Welcome back dear readers! First of all, let me apologize for the miserably long time I made you wait! I honestly don't have a good excuse, sure, I was busy with work, college, so on and so forth, but I most certainly could have made this chapter much faster.
Now, for those of you interested, I put a small reference in the chapter for a favorite manga of mine. Those of you in the fan base should be able to identify it fairly quickly! Now, on with the show!
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Departure: Chapter 5
Blood Spattered Path
Legault's dash to freedom was cut suddenly short. In his panic, he had forgotten the rest of his dream. Harken stood in front of him, firmly blocking his path. The knight's eyes flicked to the assassin, then to Isadora, then to the blood of the late Marquess which had flowed far enough to be seen. His eyes then settled once more upon Legault, and narrowed. No words were spoken, but the knight made his intentions clear: to take vengeance. Feet falling rapidly, Harken closed the short distance and sped his sword towards the assassin. Legault slipped sideways, avoiding, swinging his leg towards the knight, low and from the back, his arm opposite. Both blows connected, their opposing forces threw Harken's chest down and his legs up. The knight fell, and Legault quickly moved to flee. Harken flung his arm forward and dragged Legault down. The assassin retaliated, snapping his foot into Harken's side with a dull thump. Legault's foot thrashed as he attempted to release himself, but Harken maintained his grip as he tried to regain his breath as fast as possible. Legault gripped a knife, and slashed at the knight's fingers, and bought his passage to freedom. Harken, however, climbed to his feet and gave chase with a growl erupting from his throat.
Legault retraced his steps through the castle, his pursuer's steps echoing not far behind him. It was clear that Harken had more endurance and energy, and Legault had already spent his during previous their encounters, as well as his chase of Thria. He needed a plan, and he needed it fast. Looking at what seemed to be his best option on hand, Legault pulled himself around a corner, and slowed his pace to eliminate any sound he was making.
"Legault!" The hushed voice of Charles spoke through the temporary quiet, as his arm, the only visible part of him, gestured to his commander to come. Legault rounded another corner and was greeted by the sight of the other three assassins. Despite the various scrapes and bruises, his members were relatively unscathed and alive. Ria smiled with apparent weariness, speaking with quiet equal to Charles, "Have you done it? We heard the commotion up here and realized you must be disposing of his guards, we shook the ones following us shortly after."
Their leader nodded, affirming the kill, the rest of the Fangs breathing a sigh of relief and satisfaction. Charles grinned with savage glee, and said, "One less power abusing scum for the common men to worry about. Now we better get out of here, it sounds like you left one of those escorts breathing."
Harken's footsteps had halted at the crossroads, ringing forth occasionally as he paced between the paths with indecision. Harken chose one, and to his prey's relief, he sped off in a direction away from them. The leading assassin smirked, thinking of how close the poor fool had gotten to catching them. With that thought, it was time to leave.
The Fangs glided back towards their original destination with near perfect silence; the only noise being the group giving each other hushed congratulations on saving the world from one more barbarian. Legault opened the door to the stairwell and stepped out lightly. Despite the weariness in his body, he couldn't help but feel his heart swell at his bloody but righteous deed. As Legault drew closer to the main gate, he could hear the loud curses of several guards, some pained, some frustrated. The Fang smiled, the guards were probably meeting the second step of his plan. He had intentionally left most of his men at the gate for a reason, that reason being that Marcus was a miserably predictable man. He knew that the Fangs would use the main entrance, yet he hadn't thought that Legault himself would realize how obvious the idea was, and Marcus had blindly sent a few men to seize the gate and cut off their escape. But Legault was no fool, and had always made certain his escape route remained guarded. Caught off guard, the soldiers grimly realized that the narrow halls made them easy targets for the Fangs. Exactly as planned!
Legault's gloating suddenly was halted; perhaps not all of Pherae was as predictable as the aging General. Harken stood with a satisfied look on his face, nearly mirroring Legault's previous expression exactly. The knight spoke, "You came to the Marquess' room from the east, there's only one stairwell leading to the second floor from that side. And you don't know the castle's halls well enough to change your route at all, do you? You'd be forced to leave just as you had come in." Harken pointed the tip of his sword at Legault's chest. "I've failed Lord Eliwood once already; I will not let it happen again!" The knight crossed the distance with determination faster than Legault could draw his startled breath. Harken's blade moved with speed similar to that of his master, his resolve to stop the Fangs' retreat with this final chance obvious. The well maintained longsword sliced the air between it and the scarred-assassin. Legault stumbled to the left, but too slowly as he fell with a cry as the blade cut into his thigh. Reacting on instinct, Legault drew a knife, smaller and glossier than the ones he usually used for combat, and slashed at Harken's nearest leg. Harken jerked the leg away quickly, but still felt a sting of pain. He looked down, the assassin had managed to nick him. It was bleeding, but not enough to be a concern. The knight turned his attention back to his targets. The ambushed assassins finally gathered their wits as they saw their leader drop like a discarded toy. Charles threw himself towards Harken as he drew his sword. "Get Legault and get out of here! I'll hold him back!"
Heeding Charles' command, Cahrre leapt forward and hoisted his fallen leader upon his shoulders. Ria, having used all her arrows, drew a small boot knife, and flitted down the hall, being the last remaining Fang able to lead the rest. Cahrre soon followed, with Harken struggling to follow as Charles fought with equal ferocity to keep him from following.
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Eliwood followed Marcus down the corridor at a quick trot, hearing the sounds of battle he had wished to never hear again. Moans of pain joined by angered debate echoed to Eliwood.
"How much longer till we get those shields down here?"
"I don't know, Sir! But they left at least ten minutes ago, it can't be long now!"
"Dear Elimine please."
"It's already been too long! That fool will bleed to death soon!"
Eliwood sped his pace towards the voices. Turning a corner, he came upon the sources of the noise. The guards Marcus had dispatched hid around the corners of the main hall; one was clutching his shoulder as blood seeped between his fingers. Another lay deeper in the hall itself, hearing the reverberating footsteps of the new arrivals, and looked up. Eliwood stared back at the man, feeling a chill run down his back as the soldier made eye contact with him, his face deathly pale. The fallen man reached towards Eliwood, piteously begging for help. Eliwood instinctively began moving towards the man, before a warning sounded. "Milord! Get back!" One of the besieged guards lunged forward grasping Eliwood's cloak before an arrow pierced through the back of his knee, and the man fell with a cry, shoving his charge back outside of the main hall. Another guard darted out and pulled the man back to safety. Marcus looked on with a mix of shock and disgust.
Whirling on the freshly injured man, Marcus growled, "What happened, Lieutenant?"
The Lieutenant winced and looked up. "G-General, it was a trap. Those curs were already holding the gate when arrived. They've kept us held back here with their arrows. If we had moved, by… b-by the time we'd reached the gate, we would have suffered too many casualties to seize it, much less hold it after that. I t-take full responsibility for my failure, Sir."
Marcus frowned. "No, the responsibility is mine."
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Cahrre and Ria fled down the halls, Harken dogging their steps, Charles dogging Harken's. Ria skirted around the shards of the broken tea kettle-they were almost to the exit. Cahrre looked over his shoulder at his pursuer, and failed to notice the shattered finery. Cahrre stepped on the porcelain shards and they slipped beneath him, causing the burdened Fang to crash to the ground. Harken began to close the distance as Cahrre clamored back to his feet. The knight raised his sword high, and the assassin dashed into a side room. It was a kitchen, all the previous occupants had since fled the area, a half finished feast for Thria sat scattered and abandoned across various counters. Cahrre carried Legault to the back of the kitchen, Harken entered after him. He jumped over the table covered with diced onions, swinging his blade wide of either assassin. Cahrre stepped cautiously away from Harken, he seemed to be tiring quickly as he was now panting heavily, when moments before had been fine. Cahrre felt similar weariness in himself.
Charles burst into the room and placed himself between his leader and comrade and their opponent. "Cahrre, get out of here, I'll catch up." The mentioned nodded, and retreated from the room. Harken pushed away his exhaustion, and charged at Charles. He parried, and thrust his sword at Harken's abdomen. The knight twisted out of the way, and raised his sword to split the assassin's skull in half. Charles reached forward and clasped Harken's sword arm in his hand. Charles smiled as he raised his sword. "Got you." Harken's sword fell from his right hand, to fall to his left. Harken plunged the weapon into Charles' stomach, blood spurting from the wound.
Charles' sword slipped from his fingers, shock evident on his face. Stumbling backwards, Charles ran into a wine rack, leaning against it for support. The assassin looked at the rack, his eyes locked on it. With the last of his strength, Charles pulled one of the bottles from the rack, raised it above his head, and threw it to the ground, shattering it upon the carpeted floor. A manic smile filling his face, as he pulled a torch from its perch on the wall Cahrre whispered, "We're… going to hell together!" Charles' eyes rolled back in his head, and the torch slipped from his hands. The wine soaked carpet ignited and fire burst forth with a flash.
Harken stumbled away from the flames, his legs trembling. Harken numbly wondered why he was so exhausted, so suddenly. He'd been fine till just a moment ago. And in an instant, Harken realized that his exhaustion had begun to seep into him immediately after Legault's final, pathetic attack. That gloss, that watery shine upon the blade, had been poison. Harken legs collapsed beneath him, the familiar, almost ignorable weight of his armor suddenly crushing. Trying to escape the cage of his armor, Harken's hands clasped and released over the buckles uselessly, no longer knowing how to manipulate the straps. The fallen knight feebly pushed himself away from the fire, his breathing shallow and rapid. He couldn't move fast enough, looking behind him as the flames spread must faster than he could crawl. The smell of the burning flesh of the assassin reached Harken's nose, a morbid thought of how soon he would begin emitting that smell slipped into his mind with eerie calm. Harken stopped struggling, and lay still, accepting his fate. That's all that I deserve, for failing you, Lord Elbert, and now you as well, Lord Eliwood.Harken closed his eyes, and waited for flames to take him.
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Eliwood peeked around the corner, an arrow quickly meeting his gaze, forcing him back behind the walls.
"Milord!"
Eliwood turned; the four soldiers came to a stop directly before him, carrying large shields. Not wasting time, Eliwood barked his orders, "Take the main hall, now!" The soldiers quickly streamed into the hall with the tower shields in front of them. The remaining unshielded soldiers began running into the hall, collecting the wounded they were unable to reach before, taking them for long overdue treatment. Eliwood sighed in relief, it was just about to end, the bloodshed would finall—
"There they are! They're escaping!"
With a gasp, Eliwood rounded the corner, the four men carrying the tower shields leading the others down the hall. The unshielded standing behind, wishing the shield bearers could move faster as they felt their enemies slipping away. Beyond the shields, Eliwood saw a wave of flowing lavender hair, and knew suddenly that Thria was dead. Eliwood drew his rapier and began running as fast as he could towards the gates, not fearing the arrows which had defeated so many of his soldiers. Darting past the shields, Eliwood tried to catch up to the fleeing killers.
"Fire!"
Eliwood halted, expecting a volley of arrows to come at him.
"Fire!"
The cry sounded again, and Eliwood realized it was coming from within the castle. Eliwood rushed towards the source as quickly as he could. At the entrance of the side passage, Eliwood saw the roiling smoke and inferno spreading down the hall. Two figures could be seen on the other side, one dragging the other. Giving one last glance towards the gate, Eliwood shouted back towards his men, "Water! Get water! There's a fire in the castle!"
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The Black Fang ran through the darkness, doing their best to ignore the shouts behind them. Legault flopped upon Cahrre's shoulders; his leader's face was pale, more than usual.
"What's wrong with him?" Ria asked Cahrre as they moved back towards their camp.
"His femoral artery has been severed, he'll bleed out soon if we don't get him back," responded Cahrre.
Legault said nothing as he draped over Cahrre as though lifeless.
Ria whispered, "Hang in there, Legault."
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Alright, that's the end of this chapter! So, did you find my little reference? Feel free to add it in the review!
Now, there is actually a second thing for you readers to solve! The poison I used on Harken, is a REAL poison! So, I invite you all to try and figure out what it is! To make it a little easier, it's a medical poison, made in the eighteen hundreds, and it'd probably take a much higher dosage to get the effect in the story. Nevertheless, it's real! So, any guesses?
Anyway, whether or not you have any guesses, please tell me what you think! For further improving and inspiring later chapters, reviews can be exceedingly important.