Tykal looked at the village through her spyglass. As far as villages were this one was a tad bit better armed. She saw the villagers carrying rifles, scatterguns, and crossbows. From the way they carried themselves they were worst than a militia. Although she also spotted dogs outside every home. Dogs would smell intruders, then they’d bark, then the villagers would arm themselves as they would know something or someone’s coming their way. At least they were smart.

“See anything Tykal?” Asked Lyo.

“Meh. Nothing I haven’t seen before in the Kaulkans. I wonder if these villagers will put up a better fight.”

“Only one way to find out.” Lyo sighed. “I just can’t believe we’re helping these… Animals.”

Tykal chuckled. “Life’s a bitch that way. There’s nothing we can do anyways. Orders are orders.”

“Yeah.”

“I count at least fifty hostiles… That’s including the dogs. It’s safe to say that the whole village is armed.”

“We can take them.”

“No pressure.”

Onyx used his spyglass to examine the armory’s defenses. Except for the stone structure in the middle its watchtowers, barricades, and outer walls were built using logs. They had a few small cannons outside, and a few horses to move said cannons. “Did we hit the motherlode?” Asked Tigris. “Don’t know. Aside from the stuff they have outside it’s possible that this is a depot, and not an armory. Still… Those cannons can be quite useful.” “Well let’s hope Y’noch was right about this place.” “You should probably stop bringing up his name. Don’t want to piss off a Blackbird.” “Whatever you say lizard boy.” Tigris said with a smile as she patted Onyx in the back. “And that’s another thing…” “Did you really get over it?” Tigris interrupted. “What do you mean?” “The rape, the fact that you’re turning into… Something. Are you really okay?” There was a long silence between the two. Onyx was at a loss. Aside from the episode on the cliff he had not give much thought to it. Onyx had pushed it to the back of his mind, but was he really over it? “I guess I just don’t know. Lately though it feels like I’m just going through the motions. Like I’m doing this because I know that if I stop then… I’ll go back to that place.” “You know you should’ve asked Tykal to kill you instead of Azura. She wouldn’t have hesitated.” “Maybe next time I have a traumatic experience I’ll ask her.” “Food for thought.” She said with a smile. “Say Tigris…” “Hmm?” Onyx turned around to meet Tigris’ gaze. “Would you have killed me?” “Nope.” Tigris answered immediately. “Embry?” “Embry.” Answered Tigris. “Yeah.” Sighed Onyx. Tykal took position on top of a tree’s branch. The rest of the animalists and Lyo surrounded the village. Tykal brought up her rifle and aimed it at one of the armed men. She eased her breathing as her finger found the trigger. As soon as she exhaled she pulled the trigger, and the battle was on. Lyo saw the man fall down and suddenly all the animalists rushed the village. The dogs all rushed to meet the invaders. Some of the animalists were stopped as the dogs managed to bite their arm or leg. The rest of them pushed forward as they engaged the armed militia. Lyo rushed to one of the nearby houses. She stood by one of the windows. Lyo used her spear to break the windows and threw a firebomb inside the house. After the firebomb exploded a woman left the building screaming in agony as the inside caught fire. Lyo saw the woman trying to put out the fire as she dropped and rolled. Lyo repeatedly stabbed the woman with her spear until she finally stopped writhing in pain. Tykal resumed firing on the militia providing cover fire and assistance from her vantage point. She looked around for any signs of a chain of command, but found no one specifically in charge. She looked at several of the civilians attempting to escape the slaughter. She brought up her rifle, and saw two children running away in the direction of the armory. “Hmph… Only need one messenger.” She said as she aimed her rifle at the child lagging behind, and fired. Lyo blocked the man’s bayonet with her spear as she attempted to withdraw, and put some distance between the two. The man charged at her again, but Lyo deflected his bayonet with the tip of her spear. As he approached her for a tackle Lyo elbowed his gut. The man clutched his stomach in pain. Lyo then stabbed the man in his chest. She was then grabbed from behind when the man suddenly let out a grunt. She turned around as the man collapsed behind her. “Thanks Tykal.” She said as she walked up to the dying man, and drove her spear deeper into him. Onyx saw a small formation of soldiers getting ready to assist the village. In total there were thirty soldiers which was quite insignificant. He spotted a child making his way to the fort begging for assistance. Once the child confirmed their suspicions they moved towards the village. “What do you think?” Asked Tigris. “That we should go now. Tell the others that it’s now or never.” Onyx and Tigris lit their firebombs and tossed them at the watchtowers. This allowed the main force to rush the gates. The soldiers met the animalists as they tried to resist their incursion. Onyx drew his sword as he neared the battle. Onyx cut down one of the soldiers that was locked in combat with one of the other animalists. Then he blocked a sword’s swing with the broadside of his sword. Onyx pushed back as he angled the sword to cut the soldier’s leg. The soldier stepped back, and blocked Onyx’s swing. Onyx drew his sword back as he charged the soldier. Both of their swords reverberated, and both of them felt the tremors in their hands. The soldier’s grip loosened on his sword, and Onyx used that short window to disarm the soldier and drive his sword against his chest. Lyo stabbed a child writhing in the ground. She heard running footsteps behind her. When she turned around she saw enemy reinforcements flood the village. One soldier charged at her with their spear until a gunshot rang in the distance. Then they collapsed on the floor. “Show off.” Muttered Lyo as she charged at the enemy soldiers alongside the animalists. Tykal loaded another bullet into her rifle as the fighting continued. So far the militia put up little to no resistance. The Zulamarian soldiers on the other hand would put up a better fight. She aimed her rifle at the man leading the charge, and pulled the trigger. The man soon collapsed, and the soldiers were in disarray. “Hmph… Guess I was wrong.” Sighed Tykal as she loaded another bullet into her rifle. Suddenly a bullet made its way towards Tykal’s position. Tykal scanned the area to find the sniper. Another bullet flew past her head. “Shit!” Tykal cursed as she jumped down from the tree, and took cover behind it. Lyo saw the man shooting at Tykal’s position. She looked around and saw that the animalists were keeping the soldiers busy. She aimed for the man that was on top of the house. Then Lyo threw her spear at him. The man screamed in agony as he bled profusely from his wound. Tykal peeked her head from her cover. “Tch. I could’ve handled him.” Tykal scoffed as she made her way towards the village. Tigris tore through the man’s throat with her claws. By now the defenders were all dead. All that was left was to secure the building, and steal anything and everything. Tigris sniffed the inside looking for any traces of survivors. Onyx walked up behind her. “Was that all of them?” He asked. “Not sure.” She answered. “Okay then. You guys are with us. We’ll go room by room and flush them out. Send a few guys back to the village to reinforce them and let them know of our success. Dawon and Irene will be here shortly with the carriage wagons.” “I don’t have to go greet them do I?” Asked Tigris. “Afraid so. I’ll finish up here.” “Ugh…” She moaned as she left the building. Onyx went to the basement in search of survivors. He picked up a torch and scanned the room that was full of barrels. He opened the lid of one of them with his knife. He peeked inside and saw that it was full of grain. “Son of a bitch. Where are all the weapons?” He kept searching the barrels until he saw one that was full of swords. “Finally.” Onyx pulled one out to see what condition it was in. The craftsmanship was what you would expect for military grade equipment. The sword itself, probably the others too, would require some work as the blade looked a bit dull. Onyx then found a long crate. He pried it open with his sword, and found several rifles in good condition. “Even better.” He said with a smile on his face. “Gyah!” Onyx turned around to see a child with a sword charging at him. Onyx quickly drew his knife, and threw it at him. The child caught the knife in his chest, and fell to his knees. Onyx walked up to him with his sword drawn. Onyx examined the wound, which did not appear to be fatal or life threatening. “Just kill me already.” Said the child. Onyx didn’t respond. The child crawled towards him, and clutched one of his legs. “Just do it!” He screamed enraged. “Why?” “Everyone is dead. Mom, dad, my little brother. I just… I just want to be with them.” “They would also want you to live.” “In that case then…” The child grabbed the knife, and slit his own throat. Onyx stood there completely petrified. Memories of a dying girl, a large puddle of blood, crying, helplessness flooded his mind. His head started to hurt, and he felt like he had taken a severe blow to the head. Onyx fell to his knees as he grabbed his head. “Agh! What’s happening to me!?” He screamed as he writhed in pain. He felt a burning sensation in his lizard arm as if fire coursed through his veins. Onyx grabbed the knife from the boy’s dead hands, and tried to cut open his arm. The knife was unable to cut through the scales. “AGH! I CAN’T…” He screamed then suddenly everything faded into black.