The folder he had found in locker had held all the information he could possibly need, and more. It had the whole building plan, shedule for guard patrols for next week and even authorization key. Ryan figured the caller was one from ‘the inside’ or had paid one of the guards well – very well – to obtain all this. It also had information where he was supposed to take the woman after he had gotten her out of facility.

He had never kidnappepd a person before, and it was not a thing he was looking forward to experience. Another person would weight him down in more ways than once. But the award offered was big enough to make his life much easier for quite a while. At first, Ryan did wonder why she had not chosen some more known mercenery for this, but then answer came to him – when the girl would disappear, everyone would think of turning to them, while he was just a small fish and no one would even remember about him.

Now, he was standing on the other side of the tall fence, looking at the fortress-like facility. His form as already hidden by invisibility sphere and young man put more energy into it, as the energy field broke laws of gravity and raised him over the fence. It took him about two more minutes to securely get in without the camera recording it and then he was already in corridors. He had memorized the whole map of the facility and tonight’s patrol plans, so he succesfully avoided few guards.

As Ryan was about to come to conclusion this was too easy, he found the corridor which led to his victim. He peeked around corner and saw two unexpected guards there and pulled back swiftly. Oh, sh—, the man cursed mentally. So much for no rucus. He stood there still, allowing him self to rest, but not too long as each minute of holding sphere drained him, and then charged. These were well equipped though, and had heat sensor glasses, so the battling didn’t go too smoothly, and the man hissed in pain as he received nasty blow in stomach, but managed to respond with similar blow and soon, one of the guard was uncoscious. The other was stunned soon after. Ryan knew the reinforcement would come soon, though, and so he rushed into the room, hoping the woman was there. Holding the sphere up (so cameras would not capture his face) was getting harder and harder.

Conflict situations in the big city were daily, even hourly, occurance, and anyone wandering the furthest and more criminal districts was ready for them, however there was a group of three who had not been cautious enough (although, it did not always help).
Now, they were backed up in a wall of dimly lit side-street, seven big men looming in front of them.
”This is unclaimed territory,” the man, who seemed to be the most important in the trio spoke. His eyes were in startling color, but the gaze was blank, much like his face.
”Not anymore,” the largest of the gang laughed.
”We’ve claimed it and you’ve tresspassed,” he added.
”Then we apologize. Let us go, and we will be of no bother,” The first man spoke again.
”Nu-uh. Being nice isn’t on my today’s to-do list. Besides, I like that chick of yours,” the biggest grinned.
‘The chick’ gritted her teeth and also hands on her sword handles, her blue eyes narrowing.
”As you wish, then. But if we win, then you leave this territory and consider it ours,” his voice stressed that last word noticeably.
”Ha-ha! You’re brave, blind guy, so I agree. This will be fun thing to remember.”

After few more seconds, the fight had started, and while the odds seemed to be against the smallest group at first, the situation changed rather quickly. Soon, there were only five against three, two bandits already being down.
”Elek! Behind you! the girl suddenly yelled and the man with teal eyes spun around quickly, kicking the thug who had sneaked up on him right in stomach, while his other friend fended off the other .
”What the fu--?!” gang leader cursed, trying to avoid ‘chick’s’ sword slashes and kicks.

Chilly wind blew in her back and she shivered ever so slightly. She was trained to withstand nearly any climatic situation, but still, she couldn't escape this betrayal of body, when something felt so very amiss. With a sigh, young woman crouched in jumping position, hand touching the cold cement roof. Shadows wrapped around her reassuringly, as if saying, whispering that her intuition was lying to her and nothing would go wrong tonight.

Leila frowned and gazed at the scene below. She was told to observe, until it was good time to get involved. Maybe it was the right time, but it felt like she should wait a bit more. It was interesting to see how well the blind guy fought. He really was skillful, both as mindreader and fighter. She resisted the urge to fiddle with her pendant, which held in the small chip whose waves would set off his ability to look in her mind.

The girl hated to admit it, but she was slightly nervous. She was assassin, not a spy, and keeping the role for maybe months, did not seem very appealing to her. But maybe it would take few weeks... In any case, her goal would be worth it. Oh yes. Thin smile spread on her lips. Few moments later, she jumped, black wings springing from her back as she floated about ten stories lower and then stopped. Shadows still swallowed her and no one could see her. She took out her arballet and aimed at one of the thugs that was coming back for second round. They really never learned, did they... A blink later, wind howled around her ears as she swooped down, shooting, shadow tendrils flaring about her. This was what she loved.

Ryan rushed in, but after few steps came to a halt. His gaze quickly swept trough the room, not paying much attention to most of the details, but each of them were recorded in his memory and later on, he would often return to them. As it stopped at the girl, he mentally cursed. He had expected... Well, he was not sure what he had expected - all of this mission seemed too strange -, but certainly not a limp body he would have to carry around. Then again, if she struggled, it would not make it much easier.

Cautiously, he went to the table-bed. When no alarm rang, he sighed in relief. Then, quickly started pull off nodes. Again, he felt relief as this caused no sound that would alarm the guards. This felt far too easy, not counting the guards. After a moment of doubt, man decided to leave the mask in place. Sudden waking and screaming could give them away. Ryan picked up the young girl and put over his shoulders. She was rather light, but the limp posture made it uncomfortable. His invisibility field blinked and he cursed. With one hand, he managed to pull hood over his head, to shadow his face, in case he had to "let go" of it.

Taking a deep breath, he went to the doors, then into the corridor. Much to his luck, the nearest guards did not have heat sensors and he could sneak past them. But, further, it did not go so smooth. Not too long after, he had 3 guards on his tail and Ryan set up a partial shield to reflect the attacks. But with that, his pace slowed down. Sweat trickled down his forehead, his breath was heavy. For a moment, he considered dropping the extra weight and just fleeing, to save his life, but he realized - his employer would dispose of him at first chance and... It felt like it would be throwing sleeping sheep in the middle of hungry wolf pack.

Taking an unexpected turn, he managed to gain distance from chasers, and escape the building. Ryan ran to the fence, replaced reflecting field with lifting one and in that moment, something hit him in left shoulder. Both fields blinked and they nearly fell back to the ground, but man regained his composure, and leaped over the top of the fence. He landed rather unsuccessfully, but managed to keep the girl on top of him. Now bruised, limping and with bleeding arm, he fled to where he had hidden his vehicle. The moment he started it up, he heard guards reach the opposite end of alley. Bowing down - bullet whistled over his head - he put all his energy into speeding out on the full street and off into the night, beyond their grasp.

Ryan groaned in pain as he began cleaning his wound. Bullet was still in and he was preparing to take it out. The lamp kept flickering, giving little light in the dark and cold room, it was 2am after all. His eyes switched to the white form on the mattress. They had reached the abandoned building about an hour ago, so, she should soon become conscious. He hadn't tied her, maybe not the right choice, just put her to sleep and covered with blanket. Man grunted again, as the tool went into the wound.

"I don't approve of it."
"I know, Aiolia, I know. I am sorry."
The man looked guilty and rubbed his forehead. A headache was coming up. Too much of effort Leila had asked of him tonight and he had not slept for two days straight.
"But we have to do this."
His voice was heavy as he said this. The girl nibbled on her bottom lip and finally sighed in defeat. She knew every reason for this crazy plan, but her common sense screamed against it. Elek was already under so much pressure and then to put another burden on him... Her heart ached at the thought of it.
"Yeah. Well, let's go back now. You need to finally rest."
Aiolia's voice became softer and worried as she said it and she smiled at the older man. He nodded in reply and they both turned around and started walking deeper into the dank sewers. It did not smell too bad... Or maybe they had gotten used to it now. These tunnels had become their home long ago.
"Tomorrow's going to be a big day," Elek thought. Although unexpectedly, situation had solved better than he had planned. The sudden attack had given Leila a chance to present her self to them and offer her services to the rumored Rebellion. As he had thought, she was protected by device that deflected his telepathic waves, but even without that, he knew her plan was only to spy and destroy them from inside. Yet, they had agreed to talk with her tomorrow about it and then decide. And the answer would be "yes". That's why Aiolia was so angry and worried. She disliked this crazy plan he was about to set into action. But, it had to be done.
Aiolia shivered, as she glanced sideways to Elek. His expression was so firm and cold, there was nothing that could change his mind now.

"Evan!" Booted feet ran after what looked like a large deformed animal. "Stop it!" She continued after it, black hair catching in the wind as she ran. Her pants were form fitting but stretchy and dull. She wore a white tank top and a black leather jacket over it with gloves covering her hands. Deep blue eyes with pale skin around it watched as the creature slammed into a cover for a manhole and dove into the sewers. The cover slammed into the concrete ground below, bent up like a piece of paper.

Growling, the dark haired girl jumped down into the sewers after her, landing crouched on her feet, and stood upright. "Great." The thing she was calling after had disappeared... She dusted herself off and started down the sewer system, following her instincts to find it.



Rippling muscles ached as claws dug into cement walls, leaving no marks, and pulled her body up to the ceiling naturally. It had started through the pipework lining the ceiling when it heard chattering up the tunnel. It paused and changed course, a low growl aching in it's chest as it closed in on what could have been fresh prey. There was a man and a woman walk below and it grinned, sharp, white teeth glinting despite the lack of light against the ceiling.

Instead of pouncing and tearing them apart now, it watched them. A long, bony tail snuck down behind them and poked at the females' back, drawing away into the darkness before it could be seen. With complete silence, it urged forward through the pipe work to keep up with them and as the female was distracted, it let it's tail jab out and knock the male over.

Her body lay on the bed, totally unmarked despite how hard her captor had worked at getting her here. Her body was... cold, but she wasn't dead. It was very likely that she had a lot of drugs in her system and it was keeping her from waking up or being able to function properly. She still had a heartbeat, though it was slow and quiet. Despite all of the jostling about the night before, she didn't show any signs of waking up. Not soon, anyway.

Even the sounds of him removing bullets from his body and any groans of pain, she didn't stir. Her features kept still though, despite the prison-like aura that radiated from her body, she looked to be at peace.

Aiolia walked, watching her step carefully. She knew Elek was most likely seeing trough her eyes right now and it was her responsibility to make sure he did not trip and fall, although, he had become very good at moving and generally living, even when there was none to aid him in seeing the world.

But she did become a little too careless, not hearing a sound somewhere above, and the moment tail touched her, she stiffened, hands going to her swords.
"Aiolia..." Elek began. He sensed another mind, but before he could access it, something hit him and he fell. With groan, he hit his shoulder in the wall, but quickly got back to his feet.
"Don't attack, Aiolia!" he commanded softly and the woman backed up to the wall, next to him, but her swords were drawn out.
"We mean you no harm, please, come out," he called out into the darkness. His powers reached out to the foreign mind. It was twisted and strange, but he sent reassuring waves to it, tries to calm it down and smooth away the malicious intents. They were rooted in the very base of it, though, so it was very hard. He could only attempt to stop them for a short while, or to break the will fully. But to do that, not only he did not want to, but it also asked for immense concentration.

Elek stepped towards the creature, still trying to calm it down from inside. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his head hurt as if it was about to split in half. Aiolia gripped the swords tighter, for once, wishing Elek could let her simply deal with bloodshed. He was breaking him self for peace, always.

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning

Trough the static noise, song words were barely audible sometime. However, it still helped to chase away the eerie silence that seemed to capture him and lock within a shell. Ryan shivered and pulled a blanket tighter around him and watched the small fire he had started. It also helped him stay awake. He had dared to sleep only few hours, but after what he had done, he was so tired, he felt as if he could sleep twenty four hours straight.

We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
But we tried to fight it

It had been nearly a day, and the girl was still asleep. He had checked if she was still alive multiple times and much to his relief, answer was always yes. Now she was buried under all the blankets he could find, to keep her warm. There was no message from his employer, so he was just waiting and replaying last night over and over his mind... In all honesty, Ryan felt like stranded on some shore without civilization and only his own guilt and pain nagging him.

But we tried to fight it
But we tried to fight it

"Who the heck listens to all those ancient songs still?" he thought to him self and took a sip of half cold tea, which made him shiver again. Somehow, this all had went completely differently as he had planned... But didn't it always.

It could feel him prying into it's mind. Immediately, it gnashed it's teeth and swiped at them with an inhumane claw, dark honey skin visible with long, dark nails threatening to tear at their flesh. Elek was making it worse, the situation becoming more aggressive. It's tail jabbed out at Elek and the girl but never came quite close enough to hurt them. It was a warning, an attack that had not been completed because he was trying to push it's aggression back.

Finally, it had had enough. Elek was getting weaker and it didn't want to play the game any more. As if almost completely shoved out of it's mind, it disregarded Elek and lunged for Aiolia, landing ontop of her and snapping at her face with a crazed expression. The blade kept it from tearing her face off and digging it's teeth int her skull but it was strong and couldn't be kept off for long.

The figure was what looked to be a female woman with bones jutting slightly out of her spine and a long bone-like tail lightly covered in skin stretching out; an extension of her spine with what looked like a jagged blade at the tip. Her hair was long a dark red with some brownish influence. The eyes that stared at Aiolia, imagining the feel of her blood splattering onto her face and flesh sliding down her own throat, were a bright yellow surrounded by black. She was a monster and nearly uncontrollable.

She'd continued on with her drug induced slumber but her fingertips gave a sign that she might be waking. They ached and flinched but settled. Nothing happened for about five minutes and then it happened again. This continued for a few hours, her fingers shaking slightly, until she took in a deeper breath, actually moving for once as her body functioned. She didn't open her eyes, not just yet, but she was getting there.

She couldn't hear him or even sense him, so speaking to her and even touching her did not have any effect. The girl was totally numb and kept this way even until another few hours had passed and her eyes finally opened. Blue. They were a bright almost crystal-like blue. It might have been a nice change as the rest of her was white, some literally and some just a tad bit more colorful.

Her mind... So strong, so painful. Elek could barely keep any thoughts of his own, all his mind was concentrated on keeping the creature at bay. He and Aiolia put their backs together, and he sensed his companion's fears, even though she had hidden them well. Elek could not even see anymore, he relied only on hearing and smell now. All his mind power went into the beast.

Aiolia had seen many beings, but this had to be one of the strongest and most horrible ones. So human, and yet so far from it. The moment it leaped, the girl managed to cross blades in attempt to protect her self. However, this creature was much stronger.

Elek's mind bled full with scenes of Aiolia being devoured. His stomach clenched and seeing that there was no chance of calm outcome, he put last of his strength into powerful blast. Mental energy crashed into monster and pushed her back, off of Aiolia. The girl, feeling a chance, kicked and pushed with all her might and managed to scramble free.

The fight grew louder and attracted attention. Yelling, three or four people came running. They all were wielding weapons, some physical, some magical. Seeing the monster, that was already launching another attack, one leaped forward and covered Elek and Aiolia. Monster's tail and claws hit his torso, but had no effect, only pain resonated trough her arms. The creature had hit something even tougher, leaving just some deep gashes on man's arms and legs.

Few minutes passed before Ryan realized that someone was looking at him. Quickly, he turned and looked at the girl. They sat in silence for a bit and then he smiled crookedly.

"How're you feeling?" Ryan asked. He had decided to seem somewhat friendly. The guy had no personal hate against her anyways. A job's a job. Even as crappy as this one. Suddenly, even fifty thousands didn't seem that much of an reward. They could give him a year of peaceful living, though.

"Tea?" he stood up and walked over to the mattress, offering her a metal cup. Ryan was cautious, though, of any sudden movements, although he doubted that after being so sedated she would be able to do anything much. Maybe she didn't even understand him? Ryan had no idea what was her native language or anything.

The man knelt down in front of her and winced. His arm still hurt very much. There was this nagging feeling that something hadn't been right with the bullet. The bandage was soaked red - Ryan was not able to stop the bleeding completely and he had to admit, he felt like fainting. "They could've at least given us some more fancy place to stay at," he thought bitterly.

She'd been thrown off by a blast of mental power, claws digging into cement walls and tearing gashes into the manmade stone. The creature snapped at the and ran along the wall before lunging at the two only to slam down onto a male who was surprisingly difficult to hurt. She'd cut at his legs and arms, snarling and making strange noises that sounded like bones running down a grinder.

Footsteps splashed in the water through the middle of the tunnel that came out to Elek and Aiolia's side. She tensed up and jumped, her body flying at him until he feet connected into his side and back. The two tumbled and she got back up, gloved fingers curling into a set of fists. She swung at one of the newer people, slamming a fist into his face and sending him into a wall. Another came at her and she caught him in a hold by the neck, jabbing her knee into his stomach and chest repeatedly. The male coughed and she threw him into the water on the ground.

Whoever the creature was, it either just caught a reinforcement or some random fourth party had arrived to take a piece of the fight as well.