Even though they were being shot at, Logan couldn’t help but have a warm feeling from winning yet another bet. “What we’ll do!” he shouted, “I’ll take the ones on the left while drawing their fire, then you come out and burn the bastards on the right.”

  Miyuki had a bloodthirsty smile. “I’d thought you’d never ask.”

  He readied himself with one hand on his sword and the other on the doorhandle. “Wait three seconds after me before you move!”

  “Got it!” she said while drawing one of her revolvers.

  His wolf was practically jumping in excitement. He waited a few seconds for an opening. The instant one of the ambushers paused to reload he opened the door and rushed outward. He could have drawn his pistol and used it, but his wolf called for more of a personal solution. Before he had taken three steps he shifted into his cursed form and drew his sword. He felt his skull shift and elongate into a sharp toothed muzzle. His arms and legs lengthened and thickened. His fingernails grew and curved into sharp claws. His tailbone shifted to outside his body becoming a tail. All of which were covered in a layer of dark-grey fur.

  His alchemically treated clothing stretched with him while being smooth enough to not irritate his new fur, a convenient feature. Unfortunately, the researchers hadn’t gotten the same process for shoes to work making his open like an overripe melon as his feet grew and reshaped

  As he grabbed his sword’s hilt, the scabbard’s hidden doors opened with a snap, fully releasing the blade.

  He looked for the nearest attacker while still running from the car. After a quick scan he saw three familiarly-outfitted gunmen. They were equidistant from him and hidden behind an outcropping of rocks. He chose the one furthest to his left as the first target.

  He released almost all of his stored internal energy and pushed it into his muscles, enhancing them. Moving faster than an olympic sprinter he barreled forward head-first. He snarled, sharp white teeth catching the moonlight.

  Logan’s charge was apparently surprising enough for his three to hesitate. That hesitation gave him more than enough time to reach them. Before the gunman could properly react, he jumped over the rock and decapitated them with a single strike. As he turned to face the next enemy he felt as if there was a red-hot poker jabbed into the flesh of his left shoulder and the feeling quickly spread. With a mighty push and an anger-filled growl he sprinted to the man in line.

  He had been shot a lot over his decades of service. That bullet hit him with the most pain than any before it. He felt like it was injecting molten iron directly into his veins. He had to fight to have any control over his left arm.

  Fortunately, the two remaining targets were lined up perfectly preventing the furthest from attacking without killing their ally. Logan zig-zagged as he approached. Despite his efforts he was still shot two more times, once in each leg. The pain increased forcing him to push even more internal energy into his limbs to keep them operating.

  Even with Logan’s lowered speed he still arrived without further difficulties. With one final push he slashed down looking to split their skull in two. He almost succeeded until his strike was stopped by a raised M16. His sword cut through the carry handle and bit deeply into the receiver. Instead of fully pushing down and probably making his only cover collapse he snaked his empty hand up and grabbed onto their throat and lifted. The man uselessly wrenched on Logan's wrist as he turned from combatant to human shield.

  Before Logan could charge an explosion lit the sky with a flash, forcing the final gunman to shield his eyes from the mighty flames. Logan inwardly thanked Miyuki for her pyromania. Without looking at the light he crushed the throat in his hand, threw the choking man aside and dashed for his final target. He left his sword still stuck in the rifle behind and fell to all fours.

  The light blinded the gunman long enough to only notice Logan when it was too late. Logan’s beast surged forward and took temporary control. He roared, jumped and grabbed onto the final gunman’s shoulders. The sheer force of the beast took his prey to the ground. Logan met the man’s terrified eyes just before used his sharp teeth and massive jaws to rip the man’s throat out. They could only twitch as crimson blood flowed from the wound. He spat out the chunk of flesh.

  He breathed in and released a savage howl into the night. His beast cheered for the short but invigorating fight. After a deep breath, he stood and walked to his discarded sword. With relatively weak hands pulled it from the rifle and returned it to its previous position on his back. When the sword was near its original position it was magically pulled from his hand and moved the few remaining inches until it was perfectly lined up with the scabbard. With a clack the panels closed on the sword. With a small pulse of internal energy into the scabbard, its cargo was cleaned of everything not gleaming steel.

  The motion of replacing his sword caused him to wince as his wounded muscles stretched. He shifted the last of the internal energy put into enhancing his body to healing. He left the rocks and returned to the jeep.

  His wounds were screaming at him. The weakness and burning sensation continued to spread even with his magic fighting it head on. After thinking about how he would get to his wounds he shifted back to his human form. Now he didn’t need to worry about a layer of fur keeping him from the new holes.

  He slowly pulled what looked like a wand with a small blue crystal in the base from a pocket and mentally prepared himself. He inserted the wand’s metal tip deep into the shoulder wound and pushed internal energy into the gem. He grunted as the wand connected to the projectile and created a small mana shield around the wand’s entire shaft in addition to the bullet. The shaft’s shield extended to make the process less damaging to the surrounding tissue. With gritted teeth he slowly pulled until the bullet was out.

  He noted that when the field surrounded the bullet the spreading pain and weakness slowed its spread. With it completely removed the extra effects almost disappeared. Removing the bullets from his legs were just as painful while also strengthening them. Even with them gone he wasn’t healing right. With that much energy they should already be partially regenerated instead of just sealing themselves.

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  He dropped the first two bullets behind him and examined the final while still stuck to the wand’s tip. It didn’t deform, which he was thankful for. He noticed that there was some sort of carving but couldn’t make it out in the dark. It wasn’t strange for people to carve sayings or symbols into their bullets, especially if going for a specific opponent, but this felt different. He stopped feeding internal energy into the wand and caught it. The moment it touched his hand the burning sensation returned. It was if instead of body-temperature copper it was made of white-hot steel. He yelped in surprise and dropped it.

  He quickly checked his palm for damage and found it unharmed. No blisters, no burn, nothing.

  “What the hell?” he said, poking it. He pulled back his hand as the same burning pain seared his fingertip. Again there was pain without damage.

  Further testing was stopped as Miyuki dragged a struggling gunman into the beam created by the jeep’s one remaining headlight. Maybe they would finally get some answers.

  He used the wand to pick up the bullet and drop it in a belt pocket. After that he limped over to Miyuki and the ambusher tightly clutching his thigh. They held onto the cauterized wound he would bleed out if he let go.

  Like Logan, Miyuki had changed form. Instead of like him in which his entire body shifted all she gained was a pair of ears poking through her hair and a pair of fox tails that were large, fluffy, black and tipped in white tufts. It was the same transformation as Councilor Kuzunoha kept up constantly except only two tails and black hair. At first glance he didn’t see any injuries, only a streak of blood across her chest.

  “You good?” he gestured at the stain.

  “Huh? Oh, it’s not my blood.” She then closed her eyes for a moment. Her tails and ears retreated making her look like a normal human.

  Logan looked down at the gunman and grunted. In the light he could tell that his suspicion was true. They looked the exact same as the soldiers that ambushed him in Michigan. Everything from masks to fatigue colors was the same. Even his inability to hear or smell them was the same.

  Logan walked over and knelt next to the injured man and ripped off their mask. “How about we turn off whatever stealth thing you have going?”

  The man didn’t answer him but instead spat in Logan’s face. With one slow deliberate movement he wiped his face clean. “Miyuki.”

  At her queue Miyuki walked up and slammed her foot onto the man’s wound causing him to cry out in silent pain.

  “Now let’s try this again. What are you using to hide your sound and smell?” he snarled.

  The gunman smiled and mouthed “the light shall pierce the darkness.” He then opened his mouth and crunched on something which Logan couldn’t distinguish. The man collapsed and started convulsing. It lasted for about twenty seconds before going stiff. A minute later the man died. Once the man died, his scents returned. Logan could only watch as the fanatic committed suicide.

  “Really, the cyanide tooth trick?” Miyuki said. “You’d think that would have been done to death by now. No pun intended.”

  Logan shrugged as he started going through the gunman’s pockets. “It's what the last one did. Miyuki, you go and start searching the other bodies and see what you find.” She nodded and left.

  There was nothing the fanatic had on him that a normal soldier wouldn’t. Logan finished checking around their neck and found the same amulet he had to leave behind in Michigan. It was a circular pendant about three centimeters wide made of what he thought was silver with the organization’s symbol carved into it. The Light’s symbol was a many pointed star with the phrase Let the Light pierce the darkness carved around the rim. He reached for the pendent but just as with the bullet, it became hot to the touch and almost burned him. After ripping off a piece of the gunman’s shirt he once again tried touching the pendant and found no pain or heat. With a strong pull he broke the chain.

  “Hey Miyuki!” He yelled while studying the amulet’s back. Just like with the bullet he was only able to recognize that it was lightly carved but not what it was.

  “Yea!?”

  “Is your guy wearing a necklace? If he is, be careful it’ll-.” He was interrupted by a startled yelp and curse.

  “Burn you,” Logan finished with a smile.

  “Thanks for the warning moron!”

  “Just bring it and his gun over here. You can touch the pendent with anything but your skin.” He heard her grunt and the tearing of cloth. About ten seconds later Miyuki reappeared carrying a rifle in one hand and a bundle of cloth in the other. Once close enough she tossed him the rifle. He caught it with his left hand causing a lance of pain to come from his shoulder. Logan popped out the magazine and examined the top bullet. He saw the cartridge had a star stamped on the side.

  “What do you think we’re dealing with?” Miyuki asked.

  “Not sure. The pendants I saw before but the bullets are new. The pendants block any sound and smell they produce only while they are alive. While the bullets cause increased pain, saps energy, and slows the healing process.”

  “How many times did you get hit?” she asked with genuine concern.

  “Three,” he grunted as he stood and put pressure on his wounded legs. “They just stopped bleeding.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Really? You’d normally be half healed by now.”

  He started limping toward the passenger side door and stuffed the amulet in an empty pocket along with the bullet he fished out of himself and the magazine. “We need to alert the Council as soon as possible.” he chuckled while wincing, “I might even have to use a med kit.”

  “This has turned into a real shit-show. Are you going to be alright?”

  “Eventually. I am healing just slowly. I will need you to drive the rest of the way back.”

  She nodded and grabbed onto the dead man’s shirt and dragged him out of sight of the road and took her seat. As she entered the car Logan finished limping to the other side of the jeep. With the adrenaline draining from his system the pain from his wounds intensified, slowing him even further.

  As he sat he reached into his final pocket and retrieved a small metal disk with a button on top. He pressed it for a few seconds until it beeped, he tossed off the road in the general direction of one of the bodies. He was just about to relax when the retched smell of fear permeated the entire car. Only then did Logan remember their passenger. He quickly turned around and looked at Sarah who had pushed herself against a corner and pulled her legs up against her chest. She was shaking harder than a chihuahua in the Arctic. He tried to give her a smile. Instead of being reassured she started shaking harder and passed out. After she fell unconscious, he looked down to his gore-covered chest.

  “Well…shit.”