Blood Oath of the Shadow

Chapter 6

"If you need proof look at how your weapon reacts to my blood!" Rena shouted over the roar of bullets tearing through piles of brick along the alley edge. Her voice cracked beneath thunderous rain and gunfire yet her words cut deeper than any round ever could.

Axel did not stop to think. Combat instinct honed over years moved faster than his mind could catch up. He drew his silver spear from his back then stepped squarely in front of Rena making his body a living shield. He blocked her smaller frame completely feet planted firm while his right hand held the weapon ready. Logic still screamed at him to move aside to let the cleanup team finish what they came to do. But the urge to protect rose up unbidden strong and impossible to ignore.

A second silver round slammed into the wall right beside his ear. Shards of brick sprayed through the air stinging his shoulder and back. Axel felt tiny cuts prickle his skin but he did not flinch. Behind him Rena’s breath caught short and he could feel the fast ragged rhythm of it.

"You are out of your mind" Axel gritted his eyes locked on the three shadows waiting at the alley’s far end. "They will put a hole through your heart in seconds. I cannot keep you safe forever."

"They do not want my life Axel" Rena shot back fast her voice urgent right beside his ear. "They need your fear so you keep killing for them. The Order lets demons run loose in this city on purpose just to keep their own excuse for existing. You are nothing more than a tool for their lies. A tool they will throw away the moment you stop being useful."

Axel snarled but her words slipped straight past every defense he tried to raise. He remembered past missions how threats always surfaced exactly when the Order needed public support or when their funding was about to get cut. He remembered the Old Commander always talking about rising danger and eternal vigilance. Once he had heard wisdom in those words. Now soaked by rain and staring down guns held by his own kind it looked less like luck and more like a pattern laid out too neatly to be accidental.

A sharp hollow ache tore through his chest. Everything he had built his world around crumbled to dust. Every sacrifice every life he had taken every scar he carried suddenly felt as weightless as ash caught in the wind. He spun around aiming the silver spear straight at Rena desperate to silence the noise spinning in his head. The metal glinted faint under the dying flicker of a streetlamp.

"Enough! Stop all of this!" he yelled voice raw. "I do not want to hear another word."

Instead of stepping back Rena moved forward. With a sudden sharp motion she thrust her arm out so the blade sliced clean across her skin. A thin line opened on her upper arm and fresh blood welled up at once.

"Look" Rena said her gaze fixed on the wound.

Axel’s jaw dropped. Thick black smoke curled up from the shallow cut. It was not her blood that burned it was the silver itself lashing out to reject the purity it touched. The spear shook violently in his grip sending heat licking up his palm until skin blistered and peeled. Fire raced from tip to shaft and for the first time the weapon he had trusted for decades felt like something foreign something that meant him harm.

Rena gasped as the smoke thickened around her arm. "This is what you have used to hunt darkness Axel. And it cannot tell the difference between what is holy and what is foul. It only strikes what is different what does not fit the story the Order fed you."

"Drop it now" Rena pleaded breath hitching with pain. "Drop it before it burns you from the inside out."

Axel shook his head. His teeth ground together until they ached. He could smell his own flesh scorching but his hand would not loosen. This spear was the only identity he had left the only proof he belonged. If he let go there would be nothing left of him at all.

"I will not throw away my weapon" he hissed back even as blood trickled down his blistered wrist.

Where spear and aura met a small shockwave blew outward. The air rippled around them and every streetlamp overhead shattered at once plunging the alley into pitch black silence. Glass rained down followed by the scrape of heavy boots drawing closer.

In the dark Axel heard Rena’s ragged breathing and his own matching it. Slowly the heat in the spear’s grip faded as if the weapon had spent itself in that single clash.

"You are still holding it" Rena whispered so quiet he almost missed it. "You still trust a piece of metal more than what your own eyes tell you. And it is that same metal that has taken everything you ever loved."

Axel stayed silent. His eyes adjusted to the gloom and he saw shapes moving at the alley mouth. Heavy synchronized steps drew nearer. Three figures in dark gear and steel masks advanced together long rifles slung over their shoulders. Their masks caught whatever faint light lingered far away making them look like statues carved from iron come to life.

One of them spoke through a voice modulator flat and cold enough to stop Axel’s heart.

"Target confirmed. And Hunter Axel is marked contaminated. Eliminate both."

Three red laser dots snapped onto their chests drifting slow and lazy like eyes watching prey. Axel felt a sharp throb over his left breast exactly where his badge used to rest. The badge was still clutched in his other hand cold but pulsing faint as if it had a heartbeat of its own.

He glanced back. Rena’s face was lost in shadow but her eyes shone pale and bright. No panic lived there only exhaustion and a fragile thread of hope.

"I know you do not believe me yet" she said softly. "But trust what you just saw. My blood does not kill. It cleanses. And that badge..." she nodded toward his hand "...is proof they have lied to you from the very first day you swore your oath."

Axel looked down at the badge resting in his burned palm. Beneath the chill of silver he felt that same faint thrum. In his pocket the scrap of cloth stained with her blood stayed warm undeniable impossible to brush aside.

The red lights did not waver. The masked hunters waited for the final word. But in that quiet Axel heard another voice one he had buried deep for years.

"Move in!" someone shouted from the dark. "Execute now!"

Axel made his choice. He turned and lifted the spear that now felt like a stranger in his grip. This time however he did not point it at Rena. He aimed instead at the shadows coiling across the ground shadows only one person could call forth.

"Rena" he breathed. "Do what you do."

Rena stared for a heartbeat eyes wide with surprise then she understood. The shadows rose up high and solidified into a wall of absolute black wrapping tight around them both just as three shots rang out as one.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Silver rounds slammed into the barrier and bounced away sending sparks skittering through the dark. Axel felt the impact rattle through his bones as Rena leaned her weight against his shoulder.

"You believe me?" she asked voice trembling.

Axel said nothing. But he did not shrug her off and his grip on her arm tightened just a little. That was answer enough.

To be continued