Fowlhunter [GL]

In the low tunnel, Jemi had broken through a drape of cobwebs. Now, she saw the spider that had owned them, scuttling across the ceiling. Its red eyes glowed ominously in the dark.

“Hey. Sorry about your web. Care to lend me a hand?” she asked it.

The spider’s pedipalps clicked.

“Hmm… suit yourself. It’s not like you have eight of them, or anything.”

Jemi looked back to see the Warden’s two comrades come rushing at her. No time to finish him off, then. Stomping on the hilt of his fallen sword, the luminarial gold weapon flipped up into the air, and she caught it with her free hand. She used it to deflect a spray of Soleki beams—before dashing straight at the two Wardens. A surge of Lunaki sent her curving past them, golden sword slashing, while the angels hurtled on due to their momentum.

Jemi burst out from under the bridge. She stole a glance at how Ennanis was doing. With six Wardens on her tail, she wasn’t doing too hot. Multiple grazing burns raked across her body—no vital wounds yet, but the angel wouldn’t be able to deflect the rapid hail of Soleki for much longer.

Distantly, Jemi wondered why she hadn’t taken off her armbraces. The angel had relied upon that for an extra Soleki boost in dire situations at least two times now—once when the Cockatrice had been on the brink of annihilating all of the Graveyard Division, and second when she had blown up Amethyst Mountain. Both times, she had ignored the enormous risk to her wrists—so why not now?

Had the angel finally learnt her lesson? But knowing Ennanis’ stubbornness, Jemi thought it an unlikely story.

The air shifted, warm all of a sudden. Jemi turned to see the two Wardens back for her. This time, however, they weren’t firing anymore. Wings folded, they walked toward her, robes swishing, their white linen bloodstained by the glancing slashes she’d scored on each of them. These two were draped by the yellow sashes of only Commanders, while the one behind had worn the black of a General.

“At ease, miss,” one of the Wardens said, holding up her hands. “We are not here to fight you.”

Jemi gave them a pointed look.

“It was you who attacked us first,” justified the other. Wardens were taught to eliminate anyone that could be a threat, rather than give benefit of the doubt and pay the price for mistaken judgement. Jemi thus found this turn of events amusing. Only after she’d come close to killing one of their superiors, now the Wardens wanted to try talking.

The first Warden went on. She gestured at Ennanis, twirling through the air. “Human, please understand. That angel over there is a traitor to the angel kingdom. We’re simply bringing her back for punishment.”

“A traitor?” Jemi chuckled. “After everything she’s done to protect your Mount Casca? She’s done nothing but follow Emperor Prometheus’ orders to investigate the Kraken, hasn’t she? Just what treasonous thing has she done—do you even know?”

The two Wardens exchanged looks. One explained, “The angel Commander Zoleil has continually defied orders from Wardens during her service in the Graveyard Division. Most recently, in the Battle for the Fifth Peak, her actions led to the loss of five thousand angels.”

“Okay.” Jemi nodded along. “Were either of you there, on the mountain at night?”

“No, but that was the report of what happened-”

Jemi rolled her eyes. “Stars above. Just admit you have no idea what happened.”

“Pardon, young human, but you haven’t any idea either,” said the Warden matter-of-factly. “I don’t know what’s your relation to Zoleil, but please stop getting in our way. We’re just here to do a job, and no matter what you do, we’ll get her sooner or later. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, really,” Jemi snorted.

“Lightning bug,” Ennanis was shouting from over yonder, “I could use some help!”

“Give me a second!” Jemi answered her. So she levelled that angel’s gold sword in her hand at the two commanders, who stared back in shock of her audacity.

“Lemme tell you something,” she maintained. “Ennanis has done more for angels, more for humanity, than any of you bootsucking birdbrains have in your whatever-hundred years of existence. If Ennanis is a traitor for doing so, then maybe your cause was rotten to begin with. Ever think about that?”

Ennanis’ voice interrupted: “You know what you have to do! I’ll be waiting, chickling!”

What an idiot, Jemi thought to herself. Meanwhile, she saw the angel she’d stabbed earlier emerging from the underbridge. There was no more perfect moment.

With a clatter, Jemi threw down the sword at the two Wardens’ feet, to their perplexed looks. Jemi spread out her hands.

“Also, none of you are getting your hands on her. Because,” she said, as silver waves roared in the air around her, overpowering the rush of the canal water. The Wardens’ eyes grew wider and wider as the woman revealed her true form—the Cockatrice, snarling in their faces:

“-That angel’s my kill.”

In the next second, all nine Wardens stopped attacking. As the Cockatrice ran, ricocheted off the bridge, and leapt past each’s widened eyes, their petrified bodies fell from the air, some hitting the concrete and breaking apart on impact, others splashing into the canal and sinking below the depths.

When it was done, Jemi’s left eye strobed, strobed, then dimmed at last. Then her gown melted away, leaving her as a human once again.

Only Ennanis, who’d had her eyes closed, was spared. Gently, the rose-haired angel reopened them, and angled her feathery wings as she circled down from the sky. She stumbled upon landing. As predicted, she’d sustained many more injuries from the time when she’d robbed herself of sight. But, quick as ever, she reached out, gathering Soleki into bandages of light, smoothing them over herself. More Soleki mending.

Mutely, Ennanis offered her a hand. Jemi batted her away, pulling out her own first aid supplies.

The first thing she reached for was not gauze, but a pill capsule.

If her pain hadn’t been bad when she’d just woken up, it had now returned, after all that fighting. Jemi didn’t take these in front of people, usually, but now she needed them too much to care. She swallowed them dry and repocketed the capsule. She then went on to her other first aid supplies.

Ennanis’ slit-gold eyes lingered on her, but on Jemi’s pointed glare, the angel shrugged and went back to her business.

As they dressed their wounds, Ennanis said, “...As you can see, I wasn’t kidding about the Wardens. There’s bound to be more like them, too.”

“Great. What does that have to do with me?” Jemi poured saltwater over her scrapes.

“I need people who I can trust.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re hopelessly stupid?”

“No, but someone did tell me once that I was real charming.”

Jemi unpeeled and stuck on a series of plasters aggressively, before pulling her stockings back up. They were ripped, but would hold for now.

“You need my help, too, if you want to find your friends,” Ennanis put forth.

At that, Jemi started to consider it. It was true, but…

Before she could reply, something swooped from somewhere above the bridge. It was someone with wings.

Jemi jumped to her feet, alarmed. “There’s still more of them?”

Ennanis opened her mouth, but they were interrupted by a deafening screech: HRESHHHHHH!

As it got closer, they realised it was no angel, but a creature with huge leathery wings. It crashed into the canal, spraying water. It had the body of a gigantic bat, a wingspan just as wide as Ennanis’. It had the smooth, hairless face of a human female, but with monstrous eyes that blazed silver.

Ennanis backed off, wincing at the sonic screech. But Jemi recognised the creature.

“Rucie?” Jemi asked, though she was stuttering. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” the harpy hissed shrilly, its wings beating the wind louder and louder. “WHAT’S WRONG? YOU, COCKATRICE— YOU KILLED MY SISTER! YOU KILLED MY SISTER, CASSIA!”

Violet eyes widened, pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

Rucie swooped at Jemi talons first. The gold-haired woman didn’t move, seemingly too deep in her shock. Before Rucie could slice Jemi’s face to ribbons, Ennanis raised her hand and sent Soleki lancing through the air, a golden, scything hook that hauled the Beast back and slammed her into the opposite canal wall.

Snarling—human lips split by a mouthful of fangs—Rucie shook herself off. She flared leathery wings, glaring at the angel commander, then at Jemi.

“TRAAAAAITOR,” she rasped. “TWO-FACED. DOUBLE-CROSSER. HE WAS RIGHT. WE WERE FOOLS. BUT NOT ANYMORE.”

Rucie lunged at Jemi anew. But this time Jemi moved. With the knife she was still holding, when the harpy was within range, she reached out and—quickly and precisely—slit the throat of the Beast. Its screech cut off abruptly, and it collapsed to the mildewed concrete, a heap of leathery bones and dark blood. It was a far quicker, far easier fight than with the Wardens, but…

“Ha… ha…. hahh…”

Jemi gasped for breath. Blood dripped from her knife. The harpy was still spasming at her feet, as dead birds do, but it was that—dead. After half a minute, the spasming ceased entirely.

And then Jemi dropped the knife. She ran.