Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The undercity, commonly referred to as the slums, was rarely a peaceful place. Most of the time, the various gangs clashed against each other, trying to wrestle as much control over the vast yet hardly profitable area as possible. To many unfortunate souls, this place was a home that only a handful would have an opportunity to leave behind. Skype did not like the undercity one bit; in fact, he tried to pull every single trick he had in his sleeve so as not to be assigned there. However, as a part of the military, it was bound to happen eventually.

Skype sighed heavily, intently observing as the massive crystals hanging hundreds of feet above his head began to dim. As no natural luminosity could reach the slums, the necessary light was being delivered through these seemingly natural rock formations. Though, it would have been foolish to believe that they were not severely adjusted to serve their purpose. The crystal system mimicked more-or-less the division between day and night. However, it never truly fades away. No, it remained dimmed, providing the bare minimum light for the undercity to continue functioning.

To his right, Ray stretched, mumbling a few words so quietly that Skype could not grasp what he was saying. Though, it mattered little, if anything. They were one patrol away from finishing this assignment and their long-awaited return towards the surface. Well, it was hyperbole, as they came to the slums two days ago, but the man dreamt about nothing but leaving this shithole behind.

“Stop staring at these crystals, would you?” Ray’s hoarse voice sounded. “Move your ass; the sooner we get there, the sooner you can leave this place,” he added, striding through the painfully empty and dirty street.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Skype replied, hurriedly following suit.

For a while, they marched in silence, constantly observing their hardly intriguing surrounding. At some point, they turned left, entering a narrow passage squeezed between barely standing buildings. With Skype’s paranoia getting increasingly worse, his head was in constant motion, double, if not triple-checking, every corner, searching for possible threats. The longer it lasted, the more bothering the sensation became. He felt watched, a feeling he knew very well, yet it did not mean his sweat did not turn cold while a shiver ran down his spine, urging him to flee. Compared to him, Ray pressed forward, seemingly unaffected by the overwhelming darkness, treading swiftly through the rubbles.

Even though Skype knew his slightly used but trusted GN-3 armour should protect him against most of the weaponry widely available here, it hardly stopped his rampaging paranoia from spreading. Nonetheless, he kept marching a few steps behind his comrade, having a bad feeling in regard to this patrol. He could not describe it appropriately, but something felt off, as if something was on a hunt tonight. It was only a matter of time before Skype’s breathing became ragged and shallow – his mental condition rapidly declining. Even though he was hardly a religious man, he started mumbling a silent prayer, a vivid memory playing before his eyes.

"Remember Skype, when you find yourself in danger, you will plead to God for help. You might disagree with it now, but one day, you will understand that we - humans - are fragile creatures that need faith to keep us in check sometimes," the voice of his elementary school math teacher filled his mind.

Of course, when these words were initially said, he blatantly disregarded them, yet now they made so much sense.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Skype said, breaking the silence.

“About what exactly?” Ray retorted, stilling momentarily.

“Something’s watching us,” Skype replied, stopping and looking around frantically. “I can’t explain, but I can’t shake off this feeling.”

His comrade said nothing, scanning the narrow path intently, then looking up towards the damaged rooftops. He wore a slightly altered version of GN-31 armour, a much heavier and more durable variant, decorated with numerous leave-like tabs on the gauntlets. After a few moments, Ray turned around, facing Skype. Through the semi-transparent visor, the man’s wrinkled face could have been seen. His steel-cold eyes remained steady, examining the much younger soldier. Skype found it baffling that he was nearing a hundred years old yet was expected to live twice or even three times longer. People of Aio were an enigma to Skype. One would have thought that life expectancy throughout an empire as vast as Tea’su would differ, but not as much as if you compared an average citizen with these folks from Aio. It was ridiculous and a bit unfair.

“We are not here alone,” the older man said after a long pause. “I did not want to startle you, but I noticed a few strange things ever since we entered the alley,” he added, speaking quietly.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Skype asked accusatorily.

“As I said, not to startle you,” Ray retorted, shrugging. “I saw you were on edge previously, and I deemed it unnecessary to put more pressure on you,” he explained. “Come on, let’s leave this area as soon as possible,” he said, gesturing with his head.

Unfortunately, when they resumed their stroll, a shot pierced the night, followed by screams.

“Fuck!” Skype cursed.

“You know we need to check it,” Ray commented, significantly increasing his pace.

“Fuck!”

With no real options, Skype did the only thing he could: follow his comrade. His guts did not like this decision, urging him, not for the first time, to flee.

Before that single shot could fade into nothingness, many more joined it, starting a cacophony of sounds.

***

Early morning

Irelia stretched to relax her overly stressed and tensed muscles before sitting on a couch in the debrief lounge with a loud thud. Given the horrendous flight in the new transporter prototype, she could not have cared less about being seen as noisy and unfeminine. She was a special ops officer who had too much on her plate recently. Between numerous seemingly never-ending deployments and irritatingly long and unproductive debriefing sessions, there was not enough time for her to cool off. Looking at her watch, she sighed heavily, realising she would have to spend at least thirty minutes more.

Irelia undid two top buttons of her uniform, massaging her stiff nape, when she heard heavy footsteps approaching.

“Captain!” a bulky, heavily tanned man clad in black armour called her name.

“What’s up, Roger?” the woman replied, fixing her tired eyes on the approaching man.

“No rest for the wicked, Captain,” Roger replied, chuckling a little. “You might’ve missed the announcement, considering you took off the suit, but we have another task on our hands,” he said, stilling a few steps away from the couch.

“Eh,” Irelia sighed heavily, allowing herself to close her eyes briefly. “How so? We returned no later than two hours ago.”

“Yeah,” the man commented, not all too happy. “I know … but it seems something nasty happened in the slums,” he added, mumbling a little.

“Explain,” was all she said.

“Two of ours were killed during a scheduled patrol down there,” Roger replied vaguely.

“Interesting,” the woman commented initially, opening her eyes. “But, as bad as it might sound, it’s hardly something new. In the undercity, dozens died each day; hell, even our operatives can occasionally be killed,” she continued, eyeing the soldier. “You’re not telling me something. The Council hardly cares about the poor or some of our troops dying there. So … what is it?”

“Eh,” the tanned man exhaled heavily, visibly gathering his wits. “Unfortunately, you’re right, Captain,” he added after a while. “They were found skinned and gutted with their blood splattered all over the nearby walls and forming a decent pool underneath their hanging corpses. As far as the report claims … they seemed not to resist. Whoever wrote it … speculates someone or something hunted them down and massacred them to its heart’s most wicked primal desires.”

“I can only think of a few people capable of dealing with our operatives, yet none of them could achieve it without a fight,” Irelia commented, slowly standing up. “Did command provide some additional assumptions?” she questioned, stretching.

“Not really,” a quiet remark sounded. “One is certain that we’re not dealing with the poor living there. But … our intel dries up here. Hence, we’re tasked with finding out what really happened. The secondary objective is to eliminate whatever did this,” he explained with a little too much malice.

“What about their armour?” the woman asked, continuing the observation. “How much damage did they sustain?”

“Ripped, crushed, torn … it’s really complicated to describe it properly, Captain,” Roger responded, casting down his sight for a moment. “All I know is that they seemed not to provide much protection. The killer passed through it like a hot knife through butter.”

“That’s strange,” Irelia hummed, starting to pace around the couch. I haven’t encountered a weapon that could pierce through our second skin that easily. Although I heard about creatures capable of inflicting enough damage to do so, none of them should be currently in the undercity—at least, as far as I know.”

“I know, ma’am.”

“One more question, then,” the Captain whispered. “Who died, Roger? You seem touched a little more than I’d find being comfortable with.”

“Ray and Skype,” Roger exhaled slowly, looking at the painfully plain floor once more.

“Your brother died?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll find whoever’s responsible for that,” Irelia commented immediately, putting her left hand on Roger’s left arm. “And … I’ll personally make sure that the punishment for this crime is slow and painful,” she added, trying to reassure her subordinate.

“Thanks, Captain … it’s appreciated.”

“Don’t mention it, Roger,” she commented, flashing a small smile. “Get the team ready. We have a thing to find and pay for what it did. We’re leaving in 10,” she added, purposefully dehumanising the killer.

“Ay,” the soldier retorted before turning around and sprinting off the lounge.

Irelia allowed herself to stay for a few seconds more, finding it increasingly difficult not to ponder about what they would inevitably find down in the undercity’s dirt and despair. It was not an uncommon practice to assign special forces operatives to tasks of a smaller magnitude, but she sensed something fishy about this particular one. Throughout long years of service, she had learnt many things, amongst which one of the more prominent being caution towards suspicious coincidences. In her experience, rarely, if ever, fate pulled the strings as a coincidence. Shaking her head, the woman sighed, letting go of the pressure already building inside her. This assignment made little to no sense from a military point of view, she whispered under her breath, slowly heading towards the exit. There were too many ifs about it to find it comfortable. With little to no certain information and an enormously broad area to search through, it felt like stagged circumstances which should lead to a spectacular fiasco. Moreover, to make matters worse, it would be extremely tedious to keep civilians out of the investigation. If … no, when it would inevitably come down to shooting, they would need to worry about each bullet they fired, not wanting unnecessary casualties.

She knew that for her higher-ups, these poor souls barely making ends meet deep below the surface were worth less than a spec of dust or dirt. The woman did not share this viewpoint one bit. Each time she descended into this seemingly endless depth, her previous life flashed before her eyes. She knew all too well how challenging life in the slums could be. After all, for years, it had been a place she used to call `home`. Even though it was no longer the case, she could not stop pitying those who were not as lucky as her. Making a mental note to do anything in her power to prevent civilian casualties, she sped up, heading towards the locker room where her armour was stored.

***

30 minutes later:

Irelia found herself standing before a tiny bathroom mirror, staring at her exhausted reflection. Her azure eyes were bloodshot, puffy, and oversensitive, something burning underneath the eyelids. A few tears welled up, slowly rolling down her porcelain cheeks, staining them. She stilled briefly, combing through her relatively short, shoulder-length hair of a faint pinkish hue. The colour was much more intensive until she decided to wash off the dye a few days ago. It had been a good couple of years since her hair was of its natural snowy colour. However, her actions seemed inconsequential and could be labelled a partial success at best.

Then, an abrupt knock echoed through the bathroom, effectively yet forcefully bringing her back to reality. Before spinning around, the pink-haired woman wiped the tear trails with the back of her right hand, trying to put on her best mask to act as if nothing had happened.

“Come in,” she said, proud of her impeccable control over her voice.

“HQ has some new pieces for us,” a relatively tall woman with olive skin and dark brown hair stated, standing in the doorway. They found more bodies during our descent here,” she added after a short pause when the Captain remained silent.

“How many, Amanda?”

“Six, according to the report,” Amanda replied immediately. “All of them were members of one of the slum’s mafia.”

“Walk with me, please,” Irelia whispered, peaking up her pace and exiting the bathroom.

The operative followed suit wordlessly, keeping a small distance between them. They took a short stroll through a narrow corridor with a wall painted with ripe green apples. It was a detail of zero importance, but Irelia found herself unable to stop observing and memorising everything as if it could save her life in the future. No matter, their heavy steps echoed on the stone tile the floor consisted of, quickly entering a much larger room filled with an awful lot of equipment scattered all over it. For a brief moment, the Captain thought about calling this observation out, but as soon as the idea came up, it was discarded. It was hardly a time for further arguments.

“So … no civilian casualties?” the pinkish-haired woman questioned.

“Affirmative, Captain,” Amanda replied in an instant. “As I said, only the slum’s scum was killed.”

“What about the bodies? Were they crippled, mauled, dismembered?”

“Skinned and gutted,” the brown-haired woman retorted reservedly. “In many areas, the corpses resembled what we encountered previously. However, this time, the killer didn’t hang them. They were left to rot in one of the dark alleys,” she added.

“Conclusions?” Irelia asked, not realising that they had reached the room’s centre where a few displays were hastily installed, attached to a portable computer.

“So far, we know that we’re dealing with someone or something possessing either enough strength or a weapon capable of piercing through our armours,” a blonde woman of average height and hazel eyes responded. “The hunter, as we nicknamed it, wastes much time performing some primal rites after each successful hunt. It cripples the corpses, presumably collecting trophies. It’s not entirely ruled out that these trophies have a meaning within the hunter’s community,” she continued, sighing heavily. “As far as we can tell, it might purposefully target only armed people. Considering it had not killed any civilians up to now, it might very well never target them. However, as much as it pains me, it’s only a speculation. So, I’d urge you to remain vigilant in that regard. Still … it’s hardly our biggest concern,” she added, pausing briefly to choose her words carefully. “The real problem is that we have no clue where the hunter can possibly be. Given the enormous distance between the first and second crime scenes, it’s reasonable to assume it’s fast. What bothers me even more is the fact we have only a rough connection between the attacks,” the blonde concluded, looking around, annoyed and tired.

“Thank you, Marrisa,” the Captain remarked, nodding slightly. “As you can see, the task ahead of us won’t be easy,” she started, pacing around the room to get a firm hold over her thoughts. “Searching at the bare minimum a quarter of slums will be exhaustive and might very well be fruitless. Considering all of this, we need to split into smaller teams to search multiple areas simultaneously. However, I’m not making this decision lightly … in fact, if we could pull it off without splitting, I’d have taken that option in the blink of an eye,” she said, stilling and turning around to face her subordinates … no … friends.

“How do you want to do this, Captain?” Roger questioned, stretching a little and eager to start the hunt.

“We’ll split into groups of two,” the pinkish-haired woman said after a short pause. “Each of these eight teams will have an assigned area to search through. I haven’t decided on the final assignments, but in a few minutes, I’ll upload the coordinates,” she added, sighing heavily. “Remember that we’ll most likely be the hunter’s next target. As we hardly know anything about its capabilities, be careful. If you see it, don’t engage. Instead, mark your location and wait for the reinforcements. I don’t think I need to say it, but screw it … I don’t want any casualties on this mission. Not today, tomorrow, or in a week if it prolongs. Did I make myself clear?” her question echoed through the room.

“Yes, Captain!” the squad enthusiastically replied.

“Good … let’s prey on the hunter,” Irelia commented, but her voice lacked the confidence needed to back it up.

***

45 minutes later:

“Possible new attack,” Matt’s unnaturally calm voice filled the voice-com. “Mathias, Joe, a camera near your position went online, catching a glimpse of something moving fast. It might be our hunter, or it might very well be a malfunction – it happens all the time. Nonetheless, mind checking it?”

“Sure thing,” Joe replied immediately, eager for some action.

“Acknowledged,” Irelia instinctively commented. “Please, be careful,” she added quietly.

“We can back them up,” May remarked. “We aren’t far from that location.”

“Permission to move?” Sam asked, as always trying to play by the rules.

“Granted,” the Captain replied immediately. “Tia, Roger, Arthus, and Mike support them as well.”

“Acknowledged,” Mike responded.

In an instant, Irelia bit her lower lips, having a nasty feeling that something terrible would happen soon. It did not help that she could not shrug off the feeling of being constantly watched. As if something intently observed her every move, she felt goosebumps rapidly marking her skin. Swallowing a gulp of something heavy formed in her throat, she came to one terrifying conclusion—something horrifying would happen. For a brief moment, Irelia considered revoking her order, but a part of her feared it would hardly change the outcome. Hence, she pressed on, trying to control her conflicted mind.

“Be extremely careful,” the pink-haired officer whispered. “I have a bad feeling about that so-called hunter.”

“Worry not, Captain,” Mathias’s voice boomed through the com. “Two minutes till we reach the spot,” he informed the squad.

“Proceed slowly,” Irelia retorted in a hollow voice. All the confidence and motivation she had started this mission with were long gone, replaced by fear and something unexplicit.

“I see the bodies,” Joe informed after a moment of silence. “Oh … God. They were massacred.”

Even though Joe did not say anything more, they heard his slow and steady steps sounding like mini explosions through the still-open channel. The surface must be slippery, either water or blood, Irelia quickly reasoned.

“Ten confirmed kills,” Joe informed them. “As far as I am concerned, these are gang members. They got slaughtered,” he commented.

“Are they crippled?” Amanda questioned, tension easily noticeable in her voice.

“Negative,” Mathias reported. “It might still be around. Guys, eta?”

“Five minutes,” Roger stated, panting heavily.

“Ten for us,” May commented.

“Acknowledged,” Joe retorted. “Mathias, turn on your camera,” he urged his companion.

It took a moment for the transmission to be decrypted, but when the feed was finally visible to the whole team, Irelia hardly managed to muffle a curse. As Joe described, it was nothing short of a slaughter. The blood ran everywhere, slowly clotting. A few cut-off limbs were scattered all over the alley’s dead end, yet most of the kills were clean, bearing a singular killing wound. It looked dreadful, so much so that Irelia wanted to puke. In fact, she had not seen this amount of blood in years. Compared to this, their missions were executed precisely and cleanly with the least amount of casualties possible. However, at that moment, it became painfully apparent that the hunter did not care about such qualities.

“One of these gangsters still breathes,” Joe remarked after a while. “Female, possibly in her twenties, thirties, her right arm was cut cleanly off,” he reported as he approached.

“Ask whether she remembers the attacker,” Roger said, his voice hoarse and heavy. Maybe she remembers how the hunter looks.”

“Right away.”

The Captain stilled and stopped breathing for a moment as her subordinate closed the gap between him and the critically wounded woman.

“You there, still breathing?” Joe called the gang member, crouching in front of her.

“Not for long,” she commented in a slow and weak voice. “Not for long,” she repeated, coughing with blood.

“Explain,” the operative questioned. “We are not going to kill you … that is, at least for now.”

“Doesn’t matter,” the woman retorted weakly. “She’ll return shortly,” she added, whispering.

“Who is going to return?”

“Gurth … the goddess of death.”

“You are a fanatic, are you not?” the soldier mocked the mafia member. “It is pretty childish to believe in gods,” he commented.

“See you on the other side, then,” she mumbled. “You’re about to meet her yourself.”

“Pf,” the man scoffed, tired of this conversation. “If she is as gorgeous as you deem her to be, I will meet her with my dick hard and ready, waiting for her.”

“Good … she’ll rip it off of you,” the mafia member continued mumbling. “Take me … take me, my goddess.”

What happened next was too fast for the Captain to notice at first glance. A projectile blurred through Mathias’s view, speeding at the wounded woman. Then, she heard the disgusting sound of some object sinking into the flesh, followed by crushing bones and a barely hearable groan of the mafia member. The projectile hit the woman’s chest, seemingly exploding on the impact and splashing waves of fresh blood all around. Mathias took a step back, caught by surprise.

“Fuck!” Joe cursed, spitting a few times afterwards. “It is all over me,” he complained.

“Retreat!” Irelia ordered, unwittingly allowing her voice to break down.

“Joe, we run!” Mathias shouted, already turning around.

“What the fuck?” Joe said, turning on his camera.

He ignored both Irelia and his comrade, instead focusing once again on what was left of the gangster. In the centre of the woman’s mauled chest, a small projectile stood out. It was a strange-looking dagger, partially resembling a kunai, with an unnatural and eerie green gem socketed on its handle. Its light was intoxicating for the man, so much so that he leaned into it to get a better view. However, he never managed to accomplish this whim.

Before Joe could remove the blade from the corpse, he heard heavy footsteps.

“Joe, get the fuck out of there!” Mathias yelled, torn between running away for his life and staying with his comrade.

However, Joe was no longer listening as a new shadow fell upon him, immediately catching his interest. So, he lifted his gaze, meeting a beaming set of crimson-red eyes. She was of average height, white-haired, and with a metal mask covering her well-sculptured face. Her aura was terrifying, making her much taller and impressive than she was in reality. For a brief moment, Joe unwittingly realised he finally understood what the mafia member had been mumbling all that time. She was, indeed, a death incarnate, a goddess of death that descended onto this realm in search of blood and suffering.

The operative wanted to flee, but he was not provided with a moment of respite to do so. Before Joe could do as little as stand up, his fate was sealed. With an attack so quick that it became a blur, the huntress grabbed the kunai and slashed across the soldier’s throat, decapitating him seemingly effortlessly. The armour was of no use against this blade, providing little, if any, protection. Before Joe’s head fell onto the ground, the rest of his body met a similar dreadful fate. In what felt like a blink of an eye, the white-haired monstrosity slashed off both of the man’s arms and legs.

“Joe!” Mathias and Irelia cried out, their voices filled with a mix of grief and anger.

“You crazy bitch!” Mathias yelled at the huntress. “You are going to pay for that!” he shouted again, then fired away.

The killer paid the operative no mind. She started dodging the bullets, making it look too easy. However, a few of these reached their target, flaring momentarily before disappearing. Apparently, the white-haired woman had some energy shield around her, illuminating azure on an impact. Even though she was hardly affected by these, her demeanour drastically changed. With a short blade in her right hand, she sped forward, charging at the soldier.

The all-too-familiar click announcing the clip running out was deafening. Pumped with adrenaline, Mathias paid it no heed, discarding the weapon without much care and drawing a short sword himself. He took a step forward, assessing the situation and preparing for the inevitable onslaught. However, for Irelia, the concept of time seemed to cease existing, allowing her to take a better look at the charging monster. She was clad in what could be described as partial armour consisting of a reduced chest piece which covered pretty much only her breasts, narrow pauldrons, heavy gauntlets, an enforced waistband with metal plates covering her wide hips and a piece of greenish-tainted fabric dangling between her legs, and high and heavy-looking boots reaching her mid-thighs. The exposed flesh was covered with a skin-tight, dark, gridded net. Her long and thick was styled into a high ponytail, bound by a golden ribbon.

The huntress’s frame was muscular and heavy, with no signs of fat whatsoever. Irelia must admit, though only in the deepest part of her mind, that she was beautiful, breathtaking even. However, as it usually went along, she seemed just as deadly as terrific. Even though it was only a mere thought, a result of her too sexually deprived mind, she felt embarrassed. It was a shameful thought, especially considering the monster diced one of her friends recently. Nonetheless, despite the woman’s best efforts, she could not tear her eyes off the white-haired killer. She looked like some dreadful yet magnificent goddess descended from the vast heavens above to take a physical form. Everything about her simultaneously scared and intrigued the Captain, starting from the face currently hidden behind a metal mask through her ejected pelvises, ending on a skull-formed pouche attached to her waist.

Though the feeling of admiration towards this so-called goddess faded quickly, it was replaced by a wave of immense dread as Irelia realised Mathias was charging at her. Still, it would not be glory the man would find … only death.

“Mathias, retreat!” the pink-haired woman cried out, her voice breaking down, turning into a high squeal.

The charging operative said nothing, but his actions spoke louder than any word he would have had left in him. He wanted to repay the killer for his friend’s demise, but he hardly realised it was impossible for him to do so.

“Mate … you’re dead,” Tobias said hollowly. “May some god be with you.”

If the huntress had not worn a mask, she would have smirked at the soldier’s vain effort. Irelia was certain of that. It was hardly a fair fight when one of the combatants had all the possible advantages, she thought, looking with dread as these two closed in painfully slowly. However, the part took place so quickly that the Captain found herself stilling, her mouth wide open in a soundless scream of terror. Allowing the operative to strike first, the white-haired woman lured him into her final trap. Mathias’s attack was powerful and precise, just like they had taught them in the academy, yet it was not enough, not even close. The huntress ducked underneath it, grabbed the soldier’s wrist and crushed it effortlessly before her blade tore through flesh, cutting it off cleanly. The next frame brought Mathias’s demise as the same dagger beheaded him. For the last, fleeting moment, the team could see the huntress's crimson-red eyes. They were empty, emotionless, and dead, as if killing did not stir a single emotion in her.

Before Irelia realised it, she fell to her knees, screaming silently. Within minutes, she lost two of her teammates … no friends. It was baffling to accept what she witnessed, like a hard-to-swallow pile forced into her throat. Still, it was real. The two commando troopers were killed with ease … no, it did not seem reasonable to assume the huntress had put any effort into dealing with Joe and Mathias. They were faced with danger far superior to them.

Mathias’s helmet finally fell down onto the dirt and blood covering the alley’s floor, revealing the white-haired butcher once again. She stilled for a few moments as if listening to the surroundings before turning around and disappearing into thin air.

“Please … take care of the bodies,” Irelia whispered, completely beaten and broken. “And … move only as a group.”

“We’re dealing with something far superior to us,” Roger commented quietly.

“Hurry up, then,” Leona said. “It won’t be long before scavengers pick up the scent, disgracing their corpses even more.”

“We’re nearly there,” Arthur informed them. “I can see the alley’s entrance.”

“Wait for Tia and Mike,” the Captain ordered. “She already killed two of us … I doubt it’d be a challenge for her to repeat the feat. Proceed with caution.”

“I see them,” Mike’s voice boomed through the com-link.

“Good,” Roger commented. “Secure the bodies, then wait for the rest. It seems we need to rethink our approach.”

***

20 minutes later:

“More confirmed kills,” Amanda broke the silence.

“The huntress?” Roger questioned, not wanting to look Amanda straight into the eyes.

“No,” the woman replied quietly. “This time … this time, it’s a slaughter. Whoever did that … was a brute. It targeted a small clinic a few streets from here. The local police reports mention dozens of dead and partially consumed … all of them civilians,” she added, covering her mouth with her left hand.

“That doesn’t sound like the huntress we’ve met,” May remarked, pacing around the room. “She doesn’t seem to kill civilians. And … as far as we know, she doesn’t consume the corpses. This one … doesn’t play by the same rules. Just by looking at these pictures, my skin crawls. Look at them! Most of them are half-eaten. If I were to guess, someone must have let a lion into that clinic.”

“For the fuck’s sake,” Matt cursed loudly. “As if we didn’t have enough problems already.”

“Yeah,” Irelia sighed heavily, looking through the reports. “Our problems just doubled,” she added in a grave tone.

Author's notes section:

Hey, as I have said previously, I have started rewriting this piece. Here's the first chapter; enjoy.

On a more technical note, it took me quite a while to deal with it. As a result, I ended up with a text twice as long as the original one.

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2020-02-19] - The original chapter was released
[2024-04-22] - The rewritten chapter is released.

References:
- Black Diamond - Stratovarius
- Rainbow In The Dark - (original by Ronnie James Dio)/(cover by Khemmis)
- Predator (movies/franchise)

End of the author's notes section.

Chapter Text

After the twisted and bothering revelation properly sunk in, the time became fluid, seemingly alternatively galloping ahead only to halt in its tracks without as much as a warning. Had it not been for the clocks embedded into their armours, Irelia would have guessed that only a handful of minutes had passed, whereas, in reality, almost an entire hour had elapsed. This left them the same way this stagnation had begun: scattered across one of many abandoned buildings.

“Don’t you dare say there was another attack!” Matt grumbled, hiding his face inside his hands.

“As much as I’d like to humour you, Matt, unfortunately, there was,” Amanda retorted, her face slightly paler than usual, her tone hoarse and quiet.

“What was hit this time?” Tobias inquired, halting his hour-long uninterrupted and repetitive stroll around the room.

“According to the reports, it was a small ramen shop,” the olive-skinned woman said quietly, gripping the datapad in her left hand heavily. “It must’ve been the Beast.”

“Half-eaten bodies?” Irelia asked hollowly.

“Unfortunately,” Amanda agreed, throwing the piece of technology aside.

“Please, tell me. I don’t need to check it,” Matt whined, clearly not handling the pressure well.

“Mate!” Arthur exploded. “I get it. You don’t want to see all of these guts spilt over the floor or blood smeared through the walls. But this is our job!” he continued in a raised voice. “The faster we locate this new threat, the quicker we can figure out how to neutralise it. The longer we sit here, doing nothing, the more civilians are going to be butchered,” he stated, brutally honest.

“Unfortunately, I must agree with Arthur,” the Captain commented. “The longer we remain inactive, the more problematic the situation becomes. Even now, things don’t look great, and they’re increasingly getting out of our control,” she added, stammering a few times.

“Yeah,” Roger agreed, sighing heavily. “For what it’s worth, the Huntress seems to keep a low profile. I wonder whether she’s taking things slow or waiting for a bigger fish. What do you think?”

“Possible,” Amanda replied immediately, energetically creasing her jawline. “Since the Beast’s arrival, she has been dormant. It’s reasonable to assume that it might be her new target: the biggest game in the city.”

“These are mere speculations, though,” Tobias pointed out. “We can’t rely on speculations. Moreover, waiting for any of them to make a move is out of commission as well,” he stated, his tone lone yet calm. “If they decide to strike, we’ll never be able to respond in time. Considering the size of the slums, there are too few of us to cover it entirely. Maybe it’s high time to inform the Observers. We need more men to deal with this problem adequately.”

“Captain?” May called out quietly. “It’s your decision to make. So, what are the orders?” she stuttered a little.

“Eh,” the pink-haired woman sighed heavily as if trying to buy herself a few seconds of precious time. “Jason, pass the current state of affairs to the Observers. With some luck, it’ll reach HQ quickly,” she mouthed slowly, keeping her tone hollow. “As of the recent attack,” she started, taking a painfully slow spin to look at her operators. “There’s nothing else we can do but check the crime scene. Maybe we’ll find some clues that will shed some light onto this mystery.”

“Fuck!” Matt cursed loudly.

“I don’t like it either, Matt,” the Captain commented in a low voice. “But … that doesn’t mean much right now; we have something to do.”

“Tch,” Matt scoffed before taking a few deep breaths. “I know, Captain, I know,” he added after a short pause, regaining his composure even if only temporarily.

With that matter concluded, the operatives headed toward the exit, leaving the building behind with a silent promise never to return.

***

Before anyone noticed, another twenty minutes had elapsed. Compared to the prior failure that cost their two friends’ lives, they kept an organised formation even as they traversed the vast slums through the rooftops. From this height, the undercity seemed far more presentable as many minor yet bothering details were simply lost in the perspective. That, however, did not mean that all of the obnoxiously apparent problems plaguing the area vanished, seemingly cleansed via a magic wand’s flicker. No … the signs of overwhelming poverty could be spotted everywhere; this is if someone was not actively trying to avoid them or straight up disregarded them.

“How many are confirmed dead?” Roger asked, finally breaking the vox silence.

“At the very least six,” May replied after a short pause, her voice low and hesitant. “But, I fear this number could be much higher,” she added, stuttering a little. “According to a quick search, it must’ve been a relatively popular place within the slums’ scope, that is. I wouldn’t be surprised that many more were caught in the crossfire … they must’ve had many visitors, both regular and occasional.”

“How about blowing up this place?” Mark suggested. He was clearly not all that happy about their current assignment. “I mean … look at this shit, there’s nothing worth saving here.”

“Sure, idiot,” irritated Leona shot back instantly. “How about we sink the whole fucking city? Hm?” she mimicked Mark’s question. “As if you have already forgotten, we are currently underground. If we blow up the slums, we will inevitably crumble the upper city’s fundaments, effectively sinking it and causing untold trillions in property damage alone.”

“The Council dropped the ball!” Mark hissed. “This place was never meant to be a residential area of the city. It was meant to be a fucking prison! If it stayed this way, we could’ve gassed or incinerated the whole area without as much as a blink of an eye.”

“But, as you can see, it is not!” Leona retorted, her voice cold and filled with surfacing rage.

“So, it seems,” Mark replied quietly, giving up.

“Jason, what about the communication with the Observers? Did you manage to establish it?” Tia questioned, already tired from her companions’ previous discussion.

“The secure channel was established,” Jason retorted reservedly. “But, even though I got an acknowledgement that my message was successfully received, there’s no response so far.”

“Suspicious, I’d say,” May remarked, slowing down. “If not for the ack you mentioned, I would’ve blamed this massive layer of rocks above our heads for that. But now, I’m not sure. I don’t want to sound as if I believe in conspiracy theories, but … it feels like someone intercepted your communication, Jason,” she added, halting entirely.

“Roger, take the lead. I’ll stay with Jason and May,” the Captain instantly decided, stopping on the nearest rooftop. “Once we discuss this matter, we’ll rejoin you. It shouldn’t take us long,” she added. These sentences were hardly needed, but Irelia felt an internal urge, so she gave in to it.

“Affirmative,” was the sole word that passed through their vox.

The pink-haired officer waited for a few moments, allowing the rest of their team to gain some ground for them before she turned around to face Jason and May. With a rather slow and sluggish gesture, she urged them to temporarily disconnect from their team’s communication link so they could converse peacefully.

“What are the odds?” the Captain asked, allowing her voice to be tainted with exhaustion.

“Hard to tell, Captain,” Jason responded immediately, checking something on his portable terminal. “From my point of view, everything I did followed the protocol. I even used the enforced encryption module, just for the sake of security,” he added, clearly baffled by the whole situation.

“I wouldn’t focus on the technical details,” May remarked reservedly. “Even if we followed the protocol to the tee, nothing rational explains the silence coming from the Observers. These people are responsible for providing in-battle analysis, guidance, and more within minutes,” she explained. “But … we got nothing. None of them even felt the need to provide us with a short update that they were working on our case. I don’t buy it.”

“Agreed; it’s more than suspicious,” Irelia commented, sighing heavily and taking a few steps back. “What does it leave us with?” she inquired.

“More-or-less the same as previously,” May said quietly. “Though … one of these two supernatural fiends might have seen our report. If I were to guess, I would’ve put my money on the Huntress. Granted, we’re yet to see the Beast. Meanwhile, she was cold and calculated in her actions. Underestimating her might be fatal for us,” she formulated her thoughts.

“Jason, please resend the message to the Observers, attaching the location of the abandoned building we used earlier,” the officer ordered after a short pause. “If someone intercepts our communication, they might want to verify the coordinates we’re providing.”

“Sounds too trivial to fool someone capable of this,” May commented pessimistically. “However, we don’t have many options. Let’s do it.”

With nothing more to add, the trio quickly resumed their flight towards the devastated restaurant, with Jason silently working on setting up the trap. Just like May, Irelia suspected that this effort was futile, but inaction was a far worse concept, in her opinion. Even if this attempt failed, it would be better to try to take the initiative than wait for these monsters to come and claim more lives. Perhaps they could force the hunters’ hands and make them commit the slightest of mistakes. Then, again, it was well within the realm of possibility that no matter what they would do, the outcome would be the same. It was a harsh pill to swallow, but when someone had been part of the military for as long as Irelia, they slowly learned that they were just a pawn in the games of chess, their lives expendable and worth less than a speck of dust in cosmic sand. Clenching her fists, the officer tried to cleanse her mind of doubts and fears. Yet, not for the first time that day, she failed to meet her goal.

***

 Soon enough, the trio reached their destination. Despite the reports being genuinely graphical in regard to the havoc, seeing all of this destruction and clear malice first-hand was nothing short of shocking. The restaurant looked as if someone simultaneously detonated a decently powerful explosive inside and allowed feral beasts to venture around and kill anyone they sighted. Expectedly, the majority of the squad led by Roger made sure to properly encircle the area, keeping all curious and terrified onlookers from entering what was left of the ramen shop.

“What the fuck is this smell?” was the first sentence Irelia heard when she reconnected to their communication link. Matt’s tone was filled with clear disgust and something more primal, perhaps a quickly growing fear.

“Do you really want me to answer?” Marris replied, his voice tainted with flaring anger.

“Why else would I ask, asshole?” Matt growled, pacing back and forth between a charred wooden counter and the nearest wall, sporting several massive holes within its already crumbling structure.

“Very well,” Marris scoffed, irritated. “A mixture of urine, blood, cheap booze, and many other things you might not want me to iterate over.”

“Yeah… I didn’t want to know that,” Matt replied, halting briefly.

“Whatever it was, it must’ve been hungry,” Tobias groaned, pointing at the body of a tall man, or rather what was left of him.

Wordlessly, Tia approached the corpse, kneeling beside and examining it.

“The Beast took most of his guts,” she said after a few moments, her left hand deep inside the carcass's belly cavity. “The heart’s missing as well, torn from underneath and potentially crushed. Some of the tissue still lingers here,” she assessed the damage. “Everything was done post-mortem; the cause of death: snapped neck.”

“Your expertise, Tia,” the Captain inquired, approaching the team’s medic.

“Not really,” Tia retorted, taking off her helmet and wiping the sweat off her brow and face. “Aside from the obvious, it prefers to consume organs to raw flesh,” she whispered after a brief pause.

“Bullshit!” Matt’s voice roared through the vox. “This analysis gives us virtually nothing,” he continued, furious.

Irelia decided not to scold her teammate, but her focus snapped alternatively between the undoubtedly butchered carcass and Tia. She was the youngest among them, she reminded herself. During their past missions, she was never forced to examine the dead; after all, they were clinically precise in what they did, but now… it was a vastly different story. If the pink-haired officer recalled correctly, it had been two years since she had joined them, freshly out of colleague. Barely twenty-three years old, thrown into a meat grinder known as military.

The medic had a fair complexion, currently replaced by an unhealthy ashen colour, shoulder-length wheat-coloured hair and sharp, slightly downturned facial features. Irelia had rarely seen Tia without her supporting armour, but according to gossip loosely exchanged within the squad, he was extremely slim; actually, up to the point that some of the teammates wondered whether she was dealing with anorexia. Whether this excessive sweating was caused by physical exhaustion or fear, she had no idea, but it was worrying the officer.

“Give her a break, jerk!” Marris growled. “All you do is bitching around,” he reprimanded his teammate. “Look! Not all of these corpses are missing guts. If you asked me, I’d say a few of them were thoroughly tortured,” he added, pointing at the various bodies scattered all over the restaurant.

Once again, Tia wordlessly moved around the area, taking a closer look at each dead. For a brief moment, Irelia wanted to stop her, reassuring her that other squad members should be competent enough to verify basics like these. Then, however, she realised that it was the medic’s way of coping with something she had no power over. Hence, the officer’s already extended right hand was retracted, filling the air with a heavy sigh.

“Unfortunately, you’re right, Marris,” the dark-haired medic said after a few minutes. “Some are missing their fingers,” she added, covering her mouth with the back of her left hand. “Some were cleanly cut off while the others seemed bitten off. You can see the clear difference when you analyse the remaining tissue. But… there’s more. There are wounds on a few corpses’ backs that looked eerily similar…” she halted abruptly, her hands quivering uncontrollably. “These wounds were caused by repeatable stabbing with a blunt object. It was toying with them, watching them struggle to escape, knowing fully well they’re already dead,” she gasped before falling to her knees and vomiting.

It took Irelia a fraction of a second to reach Tia and wrap her arms around the broken-down medic’s trembling shoulders. As she feared, it was too early for the young woman to confront the brutality of this magnitude.

In the meantime, May quietly approached the corpses, taking it upon herself to try identifying additional details that Tia had not previously pointed out. The first body the commando trooper decided to examine belonged to a man probably in his teens. He was of average height, slim, nothing extraordinary. The entirety of his left hand was mauled, marked with chewing signs. In the right tight, she found splinters of wood buried deep. Still, as horrifying as it might sound, compared to his left leg, this one at least looked presentable. The latter one’s tibia lay a couple of meters away from the rest of the body, most likely brutally ripped out of the flesh. The man’s back followed Tia’s description, sporting multiple gushing wounds of irregular shapes wrapped in tattered skin. That being said, the more terrifying were the teen’s eyes: wide open, bloodshot, and telling a wordless story of his seemingly endless agony. There was no doubt in her mind that this one was tortured, bringing some twisted pleasure to the unnamed killer.

Even though May was vastly more experienced and battle-hardened than the squad's medic, she could already feel her stomach content slowly making its way up her gullet, threatening to suffocate her. Without as much as a groan, the operative forced it back, hastily approaching another husk; as much as she did not want to admit that aloud, they all looked disgusting.

“Have you found anything of use?” Mike questioned after a long pause.

“I think so,” May responded reservedly, slowly standing up with something balled inside her left palm. “Look at this,” she urged her teammates, opening her hand and revealing a long, sharp fang that could belong to one of the great cats. “I don’t want to say this, but… the Beast might’ve been a fitting name for this hunter. If this fang is its, it’s even less human than we anticipated.”

“That is hardly reassuring,” Leona commented, frowning. “At least we did not receive another report,” she added after a brief pause, sighing.

“Speaking of which,” Amanda cut in. “Any response from the Observers?”

“Let me check,” Jason replied, going through his portable terminal. “It seems they received our message and have dispatched two additional teams. As far as I can tell, they’re on their way.”

“Thank God!” Matt blurted. “At least we’ll have some backup.”

“Who did they send?” Irelia questioned, still kneeling beside the sick-looking Tia.

“Negative,” Jason commented, scratching the top of his head. “Weird… there is no record of deployment inside the registry.”

“Shame,” the officer remarked, straightening up. “We’re moving out!” she announced. “For now, we’re retreating to the safe zone, waiting for the reinforcements. In the meantime, I’d like to go through all the pieces we’ve gathered so far.”

“Dully noted,” Matt sarcastically replied, heading out first.

***

To say that this process did not pan out as they anticipated would be a vast understatement. As much as the pink-haired woman did not want to admit this,… they had nothing to work with. These two separate incidents, which they had opportunities to analyse, had brought more questions than answers, not to mention cost them two friends. She wanted so desperately to believe that bringing in the reinforcements would solve their problems… but the longer she pondered over this matter, the more apparent it became that it would change nothing.

“Eh,” a pent-up sigh filled the relatively comfortable room Irelia and Amanda sat in. “Another attack reported,” she said after a moment, her voice quiet and seemingly depressed.

“Details?” Irelia said immediately, stepping away from the blackboard she was covering with different clues, speculations, or thoughts. “Amanda? I need more information if I’m to comment on the matter,” she added, approaching her teammate after a moment of silence.

“Sorry, Captain,” the olive-skinned woman apologised, turning around. “The report originates from sector A16… precisely speaking, the sewer’s entrance.”

“Who was attacked? Casualties? Speak to me, Amanda!” the pink-haired woman demanded, slightly worried about her peer’s strange behaviour.

“Six members of Bravo,” Amanda mumbled, covering her face with her hands.

“Who attacked them? The Huntress or the Beast?” the Captain continued questioning, halting a few steps away from the desk the olive-skinned woman occupied.

“According to the reports, the bodies were sliced into small pieces, but nothing was consumed,” Amanda breathed out slowly.

“Well … there’s nothing left for us than to bring this message to the team,” Irelia remarked, interacting with her embedded terminal. “Come on, they should gather shortly,” she added, turning around and slowly heading towards the exit.

***

“Captain Xan, what a surprising call,” Darius, the leader of Bravo Squad, remarked sarcastically when the communication link was successfully established.

“Would dropping this attitude kill you, Darius?” Xin, the Omega Squad leader, dully commented. “We know you lost your men down there, but it is hardly a reason for you to snap at us,” he added much harsher.

“I’ll have this freak’s head handed to me on a silver plate,” Darius growled.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Xan said quietly, trying to show some empathy.

“Pff,” Darius scoffed. “They were soldiers… they knew the risk,” he added after a slight pause. “Don’t change the topic, though. What do you want, Xan?”

“Could you send me the recordings from that attack?” the pink-haired woman asked, going straight to the point. “I presume you’ve already secured the area… but if it isn’t the case, I can move in with my squad,” she offered. “Perhaps… there’s something we can use to locate her hideout?”

“I’ll share all we have,” the Bravo leader said quietly. “However, I wouldn’t get my hopes high; we scoured the tunnels.”

“I would not expect anything less,” Xin commented. “In the meantime, I will have my men covering the sectors A10 – A15,” he informed the other officers. “Still…” he stuttered for a moment. “I have a nudging feeling that the thinner we stretch our forces, the tighter the noose around our necks becomes. In an ideal world, we would have far more resources to work with.”

“What don’t you say, Xin,” Darius sarcastically remarked. “However, I fully agree. To cover this undercity, we’d need far more than the Observers are willing to assign,” he added, then nervously cleared his throat. “Even if they had spare commando squads, I doubt it would’ve been enough.”

“What are our options?” Irelia inquired, more than slightly hesitant to speak what lurked in her subconsciousness.

“Militia or regulars, I guess,” the Bravo leader answered sceptically. “But… for what it’s worth, neither of these options are of any help to us,” he muttered.

“Unfortunately, I must agree,” Xin cut in. “I know they’re doing their part as best as they can, but… from my experience, cooperating with them would be fruitless. If it comes to this, I suggest passing the whole operation to them.”

“Nevertheless, based on our current situation… I fear we need to get them involved,” the pink-haired officer said, not all too happy. “The Observers must start gathering the regulars. Our numbers are insufficient to deal with these two hunters,” she stated, balling her fists. “Realistically speaking, we’re currently reduced to a survey team that can do anything but get through the previous attacks.”

“I will deal with the Observers,” the Omega leader informed. “I do not like abandoning missions, but… from my perspective, it is either this or I will slowly watch all of my men die in any way or another – all horrifying.”

“Eh,” Darius’s heavy sigh filled the communication link’s channel. “I don’t think I can add anything to that… all was already said.”

With these words slowly fading away and drifting into blessed nothingness, the call reached its conclusion. The static left by the abruptly severed connection was the only sound filling the small office the pink-haired woman had barricaded herself into. As if under some trance, she painfully unhurriedly disconnected from the link, putting her helmet down onto the ashen wooden desk, sighing heavily, and hiding her face behind a shield of her hands. With each shallow breath she took, her frame convulsed, shaken by the emotions she no longer controlled.

***

Before the pink-haired officer could pull herself together, she received a notification from Darius with a recording attached. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and stop overthinking everything. Yet… against her body’s apparent want – or perhaps need – she stood up and left the officer, heading towards the vast open-space area attached to the kitchen.

“Roger, gather everyone,” Irelia uttered the moment the connection to their vox channel was established.

“Right away,” was all she heard before muting the link, as she tried to muster enough strength to get through the inevitably disturbing recording.”

Allowing her subconsciousness to pilot her body was shockingly trivial, she realised a couple of minutes later when the trance-like state dissipated, leaving her amongst her teammates. How she managed to get there or how long she waited for them to gather remained a mystery she was not certain she had the energy to solve.

Without as much as an introduction, she uploaded the recently received file into a relatively dated projector this building came with, then switched it on, displaying the initial static scenery on the furthest wall. The software took less than a few moments to decode the recording and start playing. At first, they could only see a dark, narrow tunnel seemingly lasting forever. Then, however, the scenery clarified slightly as the recording operative switched on his night vision, filling the vision with a greenish hue. It soon became clear that the troopers refused to use their flashlights, as they could potentially give away their approach. Moreover, they spoke very little, if anything at all, trying to keep a complete silence. Throughout the next two minutes, virtually nothing changed in the presented scenery, as if someone wanted to prank them, looping a short clip. That, however, would be a horrendous opinion. Even though the scenery remained mostly the same, details mattered. Irelia kept staring at the health-related metrics displayed on the screen’s far right. The longer the march lasted, the higher the values became, inciting fear residing in the operative.

Then, unexpectedly, everything changed in a blink of an eye. Scratching sounds filled the silent sewer tunnel, clearly coming from above. They immediately snapped their attention towards the ceiling, already expecting who they were so unlucky to bump into. A set of intense, crimson-red dots could be spotted within the darkness. These fiery orbs stared them down intently for a fleeting moment before they disappeared within a heartbeat. Then, something heavy fell onto the ground, precisely in the middle of the shock-struck soldiers. Instinctively, the flashlights were turned on, revealing the Huntress in all her terrifying glory.

The white-haired killer stood relaxed amongst them, apparently waiting for them to challenge her. Compared to the previous encounter, her mask was discarded, revealing a godly-sculptured and beautiful face with plump lips, currently twisted into a broad, mocking smirk. If confidence could take a physical form, one could make a good argument that the Huntress personified it perfectly. That being said, the scenery did not take long to turn into chaos. As the Bravo operatives started shouting and shooting, the encounter truly began.

Even the first glance was enough to formulate a strong opinion regarding the course this fight would take. The soldiers’ effort was clearly, yet painfully futile. The white-haired killer’s movement was blurry, allowing her to effectively dodge seemingly everything they threw at her. A heartbeat later, something strangely familiar yet nonetheless terrifying flashed before their eyes. The Huntress nonchalantly drew her blades, then lazily struck. No matter how hard the pink-haired officer focused on the recording, it seemed impossible to describe what was happening. A violent mix of screams, gunshots, and cries of dying filled the room – it was absolute chaos. Expectedly, it did not take all that long for the white-haired woman to deal with all the operatives, bar one. However, the ease with which she was killing was shocking and disturbing, planting a deep seed of doubt within Irelia and her team.

The sole survivor was the helmet’s owner, from whom this recording had come. There was no point in denying that the man was horrified beyond the point of no return—a quick glance over the metric was more than enough to prove it. All possible alerts queued on his vizier, tainting it with intensive, red colour. A moment later, the loud click announced the mag exhaustion—it was his last. Without a moment of hesitation, he drew a long knife and took a step back, waiting for the Huntress to make the first move. It was a desperate and futile endeavour, as he knew she could counter every attack he could have possibly come up with. His quiet prayers were recorded as he tried to back off, taking it step by step.

Soon enough, the white-haired woman’s patience apparently ran out. She slowly approached the operative, mockingly showing off her unnaturally sharp blades stained with his comrades’ blood. Her wicked and somehow strangely intoxicating smirk was still on as she got increasingly closer, assured about her superiority. Perhaps for the very first time, Irelia saw the Huntress making a mistake. As she deemed this combat already concluded, her attack was performed too nonchalantly without seemingly an ounce of strength behind it. The wide slash was sluggish compared to any of her previous offensive moves, making it possible to dodge. So… it happened, surprising the killer and temporarily rooting her to the ground. In the next second, the operative’s long knife found the Huntress’s arm, piercing her skin and leaving a shallow cut that hardly even bleed. The white-haired woman’s blood looked so humane – it was hard to believe that, especially after everything that had happened. That, however, minor success wrought death upon the man. As the killer exposed her long fangs, her crimson eyes darkened, filled with fury.

Within a moment, this fight was all but over. Without as much as a warning or any indication, the Huntress threw herself at the Bravo operative, pinning him to the ground with ease. The man’s vizier was ripped off his face and tossed aside. By some weird twist of fate, it landed in such a position that the rest of this execution was caught. The next few seconds were physically painful to watch as the white-haired woman took her sweet time, slicing the man into the tiniest of pieces, forcing him to let go of screams of pure agony. That being said, as soon as this macabre started, it too ended with the Huntress simply standing up and taking her leave as if nothing happened. Her body was only marked with a singular shallow cut, nothing else. Then, the recording came to an abrupt conclusion.

“Fuck!” Matt cursed loudly, jumping from the chair he occupied. “Fuck this! I need to smoke!” he growled, storming towards the exit.

“It’s safe to say that the Huntress is far more deadly than we anticipated,” Amanda commented after a slight pause. “She killed six of us without as much as breaking a sweat – it’s terrifying.”

“That’s not the worst part about this,” Roger whispered, energetically shaking his head to dispose of the bothering thoughts flooding his mind. “We don’t know what we’re fighting against. Is she a human or something else?” he questioned.

“Not entirely sure about that,” Tia retorted, putting her index finger across her lips in consternation. “She might be heavily augmented. Considering she’s far superior to us, in presumably every aspect, I could lean into such a speculation.”

***

“Fuck all of this!” Matt continued cursing as he left the building behind, positioning himself against the outer wall of the opposite construction. “Fuck this bitch!” he allowed himself to whisper under his breath before pulling a wrinkled pack of cigarettes from one of his pockets.

Given that the Observers forcefully emptied this neighbourhood, the street he crossed felt abandoned, like a scenery from apocalyptic movies he had eagerly watched as a kid. Well… it mattered not, he realised, as she slacked backwards, lighting the stimulant and taking a long intake. He should have stopped smoking years ago, but he could not muster enough strength to do so. Even though it cost him numerous relationships throughout the years, it mattered little. Who did he try to fool? Apparently himself, he concluded. Even up to this day, it pained him that his stimulant intoxication had made his soon-to-be wife dump him, pack her things, and leave him.

Lazily, he looked up towards the crystal-covered cavern’s ceiling. However, what he saw hardly brought joy – it brought horror. Just above him, a pair of stingily intensive, crimson eyes stared back at him, a smirk slowly forming on the woman’s beautiful face. In a heartbeat, Matt closed his eyes, knowing fully well that he would die soon. He took one last long intake before the Huntress reached towards him. The operative accepted his fate and did not try to escape as she pulled him upwards. It was so fucking trivial for her as if he weighed nothing. She licked her lips, exposing these sharp set of fangs.

Even though he was faced with what seemed to be Death incarnate, he could not tear his gaze from these intensive orbs resembling coal set on fire. There was something inexplicitly intoxicating about her, but it mattered not – his time came. Without any warning, the white-haired woman sank her fangs into Matt’s neck, eagerly consuming the life-giving liquid. Immediately, the man felt as if he was being drugged, melting into the killer’s strong yet strangely warm embrace. Within his last moments, he envisioned the girl he had once… no… always loved, uttering a silent apology. Then, the Huntress disposed of him, severing his head with one painless movement.

The white-haired woman smiled broadly as his fresh blood tainted the dirty wall. She got what she wanted, then disappeared in a heartbeat.

Author's notes section:

The main focus for me remains the rewriting of "My home is where my heart lies". That being said, I know fully well that this process will be long and painful for me, so in the meantime, I will be dropping smaller updates of various stories.

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2020-02-24] - The original chapter was released.
[2024-08-19] - The rewritten piece was released.

References:
- Black Diamond - Stratovarius
- Avenged Sevenfold - Shepherd Of Fire

End of the author's notes section.

Chapter Text

40 minutes later:

Returning to their temporary HQ took them more time than Irelia planned. The morale of the squad was low. To be frank, she has never seen it as low as it was currently. Ever since she became the Captain, none of her subordinates were killed in action. To be honest, they were rarely wounded. All of their missions were marked as successful. It was so easy to believe that it’d last forever. Sadly, today they were faced with a brutal reality. Commando-troopers could be the best the Government could offer, but they were still human. They had their weaknesses and limitations. The enemy, the squad was forced to faced, was different. The huntress looked very similar to the human being, but the similarities ended there. The white-haired woman was killing without emotions. She was graceful, perfect.

“Do we have any idea how to deal with the butcher?” Roger asked, after at least half of an hour of silence. “For now, we know that we can’t fight with her in melee range. She’s too agile, and to be frank, I have never seen someone moving that fast.”

“The problem isn’t how to fight with her. The problem is how to kill her,” Matt spoke. “We can safely assume that she can deal with at least 4 soldiers at the same time and kill all of them. It isn’t like she didn’t do it before.”

“What’s the point of fighting, then?” Mark asked. “We can’t kill her. If we stay here, she’ll kill us all.”

“Mark, for the fuck sake, shut the fuck up!” Arthus shouted. “Your endless nagging doesn’t help us. I know you’re scared, but man, control yourself.”

“If you want to stay, fine. I’m not waiting for the huntress to behead me. I want to live.”

“Cap, what do you say?” Roger asked.

“Let him go,” Irelia stated. “Mark, I hope you understand what consequences your decision brings?”

“No, I frankly don’t, but I don’t care.” The man replied.

“Ahh, the moment you leave this room, you’re released. You won’t be the part of this squad anymore, and you won’t have a chance to rejoin in the future. The HQ will be informed about that. Sooner or later, they’ll assign you to another unit.” The Captain explained. “Does it change your mind?”

“No, I want to leave this place behind. I value my life more than the slot in the squad.”

“Aight, you can leave. Take care of yourself, kid.”

“Get the fuck out of here, coward!” Jason growled.

“Fuck you, mate!” Mark shouted back.

“Let him go,” Irelia repeated.

The rest of the squad allowed the deserter to freely leave the room. They didn’t say a word, there was no farewell for the man who betrayed his team. The silence lasted a couple of moments longer after the soldier took his exit. Tia was the first one to speak.

“Cap, why did you let him go?”

“He chose to leave. There was no point in trying to convince him to change his mind,” Irelia replied.

“You think that he won’t reach the upper city?” Tia asked.

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t want Mark to die, but he’ll most certainly choose the shortest path to the passage.”

“Hmm, you think that he’ll lure the second hunter from its hideout?” Tobias curiously asked.

“He’ll travel through its hunt ground, so it’s possible. In the end, Mark can save more lives this way than if he stayed here.”

“Cap, you willingly sacrificed him? Did you?” Amanda gasped.

“I think so. Amanda, please, turn on his camera and put the transmitted video on the wall.”

“I don’t like it, Cap,” Amanda replied. She was shaking her head.

“I know, but I didn’t have another choice. I wouldn’t be able to convince Mark to stay.”

“We understand it,” Roger assured. “There are many difficult choices that you have to make as the officer and letting one of your teammates die, is probably the most difficult one.”

“Roger, you don’t have to remind me that. I’ve sent him right to his death.” The officer whispered. “I’d love to promise you that there wouldn’t be more casualties, but I can’t.”

“Cap, there is nothing to promise. We’re all soldiers, we knew what was the risk when we signed up,” Tobias spoke. “We’re the team, and we’ll do everything to keep each other alive. But … in the end, we’re mere humans. If we’re to die, we’ll put a hell of the fight before dying.”

“Yeah, Tobias for once said something right,” Leona chuckled. “We’re no longer the set of individuals, we’re a team. We must focus on our task, it’s all we can do.”

“Agree,” May spoke in lowe voice. “Amanda, did you manage to connect to looser’s suit?”

“Nah, give me a couple of seconds more,” Amanda replied, typing on the nearest keyboard.

“Okay, it isn’t like we haven’t got some time to spare,” May replied.

“We won’t be able to get to him quick enough if we stay here, Cap,” Roger hummed.

“We won’t try to save Mark,” Irelia whispered. “Our only chance to take down the second hunter is to let him start its feast, then we’ll attack.”

“So, Mark is basically dead,” Jason summed up.

“If he manages to avoid the hunter, he’ll live. Otherwise, he won’t stand a chance in one-on-one combat with that monster.”

“Do you hope that the huntress will appear and start fighting with it?” Tia asked shyly.

“It’d be the best-case scenario, but we can’t depend on it. As soon as the action is over, we’re going to move out. It’ll take time for the monster to consume Mark’s corpse. The hunter should be distracted for a couple of moments, which can give us the edge we need.” The pink-haired officer explained.

“This plan has an awful number of ifs inside of it. I don’t like it,” Amanda responded. “Should I inform other captains about our plan, once I’m finished with establishing the connection?”

“Do it, their help can be handy,” Roger ordered.

10 minutes later:

“Connection established,” Amanda informed some time later. “It seems that Mark hasn’t even reached the passage yet.”

“I assume Darius and Xin are informed?” Roger asked.

“Yes, Roger. I’ve contacted them.”

“Good, put it through.”

“Aight.”

The massive monitor that was hanging on a wall started to flicker. The signal seemed to be clipped. They were able to see a few moments without any interference. Still, overall the quality of the visual was pretty low.

“Why is the visual so bad?” Irelia asked.

“I don’t know, Cap. If I were to guess, I’d say that there is a pretty formidable source of an electric or magnetic field nearby,” Amanda replied instantly.

“Hmm, we didn’t have any problems with coms before. Is it possible for the hunters to have some kind of device able to interference with our signals?”

“It isn’t impossible,” May spoke. “But, we didn’t encounter any problems when we were fighting against the huntress earlier. It can mean that the second beast is near Mark.”

“Amanda, can you access his suit’s analyzer?” The Captian asked out of sudden.

“Sure thing. Let me change one line of code.” The technician was whispering. “And, done.”

Indeed, the analyzer metrics appeared on the screen a moment later. Based on the high heart rate, shallow breath, and slightly risen body temperature, Mark was scared. Possibly, he was aware that the butcher or the monster were watching him, making a trap. The fact that there were no people nearby wouldn’t calm anyone’s mind.

“If he keeps this pace, he’ll reach the elevator in a few minutes,” Leona informed the rest of the squad. “Of course, if he doesn’t meet any of the hunters.”

“Look at the surroundings,” Tobias spoke. “It looks as if someone pulled the scene out of the horror movie. The few lamps are flickering, it’s safe to say that it’s twilight there.”

“Yeah, it’s like a horror movie. The passages are empty, there is no one there aside from Mark. Look, there are marks on the walls. They look like scratches.”

“There is some kind of liquid streaming on the wall. It’s so thick and dark,” Tia pointed out. “It looks like blood, but … fuck!”

“The hunter is above him, it’s eating,” Amanda gasped. “Now, it’s just a matter of time before the beast decides to kill Mark.”

“It’s so strange, the whole scene seems like a battlefield,” May whispered.

“How so?” Roger asked.

“I swear, I saw some puddles on the ground. I think it was blood. Some of them were red, some blueish.”

“Wait, Mark started to run. He must have spotted something, or someone,” Irelia told. “Can you rewind? Amanda, can you rewind?”

“I think so.” The squad technician replied. “Yeah, how much?”

“Last minute, slow it as well.”

“Got you. And it’s done.”

The screen flickered a few times before the video stabilized. As it was requested, the play speed was halved, allowing the squad to focus on the small details they could otherwise miss. It didn’t take much time to find what they were looking for. In fact, May was right. The ground of the passage was covered in fresh blood. There was no doubt that some kind of fight must have happened here recently. Who fought, they didn’t know for sure. They were confident that someone engaged the beast, but whether that person survived or not wasn’t known.

“What the fuck, who has the guts to hunt for that beast?” Shocked, Tobias asked.

“I think it proves that the Cap was right,” Tia replied. “The beast can be the ultimate prey for the huntress. The blood on the ground is similar to her. We found some of it in the sewer.”

“Okay, but based on what we can see there, she lost that fight,” Jason added. “How can we fight against something that defeated her?”

“I have a feeling that she wasn’t the one fighting,” Amanda stated. “It looks like the primal hunt or some kind of execution. I think there are more huntresses there. The lesser ones must have clashed with the beast. Even though they might not be as strong as the huntress we met, they’re still formidable foes. They certainly inflicted some wounds onto their target.”

“Hmm, it makes sense, but I feel like you haven’t said everything yet,” Roger replied.

“Because I haven’t. The things I’ve mentioned already are highly possible, the rest is just my speculation.”

“Tell us what’s on your mind, Amanda,” Irelia ordered.

“Okay, as you might have noticed, the huntress blood isn’t that different from ours. I feel like she can be human.”

“What?!” Mike shouted. “Do you expect us to believe that the huntress is, in fact, human?”

“She can be human, we don’t know that yet. I just merely stated that she can be one of the kidnapped children from one of the colonies. It isn’t uncommon for a few children to disappear a year.” The technician explained.

“Okay, I can agree that she looks like us, but she can’t be human. She kills without blinking, not to mention that I don’t know anyone who could move the way she does.”

“I understand your concerns, but I’m just mentioning the possibilities, nothing more. It scares me as much as it does to you.”

“Mike, give her a break,” Irelia rose her voice. “It’s a scary possibility, I must admit. The mere thought that the huntress was once a human child that was taken away from her family, and then trained to be a killer, scares me.”

“Isn’t it that impossible? If you think about it for a second, the galaxy is really vast, and our kind is spread throughout all of it. There are billions or even hundreds of billions of humans living in it. We wouldn’t even notice if thousands of people gone missing,” May said.

“Sadly, I have to agree,” Tia replied.

“Maybe stop discussing, the video hasn’t ended yet,” Tobias stated. “Maybe we’ll learn something from that.”

“Yeah, let’s focus on it once again.” The Captain agreed.

It wasn’t surprising for them what had happened next. Mark spotted the puddles of blood that were covering the streets. It scared him, but it wasn’t the reason he started to run. The thin stream of blood that was presented on the wall caught the attention of the soldier. The man averted his gaze from the ground, following the trail of the red liquid. After a few seconds later, his sight was focused on the very top levels of slum’s buildings. Something was there, there was no point arguing about it. In the shadows, the massive frame could be spotted. It was slowly moving, as if it was chawing something, eating. The ex-commando-trooper didn’t waste any time, he started to run for his life. To be frank, it was probably the reason why the beast interrupted its feast. Mark was running as fast as he could, but everyone was all too aware of the final outcome. The sounds of the chase started to reach the man no longer than a few short moments after his panic attack. The beast was on its way to hunt him down. Without turning back, the soldier knew that he didn’t have a lot of time before the hunter would reach him. The man chose to turn to the nearest alley. All of his metrics were elevated. His breath was shallow, clipped. It was only a matter of time before Mark’s body would refuse to run anymore. As soon as he entered the passage, he froze. Two women were standing there. They were so similar to the huntress, they were so beautiful. Before the soldier could do anything, one of them with dark brown hair put in dreads, ended his life. The seven-feet long spear was thrust into Mark’s throat. The man was able to hold on for a couple of more seconds before the blood loss forced him to fall.

The sounds of the beast were coming from ever closer. Soon enough, the feasting hunter revealed itself. Their speculations were correct, the creature looked like the massive cat. It was clothed in a mixture of rags and bones. It seemed that the hunter was collecting the bones of its prey, then using them to show its might. The monster looked surprised when instead of the soldier, it met two huntresses. It took two steps back, but women had already started their onslaught. The brown-haired one ran at it, while the second was started to shoot from the strange-looking rifle. The hunting officially began.

“Fuck!” Roger cursed when the connection was cut. “Cap, what do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Irelia whispered.

Chapter Text

Two days later:

Two days passed since Mark’s had been found in of the dirty alleys. The whole situation got out of any sort of control. The commando-troopers felt like the pawns in some kind of game. It seemed that they were unable to fight with the alien hunters that out of nowhere appeared below the capital-city. That was two very long days. All members of Irelia’s team were gathered in their temporary HQ. They weren’t allowed to leave the place. It was a direct order from the Captain. She wanted to have a plan before she would let her team face the hunters again. To prepare it, they spent that lockdown time talking, arguing, searching. All of the soldiers tried to find something that they missed previously. They watched all records at least a dozen times. They analyzed them in slow motion. In the end, their effort was futile. The para-troopers didn’t learn anything new about the enemy they were about to face. They felt powerless against them.

For May, those past days felt like a nightmare she desperately wanted to wake up from. She couldn’t sleep at all, she was always nervous, her body covered continuously in sweat. The woman needed something to calm her mind to relax. The soldier decided that a shower during the night wasn’t a bad idea for that. As quietly as she could, she reached the restroom where the showers were located. Once she closed the doors, the Asian woman stripped in a matter of seconds, leaving herself naked. The cold air of the night had an instant effect on her delicate skin. In a matter of seconds, she had goosebumps. It took more than a minute for the soldier to locate the source of the coldness. As soon as she found it, the vents were closed.

May still felt the coldness of the night, she needed to warm herself. Without much thinking, she activated the supporting system. Instantly the hot water started to stream down in a spacious stall. The moment the water fell onto her skin, she moaned a little. It was a pleasurable sensation. The woman took some soap and started to clean herself off of the sweat. Soon enough, the high temperature of the water began to affect the entire restroom. The steam filled the room in no time.

May couldn’t have told how much time she had spent there, for sure. For her, it seemed like a couple of minutes, but it could be an hour or even more extended period. Suddenly, she heard the footstep right behind her. It scared her, but before she could turn around, the pair of strong arms were enveloped around her wrist. She would lie if she said that it wasn’t a pleasant sensation. Regardless of that, her body tensed. The soldier knew that she should have been terrified that someone managed to sneak into their HQ, but somehow, she was unable to do so. She hadn’t been with anyone in a long, long time. She hadn’t been laid for far too long. As soon as that thought crept inside of May’s mind, the owner of the strong arms took a step forward. She was pulled back at the same time. Soon enough, the bare back of the soldier was met with well-defined abdomen muscles and soft breasts. The very moment it happened, May squeaked in a pleasure.

The throaty laughter reached her ears a few seconds later. It was so primal, so huskily, so raw. The Asian woman had so much question, but she completely forgot about them when the warm lips were felt onto her nape. At first, the woman behind the soldier was planting feather-like kisses on May’s delicate skin. The commando-trooper couldn’t hold back, she started to moan loudly. Only one of her previous lovers took her time to treat her like that, to bring her pleasure by such a sensual act. Her today’s lover started to get hungrier with every passing moment. The very first thing she added to spice-up the sensation was her moist tongue. Soon enough, the nape of the soldier was being abused by nipping, sucking, and bitting. May absolutely loved that. She felt like she meant something for the woman behind her that she was worth all the effort the stranger put into satisfying her.

A couple of minutes later, or at least according to the soldier, who’s mind wasn’t thinking all that straight, she was pushed into the wall. May whined a little, but she didn’t have time for that. The para-trooper was turned around swiftly. Finally, she could see the woman who was making love to her for quite some time now. The Asian girl gasped. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The woman standing before her was definitely the most beautiful creature she had ever seen in her life. Her lover was perfect in every aspect. Her body was strong, athletic, but for such tits and butt, May could have killed. The muscles she felt before, the abs, they were clearly visible. Who the commando-trooper wanted to fool, most of the men dreamt about such abdomen. Rising her gaze, she spotted the crimson-red eyes that were as hungry as she expected. The long, loose, white hair was falling onto the back of the gorgeous woman.

May wanted to say something, but she didn’t have a chance to do so. She was kissed passionately. It was a fierce kiss that took all of her breath away. Before she could even return the caress, her legs were spread, the thigh of the white-haired beauty placed right between them. Her hand quickly found the love bud of the soldier and put pressure on it. The para-trooper moaned. She tried to scream from the sudden pleasure, but all of it was muffed by the hungry mouth of the crimson-eyed woman. She was lowered to be able to grind herself off of the thigh beneath her. Without hesitation, the trooper did it. She was far too lost, she wanted to achieve her peak, she wanted to cum.

May enveloped her slender arms around the neck of the white-haired woman pulling her closer. It was too good to be real, but even if it was just a dream, she wanted to ride it to the very end. Soon enough, she was overwhelmed by the pressure put onto her. She cum, screaming loudly. As her eyes started to close, she spotted that her lover was lowering herself, placing her mouth right before the nape of the soldier. May felt a tiny prick, but she didn’t care. She was satisfied, and it was all that mattered for her. Before her vision became completely dark, she felt that she was being carried bridal style. The soldier was happy. In the end, she was finally able to get some rest, sleep for some time.

A couple of hours later:

“Silence!” Irelia growled. “I know that you’re all scared, but your panic won’t help us with anything. You’re all talking like you already died. We can fight those monsters, but we need to work together.”

“Not really,” Tia replied. “We studied everything we have about them, and still, we didn’t find a single detail that would help us defeat them. I know that you’re doing your work Cap, but maybe this time we should leave the case to the regular army. They will be able to cover more ground than us. They will have more soldiers and much more equipment. Even though some of them might die, those hunters won’t be able to kill all of them. In the end, they will be hunted down and killed.”

“We’re always risking our lives for them, maybe it’s high time for them to repay the debt,” Jason added.

“It’s madness!” Roger shouted. “We were trained to overcome challenges, not to avoid them. Not to mention that those monsters killed our brothers-in-arms, and we need to avenge them.”

“Mate, if we stay here, we will be as dead as they are,” Jason angrily replied. “You don’t need to remind us that we lost friends, but we can’t do shit against those butchers.”

“I don’t want to say that, but I agree with Tia and Jason,” Arthur spoke. “You’re right, Roger, we’re trained to overcome challenges, to surpass humans, not monsters. I’m not a coward, if there was even a slight chance that we could win, I would stay, but there is none.”

“Captain, you aren’t going to let them leave, aren’t you?” Roger asked the pink-haired woman.

“They will disobey me if I order them to stay,” Irelia sighed heavily. “I don’t have much of choice right here.”

“Cap?” Amanda called out the officer.

“Yeah?”

“Where’s May? I haven’t seen her all day long, and it’s already late afternoon.”

“Did you check her room?”

“No, she had such awful problems with her sleep that she was always the first one up in the morning,” Amanda responded. “I thought that she would be here.”

“Come with me,” Irelia ordered. “We will check if everything is alright with her.”

“Morning everyone,” May’s soft voice sounded.

In an instant, all of the commando-troopers turned around. They sighed with relief as soon as they spotted the short Asian woman who was standing in the entrance to the room. She was still clothed in short, green tee and matching pair of shorts. May was softly wiping her eyes, it was evident that she was still sleepy.

“Morning? It’s already a late afternoon, May,” surprised Leona informed the sleepy woman.

“What? How could I sleep that long?”

“Maybe you tell us? How could we know that?” Marris asked.

“Ehhh … it seems that the blame is on me, sorry guys.” The soldier replied, scratching her nape.

“What do you have on your neck?!” Amanda cried out. “Are those fangs marks?”

“What? What are you talking about?” May gasped, searching for some kind of small wounds on her nape. Soon enough, her slender fingers touched something wet that was running down her neck.

“May, come here. Let us see what it is.” The pale officer said.

The Asian soldier came to them and sat in the nearest chair. She was as pale as the Captain, if not more. Her entire frame was trembling slightly. Amanda started to inspect the injury as soon as she was able to. The substance that was purring down slowly from the tiny holes was blue. The liquid didn’t have any scent, it was thick and sticky. The apothecary of the squad was trying to stop the leaking but to no avail. No matter what she used, the wound wouldn’t seal itself.

“Ehhh, I am unable to seal it,” Amanda sighed slowly after a couple of minutes. “We need to get her to a real hospital where someone with better medical knowledge than me could treat her.”

“Agreed,” the pinked-haired woman responded. “Squad, we’re moving out of here. We have a wounded member that needs to be transported to the HQ. When we reach it, all of you who wants to leave the slums behind for good, will be able to do so. You will be able to make that decision without facing any consequence.”

“Thank you, Cap,” Tia spoke. “Thank you for what you’re doing for all of us.”

“I’ll return.” The officer announced. “I won’t be able to live normally with the knowledge that I could at least try to avenge the fallen.”

“I’ll go with you,” Roger assured the pinked-haired woman.

“Count me in as well,” Leona added.

“Should I inform the rest of the squads about our departure?” Amanda asked.

“Yeah, inform them that we’re all leaving. Tell them that it was a direct order from the Command.”

“Ay.”

“They will find out sooner or later,” Roger spoke. “You know that other Captians will ask questions.”

“I know, but they should be pissed at me cause I lied to them, not that I’m partially responsible for their soldiers’ deaths.”

“I hope that you know what you’re doing, Cap.”

“Me too, me too.”

Chapter Text

A few moments later:

“Do you know how did you get those?” Irelia asked the slightly wounded soldier as soon as she approached.

“I wish I do,” May sighed heavily once again. “We haven’t been in combat for at least 2 full days, I really have no idea how the hell I got those.”

“Easy, easy,” Amanda said instantly. “We aren’t blaming you, you’re just shocked and terrified. Something terrible happened under our noses, and we’re clueless who or what caused it.”

“I know, I know, I …,” May started. “I’m the reason behind our retreat from the slums, and I feel guilty.”

“Why do you feel guilty?” The officer asked tenderly. “You aren’t the main factor that pushed me to make that difficult decision.” The pink-haired woman whispered. “It was just a matter of time for me to sound the retreat. We lost a few of our friends, a few excellent soldiers, and we weren’t able to deal with those hunters. Try not to put the blame on yourself.”

“I will try, but I can’t promise you that I will succeed in it.”

“I can’t ask for more, May,” Irelia lightly squeezed the arms of her friend. “We’re all going to move to the upper city. There, the real doctor will see to your wounds.” The officer assured.

“Thanks, Captain. It really means a world to me.” The wounded woman replied with gratitude in her voice.

“I would do anything to keep all of you safe, but it can’t be helped, at least not now.”

“Sometimes, we can’t save all. You should know it all too well, Cap,” Amanda spoke. “The current situation is like a war, just on a smaller scale.”

“You’re right, I know that, but it still doesn’t ease up the process of accepting what happened.”

“We know you all too well, Irelia,” May started. “You will never forgive yourself for what happened to our friends, but for your own good, you need to. They wouldn’t want that.”

“Maybe, you two are right, but it will take time for me to process that advice.”

“Soon enough, we will be in the upper city, then you will be able to take some rest.” The wounded soldier assured. “It is just a couple of more minutes, and all of this will be over, at least for us.”

“It won’t be,” Irelia replied. “I want to come back and revenge them, but for now, you are my top priority. I want the rest of you to be safe in the capital.”

“Cap, Cap, Cap,” Amanda giggled. “I think you’ll never change. It isn’t like we’re all grown men and women, and we can handle ourselves decently. You aren’t required to take responsibility for us like a mother takes responsibility for her children.”

“If you think about it for more than a couple of seconds, it does make sense,” May laughed. “You are seriously behaving like a mother toward us, Cap.”

“Fuck you, I’m not anyone's mother,” Irelia laughed as well. “All I want is you to be safe.”

“Doesn’t a mother want the same for her children?” Amanda winked. “You’re pretty young, but if you really want, we can show you a place where you can find a sperm donor. Then wait a couple of months, and voila, you’re a true mother.”

“Fuck you, both of you. I am not even into men.” The officer tried to respond coldly but failed to do so. “I can’t even imagine that.”

“You know, we can find you a hot shemale if you want.” The wounded woman smiled evilly.

“I want this conversation to be over,” Irelia slightly whined. “How can you be so cheerful right here? We’re in the middle of slums, we’re being hunted by some freaking monsters.”

“Oh come on, Cap,” Amanda said. “We all know that you think that the huntress is hot. I must admit, if she wasn’t into killing us, I would probably date her as soon as it would be possible.”

“I … I don’t.” The pink-haired woman mumbled.

“Oh, look at you, you are blushing,” May giggled.

“Enough of that. Let’s proceed to the extraction point.” The officer cut off the conversation. Her whole face was hot, there was red all over it.

Half an hour later:

It was a weird turn of events, but their match to the extraction point wasn’t interrupted even once. With all of them grouped in a pretty tight circle, they were the nearly perfect target for the hunters. Or, at least it was what Irelia though. If she was to bet which of the hunters would attack them, she would choose the white-haired huntress without hesitation. She seemed to be thriving in the fights against multiply enemies. The Captain couldn't tell for sure how many attacks took place since they bunkered themselves inside their temporary HQ. They cut off the pieces of information coming from the slums as soon as they locked themselves. The officer thought that it was a good idea, that it would allow them to focus on their goal without much distraction, but in the end, the decision seemed to be one big mistake.

“How many attacks have been reported recently?” The pink-haired woman asked via voice com.

“Around 100, Cap,” Roger replied after a while. “None of our boys was killed during the lockdown, but many innocent people from slums were.”

“I see,” Irelia responded gravely. “Start the extraction. Mike, Tobias, Jason, you’re going to cover us. As soon as the lift arrives, you’re free to enter the building.”

“Roger that,” Tobias replied. “How long will it take?”

“No longer than a couple of minutes. There are too many of us to make it to the surface in one lift.”

“It’s fine, you didn’t have any problems so far,” Mike added. “We’ll see you up there soon enough. Go.”

“Guys, if any of the hunters show up before the lift comes back, just force it to retreat, or keep the safe distance. I don’t want any of you to play hero right now. So many of our friends have already lost their lives. I don’t want any more casualties. Am I understood?” Irelia spoke with a tone of drilling sergeant.

“Cap, you know us,” Jason laughed. “We want to get the hell out of here more than you do. Believe me, we won’t try to get ourselves killed.”

“I really hope so. Good luck and see you in the capital in a few.”

“Just go already before we start crying. You know we aren’t the best in saying farewell,” Mike joked. “Go, we will handle the situation down here.”

The moment the lift started its way to the upper world, the areas around the extraction point went silent. The slight fog that began to form about an hour ago was currently reaching the thighs of soldiers. To be perfectly honest, the entire scenery was as if taken from the horror movie. The empty alley that surrounded the exit point added additional tension. Every couple of seconds, it seemed as if something or someone was moving inside of the fog. The creepy sensation was always in the back of their heads. The feeling was slowly creeping its way to overwhelm what was left off of their sanity. Each of them was staring into the different exit of the dark alleys. The extraction point was built on a circle plan. There were exactly 3 ways to reach or exit the lift area.

Even though it wasn’t late, the nearby areas were flooded by darkness. To be frank, the only thing that was standing out from the pitch-black was a fog. It seemed as if hours had passed since their team entered the lift, but in fact, not even a couple of minutes passed.

“That scenery is fucking with my mind,” Mike said suddenly.

“Yeah, me too, brother,” Jason agreed.

“Something is definitely not right, but I can’t point out what,” Mike added. “I swear I see something moving through that fog every single damn time I look at my exit.”

“Mike, someone may be walking there, but as far as we know, there was no attack in that area of slums. It was the reason, Cap, chose that exact extraction point,” Tobias spoke. “Just don’t lose your focus, a couple of more minutes, and we will be safe inside the lift cabin.”

“I guess, but it still doesn’t ease my mind,” Mike nagged.

“Oh man, you won’t calm down till we are finally out of this pit hole.” Both Jason and Tobias replied.

“Shut up, I would love to be already inside that cabin. Something is just not right.”

“Come on, don’t be a pussy, man,” Tobias joked.

“Fuck you,” Mike laughed.

“Oh, look, our salvation is coming down,” Jason added.

“About damned time,” Mike growled.

A few moments before the platform reached the extraction point, the vein chilling scream reached Mike’s ears. It was coming from his alley’s exit.

“Please, help me. Please, don’t rape me. Please, leave me alone. Please, please, please.” The screams were only going louder and louder.

“Fuck!!!” Mike cursed under his nose. “Why now?”

As soon as the glass doors leading to the cabin opened, they entered the lift. Tobias and Jason were chatting happily, soon they would leave that pit hole behind them, and with some luck wouldn’t see anytime soon.

“Aghh, please.” Another whine reached the ears of Mike. “Please, I have kids, I am the only one they have left here. Please, let me go to them.”

“Fuck, I can’t let it happen,” Mike growled and left the platform, barely making it through closing doors.

“Mate, what the fuck are you doing?” Jason shouted through the voice com.

“I can’t let it happen again. I can’t let another woman be raped and then killed,” Mike mumbled.

“What the fuck … talking … mate?” Came the interrupted response.

“I can’t hear you. I will be fine, I will come as soon as I deal with it.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Cap, do you hear me?” Tobias tried to reach the officer.

“You’re a bit low, but I can understand you. What happened, you sound worried?” The pink-haired woman replied after a few seconds.

“Mike left the platform before it started its way top. He was shouting something about not letting another woman being raped and killed. I don’t know what he was talking about.”

“Shit,” Irelia cursed. “He was referring to his wife. She was abused and then killed a couple of months ago by the local mafia. He didn’t want anyone to know that beside me.”

“Cap, I can’t reach him, his com seemed to be cut off,” Jason informed. “We can’t stop the lift, we need to reach the top before we can get back for him.”

“You aren’t going back,” Irelia said in a sad tone. “If he stayed there, he will be dead before we can reach him. Someone or something lured him. The most terrifying aspect of it is that that thing knew about his trauma. It must have been the huntress, I don’t have any proof, but I feel like it was her.”

“Cap, we can’t leave him like that, he’s our brother in arms, we don’t leave anyone behind,” Tobias was arguing.

“I know, but we can’t do anything. Mike will be dead before you reach the top. If the white-haired huntress though us anything, it would be the fact that if we split up, she’ll kill us all, she’ll hunt us down.”

“Cap …” Jason started.

“No!” The officer shouted. “It’s the order! You’re going to reach the upper city, and you won’t go back there.”

“As you wish, Captain,” Tobias replied in the most pitty voice.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Irelia started to sob. “Fuck you, huntress, I’m going to hunt you and kill you!”

In the meantime in the slums:

Mike couldn’t say for sure how long did he ended up running. With every single step he took, the voice he was following seemed to be fading as if someone was muffing the cries. The sole, though, was feeding his utter rage. For him, it was like the day his wife died was repeating itself. He wasn’t able to protect her, but on her grave, he promised himself that he wouldn’t let the same thing happen again. Fueled by his rising rage, the soldier was running through the dark alleys. His senses were sharpened, his entire frame was put in high alert.

After some time, the cries died. There were only silence and the heavy sounds of his boots hitting the ground. He immediately felt lost, vulnerable. Mike headed toward the place he thought the last scream came from. Minutes felt like hours, but he stubbornly was still pushing forward.

Soon enough, the soldier entered a small open area. In a matter of seconds, he located the body of a young woman that was resting on the wall. By the signs of blood that was covering it, Mike was pretty sure the woman was already dead. Something inside of his mind was telling him to run away, but he didn’t do so. Instead of leaving, the soldier closed the gap between him and the dead body. She was wearing a blazer. The navy-blue tie was loosened, presenting a deep cut on her throat. By the look of things, it seemed that the woman was a part of the local mafia, but it didn’t make any sense. The members of the gang wouldn’t ever beg for life. Then, it must mean …

He felt the slender arms enveloping around his neck. Even though they were warm, soft, delicate, he felt the muscles underneath the skin. The warm, damp-breath moved from the nape to his ears.

“Consider it as my gift to you.” The woman behind him said. “You’ll meet your dear wife somewhere in the afterlife if you believe in such a thing. If not, you won’t be required to live without her anymore. Goodbye, Mike.” The huntress whispered before she cut the throat of the soldier.

In a matter of moment, the commando-trooper fell to his knees. His vision was quickly fading, his eyes slowly closing in. With his last breath, he tried to ask how the assassin was able to speak in his language. But he didn’t manage to do so. Some noises were everything that escaped his throat. The moment his head hit the ground, he spotted the woman drinking blood from the dead body. Soon enough, he didn’t feel anything at all. His final wish was to reunite with his wife. With that single thought in his mind, Mike died in the middle of some dark alley in slums.

Chapter Text

Two weeks later:

As Irelia was opening the door leading the apartment, she was temporarily given, she sighed heavily. Two weeks passed since her team returned from the undercity. It was two full weeks of constant guilt for the young officer. She failed her squad, she failed her friends, she failed her Government. Perhaps the most embarrassing situation she had ever encountered was the very moment she needed to place a report from their mission in the slums. To make the matter worse, she was asked to do it personally in front of the council of commanders. The pink-haired woman could see the disappointment that was hiding in their eyes as her report was being presented. Irelia was punished for her mistakes, part of it was the imprisonment in the apartment. Other than that, she wasn’t allowed to take part in any kind of mission for at least the next six months.

When the familiar quiet click was heard, the soldier pushed the door open and entered the luxurious apartment. As soon as she dropped her bag on the floor, she sighed again. Irelia didn’t care where the item fell, she was too tired to really care about such an unimportant matter. The pink-haired woman cursed under her breath. “Fuck, why did they need to assign me for reeducation,” Irelia continued to sware in a low voice. The woman wasn’t entirely sure, but the council might have had their eyes on her all the time. It sickened the young officer that her decision that saved the lives of many elite soldiers was declared as a failure as a betrayal. In the end, if they had stayed in the slums, her teams and all additional troopers sent to their aid would have been undoubtedly dead.

“It is so fucked-up,” the soldier murmured under her nose. There was none a single night that she wouldn’t have dreamed about what had happened down there. With every single passing day, the burden she was carrying became heavier and heavier. Irelia was so close to the point of no return. If it didn’t change, she would surely go insane.

Soon enough, she reached the king-sized bed that was located in the biggest room of the apartment. Without much thinking, Irelia allowed her tired body to fall inertly onto the furniture. The pink-haired woman didn’t have any strength left to even adjust her position on the bed. She was fed up with the lies that her supervisors were spreading in the news. The regular army that replaced the elite troopers in the slums were being seen as the heroes that were sent by the Government that somehow after many years reminded itself about the part of its people who were living in undercity.

To some extent, it was the truth. The soldiers were helping the residents of the slums by taking care of their sick and wounded, sharing their food rations. Of course, no one would confess that the trooper down there lost nothing, to be honest. The quotas that the single soldier was given would be enough to feed off 3 or even more people. It wouldn’t be a problem for the rulers of the country to feed off all of the starving people, but instead, they just refused to do it. It was that simple in their minds – if you don’t work, you don’t deserve to eat. The reality of life in the slums was all too familiar to the young officer. To be frank, she was raised there, so she knew the situation from the first hand. Just like her, many young or not even so young people from the slums immediately tried to sign up for an army. And to be honest, it was a clue of the whole plan of the Government. The war between the Empire Irelia was serving in, and the Coalition of the Traders’ Guild was on the horizon. The Empire needed new soldiers fast, it didn’t really matter whether the new recruits would survive the first encounter. It was all about the number advantage, the war of attrition, which side would be willing to sacrifice more.

Irelia was more than certain that at least half of the recruits would not even finish the training in the camps. The instructors there were brutal, not to mention that they didn’t have to care about the law, in camp they were the law, they were deciding who would live and who would die. It sickened the young officer because she knew the truth, but the pieces of information that were passed to the media could be considered as half-true or lie.

The current situation she was in, and the massive amount of the information she had access to, worried her. In the past, she believed that the rulers of the Empire weren’t that bad, maybe they didn’t know about the situation in slums, or elsewhere, but the truth was bitter. They just didn’t care at all.

To be frank, her mind was currently a mess, maybe even more than a mess. Millions of thoughts were running through her head. Most of them were harmless, some pleasant, some sad, some terrifying, some bothering. However, all of them had one aspect in common, with the passing time, they became tiresome.

Irelia didn’t even notice when her eyes became too heavy and closed themselves. In the most recent history, it wasn’t that uncommon situation. To be perfectly honest, it was highly possible that every single evening, the young woman fell asleep in that very way.

Like every other night since maybe a week or so, she woke up in the middle of it. Irelia wiped her sleepy eyes and checked the small clock standing on the nightstand. “Damn, it’s only 3 am, why the fuck did I wake up,” she murmured. The entirety of the room was covered in darkness. The same could be said about the view from the single enormously large window that was put in the room. Even in the capital, the light system was implemented to shut precisely at 0000, or at least, it was the case in most of the districts. The pink-haired woman kept staring into the dark for a couple of minutes more, before averting her gaze. She laid down on the bed again, she tried her hardest to fall asleep, but to no avail. It didn’t take long for her to start rumbling. The very moment she turned toward the window once more, her eyes opened and captured some movement. Just like many times again, she spotted two small red lights that were coming from outside of her place.

To some extent, it was astonishing that the sources of those lights were located so close to each other. To be honest, it could not be anything else, the apartment Irelia was put in was located on the 60^th floor. There was no chance for anyone to reach it without jetpack that would make some kind of noise. The more she was staring into the red, the more troubled her mind became. After some time, the lights faded for a second or so, as if they were someone’s eyes. As if someone was just outside of the window, and just blinked. That single thought scared the young officer. Not thinking too much, she hid her face in her pillow just like the small child. It could not be the truth, it would not be possible. “Wasn’t it?” she asked herself. “I can think about one thing that could do it, and I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about,” her mind stated. “You’re talking about her, aren’t you?” Irelia responded, trembling slightly. “Yes,” the answer was provided.

“You need to face your fears,” the pink-haired woman said to herself. With that, she turned around once again, focused on the window, but she didn’t notice anything. “Maybe, those were just lights,” she thought.

As soon as she averted her gaze, the orbs of crimson were just beside her. Instinctively, the young officer jumped to create some distance between her and the reaper. It was futile. The strong hands stopped her. In the blink of an eye, the room was filled with light. Immediately, Irelia recognised the intruder. As if it could have been someone else, it was the white-haired assassin that killed many of her friends and teammates.

“Kill me,” the pink-haired woman said with a trembling voice.

“I don’t think so,” the reaper whispered softly into the ear of Irelia.

“How can …”

“I can do many things,” the white-haired smiled mischievously. “You have only witnessed a fraction of my true potential,” she added. “I need you if you help me, I will spare you and those of your people who had escaped.”

“Do I have any choice to make?” Irelia asked, still terrified and shocked.

“I believe that no, you don’t have any choice to take,” the butcher whispered once again into the ear of the latter.

“Ok …” the officer whispered quietly.

“Fantastic,” the assassin replied, leaning over the nape of the soldier.

“What are you doing?”

“You will see, just a bit of patience,” the white-haired giggled.

“What … Aghhh,” the young woman screamed when the razor sharped fangs of the crimson-eyed beauty sunk into the soft flash of her nape.

In a matter of a few seconds, Irelia’s eyes went black, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

The sun’s ray brought back Irelia’s consciousness. As soon as the light reached her closed eyes, she became restless. After a couple of short-lived moments of wrestling with her own bedding, the young officer opened her eyes slowly. The woman could not say that she felt rested, to be frank, her current state was far from it.

The very first thing that caught the attention of the pink-haired was the room’s only window. As through the mist, the parts of memories flashed before her very eyes. Irelia remembered the 2 crimson-coloured objects that would appear behind the glass. Those points had caused a panic attack on her, but she could not say why. From her current sitting, those could be just some kind of lights, nothing more. The officer could not figure that out, what happened that she was so scared, so terrified. Irelia could not find the answer for that very question, as if some part of those memories were erased from her mind.

Unconsciously her left hand landed on the side of the bed she was never using. Aside from the scattered bedding that she touched initially, something was very off. She could sense a warmth still emanating from the sheets as if someone slept there recently. A cold sweat nearly immediately broke on her brow, she could feel it. Simultaneously, the unpleasant shiver ran down her spine. Irelia jumped off of the bed maybe a second later, her throat went dry in what felt like a moment.

“Calm down … calm down, Irelia,” she tried to reason herself. “Maybe you slept on that very side of the bed, and just at some point rolled up to the other side.”

It sounded like a quite possible situation, but something at the very back of her mind did not want to agree with such reasoning.

“Or … or maybe you brought someone here, bedded that person, and at some point of the night that girl … because let’s be realistic, you’re a freaking lesbian,” the other part of her subconsciousness provided another thought. “Maybe that girl left recently, leaving her warmth still feelable on the sheets?” the voice continued.

“No, … it would not make any sense,” the more pessimistic side of Irelia’s mind responded. “She returned in the late evening to that very apartment she’s in right now. Nobody followed her, nor anyone was invited to come here, so it isn’t an option,” the pessimist explained.

“Wait … wait … wait. You want to suggest that …?”

“Yes, it’s exactly what I want to say.”

“Can you two explain what are you talking about?!” Irelia growled at her subconsciousness deep inside of her mind. “Yeah … I get that it’s probably pretty obvious for you, but could you kindly just reveal that secret already?!”

“You’re dumb!” the pessimistic part growled. “Who are you drolling over? Who are you most afraid of at the same time?”

“I think there were more than a handful of such people in my life,” the officer replied.

“Stupid piece of shit, stupid, useless lesbian!” her mind started to shout at her.

“Ehhh … maybe, I’ll tell it to you,” the more reasonable part started. “You’re talking about the huntress,” it added. “And don’t even try to tell us that you don’t find her attractive.”

“I … I … I don’t think so … I …” Irelia stuttered.

“For the love of something that is above us, you’re even more useless lesbian that I dare to admit!” the sarcastic part of her mind exclaimed loudly. “We’re a fucking part of your mind, we’re a fucking part of you. We know you even better than you do, so please, cut that shit and admit what we have already stated. You’re head over heels in love in her. I don’t really know why you’re such a masochist, but you find her insanely sexy. You’d want her to dominate you, to pin you to the ground and take you in whichever way she’d please,” the sarcastic voice added with a bit of disgust.

“I … I’d never do that, I’d never allowed it to happen!” the officer shouted on top of her lungs. The problem was that her face was red, every inch of it was in the colour of the ripe tomato.

“Are you sure?” the more stoic part asked.

“I’m sure … I’m sure,” the pink-haired woman tried to sound convincing, but she failed to do so miserably when she started to stutter.

“Ratt’s ass, pfff!” the sarcastic part of Irelia’s mind snorted. “Oh … I see that you have a really nice opportunity to show us how much of what we said about you is wrong,” the voice giggled. “Bye!”

“What the fuck?!” the soldier growled. “We didn’t finish that conversation, come back here you little … you little …”

“Did you just get that loud for me to finish the shower earlier?” the extremely rich, seductive, sarcastic voice reached officer’s ears. “I thought that you would be still asleep when I finished refreshing myself, but as we can see, it is not a case.”

“Who are you?” Irelia asked immediately. She did not even dare to look at where the voice was coming from.

“Oh … silly me,” the voice sounded again, its owner was giggling, “I have not really been using any name for a quite some time now. For those who sent us here, we are just numbers, nothing more,” the woman continued. The officer could hear the quiet footsteps coming toward her.

In the very next second, the firm hand was placed under her defined chin. The skin of the intruder was so soft, so delicate, it felt as if it was silk. Strangely, the stranger did not put any force to rise Irelia’s head. She did it so gently that the officer did not oppose the action.

Firstly, she saw the wet recently snowy-white towel that was wrapped around the defined figure of the intruder. The stranger took her time adjusting the head of the soldier, making them establish eye contact. With every passing moment, Irelia was admiring the view that was presented before her eyes. As a starved hound, she was devouring every single inch of the stranger’s body. She was perfect, or at least in the eyes of the pink-haired. Soon enough, the tower reached its end, revealing wide defined chest with sizeable cleavage. Once her eyes focused on the massive mounds that were being hidden beneath the top part of the fabric, she gasped. Or, at least she thought that she gasped loudly. The officer was not sure whether she left her mouth agape or not. Deep inside of the mind, she prayed that she closed them. It was already a very humiliating situation for the pink-haired, it would be appreciated not to make a bigger fool out of herself than she had already done.

Finally, after what felt like ages, she could see the face of her speaker. It was indeed, the reaper. A couple of inches before her, the huntress was standing half-naked, looking god-damn sexy. “Why it must be her?” she whined in her mind. “Why out of all people in the galaxy, I just fell in love with the woman who killed my friends? Why was it so quick, it feels like I fell when my eyes landed on her for the very first time?” the officer asked a couple of questions more, but as you might expect, there was no answer for them.

“What did you do to me?” the pink-haired asked in a shallow voice.

“If you expect me to answer, you must make the question specific,” the woman replied seductively. “By the way … you may call me Akali,” she added, “a long time ago I was known under that name.”

“Akali … Akali why me? Why did you choose me?” the soldier asked, stuttering a bit.

“My, my, my,” Akali chuckled for a few short-living seconds, “you are so cute when you are frustrated or lost,” the huntress added. “But, back to your question … you were the only one who did not freak out when I started to cut you down, down below.”

“They were my men … I … I needed to get them to safety,” Irelia murmured. Then, out of a sudden, the realisation came upon her. “Wait … wait … you bite me yesterday, and I blacked out. How did you manage to do that?”

“Many years ago I was human too,” Akali started in a whisper-like manner, “but that times are long gone. My entire body was modified to excel in the hunt, to thrive in battle. I store a soft venom in my teeth that reduces the pain and makes the victim to blackout,” the white-haired explained while closing her crimson-red eyes. “I am using it to gain information without shedding blood.”

“Eeee … I have never encountered anything like that,” the pink-haired replied with her mouth agape. “How did you learn our language?”

“Think about it yourself for a moment. It is not a very difficult answer to find,” the huntress replied with her eyes still closed.

“You … you drink it with the blood of your victims?” Irelia mumbled. “But … it still doesn’t answer the question. The blood isn’t connected with memories, consciousness,” the troubled soldier continued.

“The truth is … that I do not really know the details of that process,” the assassin confessed quietly. “The one who invented that method that technology is definitely a genius.”

“How can … how can I trust you?”

“To some extent, you can not, but if I wanted you dead, you would be lying on the floor, bleeding to death,” the white-haired whispered.

“Yeah … I guess so.”

“To be frank, it does not really matter whether I tell you the truth or not,” the reaper stated.

“And why do you think so?” the surprised officer asked. She wanted to know the answer.

“Because I have two things that you want,” Akali replied swiftly.

“And those things are?”

“First of all, you want your people to live happy after, and I told you that in exchange for your help I will let them live.”

“You’re right,” Irelia agreed, lowering her head a bit. “But what about the second thing? I don’t think I want anything more than for my men to be safe.”

“You are cute, Irelia, you know that?” the huntress giggled. “I drunk your blood, I know everything that was on your head when I bite you. Every detail, every secret, every naughty thought, I know them all,” the mischievous smile was flashed. “I know how you feel about me, how it drives you insane to touch me,” Akali whispered into the ear of the latter. “I know your every submissive, naughty dream,” she chuckled seductively. “After all, it seems that your mind knows you better than you do. You want me to dominate you? I will gladly make that wish come true when your part of a deal is done for. What do you say? Will you help me in exchange for the lives of your men, and … your own desires to be fulfilled?”

“Yes … yes,” Irelia whispered. Her throat was parched, to some extent, she thought that the white-haired found a way to control her, to control her mind. The sad part was that it was not a case, in the end, her desires that she tried so desperately to hide, overcame her and took control over her.

“Wonderful,” the moan-like response was provided. “Go refresh yourself … when you finish, we will talk about the deal’s details, and what I am requesting you to do.”

“Yes,” was the only word that escaped the throat of the officer. As an obedient student, she stood up, closed the distance to the wardrobe, took some fresh clothes, and then, vanished inside of the bathroom.

“I hope I did not make a mistake choosing her,” the white-haired sighed heavily. “If she fucks up her part, it might mean the end for me as well,” she added while dropping the towel onto the floor.

A moment later, the huntress sat on the very edge of the bed, then allowed herself to lay entirely onto it. She was completely naked, but it did not bother her. She had a couple of minutes more to relax. And she was going to make good use of it.

Chapter Text

Couple minutes later:

Akali tried to relax as much as she possibly could, but something… or maybe someone was bothering her mind. After roughly a minute or so, she jumped off of the bed rapidly. The huntress started to sweat, her eyes went narrow as she was spectating the nearby area. The white-haired woman knew something was off… really off.

The assassin took a couple of deep breaths, she desperately tried to calm her running mind. She needed it to be calm, she needed to be calculated, she needed to be precise.

Without a moment wasted on hesitation, Akali came to the wooden desk. The woman was searching for something. It lasted maybe a fraction of a second. Soon enough, the piece of paper and some pen were grabbed. She started to write down something on it.

Half an hour later:

“Akali?” the pink-haired woman called the huntress when she finally finished taking a shower.

She did not get any response. After waiting for a couple of more moments, she left the bathroom. Her hair was still wet, her slender frame wrapped in a soft fluffy greyish towel. It concerned her that the white-haired woman did not say anything back. It felt like she was not even there.

As soon as Irelia reached the main area of the room she was assigned to, she froze. As she had feared, the huntress was gone. The sheets of the bed had been smoothed out most likely by the white-haired woman.

The officer was cluelessly walking around the room for a couple of moments. Finally, she spotted the piece of paper laying on top of the desk. The pink-haired soldier wondered why the hell it was not noticed sooner.

Without an ounce of hesitation or a single thought, the commando trooper came to the furniture and picked up the note. Irelia was holding the piece of paper with both of her hands which caused the towel to spill off of her frame. The last member of the Xan family was standing still completely naked, but she could not care less about such a minor detail. She started to read a neat cursive text.

`Irelia,

I had to leave sooner than I expected. The situation changed drastically, so our plan must follow the change. I will meet you at your apartment at 10pm. Be there, I will take care of your armour and weapons. You can take a nap, train all day, or do whatever you possibly want, but be there at the right time.

Good luck,

Akali

PS. I borrowed some of your clothes… damn, they are a pretty tight fit, but I like them. It is still better to look like a slut than to walk around the streets naked.`

It took no time for her face to become red as soon as she read the additional note. Nearly instantly, the woman closed the distance to her wardrobe. She needed to know what the assassin took from there. “Maybe… it isn’t the best idea, Irelia,” her subconsciousness told her.

Soon enough she regrated not listening to her own mind. It appeared that the huntress was not the pickiest person in the entirety of the galaxy. Akali just took everything she needed from the very top of her wardrobe, which meant… clothes to spice up the date.

If the officer was red before… than it would be difficult to describe the colour of her face at that very moment. Her mind just ran off. She started to create imaginary scenes with the said huntress in a prime role. She would have to admit… she liked what her mind came up with, but it was embarrassing as well.

“Fuck!” Irelia cursed loudly. “Why the fuck have I read it?” the soldier asked herself rhetorically.

“I should have listened to my very mind,” she sighed when as expected, the answer did not come. “Damn… damn you Akali… for being such a sexy woman,” Irelia added after a moment later.

Out of a sudden, a minor detail caught her attention. There was something more written on the note you was holding. The text was specially written in a smaller font than the rest of the file. To make it more challenging to find, it was located in the very corner of the paper, precisely under her thumb. As soon as she noticed it, she tried to read one sentence.

It took her a couple of moments to recognise the letters. When she was finally able to understand the meaning of written words, she blushed even harder, if it was still possible.

`PS.PS. Do not do anything naughty... I know all too well that you will try to imagine me in those clothes.`

“Damn you, Akali!” Irelia screamed on top of her lungs when the first wave of shook vanished.

Akali’s POV (A couple of hours later):

“I must admit, they did a pretty decent job coding that,” the white-haired huntress hummed to herself while the last security layer was being breached.

The said woman spent at least 3 - 4 hours sitting on the very top of the council’s headquarters to make a breach in the security system. The laptop she had; quite frankly; stolen from one of many IT stores could be described as decent. Still, it would not be enough to perform the required number of operations. She needed to bypass the limitation of the empire’s electronics. The assassin managed to do so by attaching a part of her suit to the laptop.

To tell the truth, it would take ages to explain how that self-created system operated. So… instead of it, let’s just say that all of the extensive mathematical operations were being executed on the external CPU that was attached to the laptop.

Even though the technology of her people was more advanced than the empire’s tech, it was not exactly an easy task to create a breach on all 12 layers of the security system. To slow the process even further, the alert could not be triggered by any part of the system. If it was to happen, the entirety of the access tunnel would be shut down in an instant.

The white-haired woman was slowly losing her patience. Even for her, hours spent in front of the nearly endless blocks of data were exhausting. From time to time, the huntress allowed herself to curse. Slowly she was becoming furious.

After what felt like an eternity, the access codes that she wanted, were obtained. With a heavy sigh, the assassin rose up, deleting any signs of what she was doing on the computer before throwing it off of the building’s edge.

“Let’s proceed to the second phase,” Akali whispered to herself.

Akali’s POV (An hour later):

“Damn it,” the white-haired huntress cursed silently. “I have just borrowed those clothes… fucking vents,” she nagged.

“Oh… and here is my next prey,” Akali whispered when a short, decently muscular man appeared in her sight.

The assassin allowed the security guard to make exactly 10 more steps before she jumped at him. To say that the man was surprised would be a laughable understatement. In a matter of fractions of a second, he got knocked off. They were off of cameras, all of them had a deadlock at the areas the man was attacked. It was effortless for the woman to pull the stunned guard into the vents. As soon as she managed to do so, she reached for the short blade that was hanging beside her belt.

Akali drew the steel while leaning it. It would be just one quick slash and then a lot of blood, nothing more. When the blade was put onto the man’s throat, something unexcepted happened.

The huntress was not able to press the knife forward, she was physically unable to slit through the soft tissue, skin and fat.

For the very first time since… since ever, the white-haired woman hesitated before killing a prey. Some soft voice that she was sure she knew or at least heard before tried to avert the assassin from killing the man.

If anyone could see her at that very moment, that person would probably describe her as a complete frozen. She could not move a single muscle, she could not finish the job. It was pathetic.

Akali would not be able to say how much that state was maintained, but… because of it, the job was fucked up.

The crimson-red-eyed huntress was brought back to reality when the loud, horrific scream reached her ears. For the trained assassin all, it took to locate the source was one single glance of her clod eyes.

It appeared that the member of security guard woke up. With a curse on her lips, she slit his throat as soon as she regained control over her own body.

In the very end, the man met the same fate. His bleeding body was left in the vents, but the environment around the kill changed drastically. Even though the cameras could not have registered the kill, the scream was captured. Just like in an action movie, the corridor below the woman was filled with red lights emanating from the alerts.

“Fuck!” the assassin cursed. “I have fucked up,” she added while running through the nearly endless passage.

Akali had a minimal amount of time currently. If she did not manage to reach the armoury, the system would likely shut it down in a few minutes. She did not care anymore if someone saw her, there was no time for that.

The white-haired woman had to run full steam ahead, but to be perfectly frank, she could not.

The security team needed less than 2 minutes to locate her and sent additional soldiers after her. Soon enough, Akali’s path was blocked by two massive men armed with electric swords. Based on their appearance, the huntress could say that they participated in quite a few fights before. Still, their experience would not be enough to take her down. Oh… who was she kidding, they would not be enough to slow her down for more than a couple of moments.

Some would say that being overconfident is the very first step of a downfall, but Akali was an exception to that rule. She was so confident because she was thrown into the most dangerous places across the galaxy and survived.

Without slowing down, the assassin attacked. Her speed was unmatched, for most of the people, all it took was a single precise blow. The current situation was not so different from that. The first guard was cut in half before he could even block the blade of the woman. The unpleasant sound of meat being chopped off of the body filled the room in no time. The man’s blood was spilt all over the corridor.

The huntress did not stop. As soon as her blade left the body of the first guard, she rushed toward the second one.

This time, the soldier managed to block off her first attack. He smiled with superiority, he thought that all she got was just speed — a grave mistake. Akali punished him nearly instantly. With only a fraction of her strength, the white-haired woman pushed at him. Inch by inch, the man was forced to give the ground to the assassin. Soon enough, his back hit the wall. For a moment shorter than a blink of an eye, the soldier hesitated. It was his last mistake. Before he could regain his composure, he was dead. The huntress twisted his armed hand, then cut it off without breaking the eye contact. The piercing cry of pain ripped out of the man’s throat. He closed his eyes, he tried to run away, it was just a futile effort. The white-haired huntress chopped off his remaining arm and both legs before beheading him. Then, as a sign of despise, she kicked still bleeding abrasive a couple of time.

“It was stupid,” she complained to herself. “You have just wasted a lot of time,” Akali continued while running full speed ahead.

Akali’s POV (A couple of minutes later):

The assassin was not able to tell for how long the security team allowed her to run freely. But… to be perfectly honest, it would not be an extended period. For her… it seemed as if at every corner, the new enemies were awaiting her. She needed to admit it… with every single fight, she was becoming more and more exhausted, her strength was failing her.

“Akali… just a couple of more minutes,” she groaned through the shallow breaths.

With what was left of her energy, she kept running forward as if her life depended on it. To some extent, it was the truth.

Akali’s POV (A couple of minutes later):

The armoury floor was a mess. The white-haired woman was not sure whether the word ‘mess’ was sufficient to describe what she was currently seeing. Every inch of the floor, walls, or even celling was covered in blood and guts.

The guards decided to defend the armoury with a team consisted of 10 men. All of them were armed with rifles and melee weapons. All of them with hell lot of experience with killing. But… in the end, they failed. One by one, the huntress killed all of them. Akali must gave them that… it was not an easy fight, hell no. If she was still human, she would die there, there would not be any chances for her to make it out alive.

With her cold eyes, the assassin was watching the scene of the massacre. She was not proud of what she had done, in fact, she did not feel anything, not a single emotion.

Nearly all of the guards were cut into little pieces. So it was a pretty common sight to spot the head or other limb laying dozens of meters away from the rest of massacred body.

She had only two tasks left. First of all, Irelia’s equipment must be obtained, then she would have to get out of this freaking fortress.

Akali heard the footsteps behind her. In an instant, her entire frame tensed once again. With little to none effort, she pulled out the dagger from the packet and threw it in the direction of the sound. It reached its target. The sound of a steel piercing through the flesh reached her ears. She missed the spot, though. Instead of agonal groan, the screams of pain and a few curses soon filled the room.

The white-haired huntress drew the blade and charged at her opponent. This time, it was a young blond woman in medium armour and armed with a combat rifle. Akali could clearly see the fear that was lingering in the green eyes of the lone survivor.

The soldier opened the fire. A bullet after a bullet was being dodged by the exhausted assassin. The truth was that the huntress needed to focus on every single projectile in order to avoid it, something that usually would not be the case.

Closing the gap between them took the white-haired woman maybe 2 seconds, 1 second given or taken. With no emotions shown of her face, she cut off the arm of the soldier. The green-eyed woman was trying to crawl her way out of the room, but Akali grabbed her by hair threw into the nearest wall. For the guar maybe it seemed effortless, but for the assassin… she was on her drop of fuel. The blond slipped down the wall, hitting the floor a second later.

The soldier was weeping, whining openly. She must have been in a lot of pain, but Akali did not care. With the blade still drawn, the white-haired huntress came to the wounded guard. She wanted nothing more than to kill her already, grab required equipment, and leave that place. But… as soon as she rose the sword, she froze again.

It was like Deja Vue. Akali could not move a single muscle, she could not kill the woman in front of her. She was powerless.

The calm voice was ringing inside of her mind. As if it was recorded, it was repeating time after time the same sentence.

“You can’t kill her. You’re still partially human, you still have emotions, don’t try to kill them. You don’t need to kill her, spare her life, she isn’t able to cause you any harm.”

The sound of that monotonous voice was driving the assassin insane. She wanted back control over her body. And she wanted it back now.

As through the closed door, Akali heard the shoots. In the very next moment, she felt the familiar metallic aftertaste inside her mouth. She immediately felt weak, and it was getting worse and worse with every passing second.

As through the mist, she saw the wounded soldier trying to fire again, but the mag was empty. Without ejections, without anger, without emotions, without hesitation, she killed the blond with a single slash of the sword.

Akali fell onto her knees. She started to cough with blood. She felt dizzy, her sight was a bit fuzzy. With all remaining energy, the white-haired huntress forced herself to stand up, to spit with the blood that was inside of her mouth, and get back to the last tasks.

Akali’s POV (An hour later):

When Akali entered the apartment of the officer, she was at a brink of crumbling. She needed to regain at least some of her strength before going back to the slums. With some effort, she somehow managed to slip through the security in the building in her current state. The assassin was beyond exhausted.

“Akali?” the soft voice of Irelia called her.

“No way… it can not be!” Akali screamed in her mind.

“What’s going on?” the officer asked.

“I… I… I…,” the huntress started to stutter.

“What the hell happened to you?!” the pink-haired soldier screamed.

“I… I got your stuff back…” the assassin managed to mumbled before collapsing onto the floor.

“Akali, Akali, Akali!!!” Irelia started to shout while trying to pick up the white-haired woman from the ground.

“It was her,” the lone whispered sentence filled the room.

Chapter Text

Irelia’s POV (A couple of moments later):

If someone had a privilege to spectate the current scene, that person would probably describe it as a messy at minimum. Akali’s blood was covering the vast part of the apartment’s floor. The pink-haired officer that was struggling to pick up the assassin from the ground. The same person would most likely describe Irelia as panicked, and... it would not be wrong. To be perfectly honest, it would be an understatement. The soldier was so freaked out.

Irelia did not know what to do. As soon as Akali collapsed, she was at her side. The commando trooper was seeing blood everywhere, to some extent, it was also covering her body due to contact with the wounded woman.

The very first thought that crossed the mind of the pink-haired woman was to pick up the assassin and place her onto a bed. Then... she could start thinking about dealing with her injuries. Sadly, it was no longer an option. Even though Akali looked like pretty much normal human being, she weighted too much for Irelia to handle.

With her mind on a run, the soldier tried to come up with some way to help the wounded woman. Of course, she could tend to her while she was currently lying, but it would be uncomfortable for both of them.

Irelia sniffed again. Her nostrils picked up the stench of blood, sweat and dirt nearly instantly. The captain’s facial expression twisted slightly due to the smell. “Maybe taking you to the shower could do the trick?” she hummed under her breath.

As she had thoughts, she did. With a great effort, she managed to bring the white-haired huntress to her bathroom. She must admit that pulling Akali’s body on the floor was not the easiest task in her life. Just one single last pull, and… the assassin was in front of the shower stall.

The pink-haired soldier sighed heavily, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. “On step complete,” she whispered.

As life usually do, one problem was resolved, so another needed to arise.

The current problem of Irelia was how to clean the huntress. One option was to simply drag the unconscious woman into the stall and switch on the water. The disadvantage of such an approach was the fact that not everything would be cleaned. Even though the clothes would be soaked with water pretty quickly, the blood and dirt would still remain inside of the clothing. The other option was to undress Akali and drag her into the shower. It was a better idea in so many aspects, but there were still at least two major problems associated with that.

First of all, the same problem that would occur with the previous method, the water would not clean everything. If one thought about it more, it would not be wise to let liquid of unknown origin to enter wounds. That argument was enough for Irelia to discard that idea, to tell the truth. But… there was still the second problem that bothered the soldier even more so.

If she was to proceed with that plan… Irelia would have to undress Akali entirely. Even lone thought about that was enough to make the pink-haired woman blush. In fact, it was a very tempting option, but she was acting like a virgin before her first time. It was not like Akali did not know about Irelia’s naughty nighttime fantasies that included her. No… the white-haired told her that face to face.

The third and final idea that she came up with was even more bothersome to Irelia. If it was even possible, the cheeks of the officer became warmer. She was so embarrassed, but at the same time, so turned on.

If she wanted to properly take care of Akali, she would need to clean her herself. As you might expect… it would require her to be present in the stall, to her naked form pressed into the firm muscles of the huntress, to have her hands on Akali. Most people would kill for such an opportunity. To have a chance to spend some time with their crush alone, naked. Irelia was not entirely sure if she could keep her hands to herself. She was not sure whether she would be able to just perform required actions, no to distract herself.

“Uuuu… it’d be so good to touch her properly. To grab those mounds, squeeze them, maybe even give a little pinch?” Irelia fantasized. “I’d pretty much want to touch those buttocks, they look so desirable,” she continued.

“What the fuck? Irelia? Are you fucking idiot?” she kept on shouting at herself deep inside her mind. “We all know that you - and by that we mean we - are useless lesbian, but that’s enough. Help her… she promised you a reward, didn’t she?”

“Ghhhh… yeah, I know,” she whispered once she regained control over herself.

Without nothing more to think about, to say, she allowed herself to look at wounded huntress with unmasked desire. After that… it was high time for her to start helping.

Discarding her own clothes has never taken her less time than in that very situation. The visual effect of her desires, of her horny, naughty thought could be spotted on the fabric of her own clothing. She blushed as soon as she noticed the wet spots on her undies.

Soon enough, Irelia was as naked as at the day she was welcomed to that sorrowful world. The next task, undress the assassin, difficulty, impossible.

To finally get rid off of damaged clothes that the white-haired woman borrowed, took the soldier at least a couple of minutes, and more than a handful of tries.

The hesitation before removing huntress underwear lasted maybe a couple of moments. Still, in her mind… oh… it could last forever, and she would not mind that.

Irelia sat down onto the floor in the further corner of the stall. Between her thighs, the naked white-haired assassin was seated. The warm water was pouring down onto them, but the pink-haired officer could not muster any power to proceed with her plan. To be perfectly honest, she was not entirely sure whether some parts of her body were wet because of the shower, or because of other factors…

After what felt like ages, the soldier reached out for the sponge, poured some soap on it, then refocused on Akali. “It would be easier if it was anyone else but her,” the officer sighed heavily. The soft skin of the white-haired woman was slightly shinning because of the water that was poured down onto her. Irelia pulled her as close to her own bosom as she could… She believed that by doing so, she could avoid eyeing everything that she so much wanted to witness.

As could be expected, it was not a successful plan. Irelia blushing really hard was sneaking a peak from time to time, delaying completing the task that she had given herself even further. She could not do anything about that, Akali’s body was so intoxicating for her. Those firm, defined muscles that were visible through the thin skin, was making her doubt herself self-control more and more.

The pink-haired soldier knew that in the end, she would not win with her body, with her desire. She proceeded with the washing them. Unintentionally… she began by pressing the soft sponge to the massive mounds of Akali. Her second hand seized the opportunity and grabbed one of the huntress's breasts, and squeezed it lightly. It was inappropriate without a single doubt, but the naughty mind of Irelia tried to reason the action. After all, the hand was put there to hold the unconscious woman still. Of course… it was not placed there because of the irritating heat that was being formed in her belly… and deep down in her labia.

Irelia was embarrassed, but without a single thought, she continued what she was doing. With every single wipe, few inches of the light skin were being covered in soapy foams. The little wholesome smile could be spotted on the lips of the soldier.

As the washing progressed, Irelia’s heart was beating faster and faster. She felt like a junkie, or like a drunk. The sensation was pretty unique, intensive, intoxicating. If it was even possible, her face was becoming warmer with every passing second. The fire that was burning deep down inside of her was threatening to explode.

“You’ll go through it,” she was repeating to herself as if in some kind of trans. “It’s nothing major… it’s just Akali… not someone that you don’t know,” she tried to reason.

It was fruitless. The white-haired huntress was the one to blame for the death of nearly all of her men. She was the one who mocked her, lured her, seduced her… but Irelia was too much involved currently to back down.

The officer sighed heavily for god-knows which time. The assassin’s matter was not easy in any aspect, some ifs were not explained, some questions were not answered. Still, just like a good loyal puppy, the pink-haired woman was following Akali’s plan.

With a bit of frustration, Irelia threw away the sponge. The woman allowed herself to observe as the object was flying for a brief moment before falling down onto the flooded tiles.

Yet another sigh, and then her eyes focused onto the beauty that was sitting with wrapped in the pink-haired woman’s arms. With the blood and the dirt wiped away from the white-haired huntress’s skin, she looked even more gorgeous. To Irelia, she was a sight to behold.

As if something clicked deep inside the soldier’s mind, Akali’s head was pulled back slightly. The move allowed the officer to look at the kissable lips of the huntress. She leaned in. She did not care anymore, she felt like she needed to do that.

Just like in some kind of action movie, time seemed to slow down drastically. Irelia’s lips descended onto Aali’s. In the very first moment, she moaned. The assassin tasted as she had dreamt… she could not get enough of her.

Irelia did not even notice when she closed her eyes. The kiss felt too good to be real. She felt as if she was dreaming.

After some time, she pulled back. The soldier only did it because her lungs were screaming for air, she would not be able to continue the kiss anyway. As if in torpor, she touched her mouth. The taste of the huntress was still there. They were still a little swollen do to the intensive, pleasurable encounter.

When the giggling sound reached her ears, the officer opened her eyes immediately.

“My…my…my, what a naughty soldier I had a pleasure to meet,” Akali said in a teasing tone. “I knew that it’d be a challenge for you to keep your hands away from my body… but, I thought that you might control yourself,” the white-haired woman giggled, standing up slowly.

“I promised you that I’ll fulfil your desires when you’re done with the work, didn’t I?” Akali chuckled after a moment. Her right hand reached the chin of the soldier and lifted it up slightly. “I know how much you love my body… so, now you can have a better look,” she added while standing right in front of her.

“I… I…” Irelia stuttered.

“Cat got your tongue?” the assassin teased. “Or… maybe you don’t like what you see?”

“NO!!!” the pink-haired woman denied, gesturing with her hands.

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Akali replied. She slowly leaned in, picked up the chin of the latter again, turned it to the side slightly. “It seems that I need to give you some sort of prepayment, hmm?” the white-haired woman whispered seductively.

“What do you mean?!” the slightly terrified soldier asked.

“Hmm… let me think… what have you dreamt about, what was in your wet dream?” the huntress responded while wearing a mischievous smile practically glue to her face.

“Ehhh…” Irelia gulped. “I…I…”

“Oh, my… baby… you don’t have to tell me that. I already know what lies deep inside your mind. I’m going to let that fantasies of yours become a reality a little faster than I planned,” the white-haired assassin interrupted the officer’s response with a sweet tone, and exposed fangs.

“Uuuuu…. I… I don’t think it’s the right time,” the pink-haired woman laughed hysterically.

“Ohh…” Akali scoffed. “I believe that it’s a perfect time for that,” she added. “You’re mine now… After we finish here, we might need to talk about our partnership a little, but for now… I’m going to repay you for your hospitality and care.”

“You…”

Without wasting even a second of precious time, Akali picked up the soldier from the tiles, turned her around, then pushed her nearly gently against the wall of the stall. The gasp of the pink-haired woman only aroused her. The firm right hand of the huntress slapped Irelia’s butt. The slap was not too powerful, not too soft, just perfect for turning on both of them.

“Akali!” Irelia squeaked.

“Shhhh…” the white-haired woman silenced the latter. “We have only just begun,” she giggled.

Before Irelia could even react, the skilful fingers of the huntress found their way to the officer’s sensitive clit. Within fractions of a second, she moaned when the assassin started to work on the poor clit of the latter. Soon enough, the first digit entered her pussy.

Irelia screamed… but then, the pleasure came.

Chapter Text

Irelia’s POV (sometime later):

“Are you going to sleep whole day?” the question asked in a giggle-like manner woke up the pink-haired officer.

“Aghhh…” Irelia whined as soon as she felt her numb, stiff muscles. “What did you do to me?” she managed to whisper.

“Haha…” came Akali’s giggle. “Nothing… that you would not want me to do,” the assassin added.

Even though Irelia could not see the huntress… she was more than certain that the woman was winking at her. She still could feel the firm arms of the woman being wrapped around her waist. The warmth was so pleasant that she did not want to wake up or to press forward.

“I… I don’t think so,” the pinked-haired woman scoffed.

“Hmmm… do you really want me to toy with your pretty little pink clit again?” Akali hummed, then burst into laughter.

“No!!!!!” Irelia squeaked. “Hands off of my clit… I’m too sensitive… right now,” she mumbled afterwards.

“Ohhh… I wonder who’s doing it is,” the huntress chuckled.

“I hate you!” the soldier whispered, trying to hide her blushing face.

“Maybe… maybe you want to be in control this time?” the sudden seductive question reached Irelia’s ears. “Maybe… maybe you would want to play with my body this time?”

“Uhhh… I… uhhh… I think…” the officer was mumbling.

“You are such a cute human being… you know that?” the assassin giggled while she slowly rose up from the bed. “I do not feel like I am going to ever get tired of that game… you are too easy to tease, and I love that fact,” she added.

Akali began to stretch right before the eyes of the pink-haired woman. The huntress was still naked, but that little detail did not phase her even in slightest. With a sly smile all over her face, she was observing Irelia’s reaction. As she anticipated, it took very little time for the cheeks of the soldier to become red. Irelia seemed to be fighting against her very own mind and desires. On the one hand, she wanted to avert her gaze off of the huntress’s perfect sexy body, on the other, she was unable to do so.

“I think… I learnt a new phrase that describes you perfectly,” the quiet laughter of Akali reached Irelia’s ears.

“Hmmm?” the special ops trooper hummed. “Do I really want to know what you have on your mind?” she asked in a little bit insecure tone.

“Oh… about that, I am pretty sure of,” Akali replied in a cool tone.

“Go on then,” the officer sighed.

“The term I learnt about is…” the huntress started. “Useless lesbian, and to me, it fits perfectly in your case,” the white-haired woman chuckled.

The wide smirk that was already visible on her beautiful face only widened as soon as the officer hid her head under the warm blanket.

“You see… I was right,” Akali giggled.

“I hate you…” the pink-haired woman murmured.

“Oh… I doubt that, or you love-hate me… then it’s fine,” the huntress responded.

“Why are you making me feel weird?” the quiet question was uttered.

“I think you meant to say – ‘Why are you making me feel gay?’ – another thing that I learnt in this world of yours,” the white-haired woman giggled.

“Vanish… and never return!” Irelia squeaked.

The sheets and the pillow were pulled off of Irelia’s head. As might be expected, Akali stood a couple of steps away from her. She was still as naked as on the day she was born. “It was to be expected, wasn’t it?” the soldier asked herself deep inside her mind. There was no sound of rustling clothes that could be associated with changing up. Irelia wanted so badly to looked away, but… she was not allowed to. Within a moment shorter than a fraction of a second, the assassin closed the gap between them entirely. The white-haired woman straddled her and put her frim hands to use. One of them cupped the chin of the officer, forcing Irelia to keep staring at the beautiful face of the huntress. In the same time, the other hand pinned the pink-haired woman to the bed.

“Shhh…” Akali silenced the latter. “I think… that there was enough of the fluff already, we should focus on the business, shall we?”

“If you say so,” Irelia replied with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t have much choice, do I?”

“Darling… darling… darling, you have no choice at all,” the white-haired woman giggled quietly. “We have already discussed our little bargain… so let’s omit that part and go straight into details,” she added in a cold professional tone.

“Go on, then,” the soldier replied.

“I need you to be a bait for someone,” the assassin said bluntly.

“Why me? If it’s just a case of being a bait, why didn’t you choose someone else?” the surprised pink-haired woman asked.

“I told you that before, you are not afraid of being killed, you will not run away from the danger,” the huntress replied, softening her grip upon the chin of the latter. “I need you to lure my target to the exact place. I am more than certain that if I chose anyone but you, that person would try to run away, ruining the whole plan,” she explained after taking a prolonged breath.

“Who’s your target then?” Irelia wanted to know.

“You see… it is not an easy answer to provide,” the red-eyed woman chuckled. “To answer it… I must tell you my story, or at least a part of it.”

“One of my friends thought that you’re a part of some sort of ritual, or some sort of tribal trial,” the pink-haired woman whispered. “Is that even remotely close to the truth?”

“Ahhh… I remember that memory,” Akali said after a moment or two of thinking. “She was closer to the truth that she anticipated, I must get her that,” she giggled. “The truth is that…” the assassin hesitated for a fraction of a second. “The truth is that my target is or rather was my mentor. He was the one who kidnapped me when I was little. You saw him already… he is not human, I forgot the name of his race, but they are like the mix of a human and feral beast,” she began her story after a pause.

“You’re talking about that big cat that chased Mark, am I right?” the officer asked.

“Yes… you saw there two additional huntresses… some sort of colleagues of mine,” the crimson-eyed woman slowly replied. “Nidalee, Caitlyn are their names. I have not gotten any message from them since I moved to the upper city,” she added.

“You think that they’re in danger?”

“They are most likely dead by now,” Akali responded. “Rengar, my master was chewing what remained of another hunter who was sent after him. His name was Yi,” the huntress explained. “To be perfectly honest, the whole situation here is just a big tribal trial. All 4 of us came to the age of adulthood, so we must be put into the final test — a really savage and brutal one.”

“Wait… you’re trying to tell me that you were asked to kill that freaking beast that you just called Rengar?” the terrified commando trooper asked.

“To simplify that… yes,” the short answer was provided. “But there is more depth into it,” she sighed heavily.

“Then… maybe explain that to me?”

“I have no other choice,” Akali answered, lying down next to the officer. “The philosophy of the trial is quite complex… but, it can be simplified. Rengar was a blade master, it is a very high and respected position in my society. He was responsible for killing people who were a threat to the council,” the woman began explaining. “It is something like your government,” she added when Irelia looked surprised at her. “He and all of his proteges had one more responsibility… they were forced to find new recruits that could potentially surpass them in the future. As far as I am aware, in the beginning, the recruits came only from Rengar’s race, but with time, that rule was modified. Every one of them could have any numbers of students, after all, the council was paying for their living. The only task that was put before them was to train those students, prepare them for a trial,” Akali took a deep breath, pausing for a moment.

“In most cases, it was a master who decided when his or her students were ready,” she continued. “I was allowed to do a bit of research about that topic, but to be frank… I found only a little. In nearly all cases, the masters were waiting for their youngest pupils to reach adulthood before gathering them all and put them through the final challenge. Rengar had only 4 students, me, Nidalee, Caitlyn, Yii. I was the youngest of them, so he waited for me to be of age,” the white-haired woman stopped once again.

“He brought us all before the council,” the huntress started after a minute or so. “We were utterly clueless about what was going on, but to them… it did not really matter. After Rengar presented us to the old beasts that rule our society, he was dismissed. The rules of the trial were explained by the youngest member of the council. He was the only one of them, who did not look at us as a hunter at his prey. In theory, the task ahead of us seemed to be easily accomplishable. Still, as you might know, the devil is hidden in details,” Akali whispered. “We were to kill our mentor, the problem was that none of us could match him in a one-on-one fight, and we were not taught how to work as a unit. So… basically, he did not say that aloud, but they wanted us to fight each other, to sharpen our fighting skills. When there would be only one of us still taking a breath – the winner – they expected that person to face off with Rengar,” she added in a grave tone. “They did not care how many young lives would be wasted, the only thing that they cared for was a winner, a better hunter than the sacrificed master,” she paused.

“It sounds horrible!” Irelia exclaimed loudly. “How could they do something like that to you?”

“Haven’t I said it already?” the surprised huntress asked. “They are beasts, all they crave for is to obtain as much power as they can. They can only assure that if there are many powerful soldiers behind them. They use the natural selection to ensure that what they are left with at the end, is the best they could have in the given moment.”

“But… but…”

“There are no buts there, Irelia,” the assassin said softly. “The universe is cruel, and its rules by even more cruel and vicious creatures. It is not a myth… it is a sad truth,” she added in a sad tone. “It is not very different from your rules, after all, they sent you for a suicide mission. They sent you and your team to hunt me.”

“I agree… I agree with you to some extent,” Irelia mumbled. “But… it isn’t entirely true…”

“You will still defend them, will you?” Akali chuckled. “It is not unexpected tho.”

“What do you mean?”

“Irelia…” the huntress called her name most softly. “You are an idealist… if you were taught something, you would believe it… worse… you would hold to it as a hopeless man who puts his trust in a razor’s edge,” the woman continued. “You are perfectly aware that your supervisors allowed the remnants of your team to stay in the upper city only because they saw an opportunity in that. They sent the regular military to the slums.”

“Yes… I know that they sent those poor bastards without even mentioning or explaining the current situation,” the officer sighed heavily.

“There is more to that… don’t you think?” the white-haired woman asked. “They are using the numbers to search vast areas of the slums… but, they are seeking for Rengar or me, they are seeking potential recruits.  Your government need meat that can be easily replaced. After all… have you heard how many of those little soldiers died already?” she continued without waiting for the soldier’s response.

“Ehh… last time I checked… there were at least 200 confirmed cases… and another 100 MIA’s,” Irelia replied in a breaking voice.

“Pfff…” the huntress scoffed. “As far as I know, there are at least 1000 dead soldiers, maybe even more. On the other hand… your supervisors managed to recruit at least 50000 of the poor, so for them… it is still a net victory,” she added.

“That’s beastly!” the soldier commented. “How do you even know that?”

“Have you already forgotten?”

“Through… through my blood? That’s how you know all of this?” Irelia said, her entire frame was trembling.

“Yes… I have explained that before. I do not know why are you acting so strangely all out of sudden?” Akali focused her burning red eyes on the officer. “You are scared?”

“Yes… I’m scared, what else you know about me?”

“Isn’t it the safest to assume that I know everything?” the assassin giggled.

“So… it’s safe to assume that you’ll end up sacrificing me?” the pink-haired woman whispered while tears started to run down her cheeks.

“Listen!” the crimson-red-eyed woman said. She grabbed the right hand of the soldier before forcing her to look at her burning eyes. “You might not believe me… but, if I promise something, I will make sure to fulfil it. I am not a coward… I am not a lier!” she added in a slightly risen tone.

“I… I’m…”

“Silence!” Akali ordered. “You do not have to apologise… all I ask from you is to obey my commands,” the woman whispered in a cold tone. “Now… get up and dress up, we are leaving this part of the city as soon as you are ready,” she uttered.

Without a moment of hesitation, the white-haired woman released Irelia’s hand out of her iron grip and stood up. Akali did not spare the pink-haired officer another glance, she just headed to the bathroom. As soon as the sounds of running water reached Irelia’s ears, she knew it was high time to get up.

Even though her muscles still did not recover fully, she did not have a choice. She was to follow the beautiful assassin. She was to return to the darkness of the slums. The real question was, whether she had enough courage to do what was planned for her. Sadly… she did not know the answer, and by the look of things, she would not be provided with one.

The officer sighed heavily. It was going to be a hell of a challenge for her. About that… she was pretty much sure of.

Irelia’s POV (2 hours later):

It was already a late evening when they reached the top level of the highest building in the city. The insignificant cold wind was blowing. “I should have taken a coat, I’m freaking freezing here,” Irelia sighed in her mind. Before them in some distance, their target could be seen.

“You’re sure of this?” Irelia quietly asked while staring at the direction her so-called partner pointed out.

“It is a problem, indeed, but… I think it will only slow us down for a couple of minutes,” Akali nonchalantly replied. “There are only 5 guards there. If you want, you can stay here and let me handle that little problem of ours my way,” she added.

“Is there a way to avoid bloodshed?” the pink-haired woman asked, but she already knew the answer. The huntress's eyes went dark… they became primal, she was out for blood. “Fine,” Irelia gave up. “Please… don’t make them suffer longer than it’s necessary.”

“Why do you care for these humans that much?” the assassin wanted to know.

“If you have already forgotten… I’m human too,” the offended soldier replied. “I still have feelings… I’m not a killing machine like you. I can’t just watch as people are being killed in front of me with a huge smile on my lips!” she threw out all the accumulated negatives. “If you have to kill them… go ahead, but do it cleanly and quickly, and most importantly, don’t expect me to witness that!” the sassy response was provided.

The huntress closed the gap between them in a matter of second. She grabbed the neck of the soldier before leaning in.

“You can speak as sassy as you want to,” the red-eyed beauty said through her sharp teeth. “But… deep down you know that you will still end up looking at me because I am like a drug to you,” she whispered in a much softer tone. “You can pretend that you do not like killing… but, as long it is associated with me and my sexy ass, you will end up staring.”

“You’re… you’re… you’re unbelievable!” the officer squeaked, blushing hard. “Why are you always affecting me that much!” she nagged in a pitful tone.

“That is a question to yourself, isn’t it?” the white-haired woman chuckled while softening her grip upon the neck of the pink-haired soldier. “I do not really know why you fall so hard, but… it does not really matter much right now. We have a task ahead of us.”

“I guess… you’re the only one who would do something like that,” Irelia whispered. “Akali?”

“I am still focused entirely on you,” the huntress uttered. “What do you want from me?” she sighed, then asked the question.

“If… if… if I mean anything to you… please, just, please don’t let them suffer for too long,” the officer said in a really low tone. The tears started to form once again in the corners of her eyes.

“Ehhh… you will get me killed one day,” the assassin replied, letting her go. “Just do not cry… they are not worthy of your tears. I will end their lives as smoothly as I can. I promise this,” the white-haired woman promised, then turned around.

“It is time for me…” she started but was interrupted by Irelia.

“Thank you,” the officer whispered while pressing her face between shoulder’s blades of the assassin. “You have no idea… how much it means to me,” she added, then wrapped her arms around the exposed midriff of the white-haired woman.

“I really must get going,” Akali uttered quietly after a couple of moments. “I can not say that I do not enjoy the warmth of your body, but there is a task ahead of me. Till… till it is not finished, I can not allow myself to rest. I hope you understand that.”

“Wasn’t it easier to just say – ‘I love you’?” Irelia asked teasingly. “But… I understand. But you’re mistaken in one detail. It’s no longer your task… it’s ours,” she added confidently.

“Ummm…” the surprised huntress only managed to gasp. “Thank you,” she added after the initial shock was gone.

“Go,” Irelia encouraged the huntress to press on. “I’ll be watching your back from here… in case you screw something up,” she giggled.

“I need to get going, or I will need to rip that tongue of yours,” Akali replied in a playful tone. “You are becoming more and more daring… to some extent, I already miss that blushing mess that you were not so long ago.”

“You know… there is saying among my people,” the pink-haired officer started. “The easiest translation of that is if you’re staying close with someone… in some time you’re becoming alike,” she giggled. “I can only become as bold and daring as you’re Akali.”

“Ehhh… I hope I will not see that day,” the assassin sighed. “Hey, watch my back,” she uttered, then winked at the soldier, and after a second or so, she was gone.

Irelia rested on the railing that was located on the top level of some not particularly interesting building. From the place was currently standing, she could watch a decent part of the city due to the height difference. But… most importantly, she was able to watch the entrance to the city elevator. To be perfectly honest, there were 20 such places scattered across the entirety of the upper city. Since she returned from her failed mission… all of these entrances were being guarded 24/7 by the members of the regular military.

Akali was not a fool, she must have gathered some pieces of information about every one of them. There was no chance that she just randomly chose that particular outpost. If she was her, she would choose the facility with the least security assigned to it. To some extent,… it sounded a bit surreal. After all, all of the elevators could be used the same way and provided the same output. It was a fascinating detail that there was a significant difference in the strength of the unit assigned to the various points.

As far as Irelia was informed by the red-eyed assassin, there were at max 10 soldiers guarding that particular entrance. All of them were pretty much fresh after the academy, so to be frank, they would not post any threat to the huntress. To some extent, she pitted those soldiers, they did not know what was coming their way. They were too young to die, but in the end, what she could do… nothing.

Irelia took the binoculars and started to watch her so-called ‘partner’. As was to be expected, Akali reached the bottom level of the facility in record time. If she wanted, she could be near invisible to anyone. A couple of meters above her, there was a single soldier who was resting on the wall. His cap was pulled down, hiding his eyes. He was probably trying to catch some sleep. “Too bad,” Irelia thought.

“He is asleep?” Akali asked through their mental connection.

“Yes,” the officer simply replied.

“I will break his neck… he is not going to feel anything,” the huntress said. “Satisfied?”

“Yes… go ahead.”

Without an ounce of hesitation, red-eyed beauty started to climb the wall. Within maybe a few seconds, maybe a little longer, she reached the level where the soldier was sleeping. With a real cat’s grace, the white-haired woman closed the distance between her and the sleeper. Irelia saw a quick action of her partner’s firm hands, and the man was dead. His still warm body collapsed on the cold floor lifelessly.

In nearly the same moment, a door located maybe 50 meters away from Akali opened and two soldiers left the building.

“Akali!!” Irelia squeaked. “Hide the body, there are two men 50 metres away from you!”

“Affirmative,” the white-haired replied.

By looking at Akali’s figure, it was pretty easy to forget that she was far stronger than most men in their prime. The pink-haired soldier gasped loudly when the huntress picked up the dead body from the floor and jumped with it to the point’s next floor. For her, it seemed as if the dead man weight pretty much nothing. When the red-eyed assassin made sure that no one was nearby, she laid the corpse gently on the cold stone.

Without wasting any time, she rushed toward the railing. The huntress allowed herself to look over the edge of the floor. The mentioned soldiers were the target she was seeking.

“They’re on your left… maybe 10 – 20 metres away from you,” Irelia informed her so-called partner.

“Thank you. Note that this time, I will not be able to kill them without shedding some blood,” Akali said in a cool tone.

“I know… do what you need to do,” the pink-haired soldier replied.

It seemed that the huntress did not want to waste any time more. In the very next second, Irelia could see her standing on the railing and preparing her deadly blades. The officer allowed herself to blink one time, and it was over. Akali jumped to the level under her, catching the attention of the surprised soldiers in an instant. Sadly for them… the assassin did not allow them to react. She simply did not give them enough time to do so. Each of the sharp, deadly blades of the huntress found its way toward the neck of the men. As if skin, fat, muscles and bones were butter, the steel pierced through them like a hot knife. Just a moment later, the two heads hit the stone followed by the bodies.

Irelia focused on the assassin. She was smiling, her eyes once again went dark. It must have been the true nature of Akali. The living goddess of the hunt did not rest for long. Before the officer could say anything, the white-haired rushed toward the nearest door, vanishing a moment later.

She lost the assassin from her sight. The soldier wanted to see what was going on. So… she tried to regain the connection between them. After a moment, her mind started to be flooded by the images of the slaughter. Their mental connection could be considered useful sometimes, desired in the other times. Still, in the rare moments like current, it was just a curse.

Chapter Text

Irelia’s POV (a couple of moments later):

Even though Irelia has seen bloodshed before, has seen many fights, she was not prepared for what Akali was about to do. The word ’slaughter’ would not entirely describe the assassin’s doing, but yet... it was the most accurate word. With her eyes filled with fear, Irelia was watching the rampage of the huntress. As she probably mentioned before, their connection could be a gift or curse based on the situation. And... currently, it was as if some gods unleashed their fury onto this world. The white-haired huntress was the representation of said wrath.

“Akali, please, stop,” the officer pleaded in a whisper-like manner.

A moment later, the pink-haired woman fell onto her knees. She desperately tried to cover her eyes, as if it would stop the flood of images that were coming from Akali.

Akali’s POV (a couple of moments earlier):

If someone had a chance to witness the huntress currently, it would not be a surprise for her to be called ‘monster’. Even though she looked similar to humans, the woman certainly did not act like one. In fact, it would not be an understatement to call her ‘monster’.

For the white-haired assassin, the time seemed to be frozen. Her mind was not working currently, after all, she did not control her body anymore. Akali was conscious, but she could do little to none to prevent what was happening before her eyes. For the crimson-red-eyed woman, it seemed as if some feral part of her very being took reign over a steering wheel.

As through the fog, the images of what was going on around her were flooding Akali’s mind. She needed to do anything in her power to regain control. And… she needed to find out a method to do so quickly before it was going to be too late.

The huntress body was a killing machine. If anyone doubted that, that person was a fool. It was reacting on its own, it was relying on instincts. As soon as the assassin entered the outpost building, she hid behind the nearest wall. Her muscles tensed up, her ears tried to hear the soldiers still staying inside. The silence lasted maybe a minute or so, but then, the sounds of people running in heavy boots reached her. Immediately, the nasty smile appeared on Akali’s face. Every single inch of her was screaming – ‘it is hunting time’. A couple of deep breaths were used to steady the breathing pattern to calm down the mind. She was ready, her prey definitely not.

The huntress allowed herself to wait a few prolonged moments more. With every single passing second, the noises of the running soldiers were louder and closer. Soon, the patience of the huntress shall be rewarded.

“Mike, Mike, Mike, damn it. Do you copy?!” the flustered manly voice could be heard.

“Brand… he’s dead most likely,” another voice stated. The white-haired assassin could sense fear in his voice. “We really should call for reinforcements,” he added after a second or so.

“Damn it, Greg!” the first voice shouted. “We were ordered to take care of this elevator station, and we’ll do it. Brand, Pete, cover me,” he ordered.

“Fine,” the scared soldier responded. “The door is just past this corner.”

“Alright, let’s make it quick,” the third voice sounded. This one was so different from others. The man was neither scared nor angry.

“Experienced one, hmm?” the huntress hummed deep inside her mind.

“I’m coming first, cover me,” the first voice stated.

“Clear, you can go,” the two other soldiers said at the same time.

Without making a sound, the shortest blade was pulled out of its cover. The white-haired woman was only waiting for the man to enter the room where the doors were located. The nasty smile was never fading away out of her face. The huntress seemed to be lost in some kind of primal desire.

The patience of the assassin was slowly running out. She wanted blood, and she could not wait a single moment more to spill it. The firm hand was clenched on the weapon’s handle.

Finally, after what felt like ages, in the doorways, the figure of a tall man appeared. He was wearing an enhanced armour that was covering the entirety of his broad chest. Underneath it, the presumably casual military uniform could be spotted. If the huntress did not try to hide her presence, she would undoubtedly scoff. These materials would not stand a chance against her blade.

The presumable officer was so confident that the room was empty that he did not bother to check it up. Akali allowed him to take exactly 3 steps before she rushed from the corner of the room. The soldier did not even have a chance to react. As soon as the huntress’s impact knocked him off his feet, she gasped, dropping his combat rifle. Within the next 2 or 3 seconds, he died. Akali did not waste any time, the short straight blade pierced through the chest plate without any problem, reaching the heart of the man. The death was swift, one more gasped, and the officer was left cold on the floor.

The two men who were supposed to cover the officer were starring at the huntress with their wide eyes. Maybe 3 or 4 seconds took them to process the information about what was going on. As soon as it happened, they started to fire at the assassin without an ounce of hesitation.

“Zven, Zven, code red!” the very tall black man shouted into the intercom. “We have casualties… I repeat we have casualties. At minimum Brand is dead, possibly Mike,” he added, the fear was filling his voice.

The huntress dodged the firing without many problems. She chose to run away through the door. Of course, she could just kill them where they were standing, but then, she would have to search every single inch of the facility for the survivors. By allowing the black-skinned soldier to report the encounter, she made sure that all of the stationed soldiers would run to help their comrades. And… that, was what Akali’s primal side wanted to accomplish. The woman allowed herself to chuckled quietly, after all, everything was going according to the plan.

It was all too know to the huntress that those soldiers would not try to hunt her down before their backup came. Without anything better to do, the beauty started to pick the right weapon with which she was going to kill the men hidden behind the thick doors.

On the other hand, the mind was Akali was screaming. She did not want to do that. It was meant to be a quick and quiet mission. But somehow, all went wrong. She was supposed to go in and out, taking the least lives as she could. Yet… here she was, waiting for the men to gather, waiting for the opportunity to butcher them without an ounce of mercy.

“Let me take back control!” Akali was screaming but to no avail.

Soon enough, the rest of the stationed soldiers came. It was so easy to tell, they were too loud, too chaotic for their own good. The white-haired assassin did not opt to listen to their conversation this time. To be perfectly honest, she did not care what they were discussing. All she cared for was them to come to her.

After a couple of prolonged moments, Akali heard that they were closing the distance to the doors. She smiled. Without hesitation, the huntress climbed to the next level, making sure to be as quiet as possible. The moment, the assassin decided to rest her weight onto the railing, the doors below her opened. Two small items were thrown to the open. The white-haired woman chuckled before closing her eyes. When the objects exploded, the assassin waited for a couple of more seconds before opening her eyes. As she expected, at least 15 soldiers exited the facility and were currently scanning the area in search of her.

To some extent, it was ridiculous that none of them thought about looking or even sparing a glance at the level above them. It seemed that the men were taught to fight against the enemy who would not use anything to its advantages. It was just a matter of time before they would start to split up to cover broader ground. It would be much easier to deal with them once they would do it, but it was not a part of Akali’s plan.

Without much thinking, the huntress jumped to the level below, catching the attention of the soldier solely on her. She flashed a nasty smile before charging toward the nearest man. Once again, the utter shock prevented the warriors of the Empire form firing immediately at the assassin. To them, it seemed surreal. How someone could just jump between 15 armed soldiers and expect to survive. The answer was relatively trivial to guess, but before they would be aware of that, they would be dead. You might already know it. The huntress was on an entirely different level, so the rules that they needed to obey were nothing to Akali.

Before the first bullets had a chance to be fired, the nearest soldier was cut in half. The thick, fresh blood covered a nearby area. It took just a moment, a fraction of second, and the man was gone. Between the remnants of the man, the huntress was standing, her clothes soaked with blood. Within moments the throat screams filled the air as one by one the soldiers started to shoot.

The men of the Empire were so enraged that the important detail was omitted. The white-haired woman was not stupid, she positioned herself right between them to discourage them from shooting. After all, they would be in caught in their very own crossfire. However, it seemed that those men were far past the point when they would be able to spot the imminent danger.

Akali could not help but bust with loud laughter. Those soldiers were more of the fools that she had initially expected. Even though the huntress was still laughing, she continued to dodge the bullets. In a matter of seconds, she became a blur for the men. She simply was moving around too fast for them to even catch a glimpse of it. So… in the end, it seemed that the trained soldiers were shooting no better than a blind man would. It did not take much time before the first soldiers started to collapse under their own fire.

Soon enough, all of the servants of the Empire were lying on the cold floor, wounded. The fresh blood stained the stone. The air was filled by the groans and cries of the injured or dying. In the middle of that circle of the death, the white-haired huntress was standing. Even though her clothes were marked by the bullets, but still, she was uninjured. She was still able to fight. And… her hunger for blood and death was not satisfied.

After a couple of moments of complete silence spent among the cold air of the night, Akali moved slightly. The short, curved daggers were reached for. For a few seconds, the goddess of death was staring into the razor-sharp steel as if it wanted to tell her something. It can sound really ridiculous, but it seemed to be an intimate scene of some sort.

It did not last long. After what felt like just a fraction of a second, the daggers were lowered. The eyes of the predator focused on the nearest still-alive soldier. Akali’s eyes became even darker than previously, her hunger needed to be satisfied. When a small mischievous smile was flashed, the fangs of the huntress could be spotted easily. Without a hurry, she closed the gap between her and the dying man.

Even though he was most likely not able to see her clearly, the assassin found fear in his slightly fogged eyes. The crimson-red-eyed woman cupped his chin and straddle his chest. For a couple of prolonged moments, she was crushing the man’s jaw with her left hand while playing with the dagger in the other one. The white-haired huntress was enjoying every single second her current occupation. Every single little groan, scream, whine, she loved all of them. The assassin was all too aware that the soldier had little time left. But… she deserved to have a little fun after all her struggle. So… she continued to toy with the man who was not able to even lift a finger.

As you might know, even the best game must come to an end at some point. In Akali’s case, it did not take long before she got bored with the weakling. As a sign of mercy, the huntress stabbed him right through the plate into the heart. She spared him a long, painful death.

The white-haired goddess of death allowed herself to wait a moment or two before standing up. With a dagger close to her chest, she turned around and started to head toward the next wounded soldier. On her pretty face, the maniacal smile could be spotted.

Irelia’s POV (in a mean-time):

Irelia could not stand it. It was too much for her. Still, on her knees, the pink-haired officer started to cry silently.

“Akali, please, stop,” Irelia begged once again through their connection.

To her utter surprise, Akali’s vision started to blur. The assassin was trembling. Maybe… just maybe, there was a chance to prevent the huntress from killing all of them. Perhaps if she continued to assault the very mind of the white-haired woman, she would succeed.

Without a moment of hesitation, the pink-haired officer focused on Akali with everything she got. Every ounce of strength that she could muster was needed. She wanted to push through the invisible, invincible wall that seemed to be blocking her very thoughts from the huntress mind. Even though she had closed her eyes a couple of moments ago, she could still see everything that Akali could.

At first, it seemed that once again, her actions were to no avail. The huntress was still trembling, but nothing else happened. It appeared as one of the internal fights, maybe even the same one that got her hurt before. After a minute or so, the white-haired woman froze. Her sight was set on the nearest wall, but no thoughts, no words were sent back by Akali.

Irelia gasped loudly. “It’s working,” she exclaimed cheerfully in her mind. From her point of view, all she needed to do was to continue. It would seem so easy if someone thought about it for a moment. After all, the only way, Irelia could reach the huntress was through the connection that the said woman established herself. With that particular idea in mind, she focused even harder on her goal. She wanted the assassin to stop butchering people. She wanted her to stop.

“Akali, if you hear me, please, let it go,” the soldier was murmuring under her breath.

Akali’s POV (in a mean-time):

The pain that was running through the huntress body was unbearable. But… the source of it was her head. The mental bridge that Akali explained as a connection of some sort was causing it. The white-haired woman felt as if she was about to explode. The only good effect of Irelia’s efforts was the fact that the primal instincts that took hold of her body were wavering. Of course, the problem was that the pain remained. The lips of the white-haired woman seemed to be glued together. Out of the corners, the trail of fresh blood was flowing. She could feel that her sharp fangs were buried deep in her own flesh. It was just a matter of time before her fists were clenched till the point her knuckles went white out of the put pressure.

As through the thick mist, she could see the wall. Her vision was becoming foggier with every single passing second. She felt weak, useless. With an effort equivalent to running the marathon, she was able to take a single step toward the stone surface.

“Akali, Akali, Akali!” the pleading tone of Irelia’s voice was echoing inside her mind.

“Please, stop it. It hurts so much!” the huntress was groaning loud while slowly closing the distance to the wall.

After what felt like an eternity, she rested her tensed, hurt body against the pleasant cold surface. With every single moment, with every single plead that seemed to be roaring inside her skull, she became weaker and weaker. If it was to continue, soon she would not be able to stand, she would not be able to muster enough strength to do so.

The constant pain brought the assassin toward the brink of catastrophe. Deep down, Akali knew that the only way out of the suffering was to allow her instincts to kick in again. The huntress despised that idea with every once of herself. Soon after the hopelessness… the rage came.

Within the next minutes, the white-haired woman tried to contain the wave of negative emotions that flooded her mind. She tried to control herself, not to allow the rage to get better of her. It was a fight that she lost long before it truly started. The fury filled Akali’s veins in what felt like an instant. Unintentionally, she once again began to tremble. The crimson-red eyed woman roared furiously. She was still trying to wrestle up against the lost fight.

Soon enough, Akali could not hold her rage inside her body. It was too difficult for her. The wall she was using to support her fame was a cloudly point before her very eye. At this point, she could be just blind. The head was still threatening to explode in any given moment. The huntress was at her limit.

With another primal, furious roar she started to punch the cloudy object before her. Even though her bones were enhanced at least a couple of times, soon enough, she began to feel the pain. That’s said, she did not back down, in fact, that detail only fueled her rage even more. After a couple of moments, she started to bash with her head against the solid surface that she no longer could see. The blood began to trail down her forehead, her cheeks, her jaw, all the way down. As you might expect already, Akali was in some kind of a trance. She no longer cared whether she would do any harm to herself as long as the echoing inside her head would stop. If the only other way out of that situation was to kill herself, she would opt for it without a moment of hesitation.

“Akali?” the tender voice of Irelia called her through their connection. “Please, don’t hurt yourself anymore,” she added in a cry-like manner. “You’re the one who can kill your mentor. If you’re gone, I fear how many more innocent people will die. Beside… you’ve promised me something,” the officer said in a pleading tone. “You can take my however you want, but please, stop,” she finished, crying.

“You are going to be the death of me,” Akali groaned, choking on the mixture of her own blood and salvia. “But… I can not tell if I am going to be able to hold onto my promise,” she added, whispering. “I am so hurt, so weak.”

“No!!!” the pink-haired officer denied. “I won’t allow you to leave me!” she uttered in a strong voice. “I’m coming for you.”

“No,…” the huntress whispered. “Your kind will be here soon if they see you, your career and life will be ruined. I am going to reach you… no matter what,” she added, coughing, having problems to catch a breath.

“Akali… I… I… need you,” Irelia stuttered. “Come to me,” she pleaded.

“Do you have med-kit with you?” Akali asked, groaning through her teeth.

“I have a little of first aid kit hidden in my armour,” the soldier replied. “What do you need?” she asked.

“You will see,” the assassin breathed out. “I am cutting the connection for now,” Akali informed the officer.

“Why? Akali…” the voice of Irelia faded away.

Even though the bridge between their mind was currently closed, the echoing did not stop. In fact, it became even more difficult to survive. Even without her sight, Akali knew where her blades were attached. A little effort was all it took for her to pick up the short dagger. For a couple of prolonged moments, the huntress was passing the razor-sharp steel from one hand to another, hesitating. With pain currently was difficult to cope with, but if she decided to proceed with her plan, soon she would screaming on top of her lungs.

“Come on, coward,” Akali taunted herself. “She got the point, if you are dead, no one will stop Rengar from wreaking havoc,” she added.

“Fine,” she exhaled deeply after a couple of moments. “Let’s do it.”

The decision was made.

Within the next few seconds, the sharp blade was pointed at the midriff of the huntress. Gently, she was touching her frame with the tip of the dagger, trying to find the right spot to thrust the steel in. Her top priority was no to kill herself or cause massive internal bleedings that could end her life before she would be able to patch herself up.

It took her at least a minute to find it. A couple of deep breaths were taken to calm the huntress’s mind. Or… at least to calm it down as much as it was possible in the given situation. Akali was all too aware that she could postpone the action, but in the end, it would only cause her more problems. With both hands resting on the handle of the weapon, she pushed it toward herself in one swift motion.

As the huntress expected, the pain that came a moment later was difficult to describe. The closest thing she could come up with was being cut piece by piece. The burning sensation mostly caused due to the poison that the dagger was covered with. It was meant to attack the nervous system, to cause immense suffering.

The assassin managed to slowly raise up. Even though her entire frame was aching, trembling, she needed to press on. The tears unintentionally started to run down Akali’s cheeks, mixing with the blood that was still leaking from the corners of the woman’s lips. The huntress did not even try to hide her suffering anymore, she just did not have any strength left in the tank to do so. Time after time, the loud, feral scream would sound in the night. The crimson-red-eyed assassin was weakened, but still, she was in control of her very own body. Which frankly, was already far better than what she endured throughout the evening.

With every passing second, the huntress was slowly regaining her senses. The only problem the assassin was left with was the wound that would not heal on its own due to the used poison. Akali was heavily bleeding, but she could not allow or justify removing the blade right now. After all, it would only make her bleed more. However, due to her increased regeneration, her body might be able to at least seal the breach in her vessel.

With another scream and the curse that followed it, the wounded woman began to head toward Irelia. Some things still required her to be alive, she could not allow herself to die.

Irelia’s POV (a couple of minutes later):

To say that Irelia was worried would be a massive understatement. She entirely lost the sense of time, she felt as if trapped in time, froze. The pink-haired woman was quickly getting sick out of pure worries. To her, Akali seemed like an invincible statue carved in stone that stood everything that the world decided to throw at her. Even when she got back to her apartment covered in blood, she was still as dangerous as ever. To Irelia, it seemed as if the huntress just allowed her to take care of herself. The assassin merely allowed her protective wall to be lowered.

Sadly, the current situation was far from the mentioned case. Akali… Akali seemed to be broken, to be lost inside her mind, devoured by her instincts. It was, at the same time, both shocking and terrifying. It could be compared to the person that you know as very controlled, calm, and out of a sudden, that person could go wild.

Irelia was still resting her weight onto the railing of the building. It was at least a couple of minutes since the white-haired woman cut her off, blocked their mental connection. Under her very breath, the pink-haired officer was pleading, begging, praying that Akali succeeded in anything she planned. She did not lie when she said that she needed the huntress. It would be just delusional from her side to deny that she was frankly saying smitten with the crimson-red-eyed beauty. She would do anything to prevent her from going through that alone.

Within the next moments, the panic started to wake inside of her. “What if Akali wounded herself so badly that she can not move, or worse killed herself?” Irelia thought deep inside her mind. “I need to come to her, I just need!” she added, panicking.

The moment she wanted to avert her gaze out of the railing and to turn around, she froze again. With the very corner of her eye caught a glimpse of something. Without hesitation, she focused on that only to find out that in fact, it was Akali. With agility, that cat would probably kill for, the white-haired huntress was slowly but surely climbing onto the very top of the building. It was just a matter of time before she would be close to the soldier, close enough for her to hug her and maybe… kiss her? With nothing better to do, the officer continued to watch the assassin climbing.

After a couple of prolonged moments, the crimson-red-eyed woman jumped over the railing. She looked terrible. Her clothes were torn into shreds, the blood was covering the entirety of her frame. At the huntress’s face, the trails of tears and blood could be easily spotted. The skin was shattered on her hands. Quite a few bruises could be found there as well. But… it was no the most terrifying thing that Irelia spotted. The dagger that was standing out of the assassin’s midriff was.

“Akali!” the officer gasped loudly. “We need to take care of it, now,” she added.

To her surprise, the white-haired woman did not say a word. Alarmed by that detail, Irelia focused on the face of the huntress once again. No emotion could be read out of it, not even pain, just emptiness.

“I am sorry, but it is the only way,” Akali whispered a moment before landing a crushing hit onto the head of the soldier.

“Why?” the surprised pink-haired woman asked before losing consciousness.

“I will explain later,” the huntress replied in a whisper-like manner.

In the very next second, she picked up the unconscious woman and started to carry her out in a bridal style.

Chapter Text

Irelia’s POV (sometime later):

The pink-haired soldier woke up with a terrible headache. Before she was even able to open her eyes, she could feel the world around her spinning. The remnants of her last meal began to swirl up in her stomach, making her sick. She wanted to vomit, she really did.

As soon as her weary eyes opened, the bright light coming from unknown source blinded her. Her left hand was nearly immediately used to cover her sensitive pupils. She needed time to regain her balance, composure.

She was laying on top of some mattress. It would be difficult for the captain to say whether it was soft or not due to her headache. It felt as if it was about to explode. With a groan, Irelia tried to turn around. She did not know where was she, it was the highest priority to find out. So, with a bit of difficulty, she began looking around.

The room she was put into was small. Outside of the mattress, she was currently occupying, little to none other furniture could be seen there. The light that initially blinded her came from the pretty huge bulb that seemed to be at its finish. The wire located inside the glass container was glowing more and more with a reddish colour, giving a clear signal that it was about to burn out. As it was to be expected, just a couple of moments later, the bulb started to flicker. Then, it burned out, fading.

“I see that you finally woke up,” Akali’s voice could be heard from behind. “It seems that I hit you harder than I initially anticipated. You blacked out for a couple of yours,” the feminine voice added, emotionlessly.

“Good morning to you too,” Irelia groaned, turning around. “Why did you hit me at the very first place?!” she wanted to know the reason. In the soldier’s voice, the accuse and hint of grief could be heard. “I’ve done everything that you asked me to. Why did you knock me out?”

“Do you ever find yourself out of questions?” the assassin asked, sighing. “I knocked you out because some of the cameras we still intact. If they spot you coming alongside me willingly, you would be considered as a threat just like me,” she explained briefly, narrowing her eyes.

“Wouldn’t it be more professional just to destroy the camera?!” the pink-haired officer asked, raising her tone. “My freaking head is still spinning, not to mention the terrible headache you caused!”

“Are you than soft?” Akali asked in a really low, cold tone. “If you are, then, I would suggest you giving up,” the huntress hissed. “You are going to be on the prowl of the huntress who trained me,” she added with special emphasise. “I can not deny that he is more experienced than me, possibly even stronger than me. Hunting him down will require a lot of effort. We will be taking damage fighting him, about that, I can assure you. So, if you find yourself not able to stand such a soft punch, you can go. Your kin will believe in you running away from me, somehow. However, it will mean that our agreement is broken, and I will hunt down every single member of your squad, just as I have promised! It is high time for you to make a decision and then, live with the consequences,” the assassin stated calmly, emotionlessly even.

“I’ll manage!” the officer hissed through clenched teeth. “Where are we?” she asked just a moment later.

“Slums, the very north part of it, actually,” the white-haired woman replied, shrugging.

“Do we have any sort of a trail? Or… we’re going blind?” Irelia asked, trying to control her emotions.

“The last report of my fellow hunters was sent more or less from this area,” the butcher whispered. “Knowing Rengar, hmm… I would start the prowl in the darkest part of this pit hole,” she provided some explanation.

“Ok, how many attack reports have been registered? Oh wait, you’d need to break into the empire’s system to check it,” the officer started to think aloud.

“I actually did it already,” the huntress sighed. “There are at least 40 to 50 new reports since the last time I have checked,” she added, averting her gaze off of the soldier to look at her portable computer.

“How many… confirmed dead?” Irelia asked with a slightly wavering voice.

“At least 200, maybe more,” Akali replied nonchalantly. “Their demise might not be in vain, actually. The place where the bodies were found, forms a pattern, a trail that can lead us to Rengar’s lair,” the huntress stated a moment later.

“I want them to be avenged!” the pink-haired woman exclaimed. “No matter what happens, promise me, you’ll kill that son of a bitch,” she uttered in a low voice.

“My mission is to defeat him,” the white-haired assassin replied. “But, he is not the type of fighter that gives up. The only way to defeat him is to kill him,” the huntress added.

“Fantastic,” the officer said slowly. “Let’s get to work, then.”

Without wasting a moment more, Irelia stood up, ignoring the still-present spinning of her head. The pink-haired captain was determined to achieve her goal, no matter the cost.

Irelia’s POV (2 hours later):

The last place Rengar attacked was a small bar at the very end of a dark street. Or, at least that what was written in the Empire’s documents. When the two women finally got there, all that stood before their eyes were the ashes. The construction seemed to be burnt to the ground. Between the greyish dust, the incinerated parts of humans could be easily spotted. The scenery as whole looked disgusting, gross. The stench of melted human fat was still filling the air, making it difficult to breathe.

“He is getting reckless,” the white-haired huntress said, searching through the remnants of the building. “Never in my life would I have expected him to leave that many signs of his presence. His trail is fresh, he can not be that far from us,” she added after a couple of moments.

“Wait a minute, did you called this action reckless?” Irelia asked, narrowing her eyes, feeling her rage slowly building inside of her. “It’s a freaking butchery, he butchered every, then let the whole building be consumed by the flames. I don’t even want to know whether he let some of these poor people wounded, but still alive before he caused the flames to erupt,” the soldier said with disgust.

“You are trying to categorise him according to your standards,” the assassin uttered in a cold tone, not even looking at the pink-haired woman. “He is far beyond your lexicon. To put it simply, the way, the ‘predators’ – we – work is far different from what you would expect,” the red-eyed beauty explained. “Still, I called this act,” she gestured all around her, “reckless because some parts are partially eaten. He got hungry, bored of the whole game, the farse he was put into. He came down here, killed as many people as he pleased, then fucked up, starting the fire that consumed the building. The deads can not talk, but their bodies can contain some useful information that we can use to our advantage,” she finished her deduction.

“How in the damned world will it help us?!” the angry officer asked. “Tell me because it seems that I’m missing something!” she demanded.

“It seems that I will have to guide you as a small child by the hand,” Akali sighed. “First of all, he killed those people and started to eat there. It implies that he found it not worthy of transporting them. As far as I know Rengar, he used to do this if he was close to his safehouse. So, if he did not change his habits, his hideout is relatively close to our current position. I would also remind you that we are near the place where you found the half-eaten bodies for the very first time.”

“Ok, it makes sense, in some weird sort of way,” Irelia replied, cupping her chin, thinking. “There’s more, isn’t it?” she asked.

“But, of course,” the huntress replied, turning around to face the soldier. “There are many signs of claws on these walls,” the white-haired woman stated, pointing out on the nearby stone structures. “They are leading north, they are leading to another sewers control point.”

“Splendid! Another stinky place to go. Couldn’t he just choose some nicer place to set his lair?” the pink-haired woman began nagging. “I mean, what’s wrong with some kind of apartment that doesn’t stench?!”

“Have you finished yet?” Akali asked, still not impressed by the outburst of her partner. “As you might already know, no one, and I mean it, no one would want to go to the sewers to seek a beast,” she provided a bit of explanation after a heavy sigh. “Are you ready?” she asked.

“I want these people, all of these people to be avenged,” Irelia uttered, her voice filled with passion. “You can count on me,” she assured the huntress.

“I do not need your assurance, we had an agreement, it is all I care about,” the assassin uttered emotionlessly. “Let’s go.”

Akali’s POV (sometime later):

They were close, she could felt that. The huntress was tensed, a thrill of the near battle was pumping inside her veins. Just a couple of minutes more, and she would be so close to achieving her goal. The goal that she had to work so hard for. Still, one single problem remained: the strength test, the fight between her and Rengar. Akali was well aware that the hunt master had never been defeated before, crushing all who opposed him. Unintentionally, she started to sweat, to some extent, she was scared of that encounter. Even though she was once called the most talented Rengar’s apprentice, she still feared her ex-mentor.

“Get your shit together, Akali!” the huntress hissed at herself, deep inside her mind.

She allowed herself to show some of the torment she was feeling inside. A nasty grimace appeared on her face, her jaw was clenched, hand put into fists. Alternatively, the white-haired woman was hissing, growling.

“What’s wrong?” Irelia asked out of a sudden. “You seemed tensed, unsettled. If I didn’t know better, I’d describe you as scared, currently,” the pink-haired woman said.

It was the first time, the soldier uttered even a single word since they left the remnants of the burnt down building.

“Nothing,” Akali replied sighing.

“Well, if you thought that with that attempt you’d convinced me, it was a fruitless endeavour,” the captain replied. “I can clearly see that something is bothering you, upsetting you even,” she continued to delve.

“Let’s just say that the weight of the near events is finally taking its toll over me,” the huntress whispered, trying not to look at the pink-haired woman. She did not need mercy, pitty, “I need to focus, or we are both dead,” she added quickly, trying to sound confident.

“You know, I don’t want to say that, but you failed in that attempt,” the soldier whispered back. “Hey, if you want, you can talk to me. We have time. It’ll be better for us if we face that monster with our minds clear. Aghhh… you know what I mean,” the slightly frustrated captain added.

“I do, but I would not agree that we have time,” the assassin responded. “We need to hurry, we are close.”

“Oh,” Irelia gasped loudly. “Lead the way, then,” she said a moment later.

It was getting colder and colder with every single minute they spent seeking Rengar’s lair. The sewer control point entrance was lighted by just two mediocre-sized bulbs that light began turning red. It was so evident that someone broke into the construction some time ago. The heavy metal doors were nearly ripped from the hinges. Even more, there were signs of punches thrown against the cold surface of the metal. There were areas where the rust could be easily spotted. By the look of things, no one from the upper city was sent to maintain the facility. Or, the duty was being ignored entirely.

Behind the nearly crushed doors, the darkness took a rule. Plaster and chipped paint floated in the light of Irelia’s flashlight. Even at the very first segment of the construction, the cracks could be spotted on walls, in the ceiling. A mixture of mushrooms and mould was covering a decent part of the floor. Spider webs could be found in the corners of the room, but they were enormously large. As if, no one tried to get rid of them for a couple of months. The whole scenery seemed as if taken straight from the horror movie.

Akali could hear the beating of Irelia’s heart. As soon as they entered the abandoned building, it started to pound faster. The breath of the pink-haired woman became heavier, shallow. She was afraid, scared, there was no point in denying it. Truth be told, there was no point in asking her about that either. The soldier would say that she had been fine.

The humidity in the facility was surprisingly high. Even though it was kind of cold outside, inside the damaged construction, the heat was irritating. The huntress could fell her body once again, beginning to sweat. At that point, she was unsure whether it was caused by her fears, or the humidity and high temperature. She did not need light for her to delve deeper into the facility. Still, she felt as if she was being watched all the time. As if someone or something was lurking in the shadows.

Akali opted not to trust her instincts. After all, it would not be possible for someone to hide in this corridor. There was just a straight path ahead of her. The white-haired woman hesitated for a couple of moments. The abandoned building with such thin corridors was just a perfect place for an ambush. And, if Rengar taught her anything, it was to expect traps all the time. With that very thought in mind, she pressed forward, delving into the darkness of the complex.

The sweet stench of rotting bodies hit her nostrils as soon as they reached the facility’s next level. The dark, rusty metal stairs leading there were crackling with every single step they took. Somewhere there, the bodies of Rengar’s victims were being stored, or precisely speaking left to rot. The entirety of the construction seemed to be divided into 5 levels with level 0 being the entrance. Each of them was going lower and lower. Still, there was something that seemed to be off with the whole concept of this facility. Why put so much investment into a simple sewer control centre? Why shaping it into such a complex structure? At least for now, Akali did not have answers for these questions, but she made a mental note to find out. Some mystery was hidden behind these walls, something that was not entirely documented inside the Empire’s logs.

The heat started to get unbearable. It seemed that the temperature went at least a couple of degrees higher at the span of a few short moments. From time to time, Akali could swear that she heard something, some sound coming from the dark depths of the complex. Still, it was just an interim sensation. As soon as she heard something, it faded away. With a silent sigh under her breath, she opted to go forward, at least for a few moments more.

After some time, they reached the small room filled with consoles of some sorts. All of them inactive, some of the diodes broken, ripped out of their places. There were a lot of displays in that room. Akali spent at least a minute looking around, but she did not find any of them to be intact. It could be some kind of a control room, but if it was, why the hell would someone built 4 another levels? The huntress began thinking about whether she could restore the power in the complex.

The white-haired woman focused on that matter so hard that she nearly did not hear the footsteps behind her. Quicker than most people could spot, she spun around, drawing her blade. The loud gasp and the sound of someone falling onto the ground followed her action.

“What the fuck, Akali?!” Irelia asked, surprised, terrified.

“Sorry, I was thinking about something else,” the masked woman apologised, nodding.

“Sure, whatever, what’s wrong with this place?” the pink-haired wanted to know. “It doesn’t look like any sort of sewer centre. Fuck it, it seems like some kind of a secret lab or something like that,” she added.

“Yeah, I am not entirely sure about that either,” the red-eyed beauty replied. “Be quiet!” she ordered a moment later.

She could swear that she heard something again - something like whines, groans coming from the lower levers. Sadly, it faded away as soon as the soldier stopped talking. What was wrong with this facility? Then, the sounds returned louder. It sounded like someone was crying, whining, groaning. Then, the sounds of bare feet walking on water came. The metal stairs began crackling once more as if dozens of people started to climb up.

“We are not alone here,” the huntress whispered. “Let’s find the power source, we need to get the power back as soon as possible.”

“What’s going on?” the scared officer asked.

“I do not know, but someone is walking a couple of levels below us,” the white-haired assassin replied. “I heard the sound of water, the sound of metal trying to withstand the weight of someone. That someone or thing is climbing up. Sooner or later, it will find us. And, at least for you, it would be better to have a light system back online before it happens,” she provided an extended explanation.

“I agree, the problem is that we don’t know anything about this place,” Irelia pointed out, her face was white pale. “How will we know where the power source is located?” she asked.

“Close the doors leading to this room,” Akali ordered. “I’ll plug into this piece of crap here, and transfer some energy to power it till I download everything I need,” she added. “Try to stay as quiet as you can. We do not know what are we dealing with. And, Irelia, make haste.”

Without wasting a moment more, Akali knelt, seeking the access point to the consoles. Before she could find it, the sounds of the solid metal doors being closed reached her ears. With a quiet sigh, she returned to the wires that were filling the insides of that crap.

Chapter Text

Irelia’s POV (a couple of moments later):

The atmosphere seemed to thicken with every passing moment. The hollow sounds of the steel construction were causing goosebumps time after time. It was evident that something, not even someone, was below them. That ‘thing’ had been awoken by their arrival; now it was coming for them, the hunt had begun.

The pink-haired officer did not really know what to do with herself. She felt like a sixth wheel, useless, just a burden. Her head was moving back and forth; she was nervous, unaware of what was going around her. Just a couple steps away from her, her partner, her nemesis, was kneeling, trying to fix the broken conduit. Based on the hissing and growling, the process was not going according to the plan. Thankfully, the tiny amount of energy Akali had pumped into the circuit was enough to restore the light.

A heavy, prolonged sighed was allowed to escape the soldier’s throat. She was feeling uneasy; the pressure was slowly trashing her, making her even more irrelevant. The woman was wondering how the assassin could be so unmoved even in a situation such as this.

Unfortunately, the yellowish light emanating from the bulbs hidden behind a thick glass only partially diluted the ever-present shadows. Frankly saying, only the server room was soaked with the questionable light.

“Any progress?” the pink-haired officer asked. The hint of terrified could be easily noticed in her voice.

“This piece of crap is slowly rebooting; however, a decent chunk of data was corrupted,” the huntress informed with a nasty grimace all over her beautiful face. “I have an assumption that I will be able to access only a marginal part of that cluster. I believe this ‘place’ – let’s call it; cause of a lack of a better word, was abandoned. These consoles were intentionally damaged; someone was trying so desperately to hide something. And… sadly, I have a feeling that the reason behind the abandonment of this complex is slowly getting closer and closer,” the white-haired woman allowed herself to provide an extended explanation. “I do not really like how the situation is shaping.”

“Tell me something that isn’t already bothering my mind,” Irelia scoffed.

“Be quiet!” Akali ordered harshly. “I have found something that may be of use,” she informed the officer. “Come here; we will watch the file as soon as the decryption process finishes.”

“Finally, something positive,” the soldier exclaimed.

“I would not be so quick to celebrate if I were you,” the assassin uttered coldly. “I have a feeling that we will not like what we found.”

“Why?”

“As you might already anticipate, it is not the sewer control station,” Akali uttered slowly. “It seems that your precious government did a lot of shady interests behind your back.”

“Can you finally spill the bean?” the pink-haired woman asked, slightly annoyed.

“You are very impatient,” the huntress quickly commented. “This ‘place’ was a laboratory; it was meant to be hidden secretly. Frankly, I can see the point behind its location; however, my approval ends there. The main purpose of the said facility was to test various pathogens, venoms on living subjects,” the white-haired assassin added, pausing for a few moments. “As you might already thinking, the tests subjects were humans, the inhabitants of the slums.”

“Sadly, it’s all starting to make awfully a lot of sense,” the soldier sighed. “I assume there was some sort of an accident that led to shutting down the facility?”

“I would bet my life on that guess; however, no data is proving that idea,” Akali responded. “The newest entry I can access was logged 2 years ago. It is the shutting down note signed by General Ameth Siith.”

“No reason behind the decision?” Irelia asked; however, she did not really hope to receive a positive answer.

“No,” a short and straightforward response was provided by the white-haired woman. “Most of the preceding entries are too damaged or corrupted to read. Amongst the few which were readable, there are pieces of information about the team’s happiness regarding the ‘subject 9845721342’ progress. However, who was that subject is not mentioned,” the huntress added with a heavy sigh.

“I’m expecting something nasty,” the officer replied; she was really pale.

“If we want to restore the power of this complex, we need to get to the generators,” the huntress exclaimed. “On each level was being powered by one of these. But, unfortunately, according to the log entries, some of them were damaged. So, a couple of months before the shutting down of the facility, the electrical installation was altered. Due to the fewer power sources, the whole circuit became unstable,” the white-haired woman informed her partner.

“Where’s the nearest one?” Irelia asked, trying to control herself.

“One level below us,” the assassin responded coldly. “I will power that tier for a couple of minutes; however, it will undoubtedly have consequences. Unfortunately, I can not say what can be lured by that action. So, I would suggest preparing for anything,” she added, heading toward the door. “Hurry up!” the short order was uttered.

Without a signal of any sort, the lights were restored, filling the massive silo. Then, possibly for the very first time, Irelia realised how enormously large the construction was. Out of various places – whether walls or celling – the massive chains made of steel hanged. But, truth be told, the pink-haired officer did not want the reason standing behind their installation.

As Akali uttered previously, the light was restored only up to the level designated with number 2. Below it, the darkness thick as smoke was still ruling. Just a single thought regarding what could be lurking down there made the woman shudder.

“Could you finally wake up?!” a question uttered roughly reached her. “Time is running out, no matter whether you want it or not.”

“Sorry,” Irelia provided a short response.

“I do not care! Move!” Akali demanded in a stone-cold voice.

She did not spare a glance toward the human officer; instead, she began running toward the stairs leading downwards. Even though the assassin seemed able to move soundlessly in most cases, the metal construction disregarded that fact. The wave of cacophonic sounds filled the air nearly instantly. But, what was worse, was only about to come. The response came back from the still covered in darkness levels. Something was desperately tried to get higher; something desperately wanted to find them.

Even though the construction seemed to be solid, it was trembling currently. The ‘things’ that had been awakened must have been many.

Once again, Irelia stopped, trying to look around. The woman was more than terrified; she could barely force herself to run forward. Just like a lab mouse thrown into a card maze, she tried to wriggle herself out of the current situation. But, unfortunately, she could no longer control her body, behaviour. A small fraction of hers wanted that ‘unknown’ to be revealed already. She wanted the situation to be over already.

Irelia felt a strong pull that nearly made her fall. The pink-haired woman was forced to return to reality; she had been forced to look around. As it was to be expected, the huntress came back for her. The beautiful face of the white-haired woman was marked with a grimace of anger and determination. The ‘predator’ did not have to even utter a single word to scold the officer. The assassin’s muscles were tensed, flexed, yet still, she did not allow her unnatural strength to be felt through her grip.

A short growl was allowed to escape the huntress’s mouth.

Akali’s POV (at the same time):

The huntress knew all too well that their time was running out much faster than it should have. If it had been anyone else than Irelia, she would have left them. However, the stupid fraction of her consciousness did not allow her to do so. The pink-haired woman was a liability, yet she had made a deal with her. And… she would have been damned if she had allowed her promise to be broken. She could be a stone-cold-blood killer, a bitch. But… she was not an example of human Judas.

It was so evident for the huntress that the soldier had already lost control over herself. So, to counteract, she decided to carry her. Even though it would undoubtedly slow her, it was the only way to prevent the human from getting herself killed. So, Akali opted to carry the terrified officer with a piggyback run. Thankfully, Irelia’s weight could be entirely omitted in the huntress case. She was strong enough to hold a person 5 fold heavier than the human woman was.

The chaotic run was starting to inflict its toll on the assassin. She did not know how long she was running; however, the lactic acid had already begun to be produced inside her body. As a result, her internal timer started to tick much faster than anticipated.

Akali’s only constant companion was the cacophonic sounds coming from below. With every passing moment, it was getting louder and louder. Partially, it was caused due to the distance between them slowly closing in. However, part of her thought that more and more of the experiments’ subjects joined the climbing host. Even if it was just speculation, it was making more and more sense with time.

Soon enough, the lights faded away. The huntress breathing pattern became rapid, shallow. More and more oxygen was being wasted whilst her muscles were getting more and more tired. Undoubtedly, something was off. Since she had been transformed, she had rarely reached her limits. Her humanity was taken away from her via vast augmentation. Thanks to them, she had the endurance vastly outperforming most of the known predators. Still, something regarding that forgotten place was affecting her performance. To complete this mission, she needed to find the reason. She needed to find it fast before the hard limit would have been reached.

Within the next couple of moments, the entrance to the external tunnel was finally reached. The solid steel gate was marked with claws, blood, and something that Akali could not name correctly. To some extent, it looked like bile; however, she was not entirely sure whether it was it or not. Yet, the point still stood; the gate had been breached by force.

The assassin allowed herself to stop. It would be highly unwise to proceed into the unknown straight ahead. Whatever was weakening the huntress must have affected the pink-haired woman as well. Her breathing was steady, yet was must have fainted at some point of the run.

“What am I supposed to do with you, hmmm?” the white-haired woman whispered. “I can not fight at 100% of my capability whilst carrying you. However, if I leave you here, you will die. That is evident,” she continued her monologue. “You will be a death of me one day,” she uttered in a quiet tone.

Still conflicted, the white-haired ‘predator’ slowly proceeded forward, delving deeper into the darkness. The first noticeable change was the temperature; it started to steadily decrease, changing her breaths into cloudly fumes after some time.

Then, the throaty growls started to reach her sensitive ears. The remnants of the experiments’ subjects were close by.

The scratching sounds were coming from the very walls of the tunnel. As if there were alternative tunnels divided only by a thin layer of solid rocks. She needed to move faster.

Just a couple of dozens of meters later, the temperature dropped below 0. A thick layer of ice could be spotted covering the floor and walls. The change was so sudden, so unexpected that the huntress allowed herself a few moments to investigate. Even though it did not appear as the wisest decision given her current situation, something caught her attention.

She could have sworn that she had noticed the same liquid substance that she initially had seen on the gate, caught under the ice. However, once she got closer, she could not locate it. Or… at least at first glance. A couple of moments were needed for that to happen.

Finally, she saw it. The substance in a colour of the mix of yellow and brown trapped under the ice. It would sound crazy, yet the huntress could swear that it was a living thing. Moreover, the substance was not distributed horizontally as one would expect. Instead, it appeared to be growing in every dimension, branching like veins or airways in the lungs. The tree-like structure seemed to be growing even though it should have been frozen, trapped under the thick layer of ice. When her right hand made contact with the cold surface of the ice just above the liquid mix, she jumped off. She could have sworn that something was pumping under her palm. Anything that she had previously encountered could not have explained what was currently happening. It was surrealistic, difficult or even impossible to explain, yet it was happening before her own eyes.

The white-haired huntress was brought to reality by yet another throaty growl. Again, the danger was imminent and close by.

Mustering the remnants of her strengths, she ran forward, not caring how loud would it be. Thankfully, Irelia was still blackout; at least she did not need to worry about the damned human who apparently meant too much to her.

More than a couple of minutes had passed, and yet the assassin was still running forward, seeking the forgotten generator. There was no denying that her energy was running low; her limits were so close to being met.

The darkness was slowly being driven out by a distant light source. Even though its light was hallowed, cold, it was, to some extent, a goal worth reaching.

Soon enough, the boundaries of the darkness’s kingdom were reached. In front of her, the cold blueish light was filling the space. The other immediate change was noticed only a moment later whilst taking the very first step into the light. The sounds of water splashing could be heard as soon as Akali took the next step. The ice was gone, replaced with cool water.

“What is going on here?” the huntress allowed herself to utter a question in a whisper-like manner.

Without any chance of receiving the answer, she proceeded, delving deep into the water. In the distance, the end of the tunnel was spotted. On a small shelf, the generator could be found. However, the more terrifying thing was just next to it. An enormously large cocoon glued to the wall. Each of the massive arm-like branches was pulsing, emanating the light. Through the thick outer layer of the cocoon, a figure could be seen, trapped inside.

The sounds of the claws scratching the ice came a moment later. There was no way out. The huntress could only go forward toward the cocoon.

Chapter Text

Akali (a few moments later):

The bluish glow surrounding the tunnel’s end could easily cause a shudder. But, it was only a prelude to the horror sealed inside the cocoon. The closer the white-haired woman got, the more details she could spot. The cocoon seemed to work like a stasis pot of sorts. Through its thick membrane, the twisted abomination of a human could have been seen. For a brief moment, Akali wanted nothing more than to pierce through the outer layer, killing off the thing held inside. Still, the generator located on the nearby shelf had its priority. The light system must have been restored.

“For the suck sake, do not try to pod out now!” the huntress cursed silently.

Within seconds, she found herself next to the old piece of technology. The still-blackout pink-haired officer was gently put down against the wall. Akali knew she was all too affected by the woman. She would not have been able to see her getting hurt. So, there was only one way for her to proceed, forward. So, without hesitation, she reached out toward the generator.

The process was slow and frustrating. Even though architecture-wise, the generator was ancient, at least by Akali’s people’s standards, it gave her some trouble. The frustration only grew as the sounds of claws grew ever closer. Not to mention that the pod seemed to react to their presence. The huntress could have sworn that it had started to occasionally tremble. It was a bothering realisation, to say the least. However, the white-haired woman first needed to deal with the damned piece of technology. Then, she would fight against the world. Nothing unusual for her. Or, at least, it was a lie she kept repeating to herself.

Finally, the generator started to flicker with its own light after some time. If the situation had been any better, the huntress would have allowed herself to wipe out the sweat of her brow and sigh loudly. But, unfortunately, there was a massive task ahead. Yet, there was something that could have been done prior. Akali reached out for her trusted blade and slashed effortlessly across the pod. At first, the attack seemed to miss the mark on the cocoon. However, the membrane started to slit apart after just a moment, pouring down disgusting gall that previously filled its insides. Its stench hit Akali’s nostrils soon enough, nearly immediately causing the reflux. Nevertheless, the white-haired predator fought it off.

The abomination’s frame had been slashed by the woman’s blade as well. Even if the creature had survived the initial hit, it would have died soon. The inflicted damage was too severe for any lifeform known to Akali. With the cut spreading from the right collateral of the creature to its left hip, the frame was basically slashed into massive chunks of meat. These pieces were held in place only due to the support of tentacles-like structs attached to them. Only a single, brief glance was spared to the corpse. After all, something still tried to make its way toward the women.

As the light system came back online and the panels started to glow, the threat was immediately spotted. The strange and disturbing pack prowled toward Akali’s at the very edge of her vision. A heavy gulp unintentionally formed deep inside the woman’s throat, making it tricky to breathe. The pack consisted of deformed abominations that once could have been humans. Most of these had long lost the ability to walk on two legs. Instead, they were moving on all four. Though some of these had been crippled in the past or had additional limbs attached. Regardless, these were abominations. They needed to die. Maybe in death, they would have finally been freed from that cursed facility.

As the host of zombie-like creatures got, closer and closer, more and more disturbing details were revealed. The mixture of salvia, blood, gall was slipping through the widely parted mouths of the monsters. These creatures did not seem to be coordinated at all, as some of them occasionally bumped into one another, causing the pursuit to slow down severely. Additionally, at least some of these were blind. The hollow, empty, whitened eyes seemed dead, moving slightly or not at all.

As Akali’s grip tightened on the weapon, a heavy sigh was allowed to sound. Even though visibly exhausted, the woman would fight. So, instead of running away, she tried to relax and empty her mind, allowing instinct to kick in.

“Keep it cool,” Akali uttered to herself, deep inside her consciousness. “Just… allow your body to work on its own. No more overthinking, no more hesitation. Allow your natural killer instinct to deal with these savage monstrosities,” she allowed the internal talk to last a few moments later.

Once it was finished, the time for bloodshed arose. The huntress fixed her slightly glowing, crimson-red eyes onto the abominations. To some extent, the tiny remnants of her humanity pitty them. However, it was not the time for thinking. The first step taken was slow, yet it only marked the moment of change. For, the huntress no longer control her frame. The predator nature kicked in, carving for blood.

Wide grime of satisfaction appeared as Akali charged into the mob.

Irelia’s POV (at the same time):

The pink-haired woman was wakened up by a cacophonic mix of growls, whines, and flash shredding. Her eyelids started opening lazy as if she laid in her own bed in the morning. But unfortunately, it was not the case. Regardless, the coldness of the wall slowly crept in through the woman’s armour. It was an unpleasant sensation, to say the least. After some time, it forced the officer to peer open her eyes.

The first few moments were confusing, to say it mildly. The pink-haired woman did not remember being dragged into a tunnel of sorts or cavern. So even though the source of these noises was nearby, Irelia opted to look around first. Her sides were looked upon nearly instantly. There, she had found the old yet working generator and the slashed pod that stank. Some frame could have been inside, yet the details were fuzzy. She would have to come closer to investigate it furtherly. And… for that, there was no time as of now. So, after what felt like an eternity, Irelia finally focused her sight straight forward toward the cacophony source.

There, the pink-haired officer found Akali fighting frenzy. The huntress seemed a blur, moving, reacting much faster than an ordinary man could have. Her deadly prowess was on full display. In any other scenario, it would have brought awe. However, one glance over the monstrosities the white-haired woman faced was enough to tremble. A small voice in the back of the head assured Irelia that these were once human. It would have been a massive understatement to say that these experiments had borne disgusting outcomes.

It took the officer a couple of moments to stand up. All of her muscles seemed stiff, exhausted beyond measure. But nevertheless, she needed to push forward. She would not have allowed Akali to fight alone, not if both of their lives were at stake. It would have been a selfish act to observe the huntress shedding blood.

Irelia wanted to shout toward Akali, saying that she was fine and ready to assist. However, it would have been an ill decision. After all, with all attention fixed on the white-haired woman, the officer could cause some heavy damage working around that fact. So, she opted to stay quiet, calm, and collected in the end. As her blades were fastly coming back to life, she pressed on. She attacked with determination covering her beautiful face and the two long swords in her hands.

The first abomination did not even notice the pink-haired woman. It simply died, slashed into 3 chunks of stinking meat. Then, the mental momentum was used to carry on. Her insanely sharp blades pierced through skin, fat and bones with ease. It was a slow yet bloody slaughter.

Nevertheless, the huntress remained in the blaze of glory. If their roles had been reversed, she would have doubted to be capable of fending off that many opponents. Yet, for the snowy-white-haired woman, it seemed effortless. To some extent, Irelia was not sure whether Akali knew she was being helped. The huntress was in a trans, some sort of a berserkers rage.

The fight continued for the better part of the next few minutes. At times, the pink-haired officer had gotten worried that the abominations tide was simply endless. It had seemed as if 2 monstrosities were ready to take the place of each slain one. To some extent, that period could be a literal example of the Sisyphean effort.

Still, the last pitful human abomination was slain, chopped into cubes at some moment.

Akali’s POV (a few moments later):

It took time for the huntress to snap out of the trance. Even though it was a blessing to stop perceiving the world for a few moments, it had its limitation. As Akali’s sight began clearing out, she spotted the mess she had caused. The outcome of her martial prowess was undeniable and yet horrifying, to some extent. She found herself standing in the middle of the puddle of gores, blood, and other liquids, possibly gall. Around her, the remnants of her enemies laid, chopped, slashed, torn apart.

It did not take much for confusion to kick in. The huntress felt out of place, driven from the events mainstream. The price for the salvation of the berserker rage must have been paid.

“Akali?” the white-haired woman heard Irelia’s voice. “Are you… are you alright?” she asked, her voice filled with fear.

“I am not so certain of that,” the huntress replied, her voice hoarse. “Though it matters not now. We better get moving, for these were not the last subjects. Come, we must push further, delve deeper. Rengar must be lurking somewhere there.”

“I don’t know,” the officer hesitated for a moment. “You seem exhausted. Maybe… it’s not the wisest decision to continue this crusader now?”

“I do not think you understand our current situation, do you not?” Akali stared at the pink-haired woman. “Let’s speculate for a moment, shall we? Even if my ex-mentor is not here, we can not leave now. We have woken something that was set to be forgotten. So as much as I would love to say that I do not care, I really can not. It would be near impossible to track down Rengar with these abominations wracking havoc across the undercity. So, we either need to find the source and eliminate it or make sure that none of these will leave the complex. Do you understand me?” the white-haired woman asked, narrowing her crimson eyes and coming closer.

“I think so,” Irelia responded, sighing heavily. “It means that we’re going down, doesn’t it?”

“Do you expect me to reply to that question?” Akali uttered, annoyed. “Move on; we have work to take care of.”

Without waiting even a single moment, the huntress pushed forward. Even though Akali denied herself any rest, convincing her mind that she was fine, in reality, she was not. That detail could have been easily seen. Her usual graceful walk was gone. Instead, the white-haired predator was limping straight ahead like a wounded animal. It might have been an exaggeration, but it is what Akali felt. Usually, her steady walking could have been described as flying. But, now… it was all but gone. Still, regardless of her state, the huntress had a goal in mind, a destination she needed to reach.

Akali had managed to take around 60 steps before she heard the officer following her. For the pink-haired woman, this whole situation must have been far more challenging to deal with than for the predator. After all, Akali and her kind could be regarded as machines programmed to kill. And… there would be no objection to such a statement. The white-haired woman could have said it with certainty.

Soon enough, the women reached the end of the tunnel. Considering the size of the host that had welcomed there, it was oh-so-easy to see the worst-case scenario fulfilling. However, to Akali’s utter surprise, they did not spot any immediate danger. The light system fully back on was a welcome change of narrative. Still, there were places where the darkness was in complete control. If the huntress had guessed, only the bottom levels were affected by the power outage.

As Akali moved closer to the edge, her curiosity got better of her. So, she started to look around, seeking something that she found herself unable to correctly name. Even though Irelia did not utter a word, the huntress knew the officer stayed a few steps behind her, waiting to move on.

“It seems you start learning, Irelia,” the white-haired woman thought. “Maybe someday you will be a valuable asset for me.”

It took Akali around a minute to finally find what she sought. A similar control room could have been located in the middle of the level just below her. Maybe, there she could learn a little more about the dirty secrets this facility held. And thus, the decision was immediately made. The huntress wanted to get to that control point or even needed to.

“Let’s move,” Akali ordered, uttering the words aloud. At that moment, she completely forgot about their mental connection. “Another control room is nearby; we might learn a bit more there,” she informed the officer.

“Ok,” the pink-haired woman replied with hesitation. “But… what do you expect to learn there? The complex schematics are what you’re looking for, or?”

“I do not know,” the white-haired huntress replied honestly. “I have a feeling that I need to go there. I feel like there is something for me to unveil.”

“I don’t like this idea, not at all,” Irelia opted to comment. “As you’ve said, our role here is to make sure none of these abominations gets out. I’m pretty positive that we can accomplish it without delving deeper into the facility’s history.”

“What if these were only a beginning?” Akali responded with a question of her own. “I do not think that going gun-blazing ahead will do as any good. I refuse to believe that your kind abandoned this facility because a few specimens like these had gotten out. There must be something hidden underneath. But, the longer I think about this place, the more I come to the conclusion that Rengar wanted us to get here,” she added, taking a few steps back. “I do not think he is here. Rengar might be toying with us from the shadows like a puppet master.”

“So… we’re delving deeper, I guess.”

“Yes, we are going to the bottom of this facility,” the huntress responded even though she did not have to.

Then, the silence was allowed to take back its reign. The predator did not move for at least the next minute or so. Even though the goal had been set inside her consciousness, she simply could not muster the strengths needed to press on. Instead, her crimson-red eyes looked around cluelessly, slowly as if without a purpose. Although Akali tried to explain this strange occurrence, sadly, these were all lies. She was not looking for the invisible enemies, hiding everywhere; no, it would have been too good if it had been the reason. But, sadly, the reality was much more straightforward, human; she was too afraid to take another step forward.

“What’s going on, Akali?” the officer muster enough courage to ask. “Why don’t we proceed?”

“Sorry, I got distracted,” the white-haired huntress swiftly lied. “Sorry. Let’s move on; there is no saying how long will this generator work, so we better hurry up.”

It was oh-so-easy for the predator to lie. After all, she knew all too well that she would have to be the driving force for their duet to succeed. The pink-haired woman was terrified, but she trusted Akali to lead them through this messy situation. And thus, the huntress needed to remain calm and calculated. Her own doubts and feeling could not be allowed to manifest. The wavering sensation must have been quashed, contained.

After a few seconds, Akali took the step forward. Even though her mind was filled with conflicted thoughts/feelings, she needed to press on. As the white-haired woman began walking down the stairs, the hollowed sounds arose again. There was no doubt that more monstrosities were awaiting them, currently lurking in the onyx-black darkness.

Thankfully, their short stroll toward the control point had been uneventful, aside from the constant growling coming from below. But, as expected, the entrance to the room was in bad shape. Frankly, it would have been an understatement, as the door was practically ripped from its frame. In addition, the punch/claw marks were visible on the door’s surface. Alongside these, some gall and blood remnants were smeared, filling the various holes. But unfortunately, the situation did not look much better once they had gotten inside. Considering the amount of blood left on the floor, walls, and ceiling, someone must have been devoured here, piece by piece.

“Can you look around?” Akali asked a moment before kneeling beside the evidently damaged console. “It might take me a moment or two to get this piece of crap to work correctly. In the meantime, it would be appreciated not to be ambushed all of a sudden.”

“How much ground do you want me to cover?” Irelia asked.

“Not much,” the huntress replied nearly immediately. “Just go outside the control room and walk around it. There is no need for you to delve deeper. And remember, if you spot anything, do not play a hero under any circumstances. Just go back. It will be far easier for us to defend this place than to fight off the abominations in the open field. So, please, do not try to put yourself at risk. Understood?”

“Understood, ma’am,” the pink-haired officer sighed heavily. “I’ll be back in a few,” she uttered toward the huntress.

Chapter Text

Akali’s POV (a few moments later):

 The constant growling that kept coming from below started to irritate the huntress. To state anything else would have been a massive understatement. But, regardless of that bothering sensation, the woman’s task must have been carried on. Hence, she tried to deal with the junk someone undoubtedly had called in the past state of the art. But, honestly, returning it to an operational level was slow and somewhat challenging.

“It must be damaged,” Akali concluded after 10 minutes of mostly fruitless tries. “Maybe… maybe, I can emulate this system within my gauntlet?”

It could work, at least in theory. But, currently, such speculations were the woman’s best shot to deal with the apparent problem. Still, it would, unfortunately, take some time.

The huntress summarised the whole incident with a heavy, prolonged exhale. Nonetheless, she immediately got back to the task. After all, the quicker she could solve this, the sooner they would proceed.

Still, something was definitely wrong; something felt off.

Akali tried to fight off the bothering thought. But, in the end, it forced the woman to stand up. Then, she realised what was wrong. All it took was to avert her gaze from the screens and listen to her surroundings.

Silence reigned throughout the complex. And… it was absolutely deafening.

Without a moment to spare, without an ounce of hesitation, the huntress left the console behind, exiting the room. The guts told her that something ugly would happen soon. And… sometimes, a hunter should trust their instincts.

“Irelia, come back,” the white-haired predator said, utilising the mind connection between her and the soldier. “Come back, please. I have a nasty feeling that something is going to happen,” she tried to sound calm, but it was within the realm of possibilities that her nervousness showed up regardless of her tries.

“I don’t understand,” Irelia responded after a few moments. “I can swear that I heard a constant growling not so long ago. But… but… now, there’s nothing. I can hear nothing. It’s like everything around me died out. I can’t explain that, but it feels wrong,” the officer added. Compared to the predator, the pink-haired woman could not control her voice. She was, without a single doubt, conflicted and terrified.

“Irelia! Irelia, listen to me,” Akali growled. “Come back. Or a much better question, where are you? I can not see you. How far did you stray from the control room?” she questioned.

“Hmmm,” Irelia hesitated for a moment. “I think… I think I’m only a level below you. But… how did I get here… I can’t say for certain,” she mumbled.

“Stay where you are, then,” the huntress ordered immediately. “I am coming for you.”

“Thank you,” an emotional whisper sounded. “Akali? What about the console? Have you learnt anything useful from the files and records?”

“No,” the predator whispered back. “I have, unfortunately, not learnt anything. The system seems to be severely damaged. And… given the current situation, I did not have enough time to bring it back online. But, nonetheless, it should not matter all that much. So, please, stay where you are. I should reach you in a few.”

Akali could sense the fear pouring through the mental bridge. It was an overwhelming sensation; that much must have been admitted. But, it must not matter. Her human was in danger, and if her speculation were correct, a grave one. Hence, even a moment wasted on hesitation could have had a price.

“When have I started calling her mine?” an inaudible question rang throughout Akali’s consciousness. “What has changed? Why do I feel as if there is a connection between us? Why do I dread it when she is not by my side? Why do I shudder when I can not foresee a danger she could unwittingly walk into?”

Questions like those were seemingly impossible for the huntress to answer. Further, they were a distraction that clouded her mind, narrowing the scope she could cover. Still, at some point, the white-haired woman would be forced to make a decision. And… the very thought about it sent a chilling sensation down her spine. Nonetheless, there were things requiring her attention.

If the situation had been any different, the huntress would have uttered curses at the top of her lungs. However, it was hardly a time or place for such childish behaviour. So, she mustered her wits and pressed forward.

It was a matter of seconds before the ramp heading downward was reached. But unfortunately, what had made Akali, an excellent hunter must have been foregone. There was no time for her to proceed stealthily as it would require the woman to slow down. Even though that slowdown would have been minimal, the argument was immediately discarded. It was a strange and somewhat disturbing experience for the huntress to hear her own footsteps.

At least a few rocks cracked under the huntress’ heavy boots. She would have been reprimanded if she had ever allowed something like that to happen during her training. And… even though the times had changed, it was still a painful realisation of her current position. Nonetheless, the sprint continued with somehow renewed vigour.

This state lasted for the better part of the next few minutes. However, it could not have lasted forever. Finally, satisfied with her progress so far, the white-haired woman paused to listen. But unfortunately, not much has changed in that department. Still, Akali found herself entirely surrounded by utter silence. Frankly, it was far more painful to bear it than to withstand a chaotic, cacophony encounter. As stated earlier, this silence was deafening. So, without anything apparent noticed, she ventured confidently further into the darkness.

“Irelia?” the huntress called her human. “Irelia?”

“I’m still here,” Irelia’s voice sounded. “Where are you? You told me that you’d come for me,” she added. A glimpse of sadness could be heard in her tone.

“Where are you?” Akali responded with her own question. “I came down one level as you had told me, but I can not see you anywhere? So where are you, Irelia?” she inquired.

“I don’t know; I really don’t know,” the officer responded quietly. “Wait… I hear something,” she added. “It… it sounds like numerous claws scratching on metal or stone. The sound’s louder and louder; something’s coming my way. Help me… help me, Akali,” the terrified pink-haired woman murmured.

“Run to the ramp and then go upwards!” the white-haired predator immediately ordered. “I will be running the opposite way, so we will meet at some point. And, Irelia, please try to calm down,” she added as softly as possible. “Panic will not help us one bit. So, please, try to remain calm. I am coming for you,” the huntress paused. “As stupidly as it sounds, you can scream occasionally. It will more or less inform me about your current position, and we no longer risk a compromise. It has already happened. Run; I am coming for you.”

“I… I… I’ll try,” the officer responded, mumbling. “No… something’s already here. Help me!” she cried out. “I’ll run for as long as I can.”

The predator did not utter another word. Instead, she forced herself to follow the ramp, running as far as possible. The current situation was so weird that it confused the experienced huntress. How had Irelia vanished seemingly without a trace, without her noticing it? What was the true purpose of this complex? What was causing this unnatural silence? After all, these old constructs should have made hollow hunting sounds. And… in fact, they had done so when the huntress entered the complex. But, something had apparently changed, rendering logic virtually useless. But, to topple it all, their link abruptly faded away. It could either mean that the pink-haired soldier was dead, unconscious, or something was blocking the channel.

Once again, the white-haired woman was overwhelmed by a wave of questions she could not answer. In all honesty, it started to get tiring. But, with no power over the situation, the predator opted to stick to the things within her reach. The run was exhausting and somewhat without a clear destination. She could have sworn that Irelia screamed, but the piercing sound only appeared in her mind. By any possessed means, the huntress could not have located her human within the complex. But then, something snapped within her.

“But, of course,” Akali mumbled under her breath, facepalming herself. “How could I have been so blind?”

Then, she slowed down and picked up the nearest rock she could find. It weighed so little that she did not feel any stain as she wrapped her hand around it. After a brief moment of hesitation, the piece was thrown approximately a meter ahead of the woman. As the rock fell, a rather soft and quiet crack sounded. A moment later, the test was repeated with a slight difference in the distance department. This time, the stone was thrown twice as far. And… for a fleeting moment, it appeared that the result would be the same. However, as the item finally collided with the ground, no sound was made.

“Hmm,” a hum was allowed to escape Akali’s throat. “It explains quite a lot, actually,” she commented.

Nonetheless, it only partially answered one of Akali’s questions. And sadly, introduced a couple of new ones. In all honesty, it was a tiresome game that quickly started to get on the woman’s nerves.

A few heartbeats passed before the white-haired woman started running again. She found it easier to cope with her conflicted thoughts and feelings while exposing her body to strain. But, in the end, all of this effort was kind of fruitless. For her mind could not have been erased of these pieces, leaving her weakened and vulnerable.

The more Akali sped up, the louder her heavy steps echoed in her ears. Time was a flexible yet alluding construct that seemed to randomly speed up or freeze entirely if not paid close attention to. The huntress tried to measure the passage of time by counting down her steps. But, something was off altogether. The moment she was about to exceed 100, she would get distracted abruptly, prompting the countdown to start from ground zero.

However, regardless of the woman’s internal state, she pushed forward, not slowing down. Her dedication and resolve were inspiring, but no one could witness them. Still, level after level, the woman’s venture toward the seemingly endless depths of the facility continued.

At some point, Akali’s lungs started to burn. Her endurance easily exceeded any human, but it had its limitation. And… as the woman painfully found out, she was slowly reaching that seemingly impregnable wall. Soon, her breathing turned shallow whilst every intake was rugged and uneven. It was a bothering realisation, but she needed to slow down. Even though she could potentially reach her temporary destination, what would it have given her? Based on her current state, she would be severely handicapped and unable to participate in a prolonged fight.

The huntress did not like the idea but slowed down immediately, effectively converting a run to a walk. Oh, how fulling the predator was. She thought that hunting down her ex-master would have been a relatively manageable task. And considering the current situation, the optimism not only did not pay up but backfired. Still, despite all of the mess and chaos lingering around, one particular question bothered Akali.

“Where the fuck are you, Rengar?” the huntress thought, not daring to speak up.

There would be obstacles in her way; there was no doubt about it. But, still, what was the purpose of this whole facility? Why did Rengar decide to enter this pit hole? Was it a coordinated and planned decision, or was it a fluke or an error? The white-haired would have given much to know the answers to at least some of these questions. But sadly, in reality, not everything can be purchased at a time of need.

Something was lurking in these shadows. Akali was so sure of it that she would have bet her own head on that speculation. Nevertheless, the white-haired woman stood still for a few extra moments, trying to calm down her breathing and regain as much strength as possible. The tasks ahead of her were simple in theory. First and foremost, she needed to find the pink-haired officer and rescue her. Then, they would need to venture deeper into the darkness in search of her ex-master. And these would prove to be a problem, most likely requiring a price to be paid, a price in blood.

Chapter Text

The longer Akali stayed within this complex’s walls, the less sense the whole situation made. At the beginning, everything seemed so simple and logical, but the further they delved into the darkness, the more complicated and bleaker it became. With each shady fact about this place revealed, the pressure slowly mounted, making it increasingly difficult to continue this unplanned expedition, planting potent seeds of doubt and fear into a fertile ground. Even though the ‘predator’ was nowhere near as affected by this overwhelming aura as her partner, she was hardly immune to it. As if the task of hunting down her ex-master, Rengar, was not daring enough, they were led into something that should have been long forgotten and left to rot, scrubbed from the pages of history. However, given the circumstances, the white-haired woman was unwilling to believe that all of this development was a mere result of a coincidence. The more mind she paid to this matter, the more apparent, and frankly obvious, it became that the one pulling the strings behind this puppet show was no one but her target. But … whether Rengar was currently here, this question remained unanswered and kept bothering her mind, akin to a fly tirelessly around her ear. The more the huntress tried to cast this thought into the depths of her mind, the more persistent it became, unyielding and ever-present.

After a quiet groan and an energetic shake of her head, Akali refocused on the path before her. It was only logical that Irelia had been dragged deeper into the complex, leaving the white-haired assassin with no other options but to follow suit. Given the first impression left by the chaotic mob they encountered earlier, it was highly unlikely that something akin to it stood behind the pink-haired woman’s abrupt disappearance. No, it must have been something far more cunning and sinister than these barely walking abominations. Of course, it was not technically impossible that a much more intelligent variant lurked somewhere within the shadows, but she found herself not deeming this scenario all that realistic. That said, considering her latest discovery related to this deafening silence, the woman was put in a peculiar position. She could try to rush forward, putting emphasis on finding her partner, but it could be a double-edged sword. Even if she succeeded, there was no telling how many monstrosities prowled behind her, right outside of this weird bubble that prevented all the sounds from the outside world from being heeded. The other option was hardly better, the white-haired ‘predator’ realised, already tired and scared of the unavoidable choice she would soon make. Given the drawbacks of the previous plan, she could focus on finding the source of this otherworldly power and disabling it. This effect had not been active when they had initially ventured into what they thought was a sewer control, meaning it must have been rebooted when she turned on the generator. However, even after this action, it took quite a long time for the system to resume its functionalities. From a technical point of view, it could imply that there were pieces of this construction’s infrastructure with higher priority. But … what could have been higher up the priority list, she simply could not foresee. As far as Akali’s experience with IT systems and infrastructure went, she knew it would come down to the specifics, designation, and purpose of this facility. That said, there was no telling how the system’s supervisor, if it had one, would react if this function were disabled manually. Still, opting towards such a goal would certainly delay the time she could rescue Irelia. Inherently, it was a gamble. On one side, she could sentence both of them to death by acting too rashly. On the other side, she might reach the pink-haired soldier too late. Akali did not like situations like this. She allowed that girl to form a connection with her, rendering the assassin responsible for Irelia, to some extent. Because of that, she needed to take into account not only her life and wellbeing, but the potential risks both of them could face. Pressing her plump lips into a thin line, she pondered for a long moment, concluding the session with a loud exhale. Based on the insufficient amount of information she had, there was only one reasonable approach the huntress could take. With this otherworldly power gone, she would have a much higher chance of getting them out of here alive. Not to mention, she had her fair share of doubts regarding the officer’s disappearance. As much as she did not want to involve her heart in matters of this importance, she unwittingly did. The organ overruled her mind, flooding it with ideas that, frankly, made sense. If she were to guess, it was Rengar who had Irelia within his paws, meaning he would not kill her, as she would be perfect bait. He might roughen her up a tad, but till Akali’s cold body had not hit the floor, he would not end the prisoner’s life. As said, it was a gamble, a dangerous one that could backfire, but in the current situation, the white-haired woman did not see an alternative. Even with all of her experience and enhanced senses, fighting under the effect of this system would be a severe handicap, if not a straight-up death wish. Not to mention, somewhere down this path, the beast that had trained her waited, ready to pounce and use every possible advantage he could get. Frankly, he did not need them. Physically, she was no match against Rengar, but it mattered little, no, it did not matter at all, for this hunt could end only in one way, with one of them dying. No matter how much the huntress respected her ex-master, if she wanted to live, the beast who had raised her and had formed into an incredible assassin must close his eyes for good.

With a heavy sigh slowly passing through her tightened lips, the white-haired woman strolled forward. Even though her mind was still partially clouded by all of these contradicting thoughts, worries, and ideas, a clear goal shone brightly, slowly forcing the shadows to recede. This clarity was a wordlessly welcomed change, giving the scarlet-eyed huntress a new source of energy, a much-needed drive ahead of her daring challenge. Still, marching through this laboratory complex with a deafening silence as a sole companion was hardly enjoyable. With her sharp hearing completely negated by this artificial power field, she needed to slow down, no matter how much she disliked that fact. But … considering she could not hear anything further away from her than a meter, it was a hefty handicap that Akali needed to take into account. After all, she could not foresee what other kind of abominations tainted this place. Sometimes, overconfidence could wreak more damage and problems than it solves, and … occasionally, even someone as extraordinary as her needed to tone down, accepting their own limitations and flaws.

It did not take long for the white-haired woman to reach a steep, strangely slippery, and covered in some liquid footbridge serving as the sole path towards the facility's lowest level. To some degree, this felt surprising. Akali would have sworn that this laboratory should have been bigger, or perhaps, the aura of mystery that shrouded it clouded her vision, feeding her only wrong speculations. Nonetheless, the huntress halted briefly, raising her right hand to double-check the schematics she had previously downloaded from one of the damaged and corrupted consoles. According to them, the fifth level, as it was marked on the plans, was indeed the lowest point of this facility, but she had a nasty feeling that it was nothing more than a lie or if she wanted to remain optimistic, at the very least an early draft. That said, it hardly quelled a seed of doubt quickly blooming within her chest. The crimson-eyed woman allowed herself a moment more to sigh and focus on what was truly important. It should have been as trivial as breathing, but to her utmost displeasure, this could not have been further from reality. Disregarding all of this, she did what she could, taking a hesitant and slow step forward, entering the footbridge. She did not have to wait all that long for its reaction, as the steel construction creaked underneath her weight, putting its technical condition into question in Akali’s mind. More than that, the bridge in its entirety baffled her. Its once greyish surface was marked with numerous defects. There were so many of them that she pondered how this piece of metal still served its purpose; questionably, yet still. Amongst scratches, claw marks, and dents, some decently sized patches of rust and what appeared to be remnants of acid colliding with steel could be spotted, leaving the woman with no answers and further questions. For a fleeting moment, she considered jumping off the platform, but this idea was scrapped nearly as soon as it entered her subconscious. Even though the crimson-eyed huntress considered the distance, she would jump from not a problem; there was no telling what she could awaken, what kind of monstrosity still lurked down there. Hence, in the end, she progressed slowly, taking measured steps.

Soon enough, she finally crossed the footbridge, stepping onto the rough and uneven ground of the fifth level. Compared to its predecessors, it appeared that the floor was left untouched. Had Akali wanted, she could have easily visualised the heavy machinery crushing the walls of solid stone that, at some point, were converted into various tunnels branching from the middle section where the footbridge was located. The obvious question immediately found its way towards the huntress’s mind: what was the reason behind this seemingly unnecessary extension? Once more, she halted briefly and looked around, trying to come up with a plan. It turned out there were four paths she could choose from. Considering none of them bore any visible mark, she was hardly given any indication on how to reach her temporal destination. From her current standing, these were exactly the same, meaning the odds of choosing the correct one were slim. With no better option at her disposal, the predator did the only logical thing she could; she approached each tunnel entrance separately, trying to find something that could distinguish them. At this point, every detail mattered, as she could not tell how much time Rengar or the abominations were willing to spare her. A pang of irritation gradually intensified within Akali. In a different scenario, she could have used her excellent hearing sense to help rule out possibilities, but now, all she could rely on … were her eyes. She knew better than to manifest her anger and fury, yet a part of her wished for these monstrosities to leave their lairs shrouded by shadows and seemingly impenetrable darkness behind and face her. The huntress yearned for blood and brutality. Had her master seen her this way, he would have been displeased to say the least. A small smirk crept across her face as she envisioned the feral hunter looking at her, shaking his large, beastly head slowly, readying himself to scold the white-haired child for recklessness and impatience. After all, she would have forever remained in his head. But … it was hardly time for such a mockery.

As if Akali’s contradicting thoughts reached some higher beings, she finally found something of value. She was not sure whether the discovery was a sign of goodwill or simple amusement, but she reminded herself that beggars could not be choosers. After all, a good few minutes had elapsed since she started walking around. With each passing moment, the white-haired woman feared she would need to delve into each tunnel, which would be an awful waste of time. Thankfully, potentially due to this unexpected intervention, a clue she was looking for was found. Stepping into the pathway, she noticed a contradictory sight, yet at the same time, it strangely made some sense, given this twisted place. Roughly a couple of meters into the tunnel, it abruptly broadened, but this was hardly something the huntress needed to pay even an ounce of attention to. However, about what covered its walls, the same could not be said. To her left, she found this disgusting mix of yellow and brown covering the stone like a web. Had she not known better, she could have sworn it moved in response to her arrival, acting as if it were a conscious thing. Shaking her head energetically, Akali immediately discarded this idea, as it could lead to numerous nasty ideas growing within her mind like mushrooms after rain. With all the problems already weighing on her shoulders, she hardly needed more, especially ones that were a creation of her very own conflicted subconsciousness. Sighing heavily, the white-haired woman turned right to spot a bluish overgrowth emitting a ghostly light that sent a shiver down her spine. Compared to its predecessor, this substance was motionless, static, acting as if it were a guiding sign.

As much as the crimson-eyed predator wanted to halt and inspect these strange findings, she knew better. Had she done as her mind urged her to, she would have only wasted time, something that she hardly had on her hands. Hence, Akali did the only reasonable thing and kept marching steadily forward, delving deeper into the tunnel. With each step she took, her disdain for this unnatural field force, which was handicapping her sense, only grew, infuriating her. Curse be this damned piece of technology, she screamed in the depths of her mind. But … nonetheless, she carried on, her eyes sharp, fixed on the path ahead.

As a concept of time hardly mattered here, she began counting her steps. Partially, it was practical as she could track her progress, but claiming it as a main reason behind the action would have been a stretch. In fact, it was more of a countermeasure, something to preoccupy her mind, to prevent it from coming up with various and mostly nonsensical theories and ideas. The sad part was the fact that even if a small percentage of these visions or speculations were true, she would overthink them, making an already difficult situation even more challenging. The huntress did not need it; hell, if she had a say in that matter, she would not want to have anything to do with them.

When the white-haired woman heard the scraping of sharp claws against stone, she finally realised the inherent flaw of her approach. Although the counting eased the strain, the overthinking would unfortunately apply to her chaotic mind; it also deprived her of one of her most prevalent advantages: paying immense attention to details. Without a moment to spare, the huntress dashed forward, followed by a sound of floor cracking. Something heavy leapt from the ceiling and collided with the stone, crushing the tunnel’s bottom. Faster than an ordinary person could move, the crimson-eyed woman turned around and stood up. Expectedly, before her, another abomination wriggled, trying to release itself from a mess of its own doing. Compared to the horrible creations she had faced earlier, this one was vastly different, more an animal than a human. Even though Akali knew she should have concluded this matter as fast as possible, she halted, giving the monstrosity the chance to face her. It was a subconscious decision, driven by her innate curiosity.

A heartbeat later, the abomination finally showed its ugly face to the huntress. Had she still been a human, she would not have been able to react to its attack. The monstrosity swung his massive crab-like claw, aiming at her throat. But, as it was not the case, she waited as long as possible to make her move, ending the creature’s miserable life in one elegant strike. The serrated blade carved a bloody path through the abomination’s body, slicing its mixed armour of acidly damaged flesh and chitin. As blood splattered all around, the white-haired woman looked at the corpse that seemed to take ages to even fall onto the stone face. This madman’s creation especially disgusted her, being a mix of an evidently tortured and heavily chemically abused human, a scorpion, and a red lobster. Whoever had such a twisted mind to envision something like this should not have been allowed to live … it was only a natural conclusion. Still, this encounter, as pointless and wholly uninspiring as it was, proved one of Akali’s speculations true. Within the redacted records she had managed to download, many lies lay, deleted or corrupted by someone. Moreover, within this laboratory’s walls, more than experiments with pathogens had been performed, resulting in numerous, vastly different, yet equally horrifying monstrosities. That said, there was something far more bothersome with this situation.

“What the hell are you looking for here, Rengar?” the crimson-eyed huntress allowed herself to whisper.

Author's notes section:

At this point, I cannot set my goal straight, if I'm to remain honest. On the one hand, I have so many ideas I would like to see written, on the other, with these many stories in various stages of development, it starts to be overwhelming to sit and write anything. I know ... this should not concern you at all, but I would like to stay clean in that matter, as it either way affects my writing speed and overall motivation. For the next couple of months, I might try to alternate between my longest (up-to-date) story and the ones that I can realistically envision concluding within a foreseeable future. That would be an entry statement from me; I hope you understand :)

[2025-05-19] And ... now, let's address this WIP. Given the recent developments and changes in my life, I think I need to return to posting WIP, as it gives me a kind of simple goal to follow and reach. I feel like if I don't shift into this approach, the time between updates will be long, and I cannot ensure the quality of the final piece. That said, I'm offering you the WIP of this chapter, upholding an approximation that this story should end within 2 - 4 chapters (not including this one).

[2025-05-28] Hello; I managed to conclude the piece. Truth be told, I like the final result, but it's hardly me who should be grading this. Anyway, I think I will be updating `Bury the Light` next, then I will try to finish `Black Diamond`. Other than that, till the next time :)

Yeah ... it took way longer than I anticipated. I'm sorry for that.

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are flashbacks.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

References:
- Linkin Park - Final Masquerade
- The Lord of the Rings - The Road Goes Ever On (Epic Metal Cover by Skar)
- Honor him - Gladiator - Hans Zimmer
- Andreas Waldetoft - The Imperial Fleet - Stellaris
- Andreas Waldetoft - The Titan - Stellaris
- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Gerudo Valley (sad/epic version)
- Avantasia - Scarecrow
- Iron Maiden - Brave New World
- Iron Maiden - The Empire of the Clouds
- World of Warcraft - Lion's Rest
- World of Warcraft - Wolf at the Gate
- World of Warcraft - Malach
- World of Warcraft - Malevolent Mystique
- Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell - I
- Amaranthe - Helix
- Nestor - In The Name Of Rock'n'Roll
- NESTOR - Victorious
- Laura Thorn - La Poupée Monte Le Son (I don't know why, but I find it catchy)
- Anastacia - Left Outside Alone

End of the author's notes section.

Chapter Text

The white-haired huntress scoffed sarcastically when another one of these miserable abominations crossed her path, considering her an easy prey. Although a flickering ember of empathy for the creature resided in her, all she could do for that poor soul was to put it down and grant it a clean and as painless a death as possible. However, there was an apparent problem with that approach, as Akali’s bloodthirst only intensified with time, making her itch for any upcoming confrontation, in which she could seek a way to sate this hellish drive that her elders had planted deep within her. As with everything, it was simultaneously a blessing and a curse; that said, more often than not, the downsides of this mark surfaced, reminding the woman about its existence and physically affecting her decision-making. It was something that she hated the most about this whole curse. At times, it almost felt as if she was allowed to carry herself as she deemed proper, only for her judgment to be ultimately overruled by this otherworldly obsession with bloodshed. Sighing heavily, the huntress gave up and gave in to the sensation, physically sensing as her body immediately relaxed, as if killing was the most natural thing for her, something she was fated to, or even created for. With a slight mist blurring her vision, Akali allowed her bloodthirst to gain control, turning herself into a natural killing machine. She scoffed again, as all of this was laughably too trivial. Truthfully, this could hardly be described as a proper fight, as a difference between her and the madman’s creation was visible, rendering any comparison obsolete. If she were to find appropriate words, this would have been named a one-sided slaughter.

Had the predator been in full control of her body, the encounter would have been concluded in an instant, but this state vastly differed from reality. Given that she allowed the curse to take its course, the situation turned far bloodier than the woman deemed necessary. However, all things considered, it was a small price to be paid for a few moments of calm. As miserable as it might sound, sometimes it was the right thing to do. Despite all her efforts, Akali could not predict how much longer she would need to stay within this cursed vicinity, not to mention what new kind of horrors the abandoned laboratory had in store for her. Hence, the only logical way to continue was to take breaks as often as possible, both mentally and physically.

The blood almost glistered in the dimly lit corridor, only occasionally fully illuminated by the bright light coming from the few and far-between panels inserted seemingly randomly across the passage. Akali felt the thick and warm liquid against her exposed flesh, but she did not mind. It would have been hardly the first time the blood of her enemies tainted her armour or skin. Thinking about it for a moment longer, the white-haired huntress realised she found some familiarity in this sensation and, would she dare to say it, peace. The bloodthirst slowly receded, taking the blur and mist that obstructed her sight alongside. For a heartbeat, the predator wanted to seek an explanation, but the thought was ultimately discarded and thrown outside the boundaries of her mind; after all, no matter how hard she would try to reason, it would end up the same. Even before the elders had abducted her, she was an inherently flawed child, one who was bound to collide with fate on every turn to justify its existence.

The red-eyed woman allowed herself to halt temporarily, taking in her surroundings. Immediately, she scoffed soundlessly, realising the problem. Why was she stopping? Had she not carefully inspected this part of the pathway at least a couple of times by now? Why was she so hesitant, reluctant even to push forward? Questions like these filled the cavity of her mind, flooding it effortlessly. The woman’s behaviour made little to no sense. Should she not be a personification of confidence? She had been taught how to handle pressure and kill from a young age. This should not feel any different. This should be nothing more than another mission, yet in reality, it could not be further away from the truth. What had changed? What had made such a difference? These questions were all reasonable, but the answers alluded the huntress. This made no sense, she hissed silently, finally moving on, venturing deeper into the strange complex.

As much as Akali wanted to pretend she had emotions under control, it was nothing more than a blatant lie. The rage was coursing through her veins, giving her a sensation of liquid lava. Her palms were itchy and sweaty, way too eager to grab the blade and run it through flesh. Her bloodthirst was never truly gone; it did recede, but she could feel it staying just behind some imaginary line, eagerly waiting to resurface and take back control. When the huntress was younger, she tried to fight against it all the time, but with age came experience and wisdom. That bloodthirst, that pent-up anger, was inherently a part of her, and whether she liked that or not, it would not change a thing. The sooner she would accept that, the better. It was the smart way to go about it. However, it did not mean that she pursued that path.

No matter how hard Akali tried, it became increasingly apparent and painfully so that she could not wrestle back control over her mind and push all these lingering questions out. Each careful and deliberate step taken served as a reminder of how far her subconscious strayed into chaos. Saying that she did not like it one bit, it felt redundant and deprived of merit, as if the sentence repeated too many times in a short span of time. Yet, deep inside, it was exactly how she felt. Not to mention, she could not forget about these redacted fragments she had downloaded before. Something about its chaotic form and the deleted entries made her wonder about the true reason behind the establishment's creation. Moreover, a part of her was curious to learn about the events leading to the logs' corruption and shutdown of the facility. There was a mystery the huntress wanted revealed. However, this thought process, in its entirety, was a never-ending spiral of despair, for each subsequent idea painted the situation in much darker colours, further worsening the already grim aura surrounding this place. Unwittingly, a low groan manifested inside the white-haired woman's throat. It was nothing more than a physical manifestation of her disdain and frustration. Had the setting been any different, she would have halted mid-step and scolded herself for an apparent lack of self-control. The longer this hunt lasted, the less she felt like an accomplished predator, a matter that had not crossed her mind once throughout the long years of gruelling apprenticeship under Rengar. Exposing her sharp fangs, the huntress wanted nothing more than to curse loudly. Given the strange force field surrounding her, muffling every sound outside its limited range, this action would bear no consequences, yet she refrained from acting on a fleeting whim. A moment later, her face sharpened before a corner of her lip curved upwards, forming a mocking smirk. Out of all the places she had visited, Akali found it ridiculous that the vivid memory of her very first lesson with the Lion crossed her now, deep below the slums. It seemed fate had a weird sense of humour sometimes.

“Looking at you, all I see is a prey, not a hunter,” she heard her mentor’s husky, harsh, and rumbling voice across her skull. “Your downfall starts immediately when you doubt your capabilities. Like a poison, it slowly contaminates your bloodstream, making you question obvious matters, doubt your worth. It drains you of strength, courage, and drive until there is nothing left. Then, and only then, it disposes of you, as there is no longer any value to associate with you,” he added, slowly pacing from one wall of the hut to the other. “The hunt is the most sacred rite known to our people,” the voice continued, followed by horrible sounds of sharp claws marking the stone. It was excessive, but nonetheless effective, as it made a much younger, white-haired woman shudder in discontent and fear. “I can not realistically expect you to remember all I say,” Rengar breathed out, clearly disappointed. “But – if there is one thing I would want you to keep close to your heart till your eyes close, whether naturally or forced, it is that we only hunt those whom we consider worthy of a challenge. Each time, we start the game, we put our lives at stake, deeming it only fair if there is a realistic chance of our failing and dying while pursuing the prey,” the mentor’s voice shifted and deepened, tainted by raw emotions. “Many might see us as monsters, but it is not true. That said, they usually get one matter quite well about us: once the hunt begins, we do not question our nature, as it is pointless. The ones that do, they apply the very first nick to their own neck, set their future downfall in motion, and mark the beginning of their demise.”

For a fleeting moment, the white-haired woman allowed herself to be pushed back in time to relive this memory once more. She remembered them sitting on the wooden logs, each marked with numerous slashes of various origins, severely beaten and covered in yellowing bruises and shallow wounds. In front of them, the Lion continued his slow pacing, unhurriedly taking his time as he continued speaking. Although many could describe him as relaxed, even bored to some, in that moment, it was nothing more than a subtle deception. As his apprentices, they knew better than most that a mere heartbeat was all this mountain of pure muscles needed to switch the kill mode on, pounce, and kill without as much as blinking his dark eyes. For Rengar, killing was seemingly effortless, something like breathing or walking for the others. It was his way of life, their people's way of life. It was a path that soon they would all tread. If forsaking their innate empathy was the price to be paid, they were willing to part with it. The Lion had his massive, muscular arms clasped behind his broad back, his fingers enveloped around his favourite bone knife, playing with it effortlessly, as if its blade was not razor-sharp, as they all had learnt during the past exercise.

Even though it was nothing more than a projection of her past, Akali sat nervously, playing with her fingers to keep her conflicted mind off the things the Lion had said. She knew it was a coward's move, but she could do nothing about it. The man was clad in an aura of sheer terror, and it would have been foolish not to acknowledge it. Looking around, the young huntress noticed that her peers had similar reactions to hers, which uplifted her slightly. That said, as far as she remembered the passage of events, it was only going to get worse from that point onwards. Rengar was a hands-on type of mentor who preferred his students to go through hardships and learn on their own skin.

Thankfully, this forced recollection session came to an abrupt stop when she felt something familiar underneath her fingertips. Immediately snapping her attention towards her left hand, the white-haired huntress noticed long claw marks covering the wall. It would be logical to analyse the finding first, but Akali found the fact that she could not picture the exact moment she had put her hand on that stone formation even more disturbing. Looking at her fingers, all she saw was a thin layer of dust and rocks crushed into a fine paste; there was no sight of overgrowth tainting her flesh. After another moment of intense inspection, she realigned her attention towards the claw marks. Considering the seemingly ever-present contamination growing over the stone face, the woman expected to see the taint. This, however, did not prove to be true. Not only did the epiphysis not surround the claw marks, but it seemed to recede as if trying to stay away from something that had caused the damage. Considering all the pieces she had before her, it made no sense, making the whole situation feel even more unnatural than it had been previously. So what was this familiarity she had felt? This question loudly rang inside the white-haired huntress’s mind. Inching closer to the wall’s stone face, she was looking for something extraordinary, something out of place. At first, her efforts seemed wholly fruitless; however, on closer inspection, she noticed a subtle pattern of the claw mark alternatively becoming deeper and shallower. This, however, turned out to be only a foreshadowing.

It took Akali a good couple of moments to figure out what she was missing. Expectedly, it was something that was hidden in her plain sight. From a young age, she had been taught to seek the most sophisticated solutions, omitting the simpler ones. Even though this approach proved to be terrifyingly effective against most civilised species, its inherent flaw was plain to see. It all started to make awfully a lot of sense once she leaned in, an action solely driven by her surfacing irritation. Within the gouging mark, she found a few rougher spots, as if someone had reapplied pressure after the initial marking was done, then filled the hole with crushed rocks. It immediately kick-started a separate thought process, one that took this possibility into consideration. Given the ridiculous situation Akali found herself entangled in, she was in desperate need of something positive, some accomplishment. Hence, she knelt before the stone formation, carefully tracking each hole she felt underneath her fingertips. Considering the amount of effort she needed to pour into this, the end result felt somewhat lacking. The so-called “message” consisted of three groups of dots, but the combination made little to no sense. At first, she tried to use every human encryption that utilised a limited number of symbols she knew, but it yielded no results. Then, she thought of some primitive methods of communication that her people had used in the past. Compared to the last attempt, this one proved significantly more fruitful, as the groups started to take shape. The problem? There was no coherent meaning behind the words or singular letters.

The red-eyed woman was about to give up when a scary thought crossed her mind. As much as she wanted to discard the probability of Rengar being the one leaving this message behind specifically for her, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Unhurriedly, she pulled her blade closer, then carefully removed the piece of artificial fabric covering its handle, revealing a whitened block of metal covered in dotted markings. Narrowing her eyes, the white-haired huntress sighed and began deciphering.

Soon enough, the meaning behind the dots was revealed: Remarkable; Atta girl. Akali could feel her heart sinking deeper into her chest in slow motion. Simultaneously, a shiver ran down her spine, and a cold sweat broke on her brow. She should have expected this, came an instant realisation.

“But—I did not,” a hollow sound escaped the woman’s agape lips.

Author's notes section:

At this point, I cannot set my goal straight, if I'm to remain honest. On the one hand, I have numerous ideas I would like to see written; on the other, with these many stories in various stages of development, it becomes overwhelming to sit down and write anything. I know ... this should not concern you at all, but I would like to stay clean in that matter, as it either way affects my writing speed and overall motivation. For the next couple of months, I might try to alternate between my longest (up-to-date) story and the ones that I can realistically envision concluding within a foreseeable future. That would be an entry statement from me; I hope you understand :)

[2025-06-28] Hello. I know that it's been a while since I posted, but I either had no time or could not find any motivation to sit down and write anything. My apologies for that. Here's a short preview of what I'm currently working on. Even though it is not everything I have already written, it's more or less the most consistent part so far. As always, the final version might differ from what I'm posting right now. That said, there's a chance the chapter will be done by the end of week. Till then :)

[2025-07-09] Hello. Speaking honestly, I struggled with writing this chapter more than I should have. That said, I believe I did not have many opportunities to work on this piece over the past week, so the whole delay, more or less, is caused by this occurrence. Anyhow, I would like to apologise for that. I had wanted nothing more than for this chapter to be written quickly, but reality turned out differently. Anyway, I hope you will find this chapter interesting and till the next time :)

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are flashbacks.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Music recommendations:
- Dragonforce - My spirit will go on
- Dragonforce - Heroes of our time
- Manowar - Warriors of the world united
- Manowar - Sleipnir
- Dream Theater - The best of times

End of the author's notes section.

Chapter Text

When Irelia's consciousness came back, it immediately became painfully apparent that she was still trapped inside a metaphorical prison made out of her mind. Although she opened her eyes, there was nothingness all around her, as if she were hanging in a limitless void. To make matters worse, the woman’s movement was heavily restricted to the point that she felt motionless, shackled to some abstract construct wholly obstructed from her sight. It made no sense, but no matter how hard she tried to turn, to face the other direction, she could not. Even time, an eternal measurement that kept progressing despite everything that had happened throughout history, seemed to freeze. It was a chilling experience that the officer had never anticipated, something so unique that she could not find anything resembling it; its aura of dread was slowly yet methodically piercing through Irelia’s skin, through her muscles and bones, sinking into the core, planting a seed of unknown origin. She shivered immediately. Although she could not verify it, she could feel goosebumps covering her exposed flesh; she felt naked, left to die.

For a fleeting moment, the pink-haired woman heard a clock ticking, or at least, she could swear she heard it. Yet, as abruptly as it had waved into the silent dome, it left the same way, forcing her senses to sharpen, forcing her to stare into impenetrable oblivion, and an abyss born of darkness and shadows. Then … came a distant voice. It echoed between the walls of her skull, repeating the same sentence, something she thought she had heard in past: if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. That said, Irelia found it impossible to pick a singular memory that would match the apparent pattern, leaving her in an even more perplexed state, if possible. It seemed as if her memories were wiped clean, only further making this terrifying prospect more daring to deal with. Through her powerless state, the officer could do nothing but stare into a shapeless entity of unimaginable size and untold power. However, the longer this horror lasted, the more frightened she became. Despite her eyes lacking the ability to distinguish clearly any changes within her proximity, it was hardly a question whether the scenery shifted. She could feel it with every fibre of her body, but found no words to describe it. As if a storm was bound to ravage this place, or even worse, she was to witness the awakening of some deep slumbering horror.

Serving as a literal embodiment of calm before the storm, the shift did not last long, perhaps not even a heartbeat. Then, abruptly, a semblance of white started slowly creeping its way through the darkness, piercing the veil. At first, it was shapeless, but it was undeniable that something was being formed right before her eyes. The pink-haired woman stared at the wicked formation, tantalised completely. Soon enough, the shapeless form was no more; instead, a huge spherical object floated a couple of feet away from the immobilised soldier. It was bone-white, to some degree resembling an eye without an iris. Had she maintained the ability to shake her head, she would have done so; it was clear … or it should have been clear that she was reading too much into the symbolism, trying so desperately to find some semblance of logic, and overthinking her painfully apparent, troublesome situation. It was hardly the first time; she doubted it would be the last. That said, a fleeting moment was all she needed to confirm her speculation. The missing part was lazily painted over the symbolic canvas of white, forming a feline slit that was solely focused on the woman’s motionless frame. She wanted to scream, but each time her lips parted, no sound was let out, making the encounter all that much more frightening.

When this nightmarish dream came to an abrupt conclusion, the first sense that returned was her sight. Although blurry, it was still miles better than what she had endured in that abyss. Irelia tried to swallow, but found her throat dry, akin to a desert dune, tightened, as if she were constantly speaking for a while—or, much rather, screaming, considering the strange vision that still lingered in the corner of her eyes, both in physical and metaphorical ways. The mess she saw in front of her made little to no sense, nothing more than a messy collage of disconnected and blurry dots. She hated this realisation, but as much as she would have wanted to scream away her irritation, it would have been unwise. After all, the officer hardly knew her current location, and she had little control over her senses. She needed to wait, to seal all this pain and humiliation deep within her soul for future use. At some point, it would be fuel to reignite her will and vision of vengeance. That said, for now, at the very least, she did her best, trying to improve her vision by blinking repeatedly. Expectedly, the improvement was not instantaneous, but rather gradual. In the meantime, Irelia’s ears registered a high-pitched noise that seemed to originate from the depths of her skull, forcing her to grit her teeth, too fearful of a random cry of discontent or pain to split past her tightened lips.  Thankfully, it was only a temporary sensation that slowly receded into nothingness, leaving the woman spent, but, to some extent, free.

The first time, the pink-haired woman heard her own breathing, her heart momentarily sank in her chest. It felt so otherworldly, especially after all of this sterile and artificial silence she had been through. Similar to a blacksmith’s bellows, she was heaving, her breathing pattern shallow, chaotic, and rapid. As if she had run an entire marathon in the last minute, she felt utterly exhausted; her limbs were heavy and seemed limp. Had the situation been different, she would have openly chuckled, remembering this overwhelming sensation too well. Once upon a time, in what felt now like a different life, she had participated in one, giving her absolute best to merely complete the race, not to win. She vividly remembered how slow the progress seemed, how costly each mile she crossed was, and how soul-crushing the loneliness was that was her sole companion. What she was currently experiencing hardly differed; no, it was the same. As her vision painfully slowly cleared, she envisioned this “journey” as a seemingly endless march that clearly mocked her by luring her with the premise of a clear finishing line. One would have thought that she would have recognised this mockery, but no, she followed, gradually fulfilling someone’s plan step by step. As much as Irelia wanted to scream and wake up from this nightmare, she seemed unable to. This premise was nothing more than a blatant lie, yet, regardless of this realisation, she was like a donkey blindly following a carrot someone had attached to her back.

Soon enough, more and more sounds started to reach her, accumulating into something of a cacophonic mess. The woman tried to curl up and press her hands flat over her ears, but she could not. A metallic clattering followed this action. Despite her still severely dysfunctional and blurry sight, she turned around as much as she could, only to notice that her frame was chained to the wall. As her breathing hitched, her memories finally came back, flooding her subconscious, making the next few moments extremely painful.

“Where is Akali?” Irelia’s mind momentarily questioned, desperately trying to fill the gaps between the last moment it could invoke and the present. But … no matter how she tried, it was fruitless. As if she tried to put out a wildfire consuming a forest with a bucket, it was mathematically impossible. Her subconscious chose a fight it could not win.

“Someone is finally awake?” a raspy male voice boomed nearby.

“Who are you?” the officer gasped, completely surprised. “Show yourself!” she demanded, yet her voice lacked ferocity, the bite. Not to mention, she immediately took a step back, wholly contradicting the wordless premise behind her words. “Who are you?” she repeated a moment later, more desperately. Her voice hitched, rose, and filled with fear.

“Do you honestly think it would change anything?” the disembodied voice questioned.

“Ye…” Irelia stopped, physically refraining from finishing her answer.

A heartbeat later, a clear sound of claws marking the stone echoed through the walls. “See?” he asked, a note of amusement was audible. “No matter what name I would provide you with, you have no means of verifying it,” the voice continued, immediately followed by this piercing scratching. “So … logically, why would I bother; why would you bother?” he asked, halting for a moment. The longer this conversation lasted, the more elaborate and clearer his tone became. It must have been a while since he had spoken this language, or he was merely getting used to it for the first time. The latter prospect was terrifying, yet, given the circumstances, could not be easily dismissed.

“Stay where you are!” the pink-haired woman demanded, even though she knew she was in no position to do so. “What did you do to me?” she questioned frantically as soon as her back met the cold wall surface. The realisation was immediate and frightening. She was stripped of her enhancing armour; no longer a weapon of Tea’su Empire, but a mere human, painfully mortal, fragile, and expendable.

“And … why would I do so? Hmm?” the disembodied voice asked.

“Just do as I say!” she spat through clenched teeth.

“You are an amusing creature,” the man remarked. “The way I perceive our current situation, I hold all the advantages. So … tell me, logically, why would I refrain from using them altogether?”

“You’re the man responsible for Akali’s training, aren’t you?” Irelia whispered, knowing all too well that if she were correct, she was as good as dead. “You’re responsible for turning her into a monster,” she boldly stated.

A loud hum filled the air. “A somewhat correct assumption,” Rengard replied, his fluency getting increasingly better; it was a matter of minutes before he would sound so smooth that one could mistake him for a human. “But I am getting ahead of myself. Yes, I trained her,” he added, almost softly. “That said, I disagree with you deeming her a monster. The more I know about you, humans, the more I realise that you are single-minded fools. You want to see the world only through your lenses, reserving the right to name and describe things. You do not have such power; there are millions, billions, or even more races that had existed long before you had crawled from your caves,” he commented, stopping for less than a heartbeat. “The same concept can be described in numerous ways, as the description is highly subjective. For me… she is the sharpest blade I have ever forged. Akali is devoted, ruthless when need be, yet thoughtful and patient.” This time, a clear admiration and pride were tainting the predator’s tone.

The pink-haired woman scoffed, visibly irritated by the man’s statement. “She’s no tool,” she commented venomously. “She’s a living person that you maimed both physically and mentally. It’s almost a pity I won’t be around to see the moment she plunges her serrated blade through your throat.”

The predator did not reply immediately. Instead, he chuckled, clearly amused by what she said. “I like you, human,” he remarked, taking another step forward and finally entering the officer’s view. Even though Rengar was nothing more than this hulking frame deprived of details, a cold sweat came on her brow. “Now … I can see why Akali put so much trust into you. You’re feisty, courageous, maybe a little bit too naïve, but definitely a strong-willed person,” he continued, approaching slowly. “Perhaps, should my precious student fail, you will take her place? I wonder how you would fare?”

“Fuck you,” the officer spat at the predator’s direction. “I’d rather die.”

“I might consider it,” Rengar retorted. “But … it will have to wait,” he added, pausing for a heartbeat. “Akali, she is the priority now.”

“She’ll find the way!”

Another chuckle shook the man’s massive frame. “I have no doubts she is resourceful,” he started, slowly wrestling back control. “But, as skilled as she might have become, she has never bested me. Tonight … it will not be different,” he continued with an unmatched confidence. There was boasting, a clear, cold confidence born of experience and facing death numerous times before. “And you will be watching,” he whispered as he turned around.

“You’re a sadistic freak!” Irelia grunted even though she knew it had little effect on the predator.

“Heard worse things; a word of advice, do better.”

And … with this, he was gone. All the pink-haired woman heard were two identical beeps, one announcing when the door opened, then closed. She was left with many conflicting thoughts on her mind, but it was hardly the worst. Akali was slowly approaching this lair, wherever it actually was located. It was only a matter of time before the beast would return, immobilise her, and force her to watch as a woman she lusted for … no, cared for, would struggle for her life. No matter how sophisticated a label the officer wanted to place on this plan, only one word fit the true horror that lay underneath: sadistic. Perhaps it was for the better that her vision had not yet cleared, she thought. Even though she vaguely remembered what Rengar looked like based on the camera footage, seeing him in a flash would be a vastly different experience. Maybe, for the time being, it was better that he was only a hulking frame of blurry dots. This way, it was easier to envision Akali finding a way to overcome the apparent and deadly challenge awaiting her. And … despite all of this, her chances were slim at best. Had she been more religious, Irelia would have offered a few silent prayers, but as she hardly knew any, she refrained from offering anything, as it was safer not to insult someone above. Perhaps they would not side with her lover, but at the very least, they could stay neutral. It was her best bet.

***

The white-haired predator moved as swiftly as her surroundings allowed, but the deeper she delved, the more signs of infestation became apparent. As if this spread needed a visual representation, the various variants of the seemingly conscious goo she had encountered before merged, creating something that was simultaneously interesting from a biological standpoint, yet terrifying and disgusting. In a different scenario, Akali might have stopped and inspected that strange phenomenon, but now, she had other matters to attend to. As much as it pained her, she needed to speed up, even if it meant she would inevitably lure more abominations. That said, her pride as a predator, as a huntress, meant nothing now when Irelia was outside of her reach, most likely in Rengar’s hands. She was stupid enough to believe she had complete control over both her mind and body, but … it was a lie the white-haired woman so willingly bought into. Instead of gaining an advantage over her ex-mentor, she had made herself vulnerable. Love … love as a concept never made any sense to the huntress, yet it seemed she had fallen for it anyway.

At some point, the goo turned into a sticky webbing that noticeably slowed her down. With jaw clenched, she managed to halt a groan that formed at the back of her throat. A clear wave of discontent and anger flared, spreading rapidly throughout her exhausted body. The white-haired huntress stopped for a few heartbeats, more so to reassess the situation than to catch her breath. Although fatigue was undeniable, only growing by the minute, at least for now, she could control it and push the thought into the depths of her mind. It was merely a temporary solution, but one that could potentially buy her time to complete the daring quest she needed to deal with. Perhaps it would be enough to subtly shift the balance in her favour.

That said, the white-haired woman could not shake a feeling that she was inching increasingly closer to a trap. Given the circumstances, it would be an ape to compare this delving to an insect slowly approaching a vast spider’s nest. Even though she was hardly as defenceless as the metaphorical bug, a taint of concern rapidly grew inside her mind, filling it with horrific visions. Had Akali still been human, she might have turned around and fled. But … she could not, even if her muscles caused her physical pain; she needed to carry on. After all, she was moulded into a deadly weapon that was meant to overcome obstacles specifically. Had she run away, it would have been more than dishonourable action; it would have spoken louder than any words that the very premise of her existence was a lie from the very beginning. Although it would have been infinitely easier to flee, it would not have yielded her anything; quite the contrary, it would have stripped her of everything.

Soon enough, she was on the move once more. This time, with one of her trusted blades in hand, coated in a slight power field so she could efficiently use it against the increasingly thicker webbing. With each step she took, the odds of her initially surreal assumption only grew. A slight sigh passed through the white-haired woman’s lips as she tore through another wall of goo-like fabric. Although it posed no fundamental difficulties for her sword, something had changed with this substance. Slowing down further, she took a moment or two to investigate. As Akali hardly wanted her skin tainted with this filth, she leaned a little towards the already pierced veil and examined it. Visually, the only difference she could notice was the vastly darker colour scheme, ranging from dark violet to black. However, it was not the detail that captured the huntress’s attention; it was a strange, coppery smell radiating from the goo-like webbing. It smelled like a mix of blood and something she could not precisely name. Did it matter? No, it did not, but it was a clear sign that she was getting dangerously close to the metaphorical nest. To the place where the preys are bled dry.

The crimson-eyed woman did not like what she discovered, but she pushed her discontent away, mustering the courage necessary to move on. The blade’s soft yet limited gleam was strangely comforting, but mattered little in these pitch-black shadows. Although Akali had no way of proving her speculations, her guts urged her to prepare for a battle, urging her to prepare for something vastly more terrifying and deadlier than the abominations she had met so far. She gulped quietly, knowing fully well that she needed to heed that call. After all, her instincts had rarely led her astray. Hence, she slowly pushed through thick veils of webbing, her right hand clenched around the sward’s handle, whilst her left was inching closer and closer to the dagger, ready to pull it at a moment’s notice. There was something evil lurking deep within this tunnel, she was sure of that.

Author's notes section:

At this point, I cannot set my goal straight, if I'm to remain honest. On the one hand, I have numerous ideas I would like to see written; on the other, with these many stories in various stages of development, it becomes overwhelming to sit down and write anything. I know ... this should not concern you at all, but I would like to stay clean in that matter, as it either way affects my writing speed and overall motivation. For the next couple of months, I might try to alternate between my longest (up-to-date) story and the ones that I can realistically envision concluding within a foreseeable future. That would be an entry statement from me; I hope you understand :)

[2025-08-31]: Hello, as I promised, there's a small WIP. I think it might take me a few days to get the tone right, as I currently like the idea; that said, I'm not exactly convinced about how it reads. I think this chapter might be a tad lengthy, as, according to my plans, this is the second-to-last. However, this may change depending on various circumstances. Anyway, I keep talking nonsense, see you soon.

[2025-09-16]: Hello back. I'm really sorry that I took so long to complete this chapter, but I needed to rewrite it like five times as always there was something missing. I hope the final version is a tad better, but it's not up to me to decide. Given, I did not manage to make this piece longer, I might need to add one additional chapter to this story, but I will see how the writing process for the next chapter will look like before making any decision. Anyway, please enjoy the piece and see you soon :)

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are flashbacks/internal thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything.

Music recommendations:
- Megadeath - Washington Is Next!
- Iron Maiden - 2 minutes to Midnight
- Iron Maiden - Judas be my guide
- Iron Maiden - Revelations
- Iron Maiden - The loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
- Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land

End of the author's notes section.

Chapter Text

Akali hated to be right. The deeper she delved into this webbed tunnel, the more signs of corruption manifested, only further justifying her cautious approach. Starting from fist-sized hairy spiders that fled on sight, through patches of strange, green, and reeking liquid of glue consistency, to grotesque corpses entangled in the sticky webbing. No… There was nothing more than bones there, all stripped clean of meat. As horrifying a discovery as it was, the huntress pushed forward—her teeth clenched, fingers of her left hand already on the dagger’s handle. With her vision severely limited and obstructed by the tainted spider silk, there was no telling what lurked ahead, but strangely enough, she felt she had already crossed the line, an invisible boundary that separated the complex’s main shaft from these infested narrow pathways. There was more to it, the white-haired woman’s senses, her enhanced instincts… they screamed at her, urging her to be careful, as someone… or rather, something had let her in.

The grind lasted for the next couple of minutes—a repetitive cycle of slicing through the webbing and a cautious step forward, rinse and repeat. But… finally, something changed. The crimson-eyed woman entered a circular area dimly lit by ghost lights. The room—if it were a room—was small and narrow, cluttered by scattered bones. Compared to the tunnels, here, she could not distinguish the stone from the spider silk—a thick layer of it covered everything. Expecting an ambush, she finally drew the dagger, keeping it low, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. She did not have to wait long. In the far corner of the huntress’s left eye, something moved. She did not linger. The roll was instantaneous. Her exposed skin touched the disgusting webbing—Akali narrowed her eyes, clenching her teeth even further. Then, a muffled collision rose through the air. With no time to waste, she spun around, facing another abomination. This time… expectedly, a hybrid of spider and human. Given what she had encountered earlier, this might have been an evolution —a progress this facility had made in the creation… breeding these “creatures”. Compared to the earlier specimen, this one was hardly grotesque—a terrifying statement of how much a madman can achieve. Although the huntress could have taken the initiative into her hands, she opted not to. It was not a question of whether she would face more of these monsters—the question was how many would stand in her way. Hence, she halted, assessing her opponent as it readied itself for a frontal attack. The hybrid’s upper body was human—composed of a chiselled torso, thick arms, and an irregularly shaped bald head. Its skin was unhealthy pale—it might not have seen the light of day in a long time, if ever.  Its eyes were cloudy; perhaps it was blind. The lower… came from a hairy arachnoid—funnel web spider, possibly?

For Akali, it was a golden opportunity to test her speculations. She used her right foot to scrape through the floor and the webbing intertwined with it. The result was expected. The abomination charged at her without a second of hesitation—it was fast. The huntress only smirked wickedly, then jumped, momentarily finding herself inches away from the monster. She sank the dagger into the abomination’s left shoulder, using it as leverage. She heard the shriek as the enhanced blade tore through the skin, muscles, bones—she did not care. The impressive momentum the hybrid achieved proved to be his undoing. With it and the leverage, the white-haired woman made it past the beast, offering mercy—a single quick slash, and the monster’s head rolled to the ground. With one jerked move, she released the dagger, then gracefully landed on the ground, watching with slight amusement as the headless creature collided with the entangled wall—the sound was muffled, but the crack of bones was undeniable. A fleeting moment later, she heard chaotic rustling all around—more of them were on the way. She moved without hesitation, even though it would undoubtedly lure the beasts towards her. But… it mattered little, she realised. As long as she was not cornered, she would find a way to victory, to Irelia.

Had this been a typical spider silk, Akali would have used fire, cleansing the tunnels in one fell swoop—albeit it was a messy solution. That said, there was no guarantee that this strange mix was even flammable. Given the situation, verifying this speculation could have been costly, so she immediately dropped the idea and pushed further through the narrow pathway. All things considered, the huntress made the rational call, picking the smallest gap—the hybrids as massive as the one she had just killed would not fit here. That, however, hardly meant that this was not a nuisance to deal with. It was a constant fight with a rising disgust as the webbing kept on latching to her body—she hated that sensation. But… with limited options on her hands, all she could do was clench her teeth and push forward, disregarding this feeling entirely.

Although the white-haired predator was essentially trapped within the narrow tunnel, it did not mean that the hybrids ceased to search for her. In fact, the rustling only intensified, quickly becoming a cacophony that the silk could no longer muffle. To some degree, it meant she could face substantial resistance once she was through the pathway, but it did not terrify her—she had faced worse. That said, there must have been a reason behind this path’s existence—it must lead to some crucial area. Keeping that in mind, she doubled her pace, motivated by her innate curiosity—what was the secret bound behind all of this? Still, there was a human proverb that described her situation perfectly: “Curiosity killed the cat”. After all, without the drive urging her to keep going, this decision was one massive gamble—it could either pay off big or backfire, nothing in between.

After a while, Akali sliced through the final layer of spider silk, revealing a long and narrow path surrounded by clear falls on each side. In the distance, she could swear there was a circular platform basked in a rich, bright light, but she opted to discard this observation… at least for now. As she stepped onto the bridge-like pathway, something crossed her mind. In the midst of this madness, she failed to realise, to notice a detail so prevalent, so crucial—a beginner’s mistake. The huntress was caught in a perfect storm of nuisances, nuances, and mounting pressure that her mind had begun to control the flow of information, silencing pieces it deemed obsolete or of lesser value. Through that, she failed to realise that for the very first time in a long time, she could perfectly hear everything that happened around her. Every little rustle, every cacophonic mix, every subtle swirl of water—this strange device seemed ineffective here. The question was: Was it intentional or a fluke? Did it matter? No… regardless of the intent, she needed to cross this path, even if she had to walk willingly into a trap. Knowing all of this all too well, the white-haired woman halted briefly, reassessing the surroundings. Although time was of the essence, she would not help Irelia one bit if she were to die foolishly. With that in mind, she pushed forward. Step by step, she got increasingly closer to this tantalising light—her pace cautious; her eyes peered, waiting for the faintest of moves to react. It was a slow process, but for now… it needed to suffice. Going further, she could not spot any spider web on her path, meaning the hybrids must have never reached this cavern… or perhaps, it was lurked by something that was not blind. As much as Akali wanted to be proven wrong, the latter option was far more probable, especially considering she could not shake the feeling of her every move being watched with clear intent and hunger. No… There was no point in fooling herself; something big resided here… and it awaited her patiently.

For a while, the pattern remained the same, becoming dull and repetitive—she inched closer, but the feeling of dread and terror only intensified. With fingers clawed on the dagger, the huntress looked around, her eyes scanning the space constantly. “Where are you?” She wondered as the tantalising brightness drew ever closer. Although she did not need light to navigate through darkness, it was only natural to seek familiarity and safety after the horror of web-cluttered tunnels. Yet… there was something—a sensation—the white-haired woman could not explain. It almost felt as if this small pocket of luminosity dared her to reach it, to soak herself in it—a sensation so prevalent, so powerful, and above all, so terrifying that it made her skin crawl. Had she still been a mere human… this would have filled her with hope… happiness even. That said, she was no longer the fragile and horrified kid that Reaper had captured and had brought in front of the council of Elders. No… This child was long gone, replaced by something simultaneously far more capable yet less humane. Akali saw no promises of peace and comfort in this brightness; it was a trap, a place where many had perished before. As her left hand was about to cross the boundaries of this light-basked area, a soft yet noticeable vibration gave away the danger. With no hesitation, no fear, she jumped back as something huge came down from the cavern’s ceiling.

The huntress expected a crushing sound filling the air, stone being split, but the new monstrosity arrived, accompanied only by the faintest possible click as its massive legs reached the bridge. A single glance had confirmed enough. Compared to the hybrids she had faced earlier, this one was bigger, probably stronger—most likely a queen of this nest. The crimson-eyed woman licked her lips as she drew her sword. This… was a prey worth fighting and killing. Yet, at the same time, there was a sliver of doubt that stirred her insides—she might not be able to handle this beast. The abomination did not rush at her; it clearly weighed its options. Just like she had expected, this monster was not blind; its clear, blue eyes were filled with curiosity, as if amused by encountering someone capable of reading through its scheme. The queen’s humane part was toned yet curvaceous—a long-haired blonde with ample blossom and small, red-coated lips. Some madman had forsaken a beautiful, young girl into this pitiful role. “How long has she been trapped here?” It was an interesting question, but given the circumstances, there was no urgency to find the answer. The abomination moved—quick and decisive.

Although the white-haired woman prepared herself for the inevitable clash as best as she could, the fluidity of the queen’s movement caught her slightly off-guard. Whereas the previous abomination was heavy, clunky, and blind, this specimen moved gracefully. Despite her grotesque size, she maintained control, ready to end the huntress’s life in one swift motion. The crimson-eyed woman had little to work with. She could not match the abomination in a pure physical contest—even with her heavily augmented and dense muscles, she could never dream of handling this amount of mass, not to mention the momentum it carried. Akali made a split-second decision—she rolled underneath the beast, slashing furiously at its abdomen, legs, everything she could reach with either her dagger or sword. And… this proved to be fruitless. Although the hairy skin split easily, the chitin armour underneath it took the hit, but only a marginal scratch was left on an onyx-black surface. As if this was not bad enough, the hybrid countered immediately, trying to crush the white-haired woman with its weight. She had no other option but to gamble once more. She rolled off the bridge’s edge. With a moment, this action had bought her; she sank the blades into the stone, then used them as makeshift ice axes to retreat outside the queen’s range. The situation was dire—even more than she was willing to acknowledge.

It took only a fleeting moment for the abomination to find the huntress again—a nasty smirk playing on her red lips. This time, the hybrid did not rush; it moved slowly and cautiously as the human part drew a weapon—a long, dirty-white fang with several fractures cracking its surface. Akali did not like this change—this beast was intelligent, applied strategy and tactical thinking to this battle, something she would never have said about the previous abomination she had killed. Regardless, this fight could only be won if she were willing to risk and go on the offensive; keeping a defensive stance would yield her no benefits—there was no telling how much stamina this beast possessed. The war of attrition was off the limits, then.

Taking advantage of this ridiculously slow approach, the white-haired woman wiped the sweat of her brow, making quick calculations. What she was about to do was a risky move, but with how durable the chitin armour seemed to be, the only feasible path towards victory was to attack the girl, not the enormous arachnid body it was merged with. But… to reach it, she must put her life on the line. It would hardly be the first time she needed to do so, but compared to the past, she could not act selfishly. Irelia’s life depended on her decisions and prowess.

One more deep exhale, and she pushed herself forward. The huntress once again became a blur—death incarnate. It was a gamble. She needed to dodge the fang, but at the same time, these strong spider legs could crush her effortlessly. No matter how she would approach this, there were no guarantees. The queen reacted momentarily, raising her frontal legs, obstructing the white-haired woman’s field of vision, and putting an indestructible wall between herself and the tiny huntress. Logic demanded that Akali back off and reassess the situation before another assault, but it was a futile strategy—it was a game of cat and mouse with the hybrid keeping all the right cards in her hand. Knowing it all too well, the crimson-eyed woman dared to defy the fate, to challenge it. Without hesitation, she darted to the left, using the abomination’s still firmly pressed to the ground limbs to climb. The response was instantaneous—the blonde leaned in, using the fang like a dagger, slashing at the huntress. She blocked it, but a few goo-like drops slipped from the makeshift weapon, consuming strands of her hair immediately. It was hard to tell whether this was venom or acid—most likely both. Yet, it mattered little. With the danger somewhat handled, Akali gave in to her instincts—the bloodthirst, the near-berserk rage. With no hesitation, her dagger tore through the queen’s surprisingly delicate skin, forcing the beast to drop the fang. Then, she hit the ribs—a sweet sound of cracking filled her ears. She smiled maniacally through the trance. But… it was hardly over. Although the hybrid was caught off guard, it momentarily regained its composure, rolling to the side. With no time to spare, she did the most damage she could—the dagger tore through the queen’s side, spilling thick, red, and warm blood—even after all of these atrocities committed on her, she still had human blood running through her veins, a sad sight.

Despite all her innate grace and training, when Akali jumped, she hit the ground hard. Pff… a temporal setback—a heartbeat later, she was on her feet, eyes narrowed at the monstrosity. Its breathing got heavier, her naked skin tainted with blood—the wound would not mend quickly, but the chances of the beast dying from the blood loss were close to zero. For a fleeting moment, they stared at each other, both intoxicated with bloodthirst and something intensely carnal and savage. That said, it lasted perhaps the blink of an eye or two. Then, they charged at one another. Despite the rage fuelling her body, the huntress knew that her limbs were growing weary—the fight must end soon. With the fang gone, she could afford a more liberal approach. Hence, she kept herself as close to the edge as possible, daring the hybrid to attack first. As the frontal legs were raised once again, Akali realised that the queen had changed her strategy once more. The massive limbs came down like a thunderstrike, crushing the stone effortlessly—a trembling sensation rang across the bridge. The crimson-eyed woman dodged it, but barely, forced to dash to the path’s centre. In a heartbeat, another attack came—the cycle repeated. Had the queen continued, the crossing path would have soon collapsed—Akali could not allow that to happen. Calculating the risk on the fly, she dared the beast to strike once again, then moved slightly to the side. The trembling only intensified, but it mattered little. Despite her legs feeling like gel due to the queen’s attack proximity, the white-haired woman reached the human part, slashing at the beast’s neck. She could feel the blade piercing the skin, but it did not decapitate the abomination. It tried to dodge the slash, making one fatal mistake that sent it down into the depthless fall.

Akali won, but whether she killed this lair’s queen… it remained to be seen.

Although the woman’s breathing was shallow and ragged, she could not rest. She ran across the bridge on her trembling legs. She enjoyed that encounter; had the circumstances been different, she would have wanted it to last. That said, one extremely negative thought crossed the white-haired woman’s mind—this hybrid most likely was not the apex predator of this complex. No… Rengar was still somewhere there—a mentor she had never beaten before. A fitting challenge, or certain death—at this point, Akali did not know which option she would have preferred.

Author's notes section:

At this point, I cannot set my goal straight, if I'm to remain honest. On the one hand, I have numerous ideas I would like to see written; on the other, with these many stories in various stages of development, it becomes overwhelming to sit down and write anything. I know this should not concern you at all, but I would like to stay clean in that matter, as it affects my writing speed and overall motivation either way. For the next couple of months, I might try to alternate between my longest (up-to-date) story and the ones that I can realistically envision concluding within a foreseeable future. That would be an entry statement from me; I hope you understand :)

[2025-11-04]: Hey, a short WIP of the next Black Diamond chapter. I expect it to be ready by the end of the next week. Till the next time :)
[2025-11-12]: Hey, I'm back with the completed chapter. I'm sorry that it took so long. I think I will write a single chapter for "Lifetime in War" next before tackling the last chapter of "Black Diamond". Anyway, till the next time :)

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are flashbacks/internal thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything.

Music recommendations:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST - The Monolith (Battle Theme)
- Slipknot - Snuff
- Ice Nine Kills - A work of art
- Judas Priest - Beyond the realms of death
- Five Finger Death Punch - Coming Down
- Nestor - Victorious
- Mass Effect 3 - Leaving Earth
- Stratovarius - Black Diamond

End of the author's notes section.

Chapter Text

The longer Akali ran, the clearer her mind became. Although she knew better than anyone that it was nothing more than a double-edged sword wrapped in a gown of blessing, she could not help but cheer up a little. After what had happened in the queen’s cavern, after being forced to shatter her limits and fragment herself, she was no longer the one steering—it was determination that fuelled her, instincts. That said… this could not last forever. As adrenaline slowly faded and the danger vanished, an eerie, uncomfortable calm came over the white-haired woman. She scoffed, finally solving the puzzle. One that Rengar had wordlessly thrown at her, the moment she ventured into this facility. It should have been obvious. It should have been trivial to see through the farce. Yet… the reality was much harsher than her speculations. Akali felt incompetent, stupid even. It was a disgusting pill formed of disappointment, embarrassment, and something she could not name. But… like it or not, she was forced to swallow it whole. Everything she had done… was for nought. At first glance, her decisions seemed hers, yet underneath this false impression lay something disturbing. The descent, every turn, every encounter, every dilemma—all planned right from the start. The sad part—she almost missed the clues. Looking back, the sheer difference between the lair and the path she tread now was staggering. After long years of gruelling training, this stung. The huntress should have done something sooner. After all, she did not believe in flukes or blind luck. And… this whole raid was anything but a coincidence. She should have doubted them from the start—yet, she had not. This was a masterfully set-up trap. And… she walked willingly right into it—Akali’s throat ran dry.

Yet… despite all of this, she pushed forward. Her exhausted muscles ached, begging for respite—a constant struggle or perhaps a ticking time bomb about to go off. Damned be the enhancements she had received; they made her faster, stronger, but the original flaw did not dissipate. She was still very much humane, a fragile being with apparent weakness and limitations. In the heat of battle, it was easy, almost effortless, to forget about the mounting fatigue, about the shallow, ragged breathing. Unfortunately… the same could not be said of the current situation. The deeper the crimson-eyed woman delved, the worse it got. With combat concluded, it was only a matter of time before the “blessing” would turn into a “curse”. She sighed, demotivated. Her mind was wired to thrive in chaos, but this came with a hefty price. If left to its own devices, it could destroy itself—an endless stream of looping reassessments that lead to doubt and insecurity.

The white-haired woman abruptly halted. Her oxygen-deprived lungs welcomed the pause, whilst the migraine only intensified. Looking around, her surroundings were plain and uninteresting—a narrow, dimly lit corridor that seemed to stretch endlessly. After her fight with the queen… being led to this felt almost mocking. Whatever game her past mentor played, she was unfamiliar with the rules. From one extreme to another—she clenched her fists, irritated, anger slowly building inside. The hybrid… was exceptional, an opponent who had forced Akali to react and adapt on the fly. And now… this—she wanted to curse, but muffled it. Then, however, a realisation came—it was yet another test. With no obstacles, no enemies, and no dangers in sight, the pathway was a perfect catalyst for her degrading mind. If the cavern was meant to verify her combat prowess… Then, the corridor would validate her ability to handle pressure. It was cruel. Rengar had moulded her, turned a teary-eyed child into a lethal weapon—he knew her weaknesses. Now… it made perfect sense. Worse… she had been lied to from the start.

Akali felt betrayed. Driven by an abrupt wave of uncontrolled emotions, she leaned into the nearest wall, resting her left hand on its face. The contrast, the sensation—she found it calming. The cold was soothing. That said… deep inside her, there was only war—it burned bright. She needed a moment to collect herself, to collect those pieces she had been fed with—all lies or half-truths.

“Why did they send us here?” A whisper, unwittingly passed the woman’s slightly parted lips.

At first glance, this question seemed trivial—it was not. Given everything she had gone through, it became crystal clear that she and her peers were never meant to defeat Rengar. The premise alone should have raised an alarm in all of them. Their mentor was a living legend in their society—a nigh-invincible threat that even the elites feared. Younglings like them—they stood no chance. So realistically speaking, what was their task? What were they after? Still, they had pushed the warning aside, trusting the council as they embraced the impossible challenge. What was the purpose? She did not know. At this point, she was uncertain whether she wanted to—some stones were better unturned. No matter, this mere thought was enough to ignite the rage, making it flare—her vision blurred. A heartbeat later, the sounds of rocks cracking filled the air. Her vision was a mess, a mix of fragmented shapes, half-drowned in a mist-like background. Through it, all she could see was her right hand firmly etched into the wall. She lost control—the huntress immediately realised. It was hardly the first time, undoubtedly not the last. That said, it was pathetic; she was pathetic. Closing her eyes, she tried to think about something positive—a futile endeavour.

Soon enough, the pain accumulated, forcing the white-haired woman to pull back her right arm. With her vision rapidly improving, the consequences of her rage-driven action were plain to see. Her skin was pierced in numerous spots; slight numbness around the digits; blood was slowly oozing from the shallow wounds. It hardly mattered, she reminded herself as she turned around. Knowing fully well that every minute she spent here would only worsen the situation, Akali stormed away—her pace was quick, but she was still walking, not running. Still, the main issue was hardly addressed. With her current state… it was suicidal to push blindly ahead. She needed a plan and time. But… time was a luxury she could not afford now.

After a while, a short, genuine chuckle sounded. The crimson-eyed woman realised that everything she had wrought, done since her arrival… was nothing short of a disaster. For someone who had been raised to abide by a strict honour code, she was still unwilling to admit her own flaws and shortcomings. She had broken clear rules, deeming the acts acceptable, as she needed to adapt. No… who did she want to lie to? Only herself. The way the white-haired woman bonded with Irelia… it was wrong on so many levels—this should never have happened. Looking back, she had gained hardly anything—it was a brutal, yet accurate summary. A sharp, loud scoff rippled through the air. What had she achieved? A few moments of passion; a few moments of tease; a few moments of finally belonging somewhere—was it all? And the cost? Blood, tears, and pain on numerous occasions. And… on top of that, a scorching sensation of an impending failure and doom. She had failed right from the very start. She should have known better.

The huntress shook her head energetically, trying her hardest to clear her mind. With no power over time, she was only wasting it, endlessly reassessing the past. What was done was done. She gritted her teeth, letting her frustration take a physical form. This path would lead her straight into Rengar’s jaw—it was a final stop before all hell would let loose. So, it would be foolish and reckless not to use the given time to prepare. Although an uncomfortable question still stood: how could she possibly prepare for something like this? Akali needed to recalibrate, to reassess, to rest as much as possible. This was what her mentor had bashed into her head long ago. Emotion would not win her battles, but a cold, calculated logic… it was a different story. As much as the crimson-eyed woman would want to disagree, this pragmatism made sense—it always had. Like it or not, she was a huntress by choice and by heart—it was her path; it was who she was. Or was it?

With this puzzling question echoing in her mind, she pushed forward—her pace slow, deliberate, and steady. The dim lights guided the white-haired woman through the seemingly endless passage, allowing her to focus. It was time to replay the past. She gulped—something heavy formed at the back of her throat. A heartbeat later, she found herself in an eerily familiar room, tainted by the stench of fear, urine, and sweat. She returned “home”, even if for but a moment.

***

The concept of time is something that the huntress would undoubtedly never fully grasp. Usually, it behaved like a liquid pushed into a tube, moving through the tight space at a predictable, consistent speed. Yet, at times, minutes seemed to be drawn out infinitely; other times, hours passed between her fingers within seconds. This strange paradox never ceased to amaze her, yet it was also a source of countless frustrations and confusion. To some degree, she wished it did not bother her, but… her curiosity was endless. The current situation hardly differed from the previous one. Her long walk through the awfully identical tunnel segments seemed like a breeze, nothing more than the blink of an eye. It was almost magical. The trance she had willingly put herself through achieved the near impossible—it pieced together her fragmented consciousness. It was nothing short of a miracle, but like with everything in this world, it could not last forever. At some point, Akali sensed a subtle change in the atmosphere. The emptiness, the boredom, and the safety were all long gone, replaced by tangible dread—Rengar was near. Her skin crawled.

It took a moment, but the white-haired woman’s vision returned—sharp and clear. However, she could not recognise her surroundings. The dim ghost lights she had grown used to throughout her march… were gone—substituted by bright rays of crimson. Not only that, the humidity increased—her brow was pearled with sweat. Akali did not like this rather abrupt change one bit. Although the trance had helped significantly, she should have paid more attention—yet another mistake to an already long list. She shook her head energetically; she did not need more confusion, more contradictions now. The huntress stood in front of a massive, heavy-reinforced door. Had she been asked to name them, one title particularly fit them—the gates of hell. Through the blood she had consumed, she gained access to her prey’s memories. In most cases, these pieces proved helpful, allowing her to bridge the gaps, recognise patterns she had not been taught, and adapt to the ever-changing world around her. That said, if not handled carefully, they could cause more harm than they were worth. The gates of hell: a phrase that transcended time, leaving its mark on numerous, vastly different human cultures. Although it would be a far-fetched statement to deem Matt, the operative these memories originally belonged to, a religious man, his blood had revealed the paths, the knowledge she had not been aware of. She took a cautious step forward, her fingers itched, inching increasingly closer to her blades. This seeming calm before a storm was getting tiresome.

That said… the huntress did not have to wait all that long. As if this last, deliberate movement set off some magical chain reaction, the gates creaked, then slowly parted. Through the growing gap, she saw a short corridor basked in a bloody-red light—it was intense, far different from everything she had encountered in the facility so far. This pathway led towards a solid wall of dark stone. But… there was a slight, yet important caveat to this design—a massive, unnatural hole. Based on the gap’s rough edges, it was easy to envision someone repetitively bashing these rocks with a crude, blunt object. But… for what purpose? Once again, this was a question Akali might have been better off leaving unanswered. However, this line of logic hardly addressed the issue—she needed to push past that artificial boundary. With evident hesitation painted on her beautiful face, she slowly stepped forward—the aura of dread intensifying by the minute. She was getting closer to the finishing line.

The white-haired woman’s throat was painfully dry, causing an uncomfortable sensation each time she tried to swallow. Each occurrence only further aggravated the irritation, turning this slight inconvenience into an endlessly repeating cycle—this was getting boring and predictable. That said, with her current state, Akali could not picture a valid solution, a remedy. Hence, she gritted her teeth, trying her best to control her fragmented consciousness. It was hardly a time for dilemmas like this. For all she knew, a split moment of hesitation could cost her life very soon.

Once more, the time stayed still, becoming a fluid construct seemingly detached from everything else. Although this slow approach could not have lasted more than a few seconds, in Akali’s mind… it lasted an eternity. An eternity filled with contradictions, doubts, and rising terror. As much as she tried to trick her mind into believing she stood a chance against Rengar, it was a fruitless endeavour. It was a lie wrapped in a gown of hope—she could see it, but could do nothing about it. Humans had a saying about that: "Hope is the last to die."

Soon enough, she passed through the hole in the wall and entered a roughly oval room. No… it was an arena, she corrected herself momentarily. Looking around, the crimson-eyed woman noticed that the walls were divided into small chunks by metallic pipes. Between the steel, the small patches consisted of raw stone or cracked paint in various stages of deterioration. To some extent, this scenery reminded her of veins spanning a muscular arm—whether it was an intentional analogy or a sole creation of her chaotic mind, she did not want to know. For now, it did not matter. The huntress continued turning around, inspecting the new surroundings with intent, expecting traps or worse. But… the reality was far more damning—it came down on her after a few short-lived moments. To her left, a small niche was etched into the wall, carved by the same barbarism she had seen earlier. If it were possible, her throat turned to dust. Although she managed to muffle the cry that immediately formed inside, it no longer mattered. Underneath the niche, a throne-like armchair stood—occupied by an eerily familiar monster she had grown used to calling master. His cold eyes glowed with this strange intensity, fixed solely on her, once again assessing her. Rengar sat comfortably, stripped of his expensive armour, wearing only patterned pants and a netted sleeveless vest—he saw no challenge in her. As if this observation alone was not enough to categorise their respective position, the only weapon she could spot was a long, serrated, bone-like dagger resting on his massive lap.

“You had me waiting,” the mentor spoke, unbothered, resorting to the council’s language. It was a nasty mix of clanks and swirling sounds—she had never liked it.

For a moment, the white-haired woman considered her options. Perhaps it was not the worst outcome if he wanted to talk—she took the offered chance. “The descent was complicated,” she replied reservedly, tightening her grip on the blades.

The monster chuckled, his incredible, dark-golden mane rippling as his massive jaw repeatedly opened. “I thought you would be first,” he commented, amusement tainting his deep voice. “Yet… you are the last one. I hope you came prepared,” the lion-like abomination added, slowly standing up.

“You are awfully talkative today,” the huntress remarked, pushing her right leg forward, preparing herself to act the moment this confrontation begins.

The time for a talk was gone—the battle ensued. Despite her battered frame urging her to slow down, Akali did the opposite, charging in. Rengar was stronger than her, but she could match his speed. Her only option was aggression—allowing someone like him to control the encounter was a near-inevitable death sentence. Like the lion-like monster loved to remind her: sometimes the best defence is a good offence. She took these words at face value, allowing her bloodthirst to accumulate. If she were incapable of finishing this fight fast, she would need this seemingly endless energy source. Akali closed the distance in a heartbeat, ready to pounce and slash with her blades. Her mentor did not move an inch—was it bravado, confidence, or a taunt, she did not want to know. She needed to keep things simple. Hesitation was not an option with someone like Rengar. She struck with everything she got, aiming at the abomination’s left oblique and arm—her blades never reached his flesh. The lion-like predator moved faster than she had ever seen him, avoiding her attack effortlessly. But… it was hardly the worst. He grabbed her right arm, then broke it mercilessly in one swift motion—her cry could not be muffled; it was an agony, an endless wave of searing pain. A moment later, the man’s knee sank into Akali’s stomach, forcefully pushing the air out of her lungs. Yet, he did not stop here. Another wave of blinding pain washed over the woman as the bone-like knife carved through her muscles—she would never use that arm again, the neural system was severed from the bones. It was not a fight; it was a statement, a one-sided slaughter.

“Dead,” Rengar said flatly into her ear as the blade pierced her nape. It was a shallow wound; he did not intend to kill her.

For a brief moment, the crimson-eyed woman wanted to keep quiet. But… the pain was overwhelming—it opened both her mind and mouth. “I never stood a chance.” That was all she whispered.

“You never did,” her mentor’s tone softened. “For what it is worth, you did better than all of them,” he added, then pulled back the dagger, allowing her to collapse.

The sensation was hard to describe—she had never been so close to death’s embrace before. The suffering was gut-wrenching, but it was slowly replaced by cold—she was dying, her blood spilling too fast for her enhanced organism to mend it in time.

“Reaper, bring her here,” Akali heard Rengar’s voice, but found no strength to turn around, not to mention stand up.

The next couple of moments lasted an eternity in the white-haired woman’s head. With her vision blurry, heartbeat rapidly fading, she could not see a way out. But… then something unexpected came. She felt a needle piercing her skin, injecting something—the reaction was immediate. As if someone had shocked her, her body trembled uncontrollably, but the pain subsided, replaced with a strange calmness. A moment later, she was roughly picked from the floor, faced with her beastly mentor once more.

“Look,” he said, gesturing to the right. “This is your mistake; this is your responsibility to clean it up,” no hatred, no anger, only disappointment tainted the man’s tone.

Akali followed the clear instructions, turning to the right. What she saw took her breath away. Reaper, a hunter merely a couple of years older than her, stood there unbothered, holding Irelia like a sack of potatoes. Her uniform was ravaged, shredded to pieces in some areas, revealing the woman’s curvaceous body. The pink-haired woman was unconscious, beaten, and dirty, but she was alive—thank God, the huntress thought to herself.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, her voice breaking, exhausted.

“There is only one option,” Reaper said emotionlessly. “Kill her!”

“Kill me, instead,” her answer was immediate; there was no hesitation. After everything, she should be the one to pay the ultimate price.

The lion-like abomination chuckled again. “I knew you would say that,” he said flatly. “Although you failed, you still kept yourself to a higher standard than most,” he added, putting her on the ground, then squatting next to her. “I will give you one more option. She lives, but her memories are gone.”

If it were even possible, this option felt worse than the previous one. She glanced at the woman she had fallen for; the officer looked miserably. It was a hefty price, but one she was willing to pay. After all, if you genuinely love someone, you must be ready to let them go. Her eyes welled up. After everything she had gone through, after all the suffering, the one piece that kept her going… would be gone. It was cruel, but… at the very least, Irelia would live. Whatever happened to the huntress, it did not matter.

“Wipe her memories,” Akali whispered after a moment.

“You did well.” Rengar’s voice filled the air. But the white-haired woman no longer heeded it—her mind was composed of tears, screams, and fragmented memories she knew she would not be able to remove. Although Irelia would live, at this very moment, Akali died. Not physically, but her heart, her mind… they were gone. All that would remain was a weapon Rengar had forged years ago.

***

Shelob… Shelob… Shelob was her name. The pain rippled through her massive frame, but it did not matter. She survived the fall; she survived the unthinkable. It was an intoxicating sensation… to be able to think, to speak again. How many years had it been since this had been taken away from her? She did not remember. But… one thing she remembered very well—it was etched into her subconscious. The crimson-red, the crimson-red eyes. The strange woman who had challenged her in the lair, who had caused the fall. One day… she would have her revenge. But, for now, she needed time—to gather strength, to adapt, to learn. And… on top of that, there was a long climb back to her lair. The queen’s body was broken, scarred perhaps forever, but she was alive. The revenge would be sweet—after all, it tasted best if served cold.

Author's notes section:

At this point, I cannot set my goal straight, if I'm to remain honest. On the one hand, I have numerous ideas I would like to see written; on the other, with these many stories in various stages of development, it becomes overwhelming to sit down and write anything. I know this should not concern you at all, but I would like to stay clean in that matter, as it affects my writing speed and overall motivation either way. For the next couple of months, I might try to alternate between my longest (up-to-date) story and the ones that I can realistically envision concluding within a foreseeable future. That would be an entry statement from me; I hope you understand :)

[2025-12-02]: Hey, a short preview of the last "Black Diamond" chapter. I hope I can finish it by the end of the week, but I cannot promise anything. Till then :)

[2025-12-09]: Hey, the chapter is done. And... I guess it's finally time to say goodbye to this piece. This chapter of Akali's story is now completed. Perhaps in the future I might decide to write a sequel, but I do not know that as of now. For me, the last 2 - 3 chapters panned out better than the rest of the story. Whether it is simply the improvement in writing quality, consistency or something more, I do not dare to question. But... it is what I feel. So, without further delay, thank you for being with me during this journey. Maybe we will meet this Akali once again one day. But ... till then, thank you and see you soon. There are other stories to write ;)

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are flashbacks/internal thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything.

Music recommendations:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST - The Monolith (Battle Theme)
- Mass Effect 3 - Leaving Earth
- Abba - The Winner Takes It All
- Legend of Zelda (Ocarina of Time) - Gerudo Valley (sad/slowed version)
- Céline Dion - My Heart Will Go On
- Hans Zimmer - Honor Him
- Stratovarius - Black Diamond

End of the author's notes section.