A hail of gunfire greeted Bckrazor as he stepped out into the main space of the old manufacturing pnt that they had used for their temporary hideout. Thugs that didn’t have adequate powers to use in a fight had been armed with automatic ons loaded with anti-monster munitions. The serial numbers would be traced back to a shipmeo the west coast to be shipped by sea to east asia. One of the trucks had gone missing. He swept into the room as a stone, u high speed, hurtled at him from a stray shot by a hero who was immediately gunned down.

  The pebble went through his head, liquid shadow dripping from the hole that had opened in his ged body. He huffed and sealed the ‘wound’. He walked slowly as the first wave of heroes entered surprisiance, some of their defensive powers not ready for non-mundane bullets. He took a breath and spun the forearm length bde in his hand, spreading his will throughout the room. His mind grasped onto the shadows, iing them into himself as he became a part of the room.

  He closed his eyes and shifted his sehroughout the space. Here, he was king.

  Autarch.

  Shouts rang out dimly in his ears, his mind already hunting for his prey. He had been given only oask, elimihe greatest threat to the final step of his mistress’ pn. A had to disappear at her hands, his reputation sullied forever no matter what happened . If that was what she desired, she would have it without question. A gunshot sounded o his head and he ighe thug o him who gave him a wide-eyed look. He kept his pace slow as he moved into view of the heroes. One face at a time. Quickly now. No. No. No.

  He stepped out fully and the heroes paused for just half a heartbeat and he exhaled, liquid bess spreading across the floor in a creeping tide. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at the dark-skinned man crouched he middle, a rifle in his hand. He met his gaze, There you are.

  One moment he was there, establishing his presence, letting the heroes know that there redator in their midst. The he dove into the o of shadow beh him, his body slipping into the ground as if it had simply gone. Mehere ower in fear. An assassin could operate on cold effid silence, certainly, but fear made one make mistakes. Fear led oo ge pns. Fear destroyed cohesion. Bckrazor would tear them apart one by one if he had to, all for the Mistress. He didn’t have time to py it safe, he had to disorient, fuse, and break their reason as he pursued his target. Ishtar would not hold Handmaiden and Bck Lotus at bay for long.

  He did not want a rematch with Handmaiden, not yet.

  “Watch your feet!” The man, Pathfinder, shouted, “He’s in the shadows!”

  Bckrazor willed a poisoned k of himself and u silently from between Pathfinders feet. The tracker hero moved with almost preternatural instinct, diving out of the way as the knife darted into the air and slipped into yet another shadow. Bckrazor let that chill wash through his veins as murder became his sole focus. Another knife leaped from the shadows, ing from above and scratg a hero who was blog for his rades with a barrier made of some kind of metal. He winced and dropped to a knee as another knife darted across the room horizontally, striking a man behind him in the ear.

  “Where is he?”

  “Those knives came from both sides of the room!”

  “Watch the shooters, don’t fet we’re under fire!”

  “I know that!”

  “We need light in here! Push the shadows back!”

  There’s a good idea, you should do that before I kill more of you, Bckrazor thought, swimming through his own personal sea. He swirled, danced, and then spotted his prey again. Pathfinder had moved to a spot above the battlefield he entrance, faint light beating down on his back. Bckrazor s the crates where the man was sitting, his shadowy form slipping from pce to pce like oil. He reached the man’s leg and the man darted away again, nding on the ground and firing his rifle at the crate where Bckrazor had hidden.

  Tch.

  Bckrazor pulled back, slinking into the shadows before releasing another flurry of bdes. The metal shield hero who had been cut in the leg toppled over and foamed at the mouth. Another hero took a ko the throat, aabbed in the babsp;

  “Shore up! Pull back! He’s probably Mythic! Handmaiden and Bck Lotus are on their way!” Pathfinder shouted, firing shot after shot. He seemed to know where Bckrazor was, no matter which way he went, as soon as he surfaced there was a bullet heading for him again. Bckrazor frowned a little, he had ged his target rather quickly.

  The mistress said that he needed a e to the target to track them. I touched him, was that enough? What does he have of A’s that makes him so fident? An article of clothing perhaps? Bckrazor mused as he pulled away from another bullet.

  “I’ll keep him tained!” Pathfinder shouted, “Focus on the defenders!”

  Arrogant. I’ll have to correct that.

  Bckrazrunted internally, fog hard as he spread his will throughout the darkness again, being fully oh it. He grit his teeth, g his fists and throwing himself into the act of trol. He barely heard the fused shouts that came as the oil-slick darkhat spread across the floor beh the heroes began to grow deep. Boxes slid into the ground, desding, boots dropped a few inches, some mao climb out of the trap while others found themselves stuck.

  I’ll swallow you all-

  BANG!

  A gunsh out and the bullet plunged into the shadows. Bckrazor winced as he felt pain spread across his shoulder. He blinked and opened his eyes, gng down at the wound that had bee behind. He shot a bullet into the sea of shadow? He wondered before looking back at the man who stood at the ter of his allies, rifle raised, fiden his eyes, as they pulled themselves out of the dispersing trap. Bckrazor’s lips formed a thin line. As you wish.

  For a moment, a brief moment, it seemed like the entire room grew brighter. All of the shadow that had spread through the room swarmed across the ground in an angry rush.

  “Scatter!” Pathfinder shouted, “Get away from-”

  Bckrazor leaped from the shadow, bde in hand. Pathfiepped bad blocked it with his rifle, the on scraping against the metal barrel. A low hiss erupted from the point of impad the poison so toxic it could burn through steel ate its way into the on. Pathfinder grunted and took a step back, drawing a pistol from his belt as Bckrazor dove into the shadow again and resurfaced behind him, lunging again. Pathfinder spinned and fired off a shot only to hit empty air.

  “You track me, certainly,” Bckrazor hissed, his voice filling the chamber. Pathfinder spinning and firing on the spot, always missing in the trated space of shadow that was f in a ring around him. He spun again and again, his eyes going wider until a hand ed around his and a cold bde pressed against his throat. Bckrazor leaned into his ear, “But you aren’t fast enough.”

  He pulled the bde to a sptter of crimson blood as poison ehe kill.

  –

  hua hurtled herself over another building, rag from spot to spot as she tried to get some distance from Ishtar’s unications impairing ability. She could hear gunfire nearby so she figured she was on the right track. She was nearly a mile away before finally she heard the radio crackle ba. She raised her fio her ear, “Euclidia! Are you okay?” She shouted.

  “I’m fine, oh my god, holy shit,” Euclidia breathed.

  “I know,” hua paossing herself over arical box and nding oreet below, “Where’s Pathfinder?”

  “Two blocks from you, he’s fighting something I ’t see, it's gross,” She said, “Hurry!”

  “I got it,” hua said and turo look at Handmaiden, “How about you, are you okay?”

  “I keep going,” Handmaiden said with a firm nod, “Whatever you need.”

  hua felt a wave of gratitude wash over her. The iion alsered an intensifying sense of doubt. This woman was close to ovna, very close, yet she’d thrown herself at Ishtar without a single doubt in her mind. The attacks that Handmaiden had delivered were not inteo subdue, she had gone for the kill from the first punch. Either Handmaiden didn’t know that Sonya was Ishtar, Ishtar was lying, or this woman erb actress.

  She really hoped it wasn’t the tter.

  She her rade and they raced towards the building iion, fshes of guill lighting up inside. She nded on a rooftop and looked down. She saw Pathfinder, “Oh thank-”

  A shadoed around him, and he dropped to the ground.

  “No!”

  –

  Bckraznced over his shoulder at the two women on top of the building and huffed. There was Handmaiden, he o leave. He turned away, ign them, and raised his hand to his earpiece as he stepped into the ground. “Retreat,” He said casually before diving down and swimming back to the room where A was held. There he saw the Mistress step through a regle of light, her arms crossed behind her back. Her head was turo look at the unscious A.

  “They’re here,” Bckrazor said as fighting broke out outside.

  “I know,” Ishtar said with a nod aured, a new portal appearing behind A. “Is he dead?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Bckrazor firmed.

  “Well done, shall we?” She rasped and the two made their escape. Bckrazrabbing hold of A and dragging him through the portal. Just as it began to close behind them, the woman Bck Lotus stepped into the room. Ishtar, o him, gnced back over her shoulder and waved as the portal shut.

  –

  Everything was fusion, colors were sounds, words were nonsense, emotion was everything. Feeling was killing, killing was breathing, everything was lightning. Duong swam in a void of his own power, the great eel had slunk back to a pce deep within himself to rest and recover. Yet he had not found enough of himself to resurface. When it woke again, he would feel its rage once more. That was fihat was easy. It was fortable, fun even, he had ehe battle, had savored the age, had reveled in the ruination as he took a backseat to the thing inside of him.

  This was a good pce, a good time, to drift into nothingness.

  Yet he didn’t, something held him in pce. A violet light that brought back feelings of petunt rage and i fury filled his mind. He wao kill its source, destroy it, obliterate it, he o. Yet he couldn’t find his strength. He couldn’t move. The light kept pulling at him, guiding him. It didn’t try to push him back down as before, when that woman had oppressed him. No, this violet light was a guide t him back to the surface above the clouds of darkness and storms.

  He took the offered hand, ore than anything, perhaps desperate for one more shot at living. He didn’t know, his thoughts were so jumbled and fused that he-

  “Wele back, Duong,” A voice that sent chills up his spine greeted him. Inhuman. A rasp of bloodcurdling quality that was ced with uant cruelty. His vision swayed and he blinked before looking up into a pair of glowing pink eyes bzing on a faceless helmet.

  “Who…?” He managed.

  “I am Ishtar,” The woman said and stood up, a violet glow fading from her fiips.

  “How?” He tried, his head still fuzzy.

  “I killed Feng Hyunh,” Ishtar said.

  He bli her and tilted his head, her logic didn’t make seo him, but he wasn’t going to pin. “Should I be grateful?”

  “I want you to die too,” Ishtar said callously, “But I figured I should give you the opportunity to make something useful of your st moments. Iurn, for a moment, you will be far more powerful than you ever were with The Great Eel.”

  He felt his stomach sink, his head tilted forward aared at her, a frown on his face. He searched her mask for a moment, looked her body up and down, then squinted, “Take off your mask and we talk.”

  “I suppose that’s fair,” Ishtar said with a shrug and reached up, removing her mask and revealing the meical eyes of the bubbly, pyful, mischievous Sonya ovna. He gaped at her, bewildered, his mouth falling open as he tried to process it. “I put a lot of effort into getting you here, alone, like this A. You should be fttered.”

  “How long have you been pnning this?” He asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Sihe moment I heard your name, would you like to know why? I shared it with Feng before I killed her,” She said, holding out a hand to touch his .

  He jerked his head away, “Nah, no thanks,” He spat, grinning at her.

  She pulled her hand bad actually frowned a little, it was satisfying, “Fi doesn’t bother me. I had the satisfa with Feng after all.”

  “How did she die?” He asked.

  “Torn to pieces and disemboweled by gnolls in the dungeon,” The woman said frankly, “After I dropped her off a cliff into their midst. She was afraid of you until the very st moment.”

  He felt something swell in him that he hadn’t expected, joy, delight, he threw his head bad ughed long and hard, kig his feet and thrashing a bit in his bindings. He gnced around, it was some sort of abandoned shack from the looks of it, barely a shed. He finally caught his breath, “Oh, wow! You know what, I’m grateful,” He said, grinning at her, “So what do you want from me? You wanna make my death fshy? What’s the pn, I figure we’re more than even now. I owe you one for tellihat.”

  Sonya him, “I had a feeling you’d appreciate the news,” She said and held out her hand to him agaiook it and she smiled wider as she pulled him to his feet. She reached out to touch his chest, right over his heart and ined her head, looking up into his eyes. “Before we make our deal, let me make a little iment, sider it a down payment for what I’m going to ask of you.”

  He felt something rush into his body, something ged, something big.

  He grinned, “Whatever you want.”