Could Elissa handle the man in white alone? The thought played on Abe’s mind, but if he was just a distraction, shouldn’t he head back to the manor?

He remembered the trump cards Miss Nia supposedly had. Could it be related to whatever Ricky was doing? Did it matter?

Abe had considered killing the villagers for the ducats, but he wasn’t sure where they were and didn’t want to trudge around digging for them. The other option was killing the Man in White for them, and getting the coins as a reward. He could also try threatening them, but he wasn’t certain it would work. The pathetic state of the town told him that these people were probably quite hardy.

His mind wandered to Bazaarbus and what else he might have. Between looting and making Miss Nia happy, his mind had already been made up. Besides, he wanted to get the Man in White back for escaping last time and almost killing him.

Elissa should be stronger than me still, even if she doesn’t heal as fast. Not only that, but if this is part of Nia’s plan, it might be best not to underestimate her. Not only that, but I help her take out the Man in White and find Bazaarbus, we would be better set to defend the manor against whatever else is coming.

He turned toward the general direction that Elissa had stormed off in and sniffed.

He caught wafts of snow, people, and manure—but nothing useful, Abe closed his eyes and focused. He took deep breaths, analyzing the scents as they drifted through.

Sap.

His head twisted to the side. It was faint, drifting slowly atop the breeze.

He sniffed again and shot off in the direction of the sap.

********

“Useless,” a hollow voice snickered behind a white veil as it flew through the sky, carried by a cloud of black feathers. “You’re not worth my time, weak souled.”

“Shut up and fight!” Elissa sneered, cutting down several shrouded figures as she whirled through the battlefield with her axes.

The Man in White hovered up above the tree line and made crow-shaped clouds of crows swoop down from his body, in brutal waves as he brushed his hand through the air.

“I’ll end you, maggot!” Elissa swung, cutting through the cloud of crows, sending dozens of the black birds falling to the ground and dissipating the cloud.

“How long can you keep this up?” He said, sending another wave of crows, and when Elissa moved to strike them down, sent another wave at her flank.

“Argh!” she screamed, slashing through the first wave as the second slammed into her midsection, sending her flying and thudding down into the snow with a roll.

“I’ll rip your head off,” Elissa growled as she pushed herself back to her feet.

The Man in White turned his cowled head, “He returns.”

“Die!” Elissa roared, kicking off against the ground and sending herself flying through the air toward the Man in White, her axe already in flight, aimed at his neck.

Before they met, a swarm of crows rushed forth, battering Elissa back and opening small wounds across her body as she fell to the ground.

“It is time to end you,” the Man in White hissed, flying towards Elissa as she fell to the ground.

******

It’s just ahead, blood, sap, The Man in White… Elissa. She’s wounded.

Increasing his pace, Abe sped toward the increasingly powerful scents.

Howling dogs turned to him, narrowing and leaping in his direction as he closed in, but swift slashes from his sword left their corpses cut apart and groaning.

He continued.

The crows and dark figures were ahead, their gazes shifting toward Abe as he neared.

It was her, Elissa, surrounded and bleeding—sections of flesh hanging loosely from her uneven stance.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The Man in White raised a hand, sending the crows darting towards the broken form of Elissa.

Growling, Abe flung himself forward, wild swipes cutting away any dog, crow, or black cloak foolish enough to attack.

The sea of black slammed into Elissa, pushing her back as she swung her axes, but her weapons loosened further from her grip with every wave of crows.

She dropped to a knee as the onslaught continued, reduced to slashing at the endless waves of crows with her claws.

Flying out from the shadows of the trees, Abe swung down and smashed through a wave of crows, creating a break which he followed up against, sending swift slicing strikes rippling through the black clouds and dropping dozens of crows to the ground.

The break allowed Elissa to regain her weapons, and between the two of them, the waves thinned and then petered out.

Abe glanced back at the sorry state of Elissa. It wasn’t just the wounds, spots of black covered much of her body.

“I’ve got this under control,” Elissa spat as she charged toward the Man in White, leaping into the air and hurling one of her axes. It missed, thanks to the crows that pulled him out of the way just in time, but it wasn’t her only attack. With the second axe, she swung out at him, but another wave of crows rose to block the attack that sent dozens of black, feathering bodies falling to the ground.

Her attack had failed and gravity pulled her back to the snowy floor below.

Before she landed, dozens of cloaked figures and dogs galloped toward her landing spot

Elissa was slowing and getting weaker, that much was obvious.

Abe moved quickly to cut off her flank, skidding between her and the enclosing sea of attackers.

“Let me deal with the Man in White!” Abe shouted as he cut down several black cloaks within seconds.

“He’s mine!” Elissa sneered as she swirled her axe around, swiping away several attackers and finishing up a straggler with her claws.

Abe glanced up as he cut down two more black cloaks, he was preparing something.

The Man in White swirled his hand around in the sky, gathering an ever-increasing cloud of black feathers as crows flocked to him.

Yeah, that looks bad. Real fucking bad.

Abe whipped his sword back and forth, striking down his immediate attackers, and unclipped the holster at his side—whipping out the impressively long, metallic barrel and pointing it to the sky as he aimed.

Squeezing the trigger, Abe’s hand shook with recoil as the barrel flashed and a thunderous roar echoed throughout the forest.

Black feathers exploded across the Man in White, creating a feathery rain.

A second later, he cried in agony as countless birds fell from the sky. The Man in White, whose figure was mostly shrouded by the remaining crows swayed back and forth for a moment, then he turned his blowing blue eyes on Abe.

With a shake of his head, the Man in White turned and flew away.

Abe’s shaky hand followed, trying to find his target through the concealment of the crows, but he was quick and became little more than a dot on the horizon within seconds.

“NO!” Elissa screamed as she tore a path through the weaker minions, many of which had already taken flight. “Get back here!”

A few more whips of his wrist and Abe had cut down the last of the hounds and black cloaks that remained.

Taking one of the black cloaks by her hands, Elissa dug her claws into their shoulders and ripped the poor creature in two, howling into the sky as she did.

“This is on you,” she growled, turning a bent brow toward Abe. “It's your fault he got away,” she stepped closer but collapsed to her knees several feet before reaching him.

“You need to return to the manor and feed,” Abe shook his head. “You’re a wasted asset going after him like this.”

He might be willing to try to avoid a fight for Miss Nia’s sake, but he was sick of pretending like he cared.

“Don’t tell me what to do, maggot!” Elissa sneered but stumbled again as she tried to find her footing. “I’ll rip your arms off before I let you steal my kill!”

“I won’t, I promise,” Abe gestured with calming hands. “He is all yours. I just wanted to weaken him, that’s it,” he lied—it was better to avoid fighting for now.

“Liar,” Elissa growled through gritted teeth.

“I swear it,” Abe pleaded, relaxing his shoulders and lowering his head. “You’re the strongest of us, but you’re too injured to fight him in your current state. I need you. I need you at your strongest!”

Elissa studied him cautiously, a low growl trembling from her clenched jaw.

“Please, I have no hope to beat him without you,” Abe dropped to his knees, hoping he sold the theatrics well enough.

“Fine,” Elissa swung around in the direction of the manor. “I’ll heal, and then I’ll take his head,” she limped forward, her gait pulling half her limp body through the snow. “But if you betray me on this, then I’ll have your head too. The Mistress’s will be damned.”

Abe swallowed as he watched her leave. He believed her venom-coated words. Truth was, she was starting to piss him off too. But impressing the Mistress held greater importance.

He turned to the direction the Man in White had fled.

Where did the crows come from, and could that bastard reproduce them somehow? Their numbers seemed limitless.

The crows had taken most of the damage from his bullet and saved the Man in White’s life, but in the process, their numbers had taken a beating.

He didn’t like the thought of fighting that thing at full strength and certainly didn’t want to give it a chance to recover.

Elissa’s figure was only a faint shadow almost lost to the depth of the forest, closer to disappearing from his sight with every step.

Like I’m going to just wait around, Elissa. If you’ve got a problem, you can come to see me after it’s all said and done, Abe shook his head and turned toward the direction the Man in White fled.

Miss Nia’s barely clothed figure played through his thoughts again, blood dripping from her wrists. His chest thumped, and the desire to grow stronger rushed through his veins.

The desire to break the bonds of his servitude pulsed stronger than ever.