The Urbem (Completed)

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Athena

 (Nephele)

Everything was going to plan; Kassandra and her archers were scarily accurate and every arrow they fired made damage of some sort. Even the way Romeus sent signals to the group that was on my side of the tree line was practised to perfection; each of them knew exactly what to do when the order was given. 

I couldn't help but glance over at Dimitri as he sat high in the tree, firing down at the Uxors with such enthusiasm he looked like a child in a sweet shop. However, my eyes quickly focused back to the task at hand. It was beyond easy to pick of any stragglers that any of the foot soldiers failed to finish off. In all honesty, it was too easy; I wanted to be down there in the thick of everything, getting bloody, but I had no armour and neither did Imara, so I suppose I could see why we were confined to the trees. 

Quickly, I ran out of the first round of bullets so I yanked the next round off my chest and quickly loaded them into the machinegun. This AK-47 was small, but it did the trick and soon I was mowing them down, always changing position so they were never quite sure where I would fire from next. Imara had also caught himself a Uxor and he was having fun playing with her before he'd finish her. He was like me; he enjoyed the kill. 

Again, I had to reload so I pulled the butt back and shoved more bullets into the feed before aiming down to the ground and waiting for another target to become available. Whilst doing this, though, I got the chance to see Felix and Lexio fight. I'd seen Lyra in combat before; once with myself, once with Zira, and once with Dimitr,i but, as for the boys, it was all new. 

Da, I’d fought Lexio, but I'd never seen him work with his spider and I’ll be honest: the speed in which his eight-legged creature moved was enough to send shivers up my spine. I watched as Aranea threw webbing into people’s eyes, nose, and throat, either blinding them for Lexio to kill or clogging up their airways so they fell dead anyway. Lexio was not as fast as Aranea, but he was good with throwing knives, much like Aranea was good with aiming her webbing. Not only that, but he had a kind of patience on a battlefield, one that I hadn't seen before... It wasn't like he waited for them to attack; it was like... It was like he had perfect timing.

I blinked and noticed Lyra had left one Uxor warrior half alive. Grinning, I took the shot and watched as my bullet penetrated her heart, killing her instantly. My only regret was that she didn't know who had killed her; I much prefered it when they know I’m the one who did it. I heard a deep snarl from the space behind me, and then a scream before Imara emerged with a bloody face and a proud expression. 

"Having fun?" I yelled to him over the incredibly loud sounds that battle created. 

'Of course,' he replied. 'Aren't you?' 

Yet another target became available and I think the way in which I riddled her with bullets and then laughed about it told him just how much I was enjoying this. Impatiently, I waited for another one to become available. Imara was just as bad, pacing anxiously in the tree line, waiting for just one of them to step too close to him. 

My attention zeroed in on Felix who, to be fair to the poor kid, was at least trying, but it worried me that he was so unrefined in his movements that, if it wasn't for Noir's lethal attacks, he would have been dead a long time ago. In saying that, though, Noir was a killing machine when needed and somehow, despite being wrapped around Felix's body, she managed to find the exact spot where the Uxors armour parted and inject her lethal venom before they'd even had chance to fire. This would kill them in minutes, but instead of leaving them to suffer, I'd just put them out of their misery with a well-aimed bullet.

It was ironic really how the most placid and level-headed man had the most aggressive and deadly snake, but I could see how it worked... I'd never change Imara for the world, but I couldn't help but wonder that maybe there was a reason why someone as hotheaded as me wasn't chosen for an animal like her.