Blood & Carrots - Silverpaw Ep. 07

The white fox nodded as we held hands and gave me a smile. "Let's give 'em hell and make them earn it!"

We both summoned our flames then like that, the sheep was before us, standing down the whole group that had trained guns upon us. There was a wave of her hand and dozens more soldiers poured forth to draw their weapons upon the ones standing across from us. We both saw the shock and fear in the acolyte's eyes, seeing their own brothers in arms now standing as a shield before us.

"These cretins seek to do you all harm, my knights. Defend yourselves!" Lorelai spat the words out, a sadistic grin showing on her face, then all hell broke loose.

The dominated acolytes opened fire and several of their brothers fell before they realized what had happened and returned fire upon their former comrades. In the ensuing chaos, the three of us slipped from the courtyard. Elias pulled away and hunted down the snipers while I and Lorelai weaved through the maelstrom of combat, cutting down all those before us, saber and katana in hand.

The battle carried on and when the dust finally cleared the three of us had thoroughly razed the entire complex, hundreds dead at our hands. We slipped into the darkness as the region's actual military was deploying, obviously responding as if it were a terror attack. The whole thing had lasted not even half an hour.

"Do you feel better, my lady?" Elias spoke out as we ran through the outlying countryside.

"Hardly... we've struck at one of their arteries but they need to keenly feel the blade of retribution. An hour from here is their largest cathedral in the region, that is our next target." Lorelai spat the words out, the katana slung over her shoulder, hanging at her back behind her. Given the small stature of the sheep, the large curved blade might as well have been a claymore, the length of the blade nearly half her body height.

"By the way... that blade looks familiar." I showed Lorelai a grin as we moved through the darkness.

She gave me a nod in response. "Indeed it should. It was that stupid angel's before you and I killed him. I felt it appropriate to use a divine blade on our hunt."

#

We made our way to the large cathedral and wasted no time setting it aflame and butchering every clergy member and acolyte there. Another several dozen fell to the three of us before we slipped into the night once more.

"The sun is a few hours from rising. We should move to the nearest small town and take refuge in an inn for the day." Lorelai spoke the words as we walked through the small cluster of trees and brambles, the activity taking me back to our treks through the wilderness of China.

The three of us paused as we heard a faint whistling in the air. We all shared a look, our eyes wide as we scattered in all directions right as a mortar fell upon our location, exploding and leaving a huge crater in the earth. I huffed out as I climbed from the dirt only to hear more whistles in the air. They say you never hear the one that gets you, but they never had enhanced hearing, so I just assumed every one was going to get me and kept fleeing through the trees.

"Fuck... gods be damned... how?!" I snarled the words to myself, darting through the trees as explosions continued to rain down. They were falling well at a pace of six per volley and I could only fathom how they were tracking us in such dense woods. The three of us separated but I dared not call out to them, from concern I would draw more attention.

Sensing her energy at last after several minutes of dodging and skulking around, I found Lorelai with a pant on my breath. "Gods... how are they tracking us so easily?!" I hissed the words as we came upon each other. I found myself in her arms, hugging her briefly before we parted.

"I have a feeling that's not mundane manning that artillery," Lorelai whispered the words to me, then both our ears lifted as another whistle filled the air. The sheep grabbed my wrist and darted away with me as another crater was left behind.

"Fucking celestials! I thought they were staying out of this shit?!" I barked the words furiously as we ran through the forest, then my ears lifted as I heard shouting from deep in the night.

"You cowards couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, come face me properly!" The words were Elias, he roared them out at the top of his lungs before several more explosions started raining down towards the sound of his voice.

"Eli-" I called out in shock before Lorelai shoved her hand over my mouth and pulled me down to her.

"Hush! He is drawing them!" She hissed the words in a faint whisper before pulling her hand from my mouth.

"I know! We have to help him!" I snarled the words furiously, my teeth showing in a glare.

"We will help him by finding the artillery, Elias knows what he is doing. With me!" Lorelai spoke the words with a command in her tone before grabbing my wrist and pulling me along. I whimpered as I heard more taunting from my husband and more explosions, his voice growing distant.

We came upon a group of three artillery cannons and three soldiers manning them. They were obviously not mundane given the speed and accuracy of their loading. Not to mention such machinery usually took a small crew to man, not a single being.

"They are third class knights... by the gods, I can't believe they are stupid enough to interfere in this..." Lorelai hissed the words as she slowly drew the large curved blade from her back.

"Let's draw and quarter them, we can sort the details out later!" I barked the words, drawing my saber and fully loaded revolver.

"I can handle them with ease, you watch my back." Lorelai showed me a grin and I gave her a nod.

The sheep blurred from sight with impossible speed. Two of the three celestials were already disemboweled from clean sweeping slashes of her katana before the third had time to draw their sword. Lorelai gave the angel a bored huff before blurring forward and taking the soldier's head clean off their shoulders.

"Damn... you're so great, my lady..." I spoke the words with admiration, my tail wagging as I joined her.

"Hum... We aren't done, you feel that, yes?" She cut her eyes up towards me and I nodded before we both darted to the side as the very earth was impacted by a massive slam that left nearly a three-yard crater in the ground. Dirt, rock, and the remains of the nearby siege weapon clattered to the ground as the large winged woman reeled back a massive warhammer and shouldered it.

"Using your troops as bait? How very like your lot." I barked the words as I leveled my revolver towards the massive woman that stood between me and Lorelai.

"Nay, I only just arrived. However, you two will pay dearly for your crimes this night." The angel shifted her black eyes between me and Lorelai, her wiry tail flicking in agitation. She had long platinum blonde hair like Rachel and Toroah, a theme I was starting to notice with some of their kind. Her wings were large, the tips brushing the ground like the last archangel we had crossed paths with.

"Why don't you go back to your barn, the adults have work to do," Lorelai growled the words dryly while setting her stance, the curved blade still covered in divine blood.

The angel's large folded ears lifted, showing the black spots dotting the white of them. Her teeth showed as she glared at the sight of the sword before setting her own stance. "You will not talk down to me, abomination. Hagen was the youngest of us, do not overestimate yourself."

"So I stand corrected, you're all a bunch of children. Go back to your pasture and graze, maybe I won't declare full-on war for this and wipe your kind off the face of the planet." Lorelai spat the words, her knees bending.

"Seriously... You're a sheep and you make racist barnyard jokes towards me?" The cow snarled the words, her wings snapping outward before she simply blurred from sight.

Lorelai sidestepped as another massive impact struck the earth near her, this time the crater smaller as the bovine woman had followed through and was proceeding to swing her hammer in skilled strokes as easily as if it were a shortsword. Divine steel clashed in the night, sending off radiant blue sparks as the katana and hammer met again and again.

I sighed and shrugged, seeing I had been ignored once again. "Fine... it's always like this, isn't it?" I grumbled the words as I casually walked towards them and waited until the angel took to the air once more. Like with the fallen one as soon as she lifted off I fanned the hammer of my revolver, putting the entire chamber into her back.

The archangel howled in fury but didn't collapse, simply deviating her flightpath before bringing the hammer down on top of me instead. I gave her a grin as I hopped back, not foolish enough to try to parry divine steel with a normal saber. She reared back the hammer to strike and I casually opened up a lance of hellfire, point-blank into her face.

She cried out before she stumbled back from the unholy foxfire then screamed in both pain and fury as Lorelai raked the katana into her back, barely missing cleaving her wing fully off as she stumbled to evade the brunt of the strike.

"Huff... huff... you pests... I am archangel, Samantha... I will not be humiliated by the likes of you!" The cow sneered as she opened her palm and I saw the light gathering, the little trump card the celestials always used coming to play.

"Sarnai, behind me!" Lorelai spoke the words in commandment as she stood between me and Samantha.

"Unholy abominations, cower before the light of the divines!" Samantha cried the words out proudly as she launched the sphere into the air.

#

"I'm sorry... you must be out of your mind if you think I will help you in such an endeavor!" The platinum-haired fox shouted at me, her teeth showing in a scowl, her arms folded over her chest.

"I am mad, as you know," I growled the words and gave a shrug. "Regardless you owe me so fucking much, Rachel. I've piled the favors upon you time and again, the knowledge is a minor return of them at this point."

"You ask me to aid you in a way to counter my people's greatest defense against your kind!" She snarled the words, her fists clenched.

"I simply ask you to help me test a few theories on it. Nothing more..." My shoulders shrugged and my tail lazily flicked about as I cut the angel a coy grin. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"You use it to strike me down along with my loved ones." She grumbled the words dryly and folded her arms.

"Hmm... fair..." I put a finger to my cheek. "Very well... who are your loved ones? I will swear not to use it upon you or them."

The angelic fox blushed as her hands moved to her hips. "I... I care about all of my kinsmen."

"So do I, including the one whose head you removed," I growled the words putting my own hands upon my hips.

The other fox frowned and jerked her gaze away. "That was not of my doing, I had no control and you know that!"

"Indeed, but it was your sword and body that did it. Out with it, angel. Will you or won't you help me?" I snarled the words, feeling my agitation at this exchange building quickly.

"If it will make us even, then... swear you will not use it upon Toroah and Ichiro." Rachel barked the words with a frown on her face.

I nodded and flicked my tail. "Fine... I Sarnai Silverpaw, swear upon my power, that any knowledge I garner from these little tests, will not be used upon you or them." I huffed out and ran my fingertips through my raven hair and gave the other fox a lazy look. "Satisfied?"

Rachel gave me a sharp nod and took a breath through her nose. "Very well... what do you want me to do?"

"I simply wish you to summon your light in various degrees of strength, I wish to test things against it... I wish to find out what will work, or not work, without being locked in mortal combat with your kind." Black flames erupted from my fingertips as I showed my sharp canines in a mad grin.

#

The now-familiar light came forth, it was more intense than Rachel's which stood to reason. I still felt woozy and sick but held my stance. "Do not shield me, I am fine!" I barked out the words to Lorelai as we both leaped away from the mighty impact of the warhammer that crashed down before us.

Samantha snarled furiously as we dodged, the three of us basked in the holy light above. "Impossible! You monstrosities should be on your knees!" She spat the words out, swinging the hammer in a wide arc, the sheer force of the swing sending a wave of pressure out that made us both take a step back.

I huffed and set my stance but felt my knees starting to weaken, I wasn't on the same level as Lorelai, my willpower could only handle so much. I locked my legs and readied my saber as the angel seemed to take notice in my stance and lunged for me.

"D-Damn it!" I barked the words as she sprang forward, the hammer moving in one of those upwards swings as if she were ready to strike me like a ball in that one game I saw in Scotland years ago.

Right as the impact was to land, Lorelai roared in fury and came down in a wide slash with her own weapon. Samantha pivoted from the blow and my eyes widened as the hammer slammed into the sheeps chest. I clearly heard the breaking and crunching of several bones as she scattered backward, carving a large swath of the earth up in her wake, tumbling nearly a dozen yards.

"Lorelai!" I screamed her name and was atop her in a blink. She shuddered and blinked up at me, her brown eyes shifting erratically before focusing on me. The combat armor she wore concealed the damage but the injuries were obvious.

"G-get this fucking vest off me..." The sheep hissed the words and I did as she commanded, pulling the combat armor off, the plates and weave were dented and had been inhibiting her body to heal. Her chest and stomach beneath her top was obviously mangled, large spots of blood starting to show in the fabric of her clothes.

"Gods... Lorelai..." I barked the words, my panic showing as I held her head in my lap.

"The gods have no intention to listen to you, monsters," The cow snarled the words as she shouldered her hammer and casually walked over to us. She knew Lorelai was the stronger of the two of us, and she had already won.

"Sarnai... I can't heal this in time, she can't outrun you. Find Elias and flee." Lorelai coughed the words and gave me a strong look, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth now.

I lowered my head and gave a bitter laugh. "You are wonderful my sheep, but so damn stupid sometimes... as if I would leave you..." I sighed and shook my head, reaching to my hip for the small flask of blood I had brought. I passed it to her and gently lowered her to the ground. "Drink that, I will take care of the rest."

The archangel gave me a genuinely amused grin as I stood weakly in the light she had placed above us, my knees obviously shaking to stand. "Oh you poor thing, you've lost your mind in the face of death, haven't you?"

I grinned and held my left hand out, palm open. "Oh no, I lost my mind a long time ago." I clenched my hand into a fist, black flames rolling off it, my ears folding and my tail drooping. "All the same... you've hurt the sheep whom I love, you're paying for this in blood."

The walls came fully down in that moment. I had only given the power in me full reign once, but even then there was a faint restraint of it, never did I let the power roam completely free, but I would lose myself before I lost her. The demons poured their power into me, the destructive nature of my hellfire coming to full glorious fruition. My flames shifted to blood red, my eyes blazing like a blacksmiths forge. I gave the cow a wild hungry grin as I thrust my hand upwards, my own sphere of red flames pushing into the air near hers.

The flames turned in on themselves and formed a vortex of heat and darkness that slowly pulled the radiant light into it, devouring it and leaving us in an eerie red haze.

"Your little tricks won't save you, fox!" Samantha spat the words before she summoned more of her light, a sphere ten times the size of my own, and launched it into the air once more. The vortex of hellfire had the same effect and simply dragged the divinity slowly into it, devouring the radiance and casting us in red light once more.

"Ha... sorry Samantha... guess you should have made friends with more people in your family!" I barked the words and brandished my saber, red flames rolling off the blade before I blurred towards the archangel.

Hammers are powerful until you need to defend yourself with them, then they are clunky and unwieldy, especially against a smaller faster weapon at close range. Sparks flew as I struck out with my saber, again and again, the cow retreating back, holding the hammer in both hands, parrying blows with the shaft of the weapon.

"How... did you... you're too fast!" She shouted the words and lunged forward, trying to slam her head into my own. I showed her a toothy grin as I stepped back, evading the blow.

"You call that a headbutt?" I barked and pounced atop the cow, my fingers of my free hand digging into her divine flesh at her shoulder as I slammed my forehead square on with hers. She yelped out at the blow and I clashed our heads together again. "This... is... a fucking... headbutt!" I shouted the words, slamming my forehead into her own again and again before hearing her nose break. She staggered back, blood pouring down her mouth and chin, obviously dazed.

Stars filled my vision but I felt no pain, the monsters in me keeping me numb. I showed Samantha a wide grin full of joy as I dragged my tongue over my bloody fingers, then I set my saber. "Try harder cow... I want to enjoy this..."

"How... my power..." She huffed the words and reinforced the grip on her hammer, shaking her head to clear her vision.

"Don't you know a girl never gives away her secrets? Suffice to say it's a trick to counter the bullshit you celestials do, and I don't even have to maintain it. Sure it takes massive amounts of my energy, but when I'm opening the tap like this..." I huff and flick my ears before blurring from sight once more.

The angel yelped out as I struck her hammer several times before my saber slashed into her belly, hip, and thighs. The hellfire raked over her flesh as I struck, sealing the wounds before they could bleed. Samantha fell back after several more exchanges, panting now, her ears lifted high as she gripped her hammer tightly and showed a grimace at my sneering grin.

"Not to worry cow... when I'm done with you, I will wipe out thousands of your flock, then I will make the heavens run with celestial blood. It can fall to the lands as a crimson rain!" I barked the words madly as my tail wagged furiously, my eyes cutting over to see Lorelai had found her feet, the blood having sped up her healing.

Samantha shook her head before glaring upon me and springing up off the ground, taking flight for a dive attack. I lifted my ears and hopped off the ground, intercepting her in mid-flight. The angel gave me a shocked gasp as I grabbed her in mid-air and laughed out before shoving my palms to her wings, letting my hellfire pour forth. The flames burned her feathers to ash leaving only the charred bone frame of her wings behind.

Needless to say we both tumbled out of the air from that attack. I grabbed the cow by her platinum hair, driving her chest first into the earth from the fall, my knee in her back. Samantha cried out from the massive impact, her hammer falling away across the burned grass.

"This isn't fun anymore..." I snarled the words as I rolled her over and wrapped her platinum hair in my fist, wrenching her head up and baring her throat. "Go to your gods and send Hagen my regards!" I flashed my teeth and plunged them into the angel's throat, feeling her blood erupt into my mouth and drinking deeply of her.