Chronicles of the Underworld - Soul Eater

8 - The Plan

"There it is."

They were moving towards an abandoned industrial complex and both of them could smell what had been happening here: werewolves, out of control. The smell of rotting flesh seemed to lie over the area like invisible fog.

"I guess they're in there.", Colombia said, pointing to a more or less collapsed factory building. "In the hall."

Aurel nodded and drew one of his pistols. The sword on his side followed every move he made, the rifle he carried across his shoulders was fully charged.

The witch let her eyes wander across his weaponry. "You're much of a heavy hitter, right?"

"If you can't do magic, there's not much apart from brute force which will save you when things get hairy."

"You keep repeating that you can't do magic."

"Feels like shit when most people can. And most of the things trying to kill you as well."

"You're not worse a soldier than the others just because..."

"My talents lay in other areas?" He could tell that his sarcasm was hurtful to her. "Quit it. I don't need a pep talk. I need to get this shit done so I can get Alexandria the coffee she deserves."

She laughed but stopped after a second. "You know, I was serious. I was not trying to give you a motivational speech. You seem like a great guy. Not only a great soldier. You're still very human."

"Well, thank you. If this is what gets me killed now, my ghost is going to haunt you forever and will bombard you with the question whether you think it was worth it for all eternity."

"If that happens – which I hope it doesn't – I'm looking forward to it. You're good company."

"And you're weird. What kind of witch gets bitten by a vampire?"

She laughed again. "You keep rubbing salt in my wounds."

"I'm just wondering."

"Do so without reminding me of it."

Her hand stroke her belly and Aurel stared at the factory hall. "You're ready?"

"Absolutely. Let's kick some werewolf ass."

"I'm not a werewolf. I'm from a family of shape shifters, big cats, mostly."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I'm from Florence. But I can't shape shift. Alexandria's magic ruined that for me... And I'm very happy not to be able to turn into a big cat, just for the record."

"That's crazy."

Columbia giggled and again appeared to be almost his age. He realized that he liked her. In another life they might have become friends. Everyone knew that apart from Alexandria there was no one for him. For her neither. The other soldiers avoided them, which, to a considerable amount, might also be due to them not getting along with Mortimer's sheep.

They pulled open the door of the hall, Columbia covering every possible sound with her magic. Yellow light was streaming from her hands and covered her face in a soft shine. He smiled when he saw it. She smiled back at him.

"You know what, Aurel? I like you. I want to make you an offer."

"Oh."

"Nothing bad. Just..."

"Just something really bad, right?"

She shrugged. "Depends."

"What is it?"

She took a breath. "Salem and I are cutting it."

"What?"

"You heard me. We're leaving. We finish this mission, and you'll never see us again."

"No one ever leaves."

"No one has ever tried before."

"Because they can't."

He looked at her. She was leaning on her rifle, softly moving back and forth.

"I'm sick of this.", she said honest. "I'm sick of working for Mortimer, not being able to decide. I want my life. I want to live it."

"I understand."

Aurel felt a rush of blood to the head, as if he was being bathed with cold and hot water at the same time. His thoughts raced to Alexandria, but she was already there.

You think they know?, he asked her without a move, looking at any hints the witch might give before attacking and reading his mind again.

I don't know, she replied. Be careful. Not a word about New York, even if you feel as if you can trust her.

Of course not.

New York had been their secret. Nobody had ever dared, ever attempted to even think about leaving Mortimer's guard. And now there was this witch, this woman he sympathized with, right in front of him and proposed him the exact same thing.

It was suspicious.

"Well... That's a big decision.", he said, unable to hide his nervousness.

She smiled again. Her teeth were long and white. "I know. But if any decision is worth it, it's this..."

"I see."

"You can think about it. You have an entire fight before you during which you can decide whether you want to keep doing this shit for the rest of your life or not."

"I will think about it."

"Great. Back to business. Any ideas on how we'll get them to come out and play?"

"Apart from the fact that I smell extensively of cat?"

They moved further into the hall, looked around, at their surroundings. It was mostly empty. A scaffolding was built at one end.

"When shit turns grim, we move up there.", Columbia said. "You know what's weird? I don't get the feeling of you being a cat person. Something's off with that. I can picture you with a dog. With a really big, really black dog. Almost a wolf."

Aurel froze, listened to the howling in his chest. Was she able to perceive it? The rage he hid since the day his sister died, the insanity, the hatred, the blinding, blood red will to destroy and tear apart?

He released his breath. It was impossible. Nobody could feel what he felt, not even Alexandria.

"You have interesting thoughts.", he said quietly.

She stood next to him, looked around, her right hand lying on her lower abdomen.

"Columbia.", he said. "You're pregnant, right?"