“Three is excessive, no?” Kade’s left hand slid down the familiar handle of the blade attached and sheathed at his hip, stopping when the bottom of his hand bumped against the crossguard.

Standing three meters from Kade were three hooded figures, all of them garbed in the brilliant purple robes associated with enforcers. The figure in the middle of the two had her robe adorned with gold accents, symbolizing their authority over the other two.

“You’re classified by the state as a Vowsi level threat,” a woman’s voice emerging from the hood. “Arguably three is underselling the threat you pose.”

The harshness in her tone barely phased Kade, it was the expectation. The commanding officer of the two flanking units threw her arm out to the side, exposing an arm covered in intricate black tattoos that Kade immediately took notice of. The two troops launched themselves forward at blinding speed with the command of their officer, reaching for Kade.

More than likely two power types considering the approach.

Kade reacted without hesitation or concern, kicking off the brick wall of the alley to his left and assuming a height advantage over the two enforcers.

It’s in my best interest to remove the fight from its current setting. My sword is cumbersome in a space with such limited room, unlikely a disadvantage for the two of them considering they cornered me there in the first place.

Kade continued to bounce between both surfaces of the wall, launching himself onto the slanted roof of the house to his left. The roof was a shoddy construction of tiles held in place by the framework of wooden beams. As Kade bounded up to the apex of the roof, some of the tiles beneath his feet gave way, raining off the roof and shattering into pieces in the alley below. Kade made no effort to see if any of the tiles hit his pursuers, he already knew that they would’ve been more than capable of dodging such projectiles.

Within seconds the two that Kade deemed as power types were on his tail, throwing themselves at him without fear. The minute Kade slid his hand back onto the handle of his blade the two quickly changed the trajectory of their movements and began to approach him from their sides, moving in opposite diagonal directions. Kade tensed his arm and began to slide the blade from the sheath.

“Vutha…” Kade murmured. The silver glint of the blade shifted into a dark, inky black. As Kade continued to pull the sword from the sheath at a deliberately slow pace, ink began to spill out of the sheath and form floating droplets that filled the surrounding air. One of the two enforcers approaching Kade immediately stopped his advance, the other was not as perceptive to the threat.

Kade leapt off the apex of the roof, rolling his shoulder forward so that his head was facing the ground. At the halfway point in his flip, he slashed his sword out in front of him, aimed in the direction of the enforcer who remained strong in his approach.

“Splash,” Kade commanded. The ink that coated the blade was flung in an arc that connected directly with the target of his attack. Kade landed behind his unfortunate opponent just as they spun around to confront him, but their response was too slow. Kade had already returned his blade to the sheath, uttering his second command as the blade slid effortlessly into place. “Rend.”

The ink that had coated the chest of the enforcer suddenly exploded, carving a deep mark into their chest. The black ink mixed with the crimson blood that burst into the air, showering the roof in violent display. The enforcer struggled to speak, clawing at his mangled chest before collapsing and sliding off the sloped roof. Kade turned, his calm gaze sliding over the remaining enforcer, freezing them in fear.

Before the enforcer could make the decision to continue the attack or flee, the commander launched into the air, her tattooed arm exposed and glowing. The black tattoos had activated, glowing a bright yellow.

An Emitter.

Kade reached for his blade again, shouting a command that was drowned out by the sound of a geyser of flames exploding out from the officer’s hand. The officer remained, floating in the air, waiting for the smoke to dissipate and reveal a charred corpse.

Once the smoke cleared, a massive hole was revealed to have been punched through the roof to the house, exposing a dusty attic. In the center of the attic was a blue orb, about the size of Kade. The blue ink slowly melted away from its defined shape and formed a pool of ink on the floor of the attic. Kade stood behind the once solid wall and looked up at the officer defiantly, his hand on the partially drawn blade at his hip. The color of the ink streaming from the sheath had shifted from the dark black to a distinct shade of blue. Kade himself was mostly unharmed, but a single stream of blood emerged from the right side of his forehead and dripped down his cheek.

“What’s your name?” Kade asked the officer who hovered above him, peering down at him through the cavity in the ceiling.

“Hazona.”

Kade made no acknowledgement of Hazona’s response and instead fully drew his blade for the second time.

“Veil.”

Blue ink rose from the sheath, forming to fit the shape of Kade’s clothing. It was like his entire outfit had been coated in blue ink in an instant. Kade flicked his blade, the steel now the same blue as the ink.

A sound akin to a stone dropping into water rang out in Hazona’s ear and within an instant Kade was in the air right beside her, his sword in an arc aiming right for her neck. His rapid movement left a trail of blue ink in his wake, appearing like a beautiful arc of paint on a canvas. Hazona snapped out of her transfixation and blasted a thin jet of flames at the blade that knocked it off course. Hazon flung the same arm emitting a jet of flames at Kade, but he was already gone, reappearing behind her, his sword raised above his head and preparing to slash down on her back. Before he got the chance, the unharmed enforcer blasted off the roof and grabbed Kade out of the air, knocking him onto the roof of the building next door. Kade landed on his feet and without harm, but immediately raised his sword over his head to block the follow-up attack from the enforcer.

The enforcer slammed his arm down on top of the metal blade, much to Kade’s surprise. Even more shocking, the sound was not that of flesh connecting with steel, but steel connecting with steel. Kade immediately understood the exchange and kicked his foot forward, landing his boot square in the enforcer’s chest. The enforcer stumbled back, almost slipping off the edge of the roof, but caught his balance just before Kade swung his blade right at his neck. Once again, the blade connected with a metallic bang rather than cutting through the flesh. Before Kade could come up with any sort of follow-up, Hazona interrupted the exchange with a bolt of flame that Kade narrowly sidestepped. Kade’s momentary distraction allowed the enforcer in front of him to lunge forward, grabbing Kade by the shoulder and driving his fist right into Kade’s stomach.

An acidic bile filled Kade’s mouth, but he pridefully swallowed it before opening his mouth to gasp for air. Hazona landed on the roof behind Kade, her arm engulfed in flame. Kade ducked under a punch from the enforcer, sweeping his leg underneath them. As the enforcer stumbled onto their back Kade turned just in time to retreat from a flaming right hook from Hazona.

Her build isn’t particularly muscular, on top of that the reach from my blade far exceeds the reach of her arms. She’s probably trying to be ruaho efficient by bringing the confrontation to close quarters. That or she has something else up her sleeve. Otherwise putting herself at a disadvantage like this is a hugely stupid oversight.

Kade brandished his blade and took a step forward, staring defiantly at Hazona. Hazona raised her burning appendage, the reflection of the flame ignited her already bright eyes. Under her hood, Hazona had a distinct look. The skin on her face was covered in long and dark burn scars. Her hair was cut short, just barely longer than a buzz cut, giving her a boyish appearance despite the femininity of her face.

Hazona stepped forward to match Kade’s challenge. Without an ounce of hesitation, Kade rocketed forward, aiming a swipe for her left hip, opposite the side of her burning arm. Kade was fully aware that this left him open for an attack from her, but he was fully prepared for this possibility.

Rather than attempting any sort of typical counterattack, Hazona let the blade carve into her skin. It stopped just short of the center of her stomach. Bright red blood began to spill from her gut down the blade. Kade looked at her in shock as her glowing eyes pierced deeply into him.

“Why?” Kade asked, his voice lacking any sort of remorse.

“My life is expendable,” Hazona responded, droplets of blood forming at the corners of her mouth.

Hazona grabbed Kade’s blade with her burning hand. The flames spread from her arm and ignited the blood. “Those tattoos on my arms aren’t the only thing that can burn, that’s just to mitigate my weakness. My blood is the real threat.”

Kade’s eyes widened in surprise as a faint smile formed along Hazona’s face. The blood pouring from her wound began to glow blindingly bright, engulfing Hazona in a light that obscured her expression.

Kade tugged at his blade but Hazona’s grip remained firm. Within an instant, Hazona exploded. Less than half a second before, a force slammed into Kade’s shoulder with such strength that it ripped the sword right from Hazona’s engulfed hand and tore through her entire midsection, cutting her clean in half. Kade was thrown from the building and landed, back first, on the slope of another roof. On top of him was a familiar face, his comrade, Ryden. Kade’s back exploded with searing pain that sent shock through every fiber of his being. He cursed as Ryden turned her head over her shoulder and watched the flames along the building grow, encasing the entire ceiling in bright red hellfire.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Ryden reprimanded. Ryden, a girl with a height of five foot four, had a personality contrary to someone that small. Her blue eyes were narrowed into angry slits that pierced through the few blonde hairs that she had failed to tie back into her ponytail. Her pale skin had a singular open wound that bled down the side of her exposed arm.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Kade didn’t respond to her barks of anger, opting to roll over onto his shoulder and rub the shooting pain on his back.

Three more enforcers leapt onto the rooftop with Kade and Ryden. Ryden cursed, grabbing Kade off his shoulder with no regard for his pain and slung him right onto her own. Kade weakly gripped his sword as Ryden launched off the rooftop and into the trees of the forest surrounding the handful of buildings in the clearing the two had been moments prior. She bounded from tree to tree, not bothering to check her rear, confident in her own speed. Kade kept track of her six before the pain completely consumed his senses and he slipped into blackness.

◉◉◉◉◉

A hand on Kade’s shoulder pulled him out the depths of his unconscious state, the feeling akin to being pulled from a pit that was actively trying to claw him back down.

When his eyes finally opened, the light of the room, though dim, felt blisteringly bright. Kade’s eyes glazed across the trio of onlookers leaning over his bed, all talking over one another, fighting for his attention. Kade ignored any of their questions, his gaze sliding down his body to his hip. He was bedridden, wrapped tightly in dirty sheets, nothing of concern for him.

”Where’s my sword,” Kade asked, talking over the conflicting voices.

A short pause rolled over the group before finally Ryden responded. “You almost died and that’s the first concern?”

“Yes,” Kade snapped.

Ryden scoffed and flicked her head at the sheathed blade that leaned against the wall. Kade breathed a sigh of relief upon ensuring its safety and leaned back against the pillows. He dug his hand out from underneath the sheets and instinctively placed it against his forehead that had since been bandaged.

“You’re lucky,” an authoritative voice remarked louder than the rest of the chatter around the bedside. Kade rolled his eyes as Elath leaned forward to confirm he hadn’t loosened the bandages she tied around his head. “Ryden’s impact could’ve shattered your spine. Luckily, it’s completely fine. The biggest issue was the concussion you suffered. How did that happen?”

Elath was only a few inches taller than Ryden, but considering just how small Ryden was, the few inches made quite a big difference for Elath’s stature. Elath was significantly less built than Ryden, a result of her lack of combat experience. She wore a simple white tank-top and a pair of oversized leather pants. Her face was smeared in dirt and sweat and her curly brown hair had been tied up to stay out of her face. Like Ryden, she had piercing blue eyes, but of a lighter shade.

“An enforcer officer blasted me through a roof and the back of my head connected with a horizontal beam.”

“Considering you got blasted through a roof, I’d say that’s pretty fortunate,” a third voice jested, belonging to Camden, Kade’s older brother. Camden was of average height, standing another few inches over Elath. What was most striking about his appearance was his dirty blonde hair and broad shoulders. Like Elath, he was dressed in a tank top, but wore black combat pants. Attached to his back was a sword, but not of the same variety as Kade’s.

Elath punched Camden square on the shoulder with enough force for him to buckle. He smiled weakly as she began bombarding him with insults to his intelligence. “You act as if you’re taking credit for his actions!”

“Well I did teach him everything he knows,” Camden responded nervously.

“Did you teach him how to lay low?” Ryden angrily demanded.

Camden’s timid smile shrank to a low frown.

“He takes that damn sword everywhere, even when it draws attention to him. Not only that, the minute he’s confronted he opts to fight his way out instead of fleeing!” Ryden angrily spun her gaze back at the bedridden Kade. “What the hell were you thinking when you fought three of them, not to mention an officer!”

“I could’ve taken them if she didn’t blow herself up!” Kade shot back.

Elath rolled her eyes and turned away to address the other needs of bedridden patients as Ryden and Kade continued bickering.

“That’s not the point you dullard. What about collateral damage? If you add more enforcers to your kill count you only bolster your current threat level. Next time they’ll send even more after you! After us!”

Camden perked back up at Ryden’s words. “So we’ll just take them out! More practice that way.”

Ryden’s aggravated gaze slowly fixated on Camden as he was preparing to add more to his thoughts. Upon seeing her expression, he quickly silenced himself and looked down as if he was a child being punished.

Kade sighed and started to pull the sheets off, causing alarm in Camden’s demeanor.

“Elath is going to kill you,” Camden assured him as Kade continued clawing at the binding sheets. Kade ignored Camden’s nagging and pulled the sheets off his body, revealing that all he was garbed in was a pair of boxers and an undershirt.

“I need to get back to work,” Kade responded to Camden as he stood up from the bed. Ryden had walked away by this point, leaving the two brothers alone at the far end of the medical ward. The ward was in the underground tunnels of a previously occupied castle that had fallen during a raid years back. The room had once been a jail but Elath had used the beds and converted it into a shoddy medical ward. She often lamented about the condition of her “field hospital” as she called it, citing lack of space, resources, and hygiene as repeated issues. To her credit, they were issues, though she made up for the problems with her own knowledge and gifts, keeping the field hospital as effective as possible despite the obvious shortcomings.

Elath had since turned from her patient and noticed Kade was up and moving. She rushed him, shoving Kade back toward the bed. If it weren’t for Kade’s injuries, her attempt would’ve been in vain, but she managed to wrestle him back into the seating position. She attempted to pry the sword from his hands, but Kade kept an iron grip on the where the handle met the sheath, admonishing Kade for the entirety of the physical exchange. Elath sighed and turned to Camden, who watched from the sidelines. “Will you help?” Elath asked, to which Camden shrugged.

“I could try, but he’s just going to get back up the second you leave his bed. You know better than anyone else how unsustainable that is for the other patients.”

Elath stepped back and paced back and forth at the end of the bed. “Would it kill you to sit still this one time?”

Kade looked at her mindlessly, not bothering to respond to her question. The silence was clear enough of an answer.

”He gets it from you,” Elath said, jabbing her finger into Camden’s back. Camden winced and wiggled away from her poking. Camden, rubbing his neck, looked bashfully at Elath as she marched away and continued to work on other patients, relinquishing her assault on Kade.

Camden looked down at Kade and wrung his hands nervously. “Kade, I know you get your lack of self-preservation from me, but this is something you should take more seriously.”

Kade’s face turned into a burning scowl as he began to rise from the bed. “Don’t you dare lecture me.” Kade grabbed his clothes from the end of the bed and treaded out of the room. Elath shot him one last glare as he left the ward.

Camden ran his hand along the back of his neck and sighed before turning to make up the bed that Kade left unkempt.

◉◉◉◉◉

Kade semi-diligently watched as Ryden effortlessly spun her knife back and forth in her grasp. She accelerated her speed of motion to the point where the blade’s edges became unclear, looking more like a sharp spinning top.

Kade was seated on a cut tree stump as he watched. A few days had passed since his injuries. He found himself a tight black shirt, a size too small for his muscular build along with a pair of leather combat pants. His boots were the only piece of his original wardrobe that was wearable. The lack of clothing options were disappointing yet unsurprising, the resources over the course of the last month had dwindled as they had gone without a resupply from the month prior, an all too common occurrence.

Kade glanced down at the sword resting in his lap and pulled the handle out from the sheath ever so slightly, just enough to see the pristine silver of his sword. The top half of his face was visible in the reflection of the blade. His piercing green eyes and messy black hair were accented by his light almond skin. A scar ran from the middle of his forehead down to the top left of his nose, a mark from a sparring session with Camden, the last time they ever traded blows. Camden had systemically refused Kade’s offers after the event, causing Kade to eventually cease his advances.

Ryden turned and looked at Kade with spite, her eyes bouncing back between his face and his blade. “Don’t you think that the sword would be better equipped for ruhox to begin with?”

Kade scoffed at the question, annoying Ryden further. “It wouldn’t work, my mother’s ruhox was limited in that regard.”

Ryden cocked an eyebrow at Kade’s answer. Not once had he ever answered any questions regarding the sword he carried or his mother. The only knowledge anyone had about it aside from his brother Camden, and by proxy Elath, was that Kade was looking for other relics created by his father.

“My mother’s ruhox was a coveted one, she was able to imprint ruhoxes onto relics she forged. The imprinting process was semi-random but often was influenced by the circumstances of the relic’s creation.” Kade shifted on the stump, the hard surface of the stump doing nothing to ease the discomfort of his injuries. “The only shared trait among all of her creations was their limitations, anyone who attempted to handle them with an innate ruhox would slowly have their life sucked away.”

Ryden, now holding her knife stationary, raised a single finger at Kade, the remaining fingers still wrapped around the handle. “So if I touch the sword, I’ll die?”

“No, but if you attempt to pour any of your own ruaho and summon its power, you won’t be able to cut it off. It’ll keep going until it takes all of it from you, even if you stop touching it.”

”Freaky,” Ryden responded. A cautious look had formed on her face as she trained her eyes on the blade in Kade’s lap.

Kade glanced over his shoulder as a commotion began to form in the clearing behind him. A mass of people had formed around the entrance to the camp, led by Camden who forced his way through, ignoring the questions from the crowd. He approached Kade, glancing at Ryden briefly, before unfurling a message.

“The otterlings are requesting an audience, and Jerald requested we be emissaries to meet with them,” Camden ordered, grabbing Kade by the shoulder and pulling him to his feet.

Kade forced Camden’s hands off his shoulder, “What the fuck Cam? I told you I don’t give a shit about Jerald’s politics.”

Camden’s gaze shifted from its soft familiarity to a firm and unyielding one. “Kade, Jerald is the only reason you’re given any grace around here. Besides, if you’re going to act all tough and mobile after your injuries you better be willing to make yourself useful.”

Kade cursed as Camden handed him a travel bag, “We’re leaving, now. It’s about a three hour hike to the arranged rendezvous.”

Ryden snickered as Camden continued pulling Kade toward the woods, the crowd not far behind the two of them. Camden, taking note of Ryden’s snickers, motioned his head toward the woods, “You’re coming too Ryden.”

“What?” She responded in uproar.

“For whatever reason Jerald thinks that the two of you are among his best, even after the stunt you pulled today in Vertho the other day.”

Ryden grit her teeth at Camden’s jab and angrily began stomping after him. “Because I am one of his best!” She shouted, followed by a litany of egomaniacal and nasty remarks, all of which Kade and Camden ignored.

“Isn’t this rather rash?” Kade asked as the group finally found themselves out of earshot of the relentless foot traffic.

“Jerald is doing his best to keep ally relations strong right now, we need the resources and the otterlings are able to provide. He made it a priority as soon as they got word that they were in need of a favor.”

Kade rubbed the creases on his forehead, irked by the sudden whirlwind of commands. “I’m not a foot soldier for Jerald to command,” Kade reiterated.

Camden turned, his expression hardened again. “Kade, drop it. The Coalition welcomed us even despite our own selfish goals, gave us food, shelter, clothes, and safety. The least we can do is work to favor their goals while advancing our own.”

“Advancing our own?” Kade growled. “You seem to have lost all drive for our original intention. You got wrapped up with Elath and for the last three years we’ve made no progress!”

Camden whirled around, his hand flying out from his side and stopping inches from Kade’s neck. “Drop it. Now!” He hissed.

Ryden, now silent, watched the two with indifference, her arms crossed behind her head in a stretching position. The tension of the moment popped when she burped and continued walking ahead. “Camden if you don’t get back in front I’m going to lead us the wrong way and we’ll all die!”

Camden gave one last resentful look at Kade before turning his attention back on guiding the group. Kade scowled and tightened his grip on the sheath of his blade, his knuckles turning white from the force