AI's Got Me by the Balls: Rewritten [Part Five]

Yvette, eager to bust his balls, considers Colm's words about Neimi not really minding if they did a bit of ball destruction without her. "Well, when you put it that way," she begins, her cheeks turning red and her nipples visibly hardening in her loose, casual nighttime shirt. She gets down on her knees and crawls over to Colm, starting to undo his belt. His pants fall down, Colm lifts his hips, allowing her to remove his undergarments.

She giggles without pausing her movements, licking his shaft and putting the stiffening rod into her mouth, running her tongue along the length.

Colm moans, gasping slightly in surprise that Yvette chose to go here instead of smashing his balls.

"I want you nice and aroused," she whispers into his dick, staring up into his eyes, "for when I do this!" she shouts suddenly as her fist swing up between his legs in a devastating uppercut. Colm falls into the sofa cushions with a whimper as his knees buckle.

"I know," she says as she stands up, "but don't worry, I'll be gentle."

She walks around Colm, taking in the sight as she comes to a stop behind his face down, bent over form. As she looks at the angry dangling orbs between his thighs, she smiles evilly, but cutely. Their red tint indicated their pain, no doubt from her punch but also from the constant abuse they'd received in recent days.

"If you survives this, I'll let you watch me undress," she teases as she slides her foot back against the wooden floor to get into position. "I want you to think about me," she says, breathing slowly as she focuses her attention on his exposed balls. "Right now!" she exclaims, her foot propelling forward with impressive speed and force, the top of her barefoot slamming perfectly into his babymakers.

"ARGH!" Colm exclaims, his hands wrapping around the sofa cushions.

His body is shocked by the sensation of her foot continuing its strike while also holding fast to his aching eggs. She held her foot against his balls so that he couldn't fall over. Colm groans, curling over in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

"Ah, ah, ahhh..." she says as Colm looks up and notices her in front of him. She's still wriggling her toes against his sac and grinning as her foot prevents his testicles from falling down. "Let's put another theory to the test," she says, pausing.

She moves her foot away but pulls him around to face her, kissing Colm on the lips as she runs her tongue along his bottom lip, tempting him. Colm instinctively opens her mouth as she slides her tongue into it; she swirls his around, and then she pushes him onto his back. He looks at her just as her feet slams into his crotch.

"Mmm!" Colm shrieks into her mouth, the sound muffled as she continues to kiss him while her foot bores into his delicate bits.

"I'll kick harder next time," she says, before biting his lower lip and sliding his mouth away from her.

"Kick harder?" Colm asks, smiling nervously. "You haven't been trying your hardest? I'm already at your mercy."

She bites her lower lip and nods slowly, "Maybe..." pulling his hands away from the back of the sofa and forces him to kneel before smiling.

"I was saving this for the end," she laughs as she pulls her shirt up and tugs on her shorts. Her thin, pale body captures your attention right away. Those perfect, perky tits were paired with the most incredible pink nipples, as stiff as his cock.

"You'll see everything," she assures, blushing as Colm rakes his gaze down her petite figure. She moves his hands over his head and presses his face into the sofa's soft cushioning. "Hold on to your hat."

She takes a deep breath before prancing away from Colm, spreading her legs out to the sides and bracing herself into a stance.

"Are you ready?" she asks nervously, and Colm nods eagerly, a muffled yes going into the cushions. Colm is also nervous because Yvette has him completely at her mercy and has already told him that she will kick even harder than before. He tries to concentrate on the brief glimpse he got of her wonderful body.

She takes a deep breath before fiercely kicking her foot up between his thighs. His balls being hit sound like a wet slap against her bare foot. The first hit lands directly on his balls, causing him to scream into the cushion as he tries to bear the pain. But she's quick, and the next hit lands right on his testicles, causing him to scream into the sofa as he feels a tingle and a twitch from his cock.

"Ah!" Yvette screams, her slit glistening as a little juice spills out of her in pure pleasure, "look at that, you're already twitching; I'm going to make you beg."

Her foot only catches the left testicle on the third kick.

"Oops, must've gotten off track after nearly cumming," she admits, "guess I'll have to make amends with a straight shot to the right ball."

Colm feels like he may cum from the force of her kicks alone, and it just turns him on even more.

As she lands another hit, then another... Colm feels a burning sensation in his nuts; and yet another

"Aaaaahhh!" Colm screams, and Yvette kicks even harder, pummeling his balls as hard as she can.

"Yeah," she says, kicking his sack as hard as she can, "scream my name! Cum for me, Colm!" she moans, seemingly lost in the moment. "Turn around, I'm about to finish!"

He obeyed and turned around, watching her fingers as they pushed her pantyhose to one side in order to get to her tiny pussy. Colm swallows as she grins at him with the most sadistically evil, yet adorable grin he'd seen on her. "Open wide, because you're going to scream for me, baby!"

Swallowing nervously, Colm forces his legs open, watching as Yvette stalks toward Colm with the intent on completely obliterating Colm swollen testicles. She prowls toward Colm, as if she's stalking a wounded animal, as she squeezes her tits with one hand and pulls her panties aside with the other.

Colm inquires, almost beseechingly. "Be gentle?"

Yvette laughs and grins, "Rejected!" Her next two steps are in a skipping motion as she kicks herself up into the air, and Colm watches her fly up a few feet before realizing what she's doing. "Wait, Yvette!" Colm exclaims, but it's too late; she lands flush onto his fat balls like a gymnast coming down from a perfectly executed flip.

As she bounces up and down on his sack, his dick throbs in pain. She's crushing his nuts with every bounce. "Yvette!" Colm manages to gasp as she brings her feet down harshly, digging her shapely, bony feet into his scrotum.

"Oh yeah?! You like this?" she chuckles as she continues to punish his balls.

"Yvette!" exclaims Colm.

"Yes?" she asks, smiling down from between his legs. "Oh, one second," she says to Colm, leaning forward to bury his face in her soft breasts while bracing her hands on his shoulders. As she pushes herself into the air again, she crunches into his balls. "Now say my name!" she exclaims as she lowers her feet, each one stomping a swollen testicle under the balls of her feet.

"Yvette!!" cries Colm again in agony, his balls can't take it any longer as his cock tightens and throbs before firing a massive load up into Yvette's tits. Gooey, sticky sperm leaks out, running down her hands and puddling in his lap as she squeezes them together.

Colm groans in agony as she hops up off of his swollen testicles, letting his balls have a moment of reprieve. She wipes her hands on her panties and smiles sweetly at Colm as he groans and tries to regain feeling in his legs.

Yvette giggles, "Okay, I better let you get some sleep," she says, walking off to the bathroom. As she walks away, Colm calls out to her "Goodnight!"

Yvette bathes and later realizes how insane she'd become in the later hours of the night. She made a mental note to apologize to Colm for her erratic behavior in the morning. "I hope he doesn't hate me now," she thinks to herself as she rinses off the sudsy water.

----

The next morning arrives sooner than Colm could have hoped, but his body still feels warm and refreshed. It did, at least, in his dream. "Wake up, sleepyhead!" says a familiar voice, and Colm knows something else is on the way, but he's too groggy and sleepy to react. Neimi drives her knees directly into his exposed testicles, causing him to let out a low howl of pain; his body squirms and convulses at Neimi's torment, still swollen and soft from last night's punishment. "You let Yvette bust these without me, so brace yourself for a beating!"

His eyes snap open, looking to his tormentor. Neimi returns the look with a wicked grin. Her eyes seem to glimmer with delight as she looks at Colm; it's clear that she enjoyed beating the hell out of his damaged goods. She steps back, tracing through the air with a twirl, her eyes darting up and down while licking her lips.

"Oh lord, please. Neimi, not right now. Please?" Colm begs.

He raises his hands outstretched and palms up, but all she does is laugh. "How adorable!" she exclaims as she dashes over to Colm and stomps another tiny fae foot deep into his testicles.

"Ohhhhhh!" exclaims Colm.

Colm moans loudly as pain shoots through his crotch. "Don't make that noise if you want me to stop!" she exclaims. "It makes me want to do it even more."

She slowly backs away from him, watching him with interest. Colm groans and rolls onto his side, letting out another whimper when he feels Neimi's delicate feet softly land atop the backside of his balloon-like appendage applying a light weight on his sore sac. Colm looks at her, and she raises an eyebrow, still sporting that predatory grin.

"Uncle?" Colm tries to surrender.

She bursts out laughing and lets out a joyous cry. "Not at all! I want to play like Yvette got to!" she exclaims before leaping up into the air, then down onto the backside of his left testicle, her tiny feet slamming in deep.

Colm let out a painful yelp, his face twisting in agony. She laughs and begins marching her feet up and down his swollen ball, her feet focusing solely on the left one. Colm let out a moan, twisting his body to the side as he gritted his teeth. "Neimi, that hurts!"

"Does it really?" she inquires innocently. "Or does it feel incredible?"

His cock twitches and throbs with pleasure aftershocks with each thrust of her tiny feet. His face is filled with agony and shame. Colm can't deny that he'd grown to enjoy it, but the intensity of the pain was wearing him down.

"It hurts! It hurts!" exclaimed Colm.

She laughs and continues her assault, oblivious to his cries of pain. It doesn't take long for her to have him twitching and whimpering. Colm let out a deep, guttural moan as he pushed his head deep into the pillow, shuddering as he did so. Neimi smiles as she watches on with anticipation as Colm finally lets out a pained moan; his body shivering with agony and male despair. "Here it comes!" she exclaims, leaping up and fluttering into the air.

"Money shot!" she exclaims joyfully as she backflips through the air to free fall, landing both her knees flush against his aching left nugget.

A shuddering moan escapes him; his thick, slimy semen fires wildly like a geyser, his body still shuddering as he found his release. When Colm slowly comes down from his powerful high, his moan turns into a groan.

"You came!" she exclaims, bouncing in place with delight.

"Fucking hell, Neimi! My ball, I think you're going to break it!" Colm remarks.

She smiles and pouts a little before looking delighted. "Oh, but I really want to make you happy, my little ball-busting boy!" She hops off his soft, mushy egg and gives it a love tap with her foot. "It's not broken, but I sure got close this time! I'm glad we could play together!"

For the time being, she rejoices in her victory.

"You are lucky that you have a pretty face, Colm!" she says with a wink and a twirl; Neimi is adorable while doing this, and he would never turn down a pretty girl who wants his attention.

"Now, may I go get cleaned up? I imagine I'll need my strength for today," Colm says.

She nods eagerly and dashes over to the basin, submerging her hands in the warm running water and letting it run through her fingers. She sighs contentedly. Colm moans in agony that only he can feel or comprehend right now. Colm manages to get up and stumble toward the washroom.

Colm was able to enter the restroom and quickly make his way to the bathtub; which was nice and hot. He immerses himself in the water and sighs in bliss as the water envelops him. Colm could have slept and not had to bathe if it hadn't been for Yvette and Neimi destroying him, but how often did he get to enjoy luxuries like this on the road anyway? Time to make the best of a good thing.

Colm scrubs himself down, bathing until he's clean.

After finishing, Colm steps out of the tub and into the mirror. "Damn," he remarks, "not bad for a guy who almost lost a nut."

Colm blinks as he hears a giggle from the door and turns to see Neimi and Yvette staring at him. "Get up! Get dressed! Breakfast is ready!"

Colm laughs as he shoos them away. "Beat it!"

They laugh as Colm shoos them away, scampering off quickly. What a fucking day, Colm thinks to himself.

Colm gets dressed and goes to breakfast with them. He sits down next to Yvette and smiles, but her face remains sad. "Hello and good morning."

She responds with a tired smile. "Morning."

"What's wrong?" Colm remarks.

She sighs and moves her gaze away from Colm. "I'm sorry about last night; I got caught up in the moment and forgot myself."

"Oh, that's okay. I'm fine, and you had a good time, right?" Colm says with a warm smile.

She smiles as she returns her gaze to Colm. "Of course! Thanks for letting it all happen, Colm."

Colm eats and enjoys some peace with his two female companions, Neimi and Yvette. They sit and talk for a while, and eventually Colm pats his belly and sighs contentedly. "Should we go to the Sheriff's office?" Colm asks, looking at Neimi and Yvette.

"Yes, let us go," Yvette says.

Neimi nods in agreement, and Colm rises from his seat at the table. Colm locates his boots, which he quickly puts on before walking to the door. Colm leaves the inn and makes his way to the Sheriff; walking slowly through the streets, taking in the sights and inspecting every corner for potential danger. It would be best if they had as much information as possible before meeting with this Sheriff.

After all, the Sheriff works for the Ebony Claw Syndicate, and Colm never knows who his enemies are these days. "Can I explode one of his nuts if we have to torture the Sheriff to get him to tell us where his goons are hiding?" Neimi asks suddenly, almost praying for the chance.

"You've got a mood today," Colm replied with a chuckle. "Don't worry, we'll get to torture the Sheriff eventually," Colm says as he reaches the end of the street; there's a jail with two guards on duty.

Colm turns to face Yvette and asks if this is the destination. She would be the most knowledgeable, as this is her hometown. Yvette gives a small smile to Colm. "This is where we part ways," she says, resting her head on his shoulder and kissing him on the cheek briefly.

Colm looks at her, a little surprised. "Wait, why aren't you joining us?"

"The Sheriff knows me and knows I work for the Count. He'll likely freeze up if he sees me. I'll be watching from a vantage point, and if things go south, I'll rush in and corner their escape path." a brief pause allows them to gaze into one another's eyes for a moment. "Are you worried about me, Colm?" Yvette asks, kissing him once again on the cheek and he embraces her tightly. "I promise I'll be back."

Watching Yvette leave, Neimi blushes slightly and pulls her arms behind her back, looking away from Colm as they both walk inconspicuously towards the jailhouse.

"Something wrong, Neimi?" Colm asks as he looks over at her.

She shakes her head and smiles at Colm, "Huh? Oh no! It's nothing..."

"Oh come on, you can tell me," Colm remarks.

"Well... it's just..." Neimi bites her lip and shuffles her feet, "It's just..." she takes a deep breath and sighs heavily, "You seem really close with Yvette now. You seem rather taken by her, don't you?"

Colm blinks in surprise, wondering why that was bothering her. "Why would you say that? I mean, I like her, and she's become a part of this group;y you like her, right?"

"I do... but it's not that! It's just that the longer she's with us, the less you seem to notice... well, notice me." Her face flushes redder than Colm has ever seen it. "Colm, I-"

"Halt! Who goes there?!!" a booming voice exclaims as Colm and Neimi approach the jailhouse's doors.

Colm comes to a halt and looks at the large guard. "My name is Colm, and I'm here to see the Sheriff."

"Who are you?" the guard asks, puzzled. "The Sheriff ain't takin' no visitors. He's really busy right now, and he doesn't like to be disturbed."

"Oh, he'll want to see me; I've got some very important business with him," Colm persuades.

"Well, if you're sure..." he trails off, his voice implying his uncertainty.

"I'm sure," Colm says, smiling.

The guard turns to his guard buddy, who shrugs in confusion. They appear persuaded and open the door with a gruff groan. Colm enters and immediately takes in his surroundings. They enter a room with a lot of wooden floors and whitewashed walls that are boring and featureless. They look around for the Sheriff's office. "This place is pretty drab," Colm says casually.

"Yeah, it's not the most opulent structure around," Neimi agrees.

Colm walks down a few corridors before coming across an open room with a group of men playing cards. "Hey! Anyone know where the Sheriff is?" Colm says as he walks in with a smirk.

They all turn to face Colm, their gazes flitting between him and one another. One of them eventually stands up and clears his throat. "My name is Donnell O'Mallie, and who are you?"

"Oh, sorry. My name is Colm. Would you mind taking a walk with me, Sheriff?" Colm asks, approaching the man. "I was told you were busy, but it appears you have time."

"Hmph. Better make it quick, I'm a busy man," he grunts, not backing down despite his size. As he walks with Colm, he puffs out his chest slightly.

"It's all about the Ebony Claw," Colm states flatly.

The Sheriff comes to a halt, surprised to see Colm. "What did you say?" he inquires. Colm grins; this was a surprising reaction, but Colm can deal with it.

"I'm a messenger, you're to come to the usual location for a meeting with the boss."

"Ah, so he wants me to work out a deal with him."

Colm nods slowly, not trusting his voice just in case.

"All right, what exactly did he say?"

"That you and the assassins he's assigned to you need to come to the meet up spot," Colm says. "You do remember where it is?"

His wrinkled old face splits open as the Sheriff smiles. "You bet I do."

"Well, you'll find us there then," Colm says as he turns and walks down the hall.

"And when will you find me?" Sheriff O'Mallie asks Colm.

"What the bosses do with you is their business, not mine," Colm remarks.

The Sheriff sighs and shakes his head. "All right, Mr..."

"Colm."

"OK, I'll be there."

Colm walks out of the Sheriff's office and down the street quickly, ducking into an alley to wait for Yvette to catch up with him. From her vantage point, she should have been able to easily track him. Colm turns to face Neimi.

"That was pretty simple."

"Surprisingly so," she says, nodding.

"You sound disappointed," Colm jokes.

"I was hoping he'd try to fight us because I've been itching to stomp on someone's balls!" she exclaims, stamping her little feet in the air with a couple cute grunts for emphasis.

"Heh. That's my girl," Colm says.

As Colm and Neimi hear footsteps approaching, Neimi simply blushes and floats around; her and Colm notice Yvette heading toward them.

"It worked then," Colm exclaimed.

"It appears that all we have to do now is wait."

"Things went pretty well; now we just have to follow the Sheriff and he'll lead us right to an Ebony Claw hideout AND we get to question him for information," Colm says, bristling with confidence and pride in a job well done.

"We still have to convince him to give up their base of operations," Yvette says, trying to keep her expectations in check.

"We could just torture it out of him," Neimi suggests, a wicked grin on her face. "I doubt it would take that long; the sheriff is an old man who isn't particularly tough."

"Huh. Seemed like a proud war veteran-type, though maybe not if he's conspiring with the likes of Ebony Claw," Colm says.

"I guess we'll find out," Yvette says casually.

"Well, let's go then! Let's get this show on the road!" Neimi exclaims, leaping forward.

"You might not get to torture his balls," Colm says.

"Oh, that's disappointing," Neimi says, frowning.

"I'm sure he has a ton of sensitive information we can obtain." Yvette reassures Neimi with a nudge.

Smirking, Colm turns to face Yvette. "What are you implying?"

Yvette smiles and shakes her head before nodding to Neimi. "Let's go," she says as they walk away from the Sheriff's office

"By the way," Yvette starts, "Thank you, Colm."

"For what?" Colm asks, perplexed.

"Thank you for believing in me and coming to help my city; Holgard will be better off once we get rid of the EC scum."

"Heh, you're welcome, I guess. Though you really don't have to thank me for that." Colm shrugged in response.

Yvette smiles, knowing that Colm won't think it's a big deal, but it is to her. Soon, the three of them were walking back towards the sheriff's office, keeping to the shadows as they intended to follow the sheriff in secret.

"Stick with me and we'll go quietly and unseen; if we spook him, we might be up screwed and back to square one," Colm says.

Both Neimi and Yvette nod, taking extra care with their movements. The three companions see the sheriff emerge from the jailhouse, followed by three guards in all-black armor. Colm deduced that those were the Ebony Claw assassins.

They lead Colm through the streets and down to the slums, and he follows them but not too closely. The slums of Holgard are a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and that barely scratches the surface of what goes on here. Colm observes a great deal of debauchery of various kinds here; but he did his best to ignore everything, focusing on what was important.

The Sheriff soon comes to a halt in front of a large solid iron door, and two of the assassins knock a distinct pattern against the metal. The door unlocks and swings open. Colm kept his distance, being sure to be far enough that he wouldn't be detected, while being close enough that he could get into the building behind them.

Colm follows them for a time before they arrive at a large dungeon after descending several flights of stairs. We must now be underground, Colm thought. Several slaves, gagged and strapped to the dungeon walls, beg for rescue from someone, anyone.

The Sheriff and his goons enter a large chamber room that appears to be empty except for him and the three assassins accompanying him. Colm turned and motioned for Yvette and Neimi to stay here while he went in alone.

Colm enters the chamber by himself and confronts the three assassins. "I had a feeling you would show up," one of them says to Colm. "There are more outside in case you manage to escape."

"When did you realize it was a lie?" Colm inquires.

"When you got to the jailhouse," he says. "But it doesn't matter because we're all dead men."

Colm grins. "Then why did you agree to meet with me? If you're clever enough to see through my ruse, you must've known my reputation."

"Perhaps I'm a glutton for punishment," he chuckles, "or maybe I just wanted to please the higher ups with your head!"

The sheriff snarls as he flings his arm at Colm, a plume of smoke spraying from his hand, which Colm assumes is poison gas. As two assassins rush at Colm through the mist, he jumps back quicks and flips away from the gas, landing on his feet, spinning on his heel to kick assassin one into the other, sending them both collapsing on the floor.

The two are up and charging again in seconds, but Colm is prepared, having spun to deflect the first attack and throwing daggers at one's feet while arcing around the second's punch to push him to the ground. Once they're close enough, Colm quickly wraps his fingers around the neck of the first assassin's neck and shoves him to the floor again, dropping a dagger into his throat as Colm whispers sarcastically, "When will these guys ever learn?"

"If you give up now, I'll tell my friends to let the Sheriff keep his balls," Colm says.

As he grasps his crotch and prepares to fight, the second assassin gives Colm a glare that could melt lead. The dashing young rogue simply sighs and rolls his eyes, pulling his dagger from his comrade's throat, blood dripping from the blade.

"Are you seriously still refusing to give up?" Colm asks, annoyed. He glares at Colm, spitting at his feet before charging at him full force.

"Man, I really hate it when people make me work," Colm sighs, his voice irritated as he appears to blink past the assassin, his body slumping forward behind Colm as he clutches his throat, trying to keep his head from falling from his shoulders. Blood drips from his fingers.

As he staggers away from Colm, his grip weakens and he bleeds out. His head hits the floor with a sickening thud, followed by his body. "I really hate having to do that," Colm says, flicking the blood from Helena's dagger. Colm turns to see the smoke settling, and both the Sheriff and the third assassin have vanished.

"Well fuck, now I've got to chase them," Colm says.

Colm quickly searches the bodies for anything that can give him an advantage. Colm discovers a few coins and a small lockbox from the first man he murdered, but none from the second.

"I wonder if the other guy has the other half of this," Colm says.

Colm quickly takes the dead man's ring, searching his body again in the hopes of finding something useful; a hidden leather pouch with a long strap beneath his clothes is felt after a bit of effort. "Ohh, what have we here?" he remarks.

Colm opens the drawstring to reveal a small stack of documents. Colm quickly scans them: they appear to be official documents outlining the steps to be taken if they become compromised. "Jackpot," smirks Colm.

Neimi and Yvette rush into the room, shouting "Colm!" but quickly realize he's unharmed and look around the room. "Where is the Sheriff?" they all ask at the same time.

"You decide," Colm says, gesturing to the empty room.

"Shit!" exclaims Yvette. Colm shrugs and begins to search the room, convinced that there must be a hidden door somewhere around her. "He couldn't have gotten very far," Colm says, carefully searching the room for hidden panels or passageways. Colm is aware that the Sheriff could have exited the room in other ways, but the rogue keeps hoping to find what he's looking for.

"Any luck?" Colm remarks to his companions.

"No, but a section of this wall appears to be different from the rest of it," Yvette says, tapping on one of the walls.

Colm approached it and said, "Let me see," as he probed the wall and surrounding area.

The wall appears to move as Colm taps it, as if there is a hidden door behind it. "Aha!" exclaims Colm, smiling at Yvette.

"What? What is it?" Yvette is perplexed.

"This is a secret passage; the Sheriff must have escaped through here; let's follow it."

"What if it's a trap?" Neimi inquires abruptly. "Well, their last trap ended in them running with their tails between their legs, so I doubt they have another one ready," Colm says, trying to boost her confidence.

Neimi takes a deep breath and nods, clearly not wanting to fall into any traps.

Colm begins to follow the passage as it twists and turns, with Neimi close behind. The passage eventually comes to a halt, with stairs leading down. "This has to be where they're going," Colm speculates.

"Shall we?" Yvette inquires.

"No sense turning back now," Colm smirks and nods.

Colm starts descending the stairs, and Yvette follows. Soon, the stairs lead to a hallway, and Colm can see the silhouettes of a few bandits ahead. "Don't jump into anything just yet."

Colm smiles as he turns to face Yvette. "What? Do you want to take on these guys?" Colm teases her.

"If the situation arises, sure," she responds, her voice devoid of fear.

Colm nods and smiles, feeling bad for always stealing the good fights. If she fought them, they might actually be fights instead of slaughters. He could make out the words of three bandits as he gets closer to them.

"Who are you two?" one inquires. "I posed the first query; now it's his turn."

The bandits appear to be conversing with the Sheriff and his assassin companion. They don't appear to be cooperating.

"I'm Will," one thug introduces himself, offering his hand to shake with the assassin.

"My name is Guinevere," the assassin says, smiling as she extends her hand.

"My name is Sebastian," says a second thug, smiling silly, but the assassin ignores him.

Colm looks to Yvette, then back to the events unfolding in front of him. "Why are they just sitting there chatting?" Colm asks, puzzled as to why they aren't running.

"They must be planning to ambush us if we reach for our weapons," Colm overhears Yvette say.

"Or maybe they don't realize we have the advantage," Colm smirks. "Maybe I should get the jump on them right now."

Yvette grabs his arm, and Colm looks at her, shaking her head, as if she knows what Colm is thinking. "Let them lead us further in; they might be going to the Ebony Claw's main hideout," she says quietly to Colm.

Colm nods, sighing through his nose as he listens to the bandits and assassin talk.

"We're just a small bandit group compared to the Ebony Claw Syndicate, which has many, many more," Will claims.

"Do you see this?" the assassin asks, raising her hand to show a thick golden ring. "The Holgard Watch gave me this as a gift, and it has no equal; they fear us, and we could strike anywhere."

"And now you're going to lead the Holgard Watch right to us!" grumbles one of the bandits.

"I'm just setting the trap; once we've led the Holgard Watch to our hideout, we'll be able to rule the city with an iron fist!" laughs the assassin.

"I have a first cousin once removed whose aunt is dating the head of the Holgard Thieves' Guild," Sebastian adds.

The assassin only blinks and rolls her eyes. "Right, anyway, do you want to get paid? Ebony Claw is going to rule this country soon, so you should pick the winning team."

One of the bandits inquires, "How much do you want for this?"

"You can have it for less than fifty gold pieces."

The bandits exchange glances but eventually agree. After handing over the money, the assassin pulls out a small coin pouch for each of them and begins to chant something, a coiling mist emanating from her lips and coiling around the bandits' necks.

"Oh, right," she says as she looks up. "I forgot to mention that this might hurt a little!" The mist suddenly chokes the bandits around their necks. Colm can hear their flesh sizzling as it burns. They were being branded. The bandits, now depressed, begin to complain and curse the woman. She raises her hand calmly.

"I warned you it was going to hurt."

The bandits groan in agony, their burning flesh stinking up the air. The assassin sighs and shakes her head. "I can't concentrate if you keeps whining; this is a magical spell that burns allegiance to Ebony Claw into a brand on the skin, as well as enhancing your abilities."

Colm turns to Yvette, "Can we stop her now?" he asks loudly, "We can't just stand there and watch her abuse these poor guys!"

Yvette shakes her head as she looks at the scene in front of her.

"If they're making a deal with Ebony Claw, you know they're disgusting human garbage. The real threat is further in, and we can't afford to pass up such an opportunity."

She then turns and watches the scene unfold.

"But they're just bandits; they're not even the same as regular criminals; they're unskilled and-"

Yvette grabs his wrist and presses her face against his.

"Listen, I've lived in Holgard my entire life, and I've seen better men than these do far worse things. Ebony Claw has had their talons firmly planted in this city for far too long, and I'm going to rip them out at the roots."

Colm sighed and nodded. Clearly, Yvette had a lot more going on that she wasn't ready to share with Colm.

"Fine," Colm says, "but when we get out of here, I want you to tell me everything."

"Done," she says.

Colm and Yvette both turn to see that the ritual had been completed, and the Sheriff and Guinevere appear to have begun shuffling away in haste. The three bandits from before appear despondent, their maws spewing black smoke. Eyes sunken in and hollowed out as they aimlessly look around, as if waiting for something to move.

"What the hell?" Colm remarks under his breath.

Colm and Yvette begin to approach the bandits quietly, with Neimi floating over his shoulder. They are unaware of the three companions. As Colm approaches, they appear to simply stare around the area, if not menacingly. "What the fuck happened here?" Colm asks, his gaze fixed on the horrifying scene.

The three bandits appear to have been transformed into partially rotten corpses, though a black substance appeared to have leaked from their eyes. Colm winces as a revolting odor enters his nostrils, reeking of rotted, burnt flesh. Yvette coughs, unable to hold back the rancid odor that has taken over her senses. Neimi squeaks in fear as the three bandits snap their heads in her direction. "Those things are so nasty!" she exclaims quietly.

Colm shudders as he looks back at the corpses. How could something so heinous occur? Then again, Colm has witnessed some pretty heinous shit in his life. They let out a ferocious roar and stomp their way toward Colm and Yvette.

"Shit, get back!" exclaims Colm.

Yvette screams in terror and leaps backwards, but not before one of the corpses nearly grabs her ankle. She panics and flees, screaming the whole time.

"Calm down! Get a hold of yourself!" Colm yells at Yvette.

Colm sighs and relaxes, focusing on the present moment. Colm sent a jab of shadow energy through the first corpse as he ran by, freezing it in its tracks.

Colm hasn't really used his newfound powers since his showdown with Helena, when he became the Bane of Shadows, but now seems like as good a time as any. Colm fired a burst of Shadow energy at another, freezing it as it approached him. He maintains his cool as he moves through the air like lightning, slamming his blade through the spine of the final one. Colm watches as it tries to struggle despite being paralyzed, before giving it a powerful stab, breaking through its skin and impaling its brain.

"Damn, these things have tough skin!" exclaims Colm.

Colm pauses for a moment to catch his breath as he looks around the room. That scenario turned out better than he had hoped. His Shadow energy appears to have frozen the other two in place, but a deafening roar turns Colm back to them as a red glow rings around their necks. The primal growls reverberate off the walls as the first one frees itself from his energy, its eyes glowing red as it charges him.

"Okay then! Whatever the hell that was! Let's go then!" Colm curses, bouncing in place for a moment before charging forward to attack the beast head-on.

Colm charges at it, but first he must avoid its claws. He rolls under its swing and jabs his dagger blade into its belly, twisting it as he sends the bloody dagger back out and stabbing it again.

The second stab pierces its thigh and brings it to its knees. However, before Colm could finish, the second beast began stomping towards him from behind in a bull rush. Colm leaps up and backflips over it, allowing it to collide with its sibling. "Right, now we're talking!" Colm exclaims, almost excitedly, as he fires a burst of Shadow energy at the two remaining foes. Colm quickly scans the area to ensure that Yvette and Neimi are safe.

Colm watches as his Shadow energy slams into the two fallen beasts, causing another blast to erupt. "Stay put!"

"You did a great job, Colm!" exclaims Yvette.

"You are a hero!" Neimi concurs.

"Perhaps," Colm shrugged, "we should get going."

Colm takes a few steps before experiencing a dizzying sensation. His vision goes black for a moment, and he feels warmth all over his body as he bursts into black flames. "What is this?" Colm asks, as if expecting an answer.

Colm looks around and sees no allies, just a swarm of ethereal ghosts floating around him. Then, he takes notice of one in particular, Helena. He approaches her and caresses her cheek, recalling his time with her. Helena's body was cold, but her smile warmed him. "So, you've finally used your powers," she muses as she smirks at Colm.

"I thought you were dead," Colm asks, a little relieved he seemed to be wrong.

"I am, Colm. The souls you see here are previous wielders of the Shadow. We are the Banes of Shadow. You won't often see us, but when you first awaken with the Shadow, we come to you, we welcome you. Colm, you are becoming initiated."

"I thought I was initiated when I killed you to become the Bane of Shadows; what's the difference now?"

"Oh, I had forgotten just how... lovely you are... It's nice to know I was right about you," she laughs. "Well, the Shadow has a predetermined sequence of events. Killing me made you a Bane of Shadows, but it wasn't the full initiation; there is... something else." She pauses, running her fingers through his hair.

"Which is it?" asks Colm.

"The Shadow Rites. Those are the initiation for full powers. You must undergo them to fulfill your role as Bane of Shadows and to become a true Shadow Master. The first of the Rites was convincing you to kill me. The second was to use those Shadow powers for the first time." She smiles at Colm.

"So, what's the third one?" frowns Colm.

"The third is up to you," she grins, "because the Shadow adapts the initiation for each Bane who wishes to complete the Rites, but ONLY IF YOU WISH TO COMPLETE THEM!" Helena emphasized greatly this last part.

"What should I do?"

"Well, currently you're fighting the Ebony Claw Syndicate. You must banish them from this city, so that yet another Bane may awaken here."

"Why?"

"This is their choice. Your role as Bane of Shadows is to ensure the survival of the shadows. Colm, you must do whatever you need to do."

"But..." Colm thinks for a moment. "The fight against the EC has nothing to do with saving the world, Morthos, and it has nothing to do with the Demon Realm. It barely has anything to do with me."

"I just told you, the Shadow will adapt to you," she nods.

"Then who is the other Bane who might awaken here?" Colm asks.