Chapter 26 - Brawl at the Docks

Akaja’s chakram soared through the air, slamming against the wielded scimitar of Andros’ attacker and sending it flying and clattering off the dock. The chakram turned in a wide arc, flying back to Akaja as she deftly caught it with a graceful spin. Grinning, she gave Andros a wink before slapping Yukiko on the back; her spell cursing their foes with un-breaking fits of laughter as she sent Spring forth to drag Andros out of danger.

“Just in time!” Akaja exclaimed, giving Andros a pat on the head as he arrived.

He appeared to be as stiff as a piece of wood. Akaja recognized the effect. Lady Takeuchi had done something similar to her, but she had been able to resist it. It was amazing, and quite frightening, how vulnerable human pressure points were.

Yukiko dropped to her knees, grabbing Andros as he slowly regained control of his body. “Back in the fight, love! Let’s go, go, go!”

While the two women Yukiko had caught in her spell were busy rolling around and laughing, their three companions rushed forward, weapons brandished at the ready. Kuana moved forward, drawing a large arrow from his greatbow. He aimed the first at an Imperial wielding dual longswords. Unfortunately, the man dodged free from the arrow’s path. The other, he loosed at the Tiefling with the greatsword. Though not as nimble as his friend, he deflected the arrows with a quick swipe of his sword. However, the arrow itself flew with such great force it knocked the Tiefling off of his feet, and caused him to stumble to the ground.

Joon leapt into the air, carried by his wings, which cast a shadow over their foes. Extending his arms outwards, dozens of glowing seeds flew forth from his wingspan, covering the opposite end of the dock and then rapidly expanding into a verdant overgrowth. Half of the deck was not a tangled mess of thorned vines, dense bushes, and tall grass. The Adventurers caught in this overgrowth struggled to move through it, slowed by the sudden onset of difficult terrain.

A crossbow bolt flew through the air and struck Joon in the shoulder. The druid fluttered about frantically as a second bolt struck him in the chest, causing him to hover down slowly to the ground.

“Joon!” Yukiko shouted. “Hang it there!”

Taking in a deep breath, Akaja spotted a Dwarf hidden amongst the bushes on the far side of the dock. Half his beard appeared to have burned off, and he was loading and loosing bolts with a vengeance. A bolt whizzed past her head and with great determination, Akaja called forth a torrent of wind to launch her into the air. She soared across the overgrowth and threw her chakrams down at the dwarf to draw him out. The first one lodged itself into the stock of the Dwarf’s crossbow, while the second slashed a bloody line across his face, shearing both beard and flesh before returning to her. Unsheathing a dagger, she summoned another torrent of wind to launch herself at the bloodied Dwarf.

Heaving his crossbow upwards, he loosed another bolt. This time, it struck true, piercing Akaja’s stomach and causing her to fumble off course into a not-so-graceful landing a few meters away from the Dwarf. Before she could recover, the Dwarf leapt towards her, now brandishing a pair of axes. Akaja rolled out of the way, but not before slamming her heel against the Dwarf’s chin, causing him to stumble and giving her enough time to get back onto her feet.

“Morrigan!” Taking in a deep breath, the spectral raven materialized on her shoulder. She held her chakram up towards the bird, and with a few flaps of her wings, allowed the crow to imbue her weapon with elemental magic. Its blades, now enveloped by a golden wind, Akaja dodged another swing of the Dwarf’s axe, and deflected the second with her off-hand dagger. Rolling away from the Dwarf, she threw her chakram. The weapon shot through the air, creating a loud BOOM as the speed of it exceeded that of sound. It cut straight through the Dwarf’s neck, decapitating him before flying back in a wide arc. By the time Akaja’s chakram had returned to her, the Dwarf’s body collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Meanwhile, the cacophony of shouting alongside the burning odor of brimstone and the familiar shattering of spell cards echoed behind her. Joon appeared to be back in the fight, his wounds healed by Andros. Kuana was trying to wrestle the greatsword out of the Tiefling’s hands as Spring fended off an assault from the Imperial swordsman. Yukiko herself was struggling to hold her own against the Kitsune pugilist, forced on the defensive as she barely held her foe back with a flurry of cantrips. Andros held his own against the Estrellan mage, fending off relentless sword strikes with his owned conjured scimitars, trading spells as the two of them danced around each other.

“You’ll pay for that!”

Akaja turned her gaze upwards. The Elven dragoon fell from the sky, spearpoint raining down on her. Rolling out of the way, the Elf’s spear broke through the wooden planks of the docks. He moved impossibly fast. By the time Akaja readied herself, he had already torn his spear free. He assaulted her with a volley of spear thrusts, forcing Akaja on the defensive as she backpedaled to avoid his strikes. There was a magical shimmer around him. Some kind of spell must be enhancing his abilities somehow.

A stray thrust pierced her thigh, forcing her onto a knee. Akaja called forth a great gust of wind, attempting to knock the dragoon away, but he held his ground, pulling his spear free. Desperate to get away, she called upon another torrent of wind to launch her upwards. The dragoon followed, dissipating into a cloud of mist which flew towards her. As the dragoon began to re-materialize, Akaja launched herself forward, crashing into the Elf before he could ready his spear and sending the both of them crashing down onto the dock. The Elf fell first, his impact cracking the wood of the which cracked even further as Akaja fell on top of him.

She winced at the pain as she attempted to drive her dagger into the dragoon’s chest, but he grabbed her wrist, wrestled her off of him, and held her back. Two punches to the jaw led to their positions being switched, with the Elf pressing his weight down on Akaja’s dagger, trying to bury it into her chest. Dazed, she called upon another gust of wind, but the dragoon held firm. Fortunately, this distracted him enough for her to knock the dagger out of his hand. Still, the Elf was not deterred and instead wrapped his hands around his throat, choking her.

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Akaja desperately tried to call on Morrigan’s aid, but without her breath, she couldn’t summon the wind. She tried to fight back, her nails digging into the Elf’s skin, scratching red lines across his face, but it was no use… he was stronger than she was. Her vision slowly blurred as…

Someone cracked a heavy club on the dragoon’s head, causing him to stumble off of her. Coughing, her vision regained itself enough for her to make out Joon, who carried a club strewn with branches and vines. Before the dragoon could react, Akaja scrambled to find the closest weapon she could, which happened to be the dead Dwarf’s crossbow. She hefted the contraption, and kneeling on one knee, loosed a bolt into the dragoon’s head, killing him.

“Are you okay, Akaja?” Came Joon’s voice.

“Peachy!” Akaja coughed again, then took in a deep breath. “Thanks, Joon… you saved my life!”

Joon’s antennae vibrated happily. He set his hand on her shoulder, and suddenly, a soothing warmth overcame her. Her wounds began to stitch themselves up at a slow pace, however, the bolt lodged in her stomach would need to be taken care of.

“Thanks, again…” She turned her attention back to her companions. The fight wasn’t over yet.

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The Kitsune was relentless in her assault. With Spring keeping the swordsman at bay, Yukiko’s arsenal was severely limited against her unarmed foe. For every attack she dodged, two more struck arcane shield which she struggled to maintain. Her translucent barrier was heavily cracked in most places, and it was only a matter of time until it broke. It didn’t matter how many fire bolts Yukiko sent her way… she always seemed to be two steps ahead of her. Dodging everything that came her way.

Finally, the inevitable happened. One of the kitsune’s two-fingered punches broke through her barrier and landed hard on her collarbone. Yukiko gasped in pain, stumbling to the ground as she felt herself lose control of her muscles. Thankfully, with bated breath, she managed to break free of that sudden paralysis. The Kitsune, however, loomed over her, unwavering in her attack. Another strike landed against her chest.

As if by instinct, she felt a sudden surge flow through her. She saw all colors fade from her vision. The world soon fell into darkness, and everything fated away… everything… except her opponent. Her eyes, once golden in their glow, turned black as her hair began to rise on its own, as if she were submerged in a pool of water. Then, she let out a banshee like scream as a raging inferno grew from her fingertips and engulfed the Kitsune. The monk reeled back, letting out a horrified scream as the patched of fur which covered her forearm caught ablaze.

Her eyes still black as the voice, Yukiko’s voice, boomed, the sound of it causing small tremors on the dock. “I WILL BURN THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES! YOU WILL BE PULLED DEEP INTO THE ABYSS, WHERE NOT EVEN THE GODS CAN HEAR YOUR PATHETIC SCREAMS!”

The infernal blood within her raged, and she felt nothing but bloodlust. She leapt onto the Kitsune, grabbing her by the shoulders as waves of electricity surged through her. The monk let out pained wails as every nerve in her body was overloaded and overwhelmed with pain. Suddenly, a punch to the chin forced her back into reality. Color returned, and her eyes resumed their normal glow. When the reality of her situation kicked in, Yukiko panicked, and electrocuted the Kitsune once more. By the way she was no longer fighting back. She was either dead or unconscious…

Oh! She’s still breathing! Should I-

She felt a sharp slashing pain across her back. Though it didn’t break skin or draw blood, the sensation was enough to force an audible gasp from her. Pushing herself back onto her feet, she noticed the swordsman had slashed Spring across her back. She quickly called Spring back, shrinking her back down to her smaller form to rest on her shoulder. “You alright, cutie?”

Spring nuzzles against her, straightened out its body to point at the swordsman, who was now rushing towards her.

“Oh!” She motioned forward, and tightened the bond her mind had with Spring, allowing her to issue commands telepathically. “Burn him!”

Spring wrapped herself around Yukiko’s arm and unhinged her jaw to let loose three rays of burning flame. The first one struck the swordsman in the leg, causing him to stumble and slow his approach. The second one struck his chest, however, he managed to deflect the third with his blades.

Yukiko ordered spring forward, commanding her to breath out a large gout of flame. The swordsman rolled to the side, but not before having a portion of his leather armor catch aflame. Before the swordsman could put out the flame, Yukiko focused on the fire, slowly burning away his armor and with a quick snap of her fingers, caused it to explode in a dazzling display of colors. The explosion burned away a decent chunk of his armor and the flash also left him temporarily stunned and blinded.

“Now’s your chance! Get him!”

Spring surged forward, returning to its much large form to wrap its body around the swordsman and tear out his throat. The man tried to scream as blood spurted from him and he immediate collapsed to the ground once released, gurgling and clinging to his open throat before death slowly took him.

As Akaja and Joon returned from their brawl on the other side of the docks, their foes began to lose hope. Kuana had tossed the sword of the Tiefling off the docks, and had him restrained in a tight arm bar. Meanwhile, the Estrellan mage Andros was fighting seemed to focus on her unconscious Kitsune companion to mount a proper offensive.

Taking advantage of his, Yukiko grabbed one of the swordsman’s blades and rushed over to the fallen Kitsune. She pressed the tip of it against her throat and set her gaze on the remaining mage. “Give it up! NOW!”

She turned to Yukiko, eyes wide with terror. “What? Don- “A spectral blade slashed at her hamstrings, forcing her to her knees. Andros held his palm out, pointed at the woman’s head, hand glowing with arcane energy.

Gritting her teeth in pain, the woman glanced around. Most of her friends had fallen, and Yukiko knew whatever the Akiyamas were paying them… it probably wasn’t worth dying for.

“Please…” she said, breath heavy. “You can kill me! Just let them both go!” Though she had a concern for both of her surviving companions, Yukiko noticed she seemed especially fixated on the Kitsune. Friends? Lovers? She felt a twinge of guilt now… especially after killing the swordsman, but it wasn’t like they had a choice!

The Seekers looked amongst themselves.

“Well?” Andros asked.

“I think they’ve had enough,” Akaja said.

Yukiko nodded in agreement. “We’re all adventurers here, right? If things were different… we could’ve easily been in their shoes.”

Andros and Kuana shared a knowing look, then nodded.

Kuana gave the Tiefling a slap on the rear as he released him. “Go. Collect your dead.”

“Ack! Alright, alright!” The Tiefling sighed. “We’re going!”

The Estrellan woman crawled over to the Kitsune and caressed her cheek. “Thank you…” she murmured. “May I tend to their wounds?” Joon asked.

“Yes, please…” Yukiko said, smiling. “Oh! And make sure they don’t do anything fishy!”

“No fish!” Joon nodded. “Got it!”

“Right…” Andros sighed. “Let’s load up the remaining loot… quickly! We made quite a bit of noise during our fight. I hope you guys found something good.”

Kuana grinned as he made his way back to the ship. “You have no idea… I will show you once we are out of here.”