Oathbreaker

One of the things I like and despise about Kalika, she's very straightforward. No song and dance, she just came up to me and said, "I need some Oathbreaker blood, some Timberwolf blood and some Maenad blood. For analysis. ASAP."

"Why?"

"You can gather it in these test tubes." She put some capped test tubes into my bag followed by some paper, sellotape and a pen. "Use these to mark which blood is which."

I didn't appreciate not being told why, but I did appreciate not having to stand guard; sometimes going out in the field is a good thing. Being the hunter rather than the hunted, it's a good feeling. Anyway, before I left, I printed off all the bounty pages on the USB that were Oathbreakers, picked up my knife and my Colt. That's why there was a silence, I had to fully commit to the mission and gather intel on the target (good fucking god, I almost sound like Kalika or Incognito.)

The Oathbreaker I found worked as a chemist sort who was on there for experimentation that left a handful of Timberwolves dead or wishing they were dead, and for aiding proxies. She had the lowest bounty of all, so I figured she'd be less on guard compared to any Oathbreakers that know they're on the shitlist. I approached by foot; she lived on a farm, growing some freaking bizarre plants I've never seen before. There was an enclosed greenhouse with this huge dark plant growing. I couldn't determine much about the shape of it, but it seemed to breathe in and out. I was about to go in and look at it in more detail until I saw the human and animal bones on the floor.

Continuing to stare and try to work out the deal was my mistake. It distracted me from the mission until projectile hit the pane just centimetres from my head. I dived behind a tractor tyre to go over what I knew. From the angle it likely came somewhat from above, so whoever shot was up high.

Now by instinct, I slowed my breathing and held my Colt properly. It stopped my hands shaking. Freaking out helps nobody but your opponents. That's when I saw the ladder on the side of the large steel circular structure. A slurry pit. I poked my foot out to bait the shooter, they fired, it hit the sole of my boot. Charging the tank, I basically hurled myself up the ladder to find the Oathbreaker reloading a crossbow, of all weapons.

I grabbed her arm and plunged the blade into her wrist. Shaking the test tube out of my sleeve, I crushed blood out of her arm as fast as possible and got the sample. She managed to tackle me onto the slurry pit cover and got a shot on my leg with the crossbow. It scarcely hurt; I looked down in surprise, and then I saw it. Little syringe-like marks on the projectile. A tranquilliser dart. Now I was on borrowed time. If I ran, or freaked out, my heart would race and the tranquilliser would take effect faster.

Her foot powered into my chest suddenly. I fell back on the ladder platform, blade making a hole in the slurry pit cover. I got an idea. Tore into the slurry pit cover with my knife, following the circumference, then extended the tear much further with two bullets from the Colt. One for the edge, and one for towards the centre. Christ, it was fucking a putrid smell, one of those smells that has a force to it. The Oathbreaker dropped straight through the rip. Rapidly enough for her to be unable to stop it. I think I saw the fear on her face. She was going to drown in liquid shit. Nobody survives that. You can't swim in it or lie on top of it; it's worse than quicksand. Even if you could navigate it, the fumes knock you out. It was too dark to see her fall in. Still, I heard the grotesque slapping sound reverberating through the steel tank as her body hit the viscous manure.

I practically fell down the ladder and stumbled into a barn to pass out as safely as possible. As you know from the fact I'm writing this, I made it back OK. Although that was the longest shower I have ever had.