The knock came at dawn.
Adrian woke instantly, his enhanced senses already tracking the footsteps in the corridor before the sound registered consciously. Not Marcus's measured stride. Someone else.
He opened the door to find Marcus standing there, but something was different. The Hunter wore formal attire. Black suit, white shirt, silver-threaded waistcoat. A top hat rested under one arm. In his other hand, he carried a similar outfit draped over a hanger.
"Get dressed," Marcus said, stepping inside and laying the clothes on Adrian's bed. "You're coming on a hunt tonight."
Adrian stared at the gentleman's attire. Black suit jacket. Crisp white shirt. A silk waistcoat with subtle pattern work. Even a silver-topped cane and pocket watch.
"A hunt?"
"Elena Frost's observation mission. Stage 1 Revenant in the warehouse district. She's been preparing for months." Marcus pulled a leather shoulder holster from inside his coat. "Vale approved her for Hunter promotion track. You're coming as a secondary observer."
"Why me?"
"Because you need to see what we actually do. And because Vale wants another assessment of your capabilities under field conditions." Marcus held up the holster. "You'll carry a revolver. Six shots. Silver-laced bullets for creatures."
Adrian took the holster carefully. It was heavier than expected. Well-worn leather, the kind that came from years of use.
Marcus showed him how to strap it on, how to conceal it under the jacket. "We hunt as gentlemen. The city can't know what we are. You'll look like wealthy men out for evening business. Nothing more."
He produced a revolver from a case. The weapon was beautiful in a deadly way. Polished steel with intricate engravings along the barrel.
"This is your sidearm. Standard issue for Initiates on observation missions." Marcus loaded six bullets into the cylinder. Each one gleamed with silver threading. "Silver-laced. Works on most supernatural creatures. Won't kill anything powerful, but it'll hurt them enough to make them think twice."
He showed Adrian the proper grip. How to aim. How to reload quickly.
"What are we hunting?" Adrian asked, the weight of the weapon strange in his hand.
"Stage 1 Revenant. Feeds on fear. Fast, vicious, but manageable with proper protocol."
"The Protocol" Markus said
"Two Stage 2 practitioners minimum, one Stage 3. Stage 1 threats are always stronger than those bound of equivalent stage." Marcus checked his own weapon, a more elaborate pistol with custom modifications. "Never engage alone. Never underestimate them. Never hesitate when the kill shot presents itself."
"You're Stage 3?"
"Yes. Been Stage 3 for two years now. Kane and Mara are both Stage 2." Marcus holstered his weapon. "Get dressed. Meet at headquarters entrance in one hour. Don't be late."
He left without another word.
Adrian stood alone in his room, staring at the gentleman's attire on his bed. His first real hunt. The moment when he'd move from training to actual field work.
Elena's been preparing for this for months. I've been here less than three weeks.
But orders were orders. He dressed carefully, struggling with the waistcoat buttons and the unfamiliar collar. The suit fit surprisingly well, though he had no idea how they'd known his measurements.
The shoulder holster settled comfortably under the jacket. Completely invisible. The revolver's weight was a constant presence, but not uncomfortable.
Adrian looked at himself in the small mirror above his washbasin.
He barely recognized the young man staring back. Top hat. Cane. Concealed weapon. He looked like a wealthy gentleman, not a prisoner who'd destroyed his home barely a month ago.
This is what we are. Hunters disguised as normal people. Walking through the city like everyone else while carrying weapons designed to kill monsters.
The hour passed in nervous anticipation. Adrian tried reading one of the tactical manuals Elena had recommended, but the words wouldn't stick. His mind kept drifting to what was coming.
Finally, he locked his room and made his way to the headquarters entrance.
The main foyer was busier than he'd seen it. Several Hunters moved through, some in formal attire like his, others in regular clothing. No one looked twice at him. Just another practitioner heading out on business.
Elena waited near the entrance doors, and Adrian's breath caught slightly.
She wore an elegant hunting coat, deep blue with silver threading along the collar. Her hair was pinned up in an elaborate style that was both practical and striking. She practically glowed with excitement, her usual analytical expression replaced with barely contained enthusiasm.
"Adrian!" She crossed to him quickly. "Can you believe it? Vale actually approved it. My first real hunt!"
She'd never looked more alive. More confident. This was what she'd been working toward for months.
"You look ready," Adrian said.
"I've been ready for weeks. The waiting was killing me." Elena adjusted her coat. "You'll do fine. Just stay back, observe, follow Marcus's lead. This is routine."
Two other Hunters approached. The first was a grizzled man, maybe forty years old, missing two fingers on his left hand. He carried a rifle case with ease.
"Hunter Silas Kane," Marcus said by way of introduction. "Stage 2, The Hunt Dao. Best tracker in the eastern division."
Kane nodded to them both. His eyes lingered on Adrian for a moment, assessing, then dismissed him as unimportant.
The second Hunter was a woman with burn scars visible on her forearms. She moved with calm efficiency, twin daggers strapped to her belt under a long coat.
"Hunter Mara Thorne. Stage 2, The Crucible."
"Standard sweep and kill," Kane said, his voice rough like gravel. "Frost leads tracking. We provide elimination."
Mara looked at Elena with something approaching warmth. "You're ready for this. Trust your training."
A black carriage waited outside. The kind of vehicle that made people look away instinctively.
They boarded in silence. Adrian found himself sitting next to Elena, across from Marcus. Kane took the driver's bench with Mara beside him.
The carriage lurched into motion.
Through the window, Adrian watched Arathia transform as evening settled over the city.
They started in the headquarters district. Official buildings lined the streets, all grey stone and iron gates. Lamplighters worked their way down the thoroughfares, long poles extended to ignite the gas lamps one by one. Each lamp flared to life, pushing back the gathering darkness.
In the wealthy quarter, steam-powered streetlamps activated automatically. Brighter, more reliable, more expensive. The buildings here were marble and brass. Steam-carriages with polished fixtures rolled past, carrying wealthy couples in evening dress. Women with parasols. Men with top hats like Adrian's.
Gothic churches towered over the streets, their bells ringing evening prayers. The sound echoed through the city, a reminder of the order and civilization that the Vigil worked to protect.
"It's beautiful," Adrian said quietly, transfixed by the window.
Elena sat beside him, her own gaze on the city she'd grown up in. "I forget to see it after a while. You get used to it."
"Most people live their whole lives not knowing what hunts in the shadows," Marcus said from across the carriage.
Kane was cleaning his rifle with methodical precision. "Better that way. Ignorance keeps them sane."
The carriage moved from wealth to poverty. The transition was stark. Marble gave way to brick. Steam-powered lights became manual gas lamps, and then just lanterns in windows. The streets grew narrower. More crowded.
Factory district next. Massive smokestacks belched black smoke into the evening sky. Workers streamed out as shifts changed, thousands of people flowing through streets like rivers. Pneumatic hammers still pounded somewhere in the distance. Steam whistles marked the time.
"The Revenant hunts here," Mara said, her calm voice cutting through the carriage noise. "Poor district. Warehouse sector. No one investigates missing dock workers."
"Three dead this week," Kane added without looking up from his rifle. "All night shift. All found drained."
Elena was studying case files, her Cipher Dao already at work. "Attack pattern suggests ambush predator. Waits in darkness. Strikes fast."
Adrian leaned forward slightly. "How do you know it's Stage 1?"
"Previous assessment team saw it, evaluated threat level, withdrew per protocol," Mara explained. "We're the kill team. Observation's done. Now we clean up."
The carriage entered the warehouse district. The change was immediate. From crowded poverty to industrial wasteland. Abandoned factories lined both sides of the road. Broken windows gaped like dead eyes. Rusted machinery sat forgotten in courtyards.
Fog rolled in from the river. Thick. Almost solid. Visibility dropped to maybe fifty feet.
The gas lights didn't penetrate here. Just pools of illumination surrounded by deep darkness. Perfect hunting ground for something that fed on fear.
Adrian's Shadow Sight activated involuntarily. Suddenly, everything was clear. Every detail sharp despite the fog. He could see the abandoned equipment. The broken cobblestones. The dark stains on walls that might have been old blood.
The carriage stopped at the edge of the district.
"We walk from here," Kane said, climbing down. "Quieter."
Everyone exited. Adrian's boots hit cobblestones with a solid thud. The air was cold and damp. He could smell river rot and industrial waste. Rust and decay.
Kane loaded his rifle seamlessly. Each bullet slid home with a soft click. Silver-laced, like Adrian's revolver rounds.
Mara's hands were already glowing faintly. Orange-red light that pulsed like coals. Her Crucible Dao warming up, ready for combat.
Marcus checked his blade. An ornate weapon, longer than a knife but shorter than a sword. Silver inlay ran along the fuller. Runes Adrian couldn't read.
Elena pulled out a small brass device. Gears and crystals set in intricate housing. "Dao signature detector. Should read Stage 1 if we get close."
"Frost, you have point," Kane said. "Find its nest."
Elena moved forward, using her Cipher Dao to analyse the environment. She knelt by a dark stain on the cobblestones, her eyes distant as she processed information.
"It's hunting in circles. Territory pattern. Centre should be..." She stood, tracing a pattern in the air with one finger. Calculating. "There. That warehouse cluster ahead."
She pointed to a collection of buildings maybe two hundred yards into the fog. The largest was three stories tall with a partially collapsed roof.
The team formed up naturally. Kane at front with his rifle. Mara and Elena in the middle. Marcus and Adrian bringing up the rear.
They moved into the fog.
Visibility dropped to twenty feet. Adrian could see everything clearly through his Shadow Sight, but he kept his expression neutral. Let the others think he was as blind as they were.
"Watch above," Marcus said quietly. "Revenants drop from heights."
They approached the target warehouse. Three stories. Partially collapsed roof. Windows like dead eyes staring out at nothing. The door hung open, one hinge broken.
Elena's detector clicked faster. "Dao signature present. Consistent with Stage 1 assessment."
Kane raised his rifle, checking sight lines. "Standard entry. Mara, cover left. Reed, cover right. Frost, centre analysis. Blackstar, stay with Reed."
Professional. They'd done this hundreds of times.
They reached the warehouse entrance.
Inside, massive space stretched into darkness. Rusted machinery stood like silent sentinels. Multiple levels visible through gaps in the floor. Collapsed sections creating a maze of obstacles.
Evidence was visible even from the doorway. Bones. Dried blood. Deep claw marks gouged into wooden support beams.
Elena checked her detector. "It's inside. Recent activity."
"Could be sleeping," Mara said.
Kane's smile was cold. "Good. Easier to kill."
Marcus put his hand on Adrian's shoulder. "Stay behind me. You're observer only. Don't engage under any circumstances."
Adrian nodded, his hand unconsciously touching the concealed revolver.
Elena looked back at Adrian and smiled. Confident. Professional. Completely in her element. "Don't worry. This is routine."
She turned back to the warehouse entrance.
Kane raised his hand. "On three. One... two... three."
Everyone entered the warehouse.
Darkness swallowed them.