The half-breed was pissed. The thick fog was in the way of him reaching his meal. He could literally taste it a moment ago. But now, it was slowly fading. His meal was escaping.
[So much for a feast.] One daemon said.
[Indeed]
"[Silence!] the half-breed shouted, "[If it wasn't for me, the two of you will still be in that cargo crate of yours, waiting for one person to pass by.]"
[There he goes again.] the first daemon said, turning to the fog. [We have to kill the fog user. Let me do the honors.]
[No.] the other daemon said. [I will. The two of you are almost in your white phases.]
[Barely]
[I am yet to reach that state of evolution]
The first daemon and the half-breed looked at each other and said nothing as their fellow daemon walked into the thick fog.
Lukas didn't know how long he had to hold onto his technique. The Shield agents were slowly evacuating from the back, but it seemed to take forever. The fog allowed only he to see in it, but he wished that wasn't the case. The three menacing daemon in front of him was not something to be proud of.
A hand touched his shoulder. It was Ross'. "Is everyone out yet?"
"Yes. Just left with Hughes and a few others. You and I inclusive."
"You didn't mention his title."
"Screw that."
"Ha."
"Once I come back and touch your shoulder, increase the intensity of your fog. You give the sight of vision to the two people who touch you then withdraw."
"How long is that going to take, sir? One daemon is approaching."
"Dunno. Lets hope it doesn't take long."
Lukas heard Sgt Ross leave. He was alone now. Alone with three daemon. Was this what inquisitors faced on a daily basis? This...fear? This unbearable fear? A fear that made them want to turn tail and run? To throw up everything that happened to be in their belly? Was this what Brandon, Rachel and Sarah wanted to go through for the rest of their lives? Lukas closed his eyes. His whole body was shaking. He was a coward. No doubt. He'd joined the Shield because it was safer. But if this was safe, then...
Hands touched his shoulders, signalling the end of his trial. He didn't need to see who was going to attack the daemon. He only needed to obey and fall back.
Lukas returned to the back, where Hughes, Ross and a few others were, armed. The agents could hear the sound of the dameon screeching and snapping, with a few grunts from the others. It took a few minutes, but they felled the daemon.
Lukas let out a sigh of relief as he sat down. He took out a vial, injecting himself with it. That made three. He was already starting to feel drowsy. But he had to hold on. The vials were replenishing his burnt out licht energy. Too much of it would be poisonous. But to hell with that. From the corner of his eye, he could see Felicity with her needle dagger. She was sitting against the wall as well, a bandage wrapped around her left arm. She had fared better than the others.
The attack had taken them all by surprise. No one had detected the presence of the daemon, not even their radars. All they knew was that vestorers had been fired rapidly at the building.
All this in the name of terrorism. Lukas thought. They had gone too far. The two shield agents had returned, one of which was bleeding profusely from his stomach. The medic got to work immediately. Hughes still tried to call for help, but it was no use.
"Dammit," Hughes cried. "And none of you have a phone, huh?"
The Shield agents shook their heads. Hughes cursed under his breath. This was bad. Very bad. To think they'd be taken by surprise like this. Without help from the outside they were screwed. Hughes looked over at the Shield agents. The only ones with licht techniques were Lukas and Terry. But Lukas was already at his limit. Was he using a fourth vial? He could be subject to poisoning anytime soon. And Terry's licht technique was kind of useless. Or rather, did not fit the circumstances they were in. Last he checked, slime didn't do well with fire. And the others? Ross? Shasha? Felicity? Heck his best guys were spent already, one bleeding out.
It was at that moment that flipped.
Noone heard the guy sneak up on Lukas and stab until Lukas' licht technique faded away. Nobody also expected the militants to also flood the place where they were hiding. Nor where they expecting Shasha to stand up, pointing her gun at Hughes. Hughes looked up at her, deep into her eyes, shocked at her sudden change of heart.
"Why?" He managed to say.
Shasha smiled. "Its all in the job."
Timothy and the rest of the shield agents began their clean up, the cargo truck having been waiting all along. The driver smoked his cigar, happy that he didn't have to go through this hell.
Timothy sat down, tired. He looked at the streets, were the dead had been gathered. 17 in all. Both Shield agents and Foundation militants alike. His mind slowly shifted to Zhao Fan. Was this what she fancied? A massacre like this. How did it feel for her when she killed all those people. Was she happy? Guilty? Nonchalant?
Her words slowly filled her mind, like a sword stabbing his heart. We're both murderers.
She was kind of right. Moments before the half-breed had arrived, he had been firing his gun at those militants. Most likely killed one or two, heck he himself didn't even know. And yet he'd called her a murderer. Someone who had owned up for her mistakes rather than reject it. He was truly a hypocrite.
The cold steel against his head was something he'd never felt before, which also brought a new kind of fear. One that made him instinctively stand to his feet.
"That's right. On your knees!" The militant said. He obeyed, seeing his other men being put through the same ordeal.
"Take their weapons boy." The militant behind him said. It was then the horror filled his face as he saw the person he had ordered. Shawn slowly walked towards Timothy without a word, taken the Shield agents licht weapon.
"How could you?" Timothy could only say. Shawn didn't reply, turning to take the other weapons of the shield agents.