*In the central communication tower of Brister the doors had been blasted open by explosions. The dead bodies of knights were on the ground and in the upper level overlooking the kingdom was the control room with staff members who were demihumans and elves being tied up. Human members of staff were left untied and lying on the ground bloody and beaten up by members of Blood Moon being led by Cassidy and Cassandra. There were a few demihumans on staff who were secret agents of Blood Moon who were free and others who joined Blood Moon after being won over by their words of revenge and liberation for all demihumans. One staff member who turned on his co-workers was an old lion demihuman with greyest blond hair and brown eyes. The demihuman was currently using a kendo stick to hit the back of a shirtless human male worker with short spikey brown hair and yellow eyes. The man screamed out in pain from the hits as his co-workers watched in horror and were disgusted by his back which was red and purple with bruises from the multiple kendo shots. The man couldn’t defend himself as his arms were being held by two members of Blood Moon on each side who were wearing a black goat and sheep mask. A female co-worker who was a red panda demihuman with black eyes and medium length hair that was a mixture of dark red and white saw enough and finally spoke up*
(Red Panda Female co-worker): Rey that’s enough! Why are you doing this to Vincent?
*The lion demihuman stops hitting the human co-worker*
(Rey): *Chuckles* Why am I doing this? Coco, the question you should be asking is why aren’t you and the others joining in and getting revenge on the other humans here?
(Coco) Come on Rey, this isn’t you. Just yesterday you were having lunch with me, Vincent and the others having a good time.
(Rey): Yes. Something that angered me almost every day I went home. Forcing myself to smile and be friendly with a bunch of humans who never cared for me or appreciated my skills.
(Male elf co-worker): What did Vincent ever do to you?
(Coco): Rey, this is wrong.
(Rey): Wrong!? I’ll tell you what’s wrong! Spending twelve years of your life at a job barely making enough to get by! Watching promotion after promotion you deserve go to someone else because of your race and being forced to stay quiet! Well I won’t keep the façade up any longer and I am taking what rightfully should be mine.
*Rey turns around and whacks his former co-worker, Vincent, on the back once again. Vincent screams out in pain as the members of Blood Moon applaud and cheer Rey for his speech and actions*
(Cassidy): Yes! My brother. Don’t hold back any longer. Let your rage be known to this filthy human.
*All of a sudden a demihuman wearing a penguin mask came rushing into the room*
(Penguin demihuman): Guys! We got a problem!
(Cassandra): What’s going on?
(Penguin demihuman): Two elves are down below. I think they’re knights.
(Cassandra): So? Get rid of them. It just two elves. How hard could they be?
(Penguin demihuman): That’s just it. They’re strong. They just took out everyone on the first floor. They said they’re going to start back up the communication’s tower.
(Cassidy): Well it’s pointless seeing as how there’s no power.
*All of a sudden the lights come back on in the room. Cassidy and Cassandra get up from their sitting position and rush to the window to see the kingdom start lighting up*
(Cassandra): How is this possible? We shut down their main reactor.
(Cassidy): Worry about that later. Right now, we need to stop those knights.
***
*On the first floor in the communications tower, Amarti and Zia were finishing up any remaining Blood Moon members*
(Zia): That’s the last of them, master Amarti. Although one of them escaped.
(Amarti): I’m sure he’s gone to tell his friends that we’ve arrived.
*The lights came back on*
(Amarti): Ah, looks like the others succeeded in restoring power. Now it’s up to us to perform phase two.
(Zia): Shall we head to the control room?
*As Amarti and Zia were heading towards the stairs, they quickly jumped back sensing an attack coming. As they jumped away a giant shuriken cleave impaled the ground before them. The cleave was green with red markings on it. Cassidy soon jumped down from up top the stairs and landed by the shuriken cleave where he picked it up*
(Amarti): Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance.
(Cassidy): I take it that you’re knights?
(Zia): Concerned citizens hoping to restore order to the kingdom.
(Cassidy): Then I suggest you look elsewhere. Unless you wish to lose your life.
(Amarti): I’ll take that bet. I’ll handle this. Zia, secure the control room.
(Zia): Right. Please be careful master Amarti.
*Zia maneuvers past Cassidy and makes her way up the stairs down the hall to the control room. Meanwhile, Amarti pulls out his blade discs and throws three of them at Cassidy who just smiles*
(Cassidy): Storm Eye!
*Cassidy pours his magic into the shuriken cleave where the red markings begin to glow. The shuriken starts to spin around rapidly and releases a gust of red wind that shatters the blade discs into pieces. The gust then made its way to Amarti where it hit him dead on and pushed him back a few inches while also cutting his clothes*
(Cassidy): Nice try. Storm Eye destroys any long-range projectiles aimed at me. Your discs won’t be reaching me.
(Amarti): Hmm~, this is bad. This shirt was pure elfan silk. Do you have any idea how much this costs?
*Cassidy was visually upset and agitated that Amarti cared more about the shirt getting damaged than his attack failing*
(Cassidy): Weren’t you paying attention you spoiled elf?
(Amarti): Yes, yes, my blade discs failed to hit you. So what? You think you’re the first one to destroy my projectiles? I’ll just have to switch over to a new strategy. Second Form: Fergease (Trident)!
*The blade discs that were shattered reformed and return to Amarti where they combined with four more blade discs to form a silver trident. Amarti grabbed the trident out of the air and spun it around before taking up a fighting stance*
(Amarti): If projectiles won’t work, I’ll just have to settle for close range combat instead.
(Cassidy): Hmph. You really think I’ll let you get close to me?
(Amarti): Who said you had a choice in the matter?
*Amarti began to run towards Cassidy who fires another gust of wind at him. Amarti smiles, sidesteps the gust and picks up the pace*
(Cassidy): *Inner Thoughts* He’s fast!
*Amarti reaches Cassidy and thrusts his trident forward. Cassidy managed to move at the last second, but his left shoulder got cut. Gritting his teeth, Cassidy attempted a counterattack by swinging his cleave at Amarti’s head only for it to get blocked by Amarti’s blade discs. Using his free hand, Amarti punches Cassidy on the stomach knocking the wind out of him. Cassidy staggers backwards before regaining his footing and fires a gust of wind at Amarti who jumped out of the way to safety. All of a sudden Cassidy’s left arm goes limp and he can’t lift it up*
(Cassidy): What the?
(Amarti): Oh good, it’s taking effect. The tips of my trident are laced with a special wood sap that causes numbing in the body. You won’t be able to move that arm for the next hour. I’ll be aiming for the right arm next.
(Cassidy): *Chuckles* You’re certainly taking your sweet time in this fight. If I was you I’d be a little anxious sending that poor defenseless female elf ahead of me. My sister will be sure to give her a warm welcome.
(Amarti): So there’s another one here? Tell me, between you and your sister, who’s stronger?
*Cassidy took a second to think*
(Cassidy): Not to toot my own horn, but I’m definitely stronger than her.
(Amarti): Good. Then there’s nothing to worry about.
*Cassidy was confused by this*
(Amarti): I have fought that female elf over a hundred times and not once have I been able to beat her.
***
*In the control room Zia was in the middle of fighting Cassandra. Six members of Blood Moon were laid out on the floor unconscious along with Rey. The hostages were off to the side out of harms way as Zia and Cassandra fought. Zia put herself in between Cassandra and the hostages to keep them safe. Cassandra was fighting with a kusarigama that fired off electricity while Zia used her reliable kukris. Zia was overwhelming Cassandra with her speed and skills, forcing Cassandra to play defense for a majority of the fight. Cuts and bruises could be seen on Cassandra’s arms and legs courtesy of Zia who slashed and kicked her multiple times. Despite Cassandra’s best efforts she was outmatched and breathing heavily while Zia stared her down with a serious and unamused expression on her face. In a desperate struggle Cassandra threw the electric metal ball at Zia who swatted it away with her kukri and ran toward Cassandra. Zia shoulder tackled Cassandra into the wall and held her kukri up to Cassandra’s neck*
(Zia): Do you have any idea how upset I am? Me and master Amarti were having such a wonderful afternoon together at the office. I spent all day getting him in the mood for some office fun this evening. And you ruined it with this blackout! Not even your death would be enough to compensate this blunder. Now you’re going tell me everything I want to know. What is Blood Moon after? How many men do you have? The works.
*As Zia was talking, Cassandra pulled out a detonator from her sleeve and pressed a button causing one of the windows to explode. With Zia distracted by the explosion momentarily, Cassandra kicked her in the stomach to escape her grasp and then jumped out the window to escape. Cassandra released a hang glider to fall safely. Zia ran to the window to see Cassandra gliding through the sky*
(Zia): Oh no you don’t. Not today. Second Form: Balistro (Crossbow)!
*After speaking Elfan, one of Zia’s kukris transforms into a brown crossbow with a white arrow made of light appearing on it. After setting up her shot and aiming directing at Cassandra, Zia takes a deep breath, holds it, and fires the arrow where it splits into five smaller arrows. Cassandra turns her head to see the arrows just as they hit her and explode on impact. Cassandra crash lands on the roof of a nearby building completely unconscious. Zia exhales and lowers her crossbow where it reverts back into a kukri*
***
*Amarti and Cassidy heard the explosion and saw Cassandra gliding through the sky before she was taken down by Zia’s arrows. Cassidy’s face went pale with fear at seeing his sister shot out of the sky*
(Cassidy): Cassandra!
(Amarti): Relax. Those arrows were non-lethal. If Zia was trying to kill her she would have been dead a long time ago.
*Cassidy turned his attention back to Amarti with anger and fired a gust of wind at him. Amarti dodged the gust and ran around as Cassidy fired more gusts of wind at him. Amarti hid behind a support beam for cover. After a few seconds of hiding, Amarti tossed out a blade disc to get Cassidy’s attention. Amarti came out from the opposite side and charged at Cassidy who saw through his trick and hit him directly with a gust attack. Amarti laid on the ground in pain as Cassidy approached him*
(Cassidy): Did you really think I would fall for such a simple trick?
(Amarti): Yes.
*Cassidy heard Amarti’s voice come from his left side. He turned his head where he was met by another Amarti pointing a flintlock at his head. Amarti smiled and shot Cassidy in the face where he fell to the ground backward unconscious. Amarti lowered the pistol and it reverted back into a blade disc. The Amarti that was on the ground faded away into a ball of light that returned to Amarti’s ring*
(Amarti): Sometimes the simplest tricks are the best.
*After tying up Cassidy, Amarti walked up the stairs and ran to the control room where he saw everyone was at work restoring communications while Zia was attending to the injured*
(Amarti): Is everyone okay in here?
(Zia): A few injured but nothing too serious, master.
(Amarti): And communications?
(Coco): We should have them back up momentarily now that the power is back on. I just hope the rest of the kingdom is okay.
(Amarti): I don’t think you need to worry about that. Once communications are back they’ll be making their move and taking back the kingdom.
Author’s Notes: Another win for Shadow Eye. The group is 3 for 3 so far. This chapter was all about Amarti and Zia as well as showing some underlining anger we may not know about. The scene at the beginning with Rey was actually based off a personal experience I had with my first job out of college. I actually struggled a little finding a job after college, but by the fall I had found a job that paid good money but was a position that was kind of beneath me. However, I thought that if I came in and expressed my desire to move up in the company as well as do this job for year or two I would get that work experience and trust. Well a few years passed and when a new position that was higher in the company came they overlooked me. Didn’t even tell me about the position opening. A complete betrayal. I was pissed. A few months later I would quit and found a better job. I wanted to express that anger with Rey’s character and how he felt he was overlooked and held back because of his race. The rest of the chapter I wanted to focus on Amarti and Zia and their weapons. I alluded to Amarti having multiple weapons during the Kragnarok so I wanted to show off more of his weapons as well as Zia’s weapons in this chapter. Plus it’s always fun to make fight scenes with these two and test myself to use them more in fights. We are approaching the end of the volume. Just three more chapters to go and I’m going to make sure we end on a high note with major reveals. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.