The flash of Jack's sniper could be seen as it fired off round after round. A few of the soldiers collapsed below, while others took cover in a moment of confusion. Luther grabbed ahold of Luca's arm and dragged him off the stage. They took cover behind the front row in the middle section of seats. Marshall Davinci turned to see Marshall Christ dead on the ground, shot by his own gun.

The soldiers shot at the glass ceiling where Jack was nested. He moved back to avoid the gunfire but was pinned down, unable to take any more shots.

After the struggle over the firearm, Christ collapsed on top of Balero. As Balero attempted to push Christ's corpse off of himself, Davinci turned his sights to him.

"Die like the animal that you are." Davinci said as he fatally shot Balero in the chest.

Balero withered in pain from the shot. As Davinci aimed to execute the man, Luther popped up from behind cover and took a few shots at Davinci. One of the bullets grazed the Marshall's shoulder and he twisted backwards from the momentum of the bullet.

Luther turned and eliminated a couple more of the soldiers that were distracted from Jack's gunfire. Marshall Davinci, grabbing at his shoulder, ran back to the entrance.

"Finish them off," he yelled at what remained of his men.

Davinci ran out of the opera house to call for backup. What remained of the Italian soldiers were quickly taken out by both Luther and Jack. There was a hallow silence in the building; it is broken only by Balero gasping for air. Luca broke free from Luther's hold and ran towards his dying father.

"Dad!" Luca yelled out.

Balero laid on the ground, grasping at his bullet wound while bleeding out.

"Luca – my son. I'm sorry," he said as he began to cough up blood. His son started to sob over him.

"Dad, it's okay. We can take you to a hospital–"

Balero grabbed his son's arm before he could finish. "No, there is no time. Just, lay here with me for a moment. That's an order, please."

Luca held onto his father's body and embraced him on the ground. As Luther approached the two of them, their head rang out and vision blurred from a sense of déjà vu. In their head they saw a blood soaked battlefield, a nearby vehicle in flames, and a nurse looking over the body of a French soldier. In a similar pose to Luca looking over and embracing his father.

"Stay with me," a faint voice whispered out.

The vision was abruptly cut away as Luther returned to their senses. They rubbed at their eyes and stared down at their sharp, clawed hands. Their hands were shaking, unable to remain still despite Luther's attempted focus on them. Their breath felt cold and hallow as it fought its way through their lungs.

Luther slowly approached the father and son. Balero looked up at the creature in front of him and spoke, "Please, take my son to his mother." Balero reached into his pocket and removed a small picture, handing it over to Luther. As Luther grabbed the folded picture, he continued speaking, "You can find her in a small seaport town in Western France. She is safe and away from the war on the east. Her name is Madeline Laurent."

Balero lowered his arm and wrapped it around his son. Luther remained silent as they pocketed the photo.

"Mussolini's men will have already raided my manor and taken everything that I owned. I have nothing to offer you. All I have is the wish of a dying fool." Balero said, gasping for what air he could take. It gave him what little strength remained.

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

As Luca hugged his father, Luther was still distant, almost cold.

"I–" Luther began.

"Please, protect Luca." Balero said. His body began to seize up. In those final moments, he attempted to take a final look at his son. His secret pride and joy. A few thoughts burrowed from the depths of his mind, along with a few regrets. In death, they are let go, given away to the passage of time; only to linger amongst those left behind. A tear broke out as he looked upon his son, and he let out a final sigh. His hand fell to the wayside, no longer wrapped around Luca.

"Dad," Luca said as realization began to set in.

"Dad!" Luca yelled out again.

In Luther's walkie talkie, Jack's voice broke out, "Luther, whatever you're going to do, you need to get moving."

Luther hesitated. They turned to the back of the opera house, but continued to hear the cries of Luca. Luther's mind raced, their horns felt a vibrated sensation. As if they were attempting to push further out of their skull. Luther winced and knelt down beside Luca.

"We need to leave, now." Luther said, placing their hand on Luca's shoulder.

"No! I won't leave him!" Luca responded.

The front of the opera house reopened. A few soldiers marched into the room with their guns raised. Jack quickly shot from his sniper and took them out.

"We don't have a choice!" Luther grunted out while pulling the boy away. Luther lifted Luca above their shoulder and carried them back to the stage. Luca attempted to kick and push themselves out of Luther's grip, but wasn't strong enough to break free.

A soldier slammed through the emergency exit. Luther drew their pistol from their free arm, and took them out with an immediate headshot. They went down the nearby stairs towards the planned exit.

From up above, Jack left his position. He saw more men enter from the front, but needed to focus on his own retreat. Jack slung the sniper over his shoulder from its strap and ran back to the ladder so he could return to his parked car. No soldiers were in the alleyway yet.

Luther approached the sewer entrance and sat Luca down.

"Luca, look at me." Luther ordered.

Luca wiped the tears that burned his eyes and looked at Luther.

"I need you to be strong right now," Luther said, bumping their closed fist onto Luca's chest.

Luca gave a slight nod as Luther removed the sewer grate. As Luca began to head down the ladder, two more soldiers ran down the stairs. Luther twisted around and unloaded a spray of bullets. As one soldier was immediately headshot, the other fired a round before being killed, as well, from the burst of oncoming lead. The stray bullet hit Luther in the side.

Luther grasped at their side which began to bleed. They slowly followed Luca down the ladder and into the sewer below.

Meanwhile, Jack had returned to his car and ignited the engine. As he skirted out of the alleyway, the sirens of more police could be heard fast approaching.

"God damnit, I hope they're okay." Jack said to himself as he looked at the opera house in his rearview mirror. It slowly got smaller as the distance became greater.

In the sewer, Luther collapsed a few feet from the ladder. Luca turned back and attempted to help Luther up. Voices could be heard above them as the enemy got closer to the sewer entrance.

Luther reached in their pocket and removed the explosive detonator. As they hobbled away with Luca's assistance, they flipped the switch for it to go off and then tossed it into the sewer water..

The explosion pushed Luther and Luca forward onto the ground. The opera house trembled from the explosion and the downstairs portion of the building caved in onto itself. Soldiers caught in the blast screamed out while others flew back; no longer able to approach.

Luther and Luca stood back up, but Luther was staggering.

"You're hurt," said Luca.

"I'm fine. We need to keep moving" Luther replied with a slight recoil to their side.

As they continued to move along in the sewer, blood dripped from Luther's bullet wound.

Police surrounded the opera house. Firefighters were quick to respond due to the recent explosion. Davinci stood outside the opera house next to his personal vehicle. As more police and paramedics arrived, a soldier approached him.

The soldier gave a quick salute before speaking, "Marshall Davinci, sir. The boy and his captor seemed to have escaped. The lower level of the building was rigged and has collapsed into itself. There is no way for us to follow."

"They escaped through the maze of the sewers below." Davinci responded.

"Also, sir. Marshall Christ didn't make it. Ex-Marshall Balero is also deceased."

"Send a message to leader Mussolini. The Witch of Verdun is responsible for this. They alone killed two Marshall's and took hostage of Luca Balero. I want a bounty placed on their head, and I want to boy returned." Davinci ordered.

The soldier gave a nod and salute before stepping away. Paramedics continued to run in and out of the building, carrying away both wounded and dead bodies. Davinci whistled for a few of his soldiers to get into their vehicle.

"I love a good hunt," Davinci muttered to themselves as they drove away from the aftermath of the opera house.