Page 60 of Huntress

Uro was getting close now. Close enough for her to see the twitch in his eye.

The air tingled, and she dodged to the left, barely avoiding a battering from the flat side of the female’s sword. She’d aimed it at Elsie’s calf, and with that strength it would have broken a bone. The female lunged forward, swinging and corralling, bringing Elsie closer to Uro.

Cursing under her breath, Elsie retreated, twisting to the side to keep the female from getting behind her. That’s when she bumped into another male that she hadn’t noticed sneaking up. She jolted away, but the ground shifted under her feet, and she fell on her ass, her dagger skittering across the ground. She gasped for breath, momentarily losing her vision.

The new rat’s face hovered over hers. Glittering black eyes peered at her, his stinking breath hot on her cheek. “Look what you found,” he purred, his voice smoother than Uro’s.

“She’s mine, Urza, get the fuck out of here,” Uro growled.

Urza bent down and licked Elsie’s cheek, getting the full force of her palm under his chin in return. His teeth clacked together, but when he laughed, Elsie went cold. She’d hit him as hard as she could, but she may as well be human. Her strength was all but gone.

“Feisty,” he crooned, pinning her down with one hand when she attempted to roll out of the way. This rat was different. There was a calmness to him, the kind that comes when a creature has power and knows it. Urza was well on his way to becoming the next piper.

“I like this one, I think I’ll be keeping her for myself,” Urza stated, and just like that, Uro and the female had a new target.

Urza swapped his hand for a foot, keeping Elsie in place by stepping on her ruined shoulder. She was hardly able to breathe, but she had to think her way out of this. Her body was at the end of its endurance. She had no idea where the hell her daggers were, and her squad was too preoccupied to notice her predicament.

Uro charged at the bigger rat, his cock still bouncing freely with each step. Urza’s claws sank into Elsie’s injured shoulder as he braced himself for impact. Magic flowed, and the ground rumbled, moving like waves on the ocean.

Uro moved fast, jumping from the top of one undulating piece of earth to the next, clearly used to moving under such conditions. The female came from behind, shrieking and swinging her massive sword. Urza didn’t have the reach to stop her, so he reached for his magic. Stones shot out of the dirt like bullets, firing after the female in quick succession. She squealed, then disappeared underground.

Elsie groaned. These gods damned demons were fighting over who had the right to rape and kill her. She didn’t have a weapon, but she wouldn’t stop fighting until her last breath.

Reaching up with her good hand, Elsie grabbed hold of Urza’s claw and yanked it upward, breaking the bone with a sickening snap! It was enough to distract him while Uro swung in, getting a good hit to the larger rat’s stomach.

Urza grunted, grabbing Uro’s wrist and twisting until the smaller rat was on his knees, facing away from him. Having subdued Uro, he looked down at Elsie–who’d already broken another of his toes–with an amused expression. Flexing his claws, he released her.

“Don’t waste your energy trying to escape. I want you to save it all for me,” he crooned. He turned his attention to Uro, keeping one ear cocked in her direction.

Elsie’s lip trembled, despair trying to take over her senses. Everything hurt, and she wasn’t confident about surviving this fight.

She saw Mutt fighting in the distance, a crowd of rats around him. There wasn’t a single member of her squad in sight. Rolling to her side, she pulled herself to her hands and knees; a blinding light almost drawing her under. She breathed long, slow breaths, getting her body under control. One painful inch at a time, she got to her feet, swaying in place and throwing her good arm out to her side to keep her balance in the process.

Casting around for her dagger, she finally found it several yards away. She kept an eye out for the female, but felt mostly safe ignoring the males for now. They were too busy snapping at each other’s throats to be an immediate threat.

With the earth rolling and churning, Elsie was bowled over more than once, but she finally managed to reach her weapon. She crouched carefully to pick it up and avoid another near-fainting spell.

This dagger was a gift from Stolas when she was seven years old. Back then they’d thought she had all the time in the world to learn from her mother’s demon. It wasn’t as fancy as the one Albright had given her, but it was still her favorite.

Over a decade later, the dagger was in great shape. The finger grooves in the handle’s grip were smooth from hours of practice and actual use in the field, and it fit her small hand perfectly. The spine that took the impact of her strikes was particularly strong, capable of withstanding the blows and parries of her attacks. A heavy ring at the end of the pommel served as a second bolster, evening out the weapon’s weight.

Lurching back to her feet, Elsie took a deep breath, once more opening her senses to everything around her. It cleared some of the fog in her vision and helped her find and track the hiding female who lurked nearby, waiting underground not far from where the males were fighting.

Uro was holding his own, despite the power difference between him and Urza. The bigger rat must be younger, less experienced. One of them would win, and then they’d come for her.

Shuffling forward, Elsie approached the males, wary of their every movement. Uro also had earthen magic, though he used it more precisely than his opponent. He favored small, targeted attacks while Urza threw around larger feats of magic, attempting to knock his foe off his feet.

Elsie crept up on them, completely aware that Urza was keeping track of her. She’d wait until they finished, leaving her with only one opponent, but she preferred using their distraction to her advantage. Urza was the more dangerous of the two, but as she closed in on them, she noted one small but distinct disadvantage.

Urza’s broken toes had him moving a touch slower than the smaller rat, and for that reason she chose Uro. With her intent focused on his opponent, Urza decided to work with her. He turned until Uro’s back faced her.

Elsie accepted the momentary alliance. She sidled up behind Uro, priming her muscles, forcing them to loosen up. Urza’s attention was split, and paired with his injured toes, it was his downfall.

Several things happened all at once in a surreal cacophony of violence. Urza sprang forward, teeth and claws bared, aiming at Uro’s belly. While he attacked low, Uro went high. Stones pelted forward, penetrating the bigger rat’s eyes while his teeth tore at Urza’s throat.

Elsie seized the moment, using the last of her energy and magic to slice in between Uro’s ribs. She missed his heart, but her magic managed to puncture a lung, the tip of a yellow crystal jutting out of his chest. Uro crushed Urza’s esophagus, and the larger rat gasped in a deep breath only to choke on a torrent of blood.

Elsie slumped to the ground as both males asphyxiated. She’d survived, but barely. She had nothing left to give. Her ears rang, and her vision of the rats dying swam in a quickly darkening haze. She’d lost too much fucking blood.