forced to stay here, but you need to think about the consequences of your actions. What if someone saw you? What if they followed you right back to this hideout?”
“Of course nobody saw us!” I snapped back. “Lilith was with me, and if Shadow Hands are really as good as you claim they are, then there shouldn’t be a problem!” Although, someone from the Desert Vipers had seen Lilith and there was the possibility that- no, better stop thinking about that. I trusted Lilith to spot someone whom she called a junior assassin. Especially, since she had been put on high alert by him unexpectedly seeing her. Pecta wasn’t satisfied with this explanation
“Everyone makes mistakes, and this one could end costly. I spend so much time gathering information and trying to find a way to help you, but your recklessness could ruin it all!”
I scoffed, “Oh please, you frolic outside with no worry in the world while I have to stay holed up in this dark room.”
Pecta wound up for a retort but stopped himself. With a huff he leaned back in his chair to angrily avoid eye contact. Under his breath he muttered, “Effort never gets appreciated.” I ignored him and mirrored his posture to properly convey my displeasure. Yes, I admit that the nightly excursion had been a bit risky, but Lilith and I had taken many precautions to ensure our safety. But no, all Pecta could talk about was how stupid we had been. It had been totally worth it! He treated me like a child, incapable of making my own decisions. I was not a child and treating me like- wait, how old am I? Okay, technically I was as old as an infant, but that didn’t mean I was one. I quickly glanced at Pecta, but looked away when he noticed. Unable to reach a compromise, we both stirred in silence.
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Lilith knew as soon as she entered the guild hall that something was up. Maybe it was the fact that it was unusually quiet. Perhaps it was the expression on the face of the assassin who opened the door. In any case, she sensed that something was wrong, but couldn’t pinpoint the change.
With a frown, she walked up the stairs to the Guild Master’s office. Apart from the assassin who opened the door, the guild hall was strangely empty. Sure, there usually wasn’t much going on this early in the morning, but one could generally expect the presence of one or two other members. Lilith didn’t show her concern outwardly, but inside she felt a nagging sense of wrongness.
She was tempted to write it off as paranoia, since the chances of her being attacked in the guild hall were slim to none. But her time in Noctus’ Dream had taught her to trust her instincts, and those were screaming to stay on guard. Finally, she stood in front of the Guild Master’s office and, with a heavy heart, knocked.
‘Wait, why am I knocking?’ Suddenly, remembering who she was, she opened the door and simply barged in. The strange feeling was getting to her more than she realised, if it was affecting her usual behaviour this much.
Once inside, she quickly scanned the room. Unlike last time, Guild Master Wane was the only member sitting in a chair. Amarum and Lyn were standing in different parts of the room and focused on her as soon as she entered the office. Their posture wasn’t overly aggressive, but it wasn’t relaxed either.
What really caught her attention was the man sitting across from Wane. Lilith immediately pegged him as a fighter. His muscular physique, the way he held himself, and the sleek blade at his waist all spoke of someone dangerous. She would have guessed that he was part of the city guard, were it not for his civilian clothes.
Nonetheless, she suspected that he wasn’t an ordinary civilian. The situation was just getting weirder and weirder. “Ah, Lilith, good to see you,” Wane announced, gesturing to the seat next to the strange man. When she silently refused to sit down he continued, “We have a lot to talk about in this meeting.”
“Right…,” Lilith drawled and pointed to the fighter. “And who is that guy?”
“Ah, so you’ve noticed our guest,” the Guild Master intoned. “This fine gentleman is-“ “about to leave,” the man interrupted him. His blatant disrespect almost made Lilith smile. Despite this Wane remained positive. “Ah, Mr Entar, please stay for a couple more seconds. This meeting will only take a moment and its contents will surely interest you.”
The man sneered and stood up to leave. “I doubt that,” he stated. “There is nothing else to discuss. An extermination force has already been sent to remove the problem plaguing you. In exchange, my superior expects some results. A cruel grin flashed across his face. “Trust me, you don’t want to see her angry.”
Wane sighed and nonchalantly waved his hand in Lyn’s direction. “Be that as it may, there still remains a pest that needs… taking care of.”
In the corner of her eye, Lilith detected movement and it was only her wariness and lightning-quick reflexes that saved her. Instead of embedding itself into her neck, the throwing knife only graced her shoulder, leaving behind a burning cut. Lilith hissed but didn’t let the pain distract her.
She threw herself backward, managing to dodge a sword swing from Amarum, and came up with her daggers drawn. Amarum quickly positioned himself to face her while Lyn started flanking her. Wane just casually sat behind his desk and let events unfold.
Lilith wanted to scream at her fellow guild members but someone managed to precede her. “What is the meaning of this?!” The strange man had stood up and was now clutching the grip of his sword. Lilith noted that a red swirl was forming around the handle. ‘Magic’, she thought before having to dodge another throwing knife. Wane soothingly raised his hands and indicated for the man to sit back down.
“Don’t worry, Mr Entar. We are just sorting out some internal matters. This will only take a moment.” When it became clear that the man wouldn’t interfere he turned back to Lilith. “You know, I’m very disappointed in you. When you came to me for help, I accepted you. I made you into a member of the Desert Vipers and treated you like a daughter. And how did you repay me?” He suddenly slammed his hand onto the table, making all three of them jump.
“You betrayed us, sold us out to your little cult. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Despite these perilous circumstances, Lilith raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I have a lot to say for myself. First off, are you high?” A simple tilt of her head made the throwing knife pass by her and imbed itself into the wall. “Is this all a game to you, traitor?!” Lyn seethed. Apparently, Lilith had struck a nerve with that.
“No, not at all,” Lilith denied. “I’m genuinely concerned for our Guild Master’s wellbeing, since, as far as I know, I haven’t done anything traitorous or joined a cult.” The Guild Elder growled but managed to stop herself from throwing another knife. Seriously, how many knives did that girl have?
Despite her quipping, Lilith wasn’t half as confident as she appeared to be. She was trapped in a room with three highly competent assassins, who had planned to put her in this position. The most obvious exit seemed to be the door, however, Lilith was 100% sure that Wane had contingencies for that. It wouldn’t surprise her if the rest of the guild was standing behind it, just waiting to get the drop on her. She had found herself in somewhat of an inescapable situation, without even knowing how she had gotten there.
Luckily, Amarum’s prideful self gave her the answer. “Did you really think you were smart enough to surprise us? I saw you sneaking around with another one of you shadow freaks. Trying to overthrow the Desert Vipers, are we now? I always knew that there was something wrong with you.” He flashed her an obnoxious smile. “Well, the people who gave us the assignment to capture that monster agreed to also do a little exterminating at your hideout. You can say goodbye to your fellow cultist!”
Unbeknownst to him, Wane was glaring at the Guild Elder. He was smart enough to realise that giving away important information because of one's ego was stupid but Amarum wasn’t like that. With his blabbering Lilith managed to piece together what had happened. Somehow, he had seen her and Vindict together and assumed that he was a member of Noctus’ Dream. A pretty normal assumption considering the way he had been clothed during the nightly raid. She didn’t know how he had stumbled upon them but it made sense that she hadn’t seen him. For all his stupidity and ego, he was still a competent assassin.
She glanced at this Mr. Entar, who had sat back down with crossed arms. He obviously wasn’t happy with being involved in the business of assassins but let it slide. If what she had heard was correct, he was working for this mysterious woman who hired the Desert Vipers to capture Vindict. Could she use this somehow? Finally, the guild master had enough of Amarum’s talking and stepped in. He loudly cleared his throat and sighed. “I am disappointed in you, Lilith. How could you betray this family that we had?”
“Oh, shut up old man,” she retorted. “We aren’t a family, so stop pretending like we are one. The Desert Vipers are just a collection of people who are broke and only good at killing.” At this Wane regretfully shook his head. “It is sad that you think that. Oh well, time to finish this part of our history.” Amarum raised his blade and started to slowly approach her, while Lyn readied two throwing knives.
This was looking increasingly bad. Lilith would die here, and both of her charges would be killed because of a simple misunderstanding. Granted, if the assassins truly knew who she had been with that night, the results would probably be similar. Unless… a desperate idea took shape in her head. Just when Amarum was about to reach striking distance Lilith called out,
“What you saw was wrong. I wasn’t with another member of Noctus’ Dream.” She focused on Entar who was staring listlessly at the drama that was currently unfolding. Her next words shook him out of it, “No, I was with Vindict, the non-human you people are looking for.” This woke him from his stupor and he immediately stood up to intently focused on her. The other two assassins also hesitated, unsure of what to do. Wane noticed this change and was quick to try and calm things down.
“She is lying,” was his immediate response. Still, Lilith could see that he hadn’t expected this development. From how he usually operated, Lilith assumed that he had done this exchange in front of their client to show that the Desert Vipers were ruthless and competent. However, he hadn’t expected her to take advantage of this.
“I’m sure that you know a lot about lying Wane, but no, this one isn’t a lie,” she fired back before looking straight at Entar. “I have spent the last week with Vindict, hiding him from the Desert Vipers. If I die here then you’re never getting him.” Behind Entar’s back the Guild Master rolled his eyes.
“Don’t believe her. She is just trying to save her own skin and grasping at straws. She-“ “Prove it,” the killer interrupted Wane, still staring at Lilith. She almost sighed in relief. This was going better than expected. A part of her had thought that he would just outright dismiss her instead of hearing her out. Of course, she didn’t plan to rat out her companions. What kind of Chosen of Noctus would she be if she did that? Wait, lies and betrayal were kind of his shtick. Didn’t that mean… no, whatever. Noctus had commanded her to keep Vindict safe and she would be dammed if she didn’t. Quite literally. Although, she couldn’t say that she was just doing it for her god. Over the last couple days, she had grown fond of the innocent Vindict. Even Pecta was alright once you squinted your eyes hard enough.
Not revealing her emotions, Lilith took a deep breath and rattled off things that she had learned about Vindict’s past. “He isn’t a non-human, but rather a mixture of a human and a monster. His left arm is the only thing monstrous about him. This all happened in the middle of the desert, roughly two weeks ago. Since then he made his way to Seran with a brief bandit encounter in between. A bandit encounter involving a mage of all things.” She pointedly looked at the magic blade on the man’s waist.
Lilith could see that her words were starting to affect him. Wane could also see that and was starting to panic. “Don’t believe her. She is just making this up,” he pleaded with Entar but the man wasn’t listening. When he spoke it was only directed at Lilith, “Where is the subject?” She couldn’t help the smile on her face, despite the direness of the situation. “I guess you’ll never find out, since I’m about to die. Oh, well. How tragic.”
The man grunted, seemingly deep in thought. Then a smug grin spread across his face. “Oh, you don’t have to tell me. Instead, let me guess: Is the subject at your hideout? The same hideout that my people are currently attacking?”
Shit. Just when things were starting to look better it all went sideways. She wanted to deny it but the man didn’t listen and instead addressed Wane, “It would be a lie to say that it was fun working with you people but in the end, it was more helpful than expected.”
He cleared his throat and intoned, “As Head Site Enforcer, I hereby void the contract between us and the Desert Vipers. Good day.” The man looked like he was about to leave but the guild master wasn’t having any of this. He sprung up and slammed both hands against the table.”You can’t do this!” He exclaimed. “We had a deal!”
The Head Site Enforcer calmly answered, “Yes we had. However, I don’t see a captured monster in front of me. You failed and failures don’t deserve any rewards. Our cooperation is over.” Wane gnashed his teeth at this insult and reached beneath the table. “Oh, but I don’t think so. Now you better sit back down or else…” The man raised an eyebrow at the thinly veiled threat. “Or else what?”
In one smooth motion he pulled out his sword, which went up in flames. Everyone in the room immediately distanced themselves from the heat. Lyn started to focus on the more pressing threat, while Amarum was unsure of how to position himself so that he wouldn’t be attacked from behind. The tension in the office was palpable and only required the slightest commotion to explode.
The Guild Master raised his hands as if to placate everyone but Lilith didn’t let him. She knew that this was her only chance to escape. With a dash, the Blessed rushed towards Lyn, while simultaneously activating Shadow Meld to make it harder to hit her. The motion acted like the spark that ignited the room.
Entar swung his flaming sword in an arc, trying to bisect the Guild Master, who managed to dodge by throwing himself to the ground. Simultaneously, Amarum tried to catch Lilith with his blade but missed due to her blessing. Lyn barely managed to raise her throwing knives before Lilith barrelled into her. Her first dagger was parried but the second one found its mark and embedded itself into the assassin’s shoulder. Not wasting any time, Lilith pushed her opponent to the ground and quickly circled around Entar.
She hissed when Amarum managed to land a hit on her arm but didn’t stop moving. The guild master saw her and turned to protect himself but that distraction cost him his life. The flaming sword speared him cleanly through the shoulder, with the tip coming out the other side. His clothing lit ablaze and the disturbing smell of cooked meat filled the room.
With Entar busy removing his sword Lilith breezed past him, angling towards the broad window looking out onto the street. The last thing she heard was the office door smashing open, with more assassins flooding inside. Then she crashed through the window and found herself in free fall. ‘Oh. I forgot this was the second floor’ were her thoughts before she impacted the ground.
Lilith was conscious enough to attempt a roll but wasn’t quite able to pull it off. With a crack her arm impacted the street. Her head was spinning and she was dimly aware of screams coming from around her. She would love to just lie there for a while. Maybe catch some sleep and- no! She needed to escape.
Slowly Lilith came to her feet and limped across the street. Not looking back, she entered an alley. The assassins would soon be coming. No matter how strong this Entar was, he couldn’t hold them off forever. The pain made her vision blurry and she clutched her arm, trying to stem the bleeding. Despite being a Blessed her body still had limits and these were approaching worryingly fast.
Finally, she stopped at a small crack between two houses and shuffled inside. It was so tight that her nose was touching the other wall but now wasn’t the time to complain. Taking a deep breath she activated her blessing, making her meld into the shadows. Lilith knew that she needed to help her companions but right now she couldn’t. Being a Chosen afforded her an improved regeneration, but even that would take a while. They would somehow need to survive for a while without her.