---
The three figures dropped from the rooftop in near-perfect unison.
Not a sound when their boots hit the cobblestone.
No clatter of armor. No shifting of blades.
Just silence.
Ravyn took a slow step back, her shoulder brushing mine. "Left one's Zarn. Twin daggers, poison-tipped. Don't let him get close."
She gestured subtly toward the brute in the center. "Middle one's Grax. Mercenary from the Southern Reaches. All strength, no subtlety. Hammer user."
Then her gaze narrowed on the third—a woman draped in black leathers, a mask covering the lower half of her face. Only her green eyes visible beneath the hood.
"Right one's Kess. She's the dangerous one."
"How dangerous?" I asked, flexing my fingers.
"She doesn't fight to capture."
Grax cracked his neck and took a step forward, hammer slung lazily across his shoulder.
"Well, well," he rumbled. "You always did know how to pick hiding spots, Ravyn."
Zarn chuckled beside him, twirling his daggers like a bored juggler. "And friends. He the new boyfriend? You do move fast."
Kess said nothing.
Just stared at me.
I stared back.
Her gaze didn't waver.
"You know," Ravyn said, her voice dripping with false casualness, "it's rude to interrupt a private rendezvous. Especially one that was going so well."
Grax snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. Lord Kevrin's pissed. Said if you weren't delivered by sunrise, heads would roll."
He eyed me now. "Didn't expect you to have company. But hey, we can be generous. Step aside, lover boy. Let us take her, and we'll forget we saw you."
I raised an eyebrow. "That offer always come with empty threats?"
"Only when I'm feeling merciful."
I took a single step forward. My body was already vibrating with awareness. Every breath, every shift of their weight, every flicker of motion—they stood out like neon signs.
"Thing is," I said, cracking my knuckles, "I'm not the step-aside type."
Zarn smirked. "Oh gods, he thinks he's tough."
"He doesn't think it," Ravyn murmured, drawing her blades. "He just is."
Kess finally spoke—voice soft and low like a blade sliding from its sheath. "I want the boy's eyes."
Ravyn blinked. "Okay, I really don't like her."
Grax let out a booming laugh. "Then I guess we're doing this the hard way."
I grinned.
"Good."
---
Zarn moved first.
One blink—and he was gone.
No flash. No stomp. Just movement—like a whisper through the dark.
Ravyn cursed and ducked.
"Left!" she shouted.
I turned, arm snapping up instinctively.
Steel flashed.
Zarn's dagger missed my throat by a hair. I pivoted, barely catching the blur of his motion. He was already behind me, daggers gleaming with that unmistakable sheen of poison.
Reflex Boost: Active.
Time seemed to bend.
I saw the second strike coming—his blade arcing toward my spine. My foot slid backward. I dropped low. His dagger kissed air.
Then I drove my elbow into his ribs.
Fast as he was, he hadn't expected me to be faster.
He staggered.
Only for a second—but a second was all I needed.
I rose, hand catching his wrist, twisting. The dagger clattered to the cobblestones.
He hissed. "What the hell are you?"
I didn't answer.
I kicked his knee in hard—felt the joint buckle—and followed with a spinning strike to his jaw that sent him sprawling.
And then—
Boom.
The ground shook as Grax finally moved.
Not fast.
Just... unstoppable.
He wasn't built for agility. He was a battering ram in human form. Seven feet of plated muscle and rage, his warhammer dragging gouges in the stone as he swung it up—then brought it down toward me like a collapsing tower.
I dove sideways.
The hammer smashed into the street where I'd stood, shattering cobbles and sending dust flying like a detonation.
"Try that again," I taunted, pushing myself up.
He grinned. "Gladly."
Another swing—this one horizontal.
I didn't dodge.
I stepped inside it.
Slipped just under the arc, my palm slamming into his ribs.
It was like punching a brick wall wrapped in iron.
He grunted—barely moved—but I saw the surprise in his eyes. He hadn't expected me to close distance.
Ravyn appeared behind him in a blur of red.
She slashed across his back—her daggers clinking uselessly off his armor.
"Damn," she muttered. "Big bastard planned for me."
Grax turned, grinning, and swung again.
She leapt back, agile as ever, flipping onto a barrel with a hiss. "Not it!"
He turned back to me.
Still smiling.
I charged.
This time I didn't dodge the hammer—I redirected it. Caught the haft with both hands mid-swing, planted my heel, and twisted.
His arms overextended.
He stumbled forward.
I stepped in and drove a knee into his stomach. Didn't do much—but it made him bend.
Then Ravyn appeared again.
She didn't aim for his back this time.
She went for his neck.
Her dagger sliced between the overlapping plates of his gorget. A shallow cut—but deep enough to draw blood.
He roared and swatted at her like a bear.
She flipped away.
"Keep him pissed," she called. "I can work with that."
Zarn was back on his feet now, blood at the corner of his mouth. "You little freak," he spat at me. "No way you're just some tagalong."
"Guess I'm tougher than I look."
He roared and rushed me again—faster this time. His other dagger spun in his hand like a snake's fang.
But this time, I wasn't reacting.
I was anticipating.
He went for my ribs.
I caught his wrist mid-strike.
My knee slammed into his gut.
Then I grabbed the back of his head and drove it into my rising elbow.
He dropped like a stone.
I stepped over his unconscious body just in time to meet Grax's charge again. This time he'd abandoned the hammer—gone for raw fists.
But even angry, even wild—he was too slow.
I ducked the punch and planted my palm on his chest.
And pushed.
He stumbled.
Ravyn was there—sliding beneath his legs and slicing both tendons behind his knees.
He collapsed with a howl of rage.
The massive man tried to rise.
I grabbed his hammer—and brought it down on his head.
The handle, not the head.
Hard enough to knock him out.
He slumped, groaning, and finally went still.
Silence returned.
Except for—
Clapping.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Kess still stood at the edge of the street, her arms crossed.
Watching.
Studying.
"You're not normal," she said. "Not even close."
I didn't answer. My chest rose and fell with each breath, but I wasn't tired. My body felt primed.
Ready for more.
She tilted her head. "Interesting."
And then she turned.
Slipped into the shadows.
Gone.
---