*After what seemed like days of fighting in the city, the battle between Brister and Hargus was finally over. The results of the battle were Brister’s victory and the complete surrender of Hargus. All Hargus soldiers laid their weapons down at the demand of their commander who had agreed to Amarti’s terms of their surrender. In exchange for surrendering and handing himself over to Brister along with nine other commanding officers, the soldiers would be allowed to return safely to Hargus unharmed as long as they didn’t try to fight back. Those that did try to fight back or refused to lay down their weapons were either killed or taken prisoner by Brister. The remaining soldiers of Hargus were escorted out of the city by Brister knights and back to their border. The soldiers didn’t try to fight back and stayed silent until the end of their escort. The battle had left them beaten, exhausted, and left a crushing blow to their egos. Some of the soldiers were even quietly sobbing along the way. Back in the city, Brister was tending to their injured and getting ready to ship out those who were severely wounded back to the kingdom. The members of Shadow Eye were some of the people getting ready to leave as they had accomplished their mission. Sitting on the stairs of town hall was Amarti, Dust, Zia, Ryuuji, Jin, Morgan and Jade conversing with each other before they got approached by Kurai and Arslan*
(Arslan): There you guys are, I thought for sure you would have been gone by now.
(Ryuuji): We’re just about to go. Just waiting on Sanada and Raika.
(Kurai): Good job on getting your target and getting Hargus to surrender. Who knew Dr. Khaos had a whole underground facility beneath the city?
(Dust): I think the biggest shock was that pod Morgan and the others brought with them out of the facility.
*The group turns their heads and sees the pod containing the body of Cindy Khaos being loaded into the back of a van*
(Jin): What’s going to happen to her body?
(Arslan): The kingdom will send the body back to Gurgundy. Once there, she’ll be properly buried alongside her parents just as they originally intended.
(Ryuuji): That’s good. Nobody, not even a child, should ever have their body desecrated like that after death.
(Kurai): Still, speaking of surprises. Prof. Morgan certainly caught us off guard with that distress signal deep within enemy territory. I was so shocked when we got it. I thought one of you have been captured and we rushed to break through. Tomo was especially worried.
*As soon as Kurai finished that sentence Tomo came walking past the stairs and stopped to stare at the group who stared back. He had overheard the last part of their conversation*
(Tomo): I thought your new recruit was in trouble. I didn’t want to lose a promising young knight.
*Tomo continued to walk away leaving everyone a little shocked at what they just witnessed. Tomo rarely talks but when he does everyone listens*
(Dust): *Chuckles* You hear that, rookie? Tomo was worried about you.
(Ryuuji): I told you he liked you.
(Kurai): Anyway, when we finally reached the distress signal we were shocked to see a member of Red Fang being attended to by ice spirits.
(Jade): How’s she doing by the way?
(Kurai): Doing much better. Her life isn’t in any danger so we’re planning on keeping her here for the time being. Interrogate her about Blood Moon and see who else they partnered up with.
(Ryuuji): I’m sure Brutus would have told you that information. Didn’t you catch him?
(Arslan): No. I sent knights to the spot where you said he would be and found no one there. All they found was a large sword and nine bodies of those mechanical soldiers you told us about.
(Zia): He most likely regained his strength and fled the battlefield.
(Arslan): Or snuck into the city for shelter. Either way we’ll continue to be on the lookout for him in the city. Well, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time. Thanks again for all your help. Safe travels back to the kingdom. You guys take care of that young knight here, I see a lot of promise in him.
*Arslan points at Jin*
(Arslan): And you make sure you pay attention to them. You can learn a lot from them.
*Arslan begins to walk away followed by Kurai who smiles and waves goodbye to them before walking into the building with Arslan. Amarti’s phone begins to ring and he answers it*
(Amarti): Hello?
(Raika): Hey, it’s me. We’re by the van and could use some help.
(Amarti): We’ll be there shortly.
*Amarti hangs up and tells the others about Raika and Sanada needing help. They walk away from the stairs and begin heading toward their van where they spot Sanada and Raika helping get a passenger into the van. As the group approaches the van, they see that the passenger that needs assistance is Gael who is in a wheelchair and still woozy from the anesthetic and missing his right arm*
(Gael): Come on sis, I keep telling you I got this.
*Gael pulls himself up out of the wheelchair and tries to walk towards the van only to take one step forward and start to fall down before he’s caught by Sanada on his left side*
(Sanada): There is no shame in asking for assistance, Gael.
(Gael): *Sighs heavily* This is so humiliating. I really wanted to make a strong first impression on the others I haven’t met yet.
(Dust): Don’t worry about it, pup. After the guts you showed today nobody here thinks you’re weak. You’re reckless and wild, but that’s needed in this line of work.
*Flashback begins*
*In the underground facility of Blood Moon, Viktor Khaos held Gael at gunpoint ready to fire*
(Gael): Of course bro! I’ll trust you with my life.
*Sanada smiles happily*
(Sanada): Well said. Now, grit your teeth.
*Listening to Sanada, Gael grits his teeth just as Sanada vanishes in thin air only to reappear in front of him and Viktor. Viktor had a surprised look on his face as he never expected any of them to reach him this quickly. Before he could pull the trigger on his gun, Sanada unsheathed his sword swinging upwards resulting in him slicing off the arms of Viktor and Gael. As the arms flung in the air the gun went off and Viktor fell to the ground backwards clutching the place where his arm once was all while screaming out in pain and rolling around. As he rolled around blood could be seen pouring on the floor. Gael on the other hand fell to his knees still gritting his teeth while tears swelled up in his eyes and clutching the place where his arm once was as well. Gael was doing everything in his power to stop the blood from pouring out wildly but failed until Sanada laid him down and Morgan and Jade hurried over to him. Jade pulled Gael’s hand away from the wound which resulted in blood gushing out and Gael screaming in pain*
(Morgan): Stay with me kid! This will only sting for a minute! Sanada, grab his legs and hold them down! Jade, do the same thing with his arm!
*Both Sanada and Jade did what they were told as Morgan focused his wand at the wound and seal it up with a wall of ice. Gael continued to scream out in pain from the cold, but he eventually stopped after he passed out from all the pain he endured*
(Morgan): This ice is only a temporary fix. We need to get him to a medic immediately!
*Sanada quickly picks up Gael and carries him out of the room followed by Raika. Morgan and Jade turned their attention to Viktor who was powering through the pain and crawling to Cindy’s pod. With a determined look in her eyes, Jade walked towards Viktor blade in hand and stabbed it right through his back. With his hand reaching out, tears falling from eyes and blood coming from mouth, Viktor struggled to say his last dying words*
(Viktor): Cin. . .dy. I’m. . . sorry. . . I couldn’t. . .sa. . .ve. . .you.
*The light in Viktor’s eyes vanishes and his body goes limp as he lays motionless on the floor no longer breathing and blood pouring out from underneath him*
(Jade): *Takes a deep breath* And that ends Viktor Khaos.
*Shortly after this Sanada and Raika managed to come across knights from Brister who escorted them to the nearest medical tent while telling them about the underground facility. The knights of Brister arrived in the facility arresting the members of Blood Moon and assisting Morgan and Jade with Cindy’s pod. Once the pod was safely extracted from the facility they blew the place up along with the remaining mechanical soldiers so that it could never be used again. As for Gael, they managed to get him to the medical tent in time and give him the anesthetic and proper procedure needed to get him stable*
*Flashback Ends*
***
*The group managed to get Gael into the van and had him lie down with Raika allowing him to rest his head in her lap as he slowly drifted to sleep again as Zia drove the van out of the city. After about an hour of driving, the group made it back to Brister by sundown. The group dropped Sanada, Raika, and Gael at the hospital so that they could give Gael more treatment. After dropping them off the group stopped by the Office of Internal Affairs where Dust, Ryuuji, Morgan, Jade, and Jin were dropped off. The group said their goodbyes to each other but before Jin could walk off he gets stopped by Dust*
(Dust): Hey rookie, care for a nice meal?
(Jin): No offense Dust, but I’m not in the mood to go to a pub.
(Dust): Who said anything about a pub? Come on, we’re going to get ramen.
***
*After walking for a few minutes, Dust and Jin enter a ramen shop where the chef who was a middle age human with black hair with strains of grey hair and blue eyes greets them recognizing Dust and welcoming him back. The shop only had five patrons eating. One was a cheetah demihuman businessman sitting at the counter, the other was a merfolk eating in the corner alone, and the last three was a family of dark elves*
(Ramen chef): I see you brought a friend today. Take a seat, someone will be out to serve you momentarily.
*Dust and Jin sit at a table where a waitress who is an elf with short red hair tied in a ponytail, brown eyes and wearing a Chinese dress that was red with matching red slippers comes to take their orders*
(Elf worker): What can I get for you?
(Dust): Order whatever you want rookie, it’s on me.
(Jin): Really? Okay, um I’ll have the meatball ramen please with a lime coke.
(Dust): Tell Wato I’ll have the usual. Ramen noodle skillet with steak and a cherry limeade.
*The elf writes down their orders*
(Elf worker): Coming right up.
*The elf walks away to place their orders*
(Jin): So, I take it you come here often?
(Dust): When I get the chance. Back when we were starting out we would always come here after a rough mission to unwind and relax. Soak in the atmosphere and enjoy some ramen. How you holding up after today?
(Jin): Exhausted. That was crazy what we did today, but I’m still good.
(Dust): And you’re alive. That’s always a good thing.
*Dust’s statement gets a chuckle out of Jin and himself*
(Dust): But in all seriousness rookie, you did good today. Thanks to your efforts that city will live to see another day. That’s something you can be proud of.
*The elf arrives with their food and drinks. Dust grabs his drink as does Jin*
(Dust): Good job today.
(Jin): Good job today.
*Dust and Jin toast their drinks and begin drinking. As they drink Jin came to a startling realization and sat his drink down*
(Jin): You know, I just realized something.
(Dust): What’s that, rookie?
(Jin): The knights who went to get Brutus said they only saw nine mechanical soldiers. We took out ten. Where did the other one go?
***
*At a building within the heart of Brister a human male with medium-length purple hair, golden eyes and wearing a black attire outfit while wearing a white lab coat was sitting at a desk working on his computer in his office. The room had a bookshelf filled with books about robotics and mechanical engineering. The flooring was made of brown wood and next to the bookshelf was a shelf full of awards and a picture of him and Viktor Khaos shaking hands with each other. As he was concentrating on his work, he was knocked out of his trance by a knock on his door*
(Purple-haired man): Come in.
*The door opens and in walks a male cat demihuman with white hair, orange eyes, and a tail that was stripped white and orange. He also wore a lab coat with an attire similar to the purple-haired man*
(Cat demihuman): Sorry to disturb you Dr. Midou, but there’s an Amarti and Zia here to see you.
*Getting up from his seat, Dr. Midou left his office and went into the lab where there were shelves filled with mechanical parts and worktables with mechanical bodies. Standing in the room was Amarti and Zia with a crate right behind*
(Amarti): It’s been a while, Jirai.
(Jirai): Amarti? Zia? What a pleasant surprise to see you here. To what do I owe this late visit?
(Amarti): Oh nothing too serious. Just wanted to give you a present courtesy of your mentor, Viktor Khaos.
*Zia opens the crate inviting Jirai over to see what’s inside. Jirai looks inside where he sees the body of the mechanical soldier that Jin shut down*
(Jirai): This is. . .where did you get it from?
(Zia): Spoils from our recent mission. Also, it’s a she.
(Amarti): We would like you to get her up and running again. I’ve got big plans for her.
Author’s Notes: And that ends volume one of Shadow Eye. Friends, I would like to thank you all for taking time out of your day and reading my novel. It really means a lot to me and I hope you enjoyed the story so far. I’m proud to say that Shadow Eye will return in 2023. Volume two is about 85% completed and I’ll give you an update as well as a short preview in the months to come. Thanks for once again for reading and I’ll see you next time.