Leryn held his breath and didn't dare to move a hair. Out of the shattered window, he spotted shadows in the window of the neighbouring building as the occupants came to see what the commotion was. Then came a long, scornful shriek from overhead that caused the huge man to jump. The footsteps from overhead stopped, though, and the shadows in the windows across the street.

The large man moved quickly, having already decided to operate on the basis that the foul Night Stalker could not enter buildings. He propped Victoria in a sitting position facing the room’s only door before hiding in the shadows against the opposite wall. In the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the luminescent creature circling in the distance.

“It’ll be gone before dawn,” Victoria said. Her voice was scarcely a whisper, and Leryn hadn’t been sure if he’d imagined it at first. “However, we’ve attracted attention.”

“That’s an understatement,” Leryn observed.

“We need to leave before dawn,” Victoria continued.

“What do you propose?” he asked and then held up a finger for silence.

A floorboard creaked above them, and he readied his weapon. He studied her face for any signs of objection and found none. She did, however, look deathly pale. He’d seen that before in men on the battlefield. Men who were on death’s door. Soon, the footsteps were outside the door.

“Hello, is anyone there?” a male voice asked. It was trying to sound tough but was fooling no one. “Be warned, there are ten armed men with me out here.”

“Please don’t hurt me, sirs,” Victoria called out weakly. “I was caught away from my home after dark and am only trying to get home.”

There was a thump outside. The man had fallen over in fright at the sound of Victoria’s voice.

“How many of you are there?” he demanded a moment later.

“It’s just me,” Victoria’s voice was soft, and her head had slumped over. Leryn wasn’t sure how much of it was genuine and how much an act. “Please, I need help. The Night Stalker’s talons caught me across the back.”

It was then that Leryn noticed the blood on the floor of the darkened room. His blood. It left a trail that led right up to his hiding place. He contemplated bursting out of the room and falling upon the man, but Victoria shook her head. He knew he was right. There was a chance there were more armed men out there. Victoria was in no condition to fight, and all he had was his ruined sword. Better to let them come.

“Swear on the Pantheon,” the voice ordered.

Victoria did, and after a few tense moments, the door creaked open. A hesitant foot appeared. Then another. The owner of the house was a mousy young man holding a lantern. He saw Victoria and gasped. “What happened to you?”

Those were the last words he ever said. Victoria nodded, and Leryn sprang forward, grabbing the young man from across the chest with one arm. In a swift motion, Leryn slit the young man’s throat with the edge of his ruined sword. He held on tight as the young man twitched and spasmed, Leryn dropped his sword and used his free hand to grab the lantern. Then, he carefully lowered both the swiftly dying young man and the lantern to the floor.

To his surprise, Victoria had begun to crawl over to them and placed her lips to the young man’s destroyed throat.

“For a moment back there, I forgot what a foul creature you are,” Leryn remarked, watching with disgust as Victoria made disgusting gulping sounds as she drank the young man’s blood straight out of his wound.

She paused to look up at him. Her face was smeared with blood. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave enough to heal you with. I just need to recover some strength first.”

“Oh, you’ll do no such thing,” Leryn said sharply.

He sprang to his feet and peered outside. The small shophouse was empty. The boy had been bluffing.

“Blow that out, will you?” Victoria’s voice was muffled.

“Yes, I can see why you’d want to do that in the dark,” Leryn snorted as he extinguished the lantern.

The sound of Victoria gulping blood down reminded Leryn that he hadn’t had a proper meal in days. His stomach grumbling, he walked down the corridor and found the kitchen. He drew the curtains so that he would not be seen and began to scrounge in the dark. He quickly found the end corner of a loaf of bread. It was stale, but he didn’t care and ate it quickly. Then, washed it down with mead, drinking the sweet liquor straight from a jug.

“That’s hardly civilized,” Victoria remarked as she entered the room. She looked eerie with her mouth smeared in the young man’s blood.

Leryn stopped eating for long enough to reply, “You’re one to talk.”

Victoria smirked wordlessly and began washing her face at the washbasin next to the back door.

“You know,” Leryn began, once he had devoured the last of the bread. “I’m surprised you didn’t object to my killing of that man.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Well, from the way you carry yourself, your lack of modesty, and lack of respect for your betters, it’s clear to me that you’re a peasant from some rural village,” Leryn said.

Victoria felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She resisted the urge to punch the man. She knew it would only end in pain for her. She decided to keep her temper. She needed this pompous fool. However, she decided that when she was done with him, she would use her power to walk him off a cliff.

“And I am no fool,” he continued. “I can see that the peasants here live a good life, free from their obligations, from duty.”

“But what is the point of life without duty?” Leryn spat and paused to shake his head. “And yet, every day, more and more towns and villages join their cause, overthrowing their lords and their gods and welcoming the invading armies with open arms.”

“Do you have a point?”

Leryn narrowed his eyes as he considered Victoria carefully. “Why are you working against them?”

“They use the promise of this utopia to ensnare them,” Victoria remarked. “And then poison their minds with their foul brew so they do not ask questions and cheerfully go along with their insanity.”

“Insanity, like those creatures that patrol the skies at night?” Leryn ventured.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Victoria nodded. “Amongst other things.”

Leryn grunted. “How is it you know so much about them?”

“I grew in a place under the thrall of the Pantheon,” Victoria replied as she went back to scrubbing her cheeks, desperately wishing she had a mirror. Or some soap. “I know what lurks under the surface.”

“Is that why you are working for the Empire?” Leryn ventured as he resumed his search for food.

“I have seven men I need to kill,” Victoria replied. She looked at the blood stains on her dress and frowned. She’d have to find a new one. This one was beyond saving. “I’ve dealt with two already. Working for the Empire helps me fulfil my goals.”

She paused and glanced at Leryn, who had found some sausage. “What about you, honourable knight? Cutting down an unarmed man like that doesn’t seem very chivalrous.”

Leryn gave her a cold look. “These heretics have turned their heads from their lords and our Gods. A quick death is too good for the likes of them.”

“And what about me?”

The corners of the huge man’s mouth curled into a thin smile. “You seem useful enough for now. I’ll keep you alive until that changes.”

“I rescued you,” Victoria pointed out. “You are in my debt.”

Leryn grunted and took a huge bite out of the sausage. When he had swallowed and washed it down with another swig of mead, he replied. “So, this distillery. Will destroying it strike a blow against the heretics?”

“Lord Fenwick seems to think so,” she replied.

“What part will I play?” Leryn asked before devouring another quarter of the sausage in a single bite.

“As you may have noticed,” Victoria replied. “My powers have limits against the servants of the Pantheon.”

Leryn nodded slowly and then froze mid chew. Victoria followed his gaze and saw something glowing on the other side of the curtains that had been drawn over the kitchen window.

“Just ignore it,” she hissed.

Leryn shot her a cocky look before jerking the curtain aside. Outside, he saw the luminescent owl creature standing on the ground outside, staring through the window with its unsettling face. It broke into an eerie grin and let off a shriek before flapping its wings. Slowly, the beast climbed into the air and let off another shriek before disappearing from view.

“Do you think it’s gone to fetch its friends?” Leryn ventured.

Victoria shrugged. “All I know is we’re stuck here until dawn, and that we need to figure out a way to get out of this place unseen.”

She set her eyes on the hulking man, who had begun rummaging through a small cupboard. “Thoughts?”

“You seem to be an expert on these lands,” Leryn replied distractedly. “I will defer to your judgement.”

Victoria’s jaw dropped in shock. When she recovered her composure, she asked. “Does this mean you’re going to help me?”

“For now,” Leryn allowed. “Your goal seems worthy enough.”

“Then let me tend to your wounds,” Victoria said. “You’ll be no good to us if you catch the flux.”

“None of your foul magic.”

Victoria pressed her lips into a thin line. “I don’t know any traditional remedies. Do you want to strike a blow against the heretics, or not?”

Reluctantly, Leryn agreed. While she used her magic to heal the knight’s wounds, Victoria put her brain to work. The eyes of the dead man’s neighbours were sure to be on this building. However, with the Night Stalker out there, no one would be able to make a move until dawn. Unless…

The ringing of a bell split the air. Leryn shot her a look. “What’s that sound?”

“They might not be able to leave their homes, but they can still shout from building to building,” Victoria cursed. “Word must have reached the town crier. That’s the warning bell.”

“What does that mean for us?”

“We need to find a way to leave before dawn,” she replied. There had been a warning bell back in Washpool, but she had never heard it rung. “The entire town will know where we are by then.”

Leryn scowled and peered out the window. “That creature is likely to still be out there.”

He then turned around and frowned at Victoria’s neck. “How long until that rune blows your head off?”

Victoria touched the collar through her blouse. “Just under three weeks.”

“We are ten days from The Eternal City,” Leryn mused. “Do you have enough time?”

“Just about.”

They fell silent for a moment, and Victoria smiled coyly. “I must say, you have become more agreeable over the last few minutes.”

Leryn grunted. “Three days without food and water will make anyone a little ornery.”

Victoria chuckled and slapped him on the back. “There, done. How do you feel?”

“Better,” he admitted. After a pause, he asked. “So, do you have a plan to escape this town?”

Victoria nodded slowly.

“Do tell.”

She looked up at him and grinned. “You’re not going to like it.”

“You were right, this is a stupid idea,” Leryn hissed as he stood poised by the kitchen door.

They had spent the last four hours ransacking the shop for supplies. They were in a tailor’s workshop, and the young man was evidently an apprentice who stayed upstairs to mind the shop after dark. Leryn was wearing a cloak, which was all they could find to fit his immense size, and a pair of ill-fitting boots, while Victoria wore her Pledge Wife’s dress with a change of the young apprentice’s clothes in Leryn’s backpack, for if she ever needed a new disguise.

“I thought you agreed that it was better to face one of those creatures than the entire town,” Victoria hissed back as she looked out the door.

The lights had come back on in the neighbouring buildings and they could see people at the windows, staring at their tailor’s workshop intently. The bell was still tolling mournfully in the distance, and it was beginning to grate on her nerves.

“Stay close,” she hissed. “The back alleys shouldn’t be wide enough for that thing to attack us.”

“And if they are?”

“Then we’ll be dead.” Victoria looked down at the flagon by her side. It was filled with the man’s blood. There wasn’t enough for another sword, and she could only hope it stayed viable until dawn. Blood lost potency the longer it was dead.

“Ready?” she asked.

Leryn nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Leryn pulled the door open. Victoria hitched her skirts up and came running out. A screech came from overhead. Without turning around, she charged headlong for the alley on the other side of the street.

The alley was less than eighty yards from the tailor’s workshop, and Victoria dove into its narrow confines. Leryn nearly fell over her prone body in his haste to follow after. A loud grinding sound filled the air, and they turned to see the owl-man creature shoot up into the air, letting off a frustrated screech as it went.

“Come on,” Victoria urged.

Together, they ran down the alley. They could see the creature keeping station high above them, watching, and waiting for its prey to emerge from cover. Meanwhile, the windows facing the back alley were all open. From them, men, women, and children watched the two intruders’ progress impassively with unblinking eyes.

Paying them no heed, Victoria led Leryn headlong down the alley and made a turn. Muttering an incantation, she emerged at full speed onto the main street. The creature screeched and dove at Leryn, who had stopped in the middle of the street.

“I hope this works,” he grunted.

Seeing that he had the creature’s attention, Victoria turned around and sent the blood flying from her flask onto the makeshift shield Leryn was carrying, which he had fashioned from the tailor’s kitchen table and a length of rope. The blood enveloped the shield just as the creature dug its talons into it.

The creature’s talons sliced through the film of blood and splintered the wood beneath but stopped short of piercing Leryn’s forearm. The huge man grunted as he hurled the creature through the large glass window of a nearby tavern. The beast screeched in surprise and flapped its wings as it struggled to right itself. Meanwhile, Leryn and Victoria took the opportunity to run around to the back of the tavern where the stables were.

There, they found a young mare and saddled it quickly. Meanwhile, the creature had recovered and taken to the air again. It screeched indignantly as it searched for its quarry.

“This horse can’t outrun it,” Leryn panted. “Especially not while carrying the two of us.”

Victoria looked to the sky. The creature was quickly getting closer. “It can. We have to go.”

“If you say so.”

The horses whinnied as the pair rode them hard out of the stable. The creature shrieked as it reacquired its prey, and the terrified horse came to a stop and reared up on its hind legs in protest. Hanging on tight, Victoria pressed her hand to its neck and muttered an incantation. Abruptly, the horse began to gallop, thundering towards the town’s west exit. The owl creature dove and the horse sped up. It was now galloping faster than if it had been unburdened.

Victoria watched the creature’s descent and at the last moment, the horse skipped out of the creature’s path with unbelievable agility. The owl creature let off a shriek of frustration and flapped its wings to reorient itself. Meanwhile, the manoeuvre had snapped the tendons in the horse’s legs, and Victoria knew that it would collapse and die from the stress placed upon its body the minute her magic ceased.

“This isn’t working,” Leryn said grimly as he readied his shattered sword.

“No, we’ll be fine,” Victoria said.

To the east, the first rays of the sun cast a glow at the horizon. The creature let out a loud, long frustrated shriek before taking to the air.

“We’re safe,” she sighed as the horse carried them out of town and into the wilderness beyond.