Clover Kingdom / Diamond Border (Upper Drain Routes / Old Counting House): January 17th, 1016.
It was a quiet night for the world. The kind of quiet that came when people who thought they were hidden forgot that monsters also knew how to crawl through shadows, yet if you looked closely on the roof of a old counting house near the upper drain routes. To be more specific, at a small white haired woman crouched low with scarlet eyes, a silver black grimoire floating beside her and claws sharper than the excuses men made before dying. You could see nyx nocturne preparing to prove she was not the same wild beast ariella tepes had thrown through a stone column five years ago.
The atmosphere lethal.
(Nyx's POV)
Nyx hated waiting.
Waiting felt like obedience.
Obedience felt like someone telling her where her tail should move.
Disgusting.
But she waited anyway.
Because david had said alive.
And because jarred's drunk annoying voice kept crawling around in her head like a ugly bug.
Speed is not enough.
Nyx clicked her teeth and said with a whisper "Stupid wine belly bastard."
Below her were three guards.
One at the door.
Two in the alley.
One hidden caster on the second floor whose breathing was too clean for a normal clerk.
Inside the counting house sat marcel dane.
Former quartermaster.
Current rat.
Future regret.
Nyx breathed in.
Then breathed out.
No shoulder flare.
No hip lag.
No overcommitting claws.
She hated that jarred had been right.
She hated it enough to improve.
"Pact magic: Silent Hunt." Said nyx softly.
Dark silver markings crawled along her arms and legs.
Her claws shortened slightly.
Not weaker.
Cleaner.
Less drag.
Better for close rooms.
She dropped.
No scream.
No drama.
Her feet touched the wall, then the window frame, then the shadow behind the door guard.
*SHK*
One hand covered his mouth.
One claw opened his throat.
*SPLAT*
She lowered him gently.
No noise.
The second guard turned.
Nyx was already under his arm.
Her elbow hit his ribs.
Her knee folded his leg.
Her claw cut the tendons in his sword hand.
He dropped with a gag.
Still alive.
Barely.
Useful.
The third guard saw her.
His eyes widened.
His mouth opened.
Nyx flicked a broken nail shard into his tongue.
*THK*
His scream turned into ugly choking.
Nyx appeared in front of him and said with a whisper "Shhh. Be a good little body and be silent."
Then she slammed his head into the stone wall.
*BAK*
He fell.
Quiet.
Better.
Much better.
Nyx climbed through the upper window without breaking it because apparently subtlety was a thing she unfortunately knew now.
Inside the counting house, marcel sat at a table with two church men.
A pouch of coins sat in front of him.
A map of lower routes sat open.
Nyx's tail went still.
Marcel adjusted his throat and said with a whisper "Swallow is less stable than his people think. Pressure food, healers and old routes. He'll overreact eventually."
One church man wrote fast.
"And the beastkin girl." Asked another church man.
Nyx's ears twitched.
Marcel scoffed and said "A pet. Dangerous but emotional. Pull the mate mark or insult swallow and she moves without thinking."
The room went still.
Not because they noticed her.
Because nyx had stopped breathing.
A pet.
Nyx slowly smiled.
Oh.
So this was going to be personal.
She dropped from the ceiling and landed on the table.
*THK*
Everyone froze.
Nyx crouched with one hand on the wood and looked at Marcel with a sweet smile and said softly as it tuned into a wide grin "Continue."
Marcel's face drained of color.
One church man reached for his sword.
Wrong choice.
Nyx moved.
Not wildly.
Correctly.
Her heel kicked the table edge into his stomach.
Her claw sliced the second man's wrist before his grimoire could rise.
Her tail hooked marcel's chair and yanked it sideways so his face hit the floor.
Three movements.
Three problems corrected.
The hidden caster upstairs fired immediately and said "Sound magic: Piercing jud…"
Nyx tilted her head before he finished.
His breath had changed.
His mana had lifted from the throat before the hand.
So obvious.
How embarrassing.
"Pact magic: Oathbound step." Said nyx calmly as a silver black mark flashed under her foot.
She vanished.
The sound spell tore through the table.
*BOOOM*
Nyx appeared behind him.
He turned too late.
She tapped his ribs with two fingers and said "Dead."
Then she kicked him through the railing.
*BOOM*
The caster crashed into the floor below.
Marcel crawled backward and said "Please. Please. I can explain."
Nyx walked down the broken stairs slowly.
Calmly.
She liked how afraid he looked.
David liked calm fear.
She understood it now.
Fear made words easier to pull out.
"You called me a pet." Said nyx with a grin.
Marcel shook his head.
"I didn't mean it." Said marcel quickly with snot shooting from his nose.
Nyx stepped on his hand.
*CRACK*
He screamed.
She leaned down and said "You should have meant it. At least then your spine would be honest."
Marcel sobbed.
Nyx grabbed him by the collar and dragged him up.
Her grimoire flipped open beside her and she said "Pact magic: Oathbound."
A silver black mark formed on her palm.
Marcel's eyes widened.
"No. No, please." Said marcel, sobbing.
Nyx pressed her palm against his throat and said sweetly "Tell no lies until david is done with you."
The mark burned into his skin.
Marcel screamed until his voice cracked.
The surviving church man crawled toward the door.
Nyx looked at him.
He froze.
"Tell ariella's dogs something if you live." Said nyx calmly.
The man nodded quickly with blood on his lips.
Nyx smiled and said "Tell them I am not a pet. I am the thing they failed to put a leash on."
Then she kicked a lantern over.
Fire caught the papers.
Then the curtains.
Then the old wood.
Nyx dragged narcel out through the broken window while the counting house started burning behind her.
She landed on the roof with marcel under one arm like a sack of rotten flour.
For once.
She did not look back.
…
Clover Kingdom / Diamond Border (Black Die Underground City, Black Mansion): Later That Night.
(David's POV)
The office door opened.
Nyx walked in dragging marcel dane by the back of his collar like laundry with bad morals.
She threw him onto the floor.
*BOOM*
"He talks now." Said nyx with a grin.
I looked up from my map.
Then looked at marcel.
Then looked at nyx.
She had blood on her cheek, but not much.
Her clothes weren't overly torn.
Her breathing was steady.
Her tail wasn't twitching like an idiot.
No unnecessary damage.
No loud mess.
No dead mouth.
I slowly smiled.
"Good." I said calmly.
Nyx froze.
Her ears twitched.
"Good." She asked with a offended look on her face.
"Yes. I said good, your not injured." I said calmly with a nod.
"That's it." Asked nyx with offense.
"Don't get greedy. I don't offer kisses too soothe the ego." I said with a wave of my left hand.
Nyx clicked her teeth.
"You stinky feet bastard. I hope yo die." Said nyx with gritted teeth.
I ignored her and looked at marcel.
He stared up at me with tears in his eyes and a glowing pact mark on his throat.
"Hello marcel. Nyx tells me you have decided to become useful." I said with a closed eyed smile.
Marcel opened his mouth.
The mark glowed.
A lie died in his throat.
His eyes widened in horror.
Beautiful.
Benjamin entered quietly and looked down at marcel.
His calm face did not change.
Somehow that made marcel shake harder.
"Former quartermaster. I find that the weather is quite nice today, don't you agree." Said benjamin calmly.
Marcel started crying.
I leaned forward.
"Old routes. Hidden stores. Church contacts. Ariella's new pressure points. Names." I said softly.
Marcel swallowed.
The mark burned.
Words spilled.
Old southern store.
Two forgotten clinic paths.
A hidden well beneath a ruined bathhouse.
Three church handlers.
And one sealed route running disturbingly close to the cathedral foundation.
My smile faded.
Then returned.
Slowly.
Ugly.
Nyx sat on the edge of my desk with her tail swaying, trying very hard not to look proud.
Failing.
I glanced at her and said "You did well."
Nyx froze.
The room went silent.
Then her face twisted into offense.
"Don't say it like you raised me, you cheating bastard." Said nyx loudly.
I stared at her for a moment.
I smiled.
"You are impossible to compliment." I said with a chuckle at how childish it was.
"Your compliments smell like feet." Said nyx with gritted teeth.
Benjamin adjusted his cuffs.
Marcel cried quietly on the floor.
I looked back at the map.
Ariella had used fingers.
Now I had the wrist.
And wrists always led somewhere useful if you broke them correctly.
Like I plan to do.
…
THE END…