Heildin, Capital city: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 3:00 AM.
Arwen awaited his transport at the entrance of the hotel, ready to drive back to HQ at Kaldstein after the conference. Having done everything he could during the meeting, the reception of the public towards Cerberus began to improve since a very long time—successfully earning a chance to retain control of the Deadlands and garner further support from the continent.
At a nearby building however…
A feminine figure wearing a white battle-suit and a skull mask concealing her identity lied down on the floor. She Looked through the scope of a rifle with her sights centered in between Arwen’s eyes, steadily holding the steel crafted firearm. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed her body and began to gently apply force to the trigger.
“Here you are!” A man’s beaming smile suddenly popped in front of her crosshairs. She stood up in a hurry with incredible speed at the shock of his entrance, putting distance between them with a combination of elegant flips and jumps.
“Woah! You are fast.” the man applauded with a smile. “Would you mind skipping this assassination, lass?” he requested before blowing bubbles with his fake smoking pipe.
The assassin offered no answer and ignored his playful behavior however, readying the two daggers sheathed in her back instead. She took a stance with both blades in front of her and prepared to engage in combat.
“Detective Tormod Paterson, from Knightly Investigations.” the man responded to her threatening pose with a bow. “A pleasure meeting a lovely girl like yourself out here.”
Still offering no response, the assassin rushed towards the detective and swung both her daggers in rapid succession. Rotating to the side to evade the first attack and ducking under the second slash, the detective avoided getting cut into tiny ribbons by her rapid assault. Just as he finished straightening his posture, Tormod noticed the assassin already far from reach as she held a defensive position.
“Just hear me out for a moment, I’m only getting paid to not let you kill that man on the street.” Tormod stated casually—pointing in Arwen’s direction with his chin. “And it seems to me that he’s already gone, so how about we both walk our own ways and call it my win.”
Following the detective, the assassin confirmed his words with her own eyes as Arwen was nowhere to be seen from where they stood. Her hands shook with anger as she held her daggers firmly, setting her eyes back on the detective holding the bubble pipe in his between his fingers. Recollecting herself, the assassin opted to not take any further risks by tossing her blades directly at Tormod.
Stepping to the side, the detective avoided the first attack—catching the second dagger with his hand before it could find its way into his face. “Close…” he said, looking at the tip of the sharp blade caressing his eye. Setting his eyes back to where the girl once stood, he realized the assassin has somehow already made her escape—leaving no trace behind for him to follow. “She IS fast… didn’t even get her name.” he lamented, blowing bubbles from his pipe.
The detective’s phone suddenly rang in his pocket, playing a catchy old jazz song with the melodic sound of a trumpet. He picked up the device and checked the contact on the screen reading, ‘The Boss.’ “Called just in time, I assume your friend is safe?” he cheerfully speculated with a confident smirk.
“You didn’t let me down; I’ve sent the payment you requested.” Claimed the pleased client.
“Want me to call the authorities?” Tormod suggested as he made his way towards the stairs.
“No, I already got what I wanted,” the man responded. “I’ll call you again soon.”
“My services are always open,” the detective answered with a quick chuckle and continued his way down the building—satisfied with the successful request.
Gladean Empire, Capital city of Stadtra: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 7:00 AM.
The specters approached the small girl as she raced for her life within the dark, eerie forest—snippets of the moon light filtering through the dense mass of leaves above. Tears running down her face, the girl continued to run as her screams echoed through the forest—attracting the specters further towards her position. Her blurry vision betraying her as she tripped on the large root of a massive tree.
She was ejected forward with great momentum and violently thrown against the ground, hitting her face on the hardened soil. Staggered by the stinging pain, the girl could barely see her hand in front of her as the screams of the specters continued to become louder. In a desperate attempt to save herself, she began to cover herself with the leaves and branches of her surroundings—leaning her back against a tree.
A large specter leaped in front of her, the moonlight highlighting its terrifying muscular structure with its bladed arms reflecting the light coming from above. The creature snapped its head in her direction in a moment’s notice, slowly approaching the whipping girl as she covered her mouth with her hands.
The monster screamed, deafening the girl who helplessly moved her hands from her mouth to her ears. Tears continued to roll down her face as she kept her eyes shut, the leaves and branches she positioned on top of her slipping down and blowing her cover.
“…!” Waking up from her nightmare, Claire found herself lying on a fancy and extremely comfortable double bed in her room. Still at the Albury’s manor, she was brought to her room by Gaspard after falling asleep at the dinner table. She took a few seconds to recollect herself before leaving, using breathing exercises she learned during her time at the academy.
Taking a quick shower to appease her wandering mind, Claire put on her uniform and left the room to regroup with the others downstairs. She joined her team at the table for breakfast—which whom decided to not bother her with any questions and avoid the subject during the meal. After the exquisite and filling breakfast, the group walked out of the manor accompanied by Eric and Gaspard.
“I delivered the letter to my father, like you requested.” Eric turned to face Claire. “Here...” he reached for his pocket with his hand, pulling out a small box that read ‘zzzleep: Because so much is riding on your zzzleep!’
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“The hell...” Claire frowned as she accepted the small gift.
“Your group told me you had difficulty sleeping,” Eric claimed. “I had Gaspard look for them last night, my father always talks about how good these are.” he expressed with a serious face.
Claire raised her eyebrow and directed her gaze towards Scott and Tori. The pair flinched slightly when they noticed her eyes looking towards them—pretending to look at the flying birds in the clear sky of Voyin instead.
Claire exhaled softly and secured the sleeping medicine in her pocket. “Sorry if I worried you,” she mumbled with wistful eyes—a reaction her team couldn’t help but smile at in return.
“It’s our job, lieutenant!” Tori cheered with clenched fists, “your well-being is important to us!”
Scott tapped the tip of his glasses, lighting up the lenses. “Of course, you can always leave everything to Scott when things start getting hairy.” he claimed with a smirk of absolute confidence.
“I assume your business in Voyin is finished?” Eric chimed in, interested in the group’s next adventure.
“Not yet, I want to know about the creatures we dealt with last night.” Claire stated, her mind going back to the mutants accompanied by the specters they encountered last night. “Those mutated soldiers looked similar to the specters; they even fought alongside them.” she crossed her arms with a contemplating expression.
“One of them even spoke to us…” Tori continued with her hands clasped together.
“I am not sure what they are myself...” Eric responded, rubbing his chin. “The problem has just recently appeared here in the empire, but we have no clear information on these creatures.”
“They didn’t possess a core and turned into a strange liquid...” Claire clicked her tongue, irked by the mindless speculations running in her head. “I guess we have no choice but to report them back in Hemel,” she lamented with a frustrated look in her face.
“Sounds reasonable,” Eric said. “When shall we leave?”
“We should- we?” Claire’s puzzled eyes looked at the young noble.
“Correct, I will accompany you.” Eric stated casually, checking up on his equipment.
“Oh…” Tori reacted with a small jump.
“No, you will not.” Claire promptly declared with a glare.
“If this is the decision you wish to make, young master.” Gaspard interjected. “Then allow me to accompany you as well. I hope you will find my help useful, young miss.” he bowed gently towards Claire.
“What? No, you are no--“
“It seems like we’ll be seeing more of each other,” Scott said tipping the bridge of his glasses. “Looking forward to eating more of your delicious meals, Mr. Blondeau.” he smirked.
“It is truly an honor to hear your praises, young Foley.” Gaspard bowed a second time.
“Stop, I said they are n--!” Claire raised her voice a little before being interrupted once again.
A gentle, romantic song suddenly fired up in Tori’s phone, halting the discussion as everyone turned her way to check on the sound. “Oh, sorry… sorry…” She apologized while picking it up from her pocket. “Hm?”
“What is it?” Claire asked.
“It’s… the boss. He has a message for you, lieutenant.” She claimed with perplexity all over her face, stretching her arm towards Claire.
“Can’t he just write to her directly?” Scott wondered while looking at Tori, to which she simply shrugged in response.
Claire promptly took the phone and read the message on the screen.
“I heard you delivered the letter safely and even managed to recruit the son of duke Albury into your ranks, very impressive work, lieutenant :o!
I know you were told to return immediately after completing your mission, but I have plans for you and your team to remain in the empire. Yeon will send all the details to your phone later, convenient right? ;)
Best of luck and stay safe!
-The Boss”
“How does he know all this already?” Tori asked with curiosity filled eyes.
“I guess we are staying, huh.” Scott smiled with glee.
Bloodhound’s members joyously welcomed the new additions to the team, meanwhile Claire groaned softly while rubbing her forehead with her hand. Deep inside however, a ticklish feeling filled her chest as she witnessed the beaming faces of her group—a mix of emotions overwhelming her mind at that moment. As she attempted to water down the excitement of the group, the phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated with a new notification.
“What’s this?” Leaving the others to celebrate, she picked up her phone and proceeded to open a new message from ‘The Boss’ on the screen.
“Hello, lieutenant.
This isn’t about your mission, but I know you’ve had trouble sleeping lately.
Forget that, I know what you’ve been through even before you joined the academy. I know it’s not easy, but the road ahead of you will only get more difficult as you go. If you ever find yourself discouraged or drifting apart, then I want you to stop and look at your surroundings. I’m not asking you to always succeed or make things perfect, that’s why I gave you Bloodhound. Whenever you fall, they’ll be there to pick you up, knowing that you’ll do the same for them.
I know you worry about your father and work hard to see him out of the Deadlands safe and sound, but if anything worth reporting happens I will notify you about it myself. I only ask that you leave this part to me; I won’t let anything happen to him as long as I’m in charge. There’s plenty to see and do at the empire, take whatever free time you can get to enjoy your stay and forget about your troubles, alright?
I eagerly wait for your next report, lieutenant. I’ll talk to you later.”
Instead of finishing the message with his usual signature of ‘The Boss’. The text ends with the emote of a small white flower.
Cerberus HQ, CEOs office: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 7:00 AM.
Sovereign laid the phone back on the desk and continued inspecting the many documents lying in front of him. Yeon remained seated in a red couch with a small table beside it, reading a large text file with her tablet.
“Was that really necessary?” she inquired while putting the tablet down, grabbing the mug with coffee sitting in the small table.
“Probably not,” Sovereign offered an unconcerned smile. “I just felt the need to.”
Yeon sighed and shook her head, returning the mug to the desk after taking a sip from it. “You know how important it is that your presence remains hidden,” she warned. “If I see you try something that can jeopardize all our planning, I’m going to kick your ass.” while her tone was pretty calm, her squinted eyes gave the impression that she was not making jokes about it.
Sovereign frowned at the barbaric warnings of his co-worker. “Ouch...” he adjusted himself on his sit and rested his head on his fist, offering Yeon a grin filled with confidence. “You have nothing to worry about so far, everything is going exactly as I said it would.”
Somewhere in the Deadlands: 936, February 7th, Wednesday, 9:00 AM.
“No more messing around!” Sebastian roared at the crimson skies of the Deadlands.
“Is jumping head first into your own demise really that exiting?” Xun questioned the major’s sanity, checking up on her mech’s condition.
“Spirits up, Xun!” Aria cracked her knuckles and powered up her exoskeleton. “Although this feels a little excessive… Are we really going to take on all these things on our own?” she asked, looking at the roaming horde of specters in the distance.
“Don’t worry, Yeon said reinforcements are on the way.” Sebastian dismissed all worries with an enthusiastic chuckle, like a confident child about to perform a foolish action to impress his group of friends.
Xun exhaled loudly while powering up her mech suit, her objective mind defeated by the major’s childish behavior. “If I die here, I will hunt you both for the rest of my afterlife.”
Heretic took a fighting position, lined up to face a large horde of specters protecting the massive belfry far in the distance. Right beside it, the colossal specter with the deer skull for a face stared at the battlefield—its glowing crimson eyes adhered to the trio while firmly holding a grasp of the belfry, as if safeguarding it from any harm.
Wendigo, the terrifying monster whose screams call upon hordes of alpha and beta threat specters. After Cerberus’ crushing defeat last year, even with the assistance of its rivals, Hydra and Chimera; the company closed all operations related to the colossal specter—avoiding the depths of the Deadlands altogether.
“Let’s hope the reinforcements are good then,” Sebastian exclaimed enthusiastically while powering up his spectral gear.
END OF CHAPTER