Destined For Doom

Chapter 17 - The Search

-17-

-The Search-

The lights of The Sanctuary went out when Abigail snapped her fingers, leaving the room shrouded in darkness except for the flickering lights of the candles. There were no windows, so the doorway was the only source of light outside of the fire. It burst open as Akane faded into the shadows. Abigail stood in front of the candlelight, waiting patiently for the force of soldiers. They burst through the doors, staying low with their weapons trained on every shadow. Akane watched from above as Abigail crossed her arms, smiling in the light of the flashlights mounted on the rifles.

"Well now it's a party," she grinned, twirling her finger through the air.

"On the ground!" the lead soldier shouted, raising his gun.

The twenty soldiers trained their weapons on her, cautious from the carnage they had seen outside. The door slammed suddenly as Abigail flicked her finger, laughing as the soldiers jumped. The candles' flame flickered to emerald green as the witch took control, giving Akane time to move into position. He worked his way through the rafters quietly, moving like a spider through the beams until he was directly above the force. Their flashlights flickered as the temperature dropped sharply. Moving slowly so as not to alarm them, she raised a finger in front of her lips. With a mischievous smile, she acted.

"Shh."

The candles were all extinguished by a sudden gust of wind, leaving the room in the flickering light of the soldiers' failing torches. Akane dropped directly into the middle of the group, drawing his blades as he fell. The sporadic flashes of gunfire erupted in the room, but Abigail was already well out of the way. Akane moved through the soldiers with grace, the swords moving as extensions of his arms as he carved through the ranks.

The soldiers fell one by one as Akane dodged around the gunfire. His blades moved swiftly through the gunmen, making light work of their body armour as Abigail worked her magic. Green flames erupted out of her hands, smothering a dozen of the soldiers in an instant. As Akane twisted across towards his next target he caught a glimpse of Abigail, and the twisted smile on her face. The green light glinted in her eye as she watched the soldiers burn, a savage look of satisfaction as she laughed. Akane would have to keep an eye on that.

The emerald flames enveloped all but one of the soldiers as Akane walked forward, outlined by the green light. The last guard, the captain, discarded his dry machinegun and drew a chunky pistol. He backed up in the ring or fire that surrounded them, firing wildly at Akane as he advanced. The assassin shifted to smoke, letting the bullets pass through his body harmlessly as he continued to walk forward. The last round shot out of the barrel as Akane rematerialized, being swatted out of the air by the assassin's sword. As the officer dropped the pistol Akane pulled back his hood, looking the soldier in the eye.

"Where is Jun?" he snarled, holding the blade's edge against the officer's throat. With flames on all sides, there was no escape.

"Go to hell." The soldier backed up, balancing on the balls of his feet and drawing his combat knife. "You think I'd know something like that?"

Akane shrugged. "Then I'm going to find someone that can."

The soldier dived forward, intent on driving the knife into Akane's chest. However strong his resolve, the soldier's training could not hope to match Akane's lifetime of hand-to-hand combat experience. A twist of his sword parried the knife to the side, disarming the soldier with ease. Before he could recover Akane drove a boot into his chest, sending him flying back into the emerald flames. The screams continued as Akane sheathed his swords, watching Abigail as she walked through the curtain of fire, completely unharmed.