Veil of Shadows

Chapter 27. Dark Avenger

"Lord Shadow, there's been a prison break-"

Shadow was instantly alert, walking over to the guard, grabbing his shoulders. "Which cell?" He asked, and the guard replied "High Security, Sector Seven. Patch was aided by an unidentified man."

The guard braced himself for Shadow's outrage.

He was surprised when instead Shadow took off for the prisons at a sprint. The guard tried to follow, but was left behind as Shadow ran faster and faster, reaching inhuman speeds.

Soon, he came upon the cell and flung the door open. Equinox was sitting against the wall, watching him, as if the boy knew he would be coming. Shadow stormed over to the cage.

"What did you see?" Shadow growled.

Equinox smiled and replied "Darkness. What else could I see? I'm practically blind down here." Shadow, obviously, was not amused. He opened the lock on the cage with a wave of his hand and stalked in.

Grabbing Equinox by the collar of his tuxedo, Shadow slammed him against the wall. Hard. With a cry of pain, Equinox tried to dislodge Shadow's grip. "Tell me what you saw." Shadow said quietly.

"Someone helped Patch. He picked the lock and got her out. They went down the hallway to the right. The person carried swords and looked like he could use them. That's all I know, I swear!"

Shadow dropped Equinox and ran back out of the room after closing the cell door, turning down the right hallway and bolting full-speed for the exit, where he knew they would try to go.

Then he found the bodies of the nineteen guards.

His eyes widened first in shock, then in denial, then agony. He dropped to his knees by the nearest guard and checked for a pulse. "Please don't be dead...please don't be dead.." He whispered.

No heartbeat fluttered beneath his fingers.

Even without checking for signs of life, Shadow could sense that they were all dead. There was no hope for them. He lowered his head, tears welling in his eyes.

He had developed a bond with the guards over the years. It wasn't very much a soldier to a king relationship, more like old friends doing favors for each other.

And now they were all dead, except for one.

Slowly, the burning flames of rage grew in his heart, spreading through his body like wildfire, consuming any rational thoughts he might have had about the situation.

Leaving the nineteen dead guards behind, he began to run down the hallways, death itself dancing in his eyes, gaining speed with every second that passed by.

He sensed a presence and halted in his tracks.

No human could have that kind of aura. He paused. That ruled out the possibility of it being Patch. He couldn't figure out the exact location of the presence, but it was close.

Drawing his dagger, he cocked his wrist, preparing to throw. The knife felt like lead in his hand, and his rage at the death of his guards only fueled the fire that burned in his veins, thrumming with each heartbeat.

Suddenly, he felt something very cold - and very sharp - at his throat.

"I suggest a course of action that involves you dropping the dagger and getting the Nether out of here." A low voice said from behind him. Shadow looked down and saw a sword's blade at the base of his neck.

"You killed my men." Shadow replied, but slowly placed the dagger on the ground.

"Would you prefer I left them there and allowed them to bleed out?" The person replied. His voice was unnervingly monotone. He shifted the sword slightly so that it wasn't so close to his throat.

"At least I would have had a chance at saving them." Shadow snarled.

"What would you care for saving lives? All you seem able to do is end them." The person replied. Shadow had simply had enough. Twisting slightly, he brought his boot down on the arch of the person's foot.

The blade bit into his throat slightly, but he didn't feel pain. All he felt was a small trickle of blood run down his neck. The person stumbled backward a little, and Shadow grabbed his dagger.

They faced each other, weapons drawn.

Shadow began to think about the situation. The person was fighting for what he believed in, for what he thought to be right. Just like Shadow himself was. He was only defending his friends.

Just like Shadow was.

Reality hit Shadow like a slap in the face. What was he expecting? A gallant rescue mission? Casting himself as the hero when he avenged the death of his guards?

Shadow had to admit that the person's actions weren't unjustified. For a few moments, he simply watched the person, wondering if he would make a move. Then he turned.

And walked away.

The person didn't follow. He didn't hear footsteps, didn't hear anything that might suggest movement, but when he glanced over his shoulder, the person was gone.

Shadow didn't try to go after Patch. He supposed that, if she were skilled enough to escape him with only one person to aid her, she deserved a while of peace.

It was then that he heard a short cry of pain.

It wasn't a guard, and it wasn't the person from before. It wasn't a prisoner. It wasn't a male voice either. It sounded female. It was also a human, he could tell that. Slowly, he began to comprehend it.

Patch.