Red kept an eye on their surroundings on the way back to the palace. He was tense and ready for action. They had left the marketplace too smoothly, but there was still time for something to go wrong.

Merin was an astoundingly beautiful woman, and she showed off her face. To make matters worse, she also showed off her skills. It didn't take much for Habrin men to get ideas in their heads. Habrin was a country full of soldiers who had been at peace for too long without wives.

As if Red's thoughts summoned trouble, it came right to them.

A group of about thirty men stopped and cut them off from joining the path to the palace.

Red sighed heavily before looking down at Merin to see her fake sleep had turned into actual sleep. The supposed dragon was lying on her, its spikes bristling towards the danger. Red reached near the prickly thing to grab a grape. When he pulled away from the cart, his hands appeared empty.

"If you're a real dragon, take care of her," Red said, then he stepped towards the group of men. He placed himself at the front of the cart. Bellare took one side of the cart, and Letha took another. That left only one unguarded, but Red was confident he would be enough.

The group of opposing men had dark cloth coverings that hid their features and size. It was hard to go up against opponents if you didn't know what you were dealing with. Red fingered the wrapping on his palm as he mentally calculated who he would kill first.

One man stood front and center, and he was the only one with his face exposed. He had a smile that Red knew that most people would find charming. His white teeth that flashed across his skin reminded him of the sandfish he saved Merin from before. The man had hair similar to Merin's but was cropped short with gold threaded into the pale locks.

"Rutilus!" The man with the wide smile said. He stretched out his arms in a friendly gesture. "My name is Zoltan, and these men are my very curious friends."

Red stayed cold and stiff as he stared at the man. He didn't have his shovel with him, which meant he lost an opportunity to strengthen the blood he refined it with. At the rate he was going, he would never run out of men to kill. There would be a next time.

Zoltan's arms dropped, but that cheeky smile stayed fresh on his lips as he said, "We've heard that your Russus is a treasure, and we would like to meet her."

"Leave," Red said.

The man's smile faltered now before it grew bold again, "Rutilus, that is a little harsh; we just want a look."

"I don't repeat myself," Red said.

"Rutilus--"

Red threw his blood-covered grape past Zoltan and into the forehead of a man who had sneakily pulled out a dagger.

The smack of the grape gave an audible crack as it broke through the skin and collided with the man's skull. The man fell backward and crashed to the ground with a loud thump.

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There was a brief silence before it was broken by screams of outrage and blades being drawn. Red let out a dark chuckle as he watched the smile fall from Zoltan's lips.

"Rutilus," Zoltan said with a click of his tongue. The man sounded disappointed, which amused Red. "You could have left the woman and walked away. No lady is worth death. Not even a Russus."

Red said nothing as he unsheathed the dagger in his boot. He didn't break eye contact with Zoltan as he played with the blade.

"Looks like you have a taste for blood," Zoltan said before signaling his men to attack.

Red tossed the dagger to cut the other man's neck in response. Red's lips thinned when he saw the other man block it with his own blade.

"Has anyone told you that you're like your father?" Zoltan said with a smirk.

Red saw red after that and charged.

There was a persistent noise that made Merin wake up. She blinked as the familiar sound of battle raged beyond her silk covering.

She stealthily peeked and saw blood and body parts sprinkled like dirt in all directions. Merin grabbed Acuzio for comfort and held the dragon tight to her bosom. She didn't have the mental fortitude to use her powers right now. She was tapped dry, and if Red was fighting, she couldn't draw any strength from him.

Only a handful of people were standing, but Red was tearing them apart with his bare hands. She blinked rapidly as she watched flesh rip and heard the bones crack. A circle of blood surrounded Red as he continued his rampage.

This was how Red killed when he didn't have his shovel, Merin thought with shock. Red was often covered in blood, but his shovel was always clean. Merin watched as he sent a shower of blood in all directions as he ripped a man's throat out with his bare hands.

Guttural laughter rippled through Red's body, and for a moment, Merin lost her train of thought.

"Your Rutilus is a dangerous man." A voice tickled her ear, and Merin jerked. She reflexively held out the dragon as a shield to burn the strange man.

"Is this the infamous dragon?" The man said.

Merin looked and saw that he was unfazed and unburned by Aczuio. She looked at the dragon crosseyed in her disbelief.

"Come quietly with me while your Rutilus is distracted. No funny business, Russus." The man said with a broad white grin.

Aczuio might have failed her, but he wasn't Merin's only trick up her sleeve. She'd been holding onto this one since the Ela Desert. Merin slapped the silver white collar on the man. While he stared at her, shocked, she kicked him in the face and knocked him to the ground.

Red was on the man within a heartbeat. He hung him like a smoked roast and looked ready to dice him up as sandwich meat.

"Wait!" Merin said as she fought to scramble out of the cart. Her body was having a hard time doing something so simple. "Aczuio spared him, so that must mean something!"

Red's slicing motion stopped, and he met her eyes. Merin gulped at the darkness that had taken over his different colored orbs. At this moment, part of her previous question had been answered. Whatever darkness he gained from his father might have overshadowed Elan's light.

Red was covered in blood, which was becoming a familiar sight, and barely breathing from exertion. What wasn't familiar was the way his red eye glowed. Mordecai's had looked like embers being stoked for heat. Red's eye blinded like the sun's rays. It was as if he couldn't truly see her, and if she made the wrong move, he would cut her up too.

Merin landed not so gracefully on the ground and took tentative steps towards Red. The man he held upside down wasn't struggling, which Merin was grateful for. The last thing that man needed to do was trigger Red's hunter instincts and have the collar wasted.

She waited until she was mere inches away before giving a small smile. "The collar I stole from the slavers is on him as well. They wanted to put one on me to make me obedient. Maybe he can be of use?" Merin said with a dry mouth. "At the very least, we can't question the dead." She was babbling by now, but the stench of death was overpowering at this moment. There was also a thick odor of fear left by Red's victims.

Merin was familiar with death, but right now, she didn't want Red to keep killing. Each life he had taken today had fed the shadows within.

What would happen if they overpowered him one day?