“Left.” I panted as we came to another forking alley. My Mind Map whirring in my head as I mentally traced the best path out of the Murk district and away from the Redbrands that were surely chasing us. We were moving as fast as we could with May helping me along. It was still faster than any normal person limping along would be. But even as damaged as my body was the upgrades to Dexterity kept my body from swaying too far to any one side. Even as we moved I found myself constantly shifting so that May could have the best hold on me. Falling perfectly in step with her strides even as my nerves burned life they’d been dunked in battery acid.

“I think.” May grunted shouldering my weight as we moved down another alley. The light of the fires burning through the Murk finally fading behind us. “I think I can hear them coming.” She said fearfully.

I turned my head to look behind us. I was tired. So damn tired. I felt like I should had dropped dead from exhaustion already. But that weariness was fighting against something else inside me. A constant burn in my chest that almost ached for the Redbrands to find me. I didn’t just want to fight them. I wanted to hurt them. See them bleed as they fell before me and the fear in their eyes as I-

Stop it! I thought desperately. Gritting my teeth as I tried clamping down on the sensation. But that feeling wasn’t going away. How could it? That rage? That violence? I couldn’t blame that on Rykas trying to take control anymore.

Because that feeling was mine now.

Everything that happened tonight just seemed to add fuel to that fire. Every memory seeming to build on each other as the hatred grew. From the restaurant and the bomb there. The sight of dozens of unmoving bodies. The waitress with a wooden splinter piercing her face. Pyga in the fire. The smug almost gleeful grin as a Redbrand tried to set a whole crowd on fire.

I’d been mad before. I’d thought I was angry with everything the Redbrands had done before. But that piece of Rykas that settled in my chest had dumped rocket fuel over everything. Pushing my anger to a point that was almost unhinged in its fury.

“We have to hide.” I said forcing myself to keep moving forward. To not stop and turn around to face our pursuers. “Over there.”

We’d just entered an alley with a bit more debris than the rest. And I could feel Sneak tug me towards a wooden crate. Quick Cover telling me the best way to twist inside at a moment’s notice. With an almost painful slowness I helped May inside first as I watched for any Redbrands coming down the alley. Once she was fully hidden I moved inside myself. Trusting the long shadows of the night to hide us as I pressed against May. I could feel the heat of her breath on the back of my neck as she gripped my arm.

We were only sitting there for a few more seconds before I heard the distinct sound of footfalls echoing down the alley after us. Falling so rapidly they could only be from multiple people running at the same time.

“Did you see them?” A gruff voice asked as the alley bounced his voice off the walls.

“They must have gone this way!” A nasally voice responded back. “There’s only so many paths they could take through these alleys.”

“What if they’re hiding?”

“It doesn’t matter. Didn’t you see the state of him after he fell off that fucking building? I don’t care if he could stand for a bit there at the end. Man must have one foot in the grave.”

I stayed absolutely still as I felt more than heard movement outside our crate. May’s breaths stopped as she held her breath and I found that I was holding mine too.

“There was a woman with him wasn’t there? The girl with the Sigmata on her face? What do we do with her when we find her?”

“Oh, I know what I’m gonna do when we find her.” The gruff voice said with a dark laugh. I felt May’s hands tighten on my arm as she trembled, almost painfully so. I turned to look at her and I saw her face hard as she shook her head silently at me. Not the mask of fear I’d expected to see but a desperate pleading in her eyes I hadn’t seen before. The sight threw me until I realized that May wasn’t the one trembling at all. It was me. Trembling in rage as my hands quivered over the handle of my dagger. Gritting my teeth in a silent snarl as I almost made to leave our cover.

She was trying to hold me back.

I looked down to the knife in my hands. Not remembering at all when I’d drawn it. With a force of will I relaxed my fingers on the blade one by one, the process painfully slow with the ruffle of moving cloth and boots only mere feet away. It was almost an exact repeat of my situation with the Maulers. Only instead of fighting against Rykas taking control as I hid, it was my own thoughts struggling to force my hand.

Didn’t you see what they did to you? To those innocent people? To Pyga and Falisa? That voice in my head seemed to ask. They won’t stop until they hurt you again. Hurt the people you care for again. Kill them. Right now. Before they hurt anyone else. Besides… who else is more deserving?

It wasn’t the mad rambling of a madman in my head anymore. The thoughts were reasoned and ordered. Playing on my own inherent sense of right and wrong to justify the premeditated murders in my mind.

“Take it.” I mouthed to May. Pushing my knife’s hilt towards her chest. Not trusting myself to even sheath the thing at my hip.

I did want to kill them. That was just the truth. How many people had lost their lives tonight? For what, a gang war? Because the Redbrands were xenophobes who hated Beast Folk? But I couldn’t let myself start killing people just because I wanted to. That wasn’t just about maintaining my own Earth given sense of morality either. If I gave in, that would just make me more like him, like Rykas. If I gave into this burning hatred, even if it was my own now. I’d do it again. I know I would.

And I don’t know if I could stop if I did.

Turning to May again I mouthed to her “Stay here.” Her arms clamped tight around my arm again but I put a hand on hers. Staring into her eyes as she slowly released me. After a silent moment I pressed a finger to my lips. Peeking out through a gap in the wood at the men standing just outside.

There were four in total, arguing about what to do next as I identified them and checked their levels. One of them was level three, two were level four, and the last was level five. Staring out at them my fingers curled into fists. Trembling with an almost frightening fury as I thought of the best way to take them down. There was a wooden plank lying nearby that was almost equivalent to what a baseball bat would be size wise, If I grabbed that the moment I left cover I could smash it over the level five’s head before he could react. Hopefully knocking him out so I could engage the others.

Even though rationally I knew it was beyond stupid to fight goons like these without a weapon, I almost didn’t care. That hatred inside myself was begging to be let loose and it didn’t matter if I had a weapon or not. Before I could second guess myself or even plan any further. I chose my next move.

Thought Acceleration.

In the same instant the world slowed to a crawl I exited the crate and grabbed the plank of wood in one smooth motion. Even as my nerves were screaming for me to let Thought Acceleration go, Endure held it together. The newfound fury inside me fueling the Skill and closing onto Thought Acceleration with a death grip as I stepped close to the level five Redbrand and swung for his head like I was aiming for a homerun. He didn’t even have time to turn around before I smashed the wood into his head. The wood splintering into a shower of smaller fragments as the Reddbrand’s head rocked forwards.

I felt a savage grin split my face as the blow connected and before I could even question my actions I flung the remaining hunk of wood in my hands towards the furthest Redbrand from me. As the wood tumbled through the air in slow motion I stepped towards the next Redbrand. Pulling back one arm I set my feet right before the man who had barely begun to react to my presence as I drove a fist into his diaphragm. My other fist trailing right behind as I rained down a combination of blows that moved up the man’s body before delivering a perfect right hook into his jaw.

As the man’s head whipped to the side after my strike I took a single step towards the next Redbrand and snapped a leg straight up to connect with his head. The man rising into the air as his feet left the ground.

Knowing one of the men would start to move after me I scanned my surroundings in an instant, ready for anything. Anything except…

What? I thought utterly bewildered as I looked at the scene before me. None of the men had fallen after my attacks. I felt a twinge of fear that these Redbrand goons would be able to shake off my attacks so easily, but before I could wonder at that I found the answer to my question.

The first man I’d hit with the chunk of wood was tipping forwards, head bowed as the cloud of splinters that surrounded his head slowly moved across the alley as if they were being driven by a light wind. The hunk of wood I’d thrown at the last Redbrand was still moving across the alley. I stared as the wood crawled through the air before me, like the air was filled with molasses as it finally crossed the space to connect with the last Redbrand. He didn’t even try to dodge it as the hunk of wood hit the side of his head. The skin of his cheek rippling under the blow as the kinetic force of the impact traveled across his face in slow motion.

Looking back towards the two Redbrands I’d just assaulted I found the first only just beginning to fall to the ground as his face contorted in pain, hands coming up in vain to protect himself against someone who’d already beaten him. The other Redbrand was still airborne, hovering a full two feet off the ground as his back arched and he reached the apex of his rise and began to fall back to earth as gravity pulled him down.

How fast… I thought stunned as I looked at the sheer amount of damage I’d done. How fast am I moving?

“I don’t mean to sound rude or offensive at all.” I’d said one day to Gregor as we were resting in his apartment. Already full of another batch of questions for the man. “But if twenty five is the maximum for any attribute…” I’d said with a shrug. “Isn’t that kinda low? The difference between five Dexterity and twenty five isn’t that huge. If your King has twenty five in an attribute does that really make him that big of a deal?”

Gregor chuckled knowingly as he took a sip of tea from a mug. “I could understand why you’d think that.” He said with a smile. “But I can assure you the gap between five Dexterity and twenty five is as wide as an ocean. Or… perhaps it might be more accurate to say the gap is as wide as the horizon is from the opposite horizon.”

“You can’t be serious.” I said wide eyed. “That’s just… damn. I can’t even picture that.” I said before stopping for a moment, imagining every anime I’d ever consumed. “Actually, scratch that. I can picture it and its terrifying. How can that be though?”

“Because my dear Toby.” Gregor said after another long sip of tea. “Attribute points aren’t additive, they’re multiplicative. They build on and amplify each other. The more points in an attribute you have the greater the effected attribute will perform. That’s why a single point in an attribute doesn’t immediately make someone superhuman, it takes five Dexterity to be equivalent to a human’s natural peak Dexterity. Everything above that-” Gregor paused and shook his head before continuing.

“Everything after that has to be seen to be believed.”

Before I could think on that further Thought Acceleration slipped out of my grasp as Endure failed to keep the Skill active and all four Redbrands crumpled to the floor as time resumed. My whole body shuddered as I fell to a knee, barely catching myself as my arms and legs shuddered and I forced myself to breathe.

“Toby?” May said cautiously. Peeking out of the crate and seeing the fallen forms of the Redbrands she seemed stunned before her eyes landed on me and she was shocked out of her surprise. “Toby!”

In the space of a few seconds she was next to me and putting my arm over her shoulder to help me stand. “What’s wrong? Did they do something to you?”

“No…” I groaned. “I’m running on fumes May. I don’t think-” I began before I stopped and whipped a head back towards the way we’d come. Almost certain I heard footsteps echo down the alley walls. “We have to get out of here.”

In an instant we were stepping over the unconscious forms of the Redbrands and heading deeper through the maze of the Murk district’s alleys as I struggled to plant my feet on the ground properly with my trembling limbs. One part of my mind kept tabs on our path through my Mind Map while the other whirred with questions at the sheer amount of speed I seemed to have gained from my increase in Dexterity. I remembered what Gregor had told me about attribute points but still…

No. That’s not quite right. I thought. I’d failed to take into account my upgrade to Thought Acceleration in the fire earlier. Combining that with my increase in Dexterity, it had completely thrown off what I’d gauged my speed to be. Plus that hadn’t taken into account what stats the Redbrands had specked into. It was possible that the stronger among them were Wisdom or Intelligence focused casters without Dexterity as an attribute or if they did have Dexterity I might have had double, maybe even triple their own Dexterity.

Then, there had been the way I’d fought back there. The way my body almost went on autopilot after I brained the first Redbrand. The way the fury inside me hurled me forwards. I wasn’t a fighter. I’d never been anything close in my life on Earth. Even if I was raging mad I didn’t have the skills to back up that anger with anything useful. But the way I closed in on those Redbrand it almost felt natural. Too natural. Like…

Like him. I thought grimly.

A commotion up ahead of us made me come back to the present as May and I stop in our tracks. I hissed into her ear. “Back. Back!” But even as she and I looked around for a place to hide I couldn’t find any. There wasn’t any debris or places to duck into. Only a nearby back door to one of the buildings that surrounded us. Moving quickly with May helping me along we got close to the door and tried to pull it open but it was locked.

“Damnit.” I cursed under my breath as I looked back towards the place the noise had come from. Expecting Redbrands to come pouring into the alley any moment. I still have those Skill points from leveling Sneak! I thought with a surge of elation. Even if they had come from Rykas trying to take over my mind again. Skill points were Skill points. I had just opened the Skill menu and started searching for anything lockpicking related when I heard a click right next to me.

Turning I stared slack jawed as May pulled open the door. The telltale shimmer of suspiciously lockpick shaped Sigmata fading into her arm as she gestured for me to follow her inside.

After the shock had passed I moved inside with May as she closed the door as quietly as she could. Even locking the door as she turned towards me.

“What was that?” I whispered as May took my arm again and helped me forwards. We seemed to be in the back of an abandoned shop of some kind. I could see a little ways through the dark to the front where the windows and front door were boarded up. ”Why do you have a pair of lockpicks?” I said still a little stunned that May of all people had something as nefarious as… No, wait. This was a girl who jury rigged her own magical grappling hook for me. Of course she had magical lock picks too.

“Why not?” She whispered back. Sounding only a little defensive as she helped me through a hole in the shop’s wall that connected to the abandoned shop next door. “I told you how I wanted to get back at the Syndicate didn’t I? I may not have done anything on my own yet but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been preparing to do so for a while. Besides you don’t need to spend Skill points to learn how to lockpick nonmagical locks. I’ve been practicing with an old chest we keep in the closet back home.”

“Damn.” I said impressed. Even feeling my mood perk up a little despite my bruised and abused body. “And I thought I was supposed to be the Rogue here.”

“You are.” May said. “You just don’t do a very good job of it.”

“Um. Ouch.” I said. Mock hurt clear in my whisper. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you are the worst Rogue I’ve ever seen Toby.” May said matching my mocking tone immediately. “Jumping into burning buildings. Saving helpless children. That’s not very selfish of you Toby. I don’t think you’ve stolen a single thing since I met you. You certainly haven’t stolen anything around the apartment. It’s like you never wanted to be a Rogue in the first place. Akashic knows why you are.”

“That’s a long story.” I began before turning my head to May accusingly. “Hey. How would you know if I stole anything in the apartment? Have you actually been waiting to catch me doing that?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Yes.” May said simply. As if I were stupid for asking the question in the first place. “I’m almost disappointed you haven’t. I spent so much time on those trap Sigmata too.”

“Trap Sig-” I whispered a little horrified. “You booby trapped your own apartment?”

“Only the most expensive stuff.” May whispered back. Definitely sounding defensive this time.

“How much?” I whispered urgently.

“How much of what?”

“How much of the apartment is rigged with magical booby traps?!” I whisper shouted.

“Enough to make me feel safe with a Rogue sleeping in the living room.” May said matter of fact.

“Okay. Fair point.” I whispered. I could accept that reasoning. “They are just non-lethal traps rigged with alarms or something right?”

May’s footing lurched for a step as she froze for a heartbeat. Before continuing as if nothing had happened. “There should be a back door we can take into another alley over there.” She said looking away.

“May.” I said slowly, feeling very concerned now.

“Oh come on Toby!” She whisper shouted back. “Do we really have to talk about this now?”

“No.” I said immediately. “But it would make me feel better if you cleared that up right now.”

“There isn’t anything to clear up! It’s my family’s apartment. We can do what we want with it. Besides those traps shouldn’t be able to kill anyone.”

“Shouldn’t be able to kill anyone?” I stammered out in a whisper. “Are there any in the bathroom? Please tell me there aren’t any in the toilet.”

“Uhh…” May started. Cheeks red.

“Jesus, you booby trapped the frickn’ toilet?”

“There’s a rather expensive magical purifier in the water tank!” She whispered forcefully. “My father’s motto is that it’s best to have and not need a thing rather than need it and not have it. It’s just common sense to take precautions Toby.”

I felt my mouth go slack at her statement before I shook my head in defeat. Almost failing to hide my smile. “Girl. There isn’t anything common about you.”

May’s cheeks flushed an even deeper red that contrasted against the Sigmata on her face as she shook my arm over her shoulder. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re extra.”

“Extra what?”

“Just extra.”

“Extra what? You can’t just say extra like it explains everything. That’s not a thing.”

“Yes it is.” I said matter of fact. “You magically trapped the toilet. I can count the number of girls I know that have done that on one finger.”

“You little-” May began before trying to wring my neck while holding me up at the same time. What followed was a short spat of May trying to unleash her fury on me while I batted away her hands with one arm. Trying not to break out into laughter that we definitely didn't need in our current situation until May poked a tender bruise over my ribs and sent me wheezing.

“Oh no. Damnit, I’m sorry Toby. I didn’t mean to-” She started before I waved her concerns away with a soft chuckle.

“It’s fine May. Honestly, after all the shit I’ve been through tonight. I think I really needed that.” I said looking at her warmly. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have you with me tonight.”

May perked up a bit at that before her expression soured. “You wouldn’t have been here in the first place if I hadn’t suggested we eat in that restaurant.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to save anyone if I hadn’t been in that restaurant.” I countered. Thinking back on tonight. Would I have been able to charge into the Redbrand’s attack on the Murk district if I hadn’t been right in the middle of it when it started? Would I have tried to save myself if it weren’t for May being there with me? I’d only gotten moving in the first place because I’d purchased the Dead Calm Skill against my better judgement. Even if some of my actions tonight were driven by that damn Skill I almost regretted getting, hadn’t it all come to good in the end?

“If it weren’t for your Sigmata I think tonight might have ended a lot more differently.” I said raising the blue tatted arm for emphasis. “It’s honestly incredible how well it works.”

“Well… thank you.” May said. Sounding very pleased with my praise of her design.

“Speaking of Sigmata.” I began as we kept moving through the abandoned building, looking for a good exit. The commotion of the Redbrands hunting us through the alley fading behind us the further we went. “What was that shield thing that protected you when the restaurant exploded?” The question of what exactly it was had been pushed to the back of my mind after all that had happened. But now it left me curious.

“Shield?” May said before understanding lit up her face. “Oh. You saw my Aegis go off before it dissipated? How well did it work? Can you give me details?” May said sounding exited. Of course she would be exited about how well her lifesaving Sigmata worked. Never mind that her life had been in danger for it to activate in the first place.

“It worked great.” I said awkwardly. “I couldn’t touch your head or body while it was active but your arms and legs were exposed.” May actually fist pumped the air as I finished my short explanation.

“That Sigmata is was recommended to me by one of my Teachers at the University. They know I plan on helping with the war effort once I graduate and let me look over some designs common for soldiers in the field.” May said proudly. “I don’t think she meant for me to actually test it on myself though.” May finished. Sounding a little sheepish as she fingered the design at the base of her neck.

“So it protects you whenever you’re in danger?” I asked wonderingly. Honestly impressed.

“Well it depends. It’s supposed to be a last resort kind of safeguard. Something that can save a soldier’s life in the field by shielding the head and internal organs from injury. My own Aegis has a short duration and long cooldown since it has to build up enough mana to charge itself again. It will probably take another couple days before its ready again. That’s due mostly to my own skill level though. Once I reach level five and Class Up I should be able to add a number of variations to the design. Multiple charges, an increased area of protection, shorter cooldowns. You know, the usual.” May said as if everything she was saying was completely normal and expected.

“Wow.” I added after a second to process what she’d said. “You’ll have to tell me more about Class Ups. They sounds really-”

I stopped as May and I crouched down instinctively upon hearing the heavy stomp of boots rush down the alley just beyond the wall. We waited in tense silence for a solid minute until we both were certain we were alone.

“We still have a ways to go before we reach the edge of the Murk district.” I said softly as we both rose up. “But I don’t know if they’ll be waiting for us at the exits. It’s possible that might be what they’re doing. Waiting us out.” I said grimly.

“Is there anywhere else we can go?” May said worriedly. I thought for a moment before coming up with an answer.

“Grima’s shop should be nearby. He’s the butcher I’ve been working for. Maybe we can hide in his shop until all this blows over.” I said gauging the distance to his shop via my Mind Map and finding the distance to be shorter than the trek to the edge of the Murk district would be.

“Alright.” May said nodding. Together with my direction we moved to the back door on a different side of the abandoned building we were in that would let out into a different alley. Easing open the back door I scoped out the surroundings and made sure there was no one near so we could safely move out of the building and make our way towards Grima’s.

We moved cautiously down the next alley until it opened up into a larger courtyard boxed in by the buildings on either side with catwalks a floor above ringing the square. It seemed to be a loading dock of sorts where carts would come through to drop off and load crates. Only without anyone around it felt suspiciously quiet. With the remaining stacks of crates and other goods nearby making it clear that the place was only recently abandoned. Probably as soon as the first explosions rang out deeper in the Murk district and drove everyone away.

“We don’t have much farther.” I said quietly. Worried how my voice might travel and echo off the walls to where someone could hear.

Instead of moving across the space through the middle I made sure we moved around the sides hugging the wall. We moved carefully. Both of us scanning our surroundings. We were halfway across to the other side of the courtyard when I felt it.

I knew now more than ever that my Danger Sense couldn’t be trusted to operate like I wanted it to. The only time I think it had actually helped me avoid an injury was when I’d been led out of the guard station by Blackwater members dressed as Shieldguard. When they tried to brain me over the back of my head. Every other time it had activated it had been barely perceptible until the threat was too close to be avoided. The bomb in the restaurant being the most recent example. So when I felt the slightest twinge of feeling from Danger Sense, before I could even decipher where the threat was coming from I grabbed May and dived to the floor.

The knife spinning through the air, that had been about to take me in the back, whizzed by my face as the edge parted the corner of May’s shoulder sleeve. I heard her cry out in pain at the same moment I heard a curse from behind.

“May!” I shouted. Adrenaline pumping anew as I dragged us both behind nearby crates.

“He’s here! That’s him!” I heard a rough voice shout from across the courtyard. “Send up the signal for the others!”

“Are you alright?” I asked worriedly as May clamped a hand over her shoulder. Grimacing in pain as I heard a sound cut through the air. A brilliant red light shooting up into the sky above the buildings like a rocket on the fourth of July before popping and hanging in the air. The flare painting the entire courtyard in a vibrant red as I wondered how in the world we had been found.

They’re Rogues. A calmer part of my mind supplied. Must have higher level Sneak Skills than I do.

“I-I’m fine.” May said painfully as I tried to think of a way out of this. I didn’t think I had it in me to activate Thought Acceleration again and I knew I was in too rough a shape to move May without making her a target for the Redbrands as well. Even if they only had throwing knives, the Thrown Blade Skill would boost their accuracy no matter how far away they were.

“The Spellbreaker’s right over there!”

“Finally got the bastard-”

“Get him!”

As I heard the clamor and shouts of the Redbrands egg each other on and grow closer. All my fears and panic drained away as I saw the trickle of blood race down May’s shoulder through her clenched fingers. I saw her lips move out of the corner of my eye but the sight of her blood consumed me. The entirety of my focus narrowed down into a single red point. That fury that I’d ripped out of Rykas caught fire in my gut as it grew in strength, blazing through my body like my blood and bones were kindling. Until it reached my head and left my mind swimming in its fumes.

The fire whispered in my mind. The roar of it’s inferno ringing in my ears and drowning out all else. The pain of my wounds, the doubt, the fear, everything. It didn’t speak with words. It was too raw to be so rational. It spoke to me on a level so deep I couldn’t have explained it even if I wanted to. Seeing May hurt, bleeding because of me made the anger in me boil over.

I didn’t lose control like I had with Rykas. There was no struggle in my head anymore. But there was still a beast inside my chest. Raging against the bars.

I just let it out.

In the space of a heartbeat I was sprinting past May, snarling as my boots skidded on the stone as I hooked around a corner of crates. Catching myself with superhuman speed as my hands caught on the cobbles and I hurled myself towards the Redbrands. There were three in total. Just beginning to head towards the spot where May and I had taken cover as I leapt to the top of a crate and hurtled through the air towards the one closest to me.

He barely had enough time to cry out and try to raise his dagger towards me before I slammed into him like a human sized wrecking ball. Driving my knee into his face and feeling the crunch of his nose and jaw as we hit the ground. The force of my momentum enough to have the man skidding on his back as I jumped off his chest towards the next Redbrand.

Having seen his friend get body slammed by me he had enough time to try to swipe at me as I rushed him. But by the time he made his swing I was already inside his guard delivering an uppercut to his jaw that snapped his whole head skyward as I got behind him and wrenched his outstretched arm back. Delivering a savage strike to the joint in his elbow so the arm bent backwards and broke.

The last Redbrand drew and threw knives at me as fast as his fingers would allow. Sending them hurtling through the air at me even as I ran towards him. His triumphant grin slipping in an instant as I sped towards him, past all the knives moving too slow to catch me. His face had only just begun to recoil in horror as my feet left the ground and I drop kicked him directly in the chest. The snapping of ribs ringing through the air just before the Redbrand collided with the nearest wall and slumped to the ground.

“There! There I see him!”

“Redbrands! Let’s go!”

“That bounty’s mine!”

A full dozen Redbrands came rushing down the alley towards me. Eyes alight with greed and fire as they hurtled towards me. With the sounds of even more coming behind them in answer to the flare. I was grinning wildly even as every movement I made aggravated my wounds, leaving my teeth stained red.

“Come on!” I roared. Before rushing the entire group at once.

The faster Redbrands came peeling out of the pack first. Rushing straight towards me. I met the first of them head on. Ducking his first strike and hooking his arm over my shoulder to hurl him away with his own momentum. The man letting out a yelp of pain that was cut off the moment he smashed into a nearby crate. The second jumped onto the side of a crate to leap towards me, planning to come down on me from above.

I didn’t wait for him to hit the ground.

Sprinting forwards at a blistering speed I slammed a foot onto the nearest crate and sent myself into the air. Catching the man completely by surprise as we collided with each other ten feet in the air. With my enhanced Dexterity surpassing every single one of the Redbrands I was facing combined with Acrobatics I rained blow after blow on the man as we fell towards the ground. Finishing him off with kick to his gut as I landed on him, using his body as a springboard to jump into the thick of the Redbrand’s ranks.

In an instant I was surrounded by Redbrands and every movement flowed into the next. Kicks and punches flying out from me so fast I lost track of where I was as I ducked and weaved through every attack aimed at me. I fought like a whirling dervish. Every blow I landed building on each other until Redbrands fell away from me like dominoes. Some flying back as a particularly savage kick launched them further back than the others. I was so in the moment that I don't don't think I would have realized if any one of them had cast a spell at me.

By the time the next batch of three Redbrands entered the courtyard I was pummeling the last of the twelve Redbrands into the dirt. Only stopping when I heard the man who had called me out in front of Pyga’s apartment building speak to me.

“Still got a bit of fight in ya huh?” The man said with a grin as he drew two hand axes from his waist and held them out to his sides. “Good, good. I hope you saved some for me.” With a flick of his wrists the edges of both axes began to glow red hot as if they were being heated by a forge. The air shimmering around them as he pointed to a man to his right. “Hit me.” He commanded him.

Nodding the man waved his hands in the air in front of him. Weaving a design of shimmering red that he pushed towards the group’s leader before I could react or get close enough to break the spell. “Haste!” The mage shouted as the man with the axes chuckled darkly as he looked down on me.

Still in the midst of a fury I couldn’t explain, I barely registered what exactly that spell could mean as the axe man sped towards me. Matching my own increased speed as he cleaved through the air towards my head. Barely ducking the hissing axe as it sent a wave of heat over the top of my head I had only a split second to feel regret at not asking May for my knife back earlier before all I could think of was dodging the flurry of heated swipes trying to cut me in two.

I danced back across the courtyard as the axes came after me again and again. My body moving of its own accord as I leaned on the fire in my blood and the alien instincts in my chest to keep me alive. I never stopped moving. Even when the man tried to pin me against crates and the walls of the courtyard I narrowly managed to squeeze between strikes as I ducked away and got some more space for me to move and take advantage of my mobility. Everywhere I could manage it I struck out with a fist or leg to knock the man off balance but he felt solid as a rock.

When my Danger Sense spiked for the second time in as many minutes I trusted the sensation completely. Jumping back as the man swung across his body with both axes, burning an eye searing yellow. Two parallel trails of heat arcing away from the axes and shooting through the air straight towards me. Before I could even register what I was doing I tucked my arms tight against my chest as I twisted in midair. Just barely passing between the two arcs. So close to them I could feel my eyes water. My hair singing and my cloak burning as the arcs slammed into the wall behind me and exploded.

When I landed on the ground in a crouch I was ready for the axes to come at me again. But the man hadn’t come to chase after me. He was huffing with a baleful glare in his eye as he barked at the two men behind him. “Both of you! Hit me again!”

Eyes going wide at what was about to happen, I rushed the Redbrand before the spells could buff him again, but I wasn’t fast enough.

“Haste!”

“Powerful Blow!”

As I moved forward I threw myself to the side as the man swung towards the space I’d been a split second earlier. The force of his strike exploding against the ground as he came after me again. Only this time every swing of his axes seemed to move with double the force it should have been able to generate. Combined with his hastened speed that let him keep up with me, it took everything I had to keep the axes from gouging into me.

But the tides were changing. With every swing of his axe I matched my movements to his as I anticipated the direction and arcs of his swings. The hateful part of me drinking in his facial ticks and body language until I could finally read him enough to land a strike of my own on him.

“Urg!” The man grunted in pain and surprise as my fist drove into his side, right where his kidney would be. He stumbled for a brief moment with his boosted speed but I could see the fear mixing with the anger in his eyes now. His assault sped up, as if he could make up for his lack of skill with sheer effort. But as he tried to compensate for his failures he only widened the gaps in his defense even further. And gave me more opportunities to pummel him.

Before long I was the one raining down blows on the bigger man. Striking blows to his kidneys, liver, and ribs in rapid succession. I almost didn’t realize how hard I was grinning until I saw the man take a fearful step back.

“Die already!” He shouted, twin axes heating up again as he prepared to send another twin slashes at me through the air. Crossed in an “X” so that I couldn’t weave between them to get at him. At the same moment he prepared to swipe at me I rushed him straight on. His face lit up savagely as he sent his attack towards me but I wasn’t there to meet it. I was skidding flat on the ground in a slide that just let me clear the bottom most gap of the attack as I popped back up a hair’s breadth away from the Redbrand.

He tried to get away but his haste spell had worn off even faster than it had before with the repeated castings, leaving him far too slow to escape the kick I aimed right into his unprotected crotch.

As the man doubled over and lowered his head reflexively I paid him back in full for every thing I’d been through this night. The pain, the suffering, the unjustified attacks and loss of life. All of it fueled my fists as I hit his head over and over like a punching bag until my arms blurred. Finishing him with a roar as I upper cut the man with every ounce of strength I could draw from my battered body. Sending the man falling backwards as his hands released the still glowing axes that flew into the air above him.

Still burning. Still hating. I jumped off the man before he could even hit the ground. Leaping into the air to grab both axes I hurled them both towards the two remaining Redbrand mages that had been buffing their own. As angry as I was though, that didn’t mean I miraculously gained the skill to hurl two hand axes at the same time and land them both. The hand axes landed well short of each Redbrand. Digging into the very stone as they hissed and cooled in the ground.

I had missed spectacularly but by the expressions on the Redbrands faces you’d think I’d landed each axe inches away from their heads. They both looked at me for a horrified second as I landed on a crate, glaring daggers at them, before they both ran for the alley’s exit. Screaming like the devil himself was on their heels.

I wobbled on my feet for a second as I whipped my head from side to side ready to throw myself at the next Redbrand. Ready for another fight. But there wasn’t anyone left. There was only…

“Oh…” I panted as I got a good look at my surroundings. Utterly stunned at what I saw as the anger drained out of me. The beast crawling back inside it’s cage in my chest. Sated.

There were Redbrands lying everywhere. Maybe fifteen in total, all scattered around the courtyard. Some were smashed against the walls, some sticking out of broken crates, and still others just lying on the ground. Both unconscious and those barely clinging on groaning in pain.

The courtyard looked like it had been through a localized meteor shower. There were actual hissing craters in the ground where the big bad leader of the bunch had slammed his axes down. And as I slowly turned I caught sight of May for the first time in what felt like forever. She was standing on the far side of the courtyard, having moved at some point to take cover from the fight as it escalated. She was staring at me with her mouth hanging open, utterly stunned. Holding up my dagger in one hand as if she’d meant to come and help me at some point.

“You ah…” I started as I swallowed despite my dry mouth. “You good?”

“I…” May began. Seeming to need a moment to search for the words. “I think so.”

“Good.” I said nodding. Before adding as an afterthought. “I can’t bend my knees.”

Then I fell off the crate and hit the stone as I fell unconscious. The darkness that awaited me almost comforting in it’s oblivion.