My Goodness,

Thank you to all the readers who have continued to keep on reading and have given me the support that I needed to keep me going. This story wouldn't have been possible without you.

Zhalia POV

"I swear to God someone's going to pay for this," muttered Zhalia as she carefully maneuvers herself through the thicket of trees that surrounded the outer layer of the forest.

Each step produces a loud crunch of crushed leaves as she carefully walks along the trees. The cloudy night sky have hidden most of the moon, leaving only slight rays of light to illuminate her path. The forest was strangely quiet tonight.

After walking several more meters, Zhalia stops in her path. She could smell a strange, familiar odor.

The rusty, lingering scent of blood and death.

She walked a few more steps before one of her feet hits something.

Something soft.

"My, my, my," thought Zhalia as she knelt down to what she suspects to be the culprit. The body was still warm and around it was a pool of warm liquid.

"I wondered what happened here?"

She was just about to use Boltflare to examine the corpse before stopping herself.

What a fool she would have been. There's no telling who's watching her. Why, that Casterwill girl came from a long line of talented seekers. There's no telling what she could do. It wouldn't be a surprise if she could sense magic from far away.

Like her magic.

Zhalia have figured out long ago that no matter how simple the spell is, it will always be lace with some sort of dark auroras. Years of practicing and using dark magic have caused those auroras to follow her wherever she goes. Luckily, they appear to others only if a spell is cast.

So she have concluded that even in situations like this one, it'll be extremely foolish to use even an ounce of magic. She can't risk the girl discovering her powers or her identity. Blowing her cover will lead only to capture, or even death from the Foundation.

Zhalia gave a grimace. She'll just have to be patient and wait for the perfect moment to strike. Maybe she can kill two birds with one stone tonight, if she's lucky. Imagine the reward she'll get if she brings down the Foundation's finest and a girl from the long lost family of the Casterwill.

Her future will be set. Why, it might be even more than set. She can finally repay Klaus for taking her off the streets, and the Professor... who knows how he'll award her. A raise or a promotion would be nice.

"I hope Klaus got my letter," thought Zhalia as she felt around the body, feeling for any signs of tracks that can indicated if someone had walked away from the corpse.

Its not like someone can just drop a body from the sky.

That message she managed to slip out the window had instructions for Klaus to send her some kind of magically enhanced item to hide her auroras. Anything will do. Once it comes within her possession, then she will strike.

Far too deep in thoughts over her future plans, Zhalia didn't notice the leaves falling down around her. Before she could react, a large body pounced onto her from the trees. She couldn't stop the small shriek from escaping her mouth as she felt the hard impact of the ground as the shadow pinned her down. As she instinctively reaches for her daggers, the shadow quickly grabs both of her hands and pins them over her head, forcing her to drop her weapons to her side. Zhalia notices a flash of silver as the attacker took out a hidden knife from behind his back.

"So this is how I'm brought down," thought Zhalia as the shadow presses the knife to her throat.

"Just frigging great."

Dante's Team POV

Minutes Before

"Any idea where we're suppose to rendezvous with Zhalia," asked Dante as the trio quickly advance through the woods.

They have decided to stick to the dirt path to avoid getting lost in the trees and tripping over hidden obstacles the night have so cleverly hidden.

"Nope, Captain doesn't like to plan out those sort of things." replied Rahzel as her dress suddenly got caught between some branches, which almost caused her to fall. She tried several times to yank the fabric free, but the branch stubbornly held on.

Dante couldn't help but smile as he quickly help free her by breaking the branches with Dragonfist. Rahzel gave a quick nod of appreciation before running after Sophie.

"I'm not surprise," said Sophie. "She did jumped out of that window without saying a single word to any of us, not even you! Aren't you hurt that she left you behind?"

"Oh heavens no," replied Rahzel quickly as she caught up with Sophie. "Being mad over something as simple as that will be just plain old silly. Besides, if you know Captain as long as I have, and you are that easily offended, then you will probably spend everyday of every week brooding over her tiniest actions."

Rahzel paused to consider something before continuing.

"But now since we're already going down this road, I do happen to remember a certain event that happened not so long ago. Captain and I were in some town in the Midlands. We had to look for some...items, if you will say, for a ... certain client . Well anyways, there we were standing in the marketplace-"

"Hate to interrupt," said Dante as he suddenly stops his team. "But I think we have... misplaced our coordination."

"What do you mean?" questioned Sophie.

Dante casually pointed to a broken branch. "I broke that off not so long ago to free Rahzel. Ring any bells?"

The two girls quickly analyze their current surroundings to see if Dante was speaking the truth.

He was.

Sophie gave a weak sigh as she slumped to the floor. "I can't believe we've been walking in circles this whole time!"

"Nothing but wasted time and energy," agreed Rahzel as she joins Sophie. "And look at my dress. Completely ruined! Oh Captain's going to be mad when she learns that I lost another one."

"You know what Rahzel, I can honestly say that this is one of the worst days of my life so far," said Sophie with a sad smile.

"Tell me about it," muttered Dante from a distance. His entire body still hurts from the surprise bombing earlier. Also the whole lifting up the entire tent while the teens evacuate did quite a number on his upper body. He was going to have bruises till who known when.

Finally sensing that enough time have already been killed, he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out an amulet.

"I think its time to meet up with Zhalia now."

"Why bother?" Sophie muttered under her breath.

Both Dante and Rahzel didn't hear her, or chose not to acknowledge it.

"That's brilliant," cried Rahzel as she jumps to her feet.

"Captain knows the ins and outs of this horrible forest. She spend a lot of time here when she was younger."

"Than that's a double win then," said Dante with a chuckle.

He raised a yellow amulet with a green gemstone above his head.

"Well what are we waiting for, lets go find her."

Zhalia POV

"Well I'll be damn," the figure suddenly said just as he was about to stab her. "Zhalia, is that you?"

The cold blade and the heavy weight that was moments before crushing her against the floor disappear as the person helps her up. Zhalia was still a bit dazed as the voice kept on speaking.

"You shouldn't go creeping through the forest and surprising me like that. Why, I almost slashed your throat, thinking you were one of those hoodlums. It would have been a shame too since I usually don't go around killing customers before they pay their bills."

Zhalia cringed as she finally recognized who the voice belonged to.

Mike.

Choosing that exact moment, a little ray of moonlight escapes through the clouds, revealing her used-to-be-assailant.

He grins as he notices her reaction.

"Can't believe after all these years, I finally got the drop on the infamous Zhalia. Why, I can't wait to tell every soul that lives in a 500 mile radius from here. Oh what the heck, I got plenty of time. I might as well tell the whole world."

"But you wouldn't," countered Zhalia with a sly grin as she leaned against a nearby tree. "Because no one can hear a dead man."

"Hey now, no need to be so defensive," replied Mike with a chuckle as he sheathes his dagger. "We're all friends here."

He smiles.

"If we weren't, you would have probably ended up like that guy," Mike said as he pointed to a nearby mangled corpse.

"Thats nasty stuff Mike, and here I thought you're retired from all of..." Zhalia pointed towards the corpse. "This."

"Ah, well ya gotta do what ya got to do, even if you don't like it. That's just how it works. Just promise me you wouldn't tell the missus."

"I wouldn't," promised Zhalia as she kneels down to inspect the corpse nearest to her. "She'll have both of our heads if I do."

Thanks to the moonlight, Zhalia could tell that there are around five bodies littering the clearing.

The pair grew silent as Zhalia slowly tried to feel around for some hints of who the poor unfortunate fool was. Maybe he was carrying an i.d. or something, anything at all that can identify him.

"Sooo, do you want a light or something?" asked Mike as he watched her fumble through the corpse's clothes.

"I'm standing in the middle of a forest during the middle of what seems to be the longest night of my life, and you're asking me if I want a light? Do you think I can see in the dark?" growled Zhalia, her frustration clearly showing.

"So I'm taking that as a yes then," responded Mike as he produced a small box of matches. He then leaned down to picks up a nearby branch, inspected it, threw it away, and kept up the cycle until he finds a branch he deems worthy. With a flick of his wrists, he lighted the piece of wood and held it over Zhalia's head.

A now more quick and easy inspection reveals a hidden pocket sewn into the inner portion of the corpse's jacket.

Just before Zhalia had a chance to rip it open so they could see what was inside, they heard strange growling noise.

"What was that?" questioned Mike as he slowly stood up. He raised the makeshift torch higher, aiming it straight towards where the noise was coming from.

"I don't know," sighed Zhalia as she reluctantly joins him.

"But I guess we're about to find out."

Yay! I have finished my first double digit chapter :D

Please continue to read and enjoy, and I will continue to update.

So guys, what did you think about this chapter? Let me know.