Angus Jarlson eased himself back against the alley wall as he listened to the constant thrum of life and toil in the endless cityscape surrounding his team of Huscarls. Distant gunshots echoed from somewhere within the grotesque monstrosity that was Twilight City. A place where lives departed the world like clockwork and souls could be exchanged just as easily as creds. 

Here in the outskirts of the Great City, shady business went down on a regular basis. The protective hand of Tenocore’s public patrols turned already blind eyes away and plugged their ears, making it open game for any of the lesser powers in the city to claim the territory. Powers, such as these rose and fell in the outskirts, few ever pressing their influence beyond. It was here, in this place of violence, that Angus had begun to make a name for himself. 

        It was here he thrived.Angus caught the faint whirring of servos as Yuri, his Thane, itched the stubble of his face with his augmented arm.

        “What?” Yuri asked, realizing Angus was watching him.

“I told you I’d pay to have that replaced.”

Yuri raised the augmentation, a Hammer Mark IV. It was dated tech, easily twenty years past its prime.“Your father had this made for me,” he said, admiringly. “Works just as well as it did back when we hunted the Jotunheim.”

“Could work better,” Angus offered, to which the Thane shook his head.

“Sometimes, Little Jarl, it is better to use what you know to be reliable,” Yuri said, the metallic fingers locking in place as it transitioned into a piston powered fist and back again.

It was an old argument that went along with an old name. Yuri had been calling him ‘Little Jarl' since he was a boy back in Norway. Back when Angus’ father still ran the business and his younger self only aspired to be a name long remembered in the Jarlson line. Simple dreams from a boy who didn’t know the brutality of the world.

Of course, he wasn’t little anymore. In fact, he was broader and taller than most men. However Yuri easily stood two meters; the vast majority of the world likely seemed ‘little’ to him.

“You could have chosen somewhere better for this meeting,” Yuri grumbled, pale gaze scanning the other side of the empty road. “I don’t like being this close to a park.”

Angus’ eyes drifted to the park across the street. Despite the various holo-signs placed in front of it, branches from ungroomed trees had grown to the point of reaching through them, distorting the images. Anyone willing to pay the creds for holo-marketing would have had a conniption, seeing their displays interrupted like they were. That had been the first confirmation of the ambush he suspected was bound to occur.

Angus kept the smile from his lips, knowing there were likely Fae eyes on them as they spoke. His hand caressed the S&W AR .12 gauge shotgun hanging from the strap across his chest before falling to the Loki Distortion Blade at his hip. A favorite little creation his best minds had come up with back at the workshop.

His recently established Huginn and Muninn, the eyes and ears of his business on the ground and in the Net, had informed him that there was a new reward on his head in the Fae realm. Instant title and elevation to nobility for the Fae that brought the Jarl’s head before the Altharian Royalty and enough creds to live the rest of your life in comfort for those outside their organization. That was big in the world of glitter and lies, bound to have several veiled conditions for whoever received it. Those who knew how the world worked in Twilight City claimed the Fae took revenge to a whole new level.           

Angus was more than happy to bump them off that pedestal.

Yuri knew the score. As did the other four Huscarls with him on the ground… and the team of six located in the apartment complex overlooking the area. These were his best support, half of them his father’s Old Guard and all of them with a grudge to bear. Every Huscarl was heavily armed with iron rod rounds as backup and plated body armor. The Fae hated iron; might as well be poison for their kind. While they’d developed a means to be able to touch it, a bullet through them prevented their blood from clotting and was best used to disrupt any constructs created by the Old Magic.

Whatever deception was coming their way, he and his people would be ready to retaliate.

Of course, in the off chance he was wrong, he’d make a decent sale with the product he brought and gain a new client. Gun running and weapon manufacturing was always in high demand in the almost lawless city. 

            “It’s not a prime location, but that’s what the client asked and we’re obliged to make good business,” Angus told the Thane.           

Yuri snorted.           

They weren’t, of course. Nobody was in Twilight City, except for the Fae. They placed a great value on their word. Odd, considering their love for deception. Always a way to say something plain and clear, only to twist it into an entirely different meaning.           

“Contact sighted,” came Helen’s voice over the com system, one of his eyes above and a crack shot in a bad situation. “Southside.”           

That put Angus and his team on the street with their business transaction to the front and the park to their backs. It was a pretty little trap.

“Copy love,” said Angus, keeping his eyes at street level, and avoiding looking up. He didn’t want to give away his tricks before the show started.

He could envision her smiling as she responded, “Keep up the ‘loves’, see what it gets you.”

“Got me you,” he said, staring at Yuri to make it seem as if they were talking to each other. “A couple of times if I recall.”

The hulking Thane rolled his eyes, “By the Allfather, keep the blood in the right head.”           

“He’s right, you’ll need every ounce of it when we’re finished here,” she said, unveiled promise clear to everyone with a com.           

A couple of the nearby Huscarls chuckled while Yuri grumbled under his breath.           

Like Angus, she took no small amount of pleasure torturing the old Thane.           

The sound of wheels on concrete caught his team’s attention as two black SUVs pulled in from the south entrance. The vehicles conveniently stopped at an angle, blocking any escape that direction and forcing his team toward the park if they needed to run. Of course, he’d planned for this, having instructed Helen and his hidden Huscarls to watch the park while he took care of the rest.           

Doors opened and a couple of large thugs stepped out first. Scared faces and hands, chem injectors on arms to get them jacked in the event of a fight. Whoever was running the mortal aspect of this operation must not have realized what a dead giveaway tech like that was. Chem setups of that variety not only came at a high price but were primarily sourced by the Fae. As much as Angus despised them, the Fae had the best chem product in Twilight City.           

It was all the evidence he needed to decide what would happen next.           

Angus stretched, raising his arms above his head to signal his Huscarls, both hidden and revealed, to ready themselves.           

“Hello my friends,” Angus called, slowly walking toward the parked vehicles, keeping his hands clear of his AR. “And who might I have the privilege of selling Valhalla Steel to today?”           

A man stepped out, cheap suit and slicked back hair reminding Angus of a used car salesman with an ego bigger than his ability. The too sharp features of his face showed expensive surgery to reshape his appearance into something more appealing. Of course, that didn’t help the paunch or undefined tone of his body. That required effort to shape properly, something this fool didn’t understand. Judging by the wide smile on his face, Angus the poor bastard probably thought he was about to make an easy fortune.

Angus noted the figures in the cars that hadn’t gotten out. Several dark shapes behind tinted windows. The chem thugs would go down like a cheap whore from the Pearl District, but if those figures in the SUVs were Fae, they might have a bit of a fight on their hands.

Angus felt his own smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“That’s me, my man,” said the cheap suit, taking a draw from the vape pen he pulled from his front pocket.

Still grinning, Angus allowed his hands to fall to his AR. Drawing it up he aimed point blank at the cheap suit’s chest. The movement was so casual and smooth that the man didn’t quite register the threat until Angus spoke.

“That’s unfortunate,” Angus said, pulling the trigger.

The AR barked as the shotgun unleashed a burst volley and gaping holes appeared in the cheap suit’s unprotected chest.

Most of the chemed up thugs didn’t have enough time to dose themselves before Angus’ Huscarls opened fire. Bodies hit the ground nearly everywhere they once stood. Deafening machine gun fire echoed throughout the alleyway as two of his men lit up the SUVs and those inside.

An almost musical scream issued from the SUVs and Angus felt a thrill run through him at the sound of dying Fae. The dark cloud of bloodlust filled his veins, altering his mind, muting the chaos around him as he focused on their cries, but he didn’t let it take over completely. That was something he could never do. Not again. Even so, his hatred burned as he strode forward, the need to put down a Fae by his own hands overriding the need to find cover. Old wounds rose to the surface, memories best left forgotten coming to prominence in his mind.

From behind one of the vehicles, the bull horn roar of one of the chem thugs drowned out the gunfire. The man burst around the rear of the SUV, muscles and veins bulging beneath his skin as the chems amplified his body. Two holes appeared center mass as a Huscarl turned his sights on the man, spraying his lifeblood and lungs on the ground behind. It didn’t slow him down.

The jacked up thug was almost upon Angus when the Jarl turned and blew out the man’s legs with two well-placed slugs. The thug screamed and crashed to the pavement, the chem fueled rage trapped in his crippled body. Angus didn’t break stride, letting his Huscarls finish the man off as he continued toward the SUV. Useless to go for a body shot with that much chem flowing through a man. He’d seen entire chest cavities blown out and users still moving in for the kill. That much juice could keep a man alive long after his heart stopped beating.

Another darted from cover, but a shot from up above burst his skull like a melon. The body thrashed about, slamming fists into a nearby SUV, caving in the side. Without a head, it wasn’t a concern anymore. What did grab Angus’ attention was the faint blue glow building on the other side of the vehicles.

Magic.

Angus felt the hairs on his arms stand on end as he rounded the vehicle, ducking out of the way as what looked to be glowing liquid, untouched by gravity, rushed past him in an ascending loop that rose above the alleyway and beyond. Angus felt a wave of cold air in its wake as he popped back up, ready to fire. Yet his target remained on the ground, clutching her stomach, the glow fading from her hands. She had an ageless beauty about her, as did most of her ilk, but still seemed too young to be trying to kill him. Lithe without appearing frail, with wide eyes that were too large to be human.

Angus continued walking toward the Fae, checking the other two in the SUV. Both dead. He’d have to give his Huscarls a raise.

“You wasted what you had left on that?” Angus asked, squatting down near the Fae, keeping his shotgun aimed at her chest.

They were fast if given the opportunity, and deceitful as a viper’s reach. The Fae’s eyes still glowed with the blueish light he’d seen in her hands. Not uncommon for one of her kind with the Power in her blood. One of her pointed ears had been taken off in the hail of gunfire that killed her companions.

“Glade Burner,” she spat, voice reminding him of windchimes. “You’ve not changed. Still a butcher.”

Glade Burner; the name equivalent of being hated by God in their culture.  

“We’ve met?” he asked, pausing a moment rather than finishing her off.Angus looked closer at her, noting the markings along her angular face and recognizing the royal bloodline they represented; Uthwiegn Bloodline. He still remembered the day he’d claimed the Weregild on her people. He saw it every night before he fell asleep. It was hard to forget the scream of sentient trees; thrashing wildly as the flames ate them up. Broken bodies scattered about, many too small to be adults.

The laws of peace, which had been honored for generations, were broken in a few days time. Since then, hundreds of lives had been lost. All because of the treachery of her people. All because they’d murdered his father.

She sneered, giving a feral appearance to her delicate features, “You will pay for your transgressions, mortal. For the heinous crimes against our people. Your end is upon you.”

Angus hadn’t known the Fae young would be at the Glade when he attacked. He should have, but in his rage he didn’t think it through. He’d called an end to the assault when he discovered the terrified girl staring at the end of his AR; the very same Fae that lay bleeding out at his feet now.

Angus looked around at the numerous dead, not one of his own down or injured.

“Some day, perhaps,” he said quietly. “But not today.”

The Fae glared at him, defiant to the bitter end, “It will be.”

Angus watched the life leave her, the glow in her eyes darting off in the same direction as her failed spell.  Magic was a strange thing, beyond him in most respects.

His need to kill faded with the vanishing blue light, leaving him with the bitter coals of inner turmoil. Hate intertwined with sorrow for past wrongs and lives taken too soon. 

“Yuri,” he called.

The hulking Thane made his way over, squeezing between the SUVs Angus had simply walked through.

“I expected more than some low-grade thugs, especially with Fae as backup,” Yuri rumbled, “Next time just-” Yuri’s face grew somber as he spotted the dead Fae.

“So that’s what became of the Uthwiegn bloodline. Did she die well?” Yuri asked.

Angus shook his head, “A bit of blue flash and a few words to curse me. Not much of an end.”

Yuri’s face froze, “Blue flash?”

“Contact,” Helen hissed over the com. “Parkside.”

Gunshots sounded from the buildings above. Angus turned that direction just as a car was launched from the street into the side of the towering apartment complex where his Huscarls were located. Screams rang out over the coms as several were crushed by the impact.

A towering figure emerged from the park, seeming to be made up of interwoven trees and stone to form a body. One arm ended in a massive boulder and the other in viciously sharp branches. It was easily three times the size of Yuri. Bits of rock and earth made up a head, with glowing blue eyes shining from sunken holes in its face.

“She’s not dead,” Yuri told him, augmented arm transitioning into a piston fist. “She’s come to claim her vengeance.”

The creature fixed its gaze on Angus and charged, its every step shaking the earth as it closed the distance between them.

“Switch to iron-rod,” he shouted over the com.           

Angus ejected the drum magazine from his AR and exchanged it with his secondary magazine of rod-iron slugs. Only discipline ingrained in him over years of this business kept his hands steady and his nerve resolved. His Huscarls on the ground didn’t have time to switch ammunition let alone move. Their weapons barked out in frail defiance, bullets doing little to no damage to the behemoth. They might as well have been casting stones for all the good it did them. The first man was eviscerated by a taloned hand; his body spilling gore as it was tossed overhead. The second was simply crushed underfoot; bones snapping like dry wood. The remaining two barely managed to dive out of the way as the creature rushed forward.            

It didn’t care about them, all it wanted was Angus.           

Pulling back the action of his AR, flicking it to full-auto, he sent a volley of iron-rod at it’s head. Bits of stone and earth scattered from its face, one eye put out in a blast of blue flame, causing the creature to let loose a roar of primordial rage and pain. For all the damage the iron-rod did, his barrage did little to slow it down.           

“Shit,” he snarled as it barreled onward, flipping over the SUV in front of him.

If there was a chance to get out of the way, he would have taken it, but he simply couldn’t move that fast. Even if it were possible, the alley was too narrow to avoid it’s grasp. The weight of that realization was all too clear as the taloned hand shot toward him. Knowing full well his end was upon him, Angus held the trigger down. His screams rising up alongside the roar of his shotgun as bits of the creature were splintered and torn away. He wouldn’t go quietly.

Then Yuri was there.

“Onto Valhalla!” snarled the giant Thane.

His piston powered Old Swede slammed into the joint of the clawed arm, pulverizing the stone and causing the entire limb to break apart into piles of earth, stone, and branches. The beast let loose a terrible roar and in the next moment the bolder-like club that made up it’s other arm swung toward Yuri. The Thane tried to pull back, but it was too late. Stone struck augmented flesh and he was launched into a nearby wall with a sickening crack.

Angus didn’t have time to grieve or think about the consequences of his next action as his AR went dry. Dropping it, he drew the Loki Displacement Blade from his hip and pressed the activation button. The sword hummed to life, vibrating at such a high rate of speed that the last foot of steel seemed to flicker in and out of sight. If he could close in fast, it would cut through all that stone like butter.

Off balanced from the missing limb and blow to Yuri, the creature staggered as it tried to regain its balance. As it crashed into the alley wall, Angus saw his opportunity and darted toward the behemoth, intent on severing the head from its shoulders. As he did, its one remaining eye fixed on him as he closed the distance. It used its momentum to press off the alley wall, sending a cascade of brick and mortar to the ground below. Realizing he’d misjudged its recovery speed, Angus swung the displacement blade into its knee. There was a brief millisecond of resistance before the sword let out a deep thrum and cut clean through.

The creature tumbled forward and Angus threw himself clear as the boulder arm came down where he’d just been. As it struggled to right itself and Angus scrambled to his feet, its remaining eye, fixed on him with glacial cold rage, burst into pale light and broken stone, followed by a loud crack from above.

“Target engaged,” came Helen’s voice through the com set.

Following her shot, what Huscarls remained unleashed a volley of rod-iron into the now blind beast. It staggered as it tried to rise, flailing its remaining limb until the withering rounds broke it down to little more than a writhing mass of earth.

Satisfied that it was disabled, Angus took a steadying breath and walked forward, resting his blade against what remained of its skull.“You came close, Blood of Uthwiegn. May your gods grant you peace in the afterlife.”

The creature let out a low, miserable moan before he engaged the displacement blade, driving the weapon through its skull. What magic held it in place, vanished as he dispatched the beast and its body crumbled to the alleyway floor.

Angus stared at the remains, his brief sense of victory tarnished as he took note of his dead in the alley and remembered the Fae child of so many years ago. The price of mercy.

“Jarl, do you copy?” Helen asked over the com.

He remained silent for a moment. “Jarl?”

“How many dead?” he asked.

There was a pause, then, “Three with me. Sven, Konrad, and Porvus.”

Angus looked at what remained of those in the alley, specifically the two Huscarls that had held their ground. His eyes drifted to where Yuri’s body lay, motionless. The Thane's augmentation was little more than scrap from where he’d been impacted. On wooden legs Angus walked forward, ready to wish his Thane and oldest living friend a fair journey to Valhalla. To his surprise, Yuri’s pale eyes locked onto him.

“You kill it?”

The dread in his chest faded for a moment as he looked down at the man.

“Call in a recovery team, now,” he said over the com.

Kneeling beside the Thane, he checked him over. His lower body was twisted at an unhealthy angle; likely his lower spine was broken. Aside from that and his ravaged augmentation, there was a chance he’d pull through.

“Bastard ruined my arm,” he growled, trying to rise. “I suppose you’ll have to get me that upgrade after all.”

“I’ll have to do more than that.”

Yuri grimaced, “I’ll take it as a bonus for saving your ass, Little Jarl.”

Angus barked out a laugh, “You’ve earned it.”

If Yuri survived, Angus would pay top dollar to have him augmented and back out in the field. He surveyed the carnage in the alley, knowing this was but another escalation between his people and the Fae. A shadow of things to come. His private war had arrived in Twilight City, and he’d need every able body he could get to fight it.