Emily’s Eyes widened at the realization that Alex was near.

  “He’s here,” Emily said, unable to keep the smile off her face.

  Ashe’s eyes turned to crescent and she nodded.

  “Well then, let's not keep him waiting.”

  Ashe dashed out into the street and slipped through a small opening in the guard house’s boarded-up entrance. No lights were coming from inside but Emily couldn’t help the small smile that played on her lips as Ashe boldly headed in.

  Emily moved quickly to catch up and pushed the rusted piece of sheet metal out of her way to make her way in.

  No sooner had she tried to enter than an icy blade was pressed up against her neck. Emily’s eyes adjusted to the dark room and she could just make out Ashe currently held by a ragged individual with a blade up against her throat.

  The dim light from a single flickering lantern cast uneven shadows across the cramped space, the air thick with the smell of mildew and something metallic. There was harsh scent of sweat mixed with the stale air, and Emily’s ears caught the faint drip of water somewhere in the dark.

  Emily hummed and she followed the dirty arm that held the knife to her throat. She had one foot inside the small room and the other still on the road.

  “Well, the company’s always welcome wif me, but you two ain’t look like you're here to stay.”

  Emily glanced down at the short human male. He was getting on in years, and while he still looked sharp he didn’t look like he was trying to rob her.

  “Ah, so are you the men guarding this place?” Emily said as she raised a questioning brow.

  “Exactly that ma’am. We’ve seen your friend here poking her nose around our vested interests so we thought we’d welcomes ya. Trust me, I’m doing you a favor. You go in there, and you’ll die. Or at least wish you had”

  Emily hummed as her eyes flickered over to Ashe. The woman's face was twisted into a snarl, and yet Emily could see her eyes watching Emily for hints of their next move.

  “Alright, we wouldn’t want to piss you a lot off, we’ll leave.” Emily smiled coyly and the short man's mouth twitched, “but if I may, could I know the reason you are stopping us?”

  The man grunted as he searched Emily’s eyes, he clearly didn’t like what he found, as he pushed the bit of metal deeper into Emily’s throat drawing a line of blood.

  “That’s none of your business, miss. It has ta do with us and us alone.”

  Excitement sang on the tip of Emily’s tongue. Study and research were fun and all, but nothing beat this feeling.

  “Really?” Emily muttered as she cocked her head.

  “Because I need to go in that direction. How about you let me pass and throw a bit of information my way? I’ll make it worth your while… You can pretend you never saw us come through.”

  Emily smiled as she reached into her coin purse and flicked a Tri between her fingers.

  The man's eyes darted down and Emily could see his eyes narrow at the coin.

  “That’s the right song but the wrong tune. Add a corner to it.”

  Emily grimaced.

  “Really? A square just for us to pass, you have to be kidding.”

  The man looked unimpressed but he shook his head.

  “A square to pass is being generous. You won’t need your money where you’re going.

  What you want down there is not my problem but, If you want to get past my brothers you’ll have to make it worth my while.

  Emily nodded slowly and glanced at Ashe.

  “So you’re saying there's no way to convince you to take a reasonable bribe?” Emily asked, her tone shifting dangerously low.

  “Hey! This isn’t a bribe. You want to pass though and I’m telling you the cost so either pay or leave.”

  “And what if I don’t want to do either,” Emily said with a smile on her face, yet the man didn’t look impressed.

  “That’ll work too. A corpse can’t make choices. And if you do manage to kill me there will be plenty of people waiting here by the time you come out” the man said with a snarl twisting his face.

  Emily's smile never wavered. She could appreciate how little this man cared for his life. He was literally willing to throw it away for a few pieces of meal so she spoke barely containing her laughter.

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  “Well, then I guess you win. Here take the money, you earned it.” Emily said as she produced the coin.

  The man’s grin relaxed, his fingers trembling slightly as they snatched it. A soft chuckle escaped his lips, his eyes glinting in the dim light.

  “Great doing business with ya. I’m assuming ya’s looking for the Well. Follow the red dots, they’ll get you there”

  Emily snorted through the mask as the knife was pulled back. Stepping into the space completely she straightened to her full height and watched as Ashe was freed from the other man. Emily spotted two more individuals hiding in the shadows of the room as she passed.

  There was only one way forward at this point and that was down a long passage heading into the shadows.

  The four men didn’t move from their spots, nor lower their guards as they watched Emily and Ashe disappear down the passage. When they had got out of sight of the others Ashe pressed her back against the city metal wall and rubbed her hand to her throat.

  “How did you know they wouldn’t kill us?”

  Emily shrugged, “I didn’t.”

  “You what? Then was it a smart move to give them coin?”

  Emily shook her head as the smile on her face cooled rapidly.

  “No, that was just to stop them from bringing their friends later.”

  Emily’s eyes glowed a deep crimson as her face shifted to a snarl.

  “I’ll pick my coin up off their corpses on the way out”

  Ashe’s eyes narrowed, her gaze lingering on Emily with an unmistakable tension in her posture.

  “Is killing your first resort to everything.”

  Emily’s face twitched but she chose to answer the question.

  “No, if it were, things would be very different by now. Namely, I wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

  “Then could we just beat them up to get the money back? Why do we have to kill them.”

  Emily glanced at the passage ahead as it split off into two paths, the left one marked with a green dot and the right a red one.

  “Because killing avoids so many problems. What if he presses us for more money when we get out, or worse they come searching for us? They already seemed to recognize you. Better to just kill them all and disappear. Plus he was kind of an ass, and I don’t like the idea of someone like that getting one up on me.”

  Ashe’s eyes were wide as she followed Emily down the right path. There was a hint of disbelief on her face.

  “Surly, can we just find another way out?”

  Emily shrugged.

  “If it makes you feel better, but this is the route we know, it’d be a bad idea to retreat to an unknown location.”

  Ashe felt silent after that as the outside light from the street began to fade away. She handed Emily a torch which she cracked open. The guttural flame spread out and lit up the dusty corridor.

  The two of them traveled in silence as the maze of corridors quickly became uncountable. Emily tried to keep track of the number of turns they made down here but she was quickly losing count. The red dot seemed to be guiding them toward something and the only reason Emily had trusted it was because they were heading in the direction of her blood.

  They were getting close when they spotted the first human down in the dark.

  Emily had been advancing slowly when she heard the footsteps and quickly shut off the light.

  They separated, ducking down into two corridors, and waited patiently.

  A neon blue light came down the hallway they had just been occupied and the footsteps got closer.

  From here Emily could look directly across the hallway to see Ashe shrugging her shoulders at her.

  Emily mimed sliding her fingers over her throat and pointing to the approaching light. Ashe squinted and at first didn’t know what Emily meant but then her eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously.

  Emily sent Ashe a dry look and rolled her eyes, but Ashe sent a pointed stare her way.

  The sound of heavy metal boots slapping against the floor was still approaching and Emily had to make a decision.

  Sighing through her nose Emily pressed her back up against the wall as the light got to the corner of the passage. Just before it came parallel with their hiding spots Emily broke from the cover.

  She rushed the man holding a torch and noticed he was kitted out in full armor. But not the kind for battle.

  This suit was more like a set of metallic robes that shone in the blue light of his torch covering every available inch of skin. The man's face was completely covered by a mask but he clearly saw her coming. Bracing himself, the guard suddenly reached out for Emily with his gauntlets, they sparked with small arcs of electricity.

  Emily’s eyes widened at the tazer-like gauntlets and ducked under the man's lunge. Spinning around him she created a loop of blood in her hands pressed her hand to the back of the metalled individual's neck and fastened it there tightly, cutting off both blood and airflow.

  The man's hands immediately shot up to his neck as he began choking, but contrary to Emily's expectations he tried to grab hold of her elbow.

  The only way Emily could dodge was to pull backward and lift the man off his feet, pressing her shoulder into the center of his back and lifting him off the ground.

  The choking sounds got worse and Ashe stepped out of the passage in front of the man and made several gestures.

  The floor nearest to his legs suddenly sprang up as thin cords of metal wire bound his feet so that he couldn’t wriggle.

  Emily's muscles strained as she held the man there, his struggles getting less by the second.

  It was only thirty seconds and the man slumped in Emily's arms. The moment he did, she loosened her hold.

  “Is he dead?” Ashe came over, banishing her metal back to the floor.

  “No, but he will be around in a minute or two help me move him.”

  Emily and Ashe dragged the armored man down one of the side corridors and bound him with metal wire. While she was at it Emily searched his person and pocketed anything that looked even remotely useful.

  The gauntlets were simple gloves made from a malleable cloth with metal woven into it.

  It wasn’t very strong so it had to have another function other than stopping blades.

  Ashe took off the man's helmet and saw he was young, no older than eighteen in fact.

  He was still unconscious but that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

  “Come on let's go. Take the gloves, if you can figure out how to use them, they could be useful”

  Ashe’s face went pale as she glanced frantically over her shoulder.

  “We can’t leave him here!”

  Emily pressed her lips together.

  “Of course we can, his friends will find him. Bind his mouth while you’re at it so that he can’t call for help. We don’t need them knowing we’re coming.”

  Ashe Looked like she wanted to refuse but Emily shook her head.

  “We’re giving him a chance here. I can’t afford him going to warn the others. So this is the best I can do, there is always another alternative.” Emily said her gaze meaningful.

  Ashe took a breath and when she opened her eyes again they were steady.

  “Okay let's keep going.”

  Blood points: 340