A faded memory flashed before his eyes.

  They were similar, that statue of the hunter and the recollection of his father, etched into the walls of his mind just like the stone was etched here.

  “That Hunter in the stone,” he said quietly. “He looks like my father.”

  “The one with the knives?” Edmund said, peeking up from his hat to follow his gaze. “I’d doubt it's him, this place has stood for centuries.”

  “They’re similar.” Wretch said with a shake of his head. “Or maybe I’m imagining it. The memory is worn.”

  “If that’s him, he’d want for you to get a wicked weapon.” Elenya said with a chuckle and pushed him forward. “He told you to grow, right? let's show em.”

  Wretch craned his neck to keep looking. He took a breath and shook his head.

  It's impossible, that can't be him.

  With some effort he swallowed his curiosity and took in the hall.

  A massive half circle table stood in the middle, surrounded by tall wooden chairs with blood-red cushions. Leaving seats for almost a hundred people. Figures already occupied a few seats, talking in whispers with one another. Most of them wore black hats of different heights and widths, with a matching dark coat.

  Hunters.

  One even had a black dog that laid behind her, at least that’s what he thought it was. The creature was at least two meters long from snout to the base of the tail, the woman next to it was in her thirties with dark eyes, hair tucked into a large round hat.

  Astrid leaned over to whisper to him and Elenya as they took their seats.

  “That’s Dalynja the Beast-breaker. A Fireling captain for a squad of hunters like ourselves.”

  “Her team is good at tracking and long range attacks, but still quite green. Comparable to us,” Edmund said while nodding.

  Wretch spotted a broad, unkempt man sitting alone. Wild hair carrying down to sideburns and a long trench coat over a frayed, ill-fitting suit. His face was wolfish with yellow teeth.

  “Who is that?”

  “That’s Andryi the Storm’s Fury.” Edmund said as he leaned over from his red velvet chair. “Has quite the reputation, taking on suicidal missions alone. I heard he went from ember to fireling in just four months.”

  “You know him?” Elenya asked

  “I tried to recruit him, but he refused.” Edmund answered. “Apparently he rips beasts apart with his bare hands.”

  More Hunters arrived, filling the seats as the last light of the suns filtered through the multicolored glass above. Braziers along the walls cast long shadows over the reliefs, shifting the shadows to make the depictions of hunters and horrors dance.

  Last to enter was an entourage led by a regal-looking man in an exquisite uniform, medals gleaming on his chest. His dark hair was combed back, and the pommel of a two-handed sword poked up over his shoulder.

  “General Frederic! What is he doing here?” Astrid whispered with narrowing eyes.

  Wretch peeked up from his seat.

  “He’s a general? I thought this was hunters only?”

  Edmund carried a rare puzzled look.

  “It is…”

  “Is he some kind of big shot?” Elenya asked as she leaned back in her chair, balancing on two wooden legs.

  “Every general is a big deal, but Frederic von Agér? He’s a political player, his family runs the Von Agér college.” Edmund said.

  “He’s at least a Blaze, and his regiment, the third outrunner regiment, is fierce.” Astrid said with a shake of her head. “When I was a pupil he helped clear up a cheating scandal. If you swear anything to him, you’ll have to keep it.”

  Edmund stroked his chin.

  “Lets keep a low profile, this feast might be more eventful than expected,” Edmund said.

  Wretch leaned over to Astrid, whispering, “What makes the Army so different from the Hunters?”

  “The Saint has two hands,” Astrid commented in a low voice while gesturing with her fingers.

  “The left is Maria the impaler, she’s the representative of us Hunters who seek out the threats inside the city. While the right hand is Gustavius the Lion and the army under him. They stave off the Gulschak’s and other threats from the outside,” she continued.

  “They're not to be trifled with, now quiet down,” Edmund said with a shake of his head.

  All seats were now full.

  Outside, bells chimed, marking eight in the evening. Only one person still stood, General Frederic.

  The general stood behind the hunters he had entered with, eyes in the distance and a friendly smile on his lips. The others cast watchful gazes towards him, whispering among themselves.

  Wretch took in the scents of the room, charred wood and incense as steps came echoing down a dark hallway and the rest of the hunters grew quiet.

  A man entered, followed by a dozen servants carrying crates and boxes. He walked up to stand in the middle of the U-shaped table.

  The man was short and broad, with a bald head and a twirling mustache, dressed in a plain shirt and a dark red vest. He looked over the room with the expression of a performer.

  As his eyes landed on the General. His expression didn’t change, only a slight narrowing of his eyes.

  “General Frederic of many Oaths,” the short man said, hands behind his back. “This isn’t a meeting for army officials, this is strictly Hunter business.”

  The General’s gave a nod, still holding a faint smile.

  “That is true. I am an onlooker today, merely watching this… antiquated practice of resource distribution.” The general answered.

  The short man’s brow furrowed. “Are you saying these Blessed tools are of better use in your hands?”

  “Yes.” The general responded without hesitation.

  Hushed whispers spread through the crowd.

  The short man froze for a moment, clearly not anticipating the answer. Then, shook his head.

  “This won’t do general. I will have to report this to the upper echelons. Maria will not be pleased.”

  The General didn’t move a muscle, still frozen in a courteous smile.

  “I am counting on you to do such, though I advise you not to worry.”

  Frederic let the moment linger.

  “These are hunters under my guidance,” he said, gesturing out to the people seated before him.

  “As such, I am looking to educate them and point them in the right direction. I won’t intervene during your negotiations.”

  His eyes lit up with fire before he continued.

  “By that I swear.”

  A wave of whispers swept the room at the sight of the generals Blessing.

  Wretch and Elenya turned with questioning looks towards Astrid and Edmund. They too, seemed lost.

  The short man, still with furrowed brow and frown, looked to be in deep thought, after a moment he took a deep breath.

  “No need for these games, General. You may stay, but my report will be damning.”

  The short man sighed and looked to collect himself, continuing in a well-versed manner.

  “Welcome brothers and sisters to the Hunter’s feast.” He said with outstretched arms. “I am Salzvir Vanskaja, a lowly Ember. I represent the hunter bureau and tonight— we share our bounty, ripped from the claws of terror.

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  He paused to look over the room. “The order has been chosen at random, to give a bid, raise a hand and when I point to you, name your price. If there are no prospective bids, the bureau will buy the weapons from you. We need every edge, I hope for your understanding in that aspect.”

  Wretch felt his heart beat just a little faster. In his pocket, twelve pounds and six pence weighed down his suit. It wasn’t near enough, but he could borrow from the others. Add to that the coin from their own loot, the sword from the crypt, and the coal belonging to Ivan, Last of Kin.

  The real question was what items would be available.

  “Focus,” he whispered to himself. “Don’t make a fool out of yourself.”

  Salzvir reached out to the first container and pulled out a long ivory pipe, carved in a swirling pattern of connecting waves.

  “Now for our first item.”

  “Pipe of the Drowned. With this you can spend flame to breathe underwater.” He said holding the bone-white accessory high. “Our tests show a newly awakened Ember can sustain it for a full hour.

  “It’s downside you ask? Manageable, just a putrid stench of rot as you breathe.”

  Salzvir looked over the room.

  “The house is ready to secure it for fifty pounds.”

  The wolfish-looking man, Andreyi, raised a hand lined with scars. “Sixty pounds,” he said in a thick and wet voice, as if he’d inhaled saltwater.

  Wretch looked to Elenya, but she shook her head and leaned over.

  “What you going to do with that, crawl down an outhouse?” she whispered.

  Another hunter raised their hand, and Salzvir opened his hand towards him in a courteous gesture.

  “Sixty-Five pounds,” came the bid.

  It was quiet for a moment, a tiny crack brushed against Wretch’s sensitive ears. It came from Andreyi’s chair.

  What?

  It was accompanied by the faint screech of leather.

  Did he just crush the chair with his hand?

  “Seventy.” Andreyi retorted.

  Salzvir gestured out towards the group hunters.

  No new bids.

  Wretch felt a tinge of relief, making a mental note to keep out of the man’s way.

  Salzvir grabbed the pipe with reverence, his boots tapping against stone as he walked forward. In a bow, he stretched out both hands to give the blessed item.

  “May this serve you well on your coming hunts.”

  Andreyi unceremonially grabbed it and stuffed it into his pocket without a word while Salzvir walked to the next container.

  A mace, its round head adorned with spikes and between them, circular carvings of bulging eyes. Twisting patterns grooved the shaft, and a thick metal loop hung at the end. Just at the sight of it, he heard Elenya lean forward in her seat.

  “Mace of Gifted Sights. With flame the next hit induces hallucinations. These worsen with each blow and our testing has found it… rather unpleasant,” Salzvir said.

  He paused, lowering his voice.

  “It has a sizable downside. Hallucinations will appear after one hour of proximity, gradually worsening. However, we found that a lead box can prevent this.”

  “A new Ember can empower five strikes. The house is ready to secure for one hundred and fifty pounds,” Salzvir finished.

  Wretch saw Elenya flash a cruel smile before looking over at their group. Without doubt thinking about ways to decimate future enemies. Edmund gave a nod of approval, and Astrid gave a thumbs up. She turned her eyes to him, looking down at him through wild ginger locks.

  “Just don’t hit me with it.” He muttered, while inspecting his claws.

  Elenya’s grin grew wider and her hand shot up in the air. Salzvir gestured towards her.

  “One hundred and sixty pounds.” She said with confidence.

  Several other hands rose around the table, and he could hear Elenya gritting her teeth.

  “One hundred and ninety,” came the next bid.

  We weren’t the only one who saw the power of that thing, huh?

  Wretch gazed out over the dark room, the braziers casting long flickering shadows. He saw one hunter that had entered with the general look up at his superior. The general however, was unmoving, eyes in the distance.

  The hunter turned around and raised his hand, the next bid falling to him.

  “Three hundred and ninety pounds, ” came his bid, outscaling the others by a wide margin.

  The room went quiet.

  Even Wretch raised a brow. Several raised hands lowered as Dalynja, the hunter with the dog, flashed a satisfied grin.

  Elenya, with her hand halfway up in the air, froze, gnashing her teeth. After a moment, she lowered her hand and leaned back in her chair with a vein pulsing on her forehead. Wretch edged his chair away from her slightly, just to be out of grabbing distance.

  No other bid came, and Salzvir handed over the weapon, then drew out the next item from a shiny metal box held by a clerk.

  A dark rock that smoldered with light from within.

  “This is a coal from a human Fireling. He had powers over the dead and possession-like blessings. The house will secure for forty pounds,” Salzvir continued.

  Human, Wretch thought.

  That was Ivan’s coal. He'd been the one to kill him. Until now he hadn’t thought of the withered corpse as anything more than just another horror. Not human.

  But if he was, did that make him a murderer?

  He’d arguably killed Akim those months ago. But they were scum, deserving of the gallows.

  The carved silhouettes of hunters past looked down on him.

  No, he thought. He was a hunter now, and whatever went against the city deserved to be hunted, human or not.

  The bidding for the coal was heated, Andreyi came out with an initial large bid of seventy pounds. But in the end, the general’s faction brought it for one hundred pounds, and now it was Edmund’s turn to flash a grin.

  The fierce bidding only continued, with the general’s faction showing aggressive interest in the handful of coals. They even bought Datlovich’s silence, the Richter’s sword, for two hundred pounds.

  Elenya bid on a hammer that could do a shattering strike but broke a finger with each hit. Its price skyrocketed to five hundred pounds, and now she stared into the dark ceiling with a gloomy look.

  Astrid tried to get her hands on a pair of spectacles that let you see in the dark while impairing your hearing but was outbid, unlike Elenya she seemed unbothered.

  Wretch passed the time by trying to count the total coin his group possessed. His math had improved, but he still couldn’t get it together and instead leaned over to Astrid.

  “What sum do we have to work with?” he asked in a low whisper.

  “Ummh,” Astrid said as she pushed up her glasses.

  “After the deductions for housing and such, we probably got two hundred pounds from our items. That, together with our savings, puts us at three hundred and five pounds as a collective.”

  Wretch nodded in response. There were only a few crates of goods left, yet the bidding was still ferocious.

  Salzvir opened a smaller box, revealing a ring made of icy blue mixed with steel. The metallic colors swirled, as if the ring contained a storm inside the metal.

  “This ring is powerful. But so is the downside.”

  ”Ring of Consuming Fury. This will grant the wearer resistance to lightning and increased strength and reflexes. The power to conjure minor lightning strikes for a large amount of flame. An ember can only activate it once.”

  Salzvir cleared his throat.

  “The drawback, and I remind you that the ring is powerful, will reduce every emotion except anger with every use. We currently have no way of lessening the impact. Or make it… non-permanent.”

  The room was deadly silent.

  “The house is ready to secure for fifty pounds,” Salzvir concluded.

  “What an awful drawback,” Wretch said to the group as whispers echoed across the room.

  Elenya was no longer laid back in her chair, instead leaning over the table. Looking at the ring without blinking.

  “You can’t be serious?” Wretch said to her.

  Edmund responded just as quickly.

  “Elenya, as long as you're on this crew, I forbid you from acquiring that ring,” he said, looking at her from under the rim of his hat.

  “That’s an order."

  She met his gaze, and the two locked eyes, neither breaking eye contact. The first to look away was Elenya, muttering under her breath.

  Wretch darted his eyes between the two, trying to understand the wordless exchange.

  Salzvir spoke again. “I see, then—” He began.

  “Fifty-one pounds,” a wet, deep voice spoke from the side.

  Every hunter turned. Andreyi, the only hunter with unkempt clothes, raised his hand.

  Salzvir gestured out towards the rest of the hunters, but no counter offer came. He grabbed the ring and walked up to the strange-looking man.

  “May this serve you well on your coming hunts.”

  The rough man took the ring and slipped it on a finger without hesitation.

  Looks like I am not the only one desperate to climb the ranks of the Flame. Wretch thought.

  “And now,” Salzvir said above whispers and murmurs. “For the last item of the night.”

  He took out a blade of polished, shimmering metal. Too long to be called a dagger, yet too short for a sword. The blade was straight and rather broad, leading seamlessly down to an unprotected handle.

  “Blinking Blade, You can fill this weapon with your flame and by visualizing it, It will vanish to then reappear in your hand. A new Ember can fuel ten uses.”

  “The downside? You must stab it through your eye to bind it. The house is ready to secure for one hundred and fifty pounds.”

  Wretch’s eyes widened. If he wanted to grow, a weapon like that, devious and beautiful would be massive.

  His fingers twitched.

  I want it…