Anna fell on her knees, and she set a hand on her bleeding shoulder. He looked down his nose at the slave in pain. "Rowan? Is that the name of your master?" He yanked her hair, almost pulling the strands from her scalp.
"I heard you ran away with a lover! Is that his name?" She didn't answer, and it brought an open handed smack across her face. She looked at him with eyes suffused with tears and a mixture of anger.
She wished she could scorch him with her eyes, but her tears were dousing the possibility.
He flipped his dadao sword, then poked her forehead with its sharp edge.
The next thing that followed was a diversion created by the kit running towards them screaming "Leave mama alone!"
The old foxman cocked his head, "A kit on earth? No, a taboo child!" His mood lightened up because of his discovery.
Fear eclipsed her thoughts of what the evil man could do to her son, and she dreaded the outcome.
"Rowan please runaway!!!"
The corner of the bearded gentleman's lips curved upwards, and he sneered, "So the little bed slave got pregnant for a beastman. No wonder I stopped earning money from her work."
Everything now made sense to him, and he clapped for the uncovered truth "Marvelous!" The foxman found it all entertaining, but the fun would end once he's done murdering the pair.
Rowan charged at the man, then bit his leg. The foxman effortlessly kicked the child away and his back smashed against the bark of a tree, then the snow on the branches fell on him.
"Rowan!!!" She wanted to run to him, but he grabbed her arm "Please let me go. I'm begging you." His eyes went unfocused, and her plea ended up as nothing more than noise to him. He pushed her to the ground, and she felt pain whip through the fresh wound on her shoulder.
Rowan burst out from the snow and dashed towards the foxman again. He was certain he'd have time to attack, but he was too slow to dodge the kick aimed at his stomach.
His mouth puffed as he fell forward. It didn't take long before he hurled the whole of his breakfast, then got back into a stable stance, wasting no more time.
"Please Rowan go somewhere safe!" He didn't listen to her. He hardly does.
He disobeyed because he didn't want her to end up like Bertha's parents. He had a perfect opportunity to stop it, and he would not let it slip away easily.
"Please, he's just five-years-old!" Anna continued to beg "he doesn't have any fighting experience. He has done nothing, I'm the one who you should punish. Please, not my son"
Her body wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears as she desperately begged on her son's behalf, but her Master didn't plan on listening. Once again, the foxman shoved Anna aside and Rowan's chest came in contact with his hard boots.
"Be quiet already!!!" He ordered. She covered her face with shaking hands, trying her best not to whimper anymore "Please" She whispered but the man ignored.
"You should be happy that I haven't reaped his head off yet. I want to experiment with him a little more." As the dangerous foxman spoke, the little boy got back on his feet despite the pain that pummeled through his aching joints.
Never in recent decades had the foxman seen something so amusing. The little boy was the first mixed race he'd ever come across, and he was bound to be remembered.
"This is adorable" He admired their relationship, so he decided to kill them in a way they'd both share their last moments together.
The hybrid charged towards the pure fox who was preparing to lunge a blow, but he missed because of the little boy's change in pace. Rowan used the opportunity to jump high and jab his elbow into his enemy's gut. It wasn't much of a critical hit, but the beastman felt pain at the spot that was attacked.
He was tired of joking around with the boy. Time had finally come to put him to sleep forever.
Anna grabbed the foxman by his trousers, "I said leave my son alone!!!" She raised her voice and the old foxman scoffed before scratching her neck with his pointed fingernails.
He swung his hand, and the blood splattered over the snow. Rowan's eyes moved from the red stain on the white canvass, to the spreading sadness on his mother's face before it finally settled on the foxman that hurt her.
He felt his blood bubble, and the hair on his skin sprouted abruptly.
"Woah!" the foxman gushed, but there was something about his rave that seemed fake "the taboo child unlocked his beast mode" He applauded the boy's achievement, as he watched the boy fall on his palms.
His once kindly green eyes melted into a heavier, more ruddy colour, and he dashed towards the foxman for another attempt to land a severe hit.
The beastman had grown tired of the petty games he was playing. He slashed his sword at the child, but Rowan maneuvered his way around the attack, and smashed his small fist against the foxman's bearded chin.
The attack left his mother stunned as her neck seeped more blood.
The deep frown on her master's face after Rowan's hit engulfed her in a wave of nausea and trembling. She had to run away with him, but she couldn't figure out how.
The snow pressure had reduced, and it got easier to see things. The foxman pressed his palms against the boy's neck, then lifted him from the ground. The boy kicked at the foxman, but it didn't pose much effect.
Small ragged gasps escaped Rowan's throat and he could feel his esophagus closing. He dug his fingernails into foxman's wrists, trying to dislodge him, but the grip was too strong to wriggle out of.
Adrenaline coursed through Artemis's veins as she darted around trees, heading to the direction of the powerful radiation. The wind whipped her hair back from her face as she bolted through the settling snow storm.
Frosty air bit into her lungs as her legs pounded in sync with her racing heartbeat. With a battle cry, she swung her new short sword at the large arm that came into full view.
A sense of hope flooded Anna's mind once she saw Artemis, and a weak smile appeared on her face.
Artemis thought of it as an opportunity to see how far she'd gone in her solo training. The man looked at the girl, and the aura emitting from her also amused him. He tossed the semiconscious boy away, then focused on Artemis, who was physically prepared for anything that will be thrown at her.
Tightening her grip on her sword, she cautiously moved towards him. The foxman held himself with a calm confidence, assured in the superiority of his weapon and his metal like skin. His reach was longer; he had no reason to attack first. He expected Artemis would have to get in closer to use her cheap sword.
Artemis continued to drift around the man glued in place, eyes searching for an unguarded spot. The fox man's brown thick coat would keep him warm, but his arms and head did not have the same protection. She had to cut one of those two options off.
The foxman leaped forward when she least expected it, and his sword lashed at her own neck. Her timing was right to dodge, but escaping a minor cut was close to impossible. The daodao snapped towards her again, but she deflected it, and noticed the hammer that swung down with intentions to shatter bones.
Artemis reacted fast, and once his arms had created an opening for an attack, she made it look like she was aiming for his throat, but she ended up slashing at his hand with all the adrenaline pursing through her veins.
A muffled grunt of pain escaped the man's lips as he watched his hand fall. It wasn't much of a big deal. He could reattach it back, but Artemis wasn't going to let that happen.
The foxman laughed at what she had done, and bent to pick up his hand that fell unto the snow. Artemis twisted her sword and planted it into the back of the beastman. Her sword didn't go deep enough to hit his spine, but she ruined his expensive coat.
He left his right hand on the floor, and drove his knee into Artemis' stomach, and she flinched. She slapped herself, a routine she'd gotten used to whenever she wanted to concentrate and avoid distractions, but her aching stomach wasn't something she could easily ignore.
The foxman wasn't good with his left hand, but he swung the hammer towards the girl. Before the shock of the contact rippled to her shoulder, she launched her blade at his neck.
Artemis used herself as a decoy. The only way to defeat him was to use his weapon against him, and Anna was already working on it. She detangled his fingers from the hilt, but to lift it up was the problem. It was too heavy for her, and she was already running out of time.
She dragged it forward with slow steps until she was an inch away from his back. Before she could move it, he'd taken a step forward. Artemis didn't want to look back before he'd do the same.
Anna was still struggling to lift the sword up when another pair of hands joined hers. She was about to scream the little boy's name, but she chewed on her lips to silence what she was about to say.
Artemis served as a distraction and delay, dodging attacks that came her way.
With Rowan's help, Anna lifted the sword, and embedded it into the flesh of her master's back, sinking it deep until the blade was out of sight.