"Sir Drake, it's an ambush!" the woman screamed. The poor thing was the first person to enter the room, and the last to cry in terror that day. But, she was the first to be caught in the claws of a true dragon that day.
"Hello girlie! I've been waiting to speak to your boss today, as was my business associate, Mr. Valentine. Oh, Sir Drake, I believe we're at an advantage. Throw your weapons down and enter the room slowly or we'll kill this little Shirley here." Aulia barked savage laughter into the back of the young woman's head, her breath disheveling the blonde-brown hair and making the captive whimper in terror as she glanced sidelong at the dead man. He felt a slight pang of regret for allowing the new comer to be captured by Aulia before they could ascertain whether she where friend or foe, but Aulia seemed to know what she was doing, so he rode with it. Out of the dark, a slender double barreled shotgun hissed across the floor to stop silent at Vincent's feet.
"There's another one with him, fully armed and quiet as a cat. Drake always travels in a group of three, him, a commoner," Aulia whispered side mouthed to Vincent, jerked a little at 'commoner' to emphasized the captives' role and went on. "and another." she glanced into the shadows, her nostrils flaring, eyes growing to huge pale gold silted orbs which hungrily took in the dark as her head swiveled this way and that. "This one has no scent. He may be like you." she spoke devoid of all the smug cockiness from before, a fact that told him the true depth to the severity of the situation. A depth that could be life threatening, what did he care?
"Let 'er go." a short hooded man spoke stepping through the doorway with his hands over his head. He looked almost comical in his overly large black robe, a robe much like the one of the taller captive woman struggling in Aulia's clawed hands. He could barely reach the height of Aulia's collar bone, so he stared up at the dead man, the changeling, and the captured woman from the depths of his ebon robe. He pulled back the hood and stared boldly at them from dark black sunken eyes, his bald head glistening with perspiration. His left cheek had swelled into an ungainly black and blue bulge which threatened to close his left eye.
"I see Spade's disciplinary actions still stand. At least he didn't do the same thing to you that he did to your predecessor. Tisk, tisk, tisk. The penalty for dropped merchandise is universal, is it not? A good grinding. You do know what a grinding is don't you? The Seer takes and tears your pants off, and then"
"Stop Laulia, stop it. Let Jggeene go." Drake interrupted Aulia looking extremely sick at the thought of the grinding. He was suddenly pale beneath the large lump on his face.
"Don't tell me that that overgrown fist mark on your face has rattled your reasoning, tell the other to come out first, then we'll parley." Aulia spoke cloyingly shaking the woman before her and succeeding to force a yelp from the frightened woman.
"'Ate ta ssee it go down 'ike that." Drake's eyes drifted down to the shotgun on the floor. Aulia had a split second to gasp, then it all went to Hell. Geene ripped herself free of Aulia's grip, whirled on the white haired woman and pinned her to the wall beneath a pair of curved copper short blades that were concealed within the baggy sleeves of her black robe. Drake made a grasping gesture with one hand and made a 'come forward' gesture with his other. Before Vincent could blink, the shotgun at his feet whirled onto its butt plate from the force of a large hidden switchblade placed between its two barrels. The force of the spring loaded blade had forced the gun into the air, embedding the blade in his already mutilated chest cavity. Before the force of the blade struck him fully, Drake had rushed forward, grasped the triggers and fired twice into Vincent's unfeeling body. A split second later, Drake had reloaded both barrels, shot off both rounds, loaded again, and fired the fifth and sixth shots, blowing large holes through Vincent.
Why? Vincent's sleep befuddled mind wondered, he was startled when his mind got an answer.
It's who you are, now get off your dead ass and help Aulia! Unlike you, she can still feel these attacks, and maybe soon she'll be joining you. I can't do jack shit from powering you, but you can, now help her sorry ass. His mind received an image of a man with short greenish-black hair and silver eyes scowling at him through a dark roiling storm cloud. The ninth and tenth shots brought him into the warped plane of reality to which he was accustomed to and he pistol whipped Drake on his already swollen left cheek. Drake reeled, his ochre eyes rolled wildly toward all corners of the room, and Vincent opened on him with his own fast gun. Drake took three slugs in the chest, and a fourth in his shoulder above his heart. As Drake fell, Vincent leaped over him and punched the woman who pinned Aulia on the back of her neck with his synthetic hand, felling her in a heap. Aulia staggered away from him, her eyes widened, one of Geene's blades had slashed the side of her neck, catching one of its large blood ways and nearly parting it in two.
Neither noticed the third, nor did the third notice the true third in Aulia and Vincent's partnership. Aulia's eyes had rolled up into her head, she left consciousness with her hand clamped on the vital artery in her throat. Vincent stared at her for a moment, then moved back to his coffin intending to continue his oblivion, but stopped. Hanging from the doorway was what looked like a small shriveled child, its head pointed towards the floor, empty eye sockets staring towards the Hell where it belonged. In its silently screaming jaws where four teeth, fangs really, its skinless scalp sporting few hairs left that brushed the floor in long gray strands.
Don't stare at her. If she sees you, it won't matter if you can feel pain or not. It won't matter if your dead or not. Get Aulia out of here. You yourself are marked, so run! Get as far away as you can! the same voice spoke in his mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a man with short greenish-black hair staring at him through eyes of ghostly silver.
"What do you suggest?" Vincent whispered daring to look at the silver eyed man full in the face.
This one is a wanderer, it can't touch a grave or it will be banished into the world it was torn from. The silver eyed man smiled and Vincent noticed how tall he was, he was at least a full head taller than Vincent. Place yourself and Aulia in these coffins here and close the lids. I'll lead her away.
 So the newcomer spoke and Vincent never saw his lips move.