Steel Trim
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Engineering, Magic, and Kitsune Ch. 16
🕑 Added 2025-02-03 16:33:54 +0000 UTCYuki jumped onto the walls and John scrambled up behind her onto the side closest to the road. Thankfully, she found Aiki and Haru on the way over, and they were hunkering down in their "room" right now. She glanced over to John. His heartbeat was pounding as fear threatened to strike him down, but he managed to keep his expression under control, burying his panic under an exterior that looked almost cool and collected if you couldn't smell his stress sweat.
All of this probably isn't good for his heart. Yuki should probably arrange a few days off after this so that the pair can get to know one another a bit better beyond pure utilitarian matters. They probably needed to wait for that particular ingress into the Nameless hive to go back to low alert; anyhow, they'd probably to swarm for days.
She glanced at her ally. "Any other angles?" Yuki asked.
He shook his head, holding up that curious tablet to show her but saying nothing. The second set of lights was lit up now. It seemed whoever it was was approaching the gates at a rather swift pace.
Then, she could hear it. Several boots pounding on gravel, maybe five or six pairs. "Faster!" shouted a voice, one she vaguely recognized. Now, who was that again? It was just on the tip of her tongue. That was it! It was Okada Yashiro, the sergeant of the local militia! What was he doing here?
"My leg, Sarge!" cried a second, new voice, pain evident in his tone.
"Fight through it, or you're dead! Keep going!" called the first voice.
"Five, maybe six people coming," Yuki relayed, "They're being chased by something." She sniffed the air, but they were sadly upwind, so she couldn't tell how many injured they had.
John frowned. "Nameless?" he hesitantly asked.
Yuki went silent for a moment, closing her eyes. There! She heard the scuttling of many, many legs, even if they were pretty quiet. It was far more challenging to get an accurate count there. She nodded. "Yes," she said, and John tensed.
Now, why hadn't they just overran them already? They were far, far faster than a regular mortal could run, even if they were uninjured, after all. A sharp realization made her blood run cold. Unless, of course, herding them here was the point. John had mentioned that Nameless had tried to breach the walls numerous times before and failed. What if they were using these men as bait to get them to open the gate? From there, it'd be easy to web the gate open and spill inside.
The men were likely coming to give some tribute or bribe to them in some way after their meeting in the village, and they happened to be the perfect targets! It was smart. Far too smart for mere leaderless Nameless, and she was starting to reevaluate her theory that there were no Greaters amongst their number. Even worse, although the bugs couldn't know this, letting the lot of them die would more or less solidify the tax collector's grip on the village and make it look like John and Yuki slaughtered them! This could not come to pass.
The final alarm went off, and John took up post, resting his gauntlet on the edge of the walls, taking cover while watching the road. "Cover me," Yuki said, and once she got a hesitant nod from him, she leapt off the wall to a startled shout from John.
As she heavily hit the ground, five men came barrelling around the corner into the clearing around the castle, wearing that same lacklustre armour from the village proper. Three she recognized from that prior encounter, including the limping one and the one at their head, Yashiro. The lot balked when they saw her, slowing their pace. That wouldn't do.
"Here!" she shouted, voice echoing through the clearing, a quick blast of commanding, almost imperious Presence crashing off of her in a wave as she painted the area as a battlefield and herself as an officer standing strong against danger.
It wasn't mind control, despite what some might think, and she certainly wouldn't use it if it was… However, being able to convey impressions and intent was rather helpful, and one could certainly use it as a tool to direct others should the situation call for it.
Unprepared to resist and not in the right state of mind to recognize her influence, the militia suddenly looked at her like an oasis in the desert and rushed to her side as the Presence subtly coloured their impression of her. "To the wall, go!" she commanded, and they sprinted past her with little hesitation. She noted that they were equipped with two spears, two bows, and one club as she passed, and their quivers were full. They must have broken immediately upon sighting one and decided to flee.
The Nameless spilled out of the tree line like someone shattered a dam, and she counted somewhere between forty and forty-three yokai amongst their numbers, and she longed for the days she could wipe a field clean of opposition with a single lazy wave.
Fire.
At first, she thought John's magic was curiously undetectable before it was in the air. There was no whisper of Presence as he prepared himself, no murderous intent tinging the air… but there was a subtle simplicity to it if one knew how to listen. Rather than making grand, sweeping gestures, it was like a whisper about what would happen, delivered coldly and emotionlessly like a prophecy from a seer's tongue. It was curious, but it provided more than enough information for her to not fear catching a stray blow.
Invisible scorching heat swept over the nearest Nameless, and its veil caught ablaze before he pivoted over to the next. She suppressed a twinge of annoyance at his choice of targets, as the center would hold. John should have been focusing on the ones around the flanks that she couldn't reach promptly, but she could correct that later.
As Yuki approached their irregular lines, she leaned into wildness, and her eyes went wild as her claws lengthened. She felt the fear of the men, the madness of the Nameless, and breathed it in deep. She needed this.
Drawing on her innate kitsune abilities, she summoned unearthly gold-black flames and threw them out, drawing a pair of burning lines on the ground and forming a scorching funnel that would force the main body of the horde to either back up or to try to go through her, and it was a foregone conclusion which they would attempt.
The kitsune blurred, lunging forward.
The first was dead before it knew what happened. One second, it was rearing up; the next, Yuki's claws had torn through its Aegis like paper, and she was holding its book lung in her hands, torn bloody from its nest. She discarded it to the side even as that one flailed, pouncing on the one to her side in a blur as it tried to circle around her to flank. Her instincts screamed at her to tear its soul out, to devour its essence, but she ignored them for now. Perhaps if she was fighting these on her own, she'd indulge herself a bit more, but there were those who couldn't afford indulgences like she could.
Instead, she tore a flickering limb off the creature, her power empowering it like one would a blade as she thrust it through the Nameless and as if it were an oversized stake and pinned the offending creature to the earth. The bladed limb of a third tried to cut her leg from the side, but she idly hopped to dodge it and followed up by stomping the offending limb clear off at the joint. How dare they come here and disrupt her companionable conversation when she was about to figure out so much!
She grabbed the creature by the chelicerae, watching the fear mount in its eyes as she started to yank. It screamed, and she breathed it in deep as the two fragile mouth parts tore free in a spray of black.
A weight struck her back, and her eyes widened as sudden pain bloomed through her as her Aegis took the blow. She huffed and shifted, the mass of webbing failing to bind to her as she shucked it onto the ground. She wasted no time and stabbed the spider in one of its humanoid eyes with its own fang, squeezing her makeshift dagger to inject the poison into it as it screamed.
Looking around, she realized she had been surrounded, a few of them actually having burned to death in the flame, with their allies climbing over their bodies to avoid being burnt. She had grown careless. While it would take a few more blows to crack her Aegis, she would rather not reach that point. She reminisced about the time hers was far too durable for any such… mundane attacks to do anything, when she could have laid bare in a field of common Unbound, napping while all their weapons bounced off her like a man punching a mountain.
She tossed the spare fang into the body of her attacker, who was easy to pick out from the horde, reared up as they were. Sadly, the fang didn't penetrate deep due to her mystical might fading from her weapon as it left her grip.
A quick glance around revealed a good few more distant smouldering spiders in a wild panic and that the militia had reached the wall… The Nameless weren't far behind, those not caught in her little trap having flowed around her already. She supposed she had better get on that.
Yuki breathed deep and summoned up her magic, calling upon the balance of light and darkness that swelled within her and manifested cruel, hooked blades of light upon her claws and swung! Her spirit sang with delight as she surged forward and carved a bloody path through their ranks, culling their number. It was hard to notice, prior, being as weak as they were, but even now, Yuki took in wisps of their spirits as their fetters to this world were cut. It was, of course, nowhere near as effective at bolstering her as her ritualistic meal earlier, but she certainly wasn't complaining.
Her high on bloodshed was brought crashing back down as the toxins flowed through her flesh and spirit both with renewed haste. As she harnessed her ki into magic, the blightstone pulsed with new fury, metaphysical barbs clamping down on her as it fought to smother rekindled flame. White hot agony tore through her, but she blinked the white at the edge of her vision away.
Seemingly sensing her weakness, the dreamsteel shards bit into her flesh, tearing her apart from the inside out as tiny particles turned into spreading knives within her body, but she had done this before. Yuki burned her ki, focusing internally, and resmelted the blades into harmless liquid by sheer strength of will and control, even as the blightstone screamed in protest like a scorned lover and tightened bindings of thorns around her soul.
Yuki ran toward the five. They were afraid, and the scent danced delightfully on her tongue, but she put aside her more predatory instincts as she approached, lest the kitsune do something she regretted. Pointedly, she put herself in the middle of the group. She had nothing to fear from them, after all, but a crass power play was not the point; it was to make what came next easier.
"You picked quite the time for a visit, Sergeant Okada Yashiro," she greeted, and the man paled more than he already had. Well, there was a time for at least a little bit of an amusing power play. Besides, this would be easier if they were distracted.
"Lady kitsune, I—" he began, only to be cut off and yelp as she seemingly lunged in every direction at once.
Yuki hefted him and one of his men over her shoulders like bags of rice, ignoring their wildly flailing limbs, while the other three were scooped up by her prehensile tails. Admittedly, it was awkward to do when they were woven into three, but she managed, and although weaker than her arms, light work like this was no issue for them.
Before they could do much more than shriek in alarm, she crouched down and leapt into the air, the sheer force throwing up a spray of gravel as she did. Just in time, too, as the Nameless converged on their former location. She landed serenely on the wall beside a somewhat startled John and deposited her terrified passengers back on their feet.
Below, the Nameless smashed into the mildly magical fort wall, surging over one another to try and climb up… and getting perilously close before John summoned his curious excavation drill and planted it directly through the screaming mass, tearing apart the entities in a matter that reminded her of someone whisking eggs, breaking apart the pile. He must be low on fire-aspected mana if he stopped igniting them! Worry momentarily flooded her at how little he had left in him before she reminded herself that he did not work the same way she did and that his glove likely still had full compliments of the rest.
They staggered away from her fearfully, staring up at her. They looked panicked, about ready to break, but Yuki flared her Presence with that same commanding aura and ordered, "Soldiers, to the walls! We can keep them out!" It seemed to do the job, and the terror faded from their eyes a moment later, replaced with steely determination.
John glanced back in confusion but turned back to their foes after a moment.
"You heard the lady!" boomed Yashiro, hefting his club, flexing power through it and having stone spikes form upon its length before rushing over to the edge of the wall, followed by his men.
The archers tried to help stem the tide, they certainly tried, but they lacked either the talent or power to imbue the arrows with more than a whisper of magic. Alas, their wild shots into the crowd only resulted in them bouncing off. Admittedly, anything helped with depleting the Aegis of their foes.
The two with spears ignited the tips in a flash, their meagre magics making their weapons passably dangerous as they reached over the wall, stabbing down at the Nameless below as they tried to climb again. Their strikes harmlessly bounced off the Aegis of one, and they had to dodge the retaliatory strikes from its scything claws to avoid getting their weapons knocked out of their hands or broken. It crawled higher, undaunted by their strikes and boosted by its comrades from below. Its legs hooked onto the top of the walls, and it began to pull itself up, but the sergeant surged forward and brought his spiked club down as hard as he could onto its face with a mighty crack!
The creature's protection wavered as the spikes punched through and embedded its flesh, and the wavering troops could finally stab at the shroud and set it aflame. One more good whack was all it took to send the flaming monster back into its allies.
The other Nameless under them darted away in turn, leaving the creature alone on the ground, flailing and rolling while trying to futilely extinguish the blooming violet flame.
"Drive them back, men! We're dead if they get up here!" screamed Yashiro as he reformed the spikes on his weapon.
Yuki glanced over to John while they were distracted. "Lightning?" she asked. Given the cultural implications, it would be good for morale and a reminder they were fighting alongside a "favoured" member of the already power-wielding Unbound.
Or, well, something close enough, at least.
The man hesitantly nodded, pulling back to where the men couldn't see before swapping out the focus. He leaned over, aiming at the greatest concentration of Nameless as it began to build up against the walls once more.
BOOM! BOOM!
The men jumped at the pair of rapid crashes of thunder, then cheered as they glanced over to the burning, twitching bodies left in John's wake, another pile entirely dispersed. Yuki, though, was curious. How did he get lightning to straighten up and fly in a straight line? She would ask him later.
The creatures wavered, pulling back as their morale seemed to falter under the assault but not quite breaking even as they continued to be incessantly peppered by rather piddly arrows and devastating lightning strikes. The latter usually knocked out no more than one at a time as they finally seemed to realize spreading out was wise, however. Yuki counted fifteen left of the original horde, which was manageable, even if still risky for John and the soldiers.
Finding their footing, they split into three groups, rushing different portions of the wall. "Hold the center!" Yuki commanded the soldiers before blurring into a sprint, arriving where the farthest spiders ranged before they could. They piled up, trying to lift one another up… only to behold Yuki towering over them as the first crested the ledge.
Shadows spilled forth from her like night had come early, corrosive darkness spilling over them like a wave. They tried to fight, scream, and flail, but their Aegis shattered immediately as it constricted their forms and tunnelled into their bodies; virulent blackness subjugated the shadows within their own forms as their flesh was devoured by the depths from the inside out.
Fresh agony lanced through her spirit, but it was worth it!
As the exoskeletons clattered down, empty, Yuki realized that not all the screaming was the Nameless'.
She wheeled around just in time to behold a Nameless bowl over one of the spearmen. Yashiro's club lay broken to the side. The archers backed away, terrified and bearing empty quivers, while the sole remaining spearman tried to stab at it. Yuki darted to intercept it, drawing on her reserves… only to stumble as it felt like her heart was wrapped in thorns. Staggering, she could only watch as it reared up and prepared to strike.
Cold.
The limb slowed to a stop mid-descent as it was covered in a thin sheet of ice, and the Nameless tried to jerk away yet couldn't as its front limbs flash-froze in turn, the effect rapidly spreading as the attack was swept inward. It was curious to think that the ice was just a… side effect more than anything, rather than the point like with most attacks in that elemental sphere. The Nameless was frozen solid in moments, trapped in a prison of its own flesh and only faintly alive. The man scrambled out from underneath, breathing heavily and muttering his thanks.
From around the beast stepped John, sweating and breathing heavily but otherwise fine. He said nothing but gestured towards the frozen creature with a slight grimace.
How sweet! She'd have to reciprocate once they were in private. Yuki steadied herself, walking forward.
Yashiro said something, but she wasn't paying enough attention enough to understand it. He stood clear of her prey, and that was enough for her. Still, she'd probably do something a bit less… messy this time; no need to terrify everyone.
Yuki was next to it now, and the predatory intent she radiated was enough to set what passed for its heart racing, but it was far, far too late now. She pressed a hand against the shroud on its back, clearing the debris away and feeling the silk underneath before peeling it away like a wrapping, the blackened exoskeleton faintly smoking in the sunlight. It called out in distress, perhaps trying to get the attention of its dead fellows, but she ignored it. The kitsune rolled up her sleeve to not stain her new clothes before drawing her hand back and driving it straight through the carapace and into the flesh beneath.
The creature bellowed before stilling as she reached into its core and grasped the truest shape of it. She could feel the dread, the rage, the indignation, and she pulled. Extracting her now bloody hand, she rolled the orb in her palm, feeling the maelstrom of emotions and history radiating off it.
Unceremoniously, she tossed it into her jaws and swallowed it. Warmth flooded her form in a way that made her feel giddy and tickled her spirit, soothing some of those venomous aches that were starting to make her head swim and limbs feel like stone.
"Now!" She turned to the militia, who flinched at her gaze. "Welcome! You have the most amazing timing, it seems. Shall we talk somewhere a bit more comfortable?"
Comments
Kieran Hosty
Oooooh I want to hear that conversation completed! Yuki is so fun to read.
DrunkenEngineer
She huffed and shifted, the mass of webbing failing to bind to her as she shucked it onto the groun. Small typo here at the end. Anyway, very good story, in always excited when another chapter comes out. Thank you!
ArtTheGreat
Mmmm, yummy souls. Or are these disgusting as far as souls go but still nourishing?
cf
"worth it"
TopBat
Surprise! Yeah, I felt bad about leaving both you lot and the non-patrons on a cliffhanger, and I finished this one up early so I decided to share early.
