The First Victory

“Are you next?” the Being hissed as they approached. “I am so hungry.”

“It looks human,” Wren whispered, standing slightly behind Talon. “Are we sure it is not?”

“I am sure. It is only a skin, so he can blend with humans to easily hunt for food.”

“But…”

Talon let out a sigh. “If it will help…”

Talon threw a fire bolt at the guy.

Wren watched as the skin was burned off and the Being emerged from the flames.

This one’s complexion had a blackened hue, with eye sockets that glowed purple.

The body was short and compact, but the overly long arms and clawed hands were the same.

This one felt different than those she had fought before, but those had been simulations.

The real thing would feel different.

“Better?”

“Much. Thank you.”

Wren moved toward the Being and activated her weapons.

The Being merely looked at her for a moment before coming after her.

Wren watched it come and, with the fluid grace of a dancer and months of repetition, ducked and stuck her sword into his stomach, gave it a quick quarter turn, and then pulled it back out, jumping out of the way of the blood.

She stood and walked away as the Being collapsed.

“How was that?” she asked as she walked back to Talon and collected her bag.

“Not bad,” Talon said, pleased to see that she had taken the creature out in one motion.

However, they had a much bigger issue now.

“However, I do not think we are done just yet.”

“Huh?” Wren looked back.

The Being dissolved into ash, but instead of it disappearing, another rose where that one had been.

Soon, a very large Being stood before them, radiating waves of power.

“What the hell just happened?” Wren asked.

“No idea, but we have a problem. That is not a Level I.”

“Who do I thank for releasing me from that worm?” the creature spoke in a raspy voice, almost as if breathing was hard for it.

“I will reward them with a quick and painless death for setting me free.”

The Being’s skin gave off a bluish tinge, and as it stalked toward them, the skin shifted and changed, spikes running up the Being’s overly long arms, stopping along what Wren assumed to be its shoulders.

This one was more round than he was tall, and his head and eye sockets seemed to be melded into his body, pushing out of the front like a small hill rising out of a large one.

“I thought the last one was ugly,” Talon commented.

“Think we should ask the others to help with this one?”

“Ummm, help would be good,” Wren murmured as it continued to close in on her, ignoring Talon.

“Got it.” Talon turned to the group.

He knew they had a nasty problem on their hands.

This was not a lower-level Being.

He was higher up in the food chain, and if they did not take him down quickly, they might not be able to take him down at all.

“Eric, quarantine the area. Emerald, Evan, get the people out of here. This is going to get messy,” Talon ordered.

“Got it.”

“Right.”

Talon turned to see Wren backed up against the wall as the large Being hovered over her.

They had seconds before it attacked.

“Would you like the first hit, because I will most definitely be taking the second?” he asked politely.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Wren nodded.

“Let’s do this.”

Hours of training had them moving as one, but the Being was fast, and he was able to dodge every blow they threw at him.

For every attack they gave him, he blocked and then countered with his own.

“Take the left, I have the right,” Talon instructed, and Wren focused on the Being’s left side, sliding under his swinging arm and nicking him just along the upper part of his leg.

It was not deep enough to take him down, but she bet it hurt like hell.

The Being hissed as his arm collided with the wall of the building.

The alleyway was small, and the buildings were taking enough damage to start dropping debris down on them.

Talon managed to get in a nice, long, nasty cut on the Being’s right arm when he felt the building shake.

“Watch out!” Talon called out as a chunk of the building fell next to Wren.

“The ground is not stable here. We need to move to a better location,” he said.

“Got it.”

“Need some help?” Michael asked, watching them exchange blows with the Being from a safe distance.

They would only help if asked at this point, but it looked as if Talon and Wren were in a tight spot and might need them.

The Being was strong and looked as if it had the upper hand at the moment.

“Nah, we got it.”

“I do not know… You may have bitten off more than you can chew at this stage,” Michael said.

Talon shook his head.

“He is badly damaged, just hiding the blood to make us think he is in better shape than he is. I can smell him. It should not take too much longer.”

Talon moved in once again, this time his knife slicing one of the larger spikes clean off the Being’s shoulder.

The Being let out a roar of pain and swatted at Talon, but he had already jumped back as Wren darted forward; this time, her scythe hit the mark, slicing through the Being’s left side.

As they met up, Talon revealed the Being’s dark blood dripping from his weapon.

She had been had.

She had thought that they were not hitting him, but her weapons were covered in blood, and she could smell it.

It was acidic and reminded her of a three-day-old skunk carcass left out in hundred-degree weather.

“Look out!” Talon turned to see Wren get hit with debris and go down.

He moved in as the Being did, stepping in just as the Being’s claws were about to sink into Wren, taking a wound along his back as he rolled them out from underneath it.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Wren stood up with him as they ducked out of the alleyway and made their way to the construction site on the other side of the building that the others had cleared.

Wren could feel pain radiating from Talon, but he brushed off her concern.

“I am fine, it is just a scratch,” he said.

The Being appeared from the alleyway, following them out into the open area.

“Shall we finish him off?” he asked.

Wren nodded, her face grim.

Talon was hurt much more than he was letting on.

They needed to end this quickly.

Thanks to his warnings and quick thinking, she was only covered with scrapes and cuts.

That said, her new sarong skirt and heels were not only ruined, but they were hindering her movements.

“Damn it.”

Talon winced. “Now what?”

The cut was deep, and he was not going to be much good in a fight soon.

“My skirt is hindering my movements,” she mumbled, trying to decide how to get more movement without destroying the skirt. Maybe she could clean the blood out.

Talon rolled his eyes. Of all things to be thinking about right now, she was worried about her skirt.

He reached over and ripped one side of her skirt open almost to her waist.

“How is that?”

“Remind me to be upset about this later. I liked this one.”

The Being caught up to them.

With a nod, Wren stepped behind Talon as he made a frontal attack.

Talon forced the Being back, his daggers swirling so fast they became a blur as the Being blocked and dodged as many as it could until it lost its footing and started to fall back.

Wren took a couple of steps and vaulted over Talon, using his back as a spring as she jumped over him and sank her blade into the Being’s forehead, once again giving it a quarter twist before pulling it back out, pushing off its head and flying up onto a beam of the building.

She landed awkwardly on her heels and hung onto the beam to keep from falling. She should have thought that one out better.

That, or start training in heels.

She saw Talon start to stand, red covering his back from his wound, as the Being let out a scream and exploded, rocking the unstable ground around them even more.

Talon jumped up the beams of the building as the ground fell apart underneath them, leaving them nowhere safe to land below.

The beam itself swayed slightly as it threatened to topple over.

Talon pulled himself up next to her and stood up, leaning against the beam.

“You all right?” he asked. He was breathing hard, and the pain was starting to register.

Wren nodded. She was hugging the beam for all she was worth.

She hated heights.

Add in heels and narrow beams, and she found a new combination of things she never wanted to experience again.

“What is wrong?” Talon asked.

“Did you hurt something?”

“No. I did not hurt anything. I hate heights, and thanks to this narrow beam and these heels, I am unable to stand without feeling like I am about to fall to my death,” Wren continued, this time speaking more to herself than to Talon. “I knew that I should not have worn them.”

She began to shiver as the adrenaline subsided and the coolness of the evening took over.

The wind chose this moment to pick up, whipping their clothes around. Wren hoped no one was looking too closely.

If they were, they would see what little she wore for undergarments, and that was not a comforting thought.

“Take them off,” Talon commanded.

“I am not taking off my underwear!”

“What the hell are you talking about, woman?” Talon shot back. Where had underwear come from? “Take off the damn shoes!”

“Ahh. That is what you meant.”

“Of course it is. Why the hell would you think I meant your underwear?”

“Never mind that.” Wren hoped he forgot this conversation.

She did not plan on explaining it later.

“I cannot without losing my balance.”

Eric called up. “Do not come down. We have to stabilize the ground down here, or we will have an even bigger problem.”