BXBX NOVEL Chapter 52: Divide And Conquer
The force of the impact sent her skidding back, her wings flaring to maintain balance. Ezra lunged at X, but before he could strike, X vanished again, reappearing on the opposite side of the battlefield.
Malachi emerged from the shadows, his tentacles thrashing wildly. He sprayed a jet of corrosive ink towards Gen, who dodged and retaliated with a powerful swing of her axe. Malachi teleported away, the ink splattering harmlessly against the ground.
"They\'re using hit-and-run tactics," Olivia noted, her eyes narrowing. "We need to outmaneuver them."
Ezra nodded, already formulating a plan. "We\'ll have to force them into a corner. Gen, use your ropes to limit their movement. Olivia, cover me while I try to disrupt their teleportation."
With a nod, Gen extended her hands, spilling her sticky ropes, creating a web-like barrier around their immediate area. The ropes glowed with a faint, dark, ethereal light, pulsating with Gen\'s vitality. "You\'re in black widow gang territory now bozos." She laughed.
"We\'re not calling it that." Olivia pulled her wings back in to avoid catching them on the ropes. She held her feather swords in front of her, the three standing back to back.
"That\'s a perfectly fine name and you know it." Gen shot her web at any space where the two vampires appeared, sealing up the place and limiting mobility.
X and Malachi reappeared within the perimeter of Gen\'s ropes, eyeing the web carefully. "How are you guys going to get out of that?" X asked, his hands on his hips.
"Don\'t worry about us. Worry about yourself." Gen called out.
X lashed out with his chains, trying to break through the barrier, but the ropes held firm, binding the chains and restricting their movement. He tugged at his chains but they stuck faithfully to the web. With a slumping sigh, he dismissed the chains.
"I was looking out for you, you know." X pointed his hands, palm facing them. Blue fire licked his arms.
"Behind me!" Ezra stepped forward and poured his vitality into pushing forward a cloud of darkness. The beam of fire cut through the web and met the darkness, disappearing into it.
Ezra held for five seconds, gritting his teeth as the darkness guzzled his vitality. After a few more seconds, the flame tapered off.
"In Valaren\'s hold vitality fades." Ezra recited. "Flames extinguished in its silent shades."
X face palmed. "How did I forget that?"
Ezra seized the moment, summoning solid darkness to swirl around his hands. He channeled it into a concentrated blast, aiming it at X. The darkness struck X squarely in the chest, spearing a hole through him, black blood arcing through the air.
X staggered, his mask flickering and losing its vibrancy.
Olivia zipped in, her feather swords slashing at Malachi. Malachi tried to teleport away but Ezra released a dark wave that disrupted his attempt. Gen quickly fired her web, sticking him to the floor. Olivia\'s feathers struck true, cutting through Malachi\'s tentacles and forcing him back.
Gen moved with lightning speed, her axe a blur as she closed in on Malachi. She swung with all her might, the blades cleaving through tentacle and flesh. Malachi roared in pain, attempting to teleport away, but the ropes holding him in place held.
Ezra pressed his advantage, his dragon tail whipping around to strike X. X\'s chains blocked the initial attack, but Ezra\'s darkness surged forward, enveloping X and sapping his vitality. With a guttural growl, Ezra infused the darkness with his own vitality, amplifying its power and creating a feedback loop of stolen vitality.
X\'s teleportation flickered and failed, leaving him vulnerable.
Olivia and Gen coordinated their attacks, striking Malachi from different angles. Olivia\'s feather swords flashed in the moonlight, cutting through Malachi\'s tentacles. Gen\'s axe crashed down, breaking through his defenses and driving him to the ground.
"Fuck!" X cursed, exchanging a desperate glance with Malachi. With a final, defiant roar, X summoned the last of his vitality, his chains glowing bright red. In a blinding flash of light, he pushed Ezra, Gen and Olivia back with one huge lash of the chain. He and Malachi teleported one last time, reappearing at the edge of the battlefield, just beyond the reach of Gen\'s ropes.
"I\'m outta here!" X flashed the peace sign, his voice laced with obvious relaxation and disappeared. Ezra couldn\'t tell if it was real or fake. Damn that mask.
Malachi, clutching his wounds, stared grimly at them before vanishing in a swirl of dark shadows, leaving the warehouse behind.
Ezra, Olivia, and Gen stood, alone and victorious. Ezra exhaled deeply, the darkness receding as he returned to his normal state. "We did it," he said, his voice steady but exhausted.
Gen let out a high laugh. "You did it," she whispered, her lips stained black with vampire blood. She licked it and rubbed her stomach. "And I had dinner."
Olivia stepped beside them, her feather swords fading away. "For now," she said, her gaze shifting to the open window. "But they\'ll be back."
Ezra nodded. "And we\'ll be ready." They all stood amidst the wreckage, taking stock of the damage. The silence that followed was broken by the distant wail of police sirens, growing louder with each passing second.
Ezra\'s heightened senses picked up the sound first. "We need to get out of here," he said, his voice urgent. "The police are on their way."
Olivia nodded, quickly assessing the situation. "Ezra, you need to get out of sight. Gen and I will handle the humans."
Without hesitation, Ezra moved towards the shattered remains of a doorway, finding a spot and blending into the shadows.
Olivia and Gen turned their attention to the five unconscious humans scattered across the floor. They were collateral damage, caught in the crossfire of a battle they should not even be around.
"Let\'s wake them up and get them out of here," Olivia said.