ROSES HAVE THORNS

Muddy footprints covered the area around the front door’s wooden planks.

"Not that I need to tell you guys, but stay cautious," Kurt murmured, leading the way.

They quickly searched the decrepit first floor, moving quietly from room to room.

When they reached the small kitchen near the back exit, Emelie knelt down, pointing a finger at the base of the rear doorframe. "Kurt. Over here. I found more."

Walking over to her, Kurt and Reuben inspected the floor. Printed clearly in the drying mud were small, childlike shoe prints.

"No doubt about it. She’s definitely been here," Kurt confirmed. "Judging from these footprints, she came in through the back and went upstairs. However, no one was chasing her nor was she running. I’m guessing she came in, went upstairs, and that’s when the people from the front entered.

"There were no visible small footprints at the front. So they either snatched her or hopefully, she’s still here. Hiding somewhere."

"That’s some observation skills you have, Rossana."

"Yeah, well... Let’s just say I’m used to hunting rabbits."

"Hmm."

Without wasting more time, they hurried up the creaking staircase to the second floor.

"Take a room each," Kurt ordered softly.

They split up. Emelie used her telekinesis to open the jammed door leading to the bathroom. "Bust. Nothing in here."

Reuben stepped into the children’s bedroom. His sharp eyes swept over the overturned, bunk beds and mattresses. Searching through the entire room, he came up with nothing.

Kurt took the last; the master bedroom.

The room was completely trashed, from the peeling wallpaper to the damp walls. Beside the destroyed bed frame stood the giant broken hole in the wall where Kurt had previously fought off a cultist’s ambush.

Searching the room, however, there was no sign of Rupee anywhere.

"Dammit!"

BAM!

Kurt slammed his fist into the side of the old broken cupboard as frustration boiled over in his chest.

Coming up completely empty-handed, the three of them regrouped back downstairs in the living room.

"Now what?" Reuben asked him.

"Now? Now there’s no choice left." Kurt’s eye burned with a dangerous intensity. "We’re going to have to go outside and give the neighbors a very warm hello."

Before he could even take a step toward the door, both Reuben and Emelie snapped their heads toward the front.

"LOOK OUT!"

Emelie leaped in front of them both, thrusting both of her hands forward. A barrier of dense, translucent telekinetic force enveloped all three of them in a glowing sphere when suddenly–

BOOM—CRASH! BANG—BOOM!

A split second later, the entire front wall, the wooden roof, and every window of the house violently disintegrated.

A deafening barrage of heavy metal crossbow bolts, explosive fireballs, and streams of electrical elemental magic blasted through the structure from every single angle imaginable.

The sheer devastating force of the ambush tore the second floor to shreds, collapsing the wood into a massive pile of splinters and burning debris.

A dense wall of grey smoke and pulverized dust hung over the street, completely obscuring the remains of the two-story house.

All along the street and subsequent opposite road, dozens of figures leaned out from second story framed windows, stepped onto rotting rooftops, and poured out of narrow doorways.

The entire avenue was packed with men and women clutching crossbows, jagged pitchforks, rusted iron cleavers, and crude magical staffs.

They squinted through the haze, straining to see past the smoke and ambers.

"... Did *gulp* D-Did we get ’em?"

"Of course we got ’em! No one survives a barrage like that and comes out alive! Haha! Now the Brotherhood is sure to reward us with–"

"Die."

A cold, razor-sharp voice cut through the fog.

SHING!

A flash of crimson light pierced the darkness. A clean, single red arc traced a line through the haze, revealing the menacing figure of Reuben standing amid the floating embers. His signature crimson blade was fully drawn, shining with a terrifying aura.

Before anyone could even blink, a massive, shockwave-inducing wind-blade exploded from the red steel.

The concentrated wave of compressed wind sliced diagonally across the entire street, carving through wood, stone, and flesh without losing a fraction of its momentum.

WOOSH—BOOM! CRASH! SPLAT!

Bodies were cleanly bisected before the victims could even scream.

Entire rooflines, upper halves of neighboring houses, and stone chimneys were sheared in half, launching high into the sky by the force of the vacuum.

The surviving slum-dwellers stared at the catastrophic sight in paralyzed horror. The air was dead silent for one dreadful second.

Then, the screams erupted.

"AAAAHHHHHHH! MONSTER! HE’S A MONSTER!"

Suddenly, the severed half-houses, falling debris, and dismembered bodies suspended in the air froze mid-flight.

They hung motionless against the clouds, surrounded by a glowing translucent green aura crushing telekinetic mana.

Emelie stepped through the clearing smoke beside Reuben. With a cold flick of her wrist, she brought her hand slamming downward.

BOOOOM!

The piling debris slammed into the street like a falling mountain.

The impact shattered the stone street, pulverizing the remaining attackers on the street underneath tons of crushing weight. Panicked shrieks of pure terror rang out from every corner of the slums as the survivors scrambled over one another to escape.

Through the clearing fog where Reuben and Emelie stood, a third figure launched forward.

CLACK! CLACK!

Metallic snaps of twin brass knuckle switchblades echoed sharply through the smoke. Moving with the predatory efficiency of a huntsman, Kurt blurred across the fog.

Within seconds, the street was filled with the blood-curdling screams of pure agony.

Kurt moved like a phantom through the chaos, leaving crimson streaks across the grey stone and dismembered bodies in his wake. His single blue eye glowed with an unholy, lethal rage. Anyone holding a weapon was dismantled before they even realized he was standing next to them.

One man – a gangly thug with a crude iron dagger – dropped his weapon and scrambled frantically through the ruins of a half-destroyed house.

He clawed at the splinters, tears streaming down his face as he screamed at the top of his lungs. "SAVIORS! BROTHERHOOD! HELP ME! HEEELP!"

Whoosh!

A hand shot out from the dust, clamping around his face like a vice.

CRASH!

Kurt slammed the man’s head down through a wooden table, pinning him to the floorboards.

He then leaned his face inches from the terrified thug’s. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"H-HELP–!"

THWACK!

Kurt raised his right hand, equipped with blood-stained brass knuckles, and brought it slamming down into the man’s jaw. Blood and spit sprayed across the floorboards.

"WHERE IS RUPEE?!"

"W-Who– R-Rup–"

THWACK!

The brass knuckles slammed down again. Yellowed teeth flew across the room, bouncing off the cracked floor.

"LITTLE GIRL! BLONDE HAIR, BLUE EYES! SHE HAD A PINK BACKPACK! WHERE IS SHE?!"

"R-Rueee! Y-Yesh! I-I shorry! I knowsh! I knowsh! Pleash don’t hit me–"

Seeing the brass knuckles raised high above his head for a fourth strike, the thug shielded his face and shrieked. "AAAHHHH–!"

CRASH!

The blow missed his broken face by a millimeter. The metal knuckles smashed straight through the wooden floorboards, embedding into the dirt foundation beneath.

"G-Gack!" The man gagged as Kurt grabbed him by his collar.

He dragged the weeping thug out of the ruined house and back onto the street. The man’s boots scraped helplessly against the stone, occasionally bumping against dead bodies, severed limbs, and thick pools of fresh blood.

He sobbed uncontrollably, whimpering out slurred, barely coherent pleas for his life since his jaw was fractured and half his teeth were gone.

Thud!

"Eurgh!" The thug tumbled forward onto the cobblestones as Kurt tossed him like a sack of trash.

When the man looked up, he froze.

The heavy smoke had split sideways, clearing the avenue. Standing before him were Emelie and Reuben.

Emelie was calmly dusting off her jacket, her green eyes icy and detached, while Reuben stood with his hands tucked casually back into his pockets, his crimson sword now sheathed at his hip.

The thug scrambled to turn around and crawl away, only to bump into Kurt blocking his way.

"Talk. And I might just let you go."

"D-Down... d-down the shouth end of the shlumsh!" the man sobbed out, his broken jaw causing every word to slur into a desperate mess.

"Th-There’sh a warehouse! With a canal that leadsh to the open shea! I-Inshide the warehouse... th-that’sh where the girl ish!"

Kurt reached down and grabbed the man by the collar with one hand, lifting his entire upper body off the ground.

"Why? Why did you kidnap her?!"

"I-It’sh for Tobiash! He’sh... he’sh collecting children like her for money! We shent word to the Brotherhood that we got one... and to meet ush there!"

Kurt’s eye widened. A furious shock rippled through his chest. He clicked his tongue sharply as he felt a bitter rage settle into his bones.

"Tobias is dead..."

"H-Huh...?"

"I said Tobias is dead, you bastard!"

"AAHH–!"

THWACK!

Kurt threw a full-powered left hook straight into the man’s temple.

The brass knuckles connected with a sickening crunch, instantly shutting the thug’s lights out. The man went completely limp, collapsing onto the cobblestones in an unconscious heap.

Standing over him, Kurt unclasped the brass knuckles and shook his hands to fling the lingering blood off the metal before slipping them back into his holster.

Behind him, Reuben took a step forward, looking down at the unconscious thug with a subtle raise of his eyebrow. "You’re not killing him?"

"No. Didn’t you hear what he just said? These trash are still communicating with the Cult. He’s a lead, alongside the people we’re about to meet. We’re not done with him just yet."

He then turned his head, looking toward the southern district where the canals cut through the city.

"Now, let’s Rupee."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!