Amity

Chapter 48: The Battle at the Square

They fought on, staying as close to each other as they could. Slowly but surely, the Edge Walkers were getting the best of them. Loyalty's left arm was completely covered in blood, and he had three claw marks on his side. "These damn things are relentless," he cried out as he swung his double-bladed staff, slashing waves of Edge Walkers in half. He fell to his knees, gasping.

"Don't give up!" Joel called as he swiped his nunchaku across the jagged jaw of an Edge Walker. Spinning around, he kicked another Edge Walker behind him. "We've got to hold on until help comes!" He dodged a rushing Edge Walker, claws outstretched, and sent his elbow crashing in between its eyes.

"My, my," the boy said. "It looks like you four were here to fight. You may actually take down Abraham's army. However-" he held his hands out of his cloak; black ribbons fluttered down and seeped into the ground, "You don't stand a chance against my army. You have a choice. Die a quick death from the Edge Walkers, or die from exhaustion."

"Aw, come on!" Chris groaned. Loyalty rushed past him, his staff following him. "Loyalty, wait-"

"Wait, my ass!" He twisted the middle of his staff and pulled it apart. Using one half as a sword and abandoning the other half with his defeated group, he roared as he rushed at the boy. He leapt through the air and aimed the tip of the blade at the boy's head. His blade went through the boy's head, and so did he. There was no impact, nothing that he could've touched. It was as if the boy wasn't there at all.

Loyalty skidded to a halt on the other side of the boy, gasping. It didn't make any sense. There was no way that he missed. The boy smirked as he looked at Loyalty, savoring his despair. "Oh, Abraham. It looks like you have your first victim. Do try to take your time in killing him. I want him to feel every second." He disappeared into a curtain of darkness.

"You know I will," he said as he pulled a thin metal coil from his pocket. This was bad. Loyalty's teammates were too busy dealing with the Edge Walkers, and he was too exhausted to even lift his sword. He had one line of defense, but even using his Elemancy at this rate would kill him. He grimaced as Abraham ran for him.

In the blink of an eye, Abraham wrapped the coil around his neck, tightening it with enough force to dig the metal into his skin. He could feel the air trapped in his throat, fighting to escape like the water of a geyser close to erupting. Fighting for air, Loyalty clawed at the coil, hoping to somehow dig his finger underneath it, but could only feel his skin overlapping it. The struggle caused the coil to dig further into his skin, causing blood to creep down his neck.

Then, a silver object spun past his fighting comrades and collided with Abraham's head. Loyalty collapsed to the ground as the object soared back to three Elemancers standing in the street; Brianna, McManus, and Ichi. Inhaling precious air, Loyalty stumbled back towards his group.

The silver orb hovered back to McManus's hand, slithering down his arm until it was coated in the liquid-like metal. "You guys alright?" he asked.

"Dad! He's the one who's been causing the invasions!" Sakura called, pointing at Abraham, who was struggling to get back to his feet. "He can control Edge Walkers!"

"I'm aware of that, Sakura. I know who he is," Ichi said without taking his eyes off of Abraham. "Abraham Shadow-Spawn. I'd figure that we had the rest of the True Amians executed."

"I'm half-way offended that you'd think I'd die so easily," Abraham stated, his piercing eyes looking over the three intruders.

"Then allow me to offend you more," Brianna interrupted. "By vote of four of the five Oracles, we find you guilty of terrorism, as well as the murder of your fellow Amians. Do you want to stand trial, or die by our blades?"