She was dressed head to foot in black. Black leather, knee high boots with black jeans over them, a black blouse hanging loosely over the waist, with a black leather trench coat over all that. She had a sword strapped to her side under the trench coat and the silver hilt flashed when she walked. Her fiery red hair rolled in a single wave down to her hips, bright against her dark ensemble. Her narrow, emerald green eyes scanned the area looking for the target.

Next to her was a man, he was also dressed in all black. Two swords were strapped to his back, making the shape of an x. His hair was black and straight and fell to his elbows, his eyes were hard obsidian orbs. He lazed against the wall, much less alert than his partner. His hands went to his head and he tied his hair up into a high ponytail.

“They won’t show up here again,” he said. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye but didn’t look away from the crowd below.

“Yes, they will. This was the meeting place we set up.”

“Maybe they knew we were setting up a trap and decided to not show.”

“How would they-” She was cut off by a whizzing sound and then a sharp pain in her shoulder. She looked in shock at the spot, the black coat was slowly darkening with her blood. She looked up into her partner’s eyes, hers were already glazing over. “Finish the mission,” she commanded. Then she fell back and tumbled down to the ground.


“Damn it,” he muttered. He wanted to get her, but knew if he did she would be p***ed. So he would have to leave her to fend for herself. His eyes locked onto the movement on another roof and a feral grin stretched across his face. This was going to be a fun hunt.

He nimbly leapt from rooftop to rooftop until he was on the same one as the shooter. He glanced worriedly at the ground and saw the red flame of his partner‘s hair in a pile of garbage bags, but he didn’t have time to check and see if she was breathing or not. He looked back at the shooter and saw that he was packing up.

“Naughty, naughty,” he tsked. The shooter’s head shot up, a look of panic on his face. “You think you can just shoot my partner and then get away with it. Not the way I work.”

“Shadow Knight,” the shooter breathed. His grin stretched from cheek to cheek. Good thing they know who is targeting them.

“Right you are. Now you will have to feel my fury.” He unsheathed the swords from his back, and the hissing sound was the only thing that could be heard. “I’ll give you a five second head start.” The shooter turned and scrambled away. He waited a second before leaping after him. If he had wanted to he would be able to catch the shooter but he felt like playing a game of chase. He let the shooter get a foot from the door before pouncing on his back and pinning him to the ground. He flipped the shooter so that he was straddling his waist; the swords crisscrossed over the shooter’s neck, ending all thoughts of escape he could have been having.

“You said five seconds!” the shooter screeched, his voice high and girlish in panic.

“I lied.” He shrugged and wiggled one of the blades ever so slightly so it would cut a short line in the shooter’s throat. Blood trickled out of the small cut and his eyes flashed a brilliant gold that only appeared when he was truly mad. “Do tell me why you decided to shoot my partner and I might just let you live.”

“You lie.”

“Maybe, but in a situation like this I think its worth taking the chance. Don‘t you?” The other blade wiggled and now blood was trickling down both sides of the shooter’s neck. The shooter gulped and his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“I’ll tell! I’ll tell! Just please don’t kill me,” the shooter pleaded. He shrugged and looked down at the shooter with eyes filled with some unseen monster.

“No promises.”

The shooter took a deep breath, or as deep a breath as the two blades would allow, and delved into his explanation.

“Someone called me telling me to take care of some annoying bugs. The voice was fuzzy so I assumed they were using a voice disguiser. It’s not uncommon for my clients to use things that keep them unknown to me. They gave me the sight and told me that I would get the money after I completed it. I didn’t know who the target was when I accepted it. I swear!”

“But you knew who we were when you shot my partner.”

“I couldn’t tell in the dark!” The shooter’s face was growing red from panic and the knight grinned again. He could feel the monster he kept caged beginning to escape.

“That explanation isn’t good enough,” he said, just as the monster exploded. Then he lifted his swords only to bring them down in an arc. He grinned and laughed when the blood splashed his clothes and the ground surrounding them, but then the murderous light dimmed from his eyes and he stared in horror at the scene. He turned his back to the man he didn’t even know the name of and bowed his head “I’m sorry.”

He stood in silence, mourning the death of a man he never knew and never would.

“You shouldn’t say things you don’t mean,” the female voice said from the ledge. He didn’t even look up, he knew who it was.


“You know I hate killing,” he said, his voice was cloaked in sadness at the crime he had created. That man had had a family, people who would wonder where he was and why he wasn’t coming home. That man was a son to someone who would miss him dearly, a husband to someone who would feel incomplete without him and maybe even a father to a child who would never know their father. He knew firsthand what it was like to lose someone; he had felt the same pain the day his father didn’t come home, that was the day he decided to become what he was, a Knight to the Queen.

His partner gracefully stepped off the ledge, no sound coming from her as she hit the solid ground. She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay Sam,” she murmured, rubbing his back in a comforting motion. “It is true he will be missed but by ending his life you are probably saving dozens more.”

“He probably had a family Marissa, a home to return to.”

“So do you, and so do I. Does it mean nothing that he tried to kill us? Do we not count as people?”

“Only you didn’t die and he did.”

“I could have. That bullet was iron and it just barely missed my heart.” He studied her closely for the first time since she came to the roof. Her skin was paler than usual, and sweat was gathering on her brow as if she were expending herself just to stay standing.

“You’re still hurt,” he said, his voice filled with concern. He put a hand on her elbow and escorted her to a chair that was on the roof. “You should still be resting.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t really want to spend weeks in that garbage pile, as it is I’ll never be able to wear this outfit again.” She looked down at her clothes with a look of regret. “I liked this outfit. It fit me perfectly, especially the shirt.”

“Well the shirt is definitely ruined.”

“It was just a small hole, besides black doesn’t stain.”

“But it does smell.”

“It does smell,” she agreed frowning.

Sam smiled at his partner. Marissa came off as a hard, cold, woman but he knew that underneath she was just as fluffy as a fur coat.

“Don’t you smile at me like that Samuel,” she said, using her mother voice. “I am the feared Fire Knight.”

“News flash, sweet cheeks,” Sam said, grinning like the idiot he was. “I’m the Shadow Knight and I stopped being afraid of you the day you said yes.”

Her cheeks turned a rosy pink with blush and he threw back his head and laughed out loud. The sound echoed off the buildings around them and he knew that people from the street would be looking up searching for the source, but he didn‘t care. His life couldn‘t be any more perfect than it was in that moment. Then he held out his hand to his partner, his wife, his love.

“Let’s go.”

She took the hand and smiled up at him, he smiled back and then they went to face their future.