The moon hung high, revealing itself to the water’s gaze trapped by a crumbling stone fountain in the middle of the slums. Surrounding this fountain were tall buildings that were falling apart, almost like it used to be something much more than a part of the slums years ago. The large open square, a fountain in the middle, and tall buildings on the side would have made it perfect for festivals and parties.

  But Ega didn’t choose this location just because of some uncertain past. He had a strategy in mind when it came to the entire area, but he hoped that he wouldn’t need to use it.

  Standing beside him was Ella who still had the oversized coat draped over her shoulders. She was shivering, and though a part of that could have been from the cold weather evident from their frosty breaths, he could sense that there was more to it.

  “What? Are you scared?” He asked, noticing that even her eyes were beginning to shake.

  She shook her head, trying to convince Ega and herself that everything was fine, but it was obvious to him how she was feeling.

  “Don’t be.” He tried to reassure her. “Understand that I’m not going to completely sell you out. I get what I want and I’ll free you from this Vulf bastard. Trust me will you?”

  He smiled, but it wasn’t the type of warm, reassuring smile, but that of confidence teetering on the edge of arrogance. Strangely enough, Ella found some comfort in that and nodded her head, though there was still a hint of fear on her face.

  Ega couldn’t really blame her for having such fears, after all if Vulf was too much of a hassle to handle, then he would have just exchanged Ella for the Mithril Blood without looking back. At the very least, that’s what he told himself.

  The two of them waited for a few minutes until finally, someone began to appear from a distance. At first, it just seemed like one person, but two other men quickly were by his side. There was a confidence in their steps, as if they were walking into this sure that they would get what they want.

  “So, you’re that infamous ‘Blood Hunter.’ Ega right? It's a pleasure to finally meet a man I’ve only heard stories about.” A sly smile was plastered across Vulf’s face, putting Ega on edge.

  Just where was this confidence coming from? Was it just a veil of false bravado? Or was there something he wasn’t accounting for?

  “And you must be Vulf. I’ll just get to the goddamned point, give me your Mithril Blood and I’ll give you this kid back.”

  “Do you think we’re getting a little impatient? I just—”

  Ega suddenly cut him off, quickly drawing his bow and nocking an arrow in a swift motion. Instead of aiming at Vulf however, he aimed at the roof of a building behind him.

  “Course I am. I wouldn’t want a little rat to suddenly start surrounding me with all his friends now would I? Like that one on the roof.”

  The sly smile was quickly wiped away from Vulf’s face. Raising his hand, he gave the signal for the archer on the roof to back off.

  Seeing the figure disappear from behind the roof tiles, Ega withdrew his bow, putting it back on the quiver hung to his right side.

  “Alright, so now we can talk, can’t we?” Vulf was beginning to examine Ega much more sharply, trying to get a read at his skill level.

  “Just give me the Mithril Blood.” Ega didn’t want to drag this conversation out for any longer. “I know damned well the value of this kid. So just give me the blood and I’ll—”

  “I hear you, but you know…” Vulf looked off to the side, as if he was going to try and drag this conversation out even longer. However, in a moment, he drew his sword and bolted towards Ega. “You can screw off with that deal of yours!”

  He swung downward toward Ega only to be caught by a swiftly drawn blade. Ega could feel the heavy weight behind the swing bearing down on him. After parrying the sudden attack, he grabbed Ella and dashed backwards.

  “So I guess you don’t care about—”

  “You’re right, I don’t. Let me ask you, just how much Mithril Blood have you gathered?” The smile returned to Vulf’s lips.

  So this was his plan. It was plain and simple, befitting from someone from the underworld. Just kill the person in your way and take everything they have. That would be the most favorable outcome, but…

  “Do you really think you can kill me?” Ega’s eyes grew sharper as the two men beside Vulf began to move toward his flank.

  “Think? No, I know I can.” Vulf charged forward again with even greater speed than last time. His men quickly followed, attacking Ega from the sides.

  As much as he wanted to end this with a short clash of blades, Ega knew he couldn’t fight all three of them at once. There were definitely soul bearers, and judging by their movement, they probably knew how to mix their souls. Ega mixed his soul with that of a horse, took Ella into his arms and spirited away.

  Breaking into a rotting building, he began to take sharp turns as he ran, weaving out to the streets and back into the buildings before running up and jumping across from window to window. Ella clung desperately to his neck, trying her best not to fall out of his arms.

  After creating enough distance, Ega quickly positioned Ella to his back and continued dashing from the buildings back into the streets and up into buildings again. After he was confident that he had broken away from their pursuit, he took a second to catch his breath and reassess the situation.

  “Search every single goddamned building!” Vulf’s voice was bellowing across the streets of the broken square. “We are not letting him get away from us!”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Mixing the soul of an owl into his own, Ega began to scan the surroundings with his newfound vision, finding that even more of Vulf’s men had entered the area. He estimated that there were fifty or so people wielding a mix of swords, spears, and more importantly, bows and crossbows.

  Just as he was about to take action, Ega felt something wet touch the back of his neck. He turned back and was quickly reminded that he was carrying a child around in the midst of battle.

  “Hey, hey, calm down, everything’s going to be alright.” He crouched down, letting her stand on her own. “Look at me, just look at me okay?”

  Ella could barely meet Ega’s gaze through her teary eyes. She sniffled, trying her best to hold everything in.

  “I’m going to beat their asses, do you understand? I won't let them leave a scratch on any of us.” Ega wiped the tears away with his deeply callused hands. “Just close your eyes, hold on tight, and I’ll take care of everything.”

  Ella’s crying began to slow down, and when she was finally able to keep herself together, Ega placed her on his back again.

  “Like I said, just close your eyes and everything will be over in no time.” She did as commanded, holding on desperately onto Ega.

  Taking a deep breath, Ega sheathed his sword and drew his bow again. He looked out the windows, eyes piercing through the shroud of the darkness and straight towards Vulf’s men. Following the path of his sharp gaze was the sharp tip of his arrow whistling through the cold night air and landing dead on to one of his pursuers.

  One down.

  Ega took another shot.

  Two.

  There was yelling echoing throughout the area after the first two fell, telling of his position. He quickly dashed to another building, gaining another vantage point before releasing two more arrows.

  Three, four.

  He spotted one running in the streets and released another shot only to graze the man’s shoulder. His mistake did not go unpunished. An arrow flew towards Ega’s face, narrowly missing him by an inch. Returning the gift, he shot back.

  Five.

  Footsteps began to converge on Ega’s position as the yelling grew even louder. Having to face them head on now, he quickly drew his sword. They stormed the building he was in, running up the stairs to his vantage point only to be greeted by the cold, sharp touch of metal.

  Six, seven.

  The rest stumbled back for a second as their fallen comrades’ bodies began to fall back from the steps. Not letting a moment pass, Ega charged down and thrusted his sword forward, piercing through one of the dead bodies and skewering the other.

  Eight.

  He yanked his blade back and swung at the last two who tried to parry his attack only to crumble in the face of Ega’s strength.

  Nine, ten.

  He took a few seconds to recover and catch his breath. His entire body felt like it was burning, a side effect from Ega’s never-ending ferocity. Even though it was decisively winning him these clashes, it was quickly burning through his stamina.

  Worst of all was Ella hanging on his back, limiting his movements to much more inefficient strikes. He needed to separate her from this battle, but now wasn’t the time. If he wanted to use the final part of his plan, he had to do it at just the right time.

  As more footsteps began to approach him, Ega started to move again. Delivering a few shots as he ran, he cut down their numbers even further.

  Eleven, twelve.

  “Come out here you rat bastard!” Vulf’s voice boomed through the night, nearly shaking the crumbling buildings. “Fight me with your sword!”

  Ega could sense that Vulf and his men were incredibly close, and so, he took the taunt.

  “What do you think I am, some noble knight?” He couldn’t match Vulf’s volume, but it did the trick.

  “There! Storm that building from all angles!” His scarred lips twisted into a smile as he witnessed Ega fall for such a simple provocation.

  Being so close to the enemy and with his position revealed, they all began to break into the building Ega was in. Every angle was being taken, the stairs, the windows, hell, even the roof seemed like it was being broken into with the amount of steps rattling above.

  Although he was trapped, there wasn’t a hint of worry on Ega’s face. Instead, it was full of anticipation. The moment they had him surrounded, he took advantage of the most important aspect of his surroundings, the high density of flammable wood.

  Scattering fire bombs, Ega quickly leapt out of the building, feeling the explosion and brush of heat graze his cheeks. The dark night was suddenly exposed to a roaring flame, but that was far from being the only one. Once he landed, he threw even more bombs, setting the entire place on fire. It began to spread from building to building, engulfing the area into a sea of flames.

  It didn’t matter how many men Vulf brought, either they were going to die to the flames or, at the very least, be held back by it. Sprinting off, Ega found a safe place not yet engulfed by the fire.

  Setting Ella down, he pointed toward the North side of the slums and said, “Ella, I need you to run towards that direction and don’t look back. Do you understand me?”

  Though shaken, she furiously nodded her head.

  “Good. Take this with you just in case something happens.” Pulling a dagger from his cloak, he placed it into her tiny hands. “Now go.”

  Despite his command, she hesitated. There was a mix of emotions in her eyes as she looked at Ega.

  “What?” But through that mix of emotions, Ega could clearly discern one of them. Worry. “Trust me. Didn’t I tell you that I’d hold up my end of the deal? You’re free from Vulf, so go.”

  He patted her on the back, pushing her to start running. Once her small figure began to shrink into the distance, Ega turned back to the battlefield of flames. Mixing the soul of the black salamander into his own, he charged back in.

  Through the burst of flames, crashing planks, and crackling fire, he could hear Vulf yelling from a distance trying to order his men around and get them to group together. As he caught sight of them, he pulled out his bow for two shots.

  They flew in quick succession, cutting through the flames before piercing through the chest of the men standing beside Vulf. Chaos began to grip them from the sudden strike while they were still trying to recover from the fire.

  With such a perfect opportunity presenting itself, Ega mixed one final soul into his own, the soul of an ironwood bear, and charged towards Vulf. With the speed of a sprinting horse and strength of a bear, Ega knocked him back.

  Before he could even finish skidding across the ground, Ega dashed again, grabbing Vulf by the collar and charging him through the burning buildings. Unable to remember how many burning buildings he had broken through, he began to notice a strange transformation.

  The man in his clutches was beginning to grow fur all over his body, and as Ega broke out into an empty street, Vulf broke the grip on his collar. Just as he was backing away from him, Ega quickly drew his sword and struck at his hand.

  “You bitch! You think you can kill me?” Vulf’s body was covered in silver fur, a result of mixing his soul with a moon wolf.

  “Now that I’ve scattered you shits apart, of course.” Ega threw off his burning cloak as he got into a stance, ready to finally claim his Mithril Blood.