Marshborne

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Blake Nightingale

I run and throw myself to the ground as a man so agile he might as well be a bird flings himself over me with a claw over his hand. Rolling several times and dirtying my clothes in the water of my homeland, I feel as home as I quickly stand back up and summon forth the spirit I warded within myself.

The Nalusa Falaya, or that I've come to call internal Nally, tries to rebel against my control, but I force my will over it and make it bend to my command. The hair of the creature emerges from my finger like tough, sharp threads that can wrap around and suffocate people.

The man that chases me, however, lands adeptly on a tree and turns to face me with little effort as he starts another one of his rebounds. My eyes briefly flicker to my south, where Otto is fighting the 6th Sigil. We've all been at this for hours, if not close to a full day. Running, hiding, and resting whenever we can.

About ten minutes ago, me and the man who had followed Johnny for much longer than I met up, making an impromptu team, but we were quickly split up when we were found by our pursuers. The one who can turn into a cloud of ravens is perilous, and only by virtue of Otto's vast repertoire of skills is he still alive. He seems to have a move to counter almost anything the raven guy does.

I can't focus on his fight,t however, even as I see him throw a rope dart with a small piece of dynamite at the end of it. I merely prepare for the explosion's shock as I send out the threads toward the bounding man as he bursts toward me with speed.

My strands of hair, however, are only from a relatively weak spirit as I have not found any better yet to ward within myself. Because of this, the man breaks through them, and I dodge, knowing that it would happen. The reason I did it, though, was to slow him down and cut him just a little.

Once again, I splash into the water as I roll past him with a claw whooshing past my head and scramble to stand again. Ether flows through my hands as I slowly make my way to Otto. If I can somehow help him wound or get rid of that raven-man, we can take care of this jumper.

Deathtouch, my previous Sigil skill as a 3rd Sigil Expirator, allows my hands to siphon life from those I touch. It's pretty slow on its own, but when combined with a skill from my old guide, Dragoon, called Seize, one that allows one to take small bits of Ether around you to fuel other things, it speeds up rapidly.

I place my confidence in this combination as I rush forward toward the raven-man as he flutters and lands beside Otto, showering him with a rain of metal feathers. Otto spreads his hands a creates a thin film of Ether that acts like rubber as it absorbs some of the impacts, then the man rolls backward to deflect some of the damage. Several feathers still seem to slice into him, but his actions turned a potentially lethal move into a slight injury. I come in from behind and use Vigor Rush to fuel my steps with the Ether of my Sigil and water Vigor I can scrounge. Quickly I approach the feathery man, but before I can reach him, I get slammed from behind and fall to the ground.

Warmth spreads from my lower back as I turn and see the mischievous grin of the guy who's been hounding me down this whole time. He stabs the claw deeper into my back, knowing that he's got me finally pinned. He does, but I'm not one to give up so easily.

I know I'm a shy woman, but that doesn't mean I don't bite. Sometimes I do, literally.

I force Nally out of my hand as a horrifying visage comes from my palm and bites at the man's hand that holds the claw. It rips a chunk from his hand alongside several fingers as the man retreats, and I take this opportunity to turn around despite the pain in my back. Chilling screams come from Nally, as the spirit likes to talk when it's out, which only further makes the man retreat.

Snapping alongside Nally, I grab onto the man's foot with my hand as he tries to back up, and I hit him with the combination of both of my skills. It only lasts briefly before he rips my hand away, but in that short amount of time, a decent amount of Vigor flows into me from him, the signature ability of Abbots. With my unique combination, I regenerate Vigor only from others, unlike most who can meditate or exercise for theirs.

I take this Vigor from him and direct half of it to my wound as a cool sensation lets me know it is rapidly healing. Not as fast as stories Wyatt told me while we were traveling, but enough to staunch the bleeding in a minute or so. The other half goes straight into my knees and calves as I use them to jump back at the man, the Vigor strengthening my movement just as much as Ether, only I'm able to double up because of Vigor coming from the body and not the soul like Ether does.

The man tries to jump backward, but I transform that gaping maw of darkness from Nally back into its black hair as I whip it at him. Sadly, he is able to move far back enough that I miss him entirely, but I take this time to get up and move back toward Otto, who is nearby.

It seems as though the raven man just left him with a pretty nasty wound across his gut, blood trails down his body as I see the man repeatedly use two fingers to rapidly pinch and close the wound with force.

We end up back to back for a moment as we both take a second to breathe rapidly. This is the most I've fought since this chase began. Most of it had just been me running from the man and using my knowledge to keep him at bay, but eventually, he caught up. The Sigil advantage is quite decisive and hard to overcome, even with home-field advantage.

Don't know how Otto made it this far with the man who's after him. He's only a 4th Sigil like me, right? Or did he advance and not tell anyone? Because he's not fighting like me at all. He's aggressive, angry, and confident. Not at all like my cautious and careful style of combat. Despite that, he's not dead yet. Does he even understand that we need to get to the Laughing Reeds, not kill these Hunters?

I take the short moment to ask in a quiet whisper over my shoulder, as I need to know. It would change our strategy if he did advance. Thankfully in such a high adrenaline situation, my constant stutter where my mind is faster than my body doesn't hurt me as every part of me is moving at maximum speed.

"Are you a 5th Sigil, Otto?"

I turn my head slightly while still trying to keep my attention on the jumper, and I see Otto take a moment before nodding. He did advance, after all! If he's a 5th Sigil, we can play this quite differently. The gap isn't as far between him and the raven, and I have faith that without a Sigil disadvantage, he can rapidly kill the jumper.

"Swap. Kill the hopper as fast as you can; I'll hold this guy."

He looks at me in surprise at how clear my speech is, but I ignore it. He wouldn't understand. Words are hard, but actions are different. After a second of hesitance, he agrees with my suggestion.

Changing the strategy, I twist my way around him and face the raven-man. Dark feathers congeal out of his arms as they slide down and hover just around his arms. The feathers are very dangerous, and I need to be super careful to buy some time.

He takes a single menacing step toward me before sending the feather toward me. I dart to the side to try and dodge as many as possible while I hear Otto engage the other man. Explosions, clinks, and every manner of trick and sound come from the newly known 5th Sigil as he pulls out all the stops to kill the hopping guy. That man would be hazardous in a place such as a city with walls all over.

Sadly, here in Sinscreak, the only walls are the trees. And I've grown up with these trees, so I know each and every type of them. Few can handle the impact of his jumps. This makes him lose a lot of speed, but every once in a while, he finds an old Cyprus, a tree that is just as tough as it is aged.

I quickly spot one of the old Cryprus's nearby, and I make a mad dash for it as the cutting feathers catch up to me. Vigor Rush consumes the last of my stockpiled Ether from the battle at Rustbank as I slide just behind the tree with water splashing all over me. Feathers slam into the old Cyprus as the man tries to cut it down like all the other trees, but the wood has had decades, if not centuries, to harden.

Resounding thunks come from the other side of the tree in the dozens as I take a moment to gather my breath. Once I do, I quickly peek from the side and see the raven man shake his head before forming his feathers to shoot at Otto, who is currently dealing with the jumper.

I jump out from behind the old Cyprus to stop him, returning to using Ether to boost myself. Only that Ether is far inferior for bodily strength than Vigor as the body will never fully accept it. So, I move slightly slower than while under Vigor Rush as I move with Adrenaline Surge. I only wish Vigor wasn't so hard to accumulate…

It doesn't matter, though. A threat is in front of me, and I need to focus, not daydream or think about other things. Focus. Focus, Blake. Who cares about what you read earlier when your life is on the line! Fuck! You did it again.

I struggle against myself and my terrible focus as I manipulate my Ether and prepare my combination of Deathtouch and Seize should I reach the raven-man. My feet move steadily and without issue through the waterlogged marsh. My childhood alone in these swamps might not have taught me to read, write, or even really speak, but it sure did teach me how to survive. How to thrive when everything around you wants your life. And years of life in this place with the Dragoons have prepared me for anything it can throw at me, except for maybe a Rougarou or a Letiche.

I approach the raven man rapidly, and he is forced to send his feathers toward me instead of Otto. I sidestep the first few, but I get caught with a few in my rush, blood blossoming and streaming down from my arms, legs, and torso from the wounds. Thankfully, I used Stone to harden my bone, preventing the feathers from going too deep. The skills of Dragoon never seem to fail me. Thank you, old man. I miss you. Enough reminiscing, Blake! Back to work!

The vast amount of feathers sent at me, however, does make me stumble from instantaneous pain and blood loss despite the fact I used Stone. The man tries to take advantage of this with a final swirl of feathers to end me, but an explosion comes from beside us, disorienting him. I expected Otto to do something similar as many of his skills are related to him using bombs to kill earlier, so I forced Nally out once more to scream at the man in front of me.

Visible sound waves come from the terrifying visage, assaulting the raven-man as explosions join its cacophonous symphony. The man steps back a few times before manifesting a colossal amount of feathers to block him from the sound waves that damage his eardrums terribly.

With a whip of my head, I turn and see Otto limping away from a body covered in black soot and nailed to a tree with a series of daggers. He did it, although it seems he traded injuries to end it quickly. Sanguineous liquid streams down his legs, joining the dirty water of life beneath our feet.

He sees what the raven man is doing and quickly stretches his arm in a weird way that allows him to put little pieces of dynamite onto the ends of his rope darts without pulling them all the way back to him. Then, he swings them menacingly, walking toward the raven–man, who in turn sees the threat and reacts accordingly.

The pursuer, seeing that his ally is dead, transforms his shield of feathers into a pair of wings that brings him above the treeline. It doesn't seem as though he can genuinely fly, only that he can glide or jump very high as he doesn't continue to go higher. He only draws a lever action and starts firing at us. I guess all his feathers are being used to keep him afloat.

Otto and I both dart to the sides for covering, each of us finding a tree or log to hide behind. Return fire quickly comes from Otto as the man always has a collection of various firearms on his body. All I have is a simple Dog Revolver, a snub-nosed kind of gun that is easily concealable but has terrible range. I lean over the log I'm using for cover and fire a few shots at the man flapping his metallic wings, but my accuracy is awful.

Every single bullet misses by a mile, and I give up after a few shots. I change my tactic to using Nally, creating their hair strands and trying to extend them up to the man in the air. He can't use his feathers to cut the strands because they are needed for his flight, so I reckon it will work.

Slowly the strands of pitch-black hair sprout their way up to him in the sky as he fires off at Otto. I merely use a single eye out of cover to watch the exchange and my progress. When I reach about halfway up to him, I hear Otto yelp in pain as a bullet catches him in the arm. Damnit! The man continues to fire back at the flying figure, but his pace slows down rapidly with a shot in his arm.

I take things into my own hands and reload my revolver before simply firing at him wildly while splitting my focus as much as I can. I carefully weave the hair toward him even while we fire back and forth, hiding it behind branches and leaves as it slowly goes upward toward him.

My teeth begin to chatter, and my knees tremble in anxiety as I see the hair slowly get closer to him, inch by inch. As long as I can grab onto him, I can pull him down to us. The impact alone might knock him out; even if it doesn't, we can handle it.

But sadly, he notices just as the dark strands wrap around his leg. I don't even get the chance to pull him down as his wings briefly transform and cut the hair off of him. I curse internally, but my curses rapidly turn to yells of happiness as a gunshot rings out from a direction other than where Otto is hiding. A burst of fire and shrapnel comes from the top of a tree nearby the raven-man as I see a heavily bloodied Wyatt hanging on with just his legs and aiming the gun with one hand.

The fire hits the man roughly, but the shrapnel mostly bounces off his feathers, losing most of their strength due to the distance. But the impact is enough to throw him off balance as Wyatt continues with a barrage of four more shots, concussing the man even further with fire and steel.

I use this opportunity to wrap the threat around his foot and yank him down as the feathers are focused on defending him against the spray of the fiery shotgun. Rapidly like a falling anchor, the man slams into the knee-deep water of this area. I try to follow up to finish the job, but two beat me to it. The first is Wyatt's fox, which vaults straight onto the man's face with a menacing growl, and the second is Otto, who stabs daggers straight into the man's chest.

For a second, I think that they've successfully killed him, but suddenly he turns into his flock of ravens, soaring toward the sky for safety with many of them dripping with blood. As he does so, though, I see Wyatt jump off his tree and pull the trigger of his shotgun when he gets closest to the cloud of ravens, reaching his arm out as far as he possibly can for extra range.

A final shot that puts a ringing in my ears covers the cloud of birds with a blaze as they fall in droves. A smile comes across my face for the first time today as I see three final ravens flying away. We might not have killed him, but at the very least, we deeply wounded him. A loud splash and thump wipe my smile away as I turn to the noise, which is most certainly Wyatt hitting the ground. All that goes up must come down.

I start making my way toward Otto and Wyatt as I see Wyatt rolling in the water, groaning.

"Fuck fuck fuck. That hurt! Why did I jump if it wouldn't kill him!"

A small chuckle comes from both Otto and me as we go over to help the young man up. A short glance at his face and the many bandages over his body tells a clear story without a single word. He had just as much, if not more, of a fight on his way here.