The commander’s deep words triggered the instinct of wanting to run away and he pushed off the rubble. Yet, it felt like his body was stuck in thick honey while the commander ran at him with his sword raised. With all his might, he pushed on but realized that escape wasn’t an option. Instead, he turned to meet the commander’s sword charge. Getting cut by that sword wouldn’t be pleasant, especially if it was a master craft artifact. His heart beat faster and faster as the sword inched closer and closer to his skin. In sheer desperation, he tapped into the aether in his arm and boosted himself forward. For an instant, he felt the enormous push of aether, then he was hovering motionless above the ground.

“Bro, what the fuck?”

The enormous push assaulted him once again, then he was hovering motionless. The commander lay hunched down on the cobbled street while whispering ‘Stop’ as if it was the only thing keeping him alive. His chest swelled to inhuman size, and he shouted out ‘Stop!’ while blood was fountaining out of his ears and nose. The commander’s face had aged ten years, and he was covered in blood. The time-freeze wore off and Res pushed himself at the commander with full force.

Mercy wasn’t an option.

Jason activated the globe of darkness and Res positioned his foot to hit the commander’s head. Yet, he felt only the wind beating against his face as he was flung across and out of the globe of darkness. When the globe of darkness vanished, the commander was nowhere to be seen. Res whirled around in every direction. Finally, he spotted the commander behind the enemy lines next to one of his bleeding underlings. With a wave of the commander’s hand, the shadow teleport officer’s wound knit close, and the officer stood up. The commander pointed at Res and he knew that wasn’t a good sign. The only warning he got was a light swish of a coat, then he seized up and felt a burning slash across his back. He had felt the effects of the reaper’s black dagger before, but he had hoped to never feel it again. From somewhere far away, he felt two entities reaching out to him, but he had more pressing concerns. His assailant had found out that stabbing would work even better on his hardened skin. Res could push off into the air just in time for the shadow who had teleported behind him to miss. From the edges of his vision, he saw the shadow vanish and reappear next to the now exhausted commander. Despite his injuries, the commander channeled ludicrous amount of aether into his legs.

“Does he really think he can reach me?”

That was all Res thought before the commander’s bulk shot towards him and collided with him in the air. The commander grabbed him in a bearhug and they went flying. Thanks to Jason’s timely intervention, they landed with the commander on the bottom. Still, they rolled down the street like a barrel for tens of meters. They came to a stop and the burning pain of the reaper’s dagger pierced his back. While the shadow continued to stab him to keep him paralyzed, the commander pulled his sword out of its sheath and hissed:

“That is for killing my only loyal follower.”

With the precision of an executioner, the commander pulled his sword over his throat. Horrified, he had to watch as fountains upon fountains of blood spurted out of his throat like a red waterfall. At that moment, Serafina and Xenia reached out to him. Res threw all the pain and suffering he was feeling at them so he could die in peace.

Suddenly, the blood flow subsided and Jason shouted out: “Bro, I am covering the wound with my plasma which makes me vulnerable. Kill that bastard already!”

The commander’s face changed from that of victory to horror. Before he could croak out another ‘Stop’, Res pulled aether from his leg into his fist. He felt the unfairness of it all. The commander had outplayed him on every level, yet Res was going to turn his head into pulp, anyway.

“Why am I set up? I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this. Or do I?”

It was so easy to let that fist continue on its trajectory and into the brain. The human body was mushy. His hand burrowed through the now dead man’s skull into the ground. The shockwave of the enormous blast sent the shadow flying. Several nearby houses collapsed and shingles dropped down onto the street. Woodenly, he stood over the corpse of the dead commander and looked at what he had done.

Spider cracks ran all along the street. The commander’s brains were distributed within a radius of twenty meters. He righted himself and took in the carnage he had caused. The shadow officer was standing ten meters away from him, not daring to move. With detached fascination, Res turned to watch what he had done. He could still feel a remanence of that powerful being which asked: “Who are you?” and right now he felt like he was alienating himself from himself. Alienation from himself and his environment.

“Is this me?”

In the back of his mind, he heard Jason clearing his throat: “Bro, you need to think about that deep stuff later. I can only stop you from bleeding out for so long and you have visitors. Looks like some druggies.”

Indeed, across the street stood a veritable army of about two thousand thugs and drug dealers armed with an assortment of weapons. A lanky young man smoking a packed roll of herbs stepped forward: “The master of narcotics has come to save the day. You can say that we are the cleanup crew, the latecomers, but also the winners.” The men behind him cheered at that.

“Bro, there was this fucking sick documentary on the discovery channel. It was about like lions and stuff. There were those bushmen and they could steal the prey from the lions if they didn’t show fear. The lions would simply back away. What I am saying is: Put on a good display and don’t drag it out.”

“How can I intimidate them if I will die within the hour and if I am covered in bruises?”

“Play it off cool and say something like: ‘this is my town bitch’. You know, the high noon moves.”

With a sigh, he took on a carefree sneer. He hardened his body and hovered a meter above the ground. In a low tone that was silent yet could carry, he rasped out. “This isn’t a fucking a buffet. The young revolution has now overtaken the prostitute district. We have wiped out the entirety of Akila’s guard and I don’t think your men quite measure up to that.” He hovered towards them.

The leader blew out smoke and looked behind him. “We have come at the perfect time, boys.”

The laughter had turned a bit uneasy, so Res played the carrot and the stick card. “You know, I was living near a farm once. We had a farmer there who was so artful with his scythe that he could trim a lawn within seconds. First, I thought it was impossible to trim two thousand little blades of grass. Then, he slaughtered all the grass and their families within seconds. He accompanied his tale by pushing himself around with increasing speeds. Someone from the back rows fired crossbow bolts at him, but they only clanged off of his skin. Finished with the demonstration, he continued with the carrot. “I don’t want to destroy your livelihoods and we will still accept your trading at our establishments.”

Their leader’s eyes narrowed to slits, but his men were nodding along. Why should they risk their life for potential victory if they could agree to a contract and continue like before? The young man noticed the mood in the group shifting and tried, but failed to rile them up again. Many of them had families, and their risk-reward calculation was in his favor.

With a sigh, the young man waved lazily. “I will take the offer. You can come by to get some of that quality stuff if you know what I mean.”

Res didn’t know what he meant but nodded. As soon as the mob had vanished around a corner, the entire world darkened. Panicked, he cast about for anything and a shadow appeared in the spot where the drug lord had stood.

“Bro, there are over two hundred shadows surrounding us!”

Res grasped for aether to push off, but the shadow only bowed. With a cool voice, the shadow said: “I am pleased to meet one of the ghostbound. I have only met someone from your organization once. I give my humble apologies if I have displeased you.”

He remembered the old woman within Xenia’s necklace telling him about ghostbound - an organization that regulated the use of ghosts for personal enhancement.

“Bro, I don’t sense anyone in the immediate vicinity with a ghost. He must aspire to join the organization. Play a role. We are in deep trouble if they attack.”

Trying to sound confident, he asked: “What do you know about the ghostbound?”

The shadow chuckled. “I know that they bind ghosts to their will, which gives them incredible powers. I know that you are one of them by the ghost plasma in your neck. I hope that we can build a trusting relationship with each other, so we can thrive together. You might one day see fit to recommend me to a screening officer.”

Res nodded sagely and tried to project an air of knowledge: “Yes, we will see.”

Behind him, he heard the protesting cries of the shadow that had fought aside the commander. When he turned around, he saw that two shadows were carrying him away. The leading shadow said: “He is a lost lamb and needs to once again find the right path. Luckily, he is a trainee and still able to change. We will … reeducate him.”

Judging by the screams, the reeducation would involve things he didn’t want to think about. The lead shadow tipped an imaginary hat. “Sayonara.”

As if it was a magic keyword activating a spell, all the shadows vanished. “Bro, that guy was edgy. By the way, what I said about you dying soon if nothing happens wasn’t a joke.”

Before he could push off the ground, a window on a nearby building opened. A middle-aged man with a beer gut waved at him. “Boy, that wasn’t half bad. I wanted to tell you that as the master of thieves, I approve.”

With a loud bang, the window shut again and Res was left standing in the street, slack-jawed. “Jason?”

“Yes?”

“You saw and heard that, right?”

“Dude, I have concluded that the council is completely brain dead.”

With a shrug, Res pushed off the ground and left Reinhard to finish the rest.