Team Love Burns

The sound of breaking glass followed by a flurry of footsteps confirmed that the Shadow Queen was on the run. Sela smirked as she fanned herself with one of her battle fans. The smell of the acid eating through the parquet tiles made her wrinkle her nose slightly. She could almost imagine the fear burning through Kiara. Nothing is scarier to a paranoid Asylum than a clumsy poisoning attempt. 

“Well done, love. Now all we have to do is corner her,” she purred languidly. 

Richard paused only for a fraction of a second and grunted. He wasn’t keen for their mark to escape. There was no telling where she may go. The last thing they wanted was to have her trapped in a place filled with shadows. He adjusted his spectacles and loaded Puppy. He placed in 5 silver bullets and left the last slot empty. 5 was the number for completion. He did not intend to waste more than that on such a weak target. Her partner would have been more challenging. Hopefully they will bump into Maeve soon.

“I suggest we go after that bitch before she decides to get too smart for her own good.” 

“After you hon,” Sela replied seductively. 

She watched as he retreated down the corridor after the lady with the black cape. She closed her eyes and visualized the layout of the map. There was another corridor running parallel to this one. Both corridors were connected by shorter hallways that ran perpendicular to them. Theoretically speaking Kiara should have fled towards the one in the middle. Poor thing won’t even suspect she was going to be ambushed. Sela turned invisible as she crept out of the cafeteria moments before a young petite Asian girl in a blue boho blouse entered. She recognized Seira, or XCI, immediately. 

Sadly Kiara from Bean Sidhes was their priority target, or she would have killed the child on the spot. Her crimson lips curved into a sadistic smile as she noticed a younger female Asylum following the Japanese girl. She hoped the girl won’t land up mangled by her red eyed assassin. Nothing would be more beautiful than seeing that beautiful fair corpse lying in a pool of red. The irony of a medic in training dying on the battlefield. 

“Looks like there is another team in the bunker. Watch out for the partner,” she informed her husband telepathically. 

“Tsk, we need to focus on our priority target,” he reminded her. “Remember to be careful, love. She is quite a mean sniper. We need you to ambush her as planned. She will be useless at close quarters with no shadows to aid her.

Rich fell silent as he fired his second shot. Kiara returned the gesture. A loud cracking sound followed her last shot. Rich slumped against the wall as strands of frizzy brown hair fell all over his face. The remains of a colorful glass bead lay on the ground where his head was moments ago. 

“I’m fine, darling. That motherfucking bitch is pissing me off. Never mess with a man’s cornrows. Get your ass over there pronto. I have but 3 shots left. I want to pump all of them into her… what the fuck!” 

The telepathic connection was cut once more. Sela can’t help gloating. She warned Rich before the start of the mission not to underestimate the sentient shadow. Her beloved can be stupidly stubborn at times. She best be on her guard as well. As long as there is a shadow in the vicinity the shadow banshee will have the upper hand. She kept moving towards the dueling pair. Even at such a distance she could identify the smell of her husband’s unique gunpowder concoction. The smell of burnt coconut was very whimsical. 

Shadowy tendrils wrapped around Rich’s arms and legs. Soon he was spread-out on the floor with his face on the ground. He felt his anger boiling over because he hated it that Sela was right. The oversight tipped the scales in the Kiara’s favor. Still she shouldn’t be gloating so soon. He had an ace up his sleeve. He lay still and began humming. It was barely audible at first, but soon it was loud enough to attract the Shadow Queen’s attention. He closed his eyes and sang the lines from the song Light the Fire Within. It seemed apt for his current predicament. 

“Have no fear when darkness falls because there's a light that shines!” 

A blinding white light exploded within the vicinity. Rich hit the ground as the shadowy tendrils released him. He blinked as small dots swam around his vision. He was secretly glad that he didn’t blind himself accidentally. Light manipulation was never his strong suit. He could have sworn he heard Kiara yell in pain. Stupid bitch. Never underestimate a Vocem specialist. 

Sela barely had time to shield her eyes. She suspected what Rich was about to do when she heard him hum a familiar tune. Her reaction prevented her from being blinded by the burst of light. She noticed that Kiara wasn’t so fortunate. She took out her fans and swept forward in a whirling fluid dance like motion.

Kiara ducked at the last moment. She escaped with only a shallow cut on her right cheek. The Shadow Queen attempted to trip Sela, but the Dancing Queen was too fast. The senora deftly jumped over the leg as it swept past her. The next move completely caught Sela by surprise. Kiara removed the black hooded cape and tossed it in the air. Sela watched as the cape floated above. She saw the shadow forming beneath her. Instinctively she wanted to slash it in half to dispel the shadow. She was about to leap up when a supersonic scream caught her by surprise. It sent her sent flying back across the hall. Sela doubled over as she tried to catch her breath. 

“I scath a chéile a mhaireann na daoine!" Kiara yelled.

A huge black pillar rose from the ground blocking off the rest of the hallway. Sela could hear Kiara retreating. She frowned. This was taking longer than expected. She grudgingly admitted that the Shadow Queen was a formidable opponent indeed. She heard Rich pull up beside her. He punched the wall in his frustration. 

"Bitch you ain't getting away!” Richard roared. 

“She won’t,” Sela reassured him. “This corridor only leads to the storeroom. We managed to corner her.” 

Rich gave her an incredulous look. “How are we gonna …” 

Both husband and wife stared as the wall disappeared. They exchanged worried looks. That did not bode well at all. Kiara was probably buying time to prepare a sigil. They better find her in this poorly lit corridor before time runs out. 

"Check the rooms!" He ordered as he moved along the corridor towards the door at the end of it.

"On it." 

Sela checked the two rooms off the corridor the one on the right was a bathroom and it was empty although it smelled as if it had not been cleaned in days. The left door lead to an office which looked ransacked but was empty. 

Richard dashed towards the storeroom at the end. The door was left ajar. He kicked it down and spotted his quarry who was busy working on a Sigillum. He whipped up Puppy and aimed for her shoulder. She yelled in pain as she fell backwards. Undeterred she scrambled back up and lay her hands on the finished sigil. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw his lady pull up beside him.

“Sel, her palms are sweaty,” he whispered. 

Sela chanted softly as her eyes remained fix on the glowing sigilum in front of them. She had to concentrate on changing the sweat into acid. One by one the lines were starting to glow. Rich picked up the sour scent exuded by the acid and began chanting in sync with Sela. The glow faded as Kiara recoiled in pain. She clutched her right. Angry boils were forming along the skin. Pus and blood were oozing from the few that burst. 

Richard crossed over to their incapacitate target and pressed the barrel of his gun to Kiara’s head. He smirked as she looked at him fearfully. He savored the moment. He had been itching to do this all night. 

"Nothing personal, just following our orders,” he drawled as he emptied the remaining rounds into her head.

"Target eliminated, let’s go. There are at least 5 other teams besides the Chrono’s,” Sela said.

Rich drew out a couple of anti-Alchemic bullets. This time he loaded six into the barrel. They probably made enough noise to alert the rest of the Asylums. Good thing they managed to clear the civilians before they started. The less victims there are in the area the better. A loud crash echoed from somewhere in the bunker. It was hard to guess where it came from because it was so muffled. Sela shook her head and muttered something about idiots.