"You don't have to tell me twice," I hissed with unbridled glee as I leaped through the doorway of the desecrated tavern.

I was immediately greeted by the sight of prey. Several dozen poorly-armed, barely organized n'urds; half wearing those damn matching cloaks, the other half looking like the bravest people that the rest of the villagers could put forth. So many juicy targets, waiting, begging for me to spill their blood all over the pristine snow.

Gonna' give a girl some serious choice paralysis here, guys.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Amari wasn't having as much trouble picking her marks. She elegantly danced from person to person, channeling the dark energy that leaked out of her soul with one hand, ramming the sharpened tip of her blade into torsos with the other.

Something stirred deep inside me. Something I hadn't felt in... shit, how long has it been? The way she moved, the way she threw herself into battle. How blood spurting from fresh wounds splattered on her clothes, masking her in crimson as she continued the slaughter.

She was beautiful. My... my friend. Behold, blessed perfection.

--That's the feeling: Respect. Admiration. That's what I felt for her, in that moment. Gone was the soft if not sassy bitch I first met prowling the depths of the Seventh Sanctum. In her place, a cold, calculating murderer. An expert of her craft, willing to practice it on anyone and anything in a moment's notice.

I'm so proud of her. I know I can count on her to see this through.

Two people broke from the crowd and tried to step up to me. With an ear-piercing scream, I fell upon the White Blight Knight. I moved to fast for him to react. I kicked the sword out of his hand, sending it back into the throng of people who couldn't decide whether to join the fight or run. Vines burst in quadruplicate from the sleeves of my longcoat, wrapping themselves around the exposed head of the fool. I squeezed with all my might as the man cried out in pain--noises that soon devolved into something more desperate and afraid as the bones in his noggin cracked and popped one by one. I threw the man's now limp form into his comrade, knocking him over.

He couldn't shove the dead weight off his chest before I was at his throat, tearing away flesh and muscle with a snap of my jaws.

I looked up at the town's remaining would-be saviors, amber eyes burning with bloodlust, bits of my latest victim dangling from my teeth. "Who's fucking next?"