Chapter 69

  Quickly stepping backwards, Jaeger avoided the blade as it slashed through where he’d been standing; his expression tightened as it left a wake of black energy in its wake. Its wielder stepped out from the corner he’d been hiding in, revealing himself to be a human. He had tanned skin, a single long lock of dark hair on an otherwise shaved head, and a thick, busy mustache. He wore an archaic tunic, trousers, and stockings that were dark gray, wrapped up beneath an armored black robe, its front corners hitched up into a gold and silver sash; the only color on the man. The man unfurled a roll of parchment before calmly calling out to Jaeger.

  “I am Musa, a blade of the Shadow Sultan. You have been marked for death.”

  Without waiting for a reply, the man stepped forward, dropping the parchment as he did, and once more chopped down at Jaeger; a trail of shadows following in its wake. Tapping into his One Step bracelet, he slid around the blade and lashed out with a kick at Musa’s knee. The sudden fluid movement of Jaeger’s threw Musa off enough that the strike at his knee landed, and with a gruesome crunch, the man’s leg folded, and he fell.

  “Who the hell is this Shadow Sultan, and why’s he after me?” Jaeger asked as he stepped on Musa’s blade hand.

  The swordsman said nothing.

  Rolling his eyes, the bounty hunter put his full weight behind the heel of his foot and started to crush the silent man’s hand.

  “Speak now or lose the hand.”

  His face twisted in pain, the man’s silence still held. So the bounty hunter sighed regretfully and used his other leg to step on the arm just before the elbow. Then he lifted his foot and stomped down on the man’s hand, crushing it.

  “AHH!”

  Now Musa spoke, a sound of pain and humiliation.

  “Good, so you can still talk. Now I’m asking one last time who this sultan is and why he’s after me? And this time if you don’t answer I’m gonna kill ya.”

  Musa looked up at the bounty hunter, an expression of pure rage and hate on his face. He spat blood at Jaeger.

  “Kill me if you want, but my brothers and sisters shall find you. I am but binden bir. A mere shard of His shadow. May your woes be many and your days few!”

  With that proclimation, the man gave a full body shudder, and black ooze leaked out from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

  Stepping back from the body, Jaeger watched it, ready to draw his axe at a moment’s notice. Usually, these poisons reanimated the body into some abomination of charm-chirurgy; instead, the body just lay there. Black ooze spilled forth from it, but did nothing else. He moved back to the body and nudged it with his boot, but when nothing happened, he exhaled.

  “I gotta remember things aren’t half as messy here as back home.”

  Muttering that Jaeger bent down to examine the blade Musa had wielded. It was a single-edged blade with a forward curve, with no guard, and the end of the hilt was shaped like spread wings. The grip of the hilt seemed to be made of some bone or ivory and had streaks of black that seemed to move. The blade itself was covered in a foreign script that wavered and moved along the blade as Jaeger stared at it. A slight ache formed between his eyes as the words became understood to him.

  Yatagan of the Janissaries of the Shadow Sultan. Let death cover all his enemies as his shadow shall cover the known world. Long may he reign and long may his Will empower.

  “Interesting.”

  Jaeger considered the blade for a moment. It was magical and almost definitely tied to this Shadow Sultan, which left him considering something foolish. He’d need to consult with Kaeleth or maybe Lisette before he followed through on his idea, but for now, he’d keep it. Taking the blade and its scabbard, he sheathed the yatagan. As he considered how to hold the scabbard, his coat changed, and an affixed sash, similar to the gold and silver of his fallen foe, appeared on him. He recalled how the scabbard rested on Musa and tried to recreate that himself, owing either to skill or, more likely, the magic of his jacket, it worked, and the sheathed blade sat comfortably and securely.

  “Now, where is Anton?”

  Muttering to himself, Jaeger walked forward and felt something crunch under his boot. Looking down, he found the parchment that Musa had dropped at the start of their one-sided fight.

  “A bit unfair to call that a fight, he barely lasted a move.”

  Jaeger picked up the parchment and was about to look over it when he heard footsteps coming towards him. Stuffing the parchment away, he readied himself for another fight. Crouching low, the bounty hunter summoned one of his chains and wrapped it around his fist. It was a risk using it, as it might be traced back to him, but he figured if he only used them as fist weapons, he should be fine. Thinking of them as weapons made him wonder why his Armory of the Armiger didn’t reject the chains, magic?

  “Where is cadet brother Musa?”

  “He was sent ahead, with his enscrolled yatagan, he should be able to handle the target.”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “To be blessed with a weapon of His Eminence. He is destined for greatness.”

  “Only if he can control his arrogance.”

  A man and a woman were conversing in a language that Jaeger understood but knew was not the local tongue. They were clearly comrades of the body behind him, and that spelled trouble. As they drew closer, the bounty hunter found a sensation wash over him. Not one of fear or worry but one of anticipation. Instead of a man hiding, ready to attack, he was an ambush hunter, waiting to spring out. His stance adjusted, and he readied a spell bracelet as they neared.

  “The compass shows that Musa is down this way; he hasn’t moved for some time. He must be waiting, either for us or the target.”

  “Let us hope it is for us; he will be insufferable if we interrupt his hunt.”

  “Careful with how you speak. He is to be a Blade, even if he is still a cadet.”

  “A thousand apologies.”

  “Do not apologize, just be careful. Lest he ‘test’ his blade on you.”

  As the pair rounded the corner, Jaeger struck. From his concealed corner, he aimed his arm and fired his Disintegration at the nearest, a woman wearing the same outfit as Musa but with a greatbow slung over her back and a gold crystalline axe. The beam that fired was dark and seemed almost to eat the light as it shot forth; it was the size of an arrow and pierced through the woman’s forehead, leaving a slowly expanding hole. As the woman fell, Jaeger launched a full-body uppercut into the other figure, a man carrying a similar blade to the yatagan, except with a strong backward curve and a wider blade.

  The uppercut caught the man unaware, knocking him upwards and back. Unfortunately, for Jaeger, the blow had felt like hitting a metal board, and as the man got back to his feet, he saw why. The man’s lower jaw and neck were made of metal, intricate and delicately designed, yet robust and powerful.

  “I shall avenge you, sister.” The man flexed his jaw and drew his long blade, tossing its scabbard behind him. “Hopefully, Brother Musa will forgive me for killing the target myself.”

  Jaeger stood, moving back from the man, and rested his hands lazily in his sash.

  “Yer brother ain’t gonna be forgiving much of nothing from now on,” Jaeger said, putting on a gruffer accent, he needed to get into the mindset of being an arrogant highwayman.

  The robed man’s eyes narrowed at him as he spoke. In reply, Jaeger stepped to the side and hooked a thumb behind himself, revealing the body of Musa. Instead of demoralizing the man, the sight of the body seemed to invigorate him.

  “With brother Musa dead, it falls to me to wield the Shadow’s Due. I must thank you, heretic, you have provided me an opportunity I did not want and a duty I must take.” The man took a stance, resting his blade over his shoulder and leaning forward. “Let me thank you!”

  Charging forward, the man lashed out with a decapitating strike. Jaeger leaned back, his One Step bracelet still in effect. Thus began a game of attacking and retreat. The man redirected his strike into another decapitating strike, which was met from underneath by a chained fist. Following the parry, Jaeger riposted with his other hand using a clawing strike; a move he’d learned from an old eastern bounty hunter. The robed man managed to draw back enough that Jaeger’s clawed hand only drew blood instead of ripping out his throat. The robed man kicked Jaeger using the move to put space between them.

  With the distance between them, the man touched his throat and saw the blood. He then looked at Jaeger and saw the man’s bloody, claw-like fingers. He spat on the ground, separating them.

  “Filthy hayhalk! Beastkin! Secrecy no longer matters, only your death. Great One! This insignificant one begs that you bless him with a touch of your might that he may strike down one of your hated foes.”

  The man held his blade and screamed. Jaeger shook his hand, trying to relax the toughened keratin in his hands. As the man scream-prayed, Jaeger attacked, this time using a different bracelet. From his hand, a ball of purple and silver flame manifested, and with a flick of his wrist, he sent the fireball towards the man. The fiery orb met the screaming man and exploded, washing over him and the area around him. Jaeger stood ready, but hopeful. As the haze of the blast dissipated, where the man once stood was nothing but a black soot smear. Relaxing, he took a breath and pulled out the parchment Musa had dropped earlier.

  “Foolish, the battle is not done. But you are.” A voice hissed into his ear as Jaeger felt a blade punch through his chest and a mouth latch onto his shoulder.

  Coughing a mouthful of blood, Jaeger felt something being drained from him, and a sudden weakness made him lose control of his legs as he fell. For a moment, the figure behind him seemed to be holding him.

  “With His blessing, your blood and the sacred yatagan I shall rise as…” A racking, shudder-inducing cough and retching interrupted Jaeger’s attacker, and the man dropped him. Barely managing to move himself, Jaeger fell against a nearby crate and turned to stare at his attacker.

  It was the robed man, who had somehow avoided his fireball entirely, but he was different. His eyes were pitch black orbs that seemed more stone than flesh. He had a mess of sharp, stone-like fangs protruding from his mouth, across his shoulders, elbows, and knees, with matching stone-like claws. Currently, the most interesting thing was that he seemed to be doubled up and clawing at his throat.

  “Agh, what is this? Blood is my ambrosia, His gift promises so.” Another retching sound, this time something seems to be squirming inside the man’s metal throat. “What have you done to me!?!”

  The man turned stone monster turns to Jaeger, and the bounty hunter laughs, causing a fresh mouthful of blood to come up. Wiping it off with his sleeve, he huffs in pain and adjusts himself so the sword through his back isn’t moved.

  “I can’t say I’m glad this came over with me, but if vampires are here too, better to have it than not.”

  The vampiric stone monster turned fully to Jaeger and moved in a shadowy blur. For a moment, Jaeger saw his death, then another body shuddering retch happened, and instead he smiled as the monster tripped and crashed into the crate next to him.

  “Ain’t nothing you can do about it, the moment you drank my blood you were fucked.” Jaeger gave another cough and saw his blood was turning black, a bad sign for him. “Looks like I might be too.”

  As though a signal, his eyes started to grow heavy. Keeping them open became a challenge, each blink seeming to last ages, and he felt himself growing numb. With an effort worthy of Sigfried himself, Jaeger reached into his jacket pocket and grabbed hold of something.