[Zade]

Zade rounded corners and cut through back alleys with complete disregard for her destination. As long as she was going *away* then no matter where she ended up would be just fine.

Zade hated running, but she wasn't one of those idiots that believed death was better than a strategic withdrawal. If any situation warranted a quick and hasty exit, it was THIS one.

But this wasn't over.

No... the strange man and his beast were injured but not fatally so. They could be following her even now. And even if they weren't, those two were too powerful to be left alone. December would need to be notified, and if they piqued HIS interest, then there was a 100% percent chance that she'd be facing them again... although hopefully with adequate back-up and magical support.

But first she'd have to survive. The stranger's final blast had hurt like hell, but the internal pain has subsided considerably. Zade could even take deep breaths without wincing now. She paused in an alley to catch her breath. The alley was a dead end, but she felt good about her chances. The slightest sound would send her up onto the roofs of one of the building. She didn't know about the stranger, but she knew for certain that dogs don't climb.

[Val'keth]

The slim elven figure lay flat on the roof, panting and holding her leg. The blood was starting to lessen now, and Val'keth hoped it was from clotting rather than having less than usual left in her veins. But she couldn't spend the rest of the night there, so she groaned as she sat up and tore a strip off her shirt. The blood soaked into the black cloth as she tied it around her calf, wincing as she knotted it.

Val'keth looked around at the rooftops spread out around her, wondering if she would make it back to her rooms tonight. If not, she would have to find somewhere to hide and rest. Soft footsteps sounded in the alley below, and Val'keth rolled toward the edge of the roof, listening for the sound of a dog tracking her trail of blood.

Silence.

No, not quite silence. Breathing - feint, but there.

Val'keth risked a look over the edge, and saw Zade standing below. Indecision tore at her. Her instincts said to leave Zade to her own fate - the years of training in the drow undercity had taught her to leave others in trouble; it often eliminated enemies with minimum effort on her part. But then again, she wasn't in her home any more - and the whole point of taking the dagger to December's shop had been to gather more information about him and his organization. She had heard small snippets of conversations in the PanDemonica - nothing specific but enough to interest her.

She pried loose a small chunk of moss that was growing on the roof, and dropped it over the edge.

Splat.

It had been lodged in the gutter, and shed its load of water on impact with the ground. Val'keth grinned - it had landed just next to Zade.

[Zade]

"Wh-"

Zade didn't even finish her exclamation. With a blade in her hand, she spun and slashed at the empty air. Her reflexes were so honed that she had already bunched her muscles for a leaping head-start up the side of the building by the time she realized that she was still alone in the alley.

Moss... from above...

Zade looked up, and squinted into the darkness. There was someone up on the roof. Someone who wanted her attention.

"J'Hasp?" she said before she recognized the scent. "You..."

This time, Zade followed through on her reflexes. One leap, and her powerful legs propelled her a good distance up the side of the building. Strong fingers found holds while her boots searched for purchase on the brick wall. She scrambled up and pulled herself onto the rooftop opposite from the person who had been watching her.

Zade didn't need to squint to see the woman clearly. She looked hurt... but looks can be deceiving. Zade crouched down low and palmed one of her throwing stars. Her finger-tips were sore from the climb, but they could still put a shuriken into the woman's skull if the need arose.

"You following me?" she said. Zade tried to add a menacing sneer, but her mind had already wandered back to the stranger and his animal. Were they close? Did they hear her climb the wall just now?

[Val'keth]

She eye Zade warily, her hand on her own sword hilt.

"You think I would have been so careless as to drop moss on you if I was?" Val'keth whispered, shaking her head. She wished the woman understood the subtle silent code of her race, since even whispering left them open to further attack.

"What in the abyss were they after..."

Val'keth paused, chancing another glance over the edge of the roof. Nothing. She scrambled back, her leg beginning to ache now, and sat facing Zade again. Her hand slipped from her hilt, and she sighed.

"I'm not about to kill you - not here anyway," she said, a wry smile on her face as she studied Zade in more detail this time.

[Zade]

"Not that you could," replied Zade. In between glances at the woman across from her, Zade's eyes carefully scanned everything around her... darting from one point to another in a smooth, repetitive motion.

They weren't being followed. Yet. At least not that she could tell.

"I don't know what he wanted, but I don't think he got it. Which means he's still out there somewhere.

The way I see it we have two options. Me and you can pick up where we left off... which would just get you killed. Or we can go our separate ways. No-Face can't track us both at one time. But whoever he catches is most likely going to end up dog-food. So...which is it?"

Zade didn't bother mentioning that all the blood from Val-Keth's injury would make her VERY easy for any animal to track. If she was any kind of thief or assassin, Val-Keth would already know that. No matter what the woman said, Zade fully intended to get as far away from here... and Valketh... as possible. The only question was whether she would have to kill ValKeth first.

[Val'keth]

The veiled threats in Zade's words rankled. She barely restrained her hand from ripping the sword from it's sheath once more, but she knew full well the wound would slow her down too much. She didn't plan on dying now, and certainly not by Zade's hand, the urge to slowly drain the life-blood from the obnoxious woman before her would have to wait for another day.

Val'keth smiled at Zade, her dark eyes twinkling.

"You - run away? The great Zade would NEVER run away from a fight..."

Val'keth chuckled quietly, tearing another strip of cloth and binding it over her calf. The bleeding had stopped, but she knew it would likely start again once she got moving.

"I wouldn't be so sure about 'No-Face' as you call him - what's to stop him sending the dog after me and him pursuing you. I've seen similar attacks to what he used, and believe me distance is no object if they want to find you. He knows you - and where you'll hide..."

She remembered the disgusting creatures she had seen - all tentacles and disgusting bloated heads. They weren't common, but some of her race had allied with them for their own ends. They could insinuate themselves into your very thoughts, and unlike the priestess's methods, needed no rituals or sacrifices to do so. Val'keth shuddered and stood, gingerly testing her leg. The pain still shot through her like a bolt of fire, but she could move around on it. If she could get back to her room, then a dose of healing might patch it up.

An unbidden memory came to mind then - of Tren, the man who had first fought her then become an ally of sorts. Charn, his employer, had given her a potion that healed incredible fast - but brought with it much pain. How useful that would be now, she thought. But she had not seen Tren for quite a while now - and had no way to contact him. She shrugged the memory off, and turned back to Zade.

"You'll know of course it makes it easier for him to pick us off one by one if we split up. You dislike me just as I dislike you, but I'll offer my skills to dispose of him - then we can conclude our personal business uninterrupted."

No-Face had all the hallmarks of pursuit by the Houses who's wrath she had incurred. Val'keth was almost positive it was her he was after, not Zade. It was inevitable, just a matter of when - and that when seemed to be now. But Zade would be a valuable distraction to them, and one they wouldn't

have expected.

[Zade]

If the situation weren't so grave, Zade would have laughed in the woman's face. Was she honestly suggesting what Zade THOUGHT she was suggesting?

"Maybe you weren't paying attention a few minutes ago, so let me fill you in. You, I, and all of our respective 'skill' got tossed around like a couple of rag dolls by a man with no face. You want him dead... fine by me. But it's the height of foolishness to fight a strange opponent without knowing the range of his abilities. AND a few of his weaknesses. Unless you're privy to some of that information... and you're not a good enough liar to convince me that you ARE... then its suicide to go after him. We should stay out of his way and let someone else handle this. Like the Tower Guard..."

Or Blaymore, thought Zade. Won't THAT be a fun fight to see.

"Now... whoever this guy is, I doubt he can overcome the wards at the Dragon's Inn or the PanDemonica. If we can reach one of those places, we can be safe at least until dawn. Plenty of time for you to see to your ankle and find out if anyone else has run into this guy."

[Val'keth]

Her patience was wearing thin now, and she glared at Zade.

"I'm NOT suggesting we run back and fight him - of COURSE we need more information!" Val'keth's anger surged through her, and her whole body tensed like a coiled snake waiting to strike.

"YOU can go and set the Tower Guard on them, but do you REALLY think they'll listen to you? As far as they are concerned, it'll just be some petty underworld squabble... nothing they would need to get involved with!" Val'keth spat the words at Zade, her dark eyes flashing with anger.

"Do what you want - I'm NOT going to stay here and wait for him and that dog to find us."

With that, she walked silently toward the edge of the roof - waiting until the last moment before leaping across and landing on the next one, wincing with the pain in her leg. She knew it would be doing her injury no good at all, but to leave a trail on the ground for the dog to follow would be certain suicide.

As Val'keth made her way across the rooftops of the town, she deliberately tracked back and forth checking she was not being followed, for she was going to give Zade the satisfaction of tracking her back to her rooms. And once there, she would tend to her wound and then see what information she could find about this stranger and his dog.

[Zade]

Zade watched ValKeth vanish into the night, and couldn't help but feel relieved. While she wanted nothing better than to hand the whelp a few fistfuls of pain, the night's developments had taken a turn toward business and away from pleasure. Play-time was over... it was time to get serious.

Slowly, Zade rose to her full height and used her vantage point to scan the surrounding areas. While Montfort was by no means a city that rolled up its streets at night, this particular part of town was almost completely deserted. There was no sign of the stranger that had attacked her and ValKeth, but that didn't mean he wasn't out there somewhere waiting for them. Zade got her bearings and climbed silently down the wall. Then, moving swiftly and quietly... as only someone trained in stealth could do... she made her way across town to the small house she supposedly called home. The place was actually just a front... very rarely did she ever sleep there, but she did use it to store a good portion of her weapons and equipment. She paused across the street and waited for a few moments to see if she was being followed. There were no scents... no sounds... nothing. She waited for another full minute and then walked across the street as if returning from a day of hard, 'honest' work. She entered, locked the door behind her, and then listened.

Nothing.

Finally, Zade relaxed.

In the bedroom closet were heaps of clothing... most of it black leather. She inspected her armor and, though it was still in good condition, decided to switch to something more utilitarian. She donned a different suit that exposed less of her skin and had more padding across the front and back. This outfit was a bit tighter than the other, but the elastic cloth at the joints allowed more freedom of movement. She slipped a fresh pair of metal bracers over her forearms and selected a pair of steel-reinforced boots. Next, Zade replenished her supply of throwing stars and daggers. Finally, Zade tossed her current whip into the closet and replaced it with a longer, slightly thicker one. The first one was mainly for show... this one was for real. At the bottom of the closet was a wooden box. Zade pulled it out and opened it. Inside was a collection of small metal objects... attachments for her whip. Three rows of tiny blades, barbs and hooks stared back at her... any one of them would raise the lethality of her whip a hundred-fold. Zade selected four, which she secured on her belt next to the knives and shuriken.

"Now... let's see who knows anything about Montfort's newest dead man..."

---

[Val'keth]

The journey home had been a long and painful one - she had half stumbled, half crawled up the stairs to the small room above the seamstress. She'd even had to rely on a skill she had never used since she had fled the underdark - that of levitation. By concentration and power of thought, she had avoided the final climb down that would have ended in a sprawled heap, and instead floated down.

Her first priority had been her wound, and once it was cleaned and bound with a healing salve, the pain had receded to a bearable level as she quickly rummaged for some fresh clothes and cleaned the blood from her weapons. There was no point making it easy for that - thing - and his dog, she reflected as she pulled a few more choice items from behind the tall cupboard and hurried back out into the night.

Dragon's Inn or the PanDemonica, Zade had said. With the bunch of holy-than-though heroes languishing in the first, Val'keth had a very easy decision. The PanDemonica it would be...

---

[The Stranger]

Sitting in a dark alley, the Stranger shrugged off his cloak and dismissed the illusion that hid his face. His shoulder and back were covered with fresh blood, but the knife wound had stopped bleeding. He had been holding the wound closed with his mind while he walked. The healing process had begun, but the wound was deep and would require stitches... and THAT would require more concentration than he could spare out on an open street.

::Hellhound... come...:: he sent to his companion.

The large, shaggy animal padded silently into the alley and lay down across its opening. The beast had wounds of its own, but neither the Stranger nor the Hellhound itself thought much of them. The wounds weren't serious... especially to the hound's enhanced metabolism. And, since the hound was incapable of feeling pain, any time spent tending to superficial wounds was simply a waste.

And time was of the essence.

He had to find the target soon, or there would be serious repercussions. Very serious.

The Stranger rummaged through the pockets of his dusty gray cloak and removed a small wooden box. The box contained a spool of thread and a needle, both surgical-grade. There were also bandages and a few vials filled with various liquids. The Stranger uncorked one small vial and used the contents to wash out the wound. Then... when the pain subsided, he threaded the needle and placed it in the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The needle lifted into the air and floated gently over his shoulder. The edges of the knife wound puckered, as if being squeezed by invisible fingers. The needle sank into the flesh and began sewing the wound shut with speed and precision that were beyond the capabilities of ordinary hands. When it was done, the Stranger washed off the needle and returned it to the box.

Then he stood.

He had been weary earlier, but the pain of sewing his own flesh shut had helped to focus his mind. Now he was ready to continue.

[To Be Continued]