Chapter 172: Night’s Hunt III
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Vera’s lips twitched faintly.
Vela’s eyes flicked sideways, watching Bat Bat like she was entertainment.
Sekhmet kept moving.
They passed through a less regulated district and approached the city wall. Here, the air changed.
The smell of trade and food faded. The smell of sweat and iron and cheap alcohol replaced it.
Near the wall, the city’s rules were thinner. Guards were fewer. People moved with more caution. Deals happened quietly. Weapons were common. Nobody looked surprised when shadows shifted.
Sekhmet slowed.
"This," he said quietly, "is where most criminals think they are safe."
Bat Bat nodded eagerly.
Vera’s gaze sharpened, scanning.
Vela’s nostrils flared slightly as if scent mattered more now.
Sekhmet spoke again, voice low.
"We will go outside," he said.
Bat Bat frowned. "Outside?" she repeated.
Sekhmet nodded. "Outside city walls," he said. "If something goes wrong, fewer consequences."
Vera and Vela did not question. They understood.
They slipped toward a smaller gate area used by shady merchants and corrupt patrols. At night, it was guarded lightly. Sekhmet did not want to fight guards. Fighting guards created reports. Reports created investigation. Investigation created attention.
He moved toward a shadowed section near the wall where the stones were older and the mortar had cracks.
He raised his hand. Blood threads emerged from a small blood container from his pocket. It was thin, almost invisible in the dark. They slid into a crack like snakes.
Sekhmet pulled gently. A small gap widened between stones, just enough for a person to squeeze through. And a small hole beside it that could fit a fist.
Bat Bat stared at him with admiration.
"Master is cool," Bat Bat whispered.
Sekhmet did not answer that. He slipped through first.
After him came Vera.
After her came Vela.
Then Bat Bat tried to go with the side hole beside the main one, she got stuck for half a heartbeat because she tried to squeeze while holding her wings weirdly.
"Help me, push." Bat Bat demand.
Vela helped her without comment.
Outside the wall, the world was darker.
No lanterns. No comfort. Only moonlight and distant city buildings glow behind them.
The ground was uneven, it was dusty. And it was scattered with broken stone. The air smelled dry and sharp.
And there were people out here too. Not patrols... Not honest travelers...
The kind of men who met outside walls because they did not want city ears hearing their business.
Sekhmet crouched slightly behind a cluster of rocks and gestured for the others to stay low.
Bat Bat crouched dramatically, like she had seen hunters do it in stories. Today, Elena had read her some stories. She picked it up from the stories.
The twins crouched smoothly and perfectly.
Sekhmet spoke quietly.
"Now," he said, "I will teach you basic blood control."
Vera’s eyes flicked to him instantly.
Vela’s attention locked in.
Bat Bat leaned forward like she was ready to teach again.
Sekhmet ignored Bat Bat.
"Blood control is not about shouting in your head," Sekhmet said. "It is about pressure and intention. You do not force the blood. You guide it."
Vera nodded slowly.
Vela nodded once, sharp.
Sekhmet lifted his palm. A thin thread of blood rose from his pocket to his finger, moving smoothly, not wobbling like Bat Bat’s.
He shaped it into a needle, then a thin dagger like shape, then a ring.
"Small shapes first," he said. "Control matters more than size."
Bat Bat whispered loudly, "Bat Bat already do needle."
Sekhmet did not look at her. He continued...
"You will practice by pulling your own blood to the surface. Your own blood got better control," he said. "One drop. No more. If you cut yourself open, you are stupid. Hunger will tempt you to be stupid. Once both of you learn to control the blood you can try with others’ blood."
Vera swallowed once.
Vela’s eyes tightened slightly.
Sekhmet watched them.
"Try it now," he said.
Vera lifted her hand slowly. Then she pokes her hand with the blood needle Sekhmet just created. She concentrated after that. A tiny bead of blood rose at the edge of her fingertip.
It did not wobble like Bat Bat. It was stable.
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Good control already."
Vela lifted her hand next. She also poked her hands with the same blood needle. Then she tried it. Her blood bead formed even faster.
It was sharper.
Almost like it wanted to become a weapon by instinct.
Bat Bat clapped silently, then remembered she was supposed to be quiet, so she clapped without sound but with full drama anyway.
Sekhmet spoke. "Now shape it," he said. "Try to make a needle."
Vera’s bead stretched into a thin line then a needle.
Vela’s bead stretched into a needle instantly, then almost became a longer spike before she caught herself.
Sekhmet nodded once.
"Good," he said.
The twins’ eyes brightened.
Bat Bat puffed her chest proudly like she had taught them.
Then Sekhmet’s tone sharpened.
"Do not get excited," he said. "Excitement breaks control."
Vera’s needle steadied again.
Vela’s needle steadied.
Sekhmet looked past them toward the figures in the distance.
Four men were present there. Two were arguing. One was holding a sack. One was holding a small cage.
The cage moved. Something inside it whimpered.
Bat Bat’s grin faded.
Vera’s eyes hardened.
Vela’s posture shifted slightly, predatory.
Sekhmet watched carefully. He did not move immediately. He listened.
The wind carried pieces of their conversation.
"...told you the buyer wants it alive..."
"...shut up, you want a coin or not..."
"...if it dies, we lose half..."
The cage shook again. A small, frightened sound.
Not a human child’s voice. It was like an animal. Maybe a beast pup. Maybe a small spirit creature. Hard to tell by the sound.
Still a baby living thing being sold.
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.
"They are traders," Vera whispered.
"Criminal traders," Vela corrected quietly.
Sekhmet nodded once.
"Target," he said.
Bat Bat’s eyes lit up again, hunger returning.
Sekhmet spoke softly.