Furrae Chronicles: Webs of Destiny (IC) [M] {2}

[Gabi]

Gabi was somewhat surprised. From the start, she hadn't known what to think about Mel, nor about anyone she'd met since she arrived at the Phoenix temple for that matter. But Mel, whoever she was and whatever her motives were, was making her job a lot easier. She could already feel Gareeku's health improving much faster than she'd expected. At this rate Gabi would even have some energy left to help the others. She was worried about James: he was a skilled fighter and might even be able to heal himself if he got a break, but from the sound of things he didn't seem to be getting any.

Only now it occurred to Gabi that she might have been rude to Mel earlier, not having said a single word to her when she offered her help. She'd been suspicious, true, and there hadn't been much time for words anyway, but a simple "thank you" wouldn't hurt. And so she said it.

"Thank you." And thought: "whoever you are."

[Aisha deCabre]

Blood and sweat flew from Aisha's brow as more of the assassins advanced and the guards backed down.  Her face was darkenend, covered inch by inch in the remains of the dead...yet still her eyes glimmered with dangerous intensity and her veins pumped adrenaline as her sword raised against the attackers, who dared come closer in range of their attacks.

At one point, she saw the demon turn to face them, and she stared back with all of the hatred she could muster in her gaze, and then watched as James and the bat advanced on the ram.  The huntress paid yet no heed, still staying close to Gareeku and those healing him.  An ear quickly craned as she heard the wolf stirring, and she nodded to Gabi and Mel.  "Keep it up.  None will pass to stop you."  Her voice was low and kept to the intensity of a snarl as her boomerang whizzed back to her grip.

The assassins, quicker and more fleet of foot, surrounded those standing over the wolf in a semi-circle each.  She could not see how many were coming upon Jakob, but she knew that he could handle himself...the panther's focus was set upon the four advancing on herself.  Menacingly she held the sword in a horizontal position across her chest, and the boomerang over her head.  Its dripping surface glowed intensely with the enchantment of light in which it was embued.  She could feel the attackers building up magic attacks in turn.

...Better ideas?  None?  Brilliant... Aisha thought to herself in the split second she had to dodge the first's ice blast, leaving a large spot frozen where once she stood, and leapt away to draw their fire from the scene.  A fireball from the second came at her from the air, which she cleaved with her sword and sent it back at the one who cast it.  She landed right in front of the third, who hadn't time to even move to grab the panther before her sword jammed itself into his midsection.  As he fell to the floor, she tugged the blade out and used the momentum to deflect a lightning attack aimed at her from the fourth.

She dodged and wove with speed equaling their own around their attacks despite getting scratched and burned, her sword flashing with intensity as the agile dance progressed.  So engrossed in the fight, she couldn't tell if any had slipped past...

Time to end this... she growled and released her boomerang into the air as another ice attack came flying for her, almost in a nonstop stream.  With a quick maneuver she sidestepped and placed herself between two of the attackers, then leaped away to narrowly avoid as two magic attacks, fire and ice, crossed and hit the assassins opposite.

"UGH!" she growled in frustration, having felt an ice blast catch her foot and cause her to trip to the ground, sword flying from her grip.  The fourth assassin standing came over her in that opportune moment, raising a dagger to finish her off...only to swiftly pause and fall to the ground with a heavy groan, her boomerang having come back to stick itself in his neck.

With a snarl, she grabbed her sword and used it to stand up again, at the same time retrieving the flying weapon.  For a moment, she was free of pursuers...so she took the moment to chip the ice from her foot.  Finally, standing over one of them who had fallen injured, she hissed and raised the point of her blade over his chest.

"Pray for mercy," she growled...yet before anything could be said or done, the point drove itself straight through.  "Too late," she admonished in an almost mocking tone, then turned to see how many more needed to be fended off, only to see more of them converging on Jakob.

"You still good?" she asked the 'Cubi in passing, keeping her stance near the healers and Gareeku until he could awaken...

[Tapewolf]

Jakob was struggling somewhat.  Ultimately it was his own ethics which were causing the most difficulty, his refusal to take other lives in particular.  The assassins were good, but not invulnerable as Aisha proved by slaying some of hers.  He grimaced and tried to focus on the group attacking him.  They had a much better grasp of magic than the guards now unconscious on the floor, with effective mind-shields and offensive spells.

Even back at SAIA, before the Johan Cross affair, Jakob had disliked violence.  But he was still good at it, having studied defensive arts and magics.  As they lunged at him with blades, he blocked with his tentacles, hardened like demon skin.  As his attackers cast fireballs and other magics, he cast shields to deflect them.

They're damn good spellcasters for Beings, Jakob thought.  What are they... Weres?  But he didn't have time to pursue this train of thought in detail.  They had been able to counter his stun and fireball spells so he had given up on that approach for now.  Everything he was doing was purely defensive, simply keeping them back from Gareeku.  And he would not be able to keep it up forever.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Her being refexes were to slow to save Eph from the bolt of magic, but she atleast saw she had done some damage.

As she was hurled against the wall she blacked out near Gareeku and the others.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel gave Gabi half a smile, any answer she might have made interrupted by the unconscious Eph coming to a halt nearby. Mel kept up with the intense healing on the wolf but spared a glance for the girl. Looked to be just knocked out, probably nothing more serious. The angel was going to be in serious trouble though, if he didn't see to his shoulder soon.

[Tapewolf]

A strange gleam entered Jakob's eye.  The closest assassin was fast, agile and good at blocking his attacks.  He also had a solid mind-shield.  But there was one thing he didn't have.

Jakob held up a hand and a directed a brilliant flash of light at his eyes.  Blinded, the assassin panicked and Jakob struck at him with one of his tentacles, squeezing his assailant's neck until they lost consciousness.  He finished off with a stun spell of sufficient strength to keep him out for several hours.

But that still left two more.

[Sunblink]

Amidst the bloodshed and the pandemonium, Keaton slashed and swiped, punched and kicked, bit and ripped, and generally tore her way through the throngs of assassins, paying no heed to the bodies that hit the ground like dead bricks and the weapons that clattered to the floor. Blood journeyed along Keaton's body in slimy, snaking trails of sanguine, dripping off of muscle and flying in beads with efficient swing of her blood-soaked mace. Purposely Keaton kept aiming at the heads of those who dared to attack her so to ensure a quick and destructive death.

The scent of ozone sizzling in the air attracted her attention over to where the familiar snow leopard was healing Gareeku. At first Keaton was just about ready to storm over and administer the same treatment she had with many other assassins and guards, but when she realized that she was healing Gareeku--the spell was where the atmospheric scent had originated--she managed to halt herself. At least for now. She wasn't stupid--she would wait until Mel was finished healing Gareeku, then she would attack.

The sound of a corpse twitching in a pool of blood. Keaton turned around, distracted from her sour musings. Someone was sneaking up on her, and had accidentally disrupted the corpse before them. With a loud roar Keaton whirled around, swinging her mace into his chest--

--and sent the poor assassin flying into a wall, where he collided with it, slumped to the ground, and made no further movements.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Tapewolf]

Jakob's trick of dazzling one of his attackers had had an unexpected benefit regarding the other two.  He knew that an exact repeat was out of the question owing to the surprise factor now being lost, but he quickly discovered that the slightest movement of his right hand cause the other two to shield their eyes.  Feinting a few times, the assassins slowly became less twitchy.

Jakob thrust out his hand and sent a bolt of light to one of them, who covered their face to avoid the glare only to have his feet pulled out from under him by Jakob's tentacles.  Sending a bolt of light into the one still standing, he bashed the fallen assassin's head against the ground again and again.  Stripping away the mind-shield from his concussed foe, he turned out their lights with another stun spell.

[Aisha deCabre]

"That's it...keep it up...they can't be...infinite..." Aisha breathed, mostly to herself as she kept her position around the ailing Gareeku and casting glances at the others.  Ephrael was down, James was down...the others fought with minimal effort, at least those who could effectively combat magic on their own.  As for the panthress, she was very nearly winded; the only magic resistance she had was her dragonblade...but at least the bracer kept her injuries at bay long enough to finish the fight.

Two more assassins leaped down to her position, both casting ice spells.  She leaped away quickly, angling her blade so that the blast was deflected and cast at each of them, encasing them in a shell of ice.  She backed away with a deep breath taken, having been slowed down by the intense cold.  She looked around at the sea of bodies...the area around her was clear of the living.  The assassins themselves were thinned out.  The last ones descended upon the others, one or two for each...easily taken out but just for the demon left.

"How's that healing coming?" Aisha asked Mel and Gabi in a very short breath as she put her blades away for a moment and knelt next to Gareeku, looking the wolf over with a concerned gaze.  It was then she remembered that she still carried the katana he left behind.  Bringing it up from her belt, she placed it next to the wolf.  Knowing him, he would want to fight upon waking up...

[Tapewolf]

For the third assassin, Jakob used both the attack strategies that he had used before.  Naturally his foe was ready for both, but by feinting Jakob was able to make him do what amounted to a dance that distracted him and kept him away from the prone form of Gareeku.  He could tell from the warrior's body language that he was becoming extremely frustrated.

Jakob smiled and made an extremely insulting gesture at the assassin who promptly lost control and lunged at him.  Destania had taught Jakob well and he was able to deflect the attack.  His assailant staggered as the blow went astray, and as Jakob lunged for his feet he quickly stepped backwards to avoid the attack and tripped over the body of his fallen comrade.
Jakob put him to sleep as well, and glanced around to check for reinforcements.

[Gareeku]

By now, the amount of guards and assassins who were still alive or conscious was reduced to a mere fraction of their original numbers. Everywhere one could look, the bodies of the dead littered the floor, the vacant eyes of the guards lifeless as they stared into space.

As he battled the others, the ram demon was becoming increasingly frustrated. These people, these vermin, who had dared to square up against him...they just wouldn't die!
"None of you shall leave here alive!" the demon roared as he fought. "The last name you will ever hear will be Azrul!"

It was then however, that he noticed something, or someone, out of the corner of his eye. It was the unconscious form of Ephrael, slumped up against the wall. Smiling evilly, Azrul quickly summoned mana to his hand, before unleashing a powerful wave of dark magic, powerful enough to kill someone who could not defend themselves like Ephrael was, at the unmoving tasmanian devil. "Say goodbye to your friend!"

Suddenly, it happened. One minute Ephrael had been just lying there up against the wall, unmoving. The next, she had disappeared. Where had she gone? It was impossible for someone in that situation, for someone who was unconscious, to even move, let alone move out of the way of that attack. "How did she...?"

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to attack the defenseless?"

It was a voice that Azrul had heard before, and it was a voice that made him visibly grit his teeth in rage. whirling around, the ram demon glared at the figure standing only a few metres away, holding the still-unconscious Ephrael in his arms.
"YOU!! How did you-" Azrul began to say with a mixture of disbelief and rage.
"If you had been paying attention, you would have seen that there are two who possess healing powers in this room, and it is those two that I thank very much." Gareeku replied in a stern voice, glancing at Mel and Gabi when he referred to them and subtley motioning towards where James was, before fixing his eyes back onto the demon, a look of grim seriousness on his face.

When Gareeku had been fully healed, His eyes had immediately snapped open. Sitting upright, the wolf had almost forgotten where he was for a few moments. However, it had then all come back to him. Thanking those around him in helping him when he needed them the most, Gareeku had then spied the demon preparing to finish off Ephrael, and so had immediately made his move.

Setting Ephrael down in a safer location nearby, the wolf turned back to the demon, unsheathing the shimmering blade of his katana.
"You will not hurt anyone anymore. I will make sure of it." Gareeku stated with a tone finality. Growling with anger, Azrul flexed his clawed hand, glaring at the wolf stood near him. So infuriated by the fact that the wolf had been healed back to near normality, the demon had virtually forgotten about the others who were fighting against him; a action may cost him...

[Tapewolf]

Jakob was awestruck.  Gareeku had been at death's door last he had seen.  Maybe they had a chance.

Much as he detested acts of violence and murder, much of Jakob's sympathy lay with Beings.  They always seemed to get the short straw, after all, and so could not find it in his heart to beg for the demon's life.  Certainly not after what he had done, all the lives he had forced them to end.

As the demon focused upon Gareeku, Jakob, standing behind him, reached into his coat pocket and drew out a revolver.  Aiming at the demon's head, he pulled the trigger.

[Gareeku]

Growling furiously, Azrul was about to leap at Gareeku, moving forward, when suddenly he felt an intense pain in his shoulder. Wincing as he looked, the demon saw that he was now bleeding from where Jakob's bullet had hit, although it had not been the desired target.
"Shit!" Azrul cursed audibly, gritting his teeth as he glanced from Jakob to Gareeku.

Holding his blade at his side, the wolf watched as the demon was struck by the bullet. He could not help but smirk at the demon's shock at being shot. He would have made his own attack, were i not for the fact that he knew that others were about to make their own assaults...

[Tapewolf]

Hah! thought Jakob.  "Come on Gareeku... do something!" he muttered under his breath.  In a few seconds the demon was likely to realise it was a paintball.

[James StarRunner]

James' blood stained broad sword had long since clattered to the floor. Instead, he palmed a shuriken in his good hand and fed light energy into it. He had used energy like this before to stop Gareeku in his cubi berserker mode. But this time, James didn't restrain the amount of energy he fed into the small weapon, filling it with potential lethal force.

The demon was making mistakes now... Many of them. The paintball being an obvious one. The ram was keeping an eye out on Gareeku and Jacob, but not James. Perhaps he thought James too weakened to do anything... Another costly mistake.

Using the stun from Jakob's gunshot to his advantage, James launched the now glowing shuriken at the demon's back.

[Aisha deCabre]

Another eruption of blood marked the end of another assassin.  Aisha came out of her sword swing covered in the entrails, taking deep breaths as she looked around at the sea of bodies throughout the room...and listened to the sounds of the others taking the demon on.  It seemed everyone would need quite the rest after this event...if they lived.

And it was then that she swerved, listening to the demon as he called out against them.  The panthress had her teeth bared...she, like many of the others, certainly had enough of the creature...she was poised to charge when he raised his hand against the unconscious Ephrael...but the panthress paused as the next development made itself known...for she had not realized through the chaos that Gareeku had awakened, her back having been to the wolf.  She stood first with brief shock, and then, relief.  He was healed and ready to fight again, and that was just what they needed.

It was none too soon...the creature had his focus on the wolf...and thus the group was starting to move in with attacks of their own.  She heard the ring of a gunshot courtesy, surprisingly, of Jakob...and a blazing shuriken throw courtesy of James.

She waited for an opening...and then it would be the courtesy of her own blade that the demon would feel.  Then, her bladed boomerang shimmering with the light magic it had been imbued with, the panthress let fly the spinning sawblade towards the creature, hopefully to weaken it by aiming to sever a limb...

[Gareeku]

Still growling with rage, Azrul was still watching for any attacks from Jakob or Gareeku. His rage and frustration was beginning to take it's toll on his judgement. He was practically ignoring his senses now. All that mattered to him was ending their lives in the most painful fashion possible. It was then, however, that Azrul noticed something. The pain in his shoulder, the place where he had been shot by Jakob...it didn't hurt as much as it was supposed to. Slightly confused about this, the demon ran his finger over the wound...only to find that there wasn't one. Sniffing the supposed "blood" on his hand, Azrul was surprised that it was in fact...

"...Paint?" He muttered to himself after sniffing the red liquid on his shoulder. It seemed that Jakob had not shot him with a real bullet after all, but rather with paint instead. Upon this discovery, Azrul could not help but laugh.
"Paint? You expect to harm me with paint?" the demon asked in a mocking tone.

However, this laughter would soon be replaced by a cry of pain, as James' light energy-filled shuriken lodged itself into his back. The burning sensation the light energy caused upon the demon was intense, as Azrul tried to reach round and pull the weapon out, but to no avail.

Things were about to get a whole lot worse for him as well. Another wet sound of steel slicing through flesh rang out into the air as the demon cried out in pain once again. Looking down, Azrul's eyes went wide as he saw that the arm that did not have a hand was no longer even there. Instead, it was lying in a pool of crimson blood on the floor. Blood was spurting out of the gaping wound, adding to the pool of crimson on the floor. The pain was incredible. As if losing a limb wasn't bad enough, the weapon that had caused the injury was none other than the pantheress' light magic-imbued bladed boomering, which meant that the light magic within the weapon was making the pain a hell of a lot worse than it normally would have been, and that was saying something.

It would not stop there, however. No sooner had Aisha's weapon returned to her had another member of the group decided to make his move. From out of nowhere, Blaze moved forward, his hands burning bright with fire magic as he advanced, before throwing a set of fireballs in the demon's direction. As they struck, the fireballs created large nasty-looking burns, burning through the fur and appearing on the demon's skin underneath. Staggering on the spot slightly as his eyes squinted through the searing pain running like wildfire through his body, Azrul looked around, panic evident on his face as his eyes glanced from one enemy to the next.

"Give it up, Azrul. You're finished." Gareeku stated with a tone of finality. "We may even let you live if you just give up now."
"Never!" Azrul spat back at the wolf, his eyes burning with rage and hatred towards his enemies. "You'll never take me alive!"

[Tapewolf]

"I'm not sure we need you alive," Jakob pointed out.  The blood was getting to him again and it was only through a gargantuan effort of will that he was able to hide the fact.

"Once you're dead, I can torture your soul until you tell me what you've done with my father.  And then we'll do the same for Gareeku's uncle..."

[Paladin Sheppard]

A low moan came from the pile of black fur and green leather called Ephrael. "Did someone get the number of the bus that hit me?"

She looked rather particular as her fur and hair were all standing on their ends, leaving her looking like a black fluff ball. The result of the magic bolt's aftereffects.

Rolling to her knees, her groping hand touched her bow that Gareeku had been kind enough to bundle up with her. Gathering it to her she started to giggle. "Oooh I dun feel so good..." She said in a higher pitched tone than normal.

Seeing a dark shape lift itself from the floor behind Aisha and stagger towards the pantherss' back. "I dun think you should do that." She half giggled to herself as she picked up one of her scatted arrows. Still on her knees she aimed at the figure who had seemed to split into to four. "No fair there was only one of you!" She tilted her head to the side and the figure was one again. "Oh goody"

She let fly...And missed her target by a foot. Not that it matted to the assassin as he was rolling on the ground howling from the arrow that had pierced his groin.

[James StarRunner]

The room seemed to be darker for some reason, but it wasn't because of the lighting. James involuntarily dropped to his knees. The adrenaline had got him this far, but he had worked himself too hard in his attack. The dark energies from the demons claws made him feel sick and loss of blood was making him feel lightheaded. His sight was blurred and hearing deafened. Finally, the darkness overwhelmed his vision and fell awkwardly to the ground, barely breathing... a tear in the corner of his eye.

Mom... Dad... I wish you were here...

[Sunblink]

After dispatching her fair share of assassins, guards, and other unscrupulous characters, Keaton looked sadistically satisfied with her recent conquests, not to mention a little exhilarated. Years ago, killing had been the sole freedom from the living hell Keaton was forced to endure day after torturous day, and this twisted ritual of stress-relief and entertainment continued to this day even after she had been liberated. Back then it had been her salvation, now it was just a game.

Mismatched, chocolatey gaze rested on the demon as he was abruptly pelted by the dollop of paint(?!) just after his arrogant declaration. Keaton hefted her mace as its surface slowly devoured the blood caking it, rippling and warbling as each drop was swallowed.  By this point Gareeku was fully healed and everyone was launching whatever they could at Azrul, such as James's shuriken and Aisha's boomerang, all deadly projectiles which had virulent effects on the demon.

Light was probably the most useful element here, and unfortunately something Keaton had no experience in. She did, however, have some knowledge in Fire magic... nowhere near as adept as her control over darkness, but certainly a force to be acknowledged. Originally she had adopted the skill years ago in-between dark magic studies as both an antidote to her pyrophobia and a balancing act to her dark-oriented abilities, but now it was probably rusty. Now was as good a time as any to attempt revitalizing this strength. Keaton flexed the digits of her hand, gouts of flame building up in the center of her palm as she deeply concentrated. Tongues of fire were starting to climb up her fingers, subtle traces of dark magic fueling and fanning the center of the flame's core and permeating it, but mostly overwhelmed by the predominant element.

"Take you alive?" Keaton laughed. "Oh please. Be imaginative. Where's the fun in that?"

Keaton pulled back her hand and prepared to launch the spell upon the right provocation. Right now she had no compunctions about torching the demon alive in his moment of weakness, but these momentary traveling companions of hers might. Either way, she hoped the spell was strong enough to inflict some form of damage.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha smirked, a look of dark satisfaction, as the boomerang returned to her hand, having been successful in taking the ram demon's limb.  The blood gave the glow on the edge a shimmer of red when she clasped it again, the panthress watching his pain and apparent fear for those around him with what could only be felt as a surge of elation...as she always felt when a high-and-mighty demon was about to fall.  Especially this one who called himself Azrul, for all the trouble he caused.  He had better cooperate, she thought in agreement with the others.  Or he may die where he stands.

Suddenly, behind her, was heard the twang of a bowstring and the sound of an arrow whizzing through the air.  Aisha whirled to see what it was, only to see that it had struck another assassin that had been nearly behind her...the arrow courtesy of a now-awake Ephrael.  "Good to see you alright," Aisha smiled in thanks, and then turned to see what was going to happen next...sword in one hand, boomerang in the other, she crouched defensively while watching and listening.

It didn't look like the ram was going to acquiesce to the adventurers, but it seemed he had little choice...but otherwise, she'd be bound to take off a leg as well.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

The wolf jumped up, signaling the end of the healing session. Mel took half a second to look around. The squirrel was a bit too far away for her tend to. Perhaps the vixen could reach him. From her vantage point at floor level she slid an ice spell onto the floor around the demon's feet; slick almost invisible black ice. Content that she had added  her own little piece to the chaos she set about encasing any nearby assassins in ice.

[Tapewolf]

Jakob snuck a glance or two around the room to see how the others were doing.  James was in a bad way, but it was not the sort of injury that Jakob could tend to.  There were people encased in ice next to a Being, and this did not make Jakob very happy.
Not so many years before Gareeku was born he had met someone named Snell, who had used his 'Cubi talents to rob and burgle.  But he was also good with ice-magic and he had used it to kill several demons, simply grasping their heads and killing them instantly.  The thought of how they had died still made him feel sick.
I'll have to keep an eye on that one, he thought to himself but then returned to the problem of the Angel, who seemed to have just collapsed.  Confident that the others could keep the demon occupied for a couple of seconds, he screwed up his eyes, searching once again for Gabi's mind.

"James..." he thought, directing his voice into her mind, "Tend to James!"

[Gabi]

Once Gareeku had stood up Gabi sighed both from relief and tiredness. She wished she could sit down, but the fight was still raging all around her. She considered herself lucky that her friends seemed to be able to keep the enemies at bay. She acknowledged Gareeku's gratitude, but ished he hadn't drawn the demon's attention to her. Fortunately, he didn't seem to care about her presence. And he was fooled by a paintball too. Maybe he wasn't very smart after all. He was still bound to be too powerful for her, though. She'd be better off doing what she did best.

She looked for James, who she had meant to help before, and found that he was still fighting. Maybe he's not as hurt as he seemed, she thought. Or maybe he's straining himself to the limit. I can't tell with all these fights going on between us. Then she heard Ephrael speak, and both her words and the tone of her voice worried her. She needed help, but it would be hard to reach her. Gabi wondered which of the two she should try to help first. Then she received Jakob's answer. She wondered how he'd done that; no one else had ever projected thoughts into her mind, Cubi or not. But he could do many surprising things and now was not the time to contemplate them. He could read minds, so he probably knew who needed her the most. She decided to follow his advice.

She used a diversion spell to protect herself. It was a weak spell, but she'd need all the magic she could use for healing, and it might work now that everyone else had other things to focus on. Its purpose was to stop others from randomly noticing her. They'd still see her if they looked for her, but she wouldn't attract the attention of anyone who just happened to glance in her direction.

She did her best to avoid the fighters, but when she was just about to reach James someone's back bumped into hers. She ran, not turning to check whether it had been friend or foe. She feared an attack, but there wasn't enough time to even think of how to defend herself. No attack came, however, and she finally reached James. Luck seemed to be on her side. She hoped it would stay with her at least until James had recovered.

She held the Squirrel in her arms and checked his condition. She wondered how she'd managed to keep fighting that long. She gently poured some energy into him, and then checked his vitals again. He seemed a bit more stable, but still badly hurt. Things would be easier if she could get him to stay conscious.

"James, can you hear me?," she asked him.

(OOC: I randomized a few things on the 'running' paragraph.)

[Stygian]

The bat diverted his attention from the demon to direct his aggravated fury at two assassins, whatever they were, that made what seemed like a last attempt at coming to their master's aid. The first one, leaping while holding a bomb-like ice spell in his fist just waiting to go off, was caught by the bat's outstretched arm and skewered on his black, knife-like claws. Spasming from the pain but not screaming somehow, he was wrenched around and thrown aside like a ragdoll. The second attempted to stab at the coated man with a curved blade of some sort, oozing mist. He had his hand stopped inches from its target by the bat's own iron grasp, and then twisted around until joints and tendons ripped and snapped, before a swift kick to the throat broke his neck and sent him flying. The man let his arms fall, exhaled, and then turned his eyes back to the demon.
   When James fell, it only brought a derisive snort from the bat. His boots thumped heavily as he walked slowly closer to this Azrul. He still had to watch the others, but right now he had only one real wish in his head. 'Quite right,' he hissed before he stopped, referring to Keaton's and Jakob's comments. 'But if you're thinking of taking this asshole before me, I suggest you change your plans. I have my money, but for this...' He slowly flexed his fingers, sharp fangs gritted and bared.

[Tapewolf]

"Like I said, we only need his soul," Jakob answered.  "Not even that if he 'fesses up and tells us what we want to know before he dies.  So if it's a bounty you're after, you can take the corpse by all means."
He was clearly in an unusually vicious mood.

[Stygian]

The bat snarled in response, neck lowered and the mane of scruff that went down from under his long hair bristling. It looked almost as if something was moving just within his black coat.
   'Piss off, scrawny boy,' the chiropteran retorted. 'You're walking out of here with your friend and alive. You should be glad for that.'

[Tapewolf]

And the same to you, sir... Jakob thought.  He was used to hate, but the idea that muscle mass counted for much in a shapeshifter made it difficult for him to keep a straight face.

The only thing that really saved him from enraging the other still further was the sobering notion that the bat's actions could threaten the kidnapped.  Ignoring the slur, he kept his eyes upon the demon.  Much as he despised violence, his efforts to keep the blood out of his mind and the thought that he was so close to finding an answer to the kidnappings had put him in a very, very strange mood.  He knew he'd have one hell of a guilt trip in the morning, especially from the idea that had just occurred to him.

Tearing the soul from a living body was not something Jakob was too keen on doing, even in this heightened state, but it had a lot going for it.  No mess, just a nice, clean kill and the demon's soul trapped in a crystal for him to interrogate.  It was a strong temptation but he didn't quite have the nerve.  Not yet... wait for the others first... do it if they falter...

[Gareeku]

"Shut up. Both of you." a suddenly cut in, a slightly growling tone to it. Looking from Jakob and the bat to the demon, and then to the rest of the group. "Anyone who's takes his soul without my saying so will feel the wrath of my blade."

The look in the wolf's eyes clearly showed that he meant every word that he said. To say that Gareeku was pissed off was an understatement. The thought of being slowly and methodically tortured by Azrul and his guards was still burning in the front of his mind, fueling his inner rage. He wanted the demon alive, at least for the time being anyway. Once he got what he wanted, he would quite happily kill his foe.

Azrul, meanwhile, continued to look from one foe to another, a look of panic, mixed with pain thanks to the injuries he suffered, on his face as his eyes glanced from one of his foes to the other. Hearing Gareeku's words, the demon looked at the wolf, before a slight smirk appeared on his face.
"My my, aren't we the compassionate one..." the demon sneered. "I know you hate me, you must do. Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?"

"Because you may have information that I want." the wolf replied, his eyes locked onto the demon in a piercing look. Hearing these words, Azrul raised an eyebrow. Stepping forward, Gareeku tightened his grip on his blade. "You are going to tell me where my mother, my uncle, and the rest of the kidnapped are, otherwise I am going to make you wish that I killed you the moment I was back on my feet."

The words that the wolf spoke were pure venom, and to be honest, downright chilling, largely thanks to the fact that it was plain to see that Gareeku meant every word.
"Like I would tell you...you think you can just use threats on me like that?" Azrul spat in reply. In reply to this, Gareeku said nothing, merely looking at the demon with a look on his face that indicated that Azrul had just said the wrong thing.

Crack.

Azrul suddenly cried out in pain, holding his now broken hand close to his chest. Gareeku had just walked up to him, before suddenly, before Azrul knew what was happening in his injured state, grabbing his hand and smashing it over his knee, using such force that at least two bones in the demon's hand were broken.
"Now then...where were we...?" Gareeku growled, standing over the demon and looking down at him. "Don't make me ask you again..."

"Fucking filth..." Azrul spat, a look of hate in his eyes as he looked back up at the wolf. With that, Gareeku took his sword and with one clean swipe, sliced off the demon's right leg, causing Azrul to scream in pain as he fell onto his back. Blood now covered the floor where the wolf stood, staining the black sandal-like footwear that he wore crimson red...