Something was in the dark. It was as vast as an ocean yet as miniscule as a droplet. It emitted a suffocating pressure, yet held a presence as a gentle as a breeze. It was neither here nor there. It was everywhere, but it was nowhere.  However, one thing was certain; its existence was absolute, as if it always was and always will.

As he was, Suran could not rely on his own strength. In the dark, he could feel it waiting just within his reach, waiting to be called upon, to be seized. Could he use the strength of this being? Suran did not grasp it. There was no detectable evil, yet he could not bring himself to take. There was something unsettling, something unnerving about what was out there. Perhaps there was no malice in what existed, but neither was there any benevolence.

The ringing of a clock woke Suran up. It felt like it was all a dream. He got up from the bed and picked up his sword. It was time to put his plan into motion. No further preparation was needed, so he left Shroom’s home without a word.

Out in the streets, it was cold again. The freezing wind burned his skin. He wrapped his face in his scarf ad dug his hands in his pockets and went on his way towards Lord Reginald’s home.

The sun had set and its place taken by the two planets. It was quiet as he showed himself into Reginald’s yard. Two men came and stood between him and the door.

“Who are you?” One man barked.

“Suran Ibrahim. I came to speak to Reginald.” It intrigued Suran how a man heavily in debt could continuously muster men to support him.

“Oh yeah, well we don’t know anyone by that name.” The two took a fighting stance but were interrupted by Keira who came bounding out the front door.

“Knock it off you two,” She slapped both of them on the heads. “He helped rescue the Mistress.” The two grumbled off and Keira turned to Suran, “We didn’t think you made it out alive. What happened?”

“I was captured, but I managed to escape.”

“What of Natalya? She ran back after bringing the Mistress to me.”

“That is why I am here. I wish to speak to Reginald.” Suran said no more on the topic. Keira fidgeted in place for a moment before consenting and letting him through.

Reginald was in his study, sifting through various papers. When he noticed Suran walk through, he dropped everything and immediately stood up. “Y-your alive!” He rushed around the desk, almost tripping, and bear hugged Suran. “I can’t thank you enough for rescuing my daughter! As I promised earlier, I would write that recommendation letter for you, and if there is anything else you need, please let me know and I will see if I can help.”

Suran wrestled himself away from his grasps and took a step back. “I do have a request for you,” he sat in a chair in front of Reginald’s desk.

Reginald went back and sat down in his own chair, “Ah, yes! What is it that you need?”

“I require your assistance in striking back at Namnoc.”

“Excuse me?”

“Natalya was captured while rescuing your daughter and is now held by Lord Hendrick von Auer. So in rescuing her and harming Namnoc, you will need to help me.”

Reginald’s cheerful demeanor quickly melted away. “Look, none of us thought either of you left alive. You should just count that as a blessing and cut your losses.”

“Are you suggesting I leave her?”

“Mr. Ibrahim, I gave up a lot to rescue my daughter. All those men I sent lost their life. And Fletch… Fletch never came back.” Reginald sunk lower into his chair. “I risked so much… I don’t want to give up anymore. I’m sorry, but I can’t help with you this. I don’t want to deal with Namnoc or any of this ever again.”

“Unfortunately you do not have any option other than fighting Namnoc.”

“W-what do you mean? Fighting Namnoc would mean death!”

“Do you think they will just let you sit here? They will come for you and your daughter, and your treatment might be not as nice as it was in the past.

“Then I will run. Run as far as I can.”

“Then what? Your life might be saved, that is if they don’t come after you, but then what life would you have? We both understand to run means to give up everything you have. You would have to live in hiding from Namnoc the rest of your life, running from place to place. Perhaps you might be fine with that, but what of your daughter?”

Reginald bit his thumb in remained silent.

“You have two options available to you: stay and die or flee and live a meager life. However, I propose a third option.”

“…Third option?”

“Yes. I know how to beat Namnoc. I know how to release you from their influence. With some assistance, I can do this for you in exchange for one thing.”

“What is it? I am already indebted to you and I don’t have much to give…”

“I want your fealty.”

“My- my what?!”

“I want you to swear your loyalty to me.”

“No, no, no, no, no. That simply is not possible! All the lords and nobles swear their loyalty to the King – It’s not worth the cost, I’m sorry!”

“You are mistaken. The cost might actually be too low. I’m not offering to save your life or to give you a way out; I’m offering to save your future of you and your daughter. Tell me, what is the value of the future of your family?”

The color from Reginald’s face had drained at this point, and he was left sweating nervously. “No, no... I can’t do such a thing,” he shook his head, burrowing his face in his hands. “There has to be some way to get out of this…”

Keira barged through the door, “Master, Namnoc is here in force!”

Reginald’s already pale face became whiter then a piece of paper, “Th-th-they’re here?!”

“Yes! They have men at all sides and our men are holding them off as best as they can, but it does not look good.”

Suran got up from his chair. They came at just the right time, he mused.

“Y-you will help us, right?” Reginald looked desperately at Suran.

“As you said, I am sure you can figure something out.” He turned and began to walk away.

“Where are you going?!”

“I’m leaving, of course. Can’t say the same for you.”

Reginald got out of his chair and looked out his window into his backyard. His cousin had sent him a few extra men and had been helping him along in these tough times. Some of those men were getting chopped up on his property. He turned back to Suran looking like he was about to vomit. “Fine! Fine… I agree to your terms. Just please help.”

Suran nodded his head. The easy part was out of the way. He ran right at Reginald, vaulted over the desk, and crashed through the window. He rolled out onto the grass and drew his sword.

There were three men who challenged him, all rushing at him from different sides. Suran dashed forward from his crouched position toward the man in front of him. He deflected the man’s strike to the right and dipped under his left, pivoting around and slashing the man’s back.

The remaining two responded by jabbing viciously at Suran. He took measured steps back, knocking each jab away. Taking a step forward, he slid to the left, dodging the thrust and slicing his stomach. The man dropped his sword and doubled over as blood hemorrhaged from his wound. His ally wasted no time and charged Suran who quickly caught his blade with his own, disarmed him with his free hand, and stabbed him in the gut.

The last of the three was still hunched over, writhing in pain. Suran walked over and stabbed him in the neck and ended his life. He drew his sword and flung it to the side to throw off the blood that was dripping off of it, but the blood was sticking a little to the surface to his annoyance. With the back taken care of, he made his way around towards the front where he could hear screams, his sword squirming in his hand.

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He rounded the corner and saw the two men that had stood there earlier dead on the grass. Clyde stood nonchalantly at the gate with a whip in hand. Suran came out and stood in front of him.

“So you lived,” Clyde said disappointed. He spit the toothpick in his mouth out, “I would like it if you stopped making my job hard.”

Suran said nothing and readied himself. He would wait for Clyde to make a move unless an opportunity presented itself.

Clyde cracked his whip and punched a hole in the ground. “No time to waste.” Again he cracked his whip, but this time towards Suran. Suran was standing on the opposite side of the lawn, so he made no move to dodge the whip since it didn’t have the reach.

But the whip extended and kept extending until it smashed the ground underneath Suran, forcing him to jump back. Clyde recoiled the whip and launched a flurry of strikes at Suran. He had to continuously dodge and roll while Clyde assailed him from a far. Clyde’s aim got more accurate with each strike, till he hit his mark.

Suran was whipped right in the stomach and sent crashing into the stone wall. He stood back up; it hurt, but not nearly as much as the punch from Sammy. Regaining his breath, he charged at Clyde. There was no sense in staying afar and dodging. That only made him a target.

He jumped and bounded forward, zigzagging through the lawn to dodge Clyde’s strikes. As he got closer, Clyde showed no signs of worry. He sent out another lash, which Suran dodged forward, but this time when Clyde retracted the whip, it wrapped around Suran.

“Got yeah!” Clyde shouted! He flipped his wrist and began thrashing Suran around, smashing him into the ground. He whipped him around several times before throwing him away and into the ground.

Suran laid on the ground, battered and bruised. He clutched his sword in his hand, but his strength was not enough. He had faced many challenges in his life, but none of them were like the ones he faced now.

The sword squirmed in his hand. It was patient and it would wait, but it sought release. Suran had hoped he would not have to resort to it. He held no knowledge of what it was or where it came from, but he had to choice but to rely on the mysterious sword. He closed his eyes and reached out to the sword. It reached back.

A connection was made and it awakened. Suran got up from the ground and wiped the blood from his mouth. He felt no different from before, but he could feel energy pulsating in the sword as if it was alive.

“Still not done?” Clyde remarked unamused. He reared his whip and cracked it again. It extended out towards Suran like a bolt of lightning.

Suran could see the movements of the whip more clearly, allowing him to side step the attack. As Clyde was winding back the whip, Suran grabbed it and let himself be pulled by it.

“Let go of my damn whip!” The whip retracted fast with Suran holding onto it. Suran held on and closed this distance on Clyde and then let go of the whip, using the speed he built up on it to jump up and over Clyde. “Just stand still, dammit!” Clyde shouted, trying to follow Suran’s movements. Suran landed on the ground right behind Clyde, turned around and sliced Clyde’s left hand off.

Clyde screamed in pain and stumbled back. His left hand fell to the ground with whip in hand, but that was not all. The hand turned ash gray and began to wither away. It crumbled away and fell apart until not even dust remained. Even the whip eroded away.

“What is happening to my arm?!” Clyde continued to shout in pain. Suran turned to him and saw the same was happening to his arm. It spread on his arm and stopped at the forearm. Everything that turned gray fell apart into nothing. Clutching his stub, Clyde cursed Suran, “What the hell have you done to my arm? You’ll pay for this!” Clyde swiftly began running away.

Suran moved to pursue him, but his legs did not respond. His body felt overwhelmingly tired. He had no choice but to let him go. The sword in his hand went silent. He raised it up and took a look at it. He felt no pulsation, no energy from it anymore. There was no connection or any other sensation making him think he imagined the whole thing.

A moment later and feeling returned to his legs and he made his way back inside the house. The door was open, so he entered cautiously. Some items were thrown about; there were signs of struggle. He headed up the stairs and found two dead bodies at the top. They were not familiar to him, so he assumed they were from Namnoc.

“Hello.” Keira broke his train of thought and greeted him. She wore the same cheerful smile but was covered in blood. At least that explained the dead men on the floor.

“I took care of those outside,” Suran said, rubbing his aching shoulder.

“Very good. I assumed you would like to speak with Master Reginald now?”

“Yes.”

He walked back into the study but did not see Reginald in the room.

“Reginald?”

“Y-yes?” A muffled voice answered. Reginald climbed out from underneath his desk a moment later. “Is it over?”

“Everything is taken care of.”

“What a relief,” Reginald sighed and sat in his chair.

“No time to get cozy. There is much that needs to be done.

“Ah, you’re right. I am part of this ride now, for better or for worse. Now that we have some breathing room, what is our plan anyways?”

“If you recall earlier, I mentioned Lord Hendrick von Auer holding Natalya.”

“The old Lord Treasure. Thought that was odd.”

“Your Lord Treasure is in bed with Namnoc.”

Shock spread on Reginald’s face, “I can’t believe it! If he was working with them, that could explain so much…”

“With that in mind we have two goals: one is to rescue Natalya, the other is to cripple Namnoc. Both can be accomplished effectively at the same time. I can rescue Natalya by breaking into his home and releasing her and, while I’m in there, find evidence that would implicate Auer to Namnoc.”

“That sounds good so far. Many lower level officers and officials could very well be in Namnoc’s pockets, but with the right evidence, I can go directly to some of the higher-ups and present it to them. It doesn’t even have to be damning evidence, just enough to warrant an investigation. The king has a heavy disdain for this sort of thing, so you can be certain that once an investigation is conducted, they will find the evidence they need to convict of him racketeering, bribing, and whatever else he may be up to. The only issue is that his home would be heavily guarded. How would you get past?”

“Leak false information that his life is in danger and that he needs to be moved to a secure spot. I know someone who can handle that, so with that warning he should be sent out of his home.”

“Very good! If Lord Treasure gets indicted, then a heavy blow would have been dealt to Namnoc!”

“That’s not all.”

“There’s more?”

“Lord Treasure is a high position, so he must be very important to the Namnoc organization. If his life is under threat, they would divert extra resources to secure his safety.”

“Then?”

“It would be a shame if disgruntled merchants and grain sellers started a riot near their docks and burned down all their grains and goods.”

Reginald chuckled lowly to himself. “For some reason, you a lot more terrifying than I remember.” He got up from his chair, “You are right, there is much to do. We better get started,” he said, walking over to Suran. “First, I am a man of my word.” Reginald kneeled in front of Suran and pledged his undying loyalty and his lifelong service.