10: AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

“THE ANOMALIES ARE CLASSIFIED INTO THREE TYPES: HORNED, CLAWED, WINGED….THE BASICS OF WHAT WE HAVE DEDUCED SO FAR ARE THAT ANOMALIES DO NOT GROUP TOGETHER……THAT THEY POSSESS VARYING DEGREES OF INTELLIGENCE….DO NOT REGISTER ANY EMOTION OTHER THAN THE PREDATORY INSTINCT TO SURVIVE.”

{A.H ORWYCK, THE WARDEN'S GUIDE TO HUNTING}

9.32 PM, YUGEN CASTLE, THE WASTELANDS.

Castle Yugen loomed over the landscape like a dark sentinel, the silent, great testament to a gone age. Its crumbling towers pierced the night sky, twisted plants strangled the ancient stone walls, their gnarled tendrils creeping into the shattered windows.

Nothing moved and nothing breathed as far as Neon could tell. He didn't lower his guard even then. He watched and listened and sniffed at the air now and then while he walked up the hillock.

He paused at the open gates, activating body shield before he walked in. Inside, the air was heavy with the scent of decay and abandonment.

Grand chandeliers hung precariously from the ceiling, their crystals dulled by a century of neglect. Faded tapestries lay forgotten, rubble and debris scattered on the ground here and there.

Neon didn't want to be in here one second longer than he wanted to. He had only heard of the place, and never been to it. But now that he stood in the middle of the desolation, he understood the dark tales that this place spun.

He turned quickly, following a sharp scent that almost clogged his nostrils. It came from one of the halls on his right.

Taking out the handblazer, he approached as quietly as possible, adjusting his vision to the even darker hallway.

It was cold and abandoned as well, with falling tables and chairs taking up strategic positions on the marble floor. The smell persisted, a foreign scent that was very similar to the one he had caught on Akira.

The hall led him to another corridor that ended with a large wooden door. The scent came from within.

Neon paused, listening, watching. Nothing moved, nothing breathed.

He approached the door soundlessly and tried the knob. It released a loud, nerve-racking click followed by the door's rattling creak as it swung open.

A stairwell lay behind the door, descending in a spiral into the darkness.

"Of course," he muttered, "Of course she'd keep him in the basement."

What if she hadn't? What if it had dragged itself down there to heal and regenerate? What if something else had dragged it, and what if-?

He closed his eyes, shutting out the intrusive thoughts. Focus. Close in. Hunt.

Adjusting his vision again, he descended the steps into the unknown, half expecting to hear the door shut behind him.

The musty scent of all things ancient rose up to meet as he walked down the last step. He squinted, straining his ultra sight to their maximum.

Here, there wasn't a bit of light, but he could make out the brick walls, more broken tables, a few shelves and decaying books, a figure sitting on the floor…

He jerked back, aiming his gun at the man in a flash.

"Hands up where I can see them."

The man didn't move. He wasn't dead, Neon could tell, but his breaths were slow and raspy. He was completely naked, except for the tattered knicker on his gaunt limbs.

Cautiously, Neon approached, gun still trained on him. There was a dark scent around him, like the one he had picked up on Akira.

"Water…"

Neon paused. The man was moving, raising his head with effort.

"Water…please," he croaked.

He couldn't sense any danger coming off him, but that dark scent persisted. The man was weak by all indications, and was blind in the darkness as well.

"Can you walk?" He asked.

"I don't- Water, please."

"I've got water outside," Neon said, "But you'll have to come with me."

He touched his tekhans together and they glowed a dull blue colour, illuminating the room. The man flinched from the sudden light.

Neon held out a hand. "What's your name?"

"My name…" He raised his eyes, and they were large as a cat's. "My name is Sanji."

And with the realization of his own name, his eyes widened further. He looked around, his breath quickening beside his heart rate.

"Where am I? What's happen…?"

Neon held a hand to his lips suddenly, his gaze switching to the roof above them. Something had moved; quietly, almost without sound; but the movement was undeniable.

He turned back to the man and motioned for him to get to his feet silently. He could not. He was too weak.

The sound came again, this time it was a scraping noise and the intruder didn't bother hiding it. They must have known the room had only one way out.

He bent and heaved the man up. He motioned upstairs, then held a hand to his lips again. Sanji seemed to understand.

Slowly, they made their way up the steps, Neon holding a glowing tekhan ahead of them as he hoisted the man around his shoulder.

They got to the door and he listened again. No sound came, and he couldn't catch a scent, save for the dark smell that came from downstairs.

Just what had made that sound?

He wouldn't find out the answer while hiding here, he thought. He turned off the light with a flick of his wrist, then stepped out into the hallway, adjusting his night vision again.

He saw it before it struck and even then, he barely had time to push Sanji out of the way.

The blow caught him squarely in the chest, sending him sailing through the air and crashing into the wall at the far end of the hall.

His ears rang as he got to his feet, a piercing pain paralyzed his left arm and he blinked back the blackness that tugged at the edges of his vision.

He had turned on his body shield at the last moment, but whatever that was, it did pack a punch.

It was coming. He leaped out of the way without seeing the attack; the rumbling footsteps were enough to warn him of its approach. A second later, the beast had bored a hole through the wall to his right.

It was an Anomaly, a Horned one, but it was very much unlike the one he had captured back in Bloom Village.

The creature that stood before him was twice as tall, twice as large and twice as fierce. Its horns stretched out like a ram's, its eyes were blood red, its nose flared like a bull's and its gray skin bulged with muscles that could crush him in an instant.

He stepped back, ignoring the pain in his left arm as he tried to gauge the situation, tried to make sense of what stood before him. The Horned was thumping one hoof on the floor, readying for another charge. Behind it, Sanji lay still close in front of the door leading to the basement (or was he dead? Neon couldn't tell from this distance).

ℹ️ ASSESSMENT ℹ️

THREAT: ANOMALY

TYPE: HORNED

RANK: BETA-LEVEL THREAT

His body shield wouldn't save him from a one-on-one charge from a beast this big. And the Horned were renowned for their speed and tenacity…

He leapt to the side again as the horns made a spear attack for him again.

ℹ️ WARNING ℹ️

DANGER LEVEL: EXTREME ❗

ℹ️ COUNTER ATTACK ℹ️

• ACTIVATE SPECIAL ABILITY

• EMPLOY STEALTH MODE

• ACTIVATE DEFENSE SHIELD

• EMPLOY STEALTH MODE

"Activate defense shield."

The pulse ran through his body in a second, the force field initiated. He reached for his handblazer, then took aim at the Anomaly.

The shot caught it squarely in the chest, boring a hole right through its thick skin. It tottered for a bit, in the middle of its attack, as the mortal wound in its torso released the odour of burning flesh and bone. Then it collapsed with a loud thud.

🔘 HEALTH 🔘

CONTUSIONS DETECTED

INITIATING RECUPERATIVE MEASURES

A warm feeling possessed his left arm and lower back, fixing the damages done by the creature.

He turned and approached Sanji, where the man lay still. He could hear his heartbeat, though with some effort; it seemed certain that the man was dying truly and…

ℹ️ WARNING ℹ️

DANGER LEVEL: EXTREME ❗

"What the-?"

He saw the Anomaly this time, as it stormed through the corridor he had followed inside. This one was thinner and darker, with horns like a moose's and eyes that glowed green in the darkness and a bone extended from its palm, ready to strike.

Neon held up the blazer. He took aim at the beast. The creature did not flinch. It had its sight elsewhere entirely.

He started to pull the trigger when he realized what the Anomaly was truly after.

"Sanji!"

He dashed towards the limp man a second later than the attacking Anomaly. It reached out, bone aiming for Sanji's head, at the same time Neon was pulling the trigger…