Flight or Flight

The slums of Vael'Zyrenn were a graveyard of broken dreams, a labyrinth where the desperate clung to life by their fingertips. The narrow alleys, filled with filth and despair, twisted like veins through a diseased body, leading no where safe. Even the moonlight dared not illuminate these depth, swallowed by the towering buildings that leaned against each other like weary souls seeking solace.

Kaelen's breath came steady despite the urgency of their flight. His senses sharpened, his body moving on instinct honed by years of survival in the underbelly of the city. The ground beneath his worn boots was uneven, slick with residue of decay and neglect, but he moved as though it were solid stone.

"You didn't tell me where we're going," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. He didn't need to be loud, Rina was close enough to hear, their shoulders brushing as they wove through the crowd. The weight of unseen pursuers pressed down on them, an oppressive presence in the shifting darkness.

"Somewhere safe," Rina shot back, barely sparing him a glace. "And before you ask, no, I don't completely trust you yet."

Kaelen smirked despite himself. "Good. Trust gets people killed."

Rina pulled him into a tight alleyway, its entrance barely visible between two crumbling buildings. The passage was no wider than a coffin, forcing them to move single file through the darkened space. The walls reeked of mildew, the bricks damp from years of neglect. Rats skittering ahead, sensing their presence before vanishing in to unseen holes.

The came the sound that sent ice through Kaelen's veins, footsteps, heavy and deliberate. The enforcers were close. Too close.

He felt Rina stiffen in front of him. "They're tracking us faster than I expected," she murmured. "Vash must have sent his best."

Kaelen didn't reply. He didn't need to. A sharp whistle echoed from behind them, a signal. The hunter had found their prey.

Without hesitation, Rina grabbed his wrist. "Now we run!"

They bolted from the alley, emerging in to an open square filled with remnant of an old marketplace. The skeletal remains of wooden stalls stood in eerie silence, their wares long since looted or rotted away. Lanterns flickered dimly along the edges, their glow revealing a half circle of figures blocking the far exit.

Kaelen's muscles tensed. An ambush.

"Well," Rina murmured, her breath slightly ragged, "Seems like running away is no longer an option."

Kaelen's mind calculated the odds in an instant. Five men, armoured in light leather, each armed with crude but effective weaponry. No easy exits. They had planned this well.

From the centre of the half circle, a man stepped forward. His face was half hidden beneath a hood, but Kaelen recognised the insignia sewn in to his vest. Orin Vash's mark.

"You made a mistake interfering last night," the man said, his voice cold and sure. "The boss doesn't like loose ends."

Kaelen exhaled slowly. His fingers curled around the hilt of his dagger, the cool metal with a familiar comfort. His heart pounded, but not with fear rather, the anticipation of battle. He had been in situations like this before. The key was strike first.

Rina glanced at him, her expression unreadable. "Any brilliant ideas?"

Kaelen's lips curled in to a smirk. "Yeah. We don't let them leave alive."

The first attacker lunged, but Kaelen was faster. He sidestepped the swing of a rusted blade, his own dagger flashing in the dim light as he buried it deep in to the man's side. A gurgled gasp escaped his lips before Kaelen twisted the blade free, letting him crumple to the ground.

The square erupted into chaos.

Rina drew her own weapon. A slender curved blade more suited for precision than brute force. She met the charge of one of Vash's enforcers, dodging low before slashing upward, her blade slicing clean through leather armour. Blood sprayed on to the cobblestone as her opponent staggered back, clutching his wound.

Kaelen wasted no time. Another thug came at him, swinging a club with enough force to break bone. He ducked under the arc, driving his knee into the man's gut before delivering a precise cut across his throat. Another body fell.

The remaining three hesitated. Kaelen flicked the blood from his dagger, his stance unwavering. "Still think you're leaving here alive?"

One of the men turned to flee. Rina was faster. In a blur of motion, she closed the distance and drove her blade in to his back. He collapsed with strangled cry.

The last two made the only choice left to them, they charged.

Kaelen moved like a shadow, slipping past one's defences and slicing his hamstring. The man howled as he collapsed, only to be silenced by Rina's blade piercing his throat. The final enforcer barely had time to react before Kaelen's boot crashed in to his chest, sending his sprawling. Before he could rise, Kaelen ended him with swift, clean stab.

The battle was over in moments. The silence that followed was almost deafening.

Kaelen exhaled, wiping his blade against the tunic of a fallen foe. He turned to Rina, who was catching her breath, blood splattered across her cheek.

"That was more trouble than I like," she muttered, running a hand through her dishevelled hair. "We need to move. More will come."

Kaelen nodded. He cast a glance at the corpses around them, knowing this was just the beginning. Orin Vash would not forgive the slight. And the hunt had only just begun.

"We head for your exit," Kaelen said. "And this time, no more surprises."

Rina smirked. "No promises."

Together, they disappeared in to the night.