To avoid suspicion whilst re-entering the town of Caron, they wore thick black robes with their hoods up, stolen from a dusty chest they found in the abandoned shack before leaving.

  They joined a travelling group of two dozen traders.

  “Why even wear a hood?” Vera joked. “You’re taller than most, Death, people will recognise you on height alone.”

  “Silence. We’re almost there,” Death said. “Few more minutes and we’ll make it through the gates. We can sneak to the Lizard Hall and see whether we can find the culprits hiding away.”

  “This robe smells of dead people and onion farts,” Snow said. “That’s more likely to grab attention.”

  “I like the smell,” Vera admitted.

  “Of course you do,” he sighed. “There better be something for us to follow here, or I’ve ran into a wall.”

  “We could travel to Vatanil,” Snow suggested.

  “I can’t do that,” Vera said. “I have a bounty on me for what I did there… people don’t just forget a girl with the ears of a fox.”

  I’m certain there’s a bounty on Snow and I. These travellers from Sekoi don’t recognise us yet.

  When they got to the gates it was unguarded, abandoned with the portcullis left open. “Where are the guards?” Snow whimpered.

  “Ye must be new to these parts,” a merchant on a cart said. “Or ye’ve never been around when they do stuff like this.”

  Is the town on lockdown because of the infiltration? Hm, that could complicate things if so… but guards are absent, an easier task for us to do what we need.

  “Word came from Bianca this mornin’, straight from Vatanil, same as usual,” the merchant said. “Dragons in the mountains have been flappin’ their wings more than usual, a few took flight, but then returned to the Dragon Chasm to their mother.”

  “Dragon attacks?” Snow said fearfully.

  “That’s right missy, they’ve been growing more frequent. The people are sheltered deep in their basements; people pay pretty pennies for food and water in a crisis like this… prime time to make a visit… those pesky dragons never come to Sekoi.”

  “I’ve never seen a dragon attack,” said Vera. “Never heard roars or saw fire… you sure it’s not a hoax?”

  “That’s because they try to be silent,” he said. “They swoop down like eagles catchin’ rats, drag your live body back to their momma and make you a tasty snack. If only Bianca stopped bein’ such a sissy and marched down there, that brooding dragon-mother would stop poppin’ out hatchlings like chicken eggs and the small towns would be at ease.”

  “The Valan brothers don’t care about this?” Snow asked.

  “Oh, honey, not even a little—if it doesn’t bother the Capital Kingdom, why the fuck should they care ‘bout the little guys? The people of Caron tried a little tactic, placed a bounty on all the tiny dragons that come for them… pretty soon that little lapdog o’ Bianca came runnin’ through our gates, waitin’ for them to show a little fire from their throats… easy money for him, dragons don’t like water at all, do they?”

  Water… Death thought. His powers are water-based? Was he the one that attacked those people in the sewers?

  “—they put him to work, paid him a little extra to defend the Great Lizard Hall but I bet he doesn’t give a single shite about that library or who goes into it,” the merchant continued. “You folks got a place to stay? I can offer you a place in my basement with some food and water for a nice gold price, keep you safe from the dragons and monsters.”

  “I would rather die than be held up with the children you have roped up in your basement,” Death scoffed. “I’m not giving you gold just to visit the rape dungeon.”

  “Fuckin’ ‘scuse me?”

  “Ignore him!” Snow exclaimed. “He was born with a few loose nails in his head, a thief got some good swings in with a hammer… he hasn’t been acting right ever since. Tell him about it! Go on, I command you.” She gave a mischievous smile. “Say sorry for your mean accusation!”

  “My apologies,” Death forced.

  “Uh… I forgive ye lad,” said the merchant. “Sorry to hear about yer injury, that must be difficult to live with.”

  “He can’t get hard anymore,” Vera snickered. “He’s like a dead eel down there.”

  “Well, I best be going now,” he said. “Can’t say I had a swell time chattin’ to you folks… look after yerselves.”

  Snow and Vera waved him off.

  “Must you make a mockery of me always?” Death said. “The two of you treat me like I am a jester.”

  “Don’t look so glum,” Vera said. “We won’t see that man again. If we do, I’ll cut his throat for you, how does that sound, sir?”

  “Just shut up,” he snarled. “The streets are empty, we can get to the Lizard Hall without fuss.”

  That’s exactly what they did. It was too easy, no presence of any guard, not even any in Valan armour. They sneaked around until Death found a familiar grass field… but there was nothing there.

  “Why so stunned?” Vera asked.

  “I got tossed out here,” Death said. “Right here. In the dirt, right where I’m standing, there was a trail from that tree to the broken… window…”

  The window was completely intact. He peeked through the glass and saw the tables and books were nicely stacked, orderly kept, he knew that was the same room because of a crack in the wood from where Killian had stuck his sword to the floor.

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  “That looks like the room we were in!” Snow exclaimed.

  “Very observant,” Death said sarcastically. “All traces of battle and infiltration have been concealed, even the cambion tracks.”

  “Maybe you hallucinated them,” Vera snickered.

  “Maybe you shall hallucinate my boot in your mouth.”

  “That’s not nice.”

  “Your voice is so annoying,” Death said. “This is it, I’ve hit the wall, I don’t know what the path is from here. No leads, nothing to hunt, I wasted my own time by coming here… I should’ve foreseen the curtains covering this mess.”

  “I’m sure there’ll be something,” Snow whispered. “Maybe a passerby saw what happened!”

  “We’re surrounded by trees,” Vera said. “No one would’ve seen a fucking thing unless they were watching from the bushes.”

  With a sudden clarity, Death checked the bushes and looked for signs of an observer. On a thorn bush, he found his answer—a dried drop of blood on a leaf. “The culprit,” he whispered. “They saw my face when I was thrown out… they know I have the tear of the angel, this is great, all we must do is make our whereabouts more known and they will come to us to try and kill us.”

  “That’s a huge presumption,” Vera said.

  “I’m surprised you even know what that word means.”

  “Is this anything?” Snow reached into a bush and found a ripped piece of brown cloth. “Doesn’t look useful.”

  Death snatched it and sniffed it. It reeked of magic. He paced from the blood drop to where Snow found the cloth. “They ran in that direction. Into the street, directly towards that well.”

  “You think the well has a portal to Hell?” Vera said. “Cool, I made a rhyme.”

  Death rushed to it and stuck his hand in the water. He expected something to appear, something to happen, but it was ordinary.

  “Maybe they swam down into it,” Vera suggested. “Don’t know what they’d find at the bottom… why are we following the steps of the cambion? Isn’t this a little pointless?”

  She’s right, Death thought. This is something I should’ve done if I didn’t have to rescue Snow.

  He noticed the water was rippling from the centre. He placed his hand on the well and felt a rumble in the stones.

  An enemy approaches, Death thought with a smile. I hope this is fun…

  The water rose from the hole and splashed over them, travelling like snakes through the street and twirling around a cloaked figure who pulled down his hood and gave a familiar cackle.

  “Found you,” he said. “Idiots like you can’t resist coming to the scene of your crimes… wait… you’re not the people I’m searching for… but I know your faces.”

  Where did this giant man appear from? Death thought. I can’t recall the last time someone that large saw me before I saw them.

  Black hair, watery-blue slim eyes, a cloak held to his chest by a chain. Seven feet tall, long arms that reached his knees, a voice and accent that Death found challenging to understand.

  “And you are?” Death yelled. “A stalker? A worshipper? Will you do a little dance if I give you a coin?”

  He commanded the water to the form of a trident and challenged them, drawing more liquid from the puddles of piss and sewage that tainted the trident to a hideous green.

  “Oh no,” Vera moaned. “That’s Quinn, a bounty hunter.”

  Stay away from puddles, Death remembered. I understand now.

  “One of you knows me,” Quinn said. “I have been waiting for a good battle. Prepare yourselves to fight me, don’t hold back, makes my bounties worth it.”

  “You think you can kill him?” Snow boasted. “You’re all by yourself! Death is stronger than you!”

  She is acting brave, Death noticed. I am quite bored of this water boy already, I’ll let her speak to entertain me.

  “His name is Death?” Quinn laughed. “What an infantile name.”

  “Infantile?” she screamed. “I came up with that name! You’re just a big loser who controls water! I bet if there was a cum puddle on the floor, you’d suck it up into a cum spear! Fuck you! You want an infantile name, huh? Well, I name you Cum Master. Death, I command you to call this man Cum Master for eternity!”

  Well, I bet even that prophet would never have saw that coming. Nothing I can do, this man’s tombstone shall say Cum Master.

  “Cute,” Quinn said. He stared up at the dark clouds as it began to rain. “Well, ain’t that sweet, it’s raining weapons. My lucky day, Vera, bountied from Vatanil. Snow, the annoyance of Sekoi, and the unnamed man now known as Death, bountied for the slaughter of more than a dozen innocent bystanders drinking in a Sekoi tavern… did you think you could escape justice, that people would forget? I do not forget, nor do the people. Come, weaklings, face me.”

  “It’s time for you to get behind me, Snow.” Death stepped forward. “Cum Master—”

  “Quinn,” he interrupted.

  “Cum Master,” Death growled. “I don’t care who you are, what you want, what you do—you will die if you face me, and you were wrong about one thing…”

  “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

  Death had a brilliant idea.

  “I am who you’re looking for,” he lied. “I cut open Stroke’s childhood friend, ripped out her entrails, put this deep in her heart.” He shown the tear of an angel. He saw Quinn wincing at each spoken word. “I cut her arms at the shoulder, cut her throat to the bone, tore her scalp and nibbled on the flesh of her brain.”

  “You’re the cambion?” Quinn growled. “You did that to her? You fucking bastard! I see your red eyes, you demon freak! How dare you defile the sweetest woman I’ve ever known! Godwin and Bianca will say you did the nation a favour, but she was gentle with a heart of gold! You ruined her, you raped her, dirty cambion scum! I will send you back to Hell, and I will match your crime, making you watch as I fuck the throats of your companions until they choke and suffocate!”

  That’s not much information about the sacrificed woman… wish he would’ve said her name. He knows the answers, I must drag them out of him before I kill him.

  “I fucked that bitch every hour!” Death drew his sword. “She begged for help when I slipped it between her whore legs,” he lied. “She cried, screamed for a saviour that never came, each thrust she called out for you...”

  “Me…?” Quinn whimpered.

  “Yes, Cum Master, she screamed for you. You could’ve saved her, where were you when I fucked that tart deep and raw?”

  Quinn threw the water trident with a rage. It turned to ice as it came close. Death dodged and redirected it with a fast sword swing; it hit the empty well behind and destroyed it with a frosty blast.

  Stronger than I thought, Death thought. My sword is freezing to the touch just from coming in contact with that thing. Finally, a fight at last. This is it, the moment to steal my first power and take these nations by the throat… I will be unstoppable.

  As the past few days had proven, nothing would ever go Death’s way again. Vera summoned her blades and took Death’s position at the front of the three, which he tried to contest, but Snow ordered him to step back and protect her.

  “You present me with a petite woman?” Quinn laughed as he summoned a second trident. “Fine. I will tear this one apart, then I will kill you, cambion trash.”

  “Let me fight him,” she said to Death. “I don’t know if I can beat him, but I’ll fight with all I have!”

  “You had better!” Quinn yelled. “It will only make killing you so much more enjoyable!”