Cavaliere del Giardino Overture

Chapter 8

The room was dim, Pilo sat at the bar with Bria, while Sammy sat in a booth writing a note down. She doodled around her notes before Zito tapped Angelos. "Think they should know about what you do?" He whispered to him.

Angelos shrugged. "I'm sure they'll find out soon," He said before turning to Bria. "You know we could always use someone as intelligent as you out when we actually start this," He said noticing Bria look up from his book and towards Angelos. "You'd think getting out of the desert would make someone a bit more cheery," Angelos said before yawning. "But, I get it," he said. "I know of a house full of vampires, soldiers, of course, they're probably hitmen sent after your king, we can clear the house easy peasy," Angelos smirked before reaching over putting on his mask and fixing his hair. "Plus I don't think their capo will even be there," He said tightening the mask and looking at the four.

Zito handed him his nails as he attached them at his hip. "How do you know so much about their schedule?" Pilo asked looking at him.

"Easy, Moth over here used to work for the boss," Bria spilled. "What were you their number one assassin?" Bria asked closing his book and setting it on the bar.

"What made you stop?"

"A beetle," Angelos said. "I had killed kings before, cult leaders," Bria shot Angelos a stare. "Not yours, that's your demon to bare, people of power was what I was getting at, but there was a one-armed beetle, my body couldn't bring myself to kill him, so I faked my death after telling them he died as well,"

"Clearly that didn't work," Pilo said as Sammy walked to the bar taking a seat next to the bee. "Did that beetle have dreads, a bent horn, amber eyes?"

"......That's your king isn't it,"

"Our dad," Sammy said before tightening the string around her wrist. "So, where do the capos go?" She asked.

"They hold a meeting with the boss once a month," He explained, he walked around the bar and grabbed a cape putting it on. "Since I faked my death they called me a new name due to the masks yours truly made," He put his hand on Bria's shoulder. "April," He said. "After the first capo I killed," he said. "Which means all goes well all we have is May, June, and July before we get the underboss and the boss," He smiled under his mask. "Piece of cake for you two knights right?"

The two nodded as Pilo grabbed his sword, Bria looked at him mumbling a quiet. "Be careful,"

"What was that?" Pilo asked.

"Nothing, I said Don't die," Bria replied as Pilo nodded.

"Don't plan on it," he said with a smile. He walked to the door as Sammy latched onto his back, the door opened as the two flew into the air, Pilo carrying Sammy close. "Where are we going?" Pilo called out as the moth flew into the air, pointing to a large lincoln log cabin.

He then pointed to the tavern as the feral derp beetle moved to cover itself back up. "So, we get the interest of the boss and then what?" Sammy asked.

"I kill her for everything she's done to this land," Angelos said as they started flying towards the cabin.

The forest was ancient. The trees thick and old, roots that were twisted. It might once have been filled with dragons and gods that roamed. But now it was aged past its former glory. Its canopy was so dense that you could only see the occasional streak of sunlight that rarely touched the forest floor. Even its thick vines were slowly taking away the last remnants of the temple that stood in the center. The two landed on the nearest branch by the cabin.

Angelos stared. "Four inside," He said before blinking a couple of times, tears fell down his chin as he blinked them away, he looked at the two. "Think about your options," he said pointing past the cabin. "There's a garden up ahead, they pick off people to feed when the capo is gone."

"So....this capo....is May?"

"June," Angelos said. "May isn't in this forest," he said. "We get the interest of June, May will come, then July, especially if they hear I was accompanying you two."

The two nodded as Pilo aimed his finger. "4 in there?" he asked. Angelos nodded. "I can scare them out and you two can ambush them?" The two nodded as Angelos picked her up and flew to the roof of the cabin. Landing and setting her next to him. They gripped their blades tight.

They stood about the fireplace, their conspiratorial whispers barely audible over the crackle of lively flames. One by one the documents used to draft the new treaty were fed into the hungry fire until all that was left of them was some ash and an imperceptible darkening of the sandy brickwork. "We can't keep doing this for her, she's gotta know what we're doing by now," A hushed whisper said as a noise of something small hitting the window rang through their ears.

The bullet pierced one's head, hitting the eye as he took a step back, letting out a loud scream. Blood spilled down his eye as a second bullet hit his throat. Pilo shook his own hand frowning. "Stings a lot more when your hand is broken," he mumbled before firing a third then the fourth bullet. The third and fourth bounced off each other hitting the same vampire's chest and shoulder.

The other three rushed out quickly only for a silent drop on two of them. Sammy stabbed down hitting his stomach, but Angelos didn't stab instead slashing down, light, thin cuts, a flurry of them. With each slash, the vampire looked like he would fall as suddenly Angelos stabbed into him. He fell forward as blood spilled onto the ground. He fell forward only the butt of the nail held him up.

"April..." The vampire said pushing himself up and coughing up blood. "You still have one mor-" Pilo tossed a vampire from the roof of the building as he hit the ground with a loud splat. Sammy pulled the blade out.

"These were new recruits," Angelos said stepping on the back of the one he stabbed, forcing him lower on the blade. "Old enough to be soldiers, but not capos," he said before hearing a scream in the garden. "We might have an issue," he said pulling the second nail from its holster.