"I'm only going to explain this once, so pay close attention," the Viscount of Shadows said as he unrolled a detailed map of the realm on a large table.

Two pairs of blue eyes just stared at him.

"Your goal is to retrieve a certain item from the Queen of Harpies. A crystal of blood. Unfortunately she has embedded it in her body and won't part with it voluntarily, so the only way to retrieve it is to kill her. Whether or not you kill her followers doesn't matter." He tapped one spot on the map. "The harpies' lair is here. High cliffs at the seashore. Is that understood?"

"Yes, master," Noel and Nea echoed as one.

"You're going to need a special blade to as much as scratch her. First, kill a black unicorn and take its horn and as much of blood as fits into that container I gave you." He pointed the next location on the map, knowing the twins would memorize it instantly. "Handle it with utmost care - the blood of a black unicorn is lethal poison. Next, pick up the darksteel ore from dwarves living here. Say that Nightshade sent you and they'll know what to give you."

"And for the last part, here," he tapped the map again. "Here lives a blacksmith who can combine these ingredients into a pair of weapons that can kill the Queen of Harpies. Give him whatever he wants, just get those weapons. He didn't care about the gold I offered last time, but I've heard rumors that he likes children."

"Understood." Noel took his sister's hand, his face still expressionless. "Whatever he wants."

~*~*~

Never before had they left the hidden castle, so at first glance the world outside was a little overwhelming. An orange-tinted sunrise was a stark contrast to the dim daylight slowly fading into the darkness of the night in the evening and back again come morning, an open horizon a stunning view compared to the small world ending in the castle walls.

They sat at the location where the Viscount had teleported them and watched the scenery until the sun climbed higher to the sky. Perhaps it should have stirred something in their hearts, but it just did not. Their reason to wait was practical - more things hunted in the dark and it was easier to get lost. Whether they would be the hunter, the hunted or both today would remain to be seen.

According to stories there had once been both white unicorns - ultimate creatures of purity and kindness - and the black unicorns sharing all their grace, yet being much darker and more malevolent in nature. The white unicorns had faded into legends, not witnessed by even the Dark Lords for centuries, while their darker counterparts were elusive beings rarely seen by mortal men. At least not any who lived to tell the tale.

But the Viscount had said that there was one in the vicinity here. The twins didn't even think there would be any other option than to find it. And kill it.

"This way," Noel nodded slightly off their current course. "There are Outcasts nearby. We should check what they know. It could save us days of searching."

Nea nodded in response and followed her brother. It was important to complete their task as quickly as possible, although deep inside she felt no rush to return to the castle.

Mothers quickly gathered their children close as the twins entered the campsite. There was fear on the Outcasts' faces, hatred tempered with acceptance that comes from giving in - not that the two grown up without knowing the company of other human beings recognized any of these -, yet none of them made any hostile moves. Just like they recognized the robed, otherworldly messengers of the Viscount, they also realized on first sight that these children directly served their one and only liege.

A middle-aged man approached them and slowly bowed his head. "Have we done something to displease?" he asked.

"We are looking for a black unicorn," Noel stated without answering the question. "Have you seen it?"

"Ah...no. We have seen the signs, though. Steered clear of them." He pointed northwest. "Over the hills and to the forested dale beyond."

"How long ago?"

"Not long. Four...five days ago."

While her brother was doing the talking, Nea noticed a woman with a small blonde girl staring at her. She looked back almost without blinking. That girl resembled Noel when they had been younger quite a lot.

The woman's shoulders started shaking and she abruptly turned away, to the arms of a man about her age moving closer to comfort her. "It's alright, it's alright," he murmured as he stroked her back. "Our babies died 12 years ago. It's just a coincidence. Just a coincidence..."

Nea moved back to her brother's side without a word or the slightest change of expression. They had a task to do. These people weren't important.

With perfect efficiency they tracked down the black unicorn and found it grazing in the dale the Outcasts had mentioned. Or perhaps grazing was a wrong word. From a distance it might have resembled a magnificent horse, with its jet-black coat and mane, but that was where the similarities ended.

Its horn was stained in fresh blood, and it was slowly eating the corpse of some small animal. Either it had not noticed them yet, or it was pretending so.

The only weapons they had were steel knives, their blades about the same length as the distance from their wrists to their fingertips, and the protective magic the Viscount had taught them. And that was all they would need.

They split up and approached the unicorn from opposite sides. Its meal interrupted, the beast snorted and turned its burning eyes on Noel.

Nea seized this chance and dashed closer, but was instantly noticed. She hit the ground just as one of the sharp hooves would have split her skull had she stayed still. Instead one of them only hit her shoulder, making her entire arm go numb for a few seconds.

Noel spread his hands and closed his eyes. The dark magic started flowing through him. Chains. A cage.

The black unicorn was frozen, rooted to the spot. Nea quickly jumped to its back, one hand grabbing at the mane and the other holding to her blade.

Suddenly the beast reared with a loud noise that at least no horse would ever make. The next instant sheer power crackled around its horn and hit both its assailants full force.

Noel's spell shattered as the blast knocked him back and he barely managed to avoid the front hooves now trying to trample him.

Nea stubbornly held on to the mane, her knees pressing tightly to the animal's sides, and drew the blade of her knife across its throat. It burned like liquid fire where the blood splattered on her hand, but still she would not stop.

As the black unicorn fell, the twins collected the horn and as much blood as they could salvage. Only once that was done did they treat the burns they had both sustained from the cursed blood just like the Viscount had instructed. Neglecting to do so would have ended their mission prematurely very soon.

Their next stop was for the darksteel ore. The dwarves were actually friendly in their own way, the kind of friendliness one showed to profitable business partners. The ore had already been paid for, and they seemed barely able to wait to hand it over and leave their mine to spend their reward.

That only left taking these ingredients to the blacksmith. Not any blacksmith would do for such a task. In order to craft weapons of dark power one had to also be versed in such dark arts.

The twins traveled as fast as they could, taking food and drink wherever they could, whether it was stealing or from kind people thinking them traveling orphans or from Outcasts. Their small stature, plain clothes and unmarked skin made them practically invisible. Of course there were a few beasts in human skin who thought to rob them, but they soon learned the error of their ways. Permanently.

The blacksmith they sought lived practically in the middle of nowhere, a sturdy wooden house resting side-by-side with an open-air forge - just far enough that the fire would not spread to the house in case it got out of control. Both, as well as a small garden and a fenced area and shelter for a few goats and chickens, were surrounded by a circle of black iron spikes at least 4 feet in height. Some of them reeked of old blood.

"Excuse me?" Noel called out to a man feeding the chickens. "Are you the blacksmith who can forge magical weapons?"

The man dropped the sack of chicken feed near the fence and walked over to the spikes. He was starting to go bald at the top of his head, and the remaining hair and his overall appearance was unkempt. His eyes were narrow and piercing, and his nose looked like it had been broken more than once. "What's that to you, boy?" he asked.

"The Viscount of Shadows sent us. We have the darksteel ore and black unicorn blood."

"Oh, and you expect me to tremble at the sound of that name, do you? You can tell the Viscount that I'm not interested in his coin, and that there's nothing he can threaten me with. Any deals with Dark Lords are more trouble than they are worth." He moved a bit to the side along the spikes, unlocked a hidden latch and pushed a part of the row open. "But you two are welcome to spend the night. I'm not..." His eyes were carefully scanning the twins. "...completely unhospitable."

Noel's knife - carefully cleaned of the unicorn blood - pressed against the man's stomach, just lightly enough not to cut, as the blacksmith made an attempt to grope him while the twins entered the sheltered yard. "Two knives that can kill the Queen of Harpies," he stated flatly, his eyes blank. "And whatever you wish as payment."

The blacksmith's gaze turned predatory, hungry. So that was why the Viscount had sent two children who didn't look even old enough to fend for themselves in the wilderness. "Alright, alright. Then put that away."

Noel returned the knife to his belt under his cloak and handed over the ingredients they had gathered.

"Not as much as getting to know each other, eh? Fine, I'll get started right away. You and your brother can cook or something. I don't want anyone to get in my way in my forge."

They didn't know how to cook. They had never needed to. Their host didn't seem very happy with the empty table when he returned indoors, but said nothing as he cooked plain vegetable gruel and showed a place to sleep on the floor. "Make yourselves at home. I still have some things to do once the sun sets."

"How soon are they done?" Noel asked.

The man snorted. "You can't rush things like that, boy. The day after tomorrow at earliest."

Noel just nodded and joined Nea on the floor amidst the dirty blankets. He woke several hours later to the sound of hinges creaking as the door was opened and closed. Yet he remained unmoving, his eyes closed, as the heavy footsteps came closer. That man was not an enemy to kill.

The blacksmith stopped as a lean figure wrapped in one of the blankets, only the pale face and blonde hair visible, walked up to him and the small area illuminated by the lantern in his hand in silence. He slowly caressed Nea's cheek. "The quiet brother, eh?"

Nea let the blanket drop, revealing her naked body.

"A girl..." the blacksmith was practically drooling. "Even better." He took her hand. "Come here. You're going to make me a very happy man..."

Noel pretended not to hear anything. Whatever the blacksmith wanted. That was what the Viscount had said.