As Isabel took her place at his side, Elliott dismissed the gateway behind him and summoned a flame to see in the dark of the night. Ahead of him, three people stood between him and his sister. Well, two people stood. One was on her hands and knees still trying to shake off her disorientation.

  The brute of a man who had attacked his sister turned around, broadsword held in one hand as he offered the other to the woman still struggling to stand. He was several inches taller than Elliott and twice as wide, ridiculous muscles bulging like his arms and chest had been pumped with silicone. The woman grasping his hand to pull herself up was shorter and leaner, clad in dark leather armour with straight black hair ending at her shoulders. Off to their side was another woman – younger than the first and shorter too. She also wore dark leather armour, two daggers gripped in her hands, blades resting on her forearms. Her straight black hair, cut just short of her shoulders, framed a youthful, pale face.

  Elsie jumped up and bounded over towards him and Isabel, taking a moment to hold her hands to her ears and stick out an imaginary tongue at the brute as she passed them by. When she reached Elliott, she gave him a wink and a smile before clambering up Isabel’s dress to sit on her shoulder. She pointed out the younger girl to Elliott, who swept his eyes over her before turning back to Elsie with a nod. Elsie then directed Isabel towards the southwest of the camp. As the two of them headed to where Elsie had indicated, Elliott felt a subtle shift in the air.

  [Shroud of the Eternal King]

  The broadsword clattered against the wafer thin shield surrounding his head, the brute staggering back slightly, but immediately holding his sword in a fighting stance. He doubted the brute had the strength to actually hurt him, but he liked to make sure. It would take a significant amount of damage to break through his shroud.

  “What part of being utterly defeated by Elsie made you think you had a chance against me?” Elliott peered into the man’s brown eyes.

  The man said nothing as he towered over Elliott. It might have been impressive to most people. Daunting, even. A seven foot hulk of a man with those muscles and that massive broadsword. Elliott imagined many an opponent defeated themselves looking at this man in front of him. He kept all those weapons on his back for similar reasons. It confused people. Made them wonder if he was as dangerous as he looked. Sometimes, it had the desired effect. But once in a while, there were people like this dumbo in front of him who thought it was all a show.

  “Oh, I see,” Elliott said, sensing a subtle shift to his left. [Shroud of the Eternal King] didn’t just protect him from damage. It alerted him to threats that got too close. The downside was the mana it took to keep it active. “This is one of those bravado moments. A last stand type of thing. Trying to distract me while she tries to sneak up and attack me?”

  He snapped his arm out to the left, grabbing the older woman by her neck. He peered around the brute. The other girl was still there, mouth open, daggers still in her hand. But she had been smart. Even though Elsie said to keep her alive, his sister knew how he worked.

  The brute began the slightest of shifts in his stance but Elliott just looked at him, eyes frowning and the man immediately stopped.

  Ultimately, intimidation wasn’t about what one looked like. It was about what one could do. He tossed the older woman at the big man. Surprisingly, he dropped his sword to catch her. Lovers? It didn’t matter.

  [The Infinite Sunder]

  [The Timeless Rend]

  [The Endless Wither]

  Three very powerful, very intricate debuffs that affected an opponent’s durability, strength and stamina. Had they been strong enough, Elliott wouldn’t use the spells. As high-level as the spells were, they were only effective on powerful opponents that weren’t powerful enough to resist. Anyone too strong or too weak, and the spells would slide off them like they weren’t even there.

  He cast them on the man and woman, the debuffs settling an invisible layer on them that they wouldn’t even be aware of, stripping them of the defences they would have grown used to. Stripping away their ability to withstand damage, their ability to endure it, their ability to fight it.

  It made them who they really were.

  He could have defeated these two without the spells, but it would take time and energy that he didn’t want to waste.

  He reached out with a hand, mana streaming through his channels to grasp the man and woman, lifting them off the ground. They looked at him, the brute cocking his head as realisation dawned in his eyes. Elliott closed his hand in a fist and the man and woman were no longer there, their bodies crushed and squeezed, bursting like tomatoes in a volley of exploded limbs and gushing blood.

  Violent, but efficient. Contrary to what they thought about him on Earth, he didn’t go out of his way to murder people without reason. He just certainly wouldn’t go out of his way to not murder them.

  In the wake of their vanishing, the younger girl sheathed her daggers and knelt on the floor beyond the pool of their remains, eyes fixed on Elliott.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “All I ask is for a clean death,” the girl said. Elliott smiled.

  “You’re not going to beg for your life? Offer me information to spare you?”

  “You don’t strike me as the kind who would be swayed by such things,” the girl replied. “Besides, I’m no traitor.”

  Elliott walked closer to her, right through the pool of blood and limbs, until he stood before her and she strained her neck to maintain eye contact.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Lyla.”

  “You’re not feeling the need to avenge your colleagues?”

  Lyla pursed her lips and took her time before answering. “I don’t believe in such things. We were only colleagues. Not family.”

  “You met Elsie. She says I should let you live. What do you think?”

  “I think that is your choice. I’ve done this long enough to know that you might keep me alive today, only to kill me in my sleep tomorrow.”

  Elliott smiled at the girl. She was a clever one. Tough. He saw a bit of himself in her. There’d be no begging to stay alive. Far too much dignity for that. Good.

  “You can stand,” Elliott said, as he glanced toward the big tent behind him on the other side of the clearing. He channelled some mana, grabbed two of the chairs inside and floated them over to them. He gestured to Lyla to sit, as he took his own seat, crossing his right leg over the other.

  “I won’t waste your time or mine,” Elliott said. “If you’re willing to talk, we can do so.”

  “And you’ll kill me after anyway?”

  “No. I’m giving you a choice. I give you my word that no harm will come to you whatever you choose. You can choose to speak freely of your own accord. Or you can leave. Or I suppose I can give you that clean death, if you so wish it.”

  “Why would you let me walk away?”

  “Why not?”

  “We would have killed you if it had been the other way.”

  “If you could have.”

  He could tell she was considering. She had probably been in interrogations herself or at the very least, knew that the one being interrogated was usually killed anyway.

  That wasn’t Elliott’s way. If he gave his word, he kept it.

  After a few moments of silence – Lyla peering into his black eyes as if she could tell the truth from that – she spoke.

  “What is it you want to know?”

  Elliott smiled. “How about we start with who you are?”

  “I’m a member of the Shadow’s Delta Squad. One of its four elite units.”

  “And what are the Shadows?”

  “A military arm of the Empire, engaged in espionage and covert operations.”

  “And what was your objective here?”

  “We were sent to locate the remnants of the Rhianian army and crush their resistance once and for all.”

  “Did you know I was here?”

  “We found out earlier this evening. And about the King. So we attacked earlier than planned.”

  She kept her eyes on his throughout. He sat back as he pondered.

  “One of the servants in the tent?” he said a moment later.

  She answered with a nod. “Me.”

  Resourceful girl.

  “How long had you been spying on them?”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Are there more spies among them?”

  “There’s a few.”

  “And you know them?”

  “Yes.”

  “All of them?”

  “Yes,” she said, eyes still on his. He could see she understood what he might ask of her.

  “Does anyone else know about me?”

  She nodded. “Information about you and the king was sent to Lord Commander Darius and Lord Captain Harshaw. But only you. I didn’t know about your companions.”

  “What will they do with the information?”

  “Inform the Emperor for certain. It will become a matter of urgency when we don’t return. In a few hours, they’ll be aware that you’re more dangerous than we initially assumed.”

  “What are they likely to do?”

  She shrugged her shoulders.

  “It doesn’t matter. They would have known I was here anyway. You said there’s four elite Shadow units? Where are the other three?”

  “I wouldn’t know.” She peered beyond Elliott, at the pool of limbs. “You killed our Captain there. He might have had that information.”

  Elliott glanced over his shoulder with pursed lips, before turning back to Lyla. “Well. I can’t put them back together! How strong are the other squads compared to yours?”

  “Stronger. Alpha and Beta squads are much stronger. I know that they could do what you’ve just done.”

  He nodded at her. “Are there any other units I should be aware of?”

  “The Empire has three elite military arms. The Shadows, The Blackguard and The Wardens. The Blackguards protect the royal family. The Wardens take care of elite threats. They would likely be involved in tracking you down, once word of what has happened here gets out. So would the Shadows.”

  “That’s good to know. Just one more thing. There’s a dungeon further south. Do you know about it?”

  “The Temple of the Twins?”

  “If that’s what it’s called.”

  “What do you want to know about it?”

  “Why is there a military presence there? And who are they? They had your Empire’s colours but also a banner with this.” He pointed at the pentagram on his forehead.

  “They are the Order of Balance. Religion is outlawed in the Empire. They make sure to enforce that.”

  Elliott frowned. “But why would they need such a force outside the dungeon? Why is there a magical barrier blocking entry?”

  “The temple only became a dungeon a few months ago. I believe some of its followers hid inside the dungeon. The Order is tasked with rooting out those individuals and they're making sure none of the followers can escape.”

  “And this…Order is part of the Empire?”

  “No. It operates with the Emperor’s approval, but they have their own headquarters and are not part of the Empire’s military.”

  Before Elliott could delve further, he sensed Isabel and Elsie returning from the southwest, dragging three bodies behind them through the grass. They stopped, had a look at the pool of limbs that Elliott had created, then hauled the bodies there and dumped them by the side.

  “Isabel, can you go and find Taalan and his generals for me? Bring Rose and Korin as well,” Elliott said.

  “Of course, Sir,” Isabel said before heading back towards the south. Elsie on the other hand, skipped over to him, using the chair legs and its back to scramble up and perch on his shoulder. She peered at Lyla with a smile and held a small thumb up.

  “What is she?” Lyla asked. “We thought you might have been a puppetmancer, but she’s alive. How?”

  Elliott looked at the young girl’s curious eyes.

  “As much as I appreciate the information you have given me, I don’t think you need to know that. Everyone other than myself and Isabel that knew is dead. I trust you understand what that means?”

  She nodded.

  “Now, when Isabel gets back, I have one thing I need you to do and then you’ll be free to leave.”

  “You want me to reveal the spies?”

  “Yes.”

  “And I can go?”

  “You have my word.”

  Lyla was quiet a moment, her eyes drifting to the bodies and the pool of blood and limbs, then to Elliott, then back to the bodies. She tapped her thigh with her fingers as she nervously bounced her legs.

  “What is it?” Elliott asked. Lyla’s eyes snapped to his, a little startled. “You think I’m going to do the same to you?”

  “No…I…” she paused, and took in a deep breath before meeting his eyes.

  “Can I stay with you?”