The pair of wagons shook as they made their way over the last of the cobblestones and out of the gate past the River Brave. Rain had begun to fall heavily and so echoed off the canvas roofs of the wagons. The light sound of the river's flow mixed with the sweet smell of late fall as the air had taken on its first true chill. Grasshoppers sang as flies harassed the horses and the dirt road drove them forward.

They did not get very far, however, before the front driver brought the carts to a halt. In the center of the road by a stand of trees there was a woman wearing fine clothes sitting on a plain wooden box with one leg lazily crossed over the other seemingly relaxing in the rain.

"Would you kindly move? We are on a strict schedule for the Church," the driver yelled.

Rising up excitedly, the woman took a stop closer to the cart.

"Oh! You are with the Church? In a stroke of luck that is exactly who I am looking for! Me and my compatriot, Hound, were looking for a ride further down south and knowing that there are caravans passing through here relatively regularly we thought we would inquire about a ride!" Anjelica called up to them. At mention of his name, Hound exited the small stand of shrubbery that he had been hiding in.

Anjelica then made a point to reach into her lapel and pull out her silver Gavel pin and show it to the driver while approaching.

"See? You know what kind of things happen to people who go around flashing these for no good reason."

The driver, now thoroughly annoyed, simply grunted in response.

"As long as you do not bother the caravan, we can give you a ride down to Duskburrow but no further," the driver said begrudgingly.

"Oh goodie!" Anjelica said in a comically exaggerated show of joy.

Anjelica stepped up and sat right next to the man on the driving bench. Hound disappeared out of sight behind her to move to the other wagon.

"Duskburrow is that estate out in the middle of nowhere where that Duke lives right? What business do you all have out there?" Anjelica inquired.

"None of the business of a Gavel," He replied curtly.

"Well that is a shame. I suppose I will have to find out about it for myself then."

There was a pained yell and grunt as Hound incapacitated the second driver behind them.

Anjelica calmly met eyes with the driver before smiling at him warmly. His hand went to his belt but not before Anjelica had already pressed her barrel to his neck.

"Tut tut. Someone was not paying attention during their security briefing. You do not have to worry though. We are not here for you, we are here for what's in the carts. Quinn!?" She yelled out the last word to get his attention.

Quinn made his way out of the treeline and climbed into the back of the cart and began rummaging around.

"Anything of interest?"

"Lots of bloodstone, liquor bottles, maps!" Quinn called from behind her.

"Amazing!" Anjelica called out. "This was actually way easier than we thought it would be and look at all the wonderful cargo! We were actually expecting you all to have some guards–"

There is a crash and splintering of wood as Hound is quickly thrown back into her peripheral vision. Anjelica groaned angrily, removed the driver's weapon from his belt before throwing it off into the darkness and motioning for him to leave. He gladly got up and began to run back towards town as Anjelica swung herself back down towards Hound.

Hound was coughing trying to get the air back into his lungs as he pushed himself up out of the grass. Though he could not speak, his eyes were locked in that hunter's gaze towards the second cart he had been flung from.

There was a creaking sound of wood being pushed too close to its breaking point as the cart dipped and shifted from a great weight. Then, stepping out of its back was a mountain of a man.

Hound was large and nearly seven feet tall but this man stood towering above even him at nearly nine feet. With wide, scarred shoulders covered with a sleeveless fur vest, plain pants, and those strangely oblong horizontal pupils The Bull stepped out of the back of the wagon. His white hair flowed in a wild mess behind him, catching on and sweeping over the small horns on either side of his forehead. As he sighed out of his nose the large golden ring in his septum swung out just a bit in response.

"Hundrick," The deep voice bellowed out from The Bull's chest. "You and your lover are both supposed to be southwards hunting. What reason would you have for being this far north? Tell me. At least make it sound like its not treason as if hijacking the carts was not messaging enough."

"Maybe not demons, but we were investigating some monsters. We kept running into families with missing children. Care to explain any of that?" Anjelica questioned.

"No. Not worth an answer. You either know or you are still in the dark. Maybe both. Either way, you are dealing with things you should not be sticking your nose into. You letting your woman drag you down with her again Hundrick?"

Hound had stood once more and looked up at The Bull with a bit of pain in his eyes.

"She only drags me where I can be of most use. Whatever is going on with this bloodstone needs to stop, Batrot. I know that you are a person of honor. If we told you that you were party to such cruelty then would you help us?"

The Bull considered this for a moment.

"You are right. I am a person of honor. I fulfill my loyalties to the best of my ability. Gabriel gave me a home and a purpose when not even the Hunters would have me. I know that I may be party to all of this but the city has flourished. The work has continued. I am comfortable. I stay comfortable by making sure that these shipments move. I am still willing to forgive your temporary insanity, Hundrick. Just step aside."

Hound and Anjelica looked at each other. Hound's pleading eyes met the fire behind Anjelica's as she shook her head.

"We stepped over the line in the sand a long time ago, old friend," Hound said sadly.

The Bull to his credit seemed to feel the same sadness and loss before his face turned to steely resolve. Resolve turned to bemusement as a wide grin cracked open on his face.

"So be it. Then it has already begun. I get to be on the field of the first skirmish. A great gift you have bestowed upon me, Hound."

The rain seemed to pick up its tempo in response.

The Bull stepped forward and raised his fists in a boxing stance before advancing faster than a man his size had any right to.

Anjelica's gun rang out and the bullet found purchase in his shoulder but it seemed to hardly register to the monolith approaching them. She drew her rapier as he finally met Hound.

The two floated around each other for a time, two men with both weight and grace sizing each other up. Then Hound moved aggressively with a jab that The Bull must have been expecting as he almost instantaneously reacted with a crushing blow to Hound's side that crunched bones. The Bull's right fist then came forward in a hook hitting both of Hound's guarding arms but crashing Hound down onto the floor with the momentum. Another jab with a fist the size of his head struck down past Hound's guard and mangled his face.

As The Bull raised his arm once more, he stopped in surprise as he found a rapier blade through his elbow. Instead of pulling away, he pushed back into the blade before extending his arm into a crashing backhand that sent Anjelica reeling. Then, he simply pulled out the rapier in one smooth motion as the blood flowed out of either side of the wound.

"Rapiers are not very useful against larger targets eh?" The Bull mocked as he tossed the rapier aside. "Your precious lapdog is not the only one who can regenerate."

Anjelica looked up and she could see the flow of blood down his arm turn from a stream to a trickle as his body healed from the stabbing.

The Bull's face had contorted from a grin to an actual demented smile and he looked at Anjelica with blood lust.

"They would prefer if I broke the Crane's wings first would they not?" He said with a chuckle.

A roar then echoed out as Hound threw himself onto the larger man's back. His claws were out and the mask had been abandoned as his jaw clamped down onto The Bull's shoulder. His claws ripped and tore wherever they could find purchase on the man's back while he kicked and kneed as best he could.

The Bull made a roar of pain and anger as he attempted to grab onto Hound's back to fling him off but finding no purchase instead stepped back and slammed his full weight backwards into the wall of the frontmost cart. This did cause Hound's clenched jaw to relax, but a shot rang out as a chunk of The Bull's neck splattered onto the canvas behind him.

He stumbled forward for a few steps, fountaining out blood and grasping at his neck before falling to his knees.

Anjelica reloaded while Hound started to crackle and crunch back together as his bones reformed.

Then a sound emanated from The Bull that sent icy shards careening through their veins.

He laughed.

It was a throaty, wet laugh through the blood in his airway but it was a laugh nonetheless.

The huge figure rose and then stood proudly and defiantly. He turned towards them with a grim smile on his face. His skin had taken on a slightly darker, reddish hue and the horns on his head had grown, cracking the skin around them to make proper three inch horns. Where Hound's body stitched itself together, The Bull had a mass of flesh that was pushing out of his wound. It swelled and as it retracted it left behind bits of viscera that slowly formed into the shape of his neck muscles.

"FINALLY," he roared. "Some actual competition!"

Thunder rumbled as the sky shone out its electric light.

Lowering his head into a battering ram, he charged horns forward at Anjelica. Hound stepped forward to intervene but the horns turned on him, goring him on one of their points. He then lifted Hound off the ground, grabbed onto his ankle and began to slam him into the ground back and forth until his body was a limp bag of bones spewing out blood before tossing him aside.

Anjelica drew her dagger and removed her eyepatch as the beast turned towards her with glowing golden eyes. She was unsure if he had grown larger or if he simply felt like it now that his ire was focused towards her.

The world became a milky dreamscape in her clotted eye as she silently cursed Gabriel for sending a Gavel to guard this caravan.

Then, the dance began. The Bull was a hulking form but her eye gave her just a moment of warning before he lashed out in his explosive athleticism. She was doing cartwheels and slides to narrowly evade his grasp. She got in some small stabs and cuts but nothing that he was unable to regenerate against.

"I found it!" Quinn called out while hanging from the back of the cart while waving around some papers.

This was just enough to distract Anjelica from the matter at hand and The Bull managed to lock his grip around her shooting arm. The giant hand squeezed into a fist and it seemed as easy as popping a grape for him to crush the bones in her forearm. He raised a fist and brought it crashing into Anjelica's cheek.

Instantly her world became alight with white flame. Pain coursed through her as she felt herself be tossed back several feet by the blow. She tasted blood and coughed some out onto the grass instinctively. She tried to rise up and crawl but a huge shadow came over her once more.

"End of the line," The Bull grunted before raising up his big boot towards her face.

A snarling, rabid Hound then reappeared latching onto his leg and did a twisting kick to the back of his knee to try to grapple him to the ground. The huge form fell backwards and the bodies writhed in the grip of combat.

Anjelica pushed herself up on her good arm. She couldn't speak, but she could move while refusing to look down at the mess that was herself. Drawing a pistol, she took a few shaky steps forward.

The Bull swung around into a full mount on Hound. He brought his fists down again and again as Anjelica approached. She raised the gun right as he turned.

Their eyes met and Anjelica's dark raven's eye met his golden glow. He flinched away but she did not. The gunshot rang out and bits of chitinous white bone flew out as the bullet struck the side of his horn.

He reeled and whatever was left of Hound managed to swing a clawed hand up to cut into the base of his throat.

With her offhand, Anjelica reached and grabbed her second pistol and sent a shot careening through The Bull's cheek.

Now in obvious pain, he reeled back and grabbed towards his face.

The two old hunters then regrouped and began to approach their prey as a pair. Fear finally manifested in The Bull's eyes at the twosome's aggressive movement.

Then, over the din of the battle, there came the sound of a horn. In the distance, there was a large black moving shape that must've been several horses and men approaching the caravan at top speed.

The Bull, wracked with fear and pain, immediately turned and began to run towards the group while taking Anjelica's last shot to the back of the head.

Quinn, realizing the time-sensitive nature of the situation, moved quickly. He grabbed a leather shoulder bag from inside the wagon before retrieving his bloodstone lighter and pre-clothed bottle of liquor from inside his coat. Igniting the rag, he tossed one into each of the wagons and then ran over to help the limping Anjelica move towards the woods.

Wordlessly, Quinn handed Anjelica a bottle of serum before taking her good arm over his to help her walk.

Anjelica took small sips from it as they made their way through the woods towards a drainage pipe that would lead them back into town.

Behind them, the barrels of whiskey inside the wagons finally burst with a grand explosion whose light reached them all the way into the forest.

"At least the shipment was stopped! Whatever was left got blown to bits!" Quinn offered with a hopeful smile but was immediately silenced by the morose looks of his companions.

They could not afford to be excited. Everything had just changed for them in one exchange of blows. If the Cranes had been forming a silent rebellion, they had made a very loud and clear message that the true battle had just started.