Chapter 34, Pit Viper 2

Anxiety welled in Trishas chest as she shifted on the cushioned bar stool. A middle-aged man in a blue silk doublet and brown pants descended the stairs. Trisha once again felt inadequate, as descending the stairs was a man that compared to Berg in physique and even had a similar jaw line. Trisha had to force her eyes not to linger on his handsome face and bright green eyes.

The mans appearance and the relaxed way he walked said he owned the place and everything in it. From the way he scanned the room, it was the same as a cat eyeing a room filled with mice. She had to force herself to remain calm as the man Victor saunter towards her, his stern gaze assessing her from head to toe.

His gaze did not linger on her hips or her low neckline, but darted to her boots and scanned her waist. Trisha swallowed, now glad she had given Greg her belt knife. She was sure with his skills Greg could sneak in one knife. Trisha rose to her feet, her movement far from graceful compared to the man in front of her.

" Good afternoon, sir, I am Trisha," said Trisha, nodding her head and smiling.

" I am Victor. What is your purpose in being here?" Asked Victor, his keen gaze staring as though he was trying to read her mind.

Trisha opened her mouth and tried not to stutter as she felt something press on her mind.

" I would like to work for your fine establishment as a dancer." Replied Trisha, flushing and trying not to squirm at the thought.

" And what about entertaining guests in a more private manner?" Asked Victor, a smile gracing his lips.

" For now, I would just like to dance. If I change my mind about private entertaining, I will let you know." Replied Trisha smiling. Trisha glanced down at her cleavage, making sure the amulet the bishop had given her was hidden to everyone but her. After all, no one besides her would get close enough to look down at her top.

" You will work five days a week with Monday and Tuesday off. You will receive 60% of the pay you receive from tips while the rest goes to us."replied Victor.

Trisha nodded her head, forcing a smile at the idea. Even though it was a custom of soldiers, Trisha held out her arm in a Salut one would give on completion of a deal. Victor eyed her salute with disdain. Sneering, Victor leaned in and pressed his strength against her own finishing the agreement.

At the same moment Victor touched her arm, she glanced down, catching a faint red flash. Trishas wanted to run or get distance with every fibre of her being, but forced herself to smile and meet Victor's stern gaze. Shit, well, she had found the demon. What would she do now?

Victor's gaze flicked down to her chest, flickering from calm to furious and back to calm. Trisha noticed this, but thought it was merely her imagination. Had he detected her use of the amulet? Trishas head swam, her vision slowly growing cloudy.

" If you are not busy, then would you come up to my office and sign the rune contract." Said Victor, smiling.

" Lead the way boss." replied Trisha, her thoughts fuzzy.

Glancing over her shoulder, she made eye contact for a moment with a cloaked figure looking their way. Trisha, feeling extremely nervous about this development, signaled for reinforcements. She followed Victor up the stairs in a haze.

She could feel the pressure on her mind increase as they climbed the stairs. Along the route she stagger leaning down. Just as Victor rounded the corner, she slipped her boot knife from its scabbard to her sleeve.

Trisha let the demon's influence remain as she followed her target. If she broke the demon's power, he would undoubtedly sense her channeling.

She rounded the corner and nearly ran into Victor as the man stopped in front of a locked door. Keys rattled, and the lock clicked as the door opened on well-oiled hinges. Trisha's mind kept drifting back to what the bishop had said. Her head throbbed, but she refused to let this monster control her. She would rather take her own life than have something so vile take over her body. She gripped the knife, its wooden handle a reassuring weight in her palm. The weight on her mind was a physical force that would have compelled a normal human. She channeled mana; the power pushing away the demon's attempts at control.

Just as Victor opened the door, and she was out of his line of site she struck.

Trisha lept forwards with quick light steps. She thrust her dagger for the base of the man's back, just under his ribs. Her weight slammed the straight knife into the man's back, but she felt resistant as just before her knife found its mark, Victor turned. Trishas knife scraped to the side, glancing off something hard. Trisha's momentum bowled over Victor, forcing them to both tumble into the office.

Victor yelled and rolled away from her, a growl ripping from his lips. Trisha head swam as she sensed the monster channel mana. She stagger backwards, gripping the side of her head. Panic filled her as victor strode across the room towards a sheathed sword on his desk. Shit! How had she missed? The pain in her head intensified as she tried to create a wind rune. Pain lanced through her as channeling her wind mana backlashes.

Trisha eyes blurry, she glared and having no other choice channeled her mind mana at full force. Mana burned through her veins and her blurry vision cleared, the pain in her head lessening. Trisha gripped her bloody dagger. But it was already too late.

" I hope you are ready to experience pain." said Victor drawing his sword from the scabbard on his desk. Trisha, being a reasonable individual, could only think of one action that didn't result in her death. Trisha turned to run, and hearing the clang of a brawl downstairs, rushed for the door.

" Hey! Get back here, I'm going to skin you alive." shouted Victor.

" Screw yourself." replied Trisha, winking at him.

Trisha rushed out the door and slammed the door behind her. Trisha after slamming the door behind her dodged to the side and crouched. Judging by Victor's anger, Trisha was sure he was going to rush from the door. Her hands shaking and channeling mind mana, Trisha blinked as the door slammed open and Victor rushed from the office. In the thrill of the moment, she timed her lunge. For the second time in what could have only been one minute, Trisha thrust her Boot knife in between Victor's ribs.

Victor gasped and metal clanked as his sword clanged to the wooden floorboard. Victor let out a scream that could only be counted as bestial, and his athletic frame collapsed, thrashing into an expanding pool of his own blood.

Remembering what the bishop had said regarding demons, Trisha quickly lept on the corpses back and drove her knife into the demon's neck. Trisha refused to give this monster a chance. The tales of heroes trying to convince the enemy back to the right path were sheer stupidity. Trisha knew that when someone was presented with no other choice, they would say anything to survive.

She could hear running, and wood breaking as glass shattered down stairs. Footsteps ascended the stairs, and she looked up just in time to see a distraught berg rounding the corner. Bergs face went from concern to terror and then to anger as he spotted Trisha kneeling bloody on Victor's back. Trisha held up her bloody boot knife, staring apologetically into Berg's eyes. The man glanced angrily from the knife to her and back again, his nostrils flaring and his fists clenching.

He was clearly not stupid enough to charge someone headlong when Trisha had a knife.

"What have you done?" shouted Berg, clearly distraught. Berg shuffled forwards, glancing from Victor's fallen sword to her.

" Dont do it Berg. I don't want to kill you, I only came here for Victor." said Trisha moving herself forwards to block Bergs chance of getting the weapon.

" Why would you do this?" asked Berg, clearly unconcerned about the fight going on downstairs.

" He is a monster. He runs the pit Viper's guild." Replied Trisha.

" It won't solve anything. You have only caused all of us a lot of trouble. Now there will be bloodshed to decide who will be the next guild master." said Berg scowling. Monitoring Berg, Trisha searched Victor's body. Finding nothing, she took off her own amulet, holding it in her hand as she ran her hand along Victor's cooling body until it glowed bright red.

" What are you doing?" asked Berg, confused.

" I am searching for something." said Trisha, already sick of all the pointless questions.

" For what?" asked Berg, still sounding shaken.

" Not too sure, I just know that the monster is here somewhere." said Trisha, pulling a silver and gold time piece from Bergs coat. Small runes and metal gears lines the piece with three hands pointing in different directions. Could it be? Trishas amulet shimmered red against the time piece. Sighing in relief, she stuffed the foul object into her pocket and turned towards a red faced Berg.

" You are part of the church?" asked Berg. Trisha paused. Berg still sounded upset, but much less so than before.

" Yes, of course, and you are welcome. Victor was actually a monster in disguise." said Trisha, unwilling to say he was a demon.

" No wonder he has been so cruel lately. He would dole out punishments at the slightest failure." said Berg shuddering.

"Yes, now will you move out of my way peacefully?" asked Trisha, wiping off her boot knife and pointing it towards a pale faced Berg.

" Yes, of course. I was just startled at first. Even with him dead, it won't change my life at all. We will simply get a new boss." said Berg, moving to the side.

" Dont you want revenge? Didn't you love Victor?" asked Trisha, not wanting to be surprised.

" Love? He was my boss, sure we shared a bed, but that was only because he pays my coin." said Berg scoffing.

Trisha pushed past Berg, staying weary of the man's toned arms. More furniture broke and people were screaming as Trisha rounding the corner, sighing in relief. Now that she was past Berg, all she needed to do was escape through the security guards with the demon's talisman.