Chapter 23
One by one, their talismans flared red.
Then came a scream. It cut through the night, echoing between the houses. Lysa jolted forward, instinct taking over, but Alden caught her wrist. "Wait."
She spun toward him, wide-eyed. "That was Renna!"
"It wasn't." His voice was calm, almost cold.
He was oddly composed. Maybe it was his frequent near-death encounters, or the days he spent in Lint's Arena, where a single mistake could lead to his death. Either way, his thoughts stayed clear.
"That wasn't Renna." He repeated. "Listen to it."
The night air carried another cry, faint and distorted. It sounded close, but the echoes were wrong, bouncing off walls from every direction.
Scourge's gaze flicked toward Alden, studying him. "The kid's right. Don't forget we're fighting a whisperer. Don't go rushing off blindly into the dark."
Lysa clenched her fists, and stopped struggling.
"Then what do we do?"
Alden reached for his talisman, pulling it from his chest. He wrapped it tightly around the handle of his dagger. "We keep going. We don't know where she disappeared, but if there's one place where we can regroup, it's by that flare."
The heat from the talisman bit into his skin, but he ignored it. Pain was better than fear.
Scourge turned slowly, scanning the alleys. "We have more than one whisperer here. They're close. Stay on your guard."
The street grew darker, the torchlight shrinking as the air thickened. The whispering started again. Low and dissonant murmurs crawling between their ears.
The trio cautiously resumed their march, keeping their eyes on the shapes that flickered in the periphery.
Lysa drew in a shaky breath. "They're circling us."
"It doesn't matter." Scourge said, his tone flat. "They don't dare come close, not with our talismans."
The Whisperers moved like smoke. It was hard to tell how much of them there was, but it was definitely not a single entity. Their outlines shifted with every blink. They stayed just beyond the reach of the torchlight, pacing in slow arcs.
Illusions started to blend into reality, and for a heartbeat, Alden thought he saw a kid standing by a fence. His eyes wide and pleading for help. He clutched his dagger tighter and shook his head.
"Keep your mind sharp." Scourge ordered. "From now on, do not stray more than a meter away from each other."
They held their formation. Scourge in front, Alden slightly trailing behind on his right, Lysa on the left. Minutes dragged by, and the talismans' glow started to weaken, the red light pulsing unevenly.
"Is it me, or we don't seem to get any closer to that flare?" Lysa muttered.
Scourge's eyes darted toward the northern ridge. "We'll-"
He didn't get the chance to finish his words. A third flare burst into the sky, this one much closer, painting the rooftops in blood-red light.
"Let's go!" Alden urged.
They immediately shifter direction and sprinted toward the new flare. The whispering rose in pitch, chasing them like a tide.
When they reached the open courtyard near the western fields, they saw her.
Renna stood in the center, her twin daggers clashing against something that looked human, but wasn't.
It had the appearance of a woman. Her hair hung loose and pale, her skin stretched thin and gray under the lantern light. Black veins pulsed beneath the surface, glowing faintly with the same red hue as the flares.
She moved with unnatural grace, every step a glide. Each swing of her hand left a trail of dark mist in the air.
"What the fuck?" Lysa whispered.
Scourge's jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed. Facing off against Renna was someone familiar, someone they had just met during the day.
The Wraith, wearing the face of the village chief's wife turned her head toward them. A bright yet creepy smile splitting her face. "You shouldn't have come."
Renna lunged again, blades flashing. The woman caught both daggers in one hand, twisting them aside with inhuman strength before shoving Renna back several paces. The younger woman hit the ground hard, rolling before she came up in a crouch.
Without hesitation, Scourge dived into the fight. He broke into a sprint, his greatsword glowed a faint brown light as he raised it high.
He reached the Wraith before she could finish her next step, and brought the blade down with both hands. The impact rang out like thunder, cracking the ground beneath them. The Wraith slid backward, heels carving lines in the dirt, but she didn't fall.
Following the older man's lead, Alden and Lysa fanned out, flanking the opponent.
Renna got back on her feet, her daggers taking on a light green hue. "It's strong. Watch the mist. Don't breathe it in."
Lysa clenched her gauntlets tighter, metal scraping against metal. "Got it."
The Wraith tilted her head, then smiled. "So many brave ones tonight."
The Scourge didn't give her the time to gauge them, he struck again, driving her back with relentless force. Every swing of his sword sent shards of stone and dirt flying. The Wraith parried with her bare hands. And despite the apparent difference in build, she matched the tall man blow for blow. Each time her hands met the Scourge's weapon, sparks of pale light flared and died.
But the wraith wasn't fighting against a single opponent.
Alden saw an opening, and closed in. His attacks may not have been as strong as the Scourge's. But he made up for it with speed, and a touch of recklessness. Fighting alongside someone allowed him to employ some unconventional tactics that surprisingly worked.
He feinted, sometimes deliberately left himself vulnerable, and even allowed himself to be hurt by some attacks he knew wouldn't be lethal. He was confident in his abilities to heal overnight.
In return, Renna, Scourge, and Lysa seized every moment where the wraith's attention was diverted. Little by little, they ground down the possessed woman. Her clothes were in tatters. And if not for her extremely fast regeneration ability, she would have been dead already.
Still, just like the wraith, the Stonewatch's hunters weren't fighting against a single opponent either.
**SHRIEEEK**
A shrill, piercing cry interrupted the night. And with it, the whisperers returned, a hundred overlapping voices filled their ears.
Lysa clutched her head, groaning in pain. The wraith was about to attack her, but was forced to defend against Renna's daggers and Scourge's sword.
Alden fell back and stood protectively in front of the woman. "Hey, get it together!"
The woman gritted her teeth and pushed the pain back. She raised her head, intent on thanking Alden, then froze. "Jin?"
A man's silhouette overlapped with Alden, warm and familiar. Lysa hesitated, only for a second, but it was enough. A shadowy hand lashed out from behind her, raking across her back. She screamed, spun, and drove her gauntlet into its face. The shadow burst into smoke, leaving a searing mark on her arm.
"Fuck! Why are these things attacking? Isn't the talisman supposed to keep them back?"
Alden caught movement from his left. A hand stretched toward him from the dark. He ducked instinctively, bringing his dagger up. The blade met something solid. The creature shrieked, retreating as he slashed again and again until it vanished.
His heart hammered, but his focus stayed clear. He didn't have Qi, or any of the techniques the others used, but he had fought in worse conditions than this.
A moment later, Renna and Scourge dragged the fight back to them, wanting to employ the same tactic as before. But now with the whisperer's interference, it proved to be much more difficult.
The four of them closed ranks, forming a loose circle. The Wraith stood at its center, unbothered, her gaze flicking lazily from one to the other. Around her, a dark fog cycled. From time to time, it would condense into humanoid forms, then disperse again.
"You fight well." she murmured. "Unlike your archer friend."
Alden's grip tightened, there was only one archer in the team. "What have you done with Jaro?"
The wraith's smile widened. "The same thing I'm about to do to you all."
Scourge snorted and charged. His glowing sword struck, dispersing the fog and sending her flying through the remnants of a wooden stall. The structure collapsed in a shower of splinters.
"Now!" He barked.
Lysa was the first to move, leaping forward and driving both gauntlets into the rubble. Wood cracked, and the Wraith rolled free, one arm bent unnaturally.
Renna was already there, daggers flashing. Her movements were sharp and precise, each cut aimed at the joints and throat. But every time she landed a hit, the black vapor thickened, healing the damage.
Alden closed in from behind, slashing at her legs, cornering the wraith.
It almost worked.
Then the mist exploded outward. The pressure hit them like a wave, knocking everyone back. The Wraith rose through the smoke, her form twisting, limbs elongating until she towered above them, her eyes glowing faint red.
The murmurs in the air now grew stronger, almost drowning out their own thoughts.
Renna fell to one knee, her breathing ragged. Lysa's arm hung limp, blood running freely down her gauntlet. Alden coughed, his lungs burning.
The Scourge alone stayed standing, blade standing firm against the smoke.
The Wraith's voice echoed through the courtyard, layered and resonant. "You're a lot better than the last group of mercenaries who came here."
She stepped forward, the ground darkening under her feet. The whispering grew impossibly louder. The Wraith lunged.
Scourge met her mid-charge, steel colliding with shadows, sparks scattering into the dark.
The Wraith's style had changed, shifting shape with every strike. Each blow it traded with Scourge sent shockwaves through the courtyard, the ground splintering underfoot. A moment later, Renna joined the fight once more. Her daggers flaring with a brighter glow, slicing through the mist in tight, fluid arcs.
The two fought in tandem. The Scourge pressed forward with brute strength, while Renna slipped through the gaps. But the creature was relentless. It twisted through their attacks, its style making it hard to corner.
And even worse, every hit they landed bled vapor that simply reformed a second later.
Scourge grunted as he blocked another clawed swipe. "This isn't getting anywhere."
Renna spun behind him, her daggers tracing faint trails of wind. "Then stop holding back."
He gave a low growl and drove his sword into the ground. The strike sent a ripple of Qi through the earth, forcing the Wraith to leap backward. The creature landed soundlessly, its red eyes sweeping across the courtyard.
Behind the fighters, Alden and Lysa struggled to hold the perimeter. The Whisperers slithered through the fog, half-formed, their laughter crawling across the stone.
Lysa smashed one away with her gauntlets, the metallic clang echoing. "There's no end to them!"
"Just hold on." Alden said, eyeing the wraith exchanging blows with his teammates. "We can't let them interfere with their fight."
His dagger dripped with black residue, each swing cutting through little more than smoke. The air itself seemed heavy and poisonous. But he kept pushing, even as his vision started to blur.
Then, the talisman wrapped around his dagger flickered once, then died out completely.
"Shit!" He cursed.
Lysa checked hers too. The faint glow was gone. The murmurs rose up another volume. Now, it felt more like screams than whispers. She waved her fists around, blindly swinging them at the fog. Her movements were growing more and more erratic.
Alden noticed her, and an ominous feeling rose in his heart. From the distance, the Wraith had turned. Its attention flicked toward them. Then an ugly smile deformed its face.
It turned back to Scourge and Renna, fending off their attacks before vanishing. "I'll deal with you later."
A gust of cold wind tore through the courtyard.
"Move!" Renna shouted, her instincts flaring. She spun, sending a blade of compressed wind slicing through the air.
The attack hit, a clean strike that should have torn the creature in half. But the Wraith didn't even flinch. It took the blow head-on, its body splitting for a second before reforming as it passed through. The mist coiled around its wound, knitting itself back together.
By the time Renna started chasing, it was already halfway across the courtyard.
"Lysa!" Alden shouted. He watched as clarity briefly returned to her eyes. She tried to move, but, he knew, the girl wouldn't be able to dodge in time.
Everything around him slowed, the movement of the fog, the pulse of green light from Renna's daggers, the dull roar of Scourge's sword striking in the distance.
In his chest, something pulsed, a warm fire that infused itself into his heart. It surged upward, into his limbs, into the dagger clenched in his fist.
He moved.
The world blurred. One moment, he was meters away, the next, he was in front of Lysa.
His dagger blazed white, light bursting from the blade as he swung.
Steel met flesh. And the Wraith recoiled with a scream that shook the buildings. Its arm flew off, black vapor spraying into the air. For an instant, the light from Alden's dagger washed over the fog, burning it away.
Then it dimmed.
Alden staggered, the strength leaving his body as quickly as it came. His knees hit the ground. His hand trembled, his chest burning.
Lysa stared, wide-eyed. "Alden…"
The wraith stumbled back, clutching the stump where its arm had been. The wound smoked, edges searing as if burned from the inside.
It looked up at him, the fury in its eyes shifting from confusion to pure rage.
Renna has finally caught up to it. Her daggers flashed in twin arcs, aimed at the Wraith's neck.
A wall of dark mist blocked her strike, then exploded outward, forcing Renna back. From behind her, the Scourge leapt in, his sword glowing white-hot, ready to capitalize on the opening. But as he brought it down, the Wraith caught the blade with its remaining arm.
Then, with a roar, the wraith overpowered the man and hurled him away. He crashed into a stone wall, shattering it on impact.
The wraith's eyes turned back to Alden. He tried to rise, but his body wouldn't listen.
"Time to die."
She lifted her stump of an arm, and the whisperers began to converge on her, their bodies dissolving into trails of dark mist. One after another, they poured into her like smoke feeding a fire.
The severed arm was replaced by a dark shadow that inched towards Alden.
Then, a flash of blue light cut through the air. A talisman spun between them, expanding into a shield of pure Qi. The Wraith's claw hit it head-on, shattering it like glass. But the talisman had fulfilled its purpose. It stopped her just long enough for the ground to erupt into multiple stone spears.
The Wraith was forced to jump back. As she landed, a figure stepped out of the dust, his cloak whipping in the wind.
"About fucking time!" Scourge coughed.
One by one, talisman flew out and formed a circle around the courtyard. Their glow illuminating the night and shining into Darius and Siv's form.