With another arc of flames, Knox swung towards the metal bars closest to him. The guards would get to the cart before he had time to use the stick to unlock it. As the bars bubbled and contorted while they melted away, he instead used the stick as a projectile, throwing it at the guard closest to him, who was charging towards the new opening with a sword-like object constructed with an oddly smooth and light gray metal.
The blow to the guard’s head from the stick caused him to step back a bit, and as he quickly snapped out of the shock of being hit he was felled with another blow to his head, this time from the lizard jumping through the opening and butting him with his own skull. Some Scalsa had famously thick skulls. As the guard fell, another one aimed a weapon made of the same metal, but this one was more in the shape of a very long, pipe-like gun. “Aw, shit!” Knox cried before he ducked. The weapon fired with a loud cracking sound, singeing a wooden panel behind him that was connecting the metal bars to the bottom of the cart while simultaneously leaving an indent like a normal bullet would. The guard pulled the bolt of the gun back, a casing flying out of the side of it as it pushed the metal bar back in and began taking aim again. A lot faster firing speed than the old Scalsan muskets, that’s for sure.
Knox began charging at the guard only for his target to be blown backwards, spraying its dark blue blood from its head as a shot rang out from the dusted cowboy behind Knox. Lockheed cocked the hammer back again, ready for more foes.
Alice quickly climbed out of the bars which Knox had released the heat from, making a safe exit. She sprinted for the nearest cover, ditching the cart that was now full of holes. Adrenaline pumping, her instincts made her duck behind the large metal container ahead.
The bog wolves howled, a sound that was much more terrifying than anything a normal wolf could ever produce. It shook Alice to her core as she slid through the dirt behind the large metal container.
The others quickly followed, Daniel making it last as a symphony of Bogan yelling could be heard past the cart. Alice and the others then attempted to move towards the forest next to the trail, but Knox lingered.
Knox began opening the hatch of the metal container, his only thoughts on finding a defensive position to counterattack any charge the Bogans might have. His years as a Scalsan soldier proved vital in this decision. As he swung open the door, a voice called out from within.
“Thank the Gods, I knew that when I heard fighting someone would-”
Knox cut him off by shutting the door. “Sorry, forgot this was occupied!” As he began moving away from the container, a faint shouting and banging could be heard. This was solitary confinement. Knox contemplated for a few seconds before sighing, opening the hatch again.
“Were you going to leave me there!?” The man asked, not angry. “Nonsense, I was just checking the cut of your jib! I see we got a fighter!” Knox exclaimed with an over-acted joyfulness, attempting to brush it off.
“I remember you, you were on that wagon with me, the other Scalsans… you planned this, didn’t you?” The man asked, seeming in awe. “I must say, I wasn’t expecting you to-”
“Shut up and grab your shit.” Knox pointed to under the confinement cell. “We gotta fight our way out of here!”
Alice and the rest of the makeshift posse inched closer to the real fight, where the rest of the prisoners had gotten out of their shackles as well, and had turned the trail they stood on into a battlefield. The Bogans had more guns than the prisoners, but a couple of Scalsans had either stolen Bogan guns from their fallen victims or had torn away the floorboards beneath them to grab their own. Either way, the Bogans’ firearms were a more recent edition to their arsenal, and so were more used to melee combat. Safe to say the prisoners held the advantage, though some of them fumbled a bit with the more complicated loading mechanism compared to their single shot muskets. Lockheed fired a few shots from his gun, flanking the Bogans who had taken cover behind one of the carts.
As one guard turned and lunged towards Alice, she promptly socked it midair with a left hook, grabbing the front of its tunic and punching it a few more times as the spikes on her gauntlets did what they did best. The Bogan fell still before she turned her attention away.
“Gods-be-damned Bogans…” she said to herself, mimicking Daniel’s earlier comment. She was pissed about her mirror, and yet again that she was dragged into a war she had nothing to do with. While this was not the first person she had ever killed, as much as she’d like to forget what had happened years ago, it was the first in active combat.
Daniel was quick to fall behind the prisoners which had made makeshift barricades from broken bits of the carts. Although he preferred pacifism, he did pick up a Bogan gun and shoot a bullet or two for his own sake, and so he didn’t seem useless despite missing every shot.
A shape came up behind Alice. As she turned and almost jabbed at it, her fist stalled as she saw Knox. “Easy there, princess!” Knox mockingly put his hands in the air for surrender. Alice then noticed the other individual with him. “Is that the ‘ugly gal’ you were referring to?” She asked as she ducked behind a tipped barrel for cover.
Knox didn’t even have to turn to feel the icy Blackblood eyes piercing his back like an arrow. The Blackblood were the closest thing this world has to vampires, although they were treated like any other humans. They ate normal food, but when they did have living victims they drain their soul rather than blood, which can replenish itself faster than blood. This gave the Blackbloods extra power after a victim, making them dangerous soul shard users. Blackblood wasn’t even the proper name for their kind, that being the Noctin, but after centuries of paranoia and wicked words from other races, it has become the common term, even among other Noctin.
The Noctin in question wore a fairly fancy overshirt, the collar of it stuck out slightly as its lapels formed small equilateral triangles. The suit was black and had a red outline and accents, matched with tight black pants and buckled shoes. His hair was a long jet black arrow, a lock of it curling over his right eye as the rest was tied behind him into a ponytail that reached between his shoulder blades. His hair seemed to fit with his emerald green eyes. His face seemed young, but that could mean anything for a Blackblood. He was attractive by most people’s standards, his childlike facial features going against his masculine, yet charismatic voice.
The man was quick to act as another Bogan strayed from its pack towards them. Without warning he turned his body, as his right arm had been hiding the double sided fan ax that he held as his weapon. It twirled like a baton as he leapt towards the Bogan, much higher and a greater distance than a normal person could jump. He slashed its neck with it as he landed, ending the Bogan’s strafe.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“I guess they had a reason for locking you up, after you got angry.” Knox said, scratching the side of his end with his mace. Three more Bogans suddenly appeared. As Alice was attacked by one, the other two circled Knox like vultures. He quickly swept one before bringing his mace up between the other’s legs. As it winced he quickly brought it back down on its head as it crumpled to the floor. The swept Bogan flipped onto its stomach pushed itself up, only for a mace to embed itself into its now vulnerable back.
Alice had been dodging and weaving the third’s attack while throwing jabs, eventually hitting it in the neck with her spikes. The Bogan stumbled back, surprised by the blow, and grabbed its neck as it spat up blood. It kept stumbling until it tripped over a wooden plank, and where it landed, it never rose again.
Of the many gunshots heard from the chorus of fire, Lockheed’s were easy to distinguish, given the higher fire rate of a revolver. The group hurried past the fallen bodies of Bogans and prisoners alike, finding them huddled behind a burning cart.
“Lady Spencerson, it’s not safe out there, the bog wolves disappeared when the gunfight started, they’re still out there!” Daniel’s concern was clear from his voice. Alice was trained in fighting, but almost no one could fight a bog wolf with what was basically their bare hands.
“Hey, boy-girl, have you ever fought a bog wolf before, or are ya always too busy having your mother spoon feed you?” Knox asked the Blackblood. His face turned to him, seeming unenthused.
“My name is Ignacio Hellebore of the Thirty Houses, and I shall garner your respect.” He said, pulling on the patches of shirt next to his lapels. His voice seemed proud, and he spoke with an accent of the Western kingdoms, mostly Shadowmane and Morry, of which Morry was the home of the Thirty Houses he spoke of. He then turned his attention to Alice. “Madame, has this bottom feeder been bothering you this whole time?”
Alice’s eyebrow perked up. Trying to score some points, at a time like this?
“No, actually. What IS bothering me is that we have some blood-hungry mutts running around and no one knows where they are!” Her voice grew increasingly louder and more agitated with each word. “Now can you help find and/or kill them, or are you going to stroke your own ego!?”
Hellebore was taken aback by the girl in front of him. While he never liked people with loud mouths, he had to respect that Alice stood up for herself. He would’ve backed off either way, but he wanted to see how she’d handle such a forward approach.
“Fear not, my lady, for I shall hunt these wretched beasts. They will never be able to escape my blade…”
As Hellebore monologues, a Bogan crept behind Knox, who was seemingly distracted by being annoyed at the new member of their ‘party’. The Bogan readied itself for an attack, a sharp sword in its hand. Its faint growling grew louder as it had begun to swing, only to grow silent as a knife found its way into the Bogan’s throat.
Knox turned around at the gurgling sound, Cymia already having stabbed the Bogan from his left three more times in the span of his turning. She said few words as the body slumped to the ground, merely walking past him towards the others as she twirled the knife around. “Pay attention.” Was all she said. Obviously, Cymia was trained for a more stealthy approach to combat. An assassin, perhaps? Maybe even a member of the fabled assassin clan of the Steeple? The Steeple are all Bogans… Eh, another piece in the puzzle for Knox to try and solve, the Scalsan thought to himself.
Cymia only paused when a familiar howl sounded from just past the rubble they all stood near. The bog wolves had returned, it appears. Alice slowly peaked her head out through some of the rubble, not sure what to expect. Daniel noticed her actions, and followed en suite. As the two looked through, a fairly unusual sight showed itself to them.
Two bog wolves snarled, pointed towards the broken cart and the individuals surely hiding behind it. Between the two massive beasts stood a tall figure, motionless as the wolves took a few steps forward. He appeared to be their handler, and although bog wolves tend to only follow the orders of their alpha wolf, they seemed to sense his orders, and follow accordingly.
It seemed that he was their Alpha male of their pack. The only reason the wolves even allowed themselves to be strapped to the prison carts was him.
He was the Alpha...
Both of them quickly ducked, Daniel’s face showing a fairly terrified expression. “Welp, we found the mutts!” He yelled in a dramatic fashion. It seemed this individual had spent most of the fight preparing them for combat, as they were now unleashed and missing the saddles and straps that once adorned them. Alice opened her mouth to add on to Daniel’s statement, but was interrupted by a loud galloping sound, followed by the debris they hid behind being launched by a pair of sloppering jaws and the strength of a dozen men.
Alice recognized the Bogan standing before them. It was the one that had been riding the wolf earlier, and had stared her down and chilled her with its gaze. Her eyes wandered, before she found the answer to the question they all now had. “Take a look at his head!”
The Alpha was a Bogan, like the rest of the guards, but it seemed he was the one in charge of transporting these prisoners. His face was covered with a strange mask made of metal, the mouth of it resembling the fangs of a snake as it wrapped around his jaw. Masks like this were old-school, so perhaps this man was a member of the old guard, a veteran of the First War? Even his eyes were covered in the mask, with many holes poked into the metal eye socket like a cheese grater.
In the center of his forehead, a yellow shine almost blinded Alice, as soul shards always glowed when they were being used. As the wolves drew closer to the party, Cymia took a step forward before exclaiming something in the Bogan tongue.
The Alpha stood silently for a second, before slowly tilting his head and responding in a deep yet collected voice. The two exchanged a few foreign lines before Cymia took a step back.
“He’s… we’re all dog food.” She said, before her split second of fear was replaced with anger. She quickly redrew her daggers as the others also took their stances.
The Alpha turned his head slowly to Alice, tilting it yet again before extending a pointing finger in her direction. It seemed he had his sight set on her first, for he knew not of Cyber’s plan for her, and as such only saw her as another escaped prisoner.
The wolves snarled yet again before the one on the Alpha’s right made a charge towards Alice. Its speed seemed unlike anything the natural world could produce, and yet Alice braced for impact as she wound up a punch. Her thoughts were blinded by that of the father she never knew, and the legacy he left behind. She wouldn’t be dog food, and she wouldn’t die today. She had a legacy to keep up, damnit.
Soul Spell: Knick Knack Paddy Whack
Spell Type: Hybrid
Spellcaster: The Alpha
Shard Color: Yellow
Shard Stats:
-Offense [7/10]
-Defense [3/10]
-Range [3/10]
-Spread [5/10]
-Utility [7/10]