Blood and brain matter splattered across a dozen cloaks. They turned to look at Mlion who calmy brought up his arms. Two watery tentacles extended off his hands like extensions of his own body. A half dozen people charged him.
The tentacles cracked. Cutlery could swear she saw the air around the tentacles break apart. Four of the criminals snapped in half. They tumbled to the ground and began to scream throat-tearing sounds.
Everyone in the square that had been busy stopped and looked towards the float.
"Put down my family and you will enjoy prison instead of the infinite abyssal afterlife that awaits you, lowlifes!" Mlion bellowed.
Everyone ran. Missiles of wood and magic fired at Mlion. Out of the eight that reached him, one stuck into his green cloak. He rushed forward and beheaded two more criminals who held green-clothed children. The second tentacle stretched and wrapped around a far door handle.
It yanked the door shut behind a group of five figures. They held a group of women who looked like sisters. One man turned and slammed into the door, the tentacle rippled but held firm. The gangsters pulled blades and turned to Mlion.
The golden general looked about. In every direction he and Cutlery could see, his family was being dragged away. His eyes found her
The look in his eyes was that of pure loss. Fear ran through him at the same rate air flowed into his lungs. His free tentacle cracked into her and the net was sliced open.
"SAVE MY FAMILY CUTLERY!" Mlion bellowed. His voice cracked under strain. Two of the criminals had begun to slice at his water tentacle. The other three shoved the door slowly open.
Cutlery sprung up and made a decision. It was to time to betray the tools of her mission. Mlion streamed away towards the door he held. Cutlery scrambled for a tiny alleyway. She had seen several noblemen get dragged down just a second ago.
Entering the alleyway, the sounds of cracking tentacles faded. Now all she heard was cussing nobles and grunting figures. A few cloaked figures threw the cussing nobles into open wagon doors.
Cutlery was about to rush in and then remembered her training with Jake. She instead crept behind a rotting wagon and peered through. Six armed figures, a driver, and four noblemen. She wriggled through the wagon corpse. Popping out, she slid along the side of the alleyway and drew a dagger.
Only two of the noblemen were in the wagon thus far. If she could separate the nobles they would run on their own.
As she advanced she pulled her saber and a throwing knife. She jerked up and brought her arm back.
-
Cutlery's thrown dagger neatly slid into the turning eye of one kidnapper. Simultaneously her rapier smoothly slid under a kneecap. Two men dropped to the ground howling.
"Run!" Cutlery yelled to the two nobles. The sudden intro allowed her two more attacks before the others could react. With a heave, she managed to slice half the ropes on one noble. Her second attack was a simple blunt smash into a horse's leg.
The horse leaped forward and the carriage with them. Cutlery grabbed onto the open doorframe. The freed noble had moved to help the other one with a short dagger. Feet left the pavement as Cutlery was jerked off the ground by the carriage.
Cutlery looked away as she turned her focus to an approaching fist. Her nose crunched and reverberated in her skull. Despite the jarring Cutlery merely scraped along the cobblestone but held strong. The fist reeled back for another punch.
Cutlery's clenched her abs and swung into the wagon. She wrapped her short legs around the kidnapper and they both tumbled against the far wall. His arms were pinned up above his neck awkwardly as she began to try and pull a dagger from her chest belt. The blade slowly pulled from the tight scabbard as the man strained against her. With a great heave, he jerked his head up. It met her waiting blade. A wet squelch slowly reverberated from the knife sliding back out of his falling skull. Cutlery turned to the tied nobles and simply shoved them out the door.
The wagon slowed as the driver got control of the bruised horse. They looked inside to see the wagon empty as Cutlery and two nobles jogged back to the others. A distant curse sounded but the driver didn't turn around to catch them.
They found one noble holding the other. Both kidnappers rolled and groaned on the ground with many stab wounds.
"It's alright George. It's alright, everyone's safe, you'll be alright." The sitting noble said to his friend. He held Georges's head. George had a foot bent sideways and his skull looked bent as well. George groaned and glanced at their approach.
The sitting noble looked up in fear and then relief.
"It's George! They hit his head! He's not looking too good! You slivered girl! Heal him quickly!" The noble demanded.
Cutlery looked to Geroge.
"Sorry George, I'm only good at killing. I got your two pals here. Which, they should start running to find a healer, perhaps back on the parade route where more guards are." Cutlery said.
The two looked at her and went down the alley. Cutlery presumed that Mlions appearance had scared off any threats.
"How could this happen? You said it was safe!" The sitting noble said. George groaned a comment in slurred breaths. Cutlery glanced at him then back at the jogging nobles.
"The enemies of Zurkonia are crafty and ruthless. Perhaps they planned for this." Cutlery said slowly. A good excuse. It was vague and put the blame on someone else.
The noble cursed and looked to George. Poor George.
-
A mob of city guards charged into the alleyway. Cutlery took the chance to find Mlion. She found him resting his wet arms on his knees. The square was empty of his family. Instead, it was filled with bodies. At least eighteen criminals, from various gangs, lay about him. All of them had long deep gashes or missing limbs.
Mlion had a few cuts.
He smiled up at her.
"I got them. Everyone was saved. If you hadn't been here I don't know how many I could have saved. Thank you Cutlery. I knew you would be a good one when I met you." Mlion said. He seemed tired and worn out.
"I got four of your whoever men out safely as well," Cutlery told him. He relaxed a little and looked out at a shattered window.
"This is only the first day of the Temple festivities. What other horrors loom?" Mlion asked. Cutlery knew. There would be many more. Only eight criminals had been captured. The rest had died of injuries.
She and Mlion returned to the street. The parade had gone back into full swing. Most people seemed to think the smoke was an accident. The area where the harmless bombs had gone off was still packed with happy drunkards and clapping children. Mlion's head surveyed them for danger.
While Mlion was a divine being, his family was all very mortal. A minute later he was walking down the parade route and shaking hands.
Cutlery returned to her roof and spent the rest of her shift chewing on a pile of biscuits she had packed. The following parades were much more entertaining. After those, a market sprung up on the street. Finally Jake came as the market was turned into a street fair.
Jake switched places with her and she returned to the tower for sleep and a touch of training. Training these days was a disguise for debriefing and planning.
She and Asim secretly went over what happened and how this might affect plans. Their next ideas were gone over to see if golds might slip in just like Mlion had slipped into the float without them knowing. It was likely Mlion simply wanted to be a part of his family event without stealing the spotlight.
But now the seed was planted. Was this a warning from the tower? A warning telling them they had no power? They couldn't know.
