From the second the monsters came around the willow trees, Kora had started acting strangely. Due to her stronger senses, he realised she must have seen something, or someone, in the distance which had led her to shuffle behind him. She also crouched slightly, letting his figure mask hers. Things only got stranger as she whispered into his ear,

“We need to get out,”.

He tilted his head to the side as if to admire the pillars of the pavilion, acting non-suspect. “What? Why?”

“Look at the ordinary one,” she said, before crouching lower as the monsters got closer.

Moments later, Orion found the one she had singled out. Just like she had mentioned, within the dozen monsters, behind the Cloudape, was a man who stood out like a sore thumb. He had tanned skin, a well-groomed beard, and styled hair. He wore formal clothes but stood casually within the mix of monsters as if he belonged.

Given Kora’s behaviour and the man’s appearance, Orion figured he was a vampire. But then why was she scared? The Cruorems were at the peak of vampirekind: even if he was stronger, she had no reason to fear him. That was, unless her own family was hunting her… Realising the seriousness of the situation, he felt cold sweat roll down his neck.

It was while his thoughts were spiralling down that Fatso’s guffaw sounded out, “Ha HA HA. Ratty, you sick cunt. I’m in,”

Orion glanced at the mountainous man and grimaced. He had to get to Smith and report; the city would devolve to death and destruction shortly.

“What about you, Madam? Will you cast your die for once?”

“No, Rats, I won’t be.”

Orion zoned out and faintly smiled. At least there was a sign of resistance, albeit weak. Rats began shouting at Madam Rischei who passively stared back as if watching a child release their tantrum.

“I’m terrified, Rats. Now that you’ve made your point, I better get back to running my simple whore business. Best of luck to you boys,” she said as she turned and waved.

“Come on, Richy. You got a chance at making it bigger than a whore and you’re hesitating? Really?” Fatso called out.

She didn’t reply.

Her faction moved as a whole as they left the pavilion and strode towards the gate. Orion tapped Ginger’s shoulder and nodded to him, before walking into Madam’s faction, making sure his body overshadowed Kora’s as they moved. While their exit from Fatso’s group attracted curious glances, these were only momentary as the underworld understood their reasons. If they thought Madam’s side-line tactic was better for survival, then it made sense why the Seekers would curry favour with her and not Fatso.

After they had all left his garden, the Lich spoke to Rats. “Since we’re done here, we’ll get in place for the attack,”

The scarred leader nodded and ordered the rest of his troops out. The revellers outside would be their meatshields against the Palace gates and their primary source of terror. Once in, Rats’s men would go for the Palace while Fatso agreed to take care of the Imperial Barracks. Their dice were cast; their fates would be decided the very same day.

After walking for a few minutes, Madam Rischei stopped and faced her faction.

“Alright. I think it’s time we split up; I know a lot of you’ve got work to do. Either way, good luck,” She bowed her head. Only her personal guards and the mages stayed put as the faction split, members leaving to prepare for the coming battle whichever side they were on.

The two Seekers dispersed with the rest, quickly coming to Hexham’s road and running along it. The streets were peaceful in a way they wouldn’t be for the following months: the guards unsuspecting, the traders calling wares, the people smiling. They reached the Seeker’s building and rushed in to find Maya’s table empty. Going upstairs, they found Smith shouting orders by the contracts’ board.

“Smith, Rats is going to attack the Palace,”

“I know,” he said while rubbing the creases on his forehead, “Your contract has changed. It’s now to kill a 4-star monster or to kill one of the Underkings. Killing Rats or Fatso will put you up to 5-stars, but I’ve already set people to hunt them.”

When he saw them standing still, he shouted “Doubletime,” and turned his attention to another group of Seekers.

As they walked out, Orion shook his head. “What do we do? What are we meant to do?”

“We’ll struggle with a 4-star monster, especially in the city, but we should be able to do it. 5-stars is a whole another thing though. You know the vampire I pointed out?” Kora said.

He nodded.

“That was a Laeshi, 5-stars and one of the strongest monsters in Visgamar if that group was a reflection of the whole company,”

Orion couldn’t hide his curiosity. “So why did you hide? Is he after you?”

“No, but I left without telling anyone. They probably sent a search warrant for me to all the vampires, not that they’ll do anything even if they find me. Still, they will follow me to make sure I’m safe, and through that…”

“They’ll find me,” he finished.

“Yeah, but it’s fine. We got out unnoticed. But we need to focus now.”

“Hmm, we can’t kill Fatso, Rats, or Madam. What about the other one, Grima? Didn’t Skitters say he worked for someone who knew a lot about the city and who told him to prepare? He’s definitely got something to do with Grima,”

“Oh shit, yeah.” Her face scrunched up with thought, “We need to find him now,”

*****

A distance away, from the top of a dilapidated building, the Laeshi watched. The Seekers were blurry figures even with his vision, but he was fairly certain one of them was Bian. While he had only caught vague glimpses of her at the human leader’s pavilion, the luscious scent of blood she emanated made her different from the humans she hid between.

In truth, he had no idea what Bian looked like as she had kept to her House like the rest of the Cruorems. So, the girl here could just be another higher-vampire, maybe a Varishi. Either way, considering the scent of her blood, following her around would benefit him much. So much.

The blurs moved again, zipping across the finger-sized road - they were running, rushing to get somewhere. His lips curled into an unsavoury smile, the type he gave the noblewomen when he was alone with them after a frustrating session of charming. He leapt from the building and entered the air, his domain, and flapped his fleshy wings.

Tens of metres from the ground, the difference in the two sides of Visgamar became even more prominent. The Palace stood tall, made of chalk-like rock, a pure white. The surrounding area was clean and colourful, in particular a lot of greenery. On the other side of the city, it was dull, bleary and muck covered the streets. Here, green became a colour of luxury as even the vegetation grew dull brown.

The Laeshi was surprised to see the two running into the slums after having left the human leader’s pavilion so brazenly. In fact, he was confused why no one else had paid attention to them switching sides. He dove lower as the bleariness began to misguide him. He continued to tail them for several minutes.

From his vantage he could see the growing unrest in the city. It seemed the revellers had been told the plan, and they seemed enthusiastic to get back at the nobler sort. The Laeshi was sure that emotion would feel foreign to them in a few minutes when the attack actually began. The city guards and everyone on the streets still seemed unaware, but the Laeshi noticed the Palace guards weren’t as ignorant.

Switching back to his golden goose, he saw the two Seekers stop in front of a building. All of a sudden, Kora turned around, facing up. In fear, the Laeshi flapped further up and hid behind the roof of a building.