Assault Gone Awry
Over the last few hours, Bloodwalker had meticulously plotted out the layout on the back of the map of the rainforest he had in his pack. He had plotted out the general layout, when the patrols were, when each of the patrol squads were switched. Oddly enough, Magnificent's hut seemed to be relatively unguarded. He guessed that was because of one of two options.
"One, she appears capable enough to defend herself in case of an attack, or two, everyone was so annoyed by her that they actively avoided her. I suppose the latter is true, though I think Magnificent would like to believe the first one is true." Bloodwalker mumbled to himself. He looked inside his bag again. The knife gleamed in the faint sunset light that sneaked through the canopy. Lifting it out, he wondered if it would be a disgrace to kill Magnificent with it. The flakes of Loyalty's blood had long since decayed off, and it was a clean slate.
"How very ironic. This blade slew the last of the old generation, and now it seeks to bring an end to the generation that usurped it.". He was referring to how Loyalty and Grandeur were part of the same generation of Rainwings, One hundred years before the Sandwing War of Succession. Back then, Rainwings were much more than they were now. They were feared. Their venomous fangs had been lost to history after they became reclusive. Grandeur had gotten old and had given Splendor the throne to hopefully mold her into a useful queen since all her dragonets had no ambition whatsoever. Loyalty had told him that Splendor refused to cede power back by the time Grandeur was well enough in her mind to lead again. As such, she lost most of her power and influence.
Magnificent had always been one of Grandeur's most disliked of the new Queens. Magnificent always got huffy whenever Grandeur was supposed to be Queen, since she said no to a lot of what she requested, which was mostly for more time as queen to "give her old decrepit bones a rest.". Yes, Loyalty did recount that those exact words had been said. Safe to say, Grandeur was very glad when Glory, not only a Rainwing with ambition and justice, but an heir and a true leader, usurped Magnificent as Queen of the Rainwings.
Looking above the trees, he had met at the rendezvous point that he had previously met Singeclaw at. He held two chakrams in his front talons, in case Singeclaw had set up an ambush. Thankfully, he only heard one set of footsteps approaching. Singeclaw walked up to him, noticeably nervous. That he could understand. She was effectively betraying the cult, which given their many resources, must be frightening for anyone of their ranks.
"So, you have a way to get me in?" Bloodwalker inquired.
Singeclaw nodded, flicking her ears briefly as if swatting a fly, which for all he knew was accurate, "Yes. There should be an opening in the patrols in a few minutes. But I do have a request for you. I know you are targeting Magnificent, and that's fine. Just don't kill anyone."
Bloodwalker paused. If it came down to it, he might need to claw his way out, but as long as it went well enough, he could fulfill that promise. "Fine. I won't kill anyone. Let's get this done."
Singeclaw nodded. After waiting for a few seconds, she gestured with her tail for Bloodwalker to follow her. He walked silently, and hid his face with his wings for the most part. Those were a dead giveaway. If anyone saw his eyes, they would recognize him. There was only one Nightwing with the same eyes as him, and it wouldn't escape the cult's knowledge that he was Glory's bodyguard.
Carefully, he walked into the clearing. There were a couple dragons, as Singewing had assured him of. Yet there weren't that few. About five or six. Better than in daylight when it was easily five times that amount. A slightly larger Nightwing came up from the side as they approached the main stairs up to the central tower. Clearly some sort of guardpost for Magnificent.
"Hold it. Singeclaw. I only recall you going out alone on a scout. Who is this one?"
Bloodwalker quickly exchanged a concerned glance at Singeclaw. She was a bit panicked in the eyes, darting around a little bit, "Ummm, I came across him on the way around. He said he wanted to join us, so I'm taking him to Magnificent to confirm his loyalty to Lord Darkstalker."
Bloodwalker internally winced as she lied about him wanting to join the cult, but it was probably his best and only chance to do this quietly, so he quickly adapted to her prompt, "Yeah. That's what she told me was here. What are you afraid of? I swear I'm not going to kill anyone."
The larger Nightwing looked down at Bloodwalker, analyzing him, and then he locked eyes with the assassin. At that point, Bloodwalker knew he was compromised. He had seen the guard's eyes narrow, the sharp intake of breath.
"Shit." he thought to himself as he saw the guard wind back as if to shout, so he acted quickly. He moved swiftly, his right talons hitting the guard in the neck, causing him to choke, and then in the same motion, sweeping his legs from under him. He followed that up with his left claws slamming the guard's head into the ground, which hit a very thick tree root and was knocked out, a trickle of blood staining the grass beneath his head from the impact.
He turned to Singeclaw and quickly silenced her, "He'll live." he gestured with his tail, and they rushed up the stairs. As the fates would have it, the confrontation hadn't attracted any of the guards as the tree obstructed most of their view.
"Bloodwalker, you go ahead. I'll stay behind and try to convince them he just fell asleep after drinking too much." Singeclaw said as she turned back around. Bloodwalker was focused on his goal, so he nodded. He didn't give it much thought. Rushing across the bridge, he came upon the door. It wasn't locked, figures. He pulled it open and rushed inside.
He was met with the image of an empty hut.
Now this didn't immediately make him think that Magnificent wasn't here, as Rainwings could camouflage, but then he recalled that Rainwings require active effort to maintain a camouflaged state. So even if she was in there, she was watching him.
"My, my, what have we here?"
Mentally cursing his luck, he turned around to find several spears pointed at him, held by Nightwings, and at the back was the source of the voice. Magnificent herself. She looked just as deranged up close as from far away. She kept her snout held high, forcing her to look down on Bloodwalker. She kept cocking her head left and right, like a squirrel, curious and intrigued.
"A Nightwing, rummaging through my things. I can assure you, Bloodwalker, that I have nothing that would be of value to you. So I must ask, why are you here?"
Bloodwalker was storming in his mind how this happened. First off, Magnificent knew his name. How on earth was that possible? Maybe Soulseer had mentioned that. He and Magnificent had been mutual allies through Vulture before, so it was possible he had disclosed said information before he left. Or perhaps the Nightwings had told her. He was rather unique, and an assassin is nothing to just glance over.
"Or it could be your cousi-" a small part of his mind said before he ripped it away. No, Deathbringer was never part of the cult. He couldn't have spoken, let alone sell him out to this bitch. He then realized the guards were getting a bit unruly, so he might as well have some small talk. Might give him more time to think.
"Well it certainly wasn't to come sniff those dead flowers on your head." Bloodwalker responded. He figured that jab might throw her off balance, make her more impulsive in her decisions.
"Hmph, well aren't you a treat. Now then, Bloodwalker, I think I know why you are here. An assassin, coming in the middle of the night, clearly looking for me. You know, it might be crazy, but I just don't think you are here to ally with me."
"Well, you are crazy, so I'd say that line of thoughts suits you well." Bloodwalker retaliated. The guards gripped their spears harder. Though, a random thought came through. She put emphasis on the fact that he clearly hadn't come here to ally with her, but could that possibly be connected to the conversation that he and Singeclaw had with the guard? He grit his teeth. She had separated from him, and had plenty of time to gather their forces.
"Ah, I suppose you are wondering how all of this is possible. Well I'd like to give our little informant a round of applause. Singeclaw. She was quite the tattler. I mean, not even 5 minutes after she spoke with you, she had disclosed your presence and plans to one of the guards, who then in turn told me. I'm a bit annoyed this was so easy, but then again, I am a queen. Unlike that little shit who stole what was rightfully mine."
Bloodwalker grit his teeth. So Singeclaw had betrayed him. His veins seared with fury. She had to pay for this treachery. A complete violation of his former trust in her. No wonder she had asked him not to kill anyone. That just made more enemies for him to fight at once. He then looked to see Magnificent still talking.
"And another thing I hate about you. You serve her. Unlike a real queen. Honestly, you remind me of this story Grandeur once told me. A line of Rainwings who held true to the monarchy, loyal to a fault. Such idiots. I never believed that story. Rainwings aren't violent. So an assassin? Ha! Don't make me laugh."
Bloodwalker's eyes narrowed dangerously. The presence of Loyalty still engraved in his mind. While Magnificent clearly didn't believe it, she was still insulting his teacher, his friend. The dragon who made him who he is.
"I think I've spoken long enough. Guards, kill him. I better go. I can't risk someone else finding out where I am." Magnificent said as she took off. The guards then rushed in, spears ready to impale Bloodwalker's body.
He strafed to the side. That was thankfully enough. These cultists were not trained in the slightest. This gave him enough time to grab a knife, though not the one Loyalty gave him. The first came at him, claws swinging from his upper right. Bloodwalker ducked under and jabbed the knife into the assailant's underbelly, ripping a gash into the vulnerable parts under the rib's protection. The dragon roared in pain and collapsed.
The second one leaped up, though the small size of the hut they were in limited his movement. Bloodwalker simply rolled under, and headbutted him in the gut. This threw him off his trajectory, as the Nightwing slammed into a wooden desk. Unfortunately for him, a piece of the wood had remained rigid, and impaled the dragon's neck through the jugular, he was dead in seconds. The third one in the hut had regained his spear, and charged him.
Remembering a similar move, he slammed the spear into the wooden floor, embedding it into the dragon's gut. He had put it out in front of him, so the butt of the weapon was straight into his chest. He choked on nothing, and that was all the time Bloodwalker needed. With a flash of his talons, the dragon's throat was slit. Three dead, all within the span of sixty seconds.
Within ten more seconds, another squadron was onto him. His old assassin training from both Nightwing and Rainwing mentors alike turned the entire hut into a whirlwind of violence. None of the guards were willing to use their flame breath in the middle of the very flammable hut, hesitant to burn allies or themselves.
Bloodwalker didn't have that restriction.
Exhaling a massive plume of flame, it wasn't concentrated, but instead meant for an area of effect. Roars of pain from his opponents meant nothing, not as he endured the hut bursting into a fiery tempest, but he knew that while the fire could not cause him pain, he was not immune. Throwing himself out of the blaze into the awaiting air field. Clearly, they hadn't expected anything to emerge from that inferno. They could still hear the cries and pained roars of the other guards, as they were burnt alive in Magnificent's hut.
Speaking of which, a quick look around confirmed his suspicions. Magnificent had fled, expecting her guards to take care of everything for her. And as Bloodwalker confirmed they were no longer here. That didn't matter much. He still had the coral compass that would lead right towards her. But for now, his irritation was on a particular Nightwing.
Singeclaw.
Bloodwalker didn't really see himself as the kind of dragon to have their mind consumed with thoughts of vengeance, and he still didn't, but the knowledge that one of his confidants had betrayed him for this cult burned inside of him. With the rest of the guards and stationed cultists at the outpost bearing down on him, he let his assassination training take over. For the next minute, the outpost roof was an orchestra for blood and carnage. The cultists, as they had before in the rainforest assault, were sloppy and unprofessional, they had hoped to overwhelm him with sheer numbers, but they didn't really stand a chance against an assassin that had been trained to kill from dragonethood. Knives slashed and claws teared at the onslaught, with what had been initially fifteen cultists and guards now dying or dead. Most had ran into their own allies as they had rushed at him at once.
However, that didn't mean he came out unscathed. As good as he was, a few did get some lucky shots. His left flank had a pretty nasty cut that only narrowly missed his wing joint. Though it seemed as though it was mostly superficial, as it was only scarcely bleeding. A few puncture wounds from claws had found purchase in his neck, but a quick check confirmed they hadn't hit any major arteries or his throat.
Gasping slightly in exhaustion, he looked at the bodies of the cultists that surrounded him. He growled slightly as he saw Singeclaw was not among them. In the dead silence left by the slaughter, he heard a rustling of some bushes, he snapped his head towards the noise, and caught a flick of a black tail escaping the outpost. His assassin training told him that someone escaping was a danger on many levels. In addition to all of that, he wanted to personally deal with this one if it was who he thought it was.
His muscles tensed as he threw himself forward towards the retreating Nightwing, and by the sound of the terrified roar, his target knew he was after her. It only took a few more seconds for him to catch up, and it was as he predicted. It was indeed Singeclaw. Tackling her to the ground, she tried to fight back, but instantly stopped as he held a knife to her throat, the sharp and refined blade grazing the soft skin of the throat.
"So, you told them I was coming. Clever plan, I must admit. Now Singeclaw, give me one good reason not to confine you to the same fates that your fellow cultists took." Bloodwalker sneered as he pressed the knife harder against Singeclaw's neck.
For a minute, Singeclaw was taking panicked gasps, trying to figure out what to say. Bloodwalker wanted a quick resolution, as every second that ticked by, Magnificent got further away. Finally, she seemed to deflate, accepting that she really had no real answer, so she took a metaphorical swing for the hills, "Because you hold some connections to how I have helped you over the years. That might not save me, but it might be why you haven't killed me yet."
Bloodwalker hissed. She had a point. Even with as much as he was naturally loyal to his Queen, that faith had recently taken a hit. But in addition to that, he couldn't simply let her go. Not after betraying both him and her tribe. So he decided to leave her with a mark.
"Then consider this a trade. If your cult is so truly glamorous that you'd betray everything for them, this shouldn't mean much." Bloodwalker growled as he pulled the knife away from her throat, then slashed her across the side of her face. The knife punched into her snout, going in a straight line across the jawline, narrowly missing her eye and coming to an end around the base of her right horn. She roared in agony as he backed off, letting her press her claws to the wound, "Go. Don't let me see you again until all of this is over. Go to your cult, see if they'll take you back. Or go back to your tribe and beg forgiveness. I don't know what will happen, and I don't care."
Singeclaw, with one eye open and looking back in fear, and at that moment, Bloodwalker could tell that she feared him more than she worshiped the Darkstalker. She slowly began backing up, turning into a full run. He watched as she disappeared into the brush, disappearing from sight.
Pulling the compass out, he mentally assessed his wounds. Not immediately critical. Maybe in a few hours he'd need to treat them, but right now, he had a job to to. One last target to tie up these loose ends.
"Find Magnificent."
Sorry for taking so damn long. Admiral has some life stuff so he can't really check in. As of right now, my only priority is completing the storyline. Ill probably revise it later after the chapters get published.