A Tragic End

"Is everyone going to be okay?"

Nyu looked up at Lucinda with quivering eyes. She was the brightest of the children and Lucinda knew it would do no good to lie to her.

"We can only hope. Lady Hanabi, Lady Kyomi, and Lady Yahime are doing everything they can to keep us safe."

"Then we'll be safe! Lady Yahime is the strongest, stronger than Lady Kyomi and Lady Hanabi put together!"

The rabbitwoman laughed at Nyu's excitement. All of their children had their favorites and they'd created adorable little factions to brag about their picks. Lucinda was of course a Lady Hanabi supporter.

"That's the spirit! Now let's hurry back to Billia's and play with…"

Lucinda yanked Nyu to her and stopped in her tracks. Where were the villagers who were supposed to be standing watch? She raised her ears, rotating them to listen for any sign of trouble.

"Tapper!"

Mochi? Her voice was soaked in pain. It was too soon for her to be having the baby, so why?

"Go hide, Nyu."

The girl clung to Lucinda's skirt. Her tiny finger pointed between two of the houses.

Lucinda bit her mouth shut to quell her scream. The bodies of the villagers she'd assigned to watch the mountain were strewn across the ground. Among them was Tapper struggling to his feet to confront a masked man holding a knife to Mochi's neck.

The more she looked, the worse the situation became. The attacker wasn't alone; there were at least a dozen with him searching the houses and setting them ablaze. They hadn't reached Billia's house yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Let… her go."

"Aw. I think the bunny has a thing for the sow!"

Several of the masked attackers stopped what they were doing to watch and laugh. A few gathered around to watch closer.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" The man pressed his knife to Mochi's neck, painting a thin red line on her pale pink skin. "You're not going to just stand there and let me kill your woman are you?"

"I'll kill you!"

A furious burst of energy brought Tapper to his feet and he charged the man holding Mochi with his sword raised. When he got close, a dagger dug into his calf and he collapsed at the kidnapper's feet.

"That's the spirit. Now tell me: where are the rest of you vermin hiding?"

Tapper clenched his fist as Lucinda watched helplessly from around the corner. She had to intervene, negotiate, stall. She just couldn't. Not with the trembling wet eyed anchor attached to her. All she could do was watch and pray that Tapper and Mochi wouldn't join their friends in Vide's care.

"Piss off." Tapper spat on the man's foot and looked into Mochi's teary eyes. "I'm sorry, my love."

When the pigwoman tried to answer, the human pressed his knife deeper into her skin.

"Oh, don't go apologizing just yet. See, we ain't like those uptight empire folks. We like to enjoy ourselves during a raid."

The humans watching the spectacle cheered at the man's remark.

"They must be remnants of Ajax's group."

How had they missed them? The hunters had scouted the bandit camp. It had been deserted, a mass grave for the mutilated bodies of countless beastfolk. Were the the perpetrators?

"Let her… go. I beg you."

Tapper grabbed the man's foot and squeezed it. The gruff man's eyes were wet, his ears folded against his head. He repeated his plea several more times before the human finally grabbed Mochi by her hair and pulled her behind him as he knelt down.

"No."

The lovers stared at one another as Mochi's blood sprayed onto Tapper's face and soaked his fur. He caught her before she hit the ground and held her as she convulsed.

"NO! DON'T DIE, YOU CAN'T DIE! YOU—"

A sword slid through the back of Tapper's neck, out his throat, and into Mochi's gasping mouth.

"What'd you go and do that for?!"

The masked man who'd been holding Mochi shoved the one who'd run the lovers through. Lucinda was glad she'd covered Nyu's eyes..

"We got work to do. You can enjoy your bestiality fetish once we've got them in cages."

"It ain't like that! You're the one killing the money makers."

"I'd hardly call an ugly rabbit and a sow money makers."

The kidnapper huffed. "She weren't that bad lookin."

"Just shut up already. And that goes for the rest of you, too! The women and children have to be around her somewhere. Find them before someone notices us!"

The humans dispersed leaving Tapper's body hunched over Mochi's. It was all Lucinda could do to keep herself from breaking down into tears. What was the point of such cruelty? Who did it benefit? They'd mentioned cages and it was only a matter of time until they reached Billia's house.

"Nyu," Lucinda said in the calmest voice she could muster. "I need you to do something for me."

The girl buried her face into Lucinda's skirt shaking her head. The old rabbit couldn't blame her.

"I know you're scared, Nyu, but it's something only you can do."

"But w-what if the humans—"

"You'll be fine. You just need to go back to the wall and tell everyone what happened. All the humans are further on, so you'll be fine."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine." She hugged Nyu's head tight and stroked the girl's calico hair. "Now hurry."

Still hesitant, Nyu loosened her grip on Lucinda's skirt before sprinting back the way they'd come.

***

"The bombardment has stopped!"

The villagers on the wall cheered, celebrating their momentary victory. There was chaos in the forest and they could all see the plumes of smoke and bolts of fire in the sky.

"Any sign of the foot soldiers?" Hanabi asked. She was exhausted and in severe need of a drink.

"On the tree line," Taro replied. "It looks like they're preparing to charge."

"Took them long enough," Hanabi said, spitting onto the ground. "Why can't they just hurry up and get this over with?"

"Maybe you should tell them that."

Hanabi's ears perked at the idea. Why didn't she just tell them that? She could even pay them back for the stress they'd caused her, too.

"Wait, I didn't mean!"

She leapt off the wall before Taro could stop her and sprinted across the field into the tree line. Dozens of armored soldiers flew back as she rammed through their ranks and she stopped once she was almost completely surrounded.

"Greetings, humans! A pleasure to see you this fine morning!"

"A demon!"

"Kill it!"

"Can't even return a greeting…"

Hanabi sighed. How had Hana done it? Whenever her daughter had done something similar, the humans had always played along. Was it because she was around professional soldiers?

Who could say? Certainly not her. In her millennia of life, she'd never understood humans. Kyomi was an exception, but she could hardly count. There was nothing normal about that girl.

A stinging sensation nipped at Hanabi's head and back. Had someone thrown a net on her while she was in her own world?

"And what do you intend to do with this rubbish?"

She pulled the metallic net off of her to examine it. Just holding it burned her skin and she could feel it trying to draw her strength away. How juvenile.

"H-How is that possible?! Those nets are supposed to drain demons of their powers!"

"Demons? I forgot that's what you ignorant monkeys call us." She stepped towards the outspoken soldier frozen in fear and ran her finger up his breastplate to his chin. "Now do I look like a monster to you?"

The man screamed and swung his sword at Hanabi. She deflected it with her index finger and sighed.

"I'll truly never understand, Hana. What did you find so interesting about these creatures?"

Between the rude response and the net, Hanabi had lost interest. She had hoped to blow off some steam toying with the humans. She would stick to Kyomi if she wanted to talk with a human.

With a snap of her fingers, the humans around Hanabi burst into flames. Screaming and flailing they bumped into their peers, creating a wildfire of blue flames that jumped from person to person. She scrunched her nose at the smell of seared fat and burning leather.

Blue Wildflower

When had she last used the spell? It was nasty magic, a forbidden spell known only to her family line. It created an epidemic of fox fire that consumed every creature of the same type the original flame had touched. Not to mention it was easy on the mana.

Which was good. She was running on empty and had gone all in on the attack.

"If Kyomi and Yahime can kill their leaders, the humans will rout. It's up to them now."