Who the fuck?

  I somehow hadn’t noticed him creeping down the stairs. Nothing appeared on my radar at all, even though I could see him right there. Just nothing.

  [Ivkar, The Troubadour, Level 199, Unknown, Unknown.]

  The name burned into the back of my eyelids, and I didn’t dare look at Lenna.

  Bright blue eyes and long blond hair drew my attention, like a moth to flame. Even though he was clearly a Forger, he wasn’t orange, more of a light brown color. Taller than me and Lenna, but still shorter than most Forgers.

  Asceto took a step away from him as his hand fell, still holding the knife.

  “Now, now, my little Shard, didn’t you learn anything last time?” He shook one finger at Asceto, showing off his manicured nails. “Tsk tsk… This time I can’t even kill you. Sit down.”

  The command came out almost like a lullaby, sweet and ever so tempting.

  Asceto’s knees buckled, and Lenna joined him on the stone floor, knees first. Her bow was still clenched in her hand.

  I didn’t even flinch.

  “Ah, what do we have here?” His dark blue eyes went from my boots up to my ponytail, lingering on the blade in my right hand and the crystal ring hanging from my belt. “The troublemaker, I bet…”

  Strange had squeezed under the door and asked if he should come back.

  Not at all. Take out Dilom if possible.

  The bracelet of crystal hung heavy on my wrist as well, though thankfully my top covered the massive amount around my neck.

  I needed to do something. Anything.

  But the monster standing in front of me felt unreal, like he couldn’t really be here, and, more importantly, stuck at the same rank as me. The stories from Lenna’s people made it seem like he was an overpowered monster. How could he still be Rank 2?

  My ability hadn’t given him a predator or prey ranking. I needed to be careful. And he wasn’t an OFFENDER, somehow.

  In the distance, an explosion went off. Dust rained down from above, and Ivkar glanced up for a second.

  I used that moment to roll back into the shadows, pulling on every skill I had to vanish.

  Asceto also moved, stabbing at Ivkar’s back with my knife.

  Ivkar glared at him. “Stop.”

  The word didn’t come quick enough to stop Lenna’s arrow, which was already flying at him. It slammed into his shoulder, and momentarily freed Asceto from The Troubadour’s grasp.

  I used the moment to swipe at the back of his knee. Anything to slow him down and distract him. My spear tip sliced through the cloth pants he wore, but didn’t do much more than leave a scratch.

  [You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 135 Galliano, the Lookout.]

  [You have leveled.]

  The notifications distracted me, and I received a boot to the side for my troubles. At least it gave me the momentum I needed to get back into a different shadowy area, closer to the metal tubes. I vanished from sight.

  “We are not doing this right now. Asceto stand down and drop the blade.” The crystal knife clattered to the floor as the words laced through the air. Lenna raced to the staircase, trying to get out of range of whatever powers of control Ivkar had. “You there Lenna, stop.”

  She skidded to a halt, gritting her teeth.

  “Both of you are going to walk behind me, keeping pace and protecting me from your friend.” This time his voice wasn’t as sweet, even as he yanked the arrow from his shoulder. He glared at the hole in his jacket. “Girl, if you attack me again, I will hurt this Lenna.”

  Friend? Girl? Did he not get my name?

  That really didn’t matter, as I hesitated. I didn’t know if he could actually hurt her. Yes, he was a much higher level than all of us, but why didn’t he even try to fight me? Or Asceto?

  He marched to the metal door, which slid out of the way as the group approached. Lenna and Asceto stuck right behind him.

  Lenna kept glancing into the shadows, probably searching for me.

  I snagged the knife from the floor and added it to my belt as I hurried after them, staying hidden.

  “Dilom, it’s time to go.” Again his voice came out like a command.

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  A gasp rose from the room, and I snuck into the room behind them. I hadn’t ever tried to stay hidden from Lenna before, and hoped I could.

  The blue light shone from several large screens, highlighting the deep dark blood as it trailed over the floor. Dilom wielded a long electric prod, but had several gashes on his legs. His once white labcoat was coated in all sorts of things, blood not least among them.

  “You!” He pointed at Ivkar. “The council will have your head!”

  [Dilom, Poisoned, The Hybridizer, Forger, Level 65, Prey, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  Ivkar sighed and motioned behind him. “Asceto, help Dilom.”

  “Grab me a vial from my cupboard,” Dilom said in response, pointing to a specific area of the room with cabinets.

  If those were the same as what he had in his lab, I didn’t want him to reach any of them.

  Strange’s presence lingered near the doctor, close enough to nip if an opening appeared.

  As soon as Asceto moved away from Ivkar and across the lab, I struck, this time using Sovereign Call. I targeted only people in the room, to hopefully lessen the impact.

  Lenna fired two arrows immediately, as she broke away from whatever control Ivkar had. Dilom froze, even as Strange leaped on him, the electric prod falling to the floor.

  The inside of my head itched a little at the skill usage, but it wasn’t bad. It sucked that it hadn’t worked on Ivkar or Asceto, but at least I’d gotten Lenna free.

  Ivkar spun about searching for me, his eyes turned a bright shade of red.

  “Stop!” The only one who responded was Asceto, who froze in his march to the far cabinet.

  Dilom slumped to the floor, just as the arrows missed Ivkar. He sidestepped them with a savage growl. Strange leaped on his back, biting and scratching at his coat.

  I raced closer with my knife ready, but then his eyes locked on me. Suddenly, his teeth appeared sharper and a thick bloody scent lingered near him, slightly acidic.

  It didn’t spook me as I swung, going for a slice instead of a stab.

  Again he dodged, moving faster than anticipated. At the same time he slid out of his jacket, which tangled up Strange. He kicked at the bundle with a crunch as it fell, sending the little guy flying across the room.

  Rage burned in my chest as Strange whimpered, smacking into the cabinets.

  “Dilom, get up! Now!” Yet, the doctor didn’t so much as flinch. “Dilom!”

  Lenna jerked back and started sprinting away from the scene and out the door. She tried to snag my wrist as she went by, but my focus remained on Strange.

  I dove across the room, ignoring the computers, Asceto and Ivkar. I slid across the stone as I yanked the jacket off Strange.

  He didn’t move.

  I held him to my chest and used the healing crystal. His heart still beat and the connection between us remained. Thankfully, he dissolved into my shadow after the crystal drained dry.

  Hopefully recovering.

  The hand caught me by surprise as it yanked at the back of my neck. I went flying in a different direction, leaving my knife forgotten behind. Then the sharp cold metal of a table caught my shoulder. Pain splintered across my body as something broke from the metal edge.

  Fuck!

  I bit my tongue and the taste of blood filled my mouth for a second.

  “You did this!” The hand came back, but this time I dodged, sliding under the table that hadn’t even trembled at my impact. More pain. I forced myself to keep going.

  My stomach clenched painfully, and I did something maybe dumb. I snagged an energy booster from my last fight with Dilom and stabbed it into the injured area.

  [You have taken an experimental booster.]

  The pain spiked, and white dots appeared at the edges of my vision, but I didn’t dare stop moving. Energy flowed from my shoulder area, so fast it burned, but I didn’t dare scream as I focused on creeping out the right side of the table.

  My vision wobbled as I crawled near a cabinet, completely in darkness.

  “Where are you?” Ivkar’s scream rippled through the room, and I didn’t dare move as my body converted the energy into fixing whatever bones had snapped.

  It hurt to breathe.

  Think.

  A computer crashed into a nearby corner as he tossed it. Next, a chair went flying.

  The pain notched down a level and I knew I couldn’t stay here. Also, hiding wasn’t the answer. The only thing that came to mind was that he didn’t actually fight. He swung his hands around, but it hadn’t been with any skill.

  His commands were the worst. And they didn’t work on me.

  “Asceto, find her!”

  I blinked at that command, searching for Asceto.

  He took a step closer to the doorway, kicking my Storm knife into the shadows, then I swear I saw a smirk as he raced off in that direction as fast as possible.

  That rage still lingered under the surface.

  Time to put it to use. I needed to dodge in and out and not let him get his hands on me. Damage added up over time. I got this.

  I crept out of my spot as the bones healed, and the excess energy flowed through my veins like too much caffeine. I snagged my weapon.

  Ivkar grabbed another screen off a desk and threw it in my general direction. It missed. He stood there, chest heaving and hair all over the place, looking almost like a giant child in the middle of a tantrum. Under his jacket he wore a strange shirt with a line down the center. It didn’t have sleeves, and was very form fitting, even tucked into his pants.

  A few holes dotted it from Lenna's arrows, and the white fabric had spots of blood on it.

  He grumbled something under his breath, and then closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath and gathering himself.

  Lenna wasn’t even on my radar anymore, gone somewhere up the steps. Asceto had followed, though it wasn’t like Ivkar seemed to care at the moment.

  His eyes snapped open and he glared at Dilom, still slumped over to one side.

  “I need to spin this… He has to have other backups in other locations… Maybe he’s gone rogue.” He nodded. “Yes, he's gone rogue, spoke about trying something new and taking on another planet. Vanished, like he does sometimes when he gets an idea.”

  He held both his hands together palms first, tapping his fingers.

  “That will work.” He let out a shuddering sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

  I moved silently, sticking an exploding rune on the back of one of the remaining computers. I only had a few left, and needed the remainders to close the portal that was somewhere in the fortress.

  One should be enough.

  I then fled.

  Or tried too. A hand snagged at my back as I darted away.

  Double fuck.

  “There you are,” he said with glee. “You will be a nice present for the council. Something to help sell my story.”

  I stabbed at his hand using my Storm Knife, but he snagged my wrist. Again, he used a burst of speed, faster than normal. Like somehow he adjusted his stats as he needed to, or something.

  The computer!

  Must get away from the computer!

  His fingers dug into my skin, and I dropped the blade to stop the pain. It clattered to the ground. But if he thought those were all of my weapons, he was in for a surprise.

  He leaned in close, almost chuckling. “I got you now, little monster.”

  I spit in his eyes.