Knock. Knock.

  "What's the password?"

  I turned to Viessa. She shrugged.

  "I'll be right back."

  Dagger Step.

  I teleported through the warehouse's massive hangar door, aiming to appear right on the other side. Something felt warm and wet, all over me. Then I realized I had accidentally teleported inside of the doorman. He burst, bones shattering, flesh ripping, organs bounding off my body in every direction.

  Cloak ruined. Mask drenched. Bits of the doorman leaked through its slits as gore showered the entryway. And my socks were fucking wet.

  Dagger Step.

  I closed the gap, appearing in the center of the warehouse only a few feet from Kelfloss and his entourage. The horses bucked, nearly knocking Hanover and Donnigan off in a panic.

  "Brutalizer, get out here!" Kelfloss screamed as he backpedaled through his wall of goons.

  His men shot forward and the magelights flickered. A moment of total darkness was all I needed to strike. I molded nine spikes and jammed them through the back of their skulls. Executions carried out by a mere fleeting thought.

  For a split second, before the lights turned back on, Kelfloss saw it. All of his men impaled by thin floating spikes, legs dangling inches off the ground before the light erased the darkness and they all fell.

  Kelfloss crawled backward, dragging his ass across the floor despite nothing knocking him down.

  "Brutalizer! Brutalizer!"

  Water roared through the pipes overhead, groaning with a sudden pressure. In the far corner, hinges creaked and a wooden door eased open.

  Target: Tim

  Level: 7

  Karma: -10,270

  Additional Data: Takes great pleasure in inflicting pain upon others, interior decorating, and improvised torture sessions. Slacks off, but always...

  I skipped the rest of his status and took advantage of the shadowy corner he was stepping out of. He opened his mouth and a flying guillotine of darkness sliced through it, cutting the top of his head clean off.

  I glanced over my shoulder, and ripped a shadow up through the massive front door's hinges. The flat wall of metal landed with a resounding boom and Viessa sauntered inside.

  Kelfloss stared at the Brutalizer's slumped over corpse like his stunned silence would bring him back.

  "Do you carry any clothes? Clean socks and a pair of water resistant boots would be preferable," I said, snapping Kelfloss out of his trance.

  +125 XP

  +35 Karma

  Damn, diminishing returns..

  "Who..." Kelfloss started, then it clicked. "Oarwin's phantom?"

  I golf clapped and turned toward Donnigan who's gaze retreated to my feet. "See? It's not some grand mystery. You're just in the wrong line of work. Oarwin's phantom, though? As you can see I'm not bound to any particular district."

  "What have you done?" Kelfloss said, voice wavering with justified fear, pooling blood extended across the ground, staining his palms.

  He raised his hand pointing a finger. "This operation belongs to Daven Murpharion. He owns every inch of Gearward Row. You'll never leave this place alive."

  As I wondered where all the security was, a stomping ruckus echoed from the front entrance. Viessa rushed to my side as Karma's Gaze displayed status after status, until I applied a level six filter.

  Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.

  I lost count as the thugs entered the warehouse. The entire troupe wore matching silver colored longcoats and hoods that shadowed their faces. Marcus, a level seven, strode at the front, his dark blue cape setting him apart as the man in charge.

  "We heard a commotion from down the street. Kelfloss, it looks like you have a problem.”

  He tried scurrying to his feet only to slip in the blood, landing on his ass. I turned toward the oncoming wave of enemies and their steady approach slowed to a hesitant crawl when they saw my viscera covered frame towering over the circle of dead bodies.

  My shadow should have shifted when I turned. Instead it expanded out from my feet, staring back at me, arms outstretched, ignoring the fact I was holding my arms down at my side. Ice gripped my heart and a numb sadness festered.

  My silhouette crept outward, etching itself across the floor at a glacial pace against the light. Marcus and the rest of the thugs noticed the abnormality.

  "No one needed to die tonight. I have too much shit to do. All I wanted was my money. A modicum of honor or decency, and you all could have avoided this fate." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heartbeat.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  "Marcus, help me for Galdir's sake," Kelfloss begged.

  Any previously held confidence vanished along with the color from Marcus's face. I could feel it in the air. The temperature dropped. Terror rose off their ranks like a bitter musk.

  A wall of darkness walled off the doorway, which none of the gang saw. They trained their focus my way, refusing to blink. The magelights dimmed as cymbals crashed.

  FEED ME.

  The voice inside of my head was none of the usual suspects. An intruder. It brought a buzzing numbness that bloomed into an all encompassing melancholy. Memories of my lost childhood intertwined with it and its experiences—a loose collection of feelings, like not even it could remember the origins of what invoked such emotion to begin with.

  Then a wretched voice whispered through the darkness, emanating from my very own shadow. "Feed me."

  I don't work for you.

  This thing expected favors after hijacking my body? I shook my arms out and cracked my neck, just making sure I was still the one in control.

  "Black magic?” Marcus asked over the squealing horses that Hanover and Donnigan failed to calm. "A demonic incantation?"

  The horses barreled deeper into the warehouse, knocking over shelves. An overhanging piece of wood snapped across Donnigan, knocking the guardsmen down.

  Finally, one of the thugs noticed their exit was blocked off by an ever-expanding wall of darkness. It swallowed the door's wide frame and branched out across the ceiling and floor.

  "Look behind us! Move up," he screamed, causing a domino effect.

  A piano shrieked, the jagged chord echoing throughout the warehouse. Overwhelming energy surged through my veins. I stumbled, but caught myself, refusing to hand over control.

  Viessa reached out for me and I pulled away on shaky legs. "Get back, and take cover!"

  She complied, hustling over to the tipped over wagon in the back of the warehouse.

  The gang folded toward the center, shoving each other forward, away from the creeping darkness. Marcus pushed back, rooting his heels in the ground, not wanting to come one step closer as my shadow stretched its arms across the floor, sandwiching them between the aisles and the shrinking entrance.

  "Shoot him!" Marcus commanded as he dropped his scimitar in favor of a slingshot.

  A little over half of his men followed orders, the rest were too busy squeezing through their ranks in a panic.

  Iron pellets whipped out of their slingshots only to be swatted out of the air by Shadow Weave before covering any practical distance. A dark mist curled out of my mouth when I exhaled. Cold shifted through me like a giant block of ice was trawling through my gut.

  Every inch of my body buzzed with a magnificent power. Then I felt it. An endless, gnawing hunger that threatened to topple me. I gripped my balance tight, refusing to hand over control.

  "Know your fucking place!" I shouted.

  "I'm so so sorry," Kelfloss cried.

  "Illuminate!" a level four mage in the back row shouted.

  Bright light shone from the top of his hand, shifting the shadows from above to beneath him. Suddenly, the light went out as he fell through the floor, swallowed by the puddle.

  The gang knocked over shelves, spreading out without any semblance of formation. Marcus lunged over my body's warped shadow, which was imposed on the floor. Horns wailed like funeral bells and the magelights flickered then exploded.

  In the flash of total darkness, a clawed hand rose out of the floor and grabbed Marcus by the leg. Bones snapped as it yanked him out of the air and dragged him into the swirling darkness.

  The floor became lava, sucking away those who stepped in the wrong spot. Their screams lingered long after they disappeared, like they’d plunged off a cliff.

  Less than half of the gang remained. They all clung to the shelves, mere feet away from the pit of darkness beneath them.

  "Are you done?" I asked, as I strolled across the maw.

  I noticed how the interloper had quit tugging for control of my body. Pangs of starvation pulsed intermittently, and its presence remained buried deep within.

  An attitude adjustment?

  "Feed. Friend," the demonic voice rumbled out from the ground.

  Less than a minute ago, I would've told it to fuck off. Now it felt less adversarial. Maybe its pain resonated with me. Or perhaps I was justifying it because when it absorbed those souls I felt my connection to the darkness strengthen—the overwhelming buzz within became slightly more tolerable.

  Another claw emerged behind me. It grabbed hold of Kelfloss's leg, dragging him toward the maw.

  "Not him," I said.

  The claw dissipated and in return I approached one of the shelves and tipped it over, feeding the maw the remaining reinforcements.

  Finally, the darkness was still and there was silence. Well, it was mostly silent besides Kelfloss's soft whimpers.

  +160 XP

  +30 Karma

  I paced down the aisle that had just been a swirling void, looking for any sign of those it had taken. Despite coming to what felt like a mutual understanding, I still winced at the lack of control over the entity.

  I can't have you appearing whenever you need a snack.

  I sensed my internal message didn't go through. Like whatever had stirred was once again dormant. Viessa came crawling out from underneath the wagon, followed by Hanover and Donnigan.

  "Get my gold, and your ledger."

  "Yes, right away," Kelfloss said as he bumped into a table.

  "Make sure he doesn't get lost." I nodded toward Donnigan and he complied.

  As they disappeared into a backroom, I claimed a dark corner high on the ceiling. With a flick of effort, I activated Tether, staking the spot so I could easily revisit it later through Void Seer. Soon, they returned with three iron strongboxes and a lantern burning oil. Hanover reined in the horses, and reset the wagon upright. Two trips later, Donnigan had loaded five strongboxes into the back.

  "The ledger?" I asked.

  Kelfloss held the leatherbound notebook close to his chest. "I'll be killed if I hand this over."

  "Haven't you seen? There are things far worse than death." I looked over my shoulder at the shadows lingering by the entrance. "Hey, do you want some dessert?"

  "Spare me, please," Kelfloss said, bowing his head as he handed the notebook over.

  "Hmm... You've got a lot of interesting stuff in this warehouse. Seems like it's quite the sprawling operation." I snatched the lantern from him in the blink of an eye, strolling along the rows of merchandise.

  "We have three other buildings filled with inventory.”

  "After wiping out Thunder and Fang, and the Sanguine Syndicate I discovered there’s always someone eager to fill the void. I think it's best if I seize control of Ingcaster's criminal underbelly."

  Kelfloss's jaw dropped. "But Daven Murpharion..."

  "He won't be alive much longer nor will anyone who stands by him. For now, continue business as usual. Have more money ready for me next time I stop in, at least twice as much."

  "And what do I say when his confidant questions me about this mess?"

  "Tell him the truth. That what is coming for them is beyond defiance. I don't mind if you stock the buffet with stronger troops."

  I nodded toward the exit and Hanover steered the horses outside. Then I met Donnigan's gaze and sighed.

  "Please, I promise I won't—"

  A shadow blade emerged out of thin air and swooped in from the side, decapitating him mid-sentence. Kelfloss caught his head by pure reaction along with a mouthful of blood.

  "Oh, do me another favor and clean up the Royal Guards. Two blocks south of here at the end of the street there’s an underground bunker with three more in a similar state."