Chapter 20.1 Battle (Part 3) (POV Neko Family)

POV Neko Family

Junpei was already prepared for the worst, and his loyal Yu was prepared for the monstrous. Being more agile than his dead brother, he counted on gaining a few seconds for his family. Orcs are strong creatures, but overly narcissistic, so his gang will not interfere in the "ritual battle".

And his beloved Yu will have time to end the children's lives, because there is no chance to escape... not without Ryugo. Junpei realized that his claws were no match for those of a Bakeneko or a Savarineko, his fangs even less so, and the skin of orcs was very tough. But nature had given him no other, and with the weapons he had been given, the drowned werecat Neko would fight as long as he could. He was about to lunge forward, dodging a straight katana strike, when a wave of magic swept across the clearing and the four villains fell to the grass, dropping their weapons.

The orc turned his head toward his own, opened his mouth, but in the next instant he swung his katana sharply upward. There was a clang and a crunch, and in the next instant the feline family was surrounded by a transparent silver barrier. NO! MAGI! NO!!!

Unsolicited tears flowed from his wife's eyes, and the cat himself fell helplessly to his knees. It couldn't have been worse! But the father of two beautiful kittens noticed that the sudden blow to the orc's neck shattered the katana protecting him, and a teenager appeared beside the monster. The boy himself froze, holding his blade at an angle to the ground. The strange color of his eyes immediately drew his attention, but the cat couldn't figure out what they reminded him of.

— Who the hell are you? — A vicious grin spread across the orc's face, a face that had ceased to be a moment ago. — It's nothing for a puppy to throw itself at a warrior!

— I agree. — The boy replied calmly, his voice steady and confident. — But as a warrior, I have no moral right to let a rabid dog go.

— Grrrraaa! — the orc's eyes began to glow with anger, and he lunged at the teenager, swinging his broken katana.

A simple chopping blow went into the void, but the strong Orc did not fail, and the inertia was easily suppressed. The man dodged the blow with a quick step to the side, sideways and forward, and was immediately behind the monster's back. Without a moment's hesitation, a slashing blow was delivered across its back. Blood immediately flowed, but the strength of the skin saved the monster, and he roared as he turned and swung the broken katana.

A hard block and another piece of blade flew to the side, and the orc received another wound, but this time to his ribs. The monster roared again, and the enlarged clawed paw came into play. A quick low somersault to the side, executed by the teenager, and a split kick to the orc's leg, with the same result. The boy jumps a few feet to the side and takes a lower stance.

— I will eat your heart right before your eyes! — yelled the orc, lunging at the boy again.

Without saying a word, the boy lunged at him, but at the last moment he changed his grip on the weapon, made a clever rearrangement of his legs so that he was once again behind the monster's back, and with a sharp movement thrust his blade into the orc's back. The tip of the blade emerged from the orc's chest, glinting in the starlight.

The orc roared, but a sharp jerk, another move, and another, and the guy pulled the sword out of the victim's body. The monster, eyes glazed over, collapses to the ground. The guy, looking around the clearing with strange eyes, calmly wipes the blade and puts it back in the sheath on his back.

The cat is ready to beg for an easy death for his little ones, ready to do anything to save them from being tortured as is so often the case these days. The barrier seals surrounding his family make escape completely impossible, they are at the mercy of a mage... a powerful mage.

But something happened here that stunned the adult cats. The man raised his right hand to his face, folded two fingers in a pointing gesture, jerked his hand sharply, and gestured to break the seals, releasing the neko.

Then five paper seals appeared in his hand, which he threw into the air after whispering something, and the sheets of paper flew toward the bodies, sticking to their faces. As soon as that happened, the teenager visibly relaxed and looked at the Neko family.

— Now we can talk. — The boy sighed. — What are your names, dear ones?

To say that the Neko were surprised is to say nothing! You want to talk to them, but why? The husbands and wives looked at each other, and the cat nodded briefly to her husband.

— My name is Junpei. — The cat nodded briefly, not losing sight of the teenager who had already proven his strength. — This is my wife, Yu, and our children, Toshiro and Sayaka. — With all his animal senses, Neko felt the power, including magic, of this boy, but his instincts were silent, not threatening; so the head of the family decided to take a chance and answer properly. — Thank you for saving my family. — The Neko bowed deeply, then straightened up after a few seconds. — I owe you a debt of gratitude.

Junpei feared that he had made a mistake, but his instincts told him that he was doing the right thing. And the man watched the child's reaction with trepidation — only now did he realize that the warrior was still very young. The boy responded with a brief bow.

— It is not in my rules to allow such a thing. — The mage replied calmly. — Especially since killing children is the worst of all crimes — it certainly should not be allowed.

— Do they have a chance? — the thought was hopeful, but too unthinkable in these bad times, when mages have forgotten or ignored old contracts.

— Can you tell me what's going on? — The boy asked with a strange intonation, looking carefully at the Neko family.

The mother of the family, sensing that the threat had passed, lowered the kittens to the ground, but they didn't move, clinging to her kimono and wrapping their tails around her legs. The kits' green eyes sparkled with cautious interest. The couple looked at each other again.

— Without going into details, our village was attacked at night and we decided to flee, but the bandits caught up with us and killed my brother Ryugo. Then you showed up. That's all.

— Your village was mixed? Why didn't the magicians defend themselves?

Neko looked at his wife in confusion: the boy's questions had made him seem stunned. If the boy didn't know about the attack, how did he end up here? And if he knew, which was obvious, why was he asking such questions? His wife answered for him.

— The mages didn't resist because there were none among us. For centuries, our village has been protected from the eyes of the Ayakashi and Yokai, who want to live in peace and quiet. Our village has never been mixed, although I've been told of occasions in the past when mages or commoners have visited us. — The woman's voice was booming, truly feline, very beautiful.

— What do you mean? — The boy didn't try to hide his surprise and reacted naturally, leaving the Neko family stunned; but then his expression froze for a moment, his gaze changed subtly, and he tilted his head to her shoulder. — Come... — he almost whispered. — There was supposed to be an attack on the village of mages, and we were brought here to guard and surround it so that the Yakashi bandits couldn't escape from the main fighters. But you say that the village isn't a human village at all, isn't that strange? — The voice and the expression on the boy's face gave the adults goosebumps and made their hair stand on end, but the children didn't understand.

The Ayakashi didn't even think about running away, they would catch up anyway. And to be near a strange teenage mage was no pleasure, but rather fear. The boy was silent for a while, thinking about something, looking around, moving his eyes from place to place. But such behavior did not fool the Neko, they knew how quickly a predator could react. Here, the boy's gaze seemed to stop, meeting the bright green eyes with golden dots, the eyes of a kitten. Silently, he walked over and crouched down, smiling as he saw the kits' tails clinging to their mothers' legs.

— Hello, little ones. Scared of the bad uncles? — The children nodded, their behavior showing genuine amusement. — It's okay, they won't scare you anymore.

Junpei almost trembled with fear for the children, but he could do nothing and did not feel threatened. However, he is a predator himself and he knows to be careful with his own kind. The boy looked first at his son Toshiro, then at his daughter Sayaka. The girl's hair was disheveled and kept falling over her face, getting in her eyes.

The boy watched the girl tidy it up for a few seconds, then got up and walked over to a small bush. And then he began to behave strangely: first he broke a twig, then he held out his hand with an open palm, whispering something. Then as if talking to someone in silence. Then he folds his hands into a boat and whispers again while a salad light shines between his palms. He opens his palms, nods to something, folds them again, shines again, and opens them again.

Then he says something again in a low voice, waves his hand as if he were flipping a bird, and walks over to the children. He sits down in front of Sayaka and gently fixes her hair, pinning it on the left side with a beautiful hairpin with a large white flower. He nods to the girl, smiles and stands up.

— You must escape to a large city with a large Ayakashi community. — said the boy. — Go to the lord and tell him everything in detail, without hiding anything. It's very important. It's in your interest to get there as soon as possible. — The man is silent for a while, then pulls out a sealed bag from one of the pouches on his belt. — Also, in about two hours, when you are further away, feed the babies. — With these words he handed the package to the woman, who immediately realized what she had been given and thanked him. — Now run along. — said the magician imperiously.

And the Neko, still unaware of it, took the children in her arms and ran away, not caring that she might be stabbed in the back. Junpei and Yu ran through the night forest for a long time before the horizon turned pink.

They stopped at a small stream to rest, and when Junpei saw the kittens' appetite for what appeared to be army rations, he mentally thanked the mage once again. He and his wife could be patient, but the children needed to eat properly and on time, and a hearty army ration was not the worst possible solution. And yet, why are they so lucky to be saved?