Chapter 3: Smokescreen

Artur couldn't take another one of those Cometbreaker shots.

His dragon scales could, undoubtedly.

But the damage to his arms would be too costly; it would be near impossible for him to successfully getaway while healing them.

And Artur didn't come to Truving to get captured by the Organization after over a year of being declared a Forsaken yet still eluding the Slayers.

'You will talk, Scotty Tower.' Artur lowered his bleeding arm. 'One way or the other.'

But when he saw the dark-skinned woman reloading her shotgun, Artur decided the most urgent action was to take her out first.

Which wouldn't prove easy at all.

Two reasons made it a formidable task:

The first was the timer Artur was on. Or rather, Scotty Tower.

Before the Spite venom killed the Mutant Slayer, Artur had to extract all the information the drunk had regarding Dante Warrick's whereabouts.

So, he had to deal with the young man's bodyguard as quickly as he could.

And that was a challenge on its own, as she herself was the second reason.

All the Cometbreakers in the Last Lands couldn't slow down Artur.

But a strong Slayer wielding one could.

And Vesper Drayton was indeed one of the most exceptional Steelgrit Slayers in the Safe Seven.

Why she wasted her talents by serving as the Protector of the Tower Family was anyone's guess.

For a Mutant Slayer to earn the Grit of Steel in mere two years and a half of service was a notable achievement.

But why such a Slayer would tie herself down to such a small city as Truving was an even more notable oddity.

However, the only Mutant Slayer whose mysteries Artur wanted solved was Dante Warrick.

And all the answers related to the Saving Grace could die with the poisoned man who refused to reveal them.

'Not while my heart still beats,' Artur vowed.

"Impressive," Vesper said from beside Scotty, as she aimed the large single barrel of her shotgun at Artur. "Now let's see if you can take another one, Mutant."

Stepping out of the small crater made by the previous shot's blast, as his left arm bled from under its dragon scales, Artur charged toward them.

Drayton fired at once.

The shot zoomed through the air, rushing straight at him.

But Artur didn't stop, taking it head on.

If the first shot hadn't caught him by surprise, he would've been able to avoid its blast from injuring him as well.

Cometbreaker shells, after all, were loaded with bull slugs.

A special kind of bullet that didn't penetrate upon contact, but rather exploded after thrusting into its target.

The Cometbreaker shot coming at him was the size of three human fingers put together, so striking it was easy to time.

With an uppercut using his right scaly fist, Artur launched the bull slug high into the air.

And after a second or two of spinning upward, the bullet exploded, like a deadly firework of scorching orange flames.

Under its fiery wisps, Artur rushed past the bent pole of the streetlamp through which he'd been thrown by the first bull slug shot by Vesper.

But before he even made it to the streetlamp's broken base, Vesper shot at him again, slowing him down to react.

And while the shell's ejected casing was still falling to the concrete below, she reloaded her Cometbreaker with a fourth shot.

It wasn't as if she was quick—he could follow her every movement—it was just that she was extremely efficient with it all.

There was a deliberateness to Vesper's every move, a methodical nature with which she pulled the cartridge from her belt pouch, broke the firearm and put it in, braced its butt against her shoulder as she aimed, then pulled the trigger.

As Artur launched the third shot to the night sky, he understood why she was called, "The Huntress."

Vesper Drayton handled her Cometbreaker as if it were an extension of her own arm.

Curiously, as the fourth bull slug came at Artur under another deadly explosion of brilliant flames, the Huntress lowered her shotgun with no sign of reloading it with a fifth shell.

Had she run out of bullets?

Could be.

After all, she was using an expensive weapon with an expensive ammunition.

But considering she was the Protector of the Tower Family, it couldn't have been that.

The Towers were one of the seven Great Families—and the richest in Truving.

No way in the wrecked world they provided her with just four shotshells.

That only left one other possibility:

The Huntress deemed their battle over.

But why?

Seeing Artur knock away the previous two bullets, she should've known better than that.

'Her Cometbreaker…' Artur scanned the firearm now that he was nearer to her, as he absently smacked the fourth shot upward as well.

'It looks different—'

If only he'd noticed that sooner.

What Artur thought was just another bull slug exploded in his face right as he punched it like the two before it.

The blast threw him several feet into the air, before gravity yanked him back down to the hard concrete, his head bouncing off it once as he landed on his bleeding right arm.

Hardly ten paces from the small crater from where he'd began his charge.

'All my fault,' Artur told himself as pain surged through both his arms. 'Should've known the Tower Protector would have the latest model.'

If it wasn't a modified Cometbreaker, the lowered firearm in Vesper's hand was surely the best shotgun money could buy.

An exclusive piece of weaponry unavailable to anyone who wasn't directly connected to the Great Families.

Artur could only assume on its build and its cost; he hadn't ever heard of a Cometbreaker capable of firing both bull slugs and bee slugs.

While Artur was thinking he was one step ahead of Vesper Drayton, the Huntress made him realize she only wanted him to think that.

All along, she was conditioning Artur to strike the fired bullets.

So that once he took the bull slugs for granted, she could surprise him with a bee one.

A bullet that exploded right upon impact with its target, bursting into several tiny lead spheres, like a spray of molten rain.

And it worked.

There was a reason Artur hadn't used his left fist to strike the slugs.

Now that same reason made Artur grunt as he pushed himself back onto his feet.

Blood seeped out from the cracks in the scales of both his arms.

Blocking another Cometbreaker shot would simply break a bone.

'A frontal attack won't work with her,' Artur decided, shaking the stinging buzz off his head.

'She can simply switch bullets and ruin my plans.'

"Stay down, Mutant," called Vesper from afar as she reluctantly reloaded her shotgun with a fifth shell. "It's for your own good."

Was it a bull slug? A bee slug? Some totally new kind of bullet designed recently?

'If I guess wrong, it might mean my capture.'

Artur hated relying on luck or chance.

'I have to plan around it. No matter what she fires, I need to somehow dodge it and counterattack.'

The Huntress took aim at him. "Otherwise, you're just deciding how many pieces you want to be in when the Organization arrives to seize you.

"Because as you might've learned by now, I have too many bullets on me, and I'm willing to fire every last one of them to neutralize you."

"I don't doubt your ability to pull the trigger, Huntress."

Artur took off his black cloak, holding it firmly to the front in his clawed hands.

"Only your ability to hit a target you can't see."

With how true her aim had been so far, Artur only said that to taunt the Huntress.

Perhaps she realized it; her composure remaining calm.

Worth a go.

Not that taunting her was a crucial part of his plan anyway.

Artur waved his black cloak. Not as a taunt. But a challenge.

"Come now, Protector. Live up to your name!"

Vesper took the challenge—firing.

'Got you!'

Throwing the cloak in front of him like a black curtain, Artur slid back two paces and ducked behind it to the right.

A bull slug would simply carry the cloak with it until it struck a building behind him and exploded, burning the curtain to charred shreds.

A bee slug would burst upon contact with the cloak, scattering a swarm of hot lead, drilling several large holes into the curtain.

But most of those sub-projectiles would have their path and speed impeded by the cloak, many not even striking Artur, and the ones doing so barely leaving a mark.

And even if she fired some new kind of slug, the cloak and his position behind it would make sure it wouldn't be a direct hit.

The real plan unfolded now.

Clenching his fists as the fifth bullet shot through the air toward him, Artur crossed his forearms with their wrists touching.

Then he pulled them apart, before striking both wrists together, smashing the scales of one with the scales of the other.

Nothing happened.

The unknown bullet coming for him didn't strike the cloak, but rather the concrete below it.

Exploding into a blast of flames.

Artur held his crossed forearms to the front, shielding against the explosion.

The burn of the blazes was nothing compared to the burn of the pain coursing through his body.

"Just give up already, Dragonclaw," the Huntress advised. "It will only get worse from here."

Vesper Drayton had indeed lived up to her name.

The moment she saw him with his cloak out, she'd figured he was planning on using it as a blinding curtain.

Thus, instead of firing where she'd been so far, the Huntress aimed lower.

Removing the curtain from her way while also damaging her target.

However… Vesper Drayton had made one crucial mistake.

She'd forgotten who she was dealing with here.

As much as Artur hated relying on luck and chance, even he couldn't help but smile when they worked his way.

Betting on your opponent's competence is always a risky gamble.

But what was a little risk to a Forsaken Mutant like Artur Dragonclaw?

His scarlet scales being hot enough now from eating all the flames he shielded himself from:

Artur again struck his wrists together.

And this time:

Sparks burst out.

Only now realizing what she'd unintentionally done, the Huntress quickly reloaded her shotgun with a sixth shell—

Artur smashed his wrists together with a primal grunt, creating even bigger sparks.

The specks of fire drew Drayton's eyes toward him in caution, interrupting her methodical rhythm.

"You must not know me," Artur said to the Huntress with a smile.

He snapped his fists open about the sparks from his wrists, holding a floating ember between his palms.

"Fire only hardens dragon scales."

"You're a Beast Mutant," Vesper spat instantly, aiming at him with her Cometbreaker. "You hold no reign over the elements."

What a surprise.

She actually knew.

"When you reach the level of desperation to bluff and boast in a battle," the Huntress said, pulling the trigger, "you should realize it's already over for you."

Artur chuckled, slamming his palms together, crushing the tiny ember between them.

"You truly don't know me."

'Dragonsmoke.'

From the gaps between his fingers, tendrils of black haze erupted out of his palms.

Artur might not have reign over Dragonfire just yet, but he was getting better at Dragonsmoke.

The dark cloud continued expanding about him as Artur pressed his palms together even harder.

The sixth shot passed right by his ear, having lost its way through the gaseous curtain.

And once the Huntress missed again, Artur knew the smokescreen was now effective enough for his actual attack.

Keeping his eyes and ears open as he moved side to side to avoid the oncoming slugs, Artur pulled his palms apart as he began forward.

He waited for the fumes of the Dragonsmoke to reach them.

Artur had some immunity to it himself, but smoke was smoke.

And being in the middle of the black cloud, his eyes and lungs burned.

But Artur continued holding his breath and letting his eyes water—all to not give away his location.

Like Scotty Tower did.

Before the black fumes even reached him, the Mutant Slayer let out a coarse cough.

The Spite venom would kill him shortly.

'Not before he talks,' Artur told himself, holding his bleeding right arm up at an angle.

Another bullet exploded behind him, but he remained focused on aiming his own claws.

'Stop shaking!' Artur gripped his right wrist with his left hand.

And just as Scotty Tower coughed again—from the fumes or the venom, it didn't matter—Artur used the technique he'd been honing for the past five months.

"Dragonbolt," Artur grunted through gritted teeth.

Blood burst out from the base of his middle two right claws as they extended outward.

Before shooting into the night sky like bullets fired from a twin-barreled gun, disappearing beyond the smokescreen.

Tears from fumes mixed with tears of pain as Artur charged again toward the Huntress.

Cometbreaker shots continued flying past him.

Artur tore through the Dragonsmoke with his left claws, emerging out of the dark cloud.

Slashing at Vesper Drayton.

Instinctively, the Huntress raised her shotgun to defend herself.

But hardwood and steel proved soft things against Artur's claws, her Cometbreaker getting shredded to pieces.

Scotty Tower gazed up at him, pale-faced and wide-eyed, coughed blood splattered about his slack-jawed mouth.

Vesper threw down her broken firearm with annoyed displeasure. "This isn't over, Mutant."

The Huntress raised her gloved fists.

"My claws are laced with Spite venom," Artur let her know, holding his left hand wide open. "One slash will poison you. A second will simply kill."

Vesper Drayton inched closer. "I don't doubt your ability to slash, Mutilator."

She pulled her right fist back.

"Only your ability to hit a target that moves!"

Artur swung his left claws at her in a wide arc—

The Huntress twisted her hips, jamming her right knee into his side, sacrificing her leg to the claws—

Her right fist struck fast and hard, clobbering him on the nose, a snap sounding under her knuckles.

Artur staggered back, blood leaking out his nostrils. "Got you."

"Did you?" Vesper lowered her right foot back to the ground, something glossy shining under the rips in her baggy pants. "You must not know me."

Of course she had a Dustware right leg—he knew that.

"You will lose this," the Huntress declared, again taking her fighting stance. "Your claws can't reach me."

Artur smiled, showing her his left hand. "These might not."

He raised his right.

"But these will."

Vesper Drayton's eyes widened at once when she saw the two middle fingers of his hand bleeding from their ends.

Realizing those claws were missing.

Artur pointed up.

She couldn't help but look.

And finally, as the twin claws fell from the starless sky atop the young man she was protecting, the Huntress lost her composure.

Her calmness withered away; panic taking hold.

Vesper Drayton pushed Scotty Tower from under the falling claws.

Artur smiled in satisfaction when she did.

The Dragonbolts slashed open the Huntress's face—just as planned.