Guardian of the Night

15

Bilain reacted before she even thought about confirming what she had discovered. She hadn't thought about it before, not taking much notice of the woman as they had talked in the wide spaces of the Municipal Ward, but, after the fire, seeing those shadows slip across the vigilante's features, and now, when the flames of the fire pit had cast similar shadows upon Kaluun's face, she knew. The sight of those eyes, in pain, would stay with her for the rest of her life.

"You've murdered people!" She pulled back a fist. The rage she felt consuming her. "My people!"

"Captain! Stop!" Kaluun hadn't resisted her, allowing Bilain to push her against the parapet. "They were evil people. Criminals. I'm helping you!"

Bilain couldn't stop. Here, in her hands, she held someone who had killed dozens of people over the space of a few nights, without any mercy, and Bilain could not show her mercy, either. Her fist fell toward the woman's face and it would not be the only punch she would throw. But the woman had gone. One moment, Bilain gripped the woman's clothing, the next she fell against an empty parapet.

Kaluun had slipped to the side and Bilain had hardly seen her move. She had never seen anyone move like that. Never in her life. She had trained with some of the best warriors Adrasusk had ever produced. Men and women of such skill that Bilain had felt awed to watch them practice. There were people in The Sprawl, brawlers, bare-knuckle fighters, that she had seen six or more Watch members struggle to subdue. None had ever moved with such a smoothness or speed.

That wouldn't save the Lady En Lutar. Bilain was not the greatest of fighters, but she had enough skills of her own, gained through her long years. Without pause, she spun, sending another fist flying toward Kaluun, only for the woman to lift a hand, swatting Bilain's fist aside. Another punch and another tap from Kaluun sending it passing her without damage.

"You will answer for your crimes! Rich or not. Powerful or not. I will see you face justice and the rope!" She launched herself forward, seeking to grab hold of Kaluun. "Stand down!"

"Criminals! Murderers, violent men and women that cared nothing about the people they hurt. Greedy people choking the life out of the poorest that had nowhere to turn." A step to the side and Kaluun let Bilain stumble past her. "I'm doing only what you wish you could. I'm making The Sprawl safer for the good people that live there. You could help me. I haven't killed everyone I have stopped. Some only needed a beating."

She talked as though Bilain were not attacking her. As though they were sat once again among the trees and avenues of the Municipal Ward. Kaluun acted like a friend trying to persuade Bilain the benefits of something mundane. Not a care to her words, no anger, no spite, only a desire for Bilain to understand her. But Bilain couldn't understand. Refused to understand.

For certain, there were times when she wished she could rid The Sprawl of some of the nastier people that called The Sprawl home. The killers, the rapists, the ones that preyed upon the weak and the vulnerable, but she couldn't. Once she began to walk that road, she would no longer consider herself a peacemaker. Killing killers, only made people into killers. They became what they despised, whether that death was justified or not. Death wasn't justice, it was vengeance.

In desperation, she kicked out, back toward where she thought Kaluun stood, and felt her booted foot connect with something. A sigh of relief almost escaped her lips, but that sigh soon turned into a groan. Kaluun had caught her foot and, with a simple twist of her hands, sent Bilain spinning in the air, landing in a pile on the roof terrace stone. She gasped to catch her breath, coughing and forcing herself to her hands and knees.

With her balled fist, Bilain punched the stone, infuriated. No-one had ever played with her in the way this woman did. There she stood, as relaxed as though she were still hosting her party, hand upon her hip, shaking her head. So tall. Muscles stretching the fabric of her dress, but that dress hadn't hampered her in the slightest. It felt as though she mocked Bilain and Bilain had had enough of it.