A Guild of Moonlit Shadows (A...

By _Sibylline_

121K 2.9K 5.4K

This is the second book in the Assassins at Dusk series by _Sibyline_, read Assassins at Dusk before reading... More

Prologue
~1~We both have Questions and Answers
~2~Blondie?
~3~The Old Republic and Saying Goodbye
~4~Monsters take a Form
~5~The True Monster
~6~My Destiny is Mine alone to Make
~7~Standing Strong
Memes :)
~8~ What is its True Purpose?
~9~Your Life was always Mine.
~10~ Our Salvation or Damnation?
~11~There You Are...
AAD/GOMLS Memes & playlists cuz I promised to do them a while ago.
~12~Beyond Just You and Me
~13~Loyalty Unwavering
~14~Memories Woefully Untouched
~15~ Unfinished Business
~16~Kynareth is Growing Impatient.
~17~Murderers, Scoundrels, and Stubborn Feelings.
~18~ A New Hunt and Growing Plots
~19~ The Three Firenze Sisters
A Call for Home (Oneshot)
~20~Used and Abused
~21~Your Sister Needs You, Cynna
~22~Darker Minds are Easier to get Lost in
~23~ Let the Courtial Battle Begin
~24~ A Vicious Beast, Your Highness
~25~ Vanished Into Thin Air
~26~Cries Lost in the Wind
Act 2
memes & aesthetics cuz I feel bad
~1~Pinned Down and Manipulated
~2~ Losing Hope is for the Weak-Hearted
Other AAD series!
~3~The Old Kingdoms (+Q/A)
~4~Not a Kidnapping, but an Opportunity
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MY AUTHORS.
~5~Lies, Questions, and Confusing Truths
I know im late a few days late, get off my ass
~6~Forgotten Bonds
I have an announcement!
7~Time to be Wicked, Youngling
~8~ Something in Common
~9~Our Family is Torn Again
Want to Become a Character? Here is your chance!
~10~ I was a Faceless Soldier
Our Homelands (100k Oneshot) PART 1
~11~ He Ran Away From Me
Our Homelands PART 2
~12~ One Hour
~13~ Allesandro's Secret
The Unlocked Review that I forgot to post... whoops.
~14~ A Traitorous Deal
~15~ The Gods Love their Pranks, Don't They?
~17~ A Loose Tongue
~18~Taking the Lead
~19~ Bloody Fingerprints (+Sims Photos!)
~20~ Our Saviours
~21~ Time to Come Clean
You're Telling Yourself Lies, Mr. Ignis. (Oneshot)
~22~ Always in Chains
~23~ The Forgotten Assassin
~24~ Choices, Choices, Fitzroy
~25~ Bargaining chips and Casino chips
~26~ Not the Smoothest Exit
~27~ Voices in my Head
~28~ Six Artifacts, Three Portals, and One Assassin.
~29~ Water, Birds, Smoke, and Memories
~30~ Kynareth's Wrath
~31~ Summoner of Storms
~32~ If Not Blur, then Who?
~33~ The Veiled Spy
~34~ A Pre-Wedding Scuffle
~35~ An Uninvited Guest
~36~ A Muddled Family Secret
Vote here folks
~37~ Movement
~38~ Violence
~39~ Consequences
~40~ Delusions
~41~ Watching
~42~ Abandoned
The Next Book in the Series...

~16~ The Smell of Metal and Incense

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By _Sibylline_

READ BEFORE YOU CONTINUE! Great, thanks for stopping to read this :)

I am a big simmer, as you can probably tell by my profile pic. I want to design my characters in the Sims 4, and I want your help in deciding who I should make!

If you follow the link in my bio, it will lead you to my Linktree. At the very top should be a Sims survey I put together! Place your votes there, and I will design the winners!

I'm really excited about this! I will post the results on my Instagram and possibly Wattpad as well.

Thanks bunches, and enjoy the chapter!

~

Unedited


Sophie's built hands slightly bent the metal beneath it as she clutched onto the railing of the runway.

She didn't know how to describe it. A mass of agony. A pit of atrocities.

"W-What are those?" Maha stuttered, her eyes pinned on the cages. But not the cages that housed the original Mirthless, no, but the ones that housed the Nilfa. The cages held creatures like Cynna.

"We need to get out of here, Maha. No contract is worth this." Sophie kept flashing back to that cave in Egypitnat. To her blades sinking into Cynna's flesh. No, no, no, they were mortal and complete. They didn't belong here. She was selfish, she knew that, but she kept thinking back to Cynna's tear-stained eyes, to her pleas for death. Sophie couldn't stand that again.

Sophie made the mistake of looking in one of the subject's eyes.

They resided in a cell that looked a lot like the one she found in Egypitnat. Deep grooves along the floor and the bars as the experiments writhed in brutal pain. Various cables were linked between the Mirthless and corresponding subjects. They were a small Gnome, the subject Sophie made eye contact with. Needles and cables linked them with a Horoa just a few cells over.

Half of their face was mutilated, black and grime seeping underneath their skin. But their eyes were still so desperate. The gnome merely shook their head, putting their head back in their hands as they rocked on their knees. Sophie did the same thing whenever she was panicked and needed to escape.

Sophie gripped the handles, taking a deep breath through her nose and out through her mouth. Maha was still yet to say anything, her hands clamped over her mouth.

"We need to help them A-Amalia." She finally breathed. Sophie rubbed her face, trying to rub the shock out of her.

"Okay, okay. Let's try to find something." Sophie still used the railing to balance herself as the two of them meandered across the metal bridge. The metal bridge led to another observatory deck, then another metal bridge. It all worked as an observatory over the mass of experiments below.

"Gods, Lia, there are so many children in the factory above us. What if-"

"Please don't finish that thought. I don't want to think about what happens if the Nilfa get out." The Nilfa in the Lord's house must be from here. Sophie guessed he was probably an investor of this place. But the Neverseen seem to be mass-producing Nilfa; why would they have investors? What are these Nilfa going to be used for, and why do people want a cut of it?

"We need to find their ledgers. That way, we can find leaders, sponsors, co-conspirators, and accomplices. We cut off their funding by eliminating their sponsors and alliances, they can't afford to keep this going. If we get the chance, we should sabotage their equipment. This is too big just for the two of us, so we can't outright destroy it. We can hopefully hope Okoye doesn't take that out of our pay." Sophie took a deep breath, "The remaining Nilfa are going to be the real problem here. I'm sure that Fang Guanyu's translator has analyzed the book enough, maybe we can hire them to help us try and revert the Nilfa effects." But from what she saw, that would be near impossible. But Sophie refused to think about the other option.

"What should we start with?"

"I'm gonna find the ledgers see what leads we can find. Since we are not going to be able to knock this place completely out of commission, I want you to scout it out. Look for weak spots and things. Also, see if you can find that nobleman."

"Sounds good. Let's rendevous back at the tunnel."

Sophie watched Maha take a deep breath before taking the stairs down into the red and dark abyss of the Nilfa factory. Maha could handle herself. Sophie knew that. Near the corner of the factory was a dark series of cells, the only glimpse of light being that of blue water, a tank where dark figures swam in their confined tanks. Sophie had a feeling those were the Nilfa that pursued Okoye's men in the first place.

Sophie's fists were clenched as she quickly scanned and searched through the factory. She needed names and numbers, things she can use.

The largest office was in the middle of the factory, elevated above the mass of hell below. That is where she was starting.

She was still in uniform, but the uniform was from the candy factory above, so she did stick out a bit.

Sophie approached the large office, reminding herself not to look down as she slid next to the door and waited. After a few moments of waiting, the door slid open.

The guard was whistling, twirling his key around his finger. Sophie stuck her foot out to stop the door from closing, sliding into the office.

Two guards were sitting in the cushioned seats next to the desk that looked over it all. One of which had an appealing ring of keys at their hip. They both sipped strong black coffee from the candy company mug.

Sophie casually sauntered up behind them, leaning against the heads of their chairs.

"One hell of a week, huh boys?" Sophie sighed.

One of them scoffed, "Yeah, no kidding-" They both froze, slowly turning around and staring up at her.

"Hello there, gentlemen." She smiled. She acted before they could cry out. She wrapped her arm around the neck of the first, ducking underneath the fist of the second in time to snatch them by their wrist. Still holding the first's neck, Sophie took the guard's hand and twisted, kicking their feet out from underneath them and making them hit the floor so hard they were out cold. With a final squeeze, the first guard slumped in her arm, asleep when Sophie let him tumble to the floor.

She kicked aside their bodies and took one of their chairs, huffing as she began to search through the drawers.

Sophie didn't really know what she was looking for. Her brain was drifting as she poked through the documents.

How would someone convert a living being back from Mirthless? Is it even possible?

Where were her Assassins? Could they be subjected to this same fate? There were so many variables that are unchecked and questions without answers. Kynareth breathing down her neck, the safety of her own men compromised, a traitor still scampering around, Leto still sick and mentally unstable, the Ancient Vatarians wanting to return to their homes, Mephala threatening their existence- it was too much. She tried to carry herself with an air of confidence and authority. She wasn't allowed the chance to show her fear.

She remembers when she spent the night at Ruy's apartment, holding him tight as she whispered into his neck her fears, her fingernails cutting into his biceps as she held back her tears. Sophie wanted to be able to do that again, to be able to whimper and run away. But those moments never last, do they? She was always working, always thinking about one thing while another crumbles behind her.

Sirens blared throughout the factory, Sophie banging her knee against the table. Sophie cursed, pulling out the last drawer in hopes of finding something-

An evidence chest was built into the very bottom of the drawer, made of solid titanium. What would they need an evidence safe for?

Sophie plucked the keys off the guard's belt, still asleep on the floor, flipping through the keys before a small silver key clicked into place.

In it was the ledger, smartly tucked at the very bottom. But atop it was a small Inalian style leather-bound journal, secured with a small bronze lock. A strategy journal, just like the one her father had. An unknown family crest was stamped into the back with the initials C.E. The small red ribbon was the thing that made Sophie's blood run cold.

An empty arrowhead stitched on with golden thread in the middle of the ribbon. This belonged to a Cyevan Assassin.

Sophie heard the stomping of guard boots grow closer, but she remained too focused to move. She tucked the leather journal into her jacket and pulled out the large ledger, flipping through the names.

It was the perfect list for her guild—all of the corrupt politicians, businessmen, and plain old criminals endorsing the project.

She flipped back to the beginning, where she noticed the largest numbers resided, scanning through the names. And then she saw it.

Right next to an outrageous number of credits, the Esposita family was written in the thick ledger pages. The Esposita family was sponsoring this project.

Sophie couldn't even hear the sirens and the shouts of guards. The only thing she could hear was her uneven breaths and a ringing in her ear, even when the doors exploded open.

Alexios shuffled towards the Pythia, Mansi and Alvar apprehensively behind him. He just stopped before her and coughed a bit, looking around awkwardly. The Pythia lifted an eyebrow, her raised hands faltering.

"You're supposed to bow before the messenger of the gods, boy." She snapped. Alexios fought back the rolling of his eyes, kneeling down on two knees while keeping his head down.

He could feel the Pythia smirk as she resumed her holy spiel.

"Now, what is your offering?" She proclaimed. Alexios stiffened. An offering? Most people offered a lamb, flowers, incense, or the boon of the crops. He glanced behind him to Alvar and Mansi, who were also on their knees.

"An offering?" He begged.

Mansi shrugged, "I have a stick of gum in my pocket?" Alexios turned to Alvar, "Uh..." The elf rummaged through his pockets, procuring a single gold piece, his grocery list, and a small elven brooch made of silver no bigger than his fingernail.

Alexios turned back to the Pythia, awkwardly coughing, "Isn't our stellar company plenty enough of an offering?"

But the Pythia wasn't listening to him. Her eyes were on Alvar's elven pin.

"That one. Bring it to me." Two priests flickered into view, making the three assassins jump a bit. They hadn't even noticed the two of them. The first priest held out a black and terracotta bowl expectingly, and Alvar apprehensively dropped the brooch into the dish. The second priest sprinkled mysterious ash over it, watching carefully before handing it to the Pythia with a bowed head. She plucked the pinout of the dish and held it up into the torchlight. It was exaact with small flowers adorning the inside.

"Where did you acquire this, Vacker?" The Pythia asked.

"How did you-"

"I can gaze into the futures of men and yet you ask me how I know your name? Quit being a fool and answer my question."

Alvar blinked, "My little sister Biana gave it to me. She wanted to give it to my fiance as a gift."

Mansi gasped, "She did? Aw, I just love that girl."

The Pythia clutched her peplos as she observed it further, "Your sister is an elf too?"

Alvar didn't even try to mask his confusion, "Uh, yes my holiness."

The Pythia nodded a bit, glancing at Alexios, "See that boy? He isn't even from Inalia and he knows how to treat his superiors."

Alexios kept his head low to hide his glare. Never in his 18 years of existence would he imagine ever visiting the Pythia.

The woman sighed, placing the brooch in a dish in front of the Ganalos's statue.

"Ganalo has deemed your offering acceptable. You all may ask one question!" The Pythia announced. Mansi looked a little miffed about being stolen of her gift, but they both looked to Alexios, waiting for orders. He gave them a small gesture. Ask away.

Mansi pursed her lips, "I want to know the future of my family." Mansi had the guild, but she wasn't talking about them. She was talking about Alvar and her child. She seemed so nonchalant about it all, but the tremor in her eyes as she waited for the Pythia's answer said more.

The Pythia nodded, a typical answer it seemed. Her violet eyes went slightly white, her head pointed to the ceiling as she muttered. Just like Lilac does when she makes her predictions.

"The Fire-Breather's embers begin to tremor at the fear of the unknown. Seeds of doubt are beginning to sprout, causing hesitation." The Pythia's voice wasn't wholly her own. Underneath her voice was a slight whisper of gods only know what. Lilac certainly didn't do that.
"I swear unto you, if you continue as you are with a brazen heart and the protectiveness of not only what is old but also new, your kin will persevere all. Through the chains of misery and the broken spines of men, your kin will persevere through it all with love and power at their side."

Mansi blinked, her mouth agape. She looked at Alvar, her hand drifting to her stomach. That wasn't exactly an answer.

"Speak your questions!" The Pythia exclaimed, her head still pointed to the sky.

Alvar jumped a bit, biting his lip as he thought it through. "Will the Lost Cities survive this war?" He resided in Inalia, but his family and childhood was in the Lost Cities. It made sense that he was worried.

The Pythia's lip curled a bit at the thought of looking into the future of the Lost Cities for its well-being, but her mouth spurts the words for Alvar nonetheless.

"The Cities of crystal and glass are teetering, dear Vacker. They have been doomed from the beginning," Alvar paled, so tense it looked like he could shatter like glass, "Survival is one thing, but excelling is another. Elves will survive, but not in the way you are hope. When there is nothing but the shells of crystal holding the cities afloat, how does a species of vanity and secrets react to their truths revealed?"

Alvar's shoulders deflated as Pythia turned to Alexios, awaiting his question. That wasn't much of an answer either. There was no way that they are going to get a real answer out of her. Typical. But maybe he could still get something out of this.

"I wish to know who I should next consult on my quest!" Gods, he sounded like a paladin. But the Pythia smiled a bit, thinking a holy warrior was consulting her. It apparently did wonders for her ego.

"My holiness," Alexios started, making his voice as official as possible, "I wish you would ask Ganalo's favor in my search in the Isle."

The Pythia scoffed in her heavenly voice, "Which isle is that?"

Alexios can speak in riddles too, "The island that remains on land, the one that resides over our homelands as an advisor to all. One built in a forest compared to a quarry. Where dirty gold holds it afloat and hides whatever is beneath,"

Alexios finally looked up at her as if he were nothing but a humble servant, "Where the saint sits upon her throne of snakes, capable of spitting venom capable to bring down empires."

The Pythia finally looked down from the ceiling, her hands dropping slightly.

Her eyes were aflame with anger, no longer faded. She carefully relit one of her incense dishes that had gone out before they arrived, gently waving the smoke around the room. It was a deep scent, the way the dirt smells after a fresh rain.

In hopes of keeping her composure, she gently clasped her hands in front of her, but her tight jaw made it clear she knew what Alexios referred to. She glanced at the two priests off to the side, and they deeply nodded, "I'm afraid the Pythia is no longer taking visitors."

"You still have to answer my question!" Alexios insisted, the two priests herding the three out the door.

The Pythia didn't move, carefully plucking Alvar's pin out the dish once again, observing it in the light as the doors began to close.

"Where do your loyalties lie, Pythia?!" Alexios roared through the crack of the door right as it closed.

The three of them were once again in the silent hallway outside the marble doors, the smell of incense and flowers now closed off.

"Damn it." Alexios cursed.

"What the hell were you talking about?!" Mansi hissed. Alexios opened his mouth, but the stomping of Esposita boots made him curse again.

"We gotta move. Now."

The three of them sprinted out of the hallway right before the Esposita guards entered, skidding around corners and past patrols. They soon made it back out the entrance they originally came in, retracting their steps.

Alexios blew out a breath. He took a risk in there. He could only hope it would pay off.

"In a forest rather than a quarry..." Alvar stopped a bit, glancing to the temples outside of the Gardens of Kassandra.

He put it together, and it seems so did Mansi, "You were baiting her." She breathed. They were finally out of the Gardens and in the village of Kilmaloas, carefully navigating the back ally behind a restaurant.

Alexios straightened his cuirass underneath his robes, wishing he wore more to keep out the cool weather of autumn.

"I knew that we wouldn't find what was in Uncle Allesandro's note, it was far too vague, we would've been searching forever. So, I decided on a different tactic. I wanted to see if the Pythia knew what we were talking about. Or if she at something to hide." Alexios shrugged, "She clearly did."

"A forest, not a quarry. You were talking about the wooden temples of the Gardens compared to the normal ones. With dirty gold keeping it afloat," Alvar looked over his shoulder, "You were talking about the Esposita. The Esposita that are hiding whatever is beneath Adonis's Isle."

Mansi chuckled a bit, "And a saint sitting on a throne of snakes, spitting poison. You were practically insulting her right then and there!"

The two of them waited for a moment as a patrol strolled through the back alley before continuing, "I needed her to know the gravity of what she was doing, and that we knew she wasn't getting away with it. An oracle's words hold massive amounts of power. Enough power to say, bring down empires? I wanted to see her reaction, to hook her in. But I wasn't exactly planning on her throwing us out."

Mansi and Alvar were quiet. So quiet that he couldn't hear their footsteps. "Guys?" Alexios spun on his heel, staring at the empty alley behind him. They were nowhere in sight. Alexios's blades shot out from his wrists, his gauntlets steady as he held his position.

"Mansi? Alvar?" He called again. Nothing.

The village crowds were loud and bustling, no screaming or sign of a problem, but Alvar and Mansi were trained warriors. They wouldn't be taken without a fight.

An ache grew in his head. Shit, he hasn't eaten or drunk anything. This couldn't be poison, could it?

The ache grew more and more, the Morretti struggled to remain on his feet. His hidden blades were shaky as his hands grew clammy and fidgety. Alexios could barely keep still.

A hand clamped over his mouth, his hood slipping down as he too slipped into unconsciousness.

"You're coming with us." One of the guards snarled, pulling their pistol out of his holster. There were too many for even Maha to mesmer away, and they were all cornering Amalia.

But she wasn't getting up.

She held the ledger in her hands, gripping it so tight the leather cover scratched underneath her fingernails.

"You hear me, I said you're coming with us-" The guard made the mistake of grabbing her shoulder. Amalia spun, grabbing his hand and slamming him into the desk. The other guards scrambled back, grabbing their weapons. Amalia's shoulders moved with her shuddering breaths. When she looked over her shoulder, her eyes were alight with blue lightning.

"Get out of my way." She snarled.

The guards were so in shock that they didn't protest. They watched her walk out the door to where Maha was waiting on the parapet, fear apparent in their paling faces. The blue fire in her eyes didn't let up, even against the red sirens of the factory below.

"I sabotaged what I could, stealing plans and such, but I was seen," Maha gasped as Amalia grabbed her wrist, stomping back to the exit of the candy factory above. Whatever she found in that ledger, it was enough to royally piss her off.

She snarled a the sight of men clamoring to protect the exit.

"You can't leave-" Amalia slammed the ledger into Maha's arms, her hand gripped around a bolted titanium table.

"Get back to the ship. I'll meet you there." Maha wasn't about to make her angrier than she already was, so she sprinted out of the room. Maha watched through the glass windows as Amalia ripped the bolted table out of the ground, ramming it into the guard of panicking soldiers.

Maha skidded around a corner, desperately scanning for some form of an exit. A small maintenance door was behind some cages, clearly not in use anymore. Tapping into the godly pool of power, the same one she suspected Amalia was tapped into, she pulled the cages away from the door, forcing the door open. Maha panted as she sprinted out of the factory, quickly scrambling onto the rooftops to cut time in half. The ledger was heavy, the tattered leather cover making her arms itchy as she held it for dear life.

Amalia wasn't much for brute force; that was more Alexios's style. But when she was angry, her powers can get out of control. Maha thought that with Kynareth's hold over her powers, it may not be as bad. She was clearly wrong.

Maha finally arrived a the docks, where their crew snapped to attention.

"Get ready to leave port!" Maha threw the book and stolen papers on board, waiting as their crew readied to leave. Maha scanned

The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the docks, followed by Amalia sprinting across the rooftops. She flipped over chimneys and slid under conditioning units.

Her hood had fallen, her red hair tumbling out with a couple pieces stuffed into her cowl.

"Go, go, go!" Amalia roared over the screams and gunshots.

"Raise sail!" Zao announced to the crew. The boat began to pull out of the docks. Amalia's feet pounded as she sprinted to meet it, dodging the bullets and harsh words of their enemies behind her.

Amalia propelled herself higher on barrels and crated at the edge of the dock, jumping and rolling onto the desk of their ship with ease.

The blue light in her eyes simmered away, Amalia panting.

"Oh gods." She panted, Maha at her side right away.

"You shouldn't have strained yourself like that. What happened?" Maha asked.

"I-I don't know, I lost control." Amalia gripped the railing tighter, her veins slowly shifting back from their bright blue. She was leaving scorch marks on the wood. But her eyes were heavy with anger.

They were supposed to sabotage the factory to the point of no return, and they barely made a mark in it. They failed their contract.

"This ship is faster than anything they have, we can outrun them." Zao said.

"No, no! You weren't there during the original attack, they have those sea demons!" One of the sailors piped up.

"They're right," Amalia grimaced as she held pressure to her ribs. She must have been grazed by the bullets, "Those Nilfa near the back? The ones in the tanks? Those have to be the ones that attacked the pirates originally."

Maha eased Amalia down onto the barrels, carefully peeling away her chest piece and lifting up her shirt. It wasn't a bullet wound but a bite mark spattered with blue blood. Maha gagged when she first saw it, the smell overwhelming.

"One of them got me. Bit me even through my armor." Amalia panted. Zao leaned down as well, taking the blue blood on the tips of his fingers and bringing it to his nose, taking an apprehensive sniff. He, too, smelt the heavy metallic smell, worse than normal blood.

"Uh, Assassins? We have company!" The sailor pointed to the mouth of the harbor, where dark figures circled and swam beneath the surface of the water. Zao still kneeled in front of Amalia, keeping pressure on the wound as her red blood mixed with the blue of the Nilfa.

The iron of the Nilfa blood made Maha double take.

"I wonder..." Maha went to the front of the ship, gripping the railing as she counted the figures. There were four of them she could count but bound to be more further beneath the surface. If the metallic content in their blood was higher, she might be able to pull it off.

"All hands at stations, keep your weapons pointed but don't fire until I say so!" Maha strode back to Amalia, who struggled to remain upright.

"What are you doing?" She asked as Maha tried to lead her below deck.

"You're injured, we can't risk you getting snatched away from us."

"Like hell I'm leaving you up here alone, how can I help?" Amalia insisted.

"Not happening Amalia-"

"I'm not leaving, Maha. How. Can. I. Help?"

Maha bit her lip. Her powers were still finicky. She would be too weak to hold her weapons.

"How is your telepathy?" Maha asked.

"It is coming back stronger each day, but nothing like it used to be."

"See if you can track where they are beneath us. Give us warnings."

Amalia nodded, "Help keep me steady, Zao. Steady and awake."

Zao led Amalia away from the sides of the ship as Maha took the hull, raising her hands.

"Do not shoot to kill, shoot to injure! Amalia will tell you where and when they attack!" Her pulse pounded in her ears, her slender and soft hands not fitting the power they wield. Amalia thought Maha bent and wielded earth, but it wasn't the earth itself but what resided in it.

"One is approaching straight on, Maha! Point your weapons, and..." Amalia waited, everyone ready for her command, "Fire!"

Right on her cue, a sleek javelin launched from the hull of the ship, hitting the mass of scales and gray that launched out. It screeched as it grazed their stomach. Maha smelt the tang of their metallic blood as they fell back into the ocean.

"Two more approaching from the right starboard side! Ready... fire!" On Amalia's command, two sailors launched their javelins once again at the Nilfa, the roar as they hit their hip and shoulder respectively.

"How many more Amalia?" Maha called.

"One more that I can," Amalia groaned as the taint continued through her, clenching her teeth in pain, "One more that I can see- Maha, why aren't we attacking to kill?"

"Just trust me!"

Amalia panted as she sensed for the final Nilfa, limp in Zao's arms.

"Behind us!"

The final sailor, the same one that was heckling the two of them when they first stepped on the deck, spun on his heel and threw the javelin. And struck it right into the soft spot of the final Nilfa's elbow. It screeched as it smacked against the back of the ship, clawing in hopes of staying on as he fell back into the water.

"Everyone, gather near the mast! Get away from the sides!" It was finally Maha's turn. With their blood exposed, she could not only smell it but hear it. Feel it as if it flowed through her own veins. They were directly underneath the ship, waiting to pounce again. Their small crew gathered as closely around the mast as they could and waited. So did Maha.

Technically, she had no idea this would work.

Though she knew they were coming, Maha still flinched when the four Nilfa sprung from the water. She didn't know what they were merged with, some sort of sea type Mirthless they hadn't encountered. They were at least eight feet long, slime and black scales adorning their body. The others were so white, their bodies were partially translucent, long webs and tails twirling around them as they bared massive teeth. 

Maha's hands launched out, her senses flying with them. She felt every cell in her body lurch for the metal in their blood, the blood seeping out of the wounds their men had made. And with every bit of herself, she pulled her fists back. The metal she tugged on felt sharp and pricked her skin and eyes, made her a chill slither down her spine.

The Nilfa went quiet as the metallic blood swarmed out of their bodies, all of them slamming against the ship. Not even a scream out of them. The blood remained in a blob hovering above the deck, Maha holding it carefully.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!" One of their sailors barked.

Maha didn't answer, instead taking a step back before launching the blob of blood back into the ocean. Maha's hands shook, disbelief finally waning in. She turned on her heel, staring back at their crew.

Amalia was the most shocked. The color had bleached out of her tan face, her pupils were small, and her jaw hung wide open.

Maha squared her shoulders, clearing her throat, "We are still in danger when we are in the bay. Let's move!" The sailors didn't even hesitate scrambling back to their stations, scared Maha would pull the blood out of them too. Amalia was still frozen in Zao's arms.

"A-Amalia, I-"

"You juiced them like oranges!" Amalia stumbled out in disbelief, finally looking away from Maha to where the Nilfa were last seen.

Maha swallowed, "You thought I control earth, but I-"

Zao's face was one of carefully guarded curiosity, "You targeted the higher metallic content in their blood."

Amalia snapped back to Maha, her eyes sharp, "You control metal, not earth. You- Byzanthar gave-"

"Byzanthar?" Zao asked, struggling to keep Amalia upright, "What does a god have to do with this."

Amalia was stuttering and not in top shape; she let Byzanthar's name slip. Maha took her comrade from Zao, "I'm going to heal her up. Leave us be."

The crew silently watched Maha take Amalia below deck, struggling to walk with her weight. She grabbed the railing and hobbled to their quarters, peeking over the side of the ship to the water below.

Eyes stared back at her—the same black pits of the Nilfa. Maha nearly screamed, but the Nilfa didn't pounce.

Maha was used to the rule that if you suck all of the blood out of someone, they normally die. Mirthless or not.

The Nilfa merely cocked her head before slinking back into the water below.

Soooo, I lied last chapter. I thought we could fit Dom and Hathem's little venture and what it actually was in this chapter, but it just didn't fit. It will be in the next, however!

Maha is the AAD equivalent of a metal bender! I'm gonna explain it since I didn't do a very good job in this chapter. When Maha lifted and threw the massive rocks from the ground during the Conference, Sophie thought she could control earth. But Maha actually controlled the metal inside the rock itself, not the earth. Maha did the same thing here when pulling all of the incredibly metallic Mirthless blood out of the Nilfa. We'll see more of this in the rest of the books!

Please remember to not only vote, comment, share, and follow, but also take my survey! It's really cool!

_Sibylline_

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