Chapter 19: Chapter 18

"Wait! We are moving too fast, we need to scout the area ahe…" Aranea fell silent as a pair of locals emerged from the building on the left side of the street, armed with single-shot, archaic-looking rifles. The halfbreed was ready to leap at them, but Annie was faster. The wolf hag appeared in front of the enlistees in a single burst of violent movement, her knives gleaming with energy despite the shadow of the building. With but a single swing, it was all over. Rifles, sliced in two, fell on the ground, and their owners fell as well, landing on their butts, scared to death but unharmed. Aranea sensed the smell of released bowels when one of the enlistees screamed out in a young voice filled with horror. The second attempted to stand, groaning from exertion and cursing the wolfkin in front of him.

"This is no place for the elderly or kids," Annie’s voice was deceptively calm, yet Aranea could hear her barely held back fire behind her words, anger ready to be unleashed, "Leg it to a safe zone, city is all but fallen."

"We will rather die than bow to …" The old man tried to remove his mask to spit at Annie.

"I do not assist in suicide." Annie replied to him and simply charged past him, her pack following her, resembling a flowing river of black power armors. Aranea quickly sent a message to nearby patrols about the locals and charged after Annie, trying to reason with the fellow wolf hag.

"I am in charge of this operation, Aranea," Annie responded on a secure channel, running along the streets, leaping over destroyed cars, rubble and bodies on the road. Her breath was normal, almost like she was speaking about some trivial thing during a feast or game of cards while lazily lying on the ground. Without raising her voice, she added, "If you don’t like my leadership, challenge me and I will break you. Otherwise, obey me."

Aranea swallowed her complaints, unwilling to start a fight when lives were on the line. Not that she could win this challenge. She gestured to Leila to be calm and not start shit right now. Leila could, maybe, win, but at the cost of endurance, health, and precious time.

"Sometimes you have to make the best out of the worst hand that you have been given. Sucks, but such is live. You must learn how to tough through such times in order to live further and reach better times." She remembered the words of Sonya. When Aranea was a cub, she cried at night because of the numerous bites from other cubs on her body and the insects that were running in her hide, stinging and biting her even more. Back then, Aranea only asked Sonya how she could know that better times would come. Sonya only replied that she is not a prophet and helped bandage the wounds of Aranea.

The remains of Aranea’s and Annie’s packs were charging toward a nine-story tall building, with a green cross painted on the side of it. A golden circle was around the cross, indicating that this place was a neutral zone for both Reclaimers and Resistance members. This was one of eight hospitals in Belaz. This hospital, known as Deliverance, was the biggest and most modern medical facility in the entire city. Both sides were wise enough not to start shit there, as both sides needed doctors to treat their wounds. Additional defenders from the ranks of both Resistance and Reclaimers were placed in the building, twenty people in total, boosting the number of defenders of the medical facility to up to eighty people. Over three hundred medics, not counting nurses, were working overtime. And yet, within just a day, they ran out of space, hands, and supplies, such was the number of wounded that flooded the place. Even food became scarce and, worst of all, doctors had to implement triage, forcing people to choose whom to save and whom to leave for death. The director of Deliverance sent a plea to both sides, asking for any help. To help preserve lives, the Resistance, who no longer could keep their own medics safe under the constant onslaught of the enemy, sent medical personnel to Deliverance. Unwilling to be outdone, the Reclaimers did the same, sending even medical supplies to the building. Among the volunteers was Svetlana, who felt that she was wasting her time behind military lines, as Olesya and her pack were given an assignment to protect the remote hospital in the south of the city, one that was far from the front lines. Soldiers who guarded hospitals and wounded soldiers from both sides were promised safe passage out of the city no matter the outcome of the siege.

Almost everyone was wise enough to not start shit in such a place, when both sides were on edge. And the rest should have learned the lesson after a few gang members were dragged out of the building for trying to kill a wounded member of the Reclaimers. A firing squad made of Regulators, Soultakers, and Reclaimers put an end to breakers of military law. A soldier of the Reclaimers who dared to hit one of the locals was dragged out and hanged outside by her comrades. Fear of quick and harsh reprisal should have kept the order where human decency could not. At least in theory.

Yet now, the order has been broken. The report was murky at best, it said that four persons came toward the hospital half an hour ago. They refused to give identification and simply waited on the first floor, surrounded by several guards who identified newcomers as new breeds. This was not surprising, a number of deserters from the resistance were flocking toward safe places. Soon afterwards, however, came a report about an attack from within the hospital, and all communications were stopped.

No one knew who attacked this place, no information was available about the number of enemy forces. Drones were unleashed, but they were shot down by precision fire from windows of the hospital. An attempt to recapture the place was made by a nearby patrol, yet they failed to report back. Ivar’s patience for unexpected events evaporated with this. A leash was taken off from nearby packs of wolfkins, Annie volunteered to recapture the place. Her request was approved and, without waiting for the main forces from Olesya, Annie charged packs into the fray.

Eight roads lead to a hospital surrounded by half-ruined stone walls, two of the roads were covered in rubble and ruined vehicles. A large billboard, with a smiling nurse on it, was placed on a road leading to the northwest of the hospital. The billboard stated that Deliverance’s nursery is now ninety-eight percent safe. Words were painted with black paint across the billboard:

"Neutral zone, protected by both sides. Injured people are to enter from the main entrance, sick people are to enter from the back entrance. Mentally sick people are allowed to enter from the main entrance. No weapons allowed. No fighting allowed. We do not sell medical alcohol!"

The hospital itself was a gray looking building, clearly in desperate need of better maintenance. The southern wall had several potholes, the iron pipes running across the wall were covered with rust. The cornices and walls were scuffed, the winged statue of a cub above the entrance lacked a head and one hand. A group of dead Reclamation army soldiers could be seen lying at the stairs leading to the entrance, and several unarmed bodies, some of them half naked and covered in bandages, lay on the roads leading outside the hospital, all with gunshot wounds in their backs. Several dead soultakers were on the ground as well, this unlikely alliance failed to save the patients. Against her will, Aranea growled, every instinct in her screamed to charge inside the hospital, to rip and tear. She wanted, nay, she needed to kill someone, and soon. This place was supposed to be neutral, it was supposed to be…

She stopped herself, leaping across the street and grabbing Annie by her shoulder, pulling her back just in time as several figures in uniforms of Regulators stepped from behind the billboard at the side of the road leading to the northwest. One of them charged at the wolfkins, as others opened fire. Annie was briefly surprised as Aranea pulled her back, but then her hands moved. She hit two bullets with the knuckles of her power armor, sending them away and shrugging off Aranea’s hand off her shoulder.

Idiot! Aranea wanted to scream in frustration. They were never supposed to run into enemies like this, scouts should have been deployed and…

She stopped in surprise, seeing how the charging man in Regulator’s clothes was getting close. He was fast, clearly one of the new breeds. The enemy had a well-built physique, barely hidden by his uniform of gold and black. His black cape flowed behind him. His hands lacked any gauntlets on them, yet not a drop of sweat was on his tanned skin. Leila raised her rifle, moving faster than Aranea, but before she could pull the trigger, the man grabbed the air. Such a thing should not have been possible, but the wolf hag trusted her eyes. The air around the fists of the enemy became solid, as if it was cloth that man’s fingers could pull. And then the form of Regulator disappeared, becoming ethereal for a moment, like a shade was standing in the place where man was a moment ago. Aranea could see regulators behind him. In the next moment, his form disappeared, and Leila stopped in surprise.

A gush of wind moved past Aranea, turning itself into the man from before. His leg slammed into Leila’s shoulder, pushing her away from the group. Regulator's hand found a gun on his belt, palm closed around the trigger as he vanished into thin air once more. Once more, the wind blew among the pack, and the man reappeared behind Aranea. Following more her instincts than clear knowledge, she hit behind with her leg, kicking the gun away from the hand of the man, allowing Annie to charge forward.

"Take some of them alive!" Annie gave the order, leaving Aranea to deal with the new breed on her own. The leg of Annie slammed into the stone road, breaking solid stone underneath her leg and kicking smaller shards forward, using them like projectiles against enemy soldiers. Stone shards slammed into enemies at high speed, sending them flying.

Aranea spun around and saw the fist that was moving toward her chest. She smirked at this move. If the enemy thought he could hurt her with his meager power, he was about to learn something. Her eyes widened, when the shroud steel ran across the enemy’s fist, covering his hand like a second skin. The left hand of the Regulator was tightly pressed against the steel chest plate of his armor.

Enough of this. Aranea decided and dodged to the right, reaching for the rail gun. The man was fast, he could have surprised a warrior or even a scout. But not her, not anymore. She out speed him, grabbing the Regulator by his wrist, avoiding touching his naked skin. She pulled him forward and kicked behind his right leg. She felt as if she was hitting a pole made of solid steel, yet the man fell on one knee and she pressed the rail gun toward his neck.

"Just try to move and your head will fly. Order your rabble to surrender…" She hissed into a face hidden by a silver mask.

"How about you order your animals to give up instead, honey?" asked a sweet voice to the side, and Aranea briefly looked at the speaker.

Leila was standing on one knee, the barrel of a gun was pressed toward her neck. Behind her stood a woman in a skintight black outfit that covered her from neck to toes. The collar of her suit was open, revealing the white skin of her neck. The heat of the day failed to cause even the barest of discomfort to this woman, not a single drop of sweat was on her brow. A long black mane flowed across her shoulders, across her chest and back. A long black cape with white trimming was on her shoulders, held by two crimson stones at the shoulders. A small black breathing mask covered the lower part of her face, leaving the upper part of her face wide open. Calm black eyes looked at Aranea while one gun was pointing at Leila’s neck and the barrel of another gun was underneath the helmet of one of the wolfkins from Annie’s pack. Kate and Kaleb all aimed shardguns at her, yet the woman ignored this.

"Trust me, your armors won’t block shots from these guns, dear guests." The woman said, in a mocking tone, her breathing mask was doing little to muffle her voice. Not a single hint of fear was in her eyes, and Aranea silently cursed as she saw three Soultakers behind her. Unlike the woman, they were fully dressed in power armors, pointing energy weapons at wolfkins.

"Dare to even scratch my people and I will gut them. And then I will open you all the way from belly to throat, leaving your insides to roast in the sun for scavengers to feast upon." Annie calmly said, holding two regulators in her paws, her claws pressing against their necks. Six people lay moaning on the ground around her, five more Regulators pointed their weapons at her, yet the wolf hag ignored them.

"How scary." Aranea was sure that the woman smiled underneath her mask.

"Why are you waiting? Kill those murderers!" The man in Aranea’s grasp screamed in a ringing voice, filled with righteous anger, "Look around! They killed people here!"

"Killed? Bullshit, we just got here! You are the only murderers here! You attacked us first!" Kate growled, and Kaleb looked at her briefly in worry. The former scout looked like she was about to drop her weapon and leap at the enemy.

"Liars! Murderers!" The man screamed, his body started to rise, and Aranea almost pressed the trigger. The woman quickly looked around on the carnage at the stairs that led to the hospital. Leila's tail moved, preparing to wrap around the woman’s leg, Annie growled, but made no attempt to kill the enemy in her grasp. And then the woman stepped away from Leila and the wolfkin, putting guns in holsters on her legs. Leila quickly jumped to her feet, while the wolfkin from Annie’s pack fell on her knees, breathing in relief.

"Commander, I think we should make a temporary ceasefire." The woman pulled her mask down on her chest, smiling to Aranea and raising her arms in the air. Aranea nodded and stepped aside, releasing her prisoner. She put the rail gun on her back and also raised her arms, trying to defuse the situation. She ignored the growl of Annie, something was telling her that cooperation was in order.

"C…" The man stuttered for a moment before standing up. Metal disappeared from his fists, and he stood up, "Yes, of course… Cat. Refrain from harming my soldiers and we will talk." The man briefly looked at the woman, and she nodded in approval.

"Talk then." Annie released both soldiers of the Regulators onto the ground and carelessly turned toward the man, ignoring the weapons pointed at her back. The regulator in charge screamed at his soldiers to stop. Aranea gestured for the other wolfkins to lower their weapons. Kate was the last to lower her own gun. She looked at the regulators, her impression impossible to read behind her helmet. But Aranea could hear the increased breathing of Kate. The former scout was angry.

"We arrived here upon hearing that the hospital was under attack. We… we assumed that you were part of the attackers." The man took off his helmet, revealing a face of the confused young man underneath it. His blonde hair was cut short, a single scar was over his nose, his features were bland, yet he had the expression of someone who would stay by his comrades no matter what. The Regulator looked at Aranea with green eyes, filled with uncertainty.

"We are here because of an attack as well. Higher ups tried to reach your side, but no answer came." Aranea replied in a cold tone, remembering how regulators opened fire at them without warning.

 "We… apologize. It was my decision, fault lies fully with me and me alone. Despite the current conflict between our sides, I am humbly requesting your aid in this operation and am ready to pay the price for my crime of opening fire on neutral ground. I also apologize for calling you liars." The man bowed, showing the back of his neck. Aranea raised her brows in surprise. This strange person knew their customs. There was something familiar about him, but Aranea could not put her claw on exactly what it was. She was certain she had never met him before.

"Mistakes happen in wartime. Apologies accepted," Annie said with a tone that allowed no room for further discussion, gesturing to two members of her pack, "Treat wounds of our new allies. What’s your name?"

"Markus, my lady." The regulator bowed to Annie. The wolf hag was burrowing into the back of his neck with crimson lenses, and Aranea briefly wondered what exactly was on Annie’s mind.

"I am Cat Tencivn, pleased to meet ya all!" The soultaker cheerfully said, extending her hand toward Annie and Aranea, as a pair of wolfkins helped Regulators treat their wounded comrades. Aranea briefly shook her hand in surprise, while Annie ignored it. Instead, it was Leila who shook the hand of Cat with both clawed hands.

"Name’s Leila!" The half-wyrm mimicked the cheerful tone of Soultaker perfectly, "Pray tell, why are you so friendly? Every soultaker whom I met before was dry and secretive, refusing to talk with me. Can you answer a few questions about your culture and maybe some stories, I need them for…"

"Uhm… It's a pleasure to meet you, creature...Woman? Being? Winged demon? Human?" The soultaker hastily took her arm away, backing down in confusion, unsure how to treat the being that was before her.

"Human! All of us here are humans." Leila laughed, taking off her crimson helmet and showing her face. The soultaker made another small step back as she saw scales on Leila's face.

"No offense, but maybe we can talk later, this place is a bit too morbid for tales. Put your helmet back on, it’s not safe here. Oh, you!" Cat let out a sigh of relief seeing that wolfkin warrior was still on her knees. She helped the wolfkin to stand up, and the warrior tried to break away from her.

"I don’t need help from enemy…" The fangs of the warrior were chattering with fear, and her voice broke for a brief moment. Aranea did not blame her, everyone dealt with near-death experiences differently. She will be fine eventually. Yet the soultaker had other ideas, she wrapped her hands around the warrior, holding her in place.

"I can feel it through your armor and in your voice. Your breathing. Your heartbeat. You are scared, yes? Breathe. One, two. Everything scary is gone, past you for now." Cat said this in a strangely serious yet calming and caring tone.

"Let go of my warrior." Annie demanded.

"Warrior. This means she too is a woman, if my information is correct," Cat said thoughtfully, refusing to release the warrior, "I will, once she calms down."

"I do not need any coddling!" The warrior screamed with embarrassment and panic in her voice, trying her best not to bite the soultaker. She struggled in the grip of a strange woman, the servomotors of her armor were straining, trying to let her break free. The soultaker was the same height as her, warrior's fangs were snapping an inch from her face and pieces of drool fell onto the smiling face. And yet the soultaker held the warrior with ease, unbothered by the jaws of the wolfkin.

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"I will let go of you in an instant, once you calm down. Breathe, I promise not to kill you today," Cat only smiled in the face of the warrior, and the wolfkin had no choice but to relent. She took a deep breath, then another, and Cat let go of her, hitting the warrior in the chest jokingly. The armor of the wolfkin produced a loud sound as two fingers of Soultaker tapped on it, "See? Nothing to be ashamed of, we all get scared sometimes. You look tense, by the way." She said, turning to Kate.

"Try it with me and I will bite your head off, truce or no truce." Kate’s voice was calm, yet her shardgun in her paws was trembling ever slightly, each time as she looked at Regulators. Aranea decided to talk with her later.

"Scary!" The soultaker laughed at the words of the warrior.

Annie walked toward the hospital, stopping a few dozen steps away from it. Her hands were grasped behind her back as she looked at the building. It took a moment for Aranea to get what she was looking at. Windows on third and sixth floor were broken. Whoever killed the fleeing people was firing from there. But where are the enemies hiding now?

"We will storm the hospital," Annie said as she walked to Markus and Aranea, "I can sense eyes on us. Prepare for attack. You with us?" She asked the regulator and the young man only nodded, putting his helmet on and pulling his cowl.

"Svetlana’s ID tag is on the top floor." Aranea commented, looking at the data on her display.

"Spike of energy! From basement!" Screamed one of the members of the Annie pack, looking at the terminal at his feet.

"Bombs most likely. No matter, we clean to the top and leave via jump if needed." Annie simply said, turning toward the building.

"Uhm… objection? Can’t any of you see the problem here?" Cat asked and as everyone turned to her, she gestured to the building, "Where did the attackers come from exactly? The skies are filled with your cursed drones, so they could not have come from the air, right?"

"From below then! And if an energy spike comes from the basement, then this means that they might want to escape…" Aranea said slowly, getting the idea about the situation better.

"No matter. Saving our people comes first. First top floor, then basement." Annie snapped, intending to walk toward the building, but Aranea stood before her.

"We split. My pack will go down. I will go with you upstairs, you and I can clear the situation…"

Annie grabbed Aranea by her shoulder, almost throwing her to the left as she herself darted to the right. Aranea growled as she landed, ready to defend herself against Annie’s attack, but the attack never came. A single bullet hit where she stood, leaving a mark on the ground as the bullet ricocheted off stone. The gun appeared in Annie’s paw, and she shot someone on the third floor. Two figures in black carapace armor fell back in the darkness of the hospital as bullets reached their heads. Aranea barely had time to see them clearly. Their armor looked simple, their joints were protected by black cloth instead of proper armor. The metal of their armor looked mass-produced, resembling that of low-on-resources mercenaries’ groups often used in the field. Their guns were automatic though, but judging by the cracked stone, they packed barely enough punch to damage the wolfkins' armor. Not a threat. Cat and Annie lowered their guns and looked at each other.

"Move out. Time to see against whom we fight." Annie commanded, charging toward the entrance.

Aranea had no choice but to follow her. Both packs, joined by the Regulators and Soultakers, charged toward the entrance. Leila fired her laser rifle just once, when she noticed a warning sign on her display. A mine was hidden behind a wall near the entrance. A bright red ray hit the building, meting the stone and exploding the hidden explosive. The entrance disappeared in blazing light and a shockwave hit the attackers, throwing some regulators off their feet. The wolfkins leaped over them, entering the building.

Inside, the walls were covered with splashes of red. People lied on stretchers, riddled with bullets. Like broken dolls, some people lay in chairs, blood soaking their clothes. People in green uniforms, doctors, were seen here and there, some died trying to protect the injured. The ceiling was riddled with cracks, as if someone had run over it. Dead soldiers from both the Reclamation Army and the Resistance lay on the floor, some died at the stairs leading to the second floor. Unlike civilians, most soldiers were either slashed apart or beaten to death, their armor was bent, and metal went deep into their bodies. Blood on the floor was already drying, giving the room an accursed look, as if someone had painted the white floor crimson. The stench of blood and meat was unbearable, Aranea was afraid to even guess how many people died here.

Several figures in black armor rose from behind tables near the waiting room. Murderers pointed their weapons at the newcomers, unleashing a shower of bullets. Aranea darted forward, lowering herself to almost all four as she charged toward her enemies. A single one of them is alive. They need to find out who they are. She had to capture at least a single…

Annie jumped to the ceiling, using it as a platform for the next jump, landing behind enemies way before Aranea could close on them. Her knives struck forward, slashing the throats of two of the foes just as she kicked the closest man to her into the paws of Aranea. Annie made this attack in a single burst of movement, the knives separated bones within the men's necks, allowing two streams of blood to pour out while bodies were falling onto the floor. Aranea caught the foe, who, without care for his life, pointed his weapon at the wolfkin's snout. There was no plea for his life, nor fear in his actions, he acted like a machine. Aranea slammed him into the floor, kicking his weapon away. A few bullets hit her armor, all from the side of the enemy. In the Core Lands, the future wolf hag once experienced the rain when her father drove the family toward the new circus in town. She remembered the sounds of droplets of rain hitting against the car’s roof to this day. The bullets that hit her now resembled this feeling, she herself felt nothing as her power armor absorbed all impact while she held the struggling enemy down. Her concerns about the effectiveness of enemy weapons were unfounded.

Markus, turning to the air once again, reappeared near the furthest enemy. With his right hand, he made a swing at the enemy's head, while his left paw touched the stone wall near him. Before connecting to the enemy's head, stone flowed across his skin. The punch that came from it left a huge dent in the enemy's head, blood flowed from underneath the faceplate of the enemy as the body of the strange attacker silently fell down. The man in black clearly saw an incoming punch, but he chose to die while firing at oncoming enemies, unconcerned about his own death.

Just what is with them? Aranea wondered, while the rest of the enemies were either gunned down, or sliced by Annie. Not one of them tried to flee, and not one of them pleaded for their lives. Sixteen lives were snuffed out, and not a single foe even groaned in pain as he or she was dying.

The attack was a success. Two Regulators and one Soultaker were injured, their comrades treated their wounds. The soultaker received a bullet to her abdomen, while the regulators were injured in the arms and legs. Cat checked upon her troops, giving orders to treat the wounded. Despite the lack of any armor on her, she was unharmed, she held herself regally and her voice was stern. Whoever she was, both Regulators and Soultakers obeyed her, without asking permission from Markus.

"Share medical supplies with our current allies. Lucendra!" Annie shouted to the warrior who was nearly killed by Cat earlier, "You stay here with the injured."

"But I can fight t…" The warrior felt silent when the wolf hag charged across the room, punching the warrior in the snout hard enough to make her fall. Aranea let Leila hold the prisoner and stood up, ready to try and stop the beating, but Annie was already finished.

"Never question me in a field ever again. You guard the entrance. Help injured. Your duty is this," She helped the warrior to stand and Lucendra nodded with fear, no blood was dripping from her mouth, nor her armor was bent, "Good. Leila! Find out who the attackers are!"

Leila nodded and tore the mask off the man. Underneath it was the face of a pale man, in his forties by the looks of it. His head was clean of any hair, even his brows were missing. The attacker's face was horribly scarred, almost every inch of his face was covered either by stitch or scar, only two blue eyes, with enlarged pupils, were sole islands of normality on his ruined face. Even now, he was saying nothing, stubbornly reaching out for his rifle. Light shone from the eyes of Leila and the body of the man went stiff for a moment.

"Tell me, who…" Leila never finished her question. She released the man, and he fell on the stone floor, suddenly limp and unmoving. Leila threw her head back, almost to the point of her back snapping and started screaming.

Aranea felt how the cold sweat run on her back underneath her fur. Without thinking, she reached for the sedative on her belt, leaping to Leila. Never before had she heard the half-wyrm screaming like this, it didn't sound like the cry of a human being. No, it sounded like the scream of an animal being slowly dismembered by vultures in the wastelands. It sounded like a beast that was desperately trying to reach safety, yet its belly was already torn. The creature knows it will die, so it screams to its tormentor to finish the job already. And yet the final hit never comes, while the vultures waits for the poor being to die. Janine once showed her a video of one such hunt as a warning against the vultures of the wastes, the desperate animal's screams burrowed deep into the halfbreed's soul. She never wanted to hear such scream again. And not from the lips of human.

A needle pierced skin between scales, while Annie, Kaleb and Kate did their best  trying to hold Leila down. The half-wyrm wildly thrashed around with her wings, sending Kaleb flying into the wall, screaming nonstop. The wall behind Kaleb cracked, and he fell into the other room. Markus appeared near him, helping the wolfkin to stand up.

Finally, the sedative worked and Leila’s screams were slowly ending. She was breathing heavily, her eyes looked around like mad.

"I sensed him. He locked inside his mind?" She forced the words out of her mind. She looked around at confused faces and said, "You don’t get it, do you? This man right here… something was wearing him like a suit for years! Years, do you get it? He was locked in his own mind, seeing how his body moved like a puppet, feeling every pain, failing to even breathe at will… And then It looked at me. Whoever was controlling him looked at me. And it sent me every single sensation that this man ever felt. Every single pain, every single fear. All at once."

"Numbers." Aranea said, remembering what she read in the news.

"Plague from Iterna? Here of all places?" Annie could not believe her ears.

"They were cracked down hard in their homeland. And I heard that Oathtakers kicked their asses too. It makes sense that they run away from there."

"Sorry, but who are these Numbers?" Markus asked in confusion.

"In short, they are a group of body snatchers, led by abnormals. Supposedly, they are trying to resurrect someone known as the Creator, some mad bastard who made them in the first place. Anyway, it's all just superstitious gibberish." Cat casually tossed an explanation to Markus.

"It is not gibberish!" Leila almost screamed, hugging her sides, "He looked at me! He is still alive! The stories were true. The Creator still lives in each and every single one of them. And he wants to come back. I sensed his desire, his burning desire to wipe all of us out. Resistance, Iterna, Reclaimers, Oathtakers… All…" She took a sigh, calming herself. Kate lowered herself on the knee, hugging Leila and whispering calming words in Leila’s ears, telling her not to be afraid. Leila only nodded, as tears ran down her face. Her wings closed around her body, wrapping themselves around Kate as well, hiding them from sight.

The point is, they brainwashed people into doing this. As far as I know, only Iterna found a way to save people from the clutches of Numbers, and even their way does not always work, since Numbers can just off themselves. Kill them and be done with them." The soultaker gestured at the dead bodies of locals.

"Send message to the command. They should know." Annie gave command to Lucendra before turning to Aranea, "Numbers or no, they die easily enough. Time to finish this. Aranea, you with me, upstairs."

"I will go with you." Markus said.

"Also send a request for aid," Aranea asked Lucendra, "Who knows what may go wrong. And ask command to pass the info to the resistance. The last thing we need is to have this place shelled down," She looked at Markus and Cat, "No offense."

"None taken." Markus nodded.

"I'll take care of the basement," Cat shrugged as she reloaded her guns, "At least some of us need to act responsibly."

"Kate, Kaleb, and the rest will go with you. Leila, can you?" Aranea asked with worry, but the half-wyrm stood up, wiping tears from her eyes, before putting on her helmet.

"Fine. I am just fine. I've been through worse, no biggie," The half-wyrm said with a trembling voice, checking her own weapon, "I will end them if I can, before it can torture them even more. Spirits. What a horrible fate they suffer."

Annie walked toward the lift and tore away the metal door. She went inside and slashed the lift’s ceiling with her knives, throwing metal away.

"We will get on the top floor faster, if we don’t step into every single mine that they left behind."

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