Lucius Thorn's Story

The bullet zipped through the air, embedding itself into the stone wall Lucius had planted himself upon. As soon as the gunshot rang out, a smile began growing upon his face, by the time the bullet had hit the wall, he was grinning like a madman. Finally pulling himself from the stone enclave he had been housed on, Lucius opened his eyes.

“About time something happened, I was growing tired of my usual games.”

Taking a quick glance at the sky, Lucius confirmed the time of day. The sky, while gorgeous, had already begun to give off it’s honeyed glow, and the amber orb had begun to take a more downward western path. Dusk was only just beginning though, and that only meant trouble for the black creature that stirred restlessly, hidden away in the shadows not far from Lucius.

Eyes falling back upon the plaza before him, he alighted upon the two hunters, gun still raised, smirking slightly as their eyes followed a girl who had just vanished down an adjacent street. Lucius only caught sight of her long-brown hair, an average trait, contrasting the unaverage dragon that had roosted upon her shoulders. It wasn't hard to follow her movements, as the plaza had already been emptied of pedestrians as they fled from the gunshot that had disturbed their peaceful, pitiful existence.

Lucius whistled, seemingly breaking the Hunters from their trance as they began to give chase to the girl.

‘This,’ He thought, ‘Was going to be fun.’

He calmly walked back into the shadowy corner where his companion lurked, invisibly amongst the darkness. He was in no hurry, why would he be? He knew where they were going, and he knew he could get there first.

"Lovely day for a run." Lyra told her perched dragon like she was not running at all. Another bullet whizzed by her head as she took a sharp turn into the more questionable area of town. "And to get shot at." She could not help but joke to her small dragon. Deeper she ran into darker area of town the streets were a little wet. With very little sun light getting through do to the buildings you would best hope that puddle you ran through was water and not gross things.

Finding a ladder she jumped onto to latching on the fourth bar, it was a little high for an average man's height. Shivers went throughout her body as she gripped the bar tighter. "Gross." She let under her breath, climbing up to the roof her dragon perched made a sweet hissing noise. "Unfortunately you are still a hatchling I cannot put you to battle yet." Lyra's words almost seemed to have depressed the little dragon. "But you can check and see if Sala grabbed the bags I dropped." Happily the little dragon shook it's black head and flew off, using it's magic abilities it disappeared.

The Twin Bullets only chased her so far before for stopping. "I am nor playing this game again." Ryuhwan growled as he looked for the possible path she took. "We need to hurry before she sets a trap." Tasha wiped his white hair out of his face as he looked with Ryuhwan. The something caught his eye. "There she went that way." Tasha pointed to the sky and ran in the direction the black dot came from, towards Lyra.

The little dragon hopped around in panic, the humans around him unaware of the little being there, the bags were not to be found and there is no scent of Sala. Just as the little one opened his eyes he was greeted by a small water made dragon. The two made conversation by numerous hisses and moans. The little black dragon found that he had beaten Sala there and that she could not have grabbed the bags. The water holding Sala's serpent shape broke splashing all over the stone street.

Lyra began running again after getting her breath back. Hopping over a building or two perpendicular to the forest she turned course. Instead of running away and towards what would seem her goal. Lyra was running where she came from. 'Just to mess with old friends.' Lyra thought as she jumped to the next building. Realizing she miss judged her jump she twisted landing on her shoulder hurting it. Gripping her arm she rolled over.




A redhead leaned on the opened window smelling the drying paints from earlier works. "Find anything good?" Rex smiled. "I missed you coming back." Rex stood up and tightened his jacket. "You would not have happened to have seen anything I could use, did you?" He asked, as the healer of this cliff-side town he needs the herbs found.

Lucius lifted his head from one end of the rooftop, spotting the downed dragon-summoner and some other girl bent over her. quickly pulling himself over the edge, he swung his feet to the roof, and stood up, dusting off his clothes.

“Good, good,” he passed the two figures on the roof, “With you out of the fray, I can unleash on these fools.” He gestured over the rooftop to the sound of fast-approaching footsteps.

“Also, while I’m not sure who your new caretaker is, I certainly hope she won’t attempt to stand in my way. I plan on indulging myself, maybe, satiate some of my hunger. For, what is a battle without bloodshed?” Lucius raised his hands, several cards spilling from his sleeves. The edge of the card’s glinted in the amber sunlight, indicating the sharpened blade that marbled the playing cards.

He gave a slight chuckle as he saw a large winged creature swoop downwards. “Oh, what a lovely pet, is she not? I assume that little-birdie belongs to one of you two? Nonetheless, I give my sincerest regards to the owner of the poor pidgeon.”

Lucius chuckled, delighted to see the look of shock on the cloaked-girl’s face. “I jest, I jest. I hope that a bird of prey will be nothing but an advantage during an encounter with either of the Hunters.”

Lucius stroked the building’s edge as if it brought back precious memories, “Well enough talk from me. My hunger grows, and according to the placement of the sun, and the sound of footsteps fast approaching the alley directly beneath us, it’s about time for a bloodbath.” He swung his legs over the edge, “Ta-ta!” and with that, Lucius dropped off the building’s edge into the less than loving arms of two hunters.

Lucius landed more or less on two feet, a large dopey grin plastering his face as the Harpy flew back into view, with two agitated Hunters giving chase. Taking in his surroundings, he had full advantage of the battle. The high buildings, narrow passages, and lowering sun, all combined to fill the alley with shadows. The shadows themselves seemed alive, as they twisted, melded and moved to form a large creature that stood directly between Lucius and the approaching threat.

[♠] [♥] [♣] [♦]

Talia stretched, yawning at the golden sky. So far, her break away from the outer walls had been nothing other than peaceful. She had visited some of the shops, took a walk around the town gardens, and met up with an old friend from her past. In short, it was utterly boring. No attempted robberies, no fools trying burn the village down, no uniques, and nothing to shoot at.

The blood in Talia’s veins was lazy, and it drove her insane. She even considered leaping from the belltower just to liven things up a little. Unfortunately, she happened to bump into her aging mother while muttering aloud, and was scolded and chastised for even thinking such heinous thoughts. “Isn’t it enough you put your life in harms way trying to keep everyone safe from powers beyond our control that you could stand to be bored every once in awhile? And if you’re so bored, would it kill her to visit her dying mother at least once in a week? I don’t get to see enough of you as it is and I feel as though I’m going to lose you like Aya…”

Just the thought of her mother’s voice made her suppress an eyeroll and a shiver. Though, her mother had a point. She never did seem to come back to the family home; instead choosing to spend all of her time off practicing her shooting skills.’Though,’she thought, pulling a pistol from its holster, ‘when your skills are as good as mine, who needs practice?’ With that she pointed the gun at a faint glimmer in the air soaring above the village.

A gunshot broke the tranquility.

Confused, Talia checked her gun, making sure she hadn’t fired it. No, it still had all of it’s bullets, perhaps she missed the bird, no, she dismissed the thought. But there, above the village, a small hawk still flew, flying away from the source of the noise. No, not the noise, a larger bird perhaps? A second bird-like creature began to rise above the rooftops of the village, flying towards the gunshot.

Cracking a smile, Talia followed, hoping to see some action break out of the day.

Only a few minutes later, Talia stood, huffing in an alleyway, as she tried to recover her breath. She had lost sight of the bird-creature a while ago, leaving her running in the dark. Though, as her gasps began shorter and far-between, she began to hear running, two figures running, in the adjacent alley. Quickly rounding the corner, she saw a pair of Hunters disappear after the same bird-like thing from before. Judging by appearance, the two Hunters seemed to be Tasha and Ryuhwan. Talia broke into another grin, ‘if the twins were involved, this is sure to be interesting.’ She thought as she chased after them down the alley.

Lyra had heard the scratching of claws on the concrete. She did not move, it was not a Hunter none of them was a Unique with bird likeness. Unless if it was a new Hunter, ha, she would have been caught or dead. Lyra's eyes widened she was not expecting to hear a voice. Rolling over, keeping off of her shoulder though, she saw a Harpy. Lyra smiled, "yup" was her reply.

Lyra was surprised by the new face right next to her, but smiled when she made the connection. "I was right." She whispered to herself before answering Lucy, as she had introduced herself. "No, idea." Lyra sat up, maybe against wishes, looking at Lucy, Lyra smiled. "My name is Lyra, your Harpy guessed right about me." She smiled as if nothing was wrong.

A little black dragon appeared above everyone, gliding down to Lyra. It was jumping around then finishing with a hiss. "You have no idea where the bags are." Lyra confirmed with the little dragon, he nodded his little black head. Lyra sighed and stroked it's head with her good hand. "Things always have a way to work for a Unique."

Lyra's head quickly snapped at a new greeting. Her eyes followed his every move, she knew he was not a Hunter but the way he was talking her brain got quickly fried. Maybe it was the day that she let it get fried she does not know. Her body moved on instinct as he jumped down. Only now she could hear the footsteps coming and stopping.


Ryuhwan and Tasha knew they had found the spot, they could hear voices of multiple people. 'Uniques always seem to find poor Lyra.' Tasha chuckled to himself, he stopped when he gained a glare from his black haired buddy. They stopped in their tracks as someone dropped to the ground and grinned like a madman. "It, it could not be." Tasha tried to reassure himself. "Take care of him while I-" Ryuhwan's words were cut short Lyra, who had went to the edge to watch, had kicked him in the face. "I will not let you summon." She stated as-of-a-matter-of-fact. "If we are going survive, yes." Ryuhwan kicked her legs out from under her, landing she quickly rolled into him knocking him over. Lyra ignored the pain in her arm as the two continued to throw punches and kicks at each other. Tasha continued to point his gun at the grinning man.

Luscinia Abaven

A tiny black dragon appeared by Lyra's side and squeaked, "You have no idea where the bags are." Lyra said with a sigh as the dragon nodded, "Things always have a way to work for a Unique." Lucy set the grocery bag she'd brought along down in front of the small creature. "Perhaps this is what you're looking for?" she said with a smile, "I saw you drop it and thought perhaps you'd like it back." Nudging the bag a little closer to the dragon she added, "Here, perhaps it would be safest in your hands - er - claws."

“Good, good, with you out of the fray, I can unleash on these fools.” Came a deep voice and Lucy jerked her head up to see a man standing on the edge of the building. He had shaggy brown hair, a black leather jacket and a red shirt that she somehow got the feeling served to hide many blood stains. There was something off about it - his presence made the hairs on her arms stand on end. His dark eyes met Lucy's and the feeling intensified. “Also, while I’m not sure who your new caretaker is, I certainly hope she won’t attempt to stand in my way. I plan on indulging myself, maybe, satiate some of my hunger. For, what is a battle without bloodshed?”

Feeling rather alarmed she mentally called out for Kestrel and in an instant the harpy had landed next to Lucy, her wings open to their full length and her talons leaving scratch marks on the roof of the building. The new arrival looked bemused. “Oh, what a lovely pet, is she not? I assume that little-birdie belongs to one of you two? Nonetheless, I give my sincerest regards to the owner of the poor pigeon.” Lucy's expression must have been one of horror as she jumped to her feet, drawing her sword as Kestrel made a low, angry crooning noise. He chuckled darkly, “I jest, I jest. I hope that a bird of prey will be nothing but an advantage during an encounter with either of the Hunters.”

“Well enough talk from me. My hunger grows, and according to the placement of the sun, and the sound of footsteps fast approaching the alley directly beneath us, it’s about time for a bloodbath.” He swung his legs over the edge, and them flung himself off with a cheerful: “Ta-ta!” Lucy couldn't help but wonder what the hell had just happen, running over to the edge where she spotted a scene below. The mysterious man had landed directly in front of the two Hunters that had been chasing Lyra earlier, and around him... shadows. Something was happening in the shadows. They were moving of their own accord and melded into some kind of bear-sized creature.

Lucy turned towards Lyra but found she had disappeared. Kestrel inclined her head to the edge where, upon looking again, Lucy could see that Lyra had just engaged one of the two male Hunters. "It's never a dull day when you're a Unique, huh Kestrel?" she said, her voice containing a mixture of uncertainty and humor, but then she raised her own sword and jumped down, aiming the magnificent blade at the Hunter who'd just raised his gun at the shadow-man (who Lucy assumed was on Lyra's side). Kestrel perched on the edge of the building, watching keenly. When Lucy needed her help, Kestrel would come, however generally Lucy was bale to handle herself just fine.

The Tantabus rolled through the shadows, degrading back into a smoky black breeze that swept behind the two hunters. Lucius casually reached into his pocket, pulling a deck of razor tipped cards from his jacket. Glancing up, he saw Scarlet-Cloak-Girl flying from the rooftop. She landed beside him, brandishing a sword and engaging the snow-haired hunter with not a moment of hesitation.
Lucius felt the Tantabus growl, a low snarling sound that seemed to echo like whisper through the night. The prey was surrounded. Looking up, the shadows had gathered back into The Tantabus, leaning over it’s new catch. The prey in question, immediately shifted their backs towards each other, prepared to counter anything that came at them.
The Tantabus reared, only to stop short. His form grew unstable, and he dropped back into the darkness of the streets, twisting and turning into emptiness like a serpent. Lucius’ eyes flew open, as he registered a sharp, twisting pain resonating from his shoulder. He smiled, and fell into a pool of blood.
”How untimely a demise this is.”

On the other end of the alleyway, a young girl stood, clutching a pistol.

---

Talia rounded the corner, finding herself standing before a large creature, at least several feet tall. It was as black as night, it’s only distinguishing feature the beady amber eyes, and it’s shape. It’s arms were long, and tipped with claws, while it’s legs were double-jointed. It’s head fell forwards in a slouch, leaving them staring down a presumably sharp-toothed maw. It seemed to be made of the shadows themselves, as she could see no distinguishable body within the smoke-like abomination.
Her pistol was in her hand. Pointed at the creature. A loose volley of lead exploded from the end of her gun, ripping tiny holes in the creature’s form. The holes acted like a column of air punched through fog, and grew with the ripples in the breeze, freezing the creature as it shook then dissipated.
She saw a boy, back behind her comrades, fall limply to the ground. Seizing the chance, she rushed forwards. Tasha and Ryuhwan looked dazed, but still they held their ground. Each held a gleaming silver pistol, pointed at the remaining uniques. With one down, the fight had reached a standstill. No one dared attack.

Lyra's eyes widen, she knew that sound well and a fight was the last thing that needs to happen right now. Without taking her eyes off of the Hunters she stepped back to Lucy and the downed Unique. The silvered hair Hunter grinned a greedy grin. "We get a big pay day." He reloaded his gun with tranquilizers darts. "See you in hell." Tasha then fired his gun. Lyra did not flinch she had brought out another dragon made of stone he sat as high as the buildings next them. A loud growl can from the stone wall, he had taken the dart on the back. "Thank you." Lyra said to the dragon tickling one of the feet sticking out. The little black dragon joined Lyra's side as she walked over to the the jester like Unique and Lucy. "Get Tala and get those bags." She told the little dragon. Turning her attention to the boy on the ground she kneeled down to his side. "Can you move?" She asked him.

The Twin Bullets shot a few more darts at the rock wall with wings. "What you just standingthere for?" Ryuhwan barked at Talia. "Guard us." The two pulled back their sleeve showing a few incantation circles on their arm. After a few words spoken Hell Hounds came from the ground growling next to Tasha and Ryuhwan. "Get ready for a fight if you don't wanna die Talia, a cornered Unique is very dangerous." Tasha warned her.



Rex looked puzzled for a moment. "Not much?" He mumbled mostly to himself. "That side of the forest is normally flourishing with all sorts of herbs." Rex heaved a heavy sigh things were starting to dry up and he was running low on herbs needed to heal Uniques. "You would not have seen Lyra would?" He asked Gideon his hand at his chin. Childern ran past without a care in the world. How his wished to go back to days like that, but then again those were every hard days too.

Luscinia Abaven

Lucy heard the gun fire and the sound of a body falling. Sparing a glance in the direction of the shadow man, Lucy couldn't tell if he was dead or alive but she could see the person that'd shot him. This girl had short white hair with a few tiny ponytails, silver eyes and a gun with a wisp of smoke rising from the mouth of the barrel. With shadow-man downed, they were equally numbered. The two hunters stood back to back. Lucy was facing the one with white hair whilst Lyra stood opposite to her, facing the brown haired one. The girl who'd just shot shadow-man stood vertically to the group in another alleyway and he'd crumpled to the ground in the space between the two hunters and the girl.

Everyone stood still deathly still, waiting for the other to make a move. Kestrel was perched on the building, looming above the group, obviously not yet noticed by the Hunters 'Kestrel, you'll need to grab shadow man and move him out of harm's way,' she spoke to her Bond through their mental link, 'then come to my aid. I'm fast enough to block these bullets, but a single slip up and I'll wind up as shadow-man.' Then to herself she thought, 'I hope he's alright...'

"We get a big pay day." said the hunter facing Lyra, loading his gun (but with what Lucy couldn't see), "See you in hell." Suddenly a stone dragon flew down from the rooftops and took what appeared to be a dart, though it had no effect on him. Lyra said something to the dragon, then turned her attention to the shadow-man, "Can you move?" "Don't worry about him, Lyra. Kestrel-" Lucy didn't get to finish her statement as Kestrel gave a screech and swooped down, grabbing the shadow-man in her talons (careful not to accidently hurt him) and then taking to the sky. Lucy smirked slightly as Kestrel rapidly moved out of range of the Hunter's guns. "She'll get him somewhere safe."

"What you just standing there for? Guard us!" one of the two male hunters barked at the female one, rudely. In a much less rude tone, the other hunter said to the huntress "Get ready for a fight if you don't wanna die Talia, a cornered Unique is very dangerous." Just then it occurred to Lucy; the white haired girl was Talia, a well known and feared Hunter. Many innocent Uniques and their Bonds had been unjustly slain by her hand, and Lucy's eyes narrowed. 'How dare she consider herself a protector of the people, when most of the 'criminals' she puts down are innocents merely being put to slaughter. I refuse to be one more tally mark under her name.'

Brandishing her sword she could feel her connection with Kestrel, which had diminished the further she got away, growing stronger again meaning that she was on her way back, having set the shadow-man down somewhere that had yet to be specified; focus on your opponents, Kestrel told her disdainfully. 'They're using tranquilizer darts instead of killing us outright. That give me a little bit of an advantage as darts are slower than bullets, but I can't take too much comfort in this fact. Even though Lyra is here with her dragons, there are still more guns being pointed at us than I'm confortable with.' Lucy thought as Kestrel came nearer, giving her a warning about the darts as her mind raced for an attack strategy, 'Perhaps... perhaps I can take one and use it against one of the Hunters. Then we could take them for ransom and interrogation, figure out what it'll take to negotiate a truce'

Lucius peeked an eye open. The wind ruffled his hair and his clothes, drying out the darkening red stain that had ruined his clothes. Or, at least some of them, as the red shirt should recover with a simple dunk in a river. Sighing, he quickly checked his arm. A dull ache reached out to touch the rest of his muscles as he stretched. The dart had hit him, right in his shoulder. Still a small metal tip embedded in the clothes, probably. But either the adrenaline in his system had burned through the paralysis, or the dart was just terrible at dispersing its load.

The pressure of the talons gripping his other arm and shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. Maybe the dart did do something to him. He felt oddly introspective. Not that it mattered now. Down there, a group of Uniques were holding off at a group of Hunters, apparently some rather fierce ones as well, not the usual incompetent young-bloods who find it as an easy way to earn some coin. If the fight alone wasn't enough to encourage Lucius to recklessly charge back in, then the knowledge that he now had the element of surprise would.

Wriggling a bit, he glanced up. The harpy looked down at him, with a surprisingly human face.

"I appreciate the ride, but perhaps my part is best played on the ground."

Seconds later resulted with Lucius perched atop another building. The roof of this one was rather dirty, with several pools of collected rainwater from days gone by, and assorted bird droppings. Making a mental note not to breathe, he quickly checked his pockets.

Yep, definitely broken, his hand produced several shards of colored glass. Well, I suppose it could've been worse, I could've been shot and out of some good wine. Tossing the shards aside, Lucius smiled, noting the low hanging golden star in the sky. It was nearly night now, as tendrils of dusk had already begun to creep up in the east, shooting a nice deep purple into the amber and gold sky.

Lucius tore his eyes away from the heavens, reminding himself of the possible bloodbath somewhere below him. He quickly set about looking for the safest way down. Then he stopped himself. Laughed, and carelessly threw himself over the edge.


"What you just standing there for?"

"Get ready for a fight if you don't wanna die Talia, a cornered Unique is very dangerous."

Talia nodded, spotting the incantations stained on either's arm. It was no secret that some of the two twins were also Uniques. Why Talia trusted them, she never really questioned. They seemed to do their jobs well, and that was enough for her. Another lash out from one of the Uniques threatened to take her nose off. She clenched her teeth. She needed to stop thinking and start doing.

Rushing forwards, she dropped to a crouch, narrowly dodging another swipe from a sword. She lashed out with a kick, sending her attacker back a few steps. She pulled a knife from it's sheath and deflected another attack from the sword-girl. The force of the blow sent her recoiling back, and desperate to keep her head attached to her shoulder, she threw herself backwards at Lyra. She accomplished little, only smacking herself into a large, sturdy dragon that hadn't been there moments ago.

Seeing the sword-girl recover and begin to bear down on her again, Talia pointed he weapon at her, and fired. Between the cross-hairs of her gun, she could've sworn she'd seen her smirk.

"I was just wondering if you had seen her come back, but I guess not." Rex sighed, why must his childhood friend be so troubling. Wheels and running steps stopped his further thinking. "Rex!" One called as he run up to him, crouching some he caught some of his breath back. "We returned with the cart as soon as it came to the meet point, since Lyra was not there with us we went with the plan." Rex slapped his face and groaned. "Alright, just put everything where they belong." The brown haired Unique nodded and ran off. Rex gave a slight bow to excuse himself from the conversation with Gideon and ran off to find Elder.



Lyra watched as the Harpy gently and carefully grab the boy and fly him off. Lyra gave a quick glance to the roof of where she came from. The little dragon had done what she had asked him to do. A quick glance at Lucy told Lyra that she was boiling with rage and had grabbed her sword.

Lyra cringed her arm out, she had just missed grabbing Lucy. The dragon that was acting as a wall between the two groups gave a deep bellow moan. "I know, go ahead and rest." She pet the dragon to comfort him. "Please." She asked that dragon did not seem to make a noise. Falling to it's belly it hummed disappearing in a flash of light.

The twins did not flinch as they heard clinging metal, they were almost done with call their bond. The dragon moved but they did not budge, they could not budge if it was to work. Then a light shone. "Now!" They both yelled, their calling done. Two hounds one belonging to the other, ugly and mincing they stood ready. On the command they charged to the source of the light.

The light gone, revealing Lyra holding a staff with the hell hounds attached doing their best to drag her down. With a twist and a jerk she sent one hound back at Tasha. Stepping on the other and pulling the staff back the hound yelped in pain. Ryuhwan cringed in pain. "Not too bad." Lyra teased as she jumped over and kicked Ryuhwan in the chest knocking him back. "Who always beat you when we played?" She smiled.

The moment Talia's dart shot from the gun, she felt the familiar emptiness. She was out of darts. She quickly dropped down and reloaded the weapon. Her movement, though slight as it was, saved her from the projectile made from her own ammunition. The dart whizzed over her head and embedded itself into the large stone behemoth behind her. Talia doubted it broke the scales, but she didn't have time for dragon-wound-inspecting. She hardly had time to react to the attacks being flung at her.

By the time Talia had glanced back upwards, the sword-flailing-girl was upon her. Talia vaulted to the side again, avoiding whatever awkward attack that had been thrown at her. But, as she was moving, her hand caught on something. Something hard. Talia felt the gun being wrenched from her grip. The pain of something pulling her weapon away spasmed through her hand, forcing her to let go as her forward momentum carried her away.

Talia gritted her teeth. She'd gotten that gun on her birthday. Not from her mother of course, she'd bought it herself, but the loss still stung. Her weapon, her lifeline, skittered away from her to some unseen dark corner of the street. Whoever she was fighting was smart. She had used Talia's own instinctive movement against her, and it felt like a slap in the face. She couldn't stand being so open. She wasn't a book, she wasn't readable. Time to use your head, she told herself, Gotta out-think 'em.

Her eyes quickly scanned everything nearby, as she reached for a knife - that wasn't there. Her eyes widened. Another look at the battlefield confirmed her fears. The Twins were having just as much trouble as she was. Uniques or not, they were practically cornered; Lyra's dragons were causing trouble nearly everywhere, and worst of all, the Harpy had pinned down the Hellish-looking canines that the Twins had tried to summon. A gust of wind blew throughout the street as the Harpy beat it's wings furiously, rendering what little control the Twins summoned with their guns useless.

Talia looked down at the blade in her hand, and looked back the the Harpy. Then she made a decision she was afraid would seal her fate. She threw the dagger. It sailed through the air, whipping around like a cruel windmill of pain, until it came into contact with the feathery backside of the Harpy. The blade sunk in, eliciting a scream from the creature.

I lose my fun, you lose yours.

Talia moved. Seemingly fluid, she dodged the furious attacks of her assailant, as she hastily threw herself into the dark corner where her gun was. She landed, hard, cold, and full of adrenaline. She quickly rolled over, gun in hand pointed straight at her newest adversary.

Your move...



Lucius found the alley he was looking for. Not hard, considering the copious amounts of roars, grunts, gunshots, and other assorted noises there was. The air was thick. Not with the usual smoke and smog of compressed homes, but with the smell of rage. It was a hellscape before his eyes; as swords and daggers clashed and as demons rose from the ground, only to be crushed by the hawk-like creature. It was like the gods of war and death were painting a mural, right in front of him.

A passing bullet pulled him from his thoughts. He smiled, and began his own little ritual from the shadows of the conflict.

On the battlefield, the shadows rippled and weaved once more. Darkness filled the air, and the void became whole. A scream of rage erupted from the black creature, newly formed again. The Tantabus was back. It set to work, the nearest creature to it being a previously trapped hellhound, teeth gnashing, eyes staring the darkness down with a look a cat gives a mouse. The inky void stared back, before rearing back a vicious claw, racking the creature into shreds. It howled, and perished, leaving behind a smoldering pile of embers.

Tasha, cringed his hound was pinned by the Harpy. Ryuhwan had taken as wing went through the ally hard, firing would be pointless. The Twins could not do much, the hounds pain was their pain and with both pinned in painful ways so were the Twins. The silver girl's gun came near Lyra in the dark corner. Lyra could end the whole fight with the gun.

She rolled for the gun, but when her hand was not the one for it. Lyra pushed off the wall with her feet rolling backwards next to Lucy. A groan sound came from her other side, it was Tasha. His gun was in his holster.

Ryuhawn pushed up in pain his hound up with him. "I find it odd that you are all using tranquilizer darts instead of bullets, because this means that someone wants you to bring us to them alive. And if they're willing to go to that trouble, I suspect that means they'd be extremely unhappy if you were to fail." Lucy spoke boldly, she was not that far off the mark.

"That is an explanation best saved until our fight is over. Lets just hope it is I who gives it." Lyra spoke, a weird shadow had caught her attention by the corner of her eye. Just need to wait- A screech broke through the air, it was either the Harpy screeching coarse words or the female hunter yelling in pain. At least there are a few hunters who does not enjoy pain.

"May I have that gun?" Lyra whispered to Lucy hoping Ryuhwan does not hear.

Ryuhwan was distracted to even hear Lyra he was focused on the reappearancing blob of a shadow. He sent his hound after who had the bond with this thing, while himself went after the shadow. He switched from darts to bullets in one swift movement, foolish but he hoped that bullets would work as he shot a hole after a hole into the beast. The hound had jumped on the boy knocking him over with his head hitting the ground nocking him out.