They were brought into a separate room from the main warehouse, and the contrast was immediately evident. The room was much smaller than the warehouse, but also fancier and well-lit, not only by oil lamps but also by large windows of glass, protected by iron grates. There was a table with books and ledgers, for a criminal enterprise needs accountants just as much as any other business. There was a shelf behind the table with drinks and other delights to entertain guests as well as comfortable chairs scattered around the room.

And indeed there were guests in the room. Four strong soldiers in full armor were posted inside, as well as their commander. When Kinari entered and saw who was standing opposite Boss Nelos she muttered a curse under her breath. It was the worst possible person to see in these circumstances.

His blonde, immaculate hair and plate armor with fire reliefs were unmistakable, he was the nobleman who had burned her face in the barn, a few nights ago. When he turned to look at who had entered the room, his eyes narrowed as they focused on Kinari. He had recognized her too.

“You?” He turned sharply to examine her, then Demian’s smoke-covered head, before peering at the nobleman in black and yellow armor. “Are these the two fugitives? Did you capture them yourself, Ser Kolman? What happened?”

The noble in black armor, or Kolman as he was called, stood at attention. “My lord! Some of Nelos’ men found the two escapees and captured them! They had brought the two here, but I took the liberty of blocking all sound and sight from the prince in order to prevent him from using his Gift! He is now safely secured!”

Nelos’ face lit up. “You fellows did that? Good job, lads! Well done! Gren, was it? I’ll see you get a fat - ”

“What?” The blonde commander looked suspiciously at Gren. “You mean to tell me some common street thugs managed to not only find, but capture the royal prince of Viridia? And somehow he did not use his voice on any of you?”

“They had him gagged already when they brought him in, ser,” clarified Kolman, his eyes wide and eager to please. “But I don’t know how they accomplished that. Actually, now you mention it, I am also curious.”

“I hope your thugs didn’t bring in a random blind urchin and a mongrel in the hopes of getting a bounty, Nelos!” Hissed the blonde commander. “It would be a very poor start to our working relationship!”

“No, I would never do that my - I mean - Your Lordship!” Pleaded Nelos. “Hey, Gren! Tell his lordship how you captured these - ”

“It was the fucking goblins!” Hissed Kinari, interrupting him before Gren could respond. “They caught us and figured out about Demian’s voice. Just our fucking luck too! So they tied us up, gagged him and left us in the tunnel. We almost managed to escape them too! Godamnit! Feels like Ellora is just fucking with us at this point! Just fingerbanging us non-stop!”

“Quiet, creature,” said the commander in a quiet, dangerous voice. His arm burst into flames and Kinari visibly flinched back, held in place by the two thugs on each of her side. “Yes, I recognize you. That night, in the barn. You had the same uncouth behavior then, and I let it slide with just a delicate punishment. It was my mistake, certainly… One I will not commit again.”

He walked closer to her as he spoke, and she tensed, preparing to struggle…

“She was always an uppity one, Your Lordship,” said Nelos, grinning at Kinari. “I know her well, and believe me: she will never stop mouthing off.”

The commander stopped a few feet away and the flames in his arms disappeared. “No burn marks on your face though,” he said. “Curious.”

“She heals very fast,” explained Nelos. “I’ve heard it’s because of her filthy blood. Some kind of rare species.”

Everyone had gone quiet, while the blonde commander seemed to digest all this new information.

“She could be one of the two fugitives,” he said at last. “It fits with what we know. But I still need to know if the other one is truly the Prince of Viridia.”

“Well, he is blind, commander. I can confirm that myself,” said Kolman.

“What of the rest of his appearance?” Pressed the blonde knight.

“Well, the smoke prevents me from seeing color, but I can describe -”

“We need to be certain,” interrupted the commander. “Ser Kolman, I need you to remove your Gift of Smoke from his face so we can be sure that we have captured the right person.”

“What?” Kolman widened his eyes, looking uncomfortable. “Commander, this is quite risky! Without my Gift restricting him, the prince could still use his - ”

“You said he was gagged, didn’t you?” Asked the commander. “Check if the gag is still in place. Meanwhile me and you will cover our ears, as a precaution.” As he spoke, he opened a small pouch attached to his belt, and from there he took out some cotton and cloth, which he started stuffing in his ears as makeshift earplugs.

“But… Commander?” Started Kolman before being quickly interrupted.

“I will not hand over a random man to my superiors and celebrate my victory only to learn I have been tricked by a decoy, you understand? I have his description and a sketch of his appearance! And I will not announce his capture until I am absolutely sure it is him! Do you understand, Knight? Cover your ears and then remove the smoke covering his face, Ser Kolman! This is my command, and I will not be disobeyed!.”

Reluctantly, Kolman also covered his ears. The others watched this with increased apprehension, and Kinari saw one of Boss Nelos’ bodyguards edge away from Damien in fear. The rumors of the Royal Voice spread even among the peasantry.

She quietly steeled herself for what would come next.

“Wait? When you’re talking about the kid being royal… Does it mean he has, you know…? The voice?” Said Boss Nelos, looking at Demian nervously.

But the commander was now completely protected from all sound and ignored the question. Kolman was now covering his ears as well, and the room went quiet.

Once both knights were protected and Kolman checked that Demian was still gagged, he extended his hand towards the smoke and seemed to suck it back towards his hand, where it faded away, revealing the pale and worried face of the royal heir. He quickly noticed the change, turning and straining his ears to understand what was happening, eyes wide and pale.

But the commander did not give him time to get his bearings, immediately grabbing his chin and forcing it up so he could look at his face in the light. His black hair, now dirty after a trek in the sewers and days without washing, were half covering his pale and delicate face. But the commander still saw his eyes were pure white and did not focus on anything even as Demian let out a muffled grunt as the commander turned his face one way, and then the other, as one would examine a horse before buying it.

The commander smiled triumphantly and let go of Demian’s chin before nodding to Kolman. But before they could react, Kinari quickly spoke.

“Gren, don’t pull down Demian’s mouth gag, quickly!”

Nelos, focusing intently on the young man, turned to Kinari and then jumped back in horror. Gren reached towards Demian’s mouth gag and, with a strong yank, pulled it down.

“Everyone except Kinari, don’t move or speak!” He shouted at the room. The unprotected froze in place and all chaos broke loose among the others.

Back in the sewers, Demian carefully explained his instructions to the three enthralled thugs that would be their escort. “If Kinari asks any of you to do something, you will not do what she says and stop doing it, if possible. But if she tells you not to do something, you will immediately do it.”

“Don’t jump up and down in the same spot right now,” tested Kinari and the three started hopping in place. She chuckled. “Huh, it does work.”

“The three that are jumping, please stop,” ordered Demian, before turning toward her with a frown. “Don’t treat them like that. Remember that they’re people too.”

She shrugged back. “But your gift is really something else! With this I think we can actually pull it off! I can guide things until we get inside Nelos’ room, and once we’re in, things should be easy.”

“Kinari, wha- ”

Demian barely got those words out before receiving a punch in the face and a second one in the chest. He wheezed, the air literally punched out of his lung, and blood dripped from his mouth. The commander had moved surprisingly fast.

It all happened at once. Kinari tugged at the knot holding her hands together and it was undone. The commander flashed her an angry look, his arms bursting into flame. She ignored him, instead focusing on Kolman. Shadowy smoke burst from his hands, covering not only Demian but also everyone close to him in that unnatural darkness, including the commander with the flames, who was briefly disoriented. Kinari took her flintlock pistol stolen from Gren, cocked it and aimed it at Kalmer. Pistols were incredibly inaccurate, but at this distance she could not miss him.

Instead the weapon misfired, clicking pointlessly while no fire or bullet came from the barrel. Kolman and Kinari looked at each other for a moment in mute confusion. Then Kinari threw the whole gun, hitting the noble in his face. He grunted in pain, reaching up to protect his head. He quickly recovered from the blow, but by then it was too late. Kinari had pulled out her mace and was swinging his way. He barely had time to fire smoke at her while trying to move aside and draw his own gun. The inky darkness covered her vision and muted all sound at the exact time her mace struck him. She furiously shook her face, and for a brief, tense moment she could neither see nor hear anything. Then the smoke cleared away, as a warm breath on a cold winter’s day, revealing Kolman lying on the ground. He was unconscious and bleeding from his head. The darkness surrounding Demian also faded, revealing him lying on the ground and catching his breath.But the commander was revealed as well.

He glared at Kinari and then shouted in a loud, commanding voice. “We’re being attacked! Soldiers! Protect your hearing and assist immediately! The Royal Heir is here!”

“Oh shit!” Kinari jumped towards him, but more flames burst from his hands and she barely had the time to roll out of the way. Part of her ponytail actually caught fire and she desperately patted it out while moving back. The commander advanced, hands pointing at her, and she moved back further until her back hit the wall.

“I should have killed you that night, you filthy spy!” Growled the commander.

“Soldiers… Grab de one who jusd spoke... Don’d let him go.” Demian said, in between painful coughs. His lip was swollen and bleeding, and his nose was red, but despite having trouble talking he still made himself heard.

The four armored soldiers that stood at attention all turned and marched towards the commander in quiet obedience. When he noticed what was happening, he turned his flames towards his former troops without hesitation, sending jets of flame at their faces and chests. The smell of burnt flesh spilled across the room as two soldiers collapsed to the floor, their heads and breastplates completely charred.

But even as their companions fell, another soldier approached the commander from behind and grabbed him by the shoulder and torso. There was an angry shout and a struggle, but even as fire burst from his hands he could not quite reach the man behind him, who clung to him as hard as he could. The last soldier was now approaching, both arms raised and ready to grapple. The commander noticed him, and pointed his arm at the last soldier, burning him with his flames until he collapsed.

Kinari, during all this confusion, looked around and found the pistol that Kolman had just drawn before being knocked out of the fight. It looked ornate and much better kept than her last one, and she grabbed it and walked forward, pointing it at the commander while cocking the flintlock and removing its safety. He noticed her too late, still being grabbed by his own soldier, and his eyes panicked as his hands moved towards her.

She fired at him point-blank, the blast letting out acrid black smoke and staggering her for a moment. But that was nothing compared to the damage the bullet did to the commander, punching through his chest armor and knocking him to the ground in an explosion of smoke and blood. He did not get up, groaning in pain as more blood oozed from the bullet wound, covering the metal around it red.

Kinari advanced on him, mace at the ready, covered in gunpowder smoke and blood, she resembled more a demon from hell than a being of flesh and blood as she towered over the fallen commander. Her grin was like a shark’s.

“This is for burning my face, you bastard!” She said, baring her teeth while she brought the mace down on him, delivering the final blow and killing the commander.

For a moment all was still, save for the gasping of breath by the survivors and the flicker of flames in a corner of the room.

Kinari took a deep breath and another look at her surroundings. The room was now peppered with small fires from the fight with the commander, but the remaining enforcers of Boss Nelos, as well as the man himself, all stood frozen in their places and ignored the danger. The one remaining soldier still held onto the corpse of his leader as it lay on top of him. His face showed no expression or emotion, aside from a sheen of sweat and a faint twitch in the eyes. Demian was breathing heavily, still sitting on the floor.

“Kinari?” He asked. “Is everyding alrighd?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “I’m alive. But we can’t linger here long! You heard the guy shout for help, didn’t you?”

There was a trickle of blood running from Demian’s nose and down his mouth and chin. He wiped his face and sniffed a few times. “What are the exits to this room?” He asked.

“There’s only one door. There are iron grates on the windows, so we can’t use them,” she said, looking nervously at the door. “They should’ve been here by now!”

“Probably they’re being careful to protect all their ears before attacking us,” he said. “Also, we did just take out two of their commanders. So the chain of command is going to be a little shaky, probably.”

He had just barely said that when they heard noise coming from the other side of the door. Hurried footsteps and the jangling of armor and metal.

“Everyone except Kinari! Block the door and protect it at all costs, quickly! Don’t let anyone through!”

Demian’s commands were obeyed, as always. The remaining enforcers and Nelos all hurried to the door and put their weight against it, preventing it from being opened.

“Hold on a moment, not you,” said Kinari while grabbing Nelos and pulling him back. She looked him in the eye for a grim moment, his expression blank, before he struggled to get to the door and obey his orders.

He was the one they came for.

She remembered all the times he had lorded over her, as they traded insults and he threatened to have her beaten or killed. How he haggled over her price and casually insulted and needled her. She tried to keep in mind all the cruel things he had done, to her and to others, without even caring or remembering them that much. It was all just business to him. Business and power. His disdain for her ‘filthy blood’, just another excuse to make her feel small and keep her under his thumb.

Thinking about all this would make the next part easier. Maybe she could pretend this was fair payment for his crimes. What did the goblins say again? To pay for your crimes with your blood?

She drew Nelos’ sword from his scabbard and pointed it at his neck. He still struggled to get to the door, his face blank, but there were tell-tale signs of the struggle underneath. A trembling of the hand, a flicker in his eyes.

She swiped the blade quickly, cutting his neck. Blood gushed from the wound, staining his shirt and coat red. He still struggled to get to the door even as he died in his last moments, a horrifying display of obedience, before his arms went limp and his eyes closed for good. Kinari let his body collapse to the ground and stared at it for a moment.

The door suddenly shook with a mighty impact, making a booming noise throughout the room. Demian was startled and jumped as he turned toward the noise.

“Shit! They’re breaking down the door!” Said Kinari, and indeed it was probably only the efforts of the other five men, all piled up and pushing against the door as hard as they could, was the reason that the attackers hadn’t broken through it yet.

“Everyone except Kinari! Block the door at all costs!” Tried Demian, but the only response was another impact, shaking the wall and cracking part of the wooden door. But it still held firm, for now. “I guess they are all wearing ear protection?”

“Alright, time to get out of here!” Said Kinari, raising the blade over her head. She chopped as hard as she could, but it still took a few swings to fully sever Nelos’ head, which she threw into a sack. “Alright, I got the head! Now let’s get out of here! Hey, Demian! Make them go out there and fight the soldiers! That’ll make a good distraction so we can leave.”

“Make them fight their own people?” Asked Demian, his voice quiet. “Make them kill each other under my control?”

“Yeah! Can you do it?” Asked Kinari. There was another impact on the door, another cracking sound. The door now looked visibly bent inwards, and would not hold for long. There was a pause, and then the sound of a gunshot. One of the men holding the door fell back with a grunt of pain, his shoulder bloodied, but he still tried to get up and obey his command, before collapsing on the ground again. Blood seeped from under his body, running in the grooves of the wooden floorboards.

“Crap! Now they’re shooting through the door! Get away!” She said, pulling Demian away from the door.

“All these people dying… It shouldn’t have been like this!” Demian’s eyes were wet now, glistening and white in his grimy face. “We should have come and gone with only one death… Only one!”

Kinari recognized in his voice the dissociation of someone who had gone through too much, too quickly. She had heard it before, usually on the battlefield, and left alone it would only get worse.

“Get it together!” She hurried to where he sat and lifted him up on his feet, two strong hands on his shoulders. “Look, I know it’s tough, but we gotta do this to survive, ok? There’s no other exit! There’s no other… way.”

She stopped herself, taking another look around the room. Things were dire, the fire was now starting to spread and the windows were grated, unless…?

“Hold on,” she muttered. “There might be another way, actually!”

She left him and ran to the fallen Kolman, searching his belongings until she found what she was looking for: a pouch that, when opened, revealed a pile of little black balls made of iron as well as small paper bags stained faintly in black and with a familiar acrid smell.

“Yes!” Shouted Kinari. “Paper cartridges with gunpowder!”

She looked at the window and her smile widened.

There was a lot of noise now coming from the warehouse, as well as thin tendrils of smoke coming from small gaps in the roof. This attracted more attention than usual, and defying the unspoken rules of the area there were a few people now watching the warehouse in quiet interest from a distance and some even carefully approaching it.

So everyone jumped back when an explosion came from the warehouse, with a deafening crash as all glass from two windows broke and one of the metal grates was actually blown off, clanging on the alley outside covered in debris. Black smoke poured from the windows and obscured all sight.

And from the smoke jumped a tall green woman, carrying a smaller man with one arm while holding a cloth sack in the other. She landed awkwardly on the cobblestones, barely avoiding the broken remains of the grate, and seemed singed and bloodied. There was a piece of debris from the explosion poking from her thigh, and she crouched down and pulled it out with a grunt of pain. She was still bleeding from multiple places, although he man seemed barely hurt, as if he had been protected by something - or someone.

When she noticed the crowd, she took a deep breath and shouted:

“Fire! There’s a fire in the warehouse! Quickly, help! Fire!”

The noise had attracted more people to see what was going on, including nearby workers from other warehouses, and her words spread around the clusters of people like a wave.

“What? Fire?”

“Look, look! There’s smoke coming out!”

“But how did it - ”

“Shit! Our stuff is right next to it- !”

“Can’t let it spread - ”

“Quickly - !”

And one by one, all bystanders jumped into action, running to get any kind of water or something to beat the flames down. Some few even hurried to the window to see if they could help. But the impulse to douse the flames in these people was not only pure altruism. A fire in a city is a dangerous thing, even more so in a warehouse district where you can sometimes find piles of flammable goods stacked close to each other. And a fire that starts in a faraway house could reach and destroy your entire neighbourhood, including your house, if not quickly stopped. So the shouts of “Fire!” and “Fire in the warehouse!” quickly spread, and more people responded to it.

Amid the commotion, Kinari tugged at Demian and they both ran down the streets.

“We just have to get to the sewers!” She said to him. “Hopefully these people will slow the soldiers down! If we can get to the sewers, we can shake them off!”

“This fire...” Muttered Demian, sounding dazed. “Did we start it?”

Kinari glanced back. “I don’t think it will be too bad. The fire’s in a separate room and there’s nothing too flammable there, and we’re close to the river. They should be able to put it out, although at least part of that warehouse is gone for good. It was Nelos’ though, so I don’t think he’ll mind right now.” She patted the severed head inside the sack.

“And I don’t need to control anyone anymore, right?” Asked Demian, stumbling as he followed her. He still seemed subdued, gripping her hand tightly.

“Yeah,” she said. “For now, just focus on running!”

And so they ran down the alley, amidst a crowd of firefighters and gawkers. Some glanced at them, but nobody prevented the six-and-a-half foot tall half blood and her companion as they ran down the alley and away from the warehouse that was now billowing smoke.

“Just a little more!” Shouted Kinari, as they ran and stumbled. Sometimes they had to weave through a crowd of people, and once Demian almost fell after stumbling on some loose cobblestones, but they powered through, moved by fear and adrenaline. “We’re almost there!”

“I think… I hear something...” Gasped Demian. Kinari turned to look behind them and her heart sank.

There were soldiers, a small group of them. They were some distance away, but she could hear the faint sound of clanging armor as they moved, as well as their shouts to get out of the way, as they pushed people aside and made a beeline for the two. The crowd was slowing them, but not enough.

“Almost there! Almost!” Said Kinari, running harder as she pulled on Demian. And indeed, once they turned another corner, she spotted the entrance to the sewers they had come from before, some distance down the street.

They ran as fast as they could, Demian being tugged and stumbling behind Kinari while out of breath. When they reached the entrance, Kinari said, “I’m picking you up, ok?” And she did so, holding him firmly with both arms as she jumped down the ramp and slid down it to the bottom rather than bothering with stairs. The two landed on the bottom with a wet splash and Demian grunted out of pain and surprise.

“If we can get to the tunnels, they’ll have a hard time finding us!” Said Kinari, pulling Demian back up. “Come on! And let’s hope the goblins help us out!”

They made their way to Nelos’ hidden stockpile, still lit by a few weak oil lamps. The guards that they had left there were now lying on the ground, bruised and tied up. They were not like this when we left, thought Kinari.

Then a blade slashed through her lower back, silent and swift, pain burst and seared through her body forcing her to stumble and fall to the ground, where she dragged Demian down with her. He struggled to turn around and sit up while Kinari gasped, face down on the stone floor.

“Surrender now and you two will be unharmed,” said a calm voice behind them. “Well, other than what I just did. Otherwise you might get very hurt before you are captured. Especially you, half-blood.”

Kinari felt her back wound slowly healing, and the pain going away. She gasped again, pretending she was more hurt then she was, and braced herself.

She kicked at where the voice had come from as she turned around, but missed. She wasted no time getting on her feet and squaring against her enemy. But when she saw him, she hesitated.

The man was wearing a full set of armor, including a helmet and plate armguards, and wielding a longsword, but there was something wrong with him. He seemed eerily translucent, and Kinari could see through the man, as if he was made of glass or mist. And he floated a few inches above ground, moving away from them with quiet swiftness, like a leaf blown in the wind. His feet did not even reach the ground.

“Everyone except Kinari, please stop and don’t move or speak,” said Demian. His hand searched for where her hand was, but could not find it. “Kinari? Are you alright?”

The ghostly man lunged forward, swift as the wind, and stabbed with his sword at Kinari’s shoulder, drawing another yell of pain and more blood that ran down her arm. But through the pain she still drew her mace with the other arm and swung it at his arm, aiming to break it.

The mace went through the man as if he wasn’t there, and he smiled.

“Your Gift does not work on me, young prince,” said the man, his voice calm and confident. “And your spy cannot hurt me. Give up now, and she may yet live.”

And he twisted his blade for emphasis, making Kinari cry out in pain.