Daemon had returned to the courtyard, whispering into Dubois' ear to confirm the priest's cims.

  Dubois smacked his lips and leaned back with raised eyes. "It would seem that you do in fact have a beastkin below, along with a particur person of interest. What did you say it was?"

  Perdilius smiled warmly in return. "Oh, the boy? Pay no mind to him, he is but a lost soul who hath been corrupted by temptation."

  "So it would seem, now then. What is it you pn to make of once you capture these monsters?"

  "My stay is temporary I assure you, as soon as those monsters are detained you will see me take my leave." The priest reassured them with a humble gesture of his hands pressed together. "It brings me joy to see we have come to an understanding-"

  "Not quite." The councilman added much to his surprise. "The three bodies that we discovered in the blue distract, those are your men, yes?"

  "Yes of course. They were good men, taken in their prime against their wishes as the monster proved too much for them."

  "What does that mean for your pns moving forward to ensure the safety of your men?"

  "Come again?" Perdilius asked, his eyes darting to one side. Raz stood behind him, shielding his eyes and looking to their left.

  "Perdilius, what troubles me is that your three men died in duty and yet my men were the ones tasked with removing their corpses off the ground where they y. Sources tell me that they had passed since the night prior. Why was it not your men who took to carrying their bodies to a proper burial?"

  "Ah, we were busy, preoccupied and engaged with catching the monsters. I was unaware of their passing until this morning. I am no soldier you see, and my men doth wear armor to protect them but they be but loyal followers who risk their lives for our faith. Though perhaps now that you know of our prisoners... perhaps it may not be too much to ask for your assistance to hasten our progress?" He asked with a knowing look in his eye.

  The crowd stood outside of the courtyard watching on with some citizens gossiping or questioning the other for more information. Amongst them stood Janette and Nyitzcha in the rear, with the former listening to shocking news received by her friends surprising arrival.

  "What do you mean it's too te to help them?" Janette asked in a hasty tone, turning her head while keeping her eyes on Perdilius. "Nyitzcha, we have to go warn them now."

  "Yea, how ye do d'at? Holler at 'em an' reveal yerself as a monster girl sympathizer? Didn't work well for ye before if I remember right." Nyitzcha reminded her, squeezing her forearm and standing on her toes to get as close to her ear. "Best ye can do is trust dat yer furry friends can fend for themselves. You need to follow my instructions. sweetie."

  Janette swallowed heavily, wiping the nervous sweat off her forehead and grinding her teeth together. "Damn it all, fine! What do I do?"

  Nyitzcha tugged her arm to get her attention, tilting her head in a rocking motion. She got the meaning and leaned down so that the two were at eye level. The dwarf inched close and cupped her hands, instructing her friend what to do next.

  She turned around with a shocked expression. "You're certain?"

  "Absolutely." Nyitzcha nodded with confidence, scratching her orange hair before shrugging. "Well, maybe. Guess we'll see, ay?"

  Despite the sinking feeling in her stomach, she nodded slowly and stood up.

  From a nearby rooftop, Dimyri rubbed her forehead with her front paw. She perked up upon noticing Janette walking away from the crowd with a tiny friend half her size leading the way. She cocked her head, eyes following until they disappeared upon turning a corner of the road near the building where her mother stood. The girls agreed to stand in position, each keeping watch to ensure that none of the guards or followers retreated back into the church.

  Her pupils shrunk when a growing shadow emerged over her.

  KuliKuli stepped back until she felt her body press into her friends, the three of them looking on with wide eyes as the hunter walked up the spiral stairs with a calmness in his body nguage and a confident look on his face. Felix pushed Syri against the door, using himself to shield her from the looming threat. The room was still with the echoing footsteps of the hunter just a few feet away.

  "This is the monster hunter?" Felix asked, noticing his ashy white hair and the sword sheathed to the right side of his belt.

  KuliKuli nodded back, baring her fangs and shooting a nasty gre at the hunter.

  "Yea, we've met before once or twice."

  "Several times, actually." Leone corrected her, pulling his sword out. The shiny metal banged against the brick wall, with the hunter rearranging his approach as he held his sword with his left hand instead to avoid battling in a narrow spiral with his sword banging into the wall each time he swung. Keeping his bde close to him, he tilted it down so that the tip pointed toward Felix as their eyes met for the first time. "My contract does not include you. Stand down, this is not your fight."

  "Not my fight?" Felix repeated in disbelief. "You want me to give up and I'll be free to go?"

  "Not a chance." KuliKuli spat out. "You can't kill us, you need us alive."

  Leone chuckled and shook his head. "Not likely judging by those nasty traits you carry. Seems the town is now aware of your presence or will be soon. No, you just stay out of the way and I won't have a reason to kill you. But..."

  The hunter turned his head back and forth, gncing at both KuliKuli and Felix. A malicious grin grew on his smug face as a wicked idea began to form. "You two? That makes sense, initially I believed you were here for her but now it makes everything clearer. Therefore, this changes things."

  "I suppose this changes negotiations." Felix stated, feeling an icy chill run through his spine from how this man was looking at him.

  "If there ever was any." Syri's voice trembled as she hid behind him, peeking over his shoulder.

  Leone swept his bde across the ground, the impact of his sword creating dust upon striking the stone floor and leaving a swift cut embedded in the rock. Positioning his weapon with his legs pnted firmly, he licked his lips with narrow eyes as he seemed ready to attack, keeping his victims nervous under the anticipation. "Though it be true that I am to bring you two alive, the same cannot be said for your mate. You will follow me back into your cell and the two of you may comfort each other as we wait for your sister to join us, unless you would want to risk your lover's life."

  Syri whimpered and wrapped her arms around Felix's waist. His frightening demand and cold delivery left KuliKuli startled. "Y-You wouldn't-!"

  "You and I both know that taking his life would be a mercy compared to what the others would do to you." Leone growled back.

  Instincts fred up as the Nekomata screeched before diving in with her cws ready, paws sweeping left and right. What erupted was a csh of sparks and metal striking back and forth, with the hunter meeting her attacks with a steady grip on his bde. He seemed at ease, the intensity of her flurry forcing him to retreat step by step as the narrow stairway proved to make a counterattack for him rather difficult. He would need the spacious room to properly retaliate, but he did not worry about her taking advantage of this small space. The Nekomata was shing out with wide, angry eyes intent with beating the man who dared to threaten her mate.

  He was hoping for this, baiting her by using her emotions and instinct against her. It was common for a Nekomata to be territorial of their mates and he was aware of this. As the pair retreated until he found himself away from the spiral stairway, he rotated his wrist around to deflect her arm before spinning around with his back against hers. Those tails of hers would be a problem with how she used it before like whips or arms to strike while he kept his eyes on her before. When she tried to push his sword out of the way, he stepped back and kept his weapon steady with both hands squeezing the handle firmly.

  Grunting out of frustration, KuliKuli flexed her tails to grab hold of a wooden stool and hurl it at the hunter's face. He stepped aside rather than to bat it out of the way, which worked in his favor as he predicted her incoming dash only to smack her backside with the butt of his handle.

  Felix watched helplessly from the bottom of the staircase, urging Syri to hurry as she repeatedly cwed at the wooden door, but each intent proved painful as she felt a strong resistance against her cuts. She yanked away, blowing air at her dulled cws before peeking into the cerations she left. Though the slices penetrated the wooden surface, her cws proved feeble against the metal interior of the door.

  "It's no use, I can't cut through!" Syri shouted back with a terrified look. Her ears twitched and she spun around with a gasp upon hearing a wooden tch be undone from the other side of the gate. She lowered her head and clumsily raised her paws, nearly frozen in fear as she waited for the door to open fully to reveal the figure in the other side.

  Dimyri leaned into her front paws, squeezed her eyes shut and channeled her magical energy into growing in her humanoid form. The transformation process caught her assaint by surprise, covering his eyes to shield himself against the sharp white light she emitted. When he blinked to focus his vision, he was met with the hind legs of his victim press into his chest, kicking him away from her and sending him on his back. His armor cnked loudly on impact, the added weight keeping the man immobile for a brief moment as the Nekomata spun around to assess her predicament. He did not come alone as a small squad of five men stepped around him, two of them wielding nets and one spinning a colr around his finger.

  She looked back, finding herself backed into the edge due to her position as a lookout. Her mind wandered to the status of her mother and sisters, were they under attack as well?

  But there was no time to think as a pair of soldiers closed the gap by dashing toward her, one with a catch pole and the other with a net. She gasped and jumped back, reverting into her cat form to scurry off with quicker speed. One of the men stumbled forward and waved his arms around, grunting loudly as he tried to bance himself and prevent from falling over the ledge. His ally pulled him back much to his relief, with the others running after the cat. Dimyri ran down the edge, jumping down and using her cws to catch a hold off a balcony ledge. As quick as she could, she made her descent and hopped from one window to the next. She paused and raised her head, looking over to the building facing the church and catching a glimpse of her mother fighting her assaints head on.

  Emyri was making use of her tails, grabbing their ankles and flipping them on their heads while dealing with the soldiers' attempts to snare her with the colr at the end of his catch pole. She ducked out of the way, wrapping her arms around his waist and spinning them both around. His heavy weight made it easier to catch him off bance, yet difficult to move him how she wanted. One other soldier jumped in and took advantage by kicking her back to send her on the ground, the momentum tossing both her and his ally over the ledge.

  She fell over and crashed into the top floor balcony, he was not so lucky.

  "AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH-!"

  CRASH!The man met his fate as he fell into the stationary carriage which belonged to councilman Dubois. The sudden commotion grabbed everyone's immediate attention, with all heads turning toward the carriage remains. Several of the city guards inspected the body before shaking their heads, with one of the members of the crowd pointing their finger above them.

  "Look!" She shouted as everyone turned to spot the Nekomata rubbing her bruised head.

  "My word!" Dubois gasped, his eyes growing twice their size as he felt his wife cling to his arm.

  "Andre, I'm scared." Cire whimpered as he held her in his arms protectively.

  Perdilius struggled to contain the smirk on his face before stepping beside them. "Another beast! Come, you two mustn't be here."

  "T-To the town hall, that is where we are safest!" Dubois insisted as his guard Daemon unsheathed his sword and surveyed around them to ensure their protection.

  Perdilius turned and shared a knowing look to Raz, who nodded back and sent a sign to his men behind them. They stepped from their posts and joined Daemon to surround the council member and his wife.

  "Mister Dubois, my men will help escort you to safety. Please, take one of my carriages. You must go, make haste!" He urged, snapping his fingers as the couple were led out of the courtyard.

  "Who-Who's there? I'm warning you... I'm very dangerous!" Syri screamed out, unable to stop her arms from shaking as light entered the room and a figure emerged from the parted door. It took a bit for her vision to focus, but it helped as the mysterious figure stepped in and revealed herself. "Na'Vi!"

  "Is everyone safe?" Na'Vi asked, pulling the door wide open.

  "The hunter is here! Sis and Felix are down there with him!"

  Cnk! Cnk!

  "Ooomph!" KuliKuli was sent flying back, hitting the wall and sliding down until her butt felt the stone floor. Her stomach was bruised, stained with a boot mark as Leone twirled his sword around before lifting her chin with his bde.

  "You're making this harder on yourself. I can assure you this will end faster if you do as you are told, Nityri."

  Those words echoed in her head, triggering a faint memory by the familiarity of his phrase. She found herself on her knees, face pressed against the wall as a colr was fastened around her neck by force, squeezing until it began to suffocate her. It was his voice that said the same thing, only it was not his hands that left her body covered in purple bruise marks as she struggled to carry her own weight with beaten legs.

  No, she was being punished. Punished for not obeying.

  "My name is KULIKULI!" She snapped back, forcing him back with a backhand to his sword. She felt the sting on her paw and realized she cut herself by spping his weapon away, but in the moment she did not care. She hated this man for all he was and what he did, what he helped do to her. Yet it did not matter how hard she struck his bde for it did little to dull the sharpness of his sword.

  One more attempt proved risky as she rushed in to make a grab at his hands, anticipating that he would spin his wrist around and spin away from her as he did before. He was not as predictable as she hoped, having learned not to go easy on her since their previous encounter.

  But it was something, or rather someone who helped give her the edge she needed to nd a hit.

  Leone countered her moves by yanking her arm forward and pointing the tip of his sword against her belly, raising his brow as the two locked eyes. He was reminding her of how easy it would be for him to end her, of how he held back despite her attempts to best him. The hunter was toying with his prey, but he forgot that she did not come alone.

  Leone was pulled back by Felix as he wrapped his arm around his neck from behind, his other hand pulling his cloak down so that the brooch would pull against his neck as well. The hunter was surprised by the new encounter, leaving KuliKuli on her knees looking wide-eyed at the two men. Both of them stepped backwards until they crashed into the back wall, with Leone repeating the attempt a second time. Felix didn't budge, tightening his grip and grunting hard with each impact.

  Changing tactics, the hunter grabbed Felix's arms and threw himself forward to send them both rolling in a forward somersault. It did not work. Next, the hunter swung his elbow into his attacker's side, striking his ribs repeatedly. Felix groaned with each hit, but he did not loosen his grip and bared the pain that surged through him.

  "Let... go..." Leone stammered out as his face began to turn red.

  "N~Nooo..." Felix gritted his teeth, opening his eyes to see KuliKuli climb back on her feet. The two exchanged a look before she charged on all fours. At the st second, Felix released him and fell to his side just as KuliKuli unched forward and kicked Leone hard in the chest, sending him against the wall.

  As he rubbed his neck coughing, KuliKuli helped Felix up to his feet and turned around to see Na'Vi waiting for them.

  "Let's go!" She shouted, helping the two up the stairs where Syri stood at the gate waiting for them.

  "What about him?" Felix asked, escorting KuliKuli through the door.

  Syri exchanged a look with Na'Vi as she turned to respond. "Lock him up and see how he likes it."

  "Good idea." KuliKuli agreed as Felix was the st out the door.

  Syri struggled to push the heavy door close, pressing her body against it and leaning in. The door groaned loudly as it moved over, just a bit of momentum remained before it closed shut. But before it could, a sword pierced through the gap and cut Syri's shoulder, slicing through as the Nekomata fell back in pain.

  Na'Vi fell to the ground to help Syri while Felix threw himself against the door, aided by KuliKuli to shut it. Leone struggled back. keeping his sword through the gap to prevent them from locking him in.

  "Hey!" A soldier spotted them from inside the chapel, followed by several more behind him. Na'Vi moved in pced herself around Syri protectively, revealing her cws and fangs and hissing back to the guards.

  When it seemed like all was lost, an explosion emerged from the back of the chapel, clouding everyone with dust and rubble.

  AnnouncementThis one took a while to write, but it was worth it! I wanted to give a special and heartfelt thanks to all of you following the story this far. Over 100 chapters, you guys are awesome and your support keeps me writing for your entertainment! Thank you all and if you live in the United States, have a happy Memorial Day!