Assassins

The moment we stepped out of the building, a loud bang resounded through the streets, shattering the glass in the vicinity.

Both Atlas and Violet covered their ears in pain.

I instantly cast a mana shield upon them and attacked the source of the sound.

A rain of white ice pierced through the roof of the building and instantly found flesh.

Two pained grunts sounded as the shadows in the area started to writhe.

"Observe, children." I said gravely. "We have at least two enemies after our lives."

"I want to help!" Atlas yelled as I began casting spells.

"Atlas, no!" I screamed.

The next spell from the assassins targeted Atlas.

A spear of shade erupted from his shadow, and would have peirced through his heart had I not pushed him.

Hearing his pained scream as the shadow speared through his shoulder and Violet's shout of fear, I felt my rationality shatter like glass.

Wings sprouted from my back as I transformed, shedding any semblance of civility.

My eyes darkened into pitch black pools, my canines elongated past my lips, and my nails grew into wickedly sharp weapons.

The shadows around me writhed as if in pain while the shadows cast by the sun suddenly grew longer.

I spread my wings like a predatory bird and launched myself towards the shadow magician.

Without any time to react, I pierced my hand through his stomach and held him by the spine.

Next to him, the other magician blasted me with a deafening sound wave.

Shrugging off the damage, I speared him through the neck and left him to die.

Both of the attacker's Foci clattered to the ground similtanously.

"Thou, oh foolish one, are going to pay for thy actions." I spat through clenched teeth venemously.

Binding him with ice and shadow and damaging his mana veins, I turned and rushed to Atlas's aid.

"Will he be okay?" Violet asked with tears in her eyes.

"He will recover." I patted her head while I cast healing magic upon him. "He just needs rest."

Gathering him up in my arms and holding Violet's hand, we melted through the shadows and arrived in the mansion.

Seventh arrived in record time, picking up Atlas and bringing him to the infirmary while I comforted Violet.

"Mommy why do you still have wings?" She asked after she had calmed down.

I realized I had not returned to my humanoid form after defeating the attackers.

Returning to my normal state, I explained the transformation that vampires could undergo.

"What are you going to do with the man you left alive?" Violet asked as I began to meld into shadow. "Will he be alright?"

I knelt next to her. "Sometimes one must take drastic measures after their lives or the lives of those they love are threatened."

"But what about their loved ones?" Violet pressed on. "Won't they be sad?"

I struggled to formulate a comforting response to her question.

"What about their friends?" She continued. "Would they be sad too?"

"Some people need to be removed even if it makes other people sad." I responded carefully.

"Why?" Violet asked. "Can't everyone be happy?"

"As long as there is evil, there will be sadness." I said. "Some people might make some people sad when they're gone, but the people made happy will outnumber those who are sad."

"I understand." Violet smiled at me. "I hope you can make more people happy!"

I melted through the shadow and arrived in the street I had left my little captive.

The streets were entirely empty, the shattered windows of shopfronts and restaurants revealed their empty interiors.

I briskly walked to my struggling captive laid flat upon the cobblestones.

The crunch my shoes made upon the glass shards finely dusting the street immediately alerted him, causing him to desperately seek to free himself from his bonds.

Grabbing him by the neck and lifting him like a chicken for slaughter, I balled a fist and viciously struck his temple, sending his consciousness into sweet oblivion.

I returned to the mansion with the captive assassin in tow, storming through the hallways and stairwells until I reached my destination.

I undid his shackles and threw the assassin onto an altar centered in the room.

Decorated with silver swirling patterns, it starkly contrasted the unadorned concrete walls and floor of the tiny basement room.

Small white tendrils of pale grey light began to seep from the patterning, slowly attaching to the man laid haphazardly on the altar.

The gruesome wound on the assassin's stomach closed rapidly as the tendrils encapsulated him like a cocoon.

Once he was fully healed, the tendrils receded until they only held him like a trussed chicken.

Slapping his face roughly, I gave him a rather rude awakening.

"May I do this task, my lady?" Seventh's deep voice sounded from behind the solid metal door behind me. "I belive him to be a hero."

"That's right!" The would-be assassin exclaimed. "I'm a hero! So don't think you'll get away with hurting me!"

"A hero doesn't target children!" I spat.

"You're lucky you're alive." Seventh remarked.

"And unlucky you chose the wrong people to fuck with." First's voice echoed off the walls as she walked in the room.

"You're human!" The man exclaimed. "Why do you side with the vampire? You should be saving the hero!"

"A real hero wouldn't attack a child." Seventh retorted.

"I pity you. I really do." First said, not sounding like she pitied them at all.

"Now, then." I clapped my hands and stepped away. "Please begin."

The so-called hero's face soon contorted as he screamed in pain.

First, force-feeding him draughts or patting poultices onto wounds opened by Seventh, began grinning like a madwoman, thrilled at his reactions.

"Let me know when he finally breaks." I said to Seventh before I completely left the task in their hands.

"Understood." Seventh nodded seriously.

I turned and left, leisurely walking through the cool concrete halls as the assassin's screams echoed off the walls.