Chapter 12: Dungeon for Training Part 2
The big man reaches for Lily.
His dirty fingers are an inch from her hair.
Lily squeezes her eyes shut.
She waits for him to grab her.
A sound cuts the air.
SHING.
Not loud. Clean.
The man screams.
A high, raw, animal scream.
Lily opens her eyes.
His hand is on the ground.
Not on his arm. On the ground.
Cut clean off at the wrist.
Palm up in the dirt.
The fingers are still twitching.
Blood pours out of his arm like water from a broken pipe. It hits the dust and steams.
Lily's mother screams and covers her mouth.
Rio and Luis watch from the alley. Both frozen. Terrified.
The man who did it is standing right behind the screaming thug.
His sword is already back in its sheath.
Click.
Not one single drop of blood on the blade.
The second guy sees his friend's hand on the ground.
His face goes white.
He turns and tries to run.
He takes two steps.
The swordsman is already in front of him.
No one saw him move.
The guy skids to a stop. His mouth hangs open.
"How... how did you..."
The third thug just stands there shaking.
The swordsman looks at the runner. His voice is calm. Ice cold.
"If you try to run again," he says. "I will cut your head off next."
The guy drops to his knees.
He grabs both of the standing men by their collars and slams them down next to their screaming friend.
He lifts his left wrist. A small glass device lights up.
"Team Two. My location. Now."
He taps it twice.
Then he turns. He pulls his hood down.
His face is revealed. A young man, maybe eighteen, with sharp eyes.
Rio gasps from the alley. He does not know this face. Luis doesn't either.
The swordsman looks at the three men on the ground. "Giving out loans without government permission is a crime."
He flips open his coat. A silver badge shines.
"You want to know who I am?" he asks. "Artesik Academy student. Government Special Police Officer."
He walks over to Lily's mother. She flinches back.
"Did you take the loan?" he asks.
She shakes her head fast. "No sir! No! I swear on my daughter, I never signed anything!"
"If you took it, you will also get punishment," he says. "The law is the law. It does not care if you are scared."
Lily hears that. Her bottom lip starts to shake. Tears fill her eyes. She starts to cry.
He sees her. His whole face changes.
He kneels down right in front of her. Soft voice now.
"Hey. Don't be scared, little girl."
"I'm not going to kill your mother."
Lily sniffs. "Are you... are you going to put her in jail?"
He shakes his head. "No. Not if she is telling the truth."
He reaches out and gently wipes the tears from her cheek with his thumb.
"What's your name?" he asks her.
"Lily," she whispers.
"Lily," he repeats. "Brave name. You were brave just now. You didn't run."
Rio steps out of the alley, fists balled. "Hey! Who are you to scare her like that?"
Luis grabs his arm and yanks him back hard. "Just keep yourself quiet, Rio! He just cut a man's hand off!"
The swordsman looks up at them, then back at Lily's mother.
She is crying now, hands shaking. "I didn't take the loan, sir. Please believe me. It was my husband. He took the money three months ago. He said it was for medicine. Then he left us here alone. He ran away. He never came back."
The swordsman is quiet for a second. He studies her face.
"What's his name?" he asks.
"Marlon," she says. "Marlon Tey."
"Then you will also have to come with us," he says. "You will tell all of this to the town chief. You will give his name. You will sign a statement. If the town chief understands, then that is okay. I can't do anything else. A report has to be filed. Do you understand?"
She nods quickly, wiping her eyes. "Yes sir. Yes. Thank you."
He looks at Lily and gives her a small, kind smile. "See? She will be fine."
He walks back to the two tied-up men and binds their hands with a thin metal cord. He drags them to the side of the house.
Then he walks toward the alley where Luis, Rio, and Lily are standing together.
Rio is looking at him like he's excited and scared at the same time. Luis is just scared. Lily is calm now.
He stops right in front of Luis. He leans in close.
"Is your name Luis?"
Luis stammers. "Yes... yes. But how do you know me?"
He smiles. A real smile this time. "Because your sister is my childhood friend."
"My name is Kite."
Luis's eyes go wide. His mouth drops open. "Kite! You... you used to come to our house! To study with Emily!"
Luis grins big. "Kite brother! I remember now!"
Kite laughs and looks at all three of them. "Yeah. You all were so little back then. And your sister had the biggest crush on me that whole time. She made me carry her books home every single day."
Rio blinks, confused. He points at Kite. "Wait. Do you know him, Lily?"
Lily shakes her head. "No. You know this guy, Luis?"
Luis laughs. The fear is finally gone from his voice. "Yeah! He was living in our town back then and he was orphan so he many time stayed in our house too! And he is your brother's friend too, Rio! Rayan's friend!"
Rio frowns and crosses his arms. "I don't know. I don't remember him at all. Are you sure?"
Kite laughs again. "You were maybe four years old, Rio. You were always trying to fight me with a wooden spoon. You don't remember because you lost every time."
Rio's face turns red. "I did not!"
Lily looks up at Kite. "Are you really a police officer?"
Kite nods. "Special division. We handle things the normal guards can't."
Right then, two people in dark uniforms run around the corner. They stop and salute him.
"Sir! We are here!"
Kite points at the men on the ground. "Go. Take them to the police station. Get a healer for the one with no hand. I want him alive for questioning."
"And take the ma'am too. Gently."
Lily's face crumples. She grabs Kite's sleeve. "Why my mom? Why are you taking my mom? Please don't take her."
Kite kneels again so he is at her level. His face is serious again, but kind. "I can't do anything, Lily. It's procedure. She has to give a statement to the chief. It's just talking. No jail. I promise you on my badge. Okay?"
Lily starts crying again. She lets go of his sleeve and runs and hugs Luis from the side, burying her face in his baggy shirt.
Rio watches that. He grinds his teeth together and looks away. Jealous.
Kite sees the whole thing. He understands and just smiles a little.
He turns to leave. "Bye, kids. Stay out of trouble."
He walks away with his team and the prisoners. Lily's mother looks back over her shoulder as they lead her away.
"Lily! Don't be scared!" she calls out. "I will be safe! I promise you! Stay with Luis!"
Scene change. Night.
Luis's room. Lamp low.
Luis and Lily are on the floor, books open, studying together.
Rio is sitting on Luis's bed, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching them.
Luis looks at the clock, then at Rio. "You should go home by now. It's late."
"You already did dinner here also. My mom will yell at you."
Rio shrugs and leans back. "But Lily is also here. Why can she stay and I can't?"
Luis rolls his eyes. "Because this is not her home right now. Her mom is at the station. She doesn't have anywhere else to go tonight. So she will stay here only. It's different."
Lily looks up from her book and closes it. "Wait. Wait, both of you stop arguing."
"You told me about the dungeon today," she says, looking between them. "Master said we are going. But this will be your first time, right? All three of us. Our first time in a real dungeon."
Rio sits up straight, puffing his chest out. "So what? I've been training for three years. I'm ready. I learned Maschew in three months. I'm basically a prodigy."
Luis snorts. "Yeah, a prodigy who still can't control his skill shard for more than two seconds."
"Shut up, wing boy," Rio shoots back.
Lily ignores them. She looks worried. "I'm serious. My mom told me stories. People don't come back from dungeons. What if there are more of those wolves? What if it's worse?"
Luis is quiet for a second. Then he says, softer, "Master will be with us. He won't let anything happen."
Rio nods fast. "Exactly. And Kite is in town now too. Did you see how fast he was? If we get in trouble, he'll just... SHING. Problem solved."
Lily giggles a little despite herself. "Don't do that. You're not that cool."
Before anyone can answer, someone knocks on the front door. Loud. Three times. Knock. Knock. Knock.
Luis gets up and opens it.
It's Jack.
He walks in, still in his coat, dust on his boots. He looks at all three of them sitting on the floor with books everywhere.
"So," Jack says, looking at each of their faces. "Tomorrow. Eight AM. East gate."
"We are going to the dungeon."
Rio jumps up off the bed. "Yes! Finally!"
Lily stands up slowly. "Are you sure we are ready, Master?"
Jack looks at her and smiles a tired smile. "No one is ever ready for their first dungeon, Lily. You just go."
Luis stands next to her. He looks nervous but he nods. "We're ready."
All three of them look up at him at the same time.
Their eyes are shining in the lamplight.
Not scared anymore.
Excited. Confident.
Ready.
Scene change. Bath house.
The place where the blood wolves were.
Kite and his team walk in. Their boots echo on wet stone.
The air smells like iron and old blood.
In the middle of the room, there is a pile.
All the blood wolves. Dead. Stacked in one place.
Clean kills. Every throat cut the same way.
One of Kite's teammates steps forward. His eyes go wide.
"Who... who did this?" he asks. "Before we even got here?"
Kite looks at the pile. He smiles a small, knowing smile.
"It's Jack," he says. "Jack White."
----
To be continued...