Chasing Shadows

The boy watched his breath spiral through the air. A snowflake fluttered past his face as he stared straight ahead across the icy emptiness. He watched a man standing some distance ahead. The man was alone, but the boy could hear him talking. The man was dressed all in black with long black hair. The boy shivered as he waited in the torturous cold without protective clothing. He dared not move without the man's permission, though he desired more than anything to be away from the place.

The man continued mumbling incoherently for a few more minutes. Then he turned and walked to the boy's side. He reached for the child's arm, but the boy snatched it away. The man seized the arm again roughly and shook it.

"Don't play with me," the man threatened. "I will rip you open with my bare hands, regardless of your uses to my mother's plans."

"Leave me alone!" The boy tried to jerk his arm away, but fell to the ground when the man twisted it at the shoulder. The man forced him back to his feet. He twisted the child's arm again, but with less force.

"If you do that again, I'll rip your arm from its socket." He dragged the child towards the fortress in the opposite direction. The child struggled but to no avail. The man dragged him into the stone and metal building. They wound through spiraling corridors until they came to a series of prison cells. The man opened a door at the end of the hall, pushed the boy into the cell, and locked him in. "Get comfortable," the man said. "You'll be here for a long while."

The boy glanced around the room after the man disappeared. There was a pallet in the corner with an unlit lamp. He wrapped the blankets around himself and leaned against the wall. He could faintly hear the conversation down the hall. The man who had thrown him into the cell was speaking with a woman.

"You're wasting your time," he heard the man say. "He will never submit to this."

"He has no choice," the woman said. "He is my stepson. On his father's authority, he will listen to me."

"What about his wife? The boy's mother would rather sacrifice him than risk letting him become one of us."

"He is already one of us. He was born into this family, whether his mother likes it or not."

The boy licked his bottom lip and closed his eyes. He concentrated on his mother's face in the hopes that she would hear his mental cry for help.

(X)

Lilith leaned over the balcony as she released a rapidfire attack from her handguns. Soldiers ran into the room from below while others jumped down from the balcony behind her. The demonic and human targets in the center of the room hit the floor as they were all assaulted with bullets from every direction. The shooting continued until Lilith saw a puddle of blood form under the pile of bodies. She signaled a ceasefire with a single whistle. Her soldiers stepped back as she leapt to the floor below. She kicked the nearest body aside.

"He's not here," she said quickly. "We missed them again."

A soldier nearly tripped over a corpse while sliding carefully to her side. "This is the third time they've evaded us. The boy is probably dead by now."

Lilith raised her fist as if to slug him with a backhand punch. Her hand stopped in time to avoid actually hitting him. A twisting sensation seized her gut, which she ignored for the sake of appearances. "Just one more," she said. "I'm not giving up on him."

Without waiting for a response, Lilith turned and jumped back up to the balcony. She charged through the door and into the adjacent room. It was a large circular library with walls lined from top to bottom with shelves. There wasn't an empty space on any of them. Lucia was on the other side of the room with a Cutlaseer in one hand. Her other hand was rummaging through miscellaneous items. Papers, books, and various objects in between were strewn across the floor. Moonlight shining through the skylight reflected off the Cutlaseer.

"What are you looking for?" Lilith called to her. Lucia merely stared at Lilith as if the latter had dropped from the sky. "You won't get any information like that. We're trying to find a location."

"Hmm." Lucia raised her eyebrows as if to think about it momentarily. "I know where to look."

"And where is that?"

Lucia flung a handful of papers in the air. "I've narrowed it down to northern Europa in the Keltica Islands. It used to be a neutral territory."

"So?"

"It's not anymore, and guess who got it. Besides, I know for a fact, and from experience, that the person we're looking for has a hideout there. I've been there before during an assassination mission."

"How fun." Lilith suddenly dropped to her knees and began coughing. She fought back the urge to heave as her stomach twisted again. "This is too much for one person to bear." She inhaled deeply as the wave of nausea passed over her.

Between hacks, she heard something flapping from above. When she raised her head, she found a large crow demon clinging to the wall. She reached for her guns again as the giant crow launched itself towards her. She rolled to the side as it flew to the opposite wall. Several darts flew past her head. Each one nailed the crow in the head or neck. With Lucia at her back, Lilith raised her guns and fired.

(X)

Sharice dug her heels into the sand as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Remind me why we're here again." She leaned against the stone wall and braced herself against the desert wind.

The man beside her put a finger to his lips. "Quiet. If you give us away, then we, not to mention everyone inside the fortress, will get into trouble. Just relax, will you?"

Sharice watched with less faith than normal as her husband took a few steps from her. She watched him transform into a winged demon. With a few flaps, he had reached the top of the fortress. Sharice stuck her fingers into her ears to block the whistling of his metal-tipped wings. When she pulled them out, she heard glass shattering.

(X)

Lilith ran across a bookshelf as the crow demon launched a handful of sharp feathers in her direction. Each one hit where her heel had been a split second before. She threw herself over the crow's head. In a quick move, a knife pierced the back of the crow's head. When she landed, she turned on her heel to throw another knife.

That plan was halted by the sound of shattering glass followed by gunshots. Lilith glanced up to see a figure surrounded by falling glass drop towards her. Whomever it was, the newcomer shot the crow demon once in each eye before riddling the rest of its body with bullets. The demon flapped around wildly in an attempt to attack them blinded. Several books, among other things, flew off the shelves as it thrashed about. Lilith crouched securely behind the newcomer as the crow demon launched the last of its feathers towards them. The newcomer raised his right hand. The feathers stopped in midair, then dropped to the floor. Lilith watched in anticipation as the now familiar figure approached what was left of the crow demon and blasted it one last time in the head.

Lucia dropped her Cutlaseer as she realized who had invaded the room. Then she dropped to one knee in an overused gesture of reverence. With her hand still on the knife, Lilith stood as the familiar dark figure became an even more familiar human figure. She let out a sigh of expected relief as the figure turned around and flashed her a smile.

Lilith released the knife. Then she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Dad," she sighed again. "How did you find me?"

Dante tapped his left temple with a single finger. "I knew you were coming here before you did."

Lilith nodded with sudden understanding as she backed away. "The shard of the Idda Corrof."

Dante extended a hand to Lucia. "Stand up. Those days are over for me."

"No, they're not," Lucia said as she stood. "In fact, these days are worse than those."

"Or better," Lilith added, "depending on your point of view."

"I don't understand."

"You will later." Lilith turned her attention to Lucia. "Let's go home. We're done here."