Black smoke choked the air. Intermittent screams rose in the distance. The scent of burning flesh wafted toward the party.

  A lone child appeared as they approached the burning village. The boy whose mother Kai saved. It seemed the gods disagreed with his good deed. The Demon hunters were probably dead if the Ashvales were here. Those brutes had little chance against a company of trained soldiers. And no Noble House wanted government witnesses to their wanton slaughter.

  A shame. They could’ve been useful.

  The sparse screams signified their late arrival at the massacre. Screaming merged into a chaotic chorus when the killing started. Wails of horror became sporadic when the crowd thinned. Not much they could do - the village’s fate was sealed.

  Kai gripped Butcher’s dark tendrils, and they galloped through space. He materialised ahead of Alira, beside the boy. He halted near the child. Alira stopped. The others fell in behind them.

  He peered down at the boy. Tear streaks marred the child’s face, but he was silent. He’d exhausted his tears, his little face twisted in anger.

  “What happened, boy?” Kai said.

  The boy looked up, recognition sparking in his widening eyes. “They took Mother. I can’t find Father.”

  Something approached from the village, growing closer.

  One soldier. Hunting a child.

  Kai offered the boy a choice. “Do you want to run, or do you want revenge?”

  The boy’s brow furrowed as he met Kai’s eyes. “I want to—” The words stuck. He sniffed, straightening his back. “I want to kill them all.”

  Kai smiled.

  A kindred soul perhaps?

  “Ambitious.” His expression hardened. “Why don’t you start with one?”

  He dismounted Butcher and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll teach you how.”

  The boy nodded.

  He released the boy and faced Levi. “Got any weapons the boy can handle?”

  Alira frowned. Rusk studied threads between his fingers. Shadow padded over, sniffing the boy. The boy flinched, then hesitantly stroked the dark wolf. Shadow sat beside him.

  Levi gaped. “Me? Why—”

  Kai raised his hand. “Now.”

  Levi sighed, reaching into his cape and producing a black-hilted, red-bladed dagger. He sulked as he handed it to Kai. “This will cut through any human armour.”

  Kai nodded. “You’re not so useless in the sun after all.”

  Levi started to respond, then thought better of it.

  Kai handed the dagger to the boy. “What’s your name?”

  “Merek, sir.”

  “You ever used one of these before?”

  “I’ve practised some. Father taught me a little.”

  “It’s easy enough,” Kai said as Merek gripped the black hilt. “Stab them with the pointy end. Slice them with the sharp end if they’re too close.” He gestured to the approaching soldier. “Go on.”

  Merek stared at the weapon. “B—but, I—I’m too weak, too small. How can I beat a soldier?”

  Kai smiled and shook his head. “Only stupid people fight fair. The weak can beat the strong if they’re smart about it. Especially when they stab the strong in the back without getting caught.”

  Merek’s mouth hung open, brows rising. “Isn’t that dishonourable?”

  Kai laughed. “Honour? Didn’t you say these bastards took your mother?”

  Merek’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, sir.”

  “Did they care about honour?” Kai grabbed the boy’s shoulders and turned him toward the approaching figure. “Listen to me, Merek. That man is coming to cut you down. A small, weak boy like you - is that honourable?”

  Merek shook his head.

  “Honour means nothing. A pretty word peddled by those who’d put shackles ‘round our necks. Forget honour. Forget fighting fair.”

  The boy straightened in Kai’s grasp. “Yes, sir!”

  “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll use my Gift - you know what Gifts are?”

  Merek nodded.

  “Good. My Gift’s special - I can move fast. I’ll put you behind that dishonourable, murderous soldier, then distract him long enough for you to stick your blade in him. Got it?”

  Merek bit his lip.

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  Kai gestured to the forest. “Or you can keep running until you die.”

  Merek clenched his jaw, raising his chin. “I’ll do it, sir. For Mother.”

  The boy had manners, at least. His mother had taught him well. A shame. He hoped the boy would survive - but hope didn’t do favours.

  Alira approached them. “He’s too young for this.”

  Kai gestured to the flames. “His village is burning. His mother’s taken. His father’s missing. Should we teach him to sit down and die?”

  “He’s a child!”

  He shrugged. “Children die too. He needs to learn how to survive.” He sighed. “This is the least we can do.”

  Alira shook her head. “Let’s kill the soldier and save the village. He doesn’t need to—”

  “Then what?” Kai said, meeting her eyes. “What happens when the next soldier comes and we’re not there to protect him? A weak boy like him needs to learn the ways of the world - to go unnoticed and strike when least expected, like a devious snake. Or should we teach him to wait for a saviour?”

  Alira’s gaze dropped to the ground. “But…we don’t have time for this. We can still—”

  “We’re too late, Alira. Your father left them to burn. The most we can do is help this child.” Her jaw clenched, and she grew silent.

  Kai tracked the growing figure. As the despicable child-hunter got close enough to see clearly, he spotted them and fled toward the village.

  Smart.

  He slapped Merek’s back. The boy staggered. “That soldier saw us and ran away scared. Still think you can’t beat him?”

  Merek tightened his grip on the dagger.

  The soldier knew four-against-one was suicide. A lone child was easy prey. Coward made the right choice.

  Kai clasped Merek’s shoulder. “Ready?”

  The boy nodded.

  Kai bent space, but the distance exceeded his range. Space warped again. They materialised fifteen feet behind the child-hunter. “Remember,” he said, “stab him while I distract him.”

  Kai could’ve let his echo distract the soldier while staying beside Merek. But that’d coddle the boy - he needed to act alone, without a safety net. If the orphan couldn’t backstab this bastard, he wasn’t long for this world.

  He tore through space a third time, appearing before the soldier. The man’s eyes widened. His trembling hands reached for his sword.

  “That’s not gonna help you,” Kai said.

  The soldier fumbled for the hilt and drew his blade. “It’ll help me more than it’ll help you,” he said.

  The steel blade was nothing to Kai’s dark suit. The fang of an abomination with a Domain couldn’t pierce it. What could mundane steel do except annoy him? Though a sword through his brain could pose a problem. Better not to tempt fate.

  Kai kept his distance. He’d no intention of striking before the boy did. He’d end the fight while the dagger’s pain distracted him. Clean. Simple.

  Merek crept closer. Kai unsheathed his hungry blade. Darkness spread. The soldier’s blade wavered.

  “Prefer hunting little boys, do you?” Kai said.

  The soldier gritted his teeth. He wore scarlet armour like the Ashvale soldiers Kai had seen before. But it didn’t make sense. Why send more soldiers when Silas was already here? It was too soon to know he was gone.

  Reinforcements were days away, if not months.

  Suspicious.

  The soldier struck at Kai. He parried the blow with ease.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Killing you!” the soldier snarled.

  “Not very forthcoming then.”

  People rarely revealed their cards until they were out of options.

  The soldier screamed as Merek sank the red blade into his shoulder. Blood drained from his face, his skin turning a greyish hue. He swung at Merek instinctively. Kai moved faster.

  His speed, strength, everything was greater in the Darklands. No human could compare.

  The black blade fell. The soldier’s sword arm thudded against the cobblestone road. His sword clattered. Another scream.

  Kai sighed. “Merek!”

  Merek tore his eyes from the screaming soldier falling to his knees and looked at Kai.

  “Attack then move!”

  The boy froze like a statue.

  Kai shook his head. “Surprise attacks only work if you kill them in one blow or avoid the counterattack. Understand?”

  Kai stepped toward the speechless boy and grabbed his shoulder. “Good try. But if I wasn’t here, you’d be dead. Do you understand?”

  The boy gave a hesitant nod.

  “Run back and tell Rusk I need his skills. He’s the handsome one without the pompous attitude.”

  He turned to move, but Kai stopped him. Levi could help with the dagger, but Alira wouldn’t stay behind alone. “Bring them all.”

  The boy gave a timid nod and jogged toward the others.

  Kai studied his new prisoner. Clutching the stump, he wailed. A kick to the stomach stopped the noise and laid him flat. Wails became whimpers. His grey stump matched his grey face.

  No blood coated the ground or floated toward his thirsty suit.

  Frowning, Kai examined the embedded dagger. He stooped and gripped the hilt. The wailing began again.

  “I won’t tell you twice,” he said. “Be quiet.”

  The soldier clenched his jaw, glaring. Kai twisted the blade. No blood. The man whimpered through gritted teeth.

  Interesting, but inconvenient.

  The soldier’s face was getting paler by the second. If Rusk didn’t get there soon, all his knowledge would die with him.

  “Don’t die,” Kai commanded. The soldier’s glare intensified.

  Rusk rode up. Alira followed, Merek riding with her. Shadow padded alongside Butcher. Levi jogged behind. Kai smiled as Rusk halted beside him. “You ever use your threads to bind a wound?”

  Rusk shrugged. “I’m more used to cutting through things than keeping them together.” He examined the injured soldier. “But I can try.”

  Kai nodded. “Good. Dagger’s killing him. We’ll need to remove it. Use your thread to bind the wound so he doesn’t bleed out before we get what we need.”

  Rusk climbed down and removed a square piece of fabric from his side bag. It disintegrated into fine threads invisible to the human eye. Kai pulled the dagger free. The red blade had a brighter hue than before.

  A hungry murmur throbbed in the back of his mind - the suit was thirsty. The soldier was smart enough to clench his jaw and stick to whimpering. Rusk’s threads penetrated his skin, closing the wound.

  Rusk nodded at his handiwork with a smug smile.

  Levi stepped beside them, breathing heavy. Kai stood and offered the dagger to the vampire. “It drains blood?”

  Levi nodded.

  “And you can use the blood it stores?” Kai asked.

  The vampire nodded again. His pompous attitude and sharp tongue seemed exhausted by the red sun and the trial of running along the Dark Horses.

  His silence spoke of a lesson learned.

  “Speak up, man,” Kai said.

  “Yes,” Levi replied. “I can control the blood.”

  “Show me.”

  Levi took the knife and placed his hand above it. Blood seeped from the blade and swirled around him. The red liquid hung in the air, as if waiting for commands.

  Kai nodded at the display with a smile. “Impressive.”

  Levi raised his chin and licked his lips.

  “Can you put it back?” Kai asked.

  “Put it back?”

  “The blood.”

  “Wha—”

  Kai gestured to the blood swirling around Levi, then the soldier.

  Levi sighed. “Yes, I guess so.”

  “Do it,” Kai commanded.

  Levi’s brows furrowed. The swirling blood surged towards the soldier’s wounded shoulder, seeping through the gaps between threads. Colour returned to his features.

  Kai focused on the wounded man. “Now let’s see what this bastard’s got to say.”

  Rusk was kind enough to close the child-hunter’s wounded stump. Kai patted Rusk on the back. “Good job. It’s rare to be talented in both killing and healing.”

  Rusk’s smile widened, chest swelling. “You’re too kind, too kind.”

  Kai squatted beside the soldier. They locked eyes. “Let’s make this easy. You won’t like the hard way.”

  The soldier’s eyes darted between his captors. He gave a soft nod.

  “Who brought you to this village?”

  The soldier opened his mouth for the first time since Kai kicked him. He croaked out a name Kai didn’t expect to hear: “Renzo.”

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  Is Kai a good role model? Or nah?