A few hours earlier, Sharky had awoken in a strange room with no natural light. It was incredibly large, with the ceiling maybe fifty feet above and the floor covered in inches of water. There were bowls of flaming hot coals suspended from the ceiling on large chains, which swayed slightly in the draft of the large hanger.
As he struggled, he realised he was chained to what looked like some kind of canvas target, but it was clear the canvass and chains that held him were not regular, as when he transformed his face and tried to bite into them, his powerful jaw was unable to break the chains.
"Spirit-enhanced", he thought to himself.
A sudden splash indicated that he was not alone.
"Who's there?!" he shouted.
A lean man, wearing an orange jump suit came into view. His head was bald and he had a short black beard.
"You're that Captain?" he said. "Why have you attacked me?"
Captain Pyre considered him for a few moments. "Where's Sadie Hutchinson?"
"Her again? Look, I can't tell you anything," Sharky replied.
The captain had a small flame come from his palm. At first, it was orange, but then as he concentrated it burnt with a slight blue colour. He brought it to the man's chest and screams drowned out the searing of flesh as a hole was growing and cauterising at the same time.
The captain dismissed the flames and looked at him expectantly.
"I can't, I can't!" screamed Sharky.
This time, the Captain covered Sharky's body in flames, like a flame thrower. The skin contracted, tightening, and he was covered in burns all over his stomach, torso and arms. The area of his chest burnt before was a black pit where muscle and bone should have been. His lung underneath was even scorched, making it painful to breathe.
"Okay," Sharky cried. "It was Jack. Jack gave her to them as a gift."
"To the Shadow faction?"
"Y-yes. To the shadows."
"Is she alive?"
"Who knows?" Sharky replied.
Captain Pyre summoned more flames, but was interrupted before attacking again.
"Jack should know. Where they're keeping her. Or if not, he can at least find out. He arranged the drop-off."
Pyre summoned the flames again.
"I've told you everything I know!" Sharky cried.
"When they allocate these chambers, they have one rule: No one leaves."
Flames poured from the Captain, as Sharky struggled, consumed by the flames. As he was being burnt, he tried transforming, perhaps hoping to break the chains, but suddenly the struggling stopped and the flaming mass slumped in his chains.
Captain Pyre sighed. He did not enjoy killing, although he did so when required.
He pulled out his wallet, withdrawing a photo of himself when he was younger. He still had his hair, but his face looked softer, and a young woman was with him, smiling, her pregnant belly on display.
He stared at the picture, recognising a version of himself with far less worries and responsibilities. Fifteen years. Had he stayed with her, with Sadie, perhaps things would have been different.
*
Captain Pyre had been following Jack since. It seemed like he had been placed on high alert for some reason and had a lot of men with him. He'd been hoping to catch him on his own, as he had done with Sharky. He had no doubt he could take him one-on-one, but with a whole squad on-board, he wasn't so sure.
When they left the casino in the early hours of the morning, he was quite surprised. So, they are up to something? Strangely, they had gone to a church of all places. The one he had picked Sharky up from. "Probably squeezing them down for cash," he thought. Pyre had known of the place previously. An old huntress ran it, a religious sect known for healing the locals. They'd even hired a couple from time to time when they were low on healers.
He'd watched as the House of Cards laid siege to the building, sending in a few men, then a few more, then the final group of five. He had considered going in after them, but it sounded like the healers from Sanctuary were putting up a fight and would drain them of a little essence. He might not get a better chance to capture their leader. That's when he heard it. A deafening, piercing sound, which hurt his ears even from outside the building. It suddenly stopped, and Pyre made a run for the door.
*
Inside, a couple of the Madonnas were healing Mother Mercy, having brought her leg over to be reattached, while the rest chased down the Sanctuary kids. Technically, Dave had been at the stabbing of the shadow boy too, and met all the criteria to be taken, but he was in the backroom hiding with the others.
Harry had just summoned an earth pillar, smashing through the floorboards and bursting out in front of Mother Hope. She dashed sideways, avoiding the strike. Lenny has slashed at Mother Charity, and been surprised when she deflected the attack. There was a reason they had survived against the House of Cards for so long. They were just kids after all, barely having discovered their powers. Rose side stepped, avoiding a staff that had been aimed at her head.
Bang! A hole was suddenly blown in the entrance of the church. Captain Pyre had approached the House of Cards from behind, contracted into a ball, then exploded outwards with a torrent of flames. He'd used the flame burst ability taught to strong members of their faction, who had sufficient spirit essence to utilise the techniques perfected by their clan over the decades. Those closest, or with weaker spirit armour had been killed, their organs turned to liquid by the blast.
Others were injured, burnt, and knocked to the floor. Only Jack was left standing, and Kyle was down on one knee. Even they looked wounded.
"You!" said Jack. "What are you doing here?!"
"I need to know where Sadie is."
"Her again? You're obsessed. Why is she so important?"
"I have my reasons."
Jack considered him for a second. "So it was you…?"
"What do you mean?" Pyre replied.
"You took Sharky."
"Yes," Pyre replied. "And he told me enough to know who was involved."
Everyone around them was silent, trying to figure out what was going on. But it was like a puzzle with too many of the pieces missing. Why had the Salamanders attacked the House of Cards? And why would they only send one man? Sure, they were powerful, but it's not like the man who stood in front of them was one of the national hunters. Nobody doubted their strength, but even so, such actions seemed reckless.
"My turn," said Jack, throwing out three cards at once. They were the 8, 9 and 10 of diamonds, and despite covering up, cuts appeared all over Captain Pyre's body, slicing through the spirit armour. Instantly, the passive effect of his bracelet started to take effect and he could see it scabbing over in front of him. Although he had initially acquired it to fight the Shadow faction, he wasn't exactly complaining. In fact, he thought that perhaps he had underestimated the young heir to the House of Cards. Although his spirit armour had prevented the damage from being much worse, it was now looking a little worse for wear.
Meanwhile, Lenny and his group were surrounded by the Madonnas at the back of the room. Being further away from the blast, they had not been affected as badly. However, they had still felt a strong force pushing them back.
Mother Charity whispered: "What do we do?"
"They are one of the four pillars," said Mother Hope. "We will not go against them. But standing here is reckless, suicidal even."
"There's a board in the kids room that can be removed," said Mother Charity.
"So that was their plan?" thought Lenny. "They just want to escape."
In that moment, a torrent of flames poured out of the Captain. In response, Jack had thrown a king of diamonds. It stood proud in front of the flames for a few moments, before it started to glow. It shattered, pieces exploding outwards in all directions and the flames that it had previously been held back were now flooding the room, which was being consumed by the flames.
"Okay, leaving sounds like a good choice," thought Lenny.
*
They had not known what went on after that, but by the time the fire engines arrived, the noises inside had stopped. All of the men from the House of Cards were dead. Only Jack was unaccounted for.
The water user who was part of the fire brigade had helped to put out the flames quickly. An investigator would be sent from the Western Alliance, the government taking the death of so many faction members quite seriously, but once they found out the Salamanders were involved, it was likely the incident would be swept under the rug.
Eventually, a figure had stood up in the wreckage, throwing off a charred beam resting on their shoulder. They were covered in blackened flesh, so it wasn't possible to recognise who it was at first. Slowly, however, as she began to heal herself, Mother Mercy came back to her former self. Her charred bones remineralising, her burnt muscles reattaching, her melted skin re-covering the various patches of exposed inner tissue.
The other women came over to boost the speed of the process, but they were all drained, and shocked that their leader still had such reserves of spirit essence.
When she was finally healed, she cleared her throat, and the room was silent. Everyone waited with bated breath to find out what she would say.
She said: "Hmmm… I think this place needs redecorating."