Thrice Great

Wanted

Tristan and Rini whirl around.

Four people stand behind them. The hungry smiles on their faces, as well as the emptiness and soullessness of their eyes mark them as Disgraced.

Rini cowers behind Tristan's legs. Tristan smiles at the group of Disgraced.

"Didn't even bother learning my name, eh?"

The Disgraced answer in the form of an attack.

Three of the Disgraced, two men and a woman, lift their hands and slam an invisible wave of power into Tristan.

The wave of dark magic would be enough to severely injure any normal person. It just knocks Tristan several feet away. He tumbles for a bit along the ground before landing face-first into the cobblestones.

As soon as Tristan falls, the fourth member of the group, a man whose bottom half is reptilian, springs forward and grabs Rini.

Before Tristan can get up, the half-reptile sprints away, Rini in his arms.

She screams and thrashes around, but the man holds tight to her as he runs.

People on the edges of the square begin to notice the commotion. Some flee as discreetly as they can, while others yell and holler as they run. A few spectators take out their wands and shoot red sparks into the air.

Tristan gets up from where he fell and takes out his wand. It extends into his full staff, a combination of Thoth and Hermes' silver and golden staffs.

With a sweep of it, he sends a wave of power back towards the three that attacked him. They fly backwards, before hitting the walls of buildings behind them and crumpling like rag dolls.

Tristan puts his staff back into his pocket and breaks off in a sprint towards the man that has Rini. Because of his long legs and godly speed, he is able to catch up to him before too long.

Rini stretches her arms out towards Tristan from her position in the man's arms.

"Tristan!"

The man speeds up, but so does Tristan. When he's close enough, Tristan clenches his hand and swings at the man's head.

The man falls like a bowling pin. Rini slips from his arms with a yelp, but Tristan catches her.

Tristan keeps running, carrying Rini at the same time. Rini clutches her wand in her hand, gazing in fear at the three Disgraced who attacked Tristan, who have regrouped and are now pursuing them again.

They run out of the square and down a street, Disgraced on their heels.

As they run, locals scatter, all fleeing the potentially-dangerous scene before them. Some seem to just vanish into thin air. Red sparks shoot into the air.

A wall stands at the end of the street, rendering it a dead end. Standing in front of this wall are the teenage agents from TOAL: the same ones from the toy store.

Tristan slides to a stop.

Goddammit.

Metal Face steps forward.

"We know it's you, Hermes. Your disguise doesn't fool us. Give us the girl, now."

The girl with the blue bob speaks up.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You give us Eirena, we'll let you go in peace, and she won't be harmed. Or you can choose to be difficult, and there will be consequences. We can't guarantee that either of you will go unharmed. We've been gifted with weapons, brand-new, state-of-the-art ones, that have the power to harm even gods. Your choice, though."