Chapter 3: Touch of Death

It took a few hours or so of driving before the car reached an open area. Grass, trees, and a horizon ahead of them revealing the noon sun slowly setting. Quilliene's composure changed as she sat up, looking out before them as she seemed to let herself fall into relaxation.

Her look of distaste changed to that of surprise, her eyebrows slightly raised just a small bit and her eyes moving to identify every detail around them with intent. Neo didn't pay much attention to her, though, as he focused more on the breathtaking scenery that whipped by him outside of the window. A curious look was plastered on his face, squinting through the light and gazing along the trees.

He glanced out the front window, then over his shoulder to the back, where the second car followed with servants and guards, analysing the road and flat terrain around him. He looked like he was doing his job, but in reality, he was simply curious as to where he was. Afterall, he had been transported to Quilliene's estate through the means of a dark and windowless backseat of a car.

Finally, both of the individuals leaned back in their seats, and Quilliene rolled down the window on her side of the vehicle. The soft, mildew scented air flowed through her hair, and Neo only cast a glance at her. She looked so calm, no one would suspect the royal wasn't as kind as she first appeared.

As the car drove on, the sun set lower and lower, passing by glistening bright blue water while the horizon turned a purplish pink. For a long time, the car was met with silence, only the purring engine audible between the driver, Quilliene, and Neo. It was nice inside and outside from the cold evening breeze - before the car slowed to a halt.

Everyone inside looked forward as the car behind them also screeched to a stop, peering out the window. Quilliene cursed under her breath as she noticed the figures in the distance blocking the road, but it was too dark to make them out. Neo's eyebrows narrowed into a glare, gripping the seat as he felt a gaze on him. He glanced over, noticing Quilliene looking at him expectantly.

"What?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You'll have to use words, I don't read minds."

She rolled her eyes in response, scoffing as her calm demeanour was stiff and annoyed again. "Take care of them."

"Isn't that what your guards are for?" He jabbed a gloved thumb behind him at the other car.

"They are to protect the servants," She hissed. "These people are obviously here for me, and you are my bodyguard."

He sighed, taking hold of the door handle, then paused. "Do you know who they are?"

"Ask them," She said, waving at the front window towards the figures. "Not much is coming to my mind." She paused. "The thing that does not make sense, though, is how they are in the open like this. At this exact place. Unless they knew information on my arrival, then…" Her eyes shifted to the side.

"...Your driver could just run them over," He spoke, then said the next piece sourly. "But I suppose that wouldn't be very professional."

Finally, he opened the car door, stepping out and shutting it as his eyes remained on the human forms. He examined them - a group of five males stood there, black cloth masks over their mouths and noses. They wore dark clothes, and very clearly had weapons, but he couldn't make them out. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Neo walked up towards them, stopping in front of the vehicle as he grinned.

"Having a nice evening walk down the middle of the road in absolutely nowhere?" He called out.

"Sure," One of the men on the left answered after a moment of silence. "We're taking a nice stroll. You could also say we're expecting something…"

"Mate," One of them sighed, smacking his arm. "Shut up. No one else is supposed to know about it, or else we don't get paid. Plus…" He looked Neo up and down warily. "He has a tough guy vibe."

"Like he could beat any of us," The middle one said sarcastically. "Just shut up, both of ya. Telling him our plans would make us look like prats." He turned his attention back to Neo, who was grinning. "So… what's in that nice limousine, 'ey? What are you hiding in there?"

"Nothing of your concern," He answered with a shrug, stepping forward a little bit as his gaze shifted from each of the men in turn. "Care to tell me what you unfortunate gentlemen have been expecting to find?"

"Damn bastard is speaking formally now," One of them shifted on the right.

"I recognize this guy from somewhere…" A second mumbled, and Neo tensed. "But I don't know where."

"Where the hell would a guy like him be from?" Another scoffed. "He looks like the trash shat him out with all the other mistakes."

The one in the middle held up his hand, and the rest fell silent as he spoke. "We were expecting to find… something. Something rather important that we could make a profit off of. A package, if you will."

"You're all so talkative," Neo adjusted his gloves, pulling them tightly around his wrists. He glared at the middle man, raising an eyebrow. "You're not very good at keeping secrets, are you?"

He lowered his hands, gripping them into fists as his smile stayed, chin raised. The group members seemed to react to his provocation, moving around and shifting as if looking rather uneasy. One of them had a weapon slip from their sleeve as they started forward in a run, breaking the line of men as he headed straight for Neo.

"Woah, woah, woah!" One of them stepped forward, trying to stop the man, but he sped past him. "Mate, get back here, he's not-"

Neo's smile faded, and he ducked quickly as the man slashed out with the blade. He threw out a fist, hitting him hard in the stomach and forcing him to lurch forward. The man coughed from the weight of the hit, a crack sounding from his ribs as if a brick wall had just slammed into him. Neo raised his arm, sideways, and slammed it against the man's chin, more blood flying from his lips as his head snapped backwards and he was thrown a few feet before hitting the ground.

Neo stood up, cracking his knuckles as he looked back at the four remaining men, another grin forming on his face. Adrenaline ran through him - an excitement always came rushing whenever he got into a fight, and it had been far too long since he had thrown a punch like that.

"Who's next?" He mused.

"Mate," One of them spoke in a shaky tone. "Did you see that?! He just took down Kev! I think… I think he's dead."

"Shut up!" The leader yelled at them, then pointed at Neo. "You're going to pay for that."

All of them fixated their masks to their faces, then proceeded forward towards Neo. One of them threw out a chain, a blade attached at the end of it whipping out straight towards his face. Neo turned on his heel, clasping his hand around the chain and pulling it in one quick motion, flinging the man straight into the hood of the car. There was a yell from inside, but Neo wasn't paying attention to anything else.

Another came at him, stabbing at him towards the stomach. Neo did the only thing he had time to do - grab the blade. His hands screamed in pain, scarlet dripping to the ground in a steady stream. They struggled in a fight of strength for a moment, before one came up behind him and Neo twisted, allowing the blade to slightly pierce into the person behind him instead. He hopped backwards, shaking off his gloved hands and panting, grimacing.

"Wait!" The leader called out, and they all gave their attention to him. The man stepped forward, glaring at Neo. "This basketcase isn't human. That blade had poison on it - enough to kill a horse. You should be on the ground by now… what are you?"

"Someone you should really start to remember," He smirked, gripping his hands into fists.

They tore my fucking gloves, he thought to himself, becoming annoyed.

One of them, seemingly growing impatient and frustrated, charged forward. As it happened, one came behind Neo, slashing at his back as he attempted to move around his view. Neo crouched down, jumping up in a high backflip that only someone who spent years practising could pull off, kicking the man running at him in the chin.

Meanwhile, the man behind him cut the back of his calf, but he seemed to pay no attention to it as he landed behind him. He stood up fully, towering over the smaller male, and shot out a side kick into his spine. He cried out when a crack sounded again, falling to the ground as he dropped his weapon.

"Jeez, can't you do any better?" Neo yelled, taunting them as he spread out his arms.

The leader seemed to pause. He had failed to attack so far, and he was one of the few left. The man with the chain blade slashed out as Neo said that, catching him across his cheek and he stumbled back. As the man tried to lash out once more, Neo caught the chain again, and pulled, making him almost tumble onto his face as he continued tugging. The man was quiet - strong, but silent in his attacks.

"Are you going to attack me or stand there all day?" Neo hissed, wrapping the chain around his wrist as he pulled again.

"He's not much of a talker, mate," The leader spoke, helping up the mostly uninjured third member of their party. "And he's our strongest. Taking us down isn't gonna be so damned easy with him…"

"I would be able to take you down faster if you didn't talk so much," He hissed back.

Neo gripped the chain, finally ripping it from the man's hands and wrapping it between his arms. He left a long line free and held it with his other hand, though the strange piece was that a fog was rising from it, and the chain was turning rusted. Nobody in or outside the car seemed to notice it, though - they had bigger problems at hand.

The men looked at each other, the unarmed one pulling out a knife that was on his hip. Each of them shot forward, the knife-armed man circling to the left, the other to the right, and the leader straight at him. They all tried to slash at him at once, but he turned slightly and rolled backwards out of their blade's reach. He quickly got up, swinging around behind the man to the right and sliding the chain around his neck. Neo pulled him back as he struggled and kicked, but he grabbed his head and harshly snapped it to the side.

Letting the limp man fall from his grasp, Neo dropped the rusted over and darkened chain, shaking off his hands as blood droplets still splashed on the ground. The leader turned, anger flaring in his eyes as he stabbed at him, digging his blade into his shoulder. Neo grunted, panting as he stumbled back, the man pulling free the blade with a laugh. He gripped the bleeding wound, grimacing as his adrenaline started to rush even faster through him.

Neo grabbed at his torn gloves, ripping them off and throwing them aside. Annoyance climbed into his chest, and as the leader charged forward, Neo lashed out and grabbed him by the neck. He stared him straight in the eye as the man paused, choking, and dropped his weapon, grabbing at Neo's wrist but flinching away. He wasn't suffocating because of his grip, but something else.

The reason why was clear. Where Neo came in contact with his skin, the man's neck started to bubble, as if boiling water was underneath. His veins became visible and black, pulsing and growing across all of the seen pieces of his then pale face. Neo tightened his grip, and the man fought to escape, only growing weaker throughout the losing fight.

"Should've just got out of the damn road," He hissed as the leader's iris and pupil faded, until his eyes rolled back into his head and the man became limp and lifeless.

Neo dropped him, panting as he looked at the last man. The silent person seemed quite unsettled, glancing down at his dead or soon-to-be-dead friends. The man stepped back, sheathing his weapon in silence as Neo huffed, wiping his face with his bare hand and taking off his other glove, smiling as he spread his arms.

"What's wrong?" He said tauntingly. "Are you scared now?"

The quiet man stood there, gripping his fists before an audible sigh escaped him. He turned his back to Neo, and suddenly, leapt towards a tree. The height was inhuman as he landed among the branches, glancing back as he adjusted his mask before disappearing in a cloud of dust. Silence filled the air to greet the dead bodies and him.

Neo let out a held breath as he watched him vanish, looking around at the corpses. He pulled another pair of gloves from his pocket, putting them on quietly. Glancing at the car, he started dragging the bodies from the road and onto the side of it, brushing off his shirt and checking his shoulder. It didn't hurt too much, probably from the adrenaline, so he assumed it wasn't fatal. Hopefully.

Heading back to the car, he slipped into the vehicle to be greeted by even more unnerving silence, which he broke with a huff. "Done."

Quilliene raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh," She mused. "I knew you weren't human, but…" She paused, then changed the subject. "Rather sloppy work I must say. It was bad to leave one alive. Since he saw you, he'll surely recognise you somewhere…" She turned forward, her unamused scowl settling on her face once more. "Even so, well done. Now I know why you wear those gloves."

"Doesn't matter," Neo responded, wincing as he rummaged around in his pocket. "If he recognises me, it's fine." He pulled out a roll of linen bandages, beginning to take off his flannel. The white shirt underneath was long sleeved, which he began to pull down on the injured side and wrap the wound. "But yeah, it was sloppy, compared to most of my work. I seem to have lost my touch since…" His voice faded into an incomprehensible mumble.

She glowered at the back of the driver's seat, then muttered something under her breath. Neo suddenly felt a little lighter, his pain fading away slowly as he took a deep breath. He glanced up at her, raising a questioning eyebrow as he pulled back up his shirt's shoulder and shrugged on the flannel once more.

"What was that?" He questioned, assuming she had done something.

"That," She said sharply. "Was an incantation. It will calm the pain in your injuries, and heal them a lot faster than your regeneration intends to." She sat up straighter, snapping her fingers to get the attention of the driver, who looked over his shoulder. "We should continue on with our travels. The journey is almost over."