The rusted fire axe sizzled in my hands as runes came to life along its surface, the material hardening beyond what should have been possible.
I swung down hard and a can-sized piece of silver went skidding across the concrete floor for the tenth time.
I had worried whether I’d have enough raw materials to arm myself sufficiently, but those worries vanished as soon as I saw the two 1000oz industrial sized bars.
Katya had truly gone above and beyond.
I threw the fire axe away as it started hissing and spitting sparks like an elemental having a hissy fit.
The strain of my runes quickly breaking down the metal before igniting it in a burst of flame and smoke.
I took out one of the 2x2 slabs of marbled and started etching concentric lines of runes along its surface before placing one of the can-sized chunks of silver in its center.
My goal was to synthesize a material known as Truesilver .
The process was as stupidly simple as the name was unimaginative. First, one would need to melt down and rid the silver of all impurities before saturating its molten state in exotic energies, gradually resulting in either the desired material or a burned puddle of slag with a bluish tint.
Now even a child could do this given the right tools, but the goal wasn’t simply success, but efficiency .
Alchemists boasting of ratios in the thirties were common. Those achieving a ratio of twenty-five and below were sought after and anything less than that was spoken of in quiet whispers.
Or at least that’s what most alchemists would have you believe. In truth, a ratio of twenty-five to one was quite common.
But alchemists, being the bunch of chemical huffing degenerates they were, would often waste an infuriatingly large amount of raw materials while too busy inhaling fumes or skimming.
Fed up with this, I came up with my own method and although it might never measure up to the admittedly impressive rates of a Master Alchemist; it was more than adequate for my purposes.
I left the now hovering sphere of molten silver behind and went to inspect the anvil I had requested.
Similarly to the fire axe, an anvil of steel would break down within minutes, loose carbon and impurities causing too much resistance, placing an enormous strain on the material.
However, a wrought iron anvil might just last long enough for me to finish before crumbling into a pile of smoldering debris.
“This must be almost 150 years old.” I thought, tapping the anvil with a loose bit of metal, getting a satisfying dull clang.
Once I’d finished prepping the anvil, I started sorting out the various other materials.
Leathers, wood... military grade ordnance.
“These will come in handy.” I thought with a grin, holding up the smooth, round grenades.
***
Heavy clouds blanketed the skies, blotting out the moon and showering the quiet neighborhood below.
Not a soul was awake nor a light lit as an inconspicuous white van pulled to a stop along the street.
“No addicts or sickly. The mistress wants them pure for her party.” A hollow voice reminded.
There was no reply as the side door was slid open and two dark figures stalked silently across the lawns and flowerbeds.
The only sign of their passing was the occasional tomcat’s hiss or a dog’s bark.
It wasn’t long before one of the darkened windows lit up three times in quick succession, informing the driver of the van of their location.
As the van parked in front of the house, the two figures exited carrying two women and a young boy, all of whom wore dazed and vacant expressions.
Their clothes smeared in blood, but the only injury on them was a small needle mark on their neck.
After the cargo was loaded into the van, the group of Sanguinares moving on to their next hunting ground.
But unbeknownst to them, shadows followed.
***
“You’re telling me he hasn’t left once ?” Katya asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Hendricks, the head of daytime security, replied crisply.
“What has he been doing for food?” Natasha questioned while leaned against Katya’s desk.
“He’s been ordering takeout. Although they never set foot on the property.” Hendricks replied.
“Because of the Runes? ” Katya paraphrased from the report, slightly frustrated at this point.
“Yes Ma’am. That is our theory after we observed a group of teens jumping the back fence. Once they crossed between two of the runed posts, they seemed increasingly distressed the further they went in, until they turned around to flee.” Hendricks explained.
“Were they injured in any way?” Katya asked.
“We do not believe so.” Hendricks replied.
Katya sat deep in thought and a heavy silence filled the room until broken by a question.
“Not what you expected?” Natasha asked.
“I expected him to go on a mad murder spree and disrupt red court activity at least a little. Then return to safe ground to lick his wounds before doing it again, not stay holed up for a week.” Katya replied unhappily.
“ Hendricks , tell the transport teams to sit tight for now and increase security around the Heirs. Looks like we’ll have to weather the storm this time around, at least until the red courts end their little gathering.” Katya ordered.
Hendricks gave a respectful nod and left the room in a hurry.
“I wonder what he’s doing in there?” Katya muttered, staring at the live camera feed of the steel mill until a devious expression crossed her face and she turned to Natasha.
“ Now that I think about it , it has been a while since you two last saw each other.” Katya suggested wryly.
***
I had finished my preparations, and they were perfect .
When I had first made them years ago, I had been young and inexperienced, needing something to hold my power because I couldn’t yet manifest their shapes on my own.
Their vessels had been rough and limited.
But this time I knew all the steps, all the little tweaks I’d always wanted to make, but never got around to.
I ran my hand across the metal of the two weapons laying on the worktable in front of me; the runes glowing softly in response to my touch.
One was a lightweight bearded-axe, the metal blackened from the hardening process, intricate crimson runes adorning every part of the axe-head affixed to a brown leather wrapped handle made of wood.
Next to it laid a dagger in the same darkened metal and blood red runes. It had the appearance of a broken Carolingian sword; the point tapering downwards like a seax.
I sheathed the dagger at the small of my back in a scout carry and the axe under my arm in a shoulder holster opposite a 500 S&W Revolver loaded with leftover raw silver.
It felt wasteful to use silver in such a fashion, but it might prove useful in a pinch, and I’d need all the help I could get tonight.
The buzzer for the front gate echoed throughout the warehouse as I was getting ready to leave. Looking outside, I recognized the expensive-looking company car Sophia had been driving a two weeks ago.
After hitting the button to open the gate, I hurriedly put on a coat, and I went outside. The weapons I carried, hidden from view with the exception of trained eyes deliberately looking for them.
When I stepped out, the car had already pulled to a stop in front of the warehouse, and a familiar attractive brunette wearing a leather jacket stood leaning against the hood, looking me up and down curiously.
“Hey handsome, need a ride ?” Natasha asked with a wry grin that screamed trouble.
“I do, yeah .” I replied, unable to hold back a smile at the obvious theatrics.
I would have preferred to leave and come back before anyone took notice, but it was too late to turn back now. They wouldn’t allow it, and neither will I.
“Perfect, I’ll drive .” Natasha replied confidently, although she had no doubt sensed my apprehension.
“Where to Mr. Big Broad and Brooding ?” She asked with a playful smile as I got in.
“ North , I’ll give you directions when we get closer.” I replied, forcing a friendly tone.
“ You’re no fun . I was expecting a good time tonight.” She responded with a pout, although a hint of unease was starting to creep its way into her voice.
“You would have tried to stop me had I told you the address, and I cannot hold them back any longer.” I thought to myself quietly, fighting to keep the roiling mass within my shadow under control.
Halfway through the drive, Natasha’s demeanor changed. Instead of her usual mischievous self, she had become increasingly cautious and serious with every turn the car took.
“You already knew their location. You’ve always known.” I no longer hid my thoughts, instead letting them freely project.
Natasha’s eyes remained locked on the road ahead, but her expression was conflicted.
“I know why you didn’t act. You were afraid, afraid of war, afraid to lose yet another Heir to a cruel fate.” I continued as I looked out the passenger side window.
“But in your inaction, you let them fester and spread, like a cancer.” The gated driveways became less and less frequent as the properties behind them encompassed more and more land.
“Even with your great empathic powers, you never understood their kind.” The rain had picked up and clouds rumbled above us.
“But I do. And there is only one way to deal with a cancer... And it is to cut it out, no matter the cost.” Lightning thundered in the skies above, and for a moment, I saw my own grim reflection in the glass.
Natasha silently drove the rest of the way without instruction. And as the car came to a halt in front of an opulent mansion, I stepped out.
“You will stay in the car.” I said, my voice strange but absolute, leaving no room for argument.
I had grown quite fond of Natasha and the Eve clan during my brief stay with them, but my plans tonight did not have room for a plus one.
The rain matted my hair down as I walked up to the gate and pushed the button on the intercom.
“Hello, I was told to come here and surrender myself by the Eve Clan.” I said into the intercom.
Static crossed the line, but no one spoke.
“ Hello, I was told to come here and surrender myself by the Eve Clan .” I repeated, making sure to keep the same inflection.
The gate unlocked with a buzz, followed by a metallic clack.
“Enter.” A voice ordered over the intercom and I did.
I walked calmly up the winding path leading to the main entrance while being surrounded by at least a dozen guards armed to the teeth, literally as some of them were openly baring fangs at me.
I wore a dull and distant expression, ignoring their threatening displays, and moved forward as if entranced.
An imposing redheaded woman strode out in a fancy dinner dress entirely unsuited for the heavy rain.
“You will disarm, now . ” Her voice rang in my head like a bell.
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“Compulsion.” I growled to myself, keeping my expression neutral.
Compulsion and empathic abilities were traits native to Sentires, however Sanguinares could develop similar abilities with age, but they were exceptionally rare and therefore unlikely she would have both.
A theory proven by the fact that even though I felt the weight of compulsion, my homicidal thoughts went unnoticed.
I opened my coat to reveal the weapons I’d brought with me.
A guard stepped forward to disarm me, but stopped a foot away, His eyes turning an inky black as he inhaled deeply and smiled.
His fangs extended as he opened his mouth like a snake unhinging its jaw and leaned towards my neck.
“ENOUGH! ” the redhead woman commanded, and he froze in place like a statue.
“The Madam wants him for herself.” She added with a sadistic grin, her face rippling underneath the skin.
Stepping inside, I was almost overwhelmed by the nauseating stench of rotting flesh and the metallic taste of blood in the air. The source of both became clear as I was led through the maze-like rooms of the mansion.
Each room littered with bodies arranged in grotesque displays, like pieces of art depicting inhumane cruelty, or simply thrown aside like discarded trash.
The smell may have set my stomach churning, but this senseless act of depravity made my blood boil. The frenzied shadows which had fought my control until now cried out in fear and pain as my grip on them tensed beyond mere domination.
Arriving at the heart of the mansion, my group of escorts stopped and opened a pair of sliding doors, revealing a lavishly decorated dining room. Over twenty unnaturally still figures sat around a long table.
On the table laid three women and a young boy, their bodies covered in vicious bite marks and their faces frozen in a state of absolute terror.
And my grip loosened.
***
Baroness Sicilia watched her concierge walk in the peace offering from the Eve clan, noting the enticing smell of the man’s blood.
She could feel the endless thirst of her guests from the neighboring court as his delectable scent wafted over the room.
She would have to claim him quick, although not even the most overzealous of their kind would dare steal the prey of their host.
She stood up, sending a quick glance to her concierge standing next to him, receiving a nod from the redheaded Sanguinares blessed with compulsion, confirming he had been checked for weapons.
The last thing Sicilia would have wanted was for her reign to end by the hands of a human wielding a gun.
“It would seem the Eve clan is still as fangless as ever. I’ve lost count of how many of their Heirs I’ve sunk my teeth into, and yet they still sue for peace... pathetic .” Sicilia jeered, receiving a few mocking laughs around the room.
“Although I must admit, they’ve certainly found a worthy offering this time.” Sicilia leaned in, inhaling deeply, her skin tingling and her vision shifting to that of a nocturnal predator.
It was only in this animalistic state that her instincts finally reached her conscious mind.
Something was wrong .
The human, which was supposed to be compelled, turned to her with an unimaginable fury in his eyes, such hatred that her own cruel nature was washed away and she was left shivering.
An impenetrable darkness descended on the room that not even her eyes could peer through.
“I am that which you fear, and Hel follows with me.” The voice was cold and inhuman, echoing and booming, and then out of the darkness, crimson lights bloomed by the thousands.
And Sicilia felt afraid .
***
A nearby team of Custodes surveilling the Baroness approached Natasha silently, their thoughts barely perceptible, even to her trained senses.
Their blacked out tactical gear and covered faces made for an imposing appearance, even more so for the man approaching her whose stature dwarfed her own.
One of them stepped forward, dwarfing Natasha in size before dropping a heavy duffle bag to the ground and held out a headset.
“ Status ?” Katya demanded over the line with a cold edge to her voice.
“T1 entered the Baroness Sicilia’s compound approximately two minutes ago, posing as a compelled civilian.” Natasha replied, her demeanor changing as her military experience and Custodes training took over.
She opened the heavy duffle bag and changed into the same blacked out tactical gear and armed herself with a submachine gun, racking the bolt before switching to full auto.
“Natasha, how could you let this happen?.” Katya reprimanded, frustration coloring her tone as she said her name.
“I had assumed you, of all people, would have attempted to discourage him from this sort of suicidal plan.” Katya continued continued.
“With all due respect, Ma’am. I didn’t lead him here, he led me . And I think we’ve severely underestimated his capabilities.” Natasha replied gravely.
“I acknowledge the boy can handle himself, but we’re not talking about a couple of-” A surge of gunfire and yells rang out from the mansion up ahead of them, interrupting Katya.
Natasha and the team flew into action, wasting no time scaling the walls and clearing the distance to the building in seconds.
Moving towards the back entrance used for kitchen staff and servants, they heard the yells turn into pained screaming. Every room with a window flashed with gunshots.
The massive Custodes ran forward and kicked the door down like a battering ram, before moving back as two of his comrades took up positions inside...
Or at least that’s what was supposed to happen, but instead the two veteran Custodes stopped dead in their tracks and simply stared through the doorway.
One of them nodded to the other, who responded by pulling out a flashlight and shining it through the opening.
Natasha was speechless and broke formation to move forward.
“What the hell are you doing?!” she hissed.
“It’s dark.” One of them stated matter-of-factly.
“So what?” Natasha asked, dumbfounded.
The man pointed the flashlight towards the doorway for her to see. The powerful flashlight sent out a bright beam... for about 8 feet, before simply stopping as it hit a churning mass of black fog, obscuring half of the room completely.
The team didn’t know what to make of the black fog, but quickly returned to their training and took positions of cover as they heard the sound of running and cursing approach from within the darkness
Seconds later, a woman in a gaudy red dress came tumbling through the dark, landing in front of the doorway.
Natasha barely recognized the baroness Sicilia in her miserable state.
Her left arm was nothing but wet strips of flesh, as if some massive beast had bitten down on her and she’d torn herself free to flee. A familiar glowing red brand was burned into the side of her face and hairless scalp.
She struggled to her knees and looked up, with an expression of utter terror on her face. She had no trace of her famously arrogant disposition left. Only pain and horror were visible. The rune on her face lit up, searing her skin as she let out a soul piercing scream.
“ Found. You .” A merciless voice echoed out from inside the building, locking the team of Custodes and Natasha in place.
“Gleipnir, ” the voice boomed in a drawn-out call that reverberated inside their heads.
A savagely spiked and edged chain slithered out of the darkness like a serpent. Sicilia watched the chain in terrified recognition before she desperately tried to flee.
But the vicious chain sprang forth like a snake, wrapping itself around her leg and waist, cutting into her body, drawing black ichor, before pulling her screaming back into the darkness.
The team stood speechless, shocked into silence.
“Let’s move to the front. It’s the furthest point from here and seemed clear when we scaled the wall.” A Custodes suggested receiving a few slow nods of agreement.
As they circled around the building to the front, the shooting had all but ceased, and when they arrived, they found the front door open wide, and the inside clear of the dark fog.
They took up a formation to cover the balconies above them in the luxurious foyer and carefully moved through the building.
Moving through the mansion, it didn’t take them long to find signs of fighting.
Lines of crossing gunfire marking the walls, black blood sprayed in great arcs... But no bodies .
As they slowly cleared the building, they eventually came upon the ruins of a spacious dining room. A massive table laid crushed in the middle of the room while deep claw marks covered the walls along with black blood and viscera as if a tornado of claws and teeth had ripped through the room.
A Thump behind them startled the group, who immediately leveled their weapons in the sound’s direction.
“Please don’t shoot!” the sobbing plea came from behind an ornate wooden shelf.
A woman with curly black hair with a blue streak running through it stepped out into the open. She had dark, unblemished skin and a golden nose ring, along with various similar piercings in her right ear.
“ Raeni ?” Natasha said, recognizing the young witch.
“ Natty ?” Raeni asked, hope in her voice as she squinted in the dark.
Natasha and Raeni had met each other before, after Raeni had run away from home at thirteen because of a dispute with her grandmother.
Her coven originated from the Caribbean but had deep roots in the city and often lent out their talents for a price, though her grandmother, the head priestess , insisted on a strict code of neutrality.
“Raeni, what happened here?” Natasha asked softly, not wanting to spook the clearly frightened twenty-year-old.
“We have to leave, Nat. Like r ight now, before they come back.” Raeni whispered urgently, looking around terrified.
“They?” Natasha repeated in askance.
However, just before Raeni was about to answer, her eyes widened and she quickly muttered something incompressible before sucking in a sharp breath and stood completely still, staring at the side of the room opposite the group.
They all spun around and leveled their weapons towards the other end of the room. A pair of large sliding doors had opened, letting the dark fog slowly flow in and engulf a quarter of the room.
Small sparks of red lightning would occasionally light up unearthly shapes inside the fog like thunder.
The Custodes were about to open fire on the fog and make a run for it. When a pair of red eyes appeared in the opening, causing Raeni to let out a small, terrified squeak.
The fog stopped and drew back behind the figure, revealing Aleks.
“Natasha, I believe I told you to stay in the car.” Aleks said, his voice rumbling and twisted.
Natasha tried to make sense of the image of the well-mannered and polite man who’d saved her niece, with the eldritch-like terror in front of her now.
“I’ve never been that good at listening. I’ve told you that .” Natasha tried to force bravado into her tone, but her unease still snuck its way into her voice.
Another small squeak came out of Raeni as a result.
“Is that the little mouse I hear? Quite clever, this one, cloaking herself .” Aleks said looking around with wide unfocused eyes almost as if-.
“- He can’t see in the dark?” Natasha thought. One of the Custodes raised his rifle and aimed at Aleks, likely coming to the same conclusion, but the moment he did so, the roiling fog became a frenzied mass of activity.
Unnatural snarls, growls and chittering roared out and a veritable flood of ferocious bloodlust hit the team of Sentire.
“ENOUGH!” Aleks bellowed, silencing whatever hid inside the dark fog.
“ Natasha , please tell them not to do whatever they just did... again. ” Aleks said between staggered breaths, swaying slightly.
Natasha put a hand on the barrel of the Custodes, lowering it, and the hidden shapes calmed.
“He looks exhausted, and he’s injured.” Natasha thought as she noticed Aleks was clearly trying not to put any weight on his right foot and his right arm hung limply at his side.
“Aleks, this is an old friend of mine, Raeni. ” Natasha said carefully.
“Your old friend was employed by these -” He gritted his teeth and reached back, gripping a body from the darkness, holding it by the neck as he waved it around like a piece of trash. “- Things. ”
Natasha turned to Raeni, who looked about ready to puke at the site of the dangling torso whose limbs had been reduced to strips of gnawed flesh and exposed bone.
“I know her Aleks. She isn’t like them.” Natasha replied.
“You vouch for her?” Aleks asked, the word somehow carrying heavy meaning when he said it.
Natasha wanted to say yes immediately, but hesitated as she remembered something Katya had once told her after rejecting an exiled Heirless clan that had wanted to join them as a branch member.
“If you vouch for someone, you will shoulder their crimes as if they were your own, be careful with this.” Katya had said.
Natasha turned back to Raeni.
“Raeni, what were you doing here?” She Asked the petrified witch, who was looking quite blue in the face from holding her breath.
She finally opened her mouth and gasped for air.
The shadowy things behind Aleks all seemed to notice Raeni for the first time and focused on her position.
“There you are.” Aleks said, holding up his left hand to stop the advancing shadows.
“Iwasonlyheretooverseeacontractsigningbetweencourtsasatruthsayer!” she exclaimed in one long, terrified breath.
Aleks grimaced.
“Uhm... What ?” he said, his head tilting to the side with a confused frown.
“They hired her to be a truth Sayer between two courts signing a contract. Her people are often hired for such things.” Natasha said, feeling relieved as she now saw more of the man than the monster.
“Huh, you guys got like business cards and stuff?” he asked rhetorically, seemingly lost in the novelty of the idea.
Raeni, however, had taken this as a literal request and quickly produced a business card, holding it out with both hands, shivering.
“I don’t think he can see in the dark, Raeni.” Natasha said, taking out a flashlight and shining it at the ceiling, causing Aleks to flinch and squint as his eyes adjusted, but when they did, they widened in surprise.
He hobbled forward and waved the shadows back when they anxiously tried to follow him like worried pets... Void dwelling eldritch-horror pets.
When he reached Raeni, he towered over her five-foot frame. It looked like she thought he might decide to eat her, but he simply picked the card from her hands and examined it with great interest.
“ Neat .” Aleks said absentmindedly