Banished Pt. 19

The only problem left was Francesca's opponent, who-

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The scream turned me around a bit.

That was Francesca, but in her struggle with the newcomer, the two had moved somewhere out of my line of sight.

"Go," I said to Bianca, and she darted off in the direction, as I lunged at the man again.

I made a swinging attack, and he took it in the chest, but my weapon never made contact, instead that repelling force again throwing off my attack, and he darted in before I could regain my footing, stabbing at my neck.

I evaded, then focusing on him, I activated my paralysis skill, and Molly and Lucia moved in to strike.

They struck and struck at him, trying to get through his 'shield' until Lucia came over and taking up my halberd, she yelled to Molly to get clear, and as Molly obliged, Lucia hurled it at the man, and to my surprise, the point tip went through his neck, and he began to gag as blood gurgled up through his mouth.

I deactivated my skill, then tore the halberd out of him, clicking my tongue in annoyance.

Then I heard the second scream from Francesca, followed by Bianca's cry:

"NATE. HELP US!"

I darted in the direction of the voices in time to spot Francesca flailing as the woman warrior, standing behind her, had an arm around her throat, seemingly having no trouble pinning Francesca in place, while she swiped at Bianca who had a bloodied lip.

Francesca's face was beet-red, even as she seemed to have gotten a hand up between the woman's grip and her neck, and as I charged, the woman let out a roar, and we went flying.

Then she turned on me and leapt, landing before me just as I scrambled to my feet, but before I could ready myself defensively, she kicked out, striking me in the solar plexus and knocking the wind out of my lungs.

I grasped at the ground, trying to find a way to stand, but as Francesca finally broke free of her iron grip, the woman grabbed her with her free hand, and holding Francesca by both arms, she drove a knee into her back and began to pull.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH."

Francesca's scream chilled me to my bones, and the fear-stricken, wild look in her eyes sent me into a momentary panic.

I tried to activate my paralysis, but even as pain began to shoot through my body, the woman seemed unfazed.

Bianca darted at the woman, and she turned, kicking her in the side and sending her skidding away, then Lucia leapt onto her and began to jab with her dagger, but weapon just would not pierce her, and she shook Lucia off, before returning her attention to Francesca.

"You're my fucking ticket to immortality, bitch! Don't think there's ANYTHING that will stop me from tearing you limb from fucking limb!"

"Nathan, Nathan help me! Please. NATHAN! AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She'd tensed her arms and were putting all of her strength into resisting the woman's savage attempt to do what I could only describe as tearing out Francesca's arms by the sockets, and as Francesca screamed, I held my breath to stop the shooting pain, and charged at the woman.

Knocking into her sent a shockwave of pain through me, as my energy core itself seemed struck by the contact, but we both fell over, and Francesca muscled her way out of the woman's grasp, but as she swung a fist at me, hitting me in the head and sending a ringing through my ears, I felt the world spinning out of control around me.

The next thing I knew, I was running, half-dragged half-led through the darkness, Molly's hand guiding me and a strange kind of lightness in my body, and as I looked to the left, I saw Francesca and Bianca running, hand in hand beside us, a wild, panicked look in their eyes.

"W-what. What happened?"

"You need to focus on running right now, hunny," Molly shouted, and that was when I heard a wailing roar behind us that seemed to send shockwaves through the very earth underfoot.

She's chasing us!

But wait- how fast could we possibly running to be clear of someone that monstrously strong?

As I regained proper use of my mental faculties, I estimated our speed at just a little over tier-two.

But how were we managing that in this state?

Molly caught my eye, and smiled.

"She did say my ability might manifest itself under 'stressful conditions'," Molly said, and it was then that I noted that there seemed to be a faint shimmering light emerging from her back.

Almost like... translucent wings, and as I activated sensory perception, I noted that a kind of energy was radiating from her, and extending to us all.

"Nathan. Six more," Lucia said, tugging at my arm a bit, and I nodded.

How do we handle this?

Fighting that woman along with six more otherworlders could get messy and fast, especially if they were hunters like the other's we'd faced.

But so far, it seemed as if the woman couldn't run much faster than speed two, so maybe we could just outrun her?

As I glanced at Bianca and Francesca, I noted that they were quite beat up, but perhaps more worryingly, Francesca seemed to have completely lost her sense of composure.

Wait; that woman said she was going to kill Francesca, didn't she?

And didn't her attacks seem to be more or less focused on her?

"Adjust course this way a bit," I said, turning the group southwards, and Molly eyed me.

"What are you up to?" she asked, and I bit my lip.

"Trying to figure out how to deal with her."

"Her strength was tier-four, Nate. And our weapons just don't reach her for some reason," Molly reasoned.

"I know; but we might not make it back to our base at our current energy levels if we have to run all the way," I said. "Keep on this course; I'll be right back."

"Nate!" Francesca called out, and I shot her a reassuring glance as I stopped, but to my dismay, the group stopped as well.

"Keep going; I'll catch up, I promise. Just stay at speed two, okay?"

Francesca didn't move, but Molly quickly snapped her out of it.

"Come on. Trust Nate, okay?" she said, pulling the girl along, as they resumed their sprint into the darkness.

I turned as I felt the presence of that woman, charging through the bushes, and as she spotted me, she stopped.

"Not the meat I'm looking for," she said. "Or are you going to get in my way?"

"Maybe I am?" I said.

"Go, Leona. We'll handle him."

I gasped, as the voice seemed to come out of nowhere, until I noted a shadow slipping towards me against the darkness of the night.

Leona ran off after the others, and I turned and ran alongside her, just about thirty or so feet to her left.

She glared at me, but she ran on nonetheless.

"Are you sure you can track them? Seems kind of hard in this darkness," I suggested, extending my threads to her as I did, and she glared at me.

"Fuck off!" she cursed, and I smirked.

"I thought all you puppets were forbidden from talking to us?" I asked, and she scoffed.

"I'm not playing the same game as the rest of those plebs," she replied, and I smiled.

"Maybe I can negotiate with you then? How many credits did Ethan offer you? I'm pretty sure we could double it? Buy yourself a nice ticket home?"

The woman laughed.

"I already told you; I'm not like these plebs. I'm after something you could never give me. Besides, maybe you should focus on not dying in the next five minutes?"

She glanced beyond me, and at the same time, I sensed something coming at me, and as I turned, I saw that shadowy figure again.

Fuck.

He was quick.

Quicker than she was for sure, but as I turned my gaze forward again, I spotted something, like a concentration of energy at a spot ahead of me, right in my path, and as my foot came down on it, I felt a stabbing pain shoot through me, and I hopped for a second, before pulling to a stop.

I readied my halberd just as the figure moved in to attack, slashing at me with a dagger, and I parried the blow, followed by three more in quick succession, but as I planted down my foot, another sharp pain shot through it, and in that moment, the man moved in again to strike.

I tried to ignore the pain, but as I moved, trying to parry his quick slashing strikes, I found myself stepping around with great trepidation, wary of another one of those ground spikes going through my foot again.

I made a sweeping slash with my halberd, then turning, I ran off at my full speed three pace, heading in the direction of the others.

As I ran, I spotted another one of those energy spikes, and as I avoided it, I suddenly realized that another one had been placed on the tree trunk I was running past, and as it went through my shoulder, I cursed.

What the fuck is that? I thought, as I rolled my shoulders and gave it a quick feel, trying to gauge whether or not any damage had been done from that energy spike, but everything felt fine despite the pain feeling as if I'd been stabbed.

Even my feet still felt sore from stepping on those things.

As I looked over my shoulder, however, I noted that I seemed to have pulled away from my pursuer, and as the energy spikes no longer appeared anywhere ahead of me, I felt hopeful that I'd outrun him.

Eventually, I spotted the others up ahead, and Francesca let out a relieved sigh as I moved to her side.

"Is she gaining on us?" she asked, and I bit my lip.

"I don't think so, but the other pursuers are faster, and we won't be able to make it back to base running flat out like this."

"Maybe I can help," Molly said, and as she did, I sensed the activation of that skill again, and a kind of lightness filled me.

We had all been running at top speed-two, and her ability easily bumped us up to almost three; but that wasn't all.

It also seemed to make my body seem lighter, draining less of my energy to run, and I shot her a thankful look as we continued on.

But less than an hour later, I started to sense the strain that activating that ability for such a long time was putting on her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Molly nodded, but I could see that she was just barely managing.

I called everyone to a stop, and Francesca shot me a panicked look.

"Why are we stopping?"

I gestured to Molly, and as she looked at the woman, Francesca nodded.

She crouched down, taking out her waterskin and taking a sip, but her eyes were fixed on the tree line behind us, and as she drank again, I saw just how shaken she was.

Everyone took a quick bite, and drank some water, then Molly nodded, and we resumed the journey.

This time, however, I asked her to hold off on activating her ability.

After all, we'd probably need that in case of a-

*Woosh*

I skidded to a halt as something tore past us, and Lucia drew her dagger, getting into a battle-ready stance.

Bianca, Francesca and Molly however, were staring at us with questioning looks.

"What's-?"

"Get down!" I yelled, and this time Bianca leapt at Francesca, knocking her over just as another woosh sounded, and Molly backed up to us, crouching low.

"Nate; there," she said, and I followed her gaze, studying the bushes intently.

As I looked at Lucia, however, I noted that the child, despite scanning the area, saw nothing.

Then I saw it.

That shimmering kind of darkness, moving against the blanket of darkness behind it.

"Look out for energy spikes," I said.

"Energy what?" Bianca asked, but I had little time to explain as Lucia yelled out, and I looked up just as two bodies charged at us out of the bushes.

I slashed at one while he charged straight at Molly, while the other made a lunge at Francesca, before both figures darted off into the woods on the opposite side, disappearing into the darkness.

They're stalling us, huh?

"We need to move," I said, keeping my voice low, and Francesca nodded.

I turned our direction south-east, away from the figure shrouded in darkness, but as we ran, I quickly realized that the other two were not only tailing us, but they were easily keeping up with the speed two pace we were moving at.

"Nate, we need to push it," Francesca said, and I shook my head.

"We'll run ourselves dry before we can get within ten miles of the base," I replied. "Let them tail us; we need to conserve energy."

"Nate. Can I try something?" Bianca asked, and I glanced at her.

"Try something?"

"Yeah, actually, me and the brat," she said, and I turned to Lucia.

The girl moved over to Bianca's side, and Bianca spoke to her in a low voice as they ran, and Lucia nodded.

"Tell me when," Bianca said, and Lucia nodded, glancing over her shoulder.

"When," she said, and I gasped as the two girls seemed to suddenly vanish; but as I came to a halt and spun around, I saw them both stabbing one of our two pursuers, Lucia plunging her dagger into the man's leg, while Bianca went for the neck.

Blood burst out from the side of his neck in spurts as she pulled the dagger out, and as the other figure, a man, I could now tell, moved in to attack them, they vanished again, appearing just in front of me, and at their urging, we took off running again.

They had moved what, ten feet; almost in an instant?

"Is that your new special skill?" I asked, and Bianca nodded, frowning a little. "What's wrong?"

"I wanted to save that move for Ethan," she said, a little glumly, and I grinned.

"Well, if we kill all of our pursuers, maybe you still can?"

She bit her lip a little, frowning.

"Maybe..." she said.

Our second tail seemed to back off after losing his attack partner, but a quick glance over my shoulder confirmed that our shadowy pursuer was still trailing us.

"Nate; how far... are we... from the base?" Francesca asked, and I studied her worriedly.

She could barely get the words out while running, and as I consulted my connection to Casey, it looked to be easily at least forty miles.

"Far," I said, not wanting to worry her too much.

As we ran, however, I tried to convey to Casey a desire for assistance, but I was fairly certain that the distance was too great for the message to get there.

How close would I need to get?

Ten miles, maybe?

Francesca's irregular breathing was a problem, though.

Not to mention that in any fight right now, she seemed likely to fall apart.

What should we do?

Running was burning energy, and if we were gonna be forced into a confrontation sooner or later, then it was better for us to fight while we were still in the condition to do so.

But if we stopped to fight and lost, then it would be over for us.

I glanced over my shoulder at shadow guy.

Something in my gut told me that he was the second most dangerous person pursuing us, after Leona, was it?

But how much distance had we put between us and her?

If we took him out, then maybe our escape would be a little bit easier.

My own weapon was pretty ineffective against his speed, and defending against his quick attacks at close range was pretty problematic.

I'd need Bianca.

Or Lucia.

As I considered signaling to Bianca, however, our pursuer backed off, turning a little way north of our heading, and I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

"Nate, I'm getting a bad feeling," Francesca said.

I activated my connection to Casey and the others, and quickly worked out that we were roughly twenty miles away.

Ten more miles.

Just ten more miles and we'd be-

"Nathan!"

Lucia had cried out, and everyone pulled up to a stop as I did, but it took little more than a look at the child to figure out what was wrong.

"How many?"

"Four, Nathan."

I nodded.

"We're ploughing through. Molly, get a read on them as soon as you can."

We advanced, the group moving cautiously with me at first, but as soon as we were within sight, I raised my halberd, and we charged.

"Tier two!" Molly yelled out, and I smiled.

"Don't hold back!"

They were ready for us, and I charged straight on at the first person I saw; a large-ish man wielding an axe.

He lifted it up and readied for a swing, which I easily evaded, before slicing through his throat with the bladed tip of my halberd.

Three more bodies burst out of the darkness as a second fighter charged at me trying to slash at me with a sword, and I evaded the stroke, before cutting through his hands, then turning around, I spotted a warrior with his back to me as he faced off with Molly, and I stuck the bladed tip of my halberd through the back of his leg, giving Molly the change to stab through his neck from above.

Bianca and Lucia had quickly moved to take on the newcomers, but Francesca was still engaged with her quarry; a woman wielding a spear, and not all that skillfully either, but as I watched, I quickly realized that Francesca was taking extra steps every time she sidestepped, and attacking with much less conviction than she normally did, allowing the woman to parry despite her seeming inferior fighting ability, and counter attack Francesca's advances as well.

"That one's really shook," Molly said, and I nodded, walking over to the man with the severed arms who was screaming and writhing on the floor, and silencing him with a stab through the neck.

As Bianca and Lucia took care of the other three, however, the girl engaged with Francesca suddenly cried out, and I gasped as I sensed a new power surging through her.

I quickly activated my paralysis skill, and as she went down on one knee, Francesca stabbed her through the armpit, pulling the spear from the spot and then finishing her off with a stab through the neck.

Her hands, however, were shaking as she moved away from the body.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She nodded.

"We should move," she said, and I nodded in response.

There was no time to even strip armor away anymore, but no sooner had we begun to sprint than a bellowing call echoed through the woods towards us, and Francesca's eyes went wide.

"I-It can't be! How can she be here already?"

Her eyes were already tearing up as we ran, and as her step faltered, she stumbled onto a root and went tumbling to the ground.

I helped her up, but her knees were shaking now.

"Come on. We're almost home, okay?"

We ran again, but Francesca was a mess, struggling to keep up, stumbling a lot, and by the time I called them to a stop, she was hyperventilating.

"Okay, someone take her spear?"

"Got it," Molly said, and I shot her a thankful nod as I picked Francesca up and slung her over my shoulder.

"Mind activating that-?"

"Already done," Molly said, cutting me off, and I smiled as her aura had indeed already begun to surround us.

We took off again, but after running for less than five minutes, Francesca began to squirm.

"Nate! She's coming! They're coming!"

Lucia shot me a worried look, and I nodded, calling the group to a stop.

"How many?" I asked, and Lucia stared off into the distance, doing a quick count.

"Ten?" she said, seeming uncertain, and I cursed as I set Francesca down.

"Can't we just plow through them again?" Molly asked, and I shook my head.

"Every newbie we kill is probably powering up the hunters chasing us, and if Raul isn't back yet, then killing ten could make them a threat to our camp," I said.

Everyone was panting, and as I set Francesca down and took a look around, trying to work out what to do, Lucia tugged at my hand.

"Nathan. Lucia can make it past," the girl said. "Evil gods don't care about Lucia, and Lucia is too weak to hurt strong ones."

I stared at her.

"Are you sure you know how to get there?"

She nodded.

"Lucia can sense papa's tree."

She deactivated the arm guard on her forearm as she spoke, and I eyed her.

That was the endurance piece, wasn't it?

She was making plans to conserve energy, but would she really be able to make it, pushing herself like that?

I didn't like it.

Part of me would rather leave everyone behind and flee to safety with Lucia right now than risk her life for us, but as she tugged my hand, I went down onto one knee, and to my surprise, she hugged me, and kissed me on the cheek.