Tug of War

"This… this isn't good… they're here... I remember him… I remember them… we need to run… they're done for." Mave said with his voice quivering behind the shadow of Mr. Breen at the shop's doorstep. "Sana—"

The air around them grew heavy as the sun who was about to set. They couldn't help but look at those two who appeared to be talking as they walked from a distance, but they knew that the black monster right in front of them was something that they could not simply ignore. Though it appeared to be struggling, it managed to stagger back in its feet after a few growls and short breaths in between.

Not knowing about the ones behind him, the Noware stepped forward, grasping its dented chest and leered at Maya with its big round eyes as if it wanted to devour her. It raised its other arm to it could bare its dark dirt-tainted claws and as soon as it saw Melvin stepping in to block its view, it kicked the ground and launched itself forward along with a guttural roar.

Melvin dashed forth, gripping his blade and letting it loose against the Noware's head, but it managed to dodge his attack at the last second before sending him flat to the ground unconscious after a wide back-handed swing. Without even looking at his current victim, the Noware let out a roar once more as it moved towards its enemies who were now frozen in place.

Maya shielded Mr. Breen and Mave behind her back while Clarence just stood there with a grave face, watching the nearby storm approaching while repeatedly twitching his fingers as if something was missing.

"M-Mister!" Mave shouted, attempting to wake the others up right before the Noware took its leap and with its claws about to reach Clarence, Peon came in and smashed a bucket full of soil into its head.

The dirt was thrown out of the bucket as soon as he landed his mighty swing and what came after was a loud metallic sound reverberating through their ears as though it was a morning bell that woke up from their cold dreaded dream. And before any one of them could respond to what just happened, Peon followed up his attack and nailed his spear at the side of the monster's neck.

The Noware shrieked and struggled as it tried to pull the spear out of its neck and as a response, Peon kicked him in his face before setting him ablaze by using a matchstick and bottle of gas that he pulled out from his shorts.

"Where… where did you—"

"Peon says he got it from the kitchen, Ms. Maya. He also says that he's sorry," Peon replied without taking his eyes off of the Noware's burning body that soon let out a cracking sound along with a savory smell of roasted meat.

"Don't worry, you're forgiven," Maya sighed, putting her hand against her jaw to calm her chattering teeth.

She then turned her head to Clarence after shaking her anxiety off but before even she could speak, the temperature around them dropped, followed by a dense wall of ice as wide as the streets shooting from the ground before her.

"Ma'am, we need to get Mave inside now!" Clarence declared with a hurried tone as a dense fog surrounded his body.

The sight before her seemed like an avalanche not of snow but of thick ice carrying a purple shade. It seemed like a castle made out of pure amethyst gleaming through the red rays of the setting sun. She couldn't help but cross her arms and shiver in awe but by the next second when she almost felt safe, this bastion of safety that her colleague created turned into a cloud of white dust right before disintegrating in the midst of this humid afternoon air, paving the way for the grand entrance of their two enemies that they were ever so cautious off.

"Bravo, bravo, I've gotta say… you lot did well… but unfortunately…" the man with the dark skin chuckled as he drew his blade with a wide smile. "We'll be taking them back now. You might want to give us the head of that woman too, then maybe… depending on my mood, I'll leave the rest of you alone, with all of your limbs intact at least."

"Can I say no?" Clarence said, gazing back at Maya and Mave before putting his feet over the noware's head.

"Well, that is certainly polite but then again—"

He disappeared from their sight and like a phantom, he reappeared in front of him, swinging his blade down until it was stopped by the shaft of Clarence's weapon. Peon did not let this opportunity come to pass, so he pulled his spear out of the Noware and launched it towards him.

The man dodged it again and what came after was a few sharp yet unfruitful exchanges filled with attacks hitting nothing but air until their enemy managed to kick Clarence away. This left him open for an attack so Peon stepped forward with a grunt to let his spear loose into the man's chest but to his surprise, the man took the blow, shattering his weapon upon impact. Peon flinched and it gave him just enough time to pull himself up from the damage he just received to bash his face into the ground. And even without wasting so much as a single breath, he ran forward to reach his comrade but at the last moment, he stopped and jumped away.

"I didn't remember asking… that was what I would like to say." The man held out his frozen arm along with a deep pained breath and took a quick glance at the woman beside him. "It is a bit unfair that this senile-looking old man is still quick in his wits, don't you agree? And you, mage… what's your name?"

"Uhm… Roberto? The other one is uhh… Orlan-Orlando by the way… I think. We weren't that close," Clarence answered as scratched his cheeks before turning to Maya with a whisper. "Ma'am this is getting dangerous. Send Mave back along with Mr. Breen and help us!"

"Orlando huh? But it's no use to talk about a dead—" he stopped to look at Peon pushing his body away from the ground with fresh blood dripping on his face. "well… isn't that nice? He still looks as good as new."

"Melvin…" Maya pushed Mave inside together with Mr. Breen and let out a hopeful gaze at her surroundings, to which, ended up getting crumpled into a face full of disgust after a moment. "Melvin's still out, shit."

"I… I think I-we can handle that guy but we need to do something about that girl… it happened twice already but it seems she could cancel out my magic."

"Peon made a mistake, he says. He says that he's sorry and that it won't happen again," he said, picking up the other end of his shattered spear.

"See… I—"

Their enemy came in once again but this time, he was intercepted perfectly by Peon with his shabby stick, and as though he was enchanted by magic, he was able to deflect his sword rather easily before his weapon broke, leaving Clarence to take the lead and attack him. Peon continued with his disruptive attacks by occasionally forcing him to block a kick or two until Clarence managed to get as much as a cut on his side as well as one right below his eye.

Looking rather distressed and in panic, the man jumped to the side to create some distance between them with the two following his lead. Soon enough, Peon managed to reach him with a punch to his face that made him lose his footing. Clarence did not let this pass and followed up, aiming to cut him down but at the last moment, the man rolled back and pressed the ground with his bloodied palm. He summoned a stone wall that deflected his blade, but that wasn't enough to stop him. Thinking that maybe he could use his spell too, Clarence placed some tension in his left hand as if he was grabbing something and raised it to the air, summoning a wave of ice that ate everything in front of him.

Everything fell silent. He took his stance once more to see if the man could still fight back but in the end, he dropped his guard to let out a relieved sigh. He looked at Peon to celebrate this little victory with a smile but then...

"Doooooneeeee… heeeeeheeeeee…."

Both of them turned their heads towards that looming voice right behind their backs and their eyes widened. They saw the Noware that was supposed to be dead standing up with an eerie grin while rolling its shoulders backward. Beside him was that woman, still carrying that twisted smile as it tilted its head with Maya beneath her, biting her bloodied lips with a sword that drilled through her palm and into the left side of her chest.