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Last of the Shadow Foxes: 4 Dejection

“And they brought Murder with them.”
The words echoed in Emerson’s mind.
Murder. Murder. Murder.
He felt sick, his insides churning as the poisonous words seeped in. The assassin clutched his head as a wave of nausea washed over him. Without warning, he bolted past Sawyer and sprinted down the corridors. Sawyer made as to follow but Gavrilla held him back.
“Sawyer, alert everyone, get them geared up. Now.” The guild leader ordered. Sawyer nodded and left the room.
“Mali, Gates, Raynard, with me.”
The rest of the occupants emptied the room.

Emerson slipped on his Avarice and donned his pilfer. As he did this subconsciously, his mind raced. He had brought Murder upon them. He had brought the deaths of many people. The people who had tried to help him. He had cursed them all. No. Emerson raised his head as he held back his tears. Be optimistic. Be optimistic. Remus would not like a snivelling weakling in his guild. Stand tall Emerson, you are a Shadow Fox.

The hermit stood next to the priest. In the horizon, a figure was approaching. Fast. Gavrilla whispered something into Mali’s ear and in response; the priest raised her Maple Lama staff and teleported away in an aura of blue light. The hermit saw it clearly now. A massive beast, two powerful legs, two rendering claws and two scything talons. The head was like a jackal, deep red eyes and large white fangs. A terrifying encounter up close. The bestial brown fur rippled as it stalked towards Subway Station 303.

Cosmo felt the hair on his neck stand up as his eyes locked with Murder’s. It was as if the creature’s eyes bored into his, straight into his mind. The bandit blinked and the spell was broken. He gripped his Dragon’s Toenail tightly and hugged his Jurgen wristguard close to his chest. He felt Nimai tense up beside him. Murder was only thirty metres away now.

Cedric paled. The terrifying monster was twenty metres away and closing. His knees started to shake. Cedric risked a glance down. His hands were shaking too. A bead of sweat slid slowly down the assassin’s face. He steadied his hands and prepared to throw an Ilbi when suddenly the beast disappeared. Cedric’s eyes went wide open and he heard a voice.
“Oh, For the Dark Lord, No!”
He realised it was his own as he toppled over, blood spraying from the slash through his chest.

Emerson stared dumbly as he witnessed the hapless assassin die. He knew that Murder had incredible speed but that was twenty metres in a blink! Gavrilla place her hand on Emerson’s shoulders.
“You’re a Shadow Fox, hold steady, I know you can do it.” She whispered encouragingly. Emerson’s spirit lifted and he smiled at the hermit.
“I know I can.”

The Maplejutsu attacked with incredible co-ordination. Hwabis and Wolbis sliced through the air, assassins darting around, unleashing devastating amounts of throwing stars. During the brief periods to reload with stars, the bandits swooped in, doing lightning fast hit-and-run attacks. Murder evaded most of the attacks and retaliated furiously.

Cosmo ducked a swinging claw as his partner Nimai was decapitated by the back swing. He jabbed the beast with his weapon and rolled away. Murder had dozens of cuts and slashes covering its body, but all were superficial wounds. None had actually penetrated its thick hide. Cosmo rose to strike again but Murder anticipated the move and with a swift kick, sent the bandit flying into a wall. Cosmo felt several ribs break before falling unconscious.

Murder barrelled into a group of bandits, scattering them. Gavrilla flash jumped and loosed several Maple stars at Murder. Emerson was about to throw one of his Kumbis but Murder had blinked. Instinctively he dived and felt a claw whistle past his body. If he had been standing up, surely he would have been torn in half. Murder swivelled around to avoid a bandit’s attack and slashed its claw it the attacker. Emerson saw Sawyer thrown into the air by the force of the attack, half his face a bloody mess.

Emerson sighed as he saw another assassin cut down. There was no way the Maplejutsu, no matter how well they fought, could bring down Murder. He saw Gavrilla motion for the remains of her guild to fall back to the subway lines and so he retreated as well. Only half of the Maplejutsu was still alive and fighting, many had been knocked unconscious by concussion and only a few were actually dead though some were close to.

Suddenly, dozens of blue flashes appeared behind the regrouped fighters. So bright was the light that Emerson covered his eyes with his Avarice. When the light subsided, in their place were Mali, several mages and a mass of rangers. A mass teleport.

The new arrivals were all dressed in Red Arzunas and all wielding White Nisrocks. With perfect timing, they all simultaneously raised their bows and drew back a steel arrow. Murder hesitated, as if knowing what was about to happen, before charging headfirst at the defenders. There was a gigantic whoosh as every single ranger fired. Emerson’s amber hair flew forward as a great wall of arrows passed by.
The sound of a tsunami filled the air, then silence.
Silence.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Murder’s foul blood pooled beneath it. Transfixed with over a hundred arrows, blood flowed down its body. A trickle at first, like a river at drought, before spraying out like a burst dam.
And there is stood, for eternity until, finally, it keeled over.

One of the rangers, most likely the guild leader, came up beside Emerson. Her silver hair played in the wind. Emerson turned to her.
“Who are you?” The assassin asked.
“Ophelia, guild leader of the Silver Fire X.” The ranger replied.

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Last of the Shadow Foxes: 6 Justified