Banished Pt. 19

She was shaking, and Daisy laughed in response.

"I'm sorry, but wherever you run she's not stopping until she has your head," she said, and Francesca bit her lip nervously.

"It's fine. We can take her, okay? We've beaten actual monsters that were way worse," I said, and she nodded.

As she began to chew away at her nails, however, I realized that there would be no settling her down until Leona had been beaten.

We were in a pretty bad spot, though.

There was a wall of newbies ahead of us who would converge as soon as we tried to flee, and if Leona killed even just the ones we defeated while breaking through their ranks, she could potentially gain enough strength to threaten our base.

Couple that with the fact that neither Molly nor Bianca were any good at hand to hand combat.

After confirming that Daisy and Lester had no more info to offer, I extracted pledges from the trio then tied them up by a nearby clump of brush, and gathered everyone up to go over a quick plan.

"Help should be on the way. In case we really can't scratch her, she's slow enough that we could potentially just stall her until the others get here," I said. "Just keep an eye out for my signals, and keep your eyes open to your surroundings."

I let Bianca activate her armor this time since her ability would be of little use against Leona, and if the woman got ahold of her without any levels of strength activated, she could potentially snap her like a twig.

"Some good that'll do," Francesca muttered, and I rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey. I need my ace fighter on her A-game here," I said, but even as she nodded, that defeated expression never left her eyes, and I found myself staring once more at that scared, timid kid that I'd met back on our first day here.

Maybe I'd placed more of a burden on her shoulders than I'd realized, I thought.

As we waited, that familiar chill ran up my spine, and we exchanged a few worried glances as we got into position, but as Leona emerged from the darkness, I frowned, as several more otherworlders appeared with her, the shadowy man amongst their ranks.

"Finally stopped running? Cowardly pricks," Leona said, as she spat at the ground.

As I studied the woman, I was surprised to find that up close she was quite pretty, with flowing blonde hair that spilled out of her helmet, and a somewhat muscular though still feminine figure that her golden armor accentuated.

Francesca's knees were shaking, and I made a silent prayer once again that she could keep it together.

"You seem awfully intent on killing us. What did Ethan really offer you?"

"Godly armor," she replied, grinning at me as she sized me up. "Definitely more than someone like you could ever offer me."

"Are you sure about that? I mean, maybe I could offer you that armor along with Ethan's head."

She laughed, but my mind was working overtime trying to figure out how we should proceed.

Stalling would now be a problem, as any otherworlder we took down could potentially be killed by Leona to enhance her own power.

As I scanned the otherworlders around us, however, I quickly figured they were easily tier-one newbies.

Were these the same otherworlders who had been blocking our path?

If so, then maybe we could slip through without really defeating any of them...

But if they weren't...

It didn't matter.

We'd have to try!

"Activate your-"

"Done!" Molly said, as I turned and bolted, with Francesca and Bianca hot on my heels.

One of the otherworlders came between us, sword in hand, and I glanced away his slash before shoving him, as we rushed through the woods.

Another began moving into our path, but Francesca had finally found her determination; anticipating the move, and shoulder barging the man off of his feet.

We made it about a hundred feet at a sprint when suddenly, a whole wave of otherworlders came down on us, and I pulled the group to a stop.

Well then... guess that blockade was still around.

"South!" I shouted, as we turned and tried to move south, but I knew moving too far away from our latitudinal position was a bad idea, as the others would need to find us without any tracking save for Lucia's guidance; so, I led the group into doubling back around, which would inevitably bring us face to face with Leona's main group again.

"What do we do, Nate?" Francesca asked, her voice panicked.

"Listen quick," I said, bringing everyone to a halt. "Bianca; you and Molly head east. Take down the otherworlders in that direction then lead them away from us," I said, gesturing in the direction.

"Got it," Bianca said.

"What about us?" Francesca asked, as the two darted away.

"We'll lead Leona on a little chase," I replied, as we headed off in the opposite direction.

The shadowy man came into view long before Leona or any other hunters did, and as spikes began to pop up, I tried my best to lead Francesca through them; but he was guiding me along, and it was easy to guess where to; but even so, when a hand suddenly reached out to me from out of the darkness, it nearly caught me completely unawares, and I went tumbling to the ground as I skidded out of the way.

"Tch*. Annoying little fucks," Leona cursed.

Francesca quickly moved to help me up, but I grabbed her and pulled her over, rolling with me as a javelin came ripping through the night at us, and we separated, rolling out of the way as Leona came lunging in with a strange kind of knife.

Hey, what are the chances of that knife being higher than T-three? I wondered.

Though knowing our luck tonight, maybe not...

Leona went at Francesca who evaded her a little sloppily, and as another otherworlder tried to attack her from a blind spot, I moved in, deflecting their spear thrust, before jabbing him in the face.

Francesca and I then turned, skirting west of Leona, but as a sharp pain shot through my foot, I realized that I'd stepped on a spike.

Fuck me!

He made this one much smaller and harder to see!

Francesca pulled me through the pain, and we ran, trying to turn northwards, but again, we ran into a pair of otherworlders.

"Leave us alone!" Francesca screamed, barging into one with a shoulder tackle, before evading a sword slash from the other, and slicing through his neck with her spear.

"Fuck. We shouldn't kill them," I said, as I pulled Francesca along, but as I glanced back, I caught sight of Leona just as she approached the second otherworlder, and she cleaved his head clean off with a slash from her blade, never breaking stride as she barreled after us.

"Why don't we turn north, or west?" Francesca asked, and I panted, the exertion from running flat out getting to me.

"Our cores. Won't make it," I panted, as we turned east again, aiming to weave our way through the otherworlders lying in wait.

"Don't kill. Don't disarm," I managed, and Francesca gritted her teeth.

She was losing control of her emotions and fast.

I needed to keep her in check.

An otherworlder came charging at me with an axe, and I evaded his swing before kicking at his knee from the side, sweeping him off his feet, and Francesca sidestepped another, kicking him and sending him tottering off balance, as we darted into the gap we'd created.

"Yes! We made it!" she yelled, but as we ran through the opening, we skidded to a halt, as two otherworlders stood there, weapons glistening with blood, and with a pile of corpses around them.

"What the fuck-?"

"This is good," I said, cutting Francesca off. "They split off some of the skills Leona would have gained; you fight them, and I'll handle Leona."

Francesca stared at me, and I turned for a moment to hold her gaze.

"Please; I need you to do this, okay? You are easily the best fighter I have, but we can only win if you can be that person right now."

She nodded, doubt still lingering in her eyes... but there was no choice.

I'd have to trust her.

I turned and walked cautiously back in the direction that Leona would be approaching from, until she came into sight.

"You want her? You need to get through me," I said, and Leona smirked.

"They said I can't kill you... but maybe you can afford to lose a limb or two," she said.

"No; no limbs!" a voice called, as the other man stepped out of the shadows.

But as Leona approached me, I stowed my halberd and took out my old hunting knife.

"Doubt that'll do much," she said, and I shrugged.

"Come find out?" I asked, extending my threads to her as I did. "Not like you can seem to hit me anyway" I added, activating my hypnotic effect.

Leona made a lunging swing, and as I activated my new blocking ability, I deflected the blow cleanly, but my hand shook nonetheless under the force of her blow.

I could have evaded it well enough, but I didn't want her getting into a position from which to go at Francesca, and she grinned at me.

"Not so confident anymore, are ya?"

"No, but playing with me is becoming quite fun, isn't it?" I asked, activating my suggestion again, and Leona smirked.

"It is," she concurred.

She made a few swings which I evaded, then I darted in and slashed at her several times, activating Daisy's skill as I did, and as the final blow landed with a loud, clangy clash, she eyed me.

"Not bad..." she said, "for a scrawny little wimp."

"I told you; this would be fun," I said, activating my ability again, and she grinned, but the other man was now getting a bit annoyed.

"Leona, this was not part of the-"

"You stay the fuck out of this," she said, raising a hand in his direction without averting her gaze from mine.

She darted in at me again, but this time, as I evaded and parried her swings, I had the added obstacle of energy spikes appearing just where I'd planned to step, but even as Leona managed to turn me around enough that she could have probably taken off after Francesca if she really wanted to, she continued to press me.

"Leona, he's fucking playing with you!" the man yelled, clearly agitated, and the woman clicked her tongue in annoyance at him.

"The only ones playing games here are you fucks," she yelled, and I nodded.

"Yes, but this game is ours, isn't it?" I asked, activating my hypnotic suggestion again, and she spat, wiping her lips.

"Don't get me wrong, wimp. The objective of my 'game' is hearing the scream you make as I tear the spine from your body," she said.

She lunged at me again and I evaded, but a cry from Francesca drew my eye for a second, and as I parried again, this time a little more sloppily, she grabbed onto my arm, and even as I jabbed my knife toward her fingers, the blade merely rebounded with a clang.

"Got ya," she said, as she dropped her knife and reached for my head.

I held onto her hand and twisting my body, I pulled myself up and kicked with both feet at her face.

She let go then wiped at her mouth, grinning a little as her hand came away with blood.

"Look at that. I still bleed," she said.

As she advanced on me again, I dove across the floor for her knife, and she grabbed my leg as I tried to roll away with it.

"Nice; now what?" she asked, and as I slashed at her, the weapon rebounded and I cursed.

"Guess that was a bad play," I said.

She smirked, then without warning, she hefted me off the ground by my leg, and in another second, I felt the wind knocked out of me as she slammed me down onto the forest floor.

I tried to kick her off with my free foot, but she swatted the weak effort away, before turning and dragging me across the earth.

"Hey, little kitty! Watch me wring the life out of your precious king's lungs!" she shouted, and I looked over just as Francesca spotted us.

She was still engaged with one of the otherworlders, and she stared in horror as Leona grabbed at my face.

I kicked and thrashed as I tried to fight her off, but she easily overpowered me, smacking me in the face for good measure before holding me up like a ragdoll, then putting her hand around my throat, she began to squeeze.

"Leona! Stop this right now!" the other man yelled, but she didn't heed his cry at all.

"Aghh!"

She was squeezing, but as I flailed with my arms, she held firm.

"Fucking imbecile," the man cursed, as he began to jab at Leona's arm with something.

Whatever it was, it stabbed through her and she roared in frustration, turning and swatting the man away as she did.

Then I heard another scream, and before I knew it, we'd both been knocked over, and as I looked up, gasping for breath now that I'd been freed from her grasp, I spotted Francesca scrambling to her feet.

"No, please! Please!"

Leona grabbed her by the head, then grabbed her hand and pinned it painfully behind her back.

"Was it worth it? Was your life worth giving for that useless, pathetic king?"

Francesca was panting, shaking her head, but as she looked into my eyes, I didn't see regret.

I saw a scared child afraid to die.

Pouring all of my willpower into the move, I focused on Leona's hand, and making a fist, I connected my energy threads to it, and brought it emphatically to the ground.

Leona grunted, gritting her teeth as she fought against it, until Francesca wiggled her way out of her grasp.

Leona grabbed at her, before returning her attention to the hand that was rooted the ground.

"Fucking- LET ME GO!" she bellowed, pounding the ground with her other hand, and even as indescribable pain shot through my body, I screamed out, holding firm.

The shadow man darted in again, placing a hand against Leona's helmet, and I stared with interest as threads began to extend through his hand to her.

What the fuck was he doing-?

But the thought was cut short as Francesca slashed at him with her spear, and as Leona made a grab at her, she kicked at the hand, then began to kick and assault the woman, while keeping her at bay.

This was no good though.

My hold... it could only last so long.

Then there would truly be nothing left that I could do to protect her.

I kept ahold of Leona, then as I felt my hold on her breaking, I screamed out-

"RUN!"

-and Francesca stumbled back, a frantic look on her face.

She didn't move, and as my hold finally gave out, she lunged forward, grabbing onto Francesca.

I heard a scream, and I looked up just as Leona broke her hand at the elbow, but as she reached for her neck, I focused my threads just under Francesca, and Leona yelped as an energy spike went through her arm.

She seemed confused for a moment, but as Francesca tried to crawl away, Leona went after her.

"Crawl!" I screamed, and as Francesca looked back at me, she caught the look in my eye, and smiled.

She turned and crawled and crawled, and I focused everything I had extending my threads out as far as I could.

I am here.

I am here.

I, Nathan, your king, am here!

Come, my arbiters; please!

COME!!!

Then out of the darkness burst a bundle of green.

She darted past me to the shadowy man, and I heard the flashes as their blades clashed.

Then came two more bodies, swords drawn, and I smiled as the face I wanted most to see sauntered in, smirking at me to my annoyance.

"You called, 'My King'?" Blair asked teasingly.

"What took you so long?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"I told you not to fucking leave me behind," she replied, and I sighed.

"Y-your axe. The new one," I said, my voice perhaps sounding more panicked than it needed to be now that support was here, but as Blair withdrew the weapon and activated it, I nodded toward Leona who was engaged with Jordan and Molly.

And without hesitating, she advanced on the woman, and winding up, she made the swing count, and I breathed a sigh of relief as Leona's head went flying from her body.

"Nate, Jesus, are you alright?"

"Casey?"

I laughed as the girl tried to steady me with her one good hand, easing me to the ground.

"Francesca- she broke her hand," I began, and she nodded.

"Get Evie over here!" she yelled out, and I gasped again.

"You brought Evie?" I asked, and Casey bit her lip.

"She kind of volunteered," she said, letting out a sigh. "Raul and Alva are here too. He's subjugating the rest of the otherworlders."

"Pledges?" I asked, and she nodded.

"He can swear them to an oath of non-violence; it's not as reliable as a pledge, but it'll keep them in check. And if they break their oath, he can hunt them."

I let out a sigh.

"Help me up," I said, and Casey tutted at me.

"Jeez, just relax, will ya? You almost fucking died," she said, but I shook my head.

"This is the perfect time to act-"

"Yeah, I know. And I'm on it, I promise. We're storming the fort at daybreak," she said.

"Daybreak? How much time does that give us?"

"It gives us a little over a segment, butyou're not going anywhere; we can handle it from here without you," she said, and I stared at her.

"Are you crazy? Ethan is still there-"

"Yeah, and Raul can handle him now. We're not trying to win here; we're going in, getting Cameron back, and getting out. Ethan doesn't have the resources for a counter offensive."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, and Casey nodded.

"Lucia got enough of a look in to confirm; his trump card was that woman."

I bit my lip as I considered the information, then something occurred to me.

"Wait; there might be something else," I said, and Casey studied me.

"What?" she asked.

"There was a man; he had the ability to seal the other's abilities, and his core looked like... a monster's."

Casey bit her lip, then suddenly, a thought came to me out of nowhere.

Nizhalgal.

I turned to my left, and just then, a series of howls began to break out.

Casey went on alert, but I raised a hand to stop her.

"Wait; I think she wants to talk," I said.

"She?"

Casey glared at me a little, but after catching the look on my face, she massaged her temples, then let me up.

"Bring her alive!" she yelled, as Bianca and Lucia darted into the darkness.

It didn't take long, however, before they returned with the woman from the earlier fight, her hands raised.

"Bon jour, mon petit ami," she said, bowing slightly; a teasing look on her face.

"Nizhalgal?" I asked, and she nodded.

"A monstrosity of shadow," she said. "You dueled with his puppet, did you not?"

I nodded.

"Who are you and why do you want to talk?" Casey asked, and the girl smirked a little.

"I want... a certain something that I am certain I can attain only if this... monster, is dealt with," she explained, and I bit my lip.

"The immortal armor?" I asked, and she smiled.

"Very good, mon ami."

"So, you'll help us? You'll help us beat Ethan... and the monster?"

"Hold on a sec. I want a pledge from you before we make any deals," Casey cut in, and the girl shook her head.

"That's a no from me, mon cheri," she said to Casey, bowing again, before turning to leave.

"Whoa," I called out. "Hold on, let's talk this out."

Casey shot me a sharp look, but I knew that inside information could be crucial here.

It was worth the risk, and I was sure she knew it.

"Walk with me, mon ami," she said, offering me a hand.

I swallowed uncomfortably, studying her for a moment, before nodding.

"Fine," I said, clearing my throat a little, but as Casey moved to follow, the girl raised a hand to stop her.

"No no, mon cheri. This is no place for unwanted third parties," she said, shooting her a teasing smile, and Casey scoffed.

"Seriously?" she asked, and as the girl shrugged, Casey let out a sigh.

"Fine. But don't take too long; my assassins have itchy trigger fingers," Casey said, nodding in Bianca's direction, and the girl smiled again.

"Of course. Our talk will be short but sweet," she replied suggestively, as she took my hand and led me a short way from the main group and out of sight.