Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 25

The assassin had Callie backed up against a wall, the swordswoman desperately trying to block strikes from the two short swords.

Bryce arrived at her first, his Manticore Aspect making him faster than Isabelle. He swung at the assassin’s neck, hoping to end this fight now. She spun, bringing her short swords up, countering his blade. Only a few strands of blonde hair fell to the floor in the light of the lantern.

The assassin jumped away as Bryce put himself between her and Callie. She smiled as she twirled the two short swords.

“You okay?” Bryce asked Callie as he glared at the assassin. He could smell the snow elf’s blood in the air.

“Just scratches,” she said in a tone Bryce knew was bullshit. “She uses her magic with the swords, don’t trust your eyes.”

The assassin charged, her swords waving about as if it were a dance instead of a fight. She lunged at him, the blade coming in an overhead chop. Bryce’s sword came up to block, only for the blade to pass through his weapon and vanish.

His foot shifted, turning his body as the real attack, a thrust to his gut, slipped by him.

He grimaced at the attack. He would have a serious wound right now had he not heeded Callie’s warning and kept his stance flexible. The fact that Callie had managed to hold the assassin while he took care of the archers was testament to her skill.

She might be a bitch, but she’s a damn good swordswoman.

As if hearing his thoughts, Callie launched her own barrage of slashes at the assassin. He was impressed as her sword seemed to avoid the fake attacks, but blocked or countered the real ones. Bryce watched, studying the assassin’s technique and waiting for an opening to join in on the attack without hampering Callie.

The assassin’s fighting style was very similar to the one Erika had used, and even with his Aspect active, it would be a challenge to counter her blows even without the illusions.

Has Callie improved this much?

The fact that she was seeing through the illusions was startling to him. Then it clicked, and Bryce rushed in.

The assassin turned toward him, her blade lashing out for his throat.

Too obvious.

He ignored it and blocked the quick thrust that followed. That was how Callie was avoiding them. The illusions didn’t fit the assassin’s true fighting style. They were flashy attacks, hard to miss, while her real ones were subtle and quick.

Callie joined him, and the assassin was put on the defensive. They needed to finish this before she caught on to how they saw through her illusions. If she mixed up her fighting style, things could go bad quickly.

Where the hell is Isabelle?

The gang boss had been ahead of him initially when they raced through the tunnel toward the fight. He might be faster than her with his Aspect, but she should have joined the fight by now.

His sword blocked a strike as the assassin grimaced and threw herself back, just as Callie’s sword cleaved where she had been.

She rolled on the ground and skidded to a stop. Callie moved to stand beside him as the assassin stood, glaring at them.

“Now the real fun can begin,” the assassin said, dropping one of her swords to grab a long chain on her belt connected to the magic lantern. She pulled the chain and started to twirl the lantern above her, making clear she intended to use it as a range weapon.

“I’ll tangle the chain with my sword when she throws it. You rush and try to cut the bitch’s head off,” Callie suggested softly.

Bryce answered by shifting his stance, readying himself to carry out the plan. Then the lantern on the end of the chain burst into flames, becoming a fireball before she hurled it at them.

Another illusion?

He felt the heat pouring off of it and dove out of the way as the inferno headed for them, the plan abandoned. The flames scorched the sandstone floor, leaving a black path before the assassin pulled the chain back.

“Which one of you will be burnt to a crisp first?” the assassin laughed.

The fireball at the end of the chain cast its light around the dark tunnel as the assassin spun it. The play of shadow and light made the assassin’s grin almost demonic-looking, but nowhere near the one Isabelle wore. The light of the fireball kept illuminating the redhead gang boss with each pass as she crept closer and closer to the assassin.

Bryce readied his sword and charged, drawing the assassin’s attention. The chained fireball flew toward him, and he threw himself to the floor to avoid it. He looked up as Isabelle made her move.

“Hey, blondie!” Isabelle yelled as her sword struck. “Remember me?”

A blade jetted out of the blonde’s chest, piercing through her left breast. Blood spurted from her mouth as she released the chain, sending the fireball into the sandstone wall with a loud smack. There, it continued to burn brightly, illuminating the scene.

The assassin gasped as she drew a blood-soaked breath and swung her sword at Isabelle, who laughed as she dodged back into the shadows. The assassin staggered, the short sword still stabbed through her body.

The iron scent of blood filled Bryce’s nose, heightened by Manticore Aspect. He felt a primal excitement fill his body, and judging from the grin that formed on Callie’s face, she felt it as well. This fight was over.

The assassin drew another raspy breath, blood sputtering as she exhaled. Panic filled her eyes as Bryce and Callie closed in. Her eyes darted between them and the shadows where Isabelle’s laughter was still coming from. They moved as one, like a pack of wolves going for the kill.

Callie struck first, her sword meeting the assassin’s blade. Bryce followed hers, his blow aimed at the assassin’s sword arm, hacking through her wrist.

A scream of pain shifted to a gurgle as more blood poured from her mouth, the damage to her lung evident. Isabelle appeared from the shadows again, rushing the assassin with her sword low, the steel cutting deep into her thigh. The blow must have struck a tendon as she collapsed to the floor. A red pool formed around her as she started to bleed out, her eyes turning dull with the acceptance of her death.

Isabelle hummed a cheerful tune as she approached. Her hand gripped the pommel of the sword sticking out of the assassin’s back and pulled it free. Then Isabelle started praying, much to Bryce’s shock. The assassin’s wounds shimmered gold, then the bleeding stopped, and she drew a full breath.

“You’re a cleric?” Bryce asked Isabelle, shocked.

She smiled at him.

“Yeah, but keep it a secret,” Isabelle said, lifting a finger to her lips. “Pretty please, darling.”

She then stabbed the sword into the assassin’s leg, twisting the blade. A scream of pain echoed off the tunnel’s walls.

“Don’t you dare think about moving, blondie! I was having a pretty good day when you and your friends jumped me,” Isabelle said, the smile being replaced by a sneer. “I’ll deal with you once I’m done with Snowy and Darling.”

The sneer shifted back to a smile as she looked up at them, and she moved toward Callie.

“Boop,” Isabelle said as she poked Callie on the nose, then started to say a prayer.

The snow elf swordswoman froze, staring at the finger in front of her face. Then the cuts on her shimmered gold as they closed. Isabelle removed her finger and sauntered back to the assassin who was clutching her crippled leg.

“There you go, Snowy. Why don’t you two go check their little camp while I have a chat with the Queen of the roaches here,” Isabelle said, looking back at them as she strolled over to the assassin.

Bryce and Callie shared a look before turning and walking into the shadows. They both knew the assassin wouldn’t survive the talk. You don’t fuck up a move against someone like Isabelle and live to see the next day.

“What kind of god or goddess does she worship?” Callie asked nervously.

“Hell if I know,” Bryce responded.

The camp soon came into view, the magic lantern dropped by the dead archer still illuminating everything.

“I said it once, I’ll say it again, you have a thing for dangerous, crazy women,” Callie said as she knelt down and began checking one of the bodies.

Bryce scoffed.

“If I did, wouldn’t I try making a move on you?” he said as he looked over a table with papers. “You definitely fit the crazy part.”

Callie pulled a magic lantern from the body and activated it, adding more light to the camp.

“Well you did stare at my tits when we escaped the cell back in Sentinel,” she said bringing the lantern over to him.

Bryce glared at her as she approached.

“We were literally chained together, and you started stripping,” he deadpanned.

Callie shrugged.

“You still looked.”

Bryce shook his head and frowned.

“Speaking of, don’t you need to deal with the poison of your bloodline?”

Callie looked back toward the darkness where Isabelle was.

“It can wait until we’re back at the guildhall. I’d rather not start stripping, and our violent friend comes over and gets the wrong idea about me and her darling.”

Bryce turned back to the stack of papers, flipping through them. He paused as one was a drawing of Darren.

“Shit,” Bryce said shuffling the papers. “They have us all!”

Callie reached out and took one of the drawings to examine. They were a sketch with detailed information such as their name, eye color, hair color, and even some of their abilities.

“They even had one of Vex and Janna,” Bryce cursed.

Callie grabbed some papers and started searching.

“Alice?” she asked, fear in her voice.

Bryce shook his head.

“I’m not seeing her, thankfully.”

He saw Callie relax at his words.

“Hey! We’ve got a problem!” Isabelle’s voice echoed down the tunnel.

Bryce grabbed the stack of papers and ran toward her, Callie following beside him, a magic lantern in her hands. Isabelle met them halfway, now wearing her coat.

“Her bringing you here was the cue for her roaches to go after you’re friends!” Isabelle said. “We need to hurry.”

The papers fell from Callie’s hands onto the floor.

“Alice!” she hissed.

They started running down the tunnel, passing by the headless corpse of the blonde assassin.

***

“Oh, thank the divine,” Callie exclaimed as they burst through the guildhall door.

Bryce breathed his own sigh of relief as he saw Vex, Janna, and Alice. The girls were sitting at a table, Omelet by their feet. Mark stood in the center of the tavern as he examined three bodies lying on the floor, arrows sticking out of them. The twins and Darren were nearby and alert, as were other members of the guild.

“You know our unexpected guest?” Mark said, kicking one of the corpses in black leather armor. “They broke through the floor in the supply room. There’s a damn maze under it.”

The guild master frowned as Isabelle stepped into the guildhall behind him and Callie.

“We just dealt with their leader,” Bryce said. “The bitch attempted to lead us into an ambush.”

Isabelle walked up to stand by Bryce, her hand moving to hold the edge of his jacket. He could already see Vex scowling as the sea elf touched his clothes.

“Leader for a cell,” Isabelle added. “The organization is fairly big.”

Mark swore as he moved away from the corpses.

“Let’s discuss this in my office,” he said before heading to the door in the back of the guild.

Bryce moved to follow the berserker, Isabelle following along, still holding the edge of his jacket.

“I’ll stay here,” Callie said as she moved to the table with the girls. “I do expect you to update me on what’s discussed.”

Vex stood and blocked his and Isabelle’s path. The wolfgirl’s ears flat as she glared at Isabelle’s hand. He already knew what was coming.

“Vex, this is not the time—“

Vex growled.

“My Bryce!”

Isabelle just smiled and started speaking in beastkin. Bryce watched as Vex’s ears perked up. She listened to what Isabelle said, then nodded before returning to the table.

“Are you coming?” Mark called out.

Bryce silently repeated what he could remember Isabelle saying to try and look it up later as he moved to the office. He knew one word meant ‘Pack’ and Isabelle had said it a few times.

Once they were inside the office and had taken their seats, Mark closed the door.

“How much do you know?” Mark asked Isabelle.

The sea elf smiled as she tilted her head curiously, her hand still holding Bryce’s jacket.

“About the organization, or the Princess in your guildhall?” She asked.

Bryce stared at the smiling Isabelle as Mark rubbed his face before moving to his desk and sitting down.

“Do they know she’s here?” Mark asked.

Isabelle shook her head.

“No, this is supposed to be a test by the organization for potential recruits or hunters, as they call themselves. They know Erika died and assume it was Bryce, Queenshield, and the dwarf who killed her. The only reason they sent actual assassins is because I started exterminating their hunters,” she shrugged. “After their losses today, they’ll back off for a while. The Black Knife portrays itself as a secret organization, but they have a reputation, and this will look bad for them.”

Bryce stared at her.

“That’s their name, the Black Knife?” he asked.

Isabelle nodded.

“A little on the nose if you asked me, but what do you expect from a bunch of weirdos wearing matching outfits. The ones we’re dealing with are a branch organization from the Silkie Isles Black Knife. They’ve only been operating on the continent for less than a hundred years.”

Mark narrowed his eyes at her.

“And you know this how?”

Isabelle twirled a lock of her red hair.

“People are pretty chatty around me,” she said with a sly smile. “I don’t know why.”

Mark huffed.

“Clearly, your charming personality,” he deadpanned.

Isabelle smiled.

“Thank you!”

The berserker sighed before looking at Bryce.

“I’m promoting your wifey to bronze rank. Her griffin alerted us to them trying to break in, and Vex killed one and injured another before we arrived to back her up.”

Isabelle released his jacket and clapped excitedly.

“Yay! I’ll have to tell her congratulations!” she said before standing. “Well, if you don’t need me anymore, I’m going to go check on my business and girls.

The tunnels under the city are the smugglers’ turf, but it will be my territory by the end of the day tomorrow. If I hear anymore about the Black Knife, I’ll let you know.”

Bryce felt her fingers run along his shoulder.

“And I’ll send you another contract soon, darling,” Isabelle purred.

Then the gang boss saw herself out of the office, humming that cheerful tune as she did. Mark arched an eyebrow over his one eye.

“Darling?” he asked.

Bryce shook his head and sighed.

“Don’t you dare start reaching for the damn whiskey and glasses.”