THE LAST GATEKEEPER

Spider's Den IV

            They had no particular meaning or words in them for that matter but they distracted his captors for long enough. Crow flickered out of their grasps and made a run for the darkness as he saw fit. It had been a rare opportunity and risky, he could still be found, still be killed. The word crossed his mind and left just as quickly. He’d done too much, been through too much and killed too much to be killed by a dispatch of blunt soldiers. He swept into an alley shortly followed by the soldiers in heavy gear. Heavy Gear.

            That was it. He began scaling a brittle built home at wicked speeds only to be followed by two or three of the soldiers. The rest he’d assumed were still trying to climb the house walls in their heavy arms. Crow leapt from house to house and then heard the piercing sound that he’d become familiar with, that of a crossbow. This one was less like his stealth equipped weapons and let out a long whipping sound that tore way at the air. Crow turned and felt the uneasy breeze of a passing bolt. It clipped just enough of his cheek to make it bleed. Another shot rang through the air and Crow was done with the roofs.

            He slipped into an alley and threw himself into one of the doors, throwing the door off its hinges. Crow looked dumbfounded at a pair of sleeping lovers as they were awoken and hid under their sheets. Crow leapt over the bed which had been placed, awkwardly in the middle of the house. He left through another door and made a swift left which came to the towering city walls. Crow seized a sack that weighed a great deal, from the back of one of the homes and threw it into the first soldier that had been chasing him all this way that came way around the corner. Whatever had been inside of it, it had worked because the soldier didn’t get up and disarming him was easy enough. Crow took the blunt blade and continued to dash away. Another skirmish of soldiers stopped Crow from going back into the streets and he hid as quickly as he could.

            He went unnoticed in the alley and felt no other option but to rest. He’d expended a great deal of energy leaping through the obstacles like that. Crow felt the cool liquid in his nose that probably wasn’t so cool and he cursed. The disease was creeping behind his eyes just waiting to strike. Soon and he knew it was soon, he would be plagued and rendered useless to the Disease.

            Crow let out a silent and bloody cough into his arm and then looked at out at the empty streets again.

            “Crow!” He heard then, who was it? “Crow!” Azlyn’s voice pierced his ears this time and Crow fluttered around the corner and saw her back, Azlyn looking around in a panic in the wrong direction.

            Azlyn! Crow nearly said before he sensed something else. He turned his head and saw Azlyn, another Azlyn looking straight at him. This wasn’t real, this was The Illusionist. Her eyes grew wide and Crow sprinted back the way he’d come, so much for a break.

            Corthus rushed through the empty streets towards the front of the city where his guild was, the others following closely. It was easy really, moving through the city, all of the soldiers had glowing purple eyes and passed them without a second glance. Azlyn had asked Fiona and Fredrick if, whilst being Apothecaries, they knew what it meant. Neither of them had.

            They entered the guilds home with a pleasant greeting from a girl wielding a claymore the length of her body towards them. Corthus quickly lowered it and shut the door behind them.

            “Don’t worry we’re not Legion.” Corthus said and laughed. The girl tried to smile but it came more like a grimace as she looked up and down at each of them. Weaver, Ellis, Jack and Joseph had seen her earlier as she strolled down the stairs and had eaten at the table. “This is Andrea, Andrea this is… Everyone.” He said and gestured to them all. Andrea waved awkwardly and followed Corthus as he proceeded into the kitchen. He slapped a boy that had been lazily contorted on a bed beside the stove and continued walking.