For the past week since their engagement, Bella was the happiest she had ever been and could barely control her constant smile. " I can't believe it, I'm gonna marry him... it's scary and exciting at the same time. ". Her daydreaming was interrupted by knocking on her bedroom door.

  " Come in. "

  Malik opened the door and greeted her.

  " Morning sister in law. "

  " That's cute Malik but we aren't really in laws. "

  " Yet! And for looking after that idiot, you are litteral family, I was tired of doing it, look at me! I only got one arm to carry him around! "

  " Ahah, your one arm is still stronger than my two small ones. Do you need anything? "

  " Yeah, someone says they are looking for you. "

  " Oh? Who are they? "

  " She didn't tell me her name, I mean she has a woman's voice but a boyish face, she is kind of flirting with people all the time. "

  Isabella let out a heavy sigh and pinched the space between her eyes.

  " Talia.. "

  " I can invite her in if you wa- "

  Malik was cut off by Talia slithering between him and the door to go and hug her best friend.

  " Rubyyyyyyyyyyyy! "

  " Argh!! Too tight Talia too tight! U gonna suffocate me!! "

  Malik chuckled a little and simply closed the door. Isabella finally managed to break free from her friend's embrace. Talia sat cross legged on the bed.

  " So what happened? I was surprised to find that my best friend just left her home like that and moved to the big city. You got tired of the forest? "

  " Nothing like that, Richard told me that a few dangerous creatures were roaming this specific part and that he didn't feel at ease leaving me there, so he asked that I move in with him for a while. "

  " Hmm and you believe his story? "

  " No but I trust him, he must have a good reason for wanting me away from home. "

  " Well i'm not gonna complain, since you aren't working, how about we go out for a shopping trip just you and I? Like in the good old days. "

  " I know what you are thinking about and no, I'm not stealing or scamming anyone, I'm done with this. "

  " But you were so talented!! And you have to admit it was fun right? "

  " Hmm hmm. "

  Talia pulled her in for another hug.

  " Come on, let's go have fun! "

  " I don't know, I was supposed to go out with Richard and he just is not back yet, his job is taking longer than usual. "

  " What kind of job is he on ? "

  Richard was walking among the citizens of the street with his eyes focused on the man he was trailing for an hour now. " Come on, where are you and your friends hiding? ". The man turned at an angle and disappeared out of Richard's field of vision. He started walking faster and reached the angle. He peeked from behind the wall just in time to see the man enter a building guarded by two men. " Ok, there you are. If this is really an illegal brewery like the captain of the guard told me, then they must have vents to let the fumes out, I'm gonna try my luck through the roof. " . He checked the back of the building and found an easy way to climb up. Once he was on the roof he looked for an entrance. " Ah there you go. ". He spotted an open inclined window and a few vents, he crouched and moved as silently as he could to the window, once he was close enough he peeked inside the building. Inside he could see a room full of thugs working on different types of mixtures. The whole room reeked of strong booze, big silos and barrels were being stacked at the back of the warehouse. " Ok so there are one, two, three .. seven of them. Easy enough. I'm gonna try to do this quickly and silently". Right under the window he was peeking through were the conduits of the vents that were coming to the roof. He slowly descended and landed on it. He then moved towards the back of the brewery. He started using the silos to go down and reach the ground, landing softly he instantly took cover behind a stack of crates and listened in on two thugs passing by him.

  " So you're telling me this guard knew what you were doing out there, you just gave him a bottle and poof he did nuthin'? "

  " Yep, easy to buy, ever since the nightingales have been disbanded, we are free to do whatever we please, we collect some dues, do our business, pay the guard to look the other way and boom easy. "

  While listening to this, Richard hard questions of his own going throught his mind." Does the captain know some of his forces are corrupt? The man was quite strict and he seems meticulous. Something is weird, he has to know about the whereabouts of this warehouse so why not raid it with his men instead of sending me in? ". He decided to brush these thoughts off and just carry on his current task. He sneaked up to the two men, the first one was checking on a list of things and the second one was stacking crates. Slowly he approached the one with the list, once he was close enough he grabbed him and started choking him in a tight lock. The man barely put any resistance before falling unconscious, he crouched as he softly dropped the man to the ground and went for the other man. Still not realising that his companion was gone, he kept the conversation going.

  " Hey, what's in these crates anyway? Why aren't you answer- "

  The man turned around to discover the body of his friend laying right behind him. Before he could scream for help, Richard punched him the trachea, unable to make any sound or breath, the man fell to his knees. Now in an ideal position, Richard simply rotated and kicked his temple with the back of his boot. The man's head hit the ground extremely fast and with a thud. Looking around, Richard made sure no one heard the commotion, he then picked both bodies and hid them. " Two out of seven, let's keep it going. ". He made his way towards the middle of the warehouse, two other men were in the middle of the warehouse working on brewing the beer, it seemed the last three guys he saw previously were busy in a separate room. The two men were standing next to each other on a railing above the beer tanks. Slowly but surely, he walked up to them, he took out a small throwing knife before striking. " I was told to get them alive, but they don't have to be uninjured. ". Aiming for the furthest man, he threw the knife at his knee and waited for it to land. When the knife hit the man, his friend turned toward him and took a few seconds to understand why his friend suddenly took a knee while completelly oblivious to the fact that Richard was right behind him. Doing the same kick he did a few minutes earlier, he hit the man in the temple and his head went straight to hit the railing. Richard then rushed to the other man who had taken the knife out of his leg and was using it to defend himself, he tried swinging at Richard who simply ducked under the strike and delivered a powerful left uppercut to the man's liver. Losing all of his breath, the thug tried another desperate swing downward that Richard easily blocked with his left arm. He then kicked the man in his already injured knee to make him kneel and then punched him right in the face. The man fell heavily to the ground, inconscious. " Ok that's two more, time to get the rest of them. "

  " Hey Izi, look at this! I can finally do the movement correctly! "

  Konnor was doing a handstand and flinging his legs while pivoting on himself, the training was finally paying off.

  " Why of all the places, you do this in the bedroom? You're gonna break something. "

  Stopping his momentum, Konnor stood back up on his feet.

  " You could be happy for me that I managed to finally do it! "

  Izi stood up from the bed and took Konnor's face into his hands.

  " I am happy and proud of you but like I said I don't want you to break things or hurt your arm again. "

  While saying that Izi was slowly tracing the outlines of his shoulder muscles, noticing it, Konnor had a little smirk.

  " Are you sure you don't want me to get hurt again? It's a rare occurrence after all, you could be my nurse again. "

  " Nah I had enough of nursing you, how about YOU start taking care of me instead? "

  " But you're not hurt. "

  Izi let out a heavy sigh and kissed him. He then smiled and looked into his eyes.

  " Your skin really isn't the only thing dense about you. "

  " Shut up. "

  The both of them resumed their kisses and fell onto the bed, they were interrupted by hearing loud voices coming from downstairs. They both stood up and went to look at the commotion. From over the railing they could see at least ten soldiers standing inside the tavern, all wearing regular guards armor except the one in the front who had a golden touch to his. Malik walked up to the group and greeted them.

  " Gentlemen! Welcome to my humble establishment, would you like some refreshment while you wait for your orders? Please have a seat. We just got a new wine and it's to die for! "

  The man in the front walked forward to speak.

  " My name is Felix and I'm the personnal guard of the duchess, I have been tasked to look for a woman for her. "

  Malik couldn't help but chuckle. " So this is it uh? That's what you were fearing Rich.. "

  " Ah! A woman you say? Well I believe the duchess has plenty of maids already, unless you are looking for the type of woman you actually need to pay a decent salary for her to clean some more 'personal areas' uhhh? "

  The customers exploded in a general laughter which had the effect of annoying Felix. " These damn peasants, eugh. "

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  " Don't play stupid, I know she is in here, where is the redhead? "

  Instantly, Konnor's hair stood up on his neck and he clenched his fists on the railing. Noticing how tense he got, Izi grabbed his wrist and shook his head.

  " Calm down, I'm sure Malik will make them leave or gain time. "

  " Let's hope he does. "

  Malik scratched his head and then his chin.

  " A redhead? That's one specific color of hair and I don't remember having seen anyone that looked like this around here in a while. Did any of you here saw a redhead in this very tavern? "

  The customers and waitresses all shook their heads and gave negative answers, with a smirk on his face, Malik faced Felix again.

  " See? No redhead around here but our wine can give you a red face for sure ahah! "

  Even some of the soldiers behind Felix chuckled at the jokes the tavern owner was throwing. Annoyed, Felix walked closer till his face was only a few centimeters away from Malik's.

  " You think this is funny? "

  " Well I heard a few laughs so I guess yeah, I am funny. "

  " How about I cut your other arm then? "

  " Oh please do, I will have less work around here but cut it properly. I hate botched jobs."

  Felix leaned even further forward till their noses were almost touching. The two men had a stare down for a minute that seemed like an eternity.

  " Do you realise the position that you are in, tavern owner? "

  " Well I'm standing with a bloke an inch away from my face and I'm sorry, for some lasses you might be cute but I don't swing that way unless I've had a few drinks and I'm very very sober right now. "

  " I can be convincing. "

  " Oh yeah? "

  " Yeah. "

  Felix snapped his fingers and all the soldiers behind him took their swords out, the customers and waitresses all moved back and away from the group of armed men. Felix smiled at Malik.

  " So? You feel like talking to me now? "

  " in all honesty? No, but come with me. " Malik simply went and sat down at a table. " Jess, get us some wine, come sit with me pretty boy, let's have a chat. "

  " What do you think of this Bel'? I look cute right? "

  " Yeah yeah. "

  " You aren't even looking!! "

  " I don't care Talia! I'm not into clothes, I like to wear simple things, what's the problem? "

  " THAT.IS. THE PROBLEM! How are you gonna appeal to guys if you don't style yourself properly? "

  " I don't need to appeal to anyone, I already have Richard. "

  " But wouldn't it be good to surprise him with something nice?

  " Meh .. "

  " Ok, don't move, I'm gonna change out of this and then we are gonna find you something sexy, class and practical! "

  Bella let out a heavy sigh. For the past hour now Talia had been dragging her from shop to shop to try clothes and now she was gonna be her dress up creature. The two friends exited their current shop and started walking around, Talia looked at her friend and finally noticed something shiny at her hand.

  " Wow nice ring you got there, didn't take you for the jewelry type of gal. "

  " It's not something I bought for myself. "

  " Who did you steal it from then? "

  Isabella glared at her.

  " I'm joking Bella! Geez you're so sensitive. "

  " You just have bad jokes! And it was a gift. "

  " Froooooooom? "

  " Don't be stupid, from Richard obviously. "

  " I don't know, you could have had multiple admirers. That's a cool gift. Seems a bit official doesn't it? "

  " Because it was ... "

  " What ..? "

  " He proposed to me. "

  " OH.MY.GOD!!! And what did you say?! "

  " I said yes. "

  Talia started jumping around like a crazy person.

  " My bestie is getting married! Woohooo! We definitely need to find you a dress now! "

  Talia grabbed her by the wrist and started leading her through the streets. A few minutes later, Talia was seated waiting for Bella to finish trying on a dress she had picked for her. When Bella lifted the curtain, Talia's eyes widened in excitement.

  " You look so good!! "

  Bella was now wearing a lightblue dress with an opening at her thighs, some golden threads were implement into the fabric, her shoulders were uncovered and the low cut was flattering her breasts. Overall the dress was accentuating and compliment her figure perfectly.

  " Talia, it looks great but it doesn't feel like .. me? "

  " It's because you don't know yourself completely, this dress doesn't have to become you, it has to compliment whoever you want to be! In this dress you can be powerfull, confident .. " Talia walked up to her and slightly touched the naked skin on the hip part while biting her lips. " .. sexy. "

  " Talia, can you stop being in heat all the time? "

  " No. But look at yourself in this mirror? Don't you feel good? "

  She looked at her reflection, smiled and thought to herself. " I guess I do look good, I hope Richard will like it. "

  Richard sneaked towards the door he was hearing the voices of the three men from. He slightly opened it and looked inside, the three men were drinking and playing cards. " Ok, flash and bash, time to try this." He took out a small bomb from his pouch made by Senob, took a deep breath and made a small flame appear at the tip of his finger to light the wick. Once it was lit, he waited a few seconds and threw it inside, the bomb bounced on the ground and exploded at the center of the room creating a deafening sound and a blinding light. Richard ran inside and instantly kicked the man on the left in the face , putting him out of comission. He then turned around, jumped by placing his palms on the table and in the same motion kicked with his two feet the man across the table. The third man, still blinded by the flash bomb, tried swinging at him only to get thrown to the ground and taken out in a second. The last one standing was the second man he had kicked, who was also his main target. He ran at and swept him from the ground with a kick, he then grabbed his arm and twisted it to put it in a lock.

  " Ow ow ow! Calm down man, we are just doing business here! "

  " Illegal business that is. "

  " How are you supposed to get out of the streets then? We are getting kept here in our current situations! And so far no one came after us! "

  " It's sad but it's not my problem, now hold still. "

  Richard restrained the man and right when he finished tying him up he heard a fight break out at the entrance, he ran out of the room to discover soldiers including the captain of the guards here.

  " What are you doing here? "

  " Well we came to assist you in your mission! But glad to see you succeed, round 'em up boys! "

  The guards started flooding in to grab the thugs, something was bugging off Richard. " something feels wrong here. " His suspicions intensified when the man he had just tied up saw the captain of the guard.

  " You son of a bitch you set us up! We had a deal! We had deal! We had a- "

  The man could never finish his sentence as the captain slit his throat with a quick slash of his sword. The captain looked at the man choking on his own blood before dying. Once the man had stopped moving he walked up to the dead body and spat on it.

  " A pathetic death for a pathetic rat."

  Richard looked at him and raised an eyebrow, the captain glared back at him.

  " What? "

  " What what? What the hell was that?! You told me to not kill them! "

  " I changed my mind, only idiots don't change. "

  " What did he mean by 'we had a deal'? "

  " No idea, a fool's nonsense. "

  This whole operation was getting fishier and fishier. The captain turned his back on Richard and started walking outside.

  " Our work is done here boys, time for a fresh beer! "

  " Wait a minute - "

  " Oh and don't forget to take out the last target. "

  Suddenly all the guards turned towards Richard with their swords out, he took out his dagger reflexively.

  " What's the meaning of this?! "

  " Well our lady knew you would not come willingly and you would protect your little redhead, so we had to get you away, Felix must be playing with her by now. "

  A sudden rage took over Richard, he focused his magic in his legs and moved so fast the captain barely had time to realise that his own head was rolling on the ground. All of the soldiers were startled by what had just happened in front of their eyes. Richard looked back at all of them and closed the door of the warehouse.

  " Now, let's all have a talk. "

  Malik took a sip of his wine in silence while maintaining eye contact with Felix.

  " So pretty boy, how is the wine? "

  " It's ok. "

  " Good. "

  " So, where is she? "

  " Who? "

  Felix slammed his fist on the table.

  " The girl! "

  " I see many girls here but none likes a violent guy. "

  " You think this is violence? I can show you violence." He turned to his soldiers and snapped his fingers again. " Turn this place upside down! "

  The soldiers started trashing the place, breaking windows, plates and tables. They invaded the kitchen and throwing the food on the ground and stomping it. And among all of this chaos and scream, Malik remained laid back in his seat sipping on his wine. All the waitresses were taking refuge towards the back of the building behind him. His laid back attitude was getting on Felix's nerves. Malik was just smiling at him.

  " That's it? That's your violence? You are just throwing a fit like a child, nothing impressive. I've seen worse in the war. "

  " Alright then. "

  Felix got up and started walking towards the waitresses. At this moment Malik grabbed his cape and made him stop.

  " Your talk is with me, it's very rude to get up in the middle of a conversation young man. "

  " Don't touch me with your filthy hands you peasant! "

  " Just come and sit down, be civilised. "

  " I'm done being civil, you are just savages and now you will experience savagery! "

  Malik got up, grabbed Felix by the neck and tossed him backwards. All the guards surrounded Malik in a heartbeat.

  " You people would really attack a man who is unarmed? "

  Malik looked up at Izi and Konnor and shook his head. He was signaling to the two boys that they had to stay put. Felix still had his sword sheeted.

  " I won't attack unharmed, I will take you on with my fists. "

  " Bad choice boy. "

  Malik got into a stance and waited for Felix to come running in, the guard started with a series of light jabs that Malik evaded easily. He could feel his opponent getting more and more impatient, when the occasion presented itself, he grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a headbutt quickly followed by a knee to the guts and a powerful uppercut that threw him into the ranks of his men. Malik wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at Felix painfully getting up.

  " Had enough? "

  " Men, show this prick that eighteen arms are better than just one. "

  The soldiers all started advancing towards Malik, the situation was getting out of hand quickly, he grabbed a stool to his right and bashed one of the soldier's face with it. Evading another hit he grabbed the soldier's wrist and used his blade to fight off another. One of the soldiers came up behind him and kicked him in the back, making him stumble on a table. Using everything he had at hand, he grabbed a water pitcher, turned around and smashed it into the nearest man near him. He dodged yet another sword aiming for his leg and rolled on his back over a table to put some distance between him and the soldiers. He had gotten closer to the kitchen, the soldiers were now swarming him from all sides. He ducked under yet another sword and kicked the man's back. Right behind him another soldier raised his sword, just before the blow reached him the soldier caved under the weight of Konnor jumping on him from the railing. On the other side of the room Izi jumped from a table and kicked one of the guards into another. Malik disarmed the soldier in front of him and pushed him into the others, he was now fighting back to back with the mercurian.

  " Couldn't you have stayed in your room?! "

  " And let you die!? You only have one arm, you can bitch at me once we get out of this! "

  An all out brawl started inside of the tavern between the soldiers, Malik, his friends and the customers trying to defend the tavern owner. Glasses were being thrown, tables were being broken, swords were being thrown. After a while, Felix was starting to realise the tides were turning in his enemies favor. He started making his way towards the back of the tavern, on his way he was cutting down everyone coming after him. Once he reached the back he grabbed one of the waitresses and took her hostage.

  " EVERYONE SILENCE OR I WILL SLIT HER DAMN THROAT! "

  Silence fell in the room, Malik walked up to him.

  " Leave her alone you coward. "

  " I don't have to do anything you ask of me! "

  Malik understood that the man's previous composure was only a very fragile facade. He looked crazed, his smile was wide as if he was proud of how vile he was. His usually perfect hair was now cascading over his face due to a mix of blood and sweat that had dripped onto him. Malik slowly raised his hand in the hope of appeasing him.

  " Just leave her be, it's me you want! "

  " No you one arm fuck!! I want the herborist bitch!! "

  " Ok let's do something alright? You let her go and I tell you where she is, ok? "

  " No. I'll just start killing waitresses until you give me the answer. " He started whispering in her ear. " What's your name sweetie? "

  The short hair waitress was already sobbing and shaking.

  " My name is Helen, please ... don't kill me. "

  " Well if Malik over there doesn't fuck around too much like he was doing earlier, you won't have to die. So what's it gonna be Malik!? HUH ?! "

  " I don't know where she is!! "

  " Liar! "

  " I swear! "

  " I'm gonna count to three! "

  " Don't do it! "

  " One! "

  " Stop! "

  " Two!"

  " Noooooooooooooo! "

  " Three!! "

  Just before he could kill her, a voice filled with rage came from outside of the window behind Felix.

  " How about fighting someone your size?! "

  A second after, the window exploded and Richard leaped into the tavern, kicking Felix aside in the process and putting Helen to safety. Malik had a sigh of relief.

  " What the fuck took you so long!? "

  " I fell in a trap and the guys there said the rest were coming here, I did as fast as I could. Where is Bella!? "

  " Not here! "

  " It's for the best, time to go wild. "

  Felix stood back up and focused his gaze on Richard. His smile once again was not that of a man but rather of a devil in human form.

  " It's been a long time that I have been waiting to take you on in a real fight. "

  " And it's been a long time since I have waited to see your head part from your fucking neck. "

  The two men stared at each other, drops of sweats were falling from their foreheads. Their breathing slowed down, finally, when the pressure in the air reached it's peak, they ran at each other and the clash of steel began.