"Isles! What the fuck are you doing?!" Razel shouted with a furious scowl, watching Isles speed along the icy pathway conjured by the motorcycle she rode upon. Her voice didn't even reach the wolf-folk's ears as the murderous roar of Frozen Lake's thundering engine drowned out her yells.

Isles rolled her hand back against the throttle, commanding Frozen Lake to accelerate faster as her focused eyes honed in on the window where she had spotted that glimmering soul. However, the presence of a second, fainter glimmer that shone through the same window had caught her attention. And this faint light grew exponentially brighter by the second.

A series of powerful, metallic clangs cut through the air as threatening glints of steel were made visible for a brief second. Isles then slammed the throttle of Frozen Lake before pulling up on the handlebars. The torque from the motorcycle caused the front wheel to be hoisted into the air as the underbelly of Frozen Lake caught a trio of menacing, electrified nails that were of equal length to her forearm.

The ambush did not stop there as an explosive bang was heard directly underneath, and with it, a glorious geyser of molten earth and flame. The spewing fire smashed right through her conjured pathway, cutting her off from the window as she kicked herself off of Frozen Lake's seat, letting it veer off course. The arcane circle used to summon Frozen Lake appeared to swallow up the falling motorcycle, keeping it safe from the onslaught that awaited Isles as the wolf-folk skidded along the collapsing bridge.

The crashing chunks of ice were overshadowed by the revving of a furious motor and the roar of crackling flames. Across the avenue stood a reptilian Astral that rivaled Rye's own size and bulk. His rough, scarlet scales contrasted against the creamy beige of his underbelly. He was clad only in a pair of black, rugged pants as a thick, woolen cloth dyed orange was fastened around his abdomen and trailed down to his knees like a waistcloth. The initials "T.G." were emblazoned on the cloth in black lettering, designed with orange stripes like that of a tiger's own.

His clawed hand gripped onto the thick, metal haft of a gargantuan hammer that was seven-feet in length. The haft contained intricate mechanisms. A clutch lever, gear shift lever, and a throttle were all seen on the grip of the massive weapon. Sturdy piping stemmed from the grip up to the rumbling head of the hammer, providing a clear pathway to the motor built within a shell of dense metal that gave off a golden sheen. It was wide and smudged with black scorch marks and ash. The backend was as a glorified exhaust for it, flames and embers billowing out from the behemoth like a smoldering furnace.

"RAZEL!!!" The reptile called out. His voice was coarse from the sparks that climbed up his throat as a plume of smoke vented out of his flaring nostrils. His azure slitted eyes giving a wild stare to the squirrel-folk in the distance as a grin crept along his wide, crocodilian maw.

"Why here..." Razel muttered through gritted teeth, "Why now for fuck's sake!!!" she shouted back in response as her hands took hold of her nodachi. She would have charged ahead were it not for Oriol giving her a harsh push that knocked her aside. Her glare affixed on Oriol for a moment before being broken by the electrified nail that shot past and punctured the brick wall behind them.

After the danger had lifted a brief second, Oriol grabbed hold of Razel by the collar of her jacket and reeled her in. She then gave her a headbutt strong enough to snap her back to her senses as her amber eyes looked down on her with a domineering gaze. "Shut up, and buck up. We are dealing with enemy Proxies now, and you know damn well as I do that one misstep will be the end of it all. Even Cass is taking it better than you."

The two then looked over at the rat-kin in question who stood behind a nearby tree with Vox held close to him. One of his dense yo-yos was held in a free hand as his other was occupied with holding the robot by the shoulder. His gaze behind the lenses of his glasses was sharp and attentive, but there was a noticeable tremble that ran down his body.

He had hoped to avoid making enemies of other Proxies, of other people, but those hopes were dashed. If he didn't die by their hands, then he'd die by Razel's own if he failed to protect Strafe or Vox. This much was clear ever since his first day arriving at Corriente.

Oriol then let go of Razel, saying, "You all try to flank under the cover of the trees and smoke as I draw their fire."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Razel questioned, watching her procure a cluster of grenades from a pouch strapped to her lower-back.

"As a Grade 3, I'm shocked you don't know how to counter ranged attacks. So just watch and learn how a professional makes guns into mere child's play," Oriol said with a cocksure smirk before pulling the pins on the grenades.

"Once I throw these, start running. Our objective is to reach the mall and to subdue the enemy any way possible," she instructed as everyone nodded. With the grenades effortlessly thrown and deployed, a thick blanket of smoke soon covered the left and right edges of the avenue. The Proxies charged through the smoke with Razel, Isles, and Strafe heading left and Rye, Cass, and Vox heading right.

Oriol drew twin daggers with a broad blade, different from her injectors knives she used days prior. She charged down the center lane of the avenue, protected only by the canopy of the surrounding trees as she maneuvered swiftly through the thick roots and rubble.

On the other side of the avenue, Luanne stared through her scope and watched the events unfold. She was unsure who to prioritize as the smokescreen and the multiple layers of trees made it near impossible for her to take a blind shot through the smoke. Then she had the lunatic that sprinted down the center. 'An obvious bait,' she thought, 'but for what?'

"Luanne, what's the hold up?" a cold voice spoke from behind as the sharp cracks of electricity accompanied the words being spoken. "Take the shot. If you don't I will."

The voice belonged to another reptilian Astral with a similar physique to the one at the foot of the mall, however his build was slimmer and taller. His sleek scales were colored a bright green that contrasted with his beige underbelly. He wore black coveralls with orange stripes running horizontally around his biceps. A toolbelt was attached around his waist as the "T.G." logo was found emblazoned over his right breast.

His clawed hand clutched around the short haft of a machinist's hammer as he held onto a trio of menacingly long nails with his other hand. The hammer, etched with runic markings depicting that of lightning bolts and clouds, arced with green jolts of electricity as his slitted, azure gaze peered out the window. "Take the shot, Luanne," he commanded with a stern frown that pulled down upon his crocodilian maw.

With fear of knowing the punishment that would await her if she resisted, Luanne lined up the shot once more. Her cheek pressed against the raised rest of the rifle's stock, taking in steady breaths to calm both her body and her quivering eyes. Her finger squeezed the trigger, hoping to have her shot ring true over Oriol's heart to end her then and there.

The bullet raced towards Oriol, her amber eyes darting to the source of the gunshot and tracking the bullet that gunned straight for her as if time itself had slowed down. ".308? Not bad," she said calmly, swiping her left dagger in a swift motion to catch the bullet with the broad face of the blade. She felt the sides of the spinning lead drill against the steel of her dagger, redirecting the bullet into the ground behind her with a fluid motion of her arm. "Not bad at all!" she shouted with a confident grin, redoubling her efforts to rush down the large Astral at the end of the avenue.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Seeing her shot be negated so easily left Luanne in stunned disbelief. "Ture," she called out, looking over at the reptile beside her. "You can't blame me for that."

"I suppose I can't," Ture replied with an annoyed huff. "Meet up with Alfie, Ravar and I will stall as long as we can while you set up deeper inside. We can't let them get to Frankie, he's still preparing the ritual with that freak from the Aurum Vellus Company."

Luanne wanted to voice her concerns, but seeing Ture nudge her aside and jump out from the window stifled that desire. Begrudgingly, she grabbed hold of her rifle and radio, slinking away into the depths of the mall in accordance with her orders.

"Enough of this!!!" Ravar shouted, stamping his lead foot forward and revving the throttle on his hammer. The engine within roared, erupting outward with a pillar of flames that propelled itself as he controlled the weapon's thrust purely by his own power. In a wide, sweeping motion he brought his hammer overhead before slamming it back down toward the ground.

The strength of the impact was strong enough to create a shockwave that blew back the smokescreen covering the flanks of the avenue as the trees shook from the rattling wave of force. However, his attempts to reveal the Proxies proved unneeded, watching helplessly as they all leapt through the unprotected and fragile windows of the ground floor.

His azure eyes then looked toward Oriol who was now bearing down on him. Red Radiance coated the thin edge of her dagger, as a cocky grin spanned across her face when the runic tattoos on Ravar's body lit up. He raised his arms in preparation to receive Oriol's attack, knowing that his heavier, bulkier frame was much too slow to intercept the more dexterous Radiant.

But this was the outcome Oriol wanted. With Ravar failing for the feint of her perceived attack with the dagger, she instead went for a sweeping kick to his right calf. The raw power from someone half his size caught him off-guard, and the impact to his calf sent him down to his knees as his muscles contracted and spasmed from the reeling blow.

She then brought her leg around, queuing up for another kick empowered by her Radiance while she peered over her shoulder to mercilessly look down upon the dazed Astral. Her eyes then shifted to Ture that closed in on her after jumping from the fifth story window. She transitioned her kick to instead plant it against the crumbled ground, channeling the Radiance to explode at the heel of her boot that launched her forward at blinding speed.

The nail that Ture sent flying with his hammer a moment after Oriol's kick-off missed its mark as the speed of the operative took him and Ravar by surprise. The two Astrals turned to see Oriol who's back was facing toward the mall's entrance she flew into, beckoning for them to pursue with a mocking smile. She dared them to.

Within the mall, the rest of the Proxies took a moment to take in their new surroundings. The grand scenery of an open, multi-story mall with broken down elevators captivated Razel for a moment. She was interested in the weird and antiquated merchandise she might find, but now was not the time. Worst of all she was seventy years too late to raid this urban landfill.

The shops that lined each individual floor were overgrown with moss and roots. The ceiling tiles have long since given way from the years of erosion, negligence, and rot. The once colorful, fanciful signage that hung proudly over each store now littering their respective doorways as loose wires dangled from the broken lettering.

The filtered daylight that shone in via the mall's skylight was further dissected and segregated by the several bridges that spanned the great distance across the spherical ravine that made up the mall's plaza. This scenery all then centered upon a wide, cloaked figure who stood at the third story bridge. The white heel of his black sneaker propped up against the rusted guard-railing as his pure, black cloak hungrily absorbed the illustrious daylight.

"It has been too long, Razel! Strafe!!!" the cloaked figure called out from his perch, his voice collected and cool. "And now we will squash you like the rodent you are! Just as we should've done years ago before you ran away from the Company with her!"

The voice of the cloaked one made Strafe freeze still. The voice forced her mind to pry open the scars that tormented her dreams, forcing her to remember the visage of a white-furred beast that was sicced upon her by the voice's commands. It forced her to remember her pleas of mercy that fell upon the deaf ears of the voice as it drowned out by his own manic laughter.

Laughter fueled by the merriment of having power over her.

Her eyes were wide with the knowing fear of the punishment that awaited her if the voice got to her. She felt her heart pound against her chest, sending her body into a frenzy as she turned tail to sprint out the window she had entered from. She needed to separate herself away from the voice, away from here. She could not go back to them.

She will not go back to them.

She must not.

The voice's cackling rang throughout the mall as the visage of Ravar silhouetted against the pyre of his blazing flames stood between Strafe and her only, immediate escape. That pestering, condescending cackle filled her mind and blinded her to the danger that loomed over her. The dulled screams of those around were just that.

Dulled.

She didn't want to think. She didn't want to be thrust into their graces once more to only resume playing the role as a plaything for them to beat. If the only way out of this darkness was to accept the death that stood before her.

Then so be it.

Rid her of this existence, of this turmoil.

"What do I have left to lose..."

But then, the sole person that was willing to stand before death in her stead appeared before her, poised to intercept the rumbling hammer that came crashing down like a meteor.

The only person that she sought comfort in. The only person that broke her out of the darkness.

"Razel..." she muttered weakly, reaching out to grasp the back of her lover, to cling onto her and to never let go.

But this attempt was soon cut off by the deafening clang of metal on metal. Razel's nodachi, held up defiantly in a guard, blocked the crushing blow of Ravar's hammer.

"Isles, you fuck!" Razel shouted furiously, feeling her knees buckle under the weight of the crocodile's fiery weapon. The hammer only became heavier as he shifted gears, increasing the thrust it produced tenfold. "Do your job and protect Strafe and Vox!!!"

Not needing to be told twice, Isles swiftly moved to pluck Strafe and Vox as Rye charged Ravar to deliver a sweeping cut with his axe.

Strafe watched helplessly as she was carried off by the wolf-folk to an isolated part of the mall. Watching as the only person to break her free from her torment grew more and more distant. Fighting fiercely to maintain her freedom. Their shared freedom.

Ravar, seeing Rye charge him, swiped his hammer to the side to knock aside Rye's axe. The weight of what seemed to be the world lifted off of Razel and she took this chance to separate herself from the large Astrals.

She gave the ursine a knowing nod, one that was reciprocated with his own as the two turned their backs on each other. Razel set her eyes upon the cloaked figure in the distance as Rye set his own Ravar.

"Cass, with me. I'm going to need you to take down him and his annoying pets," Razel's voice was filled with spiteful venom. She held her nodachi at the ready as Cass grasped his yo-yos.

The two looked on as the cloaked figure procured a singular card from a stacked deck. "Otsu, Prince of the Four Winds, heed the call of your master!!!" he called out with a thundering voice propelled by his Radiance. A playing field appeared overhead as he slammed the card upon an empty zone in this conjured field.

A vortex of swirling winds was then made manifest. Kicking up loose debris that orbited the cyclone that formed in the center of the plaza. Cass's golden gaze stared down that shadowy silhouette of a tall lagomorph that made its presence known within the cyclone. Swallowing down the anxieties that took hold of him in preparation for the upcoming battle.