And now they attacked.
No scream and no demand for Liron's head. Silent as a graveyard, the Hunters sprinted at them. Adenius moved around his baton, accompanied by the Warpriest's speech. Thousands of people, all that Kupferrang had left.
The wolves watched them with glee, howling. Zonis replied to them, but the beasts did not care. Three-Eyes dashed forward, his fangs becoming spears. A dozen men and women, from all walks of life, impaled. Adenius' control over them died, and they cried in pain before Three-Eyes' snout snapped close, crushing them. His pack followed suit, devouring their prey.
Unshaken, the remaining Hunters continued their assault, throwing themselves at the wolves. They clawed into their legs, biting and punching them. In two days, these folk had lost half their weight, walking skeletons. They were covered in dirt and blood each. Their stench made Liron cringe. Many had been close by when he blew up the reprocessing center, it seemed.
The wolves trashed around. The Hunters' determination was one to admire, but will did not overcome flesh. Their grip broke, and they were flung into the air, crushing into the surrounding houses. Crushed underneath paw strikes or a slam of a wolf's head, none came close enough to lunge at the beasts.
Liron hugged Three-Eyes, focusing on nothing else. He wanted to help, but with his wolf raging, he had little chance. The entire pack became high on the kill, massacring dozens. At the end of the day, the Hunters were unnourished and weakened humans. Even with their numbers, they would lose eventually. Watching the masses, Liron's guess was confirmed. They had seen the corpses of children, all having perished from thirst or starvation. The adults would survive no other day, struggling to keep functioning. All children under the control of Adenius had died yesterday.
A man worthy of Harras' grace.
As the wolves painted the streets in the blood of the innocent, the Hunters stopped their attack. In perfect unison, they hurried back, separating in units of a few dozen each. Three-Eyes came to an awkward halt, puzzled at the behavior of his prey. The units ran alongside the crossing's edge, circling the wolves.
Liron glanced down, regretting his decision. Hundreds of people, dead. He had known there would be death, but not to this extent so soon. Three-Eyes' gaze was dragged downwards, too, but the sight filled him with a different sensation. Taking advantage of the beast's hunger, a Wrathling descended on its head. He held a piece of wall in his mighty hands, hammering into the wolf. The other berserkers did so as well, each striking a wolf with a piece of debris. Painful blows, but ones that failed to kill. Liron summoned his knife. But neither he or the wolf could retaliate. The Wrathling jumped off Three-Eyes' head, vanishing on the surrounding roof. All of them did.
And as they fled, the units of Hunter struck again. Instead of swarming at random, they attacked with coordination, slamming into the wolves' legs. The mass of a dozen bodies made the beasts stumble. After the Wrathlings' surprise attacks had rattled them, their balance was weakened. The Hunters at the front were crushed by their brethren, their shattered remnants sticking to the wolves' limbs.
After this one assault, they retreated, encircling them again. Liron readied himself, his black blade in hand. He scanned the roofs, waiting for the Wrathling to appear again. But he had underestimated these warriors' strength and Adenius' cunning. The surrounding houses shook as the Wrathlings rushed through them, bursting through all that stood in their way. They erupted out of the houses, bashing into the wolves' heads. One for each.
The Wrathlings pressed their feet into beasts and jumped off them. The force of their leap was another blow, pounding their snouts into the ground. Three-Eyes stumbled at that, his head spinning. The Hunters allowed them no rest, dashing at them. They hit the same spot, ramming into the legs. Another layer of fleshy remains hammered into the beasts' limbs.
Liron engulfed himself in smoke, embers dancing around his blade. No matter from which direction this time, he needed to block the Wrathling. But Adenius knew how to bring out the full potential of his troops. The Hunters came at them again. And as they stormed forward, so did the Wrathlings.
But they broke with their pattern twicehold. The five warriors crashed into a single wolf with no rider. The combined force of their attack dragged the beast to the ground. Liron heard bones break. The Hunters rushed past them, taking advantage of their surprise, and lunged at the downed beast. The pack hurried to its defense, but they were too late. Under the united wrath of these puppets, the wolf was torn apart. Each pair of hands clawed into a piece of the beast, ripping it out.
The wolf died screaming.
Dozens of Hunters didn't survive either. The remaining wolves shredded them, bathing their fallen in the blood of its murderers. Most escaped justice, though. But only thanks to the ones that stayed behind, jumping into the opened maws of the wolves. They sacrificed themselves so the majority of the Hunters could retreat. No, Adenius sacrificed them. A few pieces to keep his army intact.
The Wrathlings sprung away, ever elusive. The Inquisitor could have just attacked them all at once, drowning them in chaos. Why hadn't he? Perhaps he feared that his troops weren't enough to finish them off. Perhaps he wanted to wear them down bit by bit, minimizing his losses. Or perhaps he wanted to play with them before ending them.
Whatever motive he had, Gabriella laughed out loud. "Yes!" she said. "Yes, that is what I desire! Inquisitor, you are worth killing!"
She pointed at him, her Conduit taking form. The shadow wolf headed for Adenius, ignoring all else. The Inquisitor jumped off his lion, his baton never ceasing to move to a rhythm only he could hear. His ride hissed, her fur standing up. The lion tensed up, spreading her legs apart. The silver veil attached to the beast's sides came alive like a piece of fabric hit by a strong wind.
The cat leaped at the Conduit. As she was airborne, the silver veil expanded to its full size. Liron had seen squirrels with similar skin growths. They used them to slide from tree to tree. But the lion's resembled more the wings of a dragon, massive in their scope. Each veil could warp the beast in her entirety. And as she spread them, thorns became visible. Hundreds of knives growing out of the veil, fangs demanding blood.
While Gabriella's shadow wolf was dwarfing Adenius' ride, the cat proved herself too nimble to catch. The lion evaded the Conduit's bite, using her veil to shift in the air. She crashed into the shadow wolf, burying her claws into its neck. The veil snapped shut around the Conduit's neck. The thorns tore into its flesh. Before the wolf could counter, the lion darted away, climbing onto its back. As she moved, she dragged her veil's thorn after her, opening the wolf's throat in countless ragged slashes.
Gabriella's Conduit would lose, but the lion risked nothing. She could control her veils like a set of extra limbs. She raised them high, slamming them down on the shadow wolf's head like a mouth devouring its food. Gabriella grunted, dismissing her Conduit. The lion sprang off her vanishing enemy, flying through the air with grace. She landed next to her master, who greeted her with a pet to the head, his baton never stopping.
Adenius prepared his Hunters to attack again. Liron held his black blade high, sending out several slashes towards the Inquisitor. His spell would never reach him, but this wasn't his goal. The sickles halted all at the same spot, the smoke fusing into one wall, blocking Adenius' view of them.
This offered no challenge to the Inquisitor. He and the Warpriest went onto the lion's back, and she floated towards another roof. As soon as they had done so, Liron created another smoke screen. Bolting from house to house, Liron and Adenius played their little game. The Inquisitor had not a moment to pause, always in motion. Liron swung his sword around, casting his sickle spell more than ever before. When he had created this attack, he would have spent all his energy by now. But he had adjusted to the mental and physical load, and Angin's elixir provided him with the energy he needed.
The constant flow forced the Warpriest's mouth shut. He couldn't cite the holy scripture while on the back of a lion zigzagging through the air. Even Adenius' baton struggled to keep the same rhythm as before. The Hunters thus didn't assault them, doing nothing but circling them.
After the surrounding area was covered in dozens of smoke screens, Liron knew he had all he required. "Zonis," he said, "tell Three-Eyes to throw me at the nearest smoke cloud!"
Zonis's mouth moved around, making a motion similar to a frown. But looking around him, he understood what Liron had planned. The Whisperer spoke to the wolf, and Liron kneeled on its snout. He pressed his lips thin, his heart hammering in his chest. Angin was better right with the claim of his improved body. Because this strategy of his was the dumbest he had ever come up with, and he wanted some reassurance.
Three-Eyes flung him forward. The wolf had aimed true, and Liron flew towards the closest smoke screen. He twisted in the air, directing himself towards Adenius. Embers amassed on his back and ignited the smoke cloud upon touching it. Liron had no greater control over the explosion, but he could manipulate the trajectory of the force in minute details.
His spell hurled Liron above the roofs at Adenius. It was flawed still, but he had gained a deeper understanding of it since he tried it against Three-Eyes. Clumsy and without grace, Liron never came close to the Inquisitor. He lacked the momentum to carry him towards his enemy. And Adenius was no fool. His lion moved away as soon as they saw him.
Liron had known this initial attempt would fail, so his preparations came to bear fruit. He moved the nearest smoke cloud towards him, lighting it up as they collided. Higher than before, Liron hunted after Adenius. From cloud to cloud, he accelerated. The speed from each failed attempt added to the next one. Liron struggled to keep up with his ever-shifting surroundings, the world spinning around. But hate sharpened his senses, and he never lost track of Adenius. His stomach moaned, growing nauseous, but he endured.
The Inquisitor steered his lion. The cat leaped backwards, spreading her veil. Liron would bet on the beast should they collide, but Adenius risked nothing. The lion glided away, creating more distance between them. For this, Liron had waited. For Adenius to fall for his trap.
Liron had burned through a quarter of the clouds, the rest hovering around him. As his enemies believed them safe, he commanded his smoke screens. They moved as one, positioning themselves in a line aimed directly at Adenius. Liron had saved one cloud, blasting off from its explosion.
The Inquisitor had to realize what Liron's true intentions were, seeing this. But it was too late. He ignited the first smoke cloud, sending him forward to the next. Liron burst through them all in moments. His velocity increased with each explosion. As the last turned to flames, Liron became a dragon, faster than any bird. A blink, and he reached his enemy. The skin on his face slapped back at the speed with which he moved.
He slashed at Adenius, his Conduit thirsting for the Inquisitor's throat. The thought of his parents, Emma, and all that had suffered underneath this tyrant sharpened the sword's edge. Liron roared, putting all into that attack. But it wasn't enough.
The lion reacted faster than any human could, bending away to save her master. The tip of Liron's black blade cleaved through the beak of Adenius' mask but failed to sever flesh. But the pessimist he was, Liron had guessed fate was refusing to side with him. His Conduit left behind a trail of smoke. Coated in embers, his spell blasted apart immediately.
It lacked the size to be lethal, but its shockwave was enough to separate rider from beast. Adenius and the Warpriest were sent flying. The cat was smashed into a roof, breaking the bricks underneath her body. Liron whistled at them, laughing at his triumph. The entire exchange ended within a few breaths, and he flew away from them. His strategy would put no end to the Inquisitor, but it would halter him. His puppets had lost the hand controlling them. Hopefully, his friends could take advantage of this.
But as Liron left Adenius behind, reality confronted him with the stupidity of his plan. The wind cried as he tore through it. His momentum slowed down, gravity claiming him once more.
How was he supposed to land?