Steel squelched through rotten flesh. The creature fell without a sound. The sickly smell of rot filled the air. He frowned heavily. The attacks were coming more frequently. This was the fourth one this week. Each time Lucien found himself sent out with Calen to assist the Knights of the Pale Order with whatever monsters had come to the wall. This was the first one to make it past their outer defenses. They were still trying to figure out what was making the monsters this bold.

  Well, everyone but Lucien was. He already knew what the others were refusing to say. Bloom was causing this. He wasn't sure how yet but like the creature he saved Emrys from, these were covered in blackened vines with mushrooms growing along them. The biggest difference was the smell. It was no longer that same enticing smell. Now it was just the rot that was left. He pulled his blade from the side of the creature, wiping it off on his thigh.

  "How many more?" He asked Calen who stood nearby.

  "That was the last from what I can see." Calen replied as he turned to look at Lucien.

  Both of them were covered in black goo. They each wore a mask that covered their noses and mouths to keep spores from infecting them. Calen rolled his neck as he stared at the monster on the ground. Lucien could see his mind racing as he tried to come up with something. Now both of the assassins were frowning.

  "What are you thinking Lucien?" Calen was looking to bounce ideas.

  Lucien sheathed his dagger. He shook his head. "They're infected."

  Calen toed the creature as it deflated against the cobblestone below. "But with what?"

  There it was. As smart as Calen was he tended to miss the obvious. He was a skilled assassin, absolutely deadly when he was told to be, but rarely did he think beyond what the church told him he was allowed to think. It drove Lucien mad. Then again, he had been the same way before Solenne saved him. There had been a time when he would do whatever he was told, believed what they wanted him to believe, and not once would he question anything. Now he questioned it all.

  "Its Bloom, Calen."

  "What? No. Bloom only affects the lungs." Calen stated matter-of-factly as if Lucien was the idiot in this situation.

  Lucien sighed heavily. "Look at it. Its covered in mushrooms, wreaks of rot, and you're really going to tell me that this isn't the same Bloom we have both seen?" He tried not to snap but couldn't stop the bite to his words.

  Calen tensed. He looked at the creature and back to Lucien. "That isn't possible. The Archons would have told Primarch Aldren if Bloom was anything more than what we know."

  Such a blind fool. Lucien didn't answer. He whistled, calling a Knight over to them. Lucien told the Knight to take the carcass to be incinerated before anyone in this part of the Veil awoke. Leaving something like this in the streets would just cause a panic. With Lustration growing closer, a city wide panic was the last thing anyone wanted or needed. Besides, even if someone had seen it, the Aureate would have them silenced before rumors could spread.

  Lucien watched Calen walk with the Knight. The two of them could handle whatever would happen to that thing down in the catacombs. He turned on his heel and headed for the gate. They needed to be tracked back to wherever they were coming from. Was there a nest? Could there be more? The [tree heads] weren't the only creatures attacking. A few [wolf-like creature to be named] had nearly broken through the southern most gate of the Veil. That was too close to Solenne's shop for his liking.

  He nodded to the guards he passed. They nodded back. None made an attempt to stop him. Why would they? He technically outranked them though the Candescent Order would never acknowledge his existence. As far as the public was concerned, the assassins of the Pale were spooky stories told to children to keep them from misbehaving. If only they knew. Would the people even really care? Probably. No one liked knowing there was a dark side to the Light they worshipped.

  The sun rose to his left. He knelt down, gloved fingers ran over drag marks in the soft dirt leading into the Wilds. Lucien followed them with his gaze. They were coming from the west it seemed. That wasn't a part of the Wilds that was well explored. It wasn't for a lack of trying. They'd sent expeditions out that way before over the years. Few returned and those who did always came back wrong. They didn't last long after returning. The blade on his hip had ended more than a few of their lives.

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  It started off small with those that returned. A whisper of an artifact here. A slip of blasphemy there. Soon they were muttering insanity about the Choir being corrupted, being bred of darkness not Light, and that was when his blade found their throat, their heart, whatever the Aureate told him to strike. He hated slitting their throats. They always choked on bloodied words of heresy that Lucien was starting to believe.

  He stayed low as he entered the tall grass on the edge of the forest. Even so, his shock of white hair could be tracked for more than a few paces. It wasn't until he hit the tree line that he became truly invisible to those that might be around. The darkness of the Wilds was thicker than that in the city. It clung to him like a long lost lover, embracing him as if this was where he belonged. It was comforting, strangely warm. He thought about staying.

  Lucien shook his head. "No. If you stay, no one will be here to protect Solenne." The thought of her wide, doe eyes, staring at him, the smile on her face, the blood on her darkened fingers, comforted him more than the dark. He pushed forward. Taking his dagger from its sheath, he marked the trees he passed by. He wasn't the first to leave marks in their trunks. Others were carved into the wood. Some were surprisingly recent. Lucien couldn't help but wonder who left them.

  Other than Solenne, and now Lucien, the only people who came out into the Wilds were hunters and the occasional scholar turned adventurer after finding a map. Lucien had seen the maps in the Aurifer a few times. He didn't think they were very accurate but what did he know. Pale assassins were not explorers. Therefore he could not speak to their accuracy even if he wanted to. He spotted the dragging marks once more as they led towards the sound of running water.

  Lucien stepped out of the tree line and onto the bank of the small river. It was muddy. His eyes narrowed as he knelt down to place his hand in the water. He quickly pulled it out, wiping his gloved fingers off on his thighs. Even with his gloves on that water should have been cold. It was warm, almost hot. He looked upstream.

  "What is going on here?" He muttered as he stood. Lucien started to make his way upstream. From what little he knew of his area, there should be a lake not too far from where he was then. Maybe that was where he would find his answers.

  A branch cracked. Lucien dropped low. He stared off into the forest where the noise had come from. What was out there this time? Was it another [creature]? Or something else? Bushes rattled with whatever was moving. Confusion washed over him. Wahtever this was, it wasn't a [creature]. It was too small. He took a few steps in that direction. Lucien stopped just before the trees started again. His eyes went wide as a figure stepped out in front of him.

  "What are you doing here?"

  There was no answer. Lucien stood tall. His lips parted to ask again only for the figure to clap and everything went bright white.

  ???????????????

  Lucien groaned loudly as his senses started to return. He took a moment to assess himself. Nothing felt broken. He didn't smell blood. His scar, the one Solenne left, burned for some reason. Had someone been praying over him? Had he been praying? As far as he knew, there had been no words to come from him after... After what? Where was he? What was he doing? Lucien looked around. He was laying on his side just outside of the guard shack. It was later in the day than when he had left. How long had he lost?

  Sitting up, he looked at the gates of Caelora. How had he gotten back here? What was he doing out here in the first place? Slowly he got up, dusted himself off, and headed back into the city. He needed to find Calen. Surely his friend would have been looking for him. Right? This feeling of unease set him on edge. Lucien was always sure of himself yet in that moment, he felt as if he wasn't sure of his own name.

  Calen was in the graveyard of the Basilica. He was sitting on top of one of the graves looking up at the sky. From his approach, Lucien could see that Calen's eyes were closed. This wasn't unusual. The other assassin was known for looking up instead of down. Primarch Aldren told him he had his head in the clouds when he should have a foot on the ground instead. For the longest time, Lucien was jealous of Calen's ability to look up and see the Light. Even before his accident, he wasn't able to perceive the Seraph's or others in the way that Calen claimed to be able to.

  "It's about time you came back." Calen didn't open his eyes.

  "You didn't try to find me." Lucien walked over to the grave. He leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest.

  "Why would I? You didn't call for me."

  Lucien snorted. "Its not like you would have known if I had."

  Calen looked down and over to Lucien. There was something in his dark eyes that sent a chill through Lucien's bones. He hated it. That look brought a bubbling rage from the depths of his soul to the surface. It brought out a primal urge to rip Calen's flesh from his face, to offer it to the Choir as a sacrifice, to show them that he was the one worthy of their sight, their smiles, their warmth.

  No.

  He wasn't. There was only one that he was worthy of and she didn't even remember him. Did she? Lucien flinched. Calen blinked. Neither of them said anything for what felt like an eternity. All they did was stare one another down. Were words truly needed at this point? Had they not grown close enough to read one another without a need to speak? Maybe at one time but not anymore. Not now.

  Calen looked away first. "You were right." He finally said.

  This caused Lucien's brow to furrow. He was never right. "In what way?"

  "They're infected with Bloom. An Ecclesium healer confirmed it. Whatever this sickness is, it is spreading beyond just people."

  If that was the case then none of them were safe. Lucien peeled the gloves from his hands. He ran them through his hair, tugging it lightly to clear his thoughts. He sighed heavily as the realization washed over him. This meant that they were no longer just tools of the Primarch. The Archons would be calling on them to cull the creatures if they got close again.

  "Come. I need to bathe and we both need to pray." Lucien said as he pushed off of the gravestone. He walked towards the entrance to the catacombs. There was no need for him to look back to see if Calen followed. He always did.