After telling Hannah everything I'd seen, I was sent back to spy on the group. My job was to make sure nothing happened to the hostage.

Four clansmen against one cursed cat would be laughably one sided. That much was as clear as day.

I chased ahead of Hannah's group. How they were supposed to spot the lookout before he spotted them, I didn't know. But it was time for me to take up that lookout's invitation.

I could hardly ensure the hostage's safety whilst there was a thick stone wall lined with alcohol kegs between us. Realistically, I could hardly ensure the hostage's safety even if that wasn't between us.

The lookout was still by the side door. After the building came into view, I hugged the wall until I came into the lookouts view.

This time, he was an awful lot less inviting after having already been rejected once. But it wasn't like he was going to slam the door shut right before I forced my way through the gap. He may have been a kidnapper but he wasn't heartless.

Slipping into the building and nimbly avoiding the lookout's hands, I searched deeper inside.

Just as I'd seen from the outside, the building contained a large open area for storage, now mostly empty. There was little compartmentalisation apart from what was probably the foreman's office overlooking the space.

Counting again, I spotted four. Each shared a similar northern complexion. The two, still playing cards, chatted away in Euanu. One short and scowling, the other tall and thoughtful.

The air was thick with the smell of aged alcohol. Faint wisps of cigar smoke danced from the stairs leading to the foreman's office.

It was only when I moved further in did the kidnappers notice my movement. As I neared to inspect the hostage, the two cardplayers lifted their heads from their game. They must have been having a long day because their eyes tracked me, hungry for some entertainment.

“Cath.” Said Shorty, looking between his friend and the lookout.

The lookout turned back to face his compatriots. “Sori, nath e dod mewn ar ben ei hun.” He apologised for my sudden unwarranted appearance.

Shorty and his friend tracked my movements across the floor. It was unnerving to be scrutiny to their interest considering how slight the effort they'd need to expend to hurt me.

I'd been here for barely minutes and I was already impatient for the guards to show up. Judging by the clansmen's abnormal interest in me, they'd been here long enough to get bored of card games. One would wonder why they hadn't left or made any demands yet.

They tensed a little, as I neared the hostage lying facedown near their feet, but made no motion to kick me away.

These weren't like the locals, thankfully. Black cats didn't send them into some sort of primitive superstitious paranoia. To them I looked like any other cat.

The hostage was bound. Arms behind their back, legs tied up. And probably gagged as well. However, they weren't blindfolded.

For a moment, I thought they'd been knocked out. But as I skirted around their head, they stirred.

Lifting rather bleak red eyes, exhausted from stress, she stared up at me. She probably hadn't been fed or watered for quite a while, and her situation was taking a harsh mental toll on her. But what shocked me the most was that I recognised this person.

It was Riker.

I blinked twice, staring for any feature that could dispel what could have been an illusion. But no matter how many times I looked away and back, she was still Ricker.

Well shit. Now isn't that something? Forget gloating, Hannah is going to carve a life size statue of herself in honour of the time she saved Riker.

But this didn't make sense. The chances of this were astronomically small.

Besides, wasn't she supposed to be with Mather right now? Jean had implied the two had plans for the festival.

So where was Mather? Well if they'd kidnapped Mather as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to throw him in a canal early. In fact, as awful as it was to say this, a part of me wanted to joke that this was probably going much better than her date with Mather ever could. Harsh statements to make about someone I didn't know very well.

But then again, I disliked Mather. He was pompous, arrogant, and not in the slightest bit sympathetic to Hannah's pain.

I shook my head clear of these thoughts. There was a time and place.

And besides, there was a decent chance that the person who tipped off the guard was actually Mather. The guards had mentioned interrogating someone who they'd identified as a professor. Likely a professor of the academy. Therefore, it was possible.

“Gad e fod.” Came the gruff and strict voice of a clansman smoking cigars on the stairs. He had a distinctly mafia boss like air to him. He was senior to the rest, and as was clan custom, held more authority.

His commands to leave me alone soured the mood of the two card players.

One, short and stocky with stubble one day shy from being counted as a beard, replied with venom in his tone. “Pa mor hur dy chi mynd i gadael ni yn y tywyll? Sdim byd da ni i neud ond chwarae cardie and edrych ar pen ol pert ferch ma.” He gave a sharp kick to Riker's rear.

Riker bit her gag and closed her eyes, withholding a response. Her expression a mixture of disgust and fear. She hadn't noticed my presence. It wasn't hard to wonder why she might be distracted in such poor company.

Great. They couldn't just be kidnappers. No, no, they had to be kidnappers AND arseholes. I suppose both came hand in hand depending on the perspective.

The second card player, a woman with her hair braided back close to her skull, rolled her eyes but kept quiet.

A mix of frustration and impatience would reach a boiling pot that'd result in disaster. A mutiny.

In my opinion, Riker didn't have many options. I certainly wouldn't want to struggle in her position. To draw attention to myself by making trouble would be tantamount to signing up for a beating.

But that was syngamous with losing control of one's life. Surrendering it to the aggressor. And as time went by, nerves began to fray, the panic and stress mounted. Riker would eventually snap or be snapped.

I looked towards the side door, hoping to see somebody burst through with a shimmering axe in one hand, and a warhammer of justice in the other. But in absence of such a person, this situation was poised for disaster.

Whilst I deliberated on what to do, Shorty knelt over Riker and shot a lascivious look up at boss. “Dyw hi ddim yn becso be sy'n digwydd os mae hi dal yn byw, ye?”

They only needed her alive? Interesting. That was probably the reason why they hadn't left yet. Smuggling a human outside Kasper without witnesses or fuss was near impossible right now.

The Boss, with a sour expression sighed, stubbed his cigar on the banister and merely mumbled. “Gwna be ti moin.” Sometimes, general's let their soldiers pillage and plunder recently conquered territory to keep them from mutinying at a later date.

Well, shit. I glanced to the door again. If somebody was going to stop Riker getting harmed, this was around the time they should kick down the doors and declare their objections.

I was fluent enough in Euanu to understand what was about to happen to Riker. A horrid thing that women dread. A trauma that could tarnish the sun in the sky. A despicable torture that even thinking about makes my skin crawl.

Shorty picked up Riker who was in the midst of fighting two battles. One of token struggle, and the other, a gross mental one of trying not to anger her kidnapper.

Nobody else in the room intervened. I looked to each person. Not even Shorty's friend made a move. She showed disgust but turned her eyes like it couldn't be helped.

Seriously? Not a single person?

I stood frozen to spot, more aware than ever of my own height against these four giants. But I had to ask myself, why was I getting these thoughts? Her dignity wasn't worth my life.

So long as she was alive, it didn't matter what happened. So long as someone, anyone interferes before it goes too far... Too far? Surely we passed that point after she was kidnapped.

But I knew how unlikely a saviour was. Even if the kidnappers had been spotted without the lookout's knowing, it'd take way too long before the guard would arrive here. Minutes, seconds, crime often happens before the good guys have even gotten up and finished breakfast.

They were four, and I was one. The end result would be obvious. I couldn't win this fight. I couldn't intervene. Well I could intervene so long as I didn't mind being used to decorate the walls.

A part of me wondered why I even should have to intervene. The worst of humanity was a side which the best of humanity had to fight. Why did I, as small as I was, have to be the one to step in and intervene? If the good guys aren't here, then that's their failure.

Shorty pressed himself against Riker, opened his mouth to speak in terse common. “You behave. Or your children die.”

Her children? How extensive was the failure of the good guys that they had even failed to protect children. Cruelty seemed like human art form, to be able to threaten a person's children in order to make sure they don't struggle as their being broken down.

Any resistance in Riker stopped. But the horror in her eyes only widened. She looked around the room, and as though for the first time, spotted the black cat. And I'd never seen such despair.

Bad luck. It was so obvious and clear by the way her eyes seemed to glaze over. The gods had sent her a sign that she was facing true evil. That this was the work of powers beyond her control.

And I that power's messenger, it's observer, it's ally.

I an ally to the cruelty of humans.

I could feel each individual follicle of hair stand on end. The indignity, the unfairness, the sheer gall of this person to dare blame me for this. To hate me, to scorn me, when her aggressor was literally behind her.

And yet I'm at fault?

I can't stand it.

But there was more. There was shame. Because to sit back and be an observer to persecution, is tantamount to encouraging the aggressor.

If I sat here and did nothing, if I turned and looked away, nothing would change. I would be a part of humanity's worst.

I can deal with being called bad luck. But this is just too damn far.

Then let's give ourselves a little more permission to act out.

The gang got quite the surprise when they heard a heavy thud against the locked double doors. All eyes turned in anticipation, people rooted to their spot, and Riker took the opportunity to cry out.

Is someone behind the door? Has someone found us? Questions raged like wildfire in the clansmen eyes. Fires of paranoia that burned up all previous thought processes.

The resistance had to stop. As Shorty wrestled to silence Riker, his second surprise caught him completely by off guard.

A black ball of fur and fury clawed up the side of Riker and descended upon Shorty. Hissing and spitting, I clawed at ever soft spot of his face. Sharp claws met soft skin. Humans would regret not evolving a tougher hide. Drawing blood from the many hard shallow rips.

Cursing loudly, Shorty fell backwards and released the bound Riker who slipped to the floor. “Gah fuck!” He uttered a curse universal to most languages.

The world spun around me as Shorty struggled. But as he made to move me, I dug in. I made my message clear, struggle and I'll tear deeper. Ironic considering the threats to Riker he'd just made.

“Cai dy ceg!” His friend wrestled with Shorty to grab a hold of me. Shorty tried his hardest not to cry, even as his friend told him to shut up.

The battering against the double doors had spooked them thoroughly. It continued, mounting pressure on them.

Boss had moved down the flight of stairs to said doors, hand hovering over his dagger as he commanded the cardplayers to deal the commotion. The lookout looked torn between what he should do. I had the wits about me to keep track of each person in the room.

Hands bore down at me like giant vipers seeking to entangle their prey. Recognising an unviable position, I tore myself away from Shorty's face.

My heart throbbed and blood rushed throughout my small body. I backed away slowly, hissing a warning to shorty and his friend. Approach at your own risk.

Blood still dripping from wounds that'd leave a pretty set of scars, eyes cradling anger and rage, Shorty glared down at me.

I glared back. Bad luck? No, I'm something different. Don't patronise me you hairless apes. You lowly creature dragging your knuckles on the floor as you walk, your brains leaking like putrid slime from your ears.

You are the creatures with only rot and wanton destruction to your name. Not me.

Don't you dare look down at me. I won't let anyone attach your cruelty to my being.

I glanced over to Riker. I'd saved her momentarily from humiliation. I, a black cat, had done so. A gift from me to her, given out of spite.

Shorty's friend looked back to Boss. They shared a quiet nod. A shiver ran down my spine.

I needed to back away, maybe defuse the situation by making them think I wasn't worth the effort. So long as the battering on the door continued, they'd have bigger things to deal with. They'll want to back away, to stop the commotion.

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

“Tawelar fucking cath na.”

Shit.

Shorty spat out blood that dribbled down his nose and marched forward before his friend had even given the command.

Each stride was easily five times larger than mine. And as ashamed as I was to admit it, I froze to the spot.

I just needed to tear him to shreds though. It was nothing I couldn't handle-

But I'm just a simple black cat.

Reality slapped me coldly. A line whispered that parted the red mist with ease. And once more, I was made very aware of our utterly unfair height difference.

He pulled his leg back to kick me across the warehouse. Only my most basic instinct pulled me aside. If only I'd moved sooner.

The kick caught me hard. It didn't strike me square, but it didn't have to. The force only needed to twist my body. Pulling my back, crushing the wind out of my lungs. Making the world spin and disorientate me.

I wasn't punted far, but the pain that raged across my body lit fires of indignation.

Arrogant hairless ape. I'll peel you layer by layer!

But I'm just a cat.

A headache strangled my resistance. I must have hit myself hard. Confusing thoughts raged in a bitter battle, making even the the most vitriolic of political debates seem graceful in comparison.

Finding my feet again was hard, but I had to. My hindlegs didn't seem to want to cooperate.

Shit. This had been a colossal error of misjudgement. I'd picked a fight with a human. Me. Lazy old me. Stupid old me. Soon-to-be-dead old me.

What had I gone and done this for? This was the worst case scenario. The one I should have avoided no matter the cost. And hell, avoiding it wouldn't have cost me anything. Nobody was threatening me into action.

But even as the reasons escaped me, even as the emotions that fuelled my resistance evaporated to gas, I could feel their after touch. I knew I was right in what I was doing. If it wasn't to save Riker, then it was to take my anger out on Shorty.

Having lost my bearing, the battering against the door stopped. There had been no one on the other side. No help threatening to rush in and expose the kidnappers. That had simply been a trick of mine. The same illusion that made my voice. I should have gone with something bigger.

If only I was bigger, if only I was stronger. If only I didn't have this damn curse. I stared up indignantly at the approaching Shorty. I fought a fight a fight which I would never not feel bitter about losing. This was about so much more than this human could ever understand.

But at the very least, I left my mark. Blood oozing from his face like puss. Even limited by this curse, I was still the thing of nightmares. Someone's nightmares.

Shorty lifted his boot over my head.

This is stupid. Why did I even try and stop him? What am I even talking about? Spite? Is that really a reason to act? To live? I died for spite. I died because Hannah gave me this stupid job. Because Riker looked down at me. Humans were involved with every step of my misery.

The boot came down, ushering in a wave of crushing darkness.

It fell down on all my body, pushing me to the floor. Gently. Warmly.

I opened my eyes. Above me was not a boot, but a body. It was Riker.

Shorty spat out insults and curses and kicked again and again. His friend rushed over to him to pull him away.

Each kick had weight thundering against Riker's sheltering form. I could feel the force going straight through her. Every yelp, every shock of biting pain. Until finally Shorty was pulled away.

They stood in silence, waiting for more noise from the double doors. None came. They all breathed a sigh of collective relief except for Shorty. His friend knocked him over the back his head for the commotion he'd caused.

Riker remained hunched over me. Drawing each pained breath. In my head, I wondered whether I should thank her or hate her.

To look down at me like bad luck, and then to do this. It frustrated me. Ground every pretentious thought in my head to a halt.

I let my head fall. Gazing up at the dark, oh so dark ceiling, waiting for time to pass by. Painfully, slowly, each second dragging.

Riker slumped onto her side, deciding, much to my annoyance, to wrap her arms around me. As patronising and downright insulting I found it, I didn't have the strength in me to fight.

Riker was probably looking for something soft and comforting to hold on to. But I wish she held a little more gently. My body wasn't in great fighting form at the moment.

It didn't help my self-reflection along anymore. Human cruelty? What a pretentious idea. I'd been wrapped up in a fantasy. To think I'd needed my imagination to feed me delusions that I was somehow spiting in the face of the formless mass that was 'human cruelty' in order to persuade myself to act.

That was what it took.

Hannah would probably be torn between repulsion and patting me on the back for what I'd just done. On the one hand, that was some embarrassingly cringey thoughts for someone like myself who should be the down to earth one. On the other hand, I'd just stopped Riker from getting assaulted.

Woot woot, yay me?

I felt like I'd come face to face with something I was trying to hide. Just how deeply I looked down on people.

This reminded me a little of how I first met Hannah.

Twelve years ago in the back alleys of a town called Grigo. I'd been hissing and spitting hell and fury at three children who'd cornered me me with sticks and stones.

If I recall correctly, dark thoughts were crossing my mind back then.

I was half of a mind to scream at them in words they'd understood. To throw caution to the wind at last and act freely upon my grievances. To give them a horror story they could cherish like a childhood memento all the way through to old age in the form of nightmares.

Sarcastic comments weren't the only things I could use the illusion for. Any sound, anywhere, any volume. However, a cat that can scream so loud it paralyses people requires something of a heavy response so I usually kept that to myself unless it was an emergency.

That would have been quite useful a few moments ago, actually.

But those kids were saved by the timely intervention of a child named Hannah. The children were no more than momentarily distracted by the young girl who came charging down the alley fists first.

She ended up punched and kicked herself. But she yelled and screamed with such fury, she frightened the three older children into a full run. After which, she grinned with triumph despite her appearance.

Barely asking my permission, she picked me up and limped me back to her grandparents.

No justicar in angelic armour, but a human of flesh and blood willing to spill a little of their own for someone else.

I stared up at the inky black ceiling. Its deep dark blackness seemed unnatural. As though it were an observer to me.

This darkness. It seemed odd. Strange. What is this? A cacophony of whispers raised in my head, and yet none could provide an answer beyond.

I turned to look elsewhere about the room. Shorty was currently being made fun of by his friend as she picked at his face wounds. Boss had returned wearily to the steps of the stairs to strike up another cigar.

Was it really a trick of the mind? Nobody else had noticed.

Neither Boss, Shorty, or his friend had looked up. How long had this darkness been watching? Wait, where's the lookout?

Crack. The side door swung open with a hefty kick.

I swivelled my head around and caught sight of two men struggling in the doorway.

“Nobody move!” Came a familiar voice, booming through the warehouse as he marched forward through the door. “I have your friend held at knife point.” Arm wrapped around the lookout and a knife up to his throat. Everyone jumped to attention at the sight of him.

Just when I thought things were over. Riker stirred, a little drained for someone who might about to be saved.

“Arosa. Neb symud.” Boss commanded. He muttered some curses in Euanu as he dropped his cigar. His hand once again returned to his dagger. His command for his comrades not to move cut through the air.

“Drop your weapons.” The Nurse growled. Behind him, Jean entered, her eyes darting around the warehouse taking in the situation. I couldn't see any guards behind them.

What had brought them here?

It must have been when I was causing a commotion. They could hear it from outside. Especially the noise coming from the locked double doors. Shit, I'd forced them to step in early. There was no way those two could handle four clansmen.

Or so I thought but the clansmen didn't so much as move let alone utter a word. They waited in anticipation for Boss' command. Shadows of muted hostility fell over their faces as expected for someone seeing their friend held at knifepoint.

“I said drop your weapons.” The Nurse repeated himself. His tone austere, as though it were made for this very moment.

“Nurse, look over there.” Riker tapped the Nurse on the shoulder and pointed in our direction.

Glancing over, the Nurse gave a very tense nod to Riker. “If any of you move, this knife finds a new home. You understand what that means at least, yes? Violence is a universal language shared between us all.”

But as I examined him further and further, I noticed odd peculiarities. The Nurse's face was drained of colour. His grip on the lookout looked shaky. His eyes darted left and right, fearful of reprisal.

Every few seconds the lookout would squirm, and the Nurse would hastily force him back. But the Nurse must have realised, his resolve was slowly being tested. And it didn't look like the Nurse had it in him.

Half way to meeting Riker, the lookout squeezed out a few words which made the Nurse curse. “Ewch am dani. Byddai'n iawn.” The lookout confidently declared as he pushed back against the Nurse.

By the time Jean was crouched down next to Riker, both the Shorty and his friend had drawn their weapons and were ready to respond.

Boss jumped over the side of the banister and landed with a confident thud on the hard ground. Like the strike of a gong, it seemed to spurred his comrades into action.

Shit, is it me or is this day really going to hell in a hand basket?

The Nurse struggled to keep his hold up until the lookout bashed his head against his nose. Spluttering, he stumbled a few steps backwards as the lookout got loose and snatched his dagger back off the Nurse.

“Nurse! What are you doing?!” Jean cried as Shorty and his friend advanced on her. She fumbled at the bounds by Riker's feet as she squirmed, still gagged.

The Nurse paled further at the sight of conflict. He lurched backwards avoiding one swipe, and then a second. But eventually his back feel against the kegs of alcohol. The distance he kept collapsed as the lookout chased at him like a wolf chasing a dear.

Jean stumbled back up onto her feet, but panicked over the sight of two armed individual closing the distance. She fell backwards and Shorty was quickly upon her, dagger to her throat.

At this moment, Hannah showed her head in the doorway. “Jean! Nurse, do something!” However the Nurse was busy avoiding being stabbed himself. Eyes turned to Hannah. She shuffled for scrolls in her satchel.

It was happening so fast. Both mentally and emotionally drained, I could barely keep up with the deteriorating situation.

You idiot! I wanted to scream at Hannah to get out of the way. My guts spun harder than they ever had. Of all the decisions, hers to get involved in this and fight was amongst the most idiotic.

I forced myself up onto my feet. It didn't matter if there were so many witnesses. I couldn't just stand by and watch this situation go to hell. Besides, whose going to think in this situation what happens next is because of that black cat.

Funny how desperation makes you forget your own pain. I found new strength in my legs.

The lookout lodged his dagger into an old keg. Strong alcohol gushed out from the new gap, emptying over the floor. As the lookout struggled to retrieve his dagger, the Nurse slipped away.

Weren't you in the army?! Stop running around like a rat and fight!

Jean wrestled with Shorty, fighting against the knife threatening her throat. But unlike the Nurse, she didn't have a military background. Her hands were accustomed to pen and paper, not daggers and wrestling.

“Jean!” Hannah screamed again. She planted a scroll down onto the alcohol soaked floor.

Shorty's friend changed direction and ran to the doorway, either sensing something was wrong or just to take care of the third newcomer. However, Riker, her legs now free, threw her weight against Shorty's friend and they both collapsed in a ball on the ground. The Boss scrapped his dagger out from its sheath, eight inches of metal heat treated with malice, and ran at the Nurse's back.

Both Jean and Nurse were in a situation where in the next seconds, they could well die. If such a thing happened, next it'd be Hannah.

The warehouse was avalanched in an unholy screech. It blasted for a solid five seconds. It battered relentlessly and forced everyone to writhe.

Where could this source of hateful noise have come from?

Hannah met my eyes, and grinned through the pain. A wholly inappropriate reaction considering the situation. How she was deriving any amount of enjoyment from this fight was beyond me. She took my trick, and turned it into time.

Thrown off balance, nobody could react before Hannah placed her thumb on the primer of her scroll.

A sense of overwhelming forebodding washed over me. Now was really not the time to burn self destruct. We could really do without her patented scroll magic right now.

“Iksum!” She yelled. The scroll lamely burned to a crisp on the alcohol soaked floor. She brought back her hand, unexpectedly a healthy colour, and cursed as she shook it.

Oh thank whatever guardian angel out there that was working overtime. Her scroll, had burned up. Its patent, broken down, burned up bright and fast. She'd certainly felt a singe, but nobody else had noticed.

Hannah fell backwards with a yelp, causing me to lose the focus on my scream. Hovering over the floor, spreading with growing tenacity, were flames. Licks of violent orange appearing over near translucent blue, spreading as though carried by some unseen currents.

Where had the flames come from? They spread wherever alcohol had spilled from the dagger adorned keg. Everyone who noticed eventually turned, watching the unexpected sight of fire. Their minds rumbling to assess the threat.

Should I be concerned about the other guy with the knife, or the fire? Everyone asked themselves as the fire enveloped the surface of the floor...

And began to climb the wall of alcohol in a hungry quest for fuel.

The few seconds of silence were broken with “Fucking bacardi?!” The Nurse let the words slip.

“Pawb ar eich traed, nawr!” The Boss screamed, getting the attention of all the clansmen.

“Well, isn't that just nice...” Jean groaned. And then kicked the distracted Shorty between the legs.

He was long overdue one of those.

“Everyone out, now!” The Nurse shouted. The clansmen seemed to agree as the blue flames rose.

The warehouse began to fill with an intoxicating smell, dizzying to inhale. I picked myself up but my back legs limped to hold my weight. Like hell was I going to stay in here when that explosion rocked the warehouse.

Jean rolled Shorty off her, stood up and ran to support Riker. The lookout had abandoned his dagger and was proceeding to hastily toe hop his way out of the flames.

When Shorty's friend rose to fight Jean, having not got the memo about fire, Jean made some quick hand signs.

Pulled by Jean's spellweaving and carrying flames, the alcohol sprung in a spray at Shorty's friend who reflexively retreated backwards. Jean helped Riker up onto her feet and guided her towards the exit, dissuading pursuit.

The Nurse sprinted past the tip toeing lookout, not minding the heat. He reached Hannah before anyone else. “This place is about to become an inferno, kiddo. I told you to stay out of this.”

Hannah nodded. “Excuse me? I just saved your lives.”

Hey hey! What about me! As much as I tried to push my legs into action, I wouldn't make it over the flames now covering the floor infront of the doorway.

“Somebody needs to get Adam.”

“Look, there's a fire-”

“I'm. Going. To. Get. My. Cat.” Hannah forced each word out before she ran past the Nurse.

Hannah raced across the warehouse floor as the fire spluttering out the broken keg began to intensify.

Just before she reached me, the Boss slid into view, reaching out his arm which practically slammed into Hannah's stomach like a weighty steel ingot as he hauled her up onto her shoulder.

“Guh! Le- Let me down!” Hannah mounted a weakened struggle as the Boss commanded the other clansmen to follow. He'd already lost one hostage, he sure as hell wasn't going to let this opportunity slip.

The Boss staggered back a few steps when a flaming dagger slammed into his shoulder.

The Nurse, standing next to the wall of kegs so close the flames were singing his stubble and eyelashes shouted. “Run!”

Both Jean with Riker and the lookout were out the door. The Nurse began making his own way.

Hannah rolled off the Boss' shoulder and dropped to the floor. Recovering, she dashed towards me heedless of danger.

Now, as stupid as she was acting, I wasn't in much of a position to complain. I found myself quite happy when she scooped me up.

I felt my strength begin to slip. My next few moments, weren't mine to fight. My, albeit, evidently suicidal knight was fighting those moments for me.

Both Shorty and shorty's friend ignored the Boss' shouts to stop Hannah and went for the door themselves. When we were just a few steps from the door, the broken keg exploded outward.

Not a moment too soon did we escape as the first kegs cracked and spilled additional fuel to the fire. The Boss was sprayed with the shrapnel of wooden shards and nails as he passed through the door behind us.

Someone had just lost thousands of coins worth of alcohol. Ironically, they were going to need a stiff drink after this.

Now in the open, I expected the fight to continue in earnest. However as soon as the clansmen had left the warehouse, their will to fight was sucked straight out of them. Everyone who left the warehouse found themselves very quickly grappled and wrestling into a hold.

The only ones who escaped being grabbed by a guard were Riker, Jean, and Hannah. People who the guards assumed immediately had nothing to do with kidnapping. Sadly, the Nurse had just had that kind of face.

“Someone mind telling me what in the seven am I looking at?” The knight dressed in purple who I'd seen at the park had made another appearance. She stood at the forefront of an outfit of stern looking guards. Standing behind her were Killian and Linth.

“Oh wow, Hannah, I did not expect to see you here.” Killian stepped out from knight's shadow. “I mean, Linth told me but still.” Linth stared, intimidated at the smoke billowing out the door to the warehouse.

“Killian? What are you doing here?”

The clansmen gave a token effort to struggle against the guards who outnumbered and out equipped them.

“Check over the civilians. Make sure the suspects are disarmed. Clear everyone away from the fire.” The Knight issued her commands. “Wait, hang on a second.” She laughed as she caught sight of the Nurse. “Been a long time lieutenant? How's civi life treating you? The Nurse that kills strikes again.”

All energy drained from the Nurse's face. “I really don't want to talk about it.”

“I'm glad to see you too.” The Knight slapped the Nurse on the shoulder. The guard looked to her confused as to whether she should let the Nurse go. “Take him with us. He'll be useful.”

The more the Knight prodded, the more the Nurse coiled up deeper in despair.

“Should I release him, sir?” The Guard asked.

“Nah. It's less fun that way.” The Knight grinned.

“You are possibly the one person I missed the least.”

“'Possibly'? Let's make that a definite.” Two old comrades bantered.

The clansmen were being dragged away one by one. The intervention of the guards had come later than I'd wanted. I'd assumed Linth had gone to get them since I hadn't spotted her during the fight. But Killian dispelled that notion.

“Well you see, Hannah,” Killian placed a hand over his chest with exaggerated sas to answer her previous question. “I, a responsible adult, found trespassers in the Triolo early in the morning. I did the responsible thing, and went straight to the guard. You know, like a sane, normal, responsible person would. Which, might I add, I am.”

Hannah glared up at Killian. “Are you picking a fight with me?”

“I, um, I found them on the way here.” Linth looked Hannah up and down. “I'm sorry I was so useless.” She bowed her head.

“No it's fine, Linth. Really, I didn't want you fighting.” The idea upset both me and Hannah.

“Is Adam okay?”

I'm gonna be honest with you Linth, I've seen better days.

Hannah shifted me in her arms. “Adam? Are you okay?”

And how exactly am I supposed to answer that? I stared up at her. 'Well actually, I am pretty pissed at the way my life has been going recently'. Sure let me just say that in the presence of the tens of people gathered here.

I weakly turned over, pointing my back to her. I didn't even want to look at her. This was the last time. The absolute last time I went along with one of Hannah's plans.

Hopefully, someone will come along soon and explain to me how any why this all happened.