Episode 3
284 Words
***The Betrayal***
They fought their way down fire escapes, through back alleys, Cassius hacking streetlights to blind pursuers. But at the marina, with the Syndicate’s yacht looming, Kaven stepped from the shadows.
“Emily,” he purred. “You didn’t think I’d miss the party?”
She aimed her pistol. “You sold me out.”
“Business, darling. Nothing personal.” He raised his hand, and snipers’ lasers danced over Emily’s chest. “Give me the dagger.”
The dagger hummed, its glyphs blazing. Emily felt its pull, a tidal wave urging her to strike. But Kaven smiled. “Oh, you feel it too, don’t you? The call. Makes you wonder—what’s on the other side?”
“Hell, probably,” Emily spat. “You first.”
She threw a knife. Kaven dodged, but the distraction was enough. Cassius slammed a button on his wrist pad, detonating EMP charges in the docks. Lights died. Screens fizzed. In the chaos, Emily lunged, the dagger carving an arc of crimson light.
Kaven drew a blade of his own—obsidian, jagged, humming with the same otherworldly resonance. They clashed, sparks raining, the air shuddering. Emily’s muscles burned; Kaven fought like a demon; his strikes precise, brutal.
“You’re slowing down, Emily!” he taunted.
She feinted left, then drove the dagger upward. It scraped his ribs, and he hissed, stumbling back. But as he fell, he grabbed Cassius, pressing his knife to the hacker’s throat.
“Drop it,” Karen growled, “or he dies.”
Cassius met Emily’s gaze. “Don’t.”
The dagger’s voice roared in her skull. WORTHY. CHOSEN. POWER.
Emily hesitated.
Then she let the dagger clatter to the ground.
- Writer
