Chapter 28: Two Pronged

Drac enter's Gove's tavern. Worn out from his run around with the Bones, bathing occupied his mind. Muscle sore, he waddles through the tavern. Less patients lay on the floors due to Bob's hard work. Hood figures Bob was resting upstairs in one of the rooms. Drac finds Maki and Gove and Marina at the Bar counter. A sombre atmosphere hangs around them.

"Everyone…"

"Drac! Was waiting for you." Marina said while eating some soup. Drac walks up wo the group. Maki with swollen red eyes shocks him.

"What happened?"

"Hammond." Maki's voice chokes. " The Bones… They got him."

"And they attacked a school, Drac. A fucking school!"

"The kids. They're safe right?" Drac asks Marina.

"Of Course they are safe! I was there."

"I know, I know. Thank you." Drac puts a hand on Marina's shoulder. He turns away leaving the way he came.

"Wait, my boy. Where are you going?!" Gove shouts after Drac.

Going back to expedite the process.

Drac continues walking towards the door.

Two hands grab on his shoulders. Drac turns to see two women. Maki focused, bloodshot eyes filled with anger, Marina with a small grin.

"Leaving us behind again?"

Maki and Drac hide silently behind a wooden crate. There is a distant sound of boats passing over water by the Docks. Textiles, tea, and metals, common and rare, were brought here from afar. The day's shift ends; the workers leave for their homes. The docks are finally empty and the gang make their way through with carriages.

They have come for their delivery.

Gove and Maki's people discovered there was a Storehouse in the docks for severely addictive drugs. Since the Bones' emergence, a drug called Calm went through the city and especially the slums like wildfire. Destroying neighbourhoods and lives. This storehouse is where they deliver Calm from the Arau river. The bones guard the product and provide distribution services.

Drac holds up the Teneo in his hands. All charged up by Marina.

"Ready?" Drac whispers to Maki.

"Ofcourse, Little Bro."

I told her not to call me that…

Drac signals for them to move and they scuttle behind the crates. A guard walks between two crates. His neck sliced and his body gently laid to rest on the floor. Maki and Drac move over to the next crates. The storehouse in view, Drac uses aura sense. Using it he can sense fluctuation in the aura currents. As people's bodies are naturally protected a little by the soul, Aura bounces off. Ripples caused by the movement of one's body could help Drac detect where they are.

Two by the entrance. One over there. By the crates.

The one smoking? Looks strong. Will take them out first.

Drac signals Maki to stop that spot. Drac creeps into the shadows. His rune imbued boots silent as he climbs up the crates. Leaning on the crates below Drac, a brown haired middle aged man smokes a pipe. He lights it again with a match. Drac leans over the crate, pulls him up by the collar; A stab to the side of the neck and the Bone stops his rustling. Drac drags the body down, pipe still in mouth, out of sight.

Maki moves out of her spot to Drac.

"Seems you picked up some new skills. When did your master teach you?"

…

"Umm, I learned on the job, I guess. Haha… " Drac, feeling awkward, ends the convo by continuing towards the warehouse. Two guards wait with arms crossed by the warehouse doors. Beefy men with broad faces.

"Alright, Maki. Need your help this time. You go right, I go left. Okay?"

Maki nods her head. She unsheathes her sword. Drac nods back, taking out his Heilong.

They pounce from their hiding place. Drac, aided by levitation, reaches his man faster. An Aura enhanced slice takes off the man's head. Maki thrust at her opponent's neck. Both Bones fall by the doors. Drac pushes the door open and men stare back. They carry parcels, ready to pack them into the carriages. Their eyes widened as they saw their death come for them. Maki and Drac slice their bodies like scissors to paper. Pieces fly off, leaving a mess of organs and liquid. Two Aura users run at Drac. They shout a warrior cry. Aura surrounds their swords.

Be a bit careful.

Drac hits away a Aura strike with his own. The force for the clash reverbs outwards. Ignis forms in Drac's left hand and he pushes forward a fireball. Setting the man on fire. His friend comes in from the left side with a horizontal slice. His sword glows with energy. Drac uses Murus on his left hand. A small blue circle forms around his palm and blocks the attackers blow. The force pushes Drac back. He regains his posture quickly to cut the man engulfed in fire. A flaming head drops to the floor. The friend steps back, he shows hints of fear. The Bone bolts for the exit. Drac catches up in a flash. Slashing his body on the way.

"Maki! Maki?!" Drac shouts.

"Here Four!" Maki runs to meet Drac. "Oh sorry! It's Drac now, isn't it?

Call me whatever. Just not little bro.

Drac smiles. " Call me however you want."

Bastard.

Loner.

"So Little bro, what's the next part?"

"We explode shit."

"When do we explode shit"

"Soon."

Drac and Marina trek up the road to a group of Buildings. Dwellings of The Bones. Maki's people follow behind. Men and women. Swords on hips. Bows in hand, quivers on backs. They follow Drac and Marina in the criminals den. For revenge. For Hammond.

Drac speaks to his men. "Kill any man with a black arm wrap that escapes. If you're unsure whether they are Bones or not. Restrain them." Drac signals for them to spread out.

"Just you and me." Drac smiles at Marina. She watches the four story group of neglected buildings that look to have fallen apart. Her arms resting on hips.

"I wish Bob was here."

"Gosh. We made him work more than he should. Let the big man have his sleep."

"Sleep? He is probably stuffing his face full of meat and potatoes by now." Marina said as she pouted. Drac gives a hearty laugh.

An arrow comes for Drac's head. It's sliced in half by Heilong. Marina activates Murus around them, Blocking dozens of arrows.

"Let me through the wall in three… two… one… " Drac rushed into the blue wall. He phased through, slicing arrows in his path. Drac runs up a wall, deflecting arrows with each step up. He reached a balcony, cutting through a bones stomach. Drac jumps on the railing, light as a leaf, and leaps to the other balcony on an opposite building. Two more archers were slain. He leaps to the next balcony and another, killing bones before he leaps away.

One last balcony and his attack is blocked with aura. He still lands on the balcony but stumbles. The Bone thrusts at Drac. Drac parries with a two hand technique. A Diagonal mark on the Bones body spurt blood. Leaving the man for dead, Drac runs into the build. Gangsters find him going down the stairs. With a deflect, a sword is stuck in a wall, the man's stomach punctured. Another sword batted away to the enemy's right. Drac strikes downward, cutting to the lung. Bodies are pushed away as Drac descends further down.

Drac can hear explosions from Marina. Drac uses Levitation to bounce from wall to wall descending faster. Every Bone met on the Stairs are sliced as Drac bounces past. Drac finally arrives at Ground level.

Three Aura users guard a trap door. One beefy with long hair, one slim with a long chin, the last has a stubble of light brown hair. Their Auras flare up. Drac takes his stance. He breathes deeply.

An inferno engulfed them all, leaving them rolling on the floor charred and scarred.

"Drac!" Marina runs up to him, smiling wide. "Why did you leave like that? You are not great at the teamwork thing, are you?"

Drac points at the trap door. A large lock on it. Marina rolls her eyes. "Fine." Marina kneels down, locked in hand she used Ignis. The Lock heats up. It melts into a bright liquid substance. Marina grins at Drac. He ignores, opens the door and drops into the chamber first. Light as a feather, he landed in darkness. Below Drac is a slimy materia. A smell like death fills his nostrils. He lights a fire on his finger.

"They are here…."

Marina drops in, heavy and clumsy. The smell makes her retch. She looks up from where she vomited and sees the kidnapped. Dirty, malnourished and terrified.

"Drac! Tell your copy to explode the bastards!"

"Already Done."