“Elucard, I urge you to reconsider your team,” said Malady, “Allow my apprentice Tesha and I to accompany you instead. We have more skill and experience between the two of us than your whole team. You will regret not taking us.”

The one-eyed elf repeated this over and over to Elucard in an effort to snake his way into the mission of a lifetime.

“Sorry, my mind is made up. The Silent Master must see great potential in me and I must trust my own judgment. I’d be daft not to.” Elucard turned to leave and signaled Jetta and Inle to follow him.

At the last second Malady pulled Inle to the side, “You and I both know you should be First Blade. Elucard has skill, yes, but I’ve watched you, Inle. No one has the drive quite like you. Even my apprentice admits you belonged under my tutelage. Now, I can’t take you under my wing for training, but I can take you under my wing to make sure you truly grow. Elucard is going to take all the glory away from those that truly shined.”

Inle smiled wickedly, “You flatter me, sir. You wish to see me grow, but to what end? Where do you benefit?”

“I do not need to directly benefit. You becoming the rightful First Blade is benefit enough. I can make this happen. Are you interested?”

Inle looked back to Elucard before giving his answer, “I have to admit, I am a bit interested.”

“Just make sure Elucard does not return alive. That is it. Things can happen in the heat of battle. Accidents happen all the time. Enemies can get the upper hand…understand?”

Inle stared fiercely at Malady, “Afraid I don’t. In fact, I think it would be best if you just walked away, or else I’ll make sure an accident happens to you. Do we understand one another?”

“Perfectly,” Malady smiled and chuckled through his teeth, before he walked away.

***

Kneeling in the shade of the Blood Forest, the silence enveloped Malady like a pair of shadowy wings. He locked himself within the depths of thought. Memories of his youth crashed through his mind like the rapids of a river.

He slowly stood, reaching for two of his five swords fanned across his back. Unsheathing them, he coolly went through the motions of a meditative kata. Flowing through different combative stances he imagined his enemies were in front of him. The image of Legion; the image of Elucard; finally, the image of Leandra. In slick fluid motions he swiped at the illusions skillfully killing his targets one by one, until they were gone.

“You held me back!” He shouted, calling out to no one but himself, “You were only ever in my way!”

“Master, who are you talking to?” Tesha asked as she slid from the shadows behind Malady. She was an elf from a similar fishing village to Ravenshore. She was dressed in the traditional black and purple clothing of the Black Rabbits. Her long red hair matched the scarf that coiled around her neck and made her stand out among the rest of the clan, as did the small butterfly tattoo on her wrist.

Malady sheathed his blades, still furious from his own thoughts. His face was covered in pure anguish, but he slid it back to his normal, more calculated demeanor. Taking a deep breath, he turned on his heel to approach his apprentice, “Were you followed?”

“Of course not, you take me for an amateur?” Tesha seethed a smile, “So what is your plan? Are we going to steal the kill from Elucard, his apprentice, and that mender bitch?”

Malady steepled his fingers as he brought them to his lips. His plan was the very definition of ‘insane’.

Tesha tapped her foot impatiently, “Well, spit it out already!”

“You are to go to the king, but instead of killing him, you will warn him of the coming attack and will help him kill Elucard and his comrades.” Malady shined a toothy smile.

“But Master, that’s treason!” Tesha could not even begin to fathom what must have driven her master to such madness.

“It is justified treason!” roared Malady. His smile vanished in a flash, “I should be High Blade! You should have been given the opportunity to become First Blade! All this clan has ever done is humiliate me!” Malady panted in frustration before continuing, “You are still young, Tesha. Have I ever told you about my last high apprentice? A young boy about your age named Keth? Deep within the very forest where we stand, Elucard relieved my dear Keth of his head. Keth was much stronger than you are, but you show boundless cunning. You have what it takes to succeed where Keth failed, I know it. The clan does not want me to thrive, it never did, and now it will not let you flourish. You have seen how everyone brushes you off. You have seen how the clan praises Elucard and Legion for even the most minuscule of victories.”

Tesha was silent.

“She always praised him; I worked harder than him; Than all of them!” Malady paced back in forth, his hand waving in the air.

“Master?” Tesha was lost in Malady’s ramblings.

Malady gritted his teeth, collecting himself, “My dear Tesha, you and I will no doubt become High Blade and First Blade if Legion and Elucard are taken out of the picture. However, first you need to leave at sun break for Lost Dawns. Reach the king and tell him the danger he is in. Then help him fend off and kill Elucard, Inle, and Jetta. The city will raise you up as a hero. We will no doubt earn an alliance with the King to do tasks the Rabbits had no access to before. Legion will be crushed that his beloved prodigy has fallen in the line of duty. He will step down to wallow in his misery. Good fortune will finally shine down on us. Life will be grand!”

Tesha grinned, imagining herself as the hero of Lost Dawns and First Blade of the Black Rabbits, but quickly questioned Malady’s plan, “But master, if I betray the Silent Master, why would he make me First Blade?”

“The Clan will be aligned with Lost Dawns. If that old fool of a Silent Master can not see the rewards in that, I will see to it that he steps down. We must think outside of the box. They have pushed us to this road. Now child, leave at once!”

She bowed before him, “I shall do this for you.”

Malady bowed back, “For us.”

***

Lost Dawns was a sight to see from where the three stood atop the clock tower. The elder tree stood a force of pure beauty in the center of the city. Buildings dotted the landscape all around its mighty trunk. Elucard and Jetta were stunned by the sheer size of it all. In the distance, the Dawnedge castle watched over the slumbering city. The moonlight cascaded over the three Rabbits as they sat on the ledge of a looming tower.

“We move in three hours. Inle, scout the castle perimeter and get us a count of White Cloaks,” said Elucard.

Inle bowed before dropping into the night.

Jetta folded her legs, adjusting her position on the ledge. Long ago she was afraid of climbing too high on the old willow tree back in Ravenshore. Now she was sitting on the edge of an enormous clock tower. She looked over at Elucard. He had changed as well. No longer was he the peaceful young elf boy. He was once curious and kind, but now he was a ruthless killer. Perhaps that boy was still in him, trapped as a prisoner of his new Rabbit soul. Maybe it wasn’t too late for him to rejoin the living, instead of being a slave to the damned.

“Elucard,” she whispered, “Do you ever think of what could have become of us if you weren’t taken by the Black Rabbits?”

“Jetta, you must stay focused. This isn’t some slumlord or lesser baron we are going to kill. It’s the king of all of Long Whisper.”

She went silent. Did he not grasp what he just said?

“Elucard,” her voice was higher now, “We don’t have to do this. This is terrorism. Please tell me that somewhere inside of you a shred of humanity still exists. That you haven’t let the little boy you once were succumb to the killer you are now.”

“I–” Elucard stopped himself short; “Humanity.” Legion once told him to save the humanity in him. That it would be an edge against his enemies. He had forgotten that. He had lost all humanity until only a husk of himself existed. He needed to sever that tie to survive. But did he survive? He was alive, but he felt nothing now. Emotionless, cold, empty.

“Jetta, now isn’t the time for this. I need you to focus and act like the Rabbit we’ve trained you to be. The moment we stumble is the moment we will fall.”

“Elucard, I know the good in you is still there. I know the Rabbits haven’t turned your into soul into complete darkness. The moment we assassinate Jaelyn… Well, that’s something we can never turn back from. Do you understand that we’ll have to live with such a deed over our heads for the rest of our lives?”

“Such a deed? Jetta, listen to yourself. Have you learned nothing? What we do must be done. It is a divine duty to kill for Alanna! I can’t believe I have to debate this with you!”

Jetta reached out for Elucard, “Alanna is a neutral goddess. She doesn’t wish for us to go around killing people! She is a goddess of nature. The Rabbits have twisted everything, including the will of the fates. Even I can see that, Elucard. Why can’t you?”

Elucard jerked backwards in complete disbelief of Jetta.

“Elucard please. Please see reason. You can’t possibly believe that what we are about to do is justified. We kill the innocent, we make widows and we make orphans. Look into your heart and see what you’ve become.”

Elucard’s eyes were blanketed with anger and confusion. How could Jetta be saying this, especially now? He thought she understood the cause. That she believed in it…

“Jetta… I thought you were with me. We are a team, you, Inle, and I… a team.”

“Elucard, I’ll always be by your side, but I just wish you would understand that the Rabbits are poisoning you,” Jetta said tenderly. She now saw a lost little boy looking back at her on the ledge of that clock tower.

The Black Rabbits have poisoned you! Myler’s words echoed in his head. Flashes of him slaughtering his friends scattered across his mind.

“Jetta, you don’t know what I’m capable of. What the Rabbits are capable of. The things I’ve done could never be forgiven. What we are about to do… I can’t protect you from the path we’re about to embark on. You need to go… now! Run far away from me, the Rabbits, all of it, until you are safe.”

Jetta shook her head, furrowing her brow in sadness, “Elucard, I see that you want to protect me from the life we lead, but when we separated for that first time it cracked us in two. Together we are strong. I want you to be strong Elucard… I want to be strong with you.”

Elucard embraced his friend, a tear rolling down his eye, “Jetta I promised to keep you safe, but I don’t know how long I can do that.”

“Elucard, I’ve grown up. I want to be the one to keep you safe.”

Elucard smiled meekly, breaking from the hug. Still keeping a hand on hers he whispered, “We’ll protect each other, then.”

“Elucard,” Inle broke the moment like lightning through the sky.

Elucard stood and bowed to his student, the side of his eyes wet from the tears. Inle took notice, darting his attention to Jetta and scowling under his mask.

“Elucard, there were nine guards covering the wall, only four around the castle roof. I found a balcony that is unguarded. An excellent place to slip in.” Inle said, hoping to have Elucard snap back to attentive state.

Elucard nodded, “We’ll lea–”

“We should leave now,” Inle said cutting off his master. He spoke again, still eyeing Jetta, “Before more guards accumulate.”

Elucard patted his student on the shoulder, “Good job, Inle.”

He stole a glance at Jetta. A new feeling was emerging from him that laid dormant in his mind for so long… joy. Not the joy from a kill or the joy from satisfying his peers and master. This was a different type of joy. A hopeful one. He could not pinpoint it, but it felt like his childhood.

Inle watched as his master’s eyes seemed to wander off into his thoughts. Inle needed to take control of the situation, whatever Jetta had said needed to be undone. He needed his master’s head to be in the game.

“A blade is only as sharp as the Rabbit wielding it,” he said to his master, “You need to clear your head. There is a lot of madness in this mission. We are here to do what no one could do before. Kill the king. You’re not doing this alone though. You have me. You have Jetta. We are the team that the Silent Master hand picked. Master, we are it. The true elite. We have your back. The clan has your back. It is time that we Rabbits do what we were trained to do. Purge a life and rebalance the scales.”

Elucard looked through the thin eye slits of Inle’s mask.

“Yes, Inle. You speak the truth.”

He turned to Jetta putting a hand on both her and Inle’s shoulder, “We are the true elite. We need to prove to not only our clan, but ourselves, that we can perform the most daunting task of our life. Whether we succeed or fail, this will be a trial that all will speak of for the rest of history.” Elucard took out his blade and nodded to the two teammates.

Inle smiled, taking out his blade, “We are with you, Master.”

Jetta lowered her head, still in doubt of the cause, but complied all the same, “Until the end, Elucard.”

Elucard pointed his blade at the castle.

“May Alanna guide our blades!” Elucard roared as he dropped down.

Once Elucard was out of sight, Inle grabbed Jetta’s arm, “I do not know what you said that shook him up like that, but you need to stop playing your little game with Elucard’s head. He needs to be at one hundred percent to complete this mission, and if he is second guessing himself…”

“Relax Inle. Let me go. We have work to do,” Jetta said, yanking her arm away, “Don’t be distracted by me. Elucard isn’t the only one of us that needs to be at one hundred percent to walk out of this alive. Have you forgotten? We’re about to kill a king,” Jetta sneered, disgusted by her own words.

Fury washed over Inle’s face beneath his mask, “I’m watching you, Jetta.”