Fantasy The Dark City

[OverconfidentMagi]

THE DARK CITY​

A desolate wasteland, burnt charred ground and fiery toxic sky stretching as far as the eye can see. And towering above it all is a massive black tree, its bark as withered and cracked as the ground it has pushed aside to make room for its expansive roots. A figure stands just on the edge of this ancient tree's cast shadow, so that none of the sun's blood-tinted lights touches him. He is tall and covered from head to toe by a long black cloak that drags across the earth, but two long narrow horns can be seen rising up from within his deep hood. He leans down closer to the ground. Somehow, impossibly, there is growing a tiny blue flower out from the red infertile dirt. He surrounds it with his hands, thin and sharp and bony things, and the little impossible flower withers and dies. The figure stays crouched over the desiccated flower's remains for a few more moments before he stands again and walks away in the shadow of that massive black tree.


She's falling. It's a girl this time. Down, down, down. As usual the fall takes longer than he expects it should. She begins to slow down near the end, the final touching down onto the white stone platform everyone first starts on is always surprisingly gentle. Perhaps the entire journey is less of a free fall than everyone assumes, and the entire way down is actually a very precise and measured lowering. Quite likely, given everything else. His mind had begun to wander, but he pulls himself back as the girl on the dais begins to look around. Her pale pink eyes shine beneath the column of white light falling upon the arrival platform. She might have what he's looking for. Like everyone else she's got a white robe around her, and she's looking uncomprehendingly at the stone dagger that she just noticed sitting with her. He clears is throat to catch the girl's attention, hopefully without startling her too bad. "Don't worry, everyone starts out a little confused. Welcome to the Dark City. I do hope you learn to like it here."

Chapter 1

THE DARK CITY

​

The dark city is dark and quiet, as it tends to be, as it patiently waits for its next meal. Miles of city stretches in all directions out from a single central point, the only place in the city not made of that same black stone. A raised disk of white stone, sitting beneath the column of white light that streams down from that distant point of white light so impossibly far away up above everything. But that white light only illuminates the dais, nothing beyond. Thus the dark city would be dark if not for the Red King who put the red sun up into the sky. The red sun circles high up above the city, though nowhere near that distant point of light, in rough orbit around the center. When it returns to where it's been, a cycle has passed. When the sun goes out, the cycle is paused until the sun returns. The Red King tries to put the sun back where it was when it goes out, but he doesn't always get it right. That's okay. That's good enough. We cannot complain when he gives us all light.

While the Red King laughs with his family, and the Gold King barks orders to his, and the Green King lies alone staring up into the void, and the Blue King listens to forgotten music, the Black King waits. The city is always hungry, overflowing with violence and slaughter, but at the very top, for a long, long time, the kings have maintained their balance of power. Forces in the city have begun their work to topple that delicate balance. If the kings are dragged into the game of survival that fills the city, will there be any survivors this time?


The horned figure releases his grasp on the boy's shoulder, and watches silently as he falls. By the time the boy's body reaches its destination, he will have forgotten everything. He will sit up, look around confused, and after some time step off the dais and make his way out into the city proper. The horned figure watches silently as he falls.


A girl with light green eyes watched for the city's newest arrival intently through the second-floor window of a nearby building. There aren't too many two-floor buildings with a good view of the dais, so it's always a risk to come here, but having the first eyes on a fresh catch was worth it so long as she was careful about ambushes. She'd nearly gotten caught a couple times getting this spot, but she was alert and quick enough to get out so far. Most of the buildings around the dais were just a single floor. Plain square buildings made of plain black stone that made up every inch of the city. Each building had an empty rectangular opening for a door, and most had at least one window, just an empty square in the wall. There were no interior walls, not in any of the buildings. The rare two-floors had a basic staircase to the next floor, but was otherwise the same. There was a handful of taller three-floors scattered throughout the city, but she'd never been in any of them. Those tended to be claimed by more dangerous families that she'd rather not be seen by. The best vantage points in the city were always being fought over. Most of them at least. The Red King supposedly crashed in a three-floor over in his district, and no one would dare mess with his house, even if he wasn't there. The city's inhabitants treated murder like sport, but even they knew to avoid something that suicidal.

Finally, she sees him fall, and she continues to wait. The fall takes a while, and sometimes they loiter on the dais after landing. When he finally steps off the dais, she slips out the window and drops silently to the ground. Her bare feet make no sound as she slips through the maze of puzzling streets following after him. She presses her black stone dagger flat against the inside of her arm, feeling its familiar warmth. She hadn't seen anyone else watching the drop point, but that just meant no one was being blatant about it. At the absolute minimum there would have been dozens of eyes on this new body coming down, and that was just the ones who might actually try something. The city's inhabitants would have caught the smell of fresh blood and begun moving to claim it for themselves. All the weak little minnows circled the center. She wasn't in much of a position to claim much better though, since she was doing the exact same thing.

Welcome to The Dark City CryptedCourt​

 

[CryptedCourt]

The first thing he felt was himself being lowered onto the dais. Nothing was forcing him down; only the simple clothing over his body touch him, and even the air didn't dare force him down. Slowly, his limp body met the ground.

Inside him, his mind was being stirred awake. But the journey from unconscious to awake was almost grueling. He wanted so desperately to fall deeper into his slumber, but something was dragging him into a pale reddish light. He was vaguely aware that things were around him, that he was something, but nothing made sense inside his groggy and confused brain. After a few minutes of fighting against the urge to open his eyes, he squinted, giving in to the pain in his eyes.

Shapes appeared all around him. There were large, plain colored squares surrounding him. Shadows and light revealed that the squares had another dimension to them and that the cubes themselves had missing holes. The man moved his eyes to find the light and found that his head naturally moved with it. The sun, a reddish circle that threw spears of pain in his eyes, was above him and to his left.

Without warning, the attachments on his body shifted. They almost seemed to move before he thought of moving them. He brought himself on all fours, not quite sure what happens next. His legs seemed sturdy enough to stand on, so he pushed himself up and balanced on his two bare feet. Now he was able to see much more and see the similar cube buildings that surrounded him. His hands, which seemed dirty compared to the pristine white rope, had long attachments to them that moved deftly in the light.

His hands itched for the feeling of the knife before his eyes had even seen the glint of the metal. He snatched it off the ground, learning that his body could coordinate movement fairly quickly. He kept the knife in his left hand, gripping it by the base.

The light on his face made him uncomfortable; he sought the darkness of the shadows among the buildings. He stepped off the white dais, taking note that the red sun lay directly to his left. As he walked out of the light and into the darkness, a pounding began to roar in his chest. He couldn't decide if the pounding was a good omen or a warning to turn back to the light.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

She followed after him, at a distance, her bare feet making no sound against the smooth black-stone ground. He was headed towards the Green District. That was a bit annoying. She liked the Green District more than most, just not when tailing her prey. As far as she knew, the Green King had never even tried to establish any sort of order in his piece of the city. He left his district to remain just as unruly and chaotic as it had ever been while he lounged around above it all. What a lazy king he must be. But the promise of absolute freedom without the risk of getting on the wrong side of any kings had drawn a certain type of crowd to inhabit the Green District. Wild, unruly, and ambitious. The kinds of fools who actually thought about stupid things like becoming strong enough to take down a king and make a part of the city their own.

It was quiet. Where was the constant yelling? The constant distant or muffled cries as someone died in the street? Where was everyone? Most people stayed away from the center, but still there should have been people around. The sound of voices began to come from ahead, driving her prey towards it and herself after him. The sound was coming from the few dozen or so people all standing in a more-or-less straight line, as straight a line as could be expected given the irregular placement of the buildings. Each person wore the same white robe and held tightly in their hand the same black stone dagger as every one of the others. Most stood silently, but a few people talked to others around them in the line. The line stopped in front of a building that looked no different from any of the others.

So that was why. She still hadn't decided what it was she wanted, so she didn't join the line. Instead she found a building nearby and watched her prey through the window. It was unlikely anyone would try and steal him right now. All she could do was watch and wait. Talk about unlucky. She flicked her dagger around in her hand, the only outward sign of her impatience.

 

[CryptedCourt]

The only thing he could hear was the sounds of his own footsteps among the maze of buildings. He kept moving forward, but he had no idea where he wanted to go or how to figure out where he was. He stopped for a moment in front of a door, wondering what was inside each building.

Sounds started to echo off the buildings and filled his ears with the noise of voices. The source of the sound lay directly ahead. He forgot about the door and walked forward, careful with each step and intently focused on the path in front of him. The voices got louder until he saw the swish of a white robe, just like the robe he was wearing. Cautiously, he stepped into the sight range of the voices.

There were several people, all wearing the same white clothing and standing in front of each other. None of them seemed occupied with any important activity; some of them were talking, others were looking around and shifting their feet back and forth. All of them held the same dagger in their hands. Occasionally, they all walked a small step forward. He strained his neck to see that the line of people ended at a house.

After a moment of thought, he walked slowly up to the last man in line and kept a safe distance behind him. He did as the others were and made note of his surroundings, the people in the line, and the voices of the people talking. When the man directly in front of him stepped closer to the building, he also stepped closer. As he moved forward, a tiny flash caught his attention. He flicked his head around, curious as to what made the light glint harshly into his eyes.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

As the red sun moved through the ink-black sky above, the line inched forward. Light and voices came from the house at the fore of the line, and as he stepped closer the others near the head of the line grew quieter. He could see the people that left the building now. A man stepped out with tears in his eyes and hurried away. A woman walked out and away between the buildings, all the while holding her hand over her chest. A boy ran out trying to hide something in his arms. And finally he was at the front of the line.

"Hello," the man inside the building greeted him when he entered. This person seemed instantly different from those people who had been lined up outside. He wore a white robe, but it was different from what everyone else wore. His was long and flowing rather than reaching barely past the knee, and his was decorated with golden vines that grew off the robes and down his arms and the back of his hands that weren't desperately grasping a dagger like the others. He seemed like a man, but his features were narrow and almost feminine, and his pure white hair fell behind him long and straight. This person's eyes were striking, like a prism of shifting light along the edges that all came together into a pure white around his pupil. He was sitting in the center of the room atop something nearly as out of place in the city: a simple wooden chair.

This strange person smiled kindly and motioned for him to come closer. "Come on in, no need to be shy now. Let's hear it. What is it you want?"

 

[CryptedCourt]

As the line inched forward, the man watched people walk in and walk out. Some people appeared unchanged, others seemed emotionally distressed. He took note of a smaller human running out of the building with something in his arms.

Eventually, he made it to the front of the line. The man in front of him disappeared inside the building. After several minutes he emerged out of the building, slammed the door behind him, and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction of the line.

Though the sun was beginning to set and the air was cooler, he could feel sweat bead up in the corner of his temple, and his stomach ached with apprehension. It was now his turn to enter the building. There was a line formed behind him, though shorter than it was half an hour ago. With a deep breath, he gripped the handle and pushed the door open. In the other hand, he kept a firm grip on his weapon.

He was surprised to find only a man seated in the room. He took a gentle step into the room as the man greeted him. His eyes scanned all around, and it appeared that no one else was in the room. Once he decided it was safe, he shut the door behind him.

The man in front of him had a different robe, and he was uncomfortable without the knowledge of what the curling golden vines meant. He stood without a defensive stance or a knife, which also made him suspicious. In his current state, the man didn't appear to be a threat.

He lifted his chin and looked the man in the eye. "My name. I want to know my name," he stated clearly, maintaining eye contact. "And I would like to know yours too."

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

The odd-eyed man seemed amused at his apprehension about coming closer, quickly overwritten by more amusement at the man's request. He let out a soft laugh. "A name? That's not the kind of present people usually come to me for. I'm not sure you can afford it." He laughed at the man's confusion. "You don't know who I am? No... you don't know anything do you? Tell me child, how many cycles old are you?"

 

[CryptedCourt]

The short laughter of the man eased some of his anxiety, but he was still skeptical. This man was different, and he wanted to figure out what that difference was before he left.

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what cycles are. I know very little." He admitted. "What are you able to give me, if not names?" He took notice of the lack of things in the room, besides the plain chair that was made of a different material than the walls of the room.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

"You're a very young one then," the man said, a sad look on his face. "How odd though, that you came to be here of all places. By pure chance? Most people complain about not being able to find me, but here you are. I shall have to tell this story next time they complain. I'm sure Con will find the story amusing." He chuckled to himself. "Ah, but that tells me for sure that you cannot pay. I'm sorry, but the price is unchanging. Find me again when you have found a memory that's precious to you, and I will trade that memory for whatever present you ask."

The man waved for his clueless guest to leave. "Oh, and since you don't seem to know how things work around here, a word of advice: keep your head down and your blade sharp. Good luck."

 

[CryptedCourt]

"A memory. Sure, I'll come back when I get one of those." He nodded, making his way to the door. Before he stepped out, he turned around and said, "I'll take that advice. And mark my words, you'll see me again soon."

He stepped out of the building and turned sharply to his right, away from the line of people. As he was walking away, it suddenly occurred to him that he should remember the building. He hurried back to the building, but instead of getting back in line, he walked around the building, being careful to avoid the open windows. He took his dagger and scratched at the building's stone wall until a clear line was made. Once he was satisfied with his work, he walked away from the building for good.

He walked with a quick pace and mulled over what the man had told him. He needed a memory, so his first goal was to find one of those. The man had only given him one name Con, but that was not his name or the man's name. He felt slightly ridiculous that he didn't know his own name, so as he was wandering the streets, he decided he would name himself. He couldn't think of anything original or any common names, so he decided to use Con's name backward: His name would be Noc, at least until he found a better one.

After several minutes of meandering the streets aimlessly, Noc realized he lost track of where he was.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

As he walked out, the next person in line was already stepping forward to enter the house. It was a young boy with dark black hair, but more noticeable was his eyes of the same color, almost the exact opposite of the other man inside that house. When Noc returned to mark the building, the boy was already stepping back out. He was no longer wearing the white robe he'd entered with, instead having changed into a black suit. The boy's entire demeanor exuded confidence as he looked at the others still in line. He smirked and turned to walk away deeper into the heart of the Green District.

The man who'd named himself Noc continued on his directionless path deeper into the city, and the person who'd been watching him since the very beginning followed after. This had taken longer than she'd wanted to spend on a minnow. When he'd gotten away from the line of people, she decided it was time to move. She gripped her dagger and took a silent step out from the building she'd moved to, and then ducked back inside as someone else stepped out of a doorway in front of her quarry.

"Hoy friend," the man who'd stepped into Noc's path raised a hand in greeting. His dagger was held loosely in the raised hand, as if showing to mean no harm. "You mind takin' a break an' answering a few asks I have? You see, I'm here looking for someone, and I wanna make if you seen em. So whats ya say? I wouldn't want to impose, but I'd be real kind for the help." He gave a shrug, his light blue eyes seeming sincere.

 

[CryptedCourt]

Noc stared wide eyed at the man. He looked at the loosely held dagger and remembered what the man in the building had told him just moments before. Keep your head down and your blade sharp. Noc kept his eyes on the man's stance, ready for any sudden movement. He fixed his grip on his knife.

Noc gave the man a warm smile. He was careful not to let his suspicions show on his face. "My apologies, friend. But I am in such a hurry," Noc told the man, walking around him as he spoke. "Got to go!" Noc kept walking on his original path and prayed the man would not run after him. Noc quickened his pace and turned the corner.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

The person who'd been tailing Noc since he'd arrived in the city swore under her breath. Someone else had spotted her quarry. She slipped out of her hiding spot to move in closer. Kill stealing wasn't something she liked doing, it was usually more dangerous, but she'd hunted this guy for a quarter cycle and wasn't ready to just let him get snatched away by some nobody. As always, her footsteps were silent as she moved between shadows. But that meant nothing if someone was watching her.

Two more people stepped out of the shadows of the nearby buildings as soon as she revealed herself. Neither one seemed surprised to see her, which meant they'd known she was there, which meant she'd just walked into a trap. She charged the closer of the two, a large man with darker skin. In the shadows she couldn't make out what type he might be. She'd just have to try and take him out without letting him try anything. She lunged with a high overhand swing of her dagger, but when he moved his arms to protect himself she let the blade drop into her other hand as she dropped to the ground. She pushed up as if to drive the blade under his ribs, but instead she was thrown back as he just kicked her away. She rolled once and coughed before jumping back onto her feet. Staying still meant death.

The man who'd tried to stop Noc further down the street let him go as soon as he saw the girl be thrown back into the street. "Ah, 'sno problem friend. Ya did well enough ta help. Take care out there." He hummed a merry tune as he strolled over to join the others taking turns knocking around that stupid girl.

She jumped forward away from a slice from the second person behind her. This brought her back into the range of the larger man. She stabbed into his arm and managed to avoid his dagger, but his punch still connected enough that she had trouble breathing when she got back up.

"Hoy Beacon," a friendly voice called as a third person approached. "Ya lookin' not too good now. Havin' a rough cycle? Real shame that is."

Even more than pain or panic, what Beacon felt hearing his voice was just annoyed. "Holden," she spat out the blue-eyed man's name.

 

[CryptedCourt]

The sound of the struggle made Noc stop dead in his tracks. He rushed down the street and hurried into the nearest building, which was a simple single story. He walked through the house back in the direction of the noise. He kept low while maneuvering through the house. Once he found a shadowed corner that was barely within hearing range, he peeked his head up to see what was happening.

Across and down the street, Noc saw from his position the man that tried to stop him. He was looking down at a girl. Noc tried to jog his memory, but he didn't recognize the girl, even though she was where he was moments ago. There were two other men also looking down on her, and from the scene it was apparent that it was the three of them against her. He watched as they swiped their knives until she was on the ground, clearly in a terrible situation. The echo of their voices floated over to him, but he wasn't quite close enough to understand the conversation.

Noc dipped his head back down and took a moment to think. Those men were bad news, but what about the girl? Noc started to second guess his choice to run and hide. He poked his head back out, looking to see what would happen next.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

"This lass here ain't seem so much now, but she's a real mean one let me tell ya. Last times we played, she took my arm. Not the whole arm really, just the bits below the bend. Still, very mean. Funny thang, time before that she'd took the hand! Same hand!" The man, Holden, laughed, but his eyes never broke contact with the girl's. She stared up at him, keeping his newest cronies at the edge of her vision. Holden held out the arm she'd had to cut off of him twice already, taunting her to try it a third time. When she made no moves, he said, "Really now? What a bore you're this time." He reached forward to grab her.

Beacon jumped backwards, away from Holden's grasp. She absolutely couldn't let him touch her. She spun towards the scrawnier of the two goons. He was less imposing than the other guy, but the main reason she jumped towards him was that she'd been watching how he handled his dagger. He'd just been pointing its point at her this whole time, his fingers curled into a hard fist around the handle. He held his dagger like a typical Blue, probably had picked up the habit from Holden. His dagger stabbed into her side and across her stomach as she spun into him, but his firm hold kept the blade from slipping between her ribs, so the damage wasn't anything that'd kill quickly. Her own dagger caught him just under the ear and tore a path down his neck and chest as she fell to the ground.

"Oh come on, I just got that one! It's real annoy to be havin' to always be finding new people cuz all of y'all can't stop killing the ones I got! Dover put her down now, I ain't playin'."

Beacon held her dagger out between herself and the larger of Holden's thugs. Her body hurt, but so long as she didn't start losing her guts onto the street she'd be fine. The man's eyes let out a dull violet light, and before she could tell what sort of attack to prepare for she was already cowering on the ground with what felt like a hundred daggers forcing her way out of her head from the inside. She couldn't stop from crying out. No wonder Holden had finally decided to try and go after her, he'd found himself a secret weapon. With this power backing up his own, the annoying prick might actually be able to make good on all his posturing to become king. That thought just as much as the agony raging inside her skull brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't focus to use her power to even get away. This was it. She was going to be killed by Holden of all people.

A rumble of thunder rolled over the city, and then the sun went out. The instant shift to pitch black broke whatever the man's power was doing to her head, and Beacon pushed herself away. Quickly, but quietly. She landed crouched a half-dozen feet back, one hand covering her mouth to keep her breath from being heard, the other covering the gash across her stomach to keep it from dripping.

"Burn that Yellow!" Holden swore at the person responsible for his prey escaping. He growled in frustration. "Dover, just keep trying to hit her! If you hear anything, blast it!"

Beacon could hear him swinging around, probably both his head and his dagger, trying to find her in the dark. That other person's invisible power was probably shooting off all around her, but aside from not making a sound there wasn't anything she could do to avoid or block it. She took a silent step towards where she could the second man moving in the dark. When it came to moving silently in the city, Beacon was second only to the Unseen. The distant rumbles of fighting kings covered up any sounds she might have made. He didn't notice a thing right up until the tip of her dagger touched his chest.

Beacon pressed her dagger into the man's heart, but it poked through his robe and then slid off of his skin without cutting anything. This was Holden's power! She hadn't tried to kill him in the dark because she'd assumed he'd be using his power on himself. She'd never expected him to use it to protect someone other than himself. She jumped back, but Dover had felt her ineffective poke and reacted fast enough to grab her arm as she tried to get away. Without hesitation, she took her dagger and stabbed down and through her own arm at the elbow, slicing across the joint and artery to break as much connection as she could, letting the man's own strength finish the job. She choked down the pain and used her power to jump away.

Beacon landed in the street just feet from where Noc hid, unable to see a thing in the pitch black besides the occasional far-off flashes of light that did nothing to reveal the scene unfolding closer. Her breathing was speeding up quickly now as she felt her body starting to go into shock, and the normally so careful girl was completely unaware of Noc's presence. She used her power to jump up onto the flat roof and collapsed onto her back there. The move had left a line of dark red droplets across Noc's front. All that Beacon could think through the pain and shock was that hopefully she was out of sight enough for Holden and his even-more-dangerous goon to not find her as soon as-

The red sun flared back into existence high above. The return of its tinged light revealed only two people standing where there had been four. The body of the person Beacon had killed was gone without a trace. Neither Holden nor Dover seemed to notice this, either that or they didn't care. They were too focused on the arm that was quickly dropped by the larger man. Holden reached down and picked it up. He leaned back and laughed himself to the verge of tears. "You know ya still owe me a hand though! I'll just hold onta this till ya pay you tab in full!" He laughed even harder and waved for Dover to follow as he walked away between the buildings, Beacon's arm swinging as he held her hand in his.

Beacon swore at that man and closed her eyes until he was probably far enough away, and then she dragged herself over the side of the roof and let herself fall the the ground. She wasted a bit of power to make the landing softer. She swore again. It really did help with the pain. She opened her eyes and saw Noc. She swore again. Her robe was cut open and stained red, she was missing an arm, and she was on the edge of passing out with her eyes struggling to even focus, but she still managed to raise her dagger at him. She looked like she wanted to stand to fight him, but no way were her legs about to cooperate that far, so she just grit her teeth at him from the ground.

 

[CryptedCourt]

From his hiding spot, Noc could hear phrases of their conversation but not the entirety of the conversation. From the occasional peek, he gathered that the girl and the lead goon that tried to stop Noc knew each other. After a moment of talking, fighting, are more talking, a bright purple light shot out of the man's eyes down on the girl. Noc was amazed at the ability, and he wondered if he had abilities similar to his that Noc wasn't aware of.

Noc nearly jumped out of his hiding spot from the thunderous sound that boomed out of the sky. Once the reddish light disappeared and darkness fell over them, Noc began to freak out. He doubted the sound and the darkness was a good sign, and he contemplated further distancing himself from the girl and gang. He knew hearing them talk would be valuable information to figuring out what was going on, but it would be worthless if he died in the process.

Once the street fell silent, Noc decided it was time to get out of the house and put more distance between him and the others. He stayed low, crawling on his hands and knees towards the entrance of the building. Though he was as quiet as possible, Noc felt that he was loud enough to be heard. Just as he was ready to jump on his feet and run away, a body fell out of the sky and landed in the street entrance. Noc's reflexes shook his body, but he was able to contain any shout of surprise. The body jumped back up as soon as it had fallen down.

Before Noc had time to process what had happened, the light came back and flooded the streets that were pitch black moments ago. A splatter of red liquid had marked where the body landed and left. Noc was about to crawl away when he saw that the red liquid was on his clothes and skin.

The sound of shouting brought Noc back to the present. He sat up and peeked his head out to see why the lead man was yelling. In his hand, he swung another arm. Noc's body was disgusted at the sight. From the fling of red blood that gushed out of the arm, Noc guessed that it had belonged to the person that left the mess of blood in front of him.

Behind him, Noc heard the same sound of a body falling on the floor. He whipped his body around to see the girl with her cuts, leaking blood, and missing arm staring right at him. When she raised her dagger, Noc didn't bother to raise his. He could tell how weak she was, and Noc didn't feel threatened by someone missing an entire arm.

"Do you... do you need help?" Noc asked. He felt slightly ridiculous asking an obvious question, but the silence between them had to be broken first. For the first time since he had picked his knife up, Noc set his dagger down on the ground next to his feet.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

Beacon wanted to laugh. This minnow was asking if she needed help? That was hilarious! And he had actually let go of his dagger! This guy was a real idiot. If she had her feet under her right now, or was in any state to try moving, she'd have jumped at him for showing her concern. With how unguarded this guy was she could have torn out his throat with her bare hands before he thought maybe he wasn't as good a judge of character as he thought.

She swallowed her contempt for the person offering help and lowered her own dagger noticeably, but she didn't do anything as stupid as let it leave her hand. "Bring me inside," she forced through her teeth. She'd stopped using her power and the rush of fighting was fading, so she was starting to feel the extent of her injuries now. Damn that Holden. She'd take his legs next time she ran into him!

"Just drag me inside and leave," she said again, her body swaying as she teetered on the edge of falling unconscious. She couldn't pass out, not with this minnow here. She needed to get away. She needed to kill him first. She needed to kill. Holden. She needed... Beacon's head rolled as she passed out from shock and blood loss, but her fingers never loosened from the stone dagger she held.

 

[CryptedCourt]

As the girl began to fade out of reality Noc did as he was told. Since one of her arms was missing, he grabbed her by one arm and turned her body so he could drag her through the door. Noc kicked aside his dagger, aware that she didn't let go of hers. With a heave, he dragged her by the arm from the alleyway inside the building. He brought her into the middle of the room and then he let her arm fall to the floor.

Noc turned his back on her, snatched his dagger from the floor, and peeked out the doorway. Once he was confident that no one was spying on them, he turned back around to ask the girl a question. To his amazement, the girl was no longer missing an arm. Her clothes had returned to their pristine condition, and it seemed as if she wasn't on the brink of death anymore.

"Wha... Hey, hey girl, how did you do that? With your arm?" Noc asked, walking towards her as he was talking.