The Challenger

by Harlon Banks

  "You sure do sleep a lot. Ever thought about just coming out and walking around sometime?" The fair-skinned man asked with a tilt of his head and a cross of his arms. His terribly cut black hair and beard looking a bit better than when they first met, but still rather rough. Least he seemed to get more adept at self trimming the more he did it. His question garnered no response, Liariana simply breaking eye contact and looking down at her pale hands resting over her lap in silence. Jack sighing as he stepped over to the window to pull back the curtains and let some moonlight in.

  "You don't have to stay cooped up in here for the rest of your time in the city, Liariana. Go out and breath some fresh air! Pretty sure if any more mercenaries were after you my guys would have heard something by now and alerted us." He tried to ease her paranoia of being hunted by reminding her of his friends in the streets. Liariana turning her palm towards her face to stare into it, the same palm that she ignited to kill Jonath some time ago. Though she heard Jack's words, she didn't really pay too much attention to them. The past few days she'd just been thinking about a lot of stuff. About her actions, choices, and reactions. She'd been thinking about if she made the right choices up to this point, or if she'd made several grave mistakes.

  Did she really have no choice when she attacked Jonath? What if she'd told him her situation beforehand, or Wren? What if she'd killed Draven anyway and then fled the city? What if she'd pursued Blade and taken his life beyond the walls using her powers upon answering his challenge? So many what ifs, so irritating. Being so unsure of her actions was eating away at her, especially considering the reason for her fleeing her homeland to come here. Was she going on about all of this the right way? Was she endangering Jack and his friends by being here?

  "Izuna?" Jack furrowed a brow when he looked at the woman staring into her hand as if in some trance. Did she pay attention to a word he'd just said?

  Liariana quickly found her breath caught in her throat as she snapped to look in the direction of where the name came from. Her eyes briefly imagining Jonath's visage over Jack's when she looked at the latter by the window. She'd remembered that was what Jonath had called her back at the ruins. The dim glow in her red eyes flaring up by the sudden spike of emotion before they quickly died down again. Her expressions calm and reserved once again before she turned away and buried her face into her hands stressed. Jack was right, staying locked up in this room all day with her own thoughts was taking a toll on her sanity.

  Taking a deep breath with closed eyes and a tilted back head, Liariana exhaled softly. Eyes slowly opening again before she nodded without looking at Jack. Yeah, being alone with her thoughts the past few days was taking its toll on her sanity.

  "You're right, I need to go for a walk." She said glancing back at him. Jack actually taken aback by her sudden agreement. Going so far as to scratch the back of his head a bit lost on what to do next. He honestly didn't think it would have been that easy to convince her to go take a stroll. His dark-colored eyes gazing back out the single window for a moment, clearing his throat next.

  "Ah, um, good! Holy hell that was easier than I thought it would be." He chuckled scratching his chin and shrugging as he walked to take his leave. Pretty sure Liariana had to get dressed and he didn't want to be a creep. "You can go wherever you want in all honesty, go explore the city or something. I seriously doubt there's anymore mercenaries coming after you at this point. Doubt whoever hired them could pay an entire Group worth of mercs to hunt you down am I right?" He smiled one last time at her before tapping the door on his way out and sliding it closed. Or well, trying to slide it closed as best he could after he broke it.

  "I'll fix that while you're gone! Gonna go take me a nap first." Jack echoed in the hall as his footsteps faded away. Liariana couldn't help but give a vague smile at his words; he was a calming person to be around. Running her hands through her hair to briefly brush away the bangs cascading down the sides of her face, Liariana reached to turn on the lantern nearby next. Soon reaching out for a nearby duffel bag with clothes in it that Jack had scrounged up for her the other day to get dressed.

  A while later, Jack was sitting at his hotel desk in the lobby asleep himself. Legs crossed and propped up on the counter with arms behind his head as he balanced on the back legs of the chair. The dim light shining over him flickering in and out again as he breathed in the stale air repeatedly. Mumbling something about needing to buy some scented candles or something after he'd panhandle a few more times in the future. He didn't seem to notice Liariana walking past him. The young woman dressed in some dingy, yet relatively clean, clothes. A simple black short-sleeved shirt, fitting black pants and black shoes with red soles and shoelaces. The bandages that always wrapped her arms were still there as well and her sword sheathed parallel to her lower back, right above her rear.

  As she passed him, Liariana paused in her steps to gaze over him in silence for a moment. Her soft glowing eyes having a stare that wasn't as sharp, or solemn as it usually was. Black hair bangs cresting over the outer corners of her eyes and swaying with every movement of her head. Her features shaped themselves into one of vague curiosity at him, wondering if she should let him know that she was heading out now. The way he seemed to be spaced out with his eyes closed gave the impression he was on the verge of actually getting some sleep. So she decided not to bother him. Breaking away her stare, the young woman took a deep breath before walking to the exit and stepping out into the courtyard again.

  The full moon immediately shone down on her eastern aesthetic, pale skin glowing under its luminescence. Glancing around the courtyard fountain, a bit unsure of where to go next. Should she just stay in the immediate area and circle the fountain? Maybe venture off into the city for some sightseeing? She didn't know. After a bit of thought, hand reaching up to brush away hair from her neck only for it to fall back into place, Liariana decided to do the former. Maybe if she hung around and got to talk more to some of the locals in this slum area, they'd be less wary of her. Especially after her encounter with Blade that wound up with their kind dead. A part of her felt a bit bad about it; a larger part of her felt no sympathy for Tesla's victim.

  The only problems with that however, was that Liariana wasn't a social person. Not only did she usually not like talking to people, having even gotten annoyed of Jack on occasion, she also was rather introverted and secluded with her thoughts. The second and bigger problem, was that the natives here might not like her at all after that incident. While she had no worries about being able to deal with any homeless that tried to harm her, it wouldn't help her standing here. Maybe instead of trying to socialize with the people around, she'd just make her presence known that she felt comfortable being around them. Either way, she'd have to interact with them sooner or later. Maybe this would help lessen the thoughts and what ifs that constantly poked at the back of her head as well.

  Liariana glanced around the large courtyard of stone and marble again, looking over the inhabitants. There were two people walking and talking around the broken fountain, a small group farther away in the back at the entrance of an alley playing dice, a single guy off to Liariana's left some way huddled over a garbage fire, and a couple of men and women sleeping under makeshift tents to her right on the side of the hotel. This wasn't the best, or cleanest community around that much was for sure. The Yelkath easily noticing how much of a sore thumb she was when she caught the ones at the fountain looking at her. When she made eye contact they quickly looked away and acted like she didn't exist.

  Not reacting, Liariana simply turned to walk down to the nearest pathway out the courtyard between a few low-lying, abandoned buildings. Trying to interact with these people wasn't the best idea after all. She wasn't like them, and they weren't like her. Jack and his group of friends were literally the only thing that kept her from getting ran out of here, she figured. Oh well, at least she was grateful for him, for the time being. Right as she were about to step into the alley to head to the city, Liariana heard yell
ing. Tensing up mid-step and narrowing her eyes as her awareness spiked. The rest of the vagrants, beggars and tramps that were nearby also perking up when they heard the yelling. That sounded rather close...

  "I bet it's another one of those damned mercenaries!"

  Liariana's eyes widened when she heard the faint words of a man somewhere deeper in the alley. Her Nightborn physiology making her hearing superior than the others nearby. Mercenaries!? There were more of them here!? Looking over her shoulder towards the courtyard again Liariana started seeing the homeless take shelter in the buildings. Quiet whispers and hurried talking filling her ears as they all aimed to avoid being killed again by whatever was coming. Noticing a few of them glaring at her as they took cover. No doubt stuff like this never happened until Liariana had arrived, it kind of made her feel some type of way.

  Bang!

  The gunshot that echoed through the air made the Yelkath turn her attention back down the alleyway. Without even realizing it, she'd already bolted down the back pathway towards the noise with supernatural speed. Did another one of Jack's people die keeping her location a secret!? Was she really endangering these people by over staying her welcome!? As she ran down the alley with the speed of a tempest, the noises stopped and all went silent. Turning a corner and sliding to a stop as she stood erect again and looked in opposite directions around her. She was at a crossroads of some sorts between buildings. Whatever the case, she planned to find out where that gunshot came from.

  "If it's another mercenary, I have to take care of them before they get to the courtyard." Liariana thought to herself with a vaguely annoyed scowl. Why couldn't she just have a break from bullshit like this happening at every turn? At any rate, it was a good thing she took Jack's advice and left the hotel. She could intercept this person that fired the gun and stop everything prematurely and lessen the impact. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Liariana focused. From what she could remember, these Lazarite towers around the city had a minimum requirement before they activated and suppressed powers. If that's true then that would mean she could...

  Liariana's eyes opened, a more distinct glow to her scarlet hues clear as her vision shifted to where she could see aura in colors. Her hunch was right, sensory abilities weren't suppressed so long as they didn't use up too much mana. Looking around quietly for any sort of sign, something to go off of. She was sure she'd heard the yelling from this direction earlier. Soon enough her eyes locked on to a trail of vague white energy that snaked through the alleyway. It was rather weak and insignificant, no doubt belonging to a homeless. Another vague white trail soon appeared followed by a much more powerful, and distinct silver and black streak of aether. That silver one making Liariana narrow her eyes.

  "That's a Nightborn's aura, but wait..." She said under her breath as she started following it. Expression twisted into one of confusion as she narrowed her soft glowing eyes and picked up the pace down the path. "This energy... looks familiar..." The last part of her sentence only came mentally to her as she broke out into a run again after it. A serious sense of deja vu coming over her as she whipped around another corner down the pathway. Shadows and moonlight accompanied by trash and debris lining her way through the back streets as she continued to feel strangely familiar to this energy. It didn't belong to Blade nor that brute he had come with. To her knowledge those were the only two Nightborn she'd had any real interactions with ever since she hit the city. So why was this energy so familiar if it didn't belong to the-

  Liariana caught a figure dashing passed another intersection a bit down an alley she was just about to pass. Turning to look at it right as they ran by oblivious to her presence. Red eyes widening in utter astonishment as everything seemed to slow down around her when her focus tunneled in on him. Spiky platinum silver hair, pale skin, pale hued eyes... It was him... The same man she'd...

  Jonath was alive. Liariana's deja vu all made sense now.

  The Yelkath bolted off down the street towards Jonath after he'd passed on the other side. Her eyes sharpening into a focused and intense stare as her mind forgot about everything else that had happened these past few days and focused on one thing, Jonath. As she reached the point where he'd ran passed her Liariana quickly looked around. She was on a wide open street that looked to be a main road, long abandoned however just like the rest of this section of the city. Quickly catching on to his aura trail again and running after him like a wolf chasing down prey. It didn't take long before someone as aware and alert as Jonath noticed he was being followed. The amnesic narrowing his own gaze as he looked over his shoulder, and his heart skipped a beat before he spun around mid run and skid to a stop. Liariana doing the same a few meters from him as the two were finally face to face again in the middle of this old, cobblestone street. No words were exchanged between them. Although the looks in their eyes were worth a thousand comments.

  Face to face again at last; Jonath never would have thought it'd happen like this. Pale eyes and his overall aesthetic in general contrasting his all black attire. Platinum silver bangs gleaming under the moonlight above as his fingers curled inwards at his sides slightly from being on edge. His visage wary, extremely so, like a cornered animal too tensed to move a muscle in fear of provoking an attack. Liariana was standing right in front of him again. Those eerie red eyes of hers as sharp in their gaze as he remembered too back when she tried to kill him. He glanced at the hilt of the blade around her backside, swallowing a lump in his throat but keeping the facade of being cool and calm outwardly. The Yelkath staring at him, tilting her head ever so slightly as her glowing hues confirmed she wasn't seeing ghosts. Jonath was alive; he'd survived her attack back at the ruins.

  Jonath's suspicion was right as well; Liariana was still in the city. Glancing back up at her face, making sure not to look in her eyes as they gave him a really bad vibe. Suddenly focusing on that scar across the bridge of her nose. Did she always have that? No, her face was flawless before. Did she get that from fighting Blade? His thoughts interrupted when he saw Liariana grab the hilt of her sword, slowing pulling it halfway from its sheathe as she asked him one simple question.

  "Why are you still alive?"

  "I ask myself that same question every day." Jonath responded with a dry tone. This was bad...

  This was really bad.

  Lethal Reunion

  The Challenger Chapter Forty-Nine: Lethal Reunion

  A heavy silence filled the air of the wide open street way hidden away in the old, abandoned slums of the city. The full moon above glowing in all its exuberance as always and the air rather still. The quiet around so tense, so smothering, that one would hear a pin drop far away if it did so at this time. Liariana and Jonath, two people with a rather bad history between their interactions, were face to face once again. One was rather uneasy and wary of what was to happen next while the other was merely blank and unmoving in their gaze. What an eerie reunion. Given the circumstances Jonath didn't look to have the favorable stance in this meeting either.

  For what felt like ages to him, Liariana's eyes stayed focused on his own. Their red hued gaze never faltering, her posture static and still which only added to the unnerving vibe she emanated as time passed on. Occasionally glancing at the hand that rested on the hilt of that new looking blade slung around her lower back, Jonath swallowed a lump in his throat. A cold sweat cascading down his face, hidden away by thick silver bangs of hair. Was she going to attack him? Why wasn't she doing anything yet? He didn't dare move first...

  "Tell me how..."

  Jonath blinked when Liariana spoke, her tone calm and inquisitive despite the sharp, cold look to her soft glowing eyes. It didn't take long for the young man to figure out exactly what she was inquiring about. The only problem here however, was how he was going to respond to her. No doubt if he told her straight off the bat he didn't know, she'd take it as him messing with her and it'd probably worsen his situation. Yet, it was the truth... He didn't know how he survived her blast of abysmal fir
e at him. Was he supposed to lie to her? Play it off as him just being lucky again? Suggest that she was off aim a bit? He didn't know. He had to come up with something to say back to her though.

  "To be fair I honestly don't know..."

  Fuck it, Jonath believed this was the safest route to take. Just be honest and hope the sincerity in his words swayed her away from trying to kill him a second time. Relaxing his posture a bit, standing up straight with a lax stance, Jonath raised his hands up slightly in a non-provocative shrug as he continued to talk.

  "I thought I was dead when you attacked me with whatever... that was you did. I felt it hit my arm and it hurt, an excruciatingly amount. Don't remember much after that except feeling cold and extremely light in the next moment and then well..." He shrugged vaguely and lowered his hands while keeping eye contact. "Woke up in complete darkness alone in the temple ruins. Managed to use my old phone's flashlight long enough to escape the ruins. I found the bodies of those scholars, too. They had a charm with just enough energy left in it for me to break through the barrier too."