Bloodfang Chronicles - Dotb Ch. 02

Chuckling softly, the rodent-like creature reverses her grip on the dagger, the point facing downwards as she scurries up the tree, her voice lowered to throw off the larger wolfess. "A sheltered noble, playing soldier on a battlefield. Summon anything you want, I'll just kill them too."

She manages to climb high enough to avoid detection when Kura quickly steps out from behind the tree, her gun pointed to where her opponent used to be, and she cautiously takes a few steps forwards. Kura's eyes widen in alarm as she realizes she has lost sight of her partner in battle, and she cries out in pain a moment later as a dagger stabs into her leg. Looking down, she realizes what happened as her gaze meets the lens covered eyes of the Mauser who is currently climbing up her body using both the dagger lodged in her leg, and her armor.

"Then, I'll send your severed head back to your family before I kill them too!" she screams with a crazed grin, soon making her way up Kura's body and onto her back, the larger woman falling to a knee from her wound, likely cut to the bone. "Sounds like fun, doesn't it!? Do you think they'll beg me to let them live? Oh, I love when they do that!"

Lifting her now bloody dagger and grasping Kura's armor, she looks down at her quarry, savoring the feeling of taking another's life for a moment before she brings the dagger down, the sound of metal piercing flesh, and blood spilling heard in the air.

With tears in her eyes, Kura screams in pain, fear, and rage as the hand she sacrificed to stop a killing blow squeezes shut around the grip of the dagger, and the hand of the Mauser. Her arm whips forwards, pulling her opponent off of her, slamming her into the ground and driving the air from her lungs. Giving the more experienced combatant no time to recover, Kura brings her pistol down on the side of her head, dazing and further stunning her as she squeezes harder.

"Y-you're going to eat those words," Kura says with a growl as she aims her pistol at the center of mass, and squeezes the trigger. Blood spurts from the Mauser's chest as three bullets tear through her, her body jerking with each shot as she feels the fatal damage weakening her body.

With wheezing breaths, the Mauser looks up at Kura, her jaws opening wide as she lunges towards the arm holding her down. With a yelp of surprise, Kura tenses, and another shot rings out as the trigger is squeezed again, the bullet tearing through the wounded rodent's neck and quickly ending her life.

"...d-damn...that r-really hurts," Kura mutters to herself, giving a whimper as her hand relaxes around the dagger, pulling it back enough to tug it from the corpse's fingers. Holstering her pistol, she squeezes her eyes shut before grasping the handle of the dagger and slowly inching the length of steel from her hand, whimpering again and shedding a few tears of pain as she feels steel rubbing against her wounded flesh. "If I h-hadn't thought to bring those healing p-potions, I would be in serious trouble."

Concentrating her magic in her hand, Kura summons a bullet into her hand, then loads it into the pistol. She takes a deep breath in before a shaky sigh escapes her, pointing the barrel of the gun at her injured leg before firing. The bullet seems to pass right through her armor, leaving it undamaged but quickly healing the wound, the flesh knitting itself back together.

"Kind of sucks that I can only do that a few times a day though. Ugh...I'll need to see a real healer after this," she says with a soft chuckle, shaking slightly as the adrenaline begins to wear off. Sparing a glimpse at the body before continuing, she mentally notes to herself to return after the battle is over to collect her spoils "That rifle will definitely be nice. Can't wait to see you again and rub it in, hehe."

As she begins to make her way back towards the main battle, Kura feels a shiver run down her spine, as though someone is watching her. Her head turns a bit to look around at the trees and wall of natural stone nearby, hoping to spot the hidden watcher, and she soon spots a cave entrance, a pair of slitted green eyes glaring back out at her. A moment later, a crossbow bolt rockets out of the cave, bouncing off of Kura's armor, and shattering the wooden shaft, which sends splinters flying into the air.

"D-damn it, not now! Fine then, if you want me to shoot you, I will!" she shouts, aiming her gun towards the cave entrance before firing, causing the mystery creature to retreat into the cave. Kura quirks a brow at the odd behaviour, taking cover behind a tree and waiting in silence for a few moments as she observes the entrance, seeing no movement.

"...this isn't normal. Usually, a bandit would have done at least something by now. Are...they guarding something?" she says with a soft grin forming on her face. "Maybe It's where they're keeping their treasure. Hehe, I bet they have some good stuff with a crew this big."

Walking closer to the cave entrance, Kura keeps her pistol aimed forwards in case the mystery shooter pokes their head out to try and spot her, her ears perked and alert for possible danger. Staying as silent as she can, she enters the cave, her steps echoing softly in the otherwise quiet cave.

"Did they...move further in? Looks like there's another roo- Agh!"

Kura falls forwards a bit as she feels something solid and heavy hit her leg, stumbling a bit before a blow hits her in the back, angry snarling heard from her attacker. Stepping forwards, she turns and fires a shot that misses the now revealed attacker, her red and white fur, along with her long, narrow muzzle revealing her race.

The Lenrian lets out a feral shriek, her crossbow stock held in both hands as she swings again, Kura narrowly avoiding the blow as she steps back further into the cave, her weapon raising. Kura's opponent snarls and throws the crossbow that the fox-like woman was wielding at her, the object sailing over her head as she quickly ducks towards the ground.

"Stop looking at meeeee! Get out! Die! Die! Die!" the Lenrian shrieks out at the top of her lungs, the clearly unhinged female lunging forwards with claws out and swinging at her larger target. Her claws find purchase on nothing but steel, Kura's armor rendering the attacks entirely ineffective as she pulls an arm back and squarely punches the smaller creature across the jaw.

The blow sends her stumbling back, unable to recover her swimming vision fast enough to avoid the bullets that tear through her unarmored chest, the blood seen leaking from the wounds by the nocturnal canine as clearly as if they were standing in direct sunlight. The bandit falls to the floor, choking and gasping on the blood filling her lungs, her eyes filled with pain, rage, and insanity.

Reaching towards Kura with a tensed hand and a weakened snarl, Kura's expression briefly changes to sympathy before she aims the gun at the Lenrian's head, and pulls the trigger, silencing the deranged woman for good with an echoing crack. Panting in a combination of adrenaline, annoyance, and a healthy amount of fear, Kura lowers her weapon and walks further into the cave.

"This is getting ridiculous... How many of these damned bandits are going to fight instead of just surrendering?" Kura questions with a soft growl of frustration, her gun aiming down the tunnel as she travels deeper inside.

Upon entering a second chamber of the cave, her eyes widen at the sight of the glittering gems that are growing from the walls, the light shining through the roof of the cave causing the entire room to glow softly in a myriad of colors. With a breathless sigh, she takes a few moments to enjoy the view as she takes a few steps further inside, deducing that there is no one hiding in the brightly lit room.

"That's...definitely out of place," she remarks with a quirked brow, looking over the carved marble lectern that sits in the center of the room, her armored paws causing soft clinking noises to sound out in the air. She takes a moment to consider why the lectern is currently empty, as objects of this nature are often used to hold books or other items that one wishes to display to house guests or visitors.

"It's been used...and recently," she comments as she brushes her fingers over the smooth surface, very little dust having had the chance to rest on it. "Looks like they got to it before I could. Well...I'll remember the location of this cave and report what I found, or didn't find in this case."

With a soft sigh, Kura turns and begins to make her way out of the cave, sparing a glance at the Lenrian corpse as she passes it on her way outside. Upon exiting, she notices that the sounds of battle have died down, and a few cheers can be heard closer to the main encampment. Chuckling softly, she makes her way back to the others, her soft limp obvious to the average observer.

"Nice of you to join us! You alright over there, Lady Kura?" calls a familiar voice, and Kura's head turns to lay eyes on the one speaking to her. Lieutenant Corvus' face greets her, and she smiles at him as she takes a few steps closer to the experienced warrior.

"Nothing besides some...unforeseen injuries at the hands of the bandits. I will need to see a healer later, but it is nothing life threatening."

His smile grows, and he looks over the scrapes and scratches that now adorn her armor, his trained eye seeing that she did indeed do battle. A proud look in his eyes, he looks up at Kura, and gives a nod. "I agree with your assessment, you definitely came out better than some of us," he says with a glance over at the laid out bodies of his allies, the death toll on their side numbering a total of five out of twenty five.

"The loss of life on our side is my responsibility... I will accept whatever punishment father deems acceptable for me," Kura says with a soft sigh, having hoped to get her entrusted troops out alive and whole. A hand resting on her shoulder startles her a bit, looking into the softly smiling face of Corvus.

"You did what you could, Kura. You're not going to be able to save everyone, you know. We know what we signed up for, and what we fight for. Dying in defense of Vamprica is something that every one of us considers an honor. You led us well, despite the losses."

She stares into his eyes for a few moments, looking for any deceit or pity, but finds none, causing a soft smile to grow on her face. Chuckling softly, she shakes her head a bit, then pats Corvus' helmet, a soft clunk heard.

"Thank you, my friend. You always seem to know just what to say, don't you?" Kura asks, earning a soft, almost melancholic smile in return.

"I've been doing this job long enough to know what you're going through right now. Those emotions, the questioning. 'Did I do the right thing? Could I have saved more?' It's pointless to dwell on mistakes and what-ifs. All we can do is live with what happened, learn from it, and hope the dead are resting peacefully."

Somewhat shocked by the rationale that her old friend has on the subject, it takes her a moment to respond, having needed to recollect her wits before speaking. "Those are wise words, Corvus. On a somewhat different subject, what of the bandit's treasure? Have we secured what was stolen?"

Nodding his head, he points at a pair of large carts that the bandits seemed to be in possession of, crates and chests seen loaded onto them. The horses that draw the carriages seem to be a bit malnourished, but otherwise well taken care of, and they seem almost excited at the prospect of travelling again. "Yup. Collected everything we could find, and loaded it all up. We also collected and searched the bodies, and gathered what was valuable or salvageable. Was that you that killed that Mauser near the cave?"

"Mm, I did. She is the reason I require a healer, in fact. In honesty...I did not expect to survive that battle," Kura says with a soft shiver, and Corvus retracts his hand from her shoulder, his eyes meeting hers.

"But you did, and your opponent did not. That is a blessing in my book, and it was a good kill."

A squawk of joy brings Kura's eyes to her favourite flying companion, Greedyguts seen bounding towards her with energetic flaps of his wings. Chuckling at the sight of the overactive hybrid, she turns to face him and opens her arms wide.

"Come here, boy! You did such a good job!" she says with a cheerful smile, embracing the gryphon as he reaches her, slowing enough to not tackle her to the floor. Nuzzling against his cheek, she gives a soft murr, then pulls back from the hug. "Get some rest, and try not to get sick from overeating, hehe. You did good, buddy."

Greedyguts gives a happy trill, returning the nuzzle with closed eyes, showing his trust for her. She pats the side of his head, then concentrates her magic in the palm of her hand, the gryphon slowly vanishing from the ground up as she returns his soul to Sinca's realm.

"Are you ready to go?" Corvus asks, an amused smirk on his face from witnessing the tall noble act so carefree in public.

With a final look around the camp, Kura nods in the affirmative, and Corvus calls for everyone to begin preparations to depart. The carts loaded, their dead gathered, and the captives freed, the group of soldiers and their Countess then begin to make their way back home, the dirt road stretching far into the distance. Despite the peace and joy found after a victorious battle, Kura finds her mind is in a state of unrest, going over the events that played out today, with one question repeated more than any other.

'Just what was I meant to find there?'