“I’ve lost sight of him.” Shui Jaing’s soft voice pierced the team’s magic comlink.

Shui, a human below average height with black hair past her shoulder blades, perched above the shipyard on a suspended cargo container. Chains creaked under the strain as they swung with the slightest movement from her. Shui vigilantly kept track of her team through her scope’s thermal setting. She toggled between thermal and scotopic vision trying to find her target. Her marksmanship skills earned her top of the class and her small stature made her a hard target to spot. A perfect candidate that Adalissie couldn’t pass up.

“Skathor, time for Plan B.” Adalissie panted through the coms.

Adalissie, a taller than average human with brown shoulder length hair, sprinted and leaped over abandoned lift trucks and other obstacles in a maze of cargo containers. She slid to a stop and slammed her back against a tall container waiting for Shui’s directions.

“I hate Plan B.”

Her partner, Rorgal Daymantal, a suave grizzled dwarf with a long braided beard down to his hips, hot on her tail. He tapped her shoulder as he came up behind her—his way of letting her know he’s in position. He took a back seat on this mission and let Adalissie take over as team leader. He mentored her long enough. Their paths diverted and they both looked in opposite directions covering their respective flanks.

With a puff of air, Adalissie blew her bangs out of her bloodshot eyes. “He’s built like an airship. How is he so fucking fast?”

Sweat rolled down her olive-toned forehead into her eyes, making them sting. The coms remained silent, and she looked behind her at Rorgal.

Rorgal chuckled, hitting her lower arm in a friendly manner as he struggled to catch his breath as well. “You’re just out of shape, girl,”

His aging body won’t be able to keep up with this chase for much longer, and Adalissie knew that. Even in her late twenties, she also felt the strain of the chase. A Dragonkin provoked the team into entering a shipyard off the coast of Staera. Dragonkin is a race rarely seen outside of Uzon, the East continent. His kind were all sorcerers thanks to the dragon blood that flowed into their veins. The kingdoms of Athewen, Procaria, and Staera had laws that banned magic and the execution of any known affiliates and practitioners of sorcerers. Those same three kingdoms formed a joint team comprising their finest to apprehend criminals such as this.

Adalissie snorted, “Look who’s talking, old man. Don’t die of a heart attack this close to retirement.”

Skathor, the other member of their team, broke the silence of com chatter. “Authorization approved from HQ. Quit the chatter. I need to concentrate.”

Skathor Muse, a young Cambion eager to prove himself, gripped his components bag. His red forehead wrinkled as he prepared for his location spell. In a circle, Skathor painted several arcane symbols in white paint on the blue container in front of him. He reached into his brown leather bag and splashed the wet paint with bits of bloodhound fur. Demonic chants flowed out of his lips as his eyes turned a neon yellow and his vision narrowed, focusing on the Dragonkin.

“East corner of the yard. Stationary for now. Alone. Heart rate increased. He’s panicking.”

A moment of silence before Shui spoke over the com. “All clear. Both sides. I have eyes on him. Container unit 5793 sitting in a clearing straight ahead. Recommended formation Alpha Delta.”

“Moving.” Acknowledged Adalissie.

Rorgal gave a head nod of approval to her as she held a finger to her lips. She opened up her palm in one hand and with the other, did a circular motion above it. Both held up their firearms in their respective directions. Adalissi tapped Rorgal’s back without looking back. They crept around the fork and entered narrow corridors. A fog horn from a passing ship echoed off the tall stacks of metal boxes.

Shui leaped down from her spot and disassembled her rifle. She tried carefully not to make a sound when she jumped from one container to the next. She crouched and followed closely from up top, keeping tabs on Adalissi from the corner of her eye. Skathor did the same as Shui, but followed Rorgal from the top. He had a heavier foot step than his partner and the empty containers reminded him.

Deep into the shipyard sat unit 5793 and their target. Multiple pathways would take her to her target, it was a wide open spot. Too many blindspots and she didn’t like that. She knew a trap when she saw one, but no dice, the only way through is forward. Careful not to let her presence known, she crouched close to the edge of the boxes.

Shui and Skathor broke off and circled around to the other side to get a better vantage spot. Adalissie and Rorgal waited patiently for the others to get into position masking their presence in the shadows.

Comms were suddenly lit up with a mix of deafening static and broken up voices of the team talking over each other. “Shit, we… play… target… eyes up…”

“Adie, move your ass!”

Adalissie heard Rorgal shout towards her before blurs of green and blue crossed her vision. Cold steel pressed against her body as she heard shouting and gunfire muffled by faint scuffling. A dim golden tether floated by her, leaving a faint sparkle in its wake. Her vision blurred and a high pitch deafened her hearing.

“Blood of my blood. This is not your time.”

Her consciousness faded to black.

****

Birds chirped on a warm afternoon. Children frolicked about the playground, their voices carried far across the landscape. A girl, about four, used the cover of a nearby tree and observed them playing. Her long bleach-white hair flowed in the evening breeze. Golden irises that contrasted against her bronze skin tone longed to join the children.

“Why are you not playing with the others, Miss Mashal?”

A voice behind the girl startled her. The adolescent whipped her head around so quickly that the momentum and length of her hair smacked her in the face. A gasp escaped from her mouth as her chest tightened. Upon recognizing who snuck up behind her, she shrugged it off and acted like it didn’t phase her.

“They don’t want a freak like me playing with them.”

“You are not a freak. You have something special they do not possess.” They processed their next set of words. “Which makes them scared of you. If they do not want to take the time to get to know you, then they are not worth your time.”

“Cia, it is the same wherever I go. They call me names and it hurts.”

Cia kneeled and patted her on the head.

“You are Adalissie Mashal. Nothing more, nothing less.” Cia reached her hand out toward Adalissie. “Now come, it is time to see your mother.”

Adalissie held on tight to Cia’s hand with a heavy heart. She had not seen her mom in months since the collapse in her study. Doctors tried to explain, but the words they used were far beyond her understanding. Adalissie glanced up at Cia and noticed the dry mascara that ran down her cheeks.

“Is mommy okay?” Adalissie asked.

Cia’s voice cracked. “Yeah. Everything is fine.”

Liar.

The drive to the hospital was relatively short, but to Adalissie, it felt longer. Thoughts entered her mind, and none of them were good. She noticed Cia crying from time to time when she thought she wasn’t looking.

Doctors and nurses stood outside the hospital with government officials. Adalissie rubbed her eyes as the lights from the lobby blinded her. Officers escorted her to her mother, and the hallways fell silent when she walked down. Nurses who were going about their day all bowed their heads in sorrow as she passed.

It made her heart sink. Drops of water landed on the top of her hand and she instantly reached up to her cheek, wiping away the wetness.

Sporadic beeping machines lined the bed with several hoses hooked to a shriveled woman. People who Adalissie didn’t recognize left without speaking, leaving an empty room for her and her mother.

Raspy and weak, the bedridden woman spoke.

“Is my daughter here yet?”

Adalissie ran over to her mom, letting go of Cia’s hand. Cia took a step forward, but hesitated. She didn’t want to interrupt their reunion.

“Mom!” Adalissie grabbed her mother’s hand. “What’s wrong?”

It had been months since she heard her mother’s voice. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she couldn’t stop smiling. She wanted to tell her mother everything that had happened in the time she had been in a coma.

“Today at school…”

“My precious daughter.”

Blonde dark-skinned woman stared blankly at the ceiling, paying no attention to the child’s death grip on her arm. Adalissie’s smile faded.

“Mom?”

“You are destined for great things, my love.” Her mother weakly laughed. “I wish to see the new era you bring. I am so sorry that-”

A long, drawn-out tone from one machine filled the room. Adalissie’s eyes darted between her mother and the machine. She looked back at Cia, who had already broken down crying. A flash of light, brighter than the sun, lit the room. Adalissie kneeled beside her mother with white feathery wings spread from her back, reaching to both ends of the bed. Cia rushed into the room and gave a warm embrace to calm the child. The bright light dimmed and her wings drooped. The hallways were no longer silent.

****

Hemp rope rubbed tight against Adalissie’s skin as she lay on a cold, hard surface. Her head pounded as if someone was beating her head with a stick. She blinked, trying to get her vision to focus. A high-pitched wailing drowned familiar voices out. Another voice she didn’t recognize broke the chatter.

“Ah, the girl awakens.”

Adalissie shook her head to clear her senses. “W-what?”

The high-pitched wail subsisted, and her vision focused. Darkness surrounded her and she couldn't see past the bright light shining in her direction. Her team sat detained next to her, hands and feet bound.

Rorgal leaned closer to Adalissie. “You took a bad tumble back there, girl. Thought you wouldn’t make it.”

The bright light from the lamp shined directly into their face and caused everyone to sweat under the intense heat it gave off. A Dragonkin, horns narrowly touching the ceiling, revealed himself from the shadows. Scraping a chair across the concrete floor behind him. He let out a small puff of air while flexing his nostrils giving off an intimidating presence which made Adalissie uneasy.

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Long, black claws gripped the back of the chair and spun it around. His beefy scaled legs straddle the wooden seat as he sat facing them. Colorful bronze scales reflected the light back on the wall making different shapes. His dark brown serpentine eyes darted between his captives studying their reactions.

“Let’s begin.”

The Dragonkin spoke in a guttural voice, followed by a low growl. Adalissie noted his presence, which carried a bit of weight. As Adalissie’s eyes adjusted to the room, she took notice of the other people in the room with them. She didn't take into account that the Dragonkin had help evading them. It made sense now why he was hard to capture.

“My name is Tiphuc Dravull. Tell me, do you know the reason your kingdoms hunts down sorcerers?”

He snapped his bulky fingers together. A lengthy human, no older than twenty, brought up a strange contraption. An oblong container that faintly glowed and pulsed with purple energy. Twisted supports resembling the roots of a tree, connected to two leaf-shaped ends.

“Sorcery is outlawed for a good reason. It’s blood magic and nothing good comes from using it.” Shui said.

The group of humans in the foreground erupted in a unison laugh and stopped when Tiphuc lifted his hand.

“Is that what they teach you?” A sensible chuckle escaped his throat. “That’s cute. Magic is not free for those who are not born from it. The Gods are dead and your Kingdoms are hiding the truth.”

Tiphuc rose and pushed the chair aside, then adjusted his glare at Skathor. “Tell me, Red, where does your source come from?”

“It took me years to study magic and learn the spells I know,” Skathor said.

“But where do you draw power from to cast those spells?” asked Tiphuc.

“Valgrea, The Tree of Death.”

Tiphuc strolled toward Skathor, his snout inches from his face. He leaned back to escape the dragon’s foul breath and its massive claws that dwarfed the peculiar gadget that he presented toward him. Two of Tiphuc’s followers moved behind Skathor and stood him up, untying his bonds.

“That is a Cambion religious faith. Made up to keep you devils in line. I will show you raw arcane power. Power that you can touch, smell, and see,” Tiphuc handed the object to Skathor.

Skathor reached out and grasped the apparatus, bringing it closer to him. Low hums increased in pitch and the purple bloom brightened the longer he held it. Pulses increased and the arcane machine became deafening.

A smirk gradually drew across his face. A surge of mystic strength coursed through his veins. Translucent blue crystals sprouted from his palm and morphed into a small dagger. He flipped the crystalline dirk in the air for a while.

“This is incredible. I can cast magic without components or incantations.”

Skathor summoned multiple ice daggers and threw them at the closest wall. He coughed up blood the second he cast. The ice daggers melted, unable to maintain composition.

“What-” pain shot through Skathor’s arm. “What’s happening?”

His arm vibrated as the humming grew louder. A moan withdrew from his lips as he dropped to one knee. Veins bulged from his arms and pulsed in sync with the machine. Skathor fell prone, screaming in agony.

In minutes, his body cracked with purple energy and his red skin turned to a brown, white ash. The screaming abruptly stopped, as there was nothing left but a husk. Tiphuc lightly blew, causing a swirl of dust in the space where Skathor once lay.

“Repentance.” Tiphuc swiped the contraption off the floor and handed it to Adalissie. “Are you ready to be judged?”

“Fuck you.” She spat at his feet while maintaining eye contact. “Do you think of yourself as some kind of replacement for the Gods?”

Tiphuc grabbed her neck and slammed her face into the ground. The weight and pure strength were no match for her thin body structure. The device hummed louder when placed in her hands. Shui and Rorgal struggled against their restraints to help their teammate. Adalissie’s irises flickered from brown to an illuminated gold.

“Let go of me!” she yelled through clenched teeth.

The roots of her brown hair turned to a bleach white. Tiphuc’s eyes widened as more of her hair changed to the same color.

“Interesting. Does your team know what you are?”

“No.” With a sigh, Tiphuc flew away from her by an invisible force. “And they never will.”

A flash of light filled the room, impairing the vision of everyone. Over the sounds of fighting, the device increased its hum as ambient magic built. The room fell silent except for the creaking hinge of the cargo door opening. A large horned figure dragging a corpse behind it exited.

****

Thick smoke swirled around a room of a run-down apartment. Sirens from the streets passed through the paper-thin walls. Burnt skin mixed with burning paper flowed out of the unsealed front door. Normally, this would be a cause for concern, but this was an everyday occurrence in this neighborhood.

After the sizzle of a paper stick being put out, the teenage girl whimpered quietly. A mid-thirties woman lifted the cigarette from the teenager’s forearm. Burnt skin healed on her with remarkable speed, with no trace of the injury. The smoking woman reached for another smoke and let out an audible frustration.

She looked at the girl sitting next to her on the couch.

“Be a good girl and get Mama more Hellhounds from her room.”

With watery eyes, the girl looked at her caretaker and whimpered, “Cia...”

“Now, Adalissie!”

Cia threw the empty Hellhound box across the room. Feeling defeated, Adalissie carried out the task and proceeded to Cia’s bedroom. She hated nights where her foster dad came home early. He would give Cia some pills that made her zone out, and she would become a different person.

Dread hit her when she walked into Cia’s bedroom. This used to be a happy home before Velcun, her foster father, came into the picture. Cia would bring take out after work and they would watch movies until she fell asleep. Now it’s full of drugs and moldy beer cans. This isn’t what her mother would have wanted for her, but she can’t leave Cia alone with that asshole.

She searched the room from top to bottom before finding the smokes in the dresser’s top drawer hidden under some socks. Pain struck her like someone stabbed a knife through her skull after grabbing the carton. Just like the other times, she pushed past the pain and winced, enduring the irritation.

When leaving the room, her headache grew, dropping her to her knees instantly. Not daring to yell, she shut her eyes and clasped her head while caging her suffering. Before she could halt the sensation, but this felt different. Her dark brown irises flickered an illuminating gold, lighting the dimly lit hallway like a spotlight.

Spots on her back itched as the skin tore sprouting wing joints. Strands of blonde and white blended into her brown hair. Tiny bone stubs broke through her skull, releasing some of the pain. She squatted and pulled her legs close to her chest while she tightly closed her eyes.

“No, not now.” She mumbled as she rocked back and forth. “Please stop.”

Down the hallway, a door slammed opened followed by heavy footsteps coming toward her. A human male towered over the scared girl.

“What did I tell you about using your powers in my house, freak?”

The man unbuckled his belt and wiped it off his pants with a crack. She knew what came next, and her body froze. She wanted to scream, but the lump in her throat prevented her from letting out a peep. One, two, three strikes from his waistband, leaving red marks on her skin that healed as quickly as they formed. Her heart pumped faster, and she experienced an unfamiliar might swell deep inside. A voice rang in her mind in a language she somehow understood.

Uio avai rad dalok ad koark dhoal kruxo?

Are you not tired of being their slave?

Kdak harkark kudk. Ork dho kuar.

Stop holding back. End the pain.

Iorouko avail dirr kaxoi.

Release your full power.

Twisted horns shot out the tiny bone stubs on her forehead, curving upwards. Pitch-black ooze draped her long white hair, soiling the carpet. The whites of her eyes became obsidian and her gold pupils deepened to a glowing ruby. Long, sharp front teeth poked her bottom lip while her snow-white appendages darkened to the same black as her hair.

“Velcun, ka rad daidh no uravnaio!” Adalissie’s ebony wings fanned out as she walked closer.

Velcun tumbled backward and scrambled to scurry away from the Adalissie.

A flame lit at the tip of her finger. “Her heart is no longer endured by agony. She is not your plaything. She is no longer Cia’s responsibility.”

Adalissie’s lips moved, but it was not her sweet, soft voice that came out. It was deeper, more confident, and it terrified Velcun to his core. With his backside to the hallway wall, he pushed himself up upright. Lengthy black-tipped nails gently coiled around Velcun’s throat, pushing him up the wall further. The ruby glow of her eyes pierced deep into his core as his trachea caved in from the pressure of her hold.

“I’m not sorry for what I did. You ungrateful child.”

His raspy last words escaped through his crushed windpipe as his eyes dulled gray and his body went limp.

Bottles crashed on the hardwood floor in the next room, drawing Adalissie’s attention. She dropped Velcun’s body on the floor and moved on. Cia huddled in the corner, blocking herself with furniture to distance her and the thing Adalissie had become.

“S-stay back, you m-monster.” Cia cried, holding out a broken glass bottle.

Adalissie threw the carton of Hellhounds towards Cia. She dropped the bottle and caught the smoke box.

“Ino’s death deeply scarred you in ways others would never understand. Being left to raise a child by yourself put unnecessary strain on you but, marrying that abusive fuck. It changed you and not for the better.” Adalissie inched closer to Cia’s face and ran her long fingernail across her delicate features. “You’ve fallen from grace, Cia.”

“Every time I look at you…” Tears streamed down Cia’s face. “I’m reminded of what I lost. She… she overworked because of you. You were her world, and I loved her.”

Adalissie backed slowly while lowering her brow. Her inky tips curled onto the sofa, poking holes in the upholstery.

“So you turned to drugs? You let a child fend for herself while you tried to forget? How dare you blame a child for the death of their mother?”

Adalissie roared, shaking the apartment and shattering the windows. Adalissie chanted an incantation and waved her hand in rhythmic motion. An arcane symbol appeared, spawning three small specs that floated into Cia’s mouth. Cia itched compulsively, tearing at her skin. Insects crawled out of her wounds and tore into her flesh more, a repeated cycle generating more bugs with each rebirth.

“She loved you, Cia, and you let her down.”

****

Tiphuc still breathed, but couldn’t move much more than his torso. His burnt corpse was still smoldering as Adalissie crouched above him, watching him die.

He looked at her and struggled to talk, spewing blue blood. “Nine Hells take you, Sem’Varian.”

“Take me?” Adalissie leaned closer and whispered in his ear. “The Nine Hells didn’t want me.”

She reached for the knife that was strapped to her leg. Inch by inch, she inserted it in the nape and with the last exhale of breath from Tiphuc; she had verification that he expired. She swiftly stowed the dagger, satisfied that he would no longer be talking. Bones cracked as she grew shorter and her horns retracted back into her forehead.

She dragged her teammates out of the room one by one and untied them. While they were still unconscious, she set fire to the building and destroyed any evidence of what she did. Rorgal woke up first, followed by Shui, who frantically looked around. She helped calm Shui down enough to have a coherent conversation with her.

“What the hell was that?” Shui asked.

“A radical cultist? All sorcerers spew the same nonsense.” replied Adalissie.

“She means what spell did you cast?” Rorgal butted in.

“That wasn’t me. Must have been a malfunction with the device.”

“No.” Rorgal stood up, standing between Shui and Adalissie. “I don’t think it was. What are you hiding?”

Adalissie sighed heavily. “I always liked you, Rorgal, and that’s why I’m giving you an option to leave with your lives. I’ll say you died in the attack like Skathor or—”

“Or what?” Rorgal asked.

Adalissie’s brown eyes flickered gold and her horns grew.

“I’ll kill you.”

****

Adalissie returned from her mission alone and sat in her superior’s office, dodging cups and other objects. Papers swirled around after a frustrated swipe of the Minotaur’s gnarly toned arm across his desk. A ceramic coffee mug with world’s best dad fell to the ground and shattered.

It didn’t phase Adalissie in the slightest. Calm and collected, she endured her aggressive discipline that lasted for several minutes before the Captain calmed down.

“Tell me again why I have three stiffs in the morgue?” He took a deep breath, then exhaled. “This was a joint operation between three Kingdoms. Do you understand how bad this makes us look?”

“Well, Rorgal was killed as well.”

“Is that what you get out of this?” His large hands pulled his chair closer. “Until this fuck up gets resolved, I’m giving you a new assignment. Far away from me and this Kingdom.”

“Captain-”

Adalissie was cut off as he talked over her.

“It’s another joint operation, but you are taking a backseat on this. Maybe you’ll learn something from…” The captain adjusted his glasses. “Amzer Bright. Not our jurisdiction, but they are seeking help.”

Her death grip indented the foam padding on the armrest. She dug deeper before letting go when she felt her fingers poke through the fake leather. Her jaw tensed and she bit down harder, keeping her feelings in check. She wanted to scream. It wouldn’t do any good, but it might make her feel better.

“When am I leaving?” she asked, calmy.

“Tonight. All the arrangements have been made.”

He shifted his metal framed glasses that rested loosely on the bridge of his nose. He grabbed a few papers off his desk and staked them in different piles.

“Where am I going?” Adalissie asked.

A few seconds passed before he noticed she had not left. He looked over the frames as they slipped down the bridge of his nose.

“Black Hollow. A town, if that’s what you want to call it. I’d say it’s more of a fishing village.”

“So, not worth my time.”

“You don’t have a choice. Now get out of my office.”

And with that, she left the building. With her bags packed, she left for Black Hollow. She decided she would play this by the book and keep things close to her chest. She didn’t want another incident on her hands. This case had to go well.