Akatsuki

Chapter Three

With her hand gripped tightly around Lucifer’s arm, Lilith jerked him out of harm’s way, the arrow whizzing past his ear. The two soldiers scrambled to their feet in an array of confusion from the unsuspected ambush, weapons in hand, and charged towards the two Akatsuki Guards.

Lucifer pulled the string connecting his scabbard to his belt, allowing it to fall into his right hand before Lilith barked a command in his ear.

“Keep it sheathed we can’t harm them idiot!” letting him free she sprinted alongside Lucifer, “give me a boost.” Lucifer acknowledged her request and positioned himself in front of her. With the soldiers just a few feet away and closing in fast he dropped to one knee quick enough for Lilith to use his body as a ramp, her foot stomping down on his left shoulder. Just as she pressed her weight down on him to make a jump over the guards, Lucifer raised himself up to give her more momentum which carried her further through the air, whilst at the same time he drew up his sheathed katana to parry the simultaneous slashes of the two attackers.

Lilith’s boots crashed down on the wooden deck behind the soldiers and she broke into another sprint towards the woman still stood atop the ship’s deck. She didn't intend to but she had no other choice once the tip of a second arrow was aiming straight at her.

Lucifer caught the two blows with his scabbard and struggled under the weight of both men as they attempted to use their position to push him to the ground. They were significantly older than him, giving them the advantage when it came to muscle power, leaving Lucifer with little time to think of a solution.

Meanwhile, the old woman was tracing Lilith’s path with the crossbow in hand, waiting for her target to line up. Seeing the opportunity to take a shot she pulled the trigger and the arrow shot free aiming for Lilith’s chest. It was an easy dodge for Lilith, who slowed down for just a second letting the arrow fly past, feeling a gush of wind whip her hair. The old woman anticipated this and used Lilith’s decreased momentum to her advantage as a second arrow was let loose at the same velocity of the first two.

Lucifer used the weight of the two men to throw them off balance as he twisted his body, pushing them off to one side. He then lifted himself into the air, connecting the sole of his foot with the ribs of the nearest man. The force was strong enough to both wind him and send him colliding into the second guard who, already losing his balance from Lucifer’s throw, lost his footing altogether when his companion thumped right into him. This forced him to stagger towards the edge of the dock where his legs tangled together causing him to fall over the ledge. The falling soldier threw his arm out, along with a cry, for his companion to catch but t no avail as he was already on the ground clutching his chest and gasping for air. 

‘Shit! No time to dodge,’ the words echoed in her mind as the arrow closed in with increasing speed, cutting the air between the woman and its target. No options remained; she was going to have to take this one. She focused her eyes on the arrow as it drew closer, closer, closer…

‘Now!’ her hand, in a fist, swiped at the arrow, aiming for the shaft in an attempt to deflect the arrow off course. Too early, the arrow was deflected but her swiping fist hit the side of the arrow’s tip causing it to slice through the edge of her palm.

‘Better than nothing’ the arrow was knocked off its original trajectory and shot into in the deck. Lilith shot her gaze towards the woman on deck and prepped herself for the next attack but instead her gaze was returned with a nasty smirk that had spread across the woman’s face.

“Game over for you” she spoke with a chuckle, as she put her crossbow away, replacing it with a new bottle and popping the cork off with her teeth.

“Just wait a minute!” Lilith said, “It’s almost time for the wolves to dance!”

The smirk on the woman’s face was replaced with a look of surprise as she recognised the words that told her this was the escorts she had been waiting for.