"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit" yelled a panting Krowe as he ran down the stairs, bullets screeching past his shoulders and head. He had really done it this time. His attempt at taking out Darov and cutting off the head of the Legion went horribly wrong, as he had chosen a poison that could be easily tasted, and one that didn't even bother Darov either.

And now he was being chased out of the building, but before he could leave he had to find Kestrel. But she seemed to have gotten the hint after hearing the gunshots fire off upstairs.

He jumped around the corner of the staircase and knocked over a large marble statue to block their pursuit and give himself some cover as he ran down the wide open hall.

Guests were terrified and most were running out of the building, but those who worked under Darov only got their weapons out and made their way towards the fighting in order to protect their boss.

Kestrel was in the main dining area, pulling out her own custom handgun from under her dress that she had strapped to her thigh to get through the security check before guests were allowed in.

Knowing that the plan didn't go well, she had to get to Krowe and escape before they got trapped.

Two guards in front of her were busy checking the hallway, which she swiftly embedded two slugs into both of their heads.

The gunshot was immense, the muzzle flash like that of a firework.

Kestrel's handgun was of course custom made, but she went a little overboard with designing a quick reloading magazine that takes shotgun shells and slugs.

She essentially had the power of a full sized shotgun in an easy to conceal package.

As she was walking along, the dress got snagged on an upturned chair that had been knocked over when people were rushing to get out of the building. She glared at the dress and grabbed the fabric firmly, giving it a big tug as she ripped the dress. Now it only went down to her knees, but she didn't care. It was only in the way.

Now free from the restraints of the dress, she went to the doors that led into the main hallway through the mansion and peeked both ways. She noticed the guards rushing towards the right wing, where the VIP lounge was. Knowing that's where Krowe was, she held her gun tightly and hastily made her way down there and hid behind a marble statue that was sitting in a small part of the wall that had been moved back to give it room.

She waited patiently for the guards to run past, before climbing out and following the gunshots that were getting louder and louder with each step.

A few moments later she came to a big staircase that went up two flights, and her eyes landed on Krowe using a corpse as a bullet sponge as he shot back at an unseen guard up the second flight. At least ten guards laid dead and bloody on the staircase up, and two more at his feet.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Tossing the body shield away, Krowe ran down the stairs and grabbed Kestrel as he told her what had happened upstairs

"So. Yeah, it failed. We gotta go now though before anyone else shows up!" he exclaimed as he kicked down a wooden door. It led out to a stone patio overlooking a beautiful garden and a hedge maze, but it was obvious this wasn't where their car was.

Kestrel looked around, before looking to the left of the garden and over a tall barbed wire fence was the car park. With their car just in sight.

It looked like the only way to there from where they were was the maze. It was die trying or die surrendering.

Like if it was instinct, Kestrel grabbed Krowe and pulled him down the stone steps and towards the maze entrance, which made him look at her confused

"You want to trap us or something?!" he yelled out as they ran, narrowly dodging bullets as they fled into the dark hedge maze.

Kestrel just sighed and pulled him along "Do you wanna sit back there and die? Look, this maze leads to the car. Trust me!" she demanded more than suggested.

Krowe simply groaned and followed, holding a handgun that he got off of the body of one of Darov's men.

The maze was... Well, maze-like. The pair continued to run into dead ends and wrong turns. And whilst they were navigating around the hedges, they could hear the voices and footsteps of the pursuing gunmen.

Kestrel wasn't about to get shot up by a bunch of party bouncers. She pressed the barrel of her handgun against the hedges and fired repeatedly at whoever was on the other side of it.

There was a groan and a yell, with at least three getting hit.

Krowe sighed and held his head "You just gave us away!" he yelled, diving down and pulling her out of the way as bullets rained through. They would have hit them if not for Krowe's dive.

They both scrambled and ran through the maze, dodging shots, weaving through the paths and taking down the odd guard. They eventually got through the maze and reached the car park.

There it was, their suped up muscle car. Angular and sleek, it was an older model of a popular car line called the Trinity. Made by a branch of the system wide tech company Triicorp.

The two ran for it, sprinting across the concrete and diving into the car. Kestrel fumbled with the keys and started the car. Narrowly avoiding a hail of bullets as the sped out of the car park and drove down the road, leaving skid marks and a cloud of smoke behind.

Walking behind them was Darov. He held the side of his hip, an angry, but also saddened expression on his face.

Down the road, the pair were laughing and panting at the fact they nearly died. Then Kestrel punched him and said"You're a fucking screw up"