"The Little Things"

Out of all nights

The night was cold. The moon shone brightly on the cloudless sky. Sudden power outage made the narrow lanes of the southern part of the Dragon City covered in almost complete darkness. A bespectacled man, wearing an elegant, navy blue suit, was walking down one of the lanes seemingly impervious to the lack of light. He stopped suddenly and started looking around. After a while, he discovered a small pile of ash on the ground. When he touched it, it was still warm to the touch. He looked up at the opposite wall and furrowed his eyebrows. There was a dark mark, burnt onto that wall, and it resembled a human outline. He looked around and, seeing nobody, reached out with his senses, the black energy scanning the surroundings. There was an almost imperceptible trace of unfamiliar energy, and he focused on it solely. He made two steps and stopped, then spun to the right when that energy became solid. Two shards of black crystal flew his way. They hit the far back wall and disappeared in two puffs of smoke. Then a burst of cackling laughter filled the narrow lane.

"Ah... Dark Lord, Let's play together," a low voice teased, and the man jumped away as two more shards whooshed just past his head. He felt something hot on his cheek. "Oh, so quick, so agile. How about now?" A wisp of smoke, like a serpent, whirled around the man's legs, immobilizing him. Three more shards darted at him, and he deflected them with a blade that materialized in his hand a fraction of a second before. "Let's have fun, soon..." the voice whispered.

There were footsteps down the alley of two people approaching quickly, and the strange presence shifted and disappeared. The man also moved to get away but wasn't quick enough.

"Stop right there!" a male voice demanded, and a torchlight hit him. The man sighed. He slowly turned around, the blade still in his hand.

"Chief Zhao, I believe you have just saved my life." smiled Shen Wei. "Thank you."

Zhao Yunlan stared in shock at the handsome face of his friend, and the blood, dripping from his left cheek.

"What happened to you?" The light from the torch made a sweeping movement over Shen Wei, and Zhao breathed out relieved when he didn't see any signs of injury apart from that one cut.

"I was attacked," replied Shen Wei, simply, the sword finally disappearing from his hand. Zhao Yunlan swore and reached out to touch his cheek. The professor caught it and smiled. "This is nothing, look," he wiped the blood with a handkerchief. "I cannot even call this an injury. I actually cut myself worse while shaving the other day..." he mused.

"Stop joking."

"I assure you, I'm not." Shen Wei smiled and blinked.

"What are you shaving with?" asked Zhao, still frowning.

"I have a short blade. It was forged by a legendary blacksmith in the fires of the Burning Mountains in Dixing ages ago. It never gets blunt." Informed the professor, and Zhao just shook his head. Then he frowned and looked into the darkness behind Shen Wei, trying to see something in the dim light of his torch. He made the first step, but a firm hand on his arm stopped him.

"What don't you want me to see?" Asked Zhao, suspicion in his voice clear.

"It's not that. I'm just not sure if the man who attacked me is gone," admitted Shen Wei quietly, putting the handkerchief back to his pocket.

"There is something bad in there," confirmed Chu Shuzhi, stepping closer. "Should I...?"

Shen Wei sighed, seeing the determination on those two faces. "Be very careful. He can melt into the darkness. He also crystalizes the dark energy into knife-like weapons. Don't get hit, or you might get poisoned." he added, looking at Zhao.

There was a peal of cackling laughter around them, and they scanned the area, alarmed.

"How nice, more to play," a wicked voice taunted. "Come now, into the dark."