James Mallory grunted as he removed his blade from the young girl’s chest.

He was breathing heavily as he looked around at the multitude of corpses that littered the streets of the once peaceful Caelum Terra. A war had begun, and two opposing armies clashed, leaving unimaginable devastation in their wake.

And yet, they hadn’t even reached that part of the Caelum Terra. The miraculous structure was a circle, ringing around the base of the IDA, which was now likely to fall under the force of the invading insurgents, who had managed to block them.

But the secretive bases of the Association, their locations known only to the Magesmiths. James himself and, thanks to the Commander, Chiron, were the strongholds for their plan.

Chiron…

His grip on his sword tightened as he thought of the centaur.

The central base itself was sold as a supposed safe haven, with the Magesmiths having given control of it to Nicholas, who they were confident would forever be loyal to them.

As always, the old fools thought everything would go their way. At least he had managed to successfully push for those secret bases and they still had a chance of succeeding, since Marly herself was there already.

But Chiron would likely be there as well, and with him would be the Perlie boy. Marly would never succumb to his pleas and fight on his side, James knew that, but he wasn’t a fool.

He knew that he would have to take care of the boy, which would more than likely lead to him killing Marvin Perlie.

Killing a sixteen year old boy who did nothing more than believe in his mentors, who did nothing more than care for his granddaughter. A boy who, in many ways, was very much like James himself when he was young.

Never in his life had James Mallory killed children, or anyone he considered innocent directly. Led soldiers to their deaths, caused the deaths of innocent men and women, hell he had even given orders that unequivocally led to the death of children, likely even infants.

He slept, little as he did, with the thought that everyone that died by his hand was aware of their actions. That the people he killed were aware of what they were getting into who expected their deaths and welcomed them. They were soldiers after all, people who trained for battle and whose lives were the battle.

“Mallory,” came the dual voice from behind him.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, anger and disappointment in himself weren’t useful things at the time, he turned to the Magesmith behind him.

“What?” he asked curtly, not caring for any formalities.

“The others are in their positions. We need to move faster, Chiron and the boy have moved into our stronghold radius, and they cannot be allowed to reach the asset before we do,” said the Magesmith, and James wanted to punch them in their perfect golden mask, see what’s beneath it.

Because it wasn’t what everyone believed, not underneath that one, or any of the others that are in position. Not that he really cared. But this bastard not only called Marly ‘the asset’, but Jamnes had more than his fair share of pent-up anger and he needed to take it out somewhere.

He was getting ready to attack the bastard, they didn’t even do anything to help him, and yet now complain about their tardiness…

He wouldn’t have it. No, not from the bastards that caused everything in his life to go wrong, not from-

No, no, no.

He took a deep breath.

And then another.

He could conceivably defeat a single Magesmith. But he couldn’t afford to lose time. Not now. That was why he didn’t go through with their previous battle and instead made his way through the streets of Caelum Terra with this Magesmith.

“If you would help me in combat, we would have been done with both the battle, and this pointless update of yours in half the time it took me to get through a dozen of these poor souls,” he said, unable to keep all of the bite from his voice in spite of his best attempts.

The Magesmith actually let out a laugh, the double feminine/masculine voice echoing across the narrow street and, in spite of himself, the hairs on the back of James’ neck stood at attention.

“Of course, of course,” said the Magesmith, with the amusement evident in their voice. “After all, the plan will be completed on your terms… isn’t that what you said?”

“You owe your life to the fact that I don’t have the time to kill you, arrogant fool,” said James before he could stop himself.

His eyes widened slightly, but he just steeled himself as he walked forward to their destination.

That wasn’t the time for battles, and it wasn’t the time for mind games either. No matter how arrogant or foolish, the Magesmith wouldn’t attack him. And even if they did, James Mallory wasn’t a man to fall in such circumstances.

Not until his mission was complete.

Another laugh escaped the Magesmith, and before James could respond, the powerful being charged at him, almost so fast that the old man could not comprehend it, their glove hand wrapping around James’s neck.

It wasn’t too much pressure. Not at all. It was just enough for him to feel the pressure. Enough to know that he was the pawn in their game.

But it wasn’t enough. Because James Mallory hadn’t risen to the position he had, hadn’t earned the sort of reputation that he had, for no reason.

His sword’s blade, with the red stone in its guard’s centre glowing in power, was against the throat of the Magesmith. A warning of his own.

“We do not have time for this,” growled James Mallory, but he didn’t lower his blade. He didn’t trust the Magesmith enough to, and he wasn’t the one to start the physical confrontation in the first place.

And so, the two remained locked in that stalemate, deadly silence overtaking the entire area they were in.

“You are truly a very entertaining human, James Mallory,” said the Magesmith with amusement once more evident in their voice. “And you are right. We have no more time to waste. Let us find the asset–your granddaughter–and make our plans come true.”

And so, going against every expectation that James had, the Magesmith lowered their hand from James’s neck. After a moment he decided to return the gesture, and the Magesmith began walking to their destination in silence.

James decided not to question it. The moment he had worked decades for was nearly there, and he wouldn’t hesitate or have any second thoughts–even when it came to facing off against the young Perlie.

He was so close, and he would not fail.