‘Where are they?’ the woman hissed, glancing all around her as if what she feared might appear at any moment.

The man beside turned to her, brushing her cheek with the back of his hand.

‘Be calm Li my sweet, they pose no real harm to us.’

‘But there are more of them than us’ she argued.

‘So?’ Kreas replied. ‘If they appear, we’ll kill them.’

‘Easier said than done.’

‘We can defend our own in a fight’ Kreas said stretching. ‘As well as they can at least.’

‘But what if they find it before us? You know they’ll flee as fast as they can back to the king, how do we get it back once the king has it? We would be no match against his men.’

‘Well’ Kreas drawled, ‘we had better make sure we get it before they do.’

He raised his hood, glaring at a passerby.

‘I can’t wait to get away from here. I don’t like this place.’

‘Me neither’ Li replied. ‘The air here is so….polluted.’

‘A silly thing to complain about. We’re in a busy town’ Kreas teased. ‘You're just a soft country girl.’

‘You be quiet’ Li snapped. ‘You hate it here too.’

Kreas purred dangerously, his eyes glinting.

‘It won’t be long now’ he told Li. ‘It’s still in this town; our chase is coming to an end.’

‘Then perhaps at last we can rest.’

‘Rest?’ came a third voice.

The pair glanced towards the man that had spoken. He turned and strode away, the hem of his ankle length white coat lifted on his heels as he marched.

‘Kreas, Li, come.’

Kreas obeyed, snarling at a passerby who moved too close. Li fell into the footsteps of the man who commanded her, and together they followed their master, through the streets.

Kreas shoved aside a man who moved too close. The man stumbled, glancing around to see what had pushed him, but finding nothing.

‘Control yourself Kreas’ the master spoke calmly to him. ‘You let your anger get the better of you.’

‘Sorry master’ Kreas replied. ‘I've become short of temper since we came to this town. We’ve been here for far too long as it is.’

‘We’ve not been here that long’ Li argued.

‘One minute is by far too long’ Kreas snapped. ‘I hate this place...as much as you do Li.’

‘So you keep saying’ the master replied. ‘If I hear you say it again, I’ll make you wish you hadn’t.’

Kreas quickly fell silent.

‘Where are you taking us master?’ Li asked.

‘You will see.’

A short time later and the master had brought them to the edge of the town. He turned to them and spoke.

‘I want you to circle the entire town, make sure she is still here as you think. There is something that’s keeping it here, and I want to know what.’

‘Maybe the others have found it’ Li replied.

‘If that’s the case it would have vanished by now’ Kreas argued.

‘The others have not found it’ the master spoke over them. ‘I still sense her magic near, and it is strong. You will circle the entire town to make sure she is still here as I suspect, then you will create a net of magic to trap her, before she has a chance to escape.’

‘Sounds like fun’ Kreas sneered.

‘Just go’ the master sighed, waving them away. ‘And be quick about it.’

The two bowed their heads obediently, transforming into their beastly selves. They were gone in an instant, running on all fours in opposite directions around the edge of the town.

Rhian heard a disturbance in the darkness outside. It was either very late or very early, she didn’t know which, but it was a strange and frightening sound that had brought her so abruptly out of a deep sleep. Rhian tensed with eyes wide open. Frozen for a moment she listened hard. The town so late at night was usually quiet now, even the clubs were closed this early in the week, but there was a noise, something out of place that disrupted the usual silence of the night. She sat up and threw back the duvet, grabbing the metal bar which leant against her bedside table. Stepping lightly she crossed the room, bare feet slapping on the smooth wooden floor. Rhian threw the double doors to the balcony open and let the wind catch her hair. The chill of the night breeze was refreshing, waking her tired mind further. Besides from the chirping of the strange insects of the night; and the shrill noise of the bats as they chased the moths that danced in the streetlights, there was another sound.

Rhian tiled her head, listening hard, the metal bar raised in both her hands.

There!

A screeching howl that echoed through the town, then another one shortly after coming from another direction nearby. There was more than one, likely there were several. Rhian glanced back into her room, realising her parents would not be able to hear the sound. Nor would anyone else who was not a guardian. She turned back towards the night, leaping atop the railings of the balcony with the balance of a gymnast. Jumping to the house immediately next door and running over the tiles, they clattered together as they took her weight. She covered several houses in a matter of minutes, and woke no one. She kept running until she eventually found the source of the disturbance.

They were gathered together in a small group by the side of one of the houses several streets away. Tearing into the rubbish bins and the dumpster and fighting amongst each other like typical scavengers. Several of the bins were tipped over, with the heads of the creatures buried within as they rooted around for anything they could find. Occasionally one more dominant than the others would snap at an omega and push him back with teeth bared.

Rhian sneered at their savagery as she looked down on them from the rooftop; disgusted by the way they fought over meagre scraps thrown away.

What worthless creatures she thought. These the world would be better off without.

‘Demon scum’ she spoke aloud.

Several of them looked up suddenly at the sound of her voice, growls rising from deep within their throats as they searched for the source. Rhian spun the metal pole in a hand and leapt down from the building. She fell right in the middle of the circle of the creatures, rubbish crunching under her feet as she landed. They scattered, not out of fear but out of surprise, many had bolted but no more than a few feet away. When they realised what they saw was not bigger than themselves, they slunk forwards to challenge the intruder. The only thing these beasts truly feared was another aberrant bigger than themselves.

These were scrawny and deformed looking beasts, with feet resembling that of a chicken’s that were malformed and twisted. Some bore exaggerated spikes of bone that protruded sharply through the skin from the shoulders and spine. Others had upwards pointing horns, long thin tails and skeletal wings. And some had two narrow heads on the end of two long necks, each acting independent of the other. In this one small area were several different species.

One of the two headed aberrants closest to her lifted its head snarling, and was immediately met by a swing from the metal pole. One head was thrown to the side, cheek bones and jaw broken on impact. The other head snapped backwards as Rhian struck it from below, swinging her weapon as if it were a golf club. The aberrant screeched in pain, writhing on the ground, trying desperately to escape her. Another aberrant roared at her in a display meant to intimidate. Rhian translated it as an invitation. Standing with its back legs up on the dumpster and its front legs on the ground Rhian lunged forwards. Stabbing the beast in the chest, the metal pole went right through the creature’s thin skin, stopping its heart instantly.

The remaining beasts fled, scrambling away in a fit of raw terror. Aberrants they may be but they were still driven by instinct, and knew when they were beaten. They would rather flee than die.

‘Cowards’ Rhian spat.

She let the end of the pole slide through her fingers until it touched the ground, blood still dripping from the end. Rhian observed the animals she had killed. Their pupils were white, their skin black, and their manes red.

‘Juveniles’ Rhian said to herself. ‘They don’t know how to fight yet.’

The puddle of blood by the head of the first one she struck was rapidly growing, its jaw cocked sideways and the bones in its cheek caved in. The second one was still twitching.

Rhian tapped her foot, and brought the metal pole up to rest on her shoulder.

‘I've not seen aberrants for many years; I wonder what they’re doing here?’