Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

the Rookery. But he'd always preferred to work on cons where no one really got hurt.
    Even the marks he soaked so thoroughly for money had nothing to really complain about. He always targeted the really rich bastards who could afford to lose what he took from them. He only ever punished the greedy. Until now. Now, people were dying, because of him. Good people. He drank his brandy in heavy gulps, but it didn't comfort him. His stomach hurt worse than ever. Tension. Guilt. And perhaps, just perhaps, the beginning of conscience.
    First chance he got, he was out of here, running for the horizon like his arse was on fire, and to hell with Finn bloody Durandal. This wasn't fun anymore; if it ever had been. He looked up from his glass and there was Rose, Wild Rose, looking thoughtfully at him again. She smiled, and Brett got gooseflesh all the way up both arms. Out of here, definitely. And the sooner the better.
    Finn studied the rising body count being displayed on the viewscreen, and smiled a slow, satisfied grin.
    He felt all warm and comfortable inside. Everything was going to plan. The commentators were calling this the worst day in the Golden Age's history. Only he knew that this, all of this, was just the beginning.

Chapter 4
    TERROR IN THE NIGHT
    Emma Steel, Logres's latest Paragon, defender of the meek and avenger of the wronged, stood impatiently on the roof of her new apartment building in the early hours of the morning, her thick purple cloak flapping noisily about her in the gusting wind. She was waiting for Finn Durandal to show up. She'd been waiting for almost an hour, and was not in the best of moods. It was bad enough that Finn had been openly giving her the runaround for the past few days, before finally agreeing to at least take her on a tour of Logres' main city, but now it seemed he couldn't even be bothered to show up at the time he'd insisted on. Emma, who was never late for anything, took Finn's absence as a personal insult. She'd moved past outrage and planned insults, and was currently debating which side of the roof it would be most fun to push him off. No one slighted Emma Steel and got away with it.
    She fumed quietly, arms crossed tightly over her armored chest, one foot tapping ominously. It didn't help that she was pretty damned sure that the Durandal had only agreed to this meeting because the media had been asking, in increasingly mystified tones, as to why Finn hadn't joined up with his new partner yet; particularly after they'd made such a good showing working together during the Neumen riots. Emma's mouth tightened even more as she considered that thought. There was a lot about the riot that bothered Emma Steel.
    To start with, the sheer viciousness of the violence had shocked her rigid. Emma was used to violence; she'd grown up on Mistworld, after all, where assault and battery was a daily occurrence. But. . . civilians turning on Paragons? Killing Paragons, their own beloved defenders, in what was supposed to be the most civilized city on the most civilized world in the Empire? If you couldn't trust the people of Logres to behave in a sane and civilized manner, then you couldn't rely on anything anymore. Perhaps not even the legendary Finn Durandal. Emma's frown deepened into a scowl.
    In those confused moments when she'd cut and hacked her way through the furious crowd to fight at Finn's side . . . surely she couldn't have seen what she thought she'd seen: the great and legendary hero Finn Durandal only going through the motions, only pretending to duel with the armed men before him.
    Certainly once she'd joined him, she'd seen him cut down the rioters with great skill and efficiency, showing not a trace of indecision or mercy. Emma felt disloyal even considering the thought that the earlier fighting might not have been everything it seemed, but she had to admit that in so many ways, Finn Durandal the man was nothing like the feted hero whose exploits had inspired her to become Mistworld's first and only Paragon.
    Coming to Logres had been her greatest ambition. Working beside Finn Durandal had been her greatest dream. She should have known better. Never meet your heroes; they'll always disappoint you. And ambition was just a conceit that distracted you from getting the job done. Here she was, at the pinnacle of her career, and instead of concentrating on her work, rushing out into this city to make it her own, and show the local scumbags who was really in charge, she was standing