A buzzing echoed across a long corridor of steel and wood. It was the ventilation shafts. Clean air had to make it through somehow 20 feet below ground. Gods know sunlight had a hard time to reach it...if it could at all. 

Light down here was a combination of moss, barely functioning glammerstone lamps, and a mirror system that worked on occasions.

The corridor reached its end and the sound of rushing water as well as whispers echoed louder. Desil was Standing by the dock and a few men stood beside him. Some lamps lit the area with cyan and green hues.

Asher approached the bunch and the grunts made way for him till he reached Desil.

"Journey down Strahd shouldn't be taking that long." Desil mumbled. The large man eyed Asher who was busy staring at the edges of the crevice. He could make the surface out between the collection of bridges, houses, vents, and elevators that stretched between the two sides of the crevice that split Lethica in two.

"Even if it was Lowe...sailing down the two rivers this time of year is a swift thing now that the floodgates are down." Asher answered back while Desil just shook his head.

"Did you find anything?" Desil asked, the grip on his saber tightening unconsciously.

"If its an ambush it sure isn't from this place or above...I scouted the whole place...nobody's been here in a long while...Why are you on edge though...not like you at all."

"Not like me?...pup you've only been here a few months now...you don't know shite!" Desil laughed a bit and stared deeper at one of the long tunnels that strayed from the main river of Strahd.

Asher stared at the man for a long while till Desil finally gave in.

"I should've said something when Elend gave you that mask...the reflection is just plain creepy especially when its mine..." Desil mocked. He shook and turned away from Ashers silver mask. It covered half his face giving him the ability to smirk much to Desil's annoyance.

"This package is important...Important enough to have me fidgety...the clients aren't people we wanna mess with...be on guard." As if on cue a long slender ship passed through the tunnel and lowered its sails.

It docked at the harbor but there was a strange silence to its approach. "Something isn't right here...they should've hailed us as agreed." Desil signaled with his hand as the grunts behind him nodded and moved to postions.

Asher Stayed next to Desil.

"Lower the board!" Desil shouted but nobody responded..."Lower the bo...!" He tried to shout again but a shutter by the ship's side opened up revealing the muzzle of a cannon which pointed straight at them.

Before it fired Desil Grabbed his shield. It was twice his size and made of Balam steel. Asher on the other hand stood behind him and twirled the two knives in his hands. The cannon shot Desil's shield leaving a small dent. Bandaged men rose from the ship and began to fire with their own guns at Desil's group.

"What you waiting for idiots...Fire back Dammit!" Desil shouted to the grunts who began to climb higher and fire back.

"Do your thing pup...and don't get hurt...I don't want to be chewed..." Asher was already running. "By Elend!" Desil sighed and grabbed his own gun and began to fire as well.

Asher ran quickly from place to place. He dodged gunfire and cannon balls as debris flew around him. He grabbed a pulley's rope and cut it with his blade sending him to the higher floors. Then he dashed across the wooden walk way to a glider he'd placed earlier and jumped.

He was halfway there when bullets began to graze him and blow holes in the fabric of the parachute sending him plummeting downwards Which Asher expected.

"So the hard way" He muttered as he cut the ropes off the parachute and fired a grappling gun to the ships mast where he swung with enough force to land quickly next to the bandaged men.

From there Asher quickly lodged his knife in the head of the nearest guy and quickly used as a shield. The man was soon riddled in bullets, but his great sacrifice gave Asher enough time to figure out what to do. The grunts from above didn't dawdle. They provided Asher with cover fire.

"Let's hope the merch isn't fragile." He smirked and threw the ragdoll aside. He Dashed across the board to the nearest cannon and killed the guy manning it. He grabbed the man's gun and fired a few shots as he pushed with his legs across the ground to position the cannon where he needed it to be.

When it was finally in place...Asher fired the last shot to light the cannon which launched at the mast. The wood broke down toward the Docks. It almost Hit Desilt who cursed at Asher.

Asher Raised his head and Shouted "Lumber!" Desil Cursed again and grabbed his shield.

"Board you dolts!" Desilt Shouted as his weight find its way across the mast and onto the ship while the grunts followed behind him.

Asher on the other hand began to whittle down the remaining enemies and as he closed in to his nearest target the doors to the deck flew into the air as a beast climbed out, launching anything in his way to the sides. 

The monster's eye were bandaged as a pair of horns grew out of the black fabric. It run on four legs almost like a bull but of a dusty blue and violet veins. It rushed at the surprised Asher but Desil threw his shield to the side and grabbed it by the horns. 

His eyes grew orange while his body bulged. He stood his ground against the beast giving Asher a moment to gather himself.

"Go find the summoner...I got this son of...hmph maybe hurry!" Desil struggled to make the words but Asher nodded and began to dash towards the lower deck.

He met a few men along the way and he gutted most of them. This continued till he reached the last floor where a woman dressed with the same strange garb as those before clapped at his entrance. 

Her blond hair fell down from her bandaged face which gave way to wide smile. Her slender figured stood by a chest which Asher figured was the merchandise. What was different about her was the red rope around her neck that extended to her bosom.

A golden talisman hung there. It had the shape of an open eye.

"The easy way...or the hard way?" Asher asked flicking his daggers and eyeing the catalyst at the woman's hip. 

"How many times did you practice that pipsqueak?" The woman said with a coarse voice that tried at being seductive.

"Only two times!" Asher announced and the woman giggled as she leaned on the chest.

"So you guys can speak after all..." Asher mused edging closer.

"Few of us can...most are bound silent...but not me...need the mouth you see...to distract you." And as she said that a man lunged at Asher from behind and pointed a gun to his back. 

"Dropem..." The man said and Asher obliged dropping both his knives to the floor.

"Not so smug now are you." The woman closed the distance between them and examined Asher.

"You're a recent edition...the info we got didn't mention you...Are you a Dagger...maybe an inquisitor...never mind...pretty sure they don't come at the short end." She smiled widely and turned her back.

"I'm done monologuing shoot him." She gestured to the guy but Asher was one step ahead of her and slid a hidden knife down his arm and stabbed the man's leg before kicking him forward.

"Guess it's the hard way." She mused and leaned to the floor next to the guy before Asher could close the distance. Asher threw a dagger and managed to hit her shoulder, but the woman didn't even wince and continued on.

Her hand grabbed the man's face, and her finger faintly lit with a mix of green and blue. The man spasmed as his muscles bulged and grew. He frothed at the mouth but that didn't stop him from growing twice the size and blocking Asher who retreated back.

"Now john we're running late...finish him quick." When she was done talking, the bulging giant ran towards Asher and threw a few punches. Asher was quick to react and dodge but John wouldn't let him pass.

When Asher tried his hand at gutting him, the dagger didn't penetrate deep enough to cause any damage.

'Think...think...' Asher looked around till he spotted the man's gun. He slid under a punch and grabbed the gun. Instead of dodging this time Asher grabbed his second dagger and lodged next to the old one in the man's leg. 

The two daggers caused the man to flinch and kneel down in pain giving Asher the leverage to lodge the gun's barrel into the man's mouth and fired. The man's brains splattered everywhere covering Asher in viscera.

"I'd say something witty but fighting huge dolts takes the fun out of it." Asher turned to the woman who was frowning. She strangely didn't try to run away but instead just sat provocatively on top of the chest.

However, when Asher tried to approach her, she grabbed the wand shaped catalyst and fired it at the man's corpse. The body bloated unnaturally till it exploded and launched Asher to the side of the ship. The explosion crashed some of the debris on top of him.

"Shit...shit...shit." Asher tried to get up but he didn't have the strength to move the debris aside.

'We're dead...we're dead...she'll make us explode too!' Fear spoke up for the first time in a while.

"Not now...Focus." Asher shouted loudly much to the woman's confusion. She approached the boy and stood beside him as her hand neared his face.

"Don't worry it only hurts a lot." She whispered softly. Just as her fingers were about to touch him, familiar steel punched her in the face knocking her out.

"Would you look at that...the mighty V...slayer of beasts and men...foiled by chunks of wood." Desil laughed as he loomed over Asher. The man was covered in murky blue blood, battered and bruised. His clothe were torn and his shield dented more than before.

"Maybe I should ask your spirit for help next time...then I'd have the strength to get out and an excuse for being obese....get me up" Asher snapped. He had enough brain matter for today.

"And I was going to help you up for free...say the magic words." Desil smiled, ignoring Asher and tying the unconscious woman up.

"Piss off!" Asher scoffed.

"Close enough." Desil hummed and began to remove the debris off him.

"Now let's see what we came here for." Desil pointed towards the chest while Asher dusted his cloth.