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Another gunshot, another scream. They were getting closer.
Patriarch Matsouka scrambled across his office, fumbling for the key to his ornate gun cabinet. It turned smoothly in the lock, the click of the tumblers echoing in the deathly stillness. With clammy hands, he reached inside and pulled out an old, plain service revolver. It seemed strangely out of place amongst the needless ostentation of the rest of his office, but the gun had an undeniable air of deadly functionality. How many lives had this gun taken? Matsouka couldn’t remember, but it had proven its loyalty to him many times over. Simply holding it helped steady his nerves and his heartbeat.
Yet another scream tore through the silence, and this time Matsouka saw a brilliant white flash underneath the office door. With shaking fingers, he took six bullets from their box and loaded his gun, snapping the cylinder shut with a flick of the wrist. He crouched down behind his table, knees protesting every inch of the way, and took careful aim. Whoever came through that door - whatever came through that door, it was going to regret messing with the Matsouka family. He was going to see to that…
A pair of gunshots rang out, and Matsouka heard footsteps pounding towards the door. His finger tensed on the trigger—
“Boss!” the door burst open, revealing the heavyset figure of his most trusted lieutenant. “It’s her! It’s—”
The lieutenant jerked violently, and Matsouka watched in horror as a sliver of brilliant white light simply sprouted from his chest. A mixture of pain and shock flickered across the man’s scarred face, and he stared down disbelievingly at the blinding blade piercing his coat.
“There’s no need to ruin the surprise, sweetie,” said a woman’s voice, light and lilting. “Besides, your boss is expecting me.”
Without warning, there was a flash and the lieutenant exploded violently into a thick white cloud. Behind it stood a woman, caked from head to toe in dust and wielding a stiletto dagger seemingly wrought from pure light. Matsouka’s blood ran cold, and then turned to solid ice at the sight of the predatory smile dancing on her lips.
“You have been expecting me, right?” she said, and strode purposefully through the drifting remains of Matsouka’s henchman. “After all, you had to know that this would end this way.”
Matsouka squeezed the trigger, and the revolver fired with a deafening report. At this range there was no way he could have missed, but with a flicker the wraith was leaning casually against his gun cabinet, surveying him curiously. He fired again, only to blast a chunk of mahogany out of his cabinet door.
“What I don’t get is why you’d do something so damn stupid,” her voice echoed across the room, and he wheeled about to see her perched atop his sideboard, legs kicking idly in the air. “I mean, the police? Sure; who doesn't have them in their pocket? And politicians—”
The revolver barked and a crystal goblet shattered spectacularly, spraying shards of glass in all directions.
“—I mean, some politicians practically exist to be bought,” she continued. Now she was back by the door, playing with the tip of her stiletto. “But that wasn’t enough for you , was it sweetie? You had to go after the Order. Stealing our medicines, blackmailing our boys and girls…did you really think you’d get away with it?”
“So Ursula sent you, did she?” Matsouka sneered defiantly. “I always figured that you were nothing more than her attack dog, Magus.”
“The Mother Superior can fight her own battles, I’m sure,” said Magus, and her eyes narrowed. “This one is personal , sweetie.”
The stiletto flared in her hand, filling the room with a blinding white light. Matsouka threw a desperate hand over his eyes, shielding them from the glare, and fired wildly at the advancing silhouette. Once, twice, three times…and then a series of panicked clicks as empty chamber after empty chamber spun past the hammer.
“Oh dear ,” Magus chuckled nastily, as she closed in on the terrified patriarch. “I guess your aim’s gotten sloppy in your old age.”
“Stay back! Just stay back! ” Matsouka hurled the empty revolver at the assassin. Without breaking stride, she swayed out of the way and struck him in the nose with the heel of her hand. There was a crack of bone, and as he staggered back she followed up with a vicious knee to his solar plexus, hurling him backwards into a chair. In an instant, her glowing blade was hovering just between his eyes.
“You - you crazy-” he gasped.
“Oh, I’d consider what you say very carefully, sweetie,” Magus said coldly. “After all, you wouldn’t like your last word to be something as unoriginal as ‘bitch’, now would you?”
Matsouka stared up at her in stunned silence. Magus’ relaxed, almost convivial air had fallen away, and her eyes now burned with a cold, imperious fury.
“Tell me, Patriarch , do you remember a little town called Edelford?” she asked. “Three months ago, they had an outbreak of thaumically-resistant caramythria. The Order sent a Silverlight team and antitoxin, of course, but for some reason only the Silverlight team arrived. I’m curious; what do you think happened to all that antitoxin?”
Matsouka glared. “I’m sure I haven’t got any idea what you’re talking about.”
Magnus’ expression didn’t change, but there was a blur of motion and Matsouka screamed as a blinding, searing pain erupted in his hand. With a mixture of shock and horror, he looked down to see her stiletto hammered clean through his palm, pinning him to the chair.
“I’ll ask you again, Matsouka,” she said, and with a wave of her hand another glowing blade faded into existence. “What happened to the antitoxin?”
“I…I…—” Matsouka stuttered and struggled against the blade. It bit deep into his flesh, seeming to both burn and freeze him at the same time.
“You blackmailed the quartermaster’s assistant and got him to send it to you instead, didn’t you?” she said, and shrugged. “There’s no point in denying it; he handed himself in. Told us everything .”
“Y-yes.”
“ Why ?”
“That antitoxin is…very valuable,” Matsouka said hoarsely. “Best…club drug on the market…only the wealthiest can afford it…”
Magus was silent for a moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was a mixture of dripping scorn and incredulity. “Let me get this straight. You stole vital drugs from the Order — drugs that were desperately needed on the front lines — and destroyed a promising young man’s career, just so that some blueblood’s idiot son could get high on the dance floor ?”
“We…didn’t think you’d notice,” Matsouka gasped. “You could just send more antitoxin—”
“But we needed that antitoxin!” Magus shouted, her icy composure vanishing in an instant. “Three children died in the time it took us to get more to Edelford, Matsouka. Three children ! Do you have any idea what it’s like to die of caramythria poisoning? It’s long, and slow, and painful . Your body just… rots , and without that antitoxin there’s nothing anyone can do about it!”
“I’m sorry; it was just business! It wasn’t—”
“Don’t say it! Don’t you dare say it wasn’t personal!” she said, her voice trembling. “My husband was part of the team that went to Edelford. He tried everything to save those kids, but…they died just before the replacement antitoxin arrived. That damn near broke his heart, Matsouka. You broke his heart, so—”
“Wait! Just…listen!” Matsouka said, urgently. “Maybe I can’t bring those children back, but there must be something I can do! Something you want , right?”
“What could I possibly want from you?”
“Power?”
“Power? Really ?” she snorted. “Let’s just think about who just stormed who’s headquarters, sweetie.”
“I mean political power! I know the Order needs support; I can make sure you—” he stopped, as Magus raised her stiletto threateningly.
“How? Through blackmail and bribery? Do you really think I’d give you a second chance to corrupt us?”
“Then…then…” he cast around desperately, as she looked on disdainfully. “How about money? Or…your artistic career? You need a patron, don’t you? I could—”
“You’re pathetic, Matsouka,” Magus shook her head. “Just like every other crime lord I’ve had the misfortune to cross paths with. You didn’t care who you hurt or destroyed when it was you on top, but now it's your turn to pay the piper it turns out you’re just a goddamn coward.”
That stung, and from somewhere deep inside a little flicker of defiance made itself known. Matsouka’s eyes narrowed. “Big words, coming from an Order assassin. What would your Goddess think if she could see you now?”
“My Goddess teaches us that sometimes the best way to treat a disease is to cut it out, and you’ve infected this country for far too long,” said Magus, and waved her stiletto between his eyes for emphasis. “So tonight, I’m the scalpel.”
“You’re insane!”
“You know, that thought had occurred to me,” she regarded him for a moment longer, and then a smile flickered across her lips. “And you know what else? You might just be able to help me after all.”
“What? How—”
Magus struck like a snake. Matsouka jerked, just once, and grey clouds of shock descended around him as he stared at the glowing blade protruding from his chest.
“Wha…” he slurred, forcing out the words through an unresponsive tongue.
“We both knew how this was going to end, Matsouka,” Magus said, almost gently. “At least this way, you get to be of some use to me.”
“But…how?”
“By being an example,” she said, stepping back to survey her work. “I’m not an idiot; I know that there’s other groups looking to prey on the Order, especially after what you did. So…it’s time for the Matsouka family to vanish. Not just die; vanish .”
Matsouka’s eyes flicked to the tiny pile that had once been his steadfast lieutenant.
“Yeah, looks like you get it,” Magus said. “I’m sure the police are on their way by now, but by the time they get here I’ll be long gone, while you and your criminal buddies? Well—” her lips quirked. “—they won’t see you for dust.”
“You… bitch ,” he said, and groaned in pain. “Everyone will…they’ll know it was you!”
“Oh, there’ll be rumours — but there won’t be any proof ,” she said. “And let’s be honest, it’s not like anyone’s going to try hard to figure it out. I mean, do you really think the people you’ve been blackmailing over the years are going to avenge you? Or do you think they’re going to be too busy counting their lucky stars to care?”
“You’ll pay . I swear…someone will make you pay !”
“Didn’t I warn you about unoriginal last words?” she said, and sighed. “And no, they won’t — because the other bosses are like you; ultimately, they’re cowards. Nobody will ever know what really happened here tonight; all they’ll know is that you antagonised the Order —antagonised me — and then your entire criminal organisation vanished in a single night. They’re not going to risk suffering the same fate.”
“You…you…” Matsouka stuttered, but Magus shook her head.
“Sorry, sweetie; time’s up. Goodbye.”
He didn’t even have time to scream. There was a snap of fingers, a brilliant flash, and then all that remained of the once-powerful crime lord was a cloud of thick white smoke. Magus stood there for a moment, surveying her kill with a look of mild satisfaction, and then a thought seemed to occur to her.
“Better get some milk on the way home,” she muttered, then turned on her heel and strode from the room, closing the door behind her with a click. In her wake, the thick white cloud hovered briefly in the air, and then drifted slowly to the floor, leaving no trace beyond a layer of fine white dust.
In the distance, there was the faint wail of sirens.