CHAPTER 120: TARGETS

The air changed. The dry, ancient stone smell of the castle vanished, replaced by the damp, metallic tang of Arclight. Raindrops, fine and cold, immediately misted Fin’s face. He stood on a flat, tarred rooftop, the city sprawling around them, a mess of dark buildings and flickering neon signs under a sky Scarlet appeared a second later, a grin already splitting her face as she breathed in the city air. "Ah, home sweet hell," she muttered, stretching her arms. "Smells like desperation and bad noodles. I missed it."

Fin ignored her. He walked to the edge of the rooftop, crouching low. The Hunter Guild liaison office was across the narrow street, three floors up in a grey, utilitarian building. Lights burned in a few windows, muted behind rain-streaked glass. Mara’s schematics indicated the trackers’ main workspace was on the second floor, rear-facing offices.

"Target acquired," Fin said, his voice flat. He pointed. "Second floor. Two primary targets there, according to the chip. Another one roams, probably security."

Arachne knelt beside him, her eyes scanning the target building. "Defenses?"

"Standard Guild wards on the lower levels. Window sensors. Nothing magical on the upper floors beyond basic office security. The trackers themselves might have personal wards." He tapped his temple. "The chip had their schedules. They should faint in the dim light, flickered around his knuckles. "Not for long."

They waited. The rain fell softly. Minutes passed. Then, a faint flicker of movement from the alley across the street. Arachne reappeared at the edge of their rooftop, as silently as she left.

"Clear," she stated.

"Let’s move," Fin said.

He leaped across the narrow gap between the buildings. His boots hit the wet surface of the liaison office rooftop with a soft thud. Scarlet followed, landing lightly beside him. Arachne was already there, a ghost who had crossed without a sound.

The service hatch was heavy steel, bolted from the inside. Fin placed his hand on it. The green energy around his fingers intensified, not with destructive force, but with a focused, prying pressure. Metal groaned. Bolts screeched, then snapped. He lifted the hatch easily.

Darkness lay below. The smell of dust and old wiring wafted up.

"Ladies first?" Scarlet purred, gesturing towards the opening.

Fin dropped into the hole without a word. He landed in a low crouch on a dusty metal catwalk. The corridor was narrow, lit by a single, flickering emergency light. Pipes lined the walls.

Arachne dropped down beside him, silent. Scarlet followed, her grin wider in the dim light.

"Cozy," Scarlet commented, looking around.

"Third floor access should be at the end of this corridor," Fin said, keeping his voice low. He started moving, Arachne a step behind him, Scarlet bringing up the rear. Their the color of dirty dishwater.

Arachne stood beside him, a shadow in the dim light, her head already turning, scanning their surroundings. Scarlet appeared a second later, stretching her arms with a satisfied groan.

"Ah, good old miserable Arclight," Scarlet said, grinning as she looked around. "Smells like wet dog and bad decisions. Home sweet home, kinda." She bounced on the balls of her feet. "So, liaison office. Which way to the party, Boss?"

Fin ignored her. He looked out over the edge of the rooftop. Below, streetlights reflected off wet pavement. Vehicles hissed past. The Arclight Hunter Guild building was two blocks away, a squat, imposing structure even from this distance. The liaison office, according to Mara’s panicked intel, was on the third floor, western wing.

"Arachne," Fin said. "Path."

Arachne nodded once. She moved to the edge of the rooftop, peering down into the alley that ran alongside the building they stood on. Then, without a word, she dropped over the side. She did not fall. She flowed down the brick wall like water, disappearing into the shadows below.

Scarlet whistled softly. "Show off." She looked at Fin. "Guess we’re not taking the stairs?"

Fin walked to the edge where Arachne disappeared. He looked down. It was a three-story drop into a narrow, trash-filled alley. A fire escape ladder, rusted and missing rungs, clung precariously to the be prepping for night shift handover soon. Minimal staff otherwise."

Scarlet joined them, peering over the ledge. "So, we slip in, slit a few throats, slip out? My kind of party."

"No unnecessary noise," Fin corrected, his gaze fixed on the target windows. "In and out. Arachne, you take the south-side window. Scarlet, north. I’ll go central. We converge on the office. Neutralize the targets. If anyone else gets in the way..." He let the sentence hang.

Arachne nodded once. "Understood, my Lord."

Scarlet cracked her knuckles. "Got it. No witnesses. Fun."

Fin looked at the gap between the buildings. It was maybe twenty feet across. Too far to jump easily for a normal person. Not for them.

"On my signal," he said. He watched the windows of the liaison office. One of the lights flickered, then steadied. A shadow moved past another.

He waited, counting seconds. The city hummed around them, a constant thrum of distant traffic and machinery. Rain pattered softly on the rooftop.

"Now," Fin said.

He pushed off the ledge. For a moment, he was airborne, the wet street rushing up to meet him. Then he landed, light as a cat, on the narrow window ledge of the target building, second floor. His fingers found purchase on the cold, slick stone.

Arachne was already there, plastered to the wall near the south window, a black silhouette against the grey stone. Scarlet hit the north window ledge a second after Fin, her landing a bit harder, a faint scrape of boot on stone. She shot him a grin.

Fin ignored her. He focused on the window in front of him. It was closed, footsteps were quiet on the metal grating.

They reached a heavy fire door. Fin listened for a moment. No sound from the other side. He tried the handle. Locked.

He looked at Arachne. She stepped forward, pulling a thin, dark tool from her belt. It looked like a piece of shaped wire. She inserted it into the lock. A few quiet clicks, and the door swung open a crack.

Arachne peered through the opening, then looked opposite wall.

"We go down," Fin stated. He swung a leg over the low parapet.

"Charming," Scarlet muttered, but she followed him without hesitation.

The descent was quick. Fin used his strength, gripping ledges and drainpipes. Scarlet moved with a surprising agility, almost as silent as Arachne. They landed softly in the muck locked. He pressed his palm against the glass. Faint green energy pulsed from his hand, just for a second. The locking mechanism inside clicked open with a soft snick.

He slid the window upwards, slowly, careful to make no sound. Cool, stale office air brushed his face. He slipped inside, melting into the shadows of a darkened corridor. Filing cabinets lined one wall. Empty desks stood like sleeping animals.

He heard a faint scrape from the south, then from the north. Arach back at Fin and nodded.

Fin pushed the door open slowly. A dimly lit hallway stretched before them. Office doors lined one side. At the far end, a brighter light spilled from an open doorway. Muffled voices came from that direction.

"That’s them," Fin whispered.

Scarlet drew two long, wicked-looking daggers. Her eyes gleamed of the alley floor seconds after Arachne reappeared from the deepest shadows near a dumpster.

"Clear," Arachne reported, her voice barely a whisper. "Two patrol guards passed the main street entrance of the Guild a minute ago. Standard rotation."

"Good," Fin said. He looked towards the mouth of the alley, which opened onto a side street. "We use the service entrance. Back of the Guild. Less traffic." Mara’s files included basic schematics.

They moved. Arachne’s hands were empty, but she moved with a coiled readiness.

Fin felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach. Not fear. Anticipation. This was it. The first step.

He led the way down the hallway, stickingne and Scarlet were in.

He moved down the corridor, his boots silent on the cheap linoleum floor. According. Arachne led, a ghost flitting between deeper patches of darkness. Scarlet walked with a coiled energy, her eyes to the shadows. The voices grew clearer. Two men, one woman, their tones relaxed, almost bored. They were discussing something to the internal layout from the chip, the trackers’ office was the third door on the left. He reached it. He could hear faint voices from inside, muffled. Two of them.

He glanced back. Arachne appeared at the end of darting everywhere, fingers twitching near the knives at her belt. Fin followed, his senses alert, the city’s noise a dull roar in his ears.

The service entrance was a heavy steel door, tucked away in a recessed about overdue reports.

He reached the open doorway. He glanced inside.

Three people sat around a cluttered table covered the corridor, a dark shape blending with the shadows. She gave a barely perceptible nod. Scarlet was not visible yet, probably taking in datapads and maps. Two wore the casual clothes of Guild support staff. One, a woman with sharp eyes and a severe haircut loading bay. A single flickering light bulb cast weak illumination over a keypad lock and a reinforced card reader.

Scarlet grinned a more... direct route to her side of the office.