Chapter 15: Rage of the Nightwinds
The alley grew darker as the sun dipped behind the town's rooftops, the last of its light showing long shadows over the stoned houses.
The three gangsters who had dared to lay hands on Lirian were crumpled on the ground, moaning in pain.
But Gunther and Johann Nightwind weren't done.
"Touching my little sister," Gunther hissed, "was the last mistake you'll ever make."
He grabbed the largest of the gangsters by the collar and slammed him against the wall so hard that cracks formed in the old stone.
"Please!" the man croaked, coughing up blood. "I didn't know—"
"Didn't know? Didn't know?"
Gunther's voice rose in mocking disbelief. Johann crouched beside one of the others, who was clutching his broken arm and whimpering.
Johann placed the blade under the man's chin, tilting it upward.
"You knew exactly what you were doing. You thought she was an easy target, didn't you?"
The man nodded frantically, tears streaming down his face.
"Wrong answer," Johann said, driving the tip of the dagger into the gangster's cheek just enough to draw blood.
"Aaaaah!" the man screamed.
"Stop screaming," Gunther snapped, turning to glare. "Do you want the entire town to know how weak you are?"
The man immediately bit his lip, muffling his cries.
Lirian, still leaning against the wall, watched in stunned silence.
She had known her brothers were ruthless, but this was something else entirely.
"Gunther," she began cautiously, "maybe that's enough."
Her eldest brother glanced at her. "Enough? After what they did to you? Not even close."
He turned back to the man he was holding and leaned in close.
"You shoved her. Pushed her face against a wall. Tell me, what else were you planning to do?"
The gangster stammered, "N-nothing! I swear! Just wanted some money—"
Gunther's fist slammed into his stomach, cutting off his words.
"You expect me to believe that?" Gunther growled.
"That's all scum like you ever wants, isn't it? Money. Power. You thought you'd take it from someone weaker than you. Too bad you picked the wrong family."
Johann chuckled. "Maybe we should take something from them, brother. An eye for an eye."
The gangsters began panicking in earnest, scrambling to plead for mercy.
"No! Please, we didn't mean—"
"Shut up," Gunther snapped, letting the man fall to the ground like a rag doll. He stepped back, pacing, his hands twitching with barely restrained anger that showed on his red face.
"You know," Johann mused, circling one of the smaller gangsters like a predator sizing up its prey, "I've heard there are certain… consequences for harming a Nightwind. Did you know that, Lirian?"
Lirian crossed her arms, trying to appear unaffected, though her heart was racing faster than a horse. "I've heard the stories."
"Stories?" Johann's grin widened. "Oh, they're much more than stories."
He grabbed the gangster by the hair and forced him to look at Gunther.
"What do you think, big brother? Shall we make them an example?"
Gunther stopped walking and crouched down in front of the leader, who was shaking uncontrollably.
"You hurt someone precious to me. That means your life belongs to me now."
He grabbed the man's hand and held it out, palm up, examining it as if it were an object.
"Hands like these," Gunther murmured, "don't deserve to exist. You used them to touch what's mine."
Before anyone could react, he drew a short blade from his belt and slashed it across the gangster's palm.
Blood splattered onto the cobblestones.
"Aaah! Aaaah! Aaaaah!" The man screamed, thrashing, but Gunther held him harder.
"Consider that a warning," Gunther said in a cold tone. "If you ever so much as look at Lirian again, you'll lose the whole hand. And then the other. And then…"
He let the implication hang in the air, tossing the man aside like garbage.
Johann, not to be outdone, turned to the smallest of the three.
He knelt down.
"You see, we Nightwinds have a reputation to uphold. People need to know that hurting one of us comes with a price. Do you agree?"
The man nodded uncontrollably, his breath hitched.
"Good," Johann said. Then, in one move, he plunged his dagger into the man's thigh.
The gangster howled, clutching his leg as blood pooled beneath him.
Johann straightened, wiping the blade on the man's shirt. "Now everyone will see what happens when you cross us."
The third gangster, who had been paralyzed from fear, suddenly bolted.
Gunther sighed, shaking his head. "Coward."
He drew a throwing knife from his belt and, with a flick of his wrist, sent it flying.
The blade lodged itself in the fleeing man's calf, and he collapsed with a scream.
"Aaaaaghhhh! No! No!!!"
"Bring him back," Gunther ordered one of the knights standing at the alley's entrance.
The knight bowed and dragged the injured man back to the others.
Gunther turned to Lirian. "Feeling better, little sister?"
Lirian swallowed hard, forcing herself to meet his eyes. "I was fine before all… this."
Johann chuckled, stepping beside her. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're squeamish."
"I'm not," she snapped, straightening herself. "I just think you've made your point."
Gunther smirked. "We'll stop when they've learned their lesson."
"Trust me," Lirian muttered, glancing at the bloodstained cobblestones, "I think they've learned."
Gunther and Johann exchanged a glance but finally gave up.
"Fine," Gunther said, sheathing his blade. He stepped over the leader, who was still groaning in pain.
"Let them crawl back to whatever gutter they came from."
"And spread the word. No one touches a Nightwind and lives to tell the tale."
As the two brothers walked out of the alley, Lirian followed behind them. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or terrified.
One thing was certain: her brothers were no heroes. They were villains through and through
"We're going to see your husband, Lirian. How dare he leave you to wander here alone."
"No, Johann, it was my own decision!"
"Don't you dare talk back, Lirian," Gunther glared at her.
"You were given to him as a gift of our alliance, and he dared to leave you alone?!"
Lirian paused her steps, "given? Just like an obje-ect?" She stuttered.
"To save you from our father."