A fist the size of Aranea's head missed her by the hair, crashing into the wall of a shack behind her and collapsing the rest of the structure with wind pressure alone. Aranea used this mistake of her foe to jump backward, escaping the area of the mist.
Rraghr went berserk, following her and collapsing entire buildings with his arms and legs in an attempt to get to her. Blood was pouring from the end of his tail, creating a sphere of crimson around the enemy’s leader and a trail of blood behind him. The halfbreed originally intended to tire him up and let him drop down due to the blood loss, but so far nothing has worked.
Hm. Aranea felt her blood pumping and was excited for the first time in a few days. Ever since Keyl revealed that Tilden was dead, Aranea sort of lost her drive. She wanted to rage out—but at whom? Aranea trained, endured, and lived her entire life with a single burning desire to see Tilden broken beneath her feet, to tear out the lying tongue that he used to besmirch her mother, to rip out the limbs that he used to bring her father to his death. To see horror and realization in his eyes—that this small, stupid girl from the past, whose life he had easily snatched away, now towered over him, stealing his fate away from him. To witness this and devour his eyes first, then his insides
And… Aranea lost all of that. Tilden was dead. Worse, and at the same time better still, he revealed everything. Kalaisa and Gregor had their names cleared, lady Camelia demanded a meeting with Aranea every day now, according to Alpha. All who were involved in the crime of ruining her family in one way or another were all now in prison. Justice was served without the assistance of Aranea.
She read a proverb once. If you live long enough, in spite of everything, one day you may see the body of your foe floating down the river. As true as that may be, the justice brought little solace to Aranea. Her main goal in life was…
The wolf hag dodged another punch, hearing a cry nearby. She crushed through the wall of a shack, grabbing a small cub in her arms. Rraghr charged after her, destroying the nice and cozy-looking house. Family photos, an ornament cup, a spacious bed, and the cub’s toys all became dust and rubble beneath his feet. Aranea jumped out of the window, evading a slash of his tail, which bisected the house in two. Landing on the main street, she threw the cub to Svetlana and turned to face Rraghr.
I still have reasons to live. To stop scum like you, to guard my friends, to keep people safe, and to see changes coming to my Tribe. There are people who are worried about me! Aranea smiled widely, luring the giant back onto the main street. Come to think about it, I have a lot of reasons to live. No more moping around!
Aranea reached for one of the generators on the street, grabbing it and dodging Rraghr’s fist, which left a crater in the road. A web of cracks ran from the damaged road, reaching the nearby houses. Aranea quickly pressed several buttons on the generator, overriding a simple safeguarding system, before setting it to overcharge. The poor machine whined, warning about an imminent explosion, and tried to shut itself down. Aranea remembered Sly’s lessons and prevented this by tearing out a part of the generator. Then she flung the makeshift grenade at her foe.
The explosion was big and strong enough to collapse the roof of a nearby shack. Aranea narrowed her eyes, feeling sharp shards biting into her eyelids. Dust and smoke covered Rraghr, and at this moment the halfbreed made her charge.
She didn’t expect this explosion to harm him in any way. Even if his power wouldn’t stop it, the shockwave was not nearly dangerous enough to cause him any sort of long-lasting problems. But Aranea remembered how the milky white mist of Rraghr moved around his body, swirling around. In tune with the weather.
Her bet paid off. The explosion briefly pushed back the mist, allowing Aranea to close on Rraghr. Both her arms made thrusts at his chest, aiming to break through the bone plate and tear out his heart.
The bone cracked beneath her claws, the flesh beneath was sliced by the sharp weapons of killing. Aranea’s fingers smashed against the hardy bones, and the white mist covered her in a shroud, halting the halfbreed.
"Too shallow, girl," Rraghr chuckled, wrapping his arms around her wrist and pulling her paws away from his body, "My turn," He added with a glee.
A knee hit Aranea in the stomach with the force of a battering ram. Her vision darkened, the pain speared her entire body, while her body was lifting deceptively slowly in the air, halted by the mist. Rraghr’s fists connected with Aranea’s snout, breaking the front fangs and the nose, and with the left shoulder, shattering the subdermal exoskeleton and sending Aranea flying into the street. Like a soccer ball, she crashed into the stone before the impact made her body jump even higher, tearing some skin off her back in the process and pushing the sheathed sword into her back.
The wolf hag landed in the middle of the commune, next to the disabled water tower. She gasped for air, standing up on wobbly legs. Reaching for her dislocated shoulder, Aranea fixed it with a loud snap, producing another surge of pain that covered her eyes. The locals formed a defensive wall around the medical center. Aranea saw both Valsh and Somelhaen together. The abbot broke the hands of a malformed creature before him, leaving it alive for his allies to capture, while the trader fired from a silver-colored pistol, killing one of the enemies who had nearly descended upon one of his workers.
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Aranea sensed Rraghr before he even came upon the main square. Each of his steps felt like an impending earthquake, and his approach whipped the malformed into a desperate frenzy. The metal plates along the tower’s walls shook, some of them were falling off. Something within the tower also started crushing, and Aranea suddenly saw Svetlana climbing up the tower.
"Sveta!" She shouted, "Get to safety!"
"I refuse to let others die anymore!" The medic shouted desperately, "I have a plan, trust me just once, please!"
Aranea had no time to respond. Rraghr had arrived. He came upon the square, a conquering warlord coming to extinguish the last embers of the resistance. He smiled, throwing a glance at Aranea, before turning toward the hospital, and Aranea felt her blood turning cold. He figured out a way to force her to fight him on his terms.
The wolf hag jumped up when two massive water tanks fell from the tower, crashing against the ground and spilling blood around the square. Rraghr only laughed, stepping up onto the water on his way to kill the defenders. Svetlana jumped from the tower, cursing as her ankle gave up and the medic fell on her knee. Limping, the medic came to a nearby generator and a broken vehicle. She threw one tire in front of Rraghr and lifted the generator above her head.
"Aranea!"
"Got it, Svet." The wolf hag leaped forward in response.
The medic threw the generator and its exposed wires into the water. Rraghr’s laughter changed into a roar of anger and pain when a surge of electricity came in contact with his body. His body twitched, the giant struggled to break free and get away from this trap. In a few minutes, the generator would go offline, and the malformed would be able to break free…
He no longer had these moments. Aranea landed on the tire before him, her right arm reaching for the sword. The wolf hag never used this oversized weapon, her trusted rail gun was more to her liking. Coming from the sheath, the steel flashed, reflecting the lightshow of a broken generator, shots from the defenders, and a roaring fire. In a wide arc, Aranea swung the sword at Rraghr’s neck, cutting through his tail on the way to his neck.
She saw panic in his eyes, while her sword pierced the veil of the mist and came to a near halt. Slowly, barely moving, the sword was closing in on Rraghr’s neck. The sword came in contact with the bone plates, splitting them and biting into the flesh beneath. No electricity hit Aranea; the Ice Fang order's blacksmiths knew their trade well. The sword's handle did not allow electricity to touch her skin, and it felt natural in her inexperienced paws.
Rraghr attempted to speak. His words went unheard, for when the sword ended up inside his body, it went with full force, slicing cleanly through his flesh and bones and allowing his giant head to leave his body in one clean slice. The head moved in the mist, first slowly, then quickly, as the white mist died along with its master's body.
Aranea grabbed Rraghr’s head, turning to face the silent ranks of the malformed. Behind her, the massive body gave up a fountain of blood, covering her fur in crimson before falling to the ground. The wolf hag threw her head to the skies and let out a chilling roar at the top of her lungs. She demanded the end of this battle, announcing her superiority over each and everyone in the city.
"Enough!" Aranea shouted to both the defenders and the attackers. Rising Rraghr’s head, she shouted to the malformed, "Your leader has fallen! Your hopes to win are no more! Bow and live, resist and be slaughtered!"
As one, the malformed fell on their knees, extending their hands, claws, and tentacles to Aranea.
"What is your name, Conquer?" Asked the tallest and the biggest of them, "And what are your orders?"
"Aranea," The wolf hag replied quickly, "You are to disarm yourself and give yourself up to the Reclamation Army. All prisoners are to be released, unharmed! All of you, men, women, and kids, are to go quietly with the soldiers of the Army, they are my servants." Lies easily left her tongue, but it was the only way she could think of to prevent the massacre.
****
"Ready to prostrate?" Virginia asked upon coming upon the lean form of Nightfall. The malformed recoiled in fear from her, the corners of his eyes twitching nervously.
"Kill her! Do this, and any woman is yours to eat or breed, I don’t care, just off her now!" He shouted to his soldiers. All of them were slowly backing out to the gates, "Are you insane? Have you any idea what I will do to…"
"They seem to be more afraid of me than of you, pal," Virginia chuckled, landing the axe’s pommel onto the ruined street, "Prostrate. Or should I cut down the size? Perhaps you would like your arms to be of the same length, hmmm?"
The malformed fell on his knees, looking in her face with pure hatred mixed with horror, before extending his remaining arm forward and lying face down on the ground. Virginia sniffed his neck, making a single small bite at the nape to draw a little bit of blood.
"If you had even the slightest trouble going against me, Rraghr will kill you," Nightfall whined, twitching his tail nervously, "He will butcher, rape, and devour you, not necessarily in this order. You know this to be the truth! He is invincible, he is the herald of a new age! Our age! But if you surrender, I might just…"
He fell silent at the chilling roar coming from the center of the commune. The wolf hag turned her head in the direction of the roar, fighting the urge to respond with her own. Aranea won. No need to steal her prize.
"You really are reliable girls," Virginia laughed out loud, swirling around and slicing through the air with her axe. The wolf hag beckoned to the retreating malformed, "Well then, whoresons and whoredaughters. Prostrate or dance, which will it be?"
None of them dared to try to run or resist. As one, five dozen of the remaining foes fell to their knees. Virginia nodded at their decision and brought her foot down on Nightfall’s head, knocking him out cold. We don't need any more of your sleep nonsense, friend. You'd better sleep it off until relief comes to pick you up.
"Okay boys and girls, the show’s over," Virginia shouted to Malfiro and the trader’s guards. Thinner and Galaro were nowhere to be seen, "Help me tie up our guests. Watch for civilians, there are bound to be some hiding in the ruins. And someone, please bring me a bucket of water or oil, I don’t care which!" She said as she sniffed herself over, frowning her nose, "Anything to wipe out this crab smell!"