Running forward and ushering his siblings to do the same, they began to make their way to the riverbank. Sensing something from behind, Connor unsheathed his new sword, and swung behind him, deflecting an arrow.
Earning himself a questioning glance from Tim, Connor slowed and looked back to where the arrow came from. Tim stopped with him, the rest of the family and a few guards still going on.
"New sword?" Asked Tim.
"Did I not tell you Daisy broke the last one? Feel like I did."
"Remembering is too much work." He retorted.
Slow footsteps could be heard on the now quiet street as hooded figure approached them. As of now he was very visible, but once the falling veil covered the sky, he would blend right in making it difficult to identify where he was at.
Knocking the next arrow he quickly drew the string taught and released, letting the arrow fly forward with astounding speed. There was definitely will behind the arrow, no other reason explained why the arrow flew so fast.
Cutting the arrow as it flew at the brothers, they both dashed to the masked figure. Tossing the bow, he drew a blade with a slight curve from seemingly nowhere, reflecting the sun back at the duo. The blade was a katana, the steel reflective and the grip as black as night.
Connor arrived first, swinging the longsword in a diagonal slash. Parrying the blade the opponent dashed past him to where Tim was standing. Bracing himself, Tim stopped the blade with his forearm and stepping into his guard, threw a punch straight to the temple.
Defending the punch by raising his own arm, the masked mercenary caught the blow with his own forearm and with a blade appearing in his free hand, threw it at Connor who had just turned around and deflected the throwing star.
With Tim and the mercenary trading blows, Connor closed the distance and brought the blade in a down in a downward swing. The mercenary side stepped and attempted to grab the blade. Tim took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the cloak pulling it hard and causing him to stumble. Connor continued to land a clean roundhouse kick to the man's jaw, his shin connecting to the man's head as he struggled to regain his balance.
Tim continued to throw the man down the street and taking the blade from Connor, ran after him. The man landed on his feet, slid a little way as the inertia dissipated, and summoned his bow from seemingly nowhere once again. He knocked another arrow and sent it flying at Tim. Tim avoided it and closed in close enough to swing the blade, this time horizontally.
Connor caught the arrow and ran after the two. As he was playing catch up, he noticed a graze and a trickle of blood where the katana must have landed when Tim first engaged the hooded figure. Thrusting the arrow forward he aimed for the man's gut, missing, Tim grabbed the arrow from Connor and stabbed it again. The man was off balance from avoiding it the first time and this time he stumbled into the shadows of a nearby building where he promptly disappeared.
Tim, slightly winded, stretched his arms upward and looked at Connor. "Was he pulling weapons from the shadows?"
"He was." Conor answered slightly distraught. Tim tossed the sword back to his older brother.
If he could disappear and reappear where there were shadows, once the veil fell, he would be almost unstoppable. Looking up, the veil had almost reached them still far in the sky. It looked as though the river would be just out of reach from where it would land.
Looking at his brother with a look of concern, and with Tim looking similarly worried, they broke into a sprint to catch up to their siblings.
There were few guards left in the group, but if the mercenary engaged them from the shadows again it would only spell bad news. Especially since the two most prominent fighters were now so far behind.
Looking up into the sky once more, Connor saw the silhouette of the mercenary on a nearby roof. The mercenary looked to be drawing the string back of his bow once more, taking aim at something in the distance.
Pointing it out to Tim, he nodded. Connor ran forward and crouched just before the building and kneeled facing Tim. Tim ran forward and jumped onto Connors interlocked fingers. Connor stood up and flung his arms into the air as Tim jumped off and soared through the air, on a crash course with the masked man.
Tim, outside of their parents, had the most and best control over his will. Connor sometimes had trouble cutting the tools that were under his younger brothers will, a problem he had yet to face anywhere else. Daisy had produced a similar problem though, but she was not on par with his younger brother. Good thing she was gone now.
Looking up, he saw the veil closing, it looked as if its trajectory changed and would now be closing further from the river than planned. That being good news because it meant that the people would be further away from the danger it presented, it gave the brothers less time to escape.
Was the veil changing because the assassin needed it more?
Connor doubted the assassin was behind the veil, but it was not outside the realm of possibility. He heard the sounds of fighting from the roof, where Tim and the mercenary were at it once more. Running back into the street Connor watched as the cloaked figure was tossed down onto the road by his brother and was already cutting and slashing before his foe could fully recover.
Connor landed a few good hits this time and the mercenary tried to run back to the shadows. Tim landed in front of him, blocking the man's path of escape.
"Not this time Houdini, you're staying here."
Running they both engaged the masked man for a final confrontation. Not having access to the shadows, the man could only use his fists to fight back against the brothers.
The man was panicked, which meant his will was broken and he would feel each blow in full.
Tim and Connor took turns cutting, punching, and kicking the man. The few counter attacks the man could return were always futile as they never landed. Sometimes the brothers would grab the limb, making sure he could not use it as they landed a few more blows, other times they simply ignored it as it was of little consequence.
Once the man managed to land a hit on Connor, but was punished for it by Tim as he landed a firm blow to his back. Tossing the blade to Tim, Connor continued to punch the man anywhere he left an opening, and more were beginning to form as the man's guard fell apart.
At some point it became less of a fight and more of a beatdown. Seeing the man was now so beaten and broken that he could barely defend himself, Connor took the sword back and swung it, taking the mans head.
Watching as the body fell with a splat, the brothers were thinking about why someone so weak tried to challenge them
This man was probably a knight, a new one at that. There was no way a squire could last that long against both brothers, but at the same time he was too weak to be another heir. He also lacked far too much experience in all forms of combat to be a true threat, making them both doubt he even had his powers for long. Either of the brothers could have defeated him though it would have taken a little more time.
"I think you got hit once more than I did." Tim was trying to get a reaction from his brother.
"Nah, you got hit to from the get-go, and you started bleeding. Older brother wins once again."
Tim clicked his tongue, and examined the wound, running his hand across the scratch it could be seen the blade had barely cut the skin.
Suddenly a shadow fell across them, making the street turn dark. Looking up the veil was officially ahead of them, even if it was still in the sky.
Glancing at each other once more, they both ran to catch their siblings.
The man was left in the street, just to be forgotten by everyone and consumed by the shadows.
As the brothers rounded a street, the sound of steel on steel could be heard as well as the sounds of the river and the shouts of people. Just a few more streets in front of them, it could be seen that there had been a battle that broke out in front of them. Everyone was in armor, battling between themselves.
However, the men in armors had different insignia on their armor, almost as of the guards of nobles where fighting amongst themselves. Reaching them, Connor and Tim both knocked the weapons away from the nearest guards fighting one another.
"What is the meaning of this?" Connor demanded.
"The wills of our lords? We were ordered to stall the citizens here to ensure other lords and ladies could reach the ships first."
Connor could barely understand their words. They were ordered to fend of citizens?
Looking at the city guard, he squirmed under his gaze.
"We were told by the Hunters to get the citizens to safety as number one priority."
The guards should never raise a blade against the people, but the guards should also listen to their noble's. Connor could understand why noble guards were confused, but didn't stop the anger from what they did.
Tim spoke first, "You did well to prioritize the people." He glared daggers at the other guard. Little was to be done since he was outside their realm of authority.
Didn't matter to Connor as he punched him anyways, earning him the attention of the nearby fighters. Tim looked horrified, assaulting someone of a different kingdom was a terrible idea.
"What? We'll just say an enemy did it." Connor addressed Tim, and looking at the guards he ordered, "There is no one behind us, return to the ships and defend the people."
Most of the infighting stopped at that, and following the brothers, the rest of the guards hurried to where the ships would be.
As they continued to push forward, they could see the bodies of more guards, both city and otherwise. Some of them even had the symbols of the Eastern empire on their armor and weapons.
Running forward the veil was coming down in front of them, running faster the brothers were doing their best to evade from being inside when it landed. Some of the guards were now falling behind, exhaustion slowing them down and ensuring they would remain behind.
As the veil descended it didn't make a sound, just quietly eating everything that got in its way. Running even faster both brothers barely made it past the point where it landed, but that was not the end. As soon as the veil landed a cloud of darkness rushed forward rising as high as the nearby buildings were tall.
The guards that were swallowed immediately went silent, they could not be seen or heard.
"That's unexpected!" Connor yelled as they continued to run. At this point the river was well within sight, and several ships had already pushed off from the bank. People yelling and pointing at the black cloud rushing at them.
It never ends! If something could go wrong it does!
"Where are our siblings!" Tim yelled.
Scanning the different ships that were becoming far too crowded to remain on, and those that still had little room left, Connor pointed at the last ship in the long line of ships.
"There they are. Go get on the boat, there will be enough room for me once I get back."
"Where are you going?"
As Connor had been scanning the crowds, someone had caught his eye. A girl, a few years younger than himself was being mobbed. He was not sure why, but she had a hand outstretched, almost as if she was trying to push the boat.
The only thing was that the boat was actually being pushed. The girl, now holding both hands stretched outward, had tuned deathly pale. She was not someone of nobility, none of her characteristics matched any noble household. Just before Connor reached her, she collapsed to the ground, but as she did, the boat she had been pushing was launched forward.
Cutting through the water like a knife through butter.
"What have you done!" Someone from the crowd yelled.
"I still needed to get on a boat!"
"You rat! You want us to die!"
Connor didn't know the situation, but seeing that she was conscious, he grabbed her by the arm and haled her up he dragged her to his family's boat.
"My brothers, where are they?" The girl was mumbling under her breath oblivious to anything going around her.
The dark cloud had reached the boats, swallowing and silencing the calls and cries of the people behind him.
Boarding the plank to the last ship, overcrowded like the rest, he watched as the cloud reached them and swallowed them too.
He could feel the panic as everything went quiet and everyone went blind, no stimulation for any sense, even those of direction and time had been ruined. He could only hope that they could make it out.
The only boat that he saw escape was the one sent flying north by the girl he thought he was still holding by the arm. He wasn't sure.
Tim, I hope you were not lying when you said mother wanted us to return to our country.