Snapping back to reality, the man was on the move again. He had finished his examination of the stand's wares without a purchase and Vic was on her feet and back to tailing him. She would not let him get away this time. Capturing him would end the torment that Vic had to endure every day that she went to the Red Rose. This man had tried to capture Allie. Vic smiled at the notion of Allie; she was her first and only friend. No one had ever given her any respect or acceptance as a whore. Vic had told Allie of her being a whore and Allie had still accepted her as a friend; maybe because Vic had saved her life, or maybe because it did not matter what Vic did for a living, but rather how Vic treated her.

Coming to a crossroad, Vic could see Allie coming towards her, from the intersecting road. She must be back with a progress report on the man she was following. The man was supposed to hold a low rank within Isaac's men, but they had hopes that he may lead them to higher-ranking cronies. Since saving Allie, Vic had created a guild of women like her and Allie. They were the Shifters, named for their ability to shift when attacking. They now had seven members including Allie and Vic. Each one of them had their own mission; Vic was currently on hers and Allie seemed to be returning with hopefully a positive progress report on hers.

The man was deftly weaving through the city folk and Vic followed suit. Allie came abreast to Vic; walking in step with each other, Allie said she had news.

"What news do you bring Allie?" Vic said.

"The man you had me follow met with someone." Allie said.

"Did he meet with the man that we had expected him to meet with?"

"Yes. They seem to be planning something. They walked together, heads held close, and ended the conversation with laughter and smiles. I feel that whatever it is that they are planning, is coming together the way they hope. Let me tell you Vic, I do not want these men to ever laugh or have any of their plans go the way they desire. We must destroy them for the atrocious things they do. They disgust me." Allie spat.

"I know Allie, I know. We will stop them from ever taking another woman and we will be doing significant damage to Isaac's plans of grandeur. We will continue to grow our numbers, and help the people of Saxen against evil."

"Have you been able to decipher the message from the mystery woman that helped you control your powers? Do you have any clue as to what Isaac is doing or who this hero is? I also wonder what the man who first attacked you, meant by saying they were to pave way for the great return of their ruler. We should be hesitant upon meeting the hero-- assuming we do meet him-- because we do not know anything about the woman who told us about him. I know Isaac is twisted, maybe even evil, but who is to say that this hero is a hero at all? He may be even more corrupt than Isaac. Maybe they are just two evil men, fighting for control of anything they want and will stop at nothing to obtain it."

"Sadly Allie, I am no closer to understanding what that woman meant now, than I was to understanding it when she first told me. You could be right about the supposed hero not truly being a hero, but I believe that he will be welcome help against Isaac. Keep hope Allie. The others of our guild and the peoples of this city need us."

"I still hold to hope; no need to worry about me." Allie smiled, "I'm going to go back to following my man and see if anything new develops. Till next time we meet, Vic." Allie said and ducked away at an intersection.

Night had quickly begun to set in as Vic continued to stalk the man that got away. The dark breeches and matching hooded cloak hid her in night's shadow. She was nonchalantly leaning against the side of a building, and subtly keeping an eye on the man when she saw another man, fast approaching from the corner of her eye.

The man headed directly to the man Vic had been following for the past few hours. What did this approach mean to her and her mission? Vic hoped her cover was not blown. As quickly as the man had approached though, the two of them were heading in a new direction with haste. Vic worked to keep up, maintaining her cover in the shadows away from candle light. After a short time, the men began to slow their pace and Vic could hear the voices of several more men. The two men Vic had followed dipped into an alleyway. Vic slowly approached, and craned her neck around the side of the building. She watched the two men join with eight more who seemed to be causing trouble to a single man.

The harassed man stood tall and confident. He had a hooded cloak that covered his face, as well as his hands. A black and red, shafted scythe was strapped to his back. The blade blackened with the edge a permanent blood red. This man seemed from the night; a personification of the horrors of darkness.

Ten men formed a semi-circle in front of the single man. "You're a friend of his aren’t you?" asked the man Vic was originally following, "They call you Kirt do they not?"

There was no reply from the single man; Kirt.

"I asked you a question, damnit. Answer me."

Kirt began to snicker.

"You are outnumbered and will die, boy. That hero friend of yours will not be saving you from us."

Did he just say hero? Vic thought, I need to help this man, this Kirt, if no one else can.

"Come and get me." Kirt said.

With that, two men ran for him. Vic barely saw the quick flick of each of Kirt's wrists, but did see the two knives spinning, end over end, before planting themselves in the chests of the two men. He slowly lowered his hood. He was grinning with his dark hair slicked back. He grabbed the scythe from his back and stood his ground, ready to fight.

Vic saw five more men start to head for Kirt and knew it was time for her to join the fray. She arrived as Kirt downed another man by taking his head off with the scythe. "I'm on your side," Vic said hastily. His reply was to yell duck, as he swung his scythe and killed the man who was creeping on Vic. She was able to return the favor by parrying an attack at Kirt's back and then jamming one of her knives in the man's throat. Two men left. "One for each of us" Vic said. Nodding, Kirt faced the man closest to him and Vic faced hers. The two men struck. Kirt fought his man back, slicing his arm and leg, before slamming the butt end of the scythe into the man's gut and then the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. To finish the man off, he stomped his skull with his boot. Vic was using her powers to dodge her man, as she toyed with him by slicing at him with her knives. "Stupid cunt." The man roared. The man took a heavy swing at her, and she shifted behind him; grabbed him by the chin and lifted his head up to expose his neck. With her other hand, she pressed a knife to the man's throat, and while slicing him from ear to ear, she whispered, "fuck. you."

Kirt and Vic stood next to each other, facing the three remaining men. "Are you three ready to join your friends in death?" Kirt asked.

"You are mistaken, Kirt. It shall be the two of you that join those you have killed, for you see, I have more men." The man said, finger pointing towards thirty approaching men.

"We will just have to add their bodies to those of which we have already left bloodied on the ground before us. After that, we kill you."

"Do you truly believe you can even kill half of them? Ha, it will be fun to watch you die Kirt, and you there Vic; it will be fun to have you back in my bed later. I thought you loved working for me at the Red Rose. Nevertheless, do not attack all at once now men, let's have some fun with them first. Focus on that man there and try taking the girl for my pleasures later."

The men started small, only sending five against Vic and Kirt. Vic rushed one, slid under the man's sword and hamstringed him. She quickly popped up, jammed her knife into his neck, and twisted it in his spine. Kirt had retrieved his throwing knives before the new men arrived and used the two of them to down two more men with a throw to their hearts. Before Vic and Kirt could acknowledge the remaining two that first approached them, ten more men came for them.

Taking a deep breath, Vic steadied herself. The men were on her in no time. She dodged the first, sliced the second, and downed the third. She ran for the gap between two men and slammed each of her knives in their throats. Having killed three and injuring one, she felt optimistic that they could survive. Glancing over at Kirt, he had already killed five of the attackers. Vic evaded another attacker just in time and saw the rest of the men charging at Kirt and herself. She charged one of the men, but he dodged her, took advantage of her blunder, and ran his sword into her arm. She was able to fight him back and Kirt finished him for her. As Kirt turned around, a man's blade ran him through. Kirt fell, and it seemed to be over for them both.

A body suddenly slammed into the back of the man that had run Kirt through and as he got to his knees, the body crossed their blades on his neck and split them, execution style. Allie had shown up and brought the other Shifters with her. Vic watched as Allie charged two men and while roaring, she jumped at them, planting her knives in their chests. There was fear written on the face of her soon to be ex-boss.

Vic had been waiting for this moment. Getting to her feet, she watched as the other women, her friends, struck fear into the men. The five women, led by Allie charged the men. They weaved, dipped and dodged through them and quickly had eight more bloody bodies lying at their feet.

Two women, Rachael and Claire, finished off the two men guarding their leader. Allie knocked him to his knees with a knife to his throat. Vic called, "Allie hold. He is mine."

Vic took her time walking over to him. Upon reaching him, she gave him a hard kick to his face, knocking him out of Allie's hands and to the ground. The women closed in on him as Vic slammed her foot on his throat, choking him. "You are going to die here," Vic said, "I will now be free to do as I please. No more whoring, no more shit from you or from anyone else. I am a free woman and I will continue to grow my guild and clean this city up. We wait for the hero to call us to arms and help him defeat Isaac." With that, she stomped his skull a few times and walked away.

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