Tink!

Chloe's eyes followed the silver coin as it left her thumbnail and spun in the air carelessly before falling into her open palm once more. The morning air was humid but brought along a sense of calmness that she enjoyed for the most part. She hadn't woken up hungover at least, she had stopped drinking last night long enough to sober up before crashing down to the ground next to Max. Still, she felt bored and slightly irritable.

Tink!

Nobody else was awake right now to offer up a distraction she could latch onto. The hunter had also woken up to a dull throb in her knee and a quick inspection had shown her a nice sized blue bruise and a small rip in the fabric of her new pair of pants. She'd untangled herself from the sleeping witch with care and almost ruined it all with a pained shout when she'd put weight on the joint. It had taken a few hobbling steps to get herself close enough to the remains of the fire.

Tink!

Remains was the right word. The fire had gone out during the night and not even one orange coal remained. She was cold and damp from the morning dew and her knee wouldn't let her stand up to get the flint and steel in Shadow's packsaddle. All in all, Chloe was unhappy with her current predicament.

Tink!

She eyed the Impact's sleeping form further away and made an executive decision. Chloe reached for a small pebble and threw it with expert precision into the back of his head. The big man instantly scrambled on his side, pale white skin giving way to green metallic scales as his eyes searched for the immediate threat. Madsen frowned once his eyes connected with the hunter's. At least she wasn't the only one awake now, maybe she could convince the Impact to get her some food.

Tink!

"Can you please, for the love of all that is holy, stop flicking that bloody coin!?" Kate's voice. Chloe let the coin fall into her palm and smiled smugly at the blonde who shoved aside her blanket to sit up. Kate's long hair was a tangled mess and the woman looked back at her with irritation lacing her features. She rubbed her red eyes and scowled when Chloe burst out laughing. "Seriously Chloe! It's been over thirty minutes that I've been trying to shut out that noise and get back to sleep."

"And what the hell did you throw a rock at my head for?" Madsen's voice, suddenly very close to her ears, made Chloe turn her head to see the Impact sit down with a grunt. His bandaged leg was fully extended towards the unlit fire pit, at least it didn't look as if he'd broken open the stiches yesterday like Warren had guessed he would.

"It was a pebble, not a rock, Madsen. Don't be so dramatic." The Impact's lips tugged upwards in a small exasperated smile and he exhaled good humoredly as he ran a hand over his thick mustache. Chloe grinned back at him. This was why she liked the man so much, he took almost everything in stride. In her opinion, it was an attitude that not enough people had. People like Kate for example.

"Chloe! I'm exhausted and so is the rest of our group. Couldn't you wait another couple of hours before waking us all up?" The hunter kept her cheerful disposition as she reached for Kate's bag and threw her the brush that laid in its side pocket. The blonde caught it out of the air before giving her a tiny nod of thanks.

"Nope. We have a big day ahead of us remember? And we can't until later tonight since we don't know what hour the seeker will get back at. We strike as early as possible, I want us ready within the next two hours if possible." Kate groaned loudly at the words as she sleepily ran the brush through her hair. It caught a couple of times and Chloe chuckled as the blonde struggled to take a small twig out of a tangled tuft of hair.

"Fine. But if I don't get to sleep…" Kate trailed off and kicked Victoria's boot hard with her own. The short haired hunter instantly rolled to her side, eyes glazed over as she quickly moved to one knee and pointed her stump towards the offending woman with her right hand hovering where the trigger on her metal fist normally would be. Kate smiled with a satisfied expression as Victoria's features took on a look of confusion. Victoria squinted and finally rubbed at her eyes before scowling and mumbling something under her breath.

"…bloody lucky I didn't have Siuant on me right now… That'd teach you to bloody wake me up like that…" Kate smirked back at Victoria.

"I saw you take it off last night so I wasn't overly worried." Victoria stretched and playfully kicked Kate's foot aside as she drowsily passed by the woman to get to her own bag. Victoria took out the metal fist and placed it under her left arm as she reached for a small bundle of dried provisions with her right. She walked a few paces and fell to the ground on her bottom instead of lowering herself with grace. Victoria placed the metal fist next to her hip and rubbed slow circles at the nub where her left arm ended abruptly. The skin was still a bit of a mangled mess caused by its sudden cauterization, although it was now much less offending to the eye than it had been before the woman had reached Frauy. Max had long ago managed to at least partially heal the stump's skin to make it smoother than it had been before. Victoria chewed on some dried apricots with a look of concentration, her movements were very sluggish and she didn't look fully awake yet.

"Max…" Kate gently shook the witch awake. The brunette blinked several times before finally bringing herself to a sitting position and yawning broadly in the crook of her arm. Max was no longer wearing the purple dress she had been yesterday. Unlike Chloe, she'd taken the time to get dressed in her regular clothing before going to sleep. Victoria picked up a heavy rock and threw it at the yellow wagon a bit further away from the rest of the group. It connected with a loud thump and was followed by unintelligible shouting coming from the tinkerer residing within.

"You really should stop doing that Vic. Look at his door, it's looking a little rough." Chloe pointed to the entrance of the wagon. It was now scuffed and chipped from the many rocks thrown at it every morning of the last few weeks. Victoria's preferred way of waking up the tinkerer was certainly leaving its mark. Victoria shrugged noncommittally.

"It needed a new coat of paint anyways."

It took a good five or so minutes before the group was all fully dressed and awake around the newly lit fire. The warmth had quickly brought up Chloe's spirits and she was absently smiling as Max leaned into her side and laid her head down on the hunter's right shoulder. Kate was currently cooking some eggs in a pan over the fire, it was the blonde's turn to be the cook for breakfast. Chloe preferred it that anyways, Kate was miles ahead of everyone else as far as preparing food went. She was convinced that the blonde could make anything taste good, even if it was just a stick of charcoal and some dried leaves. Max breathed in slowly before yawning once more.

"Still tired?" she asked the brunette.

"Mmmhm. And my feet are still sore from all the dancing and standing around yesterday." Max grinned. "It was still the best night I've had in months though."

"You think you could do me a small favor?" Chloe felt Max nodding on her shoulder.

"Of course, anything…" Chloe reached over to her swollen and bruised knee before lifting up the fabric of her leather pants. She had struggled into her hunter attire not long ago before Warren had joined them at the camp fire. The tinkerer sat next to Madsen right now, both men were talking actively about going out gambling later tonight after the mission. "Chloe, what happened?" Max's hand gently brushed the purple bruise and the Chloe scowled at the sensitivity of it.

"I think I knocked it when I stopped you from falling over yesterday. You think you could spare a bit of energy to heal it? I can't stand on it properly." Just as she finished her sentence, a strong numbness overtook the injured joint and Chloe watched as the color and swelling faded from her knee to be replaced by healthy looking flesh. The hunter spared a glance for the witch during the process to make sure it wasn't proving too difficult or strenuous for Max. The brunette reached for Chloe's injured side but she quickly grabbed Max's hand and intertwined their fingers instead. "Don't. I just wanted the essential healed. You still need rest. Your shoulder and head healing properly is my top priority."

"Chloe… I'll be alright."

"Give it a couple more days and then I'll let you do it alright? I don't want to take the chance." She gave the brunette her best stern look and Max acquiesced.

"Fine. But I'm holding you to that."

"That's fair."

"So do you want to talk about that hunting 'business' that happened yesterday?" Chloe frowned momentarily before the flood of memories hit her. She had completely forgotten about her discussion with the woman named Steph after her date and the events that followed. Chloe reached for her pocket and took out the large metallic coin that she had been flipping in the air earlier. She turned it over to expose the side with the engraved hand, palm forward, with four jagged cuts in its center. She passed it over to Max and accepted two plates of eggs and ham from Kate. She carefully placed them to the side as the witch inspected the coin.

"What is it? I don't recognize the marking."

"Neither do I. That bartender I was talking with gave it to me. She told me that she was heading to Arcadia to take part in the chaos happening down there." Those words managed to catch the rest of the group's attention. Madsen and Warren stopped talking and both Victoria and Kate turned their heads towards her.

"Why would a bartender want to get involved with that?" Warren asked questioningly. Chloe shrugged.

"I don't really know. She said she was part of a group and that they were all going to go to Arcadia. She's not really a bartender though. She was just getting odd jobs to pay her way towards the capital. She gave me that coin and said that she wanted to hire me on behalf of her group. Something about being a great asset to their 'cause' although I'm not sure what that could be. Whatever it is, they're up to no good. She looked genuinely excited to join the trouble down there and I doubt she wants my services for peaceful reasons. That symbol is their group's way of finding each other I guess."

"You think she's with the High Lord?" Chloe shook her head at Madsen's question.

"No. It's something else entirely."

"She could just be part of a mercenary band or a thief guild looking to profit while the city is in chaos." Victoria spoke with a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Maybe. But again, why would a thief guild or mercenary unit need a hunter of my caliber? I'm a top tier assassin, what use would I be to them?"

"You think it's possible that she's heading down there for the same reason as we are? Think about it, if they're looking to topple the High Lord Prescott, they could definitely use someone like you. Why else would she need a hunter? The only people that I could see of high enough importance to have a contract placed on their head would be Prescott's generals and the man himself." Kate spoke up excitedly as she finished the last two plates of food and settled down next to Victoria to eat. Chloe mulled over the blonde's words as she chewed on a particularly rough slice of ham.

"Perhaps…" She reached for the coin and Max placed it in her hand. Then she threw it on the other side of the fire, next to the four other members of the group. Warren was the first to scoop it up and he glanced at it for a barely a moment before passing it along the row. Neither Madsen nor Victoria seemed to recognize the symbol either. The short haired hunter finally passed the coin to Kate whose hazel eyes widened like saucers as she fumbled with the object. Chloe immediately perked up at the reaction. "Kate?" The blonde sat dumbfounded as she ran a thumb slowly over the engraved hand. "You know what that is?"

"I… I guess." She didn't glance away from the coin though. Kate was frowning down at the object. "My…" She cleared her throat. "My father had one of these. They're exactly the same." Victoria's eyebrow rose and she exchanged a perplexed glance with Chloe. Max was now leaning forward intently.

"What?" The one word question slipped from Chloe's lips unconsciously. "Your father had one of these coins?"

"Yeah. He always told me it was his good luck charm. He kept it on him at all times."

"So your father was a part of this group that contacted Chloe?" Warren ran a hand through his hair as he spoke. The revelation had stunned the group, Kate was particularly affected. The blonde was still frowning as she shook her head.

"No… Of course not. He was a pacifist. This group is heading down to Arcadia to cause trouble. Not to mention that they want to hire a hunter. My father would never associate himself with cold blooded killers. Those kinds of people always disgusted him." Kate suddenly glanced up at Victoria with wide eyes, mouth open slightly in shock. "I… I didn't mean." She looked to Chloe. "I'm sorry. That's not what I meant to say. It came out wrong."

"Don't worry about it Kate." Victoria's soft words made the blonde's head whip back.

"No. No." She reached for Victoria's shoulder. "He was wrong about hunters. There's so much more to the both of you that meets the eye. I'm sure if he could see all that you've done for me he would change his mind instantly. I just meant that he couldn't be a part of a group like this. He wouldn't."

"Are you sure Kate? Why else would he have one of those coins? He clearly knew it meant something since he kept it." Kate shook her head more violently at Victoria's question.

"He wouldn't. There's no way. Maybe he just found it on a street corner or… I don't know." The two hunters exchanged a look of cautious disbelief. "Doesn't sound like Richard Marsh to be involved in something like this but you never know. It wouldn't be the first time a man has hidden a part of himself from his family. Why else would he have one of those?" Neither of them voiced their concern though. It was clear that simply the implication that her father could be a part of the group was deeply troubling to Kate. "What were you hiding Richard?"

"It doesn't matter." Chloe spoke up as she motioned for Kate to throw the coin back to her. The blonde did as she asked and the hunter pocketed the object once more. "We won't be in Arcadia for a while. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I'll get answers to our questions once inside the capital."

"How long until we actually make our way to the capital Chloe?" Madsen asked quietly. "We've done good work tracking down Prescott's generals but we don't have a lead on anybody so far. What do we do after today?" Max shifted next to the hunter. The brunette spoke up, answering the question before Chloe could.

"That's not actually correct. Not entirely anyways. I do have one lead on another of his generals. After we take him out though, I have nothing left."

"Well… Let's see." Chloe mulled over her thoughts out loud, voice deep in concentration. "We have three generals inside of the capital." She raised her fingers on her hands to count them out for the group. "The Raven Knight, the High Lord's enchantress and the mercenary leader in charge of Prescott's personal army." Three fingers stood extended to the sky. "Now, Lord Frederick was killed in Beorf by the Raven for his failure to end Max, Vic, Kate and myself. Lord Kessal was beheaded by Kate in Beorf during Victoria's rescue attempt and Lord Senam was thrown off a tower in Fireheart Castle by the orange eyed man. So… Three dead generals and three alive hiding in Arcadia." Chloe now held up six fingers. "Max says she can bring us to another general." She glanced at the brunette who simply nodded. "That leaves Bokeh who was last seen in Beorf. His whereabouts are unknown and we're unlikely to find out where he is residing. Hell… He might even be Arcadia right about now."

"I doubt it." All heads turned to Madsen. "Think about it. The Raven was exiled for failing the High Lord all the way back in Beorf when he was ordered to kill you all. Bokeh managed to screw up in an arguably worse fashion. He threw the city into civil chaos by killing Richard Marsh and his family, then imprisoning Kate and torturing her. It turned the entire population against him." Kate shivered and stiffened at the words. Victoria reached out a comforting hand to lay on the blonde's leg. "He killed Frank but failed to eliminate the rest of us when he had overwhelmingly strong odds against us." Chloe's hand tightened involuntarily into a fist and she only let up once she realized she was crushing Max's hand. She glanced apologetically to the brunette who simply smiled sadly. "He also got Lord Kessal killed indirectly. Or at least, he failed to protect him while he was in charge of the operation." Madsen exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his short hair. "No. If the High Lord was willing to exile his own son for failing in a lesser manner, then I think it's safe to assume that Bokeh received a punishment of the same or worse quality. I doubt he's residing in Arcadia."

"It still doesn't help us though. If he's not in Arcadia then he could be anywhere!" Kate's voice was tinged with anger. Chloe found herself mirroring the woman's rage. She would get revenge on the man for killing Frank. Of that, she was absolutely certain.

"The quarterstaff wielding man was added to the list as well and the High Lord Prescott of course but we already know exactly where both of those bloody men are. So…" Chloe looked around as she spoke. "We had ten targets. Three are dead. Four are in the capital. One is unknown. One is in our grasp. And Max knows where the last is. We deal with the one right under our nose today then go after the one Max can lead us towards. I don't think we have much of a choice afterwards. We'll need to enter the capital and start taking them down from the inside."

"That means we could be in the capital in as short a time as two weeks" Madsen stated.

"He'll be ready for us. Prescott must know that we are coming after his generals and if he hasn't figured it out yet, he will when the seeker's message reaches Arcadia. It's going to be hard to sneak in the capital." Warren spoke up with a worried demeanor.

"We'll figure it out later. Let's keep on taking things one at a time. First we deal with today." Victoria's voice left no room for objections, not that there were any. "Blue. Are you ready?" Chloe nodded in the affirmative. "Kate, Madsen?" Both got up and set their empty plates aside. Victoria was already in the process of strapping the metal fist to her stump securely, running the thick leather straps up her left arm. "Good. We split up and meet back here as soon as possible. You both take down the man at their camp. Kill him and hide the body in the forest. Take anything from their bags that could prove useful. Rations, weapons, clues, information…You get the gist of it. Bring it back here and stuff it in Warren's wagon. Then wait for us."

"What are you and Chloe planning?" Warren asked. "And what are Max and I supposed to do?"

"You both do nothing. I won't have Max risk further injury when she's at her weakest. As for you…" Chloe trailed off. The tinkerer nodded solemnly, he knew why he wasn't taking place in this. "Vic and I will go to The Kobold Den and ambush our target as soon as he steps out and we know we aren't under surveillance. We can't kill the two guards though. It's too risky and we can't leave their bodies lying about in an alley. We'll probably end up bringing them back here alive and keeping them captive. It might prove useful too, maybe they'll give up information for the chance to leave." Max's eyebrow rose in surprise at the hunter's words.

"You'd let them leave?" Chloe shook her head.

"Of course not, Max. But they don't know that. We can't let them loose to give away our locations and we can't bring them with us. It's unfortunate but we are at war. We'll see if they'll give any information and then… I'll deal with them."

"What about the man with the orange eyes?" Kate asked worriedly.

"I'll try my best Kate. I gave you my word, we will try to get him on our side. But if worse comes to worse… I'll bury him next to the other two myself." Kate nodded.

"All I ask is to give him a chance. We owe him. I owe him."


The Kobold Den was secluded in a small western corner of the large village. It took both hunters a good twenty five minutes to reach it and another ten to inconspicuously scout the area and identify the two guards sitting in an alley by its entrance. That hadn't proven to be too hard. Despite the fact that neither man wore armor, it was abundantly clear to Chloe that they were soldiers of some sort. It was all in the way they carried themselves, straight back, chin up, eyes that scanned the crowd for possible threats every dozen seconds. The hunter admired their dedication, she had seen soldiers forced into guard positions before and most became very sloppy as time passed with no action. Neither of these men qualified as that, they were patient and hardened veterans.

Victoria motioned silently with her hand and both hunters sprinted down to the shaded area of a house. Chloe didn't like the fact that the sun was high up in the sky. She felt exposed, the night was her element. In the darkness she could succumb to its embrace and become one with the shadows. The sun, however, made her jittery. Despite the fact that this section of the village was secluded and apparently quite unfrequented, it was still a possibility to have someone wander in on them as they took down their targets. That would cause chaos and they'd be forced to flee. Chloe had a simple plan for that scenario if it so happened. If Victoria and she were spotted, Chloe would kill the three men and flee. There would be no thoughts of captives at that point.

Victoria stood flat against the side of the house that bordered the alley the two soldier were in. That was her job. Victoria was supposed to give the all clear to take down the guards when she was assured that they wouldn't be interrupted. Chloe had her two daggers unsheathed and she quietly flexed her wrists around the two sturdy hilts. There were a lot of unpredictable factors to taking men alive. They could scream and shout warning even with their lives on the line. They could fight back, forcing the hunters to kill them swiftly. They could also surrender and abide by their commands. It all depended on which part of the soldier was victorious in its inner battle, the side that wanted to live or the side that commandeered their loyalty to their cause. Chloe hoped they wouldn't prove to be too much trouble. While veterans tended to be more fiercely loyal than younger soldiers, they also were much smarter about evaluating their chances in a fight. They'd hopefully see that there was no reason to fight a battle they had already lost. Victoria's hand gave the signal as a short woman turned the corner and headed back to the main road. Chloe waited until her fellow hunter rejoined her and nodded.

As one, both hunters turned the corner and ran the few paces to get to the men. The soldiers reacted instantly. The first tried pulling his dagger from his sheath, he was smart enough to realize that his sword would do him no good in these close quarters. The second soldier wasn't as smart. Chloe reached him as he got his sword halfway unsheathed. The blue-scarred hunter slammed her left fist over his hand, effectively ramming the sword back down into its sheath. Victoria dealt with the first man holding a dagger. The short haired hunter batted his hand away with her metal fist. Chloe heard something break in the man's hand and he opened his mouth to yell. He never got a word out as Victoria followed it up with a punch in the sternum. Her foe doubled over. Chloe grabbed her right dagger and sliced at the man she held. The sharp blade slit his throat, it was a quick cut and she stopped herself in the middle of the motion as she slammed his back into the brick wall. Blood was seeping from the light wound and Chloe got very close to his face. She could feel his warm, ragged breath on her face as she spoke in his ear.

"Don't move. Don't shout. Do you know who I am?" She backed her face a hand span away so his eyes could lock onto her glowing blue scar. The soldier nodded grimly. "You've lost this bout. You do as I say now. I won't hesitate to kill you if you cause any problems. Cooperate and you live, understood?" The man nodded again as realization of his situation dawned over his face. Chloe nodded to Victoria who had just given a similar spiel to her target. That quickly, within seconds, the fight was over. "The man inside, your commander, how long has he been in there?" The man held at knife point kept his hands against the wall as Chloe untied his sword sheath from his belt and let it fall to the ground. She continued on to his dagger as she waited for his response. The man didn't speak and Chloe smiled softly to herself. "Of course… He's definitely a veteran." She pressed the dagger further into his flesh and the man grunted. "You can speak but be wary of your words and your tone."

"An hour." A quick response, direct and to the point.

"How long is he staying in there?"

"Until his seeker comes back." Chloe glanced at Victoria. The short haired hunter had her metal fist crushing her foe's windpipe and her dagger pointed straight to his gut. She stared back at the stoic soldier in front of her.

"Can you get him out?" A deep frown look overcame the man's features.

"I won't do it."

"Is that so?" She slid the dagger ever so slightly, blood trickled down his neck and into his undershirt at a faster rate. Any more pressure and she would slice open his throat, there would be no coming back from that. He swallowed, pain evident in his eyes. "Vic."

"Yes?"

"Keep him against the wall, will you?" Victoria shifted over and pointed her metal fist at Chloe's quarry. The dagger in her right hand went up against her own target's throat.

"Look at me." The man at the other side of her fist locked eyes with Victoria. "This metal fist was made by a tinkerer. It's so strong that it'll melt the inside of your skull the instant I fire it. You do any wrong move and I'll drop you." That was a bluff. The metal fist needed another hand to be triggered in the first place. However, the soldier didn't know any better. His dark eyes roamed over the blue glowing weapon and he nodded. Chloe grabbed a large rock that fit comfortably in her hand. She would be taking no chances.

"I'll open the door a slight bit and you call for him to come out. Tell him you spotted something of interest to him." The soldier nodded again. The tavern was small, Chloe had no doubt that the target inside would hear the man's voice. She slowly pushed the door open from the corner of the alley, careful to hide her hand from sight. She glanced at the soldier.

"Hev! Come out. There's rumors that the Blue Hunter is somewhere inside the village. We need to talk." Chloe let the door close and quickly dashed to the other side of the door, away from the alley.

The small path was still deserted and devoid of life. She heard the loud scrape of a chair through the wooden door as well as some exchanged words before the door opened. A tall man stepped out of the tavern. He was wearing the same black, dirty brimmed hat she'd seen on him the night she'd spent in Fireheart Castle. A black cloak obscured his back, letting only the bottom of his brown leather pants and tall boots stick out. A ceremonial dagger stood sheathed at his side and he carried his long quarterstaff in his right hand. His face was obscured by the same black cloth that stopped prying eyes from seeing anything below his nose. She couldn't see his eyes but Chloe didn't need to. She knew instantly that this was the man she was looking for. She waited for the door to swing shut once more and as he took a step forward, towards the alley, she raised her hand and slammed the rock into the back of his head as hard as she felt necessary. It was probably much more than necessary actually, if the way his body instantly crumpled to the floor was any indication. Chloe breathed out a shuddering breath. She only now realized how just the sight of him had made her body go into overdrive. Her hand was shaking slightly from the adrenaline that coursed through her body and she was breathing a bit heavily.

"Vic." Two soldiers stepped out of the alley with her fellow hunter keeping a watch from their back. Victoria's emerald eyes glanced at the form sprawled on the ground and she smiled.

"It's about time something goes exactly according to plan." Chloe chuckled at the other hunter's statement.

"You two." She pointed at the two soldiers. "Grab him and carry him by the shoulders with us. If anyone asks, he got in a drunken fight and you're taking him back to his camp to sleep it off." The two men nodded and Chloe grimaced slightly as she saw the small pool of blood accumulated on the ground. She definitely hit him just a bit too hard. The two captives each grabbed the man by an arm and lifted him. Chloe took a minute to grab a rag from the alley and wipe away the blood as best she could before kicking some sand over the crimson stain. She disposed of the cloth behind a board and lowered the unconscious man's hat over the wound in the back of his head. It was a gash, easily two inches long but thankfully not too deep or wide. She had put more force behind the swing rather than the initial hit so it hadn't just cracked his skull open.

"Play nice and follow us back to our camp and we'll let you go after some questioning. If you try to screw us over, we'll kill the three of you. I doubt anybody here would raise a finger against us in your defense anyways." Victoria spoke with an air of certainty as she directed the group down the street. Chloe followed from behind with a hand resting lightly over the small crossbow at her belt.


Chloe finished looping the rope through the hole and she tightened the knot with the aid of her left foot. She walked a few steps away with a satisfied smile. The two soldier they'd taken captive were tied solidly to the tree near the extinguished fire. They both glared daggers at the hunter but Chloe brushed it off as she made her way to Madsen. The Impact was currently in the process of tying up four new horses to various surrounding trees. The horses were unconcerned with the big man's activity as they grazed at the grass.

"So how did your side of it go?"

"Smoothly. Kate shot an arrow straight through the man's throat before he even had a chance to move. I dragged his body into the forest and hid it under some branches."

"You get anything good from their camp? Anything interesting I mean?" Madsen shook his head.

"No. Just the four horses, some extra rations and some stuff we could use. Vic was right, they had way more than necessary. They must've been planning a very long trip to require so many provisions and spare equipment for just four men. I left the rest behind. I figure some opportunistic thieves will take care of the mess for us once they see that there's no one watching over the camp."

"At least we won't have to restock our own supplies for some time then. Did you put it all in the wagon?"

"Yes. Warren is organizing it right now. I'm going to go meet up with Victoria and Kate, I should be there in case he wakes up." Chloe smirked.

"I don't think he'll be waking up anytime soon. I smacked him over the head with a rock."

"Still, no reason to risk it." With that said, the Impact walked deeper into the forest. He was making his way towards a clearing that they'd selected before heading off on their mission. It had been cleared of rocks, branches and anything else that could be used as a weapon by someone with telekinetic powers.

Kate and Victoria were already over in the clearing, watching over the man that had been identified as Hev. Both had left their weapons behind inside of Warren's nomadic wagon. Short swords, arrows, short bow, metal fist and dagger had been added to Chloe's myriad of weapons inside a locked chest. The hunter felt naked as she patted herself down. It had been a long time since she'd refrained from carrying any weapons. It was a terrible feeling, knowing that any thug with a cudgel instantly had her at a disadvantage. But it was necessary. Hev had shown that he was a threat as long as there was even one weapon in the general vicinity. Confronting him with none would give him no opportunity to escape or injure them in the slightest. Madsen would be their ace in the hole. The Impact could easily take down the man if he tried anything, perk of being a living weapon she supposed.

"It's going to be alright." The soft voice was soon followed by a set of arms that embraced the hunter from behind. Chloe turned, still in the witch's hold, so they could look at each other properly.

"I know it is. It's irrational but it just feels like everything happened too smoothly." Max raised an amused eyebrow.

"Don't the majority of your contracts go smoothly?" Chloe grimaced.

"Well, yes. But that's because I spent days scouting and making plans. Maybe it's just because the last few fights I've been in haven't gone the way I thought they would. It's putting me on edge." She felt the two hands at her waist tighten their hold slightly.

"Do you think Kate's right? You think there's a possibility to turn this guy into an ally?" Chloe mulled over the question for a long extended pause.

"Maybe. There's no harm in trying. We know he defied the Raven and I suspect those scars all over his face and body were by Bokeh's hand. I couldn't see myself ever being loyal to someone who tortured me to that extent… Either way, today we eliminate a threat and that's a victory in and of itself." Max nodded and leaned up to meet the hunter's lips with her own. Chloe closed her eyes and lost herself to the moment. They broke apart and Chloe turned her attention to the tinkerer who was making a show of awkwardly looking away from the intimate moment unfolding in front of him. "Warren." The man turned around and walked over when he noticed that they had separated.

"Yes?"

"I trust you can handle those two, right?" Chloe gestured to the two men tied up against the tree.

"You tied the knots yourself?" Chloe nodded.

"They won't be struggling free I guarantee it."

"Then they shouldn't be much of a problem." Warren smiled with that typical jovial attitude that the hunter had come to associate with him. Chloe reached behind her back and handed him the very last weapon she carried. The tinkerer took the loaded crossbow in his hands.

"Just in case. They may be tied up but they're still enemy captives." She glanced at Max as she handed him two spare bolts. "Protect this one for me, would you? She's prone to getting herself into trouble." Warren looked over the weapon and whistled appreciatively.

"You do know that I'll miss any shot I take with this, don't you?" He grinned as he said it.

"Just don't shoot yourself in the foot and you'll be alright." Chloe ruffled his hair affectionately and she winked at Max as she turned away from the pair and started to walk into the forest.

She reached the clearing after a two minutes stroll and was met with the odd looking group. A man was tied up with his arm behind his back, head leaning against his chest unconsciously in the middle of Madsen, Kate and Victoria. The latter looking the most out of place with only one hand and no weapons. Chloe had asked her to stay behind during the interrogation but Victoria had refused, stating simply that she wanted to be here in case anything went wrong. Chloe didn't see how the injured hunter would be any help but she hadn't voiced her thoughts. It wouldn't do to put down Victoria like that.

"Are you guys ready?" Three sets of eyes locking onto the blue-scarred hunter were followed by murmured agreement. Chloe hesitated for a moment though as she looked at the unconscious man. She bit her lip in thought and reached over to his brimmed hat, revealing a head of soft brown hair. She took it off and threw it to the ground behind her before reaching for the piece of cloth obscuring the bottom half of his face. "Let's see what you really look like…"

She trailed off as the cloth slipped from her grasp and onto the grass at her feet. Chloe's mouth dropped open in horror and she took a step back. Kate looked just as horrified, if not more, while Madsen and Victoria grimaced at the sight. The man's face was mangled and torn up. Besides the dozens of healed scars that made up every exposed part of his skin, he sported very large disturbing wounds on the lower half of his face. They were long healed but ugly in every sense of the way. The flesh looked as it had been melted repeatedly by a hot iron or exposed to fire and left to heal before repeating the process. The skin on his left cheek was even so thin and deformed that Chloe could see the outline of his rows of teeth through the flesh. His right cheek and chin weren't as bad but where smooth skin should've been, was skin of a rough web-like texture. Those wounds combined with the stubble of half a week of not shaving and the two brands of the Raven's sigil on his neck gave the man a sickening, grisly appearance.

"God! What the bloody hell…" Kate uttered through her hand at the sight.

"Damn, he's an ugly one ain't he?" Victoria looked away with a disgusted scowl. Chloe just stayed frozen, speechless.

"You think this is Bokeh's handiwork?" Madsen gruff voice brought up the question that Chloe had just been asking herself. Kate's face paled and the blonde reached up to her own scarred face with a trembling hand.

"You think..? If Vic hadn't gotten me when she did… That he would've…" Kate's voice was filled with pain and her hazel eyes lost in memories long past.

"Don't think about it Kate. It's behind you now. He can't get his hands on you anymore, he won't get his hands on you ever again." The blonde nodded slowly at Chloe's words. Chloe had initially planned on seeing if the scars were also on the man's chest and arms but at the sight of his face, she decided against prodding further into the man's injuries for fear of revealing even more gruesome scars in front of Kate. The information she would attain from the inspection just wasn't worth it. "What the hell happened to him?"

"Kate. You have the bulb?" The blonde reached in her pocket with a shaky hand and took out the white root.

"It… It might not work Chloe. He looks pretty out of it."

"It'll work…" Chloe hesitated before adding "and if it doesn't, I'll fetch Max and she can heal the back of his head. We try this first though." Kate nodded and looked around the ground.

"Umm… How do I open it? I don't have a knife or a rock and this thing is hard as steel." Chloe looked at the Impact.

"Madsen?"

"On it." The large man shifted and reached for the bulb. He snapped it in half between two scaled thumbs before moving behind the unconscious man and putting an armored hand around his throat. That was the best plan Chloe had come up with. If he tried anything, Madsen would simply squeeze and decapitate him. Revolting but very effective.

"Wake him up." Kate bent down and placed the leaking bulb under his nose. It took only a few seconds before the powerful scent made the man's eyes crack open. His orange eyes were glazed over and he blinked several times in quick succession as his head moved slowly around the clearing. He groaned in pain at the slight movement until his eyes focused on Chloe's face. Then, as if a switch was flipped, the man's gaze hardened and his vision seemed to clear. His orange eyes bore into her own with a hatred that shook Chloe to her very core. She'd never seen so much rage directed at her before.

"You! I let you live! How dare you?!" The man shouted with a heavy slur around his vowels and Chloe strained her ears to understand him properly. The thick accent once again affirmed her suspicion that he wasn't native to her country. He made to move towards her but Madsen's scaled, sturdy hand didn't let him budge. He looked at Kate and spoke a sentence in a slurred whisper that Chloe couldn't make out. His hard orange gaze went back to Chloe.

"I have questions for you." The man showed no signs of having heard her so Chloe pressed on. "Who are you?" Still nothing. "Why did you let us go?" No reply. Chloe felt herself growing frustrated. "Tell me about the High Lord's generals."

"Please… It's obvious you don't care about the Raven. And your face, your hands… Bokeh did the same thing to you that he did to me. I know he did. Just talk to us, talk to me." Kate's soft voice didn't even make the man turn his head. He just kept his eyes locked onto Chloe's.

"You have no leverage, you're trapped. Let me be very clear. You're going to die if you don't cooperate with me." The man still said nothing. Chloe tapped her thigh twice with her index to give the Impact the signal. "Fine, play it that way. Man looks like he's been through hell… Let's see how scared he gets when we threaten him with pain." Madsen shifted closer to the man's ear and spoke up.

"I can get that information out of you. I've never met a man who didn't break given enough time. It would be better to work with me. It would save you a whole lot of pain." That got a reaction from the man, just not the one Chloe expected. The man sneered.

"Do it." His tone had reverted to the dry and emotionless one from the very first time that she had heard his voice way back in Fireheart Castle. His orange eyes were hard and shining with defiance, as if daring her to do it. This was a man that wasn't afraid of torture.

"Why? Why are you protecting them? You clearly aren't afraid of being killed or hurt. So why are you with them?" The question scratched at her mind, demanding an answer. The situation just didn't make sense, she was missing something.

"Man! What the hell is wrong with you? Look at the side you serve! You're telling me you would die to protect them? Is this about some screwed up sense of loyalty?" Vic asked the last question with more desperation to it, gesturing angrily with her arms. Still, the man refused to respond. Kate got to one knee next to him and Chloe saw Madsen's grip tighten ever so slightly.

"We won't hurt you. We just want to help. We're on the same side. You want revenge on them? We can help you with that." Chloe frowned at the way his eyes squinted and his mouth tightened.

"No. Not revenge either… What is it that you want?" She dug in her brain, trying to figure it all out but it was as if she was trying to complete a puzzle with half the pieces missing. His actions didn't add up with the side he served. She needed to crack his motivation. To figure out what drove him.

"Your man called you Hev." The man's eyes widened a tiny bit. "Please Hev, I want to help you. You tried so hard to fight for my life in Fireheart Castle, you never struck me, you confronted Lord Senam, you let my friends go when I asked you to… Why?" Kate kept on speaking with a soft voice as if she was trying to pacify him. Something tugged at Chloe's memories and she unconsciously reached for her bolt bag on her back. It wasn't there of course, she had left it behind at the encampment.

"Hev. That name. Where have I heard that name before?" Chloe frowned and looked down to her empty hands. The sudden motion made Madsen's brow furrow in confusion. He was the only one who noticed. "The notes. They were addressed to him. That woman, Dana. What's his relation to her? Why were the notes under guard by two executioners? Why did he save Kate? Why would he serve men he clearly despises? He's not afraid for his own life…"

"Hev." The single word was enough to snap everyone's attention back to Chloe. "Enough of this. It's time to roll the dice." She stared into his orange eyes. "You're doing it for her. For Dana." Hev's mouth parted slightly and the stunned expression on his face gave Chloe the confidence to keep going. "Alright, I've got part of it figured out."

"How..? How do you..?" Chloe looked at Kate's scarred face and it finally clicked.

"Bokeh has her right? We can help you get her back." She spoke confidently to mask the doubt in her mind. The man sat dumbfounded for a long moment and Chloe feared that she had somehow guessed it wrong.

"You… You can't get her back. I've been trying to find her for a year and still, nothing." His voice lost the emotionless edge to it, the tone grew soft and his eyes fell to the floor. "It's like she's disappeared. Those bloody letters they give me are the only way I know that she still lives." When he looked back up, his eyes grew hard once again. His tone became shrouded from emotion. "They'll kill her if I betray them, if I try anything... I won't give them up even if you kill me for it. I'll work with them until I find her and then I'll get her free myself." Chloe reeled at the sudden change. "Damn it. I almost had him. I almost bloody had him!"

"Hev. How long has it been since they've taken her? Your method isn't working, I have a stack of those bloody letters and from the looks of how many there are, they've definitely been accumulating for longer than a year." His mangled face betrayed his frustration so the hunter kept on pressing harder. "This plan of yours will never work Hev. They'll keep stringing you along with letters to keep you sated but you'll never see her again. They will never let you off your leash long enough to properly find the place where they've stashed her away." Hev growled angrily at her words.

"She's alive! That's all that matters to me!"

"Wake up man! She's basically dead as it is! You think Bokeh hasn't put her under the knife simply because you do as they say? She's probably in agony every day! What you're doing is clearly not working!"

"Enough!" Hev screamed the last word and the ground erupted from under Chloe's legs, sending her sprawling to the ground a good five feet away from where she had been standing. She wasn't hurt. Hev had used the grass beneath her, the only thing available in the clearing, to send her away. Chloe saw Madsen's fist tighten against Hev's throat.

"You hurt her again and I'll rip off your head, understood?"

"Madsen. Stand down!" The Impact grunted and loosened his grip. Chloe could see the red marks where the scaled fingers had dug into the man's scarred skin. She got up and walked over to Hev. The orange eyed man was still seething with rage, he didn't even acknowledge the Impact's words. "Good. Let's keep that emotionless wall of yours down. I can deal with anger, I can work with that."

"You don't understand what they put me through! You don't understand anything! She's all I have left and I'll be damned if she dies because of me!" His slurred speech made his words that much more aggressive to the hunter's ears.

"Protecting her?" Chloe sneered derisively. "She's alone under a madman's thumb and has been for over a year. You think you're protecting her by being the Raven's lapdog?"

"And what would you have me do?! Turn on them and have her executed the instant they figure it out?! You think I haven't thought of that?! You think I'm happy with what I do?!"

"So fight back!"

"I fight back as best I can! You would all be dead if it wasn't for me! I let you go!" Hev snarled his words out.

"Small victories!" Chloe leaned in close to the man. "You want to really fight back?! Join us!" His eyes glinted with indecision, his mouth opened but he didn't speak. "Come on man! Do it! Fight back!"

"I can't." The words left his mouth along with all the anger he'd shown. Hev looked back up at her with his hardened gaze. "I won't. Do what you have to do." Chloe ground her teeth and scowled. "So close…" She looked at Madsen.

"Let him go." The Impact's eyes widened in shock.

"What?!" Both Victoria and Madsen spoke at once. "Have you lost your mind?" Victoria stared her down and Chloe didn't back down from the glare. Kate looked at her and nodded, she understood. Chloe turned back to the Impact.

"Let him go. Now!" The large man released his grip on Hev's throat. The dark red handprint was clearly visible and Hev breathed in shakily. "His binds too." The incredulous look she got from Madsen only made Chloe's resolve harden. "Now!" The Impact reached behind Hev's hands and snapped the ropes easily between his scaled hands. Hev looked up at the hunter with a confused expression, he was still on his knees. "This is wrong." Victoria's eyebrows raised up at the odd admission. "I refuse to do it this way. This group… This team." She gestured to her friends. "We are equals. And I won't have a man bound and threatened so that he joins us. I could never trust you if I forced you into this."

"So… What then?"

"You're free to go. You showed me mercy and spared the lives of my friends. I refuse to kill someone who fights against my enemy. You may work for him, but you do so because he holds someone you care for hostage. You aren't my enemy." Hev stood up and glanced around the clearing.

"You won't stop me?"

"No." She stepped closer to him. "But listen up. I want you to join us because you could help us tremendously. You're a great fighter. You know the enemy, you've been with them for a year and the information you have could carry us far in this war. But. That doesn't mean you don't benefit from this. You've admitted that you haven't got a clue where Dana is. You've made no progress in finding her whereabouts or freeing her." Hev's eyes glinted dangerously. "I don't say it to anger you. I say it as a statement. You say she'll die if you betray them? What's the alternative? Working for them until they lose need of you and kill her anyways? Never seeing her again? Having her live her life in a dungeon that never sees the sun's light? Join us and I give you my word. I will do everything in my power to find her. We will do everything in our power to find her." Hev looked at the faces around him, going from one to the other until it settled on Kate.

"Hev. We're stronger as a team. You won't be alone in this, it won't be just you looking for her anymore. That's how we'll find her." Kate's words seemed to solidify something in the man's orange eyes. He looked back at Chloe.

"You drop everything you were going to do. Whatever plans you had, they're gone. I join and we hunt down my wife. That's the only way I agree to this. The risk is too great otherwise. The moment I join you, her life is on borrowed time." Chloe nodded.

"We concentrate on finding her first and foremost above all else. But I have a condition of my own." Hev stayed silent. "Once we free her. And we will free her. You stay with us until we take down the High Lord Prescott and his generals. All of them. Even if it leads to our deaths. I won't waste time and risk our lives for nothing. I don't like saying it but you're an investment. I need you in this war and I can't have you bail the moment she's free." The man nodded.

"If you help me save her, I'll do anything you require of me. Her life is the most important thing to me." Chloe held out her hand and he took it in a firm grip. They shook and Chloe turned to three different reactions plastered over her friend's faces. Victoria's mouth was opened and she had a stupefied expression donning her face. Kate was smiling broadly at back her, hazel eyes shining with encouragement. Madsen just looked staggered, completely confused as to how she had salvaged a seemingly impossible situation.

"My men back at camp." Four sets of eyes turned to Hev who was picking up his brimmed hat and black cloth from the ground. He reached around the back of his head and flinched in pain, his fingers came back bloodied. He then placed the hat on his head and wrapped the cloth around his head, once again hiding the scarred, mangled mess on the lower half of his face. "We will need to deal with them swiftly before they come looking for me."

"They've already been dealt with." Hev raised an eyebrow towards Victoria. "We took care of the three of them, two are still captive and being watched over by the rest of our group. We couldn't kill them in the streets outside the tavern and risk exposing ourselves. The other was killed by Kate back at your camp." Victoria smirked with amusement. Hev didn't seem to share her enthusiasm at all.

"The three? What of the other two men?" Chloe exchanged a glance with Victoria.

"What other two?"

"I traveled with a retinue of five of Lord Senam's soldiers. I tasked two to follow me in the village, one to watch over camp from within and two to act as extra guards to watch our belongings from deeper in the forest in case of bandits." The group grew deathly quiet as Chloe looked back at Madsen and Kate.

"Did you see these men when you went to his camp?"

"No. There was only one guard. We took him out, buried him, took some supplies and came back to regroup with Warren and Max. Nobody else came to his help." Madsen words made Chloe frown. She turned to Hev.

"The horses, Kate said there were only four."

"They kept their mounts and most of their belongings with them. It wouldn't do to have guards that couldn't ride down bandits on their own quickly." Victoria's face dropped instantly.

"The extra rations and equipment…" Chloe turned to the other hunter.

"Vic. Why wouldn't they attack Kate and Madsen then? It still makes no sense. Maybe they just didn't spot the attack?" Victoria shook her head, face pale.

"Chloe… If you saw two foes that were clearly more skilled than you are, take down a friend with ease, what would you do?"

"I'd… Well, I wouldn't engage when they were ready for it. I'd just follow them back to their base and take them out by surp…" Chloe felt a cold chill run up her spine as realization set in. "Max... No. No! NO!" Chloe spun on her heels and sprinted in a mad dash towards the forest that led towards their encampment.

Branches struck the hunter's exposed face and arms as she carelessly sprinted straight through trees without trying to avoid any. She faintly heard shouting from behind, from the clearing, but she didn't register it. Nothing mattered to her right now, nothing other than getting back to the camp as quickly as possible. She burst through the last remnants of the forest and oriented herself. She was far left of the camp. Chloe burst back into a sprint in the correct direction. Her lungs burned and her face was bleeding from a small cut under her left eye. She didn't care. Her eyes focused on where the horses should've been. Should've. All the horses had been cut loose of their restraints and were nowhere to be seen, the only exception was Shadow. The black warhorse was the only mount left in the entire camp. Chloe's gaze snapped to the tree where she had tied up the two captives. They were both gone. Loose rope had been cut and now lay on the ground in a heap next to the tree.

A body clad in a purple cloak lay face down in the dirt ahead and Chloe pushed her body harder. Her vision was already getting blurry and tears made their way down her face as she recognized Max's form. Chloe fell to her knees, skidding on the rough ground and she turned the body. She chocked back a yell of despair as she looked the brunette over. Max's throat had been slit open by a deep cut and a dagger was firmly embedded in her chest. Both wounds were covered in warm crimson liquid, it had pooled over the clothing and onto the ground to mix with the dirt and grass.

"Noooo!" Chloe yelled and she reached her hands over Max neck, trying desperately to feel a pulse of any kind, however faint it might be. "Max… Please… Noooo… Not you too… Pleaseeee." Her voice came out strangled, each word punctuated by a sob that wracked her body. She could feel it, the pulse was so faint that she wasn't sure if she was imagining it.

"God! Max!" Kate fell to her knees next to the hunter, heaving for breath. The blonde was frozen, hand over her mouth. Chloe turned to her and grabbed her shoulders, leaving bloody marks over the woman.

"Kate. Please… Do something… Please… Do something!" Tears fell down the blonde's cheeks and she shook her head.

"Chloe, her wounds… I can't… Nobody can…" Chloe felt the stinging in her eyes come back in full force as she gripped the witch's body and held onto it for dear life. "Max. No! You can't leave me like this. Not now. Not when everything was going so well. I need you." The hunter cried and held on. Max's head was dangling lifelessly on her shoulder. "Come on! There has to be something I can do. She's barely hanging on! Come ON! Think! BURN YOU CHLOE! THINK!" The hunter dropped Max to the ground and scrambled to her feet in haste.

"Chloe!" She didn't bother looking or replying to Kate. She just ran towards Shadow. The well trained warhorse didn't back away in fright at her erratic movements, something Chloe was ever so thankful for as she jammed a hand down into the pack saddle. Her fingers brushed so many different bundles before finally settling on the one she'd been digging for. She ran back to Max and tried to steady her trembling hands long enough to open the small coin purse. "NO! CHLOE! DON'T..!" Kate tried to grab onto the item she pulled out but Chloe shoved the blonde to the ground and jammed it over the second last finger of her left hand.

Pain. That was the first and only thing she felt. Could feel. Overwhelming pain ran through her veins like molten lava. It seeped in through her pores, filled her lungs, caressed her organs, her heart, her eyes, ears, face. Everything burned as if she had fallen into a blacksmith's forge. Her core was liquid fire and Chloe screamed in agony. Her voice rang through the camp but she couldn't hear it. All she could sense was the pain, the ache, the torment. Her body began to spasm and heave. She couldn't breathe, her lungs constricted, they refused passage. Her chest began to throb and she felt something squeeze her heart. She screamed again, her voice absent to her own ears, desperate to find comfort or relief in anything. Nothing helped. Her irises burned, a sensation akin to having heated needles stuck in the tender flesh. It went through her closed eyelids, pierced right through until it reached her brain. Another scream but this time nothing came out and her body began shaking violently. She fell to the ground in a curled ball. Her mind burned, everything burned. She couldn't turn to anything else, there was only agony. Her heart began to slow its beating. She could feel it resounding through her core, her chest, her mind. It was like a burning hand was stuck inside of her, squeezing her heart, piercing it with its sharp nails. Chloe tried to curl in on herself protectively but the damage was internal. There was nothing she could do as her limbs began to fail her. She couldn't feel her arms, her legs. She laid on the cold earth as her body began to slow its tremors. She could barely feel a pair of hands shaking her, a voice screaming in the distance as her body began shutting down. Her heart still kept slowing, the pain was gone, numbness overtook her. Nothing mattered but each passing beat. She felt it slow to a crawl, each beat felt separated by hundreds, thousands of hours. Chloe felt it. She felt the moment her heart finally stopped beating. Everything was cold and then her senses hit her.

She gasped for air with a wheeze and clutched her chest as her eyes opened to the sky. Kate was sobbing uncontrollably next to her, clutching her shoulders. Chloe's eyes focused on the blonde and she opened and closed her trembling hands. Everything felt wrong. So very wrong. She felt strong. Powerful. Her hand ran up against her side, she expected a wave of pain from the bruised ribs but nothing came. Her body felt renewed. She felt good. Great. Amazing. Chloe smiled and tightened her fist until the whites of her knuckles showed.

"Chloe! What have you done?!" Kate was looking in horror at the hunter's left hand. The blonde's eyes were red and puffy and the tears kept on streaming down and escaping the confines of her eyes.

Chloe looked down and gazed over the golden ring on her finger. It shined in the sunlight and it seemed that the onyx gem socketed in its center pulsed. Black mist swirled inside the gem and Chloe frowned. "What?" The memories hit hard and Chloe immediately felt the sting come back to her eyes as she turned and grabbed onto Max lifeless from. "Max! No… Tell me I'm not too late… Please…" She placed her hand over the witch's neck. The faint pulse was still there but the brunette was ice cold. Her chest didn't even look like it was moving. Chloe desperately placed a hand over the witch's throat.

"How does it work? Work damn you! Heal her! Burn you ring! Heal her! Please! I beg you! Do something!" Chloe could feel the power inside of herself. It was just outside her grasp. Just out of reach. She tried to grasp for it with her mind but it slipped away. It teased her with its misty tendrils, it flowed over her invisible fingers but she couldn't close her fist on it. "I beg you! I'll do anything!" Still nothing. Chloe yelled out in frustration.

The hunter focused on her need for the power. She willed it to come to her. The sensation came back, it was so close. "I need you! You want to come to me! You want to do what I say!" She could feel the power at the edge of her mind, the strength. Again, she reached out for it and again it retracted. She looked at Max's blood soaked body and felt despair roll over her mind in waves. "Come on! Come to me!" Chloe slammed a fist into the ground, anger boiled inside of her. Her knuckles rammed into a rock. Pain shot up her arm and her skin tore open against the sharp surface. Chloe looked at her hand but no blood was coming out. Black mist seeped from the wound and the skin began to mend itself. The pain went away entirely in a matter of seconds.

"You will obey me! I own you! You are mine to use! MINE! OBEY ME!" The rage the hunter felt grew exponentially and she screamed in anger. She reached for the power with anger as her driving force. This time she felt one of the tendrils of power and she gripped onto it with her mind. "YOU ARE MY POWER! OBEY ME!" It wasn't enough. She could feel it as if coated in oil, slick to her mind's grasp. Infinitely difficult to hold onto. Chloe reached out for it violently. "YOU WILL BEND! BEND! BURN YOU! BEND!" She gripped the power and used it to fuel her inner strength. She started attacking it somehow. Her mind clawed at the black cloud and she shut her eyes with a growl. She scratched at it, pounded it, she felt it cower and Chloe grabbed onto it harder. "YOU. DON'T. GET. TO. RUN!" With a mental heave, she ripped it free from its hiding spot. She smiled victoriously as she felt the darkness envelop her mind and body. Her ragged breath was coming out in puffs of black mist. Small black tendrils of smoke began escaping the now-black scar on her face. Her vision felt darker yet brighter at the same time, as if the shadows around her were tinted glass.

Chloe placed a gentle hand over the brunette's chest. She felt at the power and sent it crashing into the witch's body. Max suddenly heaved and gasped. Chloe watched as black mist flowed from her fingertip and swirled around the wounds. She didn't know what she was doing but it was working. The deep wound at Max's throat began to knit itself shut and Chloe ripped the dagger free of the woman's chest. Max screamed in pain at the removal but the black tendrils wove themselves into the open wounds to numb the pain. A couple dozen seconds passed and Chloe finally let go of the power. It didn't run and hide like before though. This time, it stayed at the edge of her mind, waiting for her to summon it once more. Her vision cleared back to normal and she stopped exhaling smoke. Her scar stayed black however, she could feel the difference in magic. Where pure electric magic had once remained enclosed, now stood the darkness.

"Chloe!" Max leaped into her arms and Chloe held her tightly, refusing to let go.

"Max! I was so scared. But you're alive. You're alive." The last statement felt like more of a reassurance for the hunter side. She felt the need to say it out loud. As if declaring it, was her way of defying whatever gods that had almost taken the woman cared for so much. They broke apart and Chloe noticed that she was now crying tears of joy, of relief. She sniffled and buried her face in Max's shoulder. "Don't ever leave me." She felt Max grip her left hand comfortingly. The witch stiffened as her finger ran over the ring Chloe now wore.

"Chloe." Max forced her away and she lifted the hunter's hand to her sights. The witch's face gave way to panic. "No! You threw it away! How?" Chloe forced her into an embrace once more.

"It doesn't matter right now Max. We can talk about this later alright?" She felt the brunette nod silently in her shirt. "What happened Max? What happened?" Max suddenly went completely still. "Max?" The brunette broke away and got to her feet and Chloe noticed that Kate was nowhere to be seen. "Where are they? Vic and Madsen were right behind me!" The brunette turned to her with a horrified expression.

"He… They… No…" Max turned and ran away. Chloe followed and caught up quickly as they both ran past the yellow nomadic wagon that was parked at the edge of the forest. As soon as she cleared the corner, Chloe stopped dead in her tracks. Max fell to the ground awkwardly with a strangled sob. Kate was on her knees, crying silently with a hand over her mouth. Chloe's eyes ran over Madsen and Victoria. The pair of them were crouched next to the body with unshed tears in their eyes, both trying to keep themselves from breaking down. At the center of them all was Warren. His glazed, lifeless eyes stared up at the sky. The tinkerer lay on his back with an arrow sticking out from the center of his throat, blood had cascaded down the wound, over the sides of his neck and onto the ground. His hands were stained crimson as if he'd tried to keep pressure on the wound for as long as he could manage to extend his life. Her crossbow lay a hand span away, discarded to the side. Chloe fell to the ground feeling numb. She reached out for Max unconsciously. The brunette was heaving and crying uncontrollably. Chloe gripped her tightly but her eyes never left Warren's corpse.

Today, this war claimed its second casualty. Today, she lost another friend.