Licking Lead

Virgil helps me to my feet by ripping the blade from my heart after confirming I'll be alright with it extracted. Then, the instant I'm standing again, I wrap my arms around him. Somewhere, deep down, I was worried he was gone forever.

"Relax, Wyatt. You knew I was coming back. I just had a few things to do first."

I smile and nod at him as I relinquish the hug. But as I step back, Virgil glances down, only to curse at the blood all over his dark fabric. The sight gives me a good chuckle.

"Dammit. Red makes it harder to blend in. Anyway, I've been hauling after you guys as fast as I could, picking up trails here or there of where you went. It took me almost a full week to get here from Kingstown after I, uh... paid a healer for my leg. I saw some... nasty stuff on the way."

Bobbing my head to his words, I understand what he means. He must have seen all that Maddox and his men were doing, or at least the aftermath. I open my mouth to tell him about what's happened and to look for the Arca the man had, but a twisting shadow to my right draws my attention. I shift and stare at it, still inhaling heavily from the fight. The shadow, however, vanishes the moment I catch notice of it.

It seemed familiar...

Hmm...

I couldn't even see the chains due to the smoke. Or... maybe they were simply hidden. I could see Virgils from even further away.

My friend notices my odd composure and places a hand on his scythe, facing the direction I am.

"Something out there?"

Squinting, I can't find anything—wait! There it is again, only this time it is on my left. I shake my hand for silence, the signal Virgil taught me, and he nods in comprehension. Then, together, we creep forward, following the shadow.

The smoke, however, is dense, so obscuring that the shadow is near impossible to follow. Only via Virgil's training can we keep up, following the footprints in the ground that are hardly even there. It must be a man. Not too tall or large, either.

Seconds tick into a full minute before we emerge from the dust, but I stop myself from exiting it entirely. Instead, I peek out with only a single eye as I find the shadow's form not just to be familiar but rather known.

Tyler Shaw. He was with Aniwye, right?

The last Shaw is what she called him, a semblance of respect she holds for very few. I know the family is noteworthy, but what does it really matter to be an Estate if there is only one of you? Regardless, she did say that she freed him, and from what I've learned from Elizabeth and the others, the other Estates seem to despise the Shaws.

Still, I've learned my lesson of being overconfident. Holding Virgil behind me, I watch Tyler Shaw, the thin and lanky man with a surprisingly fit frame, step out into an open field surrounded by hedges. I don't let anything but the tip of my pupil stick through the smoke. It must be formed from some kind of skill. And based on the hedges, we've gone in the opposite direction from the mansion.

As Tyler peers up at the open moonful sky above, another figure appears. This one, I also know.

Billy Grimes, cradling his rifle, steps out of the fog from the other side of the smoke. Spitting out something from his mouth, he stares at Tyler.

"Quite bold of you to come here, Shaw."

I observe the interaction with Virgil as Tyler's feet grind into the stone below. I can see the boiling rage within the man as he opposes Billy. He must be insane. A mere 6th Sigiled against Billy Grimes? He almost fucking killed me!

Nevertheless, Tyler Shaw is fearless.

"You killed my father, Billy. But... I am not here for revenge. It is past me. I've come to terms with my livelihood. Someone stole the things left behind by my ancestor. I am here to take them back. And then, I am here to use them."

I bite my lip as I realize he's talking about the cube and the hourglass, things that Aniwye took. The latter was gifted to me.

The Falling Lead laughs aloud as he raises his weapon to face Tyler, the bullet primed with a deadly promise. I don't move or show any amount of action. I don't know this man. Not worth getting my ass kicked again. Though, with Virgil...

No. Priorities. I need to find Bonfire and my mother, then kill Eli.

"Uh-huh. And you think I have it? Or that Weiss does?"

Tyler Shaw, a man whom I've heard nearly nothing of other than from Aniwye, doesn't bat an eye at the barrel pointed at his brain.

"Perhaps. You have slowly eradicated my family in fear for our Powers. The shadows have come crawling back, Billy. It has been so long since they swooned that it appears you all have forgotten how needed we are. Perhaps you all thought the items would be enough."

Tyler's opponent scoffs and steps diagonally, not moving the sights of his rifle away from his prey. Billy seems to be indulging in Tyler for his own amusement. Meanwhile, I try to think of why they are so important. The Shaws... what makes him have such confidence?

"Why would we need those things? We have you, don't we?"

The conversation takes a weird turn that I don't fully comprehend as Tyler strides toward Billy, ignoring the threatening lead facing him.

"You do. That is why you cannot kill me. You all hold a little hope that should disaster strike, my family will pull you out of the dirt. 'It has happened once, why not again?' Such ideas are stupid. 'Graves are for the ground threats; the Shaws are for the darkness.' How comical."

The last Shaw places the barrel of Billy's gun against his head with a smile; as if utterly insane, he mocks the gunman.

"You cannot pull the trigger, can you? I am the Last Shaw. Remember that. Let me pass. I have business with the Prime."

With disbelief, I witness Billy curse and lower his weapon, deigning not to remove Tyler's head from his torso with a single shard of flying steel. Then, Tyler strides forward, entering the clouds on the other side of the Slumbering.

When the man leaves, however, it opens Billy's senses fully. I see his eyes dart all over. He must still feel a pair of eyes on him. He's so alert. What the hell?

I shift backward, moving finally after so long of sitting entirely still, but I make the slightest bit of noise as blood drips from my hands onto the ground.

A bullet immediately graces my presence, slamming into a spot where the blood hits the ground. So that's it! His vision is terrible, but his hearing is excellent!

I glance over at Virgil to discover the man is already gone. Knowing what he's doing, I dash forward toward Billy since he's found us anyway. Lifting my prosthetic over my head to protect my skull, I meet the man's bullets head-on.

I surge forward with Ether bursting through my flesh, determined to close the gap between me and the relentless gunman. More importantly, though, I am bait.

Still, in the back of my mind, a worry lies as my Ether saturation builds dangerously. For now, I ignore it, relying on Burdenless to pull me from any worst-case scenarios.

Instead, bullets fly with a ferocious speed, each shot a lethal contract reverberating in the air. Unlike Johnny, who uses pure skill to aim his weapon, Billy seems more devious.

I think he might be an Augur. Something just itches me toward that thought as I raise my prosthetic arm as an improvised shield, desperately attempting to fend off the onslaught. The metal clangs awfully and leaves me with stumbling echoes on each impact, my right arm taking a brutal beating.

But the moment Billy realizes that he won't get my brain, he switches his target.

Next, the gunfire tears through my flesh, and I feel the searing pain of each bullet. My sides, shoulders, chest—no part of my body is spared from the relentless barrage. The prosthetic arm holds its ground, absorbing the punishing blows from stray bullets seeking to take advantage of a possible falter.

Despite the wounds that Blodwyn rushes to regenerate from, capable of killing any man or Angel I know, I form a smile. Earl's inventions can keep up. I knew it.

I knew it. He wouldn't be left behind. He'd catch up in his own way. I just wish he could also catch up with his Sigils. Perhaps when the right God dies, he will.

As I near the gunman, inching through the storm of lead, precisely what I've been waiting for occurs. A scythe practically materializes out of thin air by the gunman's side, the gleaming blade lunging toward his neck with deadly precision. Time slows for a heartbeat as I watch the steel edge toward Billy's throat.

But the man isn't aged for no reason. Despite the impossible speed of the scythe, Billy flips his rifle over to meet the blade. The old, worn rifle clashes with Virgil's scythe as they become equals, both of the two unmoving.

Yet, Virgil's scythe is unmanned, and a dagger zooms for the base of Billy's brain behind his skull directly from the shadows. Before I can even close the miniature gap that remains, Billy pulls the trigger of his rifle while aiming it slightly behind him. Another knife sinks for Billy's neck, too, yet the marksman spits at the metal. The projectile holds just as much power as the bullet.

Steel rebounds off steel as he lands the bullet against Virgil's dagger and spits against the other, sending the man reeling. Still, a final card lies within my friends' arsenal as a shadowy spear gores the old Angel through the stomach.

Billy's eyes broaden in surprise as the spear is formed straight out of the man's own shadow from the moon. I didn't know Virgil could do that!

The spear then rips its way out, bringing vital organs with it, but it doesn't manage to retrieve the heart or lungs. The other organs in an Angel's body will only lead to a slow death, not an instant one.

All the while, I'm still barreling toward the man, and he retreats in pain as Virgil and I both press him from two different directions. Billy fires with seeming discordance, only for the rounds to make Virgil and I get in each other's way from dodging.

Did he miss on purpose? Or enough for us to dodge? Odd.

I deflect another bullet with my right arm, staggering in the act, as I send Living Manacles after the man. Still, he dodges and darts away, just agile enough not to die. The Grimes moves as if he knows exactly where my chains will go. Only Virgil is able to get beyond that, likely from his Mask, and his tendrils of night stab right for the man again. At the same time, I reach for Lily. This is getting old. This man will be a recurring threat if we don't deal with him now.

Before the darkness reaches him, though, another figure rushes from the cloud of lingering dust, bloodied but Angelic in nature. It's an old woman with flesh as dark as the Onyx stone of this city.

She grabs onto Virgil's spear of night and crushes it with her bare hands, shouting at the man behind her.

"Billy! We don't have time for this!"

Billy Grimes sputters out some blood as he replies to her with a curse.

"I know, Keely! Not everyone is just willing to die! Dumbass!"

Virgil and I share a glance as the blood in my body stabilizes, Blodwyn sending me a warning that he's getting tired. I wipe my face from the crimson liquid on it and sidestep to my friend.

"You need to know when to retreat! I always tell you that you are too obstinate!"

"Fine! Where is the hole?"

What hole? I hold back from attacking as a second has joined. This Keely seems wounded, but she did just snap Virgil's Ether like it was a string. Plus, Virgil's best when he doesn't have to face someone head-on.

I listen carefully to their conversation as Keely stares back at us, wanting to know what they are talking about.

"We settle this another time, Graves. Weiss is more important for now. It's in front of the mansion, Billy. It's what came from the explosion. Reeks of death, so it must be it."

I blurt out a question as they slowly slide away, Billy bleeding terribly all the while. He'll have to either find someone capable of healing his wounds, or he'll be out of any severe fights for a while. The Grimes didn't seem to possess regenerative capabilities like Virgil or I.

"Death? What are you two talking about? Tell me, and we won't press Billy shooting at us. Though, the grudge from earlier isn't done yet, Billy."

The Falling Lead greets my words with a grimace, still holding his guts inside his body as Keely responds for the two of them. She pushes him away from us into the fog before vanishing entirely into it.

"Eli laid a trap. Seemed to work. It also blew up a bottomless hole. I'm not definitively sure it is what I think it is, though. Again, has the stench of Death. See you there."

The two fade into the smoke as the gears turn in my head. Hole. Death.

Aniwye said there was a Gate Of Death here in Onyx Gate somewhere, but the entrance to the Underworld has to be profoundly deep into the earth. So, it could only be at the bottom of the hole.

I let Virgil know my thoughts as he bandages up the slight injuries he got from the fight, mainly scrapes from stray shrapnel. Billy's bullets pack a hell of a punch, after all. Virgil returns his ideas as well.

"Sounds like you might be right. You think Aniwye will be there?"

I nod, certain. She will be there. How she will be there is the only question. My mother might be hiding within the dreams of a creature or entering on her own. Hmm... I'll have to wait and see.

"For sure. Should we follow those two?"

Virgil twists his head in thought before nodding. He points to the slight demarcations in the stone beneath us.

"Yeah, probably best. This fog isn't going away anytime soon. We'll have to find Bonfire soon, too. I bet Tomas is on his way as well."

I follow the man's lead as he dives into the fog, watching the trail and guiding me this time. As I traverse the dense, impenetrable fog with Virgil, each step feels like a venture into the unknown. Before, I was surprised and shaken, but it is incredible how much this veils my senses.

Even Temper and Echo hardly do anything. The realization cements my thoughts about Billy's Sigil—definitely an Augur. Still, my senses are on high alert, attuned to the faint traces left by those who trod this path before me. If whatever went behind is born from a Power, then Eli must have made it within his laboratory or something.

Careful not to provoke Billy and Keely any further, as we don't want to fight them as of right now, Virgil and I maintain a cautious distance from the lingering tracks. Yet, we can't let them get too far ahead, or we might miss out on something important. So, instead, we choose to navigate the balance between pursuit and self-preservation.

Abruptly, the oppressive fog yields a thin veil, revealing a precarious edge. I step onto the fragile precipice, greeted by an unsettling sight—an abyss that defies comprehension. The chasm, a void of complete darkness, gapes before me, seemingly devoid of any bottom.

I nearly fall into it, but a firm hand yanks me back onto the ledge that is hardly two feet in width from the fog. As I stabilize, I nearly gag from the hole's smell. It is like death.

A putrid stench, reminiscent of decayed flesh, and what I can only imagine is the rotting lasting for the passage of eons, wafts from the vast emptiness below.

Nevertheless, I can't focus on it for too long. My attention is drawn to the figures that line the perimeter of the hole. I find Keely and Billy on another side, entering the dust again.

But just as before, figures meet in a circular manner. Only, there are less of us now.

Maddox, this time without his two men. A slight smile stretches onto my face as I know Virgil is the reason one of them is missing.

Timemi, without either of her three in her Quartet. I can only hope they are all dead, but I know better. They must have just been separated like I was from Bonfire.

Lennon also emerges, the most unfazed by the whole circumstance. He arrived alone earlier, and as usual, he is still alone.

I meet their fleeting gazes before a man with a cane comes from the opposite side of the hole from me.

Eli Weiss arises from the hole as he claps haphazardly, still holding onto his cane during the act. And as if he were a jester, he bows to us all.

"Welcome. You five are the first to dock. Come. Join me in the abyss, if you will."

Things are a little different this time, however, as Lennon is obviously tired of the old man's shit. The Bladeless Monster bolts across the hole, leaping the grand length with a silent grunt aimed directly at Eli Weiss. He moves with such speed that I only see his initial location and final landing.

But when he crashes into Weiss' position, the old man is already gone, falling into the abyss with open arms. Lennon twists with anger and stares down at the Underground Tree before the Prime earns his title, entering the depths of the ground.

Awkward silence reigns for several moments before Maddox sparks up first.

"Well, I suppose we better join him, huh? Who would like to go first? Lennon? Wyatt? Timemi?"

I share a subtle moment with the other two named as we all stare at Maddox Adkins, but the Sea's Shadow only grins at us all. His smile is so broad it would be impossible for anyone to replicate without splitting the flesh.

"Well, then, we'll just wait. Maybe Eli is on the run. At this rate, he'll escape without anyone getting what we want."