Liz was working late these days. She tracked the patients’ dietary intake throughout the day, so she arrived a few hours after breakfast and stayed a few hours after supper. It allowed her to enter all the day’s data before she went home, so she could look at it fresh the next morning. Part of a research project she hoped would improve patient nutrition. A project she was very dedicated to.

So, Dion knew she would still be at work. He raced to St. Mary’s Hospital, breaking the speed limit the entire way. The only thought on his mind was getting to her before Myles. Had he ever been this scared before? Hard to tell. His thoughts were not on himself, but her. Any emotions were just background noise.

As he walked through the front doors, he tried to call her. Voicemail picked up after four rings. He entered the stairwell and called again, no answer. Dion stopped ascending the stairwell and tried to call again. Again, no answer. Maybe he should check her office? Where was she?

Dion’s eyes left his phone. Feelings of impending doom wrapped their fingers around him. A still, small voice told him to turn around. He did. Looming behind him was the gray man. Dion’s heart spasmed. He backed up against the wall. Scared did not begin to cover what he felt. A dangerous, magic defying monster in the flesh, ready to kill him.

“Wait!” Dion held up a paw, not scared enough to be silent. The gray man had a sickle out, the blade cleaned of the pervert’s blood. “I know I’ve done terrible things. I..I don’t deserve mercy or anything like it, but that other skunk is not my friend. He has my wife. My pregnant wife. He wants to take her and I can’t let that happen.”

The gray man tilted his head. No expression on his face, impossible to read. But, he was not tearing his arms off or stabbing him, so he had to be waiting for Dion to say more.

“Please….no matter what you do to me, save her. She doesn’t deserve to die or… whatever that monster wants with her just because I did something evil.”

David tracked the fat skunk here. The skunk thought he lost him, but David always had him in view. Entering the hospital, he picked up the thin skunk’s scent. When the fat skunk started moving away from where the thin skunk’s led, he realized they were probably not together. When he traveled in the opposite direction, David knew. Time to make himself known.

Not to kill him. The thin skunk was fast and teleportation made him hard to hit. No danger to him, but he could run again. David did not want to have to chase him. The fat skunk would be a good distraction because they seemed to want to talk to each other. Long enough to kill the thin one.

He expected pleading; the wicked begging for his life before justice could be done. A cornered villain always begged and this skunk was no fighter. Magic was weaker than Circe’s and body fat from disuse. He did not expect him to be married. Or to offer himself to be judged for the sake of his wife. Unusual behavior. Maybe even virtuous.

Not that it excused his guilt.

Still, David listened. The fat skunk had the smell of a rabbit on him, a pregnant rabbit, so he was telling the truth. He sniffed the air. While this stairwell saw some foot traffic, it was not much. Certainly no other pregnant people used it. Except one, a female rabbit, heading the same direction as the thin skunk. He could defer the fat one’s judgement until after saving the rabbit.

“Both went down. Not up.” He clarified. “Walk. Will tell you where.”

The fat skunk did not move for several seconds. Probably processing that he was still alive. He nodded soon after and did not walk, but started to run. David put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. The skunk froze like a child whose wrist was grabbed reaching under the bed at midnight.

“Quietly.” David clarified. No sense announcing their presence. Not that the thin skunk could not use his magic to detect the fat one. He wanted to make sure to stay hidden enough to avoid being seen. Magic detection was useless against him.

Dion nearly passed out when the gray man grabbed him. Too shocked to even pray, he thought of Liz and hoped she would be safe. Instead of death, he got directions. The gray man was… going to help him? He still hurt from that kick. Still remembered the near miss from the farm tool. He did not trust the gray man to spare him afterward, but it did not matter. As long as Liz and his daughter were safe, he could die.

He went downstairs, passing the ground floor and heading for the basement. How did Myles get Liz down here? If he teleported her here, why not just leave? It was more difficult to teleport others than it was to teleport oneself. Maybe Myles was not as talented a magician as he thought? His magic was ineffective against the gray man. Not that Dion could do any better. Best to stay on his good side.

A single metal door led into the basement. Immediately to their right was the freight elevator. Ahead was a dimly lit hallway with several doors. Dion stepped forward and squinted, trying to see. It was late, so no one was around. Only a few maintenance staff and most of the supply people and housekeepers that used the basement tunnels had gone home. Anyone with a basement office left even earlier than they. If someone wanted an out of the way place to set up a group teleport spell, this was it.

They approached a branch in the halls. When they did, the gray man spoke. “Thin skunk to the left. Go.”

Dion looked back to see him go right. “Um, wait, I thought you said you were going to help. Where’re you going?”

The gray man did not stop. “Do not follow me.” Was his response.

That was unhelpful. Was the gray man running away? Would he have to do this himself? A thought occurred that the gray man might just want the skunks to fight it out until both were exhausted, then take out whoever was left. A distinct possibility, but did it matter?

No, it did not. If he cared about his own safety more than Liz’s, he would not be here. Ten years ago, he would have run. Maybe even ten weeks ago. Now? He was full of an odd strength that did not entirely feel like his own.

He went down the hall as fast as he could. The gray man may have been quiet, but he was not wrong. A few lengths of hallway later and there they were.

Myles was upright, his back to Dion on approach. In front of him was a portal drawn on the wall with what appeared to be black magic marker. A series of Izorian symbols around a circle big enough to create a passage for two people. That confirmed he was not the best at teleporting other people. Portals were much easier means of conveyance for those resistant to teleportation.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He only looked at him for a few seconds. Propped against the wall beside him was Liz. She could not move. Rings of blue energy coiled around her arms in front of her and legs, holding them together. One wrapped around her muzzle, keeping her from crying out for help. At first, Dion thought she was unconscious. When he approached, her head turned to see him. Eyes went wide and she strained against her bonds, trying to get closer.

Simple enough; Dion waved a paw and disenchanted the ethereal ropes. They faded into nothing. Liz blinked, looking at her paws a moment, marveling at how easy that was. Knew better than to sit there all night staring. She stood up and prepared to run.

The noises did not escape Myles’ notice. He turned his head. Seeing his quarry ready to flee, he waved a paw. The bindings reappeared. The pregnant bunny fell, stomach first, toward the floor. Dion ran to catch her, fatherly reflexes wanting to protect both wife and unborn daughter.

Myles got to her first. The baby had Izorian blood, so she was worth protecting. It was unlikely he cared for the mother any more than a scientist would care for a lab rat, but he acted to preserve the unborn girl. Left paw moved and caught her by the rings wrapped around her shoulders and upper chest. His right thrust forward to Dion, palm facing as if to strike him, despite being several yards away. Not a physical blow, but a magical one. A wall of invisible force slammed into Dion. He should have seen it coming. Should have mustered some kind of counter, but he was no battlemage. The blow sent him sprawling back several yards, sliding on his back. Dual impacts from the magic on his chest and floor on his back knocked the wind out of him. He gasped and took in a deep breath to try and steady himself. The room spun, but he had to get up. Fighting dizziness, he stood, stepping forward.

Myles already set Liz back down. She strained her bindings. More than strained, struggled. Muffled protests sounded from her muzzle. Dion was near. She wanted badly to go to him. This was beyond her, but she did not seem irrationally scared. It still pained him to see her like this.

“I’m here, Liz. Everything’s going to be okay.” Dion reassured her as best he could. He wished he could believe it.

Myles rolled his eyes. “I thought you’d run when that freak showed up. Came to see us off? I doubt you changed your mind about joining me.”

“Let her go. Now.” Dion tried to sound as threatening as possible. He took an unsteady step forward, but swayed. Hard to catch his breath. It hurt.

Myles shook his head. “Absolutely not. She’s coming with me. The future of our race depends on her. If you had not defiled yourself, you’d realize that.”

“I know what our race’s done. If that’s what you want, you’re as evil as our ancestors.”

“Evil?” Myles snorted. “Is it evil to raise livestock? Ride horses? Crush insects? No, it isn’t. These people all around us, the ones who inherited the world that’s ours by right? They’re animals. Not as highly evolved as we are.”

“And yet, one is carrying my child.” Dion countered. “We’re all the same, you idiot!”

Myles frowned. “An odd happening, but one worth studying. If a lowly creature like this can be a tool for us, I’m willing to overlook her base nature. The Izorians will come to glory again. All of us. Our new, progressive civilization will seize power from the oppression we’ve suffered from our inferiors……” He gave Liz a condescending pat on the head. She recoiled at his touch. “Heh. You’d think she’d be honored by this. She does love you. I had to mimic your voice to lure her down here. She thought you were in danger.”

“You tricked her?” Anger flashed in Dion’s mind. He focused, energy crackling around his paws.

“Not entirely. You’re in danger now.” A blue glow enveloped Myles’s eyes. “What do you hope to do? I’m stronger, faster, and smarter than you. Your body is a decaying husk. Your mind out of shape. You can’t beat me.”

He was right. Dion knew as much. Neglect characterized his body. Years of sugar and inertia with only enough magical practice to keep the energy from overloading him. Never been in a fight. Never even stood up for himself. He had to defend Liz, to get her back. But, his courage faltered.

He could not beat Myles.

He did not have to.

The gray man charged from nowhere, his body not making a sound as he rushed. Myles never heard him coming. No time to even see him and the gray man’s hand was around his throat. He let out a short cry before the air cut off. His paws wrapped around those massive fingers, but could not pry them loose. The light in his eyes died the second the gray man touched him. He was trying to teleport out of his grip, Dion could tell. Normally an easy task. For some reason, he stayed put. Panic? Skill issue? Dion felt an odd sense coming from Myles. Magical discharge dissipating before it could fully charge.

What on Earth was this guy?

David hoisted the thin skunk into the air. He struggled, gasped. Eyes surprised, then angry, then afraid. Good. He turned and slammed him into the wall hard enough to force the remaining air out of his lungs. He squirmed, trying to get free.

Weak little mage. He might as well have been an infant trying to bend a steel girder.

David glanced at the pregnant rabbit. She was no longer bound. Holding the skunk broke the binding spell. She moved to the fat skunk and he quickly gathered her into his arms. She was crying, shaking. Afraid.

Anger. This creature threatened the unborn. A mother. No doubt only one of his many crimes.

Make this one messy.

Dion was so relieved Liz was safe. He held her in his arms, not saying a word. He did not need to; she understood.

He almost forgot about Myles entirely until he heard it. The sound of a fist slamming with unprecedented force against flesh and bone.

He looked up in time to see the second impact; the gray man’s fist slamming into Myles’s ribcage. And again. And again. And again. Rapid punches, at least two or three per second, jackhammering the skunk’s torso into the wall.

Blood spurted from Myles’s mouth, eyes bulging as ribs fractured into shards. Organs ruptured, impacts smearing blood and flesh against the wall. Dion’s stomach flipped as gore dripped onto the ground, but the gray man kept hitting. Driven by rage or righteous fury, it did not matter which. The result was the same.

He hit Myles until the ragged flesh and fractured spine could no longer support the weight of his legs. His body tore in two, lower half sliding into a heap on the floor. Blood and bits of organ tissue drooled from Myles’s mouth. When beyond dead, the gray man finally let him go, dropping the rest of him onto the heap of meat.

Blood dripping off the knuckles of his right hand, the gray man turned to look at Dion. He took one step toward him. Stony facial expression colored with splatters of Myles’s blood. Dion swallowed hard. It was his turn. He hugged his wife.

“I love you… I’m so sorry….” He said. He could feel her heartbeat rapid in her chest. She turned her head and looked at the gray man. Myles may have been dead, but the fear remained. It just had a different source now. He did not look at the gray man. Just at Liz. One last look at his love. One last thought of the daughter he would never get to see.

Liquid dripped onto his shoes. He looked down. Water ran down Liz’s leg. She flinched, feeling her stomach spasm. She looked down herself, then up, eyes wide.

“… my water just broke!” Fear tinged her voice. “No… I’m… I’m only at 28 weeks! It’s too soon!”

Dion drew in a breath. The stress. It swung her into labor. “… we have to get you upstairs. To the ER. Now!”

The gray man! Dion looked at him. He was looking at Liz. “I…..” Dion started.

“… go. Get her help.” He said coldly.

Dion nodded, taking hold and quickly ushering her away. He did not have to tell him twice.

“Thank you…” Liz looked back. She expressed gratitude for her savior, not knowing his intentions with her husband.

“…… you will see me again, skunk.” The gray man said before stepping back and fading into the darkened hallway.

Scary. Did not matter. Dion had to get his wife help.