Without A Heartbeat

Huntmaster Solignis, his seven Guardians and Outleader Kodessa rode into town as fast as their horses could carry them. It was approaching midnight and a thick fog was rolling out over Belfast - a grey blanket that pressed against the bricks of every building they passed. They reached Queen’s Square and the towering monolith that was Albert Memorial Clock materialised in front of them, its carved lions looming out of the fog like escaping creatures. The prostitutes that normally frequented the area had been ushered away. Several Guardians were there instead, staring up at the spire with their weapons unsheathed and ready for action. Faru jumped off his horse and landed without a sound, pacing over to the others.

“Where?”

One of the Guardians - an Imp with a face of dark purple and eyes the colour of gold pointed upwards. “We managed to pin him up there.”

Faru looked up. Almost a hundred feet above, the bright clock face shone out through the dense fog, bathing the area in a milky glow. A figure, completely shrouded in a cloak – the cloak of the Guardians – was perched on a narrow ledge just below the clock face, his arm locked around the waist of a terrified and sickly looking woman. Her blonde hair had spilled out of her cap and clung to her panic-stricken face. She was trying to scream, but the traitor had his other hand encircled around her throat, preventing any sound.

“We know who you are Gabriel! You have nowhere to go,” shouted the Huntmaster, his voice booming in the tense silence. “Bring the girl down safely and surrender yourself and I promise we will take your co-operation into consideration.” As he spoke, Faru slowly pushed his wings through the slits in his cloak. They were as fine as gossamer and shaped like those of a dragonfly. He parted and cocked them, ready to unfurl at a moments notice.

Gabriel stood up, pulling the girl with him. There was a series of gasps as her feet scrambled on the narrow ledge that surrounded the clock tower. An accusing finger was pointed down at Faru.

“So you worked out who I am. It makes no difference if you kill me. My master will only commit another to continue my divine work.”

“Your work is not divine. It is cruel and violent,” shouted Faru.

Gabriel shook his head. “You interfering fools do not know what you are talking about. It was my mission to save this girl, just as I have all the others.”

Faru and Kodessa exchanged a glance. He is clearly deluded.

“You are a Guardian of the Alliance,” shouted Kodessa. “Your mission is to protect, not to harm innocents!”

“I am not harming them, I am offering them life!”

“No! You steal their life and replace it with nothing!”

“I will not listen to the hollow words that spew from the many mouths of a corrupted beast!” spat the man. And jumped.

Faru’s heart shuddered. For a moment he thought the man was throwing himself and the girl from the clock tower. But the traitor twisted in mid-air and caught hold of one of the spires above, hoisting himself and the scrambling girl upwards.

Kodessa made a series of hand signals and his Guardians began to close in around the base of the tower.

“Outleader, what are you doing?” demanded Faru.

“My job Huntmaster. We have to make a move now. If we delay any further, we could lose him and any hope of finding the others he has taken.”

“Perhaps. But if we act with haste, we may endanger the girl.”

Kodessa paused for a moment. “I understand that, but it is the life of one against the life of countless more if we do not act.”

Faru glared at his peer. “Do you forget the maxim of our organisation so readily?”

“Of course not,” he replied in an indignant tone. “I am fully aware we serve to protect innocents. That is why we must not delay.”

“Wrong. That girl is an innocent, which is why we absolutely must think before we act.”

Kodessa went to say something in retort, but thought better of it and looked away instead. Faru returned his attention to the traitor and his victim, who had started to climb the rest of the tower. He reached the first run of spires and began to inch around the corner, pressing his back to the grey walls. His grip on the girl loosened and it was now she who clung to him for fear of death.

Three stepped up next to Faru and touched a hand against his arm.

“Huntmaster, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. We’ve cornered him, and those cornered make drastic decisions.”

Faru considered the Pixie’s words. She is right. Gabriel was an intelligent man who was able to evade the Alliances attention for a long time. However, he was now also a desperate man who would likely do anything in his power to prevent his capture. He clearly believed his work was too important. So what is he going to do? Faru scanned around and understood what was going to happen next the moment just before it occurred.

So much for thinking things through.

Faru unfurled his wings and sprinted forward, taking to the air. At the same time Gabriel snatched the girls wrists, wrenching them from his cloak. “You have forced me to sacrifice an innocent. It is in your name that she dies!”

He threw the girl from the tower.

A piercing scream rang out around the square. Faru tore through the sky, sweeping up in an arc and collecting the thrashing girl in his arms. He watched as Gabriel took the death-defying leap from the tower, tumbling through the fog and landing hard on an adjacent building with an echoing howl of pain. The girl was delirious through a mixture of sickness and fear, scrambling in terror as Faru circled around, diving towards the group of Guardians. He let her go and she tumbled into the arms of Kodessa. Her head sank forward and her legs went slack as she fell unconscious.

Faru swooped back up, giving chase.

“He is heading east. Those who can fly, follow me now! The rest take to the horses!”

The Guardians sprang into action below him. Faru burst through the fog like a bird of prey, following the trail of the traitor. Even with his unique sight, he could barely see a thing in the dense mire, but he followed the remnants of Gabriel’s aura – a red that was almost black in its richness – and soon caught his silhouette limping slightly as he scrambled from roof to roof. The thundering hooves of a dozen horses echoed below as the Guardians galloped down the narrow streets. Behind him, Three and a few other Guardians were following in his wake, pushing hard to keep up as he tore after his target.

Gabriel turned, and Faru saw his face properly – still recovering from the burns he had blamed on an Ifrit attack. The Bloodling cursed and sprinted harder, ignoring his damaged leg. Faru reached inside his robes and unsheathed his red blades, holding them ahead of him like deadly pincers as he flew.

The man was fast, but Faru was faster.

He drew back one sword and concentrated, drawing from the reservoir of intense power held deep within him. The handle of the blade ignited in a flash of blue, traveling up the blade like a trail of fire on oil. The intensity of the glow grew until it was crackling and spitting, and it was then that Faru swept his arm upwards and unleashed an arc of pure energy. The curved bolt exploded out in front of him like a shockwave, ripping up roof tiles and scattering the fog. It screamed towards the traitor – a beam of pure power that carried with it the strength of a cannon and the heat of a kiln.

Gabriel jumped to the side.

The blast missed. The arc continued to flow for several dozen yards, before smashing into the mast of a nearby ship, where it shot upwards like a reverse bolt of lighting, reducing it to splinters.

There was a loud splash as Gabriel dived into the river. Faru drew upwards, hovering and scanning. Fog clung to the water like a second skin, making it almost impossible to see. He did not attempt to follow the Bloodling into the river – he could swim, but he could not swim well – and if any water got to his wings it would render them useless for days.

“He is in the water?” Three drew up next to him, followed by two Succubi Guardians. Faru nodded.

“Shall we follow?”

Faru held up a finger and she fell silent. He concentrated his efforts on hearing, allowing his ears to perform the task that his unique vision could do no longer. He waited, hearing nothing but the low howl of the bitter wind in the still night. It was followed almost instantly by the clanging of the bell, tolling midnight.

Of all the misfortune…

His ear twitched as he heard it after the final ring of the bell, the deep clanging still ringing out in the night sky.

The sound of someone pulling themselves out of the water.

“This way.”