Andrew grabbed Mia by the arm. The group pulled away from the scene. As they walked away, Mia glanced back one last time. They disappeared just around the complex corner back to Yorkdale's street instead of the backstreets that they originally took.

  Good. They're safe now.

  Gale noticed the blood pooling around the three men's cut off hands, fist clenching. They're lucky he didn't kill them for what they tried to do. His friends would understand later. Hopefully, they'd understand how horrible Aur truly was. That asshole didn't even hesitate to dose Mia.

  The first man groaned, holding his wrists against his chest. Gale kicked him by the chest and rolled him onto his back.

  "You! You cut off our fucking hands," the scarred man squealed.

  "You tried to dust my friend," Gale said, completely monotone.

  Blue Bandana sat straight up, kneeling and staring at Gale. "Who the fuck are you?"

  Gale didn't answer. The sirens were getting closer. He needed to finish this fast.

  He turned toward the gaping loading dock of the business building. The three guys here were just the goons of whoever was inside. Drug dealers like Jackie and Liam worked in networks. No point in interrogating these idiots.

  Breath of the Void tendrils spread into the buildings, speeding into its brick walls. Another ether signature located inside the building. One more awakened, a late stage one.

  "Your boss is still inside," Gale said. Not a question.

  "He's gonna fuck you up," the man spat. "Just wait."

  "Don't think I will," Gale said, pulling up his phone and immediately tapping on Ollie's contact card.

  [Gale: need some help. ran into dealers. can you slow down the cops?]

  [Ollie: Send your location.]

  Gale tapped share location to Ollie.

  [Ollie: On it. You got 10 minutes till cleanup crew arrives. Don't be there when they do.]

  [Gale: thanks. this one's personal]

  Gale put his phone back in his pocket. Putting his foot onto one of the drug dealer's chests, he stepped over the man and walked directly at the open loading dock. No time to waste. Clean up crew would arrive in minutes, and Gale needed to know who's behind this. No more dark hunter bullshit.

  Crouching down below the loading dock, he entered the business facility. Wooden pallets littered the ground. Three stacks of them lined the walls. Forklifts sat in the loading area.

  Tendrils mapped out the offices, capturing every minute detail inside. No one was inside except for that single ether signature, and it wasn't moving. Either they hadn't heard the noise outside, or they think they're strong enough to take him.

  Twisting the knob onto the offices, Gale exited the loading area and entered the suite. He moved quietly across the hallway, ignoring the empty offices with open doors and not bothering to check if there was anyone inside.

  He arrived at a door cracked open. Looking through the small slit, a man in a black leather jacket moved between the cubicles and a metal filing cabinet. He wore sunglasses indoors, even more reason now to bash this guy's face in.

  He carried a suitcase. When he opened it, it revealed vials in 3 rows and 8 columns. The vials contained the same purple liquid and grey grains that caught the dim light. Each one could kill a mundane in days.

  The man closed the case and put it into the metal filing cabinet. When he grabbed a file folder from the cabinet, Gale pushed open the door.

  The man spun around instantly, gun aiming towards his direction. He squeezed the trigger immediately.

  Gale dropped low, the bullet flying over his head and breaking the glass wall behind him. He rushed forward, zigzagging between desks as three more shots barked through the office.

  "You picked the wrong fucking day," the man shouted, firing again as Gale moved between cover spots.

  Gale ran at the wall, jumping up to the ceiling. In one quick motion, he vaulted onto the ceiling and jumped down to where the man was. The Weber blade had already swung mid air, slicing through the man's wrist.

  The man's arm fell to the floor, hand on the floor still gripping the gun tightly. He screamed, stumbled back onto the desk, and dropped to the floor. A different briefcase that was on the desk shook and fell to the floor.

  Gale caught it before it hit the ground. Could've been a disaster if this thing popped all of its vials inside.

  "What the fuck? Who the fuck are you?" he gasped.

  Gale put the briefcase on the desk and stood over the bleeding man.

  "Spotlight," he said. "Tell me about him."

  The man's face changed quickly from wincing pain to pretending, "I don't-I don't know what you're talking about."

  Gale moved Weber blade's edge closer to the man's throat, enough to cut a thin line that bled red. "Your boys outside tried to dust my friends. One mention of Spotlight, and you look ready to poo yourself. Don't waste my time."

  The dealer's forehead sweat caught the light in the dim office. "I can't. They'll kill me!"

  "I'll kill you right now," Gale said. "They might kill you later. Math seems simple to me."

  "Look- look in my jacket. Inside pocket. There's a phone," the dealer stammered.

  Gale kept the sword steady while his free hand took a slim black phone from the man's inner pocket.

  "Passcode," Gale said.

  "7142," the man said.

  Gale typed it in and opened the message app.

  "The last conversation," the dealer said. "New drop points. They're expanding."

  Tapping on the latest text, the conversation showed a conversation with a person named "RkYy2JQPlq-H". Weird name, but ok.

  The topic they talked about was locations all over Toronto, Markham, Brampton, Aurora, Richmond Hill. The two of them said it was new areas to sell in, but one name stood out amongst them.

  Yorkdale.

  "You're pushing at places around schools now?" Gale asked.

  The dealer laughed weakly. "Best customers. Young. Stupid. Desperate to be special. And adults wanting to be something more? Best place to roam."

  Gale gripped his Weber's hilt tighter.

  "Just business." Blood spilled onto the man's thighs. "We don't force nobody. They want it. We sell it."

  "Names," Gale said. "Who runs your territory? Who said to expand to schools?"

  The man shook his head. "Can't. I'm just middle management. I get messages, I follow orders."

  "From who?"

  "Different people. Don't know real names. Guy who texted me about the school goes by Hound. That's all I know."

  "Where's he based? Scarborough?"

  The dealer nodded weakly. "Mississauga area. Has a crew of six, maybe seven. One of Spotlight's top guys."

  Gale put the phone in his pocket. "And the dust? Where's it coming from? Glory Industries?"

  "Fuck you." The man said. "I ain't telling you shit."

  "I don't want shit. I want details." Gale stomped onto the man's knee caps. A loud crunching sound came from his legs, and a bloodcurdling scream came out of the man's mouth. "Ready to talk?"

  "Something like this can be repaired by a gun sy-"

  The man screamed again as Gale stomped on the other kneecap. Putting his foot onto the man's groin, he took him by the hair and pulled the man's ears to his mouth and whispered, "You think I won't do it?"

  "Fuck! Fine, I'll talk. Just give me some fucking room. Fuck!" The man's voice shook.

  "Dust. Where? Now."

  "Don't know exactly. Somewhere east. We get shipments twice a month through different channels. Next shipment's this Saturday."

  The man's breathing became ragged, lips turning pale.

  Information was the same as the one he heard before which would mean that the source was reliable. Probably good enough of a lead for Ollie.

  Gale took off the man's belt and wrapped it around his stump, pulling it tight. The dealer yelled.

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  "That'll keep you alive until the cleaners get here," Gale said.

  The dealer nodded, still gasping from pain.

  Gale picked the briefcase back up and went to the metal filing cabinet. Weber blade disappeared into the storage box as he opened the cabinet and picking up the second briefcase.

  "You... a knight?" the dealer asked, eyelids fluttering open and closed. Must be the blood loss setting in.

  "No."

  "Path, then?"

  Gale didn't answer.

  Bethany Chapel, just a couple of minutes away from where he had taken out the hostiles. Gale put the two metal briefcases behind the large tree, away from the peering eyes of the side walk and street.

  He took out his phone and typed to Ollie.

  [Gale: briefcase at bethany chapel ease side behind the tree. tell the celaning crew to pick it up]

  [Ollie: Already on it. Cleanup ETA 3 minutes. You good?]

  [Gale: i'm fine. going back to check on my friends]

  [Ollie: Smart move cutting off hands instead of killing. Less paperwork.]

  [Ollie: Either way. Thanks for the haul. This much enhanced dust would've done serious damage in a neighbourhood.]

  Gale put his phone back into his pocket and stepped back onto the side walk. Mia, Andrew, and Jacob would be at Yorkdale Mall by now if they went with their food court plans.

  Walking to the mall took 15 minutes, just enough time for all the adrenaline to drain from his system. He put his hands up, examined them for blood. No blood, check. Looking down at his clothes, no blood. Check.

  The usual weekday crowd greeted his view when he entered Yorkdale mall. Adults lined up at starbucks while kids ran around the spacious hall. Breath of the Void spread outward, tendrils moving directly towards the food court. He had memorized the three's mundane signature by now and immediately found them by a table near the Thai place.

  Jacob hunched over a tray full of something that looked like noodles. Andrew sat beside him, picking at possibly fries. Mia faced away from them, looking back and glancing side to side.

  Gale speed walked to the escalators that led to the food court, easily avoiding the crowd that blocked his way. Going up the escalator went slower. People blocked the left side, so he had to wait for the escalator to proceed normally.

  On the middle level, he proceeded to where the stairs were and climbed up in steps of twos. When he got onto the food court floor, the Thai place came into view and his friends sat at the table.

  Walking up behind them, none of them noticed him.

  "So what do we do now?" Jacob said in a low voice. "Call the cops? Tell them our friend cuts people's hands off?"

  "The hell are you even saying, Jacob? Gale defended us. The hell do you mean call the cops?" Mia slammed her palm on the table.

  "Yeah, and we can't really say that those guys had invisible walls and magical drugs either." Andrew picked up another fry.

  "Exactly, we can't just-" Mia spotted Gale. Her eyes widened. "Jesus!"

  Jacob choked on his pad thai. Andrew dropped his fry.

  "How long have you been standing there?" Mia demanded.

  "Just got here," Gale pulled out the empty chair. He sat down, noticing how they all moved away slightly. "You all okay?"

  No one answered right away. Jacob put his chopsticks down. Andrew cleaned his hands with napkins. Mia stared directly at Gale, not looking away.

  "Is what you're doing even legal?" she finally asked.

  "Which part?" Gale asked, though he already knew what they meant.

  "The vigilante part," Andrew said. "The cutting-off-hands part."

  "That's what you've been hiding," Mia said. "Not just that you have powers or whatever. You're out there playing Batman."

  "Except Batman doesn't cut off people's hands," Jacob said.

  "Aur isn't like what you see in comic books or stories," Gale said. "Laws are different there."

  "Different how?" Mia leaned forward. "Murder is legal if you have powers?"

  "I didn't murder anyone," Gale looked away.

  "Yet."

  The best argument was to keep silent. They weren't wrong to be scared, but he wasn't wrong in protecting them either.

  Jacob forced a smile. "So you're basically the Punisher, right? Going around taking out bad guys your own way?"

  No one laughed.

  "You shouldn't go to the centre for a while," Gale said. "Those guys today, they're part of something bigger. More dealers are moving into the Yorkdale area, targeting schools. If they recognize you as witnesses..."

  "Are you serious?" Mia yelled. "I can't just stop going to school."

  "It's just for… maybe a couple of few weeks or so. After that, it's over."

  "I need my credits," Mia said. "You know that. I'm not like you, Mr. Mysterious with your fancy sword."

  Andrew put a hand on her arm. "Mia, it's probably best for our safety."

  She shook him off. "No. My mom works two jobs, sometimes three. Housekeeping at a hotel during the day, cleaning offices at night. She's killing herself so I can eventually get my diploma and maybe, maybe get something better than the cash register jobs I've been stuck in."

  Gale's heart dropped when she started talking about her mom. She shouldn't. Rule number one, never talk about personal stuff after a horrible event that could've killed them. Mia never shared much about her home until now. Saying this now after she knows there's dust dealers out there? She's setting up a flag herself.

  "Look, the classes have recordings, right?" he asked. "You could just watch them online and stay caught up and only go when you need to for like quizzes."

  "That's one part of it," Mia said. "But it's not just the classes. It's... It's fun, okay? Going there. Hanging out with you guys. Being somewhere that isn't our crappy apartment or the Walmart checkout line. Is that so wrong?"

  He couldn't argue with that. To him, it was the same feeling. The weeks of emptiness and being alone after coming back from the Eclipsed? Now, it was fun hanging out with them. Was there really no other way to protect them? But he couldn't really just stuff them in their house for their own safety… I don't know anymore.

  "No," he sighed. "It's not wrong."

  "So what's your big solution then?" she asked. "We just hide while you go offing drug dealers? How's that keep us safe?"

  "I'm working on something."

  "Great. Very specific."

  Jacob cleared his throat. "Maybe we could, I don't know, help somehow?"

  "No," Gale said firmly.

  "Why not?" Andrew asked. "We're already involved. Those guys targeted us specifically."

  "Because…" he didn't want them to disappear or die. But they wouldn't listen to him.

  "Gale?"

  A familiar voice came from behind, seeming to cut through the ambient noise of the food court.

  Gale turned. Rachel stood there, dark red hair past her shoulders, almost to her waist. She wore a deep green sweater over black jeans, with a small silver necklace. She looked out of place among the mall's casual shoppers. Too elegant, too put-together.

  "Rachel?" Gale stood up so fast his chair almost fell over.

  She smiled, the warmth setting in, covering the tension he felt at the table. "I thought that was you. What are you doing here?"

  Mia, Andrew, and Jacob stared at Rachel, then at Gale.

  "Were you going to introduce me to your friends?" Rachel asked, her smile still on Gale.

  "Uh, right," Gale said. "This is Rachel Ann. Rachel, these are my classmates from the learning centre: Jacob, Andrew, and Mia."

  Rachel shook hands with each of them. When she shook Mia's hand, Gale noticed Mia wince slightly at Rachel's firm grip.

  "Nice to meet everyone," Rachel said. Her voice rang with confidence that he hadn't heard before, taking on a more elegant tone.

  "I don't think Gale's mentioned any of you before."

  "So who are you exactly?" Jacob asked. "To Gale, I mean."

  Rachel's eyes glanced at Gale. "Well, we're old friends."

  "Yeah, old friends," Gale muttered.

  "Old friends?" Mia asked, her eyes narrowing. "From where?"

  "It's complicated," Gale said.

  Mia snorted. "Is everything complicated to you?"

  Rachel studied Mia, tilting her head slightly. She turned toward the empty chair next to Jacob. "Mind if I sit down?"

  She sat down without waiting for their answer, crossing her legs and then putting her hands on the table.

  "So, what's happening here? Why's everyone so serious?" Rachel asked.

  Jacob leaned forward suddenly, nearly knocking over his soda. "Are you part of Aur too?"

  Gale closed his eyes briefly. Of course, Jacob would blurt that out.

  When he opened his eyes, he saw Rachel's stare boring down on him even heavier. Her eyes said more than words could ever describe, making him shrink into his seat.

  Gale sighed. "Rachel, they know some things. Not everything."

  "I guessed that already," she sighed, turning back to the group. "So what were you all discussing before I interrupted? You seemed rather intense."

  Mia leaned forward, her eyes locked on Rachel now. "Gale just told us we shouldn't go to school for a while because of something called 'dust.' Apparently, there's dealers going around schools."

  "Is that so?"

  "Yeah, and they came after us on our way here," Mia added.

  "Came after you?" Rachel turned to Gale, tilting her head.

  "It wasn't like that," Gale started.

  "He cut off their hands," Jacob added suddenly. He flinched when everyone turned to him. "What? He did."

  Rachel rested her chin on her hand on the table. "I see."

  Mia pushed her half-eaten food aside. "Look, I get that Gale's trying to protect us, but he doesn't get it. I can't just stop going to the centre. It's not just about classes."

  She looked directly at Gale. "I like being there. I like hanging out with you guys. Learning about science and also things beyond it."

  "That's understandable," Rachel said softly.

  "Plus my mom's working herself to death so I can get credits for a college course," Mia added. "I can't throw that away just because of some magical pixie dust."

  "Those drug dealers won't forget having their hands cut off," Gale said.

  "So we'll be careful. Stick together and not go through those industrial complexes." Mia said, then stopped suddenly, "Is it just me, or did they turn up the heat in here?"

  There it is. Rachel's emotions flowing out from her ether. Andrew and Jacob didn't seem to react, but Mia looked uncomfortable. A thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.

  "It's a bit warm," Rachel agreed, though she looked perfectly comfortable. Her eyes met Gale's.

  The gaze made Gale shrink back again to his seat. It's not his fault, right? She'll understand later once he tells her what happened. Right. Trust the online article. Clear and concise communication can solve everything.

  "So what's the deal with dust anyway?" Andrew asked, breaking the silence. He'd been quiet since Rachel arrived, but now leaned forward. "Gale said it would kill Mia in three days if that guy had dosed her with it."

  "It's complicated," Rachel said.

  "There's that word again," Mia muttered.

  "This isn't the right place to talk about this," Gale said, looking at the crowds around them. Too many eyes and ears, some of them could be criminals or enemies.

  "Then where is?" Mia asked. "You can't just drop bombshells about invisible walls and killer dust and then expect us to sit quietly in the corner while you and your..." Her eyes pointed at Rachel. "...old friend handle everything."

  The temperature went up another degree. Gale noticed Rachel's fingers had tensed slightly on the table.

  "Dust is dangerous," Rachel said in a low voice. "It's not something to mess with. If Gale says you should stay away from certain areas for a while, he's not being paranoid."

  "So you are part of Aur," Jacob said, tone rising with an annoying excitement.

  "We all are, in a way." Rachel said.

  "Wait. Can we please talk somewhere else?" Gale interrupted. "Not in public."

  "Then where?" Mia asked. "Your place? Hers? Some secret underground lair?"

  Actually, he didn't know. Maybe his apartment, but that would take at least more than an hour in the current rush hour. Ollie's office would take quite a while too. And Rachel's mansion was… he glanced at her. It was not an option.

  "My place," Rachel smiled. "It's secure. We can talk freely there."

  "Are you sure?" Gale asked, then moved close to her ear and whispered, "I thought it was off limits"

  Rachel moved back quickly and then cleared her throat. "It's okay. If these three are caught up in dust trafficking, they need to understand what they're dealing with. Besides, it's not like there are no mundanes within Aur."

  - 605/700 Followers

  Gale goes on full psycho mode when something messes with his inner circle.

  Bonus chapters are dropped the following day whenever the goal is hit!