She used what was called a windmill shuriken. The Black Butterfly, she named it. A large throwing star made of blades, each the size of a sword. The total length and width of which nearly matched her height. Each of the blade had handles carved into the middle of its body. When folded, the weapon was a formidable guarded knightsword. Unfolded, it was a deadly utility in her hands.

Ishumi slashed to the skies, knocking upwards the upspawn hound that pounced on her. Her weapon was large and an odd shape that threw off her balance when used at too close a range. She staggered back but planted her feet quickly back on the ground, determined to defend her four square feet of land until they could leave. A hound charged in from her left and she pulled her weapon back, prepared to thrust.

But Joachim's bladed yo-yo spun into sight, smashing hard into the creature's face and tumbling it onto the floor. She finished it off with a stab to its body and the unspawn dematerialized like all its kind.

She turned back and Quinton had just carried Shjacky onto his back.

“Let's go!” he yelled.

Ishumi knocked away another hound before turning tail and run. She signalled to Joachim to retreat which the latter followed unquestioningly. The four of them raced through the streets towards the western gates as fast as Quinton could move with Shjacky on his back.

“Leave me... behind,” Shjacky choked out with a cough.

“Shut up!” Quinton screamed. “Or I'll drop you!”

“That's what I'm saying...”

“This.” Ishumi picked into the body of another attacker. “Isnt. The. Time. For. Quips!”

Joachim pulled out a storm. Each new swing with his weapon gathered more momentum for his magic, pushing out further and stronger streaming slashes of wind. He looped his yo-yo forward and a wheel of razor wind blasted out, slicing out a chunk of the ground along with slicing half a dozen unspawn in front of him in two.

“They keep coming!” he signed quickly.

“To the front!” Quinton called.

Ishumi turned forward and sure enough, a bear-sized unspawn lumbered into their path. “I got this!” she exclaimed.

She pulled her arm back and took a throwing stance. Heavy weapon behind her, she twisted her arm in an underhand angle and flung her shuriken with all her might. The moment the projectile left her hand, she let the darkness take her. In an instance, she disappeared, melding into the shadow that was cast by her large weapon.

The shuriken arched in the air, the shadow it produced growing larger as the weapon flew higher. Then, it got smaller as it boomeranged around a corner, turning towards the monster's neck. As it closed, Ishumi reappeared, materializing herself between the shadow on the ground and the weapon. Rising through the air, she spun with the same revolution as her Black Butterfly. With an outreached hand, she took one of weapon's handle, twisted her body, leveraged her arm, and slashed with all her might. Despite having the size of a bear, her long blades cut into the unspawn cleanly. Its appendages fell and its 'head' rolled.

Still in mid-air, she pulled her body and sword arm back, landing on threes with the monster vanquished behind her.

Turning back to her friends, she could see Quinton struggling, his stamina reaching its peak. Further back, Joachim was losing steam. His attacks were barely flinching the next horde of unspawn hounds. To her side, a dried canal used for floods led downhill to a tunnel with a floodgate.

“This way!” she lead.

She ran down into the dry bed and waited until Quinton climbed down with Shjacky. Once she was sure he knew where to head to, she turned back and ran into another pack of hound that was about to overwhelm Joachim.

“Get ready to close the gate!” she commanded, stepping between Joachim and the unspawns.

The latter nodded, taking the breather as a chance to further his retreat. Ishumi stood her ground. A hound jumped from above the slight incline. She held the tip of her shuriken up and the creature impaled itself. Thankfully, unspawns don't work within the same laws of physics and it weighed virtually nothing despite the size. She threw the unmoving body into an attacking horde. But once more, a new pack of half a dozen filled in the gaps.

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She cursed under her breath. “Shit! There's no end to them!”

“Ishumi!” Quinton yelled from behind. “We're ready!”

In her free hand, she charged up a ball of magic. After dodging a swiping attack, she threw the sphere on the ground. The charge burst in a cloud of shadow smoke. She was not sure how well magical smokescreens worked against unspawns but took the chance anyway. Turning, away from the battle, she dashed out of the smoke. The canal tunnel was in sight in the distance. Joachim had disabled the locks and he and Quinton were propping the gate up with their hands. She threw her shuriken and once again vanished into the shadows.

The next she saw light was as her shuriken entered the darkness of the tunnel. She jumped out of the shadows and retrieved her weapon gracefully. Looking to the tunnel entrance, she watched the unspawn packs rush them. Quinton and Joachim stepped back and dropped the thick wood gate, throwing them into darkness and silence.

She could hear them panting. Her heart was beating out of her chest. The sudden muteness and darkness of the world jarred them into stun. Then, a small ember of red lit the black. Shjacky, who sat against the tunnel wall, held a tiny flame in her hand.

Quinton huffed, “We should go.”

“I'm... not going,” Shjacky replied.

“This is not the time to be heroic!” he reprimanded.

The girl smiled. “I'm not. Just... stating facts. Look... at the gate.”

They turned to look at the gate they closed behind them. Cracks were already appearing in the wood. Because unspawns made no noise when contacting their physical world, they could not hear the creatures breaking down the door. Further down the opposite end, the light at the exit was but a small bleep in the far distance, at least a thousand meters away.

“I'll... slow you down... too much. We'd... never survive... this tunnel.” She turned to look at the light. “You need... to find... my mother... and stop her.”

She was right. They would not make it out alive together and it was likely they were the only ones who knew the mastermind behind their epitaphs and invasion. Ishumi's heart tightened and her eyes welled, tearing. She looked to Joachim who wore a horrified look on his face. On the contrary, Quinton simply nodded calmly.

“I understand,” Quinton agreed. He stepped between Shjacky and the gate while drawing his sword and readying his shield.

Ishumi asked, “What are you doing?”

He replied, “If we want to catch The Janus, we need to keep this unpleasant scenario going a little longer. That means we need to die in order. If Kingston is really dead, then I'm number Twelve. So I go next. Shjacky, charge up what magic you can. I'll hold as many of them back as possible. Then, you blast us all to bits.”

Ishumi felt the words caught in her throat. “Quinton...”

“That's...” Shjacky started. “That's not fair.”

He chuckled. “You always said you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me.”

“What about... your sister?”

“Ishumi! Joachim!” he voiced, making them jump. “Tell everyone we love them. Tell my sister I love her.”

Joachim opposed the idea by signing frantically, tears streaming down his face. He looked at Ishumi pleadingly but she did not translate. Instead, she gulped down the lump she choked on. Her hands shook unsteadily as she signed back to him.

“Don't waste their breaths.”

He stopped and she could see him swallow hard. After taking a deep breath, he turned to the two remaining behind. He gestured to them all, pointed to his heart, beat it twice, and ended by raising a single finger.

Our hearts beat as one.

Finally, giving a curt nod, he turned away and took the head start down the tunnel in a slow walk, catching his breath while waiting for Ishumi.

Ishumi hung back for a moment and said. “I'm next.”

Quinton agreed with a sympathetic smile. “Yes, you are.”

“Any advice?”

“Yeah. It's something my parents told me and Lua when we were kids. 'Be afraid of death but not of dying. Only then can you go with courage.'”

She bobbled her head in solemn understanding and turned to Shjacky. “We'll stop her. We'll stop your mother.”

Her downed friend grinned, a drip of blood flowing down the side of her face from her temple. “I know you will. Here.” She held out the red flame in her hand.

Most dark mages could not create fire. Umbramancy does not normally allow for it. However, they can maintain a flame. So Ishumi held out her hands and cupped the fire. The flame turned into a cold shadowfyre blue but still maintained light.

“Thanks,” Ishumi said.

She wanted to stay there and look at their faces for as long as possible but the cracks along the gate had tripled in both size and numbers. The barricade would not last long. She gave one final hand to Shjacky, lifting her friend to her feet as the latter drew her sword from her umbrella sheathe, prepared for battle.

Ishumi gave a final pained smile then turned wordlessly away and ran after Joachim. Once she caught up to him, the two picked up speed and sprinted towards the exit, their path lighted by Shjacky's gift. Behind them, they could hear the door crumble, the unspawns rushing noiselessly to fill in the gaps. Quinton's grunts echoed down the way. Occasionally, Shjacky gave a hurt huff as she fought back any that slipped through her guardian's grasps.

It took Ishumi and Joachim two full minutes of all out sprinting before the light at the tunnel exit faded enough to even give hue to the colours of the world outside.

“Dying well!” Quinton's voice rocked from the vanguard.

A strong gust hits their back and the flame in her hand snuffed out. They flew out of the tunnel and dived to the side as a blast of fire burst out behind them.