When the Copper Prince stepped down from his throne the battle began. Ranged Fates abilities blasted into the Protectorate’s shield wall as those with melee powers charged ahead. A bolt of yellow energy hurtled by a Lightning Shepherd slammed into one of the guards at the center of their formation. A direct attack from such a Fate could easily knock a man to the ground assuming it didn’t simply burn a hole right through his chest.

To the dismay of the Lightning Shepherd he didn’t get to witness either of those potential outcomes. Instead his ability crashed over the guards like water splashing harmlessly against a Hydra. While the six headed beast he had tried to slay was made up of six individual humans they fought as though they truly were a single mighty beast. Years of training went hand in hand with their overlapping Fates.

If one of the Protectorates was subject to an attack the others would activate their Guardian Shield. This primary ability allowed them to spread a single powerful blow across all six of them, drastically weakening the attack in the process. Naturally that didn’t deter the other thugs from trying their own hand at killing the City Guards.

Aiden ignored the chaos that was unraveling around him and whistled for Vagrant. The Ethereal vulture landed on top of the cage and looked down at him expectantly. The man in gray looked up to the bird as he spoke.

“That was kind of you to lead the guards to us. Now if you could find the keys to get me out of this cage I won’t bother you for any more favors for the rest of the day.”

The Corpse Hunter felt the heat of a fiery explosion against the back of his neck as it radiated from the direction of the fighting. Fresh memories of being blown up stirred in his mind.

“Sooner rather than later, please.”

“I can help with that,” came the voice of the Copper Prince.

Key in hand the crime boss unlocked the cage and stepped inside the ring flanked by two women. Aiden recognized both of the Prince’s companions. One was the Pain Bearer, which was to be expected considering how strong a Fate Holder she was. Of course the Copper Prince would want her by his side in a fight to the death.

The other woman was Renee, the Copper Prince’s favorite whipping girl, or so Aiden had come to think from her previous injuries. The bruises on her face had healed since the Corpse Hunter had last seen her making the apprehension on her face all the more noticeable. She looked like a snake trying to determine if its intended prey was small enough to swallow or would choke her to death while she consumed it.

“There’s still time to walk away,” said the man in gray.

“I think we’re well past that point,” the Copper Prince replied. “Besides, you still owe me a fight.”

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

Aiden’s eyes were on the young woman. She averted his gaze and said nothing, waiting instead for her boss’s command.

“Which one do you want?” the Corpse Hunter quietly asked the man beside him.

“Which one is the Pain Bearer?” Landon asked quickly.

“The one on the left,” Aiden said.

“Then I’ll take the one on the right.”

“You sure, no need to make your choice so quickly.”

“Oh I’m quite certain. Consider this payback for the comment about my wife.”

The Copper Prince snapped his fingers and both of the women at his side charged ahead. Landon met Renee in the center of the cage as her club slammed into his shield. Aiden on the other hand stood his ground as the Pain Bearer bore down on him. He pulled a metallic sphere from his pocket similar to the one he’d thrown at the Guard Captain during their fight. It broke on the woman’s sternum where Aiden had tossed it.

Instead of containing a series of electrically charged wire cables this orb was filled with heavy gauge barbed wire. Metal hooks wrapped around the woman’s arms binding them to her sides as they embedded themselves into her flesh. Aiden realized a moment later that he should have aimed for the woman’s legs.

The Pain Bearer ran forward and drop kicked the man in gray which sent them both toppling to the ground. Before Aiden had a chance to recover the Pain Bearer knelt over him and proceeded to smash her forehead into his face. Blood immediately began to gush out of the Corpse Hunter’s broken nose.

She reared back for a second blow but a pair of talons latched onto the Pain Bearer’s hair and pulled her off of Aiden. Vagrant squawked angrily as the muscular woman flailed about, unable to free herself from the bird’s clutches without the use of her arms. The man in gray sprang to his feet just in time to intercept the Copper Prince’s sword.

The longsword glanced off the Corpse Hunter’s buckler and cut into the stone at his feet.

“I see you can block but can you parry?” the Copper Prince taunted as a dagger appeared in his left hand.

He stabbed at Aiden’s midsection but the blade was met by the Corpse Hunter’s short sword.

“A man of many talents I see.”

As the crime lord prattled away the man in gray pivoted and thrust an elbow into his ribs.

“I never cared for small talk,” Aiden said. “Least of all in a fight.”

While Aiden fought against his own adversaries, Landon was kept busy by Renee. It was well within his power to block her attacks but she was enough of a bother to keep him from lending aid to the Corpse Hunter. When he had tried to intervene he took a blow to the collarbone that had slipped off his shield from his own lack of attention. His chainmail had cushioned the blow but it wasn’t guaranteed to stop a follow up attack.

Seeing Aiden’s Familiar rip the woman off of him was a relief to the Guard. But that emotion was quickly replaced with concern when he saw the Copper Prince marching towards the Corpse Hunter, his dark blue cloak trailing behind him. The sound of blades clashing only hastened Landon’s desire to rid himself of the woman that was standing before him.

“I don’t have time to waste on you,” Landon said. “Walk away and you’ll live to see another day.”

“No I won’t, he’ll hunt me down and gut me like a fish,” Renee replied.

“The Copper Prince can’t touch you if he’s dead, can he?.”

“You think the two of you can kill him yourselves?”

“No, but your friends are going to run out of steam before mine do. When that happens the Prince’s fate is sealed. Why not join the winning side while you still have the chance?”

Renee shot a glance over to the battle that was raging just beyond the cage. The walls, floor, and ceiling around the City Guards was melted, chipped, and warped a dozen times over. But the Protectorates themselves stood strong weathering every jet of fire, bolt of lightning, or conventional attack that was thrown their way.

Seeing the apprehension on the young woman’s face Landon pressed her harder.

“I’m a Guard Captain and while you drew your weapon against me I swear on my honor that if you help me take down your employer all will be made right.”

“You’re married, yes? Then swear on your wife’s head.”

“I swear on my wife’s head,” Landon said just before the Pain Bearer’s fist slammed into his jaw.

District Seven’s Captain of the Guard blacked out before his body even hit the stone floor beneath him. The flesh on the Pain Bearer’s arms looked like they’d gone through a meat grinder. Loose skin hung where the barbed wire had cut into it and her hair was a tangled bloody mess from Vagrant’s talons.

Those wounds made the gleeful smile upon the woman’s face all the more terrifying. Pain was like a drug and the more it consumed her the more she wanted to share that feeling with others. Of course only Pain Bearers benefited from this experience but that rarely crossed their mind while under the effects of their Bloodlust ability.

It was painfully clear that the guard wasn’t getting back up so the Pain Bearer focused her attention to the Corpse Hunter. He was currently engaged with the Copper Prince and looked as though he was holding his own for the time being. That tide was about to turn however and she enjoyed the thought of being the one to break the man in gray.

When the woman turned to join the Copper Prince a hand grabbed onto her bloody wrist. The Pain Bearer spun around ready to drive her fist into the guard’s face again. She barely had time to pull her punch back when she realized that the person holding her onto her was Renee.

“What are you doing?” the older woman demanded.

“I want out Koralyn.”

“What the hell does that have to do with me?”

“I can’t leave without your help.”

“My help? Bitch I hardly even know.”

“You’ll learn,” Renee said as she gripped the woman’s arm tightly.

Where some Fate Holders viewed their bodies as temples, Pain Bearers often saw theirs as strongholds. Bastions of flesh and bone that they felt could withstand an onslaught against anything weaker than the old gods themselves. While that may have been an exaggeration on their part it was true that very few Fates could stand toe to toe with someone that wore a Medallion with the mark of a bandaged fist.

There was nothing that Renee could do to stop Koralyn from joining the fight between the Copper Prince and the Corpse Hunter. But she could pick which side the older woman fought on. Despite the many advantages that came with having a nearly indestructible body a Pain Bearer’s mind was still open to outside influence.

Renee activated her Fate of the Vicarious Dreamer and flooded Koralyn’s mind with her own memories. Every insult, every threat, every act of violence committed by the Copper Prince against Renee was etched into the very fabric of the Pain Bearer’s soul. Years of manipulation and abuse of the worst variety imaginable all caused by a single individual.

While the memories of physical pain had little impact on Koralyn the psychological abuse was beyond devastation. She had never known what it was like to be belittled so harshly, treated like an expendable resource as though she were barely human. This wasn’t the sort of pain that tore into her flesh and fueled her passion for violence. No, it was like having a parasite feed upon her life force and slowly drain away her will to live.

Worst of all she was powerless to do anything to stop it. No one would help her, no one could help her. Koralyn stared down at her bloody arms in awe of what her false memories told her she’d endured. How had she allowed herself to fall this low?

Only when she saw the Medallion hanging from her neck was she reminded of how powerful she truly was. No one, not even an Apparate Blade could push her around unless she allowed them. For some reason she'd never had the courage to stand up to her oppressor. The Pain Bearer looked up at the man that had ruined her life, the source of all her suffering. Under the influence of the Vicarious Dreamer, Koralyn rushed for the Copper Prince.

Blood welled up in the corners of Renee’s eyes as she dropped to one knee. There weren’t many Fates that could assert dominance over another person’s mind but those that could bore a heavy burden. For Renee it was a price she was rarely willing to pay. Not only was it heavily taxing on her body but when the effects wore off her target was made aware of what she had done.

Suffice to say she didn’t enjoy opening herself up to the rage of others while in a weakened state of being. But this was her one chance to finally free herself of the Copper Prince. Even if Koralyn decided to kill her afterwards as revenge for the farce at last she would die free. At the end of the day the only thing that the Vicarious Dreamer had to lose were her shackles.

When the Pain Bearer entered the fray the Copper Prince smiled with delight. His adversary was far more adept at fighting than he’d anticipated and while it was exciting at first the crime lord was growing tired. How someone whose Fate wasn’t even dedicated to combat could fight so well was a mystery to him. The Copper Prince was fine with the Corpse Hunter taking that secret to his grave when the Pain Bearer inevitably ripped the man’s head off.

It was as much a surprise to Aiden as it was to the Copper Prince when Koralyn punched the crime boss in the sternum. The impact was so strong that the crime boss’s longsword vanished from lack of concentration.

“What…the hell…” he muttered as the wind rushed out of his lungs.

The Pain Bearer offered no response, electing to slam her knee into the man’s forehead in lieu of an explanation. His head slammed into the cage behind him with enough force to dent one of the metal bars as he fell to the floor. Fear wasn’t an emotion that the Copper Prince was accustomed to either. Pain and confusion raced through his mind. Why was his newest employee trying to kill him?

Had she joined the Copper Catchers with the intent of dethroning him? Or had she gone mad with bloodlust? He glanced over to see the Guard Captain motionless on the ground beside Renee whose face was streaming with blood. Had the Pain Bearer attacked her as well?

He didn’t have time to figure out what was happening so he chucked a dagger at the face of the woman that was trying to kill him. The Pain Bearer threw her hand up and the blade pierced her through the palm, she didn’t even flinch. Instead she pulled the blade out and let it hit the floor where it vanished into nothingness.

Seeing the opportunity to run, Aiden made his way to Landon’s side. He was not burdened by the need to know why the two former allies were now at one another’s throats. When he found that the guard was still breathing he let out a sigh of relief. The Corpse Hunter refused to call Landon his friend, even in his own mind. But it was hard to deny that this man was one of the few Column Dwellers whose company he could stand.

The Corpse Hunter’s comments during the fight between himself and Landon had been mostly for show. Sure he often dreamed about what it would be like to pass away in his sleep and be freed from the responsibilities of his Fate. But waking up in the presence of someone that cared enough to pull him out of whatever alleyway he’d passed out in was a small comfort in itself.

When Aiden glanced over at the woman who was kneeling a few feet away he saw tears of blood streaming down her face. She was having difficulty breathing and was clearly struggling just to stay conscious. Renee didn’t know how long she could keep her Fate active as she begged the heavens not to turn their back on her again.