Kellal ripped the door open, leaping backwards and drawing his sword in one motion. He landed on his toes, ready to lunge, blade first, at whatever came through the door. Two surprised eyes stared back at him as a short and stocky man stumbled a few steps back.

The man was soaking wet. He was futilely holding a large leather jacket over his head in an attempt to shield himself from the icy rain. The top of his head reflected the light of the lanterns and two bushy caterpillar-like eyebrows sat low on his face. A full red beard dripping with water curled down to his lower chest where it rested over a dark tailored suit.

“Claire, we have a –” the man started. “Kellal?”

“Thomas,” Kellal replied.

“When the bloody fuck did you get here? How did you escape?” He said with a thick northern accent.

“About half an hour ago, but never mind that. What’s wrong?” Kellal said, sheathing his blade.

“Well at least the night is not a total loss,” the stout man said, pushing his way inside and out of the rain. “They’re onto us. Those bastards got Aston. Right in front of me an’ I couldn’t do nothing.”

Thomas plopped down onto one of the stools and wrung the water from his beard. He was breathing heavily and looked on the verge of tears.

“What happened, Thomas?” Claire said as she laid a calming hand on his shoulder.

Thomas let out a heavy sigh.

“I was over at Aston’s place. We been drinking most of the day and lost track of time, so I wasn’t able to make it back to my house ‘fore sundown. So, I decided to stay there for the night,” He paused and looked over at Claire. “Ye mind getting me a drink? I don’t wanna remember tonight.”

“You can have a drink after we hear what happened. We need a clear picture; continue,” She said.

Thomas scoffed before continuing his tale. “We were ‘bout to head to bed. Aston was preparing the couch for me to sleep on while I was taking a piss in the restroom,” He sniffled. “I was finishing up when I ‘eard a right massive crash and scream from the other room. The air got colder out of nowhere an I knew it ‘ad to be one ah those bastard enforcers. I peeked through a crack in the door an saw it standing over his body. I didn’t know what to do so I squeezed meself through the bathroom window and ran as far away as I could before coming here.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Kellal couldn’t tell if it was tears or rainwater that was dripping down Thomas’s cheeks.

“Can I get that drink now?” Thomas muttered.

“Of course,” Claire said moving towards a small cupboard next to the stove and grabbing a small glass bottle filled with dark liquid from inside it.

“You guys see if you can figure out how Aston got found out. I’m going to make sure Thomas didn’t get followed,” Kellal said, giving Thomas a stern glance. The last thing Thomas should have done was head straight for another group member’s home, especially Claire’s.

Kellal opened the door and stepped outside into the narrow street. He pulled up his hood as rain battered the top of his head. The alley was quiet and devoid of life.

Confident that no peering eyes watched, Kellal flared the wellspring of heat within him. He pushed some of it into his legs and leapt nearly fifteen feet into the air. As he landed on the roof of Claire’s home, he flared individual muscles with incredible precision to avoid making even the slightest of sounds. It had been so long since Kellal had had so much heat to use within him that he had forgotten how intoxicating the sensation could be. He yearned to stretch his muscles and go bounding silently from rooftop to rooftop, feeling the rush of wind and rain against his skin, but there were important matters at hand.

Kellal crouched low to the roof, silent and motionless he watched the still landscape around him, looking for anything out of place. Cold, pelting beads of water washed over Kellal and the city in waves; like some higher power was desperately trying to cleanse it of its filth. The city would never be clean though, at least not until the rot at its very core had been purged.

Once Kellal was certain that no human or creature had pursued Thomas, he dropped back into the alley. He flared his legs as he impacted the ground to help reduce the impact. The small round door creaked open as Kellal stepped back inside the home.

“Any luck, detectives?” Kellal asked as he removed his hood and shook some of the water out of his hair.

“No,” the two replied in unison.

“There really ain’t much to go on here,” Thomas grouched. “I’ve been saying the only way he coulda been found out is if someone snitched, but Claire is having none of it.”

“Because that is ridiculous!” Claire snapped. “We’ve all known each other for years. There is no way anyone on the team would ever do something like that!”

“Right-right,” Thomas mumbled to himself, not convinced.

“Anyway,” Claire said, turning towards Kellal and rolling her eyes. She got up from her stool and tossed an empty glass bottle into a bin. “We are going to call an emergency meeting tomorrow with Lydia and Oswald. Everyone needs to know what happened to Aston and to take extra precautions.”

“And so I can find out if one of those bastards is a traitor.” Thomas mumbled to himself.

“You don’t think anyone could have turned Aston in like that, right?” Claire said, her eyes wide with concern.

“No, never. Thomas is just a little hysterical after what he went through tonight,” Kellal said, in an effort to comfort Claire.

“I’m gonna stay here for the night an then take the long route to me home in the grand district t’morrow morn,” Thomas sputtered, before stumbling over to grab a blanket off Claire’s bed.

“I guess we’re sharing the floor then,” Kellal said. He unbuckled his leather armor to get ready for his first good night’s rest in weeks. Being chained to a wall in a frozen cell, didn’t make for comfortable sleep.