The knight with the machete froze. For a moment, he could neither move nor comprehend what had just happened. The street lanterns had gone out, plunging the entire area into darkness, yet the stranger stood directly in front of his comrade as though the darkness meant nothing to him.

His mind struggled to process what he had witnessed. The shots had been fired almost instantly. Dodging them should have been difficult enough, but catching them? That should have been impossible.

And yet the stranger had not only avoided being hit—he had somehow crossed the distance between them without being seen or sensed. The only thing the knight could sense now...