[Theesa]

"Well that certainly took longer than I'd expected," said Theesa as she stepped out into the night air. She yawned and stretched while December secured the store behind them. "But at least it's all done now. Everything's catalogued and back in place."

"Indeed," said December. He activated the store's wards with a few nimble finger movements, then extended his elbow towards Theesa. She wrapped her arm around his, and together they started down the dark street. "It is good to finally set to store to rights after the recent unpleasantness."

"You know what I think? I think we should celebrate. Have a grand opening. Or 're-opening.'"

"A party?" One of December's icy eyebrows crept up on his forehead.

"Yes! It'll be wonderful! We'll invite everyone... the other storekeepers, all your customers..."

"My social events are rare... and are usually reserved for people of much influence."

"Oh, excuuuuse me," Theesa said with mock arrogance. "I certainly hope I'D fit into that category."

"Perhaps," said December. "I shall have to refer to my list; your name may be listed towards the bottom."

"Oh, ha ha. You're just full of laughs, aren't you." They walked on in silence for a few moments. "I wonder what ever happened with Zade and that elf woman? Neither of them ever came back, I hope they're not in trouble."

"Zade left with portion of my magic more than sufficient to deal with whatever she encountered," replied December "If she found further trouble, it is most likely because she went looking for it. Whether she rescued the elf or not remains to be seen. I shall have the matter looked into once I have seen you safely home."

"What if that man they're looking for is still out here?"

"Are you concerned about your personal safety, or for the city at large?"

"Well..."

"J'Hasp prowls the rooftops ahead of us." December pointed to the line of buildings to their right. There was nothing visible, which, of course, was the point. "He will see to it that we are not accosted."

"What about everyone else?"

"Anyone outside at this hour without their own protection is placing their life at risk.. Even in a city as safe as Montfort, it is still a gamble that people sometimes loose."

"Well, nice to see you've still got that heart of gold..."

---

[Stranger]

The Stranger's eyes popped open.

He had fallen asleep. He had only intended to rest and meditate... restore his strength... but now he had wasted untold hours in slumber while his target remained unidentified. This was not good.

He stood and pulled his cloak around him. With but a mental nod, the illusion of blankness settled over his face once more. He reached out with his mind and touched the feral brains of his two remaining hellhounds. He'd left them to prowl the area around the building. He searched through their recent memories to get an idea of how long he'd been asleep.

Hours.

Daylight could not be very far away, and with sunrise his mission would become much harder... if not impossible. He would have to finish this quickly.

He searched the hounds' minds further to see if any females had passed through thearea. There were none, although the beasts were quite full from the meal they'd made of several homeless men who'd stumbled across the Stranger's resting place. He was about to command them to accompany him out into the street when one of the hounds caught a strange scent. It was quickly picked up by the other.

Suddenly a shape descended on them. The Stranger caught only a glimpse of it before it attacked the hounds... at first he thought it was a small man, but it crouched far too low to the ground. Its sharp fangs, claws and long, prehensile tail marked it as something only remotely human. It hissed and took a swipe at the first hound, obliterating the beast's eyes and nose. The second beast leapt and the two began to wrestle... trading bites and slashes. The thing ripped out chunks of the hound's flesh while the hound's incredibly powerful jaws clamped down on its neck and shoulder. It was impossible to tell which creature had the advantage. Meanwhile, the first hellhound had recovered, new flesh sprang forth to replace the damaged tissues. It, too joined the fray, and the strange creature was soon buried beneath an snarling onslaught of hard, knotted muscle and brimstone-laced fur.

The Stranger shut off the impressions from the hounds. He had no doubt that the hounds would dispatch the creature, but there was no need for him to experience every wound they earned in the process. He walked out into the street, and was immediately rewarded with the sound of a conversation coming from the next block. He couldn't make out the words, but at least one of the voices was certainly female.

Time to start anew, thought the Stranger as he headed towards the couple.

---

[Zade]

Zade froze and motioned Val-keth to do the same. They'd been wandering the city for at least an hour with no sign of the Stranger, but now Zade thought they might be in luck. Whether it was good luck or bad luck was yet to be decided.

They'd just circled around towards December's store when Zade caught a scent in the air.

"Brimstone," she whispered. She pressed back against the building and waited silently. The scent didn't change... but it was joined by the distinct sound of growling and snarling. It was far away, but still close enough to be heard.

"Looks like we haven't seen the last of those hounds."

[Val'keth]

The human could well be right, Val'keth mused as she slipped a dagger free. She was sick of the dogs, suspecting that they would not be rid of them until they found - and dispatched - the stranger that controlled them.

"Perhaps we will find our quarry with those wretched beasts this time," she whispered to Zade. "Are you ready?"

[Zade]

Zade unslung her bow and checked to make sure the three poisoned arrows were still in the makeshift quiver.

"Born ready. Come on."

Moving on her toes, Zade zipped across the street, paused, moved to the next block, paused again, and then cut through an alley... all moving in the general direction of the hellhounds. Fortunately the hounds were upwind, and the beasts hopefully wouldn't be able to smell Zade and Val-keth until the Stranger was out of the picture.

Zade peered around the next corner, then quickly leaned back.

"Oh, no." she gasped. She peeked around again to make sure she hadn't imagined what she saw the first time.

She hadn't. They were still out there, walking down the center of the street in the middle of the night like two brand new fools...

December and Theesa.

"You know... this night just keeps getting better and better."

[Val'keth]

The elf groaned inwardly as she peeked around the corner to see what Zade was talking about. She recognised both figures.

The hounds bayed once more, and she shivered next to Zade, despite the warmth from her cloak.

"Looks like we got our bait for the trap," she said quietly with a smile. "We've just got to find the stranger before he finds them - or us..."

[Zade]

"Bait," she mumbled. "If the stranger makes a move..." Zade didn't finish the sentence. She didn't know who would come out on top if the Stranger decided to attack December, but she was positive that, whatever the outcome, this area of town may be in need of some massive reconstruction afterwards. It was best to either get December and Theesa out of here, or take the Stranger out before he made his move.

"Let's go find him."

[Val'keth]

Val'keth backed away from the corner, looking toward the buildings around them, searching for a couple of places where she and Zade could conceal themselves. She had a few diversionary tactics lined up in case the poison didn't take effect immediately, but she sincerely hoped they wouldn't be necessary.

---

[J'Hasp]

The strange creature's claws disemboweled one hound even while the second one clamped down on his leg. J'Hasp twisted around at an impossible angle and removed the top of the hound's head with a swipe of his claws.

Both hounds tumbled away.

J'Hasp leapt for the wall and began scampering up towards the roof, but he'd only made it a few feet when a rapidly-regenerating hound landed on his back and bore him down to the ground.

J'Hasp squealed in frustration, and the hounds howled in rage.

The fight continued...

---

[Theesa]

"Did you just here a noise?" said Theesa. Beside her, December nodded but continued walking at his normal slow, determined pace.

About one block ahead of them, a single man stepped out of the shadows. He walked into the street and started towards them.

"December?" Theesa's hand tightened nervously on December's arm. His flesh was like ice, but with all the bizaare events of night, she would've held him close even if he was on fire. "I don't like this..."

December altered his course and took them to the opposite sidewalk, but the strange man adjusted his own trajectory to intercept them.

"Do you have business with us, sir?" said December with a booming, intimidating voice. His sky-blue eyes glimmered slightly, and the air around them grew sharply colder.

The stranger said nothing. Then Theesa noticed that the man had no face.

She opened her mouth to scream...

[Zade]

"Oh, HELL!"

By the time they'd moved into a better posistion, the very scene Zade had been hoping to prevent had begun to play out in front of them. The Stranger was approaching December and Theesa.

This was going to get ugly, and if she wanted to get credit for doing her job, then she needed to stop this right here and now.

Zade raised her bow.

"AAAAAAAIIII!!!" Theesa screamed as an invisible force yanked her violently out of December's grasp. She literally flew through the air towards the Stranger.

"THEESA!" December wasted no time in responding. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large bluish gem, identical to the one he'd give Zade earlier. He hurled it at the Stranger even as Zade was taking aim with her bow.

Had the gem landed, Zade doubted that the Strangers telekinetic shield would protect him from December's sub-arctic cold... but it never came to that. The gem sailed past Theesa, halted in mid air, paused for the merest instant, and then arced upwards over the rooftops where it disappeared into the night sky.

[The Stranger]

Having dispatched the male's pitiful hurled missile, the Stranger dropped the female to the ground in front of him. She screamed. It was a most unpleasant sound.

He launched into her mind without hesitation. There was resistance at first... some weak, innate mental ability fought him as he intruded on her memories. He shrugged it aside with minimal effort and continued to delve deeper. In the corner of his eye, he saw the male approach. It was a large male of a strange, pale color... but no matter. The Stranger prepared to snap him in half...

[Zade]

The arrow was aimed perfectly at the Stranger's shoulder. The explosive tip would never impact the flesh, but as soon as it hit the Stranger's shields it would spread the deadly poison in a fine powder all around him. He would be dead in seconds.

Unfortunatly, so would Theesa, who was on her knees not more than two feet away from her faceless attacker.

Zade couldn't use the arrow until Theesa was clear. But if she waited, the Stranger would kill the woman, and would either kill December outright or confront him in a fight that might level the entire block... with Zade and Val-keth right in the middle of it.

And where the hell was J'Hasp?

---

[J'Hasp]

GROOOOO-

The hound's howl was cut short when J'Hasp ripped the vocal cords right out of the canine's throat. The second hound leapt caught J'Hasp's bulbous head in its jaws. Before it could bite down, J'Hasp had reached up and severed the tendons and muscles in its neck. The hound fell away, but now the FIRST one came again.

J'Hasp scampered under its powerful leap, shredding its underside as he went. His prehensile tail caught the thing around the neck and slung it against the hard brick wall

KRUNK!

Bones AND bricks cracked. The hound went limp... but for how long?

RAAAGH!

The second hound pounced on top of J'Hasp before the creature could move.

Clawed hands forced the hound back while equally clawed feet came up between them and began a rapid digging motion... burrowing a hole through the hound's abdomen.

Meanwhile, the first hound rolled over and shook itself.

This was obviously going to take a few more minutes...

---

[Zade]

The bow began to tremble in Zade's hand. She had the stranger in her sight, but she didn't dare use the deadly arrow with Theesa so close by. Theesa was screaming. December was running. Zade's heart was thundering.

She couldn't shoot... but she HAD to!

[Val'keth]

Val'keth saw the scene unfolding below, and looked over at Zade. The woman had the bow readied, but was hesitating. Val'keth looked back down at the road, saw the woman lying in front of the Stranger, and realised why Zade was hadn't fired.

December's woman.

Val'keth swung down from her ledge, her feet and hands finding easy holds between the brickwork. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she sprinted for the screaming woman, twisting the silver ring on one finger and muttering arcane words.

She abruptly disappeared.

A split second later, she reappeared beside Theesa, grabbed her from the ground and ran as fast as she could, hoping the arrow would distract the Stranger from her - IF Zade snapped out of her trance.

[December]

"Theesa!" December yelled when he saw Theesa's deliverance, Bring her to me, girl!"

[The Stranger]

The Stranger felt a consciousness approaching... not the male, but another female. His shields were firmly in place, so she was not a threat to him... but before he could formulate an attack, something happened.

There was a *blink* and a blur, and he woman he'd been scanning was gone. The Stranger saw her speeding away in the arms of a very recognizeable elf.

ALIVE! DAMN HER! DAMN THEM ALL!!

[Val'keth]

Theesa was heavy in her arms, and when she heard December calling, she arrowed directly toward him, praying the stranger didn't pluck them out of the air and smash them on the nearest wall. She guessed he would be less than pleased to see her again, and she didn't fancy being on the recieving end of his rage again.

[The Stranger]

Enraged, the stranger reached out with his mind...

[Val'keth]

Something grabbed at her thoughts for the second time that night. She gritted her teeth, shutting the squirming mental fingers that threatened to crush her will, and fixed one thought in her head - December.

Got to get to December...

[Zade]

"Hope they're far enough away..."

As the Stranger raised his hands to either swat Val-keth or deal with December, Zade fired.

THWWWIP!

[Stranger]

The arrow struck him square in the chest, or it would have had the Stranger's telekinetic shield allowed it to touch flesh. But it was close enough. The lumpy arrowhead exploded with a loud

POP!

...like the flash-powder of a cheap stage magician. But the smoke that billowed forth was no harmless dust. The microscopic poison spores hovered around him, forming a cloud around the Stranger's head, chest and shoulders. It rode the air as is penetrated his shield... despite the resiliance of his telekinetic shield, even the Stranger needed to breath. The spore rose into his nose and lungs with each breath.

The effect was instantaneous.

"GAAAGH!"

[Val'keth]

As abruptly as the fingers had closed around her mind, they dissapeared. Val'keth kept focused on the thought of the strange pale jeweller however, sure that she would feel them return a hundredfold stronger at any moment.

Only another few yards...

[The Stranger]

The man coughed violently. His face-concealing illusion faltered, revealing bits and pieces of his visage as the illusion began to dissolve around his head.

He waved his hands, trying to move the dust away. He succeeded in fanning it out further away from him, but it was already too late. The spores were fatal in one breath, and he had already taken several.

"AARGH!"

Fiery pain blossomed in his nose, throat and chest. It felt as if he were breathing hot coals... hot coals dipped in acid!

"ARRRRRGGGH!"

His eyes ran streams of water... and then blood. Bloody mucous poured from his nose.

THE PAIN!

Between the dustcloud and the blood that was rapidly replacing the fluid in his eyes, he couldn't even see who it was who had killed him. So the Stranger lashed out at everything around him.

The ground rumbled with his telekinetic assault.

KRACK!

The wall of a nearby store collapsed.

CRASH!

A window shattered.

"NNNARRRRGHGGG!"

Now the Stranger's dying fury was released in full...

[Zade]

Zade ducked, and she felt the ground tremble lightly beneath her. The building beside her shuddered as an invisible force impacted one of the far walls.

"Not again... please, not again..."

[Val'keth]

She reached December, unceramoniously dumping Theesa at his feet before whirling around to stare at the Stranger. As the force of his anger pummeled the city, Val'keth grabbed two daggers and sent them whirling toward him. The poison was working, and fast, but she HAD to stop him before he toppled the buildings around them.

The first dagger richocheted off his crumbling shield with a sharp TING! - but the second penetrated and lodged in his neck, a hairsbreadth from hitting his windpipe.

[Theesa]

"OOOF!" Theesa grunted when she hit the ground. December quickly snatched her up, and she turned just in time to see the elf she'd met earlier send two daggers whizzing toward the Stranger. One hit, and the results made Theesa wince.

[The Stranger]

The Stranger made a surpised hiccup, and the blind telekinetic fury surrounding him doubled for an instant... then vanished as he fell to the ground. His dusty cloak, now soaked with his own blood, lay splayed around his crumpled form like a shroud.

His shields were gone, as was the illusion that hid his face.

He coughed and convulsed as the last embers of his mind fought futilly for life.

[December]

The crimelord looked down at Theesa, who was resting in his arms.

"Are you all right, my dear?"

"I... I...I guess. Just shaken up. Scared."

December put her down, and cast his gaze at the elf who'd rescued her. Judging from her accuracy with her daggers, it was obvious that he had NOT misjudged her at their first meeting, but now he owed her a debt of gratitude.

"I fine job, my good woman," he said. "For which you shall be rewarded."

[Theesa]

"December, is he... dead?"

"Wait here," said December. He walked toward the unmoving stranger, and Theesa followed right behind him.

[Zade]

Zade emerge from her hiding place and slung her bow over her shoulder. She met December and the others at the Stranger's corpse... which turned out not to be quite dead yet.

The man's face... now plainly visible was covered with his own blood and mucous. His blood-filled eyes stared up at them. One was fixed in place, and the other jerked spastically from one person to the other. It stopped at Theesa, and the Stranger let out a long, raspy gasp.

Theesa jumped at the sound.

"Who are you?" said Zade. The Stranger... now a pitiful wreck of a man... just coughed up more blood. "Who SENT you? Who are you after!?"

The man just stared. He was fading fast.

"Looks like he isn't gonna be saying anything," said Zade.

The Stranger took that final moment to make an idiot out of her.

"...you..." the Stranger hissed weakly. His one good eye was still fixed on Theesa. "...you are... are the one... must kill... kill you..."

"He means ME!?!" Theesa gasped. "All this was for ME!?!"

"Who?" said Zade. "WHO sent-"

The Stranger gasped, convulsed, and went still. His eyes remained open, but there was no life left in them.

"Oh well," said Zade. "When you get to hell, tell 'em Zade sent ya... you'll get the volume discount." She pulled a dagger and drove it straight down into Stranger's heart...

THWUCK!

"Just to be sure," said Zade.

Theesa gave a high-pitched whimper.

"Do you know that guy?" said Zade. "Because he seemed to be real interested in YOU."

"I... I've never seen him before. I have no idea who he is or why anyone would send him to hurt me."

"He wanted to do a bit more than HURT you," said Zade. "And you mean to tell me you have no idea why? None at all."

Theesa shook her head. She was clearly distraught at the very idea that someone wanted her dead.

"Uh-huh," said Zade accusingly. She pointed at Theesa. "You know what I think-"

"No," said December, "And no one here is particularly interested. Point your appendage elsewhere or you shall find this elf working in your place when you return from the healer tomorrow."

Zade's eyes got a large a dinner plates... then quickly returned to normal as she swallowed her ire and her suspiscions.

"Fine," she spat. Zade glared at Val-keth, as if daring her to laugh.

[Val'keth]

She said nothing, merely raising one eyebrow at Zade's obvious annoyance and allowing herself a tiny smile. The look on Zade's face had almost made the whole night's hassles worthwhile. Val'keth looked at December, remembering the brightly coloured mage she'd met briefly in the kennels earlier.

"Rewarded?" Val'keth was honestly surprised. "There IS something, actually. I met someone called Lovvorn earlier? I'd like to speak to him again - and then there is the small matter of damage to my possessions."

She bent down and started to carefully go through the strangers clothes, looking for anything that might give her a clue as to where he had come from, or who he was working for.

A few coins and a rolled up bit of fluff - nothing useful. The body was as bereft of clues as his face had been earlier. She held the coins out, watching as the fluff blew away.

"Thats it - but I guess you don't need a lot if you use thoughts rather than weapons."

[December]

"Hmmm..."

December took the coins and examined them. They appeared perfectly normal... but he decided to keep them anyway. Even if Theesa couldn't lift any impressions from the coins, there were others who might be able to glean some information from them. But that would have to wait until later. He looked down at the elf.

"Your possessions will be replaced with those of equal or greater value. You have my word. Zade shall see to it."

"What?" said Zade. "I'll do what!?!"

"And if you will stop by my store tomorrow at sunset, I shall make sure Lovvorn delays his... ahem... nightly activities long enough to meet you. You have my word on that as well."

He turned to Zade, who was casting venomous glances at Theesa, Val-keth, and the unmoving corpse of the Stranger.

"Before you retire for the evening-"

"Evening? It's damn near morning!"

"... you should see to it that the Tower Guard is made aware of as much of tonight's activities as is prudent."

[Val'keth]

"Zade? I'll take it as a VERY personal insult if you mention MY name to the Tower Guard. At all."

Val'keth hadn't run foul of the Guard yet, and didn't intend letting Zade tell them ANYTHING about her.

[December]

"They should know that a customer and employees of the House of December were assaulted, and that my security handled the matter in a swift and decisive manner. Let them have the corpse, and tell them that the customer has left town."

[Zade]

"Fine," Zade sighed. "All this, and the night still isn't over. What about her-" Zade nodded at Theesa, who was rubbing her temples and looking somewhat sickly from all the excitement.

"I shall see to her needs."

"That's not what I meant. You heard the Stranger say that-"

December hugged Theesa close and together they walked away, leaving the rest of Zade's sentence unheard.

"Damn."

Zade looked at Val-keth, then at the Stranger, then back at Val-keth.

"Guess we won't have a chance to finish that fight tonight, huh?"

[Val'keth]

Val'keth couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did the woman really want to resume where they had left off so many hours earlier? Or was she attempting to make peace in a roundabout way? Val'keth didn't know, and didn't care. She still ached, and she knew her body was a mass of bruises - and Zade must be the same.

"Looks that way, doesn't it."

Val'keth glanced at the sky, seeing the first tinges of pink signalling dawn was not far off.

"I'll be seeing you, human," she said, knowing that fact on its own would rankle with Zade. "You owe me a crossbow, remember? You can sort it out tomorrow evening, at The House of December..."

She turned her back on Zade, quickly slipping out of sight and making her way into the shadowy depths of the city. She was tired, and her comfortable bed and warm room called to her.

[Zade]

Zade sighed and shook her head.

"I knew this hero crap wasn't going to work out," she fumed to herself. "Rescue the elf. Save the women. Kill the mercenary. AND his hellhounds! Fight the most DISGUSTING sewer-monster I've ever SEEN! And what do I get? More work! Well don't everybody run up to THANK me at once!"

She walked over to the Stranger's corpse, kicked it a few times, and then walked away.

"...and I'm never going down in those #$%*& sewers again, that's for DAMN sure..."

Behind her, J'hasp leapt from rooftop to rooftop as the dawn blessed the city with its light.

[END]

Copyright 1999 by Dark Icon (Marc Washington) and Grey Feathers (Louisa J. King).