If not for the scars on his face, the stranger would have been the kind of handsome man that only an Awakened could become thanks to body refining. He was 1.91 meters (6'3") tall, with brown hair and blue eyes.
His skin had been turned bronze from the prolonged exposition to the sun and his body was a symphony of muscles of steel trained to be effective in combat rather than showy.
The air seemed twisted around his body forming a nigh-invisible vortex, concealing his smell and shredding anything carried by the wind before it could touch him.
'This guy is good.' The Vampire thought. 'Not only did he escape our notice, but he also waited until there was no one around.'
'Don't be foolish!' Dawn warned her. 'There's no such a thing as a deserted place in a big city. He created it.'
The wind suddenly turned and the smell of fresh blood reached Nyka's nose.
pαndα-noνɐ1,сoМ "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." A confident grin appeared on the Vampire's lips. "Sure, my host is green and my equipment is nothing special, but my enchantments are cutting edge whereas yours are so old that you belong in a museum."
The man gritted his teeth as his left hand clenched the hilt of the curved blade at his hip. Rage twisted his features and his scars shone in the dark alley from an inner fire that quickly faded as the man shrugged off the provocation.
"What do you want, Windfell?" A spark of energy from Dawn's core made the prism turn into a razor-sharp longsword while Nyka's clothes shapeshifted into her Nightshade armor which in turn was covered by another prism.
"We are not friends and it's not like you to break the custom among cursed objects to avoid each other unless our respective interests collide. Am I interfering with your plans or do you want another pointless measuring contest?"
The crystal blade became covered in golden light as the Horseman used a combination of Light Mastery and Spirit Magic to etch temporary runes that would grant the prism some of the real Twilight Blade's enchantments.
Nyka gasped in amazement, regretting for the first time since they had fused to have closed the channel between their minds and giving up on learning the Horseman's techniques.
"Neither." Windfell raised his hands with his palms out while stepping inside the range of Life Vision.
It was a universal peace gesture since now Dawn could see that he had no spells at the ready nor hidden weapons. As always, only the blade was enchanted. The rest of Windfell's equipment could be bought from any decent store for a few coins.
"I'm here to check on the rumors and warn you. As you said, we've never been friends but in times like these, family needs to stick together, sister."
"What the heck are you talking about?" Dawn's lips curled up in disgust for being put together with the likes of Windfell. "Aside from the usual buzz, there's nothing going around in our community."
"Ah, so even the high and mighty Bright Day can be caught by surprise." The man tapped his lips with a finger as he pondered the revelation. "Don't worry, there is no shame in being in the dark.
"Not when the source of the rumors is someone who's desperately trying to escape your detection."
"Night?" Dawn asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "We may not like each other, Windfell, but I respect you too much to think you stupid enough to let my sister drag you into one of her schemes."
"Thank you." The man gave her a slight bow before adding. "But you are wrong. It might be just another of her crazy plans, but she got me good. And not only me. As we speak, our brothers and sisters are currently discussing a joint line of action."
"What?" At those words, Dawn took a step back and shapeshifted into her true form.
Cursed objects joining hands was an unprecedented event that would also explain why Windfell felt so confident. He had no chances in a one-on-one, but if there were more children of forbidden magic lying in ambush…
"Calm down, I'm alone. This is not an ambush. I respect you as well and that's the only reason I came to warn you." The cursed blade said.
"This is the second time you mention that. Warn me about what?" Dawn asked.
"Do you still not get it?" The host's face turned into a stern expression. "I know how smart you are and you took part in the Battle for the White Griffon. This is much worse than I thought. It's not that you don't know what I'm talking about, you really don't care.
"Night was telling the truth. You are into this and are betraying your own kind!" The scars on the host's face lit up with a blue light as he stumbled back as if someone had hit him.
Dawn could see shock and betrayal on his face just like Windfell could see confusion and surprise on hers.
"You are not making any sense! If you are accusing me of something, especially based on the words of that madwoman of my sister, the least you should do is tell me what the heck is going on."
The male host sighed, shaking his head.
Windfell still had a hard time believing to his own mystical senses.
"You know who Verhen is, right?" The cursed blade asked and Dawn nodded for him to continue. "You fought against him in the past and your previous host was a Ranger. Hence you know that Verhen destroyed the Black Star.
"That two years later he destroyed Kogaluga. That just a few weeks ago, he destroyed the Golden Griffon!" Windfell voice rose as he spoke, his tone growing more enraged as he listed their fallen brethren.
"Then how in the gods' names do you have the gall to ask me what's going on? We living legacies are the only true immortals on Mogar. We don't grow old, we don't fall into madness, and destroying us is impossible.
"Or rather, we were supposed to be immortal. Destroying us was supposed to be impossible. Yet that bastard is killing us like flies and you and your brother helped him!
"You and Dusk have betrayed our kin!" The hand of the man moved too fast for eyes to follow, unsheathing the scimitar and pointing it at her, accusing.
Nyka could see with Life Vision that every bit of the curved sword was covered in ancient runes of power held together by an impossibly complicated power core born out of Forbidden Magic.
"Thrud was a threat to every one of us. She had to be stopped." Dawn shook her head.
"I'm not denying it, but three living legacies have already fallen and a fourth is already on the chopping block." Windfell took the spells necessary to destroy Night out of his dimensional amulet. "This cannot be condoned.
"Verhen must be stopped before he kills us all."
"Don't be an idiot!" The Horseman snorted. "Verhen has nothing do to with this. My mother released that information of her own will and only after my sister defied her orders for the umpteenth time."
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