Ch. 18

"Hmm, I wonder when Abaddon is coming home. Should I call Helena?" Xahnara asked herself as she sat on a recliner in the living room. She had taken the time since her son left to read one of her favorite books. Training with Abaddon sometimes took up her reading time, so now was a good time to catch up. She was now at the halfway point in her novel when someone unlocked and opened the front door.

"I hope everyone's home, its too quiet in here," said Selmon Rizer as he entered the house. He wore a gray coat over a brown long sleeve shirt, brown boots, and black pants. His dark brown hair was a bit rustled from his latest mission. He made sure his wolf tail wasn't in the doorway before closing the door behind him.

"Hey darling." Xahnara went up to her husband and embraced him. "How was the mission?"

"Oh it was fine. One of the Branwen twins actually tagged along," Selmon said.

"Which one?" she asked.

"Qrow. We had to go protect a village in Mistral from the Grimm," Selmon said. "It wasn't hard and we got paid, but Qrow was…drunk. The entire time."

"Oh really. Well about the other twin? Raven?" Xahnara asked again.

"I asked him about her, but he said he didn't want to talk about it so I left it alone," he told her. "By the way, where's our son?"

"Oh, he went out with his friends. I told him to be back before dark though-," Xahnara stopped when someone else entered the house.

"Hey mom, I'm back," said Abaddon.

"How's it goin son?" Selmon said.

"Dad!" Abaddon ran up to his father and hugged him. "You've been gone for a week. How was your mission?"

Selmon knelt down in front of Abaddon. "It was great son, and a complete success. I did have some help as well."

Abaddon smiled. "Awesome! Can I go with you on the next one?"

"Maybe," Selmon said. "When you're strong enough."

"Awww come on," the boy huffed.

"Well, for now maybe you should go on to bed. You look tired honey," Xahnara said.

"I am. Emma and Jurano can be a handful at times, especially when they argue," Abaddon sighed.

Xahnara giggled. "Oh we know. Now go on to bed. Goodnight, and sweet dreams." She kissed her son gently on his forehead.

"Goodnight son," Selmon said.

"Goodnight." Abaddon trudged upstairs without a second thought. He went into his room, which was a medium sized space with grey blue painted walls, a red boxing stand in one corner, a large bed, dark wood dresser and a large octagonal rug in the middle of the carpet floor.

Remembering that he didn't even have shoes on, he went over to the rug and wiped the dirt off his feet. After that, he lazily jumped onto his bed and slowly fell asleep.

XXXXXXX

"Abaddon!"

"Abaddon!"

"Abaddon!"

"ABADDON! WAKE UP!"

Abaddon got up from his bed breathing somewhat heavily. The air was filled with smoke, causing him to cough hard. A hand grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and pulled him off the bed and onto the floor.

"Stay down son! You'll be able to move safely without filling your lungs with smoke," said Selmon, who was crouched down on the floor. "Here." He handed Abaddon a pair of his black sneakers and his gauntlets, which the boy put on without hesitation.

Abaddon looked around him and saw that flames were spreading throughout his room. Several of his belongings, such as his dresser and boxing stand, were almost completely destroyed. From the large amount of smoke, he guessed his room wasn't the only place that was burning.

"Wait, where's mom?" Abaddon quickly asked.

"She's outside the house," Selmon said. "Don't worry, she's not hurt. Come on, we should get out fast."

Abaddon nodded and followed his father out of the room and down the stairs. He kept himself in a crouched position as they went. Once downstairs, Abaddon saw how bad the fire was. The kitchen table was devoured by the flames along with several cloths near the stove. Unfortunately, the back door was also blocked by flames.

"Don't want to be near that if it explodes. Let's keep going." Selmon kept moving, glancing behind him every now and then to make sure Abaddon was still behind him.

The living room was just as bad as the kitchen. The furniture was burning just like the wooden table. The front door was open, but a few flames licked at the frame.

"Alright, you go ahead and run out first," Selmon said.

Abaddon nodded. He knelt down and sprinted straight towards the door. However, as soon as he was in the doorway, the roof above gave way and crumbled. Abaddon lunged through before he could be hit by the burning wood. He rolled on the ground and stopped on the grass.

"Abaddon!" Xahnara hugged her son tightly. "I'm so glad you're ok. Where's your father? Is he still in there?"

Xahnara and Abaddon looked back up just in time to see Selmon crash through the front window and onto the grass. His coat was partially covered in flames so he ripped it off, threw on the ground, and stomped on it to put the fire out.

"Whew, that was close," Selmon said in relief. "You two alright?"

"Yes," said Xahnara.

"Sure am," said Abaddon.

"Good, because we've got a situation on our hands. Look over there." Selmon gestured toward the town.

They turned to see the night sky bathed in orange light from more raging fires spreading throughout the island. Abaddon looked around in disbelief. What in the world was going on?

"This…this doesn't feel like an accident," Xahnara said. "All these fires are too big. And for the entire town to be in flames."

"I know. It seems like this was intentional," Selmon agreed. "But who would do this, and why?"

"Maybe we should worry about that later and head straight for town. Other people might need help," Abaddon said.

"Good idea. Let's go," Selmon said.

He grabbed Xahnara's hand and all three of them ran straight for the town. Xahnara couldn't help but chance a glance behind her. Their home, the very house that she, her husband, and parents built together, was completely consumed in flames and partially broken down. Then, she stopped looking, trying to keep herself focused for what was ahead. The trio made it into town, but the sight was much worse up close. Every building was on fire, people ran about in panic trying to get to safety themselves or help others, and worst of all, the creatures of Grimm mulled about. The Grimm attacked any citizen on sight. Some plainly ran while others fought back with guns, bats, or anything they could use as a weapon.

"Damn Grimm." Selmon pulled out his weapon, a vierling gun claymore. "Xahnara, we'll split up and help anyone we can."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Xahnara unsheathed her weapon as well, a dual grappling halberd. "Abaddon, I want you to go to a safe place okay."

"No, I'm going to help too." Abaddon unsheathed two of his blades from his gauntlets. "Besides, I need to see if my friends are alright."

"Abaddon, this is no time for-," Selmon said, but was interrupted when a beowulf lunged from behind Abaddon. He was about to take action when in one swift movement the boy beheaded the Grimm without a second thought.

"Whether you like it or not, I wanna stay. I want to find my friends, and I sure as hell don't plan on leaving without you. So please, just let me go." Abaddon looked his father dead in the eye.

"Selmon," Xahnara said, catching his attention. "There's no point in arguing right now. Abaddon should be fine, besides, he's our son after all."

Selmon closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright, but don't do anything too risky. We help the people get to safety and slay any Grimm in our wake. Alright?"

Xahnara and Abaddon nodded.

"Now go!"

XXXXXXX

"Help! Somebody help!" A pink haired woman was standing near the flaming remains of her home, holding her baby girl in her arms. However, she was surrounded by beowulves as well. They kept howling and growling at her, knowing that she and the baby were easy prey. She was cornered with no way out. The baby started to cry in her arms, causing the wolves to stir even more.

"Shhh. Shhh. It's ok baby. Mommy's got you," she said as she tried to calm her baby down. She tried to hide the fact that she was scared to death so as not to frighten the baby.

"I hope help comes soon. It can't end like this! Not now!" she pleaded in her mind.

One of the beowulves began to slowly move closer to the pair. It's piercing red eyes on its prey, so weak and vulnerable. It finally decided to finish them. Crouching its legs back, the beowulf lunged towards them with claws outstretched and jaws wide open. The women closed her eyes as the end came near.

SLASH!

The women waited a bit before opening her eyes. In front of her stood a man with a brown shirt, black pants, and boots with a large blade in hand. The beowulf that had lunged at her a moment ago was dead at his feet.

Selmon turned to glance at the woman. "You okay?"

She nodded. She felt safe now that a huntsman was by her side, but they were still surrounded by beowulves.

"Good. I'll take of these Grimm first, then I want you to head to the docks where it should be safe," Selmon told her.

"Okay," she replied.

Selmon fired two rifle rounds, quickly felling two beowulves. One lunged at his right, so Selmon stabbed it straight through its torso. He then pulled a second trigger on the blade and fired several shotgun rounds. The wolf's body imploded and the rest of its brethren were killed from the bullet spread. Selmon kicked the Grimm's body off his blade.

"Go now. To the docks," he said.

"Thank you so much," said the women.

She ran eastward with her baby in hand. As she went, she noticed there were others running in the same direction. She followed in with the crowd towards safety, hoping that she and her baby could get out of this mess.

XXXXXXX

"Everyone please calm down! Just get on the boats in an orderly fashion!" Xahnara yelled as she helped to herd the citizens into the two large boats that were stationed at the docks. With just about all of Marrowshin currently on fire, evacuation was the best bet for everyone. Even the school, Altair academy, was deemed unsafe. They had water towers for putting out fires, but for some reason they were drained. The Grimm made things worse. After panic broke out, they swarmed in droves. There were more on the island than they thought. While here husband and son were out fighting Grimm and guiding the people, Xahnara came here. She could hear the sounds of gunfire, screaming, and buildings collapsing in the distant.

"Xahnara!" Daniel Trennair came running towards her from one of the boats. "We've got a problem. We only have a little room left in the second boat and there's still plenty of people left."

"Dammit," Xahnara cursed. "What about the other boats that were stationed here this morning?"

"I've already contacted them. It'll take three hours for them to get here," Daniel answered.

"What about the assistance from Patch?" Xahnara asked, hoping for a miracle.

Daniel shook his head. "It's been a while since I called them. I don't think they're-"

Suddenly, something burst out of the water behind them. A large serpentine Grimm with a black scaled body, fins, a white armored underbelly, a menacing devil horned white mask, and four red eyes gazed upon the large crowd. It roared, causing a large gust to blow through everyone. Many of the citizens screamed in terror.

"Of all Grimm, why did a basilisk have to come now? We could fight it, but then all the people and the boats would be at risk," Xahnara thought.

"Daniel, call for help from Patch again. Beg them if you have to," she told him.

"No." Daniel held up his weapon, an axe railgun, and aimed for the basilisk's head. "My family is on one of those ships. I have to fight. I have to try."

The Grimm screamed at them once more. Then it held its mouth open and began preparing a mouth blast.

"Everyone get back!" Daniel yelled.

Those on the ground tried to find cover while those on the boats hid deeper inside. Xahnara and Daniel both stood their ground. Daniel fired a slug from his railgun into the basilisk's mouth. The impact startled the Grimm, but it nevertheless kept charging. Its mouth glowed a bright red. Daniel fired two more rounds, but it had no effect as the energy in its mouth seemed to null the effect of his railgun shots.

BOOM!

To everyone's surprise, the Grimm's head suddenly exploded. The body slowly sank back into the water as it dissipated. Xahnara and Daniel looked around for the source and saw four boats, each fitted with a heavy cannon, sailing towards them.

"Is that who I think it is?" Daniel asked.

The boats parked in the docks and began letting their gangplanks down. From in them, three huntsmen came running out along with the boats' crew. They began moving the rest of the townspeople into the boats. The three huntsmen noticed Xahnara and Daniel and began walking towards them. One of them was a man with short blonde hair, blue eyes, brown cargo shorts, black shoes, a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt, a metal spaulder, and a tattoo on his right arm. Next to him was a short woman with short black and red hair, silver eyes, a black outfit, black skirt and shoes, and a white hooded cloak. The third huntsman was a man with black spiky hair, red eyes, gray dress shirt, black pants, shoes, and a red tattered cloak.

"You called for aid?" said the blonde when they were within earshot of each other.

"Thank god you got here in time," Daniel said in relief. "We would've been in trouble if you hadn't blasted that basilisk."

"No problem," the blonde replied. "The name's Taiyang by the way. And this is Summer and Qrow. You probably already know him," He indicated towards the two who were accompanying him.

"Yeah, he was on a mission with my husband a while ago. I'm Xahnara and this is Daniel. Daniel is the one who called for your help." Xahnara gave Daniel a pat on the back.

"So what's the situation so far?" Summer asked.

"Well, since you guys arrived with transport for the townspeople, the most difficult part is basically done," Daniel told them. "Most of the people have been evacuated, but there may be some stragglers. Plus, we have to keep the Grimm away from the boats."

"Also, I need to go find my son and my husband," Xahnara added.

"How about Summer, Daniel, and I stay to protect the boats while you and Qrow go," Taiyang suggested.

"Why do I get stuck with the icky jobs?" Qrow whined.

"You did say you wanted to be in the action," Summer told him with a smile.

"Daniel!" The huntsmen turned to see Helena running through the crowd towards them. "Have you seen Emma?" she asked her husband.

"No, I haven't. What's wrong?" Daniel asked.

"I left her alone for a few minutes while I was helping someone with first aid and told her not to leave the boat. When I went to check on her, she was gone. I couldn't find her anywhere around here. She must've ran off into town or something," Helena explained.

Daniel look puzzled. "Into town? But why would she-." The answer suddenly dawned on him. "Oh crap, she must be going after Abaddon."

"A huntsman in training I presume?" Summer asked.

"My son," Xahnara said. "I'm actually not surprised. Those two are inseparable, like family."

"Alright then. Looks like we've got a husband and two kids to find." Qrow pulled out his weapon, a large silver sword with a segmented blade. "Let's get this show on the road shall we?"