Cavalry chapter 8

I actually wanted to include all the parallel storylines in a chapter, but that would extend to well over 6000 words, and I know you guys aren't that patient. Nonetheless, this shiz is… 4,975 words. Blahhhh. Didn't work on it for very long because I didn't do anything during the exam period and just got out of writer's block.

Hope you like and like if you like.

Grammar nazis welcome and… Dare I say it? Appreciated. (My style is mostly experimental.)

Btw for newbs, the game is GunZ.

Arladerus was cleaning his revolver with an old piece of cloth, whistling a rather annoying tune, and on the other side of the room, Erin was picking out the bullets lodged into various parts of her body with a small silver knife, a scowl firmly etched on her face. It would be an achievement not to scowl.

What the man said made no sense. Or, it would have made no sense, if Erin kept track of less people in the Axiom clan. Time to think about what he had said.

Nobody blamed “Axiom in general” before because the only people Axiom clan kills are contracts, and everyone knew this. So someone, someone has been acting without contracts, under the name of Axiom.

So who, who has been off schedule recently? Who has been increasingly difficult to contact and has disappeared from the Axiom council radar for more times than she could count?

Nass. He was a senior member of the Axiom clan, but he himself has been off contact for a week, has been missing contracts rather frequently to the point where Solin, the guy in charge of the Southern districts, specially put Silver and Reptor to do Nass’s contracts next to their own in case Nass misses more. And she knew this because of Solin’s confessions of his desire to just outright give Nass the boot.

But… Why would Nass even do that? Erin thought as she finally set the knife down on the bed, slipping her jacket on. It finally occurred to her that she needed to change jackets again as there was a gaping hole just at her right shoulder area.

Perhaps only Reptor knows.

‘I hate fighting,’ she said suddenly, frowning. ‘And your whistling makes me want to kill you.’

‘Why? It’s great fun.’ Arladerus said, shoving the piece of cloth back into his pocket as he picked up the parts of the revolver, piecing it back together again. ‘And hey, whistling’s great fun too.’

‘I don’t like spending gold on clothing everytime I get torn up. And no, it’s completely off tune and resembles scratching glass.’

‘Then don’t buy any more clothes,’ he remarked with a wink. ‘And fine, I get your point, I’ll stop whistling.’

‘Good. Well, I’ll stop when you stop.’

‘Not a chance in the Abyss. Torn up clothes look bad and smell bad and feel bad.’

‘True,’ Erin said, taking her eyes off him, rubbing her temples. ‘Maybe I should get me some of those new plate armor.’

‘Won’t they weigh you down quite a bit? And I thought that fighters stopped using them a helluva long time ago after guns were invented? And aren’t they really stuffy?’

‘They’re way heavier than the old ones. But that’s what training is for. The new plate armors can withstand bullets easy, you’ll need rockets to do any significant damage, unless your aim’s very good and the man’s standing still enough for you to snipe the openings. So well, bullets don’t penetrate and swords get wasted on ‘em. Closest thing to invincibility. As for the stuffiness, yeah, that’s right… Maybe someone can make some kind of ventilated helm? I dunno.’

‘Ahh,’ he replied, blueprints for a ventilated helm forming in his mind. Air tank… Helm… Pumps… I need my workshop. ‘I’ve heard of them… But swords cut through bullets, right? So why not those plate armor?’

‘Plate armor materials’ as strong as the swords, and thicker, with bigger energy absorption powaz. Naturally, swords lose. Even against the old ones. Sure you make a dent, but that’s it. And you might just break your sword. Hey, shouldn’t you know this stuff?’

‘I’ve never seen one in action before, so I’m trying to learn here. And didn’t bullets penetrate the old ones? How do you know so much anyway?’

‘Axiom has one group of plate armor wearers for the more dangerous contracts. Back to armor. No, not the new ones. Unless you’re a godly shot and shoot the exact same spot numerous times, of course. As for how… Let’s just say that Aure’s a prodigious armor smith.’

‘Ahh,’ he replied. Inside, his engineering mind was racing.

Armor, hmm? I would have to think on that. Maybe… Just maybe…

‘So where are you planning to go after Guntrix?’ Arladerus said through the silence, screwing the last of the revolver parts into place with a little screwdriver.

Erin peered over to look at what he was doing and raised an eyebrow. ‘Why do you even carry that around?’

‘Handy when you wanna fix them machines. Now-’

‘That little itsy thing? Sorry mate, but I’m an unbeliever,’ she said, laughing.

‘I’ll prove you wrong when the time comes,’ Arlad replied, forcing a smile. ‘Now, for my question…?’

‘What question? Oh, wait, I remember. Uhm, right, well, I have a good idea where,’ Erin said, standing up. ‘So, seeing that I feel completely fine, I’ll just be leaving.’

‘Alrighty-o,’ Arlad said, with an unusually broad smile.

She gave him a short wave before turning to leave.

‘Wait!’ He shouted. ‘What’s your radio?’

Erin stopped and spun on her heel to face him. ‘27.54, and you’ll remember if you really want it.’

‘47.87.’

‘Kit. (keep in touch)’

He gave a wave in response, and, with a final grin, she walked away.

‘SLOW DOWN, MAN!!!’ Falerix yelled from behind Spade, struggling to keep up.

Obsession was powering Spade’s immense strength here. Obsession with Pod. Falerix was only worried that he wasn’t thinking straight. Straight into the lion’s maw! That’s where he’s trying to go! And we don’t know how many teeth there are! Kav would have laughed. There was Fable clan around, they didn’t know where—

A scream, then an explosion, in the next alley. Smoke and debris rose up into the air from an alley a considerable distance away.

'SH:)IT!!!' Spade screamed, and, ignoring all of Falerix's pleadings for him to slow down, proceeded to sprint even faster, headed directly at the source of the explosion.

‘WAIT!! WAIT FOR ME, DAMN YOU!!’ Falerix shouted breathlessly. The distance between them was lengthening, and finally, Spade slipped into the next alley. Where Falerix couldn’t help him if he were ambushed. Fal spat another curse, and was quickly approaching the same corner when he heard a shout. Then, a torrent of bullets whizzed past his face from the alley entrance to strike the opposite wall, causing him to almost lose his balance as he abruptly skidded to a halt. The ringing of blades from where the bullets presumably came from. Falerix tugged his own sword out, and, on a silent count of three, sprinted in-

A body appeared in front of him, knocking him back, and he felt all the air leave his lungs. Falerix felt the rough concrete of the wall behind bite into his skin, and his head rang as it struck something. The world seemed to blur for a moment. When he finally reoriented himself, Falerix looked down and saw a girl.

Fable clan!

For a fraction of a second they stared into each other’s incredulous eyes.

She yelled something, and he saw her sword arm start to move towards his face.

He dashed away with a yelp as she slammed the pommel of her katana into the wall, where his head had been a split second prior. She hissed a curse. Without waiting for her to recover, Falerix hastily whipped out his double submachine guns and fired while backpedaling. Gotta keep the distance, distance!! He reminded himself.

She was too quick, bounding back and forth as she slowly closed their distance. All of his shots were going wide- The occasional spark from her sword told him that the ones that were on target didn’t actually hit. Holy f:)cking sh:)t f:)cks was the only thought on his mind.

Then, a change. She dashed at the wall, leaping off it to sail in the air, sword raised and pointing at him. For a moment he stared at her approaching silhouette in strange admiration.

Then she was in distance to thrust at him, which she did, and that was when he regained his bearings. Falerix bounded at the wall beside him and jumped up and over her, evading her cut. He twisted into a somersault, and loosed another barrage of shots even as he landed. He heard her swear as one bullet struck, but she managed to duck back behind cover before he could shoot again.

‘THE RIGHT!!! NO, TO YOUR RIGHT POD, THE FUCK—’ Falerix heard Spade scream.

Another explosion.

‘SHIT!!!’ Pod yelled with unrestrained panic, his voice much closer than Spade’s.

Falerix reloaded his guns. He had no idea what was going on over there, and his imagination ran wild. Could it be possible? Could these Fable bastards kill Pod and Spade? But he did not manage to indulge in it for long, as he caught the flash of a sword in his peripheral vision. He threw himself backwards and watched the blade crash into the wall, automatically aiming his guns at the Fable girl as she appeared. Firing in the instant it took for her to recover from the false slash.

The Fable clan girl reversed the direction of the sword and there were sparks as bullets bounced off its surface, but she didn’t manage to block all of it. She let out a grunt as she took a bullet to her left forearm and another to her left clavicle, narrowly missing the throat. For a moment she looked as if she would simply collapse, but discipline took hold and she strafed around the wall and out of sight again.

A thought struck Falerix which made him lick his lips. Why else would she duck in and out of cover? Why else has she not loosed a single shot?

She has no ammo.

Perfect.

‘Rae, look out behind!!’ Another girl’s voice screamed, presumably for Falerix’s opponent.

Pod stumbled into the alleyway, and Falerix could see that he was rather grievously wounded, with nade shards shredding his calves and slashes across his torso, but he quickly registered “Rae” behind the wall and, letting out a shout, started to try to corner butterfly her to death. While Falerix could see that he struck her numerous times, eventually she knocked aside one cut and thrust him through the shoulder, running her blade through. Pushing him, kicking and cursing, into the opposite wall.

And she was out of cover.

‘SH:)T!! FROGGY!! HOLD THAT MAN, DAMN YOU!’ The other girl screamed from the next alley.

Falerix seized the chance and squeezed the trigger—

Right in that split second, a hand emerged from the corner and grabbed hold of Rae’s collar, pulling her back. And he realized, with horror, that his bullets were headed straight for Pod. A self damning ‘fuck’ was all he could manage.

However, Pod reacted quickly enough and did what he could to evade, throwing himself onto the ground, gasping when the katana lodged into him cut him open a little more as it struck the gravel. A bullet found him in the shoulder even as he was falling, but the rest buried themselves in the wall behind, spewing dust and flakes of paint to land onto him.

‘Fal!’ Pod said hoarsely. ‘And I thought I was gonna be happy to see ya…’

Falerix thought to reply when it dawned on him that Spade was facing the Fable clan members alone. Without replying to Pod, he dashed up into the next alley where Spade was in. Apologies could come later, when they were out of danger-

A man greeted him from behind the corner with a sword’s edge.

Falerix almost diced himself on it, but his left hand snapped up to block it with his gun, pushing it away as he aimed at the man with his right, continuing his forward run. The man leaned into it and followed his motion, however, and Fal felt the steel bite into the back of his neck. He squeezed the trigger of his right submachine gun, but the shots all went wide as the man was charging into him, seeking to push him against the wall where he would kill him. Falerix thought to disengage-

In that moment, Pod cut the man from behind, laying his back open. Blood sprayed, and he let out a scream, kicking Falerix away and fleeing further down the alley, a grappling hook appearing in his hand as he swung up and away. And good thing he did; Falerix’s SMGs were up as he was anticipating the man to turn his attention to Pod- wherein he would bury a magazine’s worth of bullets into his head.

Wait, grappling hook? He thought with an odd expression.

The sound of gunshots, and somewhere in the distance, the screaming of a foreign woman- probably a civilian who had wandered out into the streets at the wrong time. Falerix looked at Pod, and found that the man’s face was drained of color, and it was not because he was bleeding from various wounds all over his body.

‘Spade,’ he croaked.

‘I’ll get him, I’m not injured. You, you get the hell out of this place,’ Falerix said sternly. ‘And with luck you’ll catch Reck and Nova.’

Pod met his eyes for a moment, then looked down, and seemed to ponder. ‘Just-’

‘I’m fine! I’m fine!’ Spade yelled out, emerging from an alley entrance somewhere up ahead. ‘They were more interested in flight than fight. Though they tried to get a piece of me…’

Pod promptly crumpled to the ground, a relieved smile on his face.

Falerix and Spade looked at each other.

‘Fine, we’ll share the cost of one med,’ Falerix said grudgingly.

Vicelin was sprinting across the rooftops of Town-2, with Rae on her shoulders. Fleeing. Kav damn us all, we’re fleeing!

‘Dammit, that Cavalry guy was a sprayer,’ Rae snarled. ‘But he was a smart one…’

‘Just be quiet, don’t want you dying on me.’

‘Don’t worry, Vice, we’ve been through worse.’

‘I suppose.’

‘Maybe it is true that the Cavalry is Kav’s army reborn.’

‘Not a chance in the Abyss,’ Vicelin replied.

But she was, in truth, not so certain. She’d heard the same rumors about Kav. Moreover, if a sprayer like that guy can own a veteran like Rae, he’s either really damned lucky, or Cavalry training has given him the terrific tactical skill needed to survive against a swordsman. Even in confined space. And Vicelin did not believe in luck.

Thinking in this train of thought, it was, perhaps, not possible to imagine the amount of skill the more experienced vets in Cavalry possessed. Dammit. There’s the pretty damn invincible Ganz and Ciel pairing, then there’s Shadow quick-step, Legro quick-blade, Reve the turtle, and that Fable deserter, Ryxtre… He’s pretty darned good, from what Vicelin had seen of him. This Cavalry sprayer was one of the not so famous ones, and he’s this good already?

Then again, this entire fiasco is just brimming with bad luck. Rae and Vicelin were the only two decent members in the assault team, besides Froggy. And Froggy had gotten into a fight prior to this one so he was already weakened. So it was quite inevitable that he would get taken out. Coupled with that, Rae and Vicelin had exhausted all their bullets on Reck, so they had a crippling disadvantage there. The others all got killed… Perhaps even the ones going for Reck and Nova. So maybe she was attributing skill to places where it did not exist and they were just unlucky as hell?

10% probability that this was all just bad luck and my paranoia, she thought, jumping down a full three stories, landing gracefully on the ground…

‘OW!! Yurith take you–’ Rae gasped.

‘Oops, sorry,’ Vicelin said sheepishly. It seems that she had accidentally transferred the force of impact to Rae instead of dissipating it. But it’s quite difficult to redirect the energy somewhere else other than above you…

She quickly jogged to their ride- a very plain looking van in the middle of the city’s parking area.

And now, to wait for Froggy.

Something thudded behind her and her hand instinctively flew to the handle of her sword, thinking to draw cut while spinning around-

‘No wait, Vice, it’s Froggy,’ Rae said, halting Vicelin’s hand as she completed the spinning part.

Froggy looked absolutely bushed. ‘Oh, Yurith damn it,’ he managed, flopping to lie on the ground. ‘You almost killed me but that’s okay, Relat’s still going to kill us.’

‘I don’t think Relat would kill you, but he might kill us,’ Rae said in a tone that led Vicelin to imagine that she might be having a smile on her face.

And all of a sudden, Vicelin realized just how badly her companions torn up. Rae was pretty much near death, with butterfly slashes all over her plus quite a few bullet wounds, one of which only just missed her throat. Froggy was perhaps a quarter alive, with a couple of bullet wounds and slashes, and some burns from rockets. Vicelin, on the other hand, had only sustained a few nice shots by Spade.

We need to get to R&A’s place. And fast. Russet&Aure’s roving shop, last time she checked, was stationed near the outskirts of Town-2, so they should be able to make it without incident, if Vicelin drove along a detour…

‘Let’s hope that Relat’s in a good mood today, then. Pod and his pals will probably go get some meds or something and spend the night here, so we needn’t fear.’ Vicelin said. She put Rae down on the ground, where she attempted to stand, but ended up leaning against the van for support.

‘Oh, damn it, that Pod guy really butterflied me real hard,’ she said with a smile. ‘Sorry, but I think I left big bloodstains on your shirt.’

‘I don’t care, I hate Relat’s Fable shirts,’ Vicelin said, scowling, getting into the driver’s seat. ‘Anyway, get in the van, both of you, I’ll drive since I’m still awesome.’

Froggy rolled his eyes, but regardless, opened the van’s sliding door and scrambled in, Rae following him. Immediately after Vicelin heard the door shut, she kicked on the gas and sped off faster than a van should. But that was okay, Rae was used to this.

Looking around, she saw that the vehicles of the other Fable group was gone… And that Reck and Nova’s Mules were nowhere in sight. So that means…

‘Kav dammit Vice I’m never getting into your car when you drive ever again,’ Froggy said, and it sounded like a huge effort.

‘Oh, shit! Vice, you got some, uhh, plastic bags in this van?’ Rae said, sounding frantic.

‘No, why?’

‘It’s terrible! Froggy’s gonna blow!!’

‘Eurgghh,’ was the man’s only response. Then he belched.

Horror gripped Vicelin as her fears came true. She was hoping that Froggy was more motion tolerant. More reasons not to believe in luck. ‘Quick! Out the window! Out the window, dammit!’ To play her part, Vicelin slowed down a fraction and attempted to take less sharp turns.

Scuffling, banging sounds. Then, from Rae, ‘Which one?!’

‘Right behind!’

The blissful sound of the window clicking open. ‘Got it! Now, Froggy-’

‘What? No, I’m… Not… Gonna do it out the window!!’

‘Just do it, we don’t want you stinking up the whole van!’ Vicelin yelled.

‘I… Don’t care, it’s… Your… Van…’

Vicelin slammed a foot on the gas, and then performed a violent 360 with the van. Rae was yelling curses while Froggy wailed.

‘Dammit, Froggy, just acquiesce for once!! You’re making her mad!!!’ Rae yelled.

‘No, please, come on!!’ He wailed.

‘DO IT OR NO MORE STRIP CLUBS FOR YOU!!’ Vicelin screamed in desperation, using the ultimate weapon.

Scrambling sounds. The strangely remote sounds of vomiting told Vicelin that she had managed coerce Froggy to throw up out the window. Bahaha, it works every time! She felt strangely proud of herself.

‘Phew! Good thinking, Vice…’ Rae said, and audibly collapsed in relief.

‘Hah! Wasn’t so bad, was it, Froggy?’ Vicelin said, rotating her mirror such that her cocky smirk could be seen by the rear passengers.

He grunted and Rae laughed.

‘Right, take this opportunity to fix yourselves up, we’re officially out of danger,’ Vicelin said pleasantly.

‘Right,’ Rae grunted. A moment’s shuffling, then, ‘Froggy, damn you, look away, I know that that scarf ain’t completely opaque!’

‘I’m not looking-’ The painful clacking of a pistol butt against flesh. ‘Ow! Okay! Okay! You petty…’

The arched entrance of Town-2 cast a fleeting shadow onto the van under the setting sun. Vicelin sighed.

Out of danger, huh?

Sometimes, she wondered just what it was in fighters that could ever turn them from this pleasant group into emotionless killing machines.

‘Hey, c’mon, mah luvva,’ Nass’s voice crackled through the radio. ‘Town Original. Cummmoon.’

Connie wanted to shut the radio off so badly. But she couldn’t. She was watching out for Russet’s radio. They were doing an important experiment this day – the only reason why she would even want to go out all the way into the wastelands outside Town-2 and sit on this high cliff overlooking this big piece of empty desert- and so she had to leave her line completely open. And Nass was making full use of this.

‘Target one, over,’ Russet’s voice crackled.

‘Right,’ Connie said, her voice grating.

‘What’s with the serious voice?’ Russet laughed.

‘Nass,’ she snarled.

‘Yes?’ Nass’s voice entered.

Connie wanted to tear her hair out, she talked to the wrong frequency again. She thought to switch to Russet immediately…

Oh, why the hell not, she thought.

‘SHUUTTT THEE F:):):):):)CKK UPPP!!!!’ She screamed, presumably at Nass, completely deflating her lungs, leaving her gasping for air.

‘Ow!! What did I do to you?!!’ Russet wailed.

At first, Connie didn’t react. But when it was finally registered in her head that this was Russet’s voice and not Nass’s, color flooded into her face. Oh, sh:)t, that was embarrassing…‘Oh, sorry, wrong line,’ she said sweetly, then cleared her aching throat.

‘Right…’ Russet said weakly. Connie smacked her face with her palm. Unbelievable, she hadn’t even realized that she turned the dial to switch to Russet already! One of the bad things about being a True-Fighter? Your limbs do all your biddings. Even if you don’t know it. She switched back to Nass.

‘Shut the f:)ck up!!’ She roared at Nass, albeit hoarsely. Oh, freak, I used all my screaming powers on Russ… Dangit.

‘You sound tired. You cheating on meh?’ He said, and Connie could just picture that smug grin on his shiny black face. She imagined that he winked.

‘I can’t even cheat on you because I am not your girlfriend!!!’ She said, trying to scream it out, but what did come up was more of a high pitched squeal. Then she turned the mike off and coughed.

‘Oh, come now, I know you love me too much—’ His voice suddenly halted. Then, ‘—ly crap, right, I’ll catcha later, sweetheart!’ He said, and there was a final sound of static. Connie sighed in relief-

‘–OHHH F:)CK YOU!! STOP IGNORING ME YOU FREAKING WHORE!! YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER AND YOUR FATHER SMELT OF ELDERBERRIES–’ Russet’s voice suddenly painfully screamed out in her earpiece.

‘Ow!!! Now what did I do to you??!!’ She squeaked, recoiling so violently she almost fell off the cliffside.

‘Oh, sorry, didn’t mean a word of it, just testing to see if you’re alive,’ Russet said sheepishly. ‘But were you ignoring me?’

‘Was talking to Nass,’ she said, then cleared her throat.

‘Oh,’ he said. For a moment Connie thought that he would crack an untactful joke, but, thankfully for him, he didn’t. ‘Right! Now, prepare to be amazed!’ He said, and even in the low quality sound, Connie could detect lots of confidence.

‘Don’t let me down,’ she said.

‘Sure feels weird, making a device to beat mah best friend’s armor,’ he said with a chuckle. Connie frowned. As if he sensed her expression change, Russet quickly went back on track. ‘Right, alright, serious now. Three… Two–’

Connie scrambled back up to solid ground, holding up a metal sheet with a huge hole in the middle of it. Second thoughts suddenly crossed her mind. What if the rocket misses and… Well… Hits her instead?

‘One!’

Far, far, far too late for regrets.

A blue light flickered to life from the land below, and she saw it speeding right at her.

‘Step 1 to 3 success,’ Russet said rapidly.

‘Roger,’ Connie said briefly but nervously. Yes, too late for regrets, so just do this! Then, casting away all other thoughts, she threw the sheet up and air dashed away, her eyes following the blue light as it sped towards the sheet-

Zooming clean through the hole even as the sheet fell, dying away after traveling a short distance further.

Amazing, Connie thought, feeling her jaw slacken of its own accord. I’ve never seen anything like it…

‘Step 4 success,’ she said. ‘Well done.’

‘Phase 1 is complete,’ he said triumphantly. Then, much quieter, ‘I’m such a genius.’

‘Uncharacteristic self-flattery? Really, Russ…’

‘Oh, you heard that? Hahahah! Sorry, was de-stressing, ahahaha.' He said with nervous laughs, sounding embarrassed and shocked. 'Y'see, Aure is… Uhh, preparing something terrible, and that makes me stressed, you know! Hahahaha.’

'Oh,' Connie said, laughing genuinely at his attempt to cover up his compliment to himself. She thought to probe, but then decided not to.

In any case, Russet was close to completing it. And that was cause for triumph. That is, for Relat. Connie was just a hired gun.

A smile leapt unbidden to her lips. Relat, you bastard, you never play fair.

Town-Original was busy, as stalls were set up and the night market opened. Civilians swarmed the brightly lit streets, and there were much more vehicles than in the day- everyone thought that fighters were reluctant to fight at night. Nobody wanted to risk getting killed by Fable clan these days. But in Lith’s opinion, the only reason why no fighters would attack right now was the sheer amount of people. As bloodthirsty fighters were, they, too, understood… Balance.

‘Just the two of you left, then?’ Relat’s voice growled from the radio’s speaker.

Way to go, Captain Obvious, Lith wanted to say. But he gritted his teeth together and said a grating, ‘Yes.’

Toc was looking down at the ground. Don’t say anything, just don’t, Lith had ordered. But, Kav help us, this is Relat we’re talking to! Even if it’s over the radio and Relat's in Unamm, which is, admittedly, miles away… But it's still Relat!

‘So, did all the Cavalry there die?’ he said. The monotone in his voice was chilling.

Lith pondered for a moment. Yes or no, dammit? Yes is delayed death. No is usually assassination. Relat’s style.

‘We fled, they were too strong,’ he said, keeping the uncertainty from his voice.

‘Then how did Toc survive?’ Relat hissed.

Toc’s head snapped up to look at Lith, and his eyes widened.

Lith narrowed his eyes. ‘He got lucky.’

‘Why would the Cavalry clan just shoot him in the legs and leave him be? Feeling merciful? But you were both fighting intensely, were you not?’

Damned cocky bastard. ‘I dragged him out before he could hurt himself. That he got shot specifically in the legs is coincidence.’

‘Ahh…’ Relat said. Not at all convinced. Lith scratched his brow, and was rather surprised to see it come away with cold sweat.

‘I’m going to kill Ganz tonight, and all his companions,’ Relat continued when Lith did not reply. ‘And you’re going to help.’

‘Ganz is here in Town-Original?’ He asked. Inside, his heart hammered as he remembered his words to Arladerus. I have no intention of remaining loyal to Fable clan.

The reasons why replayed themselves in his head again. Toc tapped him on his shoulder suddenly, and Lith snapped back into reality, find himself gripping the table so hard the wood was cracking.

‘—Are you even listening, Lithium?!’ Relat roared.

‘Yes, yes, apologies,’ Lith gasped as he forced his fingers off the table.

‘Right. I will tell the Fable group to expect the two of you.’

‘Yes.’

‘And you’ll be going there right now.’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Relat out.’

The radio’s screen gave a weak flicker before turning blank entirely.

Lith continued staring at it for a long time. Inside, his mind was a whirlwind.

What the hell should I do?! Relat thinks to trap me, the bastard…

Ryxtre. Arladerus's companion who went ahead with the mission. I remember his line. I have to tell him. I have to…

'Where did Relat say we have to meet?' Lith asked Toc.

'Fable hq,' Toc replied. 'Wait for Ganz's attack.'

'Right, I see,' Lith said, looking out of the window.

…I have to tell him…

As Ryxtre weaved his bike through the dense crowd, his radio crackled into life again.

'HURRY UP!!! We have all night to kill Relat, but that doesn't mean you should dilly dally!!!' Ganz screamed through the earpiece for the umpteenth time.

'Right, right,' Ryxtre said dismissively, immensely annoyed. He had forgotten how crowded Town-Original at night was. And had rediscovered the naggy side of Ganz. Kav would have sewn his mouth shut…

He suddenly wondered how they ever are going to be able to fight off a dozen Fable men inconspicuously and effectively with so many people around. And how they will prevail while outnumbered by so many men.

We have no choice but to do it today, Ganz had said. Knowing Relat, he might slip through our fingers again. Ciel had tried to dissuade him, but, like Ganz said, this was their only chance for a long time, and in the end she had to accept. However, as skilled as they were, numbers are a powerful thing. They could only hope that the Fable clan there weren't very good fighters.

The stakes were high, and certain trepidation filled Ryxtre's mind as he fully grasped just how high it was. Success, or the potential end of the Cavalry clan with our deaths.

The radio crackled to life again, but this time Ryxtre turned it off, hissing a curse in annoyance. He had enough worries without Ganz's constant yapping…