Sils barely managed to suppress a yawn, as he gazed down at the hidden entrance. The injectors had been removed, which left the green dendfade gas to slowly pour out. One of the gas’ unique properties was how quickly it dispersed after leaving an enclosed room, making it almost undetectable after a while. Although waiting for all the gas to exit the room took a while, Sils wasn’t worried. Others were keeping watch in case somebody stumbled onto the scene. Once the gas was all gone, they would simply pick up whoever they found in there and take them away. An easy job, considering the effect dendfade had on the body.
The Enforcer shuddered as he remembered the one and only time he had accidentally inhaled the gas. The burning quickly spread from the nose to all other parts of the body. After less than one minute, you become unable to control your muscles, leaving the body completely paralysed. The paralyses lasted for several hours, depending on how much you inhaled, during which you were fully conscious. Some mad Knowledge Seeker had developed it several years ago and used it to go on a sadistic revenge spree targeting all the women who had previously rejected him. Suffice it to say, after some disciplinary action he was promoted to Head Knowledge Seeker of a very prominent facility.
With a shake of his head, Sils squeezed the response stone in his pocket. After a couple of seconds, it grew warmer, signalling that everything was fine on the other end. He repeated this action with the other two response stones in his pocket. A frown spread across his face as only one got warmer. Volter, the Enforcer who held the sister stone, wasn’t one to shirk his duties. Sils scanned the other flat roofs but noticed nothing suspicious. What made things difficult, was that they were filled with various junk that had somehow ended up there. Perfect hiding places for his Enforcers, but also an opportunity for a skilled assassin.
Without hesitation, the team leader signalled everyone to gather. Maybe Volter somehow forgot to use his stone, but that was unlikely. If so he would be heavily reprimanded.
A unique knocking sequence heralded the arrival of another Enforcer. Cara jumped over the small stone wall and crouched next to him. “Anything to report?” Sils whispered. At her negative response, his mood worsened. “Volter stopped answering his response stone. Stay put.” They waited in silence for half a minute but nothing happened. Sils frown only worsened. Disregarding Volter, there was still one team member left unaccounted for. Another activation of the response stones yielded no results.
Sils eyed his surroundings. Something was definitely wrong and he doubted that two Enforcers would be enough to deal with it. “I’m calling for backup,” he informed Cara. She only nodded and continued to scan the surroundings. He took out a messenger flask and was about to use it when one of the stones in his pocket got warmer. Retrieving it, he noted that it was Volter’s sister stone. Sils grabbed it to better understand the message, but only received a collection of random patterns.
Turning to Cara, he handed the stone over to her. “Do you know what that means?” The team leader asked. The other Enforcer closed her eyes to focus and nodded. “Yes, Sir. That’s ser-code, one of the simpler varieties to use response stones. Whoever is on the other side is broadcasting a distress signal.” She looked expectantly at him. “What should we do team leader?” Sils hesitated. It was doubtful that this was Volter since he would have used the Institution’s standardised response code. It was more than likely, that whoever was broadcasting this signal wanted them to leave their post. The Enforcer glanced at the hidden entrance, where the holes had almost completely stopped expelling dendfade gas. Maybe that was the case, but it was his responsibility as the leader to take care of his team members.
Sils came to a decision. “We investigate Volter’s post. If he isn’t there or was eliminated we return and wait for backup.” He broke the messenger flask, releasing the sealed wind elemental inside. “Team leader Sils of Enforcer Squad 34 requesting backup. We lost contact with two members of our team. Strength of hostile presence unknown.” After receiving the message, the elemental turned into a stream of wind and rushed towards the facility. The creature was extremely fast, but it would still take time for backup to arrive. The two remaining Enforcers activated various items and headed in the direction of Volter’s assigned post. None of them noticed the shadow that suddenly became animate and quickly moved in the direction of the hideout they were supposed to be guarding.
“Shit,” cursed Sils as he spotted Volter’s prone form. Cara, who reacted faster than him, crouched down on the rooftop and checked his pulse. “He is still alive, if barely.” That was a surprise considering the amount of blood surrounding him. The blood’s origin was a stab wound in the stomach, which looked like someone had tried to bandage it but failed. If Sils had to guess, that person was Volter himself, who passed out before finishing the job.
His thoughts raced, while Cara bandaged the wound. The likelihood that somebody had led them here to get to the hideout was almost 100% in his mind. “What should we do now, Sir?” Asked Cara after finishing. Sils turned to her. “Will Volter survive if we leave him alone?” He only needed to look at her face to know the answer. “Then we will stay here and protect him until backup shows up.” Another option would have been to split up, but that would be dumb. Whoever was out there had eliminated two Enforcers without being noticed. If the two of them split up, they would be easy to pick off. Sils glanced in the direction of the hideout. “Well played.”
----------------------------------------
“I’m never doing this shit again,” hissed Lilith as she dragged the unmoving form of Pecta out of the hideout. She couldn’t see his face but assumed that he was rolling his eyes. If not for his breathing and eye movements she would have thought he was dead. Maybe that would have been simpler, since carrying a grown man up a ladder, only using one arm, was a miracle that even a Blessed had trouble accomplishing.
Luckily, most of the gas had already dissipated, which meant one problem less. But whatever that stuff was, it was powerful. The stinging in her eyes attested to that. Lilith wasn’t a big fan of poisons and despite the name “Desert Vipers” none of the other guild members were real experts. However, in her time before moving to Seran, she had witnessed some powerful alchemy. Acid that could dissolve a person in seconds, a poison that blinded you for the rest of your life, and a mixture that only activated once you exposed it to music. This paralytic gas was completely new to her.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
She quickly glanced at the surrounding rooftops. Nothing. It seemed like her prediction had been correct. Whoever had attacked the hideout had numbers and technology on their side, but one could not remove the human element behind it all. Empathy was a hell of a drug, one that can be taken advantage of. It had been a risk to assume that these hunters valued their colleague’s life more than the chance to fight an unknown enemy, but it had paid off.
After being 100% certain that nobody was watching them, Lilith activated her blessing and carried Pecta away, while staying in the shadows. Without stopping she rolled the response stone into a sewer grit. She didn’t know enough about them to say if someone could track her with it, but there was no need to take the risk. The assassin quickened her pace. Time to get out of here.
----------------------------------------
Pecta gasped as he regained control of his body. How long had he lost it? He didn’t know, but that time had been hell. The feeling of being a guest in his own body, only able to watch what was happening on the outside. A voice interrupted his panic. “Looks like our resident dreamer is finally awake. Had a nice nap?” Pecta glanced at Lilith, who was sitting on a chair backwards with her arms casually crossed on the headrest. He noted that her broken arm already healed. Her expression was hidden behind the black bandages, but her tone held a lot of mirth.
Instead of answering, Pecta analysed his surroundings. The room they were in was windowless, kinda like the hideout, and cast in a dim light by a rusty lantern hanging from the ceiling. Rows of bottle-filled shelfs lined the walls and a layer of dust had settled over everything. Pecta grabbed one of the bottles and inspected it. Wine. Very expensive wine.
“Don’t drop that,” Lilith warned. Pecta shook his head and placed the bottle back on its shelf. “Where are we?” The assassin rolled her eyes. “Straight to the point,” she muttered. “This is an abandoned wine cellar at the edge of the city. Used to belong to a mob boss, but-,” Lilith mimicked a knife cutting through her throat. “He didn’t last long before some noble ordered a hit on him. That was the day I had the honour of ridding this world of a piece of shit and finding my very own wine cellar.”
Pecta nodded but didn’t let his guard down. “Does anybody else know about this place?” Lilith sighed in annoyance. “Okay, now you’re just insulting me. Do you think of me as some sort of amateur?”
“If this place is so safe, then why did Vindict and I have to stay in that shity hideout?” Pecta retorted. This place looked a lot more comfortable than their previous residency. Lilith scoffed. “This place may be safe from ordinary means of tracking, but not from divine ones. Fun fact: the presence of Noctus’ shrine hid the hideout from divination blessings. A hideout that is now ruined because I helped you.” The last bit was said in an accusatory tone, which annoyed Pecta.
“We did not ask for your help,” he replied, a bit more heatedly than intended. “It was your god that offered his help for a price we still don’t know. Nothing good if his reputation is to be believed.” Pecta expected her to get angry at the shade he was throwing at the God of Shadows, but instead, the assassin chuckled. “What did you expect from the god who is known for his manipulation and dubiousness? Still, you’d be dead if it wasn’t for him and me. A little gratitude would be appreciated.”
Pecta sighed in annoyance but internally he knew she was right. Vindict and he would be dead if it wasn’t for Lilith. He didn’t like her or her god, but that was a simple fact. With a sigh, he muttered, “Thank you for saving me.” He refused to look at her pleased face. Instead, he focused his attention on the exit to the cellar, which was at the top of a rickety staircase. “Do you have any idea what happened to Vindict?”
“Nope, but he definitely wasn’t close by when I saved you.” That answer wasn’t satisfactory. How high was the chance that this mysterious organisation, which Vindict had mentioned, captured him? Considering their perceived competency and his, to put it nicely, unfamiliarly with the world, the chances of that were pretty high. Almost without thinking, Pecta tightened his fist around the necklace of Persa which he wore. He prayed that this wasn’t the case, but life had taught him to always expect the worst. But what could they do?
“We need to rescue Vindict,” Pecta stated. A part of him laughed at the answer. Did he believe himself to be some kind of hero? The laughter was so loud that It was almost audible. Then he noticed that it came from Lilith. It took a while for her to stop, but then she got serious. “Your optimism is almost cute,” the assassin declared. “I’ll give you a quick rundown of what we are up against: A secret organisation that possesses magic and technology more advanced than the standards of Sanktrum. Moreover, it has ties with the City Lord and enough money to tempt an entire assassin guild. An assassin guild, which will want revenge for what happened earlier.” In response to Pecta’s confused stare, she quickly summarised what happened at the guild hall.
“So,” she concluded after laying everything out. “This situation is hopeless and I’m gonna cut my losses. Even if this is some divine mission, I’m not doing it. By Noctus’ ass, we don’t even know where to start looking for Vindict.” Pecta wanted to retort but paused at her last sentence, his mind racing. “I think I know where he is.” Now it was his turn to explain what he had discovered.
Lilith listened intently, as he described following the two kidnappers through Seran. Her face betrayed no emotions throughout the entire story, a stark contrast from her usual self.
“Well, that is disturbing to hear. Good luck.” With that, she headed toward the stairs. “Wait!” Pecta called after her. “Don’t you care about Vindict and the other people who suffer under this injustice?!” The assassin didn’t answer. “Are you that heartless?!” Pecta angrily asked. As she walked past him, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Without any warning, Lilith grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. The rattling of wine bottles filled the cellar, as Pecta’s breath was knocked out of him.
“Do not call me heartless!” She snarled. Pecta only now noticed the trembling in her shoulders and the underlying tenseness throughout her whole body. She was almost an entire head shorter than him but radiated an almost scary intensity. The bandages hid her face, but it was clear that there was a grimace beneath it. He stayed silent as Lilith took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself.
“Let me make one thing clear,” she started. Her voice was quieter but still carried that intensity. “I do care. I care A LOT about the horrors that are happening in this city and around the kingdom. That’s the only reason why I joined Noctus’ Dream. To make a difference. But this…” she hesitated. “This is too much for me to handle,” Lilith quietly admitted.
She released Pecta’s collar and stepped back without looking at him. Pecta stayed quiet. This was a completely new side to the assassin who seemed to have no problem with killing for money. In this moment he realised something. Lilith was scared. He knew virtually nothing about her, but this was something he was all too familiar with. She had just lost any sense of stability in her life. She may not have liked the Desert Vipers, but they had been an anchor to her existence in Seran. And now they were gone. Her entire life had been thrown into uncertainty.
Pecta took a deep breath. “I understand.” He truly did. “Thank you for everything you have done for us. Still, I have to rescue Vindict. Not just because he saved my life.” He walked past Lilith and up the wooden stairs. They creaked with every step he took. At the top, he stopped. “Again, thank you.” With that, he was gone. The sound of the door closing faded, leaving Lilith alone.
She chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I guess I was wrong about you,” she muttered. “You truly follow the conviction of your goddess.” It was respectable. And enviable. Her head slightly turned to the left, where she knew the city of Wirmaw was located. “It seems you were right, trainer,” she whispered. “I am too weak.”