The house was utterly destroyed. All the effort that had been put into it, lost just like that. Jeb stood in stunned silence before the catastrophe mouth agape. This wasn’t simple vandalism. In his limited military career scenes like this had been common. Only those were after airstrikes or when the shock troops went through.

  “Boss, look what I found.”

  One of the workers was holding up a large cloth or leather drum face. Strings still clung to the sides where it had been stretched, a single fragment of dark brown wood hung from the strings. What that had to do with the destruction was unclear. He picked up a splintered piece of two by four.

  “What in the hell? Where’s the cops?”

  “Already been by and took off, boss. Said that they got a call to leave it be.”

  Jeb angrily brought the wood down onto a concrete chunk. Splinters showered the air as he huffed in frustration. Pain surged up his back nearly toppling the large man. Trying to calm himself he observed the surroundings.

  “Was it a gas-line?”

  “No, sir. But there were a few people who said they heard a loud sound. Similar to a low bass.”

  “But no explosion?”

  “Sir, could still be.”

  The worker had a constant sunburn across his face and arms. Jeb knew his name but everyone called him Sunshine. Looking around he found nothing was scorched. It had been a long time but Jeb tried to remember his tracking skills. As military police when not watching the Black Spots they would often track down those who were attempting to flee the service.

  “Go wait by the truck.”

  He still vividly remembered how far along construction was when he dropped everyone off this morning. They had left for lunch when the damage was done. Knowing these workers, none would be sticking around through lunch. Well, Nate might have but he doubted he’d be coming back to this after they finished their work.

  The front door hadn’t been in place covered by a board secured by a few nails. Made it easy to keep vandals out. Kids these days love to pull pranks and graffiti. It always cost Jeb a ton of money to clean it up. Grumbling, he stopped at a demolished wall.

  “Something was smashed through here.”

  Looking across he found a dent in an exterior wall. On closer inspection he found two divots rammed into the ground. As if something had been placed down and hammered upon with great force. The concrete was cracked and would have to be repaired. Dollar signs kept rolling up in his mind.

  Looking up from the divots he found a splatter of blood. Stopping in his tracks he shook for a second. If there was blood here then a person was in the middle of all this? It was impossible for him to imagine. What were the police doing if not checking where the blood came from?

  Creaking came from above his head. Wind howled through what remained of the rafters swaying them as it went. It was time to escape this death trap. Back outside he met with his men. They all had troubled faces. If the job was cancelled they wouldn’t have a job to go to till Jeb was up and running. On the other hand if they had to fix what was broken it posed a heavy risk of collapse.

  “I hate to say it boys but no work for the foreseeable future. I’ve got to contact an engineer to figure out everything that's damaged. Not to mention the insurance. I’ll give ya’ll a call if anything comes up.”

  There was mumbling in the gathered group but everyone understood. Jeb tried to be a miser, he often failed at it. Shelling out in some engrained attempt to be perfect on the front end or to fix everything on the back end. They all dispersed.

  *RING* *RING*

  Jeb’s phone rang as he waited for it to connect. If anyone could direct the cops away it was his business partner. Which meant bad news given what he’d talked with Snake Blind about.

  “Jeb, we have a meeting tonight. Can this not wait?”

  “Sorry Mr.Mayor. Have you heard about my job site?”

  “Yes, our benefactor has informed me. He will take a look after he is done with his preparations. A word of advice. Don’t go near there.”

  Jeb’s grip tightened around the phone. Partners? It was laughable the way they were treating him. He knew he couldn’t let it show but he really wanted to get back at him. Staying around however would not be a good idea. Being where that creep was going to be spelled disaster.

  “Thank you for the advice. Is there anything else I should know?”

  “I have guests at the mansion. When you come tonight try not to be too much of a conniving sales man.”

  “But that's all I know how to be, sir. I shall see you tonight.”

  As Jeb rode away a singular figure fell heavily to the ground. Paladin Wood was in rough shape. His armor was nearly nonexistent, replaced with a thick layer of blood. He pushed himself up with one arm, the shattered pieces sticking out in every direction. Hovelling on damaged legs he stopped at an upturned square piece of concrete.

  Flipping the concrete over revealed a bloodied head. It was pancaked and torn to pieces. Even a Paladins advanced healing factor couldn’t help at this level of damage. Paladin Wood felt it in his own body. His tank was empty, running on fumes. Head in hands he slumped to sit on the debris.

  “I did not come here to fight my own. How is this a good fight? All of you were mere Page’s when I left. It did make me proud to see you in action. That's why it hurts the most to kill you.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “Knight Wood. I ask that you end your life now.”

  The same monotone voice of Squire Lillie wormed its way through the ruble. She was out of sight and Paladin Wood didn’t have the energy to feel her presence. He needed to recover and that would take time. Now was her chance if she could muster the courage he really would be dead.

  “Squire Lillie. How laughable. You forced me to use that which I had locked away and now you have the gall to ask for my death.”

  “I simply followed orders.”

  “Those orders got your men killed.”

  Squire Lillie hadn’t been informed of Paladin Wood capabilities. They would have never sent out only two enforcers for the job. He would be dead in the ground if not for the higher ups. Why hadn't anyone told them? In truth she knew he was powerful, but why hadn’t that fact crossed her mind?

  The plan had been perfect when taking their intel into consideration. Banneret Knight Emile should have been enough, even then she’d prepared Knight Umbera as back up. Among the ranks of the Knight order both were above that of Paladin Wood. He was only a Knight of the fifth rank. Even if he advanced with his training he could only be sixth rank.

  They had engaged him just after he entered the building. Emile had blasted him away with her hammer. Long and impractical for anyone who wasn’t a Paladin. It was a sledge hammer with the head of a large drum. Her own flesh was wrapped over the face. As he hit the wall she had activated her power.

  “Do not move.”

  With a single command his body was trapped in a standing position. Knight Umbera had taken action; their flute played a single note shooting out a concussive blast where they waited in ambush above. The idea was to crush his bones which were much harder to heal. Once incapacitated they could take him back to headquarters. There he could be safely decommissioned.

  As the second blast hit his body he melted. Not completely that was beyond his skill. He formed into the infuriating ball he used to escape. Emile could feel the power of her command slip away. It was inevitable no power was perfect.

  *WHAM*

  She hit the ball into the wall. This time the force spread out he was like a mass of glue. With a wet slap he peeled off the wall. With quick reflexes he shot at her with a hand formed in a spear head. Seeing his slow attack she scoffed.

  “Miss”

  There was much less strain on her soul as he veered off cutting a long gouge into the wall. Blood streaked along with his cut. He had still grazed her cheek. Shock was only a momentary feeling with Banneret Knight Emile. Experience took over, he had high magic resistance. More physical means would be needed.

  As he recovered, aiming for her weak spot, the hammer arched around her body. The reformed body of his wouldn’t stand a chance. Knight Umbera took the moment to land another concussive whistle upon his body. Momentum was arrested and he was swept up in the blow from the hammer. More walls fell to his nailed body.

  His arm bent at an odd angle, the bone was broken. His ability to heal was more focused on his flesh and organs. The bones as pointed out in his dossier were more fragile for Paladins at least. It was around this point the communications were cut off from Squire Lillie's watching larynx.

  Pushed into a corner she could struggle desperately each of the next blows aimed to cripple the man. It was hard to watch him struggle avoiding letting his legs and remaining arm be hit. With another high pitched whistle her hero was rocketed across the ground.

  She could see the world through the spiritual power emitted by all things within the world. His was slipping away bleeding out with the damage and ultimately it flecked off into the wind. It was difficult for her to watch. Then he stopped. Something moved within him. Bright as a star it had blinded her spirit eye.

  The next thing she knew her scouting appendage was completely lost. It took some time for her to deploy another to find Paladin Wood. He held the deflated head of Paladin Umbera. What had he done to turn everything around?

  “I shall continue the mission. Inform the higher ups. They wanted me to return, to reject my true calling. Once my mission is over. I shall let them know what passion is.”

  ***

  Street lights passed overhead. Nate’s body slumped in the back seat, a soft snoring emanating from his restless body. Wayne checked on him with the rear view mirror before focusing back on the road. Teleportation was a limited ability in every way one could imagine. It was good that he kept a vehicle for occasions such as these.

  Sitting in the passenger seat was Karah. Stubbornly she had chosen to remain outside of the spirit house. It was funny to Wayne, his student had only three real contracts and two were already beefing. It would take some learning to prevent this in the future.

  “Teachy, what do people like you do for fun?”

  The question caught Wayne off guard for a moment. He quickly refocused and answered naturally. Afterall there was only one thing he actually liked to do.

  “Work on golems of course.”

  “Nah, something that's not lame. Got anything like that?”

  “Not really.”

  He had noticed her nice, innocent little girl act was slipping more and more. He couldn’t fathom why young people now put on such ridiculous acts. Back in his day they were too busy with recovering from the war to be engrossed in such meaningless blather.

  “This car is nice.”

  “Oh, do you like it? I restored it myself.”

  “What no way? I’ve modded my bike but to do a whole car. Did you fix it up with anything hella impressive?”

  “Impressive? Well, I was halfway through the design to make it into a golem.”

  “More golems? Lame.”

  She seemed to lose interest. He would need to get Nate to discipline his contractee’s after they solved their little Necro problem. What kind of teacher would he be otherwise? Silence loomed in the vehicle for a long time before she spoke once more.

  “I have to ask because I know he won’t. Once this is all over what are you going to do with him?”

  “I don’t understand the question.”

  “This is all well and good. Taking out a murderer is positive. I can’t stop him from doing that. But he nearly died.”

  “Isn’t that your job? To prevent him from dying.”

  “Look you balding sack of shit. I know this ain’t all of it. Nothing in life is free. So what the hell do you want with him? You’ll get him killed if this continues any further.”

  “First, if you ever call me a sack of shit again I will show your master how to place you in a tiny dark hole for the rest of your existence. There will be no escape, no redemption, only the never ending darkness. The only upside is that you will be a source of fuel. Maybe, for that werewolf you love so much. Second, his tuition is being paid via his service on the job. Which means it's not free. And last but certainly not least, it doesn’t matter if you know any of this. He is my pupil and I will care for him in the way’s as appropriate. What he does or doesn’t will be between the two of us. You are his summon, a quasi-spirit no better than a tool.

  On the grand scale of his existence you will be an insignificant foot-note. Now get back in your spirit house or I’ll force you.”

  Karah hadn’t been talked to this way in a long time. Furthermore Wayne was completely calm. It wasn’t the fury of a man blinded by rage. This was the quiet confidence of the strong. It reminded her of her family.

  “Sorry, sir.”

  The words came out strained. She disappeared into flickering lights. The drive fell back into silence. Wayne turned the radio on just as they passed a sign. Two hours to ViewVille City. It wasn’t long till they would be steeped into the true world of darkness. He just hoped his student was ready for what was to come.