Chapter One

Damon looked down from the rooftop into the alley below. Shadows were spreading over the ground as the sun fell behind the tall buildings all around him. He listened intently; sure that he had heard something unusual. The sounds of the city surrounded him in a never-ending hum, but he had trained his ears to ignore the incessant droning and focus on particular sounds.  There �" one, maybe two buildings over. Something is going down, Damon thought as he tried to move quickly and quietly at the same time.

He threaded his way over the rooftop between piles of garbage, broken down machines, discarded trash, and other detritus. Mindful of his training, he could hear his mentor’s voice in his head:

Keep focused on your target, yes, but never forget that threats are everywhere, do NOT let someone get the drop on you because you were preoccupied. Keep your eyes moving at all times, keep your hearing sharp, and always stay near quick cover. Threats are everywhere!

Damon smiled and shook his head slightly as he thought of Cinnia and her oft-repeated admonishments. Nonetheless, he followed her advice to the letter; eyes shifting, hearing focused, and the path he chose was winding amongst the debris rather than the easier, and faster, straight-line path across the roof. He moved quickly and quietly, his smooth motions belying his size. He came to the other side of the roof, squeezed between two rusted-out hulking pieces of machinery and listened again. This time it did not take long.

He heard a shuffle of feet moving quickly, the metallic crash of something falling to the ground, and there, hidden in the other sounds, a muffled scream. Closer now, he was sure of the sound, and decided he had better go take a look. Although there shouldn’t be any Family members out here at this time of day, he was on patrol and part of his duty was to investigate anything unusual. Taking in his surroundings one more time, he found a fairly safe passage over to the next rooftop using what was left of a toppled water tower. I’ll be in the open when I cross, he thought and remembered his training. He moved to another location that gave him a better view of the twisted wreckage and the surrounding area.

Carefully tracing a path in his mind over the girders, plates, and cables, he calculated his quickest route to the next rooftop. Settling back and widening his field of view he watched patiently for any signs of movement in the buildings facing the makeshift bridge. Waiting and watching for a full minute he didn’t hear or see anything that looked like a threat, although he did perceive the sounds of continued struggle. The urgency of the sounds ground on his nerves and made the minute seem to stretch on forever. Finally, although sooner than Cinnia would have liked, he moved toward the crossing, paused briefly at the edge of the roof, and glanced around again before fully committing himself to the open. Satisfied that no threat existed, he moved forward quickly, traversing the space between building with speed and agility that smaller, leaner men would be hard-pressed to match. The structure groaned and shifted slightly under his weight, but he was across and back under cover before it could become precarious.

When moving from cover to cover, don’t stop to look back and give your adversary the chance to catch up. Cross the open quickly and then keep moving.

Damon smiled to himself again while he followed the advice and kept moving through the jungle of twisted, rusted metal that covered the entire roof of this building. He thought that Cinnia would be proud of his first solo patrol. If I can find something interesting and bring it back to the Family, so much the better.

He knew that he was her favorite student, and that she was already proud of him, but still he wanted more. Nothing made him feel better than the praise of Cinnia, delivered in her earnest, though clinical, manner. He loved working with her, they formed a perfectly coordinated team, and together they were deadly fighting combination. Her mind-boggling quickness and flexibility had destroyed many opponents by simply overwhelming them with perfectly-placed blows. His style relied on power, of course, but he also had a quickness and grace that had given him the name “Demon” among his friends. Together, he thought, they could take on the world.

Damon reached the other side of the building and could look down on the scene that had drawn his attention. Four men encircled a young girl who was laying face-down on the pavement. She bloodied and crying, but making no effort to stand. Damon’s eyes narrowed as anger surged in his heart. He didn’t know the circumstances but he didn’t care, because he was positive that four men against a single girl was unfair in any situation.

He looked around to judge his surroundings, searching for possible threats and a quick way down to the ground. Finding no immediate threats he concentrated on finding a path down. Measuring time, distance, and speed in his mind he decided he could climb down quickly to an abandoned fire escape and then jump the rest of the way down.

Loud, maybe, and not real fast, but I don’t see any other way right now.

He glanced around one more time as the men reached for the girl, lifting her up into a standing position. Taking a deep breath he swung his legs over the edge, facing toward the building, hoping his plan would work.

His feet struck the windowsill below and he kept moving, twisting his body to the side to reach and catch the edge of the next window as he began a controlled fall. He swung his legs toward the fire escape, gaining enough momentum to fly through the air and land, more or less, as planned on the rusted metal framework. Taking three running steps that echoed loudly through the alley and alerted his opponents, he jumped toward the nearest man hoping he would break his fall and some of the man's bones as well.

Unfortunately, the man reacted quickly enough to sidestep the human missile, causing Damon to land too heavily on his feet. Pain shot up his legs and he wobbled slightly, but his training kicked in and he ignored the pain, rolled with his motion, came up on his feet and plowed directly into one of the men holding the girl. Damon expertly turned his head just far enough to avoid hitting the wall behind his target and allowing the man's body to take the full impact of his heavy frame. The man's body nearly collapsed under the impact and Damon felt the ribs breaking beneath his shoulder. The man's head cracked against the wall and he immediately went limp.

Ducking instinctively to the side, Damon narrowly avoided the swing of a bat now being wielded by a long-haired assailant. He finished his dodge by taking a few quick steps away to open up some space. He paused in a half-crouch and quickly assessed the three remaining targets. There was the long-haired bat-man; a scared-looking youngster clenching his fists but backing away; and a taller, leaner man with a messy shock of blond hair.

"Well, boys, what would you be doing here with this young girl, hmmm?" Damon asked in a smooth, calm voice. He was not the least bit worried, he had faced worse odds and much tougher opponents many times before. The girl was behind the three men, and Damon made note to not allow one of them to escape with her.

"Would you like to talk about this, or should we do it the hard way?" Damon asked as he stood up out of his crouch, making a show of stretching his back nonchalantly.

Bat-man snarled at his taunt, and Scared-boy backed away. Closer to the girl, Damon noted. Blondie laughed and looked at his fingernails before speaking, "If you wants a turn with her, we can do that."

"I don't think so, I don't take advantage of girls beaten into submission. Usually they just fall for my good looks. Although I can see how that wouldn't work for you boys."

Damon started walking around the men to get to the girl, but Bat-man didn't like the idea and stepped into his path, preparing to swing. Damon lunged toward him causing him to swing the bat prematurely and without much force. Damon easily grabbed the barrel of the bat in one hand, and spinning his body in the opposite direction he pulled it from the man's grip. He finished the move by continuing his spin all the way around and catching the now-batless man in the temple with the handle of his own bat. The crack of hardwood against bone was sickening and the man fell backward in heap.

Casually flipping the bat around to hold it by the handle, Damon addressed the two remaining thugs. Make that one, he thought as he caught sight of scared-boy running away.

Blondie laughed again, a disconcerting sound given the current state of affairs. When he spoke his voice was calm, "Now look, this started with you trying to take my prize, but now you killed my rookies, I can't let that just go."

Blondie's attitude was making Damon nervous, but he tried not to show it. "You can just give me the girl and go on your way, then nobody gets hurt." Well, nobody else gets hurt, Damon amended in his thoughts.

Again Blondie chuckled, and Damon's heart started beating faster, the man was really spooking him now. As Blondie continued to laugh, Damon heard the sound of approaching footsteps and turned to see three tough-looking guys come out of a nearby building. Four more came out behind Blondie, and two came walking down the street from where Scared-boy had disappeared. When Damon looked back at Blondie he had drawn two long knives that Damon failed to notice before. Keeping the bat in his left hand, Damon shifted into a ready stance facing Blondie since he was the only one who appeared to be armed. Blondie also dropped into a fighter's stance while the other nine formed a rough circle around them.

Blondie wasted no time and stepped in to thrust one blade at Damon's face while swinging the other in a slashing motion at his bat-hand. Ignoring the obvious feint, Damon drew back his hand but was surprised when the blade moved even quicker and found purchase across his wrist. The wound was superficial, but the fact that it connected at all gave Damon reason to worry. In the split-second of delay, Blondie brought the other blade in a pass across Damon's hip that he couldn't quite avoid and more blood was drawn. Surprised again by the speed of the attack, Damon hopped back a few steps to gain a short respite. The cut on his hip was fairly deep and he felt the blood soaking his pant leg. He knew that it would slow him down over time, and he needed to bring this to a quick close.

Come on! Cinnia’s even faster than him and I can hold my own against her�"well, sort of.

Blondie bared his teeth in a predatory smile as he closed the gap slowly, too seasoned to rush in quickly.

Damon regrouped mentally and rushed in trying to close the distance to mitigate the other's speed advantage. Blondie anticipated the move and sidestepped easily, piercing Damon's right shoulder clear through the deltoid. Damon twisted away from the blade pulling it out before Blondie had a chance to cause more damage to the muscle.

He realized he needed to change tactics and fast. Pretending to charge again, he pulled up short and started to swing the bat. Blondie’s thrust missed this time throwing him slightly off balance, which was the only opening Damon needed. He adjusted the arc of the bat in flight to connect solidly on Blondie’s outstretched hand, cracking bones and sending the knife skittering across the ground. Blondie recovered quickly and parried Damon's next swing, but now the big man was in too close for long knife work. Pressing his advantage, Damon moved in relentlessly, brushing aside the knife and plowing Blondie backward into the ground. Damon grabbed him by the face with one huge hand and slammed his head into the pavement putting all of his weight behind the blow; once, twice, three times in rapid succession. Blondie's eyes glazed over and he stopped struggling.

Unfortunately, the nine spectators did not wait long and rushed in to beat and kick Damon before he could rise to his feet. Fighting to match his "Demon” nickname, he managed to get to his feet and take out three of his assailants in the process. A blow to the head sent him reeling groggily and he was no longer able to defend himself.

Author's Note

rough draft for NaNo