Talasin held onto Garnet as the river swept them along. The water roared and crashed over their heads. They were going too fast for him to swim against the current, but he could hold on tight. He didn't know how long they would live if they kept this up.

He caught glimpses of the Demented chasing after them along the shore. It was a slow, lumbering demon, but it had the stamina of a horse and kept pace with them.

Finally, the river widened, and the current slowed down enough for Talasin to pull Garnet to the shore. The Demented had run ahead and was crossing a stone bridge to ambush them on the shore.

Talasin knew he needed to keep moving, but his legs felt like led and his vision swirled black with exhaustion.

Garnet groaned in pain and tried to rise. He helped her sit up, but her dress was soaked in blood and her skin had turned a chalky white.

"Don't move," he whispered through labored breaths.

He looked around in panic. Garnet's wounds were looking bad, he knew she wouldn't last the night.

He looked down the shore and saw a shadow heading towards them. He was out of time.

Talasin lifted Garnet into his arms. He took a step and stumbled. He caught himself before falling, and then he took another step. He kept going until he saw a narrow sewer pipe emptying into the river. He climbed into the pipe and dragged Garnet in after him.

Heavy footsteps pounded on the hard ground outside his hiding place. A shadow moved over the exit and Talasin pulled Garnet further back, but his strength was failing him.

Talasin caught a glimpse of the demon's massive form. It reached in its hand and clawed at them, missing their face by a few inches. Talasin scrambled back, dragging Garnet by her feet. Finally, once the howling of the demon was in the distance, he collapsed and held Garnet to his chest as he finally ran out of strength. Darkness closed around his mind and there was nothing left to fight it.

----------------------------------------

Shadows danced across the room and the wind caressed Talasin's skin, drawing him out of unconsciousness. A lamp on the wall sconce flickered as figures scurried by. He felt like he'd been asleep for days; his muscles were sore, and his head throbbed with an unfamiliar pain. He lifted his head off the hard ground and looked around blearily as he tried to remember where he was.

A net curtain opened, and he looked up at a girl with short mousy-brown hair. She wore a torn linen shirt and faded black trousers over scarred and scuffed brown boots, and had a nervous smile on her face.

"You're finally awake," she said. "That's good. I wasn't sure you'd make it"

She reached out a hand as if she wanted to touch him, but then pulled back suddenly. "I hope you don't mind, but I cut the Order sigil off of your clothes and tended to your partner’s wounds."

Talasin blinked slowly. He didn't know what she was talking about. His eyesight seemed blurry and distant, so he closed them and tried not to think too much. When his vision cleared, he saw the girl still sitting next to him, watching him.

"What's going on? Where am I?" he asked. The words came out in a croak.

The girl smiled again. "I'm Wren and—"

"Wait, you said my partner?"

"Ah yes, the bleeding girl," said Wren.

"Garnet. Is she ok? Where is she?"

Wren gestured behind him, and he twisted his neck and saw another net curtain and the faint form of a body lying on the ground behind it.

"You two have been out for a day now.”

"Is she alive?" asked Talasin.

The girl nodded. "Oh, she's alive. She got beat up pretty bad. What happened to you? You are from the Order. I didn't think anything could hurt you. What are you doing here?"

"Slow down, you're giving me a headache," breathed Talasin. "So she's alive. Is there a healer down here?"

"Nope, no healer. We do the best we can. Ol' Cobb, that's the name of our patron, he used to do work as an apothecary. That was before they found out he was stealing from them and selling the meds to addicts."

"For goodness’ sake, what are you talking about?" said Talasin as he tried to sit up again.

"Sorry about that. I speak faster when I get excited. We don't get Order folk down here often. Raithen doesn't like their kind. I mean your kind. Says they ain't to be trusted— whatever that means. So that's why I had to cut your sigils off. I kept them for you. If you want them back. Maybe you could get someone to sew them back on."

Talasin ignored the chattering girl and stood. He wobbled and caught himself on the wall.

"I need to see Garnet," he said and staggered toward the door.

Wren grabbed his arm and yanked him back against the wall. "Wait Mr. We have business to discuss. I didn't spend two silver coins on your medicine out of kindness, oh no. I need a favor. One only an Order lackey can help with."

Talasin shrugged off the girl's hand and stumbled over to Garnet. He pushed back the net curtain and sat down beside her. He felt her pulse. It was faint, but she was alive, and it seemed like someone had cleaned and bandaged her wounds. He realized then that his own cuts had been treated and bandaged as well.

"Thank you," he said. "You saved our lives. Honor would usually demand that I stay and help you with your request, but there is a demon loose in the city, and I must send word of this to the Order."

Wren ran a hand through her short hair and said, "About that. No ones getting out and nobodies getting in. You're stuck here, with us."

Talasin reached down for his dagger and then realized it was missing. "Is that a threat?" he asked as he watched the little girl step closer.

"Not a threat, just a fact. You see you brought trouble to our warren and Raithen ain't too happy about it. If he had his way your necks would be slit and your bodies given to the demons."

"Demons?"

"Aye, that's the reason we're stuck here. All the exits have been blocked and there are demons in the sewers.”

Talasan scanned the room looking for his weapons.

“A few members of my warren have been taken already,” Wren continued. “It won't be long before they get us all.”

Talasan met her gaze, "And that's where I come in?"

The girl folded her arms and smiled, “Exactly. You’re going to kill the demon’s and get us out of here before we run out of food.”

----------------------------------------

Talasin was still sitting beside Garnet when a door opened and five men entered the small room.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Friends of yours, Wren?" asked the largest of the men. His face had a nasty scar running from his right eye to the corner of his mouth.

"They are mercenaries, Raithen," said Wren. "They got beat up fighting the demons."

Raithen shook his head. "You and your demons. I told you already, there are no demons in our sewers. None worse than the cutthroats and rapists that wander in our midst."

"I tell you I saw a demon," said Wren. "It was a woman, with silver hair. She took Twister in the northern sewers behind the old water pump."

"Yes, yes, you've told me the story already" said the leader. "These two don't look like any mercenaries I've ever seen.” His eyes lingered on Garnet’s unconscious form for a few seconds, “A bit scrawny if you ask me.”

One of the other men, a small rat faced guy with greasy hair, stepped forward, he twitched nervously. "They look like frightened puppies. I say we kill the guy and have some fun with the girl before she kicks the bucket."

Talasin stood up, trying not to show just how weak he felt.

He could sense the tension in the room. These guys were scared and angry. They might not believe that there were demons, but something had happened down here and it had spooked them.

Any outsiders now were considered a threat. He needed to do something dramatic. Something to show that they couldn't be messed with.

Talasin smiled and darted forward. Before anyone could react, he kicked the rat faced man in the groin, knocking him back against the wall. The second man went down under a powerful punch to the jaw.

Talasin charged at the remaining two and slammed his fist into the stomach of the smallest man. He felt a crunching sound and knew the bastard had broken a rib.

The middle-sized man tried to grab him and pull him away, but Talasin spun around and kicked him in the side of the head. He doubled over and collapsed onto the floor.

He turned to face Raithen. The man hadn't moved since the fight began. He stood back straight with a curious expression on his face.

"Not bad," said the leader. "A bit showy, but maybe you are mercenaries after all."

Talasin felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, but he couldn't show weakness yet. He turned his back on the big man and took one careful step after another back to Garnet.

He reached her and sat down before his legs gave out under him.

He took a deep breath and said, "I have no interest in solving your problems. Once we’ve eaten and rested, we’re getting out of here."

----------------------------------------

There were growing concerns about the tunnels being blocked and the limited resources underground, so the guild rats went off to meet with their boss, leaving Talasin and Garnet alone.

Talasin knew that they were running out of time quickly. Starvation wasn't the problem. If they didn't find a new way to surface soon, the guild would start turning on each other way before they ran out of food.

Talasin could take down five unarmed men when he had the element of surprise, but if they were armed and came at him at once it would be a different story.

He needed to recover his strength and get the hell out of here. That was going to be hard. Garnet's left arm was in a sling, but the bleeding had stopped. Her ribs looked bad though. She might have cracked a couple, and the surrounding bruising indicated they might be fractured.

Not for the first time, Talasin wished he had paid better attention when the second order healers had taught at the academy.

Fortunately, the young thief Wren had some basic healing skills. Talasin figured that skills like that were a necessary in the hard conditions the girl lived in.

Talasin rested a hand on Garnet’s chest, feeling her heart beat and her chest rising and falling as her breathing steadied. She would still need medicine, if only for the pain.

Garnet’s eyes slowly fluttered open and then widened when she saw Talasin bent over her.

“It's ok,” he whispered, trying to calm her.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice weak.

Talasin adjusted the bandage around her ribs.

“You were hurt badly,” he said. “But you're going to live. I can't fix your broken ribs, so you'll have to deal with the pain, but I think you should stay put until I can get us out of this place."

"Not like I was planning on going anywhere," she said and coughed.

She winced in pain and then looked up at him, "So what's the plan, bodyguard? I need to get back to my father. He needs to know that there are demons in his city."

Talasin sat back against the wall, feeling the cool bricks against his skin. "We are trapped down here like fleas in a bottle,” he finally said. “There are demons in the sewers, hunting us. We have no weapons."

He shrugged, “Right now, I don't have a plan.”

"My father is paying you to protect me. You're the one that got us into this mess in the first place," she said. “You will get us out of it.”

"You didn't have to follow me."

"You didn't have to chase the Tormentor like an idiot. I thought the Order was better than that."

Talasin looked away, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn't plan for you to get involved.” He looked at her. “Why did they take you?”

Garnet shrugged and then winced from the pain in her ribs. “I don't think they were after me.”

She paused, her mind going back to her kidnapping. “Their eyes were lifeless,” she said in a whisper. “When they reached the bridge, they dumped me on the side of the road.”

Her hands began to tremble. “I saw the Tormentor then. Its body outlined by the falling rain.”

Talasin took her small hand into his own and squeezed it gently. “By that point, the demon had full control over their minds,” he said. “It must have slowly broken down their minds for months in prison.”

He shook his head, “I don't understand any of this. Tormentors are interested in feeding on the twisted minds of their prey. They slowly bleed them of all joy until their victims go insane or take their lives. This seemed—”

“Organized,” said Garnet.

Talasin nodded, not liking the idea that the demons had a plan. He liked to think of them as mindless animals.

“There have been disturbing reports coming into the palace over the last week,” said Garnet. “High ranking officials in the city being killed in suspicious ways. King Tidus, a peaceful neighbor of ours, declared war on Caldura over an imagined insult.”

Talasin’s brow rose, “You suspect demons?”

“My father thought so. That is why he hired the Fifth order as bodyguards for my sister and I. He feared something bad was coming.”

“These are dark times,” said Talasin. “But as long as the light abides, there is always hope.”

He didn't believe his own words, but if they comforted her, then that was enough.

Hope is the lie people tell themselves about the future.

He had lost his hope the day his master died. Now the only thing he lived for was vengeance.

----------------------------------------

The door opened and Wren stepped inside holding a half loaf of bread and a jug of water. Her shirt was wet, and she had a red welt under one of her eyes, but Talasin didn't bother asking about it. The guild rats had their own politics, and he had no interest in getting involved.

"Sorry about the wait," she said, and she tossed the bread to Garnet, "I had to go all the way to Raithen's hole, as you can imagine we are running short on food."

"Don't worry about it," said Garnet, who was already chewing on the crust of the bread. She was a true politician, she seemed to be comfortable no matter the company.

She gestured for the water, and Wren handed her the jug.

"It might taste a bit like mud," said Wren, "But I strained it through my shirt to get most of the dirt out."

Garnet stared down at the jug suspiciously, but she was too thirsty to care. She shook her head and gulped down some of the water.

Talasin watched as Wren walked over to the corner and dropped the empty bread sack. The guild rats were mostly unwashed and wore dirty clothes, and hardly any of them had clean hair, but Wren didn't look like the rest of them. The way she stood seemed out of place. Like she had been brought up in a wealthy home.

"Why aren't you with the others?" asked Garnet as she finished her water and took another drink.

Wren shrugged. "They're busy."

"Busy with what?" asked Talasin.

"We've got a problem."

"And that is?"

"There's a group of thugs holing up in the east wing."

Talasin groaned. "What's going on out there?"

Wren shook her head and leaned against the wall, "People are panicking. They found the body of one of the missing kids. He was drained of all of his blood."

"A Hellion," said Talasin. "It won't stop until it’s bled your whole gang dry."

Wren stared at her feet and said nothing.

Talasin looked at Garnet and then back at Wren, and then he sighed.

"Alright, I'll help you, but I'm going to need a weapon. Silver, preferably if you have any."

Wren’s face split into a grin, and she stepped over and threw her arms around Talasin. "The goddess bless you," she whispered.

Talasin frowned at that. He hadn't taken the girl for a religious person.

"What time is it?" asked Garnet.

Wren shrugged, "It's hard to tell down here, but I'd say it's around dinner time."

Talasin stepped over to the door and shut it and then he inspected the locking mechanism. "Do you have a key?" he asked.

Wren nodded.

"Good," he said. "We need to keep it locked from now on, and one of us needs to be awake at all times. Demons are weaker during the day. So for now, let’s get some sleep. In the morning, we go hunting."

----------------------------------------