Nightclaw: Blood Moon Apex

Chapter 25: Attack On Darkveil Manor

One of the earliest casualties of the assault was a rather unfortunate C.L.A.W shaman who ended up tripping on a root during his advance. The stumble and fall alone would not have killed him, but he was unlucky enough to faceplant directly into the opening of one of Valeria's bear traps, which predictably snapped shut around his head and crushed it like a melon.

As General Vultur facepalmed in exasperation at the shaman's quick demise, Lily and Theo couldn't help but stifle a laugh at what had just happened.

"Yeah, umm.....I'm pretty sure your foot is supposed to go in that....." Lily snarked. "But enough games! We have a manor to defend!"

The entire estate surrounding the mansion quickly became a hectic battlefield, with Nightclaw, her family, and her allies trying to defend the manor from the C.L.A.W's incursion. Preparing for the possibility that some of the shamans could breach their defenses, both Esther and Dave retreated back inside; Dave peeked his head out of one of the second-floor windows and continued opening fire with his handgun from above, while Esther kept a diligent vigil over the house's winding hallways, ready to inject any intruders with his anesthetic if they got too close to where he was.

Meanwhile, Nightclaw, Remus, Jet, Valeria, Lily, and Theo remained outside to fight the Generals and their forces.

Nightclaw made a beeline straight for General Vultur, shoving aside any shamans who tried to intercept her while also dodging their magic blasts. Harnessing her enhanced strength, she leapt upwards to Vultur's position, grabbed her by the legs, and slammed her back down onto the ground during her descent. Vultur picked herself back up and swung her staff at Nightclaw's head, but the werewolf caught the weapon with one hand on its way forward before selling Vultur two jabs to the face with her other one, claws fully extended.

"It could have been different, you know.....I wanted to do this together," Vultur lamented as she restabilized her footing, once again having deluded herself into thinking she was the victim. "But now you're going to die at the hands of the C.L.A.W.....and the rest of mankind shall follow soon afterward."

You shouldn't have killed my brother and threatened my friends! Nightclaw responded ferociously as she performed a low slide right between Vultur's legs, using both of her clawed hands to deliver deep cuts to Vultur's ankles during her advance forward. As the Eagle Avatar let out a deafening scream of pain, Nightclaw then elbowed her in the back, sending her careening forward straight into a large tree trunk and successfully knocking the wind out of her, causing her to slump motionless to the grass.

Despite the werewolf's burning hatred for the General---especially upon learning that she was Murray's murderer---she still found it in herself to make the proper choice, at least for now.

Rather than finishing off Vultur, she opted for the greater good instead; to assist the rest of her friends with fighting Vultur's army and ensure they didn't die as well.

However, when Nightclaw was a significant distance away, Vultur came to, and also decided on a change in her strategy. Rather than pursuing Nightclaw once more, she began flapping her wings, took to the skies, and flew straight towards Darkveil Manor.

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Lily proved to be adept at switching between her pulse rifle and silenced pistol on a dime, using the rifle for long-range engagements while mostly reserving the pistol for when her foes got too close. However, as skilled as she was, she couldn't have hoped to stand a chance against an enemy she couldn't see coming. A C.L.A.W shaman shot a bolt of chain lightning in her direction, but thankfully, Theo placed himself between Lily and her attacker, absorbing the blast with his electric guitar instead.