It took several minutes to arrive at their destination. Jack and Val now stood in a large, open area in a back alley, tall buildings blocked out the morning sun, which casted long, ominous shadows. Trash cans, sewer holes, back exits, and many other things created many places for a enemy to hide, and Jack couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched.

(Be careful, Jack, I can sense a lot of magic darting around in the shadows.)

Ellis warned Jack, but he was already alert, his senses heightened and his eyes scanning his surroundings. From what he could tell, most of them were in front of the pair, while several that seemed to be moving faster than the others had already gotten behind them, and were waiting in anticipation. Bright green eyes became visible, and the tension grew as the furies surrounded their prey.

[As I suspected, they are reacting to you, Jack. You may want to submit control to your little friend.]

‘Ah, that’s right. Val still thinks I’m possessed.’

Jack still hadn’t given her any information about himself yet, and thought now was as good a time as any to tell her.

“Ah, yeah... I’m not possessed.”

That caught Val’s attention, and she turned toward Jack. The furies took advantage of her distraction, and the assault began, with the furies coming from every direction at once. Val quickly recovered from her shock, and turned to face the threat, while Jack turned the opposite direction to face the onslaught coming from behind. One of the first ones to arrive was a woman in her forties wearing a white dressed that was stained red, looking very similar to a zombie, followed by two robust men of a similar age wearing suits.

Jack dodged the woman’s initial attack, which he saw through easily thanks to Val’s training, and brought his knee to her ribcage. With a resounding crunch, the woman flew off to Jack’s left, and was replaced by the two that were following close behind, who seemed to become enraged at Jack’s actions.

‘It’s not like I like it, I was raised being told to never hit a girl, but I’m pretty sure this is an exceptional circumstance.’

Jack faced them head on, and they attacked simultaneously, one going down, while the other went up, and both bringing their claws around. Jack didn’t waste a moment, and stepped on the face of the one that went down, and used it’s momentum to propel himself up at the other one. When he came close, the one that went up slashed at him in an attempt to rid him of his head, but Jack had anticipated this, and grabbed it’s arm, slamming it down on the other one below him. Neither was moving, but Jack brought his heel down on the top one’s head just for good measure, spraying blood all over the concrete.

Jack turned to look at the others that were trailing behind, hesitant to approach after Jack’s display, not to mention Val who Jack could hear was doing just fine against the others. A few of the hesitating furies broke off from the rest, and began to charge, and the others soon followed suit, counting 9 in total. Jack didn’t wait, he dashed at them, catching the first one off-guard and literally knocking it’s lights out before moving to the next one. One by one, he beat each of them, landing hits in critical places, and blowing them away to the afterlife.

The small fries lay in pieces on the ground, and some of the more unfortunate ones on the walls, while the pair stood over them, Jack panting and sweating, mostly due to adrenaline, and Val showing no signs of exhaustion.

“Did you get the big one?”

Jack asked Val after a few moments passed, referring to the one Val called an “upper-class fury”.

[No, it may have left when it saw it’s underlings die. We are fortunate, upper-class furies are often many times more dangerous than mid-class ones.]

(Jack, there is a magical signature nearby, and it seems to be much stronger than the furies you just faced.)

Ellis informed Jack just as he was about to relax, causing him to tense up. Noticing his reaction Val cocked her head to the side slightly.

[Are you alright?]

Jack heard something stir underground, and felt a faint vibration on the undersides of his feet.

“We’re not done.”

Jack squared himself, putting his left hand forward while leaving it open, and putting his right fist back and prepared to fight. The ground shook and cracked before a portion of the concrete collapsed down into the sewer, releasing a cloud of dust. The dust settled quickly, revealing a fury that was slowly walking up the path created by the rubble. There was definitely something different about this one, it walked confidently, and didn’t seem quite so beast-like, but the glowing green eyes, and long, sharp claws ruined the image. As the fury came closer, he saw a man that didn’t look much older than himself, and was wearing a nice, black tuxedo that was ruined due to the blood that had splattered on it.

“Hello there!”

The fury spoke with an unearthly voice, as if restraining itself from indulging in it’s natural instinct.

“I apologize, but I seem to have bit off more than I can chew, so I’m afraid I will have to deal with you quickly.”

The fury apologized politely, in a rather cocky manner.

(Jack! Something’s following the talking fury, and it’s big! You need to leave, like right now!)

As if to prove Ellis’s point, a loud roar echoed through the hole the fury was exiting, and vibrated Jack’s stomach. A blue light flashed somewhere deep in the tunnel, and all the buildings in the area went dark. Jack heard something in Val’s direction, and turned to see what it was, but only saw Val laying limp on the ground. Jack instantly crouched down next to her, while remaining wary of the creature across from him.

“Val, are you alright?”

Val didn’t respond.

“We need to get out of here.”

Jack tried to lift Val up, but found it surprisingly difficult, she was heavier than she looked. Though it may just be the suit.

“Okay, I’ve really got to go now, and your friend is likely dead if she relies on any sort of electrical system to survive.”

“What do you mean?”

Jack tried to pry for answers, but the monster just raised his hands in the air, signaling that he didn’t know. What an asshole.

“Can’t you just leave? We don’t need to fight, and I’m sure neither of us wants to be here when whatever’s chasing you arrives.”

Jack then tried to appeal to this creature’s sense of reason, noticing it was different from the others, and hoping it had enough self-preservation to let them go.

“I suppose we don’t have to fight...”

The creature began to walk towards Jack slowly, a wicked smile forming across it’s face.

“...but I really want to.”

The fury dashed head first at an incredible speed towards Jack, giving him almost no time to react, and was only able to throw his left hand in between them before it struck. An intense pain screamed in his mind as he felt the blade-like claws dig into his flesh, and slide down his forearm almost to his elbow, and Jack threw himself backward in between two buildings. Jack gripped his left arm in pain, and forced himself to his feet, leaning heavily on the building to his right as the fury’s smile grew wider, knowing it had inflicted significant damage.

Jack’s mind was racing, coming up with a plan to defeat this monster, because despite his previous encounter, Jack could now tell that this was a real monster. Unlike those others that attacked out of instinct like an animal, this creature knew exactly what it was doing, and loved it. The fury slowly licked Jack’s blood off it’s blade as it’s green eyes stared at Jack with the look of a predator that had cornered it’s prey. Jack had an idea, and looked at the concrete wall beside him, noticing that the corner was heavily damaged from a stray fury’s body, and practically falling apart. Jack let a resigned smile appear on his face as his left arm hung down.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not see it.”

Jack said before turning around, and painfully bringing his left hand up to rest against the damaged concrete. Jack focused on the magical power inside of him, collecting it on the tip of his finger before slowly pushing it out into a three-inch-long thread that was barely visible to the naked eye.

“As you wish.”

The creature who had paused for a moment, disappointed in his prey’s lack of willpower, responded. The fury dashed once again at Jack, and as soon as he heard it’s fee move, his left hand’s fingers dug into the concrete before flying backwards, flinging dust and rocks towards the attacking monster. Jack heard it scream in rage as the stones and dust as it assaulted it’s eyes, but he was already moving, leaping towards the enemy that he was now facing, and raised his right finger towards it. Jack felt this finger come in contact with the fury’s head, sliding backwards across the center and cutting a three-inch-deep slice from it’s face, to the back of it’s head.

Jack passed over the creature, still maintaining the momentum of his lunge, and both fighters tumbled in opposite directions of each other. The fight was over, and Jack won. Jack, who was barely able to move crawled over to where Val was collapsed, and tapped on her helmet.

“You alive?”

There was a pause.

“I am impressed you won, that would have been a challenge for me.”

Jack heard a muffled voice through the helmet, assuring him that his complaining had not died, and he sighed in relief. The sigh wasn’t just because Val was alive, though that was the biggest reason, it was also because he had chosen the right gender. He had been referring to Val as a girl this entire time without knowing her actual gender, but the voice that came out was undeniably feminine.

“(Uuu...)

“Ellis?”

Ellis made a weird noise that caught Jack’s attention.

(Uuuwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!!)

Ellis then burst into tears, and Jack became flustered, not knowing what to do. How was he supposed to help, it’s not like he could give her a hug or anything.

(I-I was sooo scared! A-hic-and I thought Jack was going to-hic-die, and I didn’t want to-hic-say anything so you could-hic-focus and I was sooo scaaared!)

Ellis resumed crying... loudly.

‘Don’t worry Ellis, I won’t die.’

(Hic...hic...hic...)

Ellis quieted down, and now only her hiccups could be heard. Jack wondered how something without a body could hiccup, but put it out of his mind, that wasn’t necessary right now.

‘Well, at least not as long as I got an overbearing goddess of love stuck in my head.’

Ellis was quiet now, but the silence was soon replaced by the booming noise of powerful footsteps slamming against the ground.

“Jack, you are too injured to fight, you will die if you stay.”

Val told Jack, not advising him to leave, or asking him to stay, just informing him of what will happen if he doesn’t leave.

‘Ellis, what’s happening?’

(Ah-oh! Right! The thing coming is an orc, it is the second stage of evolution for a goblin, and you will definitely die if you stay!)

‘I can’t carry Val, and I’m definitely not leaving her.’

Jack assessed his destroyed left arm, and slowly started forming a plan.

(Well, you have to or else you’ll both die.)

Jack winced, he had finished forming his plan, but it wasn’t going to feel good.

‘How long before it gets here?’

(Forty-five seconds if it doesn’t speed up... why? What are you thinking?)

Jack laid down next to Val, and put his right hand behind his head in a comfortable position, while cradling his left arm.

‘I’m thinking of a third option.’

(Jack! Don’t you dare!)

Ellis tried to talk him out of it, but his mind was made up, he was not going to leave anyone behind. Jack opened his eyes.

‘Damn, this is going to hurt.’

A thought ran through his mind before he concentrated, feeling the magic flowing inside of him, following it’s direction, then forced it backwards, and into his system.