Part Three: Dances with Rogues

Chapter Thirty-One: My right? Or your right?

“This place reeks,” Leoleth grumbled, her nose wrinkling as we threaded our way through the between the stalls of the Grand Bazaar. “Smells like grilled meat…and your girlfriend.”

“Those are two things I love.” I shot back at her, hiding a smirk. Gem had an animal musk about her, which reminded me of a deer or elk. But when I breathed her in, the mix with her girl scent twisted my girl parts into all kinds of crazy knots.

“You’re all about feeling good. You should try both.” And yes, the market was smelly. But yeah, I did like it.

She batted her lashes at me. “I’m only gay for you.”

It was the third night of the Festival of Renewal, and with each passing hour, the sand in my hourglass seemed to drain faster. The city had ground to a halt for the festivities, leaving only the Grand Bazaar and the Entertainment District bustling with life. Everyone and their sister seemed crammed into the market’s narrow paths. We had been sweeping every corner of Ironstone, desperate to locate Faedan before time ran out. Even with Titus’s crew combing the city, we had come up empty-handed.

We couldn’t exactly break loose as a group and do our own sweeps, so I started heading out with me and one other; that way, if we got a hit, I could signal with a com crystal and keep an eye on her. Party chat only reached about a half mile, so we needed to be able to move as a small group while waiting for the rest of the party to get in range. Leoleth was the lucky contestant of the day.

The move into Titus’s place was smoother than I thought it was going to be. Heather settled into a room next to Lucy’s, and I had to wrestle Leoleth out of the larger guest room so that I could share it with Gem. The boys settled in the brothel. We all partied with Titus’s men so we could chat amongst ourselves. I also made sure to tip Lucy for all the extra work she had to take on because of a bunch of annoying girls moving into the nowcrowded set of rooms.

I’d been splitting my nights between Titus and Gem. With Titus, the tension had melted away after that first night of aggression. He understood what I needed from him, and he surrendered control without it being a contest. I happily rewarded him for his cooperation.

With Gem, I let her do whatever the fuck she wanted to me. She was a general on the battlefield barking out orders, and I followed each one dutifully. When she wasn’t verbal, she was physical, and my body was all about it. The idea that this could work out as a long-term thing with the three of us was something I would love to explore, assuming I was still alive at the end of the week.

“I like the outfits,” Leoleth muttered as we slipped through another narrow, crowded passage. “We should be buying things, blending in better.”

“You mean I should be buying you things,” I grumbled at her. “Tell you what, if we pull this off, I’ll bring you back here and buy you something pretty.”

“You like dressing me up,” she said, examining a gorgeous blue silk dress. “Then fantasizing about me while you touch yourself in the bath.”

She was my best friend; I loved her; I learned to ignore the innuendo. I was at the end of my patience with everybody. We were down to a single day, and I was already planning my escape if this all went south.

“I like this, something nice with silk,” she purred, running her fingers over a rack of dresses. Suddenly, she froze. The coin in my hand vibrated in sync with hers, and I nearly dropped it in surprise. After days of fruitless searching across the city, we finally had a fucking hit.

“Gotta say it now,” I whispered. “I had my doubts.” I looked at the coin. Faedan was from this neighborhood. It was in her dossier. This was home, where she grew up. I tapped the crystal in my pocket. Signaling the party to come. They knew which neighborhood we were searching, and when they got close enough, I could guide them by chat until they could access my map.

Regan: Move across the street and let me know if it gets stronger.

Leoleth: It’s not a street. It’s an extra wide, smelly gutter.

She sidled across to the opposite rows of shops, keeping her eyes on the merchandise. We both knew better than to speak out loud at this point.

Leoleth: Weaker.

I moved out of the shop I was in and slipped into the crowd heading west.

Regan: Stronger.

We continued westward, the throng of people thickening around us. We could hardly make headway. We hugged the edges, pretending to browse while monitoring the coins’ vibrations. We had no idea how close we were; it was just that the distance was getting shorter.

It got to the point that the coin was vibrating so hard that it was buzzing. I slipped it into my inventory. We were at a three-way junction, and the crowd was flowing in all different directions, and I wasn’t sure if I could spot her.

I ducked between stalls, equipping my cleric robes and scaling a short roof to gain a better vantage point. Kneeling, I activated stealth, blending into the shadows.

Leoleth pretended to shop while I scanned the mass of bodies. She was here, close. If Faedan moved, Leoleth would alert me since she still had her coin. It was buzzing, but she looked like she was humming to herself, covering up the noise.

I activated Eyes of Death.

The world plunged into shadow, with the ethereal life of the living illuminated by the magic spell. I focused on the figures that remained stationary. Faedan had to be among them.

Regan: Move around the stalls. She’s here, she’s standing still, so she’s not part of the flow of traffic.

Leoleth: Ok good.

I guided her around, calling out targets as she approached.

Each one was a dead end until we neared a food stall.

Leoleth: There’s no one here.

Regan: There is, right next to you, looking at the fruit baskets.

Leoleth: Your magic eyes aren’t working. Turn them off. It makes them all milky and gross anyway.

I switched off Eyes of Death and took an essence potion to replenish my EP. The area I’d zeroed in on was empty. Reactivating the spell, I saw a figure slowly moving around the stall.

Regan: It’s her. She’s using stealth. She’s right fucking next to you.

Leoleth: The enchanted item could make her invisible. She’s good.

Regan: Move back. Give me some space.

I pulled out my short bow, nocking an obsidian arrow. My archery skills were not the best in the world, but no one else was going to take the shot. The arrow would disrupt any magic it touched, and I had to trust my aim.

I cast Target Lock on the invisible figure. Five seconds… Regan: Get ready to move.

I whispered a quick prayer to any of the three gods who might be listening and loosed the arrow, aiming just to the right of the invisible figure. It flew silently through the air, slicing above the heads of the crowd before pinning Verrona Faedan’s cloak to the stall. She appeared in an instant, her stealth shattered. Target Lock activated.

“You sneaky little byatch,” I murmured.

Leoleth tried to cast Grip of Death, but Faedan nailed her with a fistful of fury before bolting. The frost elf took a tumble, cursing as she tried to recover her balance. I started sprinting across the roof of the barely there building after her. If she hadn’t read the notification of the Target Lock spell at first, she certainly would have by now.

The woman that socked Leoleth in the face took off so fast, she was a blur, but I could see it was her. The short-cropped brown hair was a giveaway. She wore a light cotton shirt, leather vest, and tight brown trousers. She pushed through the throngs of people with ease. She knew the area well; she understood the crowds and how to move through them. She was practically sprinting while I jumped and leaped from building to building a story above.

Regan: Get off your ass and follow. Try to keep about fifty yards distance, but don’t lose us. She’s on the map.

Leoleth: This cloak is pretty, I’m keeping it.

“Leoleth!” I barked out loud. Faedan had taken a sharp turn south, and I almost fell off a roof as I struggled to change direction.

The original plan was to have me, Leoleth, Titus, Eric and Gem as the interception team. Titus’s guys and the rest were going to be the backup in case Orixalim had planned on swooping in and taking her away from us. That plan had pretty much gone to the hells. It was time for some adjustments. Leoleth was my one and only backup now. I had the target lock on Faedan, but that would end after an hour. We also lost our ability to track her since she lost her cloak. This was some all or nothing shit.

The chick was moving. The place was a fucking maze. I had no idea what I was doing. It seemed like she changed directions after every third step, and I was scrambling to keep up. Fifteen seconds into this chase, and I could feel her slipping away.

There was a bare patch on the ground, where I had some empty space to land onto. After sliding down the side of the building, I aimed my body at her like a gun.

Whomp! The world froze as I activated Time Dilation. The four second timer appeared in my lower right vision as I started moving through the tightly packed market street. The physics of moving in space like this was rough. I stepped past people, trying not to bump into them, each time I did, I bounced a little back as energy transferred. As I closed the distance between us, I moved on through like a slow-motion pinball. It was working, I was trying to organize a plan once I had her. Guess I should have been looking down as much as up. As the timer hit zero, I hit a basket someone accidentally dropped on the ground.

Real-time came back, and I found myself flying forward Supergirl style straight into the back of Verrona Faedan. We tumbled off to the side, tangled in each other’s limbs. My head hit stone, ringing my bell in what was becoming a regular thing with me. I shook it, trying to clear the stars and tinnitus.

Faedan cartwheeled out of my grasp, flying into a stall selling, of all things, fucking cushions and pillows. Lucky bitch. I looked up just in time to see her take off again, this time in triplicate. She was limping a bit, so I guess that was progress.

“Fuck!” I shook my head, activating a health potion and swallowing it. The street had erupted in chaos anew. People were toppled over, bruised, and shouting. The air was thick with down feathers. I aimed for the middle version of Faedan and launched myself. She cut under a hanging curtain between two stalls, disappearing from view. She was moving slower now at least, which meant that I was able to at least keep pace with her. I hoped Leoleth had recovered.

I followed her under the curtain and emerged into an empty, narrow alley space behind the stalls. She couldn’t hide as she booked it south. I managed to keep up with her, wondering what I had in my little bag of tricks to slow her up again. But in the rattling of running and trying not to slip in the nasty bit of sewage at my feet, not a lot of brilliant ideas were forming in my mind.

“HEY!” I shouted. It was the lamest thing I could say. Obviously, my little trick of getting her to stop, turn around and say “What?” was a bust. I cursed at myself for being lame as she darted to the right into a narrow gap we had to turn sideways to get through.

“THIEF!”

I emerged from the gap into a crowded street. Faedan shouted and pointed at me. Her face was twisted in fury. The bruises and scrapes definitely sold the look as much as anything. The people followed her gaze and saw me: the black-cloaked, panting, and definitely guilty of something little half-elf that came bustling through the back alley.

The group think came on fast. Over a dozen shoppers and sellers were on my ass in less than a second. They screeched, yelling at me and each other. “HOLD HER!” “FUCKING THIEF!” “GET HER!”

The hands were gripping at me. Knees were coming up and hitting me in bad places. I took a hit or two to the face. I was getting buried, and twenty-something strength wasn’t enough to fight off a mob, especially since I was already getting tired. Four, Five, Six pairs of hands started gripping each arm, and I was lifted off the ground.

I looked over at Faedan. She looked back at me, her eyes locked with mine. She smiled. The bitch fucking smiled before she turned and ran straight down the middle of the street.

I was slammed into the hard stone ground. Again. This time, I managed to keep from banging my head for the umpteenth time. They were all over me now. Pushing me down, pulling at my robe, and kicking at me.

Panic is a funny thing. Well, actually, it’s not funny at all, but it’s at these moments when you learn a thing or two about yourself. These people were going to kill me. On Earth, this would have been a problem, but in a murder world like Nya, a mob will rip you to pieces and then get ice cream after.

I readied Black Rain. I could vaporize half the people holding me at this range and escape. But that was not the right move. They were crazy but not evil. I wasn’t going to kill a bunch of people that were just looking after their own. I wasn’t gonna just die though.

I cast Fear of Death on the immediate area.

A silence hit the crowd like hammer. All the hands holding me tensed with supernatural strength for a microsecond, then slackened. Eyes that glared at me or were wide with rage now looked confused.

“Oh gods,” someone whispered somewhere out of sight.

A scream erupted from the mob. A single scream, voiced by about a dozen and a half people. It was one of the most terrifying things I had ever heard. All of a sudden, the hands were gone, along with the group’s unity. There was a mad scramble to run as people screamed, cried, cursed in fear, and tripped over themselves to get away from me. Not me in particular, but the area I was in.

I got to my feet. I took a bit of a beating, but it wasn’t something that was going to slow me down, thank the gods. As the crowd dispersed, I glanced at my map and started to move again.

Faedan had scooted over a couple of rows and was still moving at a fair clip, not at the mad dash that we started at. I picked up the pace and ran in parallel to her. I decided to close the distance and move on her from the side rather than behind like she would expect.

Leoleth: She’s right between us.

I glanced at my map. Trying not to slam into things as I did. I zoomed out enough to see Leoleth’s dot moving right along with Faedan’s in a straight line south, out of the Grand Bazaar. She had something else planned, and we needed to catch her before she vanished.

Regan: I’m going to try to get ahead of her and jump her. Be ready to hit her when I do.

Leoleth: Understood

The bustling stalls of the Grand Bazaar fell away as we entered the outskirts of the Entertainment District. Faedan was still moving straight ahead, probably thinking she’d lost us. The street she was on was approaching a dead end at the Royal Opera House. The massive building loomed ahead, wrapped in scaffolding. I must have been under renovation or decked out for the Festival’s ongoing celebrations. Hard to tell. The place spanned three or four blocks, meaning there was no way through.

The street widened here, with fewer people milling about. I quickened my pace, keeping my eyes on her as I moved.

Glancing at my map, I realized I was pulling ahead. I downed an AP potion to keep my stamina up, veering sharply to the right and sprinting full tilt down a parallel block. My plan was to cut her off where the two streets converged.

I couldn’t count on completely blindsiding her, but if I timed it right, I could hit her hard with Powerful Strike, knock her off balance, and pin her long enough for Leoleth to catch up and seal the deal.

I hit the corner and activated my martial skill.

I was slammed in the chest with a blast of air strong enough to blow me off my feet. I tumbled head over ass and landed painfully on the ground. For what, the third or fourth time in the last fifteen minutes? Fuck my life. It was the Air Blade spell, which, luckily, didn’t have any lingering effects.

So, she was not expecting me to come from behind after all. We locked eyes again as she passed me. She didn’t smile this time but looked at me with pure rage. She ran straight across the street and to the scaffolding of the Opera House. I got a glance of Leoleth out of the corner of my eye.

Regan: Keep your distance and follow. I need you as backup.

Leoleth: She’s slippery and mean. I like her.

Regan: You’re weird.

Faedan climbed almost as quickly as she ran. I scrambled to my feet and followed. It was at least eight stories, and she was almost to the top before I got my shit together.

There was no way to catch her if I just climbed up; I’m good, but not that good. I saw an old-school crane at the corner of the building and made a beeline for that. I wasn’t exactly an expert on how the thing worked, but there was a counterweight and a bunch of levers, so I’m sure I could do something stupid.

Okay, so it wasn’t all that complex. There was a break lever, which I gave a nice kick to, and then I cut the load rope with a dagger and held on for dear life as a ton and a half of counterweight launched me up.

I’ve been to college. I studied stuff. Physics, not so much. Most of my education in the field has pretty much been from personal experimentation. This was one of those experiments, and my knowledge of the physical universe increased slightly. In fact, I also learned a little bit about architecture at the same time.

In the half second or so before I was to be yanked through the pulley at the top of the crane, I had the awareness to kick my legs and swing over to the roof, which was great. But my little eighty-five pounds was not much compared to the massive counterweight. I flew like nothing I had ever experienced in my life.

The Royal Opera House is a domed structure. Interesting fact about domes. While they have rigid skeletons, their material is generally very thin and lightweight. These facts turned out to be very important.

I landed in the upper quarter of the dome after flying about forty feet above the central rooftop of the building. Luckily, it was there, or I would have just kept going. And also Luckily, the sheet of copper used for the roof was thin enough to absorb the impact of my landing without causing me any harm. I punched a hole in the thin metal and sunk through to the waist. I landed right behind Faedan as she climbed.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She didn’t look back as she scampered around the spire at the top. I pulled myself out and followed. I could hear her cursing between panting breaths. The spire had a cable that ran from the roof of the Opera House and a neighboring building about a hundred and fifty yards away. I thought it was used for stringing banners or something. What did I know?

Faedan slung a hook over it and slid down. Sparks flew as she zipped from the dome down to the other building. I wasn’t exactly a thrill seeker myself. Still, I pulled a grappling hook out of my inventory and followed. Hanging over the street, several stories up with no safety line, was absolutely terrifying.

I was close to her as we started running across the rooftops of the block. We were still headed south, back to the area with the smaller venues. There were fighting pits and small arenas, mostly indoors, but I could still hear the whoops and hollers of sports stuff as we ran above the action.

Faedan finally messed up. We were leaping from a high building to one about twelve feet lower. She jumped through an advertisement banner and accidentally landed blind on a skylight, crashing through.

I would have been proud of myself if I hadn’t made the same mistake. I did, however, summon my grappling hook, anchoring it to the ledge of the building and slowing my descent.

She had landed hard on the sandy surface of an enclosure. She managed to tuck her legs in and rolled, hitting the cage wall hard. I slipped down and landed with way more grace. Fuck Yeah!

“We need to talk.” I managed to get out between breaths. She stood with her back to the cage wall, looking at me with wide, terror-filled eyes.

“Don’t move.” She whispered. Then I realized she wasn’t looking at me. That’s when I heard it. There was something big behind me. I could hear it shift on the sand. Then came a grunt. And then a snort, and then more shifting. Faedan started inching to the right, very, very slowly. “You’re right in its blind spot.” She whispered.

“What blind spot?” I shout-whispered.

“Slag brute.” She whispered back. I had no idea what that was. “It can’t see you if you’re right in front of it.”

“Ok, great.” She kept moving. I could see a gate about ten feet from where she was. “I don’t suppose you could tell me what a slag brute is?”

“I don’t suppose you could shut the fuck up so we don’t both die here.” She glared at me. “It’s about the size of a war wagon and likes to ram its big ass head into people.”

“You have a plan?” She nodded her head at the cage door.

“Be ready to jump to the right.”

“My right? Or your right?”

“My right, your left.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure!” She was barely keeping her voice to a whisper. The slag brute was starting to paw on the ground behind me. “I mean,” I continued whispering. “You already had me jumping the wrong way, so I just want to ensure you know what you’re doing.”

“Honestly,” she glared at me. “I wouldn’t be here if I knew what I was doing. And you can jump either way, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t give a shit if it kills you.”

She kept inching over until she was standing in front of the door. I considered scampering up the rope at that moment, but I suspected I couldn’t get high enough in time.

“NOW.” She shouted, waving her hands in the air. I leaped to the left, her right, and learned what a slag brute was.

There’s this weird thing about the evolution of animals. I noticed it growing up. Like most kids, I went through a dinosaur phase and a stupid phase, where I was going to live in Africa and save all the animals. The formulas of evolution that are successful are often repeated. Some creatures can run fast. There are creatures with keen eyesight that can hunt prey. And then there are the creatures that can just ram their head into other creatures extremely hard.

The Triceratops first came to mind when I saw the thing charge past me. The slag brute rumbled past like an eighteen-wheeler on I70 with no brakes. It was about eight or nine feet tall at the shoulder and dusty grey, like a rhino. Its head had the large bony frill of the dinosaur but a single massive horn on the front of its head. It was mammalian, with a body as wide as it was tall, huge, muscled back legs propelling it forward, and a tiny little tail.

“What the Fuck!” I bellowed as I cleared its path. I briefly wondered why I happened to fall into a building that had one of these things in it, and then I realized it was meant for an arena fight. Who could even fight this bastard?

Faedan leaped to her right, my left, as the thing slammed into the gate. There was a satisfying crunch and grinding of metal as it planted its horn right where her head used to be.

There was a moment when we just looked at each other, unsure of the next move. The slag brute had embedded its horn between the cage door bars and thrashed back and forth, trying to free itself. The chase was suspended for the moment.

“I like your hair,” I said, speaking over the grinding and grunting of the massive beast. “This mop is all over the place and would look all crazy if I tried to wear it short.”

She looked at me like I had just sprouted an extra pair of lips on my forehead. “What the fuck is the matter with you? We are going to die in here if we don’t escape!”

“Grab the rope!” I bellowed as the creature was getting louder with its struggle. I grabbed the rope and held it steady for her.

Regan: You better be close.

Leoleth: I’m outside the building. You okay?

Regan: You know what a slag brute is?

Leoleth: Of course, I’m not a child.

Regan: You tell me then.

Leoleth: Ass biscuits!

“Yeah, right!” Faedan barked at me. She pulled a short sword out of her inventory and held it up defensively.

“If I wanted to kill you, there’d be an arrow in your chest right now!”

“You’re after the necklace!”

“Of course!” I shouted over the growing noise. “But I’m not working for the Magistrate. We only have seconds! Come on!”

She stashed her sword and ran toward me and the rope. She jumped, grabbed it a full three feet over my head, and stepped up on my shoulder, climbing like a gods damn monkey up the thing. I held it steady for her as she did. The skylight was about twenty feet up, so it would take her a moment or two before she reached it.

Regan: She’s coming up to the roof. Be ready.

Leoleth: On my way up.

There was a crash and the sound of metal ripping. Not good. The slag brute started turning around, shaking its head back and forth, trying to dislodge the ten-million-pound metal gate off its face. I wasn’t in the thing’s blind spot anymore.

“Ah, shit.”

It bellowed and charged straight at me. I heard Faedan cursing as I let the rope go to get out of the way. I jumped, but not quick enough. It charged past, its horn clipping my right ankle with a nasty snap as I went down.

CRIPPLED DEBUFF:

FIBULA FRACTURED. RIGHT ANKLE AND ALL

CONNECTED TISSUE REDUCED TO 10% FUNCTIONALITY.

TIME REMAINING: INDEFINITE

-218 VP

It was like getting hit by a meaty train. I wasn’t proud of it, but I screamed as I got knocked halfway across the enclosure and landed in all the bad ways. Beastie slammed into the cage wall, and the building rattled like a bomb hit it. Tears flooded my eyes as I tried to organize my ragdoll limbs to work with the new pain making it hard to get vertical.

I tossed down a health potion and ran slash limped as fast as possible to where the gate used to be, but my optimism was waning. Behind me, not nearly as far as I wanted, there was grunting and snorting as the slag brute worked on dislodging its head from the side of the cage.

It hit me that before the bastard turned around, I needed to not go straight for the exit because there was no way I would get out of this thing before it made another charge. I moved to the right of the empty space in the cage, hoping beyond all hope that I had at least one more jump left in me. The ankle was knitting, but the pain reminded me of how bad my life choices were.

Then came the beastly bellow as the thing charged. I leaped to the left as hard as I could on one good leg. It wasn’t enough. I barely made it about six feet. I was going to land and try to roll out of the way, but I wasn’t gonna get out from in front of this thing.

A blast of air knocked me another ten feet as the slag brute charged past, slamming into the enclosure next to the open gate. I managed to roll onto my feet, and the ankle was improving.

Faedan was hanging from the rope about halfway up. She had cast the Air Blade spell that knocked me on my ass in the market earlier. We locked eyes with each other. I smiled. She flipped me off. It was back on. She scrambled up the rope, and I darted through the gate.

Finally, the handlers were responding to the ruckus. Thank the gods; the beast would not get out of the building.

“What the hells!” One of them yelled as I darted past him on my way to the entrance. Various workers voiced other curses, many with words that even I, with my gift of tongues, didn’t understand. I weaved through the different enclosures until I barreled out of the large, double-wide wooden doors of the building entrance.

Above, I heard yelling as Faedan came sliding down the building using a drainpipe, with Leoleth still on the roof. I closed in, ready to grapple her, but she hit the ground and sprinted before I could close the distance. She darted between two shorter buildings across the street and into an alley. I started to spring after her when a shadow passed over me. Leoleth flew off the roof.

Literally.

I hadn’t seen the Wings of Death spell before, and it was spectacular. She glided down from the top of the building, closing the gap between us. Her black, obsidian wings spread out, and her black cleric robes billowed in the wind. She looked like an angel. A scary, gothic vampire angel thing, but damn, it was impressive to see.

Past the alley, we hit an open area between three low buildings, probably used for loading wagons or as a staging area for moving enormous beasts around, but it was one of the only wideopen spaces I had seen in the city outside of a park. It was about an entire block in size, and there was no place for anyone to hide. Leoleth had soared behind Faedan and let loose with a small barrage of Shadow Arachne webs. Catching the woman’s legs up as she ran and tripping her as she got tangled in the sticky webs. It was my girl that finally ended this thing.

“Grip her!” I bellowed as Leoleth approached the ground.

Leoleth landed and stretched out her hand, casting Grip of Death on Faedan. “Girl’s not going anywhere.” She smirked as the spell locked Faedan in an invisible, frozen fist that fed off her EP and AP.

Verrona Faedan was finally captured. At least, that was what I was hoping. I felt a bit like a dog that finally got to sink its teeth into the bumper of a car. She was lying on her stomach, unable to move or speak, while the spell drained her of all her strength and power. My heart was racing. My skull was a bouncy house, and my brain was a four-year-old, buzzed on Hawaiian Punch and cake.

I counted down from ten to one, cautiously approached her, and pulled the magic suppression manacles out of my inventory.

There was no resistance, not with Leoleth holding her. Tears ran from the woman’s eyes as I locked her arms up.

“No,” she whispered, all strength gone. There was no fight left in her.

“We don’t have much time,” I quietly told her.

Leoleth pulled her into a sitting position. Her face was ashen, and her AP and EP were almost completely gone. The magic suppression meant she couldn’t access her storage devices, but I pulled them off her just in case. I was trying to get her to stand up, but she was either too weak or did not cooperate.

“Got someplace to be?” she grumbled.

“You think I’m the only person looking for you? I got an asshole working for the Magistrate tailing me, and I’m sure he’ll be here any moment.”

“What’s the difference?” She looked up at me in defiance. “You don’t have the necklace, and there’s no way you’ll find out where it is before the Festival Gala. Who the hells are you anyway.”

I sighed, “My name is Regan Moon; I told you I’m not working for the Magistrate. I’m trying to stop what she’s planning.”

“Then just let me go then.”

“She’s blackmailing me.” It sounded so stupid when I said

it out loud. “I need to get you and the necklace, but we have a plan.”

“So, capturing me and turning me over was the plan?”

“No, the Church of Purity wants the necklace.” This caused Faedan to pause. She raised her eyebrows at this. “They want to do something to it before I turn it over.”

She shook her head. “Do you even know what the Ruby

Necklace is?”

I stepped back and just raised my hands. “I don’t know anything!” I barked at her. “Look, I’m fucked no matter what!”

“Well, if that isn’t the understatement of the century,” came a voice dripping with smug arrogance from behind me.

“Elion Fucking Orixalim. Of course.” I’d thought I had more time after that wild chase, but no, he and his crew had snuck up and assembled behind us. I had to hand it to them, but fuck those guys.

I spun to face him, catching sight of that infuriating smirk even in the moonlit yard. He stood there, cocky as ever, twirling a rapier in one hand, a dagger glinting in the other. Another damn swashbuckler. His black leather armor hugged his frame, a dark hood pulled low over his face, with a blood-red scarf.

Twelve other Red Hooks surrounded him. Three had crossbows on me, while the others rocked swords and maces. The melee fighters started fanning out, flanking us, not that I could do much with three bolts aimed at my face.

“Gotta say,” He started with a chuckle. “You are so entertaining.” I hated his stupid arrogance. “We could barely keep up.”

“And here we are.” I hissed. “You’re such a parasite.”

“We can make this easy.” He stowed his sword and dagger and raised his hands. “I’m here for her. You and Frosty can just go.”

“Yeah,” I said. “We can just up and leave until the Magistrate comes for us.”

“You’d have a head start.” He shrugged. “Make a run for it. You might even have a chance. It’s the best offer anyone’s given you so far.”

I put on as much bravado as I could. “Not really the running type.”

“Stick around then and see what happens.” He sneered.

Gem: On your left.

Regan: Thank the gods.

Gem: I got the crossbows. Be ready with a distraction.

Regan: I’ll tell you when.

“Okay.” My voice was deflated. I eased my posture. I mean, I would be running after this for sure. So, the act wasn’t hard to put on. “You give me and Leoleth until dawn.”

“I’m a reasonable man. I’ll wait until the Mistress Magistrate gives me the quest.” He smiled and stepped up to me. “It’ll make capturing you way more fun.”

He entered my space, like in the suite and on the street. He loved to encroach, and I loved that he was nothing if not consistent. I took a half step backward, putting my hand up to his chest to hold him back. “Wait a sec,” I said, giving him a pouty look.

Regan: Now

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! One thing my girl could do was shoot quick. Two seconds and all the crossbow guys were on their way to the ground.

I cast Black Rain directly into the chest of Elion Fucking Orixalim. He didn’t even move as the obsidian shards blasted through his body; Sneak Attack compounded their effectiveness.

They sprayed out at odd angles after passing through his body, hitting a few of the men behind him but only dealing minimal damage. Elion looked at me, his eyes wide with surprise, or was it betrayal? Didn’t know, didn’t care. He dropped to the ground as the death notice and a ton of XP scrolled across my vision.

ASSASSIN JOB ADVANCED TO LEVEL 5

+1 DEXTERITY

+1 CHARISMA

Poisoner: Level 1 Unlocked.

Poisoner: Level 1 (Intelligence, Luck)

The art of poison is as old as treachery itself. With this skill, you can combine common and uncommon ingredients to create a variety of potent and deadly concoctions. All you need is a basic brewing set to begin crafting your toxic surprises. This specialization in alchemy focuses entirely on crafting substances designed to wreak havoc on the body.

“Hells Yeah!” Leoleth shouted and leapt over Faedan. She cast ice spikes at the nearest Red Hook to her, blasting him over as he got pelted with ice projectiles.

Yells erupted as my people came charging onto the scene. Titus led with Kev, followed by Eric, Heather, and Maltz. Ramin and Jinx came up on the rear. I cast Grand Entrance on the area. The rest of the Red Hooks staggered in confusion, subjected to illusionary smoke and a blast of trumpets for three seconds.

I fell back to cover Faedan, pulling out a rapier and dagger. Heather was quick at my side, with her energy sword summoned. She swung it at a mace-wielding Red Hook, blocking his attack as Maltz swiped him from behind with his claws before she stabbed the guy in the chest, ending him instantly.

Titus Sword Danced across the field. Slashing with speed and precision that I never knew was even possible. His eyes were dark and dilated as the beast was let out. He tore through three of them like they were nothing. Their bodies were shredded, blood and gore splashed on the cobblestones under their feet as he pranced through them.

By the time my three-second spell was over, so was the fight. Orixalim was crumpled on the ground with a large hole through his chest, his blood pooling on the ground. The three crossbowmen were down, arrows through their eyes. Titus had eviscerated three. Heather and Maltz took one out, and Leoleth stood over the one she perforated with ice spikes. Ramin left one literally melting in a puddle, Wicked Witch of the West style, as he bubbled and smoked with an evil smell. Jinx sprayed one with enough electricity to light up New York City, and Eric and Kev took out the remainder tag team style.

“Fuck me,” Faedan muttered weakly. She lay on her side, still too weak to sit up on her own.

Titus came over to me. “You all right?” He had slipped his sword and dagger away and put his hands on my shoulders.

“Doing fine.” I tried to sound nonchalant. I wasn’t doing ok. That was some fucked up shit, but I wasn’t going to let on that I was freaking out, even one bit.

I bent over and looted Orixalim, taking his storage ring and everything but his messed-up armor.

I turned to Heather, who was on her knees next to the man she helped kill. The ground was covered in blood, and the front of her robe was getting soaked, but she just sat there. Her face was ashen, eyes wide. Her lips were moving in what I believe was a silent prayer. She had a glowing hand on him like she was trying to heal his injuries, but there was no coming back from the dead.

I knelt next to her and put my arm on her. “Hey.”

“I can’t…” She whispered, “I shouldn’t be doing this.” She looked at me, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m a healer.”

“You are.” I pulled her into a gentle hug. “The Goddess knows your soul. You defended Faedan. If you weren’t there at that moment, the guy could’ve killed her.”

She wiped her tears and plastered on a fragile smile. “I don’t want to do that again.”

“Sometimes we need to do horrible things so others don’t have to.” I shrugged. “That’s my solace. I take on that burden, but it doesn’t make it easy.”

“I wish I knew how you can deal with it.”

“Looking at your beautiful face is all I need to keep going.”

She let out a weak laugh. Gem came down from whatever perch she was on and joined the group. She cleared her throat and glared at the carnage.

She stepped up next to Titus and stowed her bow. They had gotten used to the idea of each other over the last couple of days, and I was thankful there wasn’t any drama stemming from the throuple arrangement I was trying to get going.

The party moved into a defensive circle as Gem, Titus, Heather, Leoleth, and I moved to Faedan. Her strength was returning, but I kept her cuffed, just in case she got any ideas.

I knelt to her. “That was Elion Fucking Orixalim, who worked for the Magistrate.”

“Yeah,” she smiled weakly. “Along with some Red Hooks. They’re the militant branch of the Church of Granvul. She’s part of that church. Did you know that?”

“I guessed it was something like that.”

“I’m sure she has plenty of others looking for me.”

“Hello, Varona, I’m Heather Elding.” Heather knelt and cast a healing spell on Faedan, who glowed slightly as her cuts and bruises vanished. “I’m a Cleric in the service of the Goddess Amania. She needs your help.”

“I never saw a Priestess of the Church of Purity with a sword before,” Faedan replied as the color returned to her face.

“I’m not happy about it.” She held her right hand, and the healing light of magic glowed just above her palm. “I want to heal people, body and soul, but my Goddess gave me a sword. I trust her wisdom, but I don’t know the reason behind it.”

“What does the Goddess of Purity want with the Ruby Necklace?”

“She didn’t tell me.” Heather shrugged. “Only we needed to bring it to the temple before handing it over to the Magistrate. If you can trust the Goddess, you can trust me. I will die before I allow it to be used for evil. And Regan is a person of integrity, despite her…” She paused, looking for the right word. “…Tendencies.”

“That was a bit harsh,” I murmured.

“Please trust us.” Heather placed her hand on Faedan’s shoulder. “You have done so well, but you need help to carry this to the end. We are here to help you.” My girl had the magic touch, that’s for sure.

“I want to get this over with so I can start running for the rest of my life.” I sighed at her. “If you have a better idea, then spill it because laying low ain’t a plan.”

“I have it back at my hideout.” Faedan looked down at the ground, almost ashamed. “There’s no way I would go out with it on me.”

“Okay then.” Titus stepped forward. “We go get it and bring it to the temple.”

“Okay. But just you three.” She pointed at me, Heather, and Leoleth.

“Absolutely not.” Titus glared at her. “We’ve spilled blood over this, and the Magistrate will still be on us. You need all the protection we can provide.”

I stood and turned to him. He looked worried. I put my hand on his chest. I could feel his heart racing under my palm. I glanced at Gem, whose face was filled with the same look of anxiety that Titus had, but she didn’t say anything.

“We’ll be okay. Too many of us shuffling around will draw attention we don’t need. Fall back to the temple district, and we will get there as soon as we get the necklace.”

I looked over at Jinx, Kev, and Eric. My boys. “You guys got this?”

“You know it, love,” Jinx said. “We got this.” “To the end,” Kev said.

Eric nodded and winked at me. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“There,” I said, looking at Titus. “We’re good. Just help me close the deal, Okay?”

Titus sighed. “Fine. Tap the com crystal if you run into trouble. We’ll find you.”