POV: Cabil
Location: Bevoin Square, Dyonegar
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Surrounded by the erosion of humanity, he sought refuge for her down the square. She held on tight, arms around his neck as she hitched a ride on his back to Bevoin Public Library. Then all too suddenly, Cabil stopped, a comrade defending the angle of his retreat as the weapon-wielding hunter blocked a direct blow against him.
The sharp noise of a grazing metal blade against claw echoed in Cabil's ears, with his knee dropping into the concrete step.
"Aye, are ya' just gonna stand there or bring her in?" the burly, bear-hided warrior questioned his comrade with a sneer. It was a quick death sentence—a bilateral cleave with his elbow blades showering the steps in blood.
The hunter made it seem so effortless.
Cabil could feel Mya quivering over his back, burrowing her face into his shoulder, before his comrade followed with a compliment, "Can't have one of Aegelleon's finest slaughtered," he jested.
"Flattering, Brenius," he followed flatly, entertained by his comrade's words. Cabil escorted Mya to the front door, and after sliding a key card into the reader, a confirming beep allowed them both passage into the foyer. But before he could step into the vicinity, a candid elder citizen guarded the ajar door. "Your name, young sir?" he interrogated with a raspy undertone.
Cabil sharpened his gaze at him, scrunch faced, surveying his fragile contour and burlesque attire. "Cabil Hargann, of the Aegelleon forces." He gently aided Mya's dismount before asserting himself over the short, balding man.
"Hargann?" he questioned, adjusting his bold-framed specs over his pale concave eyes, seeing a man geared to fight. "My, I almost didn't recognize you. You can never be too careful with those Dessarians. They take all forms." His eyes fell upon the little girl. "Oh, you are quite lucky." He tilted his head up to Cabil with a smile. "She's in good hands."
As the two vanished inside the safe house, a passing shadow nudged Cabil to the adjacent rooftop. A shadow, a casting shadow… so quick to escape that he may have just been seeing things? "Cabe, we need your fire in the battlefield." Brenius approached, offering him weapons.
He straightened his face, on the edge of confusion. "You know I'm a hands-on type of guy," he rejected.
"These bad boys were custom made by Wiver Shop, given to me as a token of my great customer service. But I rather stick with my halberd and arrow combo." Brenius fixed Cabil's palms around the hilts as Cabil stared impishly at him. "They say those things somehow unlock your inner power as you wield them. Come on." He hustled down the steps, anxious for a demonstration, "Let's hurry up and clean this mess before sunfall."
Persistent, that comrade of his, but the pyro owed him more than his respect and gratitude. He looked down at the duo blades with scrunched eyes and curled lips before caving into the idea of weapon wielding. And as Cabil confidently stood in survey upon the rise, he drew his newly gifted blades and inhaled the pungent taste of the wild austere affair.
The pyro bolted, utilizing the blades as an extension of his combustions. While he sliced through the demonic masses, a foreign entity surged through his veins. Quicker his movements became, rippling through while the ocular oxygen ducts mounted on his back whistled hot steam. A sudden light flickered in his eyes, a rising hate showering him in blood. Slash after slash, his blows deepened, snuffing out every last drop of revulsion from their callus revolting carcasses. An amorphic abhorrence doused his path and crippled his spirit but fueled his strength in its entirety.
How much longer should I fight to protect her?
The height of his hysteria cloaked his vision, where his swinging arms maliciously fell between her eyes as the whizzing sound of his blades brought her to an abrupt halt. She gasped, her popping gaze finding passion in his hazel eyes. Hanging mere inches above her upturned nose, he felt her breath bathe his blade as his own cascaded heavily upon her. Sweat, blood, the stench of madness —
Bewildered, he felt the back of her hand grazing his cheek as the other took his grip. "Cabil…" The look of concern churned her face, and Cabil answered to it with indifference, withdrawing from what could have been a friendly fire. "Hey! Cabil, are you okay?" the bob-haired blond called out to him as he exited, leaving behind him a trail of corpses.
Brenius answered, "Ah, let him be, Cam. He gave us quite a show."
"Let him be? Shit, he nearly sliced me open!" she cried, disengaging her dual-rapid fire pistols before tailing him. "An apology would have been nice, or was that your way of flirting with me?" She folded her arms behind her head with a sly smile, hopeful. "Come on, Cabil. Stop being such a closed book. You have to let someone in eventually. Why not talk to me?"
He sighed indefinitely. "I'm going home."
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