“Wait, so we have to use this new title?” Emily asked as she weaved through the traffic on one of the keep’s main roads.

Alex moved beside her as he dodged a hawker’s cart laden with bolts of cloth.

“Yes, any large faction offers a title upon joining. You’ll get it tonight. If you want to operate near them it's only smart to slot it. It will come with benefits.”

When they had finished talking to Kael he had mentioned that they should swap to the title as soon as they could. They were offered rooms in the tavern, but Emily declined when she heard they didn’t have large baths there as it was too expensive to heat them down there. Alex had also declined but Emily wasn’t sure what he was thinking.

So both of them had left to return to The Cozy Mouse. Kael had said they had a couple of days before they left so they had some time to relax and prepare.

Something Emily was more than happy to do.

Shoving her hands in her breast pocket Emily fished out the amulet Fetu had returned to her.

It was the same dirty metal as she remembered but now that Emily had some time, she gave it another look over.

The oval pendant was affixed to a simple chain, with a swirling pattern on its face. There was an image set into the back of a bird taking flight, and along the edge, what looked like a seam. That’s when Emily realized it wasn’t just a simple pendant, but a locket. Keeping her focus on the road, Emily searched around the outside for a way to open it. When she found a groove for her fingernail, Emily pried the locket open with a pop.

Inside was a greyscale pencil drawing of a middle-aged woman smiling out. The level of detail was comparable to a picture and stirred something in Emily. The woman's features were similar to how Eva’s body looked before she took over, so Emily could only assume this was her mother. On the other side was a more detailed crest of a bird with its wingspan stretching out as though about to take flight. It reminded Emily of a hawk, but she couldn’t be sure.

Feeling his gaze, Emily looked up to see Alex staring at the locket with an expressionless face.

“She meant a lot to her…” Emily said.

Alex pursed his lips but to Emily's surprise, he answered her.

“That she did.”

Emily closed the locket and shoved it back into her cloak before looking at Alex.

“It was Marth that killed her wasn’t it.”

Alex frowned, moving around another pedestrian.

“Not directly, but he’s just as much to blame for what happened. I’ll deal with the actual killer when the time comes.”

Emily frowned thinking of the threat Kael had left them with. To be honest, she held no ill intent toward Marth. Hell, Emily probably wouldn't be here now if it wasn’t for them, but Alex seemed pretty determined to make sure the man wasn’t long for this world.

“Just make sure you don’t get us both killed in the name of revenge, I’ll be pissed”

Alex shot Emily a withering look.

“It’ll be a while before I get what I’m owed, right now he outranks me heavily, but not forever. At least I know Eva’s last request didn’t include you killing him.”

Emily shrugged.

“I don’t care what happens to him either way.”

The mummers of the streets covered their conversion as they neared the inn's entrance.

Alex glanced around with pursed lips as he looked around.

Emily went on guard as she saw his eyes darting through the crowd.

“Alex, what's wrong.”

“I’m not sure, something on the street feels off. Let's get inside.”

Emily frowned as she tried to figure out what he meant. She pushed Explorer for clues but it couldn’t see anything wrong with their environment. As it turned out, Performer was the one to spot the difference.

As Alex opened the door to the inn, Emily noticed that amongst the many different casts of people moving about her, there were far more guards around than she was used to seeing.

Emily was about to call it out to Alex when he froze in front of her. Peering over Alex’s shoulder she took in the room beyond. The common room had not changed much since they had last been here.

The only difference was that it was empty of all people.

At this stage, it was late morning so this place should be bustling, but as Emily looked in she only spotted two people. The first was Hester who stood behind the bar polishing a mug and looking mightly uncomfortable. The other was a patron who sat alone at the largest table in the place.

Emily recognized the guard right away. Or if Alex’s guess was correct the Noble. The very same one Emily had saved from the assassin. The moment Alex had opened the door the man looked up from his glass of wine.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Emily didn’t believe in coincidences and the sudden increase in guards made sense, they were about to be surrounded.

With only a split second to think Emily made a decision. The likelihood that the man was just here to thank them was low, if he was then he wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble to surprise them. How he even found them was a mystery, but not one Emily was going to waste time contemplating.

Grabbing hold of the back of Alex’s collar Emily yanked him back.

“Move!”

Even as the inn slammed shut the Noble didn’t move from his spot as he sipped at his drink.

All around them, the street's calm dementor flipped on its head. All the nearby guards suddenly made a beeline for them.

Alex scanned foot traffic and hissed back to Emily.

“We can’t let them close in, follow me.”

He took off down the main road ducking straight into the crowd. The people around them swallowed them up but the Guards almost seemed to expect this as they moved through crowds corralling Alex and Emily.

Alex pulled ahead but Emily let the tug of her blood guide her through the masses of now panicking civilians. They didn’t know what was going on but suddenly the keep’s hand was reacting to something and that was a recipe for disaster.

Alex suddenly ducked down one of the nearby alleyways, pulling himself from the crowd. The narrow passage allowed for him to pull ahead but he no longer had the protection of numbers. The moment Emily made it to the same entrance she dove into it and took off after Alex.

Emily could hear the sounds of Guards making their way into the alleyway right behind her.

Putting on a burst of speed Emily caught up to Alex and they dove into the maze-like streets. Every turn bought them some time as the shouts behind them grew more distant, lost in the winding paths.

After ten or so more turns Emily could hardly even hear them. When an opening to a larger alley came into view Emily felt relief.

The light from the sparse lamps above suddenly flickered as something moved above them.

Alex tore to a stop and Emily almost crashed right into him, she was about to curse at him but then she saw the reason for their sudden halt.

Blocking the path out of the alley was a man wrapped in blue armor. He wore a charming smile that matched his handsome features. His long, white hair was half tied in a neat braid, and although he had two hand axes on his hips, he hadn’t drawn them yet.

Alex cursed and drew his weapons but Emily could immediately feel this man was on par with Kael. The narrow passage made fighting him together an impossibility, but so was retreating back into that labyrinth backstreet.

If this man had managed to keep up with them this whole time then they weren't outrunning him.

He didn’t give them much chance to react as he directly dashed toward them.

Emily had lost her weapon in the Rime wolf territory but Alex had lent her one of his spare daggers so she drew it now.

With Alex directly in front of her, the man arrived near him first. Emily could see the exact moment Alex triggered his speed enhancement as he launched himself at the blue-armored individual.

The man smiled and unhurriedly drew a single axe. What followed was a series of attacks and parries that Emily struggled to follow. The clang of heavy steel meeting steel caused ringing echoes to bounce throughout the passage.

Emily knew this was not someone she could afford to hold back against and summoned energy to her arms.

Shooting two bolts ninety degrees up and bringing them down on the man like the falling of a serpent's fangs.

Emily had intended to blow both his shoulders off but the man saw it coming and pulled his second axe into his hand and cut both for the air with a single swipe.

Emily's eyes narrowed. The speed of her bullets were easily comparable to a rifle round and the man had dealt with both of them with ease.

In the meantime, Alex grunted in pain as one of the axes cut through his forearm making a deep gash. Emily was impressed he managed to keep the arm because she noticed the man had begun using a speed-enhancing skill eerily similar to Alex’s.

They were neck and neck when Alex had been using his skill. Now that they were on even playing ground the man was far faster.

But what Alex lost out in raw power he made up for in sheer skill. It was like watching two martial artists perform a blade dance, and when it came to technique, Alex was just as skilled.

Unfortunately, his slower pacing made it nearly impossible to block everything as wounds began to collect on Alex's body.

Emily could see they couldn’t afford a stalemate so she pulled out all the stops and sent her energy forward.

Blood seeping from Alex's wounds suddenly whipped up into spines and stabbed into the man.

He reacted by shattering half of them but not before the numerous spears broke through his guard and sunk into his armor. Which stopped the spike from advancing entirely.

The man's eye suddenly latched onto Emily as he smiled and ducked under Alex’s stab. He crashed his shoulder into Alex and leaped into the air. His speed allowed him to push off the wall and hop right overhead.

Alex swung upward but only caught empty space.

Landing between them the man swung out at both Emily and Alex simultaneously.

Alex parried and was sent skidding away, while Emily covered her hand in a disk of blood, blocking the strike but unable to stop it entirely. The cut opened up a fissure on her palm with enough force to send Emily a couple of steps back.

With that, he had effectively separated her from Alex.

Having lost her meatshield Emily lowered her stance and got ready to fight. He didn’t give her long because he charged, Emily’s speed was nowhere near Alex’s, nor did she have his skill but she was certainly harder to kill. So when the axe flew under her right ribcage Emily didn’t even attempt to block and instead lunged forward.

The man's eyes widened and he tried to abort the attack but it was too late, it sunk through Emily’s clothing and up into her ribcage puncturing a lung before coming to a sickening halt.

Ignoring the pain, Emily plunged the dagger into his neck.

She was certain she hit too but suddenly the man's speed doubled again and he abandoned his axe still in the wound in order to duck out of her range.

Alex came from behind to backstab him the man reacted and sent a kick that plunged into his abdomen and sent him careening into the wall. The sound was sickening as Alex’s skull cracked into the stonework followed but his body which cracked the wall.

Alex went prone as he fell to the ground unmoving. Emily eye’s narrowed to a pinpricks and vitality exploded out of her.

Blood rose out of her wounds and coiled around her like a python. The man's face froze as he turned back to Emily, a serious look gracing his features for the first time since they began fighting.

“Fuck! Wait, I was only testing you two. Let me give him a tonic!”

But Emily didn't wait. Instead, a tendril of blood, not unlike the Rime wolves' appendages, whipped out, cracking through the air with the force of a mountain behind it.

He saw it coming but was not fast enough to react and the attack cracked in the center of his chest. The man spit out blood as he was sent hurtling backward.

Emily rushed to Alex and grabbed him in an attempt to pick him up and run but before she could even get a hold of him she felt the cold bite of metal against her neck.

Glancing back she saw the man looming over her, his eyes bloodshot, and his armor was caved in at the front but he was still very much alive.

“I think you’d better come with me now.”

Blood points: 15