Enkiari

  Steven gnced at his oblivious friend. Judging from the string of words pouring out of Ben’s mouth, he would have to buy quite a bit of time for his companion for him to successfully run away.

  “You are… You are my brother, you know.” Ben rambled. “I love you, bro!” And attempted a hug.

  Steven did not manage to stop him and noted how just this moment alone was enough for them to get surrounded.

  There were about ten men in one group. As for the other…

  They were keeping their distance, so it was hard to tell. But there were fewer men in it. It also appeared that the first group had yet to notice the other.

  One of the groups had also cleared the streets. It was too quiet, even for the te hour it was. A rare car should be passing by. Or, a beted drunkard wobbling towards their home - certainly not nothing like it was now.

  This being a coincidence was a foolish hope. For a moment, Steven considered just grabbing Ben and running. But that choice had its downsides as well. For one, it would elect an immediate response. And Ben was not guaranteed to cooperate in the state he was in.

  When Ben finally let Steven go, the first group acted. He could tell they were confident in their success. Experienced, too, as they were very careful and methodic in their approach.

  Maybe they knew of Steven’s prowess. In a certain way, he was a well-known person. He doubted people could recognise him by his looks. But he was a constant partner of Ben’s.

  Steven used the moment before the unwanted guests arrived to instruct his friend. “Ben, listen to me! There are guys after you, and you’ll have to run. There are too many for me to stop them all. I will give you a chance. Run for the nearest open building and call for help. Do you understand?”

  For a moment, Steven feared that his friend was still too muddled in the head, but at the next moment, Ben’s eyes cleared up as he gave a quick nod.

  Steven felt that the men were close enough and about to speak. He didn’t expect the usual threats and mouthrunning. It meant he had to act quickly.

  “Go!” Steven pushed Ben. His friend did not miss a beat and started to run without looking anywhere else but straight ahead. His steps were still wobbly, but Steven had no more time to fret over it.

  Quickly assessing the situation, Steven headed to his right. His sudden movement stopped the fastest-reacting man in his tracks. Holding back less than usual, Steven aimed a hook at the man’s jaw and as expected, it connected cleanly.

  Expressionlessly, Steven watched the man succumb to the blow. He had to reach a conclusion quickly and follow after Ben. It meant that there were nine targets left in this group.

  However, Steven’s next target did not want to cooperate with him. The roundhouse kick he had sent at the man, who was the next fastest, whiffed and only scrapped by the man’s clothes.

  Steven clicked his tongue. These men were good. “At least they have not brought any weapons with them. Oh…” He was forced to stop.

  Perhaps he had been too successful, or maybe these men were too high-strung. Whatever it may be, Steven could only helplessly watch the man at the back as he pulled out a handgun from god knows where.

  “I thought those were illegal in this part of the world,” Steven quipped while slowly raising his hands. There was a hope that talking would give him more time. The man with the gun, which Steven now identified as the leader, gave six of his men a quick order to follow after Benjamin.

  The good news for Steven was that the leader had yet to shoot at him. The bad news was that he was not shot ‘yet’.

  Steven did not know exactly how durable he was... But there was one thing he had learned from Mika’s attempts at his life. His ability would not be able to tank the shot.

  It was at that moment when several things happened all at once.

  The first thing was that the leader suddenly excimed in surprise. It happened just as Steven heard a commotion behind him where Ben’s pursuers had gone.

  The next was that Steven saw two of the men from the other group rapidly closing in on the leader from behind.

  The leader's reaction was quick. Steven felt the bullet passing his cheek, hitting someone in the back. Then, the leader turned around and faced the attackers who came from behind him.

  The third was that Steven suddenly found himself unmarked. Both groups of men seemed to have a beef with each other. There would not be a better chance for him to act.

  Steven eyed the men from the other group as he started to dash after Ben. There was one thing that bothered him. He knew he had seen it correctly.

  The other group was dressed simirly to how Silva had described members of the Refuge the st time she had warned about them.

  It didn’t matter what Silva and Mika thought of them. They were a harmless group most of the time. Only a couple of their members came to look for trouble from him.

  Even then, it was mostly settled with a lot of swearing. Violence was not common when they interacted with each other, though sometimes they did fight.

  That was before the group changed. The change had happened very rapidly, and to what... Steven did not know exactly, but he had heard some rumours from Ben.

  The blue symbol Silva had described was present on every one of the five men who had attacked the first group. It eerily reminded him of a cult. That never had good implications.

  And the speed in which those men moved... It was too fast. Or too fast for a normal person. Steven had still held back to a pace that a human could move in, albeit a very fast one.

  But those guys did not. They still weren’t as fast as Steven could be, but there was an unmistakable stench of something supernatural in the air. He did not like it one bit.

  As Steven ran after Ben, he passed the group of entangled men. The group of unknown men and the magically empowered attackers continued to duke it out.

  Surprisingly, the fight was more even than he had expected it to be. These unknown men were adept at fighting even without weapons. They proved to be an obstacle, even for the probable cultists.

  Still, the shot that had passed him earlier had found its target as one of the men was bleeding, his arm penetrated by the bullet. It proved that they were still human.

  A moment ter, Steven had left both groups of men behind. Ben had managed to run farther than he had expected. Steven hastened his pace. He had to find his friend quickly and get away from this pce.

  If Ben had managed to make the call, Steven expected his friend's other, more inconvenient, bodyguards to arrive soon - too te for them to matter.

  The police would probably be a better choice, but Ben had not seen the gun after all. The only possibility was that he had heard it, but the chances were low.

  Which made him wonder. There was a chance of locals hearing the gunshot and calling the police. The neighbourhood was quiet, but it did not mean the buildings were empty.

  Steven cursed to himself from the thought alone. There was no way he wanted to involve himself with the police.

  Steven’s desperate search yielded results quickly. After a moment, he found his friend in a nearby alleyway. Unfortunately, Ben was not alone, and the phone was shattered on the pavement.

  The quick scan revealed that Ben was held by a duo of men, likely from the first group. One of them was holding another gun and whispering something in his friend’s ear.

  There was no time to evaluate the situation. All Steven could see was his friend in danger. He removed the limitations he kept himself under and lunged at the enemies.

  In the back of his mind, he hoped that his friend was too scared, drunk or only saw his assaints to notice Steven’s clearly unnatural speed. As for the duo, they would be lucky if they had any memories of the past weeks after Steven was done with them.

  Steven felt the world around him slow down. His sharpened senses noticed Ben opening his mouth to talk.

  Then, the two men took notice of his approach.

  Then, their attention switched to Steven and the danger he brought.

  They were too slow. Steven was upon them as soon as they had turned their heads. He zily noted how his swipe meant to redirect the gun, did more than that and broke the man’s arm. A sharp scream echoed through the narrow pce but was quickly silenced by Steven’s punch breaking the man’s jaw.

  A blood sptter hit Ben and the other man. Both had yet to react to the sudden interference.

  Then it was over as Steven ripped the other man backwards and flung him against the wall. A wet noise echoed in his ears as his target slumped down to the ground. Steven knew that he had used enough force. The man would not stand up.

  Next, they had to get out of this pce. Steven shook Ben, who was still in shock.

  “Come, we have run.”

  Ben wordlessly followed the instructions. Both of them headed to the opposite side of the alleyway. It was then that Steven noticed that there was a third man. A man was guarding the other side of the alleyway. He also had a gun - a gun aimed at Steven.

  There was too little time to do anything but act on instinct. So Steven rushed forward. A nuzzle fshed, and Steven’s brain registered that he had been hit, but little else than that. He had to get rid of the threat before it was too te.

  The next moment, he was next to the shooter, with Ben left far behind him. Steven saw the man’s eyes widen in surprise. There was something else in those eyes. A determination to finish what was started.

  Steven tried to throw a punch, but all he could manage was to sm into the shooter. It was enough as the man fell down from the heavy impact. Even then - Steven had to ensure the man would not stand up again.

  As they fell, Steven made sure that his elbow would nd on the assaint's neck. He knew what his move could do to the man, but... They were out to get them, and there was no pce for mercy. He had to be sure. He had to…

  Then, the pain overwhelmed him, and for a moment, everything became bck. Somewhere beside him, he heard Benjamin scream. It was good that Ben was so loud, as Steven feared he would have fallen asleep otherwise.

  “God, you are noisy.” Steven managed to spit out.

  “Steven! Steven, you are alive! Thank god! I thought I lost you for a moment.” Ben was still slurring.

  It reminded Steven that Ben was in no position to run. He was too drunk. So he gathered strength and opened his eyes only to see the teary Ben looming over him. “How bad is it?”

  “I-I am not sure. Bad! Your torso was hit. There is a hole! A fucking hole! I-I don’t have a phone. We have to call an ambunce. We have to get you to the doctor!”

  “First, we run.” Steven felt that he could still move somewhat. He made a sudden motion and grabbed Ben, lifting him into the air.

  The bridal carry was unsightly, and he did not want to carry another man like that, but he had no time to be picky.

  When Steven finally ran out of strength, they were already far away from the spot where they had encountered the attackers. No one had followed after them, and he had managed to run straight to his target destination.

  After a short moment of reflection, Steven decided it was safe enough for now. They were alone and hidden behind bins. It was not the safest pce, but good enough.

  He had already done his best, but there were more things he had to take care of.

  “Ben, my phone, give it to me.” It was hard to talk, but it was not like he had any choice in the matter.

  “Right, your phone!”

  Steven felt his friend rummage through his pockets until the phone was in Ben’s hands.

  “Password! Give me the password!” Ben demanded. “Oh, right!” He remembered that emergency numbers could be reached without unlocking the phone, but he was stopped.

  “Give it to me and listen,” Steven grabbed his phone out of Ben’s hand. “Did you call your father’s men?”

  “Y-yes!”

  “Good, you’ll wait here. I’ll tell them where you are. You will not tell anyone that I got shot.”

  “But!”

  “NO! Listen, you will NOT!” Steven raised his voice.

  “You need a doctor, Steven! You are not making any sense! Call the ambunce!”

  “You’ll tell your father that I managed to get you out. The blood on you is from the men who attacked. You’ll tell him that I lead them away.” Steven spoke as quickly as he could, but it was getting harder. There was not much time.

  Doctors and hospitals were things he had to avoid. His body was not something that could be expined to specialists. And his private life would be left in shambles if he was brought there.

  “No, no, no, Steven, no, give me the phone,” Ben begged. He clearly did not understand what was happening, but there was no more time to expin.

  The short rest had returned some of Steven’s strength. And Ben couldn’t hear the conversation. So, he stood up and started to run again, leaving his friend behind.

  To not forget, he quickly messaged Ben’s father’s men, sending them to this location. Then Steven made the call. He only hoped that Mika would not be too angry.