The 12th day of Resplendent Wood, 425 in the Year of Our Empress.
Elated Fury grinned ferociously and pulled the door open. Dozens of mortals were just reaching the office when he burst out of it. He pushed right through them.
"Get the fuck out of my way!"
The men hit the sides of the wall at once, and those running behind them got out of his way just as fast. It was sad. If these were his own men, he'd have cracked some heads. Of course, if these were his men, he wouldn't have come here, would he?
Elated Fury simply ran forward. As more passed into view, more ducked out of his way. How sloppy were these guys? That's when he realized he was shedding the silvery fog-like light again. Ah, fuck. It was frustrating, having so much power inside of him when only a fraction of it blew his cover and revealed him for what he was.
A good thing he didn't look much like himself right now.
"Either you are insane or you're the most insensibly courageous man I have ever known."
The Scripture of Crimson Silver glided beside him. Her black silks covered her head to toe, though Elated Fury was intimately familiar with the delicate lady that lay inside those protective cloths. Of course, he'd left her at the bar but this wasn't the first time she'd just...appeared where he was.
"Doubt it," Elated Fury grunted, pushing past another man. An explosion shook the warehouse from behind. When he listened for it, over the roar of his frantic flight in his ears, he could hear screaming and the sound of breaking swords. Oh yeah, the Wyld Hunt hadn't given up. "You've been around a lot longer than I have, Crimson. I'm sure you've seen better. I'm no hero, no Shikari going after a demon. Shit, I'm running, aren't I? You have a fucked definition of courage."
"That must mean you are insane," she retorted. She meant it but it didn't bother him. Elated Fury had made his peace with her nature a long time ago. "Insane or not, it is your cunning I admire. These men could kill you if they catch you, yet you manipulate them to accomplish your goals. Very few have the clarity of thought that would permit such exercise under persecution."
"Are we both talking Low Realm?" Elated Fury said, starting to gasp. A century ago, he'd outrun a team of Dragon-Blooded too, but the Hunt had lacked the grim certainty of destruction every single step of the way. He wasn't too tired yet but he couldn't keep this up forever. "I'm pretty sure you can't use words like that. Not and make any fucking sense." A door loomed up and he didn't stop to open it, instead shattering the obstacle into flying shards as he went right through it.
"Do not be an idiot," the Scripture said crossly.
They were running out across a catwalk overlooking a vast interior dock. This shipping and storage facility was big enough to accommodate small barges and, at the moment, it was full up with incoming traffic. Elated Fury knew it would be. That's why he'd led the Wyld Hunt here.
A stir of instinct and Elated Fury snapped his hand around, catching the arrow meant for his spine. The wood writhed in his hand and he grimaced in disgust at the Charm still trying to kill him. No, the fuckers really didn't play around.
They reached the far side of the catwalk and Elated Fury paused to assess the opposition, scratching his face. Four Dragon-Blooded had kept up so far, three of them Monks...and the front man was none other than the esteemed Venerer Iselsi Manotan Denasi himself. The man was a Fire-Aspect and showing it for the first time. Between him and the other Fire-Aspect Monk in the band, they were setting fire to the catwalk as they ran past it. This whole place would probably burn, thanks to the Wyld Hunt.
Elated Fury grinned slightly and gave the man the 'salute' of respect he deserved.
The Dragon-Blooded retailed by drawing back mightily on his red powerbow and letting fly a veritable rainfall of arrows. Elated Fury just laughed as he lunged through the door, rolling as wooden death volleyed over his head, then springing back to pull the stout portal closed. He lacked a key but his finger did the job, shifting to become as variable as a skeleton key. A quick twist and it was locked.
Not bad so far. They'd be through that door in under a minute but he'd bought himself a little time. Elated Fury glanced about the cluttered office room, with its stacks of shelves and books and records of all kind. Sloppy, he thought, just like the men were. Well, this would be fine. The secret door, and the only other way out, was exactly where his spies had told him it would be.
"What are you doing?" the Scripture of Crimson Silver said, her dimly seen eyes literally flashing in annoyance.
"I'm leaving a present, Scarlet," Elated Fury chuckled. His arrangement of books and shelving together, he glanced at his lover and companion for half a century. "You mind lighting that?"
"Of course not," she snapped. Pale white flame leaped across the desk at the Scripture's gesture, fire that quickly changed to a more natural yellow. "But there is at least one of them that will not be stopped by this."
"It's not going to stop any of them but it'll piss the fuckers off." Elated Fury grinned as his fingertips found the outline of the secret door, moving along until he found the catch and thumbed it open. The Scripture of Crimson Silver took his hand and they both ducked inside, huddling on a spiral staircase winding down past the first floor and into a basement. Elated Fury the tightly corded bag on his waist and used a moonsilver knife to open its bindings.
Splintering wood heralded an Immaculate fist that punched right through the iron-reinforced door. Yeah, they were almost through. Elated Fury opened the bag up all way, wound his arm back and threw it at the door just as the portal broke before the Dragon-Blooded Shikari.
Then, he shut the secret door, grabbed the Scripture, and he bound down the stairs as fast as he could. He lost his balance and hit his face directly against the wall when the large bag of Firedust caught the flame upstairs and exploded. He shook the stars swarming before his eyes away and glanced up at buckled panels in the ceiling.
At worst, he'd bought some time. With a little success, he'd knocked them right back out of the door and off the catwalk. At best, he might even have killed one but he kinda doubted that. Harriers didn't die that easily.
"Remind me why I put up with this behavior," the Scripture of Crimson Silver grumbled in his ear.
"Because you love my cock."
"Besides that." Elated Fury grinned at her candor and shook his head.
"Because I'm the most interesting man on this whole fucking Isle. Because you're bored and you have nothing better to do. But mostly, it's the cock."
"Luckily for you," she said, and a rare smile crossed her face behind the veils. Elated Fury had learned the subtleties of her expression beneath the silk and he only chuckled before pulling on her hand, urging them ever downward. The Wyld Hunt wasn't done and neither was he.
They hit the bottom of the stairwell in the form of a door that Elated Fury ripped clean from its hinges. Door in one hand, he stared down twenty armed men and women, each with a bow and arrow beside their sheathed swords. He grinned his trademarked smile at them, knowing that the silver light was the only reason they hadn't fired.
If you were a mortal, you did not fucking fire on an Anathema unless you knew you could kill him. Yeah, they didn't think they could either. That's right, bitches, put your fucking bows down.
"Where's Yaoinr?" he demanded gruffly.
The soldiers glanced at each other. He gave them a second to think it over before he growled like a wolf at them. Faces paled in fear and they chose discretion over valor.
"He's back in there, with a slave!"
"Thanks."
Elated Fury passed through the door, the Scripture of Crimson Silver at his side. He thought about warning the troops that a host of Dragon-Blooded killers were about to cut them to shreds. He shrugged off the idea. They were dead either way so they might as well enjoy the last minute of their life relatively free of fear. You know, until the Shikari showed up and gutted them all.
Another corridor came up short against a door. Two guards stood there, otherwise prepared to take out any would-be assassin, turncoat or even a hit squad given their plate-and-chain. One look at him and they threw their weapons and themselves down on the ground.
"That's fucking right!" Elated Fury snarled. Anger masked his disconcertion. He was a man of enterprise, a leader when necessary and supremely good at surviving anything Fate through at him. But he was not a monster, no matter what he'd said to that All-Seeing Eye agent. It bothered him to see such fear on people's faces and it bothered him that it bothered him. Fuck it.
"The door's trapped," the Scripture said.
"Well, fuck, I'm glad something is. I can't believe Yaoinr has this shit for defenses. I was hoping the Wyld Hunt would be slowed down but no, the little fucker's too cheap to spring for enough traps to slow them down."
Elated Fury glanced at the door. Needle trap on the doorknob, naturally. No, that wouldn't do a fucking thing against a Dragon-Blooded in armor. Let's see...there, connected to the hinge, a nice lever system that would drop someone in a pit and then drop part of the ceiling down on him. That wasn't bad at all!
Once again, his finger became the perfect skeleton key and he bypassed both traps with something as simple as a Charm. Too fucking easy. No wonder the Dragon-Blooded hated the Anathema. Jealous bitches.
The middle-aged patrician in tight-fitting robes turned around and did a double-take. His hair was cut in the same style that Elated Fury wore, his build was the same, they even looked alike right now thanks to judicious use of Shaping the Ideal Form. Elated Fury was pleased that he'd gotten close, given he'd only had a sketch to work with.
Yaoinr's eyes shone with intelligence and very little fear as he looked the Anathema in his bedroom up and down.
"You must be Elated Fury. Always thought I'd meet up with you sooner or later. Are you here to kill me, then? I didn't think you went in for doing the wet-work yourself."
"You'd be surprised at what I'm willing to do," Elated Fury said threateningly. "Where's the fucking slave?" He stepped inside, letting the Scripture of Crimson Silver pass by his side, before closing the door. That should re-arm the traps and, between them and the guards, he should have a minute. Maybe longer if they had to dig out the staircase from the flaming wreckage he'd made of that room.
"I finished with her a few minutes ago. Your timing is impeccable. ...So you really are Anathema. I always thought that was just talk." Yaoinr settled back into a chair and appraised the Lunar frankly. Elated Fury tossed his hat on the desk and kicked off his boots. "No wonder you got this far. You don't have enough manpower in Arjuf to hit this place but I suppose you don't need it, do you? So, how much?"
"How much?" Elated Fury asked quizzically as he stripped out of his breeches.
"You want the stranglehold I have on the black market in Arjuf. It's obvious, I've been expecting you to make a move on my operations sooner or later. I've got a lot more resources than even you can guess at, enough to compete, but you beat me to the punch so let's talk price. I'm very good at running my businesses and I turn a very nice profit...one I'm willing to turn over to you."
"That's mighty generous of you," Elated Fury remarked, laying his clothes across the table. "Scarlet, mind if you get the arrows for me?"
"Of course, lover." There was nothing of gentleness in her firm hands, nor in the way they mercilessly pulled the shafts out of his back, but neither was there cruelty. Elated Fury ground his teeth and bore it.
"Elated Fury...I know you're a powerful man," Yaoinr said, finally showing some nervousness. Elated Fury's inhumanly excellent senses picked out every tidbit of emotion and motivation, rendering the other crime lord's pretense futile. Not bad, though. The shit-head was faking his fear. He really thought he could buy his way out of this and he was willing to act in any way that would do the trick. What a complete cocksucker.
"I've had a good run but I can see I'm outmaneuvered," the other crime lord said. "You want my business? It's yours. Just let me stay on and run it. I've spent my whole life getting to this point, Elated Fury. Surely you of all men can respect what I've accomplished. I'll turn my profits to you, I'll run under your colors, shit, you can do whatever you want with my crew. But there's no sense in killing me and wasting all I know."
"That IS a generous offer," Elated Fury acknowledged, grunting as the last arrow came out. He pulled his shirt off, wincing at the soreness of his closing wounds, and finally undid his underclothes. He stood before his rival in Arjuf naked and flashed his famous grin. The patrician broke into a cold sweat.
"What do you want from me?" Yaoinr said, and his scent revealed his fear at what Elated Fury's nakedness implied. It was always about sex, wasn't it? Elated Fury shook his head at the fucking pervert and his disgusting assumptions.
"I don't want your operations, Yaoinr. You're a fucking slaver and I hate slavers. Worse, you use the bodies of slaves to smuggle in your most illegal products. Sometimes you kill them and their corpses pass right by inspection, don't they? And other times you don't, leaving them to die horribly as whatever you shove inside them through whatever orifice breaks down their body, leaving them too crippled to work. Makes them ripe for disposal, doesn't it? You motherfucking cocksucker."
"If you don't want my business, you must want my money. My connections!" Yaoinr was sweating freely now. "Anything you want!"
"Right now, I want you to shut the fuck up."
Elated Fury grabbed his rival's head and slammed it into the back of the patrician's chair. It wasn't enough to kill but it did a fine job of dazing him. Just what he needed.
"Scarlet, get his boots, will you?"
Inside a minute, they'd stripped the patrician down and inside of the next they had him dressed up as Elated Fury. The Lunar leaned back, appraised his work and nodded approvingly. Then, he carefully unbound the rare flask on his side, the very one he'd bought at such great price weeks ago and worn every day since.
If the Scripture of Crimson Silver asked him, he'd have admitted to his own nervousness that it wouldn't survive the arduous path getting here. But she wasn't the kind of girl to ask questions. That was fine by him, it was one of the reasons they got on so well.
Elated Fury slipped off the metal bands securing the cork and popped it out, taking care to pocket it. He couldn't afford to leave any other evidence behind. Unending the bottle, he poured it over the slaver crime lord, taking care to cover every inch of him. Once the flask was empty, he tied it back on his belt and nodded again in satisfaction.
The sounds of still more screaming and swords warned him he was running out of time. The Wyld Hunt was every bit as ruthless and relentless as he'd heard. There was
nothing like an enemy you could respect, was there? Not like this shitty waste of life lying in the chair.
"We are out of time," the Scripture echoed, looking to the door and the sounds still distant.
"We don't need much more, do we bitch? Hold him for me." Elated Fury picked up the arrows and got a hold on the man's back while his lover kept Yaoinr straight. The crime lord's clothes were already dry. That stuff really was as fast-acting as he'd heard. It'd better be, given how much it'd cost.
"There is a very good chance they will see through this deception," the Scripture warned, her precise voice as sharp as the swords killing people in the hallway. "You may succeed. You changed your face enough to pass for him if no one looks too closely...and your frantic flight insured that no one did. You've changed your clothes. But you cannot disguise the fact that your Anima has come to life...and that he lacks one."
"Wanna fucking bet? Keep him quiet and I'll show you."
Part 3:
The crime lord tried to scream when Elated Fury rammed the arrows into his back but the Scripture's hand blocked all sound. Yaoinr writhed in his seat, held down only by the Lunar and his lover, until the pain settled him down. He wouldn't be very mobile but he didn't need to be, either.
Elated Fury released him, looked the Scripture in the eyes, and smiled through the moon-like mist wafting from his skin. The silvery light brightened another notch as jagged claws sprouted from his fingertips. A sympathetic glow suddenly lit up across Yaoinr's body. It didn't look quite like a Lunar Anima but it wasn't too far away either. A little too pale white, not enough silver, but all in all a good likeness.
He gestured her over to the wall as he delicately used his claws to lift his moonsilver knives from the table and place them through the crime lord's belt loops.
"Tree-Dwelling Jaguar Claws," the Scripture smirked. "Do you plan on digging your way to the surface?"
"Where the fuck do you get those names from?" Elated Fury swore, shaking his head in irritation. He swept her up in one arm as the other found purchase on the wall. His fingers dug in, his toes found purchase, and he climbed straight up until he reached the ceiling. He avoided the corners, knowing they were the obvious spots for a search, and kept along one edge as his lover held herself against him, legs and arms wrapped tautly across his muscular body. "Do I look like a big cat?"
"Charms have names, lover. As do mysterious potions." The Scripture's veils and silks were still vertical on her. Elated Fury blinked as he noticed that. His stolen robes were tight but still hung away from him, following the direction of gravity. Hers...didn't.
"Oh, that? Just something I picked up three years ago when House Nellens got put on the books. Dragon-Blooded go fucking nuts when there's a party and there's nothing like the celebration of a new House." Elated Fury smiled to himself at the memory of that night. "They had alchemical wizards mix together all sorts of special effects for their party. Among other things, Nellens put on a fucking awesome show. Their best dancers were coated in this stuff."
"It's reactive to Essence?" she asked curiously. It was rare for her to ask anything so Elated Fury indulged her.
"Mostly. It flares up when someone uses Essence but it'll keep glowing if it's near an active Charm. Made for a really beautiful performance when the audience joined in. It's flammable but it should do the trick because of that. Yeah, I think they'll believe he's me. The cocksucker enough looks like me, glows like me...and I left my moonsilver knives with him."
"Because you believe you can get them back," she said, sounding certain.
"It'll be chancy and I won't want to tip the Wyld Hunt off to the fact that I'm still alive. But yeah, it's worth the risk. I'd rather be alive without them than dead with them. Besides, what kind of an Exalt actually leaves his weapons behind for the enemy to get? They're Dragon-Blooded. They'll believe it because of their own fucking pride."
A horrible scream from outside the door alerted Elated Fury that they had run out of time. "You'll see. I need you to do two things though. Shroud us, first. Then, you'll need to float."
"And I must bear your weight." She sighed in a long-suffering manner. "If it's necessary."
"It's necessary if we want to avoid their Charms. As long as we're touching the ground or anything it touches, they'll notice us. We'll be fine, Scarlet. Promise."
"You do not know the first thing about promises," the Scripture of Crimson Silver said with ire. Elated Fury gave her a wondering look at the sudden venom before they vanished beneath the concealing cloud of her Charms. He lay atop her, enjoying the soft feel of her body.
It sure beat the shit out of being in Yaoinr's boots.
The crime lord of Arjuf finally got enough of his senses together to stagger for the door. He was bleeding enough that he could die without medical attention and he apparently hadn't noticed the commotion outside. More was the pity for him.
The door exploded from the torrent of flame that burst through. In a smoothly coordinated fashion, Iselsi Denasi leaped sideways in as an Immaculate Monk rolled beneath him. Yaoinr flung himself backward, awkward with the arrows, and his body shone with a whitish Anima-like display.
Still flying through the air, a fearsome display of phoenixes and fire dragons setting the room aflame, Iselsi Denasi had spun upside down when he drew back his great red powerbow and shot the crime lord squarely through the heart.