7.
Sometimes
it's worse to win a fight than to lose.
Billie Holiday
"There's nothing for it, we have to go back." Max stated. Sonia nodded at him lazily in agreement. She fixed her surroundings with an heavy lidded stare, her eyes darting back and forth across the shadows from beneath her eyelids
"What?" Max said following her gaze, seeing nothing but darkness. "What is it?"
"We have company. Lots of them." She statedMax looked at her quizzically. His head snapped round as shadows flickered on the ground. He looked upwards at the street lamp dimming in the night.
'Great, Sonia we won't be able to deal with this. We're exhausted. They'll kill us!'
''Ne'how' she muttered her stance lazy and her shoulders slumped. He immediately felt her weight on his shoulders and realised that he was now holding her up.He instantly re-thought their situation. Her mind was tired, She was tired and the fact that she was acting stupid was grating on his already tenuously stretched nerves, something was definitely up.
'What's going on with you!' he hid his mind probe with his irritability for two reasons, both of which he was horrified to find were justified.
'Never mind…'listen, we're exhausted. We've been fighting… I know that, you know that, they don't know that' she reassured him, sending waves of calm his way. He didn't mean to brush them aside, he was on edge, and he had to be. Her mind itself was dimming and becoming less reactive. The fact that he had dared to probe her mind, (something each had promised the other that they would never do without the others consent) didn't send her into fury, as it would have ordinarily done. It didn't mean he didn't flinch at the look she sent his way, it wasn't out fear. It was out of worry.
A light voice spoke up, breaking the silence descended upon them, sending shivers up the twins' spines. They could smell the wolfish scents in the air and the prickling of tension that shifted and wove in and out of the air.
"We saw you're little display earlier. Very impressive, not many can unarm Kraven-" They didn't mistake the malicious glee that dripped from the words from the darkness
"Who are you…" Max said loudly stepping closer to Sonia "…Display, that was a display? – I thought we were trying to save our necks" Max muttered loud enough for any sensitive ears, his taunt went ignored.
"…We wonder how you'll do against us" said another voice. This was becoming drastic, quickly. It was obvious to them that there were more bodies than there were voices. But where to place them?
"Who are you?" Max shouted, "What do you want?" he yelled, silence ensued. The rain had died down but the wind had not, and as the twins had chosen to sit in one of the leafiest places in Orgodhaz, the tactical advantage was against them. Not only did it mean that the leafy cover were sending crazy distorted shadows across the ground, making it harder to see; but the shadows from the trees and the trees themselves proved the perfect cover for an ambush.
"We are Lycans." A voice called out. "And we have come for you.-"
"Sheesh dramatic, much?" Sonia said inaudibly.
"…We know you have been fighting, against the Vampires…we mean you no harm" another said pointedly cutting across them both, seeming to want to appease the tension as quickly as possible.
'You were saying!' Max' voice in her mind was seething.
'Okay, okay… way to give a girl and mind ache. All we need is a distraction, get their attentions away from us and then we can make like the wind, or the rain…she rambled on inside his head.
'-Sonia, stop fucking messing around, this is no time to play silly buggers…Sonia!' She wasn't listening and Max saw his sister sway slightly were she stood.
"Shit" he muttered. He had failed to take notice of anything else that had seemed to be bothering her, but now as he looked closely he noticed a darkening patch on her side.
"-we would like to know that you'd come without needing restraints…or we might have to resort to certain measures…" the first interjected firmly.
"You and who's army? Oh you mean Rambo over there" Sonia smirked ignoring him, seeing someone or something in the darkness he couldn't. Max cursed.
'Obviously that blood loss has gone to your head! Are you crazy! Stop fucking provoking them!' she ignored his mental outburst. Listening to the silence with her head tilted to one side.
"Oooo…so, you did mean Rambo over there…" she continued, at the silence. A dazed smile flitting across her face.
The Lycan that lunged out of the darkness was too quick for them to react to and before either could blink Max found himself, although he was quite tall, a good foot off the ground staring into the black eyes and long snout of a Lycan, fangs bared. His whole body screamed in agony, and he grunted in pain as he tried to twist the brute strength from off of his neck. But he couldn't move, he was too weak.
"What are you doing!" someone yelled "stop this at once! Marcus asked you to bring them to him alive"
"He didn't say they had to be in one piece, though did he," the Lycan proposed, snarling into Max's face. And he found himself grimacing. It wasn't the nicest thing in the world to have done to you; ordinarily he would have said the guy could have used some gum. Nevertheless, as a Lycan, the epitome of 'dog breath' came into strong description. This person could have used industrial sized Listerine.
If it weren't for the severe constricting grip the Lycan had around his throat, Max would have said as much. He then mentally shook his head, scratching that thought he must have lost as much blood as Sonia and he certainly didn't want to loose anymore.
The Lycan holding him growled, seeing his difficult expression. "Stupid brat" he muttered before raising his hand. Max stared at him as the fist was raised and then brought down on his neck. He was surprised to find that he felt a little sting, almost like-
'SHIT…SONIA, RUN' he yelled to her as the darkness seeped on the edge of his awareness. He looked around wildly, his heart dropping to his stomach as he saw Sonia's already unconscious body and more importantly the dark droplets that dripped from her coat to the pavement.
