Chapter 1 #2
This soon after siphoning, the reaper would be stronger and faster than anything Viri could hope to match, so she couldn’t let him make the first move and gain the upper hand.
Quashing any hesitation, she lunged forward, uncoiling her gold fillium from around her wrist and flicking the whiplike cord through the air.
The metallic weapon cleaved the space between them, her aim true if not for the man leaping away at the last second, his gray cloak flapping around him, glass shattering as he slammed into a shelf to avoid her attack.
Viri immediately cast her fillium again, causing him to dodge once more—breaking even more glass—but he recovered faster this time and sprang toward her, his black-veined arms outstretched as if to strangle her with his bare hands.
Viri didn’t give him the chance. She spun out of the way and lashed her fillium low, aiming for his ankles to impede his advance. In quick succession, she cast it twice more, but his enhanced speed kept him one step ahead of her attacks.
And then, suddenly, he was right in front of her, his fist flying toward her face.
The move was so fast that his arm blurred, and only years of training had her twisting in time to avoid a shattered cheekbone.
His knuckles still managed a glancing blow, and she hissed as the ring on his middle finger tore open her flesh.
Blood instantly welled from the wound, but Viri ignored the pain and scurried behind a wooden barrel, trying to gain enough distance to cast her fillium again.
Her opponent was no fool—he knew what a single touch of her weapon would do to him, just as he knew its reach was limited at close range, so he rushed forward, not affording her any space, his fist coming at her once more.
She ducked and whirled away again, but as she straightened, she heard the children cry out a warning as the man unsheathed a dagger and leapt toward her in a burst of speed, the blade glinting beneath the everbeacons.
Viri had been hunting long enough to have had experience with many kinds of reapers.
Some were easy to capture, particularly those new to siphoning and unused to their ellixen-heightened abilities.
The same was true for those addicted to the euphoric high that came with a fresh sacrifice, preferring to remain in their druglike state than resist arrest.
The man before Viri was neither a novice nor an addict—he clearly knew how to use his stolen magic, and he’d also had physical training. That made him dangerous.
But not as dangerous as Viri.
She’d noted his dagger the moment she had arrived in the cellar, she’d known he would pull it on her—and she’d been waiting.
The smirk on his lips and the triumph in his eyes as he stabbed his blade forward told her that he was just like every other reaper who was arrogant enough to underestimate her.
They all assumed her fillium was the only weapon she carried, or at least the only one that could incapacitate them.
Indeed, the man lunging at her was so focused on the threat of her metallic cord that he missed her pulling a vial from her cloak and using her thumb to unstopper it.
But he didn’t miss her blowing the silver powder straight into his face.
The reaper’s eyes rounded as the impedidust took effect, freezing him in place, the lethal strike of his dagger halted in the air between their bodies.
A quick glance down showed Viri how perilously close the blade was to gutting her, but she didn’t waste time dreading what might have happened if the experimental—and highly illegal—powder hadn’t worked, nor did she revel in the reaper’s immobilized state.
With so much ellixen coursing through his veins, the impedidust wouldn’t hold him long, so she hastily slapped the dagger from his grip and used one end of her fillium to bind his wrists, nullifying his power.
As long as the golden cord touched him, his enhanced abilities would be suppressed, his magic not only inaccessible but actively draining him of energy as it resisted the fillium’s effects, rendering him weak and vulnerable—and completely at Viri’s mercy.
She’d barely stepped back when the impedidust wore off and the reaper staggered forward, not to continue his attack but to keep himself from falling over.
“What did you do to me?” he rasped, swaying drunkenly and struggling to remain upright.
Viri wasn’t sure if he was asking about the fillium or the impedidust, but regardless, she simply declared, “On behalf of the Hunters’ Guild, you’re under arrest for the unlawful siphoning of ellixen and associated crimes against humanity.”
“I’m innocent,” he spat—or tried to. The words were slurred, his strength swiftly fleeing.
Raising an incredulous eyebrow, Viri glanced at the body of the boy lying mere feet away. But in doing so, she remembered the two other children, who watched with wide-eyed wonder, fear still on their faces but also tentative hope.
“Don’t move,” Viri told the reaper before starting toward the children.
“I don’t take orders from you,” he snarled, lunging after her—only to trip over one of the barrels they’d disturbed during their skirmish, leaving him groaning in a heap on the dusty, glass-strewn floor.
Normally Viri would have felt immense satisfaction in seeing him so weak—especially considering he’d tried to disembowel her just moments ago—but at the rate the fillium was draining him, it wouldn’t be long before he lost consciousness.
No matter how many times she witnessed her weapon in action, she would never get used to how debilitating its effects were.
And while that was usually a boon, the last thing she wanted was to drag the reaper’s heavy body all the way back to the Underlock, so they needed to get moving, now.
But first…
“Are either of you hurt?” Viri asked as she approached the children, wincing as broken glass crunched gratingly underfoot. She kept a tight grip on her fillium, with the other end still binding the reaper, who was cursing loudly as he tried to rise on wobbly legs, no longer a threat to any of them.
The children shook their heads and got shakily to their feet, clutching each other with trembling hands.
Seeing the evidence of their terror, knowing what might have befallen them, what had befallen their murdered companion, Viri had to breathe deeply to suppress her rage.
Justice, she reminded herself. The reaper would face justice for his crimes. By capturing him, she’d made sure of it—and she would continue to make sure of it for every other reaper she hunted on Elverdine Isle.
“You’re bleeding,” the little girl whispered, pointing at Viri’s cheek.
Viri had forgotten all about the wound, though it throbbed now as she was reminded of the man’s knuckles grazing her face.
“I’m all right. It’s just a scratch.” She glanced toward the reaper, who had finally managed to get his legs under him, then turned back to the children.
“Don’t worry—he won’t be able to hurt anyone else ever again. ”
Their eyes immediately skittered to the dead boy, making Viri swear inwardly at her careless words. Gently, she asked, “Did you know him?”
They shook their heads again, and she loosed a relieved breath. The loss of life was tragic, but at least these two wouldn’t have to live with the trauma of witnessing a friend’s death.
“Come on—let’s get you out of here,” she said, wanting to relocate them from the claustrophobic cellar as swiftly as possible.
Hustling them up the stairs and yanking on her fillium to force the stumbling reaper to keep up, Viri led the way back into the rowdy tavern, pushing through the crowd toward the bar.
The man from earlier was still pouring drinks, though he paused when he saw Viri and her companions, his mouth opening and closing at the sight of the children.
She understood his surprise—survivors were rare after a reaper attack. Too rare.
Raising her voice over the noise, she asked, “How far is the nearest wayportal?”
He shook off his shock. “There’s one about a block away, just before you reach the lake.”
Viri grimaced, not eager to approach the boundary of the obelisks’ protection, but it was that or a long walk back through the uppercity dragging the quickly deteriorating reaper. She would have to take her chances.
Placing a gold coin on the bar, she said to the man, “For the mess downstairs.” She then asked, “Do you have a kitchen here?” At his nod, she added three more coins before indicating the children.
“These two could use something warm to eat. Keep them comfortable until the Nox arrive—they’ll take their statements and see them home. ”
If the barman was displeased by the idea of Viri sending the city guards to his tavern, he said nothing, only pocketed the gold with a grunt of agreement. She didn’t mention the third child, knowing the Nox Custodia would collect the body and notify his family.
Turning to the boy and girl, Viri smiled reassuringly and said, “You’ll be safe here until the Nox come.
They won’t be long.” It went against her instincts to leave them after what they’d just been through—any time a hunt ended with survivors, part of her always wanted to stay and offer comfort.
But she was a stranger to these kids, and they would be better off if she left now to notify the Nox.
“You’re both very brave,” she added softly, squeezing their trembling shoulders with her free hand. “In the coming days, when you can’t help thinking about what happened tonight, don’t forget that.”
She watched them give hesitant nods, then helped settle them on stools at the quietest corner of the bar, where two bowls of fudge-covered ice cream were waiting.
It wasn’t the warm meal she’d requested, but when Viri looked at the barman in question, he shrugged and motioned to the kids, who were scarfing down the treat as if they hadn’t just witnessed a murder and nearly met the same end.
Children could be incredibly resilient, Viri knew, though she also knew the horrors this pair had witnessed tonight would haunt them forever.
Just as the horrors she’d once witnessed would haunt her forever.
Blocking out her own memories, Viri left the children and dragged the reaper outside into the crisp midnight air.
He continued to spit curses all the way along the grungy alley toward the lake, his steps more labored and his insults less creative as his energy faded.
Viri paid him no mind, her focus on squinting through the darkness for any sign of the deadly blackmist.
Relief hit her when they passed a crumbling building and she finally spotted Lake Mirtis up ahead, the moonlight glimmering off its indigo surface, no mist in sight.
Another few steps and she saw the wayportal—a ten-foot-high arch carved from silvery magestone—glowing against the darkness of the night.
They were a dozen feet from the portal when her captive stopped swearing long enough to say, “You won’t get away with this, hunter.” His voice dripped with menace. “The Reaper Priest will come for you. For all of you, but you especially.”
Viri’s feet halted without her permission, her eyes slicing to the man only to find a smug look on his face.
“You think I don’t recognize you, Viridia Solace?” he continued, his lips twisting into a sneer. “That hair, those eyes—we all know who you are. You’re marked, hunter. And one day, the Reaper Priest will—”
“He’ll what?” Viri cut in. “Keep hiding, just as he’s done for the last seven years?
” Her voice was as sharp as steel to mask her sudden wave of emotion.
“Every hunter on Elverdine Isle has been searching for him that whole time, including me. You say he’s coming for us, for me?
Then tell him to hurry the hell up.” She cocked her head to the side and adopted her own smug look to cover the rageful racing of her heart.
“Oh, wait. You won’t be able to tell him anything, will you?
” She yanked on the fillium, jerking him forward and eliciting another curse as he nearly fell.
“You won’t be able to tell anyone anything where you’re going. ”
“He’ll save me,” the reaper snarled. “He’ll reward me for—”
Viri scoffed. “He doesn’t even know you exist. You’re just one of his many murderous acolytes.”
“I’m not. I’m—”
“Where is he, then?”
Silence met her question, just as she’d expected.
“If you weren’t a worthless underling, you’d know the answer to that,” she taunted. “But you have no idea, do you?”
Viri could hear the reaper gnashing his teeth.
He wanted to lie—she could see it in his eyes.
He wanted to claim some level of importance in the Priest’s inner circle, something that might afford him leverage.
But the fillium wouldn’t allow it—another benefit of the golden cord, so long as it touched him. A magical truth teller.
“You’ve never even met him, have you?” Viri continued taunting.
More gnashing of his teeth, and she rolled her eyes, her tension fading.
Any mention of the Reaper Priest—the current one, at least—was always enough to set her on edge, but despite this man’s threats, he didn’t know anything of use to her.
He was nothing more than a follower, like all those Viri had hunted before him.
One day, she would find a way to his leader.
It was the reason she’d become a hunter, the reason she’d earned her mark quicker than other novices, the reason she always pushed herself to be better, faster, stronger.
Everything she’d put herself through for the last seven years had been with one single goal: to hunt down the Reaper Priest, the notorious monster of a man who had murdered untold numbers of innocents.
Including Viri’s parents.
Unlike his underlings, the Reaper Priest wouldn’t face justice. No, he would suffer.
Though not nearly as much as he deserved.
For a moment, Viri allowed herself to sink into her dark thoughts, her determination strengthening, as it always did when she thought of the Priest. But then she squared her shoulders and started forward again, tugging her captive toward the wayportal, ready to hand him over to the Nox and be done with this night.
She would find the Reaper Priest one day.
And when she did, she would finally have her revenge.