Infiltration

Chapter 4

The air-conditioner was turned on at full blast. It was summer, but the night air outside was cool. Stepping into the building was like a blizzard in winter.

The Shadow Hunter ducked past office-goers and a couple of janitors. He remained invisible, which greatly strained his body; he could only hold the spell for another fifteen minutes, tops.

He had arrived at the elevator lobby. Going in would be too risky. He surveyed his surroundings: no one. His body became visible again. Tapping into the Chaos energy he had gathered within him, he morphed himself into a body of shadow, a shadow that could contort its shape and phase through walls.

The shadow pressed itself against a wall, slipping upwards through the ceiling and into the second floor. It repeated the same action for every floor, and finally the spell was wearing the Hunter out, and he reconfigured himself, becoming invisible again.

He stepped past a long row of drapeless windows, and the reflection of his hooded face caught him by surprise. He wasn't invisible. Something was interfering with his spell on this floor.

A man dressed in a heavily starched cotton shirt stepped out from a door. He seemed preoccupied with the brown coffee stain on his collar. Eventually he gave up on trying to remove it via fingernail, and looked up. Before he could shout or produce any sound, his eyes lolled up lazily, and he toppled onto the floor.

The Hunter stepped over the man, who was now in a deep sleep. He corked the bottle in his hand as a wisp of smoky gas escaped its rim. The sleep potion would take care of anyone he did not wish to hurt, but for others who proved too big a threat...

Cerberes was aching for blood.

It would seem this was the floor he had been looking for, since there was an active Spellbind here. He no longer cared about being seen: one man unconscious on the cold floor would definitely send guards running if the body were to be discovered. It would not be long now.

The Hunter broke into a stride, sleep potion ready, Cerberes drawn. His stride became a run as his ears perked to the sound of another door opening. A gun was cocked, but the guard was down before he could get a clear shot. Two minutes later, and an alarm was blaring.

How long was the damn corridor?

The Shadow Hunter did not stop running. He passed rows and rows of labelled doors, none of which he was interested in. Gunshots rang out from behind him, but he twitched his blade, and the bullets and guards flew backwards.

Lounge, lecture hall, lecture theatrette. Everything appeared to be for students. Suddenly a label that seemed out of place stopped the Hunter.

Experimental Lab.

He tried the handle; it wasn't locked. The door swung inwards without a creak. He stepped inside.

Several guns were cocked simultaneously. The Hunter smiled: finally, some real competition.

Instead of bullets, out of the guns came jets of light and cosmic energy. They were not high-level spells, and the Hunter deflected them easily. He filled his body with the magical energies that so freely swirled around the Earth, and felt his stomach lurch as he moved at the speed of light, dodging energy blasts and stunning spells.

Three seconds later, Cerberes was satiated and the wizard scientists were no longer breathing.

The Hunter surveyed his surroundings. The lab was uncomfortably cluttered. Documents and computers were all over the many long desks. Everything seemed made of steel, and the bright lights overhead was nauseating. Shelves of reference books, test-tubes and vials of coloured liquid stood at one corner, the only things that appeared neat in the small lab.

There were some yellow files on a table, and the Shadow Hunter took them up. The first was marked 'Lucy', the other 'Wormwood'. Both were equally compelling. He opened the first one.

The door flew open with a bang, and the Hunter felt a powerful sensation gripping him. It was as if an invisible hand had pressed against his throat, crushing his windpipe.

The Hunter's mind was racing as he gasped for breath. Surely he would have been able to see even an invisible foe with his Aura Sight, unless...

But before he could even finish that thought, he was turned one hundred and eight degrees around and flung out the lab door. He crumbled onto the floor, the pressure on his neck gone. His anachronistic cape was all about him, and Cerberes was a feet from him.

Clambering to his feet, head spinning, the Hunter saw his foe at last. It was a woman, her face unclear in his blurred vision.

Knowing better, he called for Cerberes. He caught a glimspe of a blue lightning bolt whipping towards him as he smashed his way out of the building, disappearing into the night.