Chapter 8: Intense battle

The atmosphere was solem.

Big, heavy rain drops fed the hungry sands, battering five nanza-cats and thirteen gremlins facing each other. On the stone stage small puddles of water already started to form as the rain fell relentlessly. The late evening sky was overcast and the thick curtains of rain obscured the field of vision at a distance, murking everything with gray and ugly stains.

The leader gremlin actually took a few steps back at the sight of Ran, but quickly regained his composure and puffed up his chest.

"You," he hissed under his breath. "Get the fuck out of m…"

Snap!

As he talked, Ran casually smacked him good with an open palm slap, an insult in nanza culture. The sound of the slap reverberated throughout the stage, but Ran's might was too great. The gremlin's head moved sideways in an unnatural angle and he fell down on the muddy ground, breathless.

The gremlins jumped like crazed rats.

"You dare!"

They moved without hesitation but Ran quickly plummeted into a battle stance, unsheathed his claws and lashed out at the incoming gremlins with wild abandon. His claws furiously cut the first gremlin across his eyes, blinding him. His movement was precise and brisk.

Looking at one another, the prodigious twins Zioz and Shan nodded and flashed their claws out, jumping right in the thick of things. Ssyba followed closely behind, leaping athletically in the midst and started fighting wildly. Even though many days have passed since she drank the healing vraja potion from Izzmahil, she still felt great and recovered. Fagan struck with controlled movements, rarely using his claws but mostly utilizing joint locks, throws and grappling techniques to break, disable and hold his opponents.

A gremlin swung his iron club towards Shan's head but the cat lowered his body and dodged, then he lifted his leg and slashed the gremlin violently across the neck and face with his foot flaws. The gremlin's loud roar resonated with misery and pain as he rolled on the ground, until he started gurgling and dying.

Ran swung his monstrous claws as if he had scythes instead of arms, his expression as flat as a predator's. He had too much reach and mass, compared to him the gremlins were like twig toys. How could they possibly withstand such a tempest of brawn and razor-sharp claws? In the blink of an eye, he had grabbed a gremlin by the head and smashed it against the floor, then used the lifeless body to club another two gremlins off their feet.

"Somebody, run after the sayadao…"

One of the gremlins on the ground yelled, but before he could finish Fagan ran at full speed and fiercely kicked his abdomen, sending him delirious. The gremlin curled up like a shrimp.

By this time, all of the remaining gremlins had taken out their iron clubs and spike knuckles.

One of them flew in a rage, swinging at Zioz. With a slight poise of his body and turn of his ankle, Zioz swerved like a dancer sideways and let the gremlin's weapon fly past. Then he stretched his left arm out, and when the slash came, it went through the gremlin's neck as if through butter.

It was such fluid maneuvering, that even though he was locked in battle, Shan took the time to whistle in appreciation.

As they saw this massacre, the other gremlins quickly stopped, dropping their iron clubs and other weapons. In their eyes, these few nanza-cats were too profound in their act of killing, not nearly as violent as they should be. Gremlins count tackle large beasts and powerful enemies, if only through numbers alone, but these nanza were trained fighters. They had proper restraint, did not respond to taunting needlessly and attacked only the vulnerable parts.

In the end, five gremlins were dead, other two were surely dying and all of the total remaining had injuries, cuts and dislocated joints, bruises and pains.

"Are you going to give me the payment or not?" asked Fagan, stepping forward.

He was the cleanest of the nanza cats, because he mainly fought using the "Soft way". Ssyba knew that her brother didn't much like to grime himself with blood, unlike Ran who reddened the whole stage.

The gremlins looked at each other, and one of them offered to go back into the den to get the money.

"I'll go with this bastard in case he tries to run!" offered Zioz.

"No!" roared Shan, and both he and Ran rushed over to grab Zioz and pull him away. "You stupid idiot, he'll pull you into a trap!"

Fagan considered for a while, and agreed. As expected, the gremlin came out followed by at least twenty other gremlins, on top of the remaining ones. There were now over thirty gremlins with weapons and iron clubs, and only five nanza.

However when they arrived and saw the battle scene, it made them lose some heart and a chill ran down their spine. Such savageness and might.

Ran saw them arrive, and sighed. Ssyba got closer:

"What do we do now?"

But Fagan merely smiled and ran ahead without a word. Ssyba thought she saw a grin on his face. The twin brothers once again exchanged a meaningful look, nodded and followed Fagan into battle. Ssyba took a few steps but Ran grabbed her by her paw and pulled her closer.

"You take care girl. You take care," was all that he hissed before dropping on all fours and unleashed himself fully amidst the gremlin, like a tiger among sheep.

The gremlins' eyes were wide open as they witnessed the absolute, complete madness that followed. These nanza-cats were fighting like Marduni's own warriors, their expression cool and their movements strict. The nanza in particular, as an intelligent animal, had developed and nearly perfected the fighting style of dodging while striking at the same time.

After a few breaths, bodies fell down onto the ground again. The yelps of the dying gremlins permeated the thick rainy air.

"This is too dangerous to continue!"

"Those monsters…"

There were still well over twenty gremlins left, but they did not rush forward. Their eyes couldn't believe what they had just seen. But actually, the gremlins would almost never fight groups of enemies, choosing instead to assault lone targets or lead them into traps, and the nanza-cats could almost never associate for battle due to their aggressive, lonely and arrogant nature. This was the main reason why the hotshot twins of the Bend, Zioz and Shan, were so widely known across Yasha'Lafiq. They managed to establish a system of operations which allowed them to work together. One nanza-cat was about as strong as they come. Two nanza-cats cooperating in battle was already an exponential growth in lethality and results. Five to six nanza-cats cooperating could take on a gremlin commando, as evidenced.

Fagan calculated that eight to ten trained nanza-cats could successfully complete just about any sort of mission.

Of course, the gremlins did not consider this thoroughly. Their new leader swept his gaze over the fallen ones, over his remaining troops, and gritted his teeth.

"After them!" he shouted.

The rest of the gremlins looked at each other, groaned and ran to attack and swarm the nanza-cats, with angry roars and swearing.

The battle lasted for a while.

In this world, fighting was the main path towards attaining any goals. Every great individual, be it beast or human, had to fight at some point, if only to keep history from erasing their name. As a result, violence was encouraged especially in the lower societies where survival itself was the primary focus, and when they couldn't anchor themselves to more intellectual pursuits.

In this, regarding fighting, Fagan wasn't bloodthirsty. He did use his claws when the situation demanded because he wasn't a fool, but he believed in the Soft way, or at least he presented himself as such. Many times he wanted to smack Ssyba and Rauuka growing up, but Marduni only knew how many times he refrained himself. He even battled Ran at times, using his new philosophy as a battle tactic.

Fagan did not rip and cut, he did not bite or shred with his fangs. He did not tear flesh open nor did he spill blood. So ironic, considering his moniker "Stabs" when in reality, he had never stabbed anybody in his life. The number of times he slashed could also be numbered. They have given him this nickname because as the Perfect Vengeful Spirit, Fagan was an assassin known across the curvature of Na-jid, yet what the common rabble couldn't understand was that knifing or stabbing somebody was the worst way to assassinate somebody; too much mess, too many signs, too many anchors left behind that could lead to Fagan. Knifing (or in a nanza's case clawing) took too long to do the deed, unlike garrotting or strangulation.

The Perfect Vengeful Spirit represented simply that, in Fagan's opinion, the spirit of vengeance for the nanza-cats of this world. Not savage murder nor the hot spilling of blood. Vengeance meant closing wounds and settling scores. It was two steps forward after one step back, and after so many steps back, it was now time for Fagan to move forward and avenge the nanza of Yasha'Lafiq.

After many rounds of battle, the gremlins stared in shock, gasping for air and trembling. The sounds of their dying brethren were no longer a cause for concern when their very own lives were threatened.

"Are we digging our own graves?" one of them said worried.

"We're simply going to die here."

Their leader gulped in exhaustion, surveying the rooftops for any sign of reinforcements, because of the alarms that this battle surely raised.

"I know," he said, "but if the saydao comes and we have given the money away, he'll kill us nonetheless. Better to fight and hope for a chance to win!"

Some of his fellow gremlins were indignant but couldn't argue with this. They were down to seventeen fighters. More than three against each nanza-cat. Not enough.

"I have a plan, listen," said the leader while raising a battered hand with six thick fingers. "We only have to hold on long enough for one of them to slip, then we gang up on them. Fighting a lone battle is suicide but with this method…" he closed his fist, "we'll crush them!"

On the other side of the stage, Fagan frowned when looking at the gremlins conspiring while they recovered their breaths.

Nonetheless, he was feeling absolutely inspired. This battle proved to him that the nanza were by far the superior beast and with careful supervision and nurturing, they could grow into a veritable force. He already had very little uncertainty to begin with, but right now he had just seen the strength of five nanza-cats shattering a gremlin commando. With this the doubts in his heart were cleared.

"We have taken control of the situation," he said, lifting a finger and pointing it at the gremlins. "The problem is, their dignity is now being directly attacked and they'll feel more threatened the longer we fight."

"Mister Stabs is right, I have also thought about it myself," added Shan. "The more we drag this battle on, the chances for a sayadao to appear approaches one."

Ssyba shot a gaze as sharp as a blade at Shan, but she quickly lowered it as Zioz looked in her direction.

Ran sighed deeply:

"There is nothing wrong with fighting as long as there is fighting passion. What do you suggest?"

Fagan's face turned dark like an abyss.

"We have given them chances to pay and they refused, but these bastards get the itch to cause trouble every once in a while."

"You're right," lashed Zioz. "That's why we have to smack them down if they're to learn fear and respect!"

"Shut it!" boomed Shan.

Zioz crossed his arms and watched the gremlins coldly.

"Zibby, are you good to go?"

"Yes brother, keep going," truthfully answered Ssyba. She was also feeling inspired and motivated by the amount of money and resources they'll get as a reward, as well as prestige. Gaining strength from potions was so close, she could basically taste it and it gave her the will to endure.

"Then we fight on!" roared Fagan, followed closely by Ssyba and Ran, who waved his claws like gored fans.

The gremlins took a pained breath in and with much trepidation ran to intercept the incoming nanza-cats.

The sky flashed once with the blue sparks of heavens, and the roar of God Most High rumbled over the combatants.

Ran thundered across the stage, his claws leaving marks and making scratching sounds on the stone. He gathered fatal momentum and within less than the blink of an eye, he descended with animalistic fury upon the gremlins. Time seemed to slow down to a stop, then he hit. He howled and seemed to bring his arms into an embrace, cutting down two gremlins there and then, one across the belly, one across the neck and face, hissing death and blood. Another swipe downwards, another gremlin dropped dead. He kicked, another gremlin was sent flying.

The remaining looked at him with horror, as Ran fell into stance and went for more.

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"Anybody!" screamed Ran with venom. "Anybody! Anybody!"

A larger gremlin seemed to oblige him, but Ran swiftly crouched and attacked without leaving space for even a breather. He caught his lower jaw with his incoming paw, sent him flying with a broken neck and split face.

Ran raised his powerful arms in welcome.

"Anybody!"

Meanwhile, following their leader's plan, only a few other gremlins were sent to battle Fagan and the twins. Six of them were chosen to gang together on Ssyba, whom they perceived to be the weakest link among the nanza.

Her chest heaved and blood pooled at her feet from some wounds that she obtained. The gremlins pressed on. There was a pitched melee, out of which one of them dropped down, fumbling with his spilling innards.

"You damn strumpet, I'm gonna make you wriggle in agony!" called one gremlins.

"You're gonna bleed for days…!"

The others began taunting and threatening Ssyba with pain and hurt, but she ignored them and focused only on the battle, though her breath grew chilly in her breast.

One, two, three breaths, then the battle resumed.

The gremlins all jumped at the same time, swinging their iron clubs with wild abandon, but they were stocky and slow compared to Ssyba, who skipped lightly between their attacks. She couldn't attack by herself, not always, but she could hold her position and keep dodging. She threw a glance at Ran and saw that he was surrounded by three gremlins.

Her own enemies restlessly pounded their iron clubs one after another like a troupe of drummers, but Ssyba did not relent. Then she shot a quick, flashing glance at Fagan. He was busy with two gremlins.

"Damn," she murmured under her gasps.

A gremlin suddenly caught her by the throat, another crashed his iron knuckle into her right ribs, the others closed in but she kept them at a distance with her feet claws. She hissed but managed to break free by cutting both their arms at the same time with her claws.

"Twins!" she cried, but Zioz and Shan were busy battling three other gremlins, and that's when comprehension dawned in her mind. Their leader made up a plan to get rid of her first because she seemed to be the weakest of the troupe. Shan and Zioz battled together, they were effectively unstoppable, holding each other's weakness in sight and improving upon each other's strengths. Ran was simply a monster, they couldn't cope with him, and Fagan was just as powerful.

"It makes sense," Ssyba wheezed in dreadful realization.

She coughed, spat some blood and lost her focus for a split of a second. The gremlins madly ganged up on her by surrounding her and battering her with clubs, fists and kicks.

"No!" shouted Shan who was the closest to her. He ran to save her and one iron club meant to kill Ssyba hit him squarely in the side of his head, sending him with a thump on the ground.

Zioz, seeing this, roared something crazy, his eyes bloodshot with anger. He kicked the gremlins away and dragged Ssyba. Then he started battling the five gremlins all by himself. He transformed into a destructive whirlwind of razors, kicks and fangs. The moment he dodged a blow was the moment he cut, all in a continuous manner, darting his claws in between evasive maneuvers and pirouettes like a dancer. Panicked shouts erupted among the gremlins as they were cut dead one by one.

All heads turned at Zioz and his mad onslaught.

"Mistake!" yowled Ran with bloodlust.

His claws blazed through flesh like knives, glistening gremlin blood raining down on him and on the cobblestones. Ran thus disposed of the remaining enemies as they lost their concentration, cutting them down quickly and viciously.

Fagan also finished his battles and promptly went to check on Ssyba and Shan.

"Nothing's wrong," Ssyba replied.

"Shan?"

"I am quite alright," said Shan, helped up by his brother. He seemed to be a little unstable on his paws and his right eye was swollen shut.

"Mister Stabs, I am just a little unsteady but otherwise I am good."

Fagan worked his jaw, peering across the stage, his potent cat-eyes sifting through the scene. Such sharp violence, it was something awe inspiring to say the least.

"Rough enough job for you?" Fagan asked Shan.

Shan was also meditating upon the unfathomable beauty of this battlefield, his pride as nanza flaring up. He looked at Fagan and began laughing enthusiastically, while wincing and holding his head. Zioz shook his head, but Ssyba could see a faint smirk on him.

"We must now clear their hideout of any money and goods. While I collect the payment for boss Talamar, you guys pick anything of value."

Ssyba stared at him.

"Can we keep anything? Really?"

Fagan stopped in his tracks and shrugged.

"Who is there to stop us?" he nodded with contempt towards the thirty something gremlins littered like bloody logs upon the pavement. "Them?"

Ssyba laughed.

Laughter, flawless like the sound of Na-jid rushing among smooth marbles, coarse with the pains of her wounds, beautiful for being a young female nanza-cat, ridiculous with mockery for the animals. Ssyba laughed until the corpses seemed to laugh back at her with funny faces. They were not funny at all though. They were the faces of the slaughtered, frozen in permanent grimace, split, cut open, bruised, smeared with blood.

Zioz watched her for some time, then he snorted air through his nostrils and went after Fagan, with limping Shan still holding onto him.

"What?" asked Ssyba?

Ran stared at Ssyba without expression, then he smiled. Something about him, not just his bulk and claws, reminded her of a weapon, as though his smile alone could cut.

"What?" she asked again.

"I thought you hated killing."

***

The gremlin hideout was, on the surface level, a drinking den where alcoholic beverages, wine and nad'm were served to the common folk. Wooden tiles covered the floor and it was obvious that the place was cleaned regularly, if only to maintain an honest business facade. There were seven tables in total, four tables set against the walls and three larger tables in the middle surrounded by benches. Upon the long, shiny sales counter there were unfinished drinks, paper, ink, writing pens and other objects abruptly left behind. Every other table had wine jars, half empty glasses and other unfinished things hurriedly abandoned.

The nanza-cats walked around as they wished. It was a small wine den, but this type of business was by far the most profitable in Yasha’Lafiq. Normally, the owners would even lay tables and chairs outside for other clients as well, but this place had none of that. It was obviously just a front to hide further schemes.

"Tea?" derided Zioz, lazily picking up a pot with two fingers.

"Do not touch anything unless mister Stabs commands you to!" instantly rebuked Shan, towards whom Zioz rolled his eyes.

"Why?" he asked.

"Anything you disturb with your paws can leave behind breadcrumbs which could lead directly to us."

"I actually don't care about any of that," said Fagan leisurely, while checking out the den as if he was the owner.

Frequenting drinking dens and tea clubs was the favorite pastime of Yasha'Lafiq citizens. Cold drinks, soft drinks, hot drinks, alcohol, even water were all served and it was a place of social gathering for all species and races. Because of this, it was a stable and safe source of income and even the most renowned vraja potion brewers had a drinking business open. The lafiqi culture was to go out and drink. Even Tisila owned a small tea club.

Fagan curtly flipped through the accounting books, of which there were about ten, and noticed that the profits were negligible and the wages were dead standard. There was nothing outstanding or interesting at all about this establishment, and in a way, this was the perfect cover.

"Check the floors quickly!" ordered Fagan.

They all began to bang on the wooden floor and pull on the boards until Ran found a trap door. They ripped it away and discovered that it led a great deal underground, for even with their cat eyes they couldn't see a clear end of that tunnel.

Fagan led the group down the ladder into what seemed to be a stone corridor of human design that went deeper and deeper underground. It was part of an older structure reutilized and eventually refurbished by the gremlins, it seemed like. Eventually it narrowed into a jagged natural cave, and then it opened wide into a spacious natural cavern lighted with bright lamps. A fragrance of mold and stagnant puddles of water permeated the air, speckled at times with the musky scent of various objects, plants, spices, oils and whatever other goods that the gremlins have stored.

Near the entrance to this spacious cavern, there awaited a bored gremlin woman at a polished wooden table. Her large yellow eyes were half closed and she breathed softly, as if near sleeping, when suddenly she jumped alert.

"Pecoe, what took you so… oh my sweet dear Mother! Where’s Pecoe?”

Fagan slammed his paw on the table.

“Dead.”

The gremlin woman narrowed her eyes.

“Who the fuck are you?"

"Your daddy," said Fagan.

"Get lost, we're not doing business with…"

Before she finished speaking, Fagan reached out, grabbed her by the ponytail and smashed her head hard on the table. She started bleeding and slobbering all over her face.

"She looks better for sure," scoffed Zioz.

The gremlin woman flung herself back at the nanza-cats in rage but was quickly subdued by Zioz and Shan, who twisted her arms until she squealed.

“The next time you boil up, I’ll have him gouge out your eyes,” threatened Fagan while nodding towards Ran.

The gremlin’s eyes burned with such a desperate rage and humiliating pain, that even Fagan subconsciously swallowed dry. Gremlins, unique to almost every other animal on Jord, have that lunatic capacity to ignore one’s pains and tortures in order to fulfill their mad revenge. When you cut their arms, you’ll kick you; when you cut their legs, they’ll bite you; when you knock out their teeth, they’ll spit you.

"What happens here in this place?

"Fuck y …"

“What business?” demanded Fagan again furiously, but before the gremlin woman could talk, Fagan jerked her head back and forth by her hair.

"Speak, or else I'm cutting you bad!"

Smack!

Before she even opened her mouth to respond, Fagan slapped her hard over her large, bat ears. The gremlin’s eyes went dim and smoky and she nearly collapsed, but Zioz and Shan caught her and pulled her back up.

“Wake up. What do you have stored here?"

“Blow me!”

Fagan grabbed her by the collar over the table. She tried to pull away but Fagan's grip was like iron. He unsheathed his claws and held them over her throat tight enough that blood dripped onto her shirt.

"Stay still and just talk!"

“It’s illegal to kill, don’t you know?” mockingly laughed the gremlin woman in what sounded more like a mad animal’s screeching.

Getting quite annoyed by the entire situation, Fagan nodded at Ran, who silently obliged. Previously, before joining the others, Ran had been instructed by Fagan to bring a gremlin's head with him just in case they ran into others, and use it as a fear tactic tool in order to avoid conflict.

"Wanna join this friend of yours?" asked Fagan.

"Mother, I curse these flea infested sacks of shit! By the wrath of Bakroi I curse you with seventeen plagues…" screeched the gremlin woman when she saw the decapitated dangling in front of her.

However, her already large eyes widened like saucers and her green complexion paled when she saw Ran unsheathing his claws and approaching her.

“I told you I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

Ran walked right next to her with a seraphic indifference and deftly pushed three claws against her right eyeball.

"Answer me," calmly said Fagan, which to the gremlin, it was more frightening than a beating motivated by anger. It was clear to her that they’ll be slow and thorough.

"Stop! We're holding onto goods here, ya know," the gremlin woman suddenly blurted.

Right at that instant, Fagan placed a paw on Ran’s and stopped him from tormenting the gremling.

"I don't. What goods?"

"Spoils of battle, smuggled stuff, thievery, things of blackmail, the usual."

"The usual my ass. Better produce me a list before I split you open like the rat you are."

The gremlin obeyed under Fagan’s watchful eyes. She took a piece of paper from a cabinet near her reception table and handed it to Fagan. He looked and browsed through it, and it was soon clear that this place was a storehouse for illegally procured items, money and supplies. The sum that he looked for was also listed on the paper, and Fagan's lips curled into a faint smile.

"No wonder this place was protected by a whole commando of gremlins. Aside from a buffed up potions-chugging human, there were few forces that could directly deal with a commando."

His smile turned into a toothy grin.

"Well, that and my force of nanza-cats."

Fagan was under no illusions that his trump card was Ran and without him, their battle strength would definitely be reduced by almost a half. Ran easily amounted to approximately forty percent of their total battle capacity and ability to deal with unforeseen situations. Just Fagan, Shan, Zioz and Ssyba alone could have likely fought off the initial wave of gremlins, but even now when they brought reinforcements, Ssyba and Shan nearly lost their lives. Fagan looked at Ran in a more appreciative light, knowing that in day to day circumstances, such a feat couldn't have been possible. They were aided by luck, Marduni, a newly found fervor to complete their first job and perhaps even the element of surprise.

"Alright, we have wasted enough time!"

Fagan shoved the list high above his head.

"I recuperated the payment we came for, but you feel free to pick whatever else you need. Here is the list. Before we go, make sure to grab your own payment bonus and let's get the hell out of here."

Shan and Zioz picked the list, scanned through it and went on to choose their items. Ssyba paid close attention and noticed that they put their paws mainly on small, easily concealed and expensive items such as jewelry, badges, tokens, writing tools and yori paper.

Ssyba came with a purpose only and knew exactly what she wanted, but didn't know how she could put her paws on without attracting too much attention.

"Ssyba, what are you waiting for? We do not have all day long to decide. Grab what you can and let's move. We'll split the money in equal parts once we deliver his payment to Talamar."

"Fagan, what can I do with these?" deceptively asked Ssyba, while pointing at several ingredients and vraja potions off the list.

"These aren't useful. Human weed and lotions, you can't move them around the black markets as easily as other stuff from this list because humans keep a close eye on their stuff."

"I have someone who's interested in vraja potion brewing ingredients," truthfully said Ssyba. "A human, I'm not doing business by myself."

"That badau evict of yours?"

"Yes, and his employer, lady Tisila as it turned out. I know for a fact that any vraja potions and whatever materials are used for them are very expensive."

"You are right," said Fagan in a contemplative mood, studying her face in the meanwhile. "But the potion market is closed to us. It is simply too niche, it's only concerning humans and humanly affairs. You won't find us dealing with these things, it brings too much unwanted attention from the authorities.”

Ssyba's face turned sour.

"What about the gremlins?"

"Gremlin sayadao can also be human. In fact, most sayadao from the Cultelari ranks are human, and I heard that their grandmaster is a former human assassin."

"Is that why they're such a powerful organization?"

Fagan nodded.

That's when Ssyba's vexation was suddenly cleared up.

"Mister Izzmahil is willing to pay me for those brewing materials. Even if it’s cheaper than on the market, I’m taking it and it’s a start for me. We have an established relation of cooperation, having formerly worked together under the same roof for lady Tisila, who might I add is also a brewess of vraja potions. Now help me get all these items from the list, please."