“P-please..I’ll tell you anything..”

“Yes, yes you will tell me anything or else your fate will be the same as your comrades.”

Zanar knelt down to the mage sitting up against the wall. Only the dim light of the lantern he had lit only seconds ago shining on the both of them. Zanar’s overcoat had a part of it burned out and the flesh underneath it obviously was seared as well. It was his carelessness that had given him that wound, there more of the Lux mages in the building than he thought.

“Where is their stronghold in this city?” The swordsman asked, his gaze transfixed upon the eyes of the man before him.

“I-I have no idea what you are talking about. Who?”

Zanar gave out a disappointing sigh and in a flash, his blade went through the shoulder of the man and stuck to the wall on the other side. The blood-curdling scream that came out of the mage did not faze him. He believed these men deserved all that came to them. He waited for the man to regain his composure, it would take a few minutes as the blade destroyed the mana around the wound causing the wound to become larger than normal.

“You keep lying to me, you know who I am talking about. It is only you members of Teneberius Lux that use that damned dark light magic. I am surprised the god of light didn’t do anything to you fools yet,” He took a moment and shook his head, “Nevermind..regardless of its origin its still considered light.”

At the mention of the organization’s name, the mages face went from pleading to a scowl. Zanar chuckled at the transformation.  He leaned closer and twisted the blade in the mage's arm a little. “Ah, finally you drop the act, I knew you fools were not as weak as that. Should’ve been more careful with security, as a single mercenary shouldn’t be able to break through a meeting like this. Then again, a raven is a quite smart creature.”

“You…” The mage hissed and started to gather light magic in his hand. These men were fighters to the end. Zanar had to applaud them for that, but it was futile in the end, for they had given him exactly what he needed. Before the mage could finish the spell, Zanar had pulled his katana from the man's arm and severed the handoff. A scream sounded out again and Zanar got up and walked to the entryway, stepping through pools of blood from the bodies of the other mages.

“S-s-so, you’re gonna walk away with nothing…”

“No, I got what I needed. Dark Light, it leaves a distinct aether trail.” Zanar then threw the lantern into the middle of the room and watched as the spilled oil ignited from the flame. “Burn, burn like what you did to the Ravens.” Opening the door to step out one could see the blood that spilled on him but thankfully this city was a Pirate haven so most of the common folk wouldn’t give a damn. Also, the flames would be more concern to them than a bloody mercenary.

It wasn’t often she was sent for information only, but here she was. Ironically enough it was in a place usually known for violence and death anyhow, why not just speed the process along? She sighed, either way she’d be hungry tonight: no kill meant no supper.

She chewed on her bottom lip, pulling the the cloth mask down from her lips and nose so that it hung loosely around her neck. The taste of her own blood did nothing, of course, but it helped stave off her appetite for a little bit longer. Even if she chose to feed tonight, it wouldn’t be in this place. The men and women here tasted, for lack of a better word, disgusting.

Up ahead was her mark, but already she could smell freshly spilled blood. Her stomach lurched in response. True that blood was often spilt in the pirate haven, but not so much in such a concentrated area. The closer she got, the stronger the smell became, until it was an unavoidable truth: someone was picking around in her assignment.

Her eyes narrowed before casting herself in invisibility and sprinting the rest of the way there. Getting in was easy enough, but she had to hold a hand to her mouth to keep from coughing. Already her fangs were elongating against her palm from so much blood. Maybe she’d have supper tonight after all. These men were already dead, they might as well not go to waste. What was disturbing though, was that many of these men were supposed to be ‘interrogated’ for the information she sought.

Who had ruined it? Her eyes narrowed, but she kept herself unseen. With how much blood there was, she had to be careful: footprints still showed up even if she wouldn’t. She could just make out faint talk between two people: one calm and obviously healthy, the other more pained. They were interwoven through the corridors, throwing her off slightly, but she kept her silent approach. It was all going well, her slow and steady trek towards them, until the stronger of the two mentioned her brother.

Now she was left to wonder, why hadn’t he snuffed this place out yet? Knowing him he’d probably have some lecture about balance and order and blah blah blah, things she didn’t need to know. Her eyes saddened, wondering if he’d still be the way he was before and sorely doubting it. More had changed than his realm, and she could still barely take the way he looked at her now.

Her thoughts were jerked back to the here and now when he mentioned dark light. It wasn’t so much the subject itself, more the finality of his tone. Oh no. Her eyes widened just as the lantern hit the oil. Damnation!. She cursed under her breath, not caring if she was seen now as the invisibility fell away. The man was gone, but the mage was still there, partially skewered to the wall.

She knelt down in front of him, smacking his cheeks a bit, “Come on, come ooon.” but the light had already faded from his eyes. Again she cursed, this time louder. Not only was the last source of information in Vilpamolan gone, but so was her meal! Her eyes cut to the door and she stood up, quickly moving out with long strides.

Ash smudged her jaw from where she touched it, rubbing at the soreness and ache caused by lack of feeding, “Hey!” she shouted to the back of the man, eyes narrowed and glowing red. “What the hell was that?!”

I made too much of a mess, let my rage get the best of me

Zanar thought as he held his hands out in front of him, looking at the blood that covered his hands and clothing. He needed to find a well to clean up before people started to question him, but for now, the fire would suffice to keep the masses away. Before he could advance, the sound of footsteps coming from behind made him hesitate. The woman yelled out to him, was he already found out? No this is was different, she came from within the house. Quickly he unsheathed his blade and turned to face the woman, the dark blade pointing to her.

Red eyes, and oddly pink colored hair. She would have stood out easily in the darkness of the building. She must have been using some sort of invisibility spell, yet he would’ve been able to hear her breathing or heartbeat if that was the case. Yet he heard nothing, not even as they stood here. His eyes narrowed to meet hers. She was not one of the groups that he hunted, so she did not deserve to be cut down regardless of what she was. ”It would be in your best interest to back off. Vox here has not the kindness bite. Don't want an innocent to feel its power if I can. My business with those in that building was of my own, the bloodshed was well deserving trust me on that.”

He sheathed his blade and walked away from the woman. He left her with his warning that was all that was needed. If she followed him, he would fight her off if he had to, this was the last resort of course as he did not like to shed innocent blood.

He found a well nearby and brought up a bucket of water from the depths and began to wipe himself down next to it. Of course, his tunic and pants were completely stained with blood but he could easily get rid of that on his coat and skin. He was curious though, as what business she had with those men if she herself had infiltrated that building as well. He threw aside the rag that he used to wipe himself and kept the bucket out of the well, he wouldn’t taint the water with blood. He leaned up against the side and crossed his arms in thought.

”No heartbeat..was she trained to slow it down? An assassin of sorts? No, she could have easily struck me down if that was the case..she must have had business with the Tenebris Lux members,” he spoke to himself wracking his head against why that woman was there. He shook his head to get his mind off of that, he was here for other business. He cared not as to why some woman needed to deal with those mages.

The man turned towards her, pulling a blade and aiming it in her direction. She answered with a slow crossing of her arms and an arched eyebrow. Was he serious? Was this person serious? Such drama. Now her eyebrows furrowed: Vox? Was that the name of his weapon? Was this just something common that men did with their blades? Naota was the same with Torinasu, and she wondered briefly if all of them were doing it to compensate for something. She kept that to herself though.

Though she did scoff slightly and then instantly pull her lips in to keep from smiling when he referred to her as ‘innocent’. Is it the hair? she thought to herself, not for the first time in her life. Pink was disarming. It wasn’t her fault it grew that way. Her eyes narrowed again, the red of their hue unwavering. She didn’t care that their death was deserving, she cared that her key was gone.

She watched him as he started to walk away, tapping her own foot impatiently as she stood there, considering what to do next. Before he could get too far out of sight, she sighed and followed after him. She could have teleported, she could have done a lot of things, but instead she walked with strong and brisk strides towards him just as the water was being pulled from the well. He was talking to himself, this she knew, but she still responded as if they were in conversation,

“Keenly spotted: I am an assassin, and I did have business with them. Unfortunately for you,” she said, going to the other side of the well and leaning against it, “Now that responsibility falls into your hands,” she said with an overly pleasant smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“You’re headed somewhere, and I’m going with you,” she stated, less a question and more a fact. The smile dropped from her lips abruptly, “I’m not going back empty handed, so wherever his information is leading you, I’m accompanying you.”

Her nose wrinkled slightly and she straightened up from her lean, “Continue with this…business, first though,” she grimaced, indicating towards him with a wave of her hand. He smelled like an animal, she doubted only water would be enough to get rid of that smell.

He growled when he finally noticed that the woman had followed him. Once again he did not sense her, but this time was cause he was deep in his own thoughts. He had warned her not to follow him, did she have a death wish? Or was she just that stubborn that she would dive headfirst into danger? ”I wonder what business an assassin would have with such an organization? Did you honestly think that you would have escaped out of that place unscathed?” Of course, his tone was not too pleased with her as she made her way to the other side of the well. ”They are not a group to be messed with.”

Now not only did he have to watch his back for any other Tenebris members but also had to deal with this nosey assassin as well. His earlier assessment of her was wrong as well, as he could hear the signs of life from her body. He must have been just too engrossed in his business to notice them sooner. ”Not going back empty handed you say? Well that you will be because there will be not a shred of their life left. You will get nothing from them as their blood will stain these streets.”This woman’s disrespect towards him was also getting on his nerves.

He got up from his leaning posture and traced the edge of the well with his hands. He had a plan to try and lose this woman, but it would not be the most pleasant for him. ”Then again I do not think we shall be going down the same path…” He held his hand over the opening and smirked. In the next moments a flash of a fireball appeared before he launched it down the well, which caused the waters to flash up in a hot stream of steam and the explosion cause dust from the rubble as the well started to cave in.

He took the moment to run off as the steam covered his route. He was not in the best shape from that though, as his arm was scorched by the steam along with wounds from magical feedback onto his body. Even though his Ursanthropy had managed to heal some of the wounds that he had received from torture, he was still unable to cast strong spells like that without consequences. This was for the best though, as he didn’t want someone else to feel their scorn. He may have gone about it in a way that most would scoff at though.

Now that, that is taken care of. I can finally go back to tracking these assholes down, Zanar thought to himself as his eyes scanned for traces of the dark light mana.