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Chapter Six:

Bloodhound

 

 

 

 

          “Alright,” Argo said, “we need to figure a way out. Based on the general response times in this area, and the average time it would take for someone to notify the police, I would say we have maybe ten minutes before the authorities arrive.” Despite the shock of everything, he kept his voice level. Never let your fear show, that is not the mark of a warrior. Even so, the shock was there. He and Tenebra had arrived just in time to see the grimmspawn grab the device and vanish in a flash of eerie light. Thankfully, he had kept his cool and been able to stop the beowolves from finishing Rowan off.

        Tenebra helped Rowan to his feet. “Alright, where do we go?”

        “Route C,” Argo said, referring to the pre-planned escape paths that he had gone over with Ten and Sable. “We’ll grab a boat and head for open water.”

        Colleen was shaking, but she seemed to have recovered enough to walk on her own. The team moved quickly down the corridor, past the vault door, and out into the courtyard… right into the guns of sixteen Atlas police officers.

        “You are under arrest for attempted robbery,” a man’s voice shouted over the sirens, “ assault with deadly weaponry, and destruction of Atlas property!” The officers parted and a tall man with fair skin and brown hair walked forward. He was dressed in a long brown coat and glared at them with fierce blue eyes. “I would advise surrendering your weapons.”

        Rowan was hurt, Colleen was drained, and Argo himself was not doing too well in terms of aura. If they had been in peak condition, sixteen rank-and-file officers would have been a trivial obstacle. But they weren’t, and something told Argo that the man in the coat was anything but rank and file. Probably a huntsman, by the look of him.

“Alright,” Rowan said, “Everybody stay still! If you don’t move, they can’t see you.”

“That’s dinosaurs!” Ten reminded him.

“Oh, right.”

        “Well,” one of the officers chimed in, “that’s not exactly true. It’s a common misconception perpetuated by-”

       “Sergeant!” the huntsman snapped.

       “Sorry sir.”

       Rowan squinted. “Wait a minute? Is that? Sam! How are you doing? A bit… wobblier than usual, huh?”

       The huntsman rolled his eyes. “Royman. Just when I thought I was done with you, you’re a thorn in my side yet again. I’m beginning to think I’ll never be rid of you.”

       “Wait,” Ten interjected, “you know each other?”

       Sam nodded. “Your friend and I have a bit of a history. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to arrest him. A bit larger in scale than usual, though.” He looked back at the sergeant. “Cuff them, and get them in the cars.”

       “Yes sir!” The officer fumbled around for a second. “Uh, sir?”

       Sam groaned. “What now, Stelleri?”

       Sergeant Stelleri looked embarrassed. “I think I left the handcuffs at the station.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Samael Hound was having a bad day. Then again, he rarely had a good one. Working as the local crime specialist for the Atlas Police Department was not an easy job or one that permitted a very sunny outlook on life. This made someone like Hound, who smiled so rarely that his teammates at Atlas Academy had called him “Stoneface” for his frozen frown, perfect for the task. This made someone like Rowan Royman, who took the police about as seriously as Brick Cage took his credibility as an actor, a bit of a challenge.

       “Let’s see,” Hound said, scrolling through Royman’s arrest records, “we have several arrest warrants for you already. Three counts of burglary, two counts assault, four counts destruction of property, and…” He raised an eyebrow. “One count grand theft airship.”

       “Hey,” the suspect protested, “that one was totally justified! I needed that ship way more than the Schnee’s did!”

       Hound rolled his eyes. “It’s still against the law.”

       “Well, other people having things I want is against my religion, so really, you’re the bad guy here! Stop oppressing me, I know my rights!”

       “Royman, I doubt you even know a single word of Atlesian law. In fact, I find myself questioning if you have the faculties to even read it.”

       Royman looked indignant. “How dare you! You know what I think? I think you just hate faunus!”

       “Don’t feel too special about it,” Hound replied dryly, “I hate everyone.” He looked the young man in the eye. “You were involved in a crime that destroyed millions of lien worth of Atlesian property, killed five people, and resulted in the theft of an incredibly valuable piece of equipment. You’ll be lucky not to get a life sentence.”

       “Alright, in my defense, I really needed the money, and, more importantly, I wasn’t actually involved with any deaths. None of us were. Look, I know you don’t like me, Sam, but you know me well enough to know that I didn’t kill those men. And you’re smart enough to figure out what did.”

Hound nodded. “The four scientists were killed by mauling with wounds matching the claws and teeth of a beowolf. Should I add smuggling grimm into the city to your charges?”

       “Hey, that wasn’t us, I swear! The scientists were dead when we got there!”

       “And the guard? His body was nowhere near the others, and his wounds resembled those caused by more conventional weaponry.”

       “Wait, what? What guard? I… oh, god damn it!” He buried his head in his hands, or rather hand, and started cursing.

       “Well, since that part seems to be news to you, let’s go back to the grimm. If you didn’t bring them in, who did? Beowolves are not normally found inside Atlas’s walls, especially not in the center of a high-security facility.”

       Royman looked nervous. “Okay, I know you are gonna have a hard time believing this, but please, bear with me.” His uneasiness increased. “It was a grimmspawn. I think it got them in.”

       “A mindless zombie managed to transport a pair of feral monsters into a locked vault? You’re right, I don’t believe you.”

       “ I know, it sounds crazy. But it wasn’t like a normal grimmspawn! It talked, and it seemed intelligent. I mean, it wasn’t just destroying things! It took the device before we could!”

       Did he really think that I would believe that? “Ugh, I don’t have time for this. Sergeant, take him down to the cells and bring in the next prisoner.”

       Sergeant Jay Stelleri nodded, and led Royman out. He returned a few minutes later with a small girl, who looked emaciated and disheveled. Her eyes, Hound was startled to see, were black with no irises. He looked at his scroll. “Colleen Gwaed?”

       The girl just stood there. “That is your name, correct?”

       She seemed to notice him for the first time. “Oh! Uh… I think so.”

       “You think so?”

       “I… I don’t remember, exactly… Yes. Yes it is.”

       Oh dear. This one might be even more trouble than Royman, which, Hound noted, was the first time such a notion had ever entered his mind.

        The girl swatted at something by her head, and then sat down on the chair opposite him. Or rather, she climbed onto the chair, and crouched there. Right.

        “Alright, Miss Gwaed, what exactly is your relationship to Rowan Royman?” He asked. There was a long pause. “Miss Gwaed? Hello?”

        She blinked, as if confused. “My… name is Colleen.” Well, she wasn’t wrong, he guessed. “I… um… uhh... “

        “Alright, let’s start with the basics. How long have you known Mr Royman?”

        “Uhhh… I don’t know. What’s a basics?”

        “I… Oh dear god, are all you people like this?”

        The girl thought for a second. “Deer generally do not practice any organized religion. They might have a more spiritual faith; I’d have to ask one.” Hound’s actual question appeared to not have registered.

        “Alright, let’s just start with this: what happened earlier this morning?” He silently prayed that she would actually give him a straight answer, and it seemed that whatever gods were out there listened.

       “We… we were gonna steal the thing. It fought the androids, and they made sure I didn’t hurt anyone. But then he came…”

       “Who did?”

       “The thin man, from the lab. He was there, and I was afraid, because he helped make me like this, and I thought…” Her eyes filled with tears. “I was scared he was gonna hurt me again, and I was afraid, and then he took it, and he left, and he hurt them, and now…” She started to sob. “They were going to help me! They said they would make it go away! I just want it to stop! Please!”

       The sergeant walked over to her side. “What’s wrong? What were they going to do?”

       She looked up at him, and started to shake. “At... at the lab… they… they put this monster in me… and it hurts so much… and I’m always hungry… even after...  even if...  if…” She closed her eyes. “And it’s telling me to do things… to hurt people! I don’t want to hurt anyone!”

       She was obviously in a horrible mental state, and seemingly dangerous, if he was understanding her correctly. Under normal circumstances, a tiny, stick-thin girl like her would hardly be intimidating, but something about her felt off. While she was talking, Hound thought he had seen something crawling under her skin. “Sergeant,” he said, “take her back to the cells, let’s not cause her any more distress.”

       “Yes sir!” The young man took Colleen by the hand and led her out. To Hound’s surprise, he thought he heard the boy talking to her as they walked away, as if he hadn’t realized how unstable she was.

       Samael decided to make a quick call before talking to the next prisoner. He had sent four officers to search the crime scene and make sure that everything was secure, and he thought that it would be wise to check in with them. However, the call went straight to voicemail. That’s odd, he thought, why wouldn’t they pick up? Something was very wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Will Sable wiped the blood off of his bayonets and grinned. “Well, all in all, I’d say it’s a job well done. Our little distraction worked perfectly.” He turned to face the violet-garbed man standing behind him. “How did things go on your end?”

       Aster Meridian sighed. “Torva wants to verify that the device works before he fulfills his end of the bargain.” The scientist was starting to prove more of a hindrance than an asset. “But I am confident that he will follow through.”

       “I don’t see why we need him anyway,” Will grumbled. “Can’t you just use that space magic stuff to get it from him?”

       Aster shook his head. “It’s not that simple. He has hidden it somewhere that the Star cannot see. We need him, at least for now. Once he has fulfilled his purpose, we can get rid of him.”

       “Ugh. I hate this mystical claptrap! Things used to be simple, if someone had something you wanted, you got him to give it to you. If he wouldn’t give it to you, you took it. Now… all this weird shit has me cross-eyed!” Will shook his head. “Can’t we just send En to beat it out of him?”

       “Torva is a fanatic. He won’t be intimidated. No, our only choice is to cooperate. For now.”

       “And what about them?” Will gestured to the bodies of the four police officers. “Our scapegoats are already in prison. How are we going to explain this?”

       A heavily modulated voice sounded from Will’s scroll. “We won’t need to. Rajah will connect you to the crime, which will then set up our next operation. How have your talks with the White Fang been going?”

        Sable shook his head. “Some new partners got in the way. They won’t cooperate.” The young captain that he had spoken to had seemed just as displeased with the arrangement as he himself was. “However, I have found an alternative. One that I think will work even better. You have heard of Saffron Georges, of course?”

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Argo was led into the interrogation room by a young man identified as Sergeant Jay Stelleri by his badge. Argo didn’t have any respect for Atlas or its law enforcement, but he had to admit that the boy seemed to actually care about their wellbeing, even inquiring after Colleen’s health while they walked up the stairs.

        Samael Hound looked slightly anxious when Argo walked into the room, his attention focused on his scroll. Sergeant Stelleri cleared his throat. “Sir, the prisoner is here. Sir?”

        “Ah, yes. Just… thinking.” Hound turned to face Argo. “Sit down.” Argo remained standing. Hound raised an eyebrow. “If you want to make this more uncomfortable, I won’t stop you.  So, mister…” he looked at the ID that they had confiscated from Argo. “Sol Dakkar. Is that correct?”

        Argo was silent.

        “You, see, here’s the thing, “Sol,” according to our records, Sol Dakkar died in a fire fourteen years ago. So,” Hound stared into Argo’s eyes, “who are you?”

        Argo nodded. Good, it seemed that Hound was as competent as he had hoped. Retrieving records like that from Ophidian was a very difficult task. He took a seat. “I’m his brother. My name is Argo Rajah.” The sergeant gasped as Argo continued. “Two years ago I deserted the Hamadryads carrying information that they want back. Now that the White Fang presence in Mistral has receded, they can spare people to go after me. I needed the money to pay off my debt under the Ophidian Codes.”

        Hound frowned. “So you decided to steal Atlas property to pay for it. Sergeant, could you verify his identity?”

        Stelleri typed something into his scroll. “Yes sir, that’s him. Argo Rajah, third son of Hamadryas Rajah, leader of the Hamadryads.”

        “So, Argo, the information isn’t the only reason they’re after you. Your father wants you back.”

        “At this point, he just wants me out of the picture. I have no doubt that the people he’s sent after me have orders to bring me in dead or alive. I was almost out of options until a man named William Sable approached my partner and me.  He wanted the device and was willing to give us enough money to pay off my debt, with a good amount extra as well.”

        “Sable,” Hound interrupted, “he’s a con man. Hardly the sort to engineer this kind of operation.”

        “He was acting as an intermediary for an anonymous benefactor. Either way, we assembled this team to perform the operation. My partner, Tenebra Skygge…”

        “That is another thing I wanted to ask about. See, like your own alias, Tenebra Skygge is dead. She was killed in a beowolf attack at age seven.”

        “She likely forged that information herself. Trust me, she is very much alive. Her adopted brother, with whom you are familiar, was the next person we recruited. Finally, we found Colleen Gwaed.”

        “And who exactly is she? We could not find any records of her, any family history, birth certificate, anything.”

        “I don’t know anything about her family. All that I know about her comes from the personal files of Doctor Windsor Wyatt of Arkham Innovations. He found her at age five when she tried to steal something from his laboratory.”

        “She mentioned something about a laboratory. What did they do to her?”

        Argo winced. “The specifics are not something I would like to go over, but essentially they attempted to turn her into a cyborg super-soldier. It screwed up her body chemistry and her mental health, and then they just tossed her aside. She escaped and was living on the streets when she was arrested for accidentally killing a pair of creeps who tried to attack her. That’s where we found her.

        “The issue is this. When we broke into the Plutonian compound to steal the device, someone got there first. A scientist from Arkham, the same lab that had abducted Colleen, named Kurgan Torva. I recognized him from Dr Wyatt’s files, but there was something different about him.”

        “Oh god, not this.” Hound groaned. Rowan or Colleen must have already told him the basics. “Don’t tell me, ‘he was a grimmspawn’!”

        Argo nodded. “But that’s not all. He had a pair of beowolves with him. I don’t think the others had the time to see it, but they weren’t normal grimm. Their eyes were…different; a sort of pale green color.”

        “While fascinating, Mister Rajah, I do not think you have any evidence to support this story.”

        “You are correct in that regard. However, I have something better.” Argo allowed a smile to spread across his face. “Like I said before, one of the reasons that my father is chasing me is because I stole some very sensitive information from him. Information that I think you might find very useful. It’s contained on a small drive in my coat pocket; I believe you confiscated it from me when I was brought in. Now, the drive is locked, and it needs a voice command from me to be accessed, but it contains the names of nearly ninety Hamadryad operatives in Atlas, with enough evidence to connect them to over a hundred unsolved crimes. If you agree to let me and my companions go, I will unlock it.

        “So, what’s your choice? Us, or the multitude of organized criminals?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Rowan sat in silence in his cell for several minutes, thinking. That guard that Hound mentioned had been killed outside of the vault. It hadn’t been the grimm. Of course it hadn’t. “I should have known better.”

        Tenebra, who had been resting in the cell opposite his, opened her eyes. “What?”

        “I know you, I know who you are, and I know how you think.” He gritted his teeth. “I guess I thought that, I don’t know, after seven years you might have grown. But no, you spent four years at that damn school, but it looks like you didn’t learn a thing.”

        “What are you-?“

        “I’m talking about the fact that you lied to me! I trusted you, Ten! Goddamnit, I know you’re a liar, I should have seen it coming, but I thought that maybe you wouldn’t do it to me!” He felt his eyes start to tear up. “When you brought me into this, you promised me that nobody would get hurt! But now I hear that one of the guards got stabbed in the throat!”

        “I did what I had to in order to keep the operation running, to keep us safe. This was going to be our big break. I wanted you to be safe, and this was the way to do it.”

        “You wanted me to be safe?” Rowan’s voice was shaking. “If you didn’t want me to be hurt, you wouldn’t have murdered an innocent man! You wouldn’t have betrayed my trust! Don’t pretend this is about me, Ten. It’s about you. It’s always about you! You really don’t give a damn about the rest of us, do you?”

        “Oh that is rich,” she snapped back, “coming from you! I’ve heard the stories! I may not have done many good things in the seven years we were apart but I know that whatever I did was nothing! I killed a man, sure. But it was one man who posed an immediate threat to me. He was armed and able to defend himself! I know you’ve done a hell of alot worse, so don’t you dare go about judging me! Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to try to get some sleep.”

        Rowan sighed and closed his eyes. There was silence for a long time. He started to fade into unconsciousness when a voice pierced the darkness.

        “She’s right, you know.” Rowan opened his eyes; a tall, lean man was standing in front of him. “After the things you’ve done? How could you ever be anything more than a monster? You will never be more…” The man leaned in close, revealing the face of Petros Leanai. “…Than what I made you to be.”

        “You’re dead!”

        “I will never die, Rowan. You can never escape me. I am a part of you.” He bared his teeth in a wicked grin. “I raised you, boy. I shaped you, molded you in my image.”

        Rowan stood to his feet. “You’re wrong! I am who I choose to be!”

        “Oh, really? And what is that? From what I can tell, you’re still the same man you always were! You’re a foolish, reckless, aimless criminal, with no idea what the hell he’s doing! You can talk all you want about trying to be a good person, but you don’t have the spine to back it up!” He laughed. “You thought that killing me would make you free? You will never be free!”

        “Shut up!” Rowan lunged at Petros, tackling him to the ground. He raised his right arm and was about to punch him in the face when Petros drew his sword and stabbed straight through his abdomen.

        As Rowan gasped for breath, Petro cackled. “Deny it all you want, Rowan Royman, but remember this: one of these days, I will kill you.”

        Rowan woke with a scream.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Samael Hound stalked back and forth across his office. “This is absurd! The nerve of these people!”

        “Sir,” the sergeant said, “I would advise that you give them what they want. They’re four criminals as opposed to an entire branch of the largest crime syndicate in Remnant; it seems like an obvious choice!”

        Hound glared at him. “We cannot ignore the law simply because it is more convenient to do so. I will not compromise my integrity, nor that of this department.”

        “But sir….” The sergeant started.

        “That is final! Do I make myself clear?”

        “It’s just… The Hamadryads want them dead. They won’t be satisfied with us keeping them locked up in here. You’ve heard what Hamadryas Rajah can do! They say he once killed a huntsman with only a pin! And the people he works with are even more dangerous. Lady Lilac, Karait, the Sisters in Bronze…”

        “Hamadryas Rajah is smart enough not to declare war on Atlas. They wouldn’t dare try anything.”

        An eerie note, like some strange flute, sounded from above his head. The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the room.

        “Uh, sir?” Sergeant Stelleri asked, “What was that?”

        Hound’s truncheon was in his hands in an instant. He scanned the room, observing every detail. “Nothing good I’d wager.” There was a scream from outside the room. Hound looked back at Stelleri. “Go! Protect the prisoners!”

        “Yes sir!” Stelleri ran off towards the cells as gunfire sounded from the other direction.

        Hound walked slowly toward the commotion, his face stoic despite the rage that was burning in his mind. How dare they come into his station, harm his men? Someone needed to be taught a lesson, and he had the perfect credentials. He turned to corner to see three officers in defensive positions, and a fourth lying on the ground, bleeding.  The officers still able to fight had their guns aimed down the hallway, seemingly at nothing. Hound walked up to the one on the right. “What’s going on?”

        “I don’t know sir! Some girl just appeared in the hallway and stabbed Joennis! Then she disappeared! Just like that!” His face was pale with fear.

        Samael frowned and moved forwards, scanning his surroundings with a resolute fury.  His semblance activated the second he sensed danger; as a shadow shifted, time slowed to a crawl. The shadow took the shape of a pale-skinned teenage girl with a dirty mop of black hair and red eyes that seemed to glow faintly in the dim light of the police station. She wore a bladed bracer on one arm, with which she aimed an expert strike to the throat.

        Hound was too fast, though. Since his mind was processing the unfolding events at more than ten times the speed of a normal person, she might as well have been moving through molasses. He ducked under her blade and then jabbed her in the stomach with his truncheon. She collapsed to the ground, the wind knocked out of her, as time returned to its normal speed.

        “Sir,” one of the officers shouted, “look out!” Hound ducked to the side as an enormous, seven-pronged blade nearly took his head off. He spun around to face his opponent: a large, heavily built faunus. He was too slow. The faunus swung his blade again, this time striking Hound across the stomach and sending him sprawling.

        Hound picked himself up. “Open fire!” He shouted and lunged forward as the officers rained bullets on the attackers. He elbowed the faunus in the gut, then swung his baton at his opponent’s head. The other man simply parried the blow, but that gave one of the officers an opening to shoot him three times in the chest. Hound heard a sound behind him and swung backwards as the girl tried to stab him in the back. He struck her, but she rolled and leapt back to her feet, firing several shots from the gun mounted on her bracer. Hound dodged some of them, but two grazed his face.

        The big faunus man stepped back and raised his left arm, which was covered in tattoos of green serpents. The tattoos started to move and seemed to break free of his skin, snapping jaws darting at Hound who started to retreat down the hallway. The faunus looked at the girl. “Piper! Now would be nice!”

        The girl smiled, revealing a mouth full of sharpened teeth. “I thought you’d never ask!” The metallic scraping sound returned and grew louder and louder, until a wave of metallic arachnids surged around the corner like a swarm of rats.

        “Fall back!” Hound shouted to the officers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        The sergeant rushed down the stairs, looking panicked. Argo turned to face him. “What’s going on?”

        “They’re here! Oh god, they’re here!” The young man was shaking.

        Colleen opened her eyes. “What? Who?”

        Stelleri didn’t need to answer for Argo to realize what was going on. “It’s the Hamadryads.”

        The officer nodded and switched on his radio. “I’m with the prisoners, sir. What should I do?”

        Hound’s voice sounded panicked. “I need you to get them the hell out of here. Is Rajah there?”

        “Yes I am,” Argo said, “I’m assuming you want me to unlock the drive?”

        “That would be preferable, though I am hardly in a position to make demands.”

        “Alright. Do you have it?” This question was addressed to Sergeant Stelleri, who reached into his bandolier and pulled out the device. Argo took it, held down a button, and said “Voice command: Selene.” The device recognized his voice and the code, and it lit up green. “There you go.”

        Hound sighed. “Something tells me that they won’t stop until they have both you and the drive. So long as you and it are here, my men are as good as dead. Stelleri, I need you to take the prisoners and the drive out of the station, through the Serpent Warrens.” The Warrens were an old series of maze-like tunnels under Atlas, dug during the Great War. “Take them to the old station near Hesperades Hall, grab a vehicle, and find somewhere to lay low. Once I know it’s safe, I’ll send you an all clear, and you can return. I assume Mister Rajah is alright with that arrangement?”

        “So long as you swear that you will not attempt to recapture us.” Hound seemed like the kind of man who would not go back on his word.

        “Yes. Now stop wasting time and go! Now!”

        Stelleri unlocked each of their cells, and led the four of them to a trap door which led down into a long, dark tunnel. The five of them descended down an old metal ladder as the door shut, leaving them in darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        “Alright,” Lerna said, “let’s move.”

        Piper rolled her eyes. “Why are you always in such a hurry? A quick hunt is no fun! Stalking the target is half the fun!”

        “We aren’t here for fun.”

        “You’re not here for fun,” she corrected. She waved her hand, and her drones began to advance towards the direction the officers had fled. They scuttled around the bend, and there was the sound of gunfire and screaming. Lerna winced and was glad that he didn’t have to actually see Piper’s handiwork this time. He had seen some fucked up things in his time, but Piper Bryce managed to disturb him more than anything else.

        “Apprehend, don’t kill.” He reminded her. They needed to confirm the targets’ location.

        She snarled. “The huntsman is being problematic! He’s killing my babies!”

        Lerna lifted his sword. “I’ll take care of him.” He walked briskly around the corner to see the police officers covered in the robotic spiders which had pinned them to the ground. Hound, however, was keeping them at bay with his baton rather easily. They proved an appropriate distraction regardless. Lerna charged forward, and, before Hound could act, had the huntsman’s arm in a lock. “Where is the boy?” he snarled, as the drones moved to restrain the huntsman completely.

        Hound chuckled. “You’re too late. He’s gone, him and the others. I had them moved when I learned you were here.”

        Lerna scowled. “You had better not be lying to me. Piper? Can you check the cells?” A single drone scuttled off, and a few seconds later Piper shouted out to him.

        “He’s not lying! They’re not here!”

        Damn. They had been so close! He sighed, and released Hound. “Alright, let’s get moving. We’re done here.”

        Piper stepped out from the shadow to his left. “No.”

        “No?”

        She glared at him. “Whenever we work together, it’s always ‘that’s not efficient’, or ‘we aren’t getting paid for this’! Well guess what!? This time, for once, we’re doing things my way.” The drones shifted, dragging Hound towards her, as she raised her sharpened bracer. “Just this once, I get to have some fun! Now, I wonder… If I sew his mouth shut, will he still scream?” She plucked a needle out of her clothing.

        And then the world went white. Piper, Hound, the drones, all stood in stark black silhouette against the blank void. Time seemed to slow to a crawl except for a streak of red that darted forward, slicing the drones that bound the huntsman to shreds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        As everything returned to normal, a dark haired man stood in front of him, pale-skinned with black and red armor. He held a sword with two parallel blades, and his dark blue eyes glared at the two hired killers with a terrifying intensity. Lerna recognized him, and his heart filled with fear. Contrath Medraut, the Blade of Twilight, one of the greatest fighters that Atlas had ever seen.

        “Piper!” Lerna shouted. “Get us out of here!”

        “But…”

        “Now!”

The girl grumbled, grabbed his arm, and the two of them melded into the shadows.