Time for more fighting.
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.
Chapter 108 – The Scorpions' Sting (Harpstring Moon)
The panicked screams of civilians filled Abyss as the Black Scorpions cut their way through all in their path. The band of killers showed no mercy to any who ended up in their grasp, including children and the elderly. In turn, the Abyssians and the monastery's defenders gave them no quarter as they fought to protect the civilians.
It had taken twelve long minutes of waiting outside the passage to Abyss before the defenders could rush to aid the Abyssians. During this time, several rogues and innocents had been killed, and the bloodshed was nowhere near finished.
Having just deflected a slash from one of the Scorpions, Alicia yelled as she thrust her lance at him, only to miss her foe. The Scorpion was about to swing his blade at her head when an arrow struck him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Alicia had no time to thank Ashe for the save before another Scorpion rushed at her, forcing her to block another slash with her lance. This time, when the Scorpion took a second swing at her, Alicia dodged the attack and lunged at him, skewering him through his belly. The dying Scorpion reached for Alicia, but her lance's cross guard prevented him from sliding down the lance toward her and striking a blow.
As her latest kill fell away, Alicia tried to ignore her stomach churning at having taken a life. It wasn't her first kill, but it still made her feel sick, even if the man was part of an unforgivable band of murderers.
A woman's scream caught her attention. She whirled around to see a woman holding a baby in her arms as one of the Scorpions tried to kill them both. An arrow hit the man in the shoulder, but it only slowed down his pursuit of the mother and her child. The mother let out another scream of terror when the Scorpion grabbed her by her tunic and raised his blade. Before he could strike, Brigitte rushed in and slammed her armored shoulder into the man, smashing him into a wall.
"GO! RUN!" Brigitte shouted to the mother.
The woman fled as Brigitte blocked a counterstrike from her foe before smashing his sword arm with her hammer. As the Scorpion howled in pain, he was soon silenced when Alicia ran forward and impaled him on her lance. Brigitte gave a brief nod to Alicia, but the sound of more screams came before Alicia could reply.
Whirling around, the two saw more of the Black Scorpions cutting down both the Abyssian rogues and several more civilians. Leading them was a scarred, wicked man dressed in black and wielding a serrated short sword. He had only one good eye, the other one having a scar over it from some animal's claw, but this did little to slow him down. Several knives were strapped to his thighs, and several small trinkets were dangling from his wrist and his belt.
In a brief instant, Brigitte spotted the familiar half of a brass coin tied to his wrist.
She watched as Kantus stabbed one of the Abyssian rogues in the gut before spinning the poor man around and slitting his throat. The leader of the Black Scorpions snickered as his latest victim collapsed to the ground before spitting on the corpse.
"Useless drongo…" said Kantus.
The Scorpions' leader was about to find another victim when Brigitte roared and rushed toward him, despite Alicia's shout of "Brigitte, wait!"
Two of the Black Scorpions rushed to intercept Brigitte. Brigitte smashed the first one aside with her hammer before bashing the second with her shield, allowing Ashe to shoot the second one in the neck. Brigitte charged again at Kantus, who spun toward her and dodged away from her hammer with ease. Brigitte made another swing, but this one missed too. With a sneer, Kantus dashed forward and kicked Brigitte in the chest, knocking her back several feet. He then lunged forward with his blade, forcing Brigitte to block the strike with her shield.
"IT'S YOU!" Brigitte snarled in pure rage.
"Do I know you, Sheila?" Kantus asked snidely.
"You killed my brother! And now, you're gonna pay!"
Brigitte shoved Kantus back and swung again at him, but he casually dodged the strike.
Kantus then said, "I've lost count of how many dipsticks I've gutted so far. Can ye be more specific?"
Brigitte, too angry to respond, kept swinging at Kantus as the battle raged around them.
…
Constance yelped as one of the Black Scorpions narrowly missed her with his dagger. She had no time to prepare a spell with the enemy so close. Instead, the sorceress swung a fist at him, hoping to at least knock him off balance.
To her shock, the Scorpion caught her wrist and twisted her arm. Constance shrieked as she was forced to the ground, realizing her attempts to learn hand-to-hand combat on her own had been a big mistake.
"Yer a pretty one," said the Scorpion as he kept Constance pinned beneath him. "I think I'll keep some of your hair as a trophy."
"R-Release me this instant, you uncouth charlatan!" Constance barked, only for her attacker to laugh at her.
"Ooh, such big words. They'll be your last!"
The Scorpion raised his dagger, only for Shez to rush in and slash through him as she dashed past. The assassin toppled over onto his side, with his head separating from his neck once he hit the ground.
Groaning in disgust, Constance got to her feet as she said, "M-My thanks to you."
"Tell me later, Blondie," Shez replied before rushing at two more Scorpions and slashing through them before they could defend themselves.
Constance was irked by the mercenary's choice of nickname for her, but she put aside her chagrin as she prepared a fireball. As the sorceress released her spell into another pair of Black Scorpions, Shez backflipped away from the axe of another one before dashing in and slashing him five times within two seconds. Her latest kill collapsed as Shez parried another's attack before stabbing him through the side of his skull.
Then, as she looked around for another foe to fight, she saw a group of the Black Scorpions chasing after a familiar blonde bard.
…
In his panic, Simon briefly wondered why he was having such bad luck lately. He had been playing his lute in Abyss when the Black Scorpions launched their attack. Too afraid to run, the son of House Dominic had chosen to hide next to a merchant stall while everyone around him either fled from the murderous gang or rushed to defend those who ran.
But minutes later, eight of the black-garbed killers spotted the bard and were now chasing him. Scared out of his wits, he fled toward a small chamber and rushed inside. As he scrambled through the door, he lost his footing and tumbled to the floor.
Jiayi looked over at the young noble as she continued sitting next to her tea table while Simon desperately crawled away from the door, too afraid to get to his feet.
Seconds later, the Scorpions barged into the chamber.
"Nowhere to run, pretty boy," said one of the Scorpions.
"See, what'd I tell you?" said another Scorpion as Simon turned toward his pursuers. "That's him, the son of House Dominic. The Duchess put a big bounty on him."
"Dead or alive?" asked a third one.
"Alive, but they didn't say undamaged."
The Scorpions snickered at this as Simon said, "Leave me alone! Please!"
"Aww, what's the matter, pretty boy?" taunted the first Scorpion. "You frightened?"
"No one's comin' to save you, ya noble brat," said another Scorpion.
As Simon quivered on the floor, the laughs of his assailants stopped when Jiayi stood up and said, "Do not be so certain of your success."
Jiayi moved between the Scorpions and Simon as one of them said, "And who the hell are you?"
"Someone who was hoping for a day of calm that you and your swaggering friends have disrupted. Now, I insist that you leave without further incident."
The Scorpions paused for a moment before laughing at the seamstress, who stood before them unamused and unintimidated. As they laughed, Simon continued to back away slowly from the brigands.
As they finished laughing, one of the Scorpions said, "Do you know who we are? We're the Black Scorpions!"
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Jiayi asked rhetorically. "I tell you again to leave. Now."
Insulted, another Scorpion said, "What do you think you can do to us, you old hag?"
Jiayi raised an eyebrow as she replied, somewhat bemusedly, "Old hag?"
The Scorpion who called her such marched toward Jiayi, but the seamstress remained calm. Then, just as he reached for her, the seamstress dealt three lightning-quick jabs to the man's left arm and shoulder before he could even react to her movements. The third blow caused the Scorpion to stumble backward in surprise. His eyes then widened as he looked at his left arm, which was now limp at his side.
"W-What the hell?! I can't move my arm!" said the Scorpion as he tried to move his limb.
After a second, the Scorpion growled and rushed at Jiayi with an overhead swing of his blade. The seamstress nimbly dodged to the side and dealt three more precise jabs to the Scorpion's side, causing him to lose his grip on his sword and for his right arm to also go limp. She then let out a loud "SEI!" as she dealt a palm strike to his forehead. The Scorpion fell to the ground, unconscious.
Astonished, the other Scorpions looked at Jiayi as she said, "Whoever raised you unquestionably failed to teach you common decency." Taking a crane stance, she added. "And so, it falls to me to discipline you in their stead."
After another moment of bewilderment, one of the Scorpions snarled and shouted, "Kill her!"
The other seven Scorpions charged at Jiayi. As the first one swung a hand axe at her, she deftly avoided his blow and dealt a palm strike to his side, knocking him away before she jabbed another one right in his eyes, sending him to the ground as he clutched his face. She then leaned to dodge two consecutive sword slashes by another Scorpion before delivering six more lightning-fast jabs to his shoulders and chest, paralyzing his arms. As her foe stumbled back from her and tried to get his arms to move, she spun around, dodging another axe blow and pushing the overextended weapon to the side, causing its wielder to be knocked off balance. She then dealt a chop to the back of his head, knocking him out before avoiding another attacker's strike.
"What's with this bitch?!" said the Scorpion whose arms were paralyzed, standing in utter disbelief at the seamstress's skill.
As she finished sending another Scorpion stumbling past her, Jiayi dashed back toward the foulmouthed one and dealt another palm strike to his head as she said, "Mind your tongue!"
The foulmouthed Scorpion toppled to the ground, losing consciousness as his head struck a wall. As he did, Simon watched in awe as Jiayi dodged the mace of another Scorpion. Jiayi then dealt two powerful palm strikes to the man's chest, each accompanied by a shout from the seamstress, knocking the air from his lungs. She then brought her hand to his chest, her fingers extended, before delivering a one-inch punch to his ribcage. The fifth Scorpion was knocked into a wall and collapsed.
Simon couldn't believe what he was seeing. The Hoshidan woman was besting these merciless killers as if they were helpless children.
The sixth Scorpion took several slashes at her with his dual daggers, but Jiayi evaded each attack with practiced ease. She sidestepped another lunge from the man, who turned around just in time to receive a flurry of jabs to his torso, followed by a hard palm strike. The Scorpion fell right onto the tea table, knocking it over and breaking several teacups. The kettle survived the impact, but the boiled water within it poured out onto the Scorpion's face, lightly scalding him.
Realizing the damage that she had just done to her tea setup, Jiayi said in annoyance, "Aiyah…"
"That's enough, you old crone!" shouted the last remaining Scorpion, prompting Jiayi to whirl around.
The Scorpion was holding a knife to Simon's torso, having grabbed the heir of House Dominic and wrapped an arm around his neck. Simon was trying to get free, but he was far too weak to break out of the Scorpion's grip.
"H-Help me! Please!" Simon begged in panic.
"SHUT UP!" the Scorpion snarled to Simon. Then, turning back to Jiayi, he added, "You think you can get me before I gut him, bitch?"
Unfazed, Jiayi said, "Do you wish to test that theory? Perhaps you should be more concerned with who is behind you."
"Ha! Oldest trick in the b– AACK!"
The Scorpion's sentence was cut short as someone slashed him in the back, causing him to lose his grip on Simon. The blonde bard stumbled away as two blades then skewered the Scorpion from behind, emerging out of his chest. The blades were then ripped from their victim, who toppled to the floor, dead.
Simon turned to see Shez had been his savior and let out a sigh of relief.
"I did warn him," Jiayi said as she settled from her fighting stance.
Having seen the seamstress's fight with the Scorpions, who all lay groaning in pain on the floor, Shez was silently thankful she hadn't tried to fight her.
…
Brigitte yelped in pain as Kantus slashed her leg, forcing her to stumble back briefly. As she did, the Scorpions' leader caught a glimpse of Brigitte's half-coin token.
Recognizing the trinket, Kantus said, "Ah, now I see. Yer Julius's sister, ain't you? Heh, that fool saved me a lotta trouble."
"What do you mean?" Brigitte demanded angrily.
"I had a job to take him out at the time. Was gonna do it after I killed Yuri and his little band of shits, but he just waltzed right into my lap. Hehehe, he made me work for this." Kantus took his half of the coin token between his fingers and showed it to Brigitte as he said, "Now I can finish the bloody thing once yer dead."
Unable to stop herself, Brigitte let out a howl of utter hatred as she charged at Kantus. The matron swung wildly at the Black Scorpion leader, who dodged each of her strikes with ease, laughing each time she missed. Then, just as Brigitte was about to take another swing at him, he rushed forward and stabbed her in the waist.
Brigitte briefly choked at being stabbed before Kantus ripped the blade out, allowing its serrated edge to tear through her flesh and widen the wound. She screamed in pain just before Kantus kicked her in the chest, sending her stumbling back into a brick wall.
Brigitte clutched her wound as Kantus snickered and said, "Time to reunite with yer brother, Sheila."
As Kantus rushed toward her, strange lights surrounded Brigitte.
Just as Kantus swung his blade, the redhead vanished and was replaced by a familiar lavender rogue, who narrowly caught the Scorpion's blade with his own.
"Ah, there you are, Leclerc," Kantus said in amusement as the Savage Mockingbird glared daggers at him.
Hope this goes down well with whatever you're eating today.
I expect at least some of you anticipated that Jiayi would be a good fighter, despite being a pacifist. Just because someone detests violence doesn't mean they can't defend themselves. And really, did you expect me to design a character who resembles Michelle Yeoh and not have her be a martial artist?
As for Kantus, some of the dialogue he has is meant to give him an Australian accent and lingo, akin to Kano in Mortal Kombat. For instance, "Sheila" is meant to be slang for "woman" in Australia.
And yeah, Constance failed at hand-to-hand. I know she has a budding talent in Brawling, but she hasn't unlocked it yet, and I'm not sure if I'll have her do so in my story. Aura Knuckles work great on her in-game, but it'd be really silly to have her use them on the battlefield.
Finally managed to avoid a bi-weekly release. I guess burnout has been getting to me. But I'll keep going for now.