"Luigi, three men, upper window, two men, lower window. They have crossbows."
Luigi sat with his back against a wall, while Nick used a spyglass to study one of the buildings, one that was adjacent to the main gate of the Styr family mansion. The streets were deserted, and the two guards at the gate were lazing in supposed security.
"Well," Luigi said, scratching his face, "I guess it's a good thing that we decided to keep an eye on things… The fucking Hninga, sending assassins like lowlifes…"
He'd only wanted to bring himself and Nick, but a few of the other guards had gotten window of it, and started to walk a patrol throughout the town. They'd been the ones to first point out the armed men in that building.
"There's a reason the Hninga's crest has a snake on it," Nick spat on the ground of their alley, "So, how should we take care of this?"
He thumbed his sword hilts, and smiled.
"Gotta go in the hard way, Nick," Luigi waved to the trio of other guards, Sid, Buckley and Todd, as they went by. They trotted into the alley, and they all squatted at a gesture, "Alright, Nick and I are going to make our ways onto their roof, once we make it, you all need to force the doors. Don't let anyone escape."
They nodded, then nonchalantly made their way back into the street, heading in the general direction of the assassins. Nick and Luigi walked down the alley, took a left, down another alley, and then they were in the alley behind the house. A drain pipe was their only access to the roof, and they shimmied up it, careful to not make any noises that would attract the assassins notice.
Unfortunately, they hadn't seen the sentry who had been posted on the rooftop. They rolled over the edge, and right onto the shocked man.
"What the fu-" He yelled, loud enough to alert those below him, before Luigi's fist slammed into his throat. Choking and convulsing, the man most likely barely felt as Nick's now drawn blades removed his head from his shoulders.
Luigi and Nick moved, their boots tracking blood across the roof, while they made their way to the only door. They could hear shouting from inside, and the sound of splintering wood as the three other guards began to force the doors.
Moving down the stairwell, their swords drawn, Luigi lead them onto the second floor, where there were four men, not three.
Twang. Twang.
Luigi twirled, spinning off to the side as a pair of crossbow bolts embedded themselves in the wall behind him. Nick was grazed, but still he hurled himself forward, blades flashing.
Luigi squared off against the other two, who had drawn their own blades. They came at him, hack and slashing with little form. Neither showed any skill whatsoever.
Pitiful.
Launching himself overhead, he twisted in midair and slid his blade effortlessly through ones neck, then he was down on a knee, his blades flashing back, and through the legs of the other. He fell to the ground with a yell, before Luigi finished him with a swipe.
They kicked the door in and stormed down the starwell, finding the three other guards embroiled in a struggle with the assassins on this floor. When Todd caught sight of Luigi, he pointed towards a back door.
"One of them made it past us!"
Luigi turned to Nick, about to tell him to stay here and assist, but he had already darted forward, burying his blades in the neck of an assassin.
That taken care of, he grabbed one of the loaded crossbows that was lying on the floor, and burst through the door, out into the alley. At the far end he could see the distant figure of the lone assassin scrambling to make it to the street.
Breath in… Slack off the trigger… shoot where he will be, not where he is... breath out.
The crossbow twanged as the wide broad head bolt leapt into flight. With a meaty noise easily audible even at the distance between them, the bolt slammed into the fleeing man's back, four or five inches below the weak point.
Damn! I missed!
But the assassin collapsed, his spine severed temporarily. Luigi sprinted down the alley, and placed the tip of one of his swords on the weak point.
"Who are you? Who sent you? Why are you here?"
Luigi slammed his boot into the back of the man's head when he didn't respond, and that elicited a pained moan.
"I won't ask you again. Tell me."
"Okay, okay, just don't kill me! A man came to my group yesterday and asked us to take care of a problem he was having," The man tried to turn over, as steam began to trickle from his wound, but Luigi stopped him with a jab of his sword, "Ow, you bastard! Damn it, he told us to kill the Death Prince's woman! He offered us four times our going rate! We couldn't refuse!"
"Who ordered the assassination?"
"A tall, skinny man with a great big mustache, he had a ring with a serpent on it!"
That description fits that Hninga… the brother of the current House Lord… Davis? No, it was Davos! Looks like I'll have to have a chat with him…
"Well, thank you for your assistance," Luigi said to the man below him, "Sorry it has to end like this."
"Wait, you can't save them, there are-"
Luigi held his blades for a minute.
"Talk!"
"Most of my men are in the mansion! Please don't kill-"
His blades slid inexorably downwards, before the assassin could protest, and pierced through his neck. Then, with a wrenching movement, Luigi dragged the blade out, severing the man's head.
Shit, I shouldn't have been foolish enough to let Ragnar attend!
He ran back to the house, found Nick and the other guards looking over the cooling corpses of the assassins.
"Comeon, we have a party to crash! The Prince must be defended!"
Ragnar lead her out onto the dance floor, as the band started on a new song. He turned and bowed to her.
Damn, I wished Astrid and I had had more time to practice!
They'd split their time between Annie teaching her combat techniques, while the rest was spent with Astrid teaching Annie to dance.
And you know that Astrid learned more from you than you did from her you idiot!
"Now, um, Annie, do you know how-"
Ragnar stopped when she put her right arm out, and laid her left hand on his shoulder.
He raised a questioning eyebrow, but gripped her right hand, and placed his right under her left arm. Then they began to twirl with the music.
Step. Step. Back. Step. Shit. Shit. SHIT. SHIT. DAMN.
Ragnar actually seemed to be a decent dancer, though his large feet did seem to catch her toes quite a lot, and he did his best to assist her with the waltz.
"Annie, relax." Ragnar said, looking down at her. His eyes twinkled with humor, and his lips were quirked into that infuriating smile.
"Easy for you to say," She growled, "I've never had to dance in my entire life!"
"Well, you haven't missed out on a whole lot," The song changed, the band playing a low, sad tone, and they settled to a much more somber pace, "If you hadn't been here… I probably would not have come.
Annie's brow knitted.
"Why?"
"Annie, look at the way they watch me, like I'm a dangerous animal," She did, and noticed that a space had opened up around them, with the other dancers moving away anytime Ragnar and Annie came close, "I know I am… but, it still hurts."
She felt her heart reach out to him, but she knew she could do nothing except be here with him.
"Well, fuck them," She said, "They're a pack of snobbish morons. And they don't know you."
She knew he had heard it, but he was distracted, his eyes watching a conflagration by the door. Her eyes followed his, and she beheld Luigi, his drawn swords covered in blood. Nick and three other guards were behind him.
Ragnar looked back down at her, and then at something behind her…
"What's going on, Ragnar-" She began to twist to see what he was looking at, but his hands grabbed her and hurled her towards the stairs.
She heard several twangs, a noise she had never heard before… followed by several meaty thuds. Turning, she cried out as she saw Ragnar, four short arrows, or bolts, sticking through his chest and abdomen. They had wicked looking points on them, wide, more like an axehead then an actual arrowhead.
They were meant for me!
The crowd also screamed at the sight, for Ragnar didn't seemed fazed by it. Dozens of men streamed out, most of them wearing the garb of servants, and even a few members of the band, most brandished swords and knives, while a quartet were busy reloading what looked like the cross between a bow and a gun.
Annie scrambled out of the way, as most of the crowd fled towards the stairs.
Are they running from the killers, or from Ragnar?
Ragnar fell onto all fours, his body shuddering as he tried to deal with the pain. His wounds steamed. Then she saw him look up at one of the men approaching him. Annie felt a strange pressure inside her head.
"You shall not harm her!"
His voice was a deep basso roar, but Annie shuddered as it resounded within her own mind. She looked on in astonishment as the men seemed to retreat in horror from Ragnar, their eyes wide. Then he collapsed.
Someone grabbed her arm, and she nearly lashed out, before she noticed that it was Eleanor.
"Annie, we need to get you out of here!"
Tyr was advancing towards Ragnar, a pair of knives that he had artfully concealed in his boots in his hands. Luigi and the other guards finally made it through, positioning themselves in a line.
Lord Styr appeared out of the retreating crowd.
"What in the name of the sky is the meaning of this?"
The old man seemed to be quite unhappy with the intrusion, but Annie truly didn't care.
Let him yell some more, she thought to herself, Ragnar took those bolts that were meant for me! Why? Why does he always do that for me?
Eleanor tugged on her arm, but she didn't move. She counted the men she could see, and found that there were twenty five assassins, four of them with crossbows that were…
She twisted out of the way, as the bolts meant for her slammed into the wall. Then the ballroom was pure chaos, as the assassins charged.
Ragnar lay, ensconced in a shell of agony.
I need to do something, they came for Annie… Must… Protect…
He was jarred back into focus by the clanging of blades. Luigi was standing a few feet in front of him, his blades weaving an intricate pattern, parrying and slashing at the five attackers pushing in upon him. Nick and three guards Ragnar didn't recognize formed a wall, their blades glinting. Tyr was behind them, at Ragnar's feet, forming a backstop.
"Get the girl, the blonde one!"
Ragnar watched a handful of the men break around Luigi's guard, only to run into Tyr, who used his great height and correspondingly long arms to keep them at bay.
I… I can't… Why… Why can't I do anything?
Because, you are weak, a voice that was not his own said, Because you have not embraced me. Your TRUE SELF!
Then Ragnar saw it, he was standing in a black void, looking at a reflection of himself.
I am your rage, your anger, your sadness! His mirror image said. Why do you not embrace me? I have the power to save her! To save that girl that you love!
Ragnar shook his head.
No! Because you are evil! He thought silly yelling at himself, but hey, who can blame someone who's hallucinating? You've made me kill innocent people!
Only because you've kept me locked in a cage! And admit it, you enjoy death, don't you, Death Prince?
Shame flowed through him, and he felt hot, bitter tears running down his cheeks. He felt his psyche crack, the bulwark he had long ago erected against the madness shattering, felt the insanity in front of him flow in to fill it. His mirror image grinned wickedly.
Yes, yes, yes! It was glorious, to feel their blood upon my blade, to feel their final breathes escape them! To know that I did it, to know that I am the Death Prince! He who was born of death, and who shall destroy Hope! He who shall one day consume the world with violence and hatred! To make others feel as he did!
He felt his body shudder, the burning in the areas around his wounds intensifying, the pain thrilling him as his heart pumped furiously. His body convulsed, and then he was looking back towards Annie.
Annie! I must protect Annie!
The otherness inside him retreated, knowing that it had lost its chance at control. But Ragnar stretched out his hand, and called after it.
Give me your strength! I must protect the one we love!
The embodiment of his rage turned, its bronze eyes laughing.
Done. But there will be a price to pay.
"What the-"
Annie gasped, he eyes springing wide as the ballroom was swept with a powerful explosion of steam. She shielded her eyes as the blast hit her, knocking her back a few paces.
The battle had turned in the assassins favor, as the three guards that bad been with Luigi and Nick had fallen, felled by blows to the neck. Even Nick and Luigi were hurt, Nick with a slash to the leg and a missing arm, and Luigi covered in small, weeping cuts.
Tyr had been forced back, three of the six men that had rushed him lying dead, but he had paid for it, as one of his eyes had been stabbed, and his chest bled from a slash.
Eleanor held Annie back, for several times she had attempted to rush forward, but she'd grabbed her and whispered into her ears.
"Do not make their deaths mean less by dying yourself."
She'd stopped struggling, and stood back watching, as these men fought four times their numbers to a standstill. Luigi especially, she'd only seen skill like that once, and that man had nearly taken her own life.
But then she'd seen Ragnar move, seen him look back at her, his eyes wide, and… he was grinning, an evil grin. Annie saw madness behind his eyes. Then he began to struggled and convulse more, before she was blinded by the explosion.
Did he transform?
But her question was answered. Her mouth hung open, and her heart swelled as she saw an amazing sight.
Ragnar stood, the only indication of the crossbow bolts that had only moments ago punctured him were the holes in his clothing, which seemed to be alight. Flames licked up from his hands, and his eyes held that glow that she had noted in him before. He was looking at her, that evil grin still plastered on his face.
There is a hunger behind those eyes…
Then she looked at what he held, and her heart skipped a beat.
How, how in the fuck did he manifest those blades outside of his titan form? Without destroying this entire mansion? How did he manifest them so clearly?
He held a pair of blades, short, shorter even than his foot and a half short swords. They seemed to be made of crystal, a bluish, milky color covering them. It was the same crystal that Annie had once manifested to shelter herself with, and that had protected her against numerous attacks.
And he held them in his hands, as steam and flames licked form his body.
Then he turned to the dozen assassins who were left standing. Luigi and Nick moved to protect Ragnar, but he gestured disgustedly for them to move.
"Get out of the way," His voice was still that deep roar, "I shall feast on their souls!"
He blurred forward, faster than anyone his size should be able to move, slashing his blades wildly, moving like a beast trapped in human form. One of the assassins struck at him from overheard. Ragnar actually counted the blow by biting the man's arm, while his blades came up and disemboweled him, before finishing him off.
This is my fault… He let the monster inside him take control, to protect me! I can't let this happen again! I'm causing him to kill himself!
Only nine assassins remained when one of them landed a blow on Ragnar, his blade slashing nearly all the way through Ragnar's face. The assassins face showed pride, relief…. And then despair as Ragnar's blades took off his arms. Ragnar laughed, a booming noise, like the drumbeat that proceeds Death on his terrible errands…
Even Eleanor looked on in shock, seeing the little boy she had once met, so sweet and caring, turned into this laughing… demon. She'd seen him kill before, sometimes needlessly, but never so gleefully, so cheerfully!
Tears ran down their faces, while Tyr, Luigi and Nick looked on in shocked silence, as Ragnar dispatched the remaining assassins, those blades slashing through steel, bone and flesh with equal ease. He laughed, pranced about, slashed one man in the face, then twirled to bring his other blade crashing through the man's neck.
"Make way, make way for the Crown Prince," She heard distantly from behind her, turning to see a dozen men in blue and green livery thunder down the stairs behind her. They skid to a stop at the sight of Ragnar coldly decapitating the final assassin, who was on his knees, seemingly begging for his life. Then the flames and steam that wrapped him stopped, but the two blades remained. One of the guards turned to Eleanor and asked, "What in the hell is going on?"
Eleanor looked up, tears still flowing down her face.
"Assassins stormed the ballroom, most disguised as servants and members of the band, they were after Lady Annie."
The man looked towards Ragnar, then at Annie, and nodded.
"I… I'm sorry we were not able to get here sooner," The guard said, as Suttungr and Freyr came down the stairs, "But we had some trouble."
Their eyes immediately fell upon Ragnar, who was wiping his blades with a piece of cloth, which Annie noticed seemed to be torn from one of the assassins uniforms. He looked up at his brothers, and waved.
"Welcome to the party, brothers," He said, his voice returning to normal, "Sorry I didn't leave any for you!"
Then he chuckled, and walked over. Luigi and Nick falling into step behind him, while Tyr cradled his head with his only remaining arm, and slumped forward behind them.
"Ragnar, what happened?" Suttungr asked, putting a hand on Ragnar's shoulder, "Why are you acting so strange? Why do all of your men look so scared… Why does Annie looked scared?"
Annie looked away, knowing that she was scared of Ragnar.
"Oh, nothing much," Ragnar brushed his brothers hand off of his shoulder, gesturing flippantly toward Annie and his guards, "And I've done nothing but embrace who I am. Now, comeon, I feel a need to visit the Hninga!"
Everyone stepped back a pace as Ragnar began to walk towards the stairs, the two knifes still gripped tightly in his hands. Annie looked up and noticed that he was gripping the blades so tightly that his hands bled, and that blood was flowing rather freely now from his nose.
His body can't handle the level of power!
Freyr stepped forward, raising his hands when Ragnar's head snapped over.
"Ragnar, please calm down," He said, cautious of what the unstable man in front of him may do, "That is why it took so long for us to come to your assistance. The Hninga are gone. The entire family rode out of the gates an hour ago, killing all of the guards on the way out… We were not prepared, and so this deadly attempt on the life of yourself and your lady are laid at my feet..."
He stopped talking as Ragnar's blade appeared at his throat, the guards shifted uncertainly, not wanting to have to fight the Death Prince, who had single handedly defeated a dozen men with ease, but still having that need to protect their Lord.
"Brother, I wish you too speak truly, and not coat your answers in sugar. Do you fear me?"
"No." But Freyr's voice faltered slightly.
His blade pressed deeper, and Annie could see that his eyes were now weeping blood. Ragnar's voice was faltering, and she saw that his hands were shaking. She took a step towards him, but halted, for he began to speak again.
"Truly, brother?" Ragnar said, pulling his blade back from his brother's neck, "Well, you should. Now, when shall the pursuit of the Hninga begin? I wish to return them the favor of tonight…"
His eyes glossed over, and he stumbled, dropping the blades. Annie was there cradling him. Knowing that she may very well have lost him, the man who cared enough about her to die to protect her.
She held his head, as the blood began to seep from some of his wounds which had inexplicably reappeared. His breathing became ragged, and he periodically shook.
"Ragnar," She whispered, "Please don't die because of me."
The rest of the party watched on in silence as she rocked him, weeping.