What was supposed to be a routine surveying expedition had turned into an ugly fight as Ayane and her company of scouts struggled to evade the Freemen. Ever since discovering the compound, they had been followed. There was always that risk when scouting enemies. With their base compromised, they had been relentless in their pursuit. The scouts needed to be silenced before they could make a report.
They had finally been caught and surrounded in the foothills. Her allies pierced and blooded the Freemen soldiers while Ayane weakened them with poison and targeted ligaments and limbs to cripple them.
A searing hot pain wrenched through her shoulder and she cried out as it stabbed down her now limp arm. She spun on her attacker and used her remaining arm to swipe her dagger across his belly, catching him by surprise. He staggered back and clutched his belly. Novice. They were lucky these men were not better trained. They were green and struggled to control their reflexes. But looking on at battle she groaned. Both sides were in bad shape, but without her arm this fight was already lost. Two freemen were bearing down on Nolan, and the rest of their allies were either dead or unconscious.
Ayane dashed over to Nolan’s side. “Hold your breathe” she whispered to him, then loosed a smoke bomb that filled the air with a thick, foul smelling haze. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the smoke and away from the fight. “We can’t stay.” she urged. He did not argue. The soldiers slowly lumbered out from the haze, disoriented from the vapors. One pulled out a crossbow and aimed for them. The arrows flew far and wide, except for one. “Fuck” Ayane cursed as it dug into her leg. They couldn’t stop moving, and they did not. Nolan glanced sidelong at her and reached around to help support her weight. Every step sent a stabbing pain down her leg, but she moved as quickly as she could.
When they approached the mansion, Nolan became hopeful and urged them on to seek help. Ayane was skeptical but could hardly argue with the proposition of finding shelter to hide. “They might be willing to help us.” he told her. “Or they might be enemies. We should just sneak through the estate and find a place to hide.” she insisted. They continued on arguing for a time until they reached the gates. Ayane stopped and looked at Nolan. “I can’t stop you from asking, but I’m waiting here.” she finally told him. He nodded. “Very well.” and let her go. She kept out of sight as he trudged up wearily to the door and began knocking. “Helloooo.. is anyone here?”
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