5th of Light, 1849

Kjallo’s hands gripped the handle of the rifle, his fingers feeling over the smooth wood and the cold metal. “I thought we didn’t use guns.” He turned to Kant, the commander putting a revolver in to his waist holster.

“And I thought Eskir was the only case there would be a Tath user that isn’t an Enforcer,” Kant replied. “Things are changing, and we’ll need to escalate our arms other than Tath to fight these new threats.”

“I thought we were above stooping to these levels,” Astrid said bitterly. “We’re just like those northern rebels.”

“I disagree,” Valg said. “We’re the front of this operation, it’s only right we have an emergency measure. He’s after Kant after all.”

Kjallo put the rifle down and took a revolver from Kant. “I’ll have this on me, but don’t expect me to ever use this. I’m not killing anyone for you.”

“Fair,” Kant remarked. “By the way, I’ve officially merged our teams. With everyone getting into the gist of what we’re doing here, I want us to work as a squad. You two are the highest ranking Enforcers here besides me and Valg, so we’ll make better squad together.” He turned to Kjallo. “And I liked how you blasted that Gin guy with your lighting, quite the spectacle.”

Kjallo smiled. “Thanks.”

“I’ve sent out a report back home, they’ll be surprised to hear about what happened last night,” Kant said, tying his black Enforcer uniform. “Let’s head out.”

The four Enforcers headed out of the armory, down the halls, and out the building. The morning rain fell, soaking them as they got to their carriage. “Territory Six,” Kant told the driver. The new name for the village they took the day previous.

The carriage drove down the stone path, moving through a forest, and crossing empty farmlands. The settlements leading up to Territory Six were now empty ghost towns. Valdora was taking Laveska fast.

⇓⇓⇓

When they arrived at the city, Kant spoke to the driver. “Take us into the forest ahead.”

“You sure? That’s uncharted,” the driver asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just do it.” It was were Gin had run off into after being hit by Kjallo’s Tath.

“It’s been a day, I don’t think he’ll still be here,” Kjallo said.

“You got him pretty good, and he hit that roof hard, I’d say he’s resting somewhere around here.”

“Why the sudden interest? I mean he’ll come to us again eventually,” Astrid asked.

“Probably because…” Kant looked out the carriage. “if we capture him he could help me with my research.”

“Research?”

Valg shot Kant a look. “It’s nothing,” he said.

Kant blinked, as if he was off in a daze, and returned to his senses. “Right.”

The forest shielded from the rain, only the occasional drops coming down and hitting them, but they were already wet enough to care. They crossed a bridge over a pond, and continued through the forest, until coming upon a small farmhouse.

They waited, until an old man, looking around his sixties approached them. His gray hair was thinning, and his eyes were a hard brown. “What do you want, Enforcers?” he asked with a tone of anger.

“We’re wondering if you’ve seen a man with a skull mask around here,” Kant asked.

“I’ve seen no such thing, now be on your way!” the old man snapped.

Kant’s eyes narrowed. “I’d like to take a look around if that’s all right with you.”

The man hesitated, before turning around and sprinting away into the farmhouse. The Enforcers jumped off the carriage, following the man into the house.

“Warrior! Warrior wake up!” the man shouted, running through the halls.

Kant zoomed forward, grabbing the man by his shirt. “What’re you doing?” he asked.

“Wake up warrior!” the man continued.

Then Kant realized who he was calling to.

Gin dashed on the walls of the hallway, swooping forward and sending a knee towards Kants face. The commander barely slipped out, pushing himself to the floor. This time Gin moved past him, coming towards the three others.

Kjallo put his hand out, readying a lightning strike, until Gin spun in a backflip, knocking his hand upwards. The assassin moved under his arms, landing a punch in the Enforcer’s stomach. Kjallo hunched over, and Gin kicked him away.

Astrid stepped forward, but Valg stopped her. “Let me and Kant handle this one.”

The old man rushed out the farmhouse.

“You guys must really like me,” Gin said. He was unmasked, his black hair messy and pushed back.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Kant retorted, jumping towards him and throwing a fist towards his skull. Gin tightly evaded it, pressed against the wall, when Kant spun around and kicked him in the stomach.

Valg pressed his hands across the wall, his Tath running towards Gin and surrounding the wall he was kicked against. The wood began to move over Kant’s limbs, embedding him into the wall.

“We got you,” Kant said, Gin struggling to break the binding.

“Sure,” Gin spat, the wood around his arm giving off a smokey smell. A gust of wind swept from behind him, breaking him through the weakened wood. He turned to Kant and sent him flying down the hall with a the same wind. Then he jumped towards Valg, knocking him away in the opposite direction.

Kjallo caught Gin’s first fist, then jumped over his kick. The two danced around each other, two conjurers in an advanced fight.

Then, when Kjallo saw his opening, he sent a strike of lighting towards the assassin. This time it missed. The bolt shredded through the walls, allowing Gin an escape route. He dashed out the opening, Kjallo running after him.

“Get back here!” he shouted after him.

“Kjallo wait!” Astrid called from the farmhouse. “Valg’s hurt!”

“You guys can take care of him! I’ll be back with Gin,” Kjallo shouted behind him.

He followed Gin through the woods, the assassin now jumping from tree to tree with the assist of wind. The assassin looked back, noticing Kjallo was the only one after him. He jumped down from the trees, facing the Enforcer.

“I remember you,” he said. “And I told you I was gonna get you back for that.” He showed Kjallo his bruised right arm.

“Good luck with that,” Kjallo told him, red electricity forming around his outstretched arm.